Washington hosts Alcorn State after Osobor’s 23-point game

Technology

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Alcorn State Braves (0-5) at Washington Huskies (3-1)Seattle; Friday, 10 p.m. ESTBOTTOM LINE: Washington takes on Alcorn State after Great Osobor scored 23 points in Washington’s 74-69 win over the UMass-Lowell River Hawks.Washington went 17-15 overall a season ago while going 11-6 at home. The Huskies averaged 80.6 points per game last season, 36.1 in the paint, 12.9 off of turnovers and 16.5 on fast breaks.

The Braves are 0-5 on the road. Alcorn State allows 83.6 points to opponents while being outscored by 31.6 points per game.The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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Blink review – family’s poignant bucket list trip turns into glossy travelogue

Travel

An active, boisterous French-Canadian family of six, led by mum Edith Lemay and dad Sébastien Pelletier, discover that three out of their four kids have the gene for the disease retinitis pigmentosa. That means eldest sister Mia, and younger boys Colin and Laurent will gradually go blind, first by losing their ability to see in the dark. Only middle child Léo got lucky and didn’t inherit it. When the parents asked a doctor what they would do if their child got such a diagnosis, the doctor said they would help their children make as many visual memories as they could while they still had time, so the Lemay-Pelletiers decided to take a year out and go travelling around the world, funded by shares Sébastian had just recently gained. As well as presumably some kind of financial or at least logistical support from the film-makers who are quietly documenting all this from the start, backed by the National Geographic channel.That station’s involvement partly explains the wholesome, squarely sentimental tone of the film, which constantly emphasises what a lovely nice family these people are even as they face a literal dark future together. Even the font used for onscreen graphics, mimicking a clumsy handheld script, is aggressively corny-cutesy. The slow drip of sanctification, forced down with an especially saccharine score, may be enough to make some viewers go off the film and even the subjects themselves as they enjoy the dream holiday of a lifetime, flying from country to country, and ticking items off their bucket list like “see a sunset in the desert” and “drink juice while riding a camel”.Of course there are down moments. For example, Colin is distraught over being separated from a dog he’s befriended in the Himalayas, and poor Mia looks increasingly depressed throughout – as if she’s struggling with the prospect of her future or is just annoyed she’s missing time being a teenager with her friends back home. But the film-makers never probe psyches very deeply, not even the parents’. It’s just one contemporary travelogue cliche after another, admittedly beautifully shot in super high definition.The best bit, perhaps because it veers so far from the script, is when the whole family and cameraman get stuck overnight in an aerial cable car in Ecuador without water or a toilet, and everyone gets a bit panicked. It’s also the one time where we see a little friction between these privileged white northerners and the developing world; the ride attendants whom Sébastian manages to contact on the phone can only say sit tight and wait, help is coming, but not for a while. There’s a metaphor in there somewhere.

Raoul Peck on his Ernest Cole film: ‘I wanted to give him the total podium’

