Pelican Press

De'Aaron Fox will join Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio as part of a 3-team trade, AP sources say – The Associated Press De'Aaron Fox will join Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio as part of a 3-team trade, AP sources say – The Associated Press De’Aaron Fox will join Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio as part of a 3-team trade, AP sources say The Associated PressDe’Aaron Fox Pens Emotional Message to Kings Fans After Being Traded to Spurs Sports IllustratedDe’Aaron Fox-Zach LaVine trade grades: Reunion in Sacramento; Wemby gets running mate – The Athletic The AthleticIs De’Aaron Fox the Right Running Mate for Victor Wembanyama? The RingerDe’Aaron Fox posts farewell message to Sacramento after trade Yahoo! Voices Source link #De039Aaron #Fox #join #Victor #Wembanyama #San #Antonio #part #3team #trade #sources #Press Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Firearms officer ‘had no choice’ but to shoot man Firearms officer ‘had no choice’ but to shoot man George Torr BBC News, Derby Supplied Marius Ciolac died after being shot in the lower abdomen, a post-mortem examination found A firearms officer who fatally shot a man who was brandishing a knife in a police station car park said he was left with “no choice” after non-lethal options to take him down failed, an inquest has heard. Marius Ciolac, 35, was shot outside Ascot Drive police station in Derby on the morning of 7 October 2022. The man, who can only be referred to as Officer A due to legal reasons, told the inquest jury at Derby Coroner’s Court on Monday that Mr Ciolac was “closing him down” and he had fired his carbine rifle after a stun grenade and a baton round were ineffective. He said: “It was a complete last resort… I was left with no choice which was a tactical shot.” The jury heard the armed officers told Mr Ciolac to “drop the knife” several times, but he did not follow their commands. Officer A in his evidence, said he fired the shot with Mr Ciolac approaching and was “less than two metres away”. The inquest heard Mr Ciolac, who was originally from Romania, was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham with a gunshot wound to the lower abdomen, where he died at 11:25 GMT that day. Derby and Derbyshire assistant coroner Sabyta Kaushal told the court the time from the arrival of firearms officers to the fatal shot was between 18 and 22 seconds. She added Officer A did not turn on his bodycam during the incident, which the officer said was a “mistake”. ‘Knife raised’ Officer A, who had been on routine patrol in the Normanton Road area of Derby at the time with his partner, referred to as Officer B, said he had been a firearms officer for nine months when Mr Ciolac died. He told the jury he had responded to “10 to 15 spontaneous incidents” but added this was the first time he had fired his carbine rifle in a live operation. Shortly after arriving, Officer A said he became concerned for the safety of four officers when he witnessed Mr Ciolac “walking towards the officers with a knife raised”. “He potentially was about to do harm – I had to do something to mitigate that risk – he was closing the gap on these officers,” he said. The court previously heard Mr Ciolac, a builder, had entered the car park and smashed the station’s windows and police cars with the blade before he ran towards a firearms officer and was fatally shot. But Officer A said he was not told about of any of this beforehand, the potential language barrier or that he had sat down in the car park for a time before firearms officers arrived. Ms Kaushal said: “It could be said there was quite a lot of information fed to you that was lacking?” Officer A replied: “We did not have all the information, that’s correct.” Footage played at the inquest showed the moments before Mr Ciolac was fatally shot Speaking about the moment he faced Mr Ciolac, Officer A said: “As soon as I shouted ‘drop the knife’, he then turned and started to walk towards me. “The goal was him to surrender the knife in the middle of the car park. “I raised my weapon and aimed it at him and asked him to drop the knife again.” The court heard Officer B, who was described as the more experienced firearms officer of the two, deployed a stun grenade and then a baton round to try to stop Mr Ciolac’s advance. “He just walked through the stun grenade – there was no stopping from him,” Officer A told the court. “I heard the pop of the baton gun but my assumption was that it missed… there was no flinch no reaction from someone being hit by one.” Asked why he fired the shot that proved fatal, Officer A said: “He was closing me down at that point, I was back-pedalling. “I knew that negotiation wasn’t working… both the baton gun and stun grenade had no effect. “It was a complete last resort – we failed with the non-lethal option… I was left with no choice which was a tactical shot. “I believed I would have been stabbed or seriously hurt.” Derbyshire Police Officers fired a stun grenade and a baton round at Mr Ciolac before he died Ms Kaushal asked why Officer A did not aim for a less lethal part of the body. “The reason we aim for the centre body mass is because it is the largest area… it is the most likely area to incapacitate a threat,” he said. “Without hitting the centre, it increases the likelihood of missing.” Officer A was also asked by the coroner why he did not put on his bodycam. “It was a mistake – but the reason being there was so much going on and I had one hand on my pistol grip – three or four other things to do at the same time.” The inquest continues. Source link #Firearms #officer #choice #shoot #man Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Parliament returns as election countdown begins Parliament returns as election countdown begins Parliament is back for the next fortnight in what could be the final sitting before the federal election is called. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will be in Canberra for the next two weeks after sharpening their election pitches, both travelling across the country last month in an unofficial start to campaigning. An election must be held by May 17, but April 12 is another possible date with recent opinion polls putting the coalition and Labor neck and neck. The most recent Newspoll had the coalition ahead 51-49 per cent on a two-party preferred basis. But the newest Roy Morgan poll shows a slight shift in two-party preferred results. Over recent weeks, Roy Morgan and others have had the coalition slightly ahead of Labor. Monday’s results find they are 50:50, likely driven by inflation figures and the prospects of a rate cut. It means the election could result in a hung parliament, with both major parties requiring the support of minor parties and independents to form a ********* government Politicians will mark the reopening of parliament with a church service at the catholic St Christopher’s Cathedral on Tuesday morning. The prime minister is focused on sandbagging seats as polling also shows his popularity continues to slide. While to govern in majority, the coalition would need to win an extra 21 seats. With the cost of living set to be the defining issue, Mr Albanese on Monday told a Labor caucus meeting that the government knew people were under financial pressure and “we know the job is not done”. Stronger hate crimes protections are set to be debated on Tuesday as the government responds to escalating anti-Semitic attacks. Australia has experienced a spate of hateful incidents since December, including the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue, and the discovery of a caravan filled with explosives in Sydney containing a note with the addresses of Jewish institutions. This week the government is expected to introduce legislation to guarantee access to the child care subsidy three days a week, fast-tracking its signature policy. Contingent on Labor being re-elected, the changes will replace the current activity test model for early childhood education support. This would mean more than 100,000 families would have access to subsidised care. Source link #Parliament #returns #election #countdown #begins Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Sonic 3 Just Achieved A Massive Milestone At The Box Office Sonic 3 Just Achieved A Massive Milestone At The Box Office Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has finished another successful weekend in theaters, going on to achieve a new milestone at the box office. The film has now earned $462 million worldwide, surpassing Pokemon: Detective Pikachu ($450 million) to become the No. 2 highest-grossing video game movie of all time. Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s performance at the box office is split nearly evenly between domestic ($230.6 million) and international ($232 million). For comparison, Detective Pikachu skewed much more heavily to the international crowd ($306 million) compared to domestic ($144 million). Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is not going to reach No. 1, though, as The Super Mario Bros. Movie made $1.36 billion globally and will remain the top video game movie for at least the time being. The Super Mario Bros. Movie was so big that it’s actually the No. 17 highest-grossing movie in history, not adjusted for inflation, surpassing ****** Panther, Aquaman, Iron Man 3, Frozen, Deadpool & Wolverine, Iron Man 3, and more. Sonic the Hedgehog 3, meanwhile, sits at No. 294 all time, which is also very impressive. Sonic studio Paramount is understandably moving ahead with another Sonic movie, and it’s planned for release in March 2027. Beyond the main movie series, Paramount released a TV series, Knuckles, in 2024. The top five highest-grossing video games movie are The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, Warcraft, and Rampage. Check out the gallery below to see all of the top-ranking video game movies based on commercial success. Source link #Sonic #Achieved #Massive #Milestone #Box #Office Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Fawn rescued off frozen Idaho lake Fawn rescued off frozen Idaho lake Fawn rescued off frozen Idaho lake Source link #Fawn #rescued #frozen #Idaho #lake Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Civilization 7: How To Become A Suzerain And What It Does Civilization 7: How To Become A Suzerain And What It Does Civilization VII allows you to take over any settlement on the map and find your own settlements in any untaken location. Whether you find a settlement through a settler unit or take an opposing leader’s city over, you can amass quite a large empire fairly quickly. However, large towns and cities won’t be the only settlements you find in a given world of Civilization 7. There are also smaller Independent Villages, which present you with a few options regarding what to do about them. One of the options you have with Independents is becoming the Suzerain of them. Of course, this isn’t a word you commonly hear, so what is a Suzerain, how do you become one, and what are the benefits of doing so in Civilization VII? What is a Suzerain in Civilization 7? You can only become the Suzerain of an Independent Village, which is a one-tile settlement that has no affiliation with any other civilization on the map. You’ll randomly stumble into these across any land mass, but one is usually near your capital at the start of a playthrough. The explanation of Independent Villages When you find an Independent, you have a couple of options, including becoming the Suzerain over it. A Suzerain is basically the co-owner of a settlement. As Suzerain, you have partial control over the settlement, but it remains a separate entity from your empire’s complete control. If you become Suzerain of an Independent, it won’t be added to your settlement total, but it does allow you to perform more actions. Most of the time, you want to become the Suzerain of a village since another leader can come along and claim it for themselves. This is especially problematic if the village is right in the middle of your empire or in a good location, like on the coast or near plenty of resource tiles. You might not want to become Suzerain of every Independent you come across, but it’s a good idea to target a few of them at the least. How to become Suzerain in Civilization VII To become the Suzerain of an Independent, all you have to do is follow the steps below: When you find an Independent Village, click on its capital city tile, which brings up a menu On this menu, you’ll see two options that cost Influence The first option is “Befriend the Independent” and the second is “Independent – Incite Raid” If you want to become the Suzerain of the village, select the “Befriend” option This will allow you to spend around 170 Influence to start the process of Suzerainship In order to fully earn the title, you need to spend a set amount of turns before you’re crowned Suzerain You can decrease the number of turns it takes by spending more Influence, which is done by selecting the village’s tile again At the end of the turn counter, you’ll fully become Suzerain of the Independent, which unlocks a slew of new options After you’ve become Suzerain, the Independent Village turns into a City-State Befriending an Independent Village An additional note about becoming a Suzerain is that you can’t befriend some Independent Villages. Some Independents are called “Encampments,” and these are always hostile towards you. The only option you have with Encampments is to attack them, take over their capital tile, disperse them, and then wait. Encampments will always show up in a new location after several turns. In my experience, Encampments start showing up more when you increase your difficulty level in Civilization VII. Speaking of attacking Independents, if you’re currently engaged in a fight with a village’s troops, you won’t be able to befriend them. So it’s important to think about whether or not you want to become a Suzerain of an Independent before attacking their military units. Benefits of being a Suzerain in Civilization VII Finally, let’s weigh the pros and cons of the Suzerain title in Civilization VII. The first obvious pro is that it’s another settlement you have some control over on the map. By becoming Suzerain, you’re stopping another leader from taking over the settlement and its location. This is highly important, especially if you’re traveling to a new continent. Becoming Suzerain over an Independent is the easiest way to establish your empire on new lands that might be overrun with another leader’s settlements. We also have a guide on getting more settlements in Civilization VII that will make things easier on that front across the board. Speaking of that, becoming a Suzerain also allows you to add the Independent as your own settlement, giving you full control of it. This is done through the process of incorporating the City-State, which is an option that opens up after you’re given the title of Suzerain. You can click on the settlement’s capital tile to view the Incorporate City-State option as well as other options. Choosing to Incorporate a City-State If you choose to incorporate the City-State, you have to wait several turns before it’s fully converted into your empire’s settlement. However, once the process is over, it will become a town rather than a City-State. This process does cost over 1,000 Influence in most cases, however. Before you choose the incorporate option, though, the City-State also has a few other actions available to you. You can promote the City-State’s growth, bolster its military, and even steal its military units to give to your empire. All of these actions cost Influence, but they’re worth doing before the City-State becomes your settlement, if you go down that road. After a City-State is incorporated, you lose access to a majority of its military units. Even if the settlement has ships and troops before its incorporation, those don’t stick around after it’s turned into your empire’s town. In terms of negatives to becoming a Suzerain, there really aren’t any aside from the Influence cost of all the different actions. Of course, if you plan to incorporate a City-State, that might get sticky if you’re over your settlement limit, as adding another one to the total will promote unhappiness. Overall, becoming a Suzerain is usually the best choice. It allows you to easily add a settlement to your empire over time and even take some free troops in the process. However, it’s wise to hold off on Suzerainship if you’re warring with another leader. That leader could come in and take over the weaker settlement as you prioritize more established towns and cities. There’s so much to learn and discover when you’re exploring the massive world of Civ 7. Be sure to use our Civilization 7 guides hub to find all of our guides on the game in one spot. Source link #Civilization #Suzerain Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Honda cleans, greens its Ohio factories to add EVs to the mix – Ars Technica Honda cleans, greens its Ohio factories to add EVs to the mix – Ars Technica Honda cleans, greens its Ohio factories to add EVs to the mix Ars TechnicaHonda brings giant robot arms to build electric vehicles in Ohio’s factories Yahoo! VoicesHonda’s new EV production revolution begins with $1 billion investment in Ohio CNBCFor Honda’s New 0 EVs, Getting Attention Is the Entire Point MotorTrendHonda to invest more than $1 billion into EV manufacturing in Ohio 10TV Source link #Honda #cleans #greens #Ohio #factories #add #EVs #mix #Ars #Technica Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trigun’s New Deluxe Edition Manga Is 50% Off At Amazon Trigun’s New Deluxe Edition Manga Is 50% Off At Amazon Trigun fans can pick up the recently released hardcover Deluxe Edition of the original manga for the best price yet. Published last September by Dark Horse Manga, Trigun Deluxe Edition carries a $50 MSRP, but Amazon has a limited-time deal that drops the price to only $25. This 50%-off deal probably won’t be available for long. And while you’re checking it out, make sure to take a look at the ongoing series of Trigun Maximum Deluxe Editions, which are also available for great prices. Compared to the typical paperback version, Trigun’s Deluxe Editions are printed in an oversized hardcover format with foil-stamped and burnished leather covers. These weighty tomes also come with built-in ribbon bookmarks. $25 (was $50) Trigun Deluxe Edition collects Volumes 1 and 2 of the manga series in one stunning hardcover that clocks in at almost 700 pages. Illustrated and written by Yasuhiro Nightow, this book sets the stage for Vash the Stampede and the hostile alien planet he calls home. Essentially a sci-fi western, Trigun follows Vash as he attempts to non-violently dissuade bounty hunters from trying to claim the $60 billion mark on his head. While Vash is a force to be reckoned with when he does choose to draw his gun or unleash an internal weapon that can punch a hole in the planet, he’s also a pacifist at heart. Unfortunately, with so many people after him, he also leaves a trail of destruction in his wake and he has become known as the Humanoid Typhoon because of these misadventures. Dark Horse Manga is also in the process of reissuing Trigun Maximum as Deluxe Edition hardcovers with the same aesthetic as the original. Trigun Maximum is a sequel to the original, so you’ll want to pick up Trigun Deluxe first. Trigun Maximum Deluxe Volume 1 is on ***** for $31 (was $50) at Amazon. After two years in hiding, Vash emerges from semi-retirement to take on the Gung-Ho Guns, a deadly band of bounty hunters led by his estranged brother Knives Millions. This book is 600 pages in length, and collects Volumes 1-3 of the sequel manga. Volume 2–priced at $36 (was $50)–continues Vash’s battle against the Gung-Ho Guns, but at least he’s not alone in his mission. This book covers Volumes 4-6 of the