Multiplayer games are entering their nostalgia era
Multiplayer games are entering their nostalgia era
Live service video games are starting to get nostalgic about their humble beginnings.
The groundwork for this trend started years ago with World of Warcraft: Classic, which brought the MMO back to its original form. As more live service games have gotten older, we’re seeing more of them embrace “Classic” or “OG” modes that reset the look, feel, and balance of the game back to its earliest days. We’re currently in the midst of a Fortnite season that brings the battle royale back to how it was in Chapter 2, and in December, Fortnite OG is coming back as a dedicated mode. Meanwhile, Overwatch: Classic is running as a limited-time mode to remind people of the good old days of Blizzard’s hero shooter.
A game embracing self-reflexive nostalgia might seem paradoxical, but it’s not that surprising. Just as single-player games and series evolve with each new entry, live service games like Fortnite and Overwatch grow with every new season, update, or balance change. Players yearn for gaming experiences they are nostalgic for, and we’re seven to eight years removed from the beginnings of Fortnite and Overwatch at this point. As more live service games stick around for long and longer, expect this practice to become increasingly common.
Creating nostalgia
When it was released in 2016, Overwatch took the world by storm. It perfected the hero shooter formula and gave Blizzard its first grand new franchise since StarCraft. Overwatch also hopped on the live service trend as it gained momentum and became the golden goose every AAA gaming company attempted to chase. The game evolved over time with new heroes, maps, modes, and mechanics, but there was something truly magical about the early days of Overwatch.
Meanwhile, Fortnite capitalized on PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds‘ popularity in 2017 with an experimental battle royale mode. While this was initially a side mode with low expectations, Fortnite: Battle Royale revolutionized the game industry and became a trendsetter in the live service space with its seasonal and battle pass structures. Both Overwatch and Fortnite have drastically evolved since their humble beginnings.
Blizzard Entertainment
We saw support for Overwatch slow to a crawl, the establishment and collapse of the Overwatch League, and its underwhelming transition into Overwatch 2. We’ve seen multiple Fortnite Chapters with unique maps, modes, mechanics, and outfits, plus the expansion of Fortnite as a hub for other games. While you may have had the same game client installed on your PC for years, there’s no denying that the version of Overwatch or Fortnite that you’re booting up today is much different than the one you’d boot up in 2017. That creates a feeling of nostalgia for the early days of these titles that can be mined for content.
Part of the appeal of live service games is their ever-evolving nature. Players have reasons to return to the game day after day and may find drastic changes or additions of content when they log on. That keeps things balanced and fresh and creates distinct eras for games that people fondly remember. Those memories foster nostalgia, and catering to that nostalgia is a smart avenue for a developer looking for ways to earn back goodwill or bring players back.
For a game like Overwatch 2 with plenty of controversial changes, something like Overwatch: Classic is a safe bet with a proven track record of success. For Epic Games, Fortnite OG is a calculated way to highlight how Fortnite can serve as a hub for several different versions of the same game and potentially bring back people who have not picked the game up since 2017.
Epic Games
For live service games that constantly need to find new ways to bring lapsed players back and keep current ones consistently engaged, dipping back into older content isn’t a bad idea. There’s already a proven track record of returning content resonating with fans. Reintroducing that content might be a more meaningful announcement to older players than a brand new season, and these Limited Time Modes or shorter seasons can give developers a stopgap as they work on new content.
Players show up for these throwback releases, too. The initial release of Fortnite OG led to the biggest daily player count in the game’s history, so it makes sense that Epic Games would revisit the concept, and that those behind games like Overwatch 2 would take note and respond accordingly. While these live service games might not feel old because they’re still relevant, they have a lot of history. I only expect throwback seasons and events to get more common the longer these games are in operation.
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Argentina orders arrests of alleged Brazil rioters
Argentina orders arrests of alleged Brazil rioters
Argentina’s courts have ordered the arrest of 61 Brazilians facing jail sentences for their involvement in the Brasilia riots last year.
In January 2023, supporters of Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress in an attempted overthrow of the new left-wing government led by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula.
Hundreds of the rioters were arrested, charged and released on bail. Some were convicted and sentenced.
But others fled to Argentina to escape their sentences – particularly after far-right politician Javier Milei was elected president in December 2023.
Judge Daniel Rafecas said the warrants would apply to those who had “convictions with definite prison sentences,” Brazilian news outlet Globo reported.
In June this year, Brazilian authorities issued an extradition request to Argentina seeking help in extraditing more than 140 prosecuted rioters. But many in Brazil questioned whether the Milei government would agree. The Argentine president is a friend of Bolsanaro’s and has been a staunch critic of Lula.
However, in October, Argentina cancelled political asylum for people who have been convicted of ******* in their home country.
And on Friday, an Argentinian Federal Court judge ruled that the arrest warrants should be issued, noting the request of Brazil’s supreme court.
Local media also reported that local police on Friday had arrested one fugitive in La Plata city, about 60km (37 miles) from the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.
It is unclear if the whereabouts of the other rioters are known.
The Brazilian government believes the January 2023 riots were part of a coup attempt orchestrated by Bolsonaro following his defeat in a tightly contested presidential election the previous October. He denies any involvement.
But in the weeks following the election, he made repeated claims on social media questioning the results of the vote and the integrity of Brazil’s electronic voting system.
Less than a week after Lula was inaugurated in January 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the Congress building, the Supreme Court and Presidential Palace in Brasília.
The arrest warrants come just two days after another ******* in Brasilia’s Three Powers Plaza, where a former political candidate committed a ******** ***** ******* outside the Supreme Court.
Police have named the man as Francisco Wanderley Luiz, who stood unsuccessfully in council elections for Bolsonaro’s ******** Party.
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Blizzard Hiring For An Open-World Shooter Game
Blizzard Hiring For An Open-World Shooter Game
Blizzard is hiring for an unannounced upcoming open-world shooter game. A job ad posted on November 13 revealed this, though the requisition doesn’t have too many details about what the game is.
The job ad for the Associate Design Director, Innovation says this person will be the “vision holder and owner of key strategic innovations” for the upcoming unannounced “open-world shooter game.”
The job calls for someone to help implement strategies that have “shown potential but have not yet permeated the AAA space.” The successful candidate will work with Blizzard’s engineering, art, and audio teams to help guide the project from concept to release. This wording specifically suggests whatever this game is, it might be early in development.
According to the job listing (via VGC), a successful candidate can expect to earn a minimum annual salary of $124,400, with the potential of reaching $230,300.
This job ad was only posted this week, but journalist Jason Schreier’s new book, Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, contained a passage mentioning that a StarCraft shooter is, or was, in development at Blizzard. Whether or not this newly posted job ad is connected to that is unknown.
The rumored StarCraft shooter was said to be led by Dan Hay, the former Ubisoft and Far Cry veteran who joined Blizzard as vice president and general manager in 2022.
As part of the iterative nature of game development, Blizzard cancels about 50% of the games it works on, so whatever new Blizzard shooter is in development, it’s not guaranteed to release. In January this year, Microsoft announced that Blizzard had canceled its survival game, codenamed Odyssey, with some staffers moving over to an incubation project that was said to be a StarCraft shooter.
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England’s Morris dancers drive inclusive revival of tradition
England’s Morris dancers drive inclusive revival of tradition
Rachel Beckwith
In 2023, more women participated in Morris than men for the first time in the ***
When you think of the English tradition of Morris dancing, you might not picture a group of young, gender non-conforming, drag kings who dress like “chimney sweeps” – but that will be because you’ve not seen Molly No-Mates.
The Bristol team – or side – represents the changing face of Morris, a tradition in which men no longer make up the majority of participants for the first time in *** history.
For co-founder Scarlett Hutchin, it was a counter protest outside a drag queen story time in Bristol that sparked the idea of a ******-friendly Morris side.
The events see a drag queen reading a book to children with the goal of promoting reading and diversity, but some have seen backlash from the public.
“I was texting with my friend from my Morris team and I was just like, ‘what would really improve the situation? Morris dancing’,” says Scarlett.
“One of the traditions of Molly [a type of Morris], is to dance to just singing and that’s what we do. And we can have these dances that we can take to the protests that don’t require instruments and don’t require things that are offensive weapons.
“It gives us scope to make our values and our point of view very visible, because when you have songs, you have words.
“Pretty much all of our songs are in some way feminist or ****** or leftist.”
Morris dancing is a form of traditional English folk dance that takes a variety of styles depending on where the group has come from.
For example, Border Morris, originating in the Welsh border counties of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, features performers who wear tatter coats and often paint their faces or use other forms of disguise.
By contrast, Clog Step is a dance style with percussive footwork and fine timing.
Scarlett feels Molly No-Mates is part of the “cultural moment” Morris is experiencing, and points to last year’s Brit Awards where Stroud-based group Boss Morris danced on stage with Wet Leg, who won Best New Artist and Group of the Year.
“One of the things that’s bringing a lot of people kind of back to folk… is people want to have some kind of culture,” Scarlett says.
“And there’s this idea that England doesn’t have any culture which is just not true. It’s just that it’s really neglected.”
Jack Witek
Molly No-Mates’ dancers are around “80% non binary or other”, co-founder Scarlett says
According to the 2023 Morris Census, the proportion of female members in Morris in the *** had risen from 46% in 2014 to 50.6% in 2023.
In 2020, its questions were tweaked to include the number of “non-binary/other” members.
An estimated 0.8% of *** sides’ members were reported in this category in 2023, up from 0.5% in 2020.
Molly No-Mates, which formed in May 2023 in north Bristol, had just two members when it started – hence the “no-mates”. Now they number ten and are around “80% non binary or other”.
“It feels like we’re kind of bringing visible queerness into spaces that don’t always have it that much,” Scarlett says.
She describes their outfits as looking like “19th century chimney sweeps”, donning ****** shorts or trousers, a white top, braces, and a flat cap.
EPA
Stroud-based team Boss Morris danced on stage with Wet Leg at last year’s Brit Awards
Colin Andrews is an administrator at the Morris Dances & Teams Database and started teaching Morris dancing in 1990.
The site, which started in early 2018, provides an easily searchable database of all Morris teams worldwide.
