Abu Mohammed al-Golani may become the face of post-Assad Syria – but who is he and why does he have $10M US bounty on his head?The Indiana vs. Notre Dame matchup in the first round of the College Football Playoff is the most expensive ticket on StubHub, but it's Tennessee vs. Ohio State that's selling the fastest. StubHub spokesperson Adam Budelli said Monday that the game being hosted in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 21 has sold 34% more tickets than the game in South Bend, Indiana, on Dec. 20. “The expanded college football playoffs are seeing early high demand, especially as we see new teams enter the competition for the first time,” Budelli said. StubHub lists tickets for sale from official event organizers, but most of its offerings are from the resale market. Here's the ticket marketplace's average CFP first-round prices as of Monday evening: 1. Indiana at Notre Dame — $733 2. Clemson at Texas — $518 3. Tennessee at Ohio State — $413 4. SMU at Penn State — $271 Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Macao SAR at 25: Celebrating success and looking ahead

It’s social media decision time for state and local governments: follow the post-election masses to Bluesky or sit tight and see what happens. The Washington Metro — the district’s public transit system — . So does the , which had 743 followers and 12 posts as of Friday afternoon. That compares to more than 214,000 followers on X and a seemingly endless list of posts. And now New York City is getting into the Bluesky game. Mayor Eric Adams — dealing with , and on bribery and other charges — recently told agencies under his command to . Those accounts would join the more than 20 million Bluesky users, . More than 2.5 million people have joined since the election, reportedly annoyed at the politics of Trump-supporting Elon Musk, the owner of X, which was previously known as Twitter — along with what many new Bluesky users have described as the “toxic” feel at the Musk social media platform. Bluesky was born from Twitter in 2019, but these days, the two platforms are not only competitors but offer people a way to signal their political stance just via the decision about which one to use. Now state and local governments face their own choices about how to respond — and added risk from people bent on using the rising service for mischief or crime. In Minneapolis, officials are “establishing a city primary account and do not have immediate plans outside of that,” Allen Henry, the city’s media relations coordinator, told via email on Friday. As Bluesky grows and changes, the city will keep its eye on it, he said, and take a “larger approach” if that proves necessary. “Ultimately, our goal is to communicate to and inform the public,” Henry said. “For communications to be most effective, we need to communicate in the spaces our audience is and in ways that resonate with them.” In Austin, Texas, known for its tech-heavy economy and progressive culture, city officials are taking a slower approach, according to Memi Cárdenas, Austin’s media relations manager. “Bluesky is a relatively new social media platform, and we have not yet done a thorough review of how it could fit in our communications strategy as a city,” she said. Austin relies on X, especially during emergencies. The city has more than 213,000 followers on Musk’s social media platform, and reaching that mark via a new tool would require “notable resources to establish, which include staff capacity, developing internal usage policies, researching platform rules and regulations, ensuring accessibility and archiving,” Cárdenas said via email. Much like the case in Minneapolis, officials in Austin will monitor Bluesky, which stands as a communications option for the future. Making a change to the new platform — any new platform — would involve a review from the city’s social media committee and a recommendation to the city’s communications director for approval or denial, she said. Even so, the city’s lack of presence on Bluesky hasn’t stopped people bent on fraud from creating “a couple of profiles impersonating the official city of Austin, and we are working to remove those accounts from the platform,” Cárdenas added. More such instances for other agencies seems probable, . In fact, it attracted an onslaught of impersonators after the service in 2022. New targets and updated features always attract criminals, vandals and other such people. Neither Bluesky nor press officials in the New York Mayor’s Office responded immediately to request for comment. Nor did X — since taking over the platform, Musk has . While a count of public agencies so far on Bluesky was not available, at least one social media expert has noticed changes when it comes to government activity there. “I have noticed government agencies and quasi-governments adding Bluesky accounts, especially ones that often need to get updated info to audiences quickly such as transportation authorities,” said Megan Duncan, an associate professor at Virginia Tech who researches digital media and associated topics. She anticipates that as audiences become ever more fragmented, governments might use Bluesky to make sure they are reaching as many people as possible, especially when it comes to information deemed urgent. “But if these [agencies] already had an X account, the good news is that the formatting of information and text is similar enough that it lowers the burden on social media managers,” she told . For those agencies that join Bluesky now, their “early-adopter presence” could bring more engagement and growth than will be the case for latter users. That’s not the only potential benefit of joining now. “It’s also the optimal time to get the prime handles, which simultaneously can signal credibility and prevent bad-faith actors from snagging them and impersonating government agencies and politicians,” Duncan said via email. Bluesky, after all, offers no verified badges as other social media platforms do. Governments that act early enough, though, can set up domains and handles that signal credibility to their audiences, she said. Those audiences, of course, will at the same time be developing their own “literacy skills” for Bluesky, learning its rhythms and players, and figuring out who deserves their trust. Smaller public agencies will probably face the biggest challenges. “The technical skills to set up and host your own government domain may be a barrier for entry for smaller government agencies,” she said. “I’ve noticed even larger agencies like New York City’s MTA is on the common server. Alternatively, Washington’s Metro has established its own domain.” So will Bluesky endure, or will enthusiasm fade as the election recedes? That’s one of the uncertainties that will occupy social media managers and communications professionals at public agencies in the coming months. Some governments have already made up their mind against Bluesky, at least for now: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer that departments under his supervision will stick with X because that’s where people are. Government technology suppliers face the same issue. A spokesperson for industry giant Tyler Technologies said Friday that while the company uses X and not Bluesky, that all depends on where public agency clients and other audiences are. Finances, moderation and having an ample and capable workforce still stand as question marks for Bluesky, Duncan said. “As more opinion leaders and authorities join, Bluesky feels like it’s going to establish itself as the place for microblogging,” Duncan said. “But, I’m not yet ready to call Bluesky the marketplace winner alternative to X because of the revenue piece.”