manga, and see’s more of Vash’s past revealed, while his brother Knives continues to make sinister moves behind the scenes. Volume 3, which collects Volumes 7-9 of the manga, released in December and is available for $36 (was $50). Even more of Vash’s tragic backstory is revealed here, and this book ends with a clash between Vash’s ally Nicholas D. Wolfwood and his former friend Livio. Two more Trigun Maximum Deluxe Editions are on the way, too. Volume 4 will be available starting February 25 and it covers even more manga chapters across almost 700 pages. You won’t have to wait too long for Volume 5 either, as it’ll be released on June 17. This is the pivotal book in the series, as it contains the final chapters of the storyline and it pits Vash in a do-or-die battle against Knives to decide the fate of Gunsmoke, once and for all. Trigun Stampedep on Blu-ray If you’re looking for more Trigun, the recent anime reboot Trigun Stampede is highly recommended. This is available through Amazon, and you can pick it up for $40 (was $70). Trigun Stampede From a visual perspective, Trigun Stampede is one of the best Japanese anime created with CGI. It looks delightful, with impressive fluidity that sets a high benchmark for other anime productions. This version of Trigun also makes major changes to the storyline, and while opinions might differ on these narrative tweaks, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised at how they improve on the original saga. Source link #Triguns #Deluxe #Edition #Manga #Amazon Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Kate photographed by Prince Louis to mark World ******* Day Kate photographed by Prince Louis to mark World ******* Day A photograph of the Princess of Wales taken by her six-year-old son Prince Louis has been released to mark World ******* Day on Tuesday. The image shows Catherine in a frosty woodland scene, arms open and well wrapped up, and was taken in Windsor in recent weeks. Alongside the photo, the princess posted the words: “Don’t forget to nurture all that which lies beyond the disease.” The picture is said by Kensington Palace to reflect how spending time in nature has been important to the princess, who announced in January she is in remission from ******* following her diagnosis last year. At the weekend, Catherine called for a “rebalance” in society to allow people to prioritise their physical and mental health. She is gradually returning to work after completing her ******* treatment – and on Sunday launched a new stage in her early years education project encouraging more empathy and kindness. “At times, it can feel like the world is filled with mistrust and misunderstanding, leaving many people feeling isolated and vulnerable during difficult times,” she wrote in her charity’s report. She brought a message of support for those currently undergoing ******* treatment when last month she visited the Royal Marsden Hospital in west London, where she had been a patient. This latest photograph is another indication of her continuing support, ahead of World ******* Day, and how much she seems to have been motivated to help others by her own experience of ill health. Source link #Kate #photographed #Prince #Louis #mark #World #******* #Day Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

CS2 Caster Rages at Liquid Player’s ‘Inexcusable’ Misplay CS2 Caster Rages at Liquid Player’s ‘Inexcusable’ Misplay A color caster for Counter-Strike 2 found himself screaming at a pro player’s mistake, and had to walk away from the desk to cool off. The play and the caster’s reaction occurred at IEM Katowice, one of the biggest tournaments in the yearly CS2 circuit. What ended up being a terrible series for the player was highlighted by this one unimaginably poor play. ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?’ During a match between Team Liquid and The MongolZ, a poor decision from Liquid player Roland “ultimate” Tomkowiak drew the ire of former player and long-time CS2 caster Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill. While defending the B site of Mirage in the pistol round, ultimate waited too long to pull the trigger, allowing a teammate of his to die before he himself got taken out. Both SPUNJ and his casting partner Alex “Machine” Richardson were quite frustrated, but SPUNJ let the full anger out. What ultimate was trying to do was to stay hidden until multiple enemies passed him, so that he could take them all down in quick succession. However, he waited too long to act, and the first player he let by ended up killing his teammate. By the time ultimate lined up the second enemy, the first one noticed him and quickly dispatched him. Ultimate’s performance in the map prior was clearly a factor in SPUNJ’s outburst, as the Polish player had a 0.5 K/D in the first map of the series. Following the mishap, SPUNJ remarked that the play was “inexcusable,” especially considering that Liquid had a man advantage. The CS2 caster chose to walk away from the desk and out of the casting room for the second round. Both SPUNJ and Machine got back on track by the end of the third round though. To make matters worse for ultimate, Liquid lost despite winning map one, and he ended with one of his worst stat lines ever. On a positive note, ultimate played better the next day versus MOUZ, and Liquid is still alive in Katowice. Was ultimate’s play warrant that big of a reaction from the caster? Let us know what you think down below or in the official Insider Gaming forums. Check out more of the latest esports news, and don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to receive the latest news and exclusive leaks every week! No Spam. Source link #CS2 #Caster #Rages #Liquid #Players #Inexcusable #Misplay Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

NY Abortionist Indicted for Mailing Abortion Pills to Mother of Pregnant Teen in Louisiana NY Abortionist Indicted for Mailing Abortion Pills to Mother of Pregnant Teen in Louisiana A New York abortion doctor is being criminally charged by a Louisiana grand jury for allegedly prescribing and mailing abortion pills to a minor in the pro-life state. Dr. Margaret Carpenter, Nightingale Medical, Carpenter’s company, and the child’s mother, who ordered the pills, were indicted Friday with charges of criminal abortion for allegedly prescribing an abortion pill online in Louisiana, which has some of the strongest pro-life laws in the country. “She was a minor and … she was excited,” Prosecutor Tony Clayton told WBRZ-TV. “She had planned a reveal party. She had wanted to have this baby.” The girl was reportedly coerced to take the drug and later “suffered complications while alone,” Clayton said, adding, “She called 911 and an ambulance rushed her to the hospital and they were able to save her life.” Grand jurors at the District Court for the Parish of West Baton Rouge indicted the abortion doctor, her medical clinic, and the girl’s mother. All three were charged with criminal abortion using abortion-inducing drugs – a felony. Louisiana prohibits the killing of preborn children by abortion, and recent law was passed to reclassify abortion pills as controlled substances. Under the measure, if someone knowingly possesses mifepristone or misoprostol without a valid prescription, they could be fined up to $5,000 and sent to jail for one to five years. The law, however, carves out protections for pregnant women who obtain the drug without a prescription to take on their own. “To ship a pill from another state is equivalent to me to shipping fentanyl or any other type of drug that ends up in the mouths and stomachs of our minor kids,” Clayton said. The indictment is believed to be the first instance of criminal charges against a doctor for mailing abortion pills across state lines since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. “It is ******** to send abortion pills into this state and it’s ******** to coerce another into having an abortion,” Attorney General Liz Murrill said while also noting that the mother is not being charged with coercion. Carpenter was also sued by the Texas attorney general in December for prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to a Texas resident via telemedicine, but the case did not involve criminal charges. Friday’s indictment could be the first test of New York’s shield laws, which are intended to protect local physicians who use telemedicine to provide abortion pills to patients in states where abortion is banned. In a video statement, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the charges “outrageous” and vowed to defend the abortionist. “I am proud to say that I would never, under any circumstances, turn this doctor over to the state of Louisiana under any extradition request,” she said. Carpenter is the founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, an organization that advocates abortion telemedicine across the country. The group released a statement Friday after Carpenter’s indictment. “The case out of Louisiana against a licensed New York doctor is the latest in a series of threats that jeopardizes women’s access to reproductive healthcare throughout this country,” they wrote. Pro-life groups commended Louisiana authorities for their action but say they are “grieved” it has gotten this far. “It appears evident that the courageous minor had every intent of raising her baby as she had a reveal party planned,” Louisiana Right to Life spokesman Sarah Zagorski said. “Now, instead of celebrating birthdays with her child, she’s left with the grief from the death of her baby…” SBA Pro-Life America Director of Legal Affairs Katie Daniel said, “This case exposes how mail-order abortion drugs are fueling an epidemic of coercion, a new form of domestic violence against mothers and their babies. Women who never wanted an abortion to begin with are being assaulted and ending up in the emergency room.” “This cannot remotely be considered health care. We thank attorneys general like Liz Murrill and Ken Paxton for standing with women and children. Every pro-life state should do likewise,” she added. Under Louisiana’s law, a physician convicted of performing an ******** abortion, including one with pills, could face up to 15 years in prison, $200,000 in fines, and the loss of their medical license. “Whether you are pro-abortion or against it, the bottom line is some child who wanted her baby now doesn’t have that baby and this doctor has a date with Louisiana, Louisiana justice,” Clayton said. ***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.*** Source link #Abortionist #Indicted #Mailing #Abortion #Pills #Mother #Pregnant #Teen #Louisiana Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