“From about the mid 20s right the way through to the early 70s, Morris was regarded as being exclusively male,” he says.
“The [incoming] Squire Elect [leader] for the Morris Ring is a woman… it’s moving away from being gender specific.
“I would say probably over the past five years many of the male-only Cotswold Morris sides have gone mixed, and that basically was it’s either a case of going mixed or folding… [they] just weren’t getting enough new new members in.”
Morris is an “evolving tradition”, Colin says, and he thinks it’s interesting to see teams develop their own interpretations of the dance.
“I think the question is whether these innovations will continue or whether they will just last as long as that particular team lasts,” he says.
“But I think it’s a good thing that people try experimenting with different things.”
Soft Butch/Sophia Stefellé
One of the most distinct elements of Molly dancing is the use of cross-dressing, according to the English Folk Dance and Song Society
Since Molly No-Mates started, Scarlett says the side has received a “really positive response” from a lot of traditional teams.
“In August we were dancing at Northgate Folk Festival in Chester… and there was a lovely traditional old, white men’s team and they said they’d arrived several hours early to see us.”
One of the most distinct elements of traditional Molly dancing is the use of cross-dressing, according to the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
At least one – but sometimes several – of the team members dress in women’s clothing.
They say 19th Century Molly groups took pride in the appearance of their crossdressing “Moll”, competing amongst themselves to see who could produce the best dressed – and this is probably where the name Molly comes from.
In the past the term molly was an offensive word aimed at gay men, or men who carried out tasks considered to be women’s work, such as cooking or clothes washing.
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, molly houses were locations where “mollies”, or ****** men, met for companionship and ****.
They could be in pubs, taverns, inns or coffee houses.
Akhilesh Mistry
To take part in Morris you need to enjoy “moving around and looking a bit funny”, says Squire Sam Murphy
Sam Murphy, who identifies as gender fluid, is Squire of Bristol-based Border Morris team, Kittiwake.
They took up Morris dancing despite having no family background in it.
“The key things that you’d need to enjoy are moving around a lot and looking a bit funny,” Sam advises aspiring beginners.
“The people I’ve met from it have been just the most lovely people.
“There’s no gatekeeping, [there’s no] ‘You’re not committed enough, so you can’t do this’. It’s very supportive.
“And certainly in the circles that I’ve been in… there is more acceptance and openness, and people are more comfortable expressing themselves in things outside the gender binary.”
Rachel Beckwith
Kittiwake performed at Sidmouth Folk Festival this year for the first time
The three main organisations in the *** that support Morris and traditional dance teams are The Morris Federation, The Morris Ring, and Open Morris.
They come together as the “****** Morris Organisations” to discuss issues that affect all of their members.
Nigel Strudwick, current Squire of the Morris Ring, says that the Morris world is changing and that the Morris Ring is “delighted” to see the traditions move forward.
“We welcome everyone who would like to try out Morris dancing regardless of background, and it’s good to see new teams being formed to cater for those who might otherwise have felt there is nothing in the Morris for them.
“Long may this continue.”
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NYT Connections: hints and answers for Friday, November 15
NYT Connections: hints and answers for Friday, November 15
Sam Hill / Digital Trends
Connections is one of the best puzzle games from the New York Times. The game tasks you with categorizing a pool of 16 words into four secret (for now) groups by figuring out how the words relate to each other. The puzzle resets every night at midnight and each new puzzle has a varying degree of difficulty. Just like Wordle, you can keep track of your winning streak and compare your scores with friends.
Some days are trickier than others — just like other NYT Games favorites The Mini and Strands. If you’re having a little trouble solving today’s puzzle, check out our Connections tips and tricks guide for some good strategies or check out the hints for today’s Connections puzzle below. And if you still can’t get it, we’ll tell you today’s answers at the very end.
How to play Connections
Connections is a daily game about finding common threads between words. Players must select four groups of four words without making more than three mistakes. Play now. pic.twitter.com/CqObVOqeUs
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 3, 2024
You can play Connections on the New York Times website or with the NYT Games app on iOS or Android.
In Connections, you’ll be shown a grid containing 16 words — your objective is to organize these words into four sets of four by identifying the connections that link them. These sets could encompass concepts like titles of video game franchises, book series sequels, shades of red, names of chain restaurants, etc.
There are generally words that seem like they could fit multiple themes, but there’s only one 100% correct answer. You’re able to shuffle the grid of words and rearrange them to help better see the potential connections.
Each group is ******-coded. The yellow group is the easiest to figure out, followed by the green, blue, and purple groups.
Pick four words and hit Submit. If you’re correct, the four words will be removed from the grid and the theme connecting them will be revealed. Guess incorrectly and it’ll count as a mistake. You only have four mistakes available until the game ends.
Hints for today’s Connections
We can help you solve today’s Connection by telling you the four themes. If you need more assistance, we’ll also give you one word from each group below.
Today’s themes
FISSURE
ELEMENTS OF WRITING
INSTRUMENTS YOU ***** INTO
___ OF TIME
One-answer reveals
FISSURE – ******
ELEMENTS OF WRITING – LETTER
INSTRUMENTS YOU ***** INTO – JUG
___ OF TIME – NICK
New York Times
Today’s Connections answers
Still no luck? That’s OK. This puzzle is designed to be difficult. If you just want to see today’s Connections answer, we’ve got you covered below:
FISSURE – ******, *****, *****, PUNCTURE
ELEMENTS OF WRITING – LETTER, PHRASE, SENTENCE, WORD
INSTRUMENTS YOU ***** INTO – JUG, PIPE, RECORDER, WHISTLE
___ OF TIME – NICK, PASSAGE, SANDS, WASTE
Connections grids vary widely and change every day. If you couldn’t solve today’s puzzle, be sure to check back in tomorrow.
NYT Connection FAQs
What time does the Connections puzzle change?
The puzzle changes daily at midnight local time.
Who edits the NYT Connections game?
Wyna Liu, who has been editing puzzles at The New York Times since 2020, edits Connections daily.
“A few months ago, a new assignment crossed my desk: Create the game boards for Connections, a category matching game that had recently been greenlighted and was in search of an editor,” wrote Liu in an article explaining her process in June 2024. Most of my puzzle experience has been working with crosswords, and I was excited at the chance to try something different. I’ve enjoyed learning how puzzle editing plays out once a game is greenlighted, and seeing how our team fits into a larger ecosystem.”
On the one-year anniversary of Connections launching earlier this year, Liu posted this TikTok about her favorite puzzles so far:
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Pelican News
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The **** who just loved trains
The **** who just loved trains
While other kids were kicking a footy around at recess at North Fremantle Primary School, Kevin Pearce had just one thing on his mind in the 1950s — trains.
Kevin’s school was located alongside the Perth to Fremantle line and the youngster would stand up against the fence, entranced by the new diesel trains.
The Mt Pleasant rail enthusiast parlayed that early love of trains from a hobby into an enduring career, but Kevin’s affinity with travel goes back even further than his primary school days.
“We lived in West Perth and my mother told me that whenever I was restless, she used to wheel the pram down to the railway line,” he says.
“As soon as I saw and heard the trains, not a whimper. So that’s how it started!”
Camera IconKevin Pearce celebrates the reopening of the Perth-Fremantle line in 1983. Credit: WA Newspapers
When Kevin was old enough to get a bike, he was able to explore further afield, such as at the busy North Wharf where trains shunted goods to and from the ships.
He also chased trains along the long-gone Rocky Bay line which ran to the sugar refinery in Mosman Park.
In the 1960s Kevin discovered kindred spirits at the Railway Historical Society and soon after joining, became active on their tours committee organising rail trips.
Kevin, turning 81 in December 2024, has spent 40 years professionally organising rail tours, although he was organising hobby and charity rail tours some 20 years before that.
While working at Watsonia in export shipping, Kevin organised the company’s annual picnic train, a two-car diesel with 124 seats.
Camera IconKevin Pearce organised the Sunday Times Watsonia special. Credit: Supplied
“But this small train wasn’t enough, I wanted a big train hauled by a locomotive, so I asked our banker’s social club (ANZ) if they would like to join us,” he explains.
“The answer was yes, and we ended up with a 12-car train with 600 passengers for a day trip to Dwellingup.
“The success led me to ask the Sunday Times if they would like to sponsor a trip and raise money for their blanket appeal charity. The small editorial they gave produced a huge response and we set off to Toodyay with 16 carriages and 800 passengers in 1981.”
Kevin then started a long association with WA Newspapers, and The Daily News Watsonia Flyer ran excursions to country towns including Wyalkatchem, Quairading, Donnybrook and Busselton.
“These tours continued through the 80s under The West *********** banner raising money for charity,” Kevin said.
“By 1984 I was so busy with the train charters I left Watsonia to work fulltime organising rail tours.”
Kevin ran popular chartered Prospector trips to Esperance from 1984 for about 20 years until it was no longer available for charter.
“I then decided I wanted to organise some longer trips and in 1985 did my first overseas trip which was the Great Java Rail Tour, that is my baby.”
The Java tour was inspired by a trip to Bali with a friend in the 1970s, well before direct flights, which necessitated first travelling from Jakarta by train. Kevin was hooked.
The 14-night Great Java Rail Tour departs annually in July, with accommodation in four- and five-star hotels, a mix of Indonesian, Western and ******** meals, and daytime-only train journeys in a private sitting car with use of an exclusive lounge car.
Along the way, guests experience the sights, sounds and culture of Java at stops including Jakarta, Surabaya and Yogyakarta. One of the hotels used is the colonial Majapahit Hotel, built in 1910 by Lucas Martin Sarkies, part of the famous family whose collection of grand hotels included the Raffles in Singapore.
Including it on the tour was the idea of Kevin’s life and business partner Rory Oktaviono, who he met in Java 20 years ago.
Camera IconThe Great Java Rail Tour. Credit: Supplied
“I am very fortunate he has a terrific way with the mature aged people, he gets on so well with them and that also helps,” Kevins says of Rory, who wears many hats including tour photographer.
“If he wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own, from the IT side to the porterage.
I don’t think there is any tour company that carries the luggage from the bus to the room, we do it all.”