n , the game of Week 13 of the takes place, between two teams that at this point have a , which has sparked protests from fans for keeping the game in . However, there is a good reason for the league, a production that has been in the works for a long time and offers a to the viewer of what they see on television. The game between the and the will be with characters from the popular series , which , which will be available on . What is The Simpsons Funday Football? According to , it is "a real-time animated football game featuring the Bengals and the in the iconic world of The Simpsons, using Sony's Beyond Sports technology". Characters from the series will face off at in a "fully immersive viewing experience for fans with the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys, during ESPN's Monday Night Football game". When and what time is The Simpsons Funday Football broadcast? The Simpsons Funday Football will air live on , on , and on mobile devices with NFL+. It will also be available to stream and on demand on Disney+ What will be seen on television in the 'animated' match? The novelty of this broadcast is that each of the Bengals and Cowboys players will have their own and will perform each of the plays from the original game in real time thanks to the tracking technology of the NFL's , from Sony, and also every run, pass, touchdown and more from the real game will be seen on the screens of just as they happen and of course on the alternative broadcast. And if you were wondering, , while , and will conduct sideline interviews, all while .

A Nazi magazine regularly published manipulated photos and misinformation, long before the age of AIGus Malzahn is resigning as Central Florida's head coach to become Florida State 's offensive coordinator, a person familiar with the hire told The Associated Press on Saturday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Seminoles have not confirmed Malzahn's move, which is pending a state background check. ESPN first reported the decision. The Knights made official that Malzahn is leaving in a statement released a day after UCF (4-8) concluded its season with a 28-14 loss to Utah. “We would like to thank Coach Malzahn for his contributions to our football program over the past four seasons, including our transition into the Big 12 Conference," the school said. "We appreciate his professionalism and dedication to our student-athletes throughout his tenure at UCF and wish he and his wife, Kristi, the very best in their future endeavors.” Malzahn finished with a 28-24 mark in four years at UCF, the last two ending with losing records after joining the Big 12. He coached at Auburn for eight seasons before being fired in 2020. Malzahn replaces offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Alex Atkins, who was fired Nov. 10 following a 52-3 loss at Notre Dame. The Seminoles rank 131st out of 134 in total offense and scoring offense, averaging 15.8 points a game heading into Saturday night's rivalry game against Florida. The Seminoles (2-9) have dropped significantly since going 13-1 last season and winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. The Knights, meanwhile, struggled mightily in Malzahn's fourth season — most of it because of quarterback issues. Four players took snaps from center as the Knights finished 2-7 in conference play. It was the program's worst record since going 0-12 in former coach George O’Leary’s final season in 2015. Florida State coach Mike Norvell fired Atkins, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller and receivers coach Ron Dugans amid the Seminoles' season-long skid. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football