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

You can’t possibly look at Ernest Cole’s haunting photography, capturing the struggle for South Africans during apartheid, and not immediately and urgently think about what Palestinians are living through today. Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, the latest documentary from the I Am Not Your Negro director Raoul Peck, pores over those violent images captured by the late photographer in his 1967 book House of Bondage. They show South Africans living with a proverbial boot to their neck – constantly policed, segregated, barred entry to not just spaces but employment opportunities their European oppressors access freely, having their homes bulldozed for new settlements and their marches brutally met with gunfire – viscerally recalling what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank.“Yes, those parallels are clearly in the film,” says Peck, on a Zoom call, adding that it’s those types of connections that inspire him to tell whatever story he pursues. “In this film you can also see the western world not wanting to boycott South Africa while doing business with them: selling arms, buying arms, buying gold, uranium.”“But it’s not my job to point to anything,” Peck continues, speaking not just to his new film but all his work. “That’s the contract between me and the person watching the film. I leave space for you to bring in your own current situation, to help you understand the world as it is now.”Peck is a former minister of culture in Haiti who has lived in West Berlin, Paris and the US, describing his experience as a life in exile. His films going back 40 years are often drawn to people whose relationship to their homes are tenuous, uncertain or altogether severed, whether politically or violently. His first narrative feature, 2000’s Lumumba, focused on the executed Congo leader’s rise and fall. Last year’s Silver Dollar Road stuck by a Black family whose home comes under threat from land developers.His HBO series Exterminate All the Brutes, examines genocide as a pillar of the European and US cultures, wiping Indigenous, African and Jewish people from their homes. Though what’s happening in Israel falls just outside that show’s purview, Peck highlights a passing mention in Exterminate All the Brutes of a Palestinian suicide bomber. “I ask the question, what would I have done if it was my daughter? Would I call her a monster? That’s how I address it.”Peck is speaking from a hotel room in New York City, where his latest subject, Ernest Cole, lived in exile and died in 1990. Peck’s film isn’t just a showcase of Cole’s work in House of Bondage, which the photographer published at 27, exposing the world to casual horrors in the country he could no longer return to due to apartheid. The film also explores selections among 60,000 negatives that mysteriously surfaced seven years ago in a Swedish bank vault, lost images Cole had taken while he was living in the US, touring the American south as well as Europe, before he became despondent, houseless for some years and fallen off the map. Many of the alternately warm and striking images Cole shot in places such as Alabama observe African American life; the joys and the resilience, but also the echoes of his experience in Johannesburg, the oppression that they share with their counterparts across the world.“It’s the view of a 26-year-old, 27-year-old South African who has spent all his life in an apartheid prison,” says Peck, “discovering something that was sold to him as the free world. That alone is worth observing. What does he do? What does he catch? What does he see?”Ernest Cole: Lost and Found works as a companion piece to Peck’s James Baldwin documentary I Am Not Your Negro, in that it’s also about a critical voice who experienced varying realities through travel and refused to have his humanity reduced to just being Black. “Baldwin is somebody who always said: ‘I don’t let anybody define who I am,’” says Peck. “And I learned that very early in my life. I read Baldwin when I was 16. And he gave me the tools, already.”View image in fullscreenWhere the Baldwin documentary had the author’s words but also his footage of him speaking passionately during interviews, the new film has photographs, Peck’s camera moving within them, directing our gaze, searching for the details Cole would have fixated on. With an image from South Africa, when a white child in a bathing suit innocently sips water from a park fountain, the camera pans up to reveal the violence of a Europeans-only sign hanging just above her. “Beyond the innocence,” Peck says.The film also pairs Cole’s photos with his own words. The Atlanta actor LaKeith Stanfield lends his voice as Cole to the criticism and poetry found in House of Bondage’s prose, subsequent letters he wrote or observations pieced together from testimonies of those who knew or witnessed him. In a street scene showing a young Black man interrogated by police, the camera scans the crowd around him. Cole asks what each person in the photo is thinking, how they see themselves in relation to the anxious police interaction on the street, as either the next potential victim or the white man calmly affirmed that things are the way they should be.In the US, Cole photographs white citizens, describing and mulling over the way they look into his camera, and regard him, with indignation or suspicion. Such photos aren’t just a window into the US’s soul, but Cole’s own. When he photographs couples on the street embracing each other, there’s an ache in his words as he ruminates on their public displays of affection. “You can see how cold it was for him in the metropolis,” says Peck. “That he was isolated.”That isolation is even more pronounced when Cole describes the unhoused people he captures sleeping on the street or benches. “Empty useless bodies,” he says, reflecting perhaps on himself. “My ultimate photos.”View image in fullscreenWhile there’s no record of what Cole was going through when those photos were taken, and only assumptions as far as addiction projected on to him, Peck is confident he can fill in the gaps, at least emotionally. “Having been in exile myself, I know what happened,” he says. “Knowing what is happening in your country every day and not be able to do anything, that can make you crazy. That can depress you. It’s like PTSD, before it was diagnosed as such.”For Peck, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found is a reclamation of the photographer’s voice, a film that forgoes talking head interviews and the opinions of others – and instead leaves the space for the artist to tell his own story.“It was about Ernest taking back his power,” says Peck, describing how his film, and even the way his camera points in habits the artists gaze. “Because he had been disempowered for the last 50 years … I wanted to give him the total podium to talk about his work, to talk about his life and even beyond his death.”

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found is out in New York cinemas on 22 November, Los Angeles on 29 November, with more cities to follow and a UK date to be announced

Minister Thoriq: Efforts Underway to Safeguard Tourism from Climate Change

Travel

During the 29th meeting of the UN Convention on Climate Change (COP29), Maldives’ Minister of Climate Change, Environment, and Energy, Thoriq Ibrahim, highlighted the nation’s ongoing efforts to safeguard its tourism industry from the impacts of climate change. Speaking at the first-ever ministerial meeting focused on tourism and climate change, the Minister outlined the government’s commitment to promoting sustainable tourism and addressing the environmental challenges posed by climate change.

Minister Ibrahim stressed the adverse effects of climate change on tourism in the Maldives, particularly the loss of carbon sequestration environments such as shellfish ecosystems. He also emphasized the importance of local-level initiatives within the tourism industry to combat these challenges and protect the country’s natural resources.