Pricing for the next Great Java Rail Tour is due out in December 2024 but it is often half-booked out in advance by repeat customers.
“Who else is doing Java, who is selling Java, nobody,” Kevin said.
“When people go on this tour, they discover they love it so much. They didn’t expect it to be so good.
“All we think about here (in WA) is Bali, so the Java tour sells itself.”
fact file
+ The next Great Java Rail Tour is scheduled to depart on July 27, 2025. Bookings via Tour de Force Travel, Carine: tourdeforce.com.au or call 9246 2177.
+ More on Kevin Pearce Tours at kevinpearcetours.com.au
Camera IconKevin Pearce organised the Sunday Times Watsonia special. Credit: SuppliedCamera IconKevin Pearce Tours chartered the Prospector to Esperance. Credit: SuppliedCamera IconKevin Pearce organised the Sunday Times Watsonia special. Credit: Supplied
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****** Ops 6 Easter Egg Breathes New Life Into Nuketown (In The Creepiest Way Possible)
****** Ops 6 Easter Egg Breathes New Life Into Nuketown (In The Creepiest Way Possible)
Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 Season 1 is now live, and includes loads of new features–one of which is a long-awaited mannequin Easter egg that players can unearth in the game’s iconic Nuketown map.
Those who have played Nuketown before already know the drill: The map’s layout features a suburban neighborhood with model homes, winding picket fences, and freshly-cut lawns, all packed into a nuclear testing zone that gives off major Fallout vibes. Inhabited solely by mannequins, Nuketown has always been a place where secrets lurk, but Treyarch has kicked things up a notch this time around.
Warning: Spoilers ahead! Proceed with caution if you wish to experience the new Nuketown Easter egg without assistance.
To experience the Easter egg, players must ****** the head off of each mannequin. Some of them can be a little bit tricky to find, but once they’ve all been hunted down, a ******-and-white “please stand by” message appears on screen for a moment. Once the message disappears, players will find themselves back in Nuketown… and no longer alone.
In the middle of the map, a group of mannequins can be seen peacefully sitting together, completely motionless, as if watching a television broadcast. Players who begin ******* weapons at them, however, will soon face their wrath, as gunfire seemingly brings the mannequins to life. Members of the crowd will respond by throwing flashbangs at the player, but the real risk is located in the town itself. Once the Easter egg is activated, zombie-like mannequins will begin to spawn and chase players around the map. (Amusingly, the crowd of mannequins will also boo and cheer in response to players’ actions.) The mannequins that aren’t sitting in the stands move and groan like zombies, and if that isn’t creepy enough, all the headless mannequins also remain on the map, frozen in place as the player fights off their non-beheaded counterparts.
****** Ops 6 players are having a great time with Nuketown’s latest mannequin-based secret, with some posting footage of their creepy nuclear test site adventures, and others sharing suggestions for future Easter eggs.
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Pelican News
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Bills’ new stadium costs balloon to $2.1 billion, $560 million over initial estimate, team tells AP
Bills’ new stadium costs balloon to $2.1 billion, $560 million over initial estimate, team tells AP
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The projected cost of the Buffalo Bills’ new stadium has ballooned to what team officials on Friday told The Associated Press is “north of $2.1 billion,” with owners Terry and Kim Pegula responsible for picking up the more than $560 million in overruns.
Bills president Pete Guelli said he was not surprised by the amount, given how the numbers have been tracking up since construction began 16 months ago. And he said the projected total represents the commitment the Pegulas have to the community because they are sticking to their vision for the facility without cutting corners to reduce costs.
“To sum that up, the Pegulas will not deviate from building a best-in-class stadium in Buffalo,” Guelli said.
“It’s going to be an exceptional fan experience, and incredible place to play. I think we’re very proud that we can build a facility like this in Buffalo and have it available to our fans,” he added. “We need this project to be a success for the team on and off the field, and it will be.”
Guelli said the increased costs will not impact the timetable for completion. The stadium is being built across the street from the Bills’ current home and is on track to open by June 2026.
Taxpayers are committing a combined $850 million to the project — $600 million from the state and $250 million from the county. At the time of the deal reached two years ago, that represented more than half the cost of construction, but now, taxpayers will be responsible for about 40%. The Bills are responsible for any overruns beyond $1.54 billion.
“I’m very pleased knowing that when all is said and done — and it still isn’t done, so it could go up even more — that the county is going to probably have contributed no more than 12% of the total cost, which is a pretty good deal,” Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz told The AP.
The Pegulas are now on the ***** for $1.25 billion in construction costs, plus $144 million more as part of a community benefits package to be spread out over the 30-year lease.
The Bills are funding their share through an NFL loan program as well as raising money through a first-time seat licensing fee for season-ticket holders. Preliminary plans are also in the works to establish an entertainment zone, featuring restaurants, bars and shops, to be built once the existing stadium is razed.
Pegula is also raising money by seeking to sell off a ********* share — no more than 25% — of the franchise, though Guelli said the reasons behind the move are not connected to increased construction costs. The Bills met with several interested groups over the summer and into September, with Pegula expected to identify a new partner by the end of the year.
Story Continues
The Pegulas bought the Bills for $1.4 billion from the estate of late Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson in 2014. Forbes most recently valued the Bills at $4.2 billion.
The new building will seat about 60,000, down from about 72,000 from the team’s existing stadium that opened in 1973 and is considered technologically outdated and experiencing cracks in its structure. Though the new stadium doesn’t include a roof, it will feature curved sides to cover a majority of seats.
And unlike the current facility, which faces east-west, the new building is positioned facing north-south to better protect fans from the winds that ***** in off nearby Lake Erie.
John Polka, vice president of stadium development, said inflation played a significant role in the price jump by pushing up material construction costs. Two more contributing factors, he said, were increasing labor costs and design features that were added after the Bills completed their agreement with the state and county.
“We could have stopped at some point and said, let’s cut back. And that was not the case at all. In some cases, we’ve actually gone back in recent months and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got an idea or something that we think will enhance the fan experience or give us a better competitive advantage,’” Polka said. “And that’s really a testament to the Pegulas saying: ‘This is what we want to build. We designed it. This was our intent. There were reasons behind it, and we’re going to move forward with that.’”
New York’s Empire State Development, which will oversee the operation of the new stadium, noted that aside from having the state’s share reduced to about 29%, the negotiated deal also resulted in $462 million in contracts awarded to ********* and women-owned businesses.
Guelli, who took over as president of the Bills and the Pegula-owned NHL Sabres in March, noted the significance of what the new stadium represents by recalling Bills fans’ fears of the franchise relocating when he previously worked for the team in the 2000s.
“People were talking about the Bills potentially leaving and now there’s a $2 billion stadium going up across the street to keep the team in Buffalo long term,” Guelli said. “It’s pretty gratifying for everybody to be a part of it, especially with the Pegula family.”
___
AP NFL:
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NYT Strands today: hints, spangram and answers for Friday, November 15
NYT Strands today: hints, spangram and answers for Friday, November 15
Strands is a brand new daily puzzle from the New York Times. A trickier take on the classic word search, you’ll need a keen eye to solve this puzzle.
Like Wordle, Connections, and the Mini Crossword, Strands can be a bit difficult to solve some days. There’s no shame in needing a little help from time to time. If you’re stuck and need to know the answers to today’s Strands puzzle, check out the solved puzzle below.
How to play Strands
You start every Strands puzzle with the goal of finding the “theme words” hidden in the grid of letters. Manipulate letters by dragging or tapping to craft words; double-tap the final letter to confirm. If you find the correct word, the letters will be highlighted blue and will no longer be selectable.
If you find a word that isn’t a theme word, it still helps! For every three non-theme words you find that are at least four letters long, you’ll get a hint — the letters of one of the theme words will be revealed and you’ll just have to unscramble it.
Every single letter on the grid is used to spell out the theme words and there is no overlap. Every letter will be used once, and only once.
Each puzzle contains one “spangram,” a special theme word (or words) that describe the puzzle’s theme and touches two opposite sides of the board. When you find the spangram, it will be highlighted yellow.
The goal should be to complete the puzzle quickly without using too many hints.
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s theme is “Dress for lunch”
Here’s a hint that might help you: components of a leafy meal.
Today’s Strand answers
NYT
Today’s spanagram
We’ll start by giving you the spangram, which might help you figure out the theme and solve the rest of the puzzle on your own:
Today’s Strands answers
KALE
ICEBERG
ROMAINE
RADICCHIO
WATERCRESS
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Scarlet tanager brings ‘more visitors in two days than 30 years’
Scarlet tanager brings ‘more visitors in two days than 30 years’
BBC
Birdwatchers from the *** descended on the quiet cull-de-sac in Shelf keen to catch a glimpse of the scarlet tanager
When news a rare ********* songbird had been spotted in a sleepy West Yorkshire ****-de-sac eager ornithologists converged on the quiet street faster than a falcon in free fall.
But for the long term residents of Shelf – previously only known as the home of Blue Peter presenter John Noakes and interior designer Linda Barker – the arrival of a scarlet tanager brought a spotlight on the village and a “crazy” influx of visitors.
While some complained about the parking and disruption to the bin round, others said they were excited to see the village put on the map.
Peter Flesher, who lives on Bridle Dene, is yet to see the winged visitor
“There’s been more strange people on this road in two days than in the whole of the 30 years, Peter Flesher tells me.
The 82-year-old, who has lived on Bridle Dene for three decades, said most of the visitors had been respectful, though he described the excitement as “a pain in the whatsit”.
“To be fair, they’ve been nice people and they’ve not caused us any trouble,” he said.
“We have two granddaughters who live over there and they were a bit perturbed by having 200 people staring at their house. But no, they were very good.”
News of the arrival of the scarlet tanager – more usually found in the forests of North America – broke last weekend, sending birdwatchers into a state of excitement.
According to some reports the sighting in West Yorkshire is the first in the *** in 10 years and only the eighth recorded in this country.
Mr Flesher said he had been out to speak to some of the bird watchers and had met people from as far away as Glasgow.
“I can’t believe these people. They have come up from Kent, Cornwall and one chap said he had come from Cambridge.