The forgotten *****-fathers of early video games The forgotten *****-fathers of early video games Video games have a long and storied history. When you think of the dawn of gaming as we know it, it’s easy to recall the historic games that have come to be regarded as gaming’s Founding Fathers. Icons such as Pong, Asteroids, or Mario may spring to mind for many of us, and while as an early entry into gaming lore, Pong would go on to revolutionize the idea of gaming, and help found the video game industry as we know it, pioneering developments in gaming’s history can be traced back further still. The story of what can be fully described as “video games” likely started two decades earlier, at Toronto’s 1950 ********* National Exhibition. Comedian Danny Kaye faces off against Bertie the Brain. The Fallout universe shows us a future in which the transistor was never invented, technology remains large and bulky and the games you find within the world and can be played on the PIP-Boy, are often 50s inspired parodies of the early video games of our timeline. But perhaps that universe wasn’t too far off how our world could have turned out. In Toronto, at the 1950 ********* National Exhibit, Josef Kates showcased Bertie the Brain, the first computer programmed to play games. The 13 foot (four meter) tall metal computer would have fit right in amongst Fallout’s vacuum tube and nuclear powered atom-punk aesthetic as attendees were challenged to beat the machine’s artificial intelligence at a simple game of tic-tac-toe. Players would input their move on a panel at the front of the machine and Bertie would respond. Bertie the Brain pioneered features now common in the gaming scene, such as scalable difficulty and even timed exclusivity. Yes, timed exclusivity. While Bertie the Brain was the first computer-based game to feature a visual display of any kind, using lighbulbs behind screens to display the current game state, it was primarily created as a tool to promote the additron tube, Kates’ ill-fated miniaturized version of the vacuum tube that would ultimately become forgotten to history — a fate that Bertie the Brain would share. Many of the games and hardware of this era were created as tech demos or novelty pieces to wow the public and generate funds, and this was the case for Bertie the Brain, which was dismantled shortly after the exhibition ended. The early gaming feats it achieved, and its legacy as potentially the first-ever video game, were largely forgotten to the annals of time. A small screen for a big moment in gaming history. Let’s jump forward to the end of the decade to a public exhibition at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. Here, in 1958, physicist William Higinbotham would display a game that many would now consider the true first video game. Designed in three hours, after discovering the research institution’s analog computer could calculate ballistic missile trajectories, or a bouncing ball with wind resistance, Higinbotham’s Tennis for Two pits two players against each other in a side-on game of tennis. Using a set-up reminiscent of early home consoles, Tennis for Two used an oscilloscope to display the simulation of a tennis ball that would bounce when hitting the ground, collide with the net if a player had not angled their “hit” correctly, or if the ball lacked velocity due to the simulated drag of wind resistance, and a custom controller that consisted of a knob to control the intended arc of the ball, and a button to simulate the hit. Perhaps simulating the trajectory of gaming itself, Tennis for Two was wildly popular during the 1958 exhibit, with Higinbotham later claiming that “the high schoolers liked it best. You couldn’t pull them away.” A remastered version of the game was made available the following year. The upgraded version shown to the public at Brookhaven’s 1959 exhibition featured a larger screen and the ability to simulate different levels of gravity, giving players the ability to play with the simulated gravities of the Moon, and Jupiter. Tennis for Two, like Bertie the Brain before it, was disassembled after the 1959 exhibition, its parts re-used in other projects, and the hugely popular game was another early video game forgotten to history. But unlike Bertie the Brain, Tennis for Two found an unlikely resurgence in the late 70s and early 80s, where lawyers unsuccessfully attempted to use Tennis for Two as an example of prior art to invalidate the patents of Ralph H. Baer, the inventor of what would later become the first home video game console — the Magnavox Odyssey, and who has been dubbed “the father of video games.” These court cases poured attention onto a video game and creator that had largely been forgotten for the better part of two decades, and in the early 80s Tennis for Two began to be recognized as a contender for the title of first video game. Some have since dubbed Higinbotham the “grandfather of video games.” Higinbotham would deny that legacy, considering Tennis for Two as an obvious extension of the computer’s bouncing ball program, preferring his legacy be that of his nuclear non-proliferation work. But legacy is important. In 1997, engineers at Brookhaven Laboratory would recreate Tennis for Two to celebrate the institute’s 50th anniversary, reconstructed using mostly original parts. It would be put on display again in 2008 for Tennis for Two’s 50th anniversary. These moments in gaming history have been forgotten, novelties of technology with no inclination of the important stepping stones they would be in the growth of a multi-billion dollar industry. How many more disassembled and forgotten machines did their part to shape what we know today as gaming? Whether or not you consider Tennis for Two the first video game, or Bertie the Brain, or the succinctly titled 1947 cathode-ray tube amusement device, their contribution to gaming history is clear and those contributions, no matter how big or small, are important steps in the tapestry of gaming. Ben Newton Contributor Ben has been gaming for as long as he can remember, with some of his earliest memories being of playing DOOM with his Dad in the late 90’s. His passion for gaming is shared with a passion for writing that he hopes to share by contributing to Smash Jump. Source link #forgotten #forefathers #early #video #games Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Vanguard cuts fees for nearly 100 funds, including ETFs with billions in assets Vanguard cuts fees for nearly 100 funds, including ETFs with billions in assets Pavlo Gonchar | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images Asset management giant Vanguard announced broad fee cuts for many mutual funds and ETFs on Monday, reinforcing its standing as one of the cheapest options for investors. The move reduces fees on 87 different funds, and 168 total share classes of those funds. The average fee cut is 20% per share class. Vanguard said this is its biggest fee cut ever and will save investors about $350 million this year, based on current asset levels. “We’re proud to build on Vanguard’s legacy of lowering the costs of investing—which we have done more than 2,000 times since our founding—by announcing our largest ever set of expense ratio reductions. Lower costs enable investors to keep more of their returns, and those savings compound over time,” Vanguard CEO Salim Ramji said in a press release. The list of cuts includes actively managed and index-based products, with many of the funds representing billions of dollars. Stocks, bonds and commodities products are all included in the reductions. Some of the funds on the Vanguard list include: Fund fees for mutual funds and ETFs are assessed as an annual percentage of total assets under management for the share class. The fee cuts to VEGBX and some other actively managed bond funds is notable because active fixed income is emerging as a growth area for the exchange traded fund industry. The booming popularity of ETFs, which can be purchased more easily than many mutual funds, is often cited as a key factor in driving down management fees for stock funds in recent decades. Vanguard said its actively managed fixed income funds and ETFs have a weighted average expense ratio of 0.10% versus an industry average of 0.53%. Vanguard has long been a leader in lowering fees among asset managers, a tradition dating back to its founder Jack Bogle. Monday’s announcement is a sign that the trend could continue under Ramji, who took over as CEO in 2024 and previously worked at rival BlackRock. The fee cuts come less than a month after Vanguard agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle charges related to disclosures around some of its retirement products. Source link #Vanguard #cuts #fees #funds #including #ETFs #billions #assets Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Mickelson to miss LIV opener but eyes Adelaide return Mickelson to miss LIV opener but eyes Adelaide return Phil Mickelson has suffered a minor shoulder injury during a gym workout and will miss the LIV Golf season opener in Saudi Arabia this week but should be fit for next week’s Adelaide tournament. Mickelson, 54, made the announcement on Monday via social media. Ollie Schniederjans will replace Mickelson