In addition to these efforts, the Maldives submitted its first Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), fulfilling a key responsibility under the Paris Agreement. As the third small island nation to submit this report, the Maldives detailed its greenhouse gas emissions, as well as its ongoing efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The report also outlined the country’s progress towards achieving its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and highlighted the financial and technical assistance needed to implement its climate initiatives. This submission marks an important milestone in the Maldives’ commitment to climate action and global cooperation on environmental sustainability.

Following the submission, the Maldives was awarded the BTR Champion certificate in recognition of its proactive approach to addressing climate change and sharing vital information on the global stage.

Traffic & Travel: Belfast commuter route closed following ‘serious’ road traffic collision

Travel

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565Visit Shots! nowPolice are advising of a road closed this morningClifton Street, North Belfast is closed in both directions between Carlisle Circus and North Queen Street following what is being described as a serious road traffic collision this morning, Thursday November.21Both the on slip and off slip onto the Westlink at Clifton Street are also closed and motorists should seek alternative routesUpdates as available

Starbucks explores selling stake in Chinese business amid strategic growth plans

Business News

An outlet of Starbucks in China. [PHOTO/CHINA DAILY]

Starbucks is considering selling a stake in its Chinese operations, as it is exploring strategic partnerships to drive growth, the coffee chain said.
A global spokesperson for Starbucks said in a statement: “We are wholeheartedly committed to our business in China, our partners (employees) and the long-term development of the Chinese market.”
The company added: “As mentioned during the Q4 earnings call, we are taking time to gain a deeper understanding of our business operations in China and the competitive market environment. We are working hard to identify the best growth pathways, including exploring strategic partnerships.”
According to a Bloomberg News report on Thursday, Starbucks is evaluating various options for its Chinese business, including the potential sale of a stake. Such a move could attract interest from Chinese conglomerates or local companies with experience in the industry.
Similar strategies have been adopted by other global brands, including McDonald’s Corp and Yum Brands Inc, which sold stakes in their Chinese businesses to private equity firms to increase market share and align with local strategies.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, Starbucks reported $783.7 million in revenue from China, a 6 percent increase from the previous quarter despite a 7 percent year-on-year decline. The drop was attributed to intensified competition and a challenging macroeconomic environment affecting consumer spending.
For the full fiscal year, Starbucks China added 790 new stores, reflecting a 12 percent year-on-year growth in its store number.

Ynvisible To Develop E-Paper-Based Digital Signs For Public Transportation Information In The United States

Technology

(MENAFN- Newsfile Corp)
Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – November 21, 2024) – Ynvisible Interactive Inc. (TSXV: YNV) (FSE: 1XNA) (OTCQB: YNVYF) (the “Company” or “Ynvisible”), a leading provider of printed e-paper display products, is pleased to announce a collaboration with Waypoint Transit Solutions (“Waypoint”), a US-based company focused on bringing cost-effective, real-time, physical transit information signs to cities and agencies that could not previously afford such infrastructure. Together, Ynvisible and Waypoint intend to bring to market innovative transit information solutions, by introducing cost-effective e-paper display signage to bus stations. Conceptual example of a Transit Information Panel, using Ynvisible’s e-paper displaysTo view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:The collaboration between Ynvisible and Waypoint focuses on enhancing the commuter experience by delivering real-time updates on arrival and departure times, and other essential transit information. Ynvisible’s energy-efficient, reflective e-paper technology stands out for its low-power consumption and excellent readability in various lighting conditions, making it an ideal solution for sustainable, user-friendly, easy-to-maintain signage solutions. Waypoint has placed an order for a limited quantity of customized Ynvisible’s e-paper displays, for testing and validation, and is looking to potentially order quantities of more than 20.000 units when the product is fully ready to be placed in the market.”Waypoint is developing flexible, low-cost, real-time arrival signs that can be installed at far more bus stops than current options. To do this, we needed a low-cost, customizable, e-paper solution that performs well in many conditions, which led us to Ynvisible.” said Ryan Johnston, CEO of Waypoint Transit Solutions.By leveraging Ynvisible’s cutting-edge digital display technology, this collaboration will enable digital signs that consume minimal energy, while allowing useful updates for commuters. This energy-efficient technology will provide cities with a forward-thinking solution to manage real-time information, while promoting sustainability.”Digital signage is a key platform for us, and we’re thrilled to see a growing number of businesses exploring e-paper display solutions in this market. We are looking forward to working with Waypoint Transit Solutions to develop a cost-effective, eco-friendly digital signage solution for bus stations, and seeing this product across cities and countries around the world,” said Keith Morton, VP of Sales & Marketing at Ynvisible. Ynvisible produces cost-effective, low-power, sustainable e-paper displays fit for off-the-grid, remote and/or IoT devices that require low energy consumption. Ynvisible’s work in digital signage can be replicated for a variety of applications, from solar-powered signage to retail and public information signs, to disaster response equipment. Investor Webinar Update and 2025 Focus Ynvisible will host a webinar on December 5, 2024, at 4:00 PM (CET) / 10:00 AM (EST) to provide an update on the Company’s recent activities and plans for 2025. The webinar will include a discussion of 2024 progress, upcoming initiatives, and a live Q&A session with the executive team. The event is open to anyone interested in Ynvisible’s developments in e-paper technology. Registration details are available here . About Ynvisible Ynvisible is disrupting the low-cost and ultra-low-power display industry thanks to the latest advantages in sustainable electronics and roll-to-roll printing production. Ynvisible’s printed e-paper displays are ideal for low-power and cost-sensitive applications, such as digital signage, smart monitoring labels for supply chain and logistics, visual indicators for medical and diagnostics, or retail labels and signage. Ynvisible has experience, know-how, and intellectual property in electrochromic materials, inks, and systems, and offers a mix of services, technology and products to brand owners developing smart objects and IoT products. Additional information on Ynvisible is available at .MENAFN21112024004218003983ID1108909582