“The whole road was full.”
Residents created homemade signs to direct visiting birdwatchers
Another long-term resident, Tony Gregson, 90, has lived on the road for 40 years.
He said he first spotted the bird in his garden way back in September.
“It’s been here weeks,” he says.
“It was on the bird feeder and I said to my sister ‘what’s that bird?’ – it must have been five or six weeks since and everybody turned up.”
Mr Gregson says he had had people knocking on his door and asking to try to catch a glimpse from his garden, but felt that was a step too far.
“They wanted to come into the back garden and I said ‘no’ because you don’t know what they’re doing. But they’ve been alright.
“They were very friendly really. Very nice people.”
Stewart Short came to Shelf from Cambridgeshire twice to see the bird
Among those to make the pilgrimage to West Yorkshire was Stewart Short from Cambridgeshire.
He said his visit to Shelf on Thursday was his second trip up and a second attempt to see one of his bucket-list birds.
“I heard about it last weekend,” he said
“I was here on Tuesday but I’ve not seen the bird, that’s why I’m back.”
But great adventures come with their own challenges – where does a twitcher go to the ******* for instance?
“Going to the ******* is sometimes difficult,” said Mr Short. “It’s a question of finding the right tree.”
Pauline, a birdwatcher from Gargrave, said it was more difficult for women.
“I watch out for places before we get anywhere – Tesco is good,” she told me.
Despite only travelling 25 miles for today’s outing, Pauline has been as far as Devon for her birdwatching trips.
“We were looking for a Merlin. We didn’t see it though,” she said.
Julie King has lived in Shelf for 19 years, her daughter lives near where the bird was first spotted
Julie King, 78, who has lived in Shelf for 19 years, said the village had been “hectic” with traffic and parking the main problems.
“I’ve heard more car horns going – there might be more of that,” she said
But, she thinks the visitors will be off again soon. And the road is much quieter than it was on Monday when between 200-300 people flocked to the scene.
“I thought it had gone,” she said.
“I can’t see it flying all the way back to America though.”
Matthew and his wife have lived in Shelf for two years. They pass through Bridle Dene while walking their two dogs.
Despite saying he is “not a twitcher by any means”, he has brought along his binoculars and did catch a glimpse of the scarlet tanager earlier in the week.
The couple live on the other side of the village, so the crowds of people have not bothered them too much, but Matthew said he had heard rumblings of discontent from other residents.
“The car park has been full every day. Certainly the last few days it’s been crazy, much busier than normal.
“It’s a sleepy little village and not much goes on really.
“There’s obviously been some people who are excited that this bird’s been in town, and it’s great to see all these people, whereas other people have not really enjoyed the disruption.
“It’s been interesting for a sleepy little village like Shelf. To see Shelf on the national news is crazy.”
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.
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GM’s Cruise will pay a $500,000 fine for submitting a false accident report
GM’s Cruise will pay a $500,000 fine for submitting a false accident report
GM’s robotaxi unit Cruise has agreed to pay a $500,000 for submitting a false accident report as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. The US Justice Department (DoJ) said that Cruise ******* to disclose vital details about a serious October 2023 accident in which one of its vehicles struck a pedestrian and dragged her 20 feet after she was hit by another vehicle.
“Federal laws and regulations are in place to protect public safety on our roads. Companies with self-driving cars that seek to share our roads and crosswalks must be fully truthful in their reports to their regulators,” said Martha Boersch, Chief of the Office of the U.S. Attorney’s ********* Division. Uber has yet to comment on the matter.
Under the terms of the three-year settlement, Cruise must cooperate with the government, put a safety compliance program into place and provide annual reports to the US Attorney’s office. The company could still be prosecuted if it fails to comply with those conditions. Cruise was previously fined $1.5 million by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and reportedly reached a settlement with the victim worth at least $8 million.
According to the US Attorney’s office, a Cruise driverless vehicle operating in San Francisco ran over a pedestrian who had been thrown into its path after being struck by a separate, human-operated vehicle. The Cruise vehicle initially stopped after running over the pedestrian, but its systems ******* to detect that she was still under the vehicle. It then tried to pull over to the side, dragging the woman over 20 feet. In Cruise’s report to the NHTSA, it said nothing about dragging the victim after it struck her. (Cruise also omitted this information in statements to the press at the time of the accident.)
Cruise was subsequently stripped of its license to operate self-driving vehicles in California. The company stopped all operations of both its driverless cars and its manned robotaxi service in order to engage in a comprehensive safety review. CEO Kyle Vogt resigned in November and GM announced plans to slash Cruise’s funding and to restructure leadership based on external safety reviews. Nearly a quarter of the company’s workforce was cut that in December.
Cruise vehicles stayed off roads for several more months but returned to Arizona in April and to Houston in June under the supervision of human drivers. In September this year, Cruise recommenced operations in California, again with human drivers at the wheel. In August, the company said its self-driving vehicles would come to Uber starting next year.
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Looking back to the golden age of rail in WA
Looking back to the golden age of rail in WA
Kevin Pearce looks back fondly on the 1980s as the golden age of train travel in Western Australia
Interested in trains since childhood, Kevin, who turns 81 in December 2024, started organising charity rail tours 60 years ago before going on to establish Kevin Pearce Tours as a business 40 years ago.
“The heyday of Sunday excursion trains was the 1980s,” Kevin said.
“I was carrying something like 10,000 passengers a year, as was Hotham Valley and the Railway Historical Society.
“That all finished in the late 80s because of the lack of rolling stock, the carriages were all disbanded and that sort of thing.”
While the days of charter rail tours to Esperance, Albany and Geraldton are long gone, Kevin keeps the spirit of intrastate rail travel alive through his Wheatlands Escape Rail Tour and Goldfields-Esperance Rail and Coach Tour. He plans to resume tours to the South West when the new Australind is back on the tracks next year.
Kevin, with business partner and husband Rory Oktaviano, also runs an annual Christmas Rail Tour using the MerredinLink train to Cunderdin and Northam. The tour offers three nights at the historic Rec Hotel in Northam and includes side tours to York and Beverley.
The Northam trip has a hint of nostalgia to it — that’s the first place Kevin travelled as a five-year old, to visit relatives with his mother.
Most of Kevin’s customers are retirees in their 60s and 70s and from Perth but his oldest passenger was 99. Many are repeat customers. A few even attended his wedding in 2020.
Camera IconKevin Pearce and Rory Oktaviano. Credit: Sue Yeap/The West ***********
“Because we have mature age people, every tour I do now we have an entertainment night and they just love it,” Kevin said.
“Even with the Great Java Rail Tour (Kevin’s only annual international tour), the welcoming night we have a six-piece band and guests love that.
“With the Wheatlands tour we use opera singer Jay Weston and you can hear a pin drop when he performs.”
Kevin says it is rewarding to see people enjoying themselves and it is all part of his tour style to include entertainment, porterage and meals so the passengers don’t have to organise any of it.
“Everything we do locally fills, there is a demand for rail travel which is very limited in this State,” he said.
“If you look at our three-day Wheatlands tour, we have people coming from Busselton and Bunbury, making their way up to Perth just for this train experience to Cunderdin and Northam, now that says something doesn’t it!”
In his dream future, Kevin would like to see passenger train services reintroduced to Albany and Geraldton.
“There is the potential for tourism, the lines are already operating lines and all they need is a train.”
Having travelled the world extensively by rail, the bucket list trip for Kevin would be the Orient Express.
“The high-speed bullet trains, I don’t have the same interest in those, I am more of a nostalgic train traveller, seeing the countryside, enjoying a ***** while you’re travelling along that’s what I like.
“They’re doing away with dining cars and that is part of the romance of train travel.”
The highlight of Kevin’s train life was operating the first passenger train on the Perth to Fremantle line in February 1983, which had been controversially closed to passenger trains by the ******** government in September 1979.
“On a Sunday in February I had organised one of my regular Serpentine BBQ trips with the train travelling via Armadale,” he reflects.
“The week before there was the State election with Labor promising to reopen the line — and Labor won.
“I immediately rang Westrail on the Monday morning and asked if my Serpentine charter train could run via the Fremantle line. The answer was an immediate yes!”
Onboard were 400 people who had paid $10 each to join. The West *********** reported that “seven rail carriages from The Australind service, looking slightly worse for wear, were pulled by a modern A-class diesel locomotive over the route”.
“The day was amazing,” Kevin said.
“We gave passengers streamers to trail out the windows and as we travelled down to Freo there were literally thousands of people lining the tracks waving to the train.
“It got into the news, and we had to add an extra suburban car carriage to our eight-car train due to so many wanting to travel.”
fact file
+ This year’s Christmas tour is sold out. The next Goldfields-Esperance Rail and Coach Tour is in May 2025. Bookings via Tour de Force Travel, Carine: tourdeforce.com.au
+ kevinpearcetours.com.au
Camera IconProspector Kalgoorlie to Esperance charter passengers at the billy tea and damper stop near the salt lakes. Credit: SuppliedCamera IconA private lounge car on the Great Java Rail Tour. Credit: SuppliedCamera IconA view on the Great Java Rail Tour. Credit: SuppliedCamera IconIn Jogjakarta on the Great Java Rail Tour. Credit: SuppliedCamera IconTravellers on the Great Java Rail Tour. Credit: SuppliedCamera IconA view on the Great Java Rail Tour. Credit: Supplied
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The Dune Tabletop RPG Is Almost 70% Off For A Limited Time
The Dune Tabletop RPG Is Almost 70% Off For A Limited Time
Between blockbuster films and video games, Dune has made a big comeback over the last couple of years. If you’re looking to explore Arrakis but from the comfort of your table, you can check out this discount on Amazon for the Dune RPG Core Rulebook from Modiphius Entertainment, as it just got a massive 67% discount. Normally $60, you can grab this for $20, but only while stocks last in this limited-time deal.
Set during the end of the Imperium in Dune, this TTRPG offers a narrative-heavy approach to gaming set during the years that Paul Atreides rose to power. The Imperium is still a hostile arena wherein noble Houses battle each other for supremacy, and you’ll need to establish your own House that can help you carve out a place in the universe as you ****** for the Imperial throne. The game lets you assume the roles of elite agents working for noble Houses and other factions.