in the LIV field this week, joining the captain’s HyFlyers team at LIV Golf Riyadh beginning Thursday. The HyFlyers are still looking for their first team victory. Mickelson said he expects to compete next weekend at LIV Golf Adelaide at The Grange Golf Club. “I’m definitely disappointed that I will miss the season opener, but I look forward to playing in Adelaide,” he said. Schniederjans, a 31-year-old who grew up in Georgia, narrowly missed earning a full LIV card at the LIV Golf Promotions event late last year but gained the right to play in the 10 events in The International Series in 2025. He capitalised on that on Sunday, winning The International Series India by four strokes over US Open champion and LIV star Bryson DeChambeau. Another stroke back in third place sat a pair of LIV players, Joaquin Niemann and Abraham Ancer. Source link #Mickelson #LIV #opener #eyes #Adelaide #return Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Could the Bird Flu Become Airborne? Could the Bird Flu Become Airborne? In early February 2020, China locked down more than 50 million people, hoping to hinder the spread of a new coronavirus. No one knew at the time exactly how it was spreading, but Lidia Morawska, an expert on air quality at Queensland University of Technology in Australia, did not like the clues she managed to find. It looked to her as if the coronavirus was spreading through the air, ferried by wafting droplets exhaled by the infected. If that were true, then standard measures such as disinfecting surfaces and staying a few feet away from people with symptoms would not be enough to avoid infection. Dr. Morawska and her colleague, Junji Cao at the ******** Academy of Sciences in Beijing, drafted a dire warning. Ignoring the airborne spread of the virus, they wrote, would lead to many more infections. But when the scientists sent their commentary to medical journals, they were rejected over and over again. “No one would listen,” Dr. Morawska said. It took more than two years for the World Health Organization to officially acknowledge that Covid spread through the air. Now, five years after Dr. Morawska started sounding the alarm, scientists are paying more attention to how other diseases may also spread through the air. At the top of their list is the bird flu. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control recorded 66 people in the United States who were infected by a strain of avian influenza called H5N1. Some of them most likely got sick by handling virus-laden birds. In March, the Department of Agriculture discovered cows that were also infected with H5N1, and that the animals could pass the virus to people — possibly through droplets splashed from milking machinery. If the bird flu gains the ability to spread from person to person, it could produce the next pandemic. So some flu experts are anxiously tracking changes that could make the virus airborne, drifting in tiny droplets through hospitals, restaurants and other shared spaces, where its next victims could inhale it. “Having that evidence is really important ahead of time, so that we don’t wind up in the same situation when Covid emerged, where everyone was scrambling to figure out how the virus was transmitted,” said Kristen K. Coleman, an infectious-disease expert at the University of Maryland. Scientists have been arguing over how influenza viruses spread for over a century. In 1918, a strain of influenza called H1N1 swept the world and killed over 50 million people. Some American cities treated it as an airborne disease, requiring masks in public and opening windows in schools. But many public health experts remained convinced that influenza was spread largely by direct contact, such as touching a contaminated door knob, or getting sneezed or coughed on. H5N1 first came to light in 1996, when it was detected in wild birds in China. The virus infected their digestive tracts and spread through their ******. Over the years, the virus spread to millions of chickens and other farmed birds. Hundreds of people also became sick, mostly from handling sick animals. Those victims developed H5N1 infections in their lungs that often proved fatal. But the virus could not move readily from one person to another. The threat of an H5N1 spillover into human populations prompted scientists to look closely at how influenza viruses spread. In one experiment, Sander Herfst, a virologist at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and his colleagues tested whether H5N1 could spread between ferrets in cages placed four inches apart. “The animals can’t touch each other, they can’t lick each other,” Dr. Herfst said. “So the only way for transmission to happen is via the air.” When Dr. Herfst and his colleagues squirted H5N1 viruses in the nostrils of ferrets, they developed lung infections. They did not spread the viruses to healthy ferrets in other cages. But Dr. Herfst and his colleagues discovered that a few mutations allowed H5N1 to become airborne. Genetically modified viruses that carried those mutations spread from one cage to another in three out of four trials, making healthy ferrets sick. When the scientists shared these results in 2012, an intense debate broke out about whether scientists should intentionally try to produce viruses that might start a new pandemic. Nevertheless, other scientists followed up on the research to figure out how those mutations allowed influenza to spread through the air. Some research has suggested that the viruses become more stable, so they can endure a trip through the air inside a droplet. When another mammal inhales the droplet, certain mutations allow the viruses to latch on to the cells in the animal’s upper airway. And still other mutations may allow the virus to thrive in the airway’s cool temperature, making lots of new viruses that can then be exhaled. Tracking the flu among humans proved harder, despite the fact that roughly a billion people get seasonal influenza every year. But some studies have pointed to airborne transmission. In 2018, researchers recruited college students sick with the flu and had them breathe into a *****-shaped air sampler. Thirty-nine percent of the small droplets they exhaled carried viable influenza viruses. Despite these findings, exactly how influenza spreads through the air is still unclear. Scientists cannot offer a precise figure for the percentage of flu cases caused by airborne spread versus a contaminated surface like a doorknob. “Very basic knowledge is indeed missing,” Dr. Herfst said. During last year’s flu season, Dr. Coleman and her colleagues brought people sick with the flu to a hotel in Baltimore. The sick volunteers spent time in a room with healthy people, playing games and talking together. Dr. Coleman and her colleagues collected influenza viruses floating around the room. But none of the uninfected volunteers got sick, so the scientists couldn’t compare how often influenza infects people through the air as opposed to in short-range coughs or on virus-smeared surfaces. “It’s hard to mimic real life,” Dr. Coleman said. While Dr. Coleman and her colleagues keep trying to pin down the spread of influenza, the bird flu is infecting more and more animals across the United States. Even cats are getting infected, possibly by drinking raw milk or eating raw **** food. Some influenza experts are concerned that H5N1 is gaining some of the mutations required to go airborne. A virus isolated from a dairy worker in Texas had a mutation that may speed up its replication in airways, for example. When Dr. Herfst and his colleagues sprayed ferrets with airborne droplets carrying the Texas virus, 30 percent of the animals developed infections. “Labs in the United States and all over the world are on the lookout to see if those viruses are getting closer to some something that could be very dangerous for humans,” Dr. Herfst said. It would be impossible to predict when — or even if — the bird flu viruses will gain the additional mutations necessary to spread swiftly from person to person, said Seema Lakdawala, a virologist at Emory University. But with the virus running rampant on farms and so many people getting infected, the odds of airborne evolution are growing. “What’s shocking to me is we’re letting nature do this experiment,” Dr. Lakdawala said. Source link #Bird #Flu #Airborne Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Millennials are reimagining retirement Millennials are reimagining retirement By many measures, millennials are doing considerably well financially. Still, fewer younger adults are thinking about retiring in the traditional sense one day. “Retirement is becoming more deprioritized,” said Michael Liersch, head of advice and planning at Wells Fargo. “Ten or 15 years ago that was always the number one goal,” he said. Now, “actually living one’s life in the moment is a ******* priority.” Although this cohort is very focused on building wealth, “the end game might not be no longer working and sitting on my Adirondack chair,” he said. “That just might not be it.” More from Personal Finance: Why some say millennials have ‘phantom wealth’ Higher-income consumers show signs of stress 62% of couples keep at least some money separate More than one-third, or 37%, of Americans want a retirement that looks different from previous generations, according to a 2024 report from Edelman Financial Engines. Most say that means a more active and adventurous lifestyle. And 32% say they will never be able to “fully” retire, the report found. “This contrasts sharply with retirement stereotypes of the past, where stability and relaxation were the primary goals,” the report said. Meanwhile, the median wealth of younger millennials and older Gen Zers — or those born in the 1990s — “more than quadrupled” in recent years, according to an analysis of 2022 data by the St. Louis Federal Reserve. The number of millennials with seven-figure retirement balances also jumped 400% as of the third quarter of 