OV Traveller Club unveils new era of regenerative luxury

Travel

On November 18, 2024, Patina Maldives hosted a memorable evening as OV Holidays unveiled its new identity as OV Traveller Club. The rebranding marked a significant evolution, reflecting a commitment to sustainability, luxury, and meaningful connections, encapsulated in the new motto: “Discover Yourself.”

The evening commenced with opening remarks from Emma, Strategic Partnership Manager, who welcomed guests and introduced the themes of transformation, sustainability, and the vision behind OV Traveller Club. Her speech offered insight into the journey that led to the rebranding.

Ellice, the Chief Operating Officer, elaborated on this transformation during her keynote address. She highlighted how the brand, initially focused on bespoke luxury travel, became a preferred choice for global celebrities, royal families, and discerning travellers from regions such as the Middle East. However, challenges in the evolving travel industry, including market saturation and compromised service quality in the Maldives, prompted OV Traveller Club to chart a new course. This transformation focused on exclusivity, sustainability, and exceptional service. Ellice also acknowledged the pivotal role of Shafraz Fazley, Founder and Managing Director, whose vision and leadership laid the groundwork for this evolution. Fazley’s dedication to innovation and excellence was instrumental in shaping the strategic direction of OV Traveller Club.

Dr. Nisha Abu Bakar, Director of OV Traveller Club, delivered an impactful address on the growing trend of conscious travel and the importance of integrating luxury with sustainability. She underscored the brand’s mission to combine ecological preservation, cultural sustainability, and luxury experiences. This vision aligns with the Maldives Fifth Tourism Master Plan 2023–2027 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr. Nisha pointed to the pandemic as a transformative moment for the travel industry, shifting travellers’ perspectives and emphasising the need for “conscious paradise” destinations. OV Traveller Club embraces this shift by offering purpose-driven journeys that balance nature, culture, and sustainability. She described the brand as a custodian and architect of tomorrow’s paradise, dedicated to delivering transformative travel experiences without compromising luxury.

The evening also featured the introduction of initiatives such as “Gentle Footprints,” showcasing OV Traveller Club’s dedication to regenerative tourism—leaving destinations in better condition than they were found. Dr. Nisha detailed key strategies such as reducing carbon footprints, wildlife conservation, supporting local communities, and promoting cultural sustainability. These efforts align with global sustainability standards, including GSTC indicators, and support local initiatives to enhance sustainable tourism practices.

The brand’s commitment to education and inclusivity was also emphasised. Initiatives include customer education programs, staff development, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commitments. OV Traveller Club aims to leave a positive legacy by fostering meaningful engagement, mentorship workshops, local employment, women’s empowerment in tourism, and cultural preservation.

Dr. Nisha concluded by emphasising the brand’s goal of achieving not just sustainability but regenerative sustainability, aiming to create improved environments for communities and travellers while promoting slow, authentic travel experiences as a cornerstone of modern tourism.

Guests participated in a coral planting session led by Patina’s marine biologists, reflecting OV Traveller Club’s dedication to marine conservation. The evening concluded with a beachside BBQ, vibrant cultural performances, and reflections on the partnerships that have been instrumental in the brand’s success.

The launch of OV Traveller Club marks a bold new chapter in luxury travel, prioritising meaningful connections, sustainability, and excellence. By aligning with both national and global goals, OV Traveller Club is setting new standards for luxury tourism in the Maldives and beyond.