Dune RPG Core Rulebook
The Dune RPG Core Rulebook contains all the guidelines for novice and experienced gamemasters on how to run Dune-themed adventures and campaigns, rules for creating a noble House of your own, systems for architect play, and there’s an introductory adventure designed to get players up and running quickly.
If you’re planning to be the game master, you can also pair this with the Dune RPG Gamemaster’s Toolkit, a bundle that includes a four-panel decorated screen, a 32-page booklet offering gamemaster support, and scenarios for you to customize for your players. Normally $35, it’s on ***** for $24 right now.
For a few more board games, Amazon has quite a few limited-time specials on games like Bloodborne: The Card Game, The Lord of the Rings Monopoly, and more at great prices. Check the list below for a few of our favorites, or head over to our roundup of the best early ****** Friday board game deals at Amazon for more.
More Board Game Deals at Amazon
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Trump picks campaign aide Karoline Leavitt for White House press secretary
Trump picks campaign aide Karoline Leavitt for White House press secretary
By Steve Holland
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump reached into his inner circle on Friday and chose his transition spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, as his White House press secretary, putting a 27-year-old firebrand in position to aggressively defend him.
Leavitt has endeared herself to Trump by her ardent defense of him in news interviews and her take-no-prisoners style, Trump advisers said.
The job of the White House press secretary typically is to help inform the ********* people about presidential activities without betraying the confidence of the boss.
“I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium, and help deliver our message to the ********* People as we, Make America Great Again,” Trump said in a statement.
The challenge for Leavitt will be to impart reliable information and gain credibility with reporters – while maintaining strong loyalty to Trump.
Leavitt will be the youngest person to ever hold the title of White House press secretary. Ron Ziegler was the previous youngest press secretary at age 29 when President Richard Nixon gave him the position in 1969.
A New Hampshire native, Leavitt was an assistant press secretary during the latter part of Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021.
When Trump was defeated by Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, Leavitt became communications director for *********** U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik, who has been tapped by Trump as his U.S. ambassador to the ******* Nations.
Leavitt ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire in 2022, winning the *********** primary. She lost the general election to Democrat Chris Pappas, but the experience appeared to give her valuable experience at public speaking.
She joined Trump’s 2024 campaign and has been the chief spokesperson for the president-elect’s transition team.
Biden has had two press secretaries over four years: Jen Psaki and Karine Jean-Pierre.
Trump, a close observer of those who defend him and whether they are tough enough, had four press secretaries during his 2017-2021 term: Sean Spicer, Sarah Sanders, Stephanie Grisham and Kayleigh McEnany.Spicer ran afoul of the White House press corps at his first appearance in January 2017 with the false claim that the crowd gathered in Washington for Trump’s inauguration was “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, *******, both in person and around the globe.”
Photographic proof showed otherwise and the uproar continued for days. Spicer eventually lost Trump’s confidence and the president switched to Sanders, who got praise from him for her parrying with the press corps. She is now the *********** governor of Arkansas.
After Sanders left, Trump turned to Grisham, who never held a briefing, which she said was at Trump’s direction. She eventually went back to work for Trump’s wife, then-first lady Melania Trump. Grisham resigned after the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and is now a sharp Trump critic.
Trump’s last chief spokesperson at the White House was McEnany, who sparred with reporters during the pandemic year of 2020 and is now an on-air personality at Fox News.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; editing by Ross Colvin and Jonathan Oatis)
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How Metaphor: ReFantazio's Worldbuilding Extends Beyond Its Main Party
How Metaphor: ReFantazio's Worldbuilding Extends Beyond Its Main Party
Beyond the scope of its main party and followers, Metaphor: ReFantazio manages to build on its side characters in a way that strengthens its world.
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U.S. received Iran’s written assurance it was not actively trying to ************ Trump
U.S. received Iran’s written assurance it was not actively trying to ************ Trump
The U.S. received written assurance from Iran before the presidential election that its leadership was not actively trying to ************ President-elect Donald Trump, CBS News confirmed, according to a source with direct knowledge of the correspondence. The message arrived after the White House in September affirmed that ******** a former U.S. president or former U.S. official would be seen by the Biden administration as an act of war.
“We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority, and we strongly condemn Iran for these brazen threats,” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement in September.
Iran said in its message, which was conveyed by a third party, that it understood this premise. The Wall Street Journal first reported Iran’s message to the U.S.
The Justice Department is currently prosecuting at least two individuals alleged to have been part of *******-for-hire plots to ***** Trump while he was still a candidate. One operative working for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told federal investigators that he was tasked in September with “surveilling, and, ultimately, assassinating” Trump, according to court records unsealed last week.
Prosecutors said Farhad Shakeri, who is believed to be residing in Iran, told investigators in a phone interview that unnamed IRGC officials pushed him to plan an ******* against Trump to take place in October. If the plan could not come together in time, the Iranian officials directed Shakeri to delay the plot until after the election because the official “assessed that [Trump] would lose the election,” the charging documents said.
In early August, a Pakistani national with alleged ties to Iran was arrested and charged with plotting a *******-for-hire scheme targeting U.S. government officials and politicians, according to charging documents unsealed Tuesday.
A U.S. official pointed out that Iran did not task its most effective proxy force, Hezbollah, with carrying out these plots. This official described Iran’s approach to date as “nice if it works. If it doesn’t, then it’s not a problem.”
In response to inquiries suggesting that “Iran told U.S. it wouldn’t try to ***** Trump”, the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran said it would not comment on official messages between two countries.
The mission said in a statement, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has long declared its commitment to pursuing Martyr Soleimani’s ************** through legal and judicial avenues, while adhering fully to the recognized principles of international law.”
Trump has raised the ire of Iranians for a few reasons. He exited the international Iran nuclear agreement, which had lifted some sanctions in exchange for restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program. He also directed the 2020 airstrike that ******* top Iranian commander Gen. Qasem Soleimani. Since then, some Trump administration officials and military officials received threats from the regime, among them, Robert O’Brien, who was national security adviser during the strike. His predecessor in the job, John Bolton, who was part of the maximum pressure campaign that exerted sanctions pressure on Tehran, has also received threats.
In 2022, the U.S. intelligence community assessed that Iran would threaten Americans — both directly and via proxy attacks — and was committed to developing networks inside the U.S. Two persistent threat assessments submitted to Congress by the State Department in January 2022 cited a “serious and credible threat” to the lives of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Trump administration Iran envoy Brian *****. The non-public assessments showed that throughout 2021 and again in 2022, the State Department determined that round-the-clock, U.S.-taxpayer-funded diplomatic security details were needed to protect both men. That continues today.
Multiple former officials have spoken to CBS about duty-to-warn notices that they have recently received from the FBI and other agencies regarding the ongoing threat from Iran and Iranian-hired actors, implying the U.S. is taking the threat seriously and not taking the Iranian regime’s assurances at face value.
Robert Legare
contributed to this report.
The Standoff with Iran
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Margaret Brennan
Margaret Brennan is the moderator of CBS News’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” Based in Washington, D.C., Brennan is also the Network’s chief foreign affairs correspondent and a contributing correspondent to 60 Minutes.
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‘Pray’ for Davina and ‘£280 hike to bills’
‘Pray’ for Davina and ‘£280 hike to bills’
BBC
The i Weekend writes people should expect a £280 hike to household bills in a “new ***** to cost of living”. It reports council tax, energy bills, water, broadband and train travel will add £278 to the costs of a typical household next year. The paper also warns inflation is expected to climb on Wednesday.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has written in the Daily Mail warning against the scourge of “thought police” in the *** under Sir Keir Starmer, comparing it to the “******* Union at its worst”. It comes amid a row over non-****** hate incidents thrust into the spotlight after columnist Allison Pearson revealed police knocked on her door over a tweet from a year ago. Elsewhere, Davina McCall is pictured as the paper reports the presenter is out of surgery after undergoing an operation to remove a brain tumour.
The new ************* leader is pictured on the front of the Daily Telegraph, as Kemi Badenoch calls for hate ****** laws to be reviewed to protect free speech. She told the paper it was “absolutely wrong” for the police to visit any journalist’s home because of an opinion they expressed.
“Say prayer for me”, headlines the Daily Mirror as it splashes on Davina McCall’s request before going into surgery. The 57-year-old brain tumour was benign, but the cyst was removed over ***** it could cause problems if left to grow. The star’s partner said after the operation: “Davina is out of surgery and according to the surgeon it was textbook.”
The Sun also headlines on the McCall’s “emotional pleas to fans” to pray for her as she went into her operation. It writes the mum of three underwent the six hour operation after being diagnosed purely by chance. Meanwhile, Rebecca Vardy is pictured as it reveals she will be sharing her thoughts on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here in a column for the paper. The show this year stars her Wagatha Christie libel court case nemesis Coleen Rooney.
The Times reports a senior economic adviser for Donald Trump has urged the *** to align itself with US on trade rather pursing closer ties with EU. Stephen Moore, who is helping the president-elect prepare for government, said the US would be “less interested” in a free trade deal with the *** if it moved into closer alignment with the EU. The paper also highlights an interview with Cora Corre, granddaughter of the late Vivienne Westwood, who details her decision to quit her role at the fashion designer’s label.
The Guardian says addiction to junk food is costing the *** £268bn a year according to the first ever research into the issue. The Food Farming and Countryside Commission report warns the cost is becoming unpayable. The paper notes the figure outstrips the budget for the whole NHS.
The FT Weekend reports two of Elon Musk’s private companies are set to secure multi-billion dollar jumps in valuation as “investors race to back” the world’s richest man’s business interests. The FT reports artificial intelligence start-up xAI has raised $5bn and a planned share ***** for rocket builder Space X could see it valued at more than $250bn. The broadsheet pictures a smiling Musk alongside Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, following his backing of the president-elect.