2024, compared to a year earlier, according to data from Fidelity Investments prepared for CNBC. Compared to other generations, millennials are also more likely to say that their income went up over the last few months and that they expect their earnings potential to increase again in the year ahead, another report by TransUnion found. Collectively, millennials are now worth about $15.95 trillion, up from $3.94 trillion five years earlier, according to the most recent Federal Reserve data as of the third quarter of 2024. But a lot has changed for younger generations, too, said Brett House, an economics professor at Columbia Business School. What assets millennials have on hand and their relative financial stability “is determined by how they shape up against immediate needs — such as housing down payments or emergency medical payments — and their capacity to generate income to replace salaries and wages in retirement amidst the shift from defined benefit to defined contribution pensions, or the elimination of workplace pensions all together,” House said. Most younger adults are no longer getting pensions of any kind, so individuals who enter retirement age are now more dependent on personal savings and Social Security, he said. ‘People are really feeling the cash crunch’ Courtneyk | E+ | Getty Images “There are a lot of financial priorities that we are all trying to reach simultaneously,” said Sophia Bera Daigle, founder and CEO of Gen Y Planning, a financial planning firm for millennials. Many millennials must contend with hefty student loan balances, mortgages, car payments and child care costs in addition to saving for retirement or future college costs, she said. “People are really feeling the cash crunch in their 30s to 40s,” said Bera Daigle, a certified financial planner and a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council. “Their net worth is going up but they don’t feel like they are getting ahead.” That has also contributed to changing views on retirement for millennials, she said. “When I got into this business, retirement was about quitting the grind … playing golf,” Bera Daigle said. Now, “it’s really more about flexibility,” she added. “We don’t know what retirement will look like in 20 years… there’s a lot more emphasis on choosing the work they want to do in their 60s.” Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. Source link #Millennials #reimagining #retirement Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

the asteroid with a tiny chance of hitting Earth the asteroid with a tiny chance of hitting Earth UN planetary defence organisations are closely monitoring an asteroid that has a tiny risk of hitting the Earth. The European Space Agency (ESA) has said that it has an almost 99% chance of safely passing Earth on 22 December 2032, but a possible impact “cannot yet be entirely ruled out”. The probability that the asteroid, called 2024 YR4 may impact Earth on 22 December 2032 is currently estimated to be 1.3%. Dr Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society, says that he is “not panicking or losing sleep over it”. “There is no need for alarm,” he said. “The thing about this kind of event is that historically they tend to go away when the calculations are refined.” We need to be aware alert and we need to give astronomers the resources they need to track these kinds of threats so that we can take action as soon as possible.” YR4 was detected on 27 December 2024. Astronomers calculated that it was between 40m and 90m across. This would have the power of a nuclear bomb were it to hit the Earth and cause severe damage if the impact was in a populated area. But it is much more likely that YR4 would fall into the ocean or a remote part of the planet. It is too far away from Earth and there are too many uncertainties at this stage to determine where a potential impact could occur in the unlikely event of a collision. Since early January, astronomers have been using telescopes to calculate the asteroid’s size and trajectory more precisely. YR4 is now rated at level 3 out of 10 on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale: “a close encounter that warrants attention from astronomers and the public”. A collision is only certain when it reaches 8, 9 or 10, with the numbers rising in line with the damage likely caused. When asteroids are initially calculated to have a small probability of hitting the Earth, that impact probability usually drops to zero after additional observations. This happened in 2004 when an asteroid called Apophis was calculated to have a 2.7% chance of striking Earth in 2029; further observations ruled out an impact. Any object that may be more than 50m wide and has a greater than 1% chance of hitting the Earth, triggers a set of precautionary measures. These are to ensure that the threat, however tiny, is closely monitored and, if necessary, steps are taken to nullify it. The first stage is to activate two UN-endorsed asteroid reaction groups: the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN), chaired by Nasa, and the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG), chaired by the European Space Agency. The SMPAG is having a series of meetings this week to determine its next steps. It has already concluded that it is too early to take immediate action but said that it would “monitor the evolution of impact threat and possible knowledge about the size closely”. Another meeting to take decisions on future activities will be held towards the end of April or early May, or earlier, “if the evolution of the threat merits”. If the asteroid’s impact probability remains above the 1% threshold, SMPAG will provide recommendations to the UN and may begin to evaluate options. In the unlikely event YR4 were headed our way, one option would be to divert it by hitting it with a robotic spacecraft, as was successfully tested out with Nasa’s Dart mission in 2022. That changed the course of an asteroid that was not on a collision course with the Earth. “Nasa’s Dart mission showed that we have the means to divert an asteroid, but only if we spot it early enough,” says Dr Massey. YR4 is currently moving away from Earth in almost a straight line, making it difficult to accurately determine its precise orbit before it returns towards Earth. Over the next few months, the asteroid will begin to fade from view, after which it will be monitored by ground and space telescopes. According to ESA “It is possible that asteroid 2024 YR4 will fade from view before we are able to entirely rule out any chance of impact in 2032. In this case, the asteroid will likely remain on ESA’s risk list until it becomes observable again in 2028.” Source link #asteroid #tiny #chance #hitting #Earth Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

EA Teases Next Battlefield’s Gameplay, Modern Setting EA Teases Next Battlefield’s Gameplay, Modern Setting EA has given us our first look at gameplay from the next entry in the long-running Battlefield series. This gameplay footage came at the end of the Introducing Battlefield Labs video released by EA on Monday morning. That video outlines how DICE, Criterion, Ripple Effect, and Motive are all working together on the next Battlefield and plan on heavily emphasizing player testing throughout the rest of the competitive first-person shooter’s development. At the end, we see a sizzle reel of pre-alpha gameplay. There’s a lot that can be learned from the seven clips shown. We see a large squad of soldiers fighting in various parts of the city. The gameplay looks fairly similar to the more grounded games in the series, like Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4. We see buildings constantly collapsing around players during this shootout, and the final gameplay clip of the video shows a player shooting a building with an explosive weapon and watching it collapse. Destruction has always been a heavily promoted aspect of the Battlefield series, and this latest entry will continue to emphasize that. Vehicles will also play a large part in that destruction, as we see a tank fighting alongside soldiers in the gameplay footage. It’s only about 10 seconds of footage, but a lot can already be discerned from it. The next Battlefield title does not have a name or release date at this time, as it’s still in active development at the pre-alpha stage. You can sign up for Battlefield Labs for a chance to play the game early and help EA test the game. Source link #Teases #Battlefields #Gameplay #Modern #Setting Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Crews battle to protect properties as fires rage Crews battle to protect properties as fires rage Wild winds are set to wreak havoc across fire-ravaged Victoria as fatigued crews continue to battle to protect property. A wind change from a moderate to fresh southerly forecast for Tuesday will challenge the ability of fire crews to keep a number of blazes across the state under control. Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Michael Ephron said wind changes were always a concern with fire in the landscape, but the bureau would keep an eye on timings and positioning of those winds. The biggest of the fires still burning, in the Grampians, was a “long way from over”, Forest Fire Management Victoria chief fire officer Chris Hardman said. He said while crews were fatigued, authorities were ensuring firefighters were being rotated. “This is a long game, and they’re going to need to be maintain their capability and fitness to be able to do this for many more weeks to come,” he told reporters. “It’s been a very long season, and we are still very much at the beginning of that season. We can expect this fire season to go through toward the end of February even into March.” Horsham Incident Control Centre Deputy Incident Controller Ben Matthews said more than 500 firefighters, aided by multiple aircraft, were working to contain the fires, with a focus on asset protection, particularly in the Victoria Valley. He said strong winds had already caused numerous spot fires, but despite the dynamic and rapidly changing situation, firefighters from both Victoria and interstate were working tirelessly. An emergency warning remains in place for the Grampians fire not yet under control. Additional watch and act orders have been issued for four fires in the Great Otways National Park in Victoria’s southwest, at Apollo Bay, Cape *****, Hordern Vale and Cape Otway Temperatures are set to peak at 42C in Ouyen, 35C in Melbourne and Ararat and 32C in Geelong. A cool change is due to move through South Australia on Tuesday afternoon before crossing into Victoria and Tasmania. It will then be Western Australia’s turn for heatwave conditions later in the week. All nine Victorian regions have high fire danger ratings on Tuesday. Source link #Crews #battle #protect #properties #fires #rage Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Marvel Rivals Season 2—Release *******, Rumored Heroes & What To Expect Marvel Rivals Season 2—Release *******, Rumored Heroes & What To Expect NetEase has cracked the live-service element with Marvel Rivals. We’re already looking ahead to Season 2 as everything the developer puts out is a win, so let’s see the early details to see what the developer is cooking up for the second season. Marvel Rivals Season 2 is unlikely to be as big and as impactful as Season 1. The first season was the proper debut, we were still in the early days, and player counts usually tend to fall off as time goes on—no matter how good the game. Still, NetEase has Hulk-smashed it, and January 2025 saw its peak player count smash the 650,000 mark. That being said, we need to look ahead to the future. The developer needs to keep its foot on the pedal and prioritize retention. Marvel Rivals Season 2 Expected Release ******* The saga continues. Credit to NetEase NetEase hasn’t outlined an exact start date, but game director Guangyun Chen’s comments suggest Season 2 could start on April 4. Guangyun Chen said in an interview with Metro that Season One is a “three-month-long journey.” Season 1 launched on Friday, January 10, so if we fast-forward three months (12 weeks), we land on Friday, April 4. There are several factors to consider here though. Firstly, three months can mean January to April, so it’s not necessarily 12 weeks. It could be 13 or 14, so it’s logical conjecture for now. Furthermore, it’s quite common for projected dates to change by a week or two due to delays or rethinks. I’ve seen countless live-service games delay seasons down the years, and Marvel Rivals is liable to suffer the same fate. Fingers crossed it doesn’t, but we will update you on the latest changes and developments. Marvel Rivals Season 2 New Hero Leaks & Early Details A ton of different leaks suggest Marvel Rivals Season 2 is getting two new heroes from a large selection of potential characters including various X-Men heroes and more. We know Marvel Rivals is guaranteed to get at least two new heroes every three months. Many names have been outed with leakers such as @X0X_LEAK posting messages on X concerning heroes in the game’s files. X-Men characters have leaked—thanks to datamining—and suggestions are that more high-profile names such as Deadpool are Marvel Rivals-bound. On the other hand, more reports have come out saying NetEase is “hiding fake heroes in game files to catch leakers.” It’s hard to say for sure if NetEase is doing this, but if they are, it’s an interesting move. For now, here’s every leaked name, and we’ll see if any of them appear in Marvel Rivals Season Two: Angela Beast Captain Marvel Colossus Deadpool Emma Frost Gambit Hit-Monkey Jia Jing Jubilee Locus Modok Nightcrawler Paste Pot Pete Phoenix/Jean Grey Professor X Rogue What To Expect From Marvel Rivals Season 2 We’re still weeks away from a Marvel Rivals Season 2 content roadmap or NetEase announcements, but it’s safe to assume we’ll get typical live-service content additions: New maps, heroes, game modes, and Events. This is the kind of information we get more of—including leaks—closer to the time. But, it’s fun to speculate, and it’s easy to make educated guesses based on previous content and seasons. New heroes are assured, as we covered above, but don’t expect the volume of characters we got in Season 1 as this is considered a one-off. New maps are about the most locked-in type of content for any new hero shooter season too. Season 1’s Spring Festival and Clash of Dancing Lions is an example of the type of events and content Rivals is adding in the future. With Seasons lasting three months, another event or two for Season 2 is a given. We’ll be filling in the blanks as we go on all of this and see if we can borrow Doctor Strange’s powers to see into the future. Details for Marvel Rivals Season 2 are vague right, granted. But it won’t always be the case, and we’ll update you as developments happen. But what do you want to see from the new season? What’s NetEase not getting right in the F2P shooter? Check out more Marvel Rivals content as we can help you to get Assists quickly and Trigger Recursive Destruction. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to receive the latest news and exclusive leaks every week! No Spam. Source link #Marvel #Rivals #Season #2Release #******* #Rumored #Heroes #Expect Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Is UnitedHealth Group (UNH) the Most Promising Dividend Stock According to Hedge Funds? Is UnitedHealth Group (UNH) the Most Promising Dividend Stock According to Hedge Funds? We recently compiled a list of the 10 Most Promising Dividend Stocks According to Hedge Funds. In this article, we are going to take a look at where UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) stands against the other dividend stocks. During a time of great excitement about AI-driven capital gains, it’s crucial to remember that dividends have consistently played a vital role in total returns. Over the long term, dividends become even more significant. Looking back at the past few decades, approximately 55% of market returns from 1987 to the end of 2023 have come from reinvested dividends. Dividends are a long-term investment strategy, and the benefits take time to materialize. For example, a dollar invested in the broader market in 1927 without reinvesting dividends would be worth $243 today, but if dividends were reinvested, that same dollar would be worth $3,737. Fortunately, you don’t need a century to see the potential growth in dividend stocks, as the outlook for the near future is improving. According to a report by AGF Investments, in the second half of 2024, global monetary easing has led to lower bond yields, making fixed income less attractive compared to dividend-paying stocks. In addition, companies with high dividend payouts often have more leverage, and lower bond yields help them manage interest expenses, boosting their overall financial performance, which in turn would contribute to dividend growth. READ ALSO: 8 Unstoppable Dividend Stocks to Invest in According to a report by J.P. Morgan, global equities are on the brink of a significant ******* of dividend growth, not just due to a cyclical rise in payouts but also because of a more permanent increase in dividend momentum. Over the past two decades, global dividends per share have grown at an annual rate of 5.6%, but J.P. Morgan’s analysts now predict this rate will accelerate to 7.6% in the future. The main factor driving this increased dividend growth is the low starting point for payout ratios (dividends relative to earnings). In 2020, during the pandemic, an unusual number of companies reduced their dividends. In fact, global dividends dropped by 12%, a sharper decline than during the Global Financial Crisis. This response was reasonable given the uncertain environment. Since then, equity markets have rebounded strongly, with earnings surging, particularly from Big Tech and, more recently, AI. Dividends, typically set by cautious boards, tend to lag behind earnings during these surges. As a result, payout ratios are now close to 25-year lows, meaning companies are paying out less than historical averages, as reported by J.P. Morgan. Simply returning to more typical payout levels could result in an additional 2% growth annually over the next five years. This recovery is already taking shape, as global dividend growth has outpaced earnings growth in seven of the past eight quarters. Story Continues Investors and analysts both support companies that have raised their payouts. Companies that consistently raise their dividends typically manage economic downturns better because they have strong business models, solid balance sheets, and promising earnings potential. These qualities make them attractive to investors, and historical data shows that the market tends to reward them. Stocks of companies that increase dividends often outperform the broader market while experiencing lower volatility. According to a report by AGF Investments, the companies in the broader market that grew their dividend between January 1990 and August 2024 grew by 12.1%, compared with an 11% return of companies that pay no dividends and a 10.8% return of dividend cutters. With market conditions improving, it’s not surprising that an increasing number of companies are beginning to pay dividends. To compile this article, we first scanned a list of stocks known for their consistent dividend track records and sustained shareholder payouts over an extended *******. This group reflects stability and long-term performance in dividend payouts. From this list, we picked 10 companies with the highest number of hedge fund investors, according to Insider Monkey’s database of Q3 2024. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds having stakes in them. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here). Is UnitedHealth Group (UNH) the Best Stock for Beginners with Little Money According to Hedge Funds? A senior healthcare professional giving advice to a patient in a clinic. Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 112 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is an American health insurance company, based in Minnesota. In 2024, the company encountered substantial challenges, including a $6 billion setback from Medical Cost Ratios (MCR) and the effects of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on expensive medications. However, UnitedHealth’s proactive steps, such as adjusting pricing strategies and continuing to invest in Medicare Advantage (MA), have allowed it to handle regulatory and market pressures more effectively. Moving into 2025, UNH plans to tackle these challenges by focusing on regulatory changes in MA, scaling AI-driven models, and enhancing operational efficiencies across its commercial and Medicare sectors. The stock has surged by over 6% in the past 12 months. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) recently revealed its FY24 earnings, exceeding investor expectations with an outstanding performance. It reported revenue of $400 billion, reflecting an 8% increase from the previous year, driven by expanded services throughout the organization. The company’s operational earnings for the year reached $32.3 billion. After excluding expenses related to responding to a cyberattack and challenges in South America, adjusted operational earnings were $34.4 billion. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) met investor expectations with impressive cash flow results. For the full year, the company generated $24.2 billion in cash flows from operations, which is 1.6 times its net income. Throughout 2024, it returned over $16 billion to shareholders via dividends and stock buybacks. In Q4, its return on equity was 23.7%, showcasing strong earnings and an efficient capital structure. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) also has a solid dividend history, having started annual dividend payments in 1990 and moving to quarterly payouts in 2010. Since then, it has consistently raised its dividends, making it one of the top stocks for reliable dividends. It currently pays a quarterly dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.55%, as of January 30. Overall UNH ranks 2nd on our list of the most promising dividend stocks according to hedge funds. While we acknowledge the potential for UNH as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than UNH but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stock To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Source link #UnitedHealth #Group #UNH #Promising #Dividend #Stock #Hedge #Funds Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Assassin’s Creed Shadows details leak after art book is uploaded to a hentai site Assassin’s Creed Shadows details leak after art book is uploaded to a hentai site New Assassin’s Creed Shadows details are circulating online after scans of an upcoming art book were uploaded to a hentai site. Titled Art of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the 256-page book reportedly includes details about the game’s story, characters, locations, weapons and more, many of which were previously unknown. The leak was spotted by a Reddit user, who included links to its original source plus other locations where the scans can be viewed, although Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft is attempting to get the images taken offline. Information about the first Assassin’s Creed Shadows expansion also leaked recently via an update to the game’s Steam product page. Titled Claws of Awaji, the DLC will reportedly introduce a new explorable area, a new weapon type and over 10 hours of additional content. Last month, Ubisoft announced a second Assassin’s Creed Shadows delay. The company said it was pushing back the title by a further month in order to incorporate more player feedback into the launch game. Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which was previously delayed from last November to February 2025, will now be released on March 20. “If its narrative is smartly weaved through the larger package, Assassin’s Creed Shadows could prove to be a notable release for both fans of Valhalla and Odyssey’s country-sized sandbox, and those craving a more cinematic Samurai story,” VGC wrote following a recent hands-on session with the game. Source link #Assassins #Creed #Shadows #details #leak #art #book #uploaded #hentai #site Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Wall Street swerves lower after Trump announces tariffs and then puts some on hold – The Associated Press Wall Street swerves lower after Trump announces tariffs and then puts some on hold – The Associated Press Wall Street swerves lower after Trump announces tariffs and then puts some on hold The Associated PressLive updates: The latest on Donald Trump’s presidency | CNN Politics CNNMexico agrees to deploy 10,000 troops to US border in exchange for tariff pause Fox NewsTrump Tariffs Live Updates: Mexico Says It Reached Deal to Delay Tariffs The New York TimesTrump pauses Mexico tariffs for one month after agreement on border troops CNBC Source link #Wall #Street #swerves #Trump #announces #tariffs #puts #hold #Press Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Fortnite Festival Riffmaster Guitar Controller Gets Biggest Discount Yet Fortnite Festival Riffmaster Guitar Controller Gets Biggest Discount Yet Fortnite players can get PDP’s Riffmaster Wireless Guitar Controller for a great price at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. The Xbox/PC and PlayStation editions of the officially licensed controller are on ***** for $110 (was $130). But heads up: Amazon sold out of the PS5 controller deal pretty fast, but Xbox and PC users can still grab the Riffmaster for $110 at Amazon. Meanwhile, Best Buy and Walmart have both edition in stock for the deal price. Walmart’s deal ships directly from Turtle Beach (PDP’s parent company). Released last March to support Fortnite Festival, the Riffmaster is the only guitar controller currently being produced that’s licensed by PlayStation and Xbox. $110 (was $130) To be clear, this is technically a Rock Band 4 controller, but Epic Games added support for a variety of guitar controllers last April, including Rock Band 4 guitars. By default, the Riffmaster is configured for right-handed players, but left-handed players can use it by removing a single ****** and reversing the neck. The Riffmaster has five upper and lower frets as well as a D-pad on the pick guard and an analog stick on the back of the headstock. The controller offers a 30-foot wireless range via the included USB dongle and can run for up to 36 hours on a full charge. It has a built-in 3.5mm audio jack and comes with a shoulder strap. As an officially licensed controller, the Riffmaster also has the PS button to open up the PS5’s control center or return to the home screen. Unlike many PlayStation controllers, the Riffmaster wasn’t designed with PlayStation console compatibility in mind. That said, some users have been able to get the PlayStation Riffmaster working on PC with unofficial third-party drivers. $110 (was $130) If you primarily play Fortnite Festival on PC, however, you’ll want to opt for the Xbox version of the Riffmaster. The Xbox model has the same features as the PlayStation edition. It has the Xbox button that opens the Guide. Both models have a sleek ****** and gray color scheme and are made of sturdy plastic. A collapsible design makes it easy to store the guitar or take it with you when traveling. Once taken apart, the the controller can be tossed in a backpack and then reassembled in a minute or two. Unfortunately, neither model is compatible with Nintendo Switch. But if you’re looking for an alternative to a traditional controller for Switch or PC, CRKD recently launched a unique version of its great Neo S Wireless Controller. The Neo S Fortnite Festival Edition has a five-fret detachable module reminiscent of the accessory for Guitar Hero games on Nintendo DS. It’s available now at Amazon for $60. Source link #Fortnite #Festival #Riffmaster #Guitar #Controller #Biggest #Discount Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Trump names Treasury’s Scott Bessent acting head after firing Chopra Trump names Treasury’s Scott Bessent acting head after firing Chopra Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, listens as investor Scott Bessent speaks on the economy in Asheville, N.C., Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. Matt Kelley | AP President Donald Trump has made Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after firing former head Rohit Chopra over the weekend. Bessent, a former hedge fund manager who was confirmed as head of the U.S. Treasury last week, will presumably lead the CFPB until a permanent pick is named. “I look forward to working with the CFPB to advance President Trump’s agenda to lower costs for the American people and accelerate economic growth,” Bessent said in a CFPB statement released Monday announcing his appointment. Chopra, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2021, was often at loggerheads with the U.S. banking industry after pushing to drastically rein in practices around credit card late fees and overdraft fees, among many other efforts. Trade groups representing banks fought these regulations in court, fending off rules that would’ve saved Americans billions of dollars in fees, but that the industry called poorly considered or unjustified. Banking groups had expected Chopra to be fired as soon as Trump’s inauguration day, but Chopra remained on for nearly two weeks into Trump’s second term, continuing to fire off releases and weigh in on hot-button topics including whether banks unfairly closed accounts. This story is developing. Please check back for updates. Source link #Trump #names #Treasurys #Scott #Bessent #acting #firing #Chopra Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]