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NYT Mini Crossword today: puzzle answers for Friday, November 15
NYT Mini Crossword today: puzzle answers for Friday, November 15
The New York Times has introduced the next title coming to its Games catalog following Wordle’s continued success — and it’s all about math. Digits has players adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers. You can play its beta for free online right now. In Digits, players are presented with a target number that they need to match. Players are given six numbers and have the ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide them to get as close to the target as they can. Not every number needs to be used, though, so this game should put your math skills to the test as you combine numbers and try to make the right equations to get as close to the target number as possible.
Players will get a five-star rating if they match the target number exactly, a three-star rating if they get within 10 of the target, and a one-star rating if they can get within 25 of the target number. Currently, players are also able to access five different puzzles with increasingly larger numbers as well. I solved today’s puzzle and found it to be an enjoyable number-based game that should appeal to inquisitive minds that like puzzle games such as Threes or other The New York Times titles like Wordle and Spelling Bee. In an article unveiling Digits and detailing The New York Time Games team’s process to game development, The Times says the team will use this free beta to fix bugs and assess if it’s worth moving into a more active development phase “where the game is coded and the designs are finalized.” So play Digits while you can, as The New York Times may move on from the project if it doesn’t get the response it is hoping for. Digits’ beta is available to play for free now on The New York Times Games’ website
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Inside Egypt’s Grand New Museum
Inside Egypt’s Grand New Museum
Dawn Gibson-Fawcett on a major addition
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Pelican News
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A cheap tablet hampered by outdated software
A cheap tablet hampered by outdated software
The latest Amazon ***** HD 8, updated last month and starting at $100, is a modest refresh, offering more RAM, a nominally upgraded camera and some new AI features. The general sales pitch, however, ******** the same: You get a just-competent tablet for the essentials at a dirt-cheap (and often-discounted) price, and in exchange, Amazon gets to plant another appliance for its own apps and services in your home. Nothing about this update drastically changes that agreement, but after using the tablet for the past month (and after using older ***** tablets for years prior), it may be time to demand more from Amazon’s end of the bargain.
Amazon
The ***** HD 8 ******** a decent value for a casual media consumption tablet, particularly when it’s on *****, but its iffy display and ad-heavy software make it less appealing at full price.
*****
Cheap, and frequently discounted
Lightweight and comfortable to hold
Improved performance over prior generation
Good battery life
Has a microSD slot and headphone jack
*****
***** OS is ad-heavy and Amazon-centric to the point of hostility
Limited app selection
Display needs a refresh
Poor cameras
Still only powerful enough for light gaming and media consumption
$55 at Kohl’s
It’s definitely a cheap tablet
Physically, the new ***** HD 8 is nearly identical to the last one. It is, without a doubt, A Budget Tablet — it’s nowhere near premium, but it doesn’t feel distractingly cheap either. At just under eight inches tall and 0.37 inches thick, it’s small enough for most kids to operate without much struggle and most adults to carry with one hand. If you care more about your tablet’s travel-friendliness than its virtues as a miniature TV, this size should be fine. The whole thing is lightweight at 0.74 pounds, so it’s not an anchor in your bag. Its textured plastic frame is somewhat slippery but altogether sturdy, with no creaking or flexing. Its gently rounded edges dig comfortably into your palms. There are fairly thick bezels around the display, but I’ve never minded those on a tablet — they give your thumbs a natural place to rest.
The display won’t win any awards. It’s the same LCD panel Amazon has trotted out in previous generations, with the same 1,280 x 800 resolution. If you’ve used any iPad, or even many midrange Android tablets, in the last decade, everything about it will be an obvious downgrade. The meager pixel density (189 ppi) makes images and text visibly less sharp. Colors are more muted, too. It doesn’t get bright enough to be totally usable in direct sunlight; you can read it comfortably on the couch, but don’t expect it to work as well by the pool. It’s also a smudge and fingerprint magnet.
The back of the Amazon ***** HD 8 is composed of a sturdy, if mildly slippery, textured plastic. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget)
Again, though, the ***** HD 8 is competing in a different weight class than even an older iPad. The fact that the screen is relatively small makes the lower resolution at least tolerable. You can watch Netflix or read Kindle books and not think “man, this sucks” the whole time, especially if you bought the thing for well under $100.
There are other hardware compromises. The speakers aren’t all that loud and struggle to fully separate different parts of songs. They’re entirely on the left edge when you hold the tablet vertically, which always sounds odd. There’s an old USB-C 2.0 port for charging and a glacially slow 5W power adapter in the box. Amazon says it’ll take about five hours to fully charge the tablet with that; you can cut the wait in half if you bring your own 15W charger, though that’s still not fast. There’s no water resistance rating, so you’ll need to be careful if you ever want to read in the tub. Both the five-megapixel rear camera and 2MP front camera are brutal, washing out colors and blurring fine details even in good lighting. (As always, please report anyone using their tablet as a camera to the nearest authorities.)
It’s not all bad. While the ***** HD 8 only comes with 32GB or 64GB of storage built in — of which only 25GB or 54GB is usable, respectively — you can add up to 1TB of additional space with a microSD card. The 13-inch iPad Pro, which starts at $1,299, does not let you do that (I’m just saying!). The ***** HD 8 also has a headphone jack, which helps offset the mediocre speaker performance a little bit, plus there’s Bluetooth for wireless headphones. And one benefit of the shoddy display resolution is that it makes the ***** HD 8 less power-hungry: Amazon rates the tablet’s battery life at up to 13 hours. I got much more than that in our (relatively forgiving) battery test, but closer to 10 or 11 hours with more strenuous use. Either way, it’s good. Most people can safely expect it to survive a day of basic streaming and web browsing.
The ***** HD 8’s rear camera has technically jumped from 2MP to 5MP and now supports 1080p video recording, but it still doesn’t take photos you’d want to share. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget)
The new ***** HD 8 runs on a 2 GHz six-core processor (the MediaTek MT8169A). The base model includes 32GB of storage and 3GB of RAM, while a $130 variant with twice the storage bumps the memory up to 4GB. I tested the former. The previous generation only came with 2GB of RAM — the pricier “***** HD 8 Plus” had 3GB — so this is a welcome upgrade.
That said, it’s not a huge boost. With the entry-level model, the gist is the same as it’s been with past ***** HD tablets: You can get by with simple video streaming, web browsing, reading and gaming, but there’ll be hitches and occasional crashes along the way, and it’ll never be powerful enough for serious work or reliable multitasking. The modern web is just too ad-heavy and grossly inefficient for a low-end chip like this, so you’ll inevitably have to deal with some choppiness when loading media-heavy sites like ESPN or The New York Times. Apps take just a bit longer to open than they would on a pricier tablet, and it’s not uncommon to get some lag when you jump back to the home screen.
Still, for the money, it’s all workable. It doesn’t take forever to open a Peacock stream or load an article on Engadget. The Mali-G52 GPU can even handle a decent level of gaming — casual card and match-three games run fine, and even more involved fare like PUBG Mobile and Diablo Immortal are totally playable, albeit with severely low-res textures. On the Geekbench 5 benchmark, the ***** HD 8 earned a single-core score of 193 and a multi-core score of 907. That is lightyears away from impressive, but given that the last-gen version struggled to even complete the tests without crashing, it’s still a step up.
One benefit of buying a cheap tablet: You usually get a headphone jack. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget)
Ultimately, it’s about managing expectations. You don’t buy a $100 tablet demanding a workhorse. When discounts bring that tablet’s price below $60, “not constantly annoying” becomes a compliment. If you can afford the model with 4GB of RAM, that should hold up better over time. Then again, a device like this makes the most sense when it’s as cheap as possible.
The ad-pocalypse that is ***** OS
The ***** HD 8 still runs on Amazon’s ***** OS, a fork of Android 11 that uses a custom app store and is designed to put Amazon’s own apps and services in the spotlight. (For the record, stock Android is up to version 15.) The generous read is that many of those apps are popular, so having them all front and center can be convenient. If you often stream movies on Prime Video, use Amazon Music with a Prime subscription or own a bunch of Kindle ebooks or Audible audiobooks, all of it is right there. You can set up different user profiles — also not available on an iPad — including child accounts that present a curated selection of ****-friendly websites and videos. A fairly robust set of parental controls let you monitor your child’s screen time within that. You can also call on Alexa and thus control various smart home devices hands-free, though Amazon has dropped support for the “Show Mode” that turned the tablet into a pseudo smart display.
You can install Alexa and all of those Amazon services on any tablet, though. Most of ***** OS’ actual changes *****, and they have for years now. The app store plays a big part in that. It covers many of the big streaming and social media players — Netflix, Hulu, TikTok, X, Max, Spotify, Disney+, etc. — but still omits all Google apps, Reddit, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Slack, tons of games and any browser besides Amazon’s ultra-basic Silk, among many others. The lack of Google ******** the biggest *******; Amazon’s stock email and calendar apps are far less robust than Gmail and Google Calendar, while the bootleg YouTube “app” is just a web shortcut.
Left to right: one of ***** OS’ lockscreen ads, a snapshot of the less-than-useful “For You” page and an example of the AI-powered “Wallpaper Creator” tool. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget)
It’s true that you can install the Google Play Store and download most of what’s missing with a hacky workaround, but that’s not the experience Amazon is selling (and not one most people will opt to do). I can’t praise an OS that works best when you go behind its back. And as with many Android tablets, many of the apps that are supported look like blown-up phone apps more than experiences designed with a larger screen in mind.
Because this is a tech product launching in 2024, the ***** HD 8 also comes with a few AI-centric features, including an automated wallpaper creator, a writing assist tool and webpage summaries in the Silk Browser. All of these perform reasonably fast, but It’s hard to call them game-changers: The writing assist makes copy sound overly stilted, while the webpage summaries strip down most articles of their nuances (I beg you, just read the post.) The DALL-E-style wallpaper generator is neater, offering different styles and responding well to natural language requests, but I can’t get excited over AI art when there’s so much of the real thing out there.
More egregious are the ads. Oh, so many ads. Upon activating the tablet for the first time, I was greeted with a full-screen promo for BetMGM — because what budget-conscious tablet buyer isn’t looking to gamble their savings away — and have since been bombarded with lockscreen ads to buy Toshiba hard drives, State Farm insurance and SteelSeries gaming keyboards. Thankfully, you can remove these for an extra $15, either upfront or after purchase.
You can technically install the Google Play Store and get around some of ***** OS’ app limitations, but it’ll require a bit of legwork. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget)
But the spirit of nickel-and-diming you goes beyond that. The first app you see is “Shop Amazon.” The home screen itself is split into two sections: For You and Home. The former is a page filled with content suggestions, a significant chunk of which are either sponsored apps, links to movies on Prime Video and songs on Amazon Music or calls to subscribe to Amazon services like Kids+, Luna and Audible. Some of these are free; many others are paid. At one point, I **** you not, it presented me with an ad to buy a different ***** tablet.
The Home tab does have a traditional app grid, but above it is a “Discover” row that takes up the top 40 percent of the screen and delivers a similar range of not-so-personalized suggestions. As I write this, it includes a link to the Prime Video series Fallout, the sponsored app “Vita Mahjong for Seniors,” the Max app, links to two different thriller books from the author Frieda McFadden and a few other things I’ve shown zero interest in over my time using Amazon services.
It’s a jumbled, undignified mess. There’s a distinct lack of care to ***** OS, a pervading sense that it doesn’t so much have your best interest at heart it wants to needle cash-strapped customers into pumping more revenue into the Amazon machine. This just isn’t the case with iPadOS or even stock Android. Actually pay attention to what ***** OS is doing, and it becomes difficult to see ***** tablets as anything but subsidized ad platforms Amazon can seed in homes on the cheap. If you want a product that treats you with a little more respect, you have to pay for it.
The ***** HD 8 resting on top of a 13-inch iPad Air. (Jeff Dunn for Engadget)
Wrap-up
I get it, some of us just need to save some cash. And Amazon, fairly or not (i.e., not), can significantly undercut most other decent budget tablets on price. If cost is your number-one concern, you only want a tablet for casual media consumption and you can live with the unfiltered Amazon-ness of ***** OS, there’s still value to be had here. Little about the ***** HD 8 is good, but much of it is fine for the price, and when that price is as bananas-cheap as $55 with deals, that’s probably enough. So it goes. Just make sure the slate is on ***** before you take the plunge. Otherwise, I’d consider the 10.1-inch ***** HD 10, which has the same software annoyances but a sharper, roomier display, more CPU power and a touch more battery life. Either way, here’s hoping ***** OS becomes less user-hostile one day.
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Fellow National Guardsman told superiors Hegseth might be “insider threat” before Biden inauguration
Fellow National Guardsman told superiors Hegseth might be “insider threat” before Biden inauguration
A man who in 2021 was a member of the same National Guard unit as Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be defense secretary, confirmed he sent a letter to his superiors warning that a tattoo Hegseth bears indicated that he was a potential “insider threat” ahead of President Biden’s inauguration.
The Associated Press reported that 12 U.S. National Guard members were removed from helping to secure Mr. Biden’s 2021 inauguration after vetting by the U.S. military and FBI. They were found to have made extremist statements in posts or text messages or had ties with right-wing militia groups. In an interview with podcaster Shawn Ryan, Hegseth said he was one of the National Guard members removed from securing the inauguration.
“I was deemed an extremist because of a tattoo by my National Guard unit in Washington, D.C., and my orders were revoked to guard the Biden inauguration… a Jerusalem cross tattoo which is just a ********** symbol,” he told Ryan.
But that’s not the tattoo that his fellow guardsman, DeRicko Gaither, pointed out to his superiors. He told CBS News, “When I looked at the pictures – in one he had the tattoo of the Jerusalem Cross, which I didn’t think was a problem.”
“The next photo he had on his inner bicep he had a bicep that said ‘Deux Vult,'” Gaither said. “I looked it up, and that tattoo had ties to extremist groups. So, I sent to my leadership. I included the photo attachment and the Army policy about tattoos. I said I just want you to know what’s going on. I received a response saying Pete had been removed from the mission.”
He said in his letter, which CBS News obtained, “White-Supremacist use of #Deus Vult and a return to medieval Catholicism, is to invoke the myth of a white ********** (i.e. *********) medieval past that wishes to ignore the actual demographics and theological state of Catholicism today.”
He added, “Deus Vult has enjoyed popularity with members of the alt-right because of its perceived representation of the clash of civilizations between the ********** west and the Islamic world.”
Citing a military statute that bans extremist tattoos, Gaither said the Deus Vult tattoo “falls along the line of Insider Threat.” The Associated Press and Reuters first reported on Gaither’s warning letter to the National Guard.
“Deus Vult” is the ********** motto that refers to divine providence. It originated as the rallying cry of the Crusaders. But experts in domestic violent extremism say the ****** phrase has also been co-opted by some members of the far right in recent years.
For example, Mauricio Martinez Garcia, the gunman behind the 2023 mass ********* in Allen, Texas, had a “Deus Vult” tattoo, according to the Anti-Defamation League, in addition to neo-***** tattoos. The group also says the phrase is “commonly used as an anti-******* symbol.”
The Trump transition team has not responded to a request for comment. Vice President-elect JD Vance said on X of the AP’s story, “They’re attacking Pete Hegseth for having a ********** motto tattooed on his arm. This is disgusting anti-********** bigotry.” Hegseth reshared Vance’s post and commented, “They can target me — I don’t give a ***** — but this type of targeting of Christians, conservatives, patriots and everyday Americans will stop on DAY ONE at DJT’s DoD.”
The National Guard declined to comment on whether Hegseth had been removed from the detail or why, and issued a statement that just said, “Maj. Peter Hegseth joined the D.C. Army National Guard on June 6, 2019, and remained a member of the DCNG until March 31, 2021. He was in an M-Day, traditional drilling service member, status and available for duty if required during the presidential inauguration of 2021.”
Olivia Rinaldi
contributed to this report.
Eleanor Watson
Eleanor Watson is a CBS News multi-platform reporter and producer covering the Pentagon.
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Giuliani turns over Mercedes, watches to Georgia poll workers he defamed
Giuliani turns over Mercedes, watches to Georgia poll workers he defamed
After months of legal wrangling, Rudy Giuliani on Friday turned over his luxury sports car, several watches, a ring and financial assets to two Georgia election workers he defamed in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, his lawyer wrote Friday.
A federal jury ordered Giuliani last year to pay Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss nearly $150 million for defaming them with false accusations that the mother and daughter committed election ****** while the two were counting ballots in Georgia’s Fulton County on Election Day in 2020.
PHOTO: Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani leaves the New York Federal Courthouse on Nov. 7, 2024, in New York. (Alex Kent/Getty Images)
The attorneys for both sides waged a back in forth in court for months over the delivery of those assets and, last week, attorneys representing Freeman and Moss said Giuliani’s apartment was virtually empty when their receivership entered the property.
MORE: Judge threatens Giuliani with contempt if he doesn’t turn over property to poll workers he defamed
The poll workers’ representatives accused Giuliani of “secreting away” his property.
The former New York City mayor was given a Nov. 14 deadline to turn over the shares in his Upper East Side co-op apartment, valuable sports memorabilia, a blue Mercedes-Benz convertible that once belonged to Lauren Bacall, and luxury watches — including one that belonged to Giuliani’s grandfather.
PHOTO: In this May 16, 2024, file photo, Wandrea ‘Shay’ Moss and Ruby Freeman attend the 2024 PEN America Spring Literary Gala at the ********* Museum of Natural History in New York. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images PEN America, FILE)
Joseph Cammarata, Giuliani’s attorney, said in a four-page letter to U.S. Judge Lewis Liman, that “watches and a ring were delivered via FedEx” to an address in Atlanta on Friday morning, and that “the Mercedes Benz automobile was delivered as requested” to an address in Florida.
Giuliani’s bank was “advised to turn over all non-exempt funds” to the plaintiffs, as well, according to the filing.
Liman issued a warning that he would file a motion of contempt if Giuliani didn’t comply with the order to transfer the assets to Freeman and Moss.
Earlier on Friday, Ted Goodman, a spokesman for Giuliani, posted a video on X with several watches arrayed on a table.
“This right here, folks, this is the accumulation of 60 years of hard work,” Goodman said.
Despite giving up those assets, Cammarata argued that his client should not give up other assets.
He wrote a lengthy list of items they deemed “exempt,” including some jewelry of lower value, a refrigerator, a radio receiver and other household furniture. He also said a Joe DiMaggio jersey was part of the “overbroad” turnover list and will ****** to keep it.
The attorney argued that the court “should never have allowed the turnover” of the Mercedes Benz, arguing that the car should be appraised and returned to Giuliani if the value does not exceed $5,500.
MORE: Attorney says Giuliani ‘secreted away’ his property from poll workers who won $148M judgment
Cammarata also requested that the court reschedule a trial in this matter currently scheduled for Jan. 16, 2025, until after the inauguration, as Giuliani “plans to be present” at events in Washington that week.
PHOTO:Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani arrives at the court to explain to a federal judge why he hasn’t surrendered his valuables as part of a $148 million defamation judgment, in New York, on Nov. 7, 2024. (Yuki Iwamura/AP)
Representatives for Freeman and Moss didn’t immediately comment on the delivery of the assets.
Giuliani turns over Mercedes, watches to Georgia poll workers he defamed originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
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****** Ops 6 Season 1 Battle Pass Includes Emote Referencing Viral RayGun Olympics Dance
****** Ops 6 Season 1 Battle Pass Includes Emote Referencing Viral RayGun Olympics Dance
Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6’s Season 1 update just arrived, and the multiplayer shooter’s new battle pass contains all manner of items to unlock and collect. One of them is a new emote called “Move Set” that appears to reference the viral breaker Raygun from the Paris 2024 Olympics this past summer.
The Move Set emote can be unlocked on Page 14 of the Season 1 battle pass. Check out the comparison video below from the account Detonated to see how the in-game emote compares to the real thing. Before this, NFL player Camryn Bynum paid homage to Raygun’s moves with his own interception celebration.
Raygun, whose real name is Rachael Louis Gunn, is an *********** lecturer and professional breaker who competed at the Paris Olympic Games and scored zero total points. The 37-year-old’s performances went viral, and afterwards, she was bullied and criticized.
Raygun was one of the most talked-about athletes from the Olympics, but after the Games, many expected her to parlay her fame into a new career path. However, she returned to her university teaching job and turned down offers to be on reality TV shows.
Raygun called the hate she received from her Olympic breaking performance “pretty devastating.” The *********** breaking team defended RayGun and condemned the global online harassment campaign against her.
The Season 1 battle pass for Call of Duty includes a host of items, including a new operator, more weapons, additional skins, double XP tokens, and more. Check out the gallery below to see what’s new in Season 1.
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Why the CofE and big institutions still fail to protect children
Why the CofE and big institutions still fail to protect children
BBC
Warning: This story contains details some may find distressing.
“Prolific, brutal and horrific” – these words sum up four decades of ****** meted out by John Smyth and affecting scores of boys in the *** and *******.
It was the description chosen by the independent review commissioned by the ******* of England to investigate how Smyth was able to groom and ****** children at ********** camps and in schools for so long.
Almost as shocking is the *******’s repeated lack of curiosity and inaction when people tried to warn about what he was doing, also described in the report. Smyth’s position within the ******* gave him a veneer of trustworthiness that opened doors for him to ******.
One survivor, Mark Stibbe, told BBC Newsnight how he was groomed and beaten relentlessly by Smyth after joining his school’s ********** Forum in 1977. On the shelf in front of him during the ****** were ****** nappies used to stem blood, alongside a leather-bound ******.
It is a horrifying account of the power of an abuser in a trusted role and the damage that is done when opportunities to stop them are brushed aside. But ****** is not limited to the *******.
“Most ******* ****** happens in domestic and family settings,” says Tom Squire, head of clinical engagement at The Lucy Faithful Foundation, which works with people who have ********* abused children or ***** they may ******. “But some abusers gravitate to places where they know they will have an opportunity to have contact with children – places like churches, sports organisations and schools.”
From Scouts to gymnastics: rooting out ******
In the *** and abroad, there have been major controversies in football, swimming and gymnastics clubs, where allegations of physical, ******* and emotional ****** have been made against coaches by young athletes. One of of the most famous cases was that of Larry Nassar, a former doctor to the elite athletes of USA Gymnastics who was convicted of ******* ******** in 2017. A judge handed him a 175 year jail sentence after hearing testimonies from more than 150 women and ******.
Separately, an independent review into British gymnastics found that physical and emotional ****** were “systemic”. The review, which focused on the ******* from 2008 to 2020, came after several gymnasts spoke out about bullying – with allegations of athletes being punished for needing the *******. British Gymnastics said it wholeheartedly apologised.
Last year, several swimmers told the BBC they had suffered bullying, emotional ****** and body-shaming. A review commissioned by Swim England found that a toxic environment in swimming clubs had enabled abusive training practices and bullying to exist for years. The governing body has apologised.
Then there are scandals that have emerged involving boarding schools and children’s homes – the closed environments making children easy prey.
In 2018, an inquiry into Ampleforth College, a Roman ********* boarding school in Yorkshire, found it had been the scene of decades of ******* ******, with a report finding it “prioritised monks and their own reputations over the protection of children”.
Nine serious allegations of ****** were also recorded at the school as recently as between 2014 and 2016. The school says it has since put rigorous safeguarding measures in place.
Getty Images
Lord Charles Spencer said he was physically and ********* abused at Maidwell Hall school in the 1970s
But similar reports elsewhere date back decades. Earlier this year, Earl Spencer, brother of Diana, the late Princess of Wales, wrote about his experiences of ****** at Maidwell Hall School in Northamptonshire in the 1970s.
Hundreds of allegations have been made against the Scouts too, with most dating back to the 1960s to 1990s. In all more than £6 million has been paid in compensation over the last decade, with some 166 cases settled in that time.
Other large institutions such as the BBC and the NHS have held major inquiries into the ****** carried out over decades by the television and radio personality, Jimmy Savile. He ***** before his ******* were made public. All these organisations promised change and overhauled their safeguarding policies in the wake of the scandals.
Part of the reason we are hearing about these scandals is because people are more willing to speak up and campaign. Investigations then follow.
Even so, many big institutions remain slow to react – the question that ******** is why?
Poor treatment of victims
Jane Chevous, a writer and campaigner, was ********* abused by two ******* of England priests over a ten-year *******. It began when she was a young ****** and only stopped when she moved away. She went on to have a mental breakdown. This was not only because of the ******, she says, but also the result of a lack of the support from the ******* that she trusted.
Her religion added a layer of complexity to what happened, she explains. She was groomed by someone who she believed was doing ****’s work. “You are told this is ****’s calling and this is what he wants,” she says.
In 2001, ten years after the ****** ended, she reported it to two bishops. “It was absolutely terrifying. I found it hard to hold any hope that I would be believed.”
One bishop suggested she meet her abuser to try to sort it out “because that is the ********** thing to do”. The other, she says, told her to go to the police because he couldn’t do anything. Afterwards her mental health deteriorated.
In 2019, she reported it again. This time there was a police investigation, during which time one of her alleged abusers *****. She says the police concluded there was not enough evidence to take the case further. She is among a number of survivors who have asked the ******* to review their cases.
In the wake of the report into the ****** by John Smyth, the ******* has said that it and its associated organisations must implement “robust safeguarding procedures …that are governed independently.” It also said “there is never a place for covering up ******.”
Jane has since co-founded a support and research group called Survivors Voices, set up to ensure that survivors are listened to. She says that in many institutions there may be people trying to do the right thing, but too often there is a ******** to listen to and protect vulnerable people.
She has also been appointed to the ******* of England National Safeguarding Panel. “The ******* has struggled to choose survivors,” she says, “instead it has chosen to protect the institution.”
This, she argues, is similar to other areas. “You are sacrificed for the good of the wider community.”
Cases “swept under the carpet”
Joanna Nicolas, an independent social worker, has her own take on this. She has spent more than 30 years in child protection and ****** safeguarding, and believes that people’s readiness to forgive or explain away what happened is one of the main reasons that ****** “gets swept under the carpet”.
Over the years she has worked with schools, churches, financial organisations, Parliament, as well as theatres, including the Old Vic. She is also called in to assess people in positions of trust in schools and churches when an allegation of historic ****** – whether ******* or emotional – has been made, including cases where there hasn’t been enough evidence to lead to police charges.
“People will often say to me ‘he is such a good egg’ and they will want to give me character references,” she explains.
Getty Images
John Smyth
Part of her role is to weigh up whether or not the person accused is safe to continue in their role.
“You have to be ******-and-white about child ******,” she continues. “I say to the alleged perpetrator, ‘It doesn’t matter if you have done 50 brilliant things, if you have abused a child’.
“You always go in with an open mind,” she adds. “And in emotional ****** cases, sometimes a teacher, for instance, is not aware of the power they have.”
Understanding and unpicking power structures is key to combatting ******* ****** and the secrecy that allows it to thrive, argues Tom Squire. “That means swimming against that power dynamic.”
If concerns aren’t acted on with “diligence and robustness,” that could, in his view, “potentially be interpreted by abusers as a bit of a green light”.
Unpicking power structures
Overall, he believes that child protection has improved over the years but there is no room for complacency. “We need to open our eyes and our ears to what children and young people are telling us and to be curious.”
Joanna Nicolas agrees there have been improvements, pointing to boarding schools, which she believes have generally created more open cultures to keep pupils safe. But she also observes that many organisations have a long way to go – in tackling bullying and emotional ****** too.
One priority is ensuring that staff feel safer and able to report bad behaviour. “If you are in a big arts organisation or theatre and you have a visiting star who is being vile to young people, is anyone going to stop them?” she says.
“They are the person with the power who brings in the money.”
Speaking about this conundrum, she recalls “a lightbulb moment” at a financial company she worked with. One of the bosses had told her about a senior staff member who brought in lots of money, but was described as “handsy”. “Rather than addressing it, young female employees were warned away from him,” she recalls.
Only when a senior leader at the company found himself again telling young staff to avoid the man, did he suddenly think, “What am I saying? What am I doing?”
They decided things had to stop. The man left and the company culture began changing.
A bureaucracy problem
“Culture is incredibly important,” says ********** McMullen, director of professional services at the NSPCC. One of the difficulties for large organisations, he has found, is that “they have their own social structures or social norms which can have an impact when they need to take action”.
Contrary to the idea that a large company will have greater resources to tackle ******, he says that its bureaucracy can sometimes get in the way, slowing down decision-making and making it ******* to know who is accountable. But change starts at the top.
“The senior leadership team sets the right culture,” says Mr McMullen. “If staff don’t feel supported then they may hesitate to make a safeguarding referral.”
That hesitation can also mean children aren’t listened to. “It is so easy to blame the child,” says 19-year-old Poppy.
She was 11 when she found the words to tell her mother that she had been abused by her grandfather. Her parents believed her and eventually her grandfather was convicted and jailed.
She has spoken out about what happened in the hope that this would remove some of the stigma that prevents children asking for help. But many ****** survivors she has spoken to told her they weren’t believed.
“When you tell someone, you need to feel believed. It changes everything,” she says today. “[But] I’m the exception. And the impact on people who aren’t believed is huge.”
Reporting ******: the law
Along with her mother Miranda, Poppy has been working with the NSPCC on a campaign to change the law so there is a mandatory duty for those working or volunteering with children to report it if they are told that a child is being abused.
At present there is no such law. It was one of the recommendations made in the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child ******* ******, which was published in October 2022.
In his evidence to the inquiry, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who resigned over the ******* response to the Smyth report, said he was “convinced that we need to move to mandatory reporting”.
It is argued that this removes any doubt about what to do if a concern is raised about the safety of a child.
Miranda understands how reporting ****** can “turn lives upside down” and why people may find it easier to ignore what they are being told. But she insists: “we’ve got to stop kidding ourselves and pretending ****** doesn’t happen.”
For Poppy there is a straightforward calculation: “If we are not reporting ****** as a society, we are actively supporting it.
“It causes damage down the generations and if we don’t stop it now, it will keep going.”
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#CofE #big #institutions #fail #protect #children
Pelican News
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