Pelican Press

Government to introduce social media ban Bill to parliament Government to introduce social media ban Bill to parliament The Albanese government is introducing its Bill to ban social media for kids under 16. If passed, social media companies could be slapped with fines of up to $50m if they fail to do enough to verify a user’s age on their platforms. The world-first legislation set to be introduced on Thursday would also create a legal definition of social media. Snapchat would reportedly be captured in that definition. Snapchat lets users exchange photos, videos and messages rather than offering a posting board-type feature, such as Facebook, Instagram or X. Camera IconSocial media companies could be slapped with fines of up to $50m under new laws introduced by the Albanese government. NewsWire / Aaron Francis Credit: News Corp Australia There was some uncertainty around whether Snapchat could escape the proposed ban by arguing it was a messaging service and not a social media platform. The Bill will likely get a warm welcome in parliament. There has been broad bipartisan support for restricting minors’ access to social media for some time, with states and territories mulling their own bans. Though, the Bill is not without critics. Independent MP Zoe Daniel warned on Thursday morning that it could unintentionally make platforms “less safe”. Camera IconIndependent MP Zoe Daniel says the social media ban could unintentionally make social media ‘less safe’. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia “My biggest concern about it really is that it doesn’t substantively change what the platforms need to be doing on their platforms, and there may be an unintended consequence that the platforms actually become less safe,” she told the ABC. “If you were to create a system where the platforms have to take responsibility, mitigate risk and be transparent about how they’re doing that and what tools they’re using, then that sort of provides, potentially, an environment where everyone can be in a safe space. “What we’re doing is saying, ‘Well, we’re going to lock everyone under 16 out, and then everyone else can do whatever they want in there’. “And also, we know that some people under 16 will get in. I don’t think that that’s really a good pathway to go down.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has likened the ban to age restrictions on alcohol, acknowledging people can get around it but arguing that it sets a standard. The laws would come into force 12 months after passing. The eSafety commissioner would be responsible for enforcing the legislation. Source link #Government #introduce #social #media #ban #Bill #parliament Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nintendo Switch 2 Backwards Compatibility Comes With a Diabolical Condition That Hints You’ll Have to Shell Out More Money to Play OG Games Nintendo Switch 2 Backwards Compatibility Comes With a Diabolical Condition That Hints You’ll Have to Shell Out More Money to Play OG Games For a long time, Nintendo fans have been waiting for the company to launch the Switch 2. While the company recently promised backward compatibility with Switch games, there is still one question floating in the community: What will the backward compatibility really look like, and is there a costly catch they still don’t know about? Players are excited after hearing the announcement that the upcoming console is backward compatible. | Image Credit: Nintendo In a recent announcement, it was confirmed that Switch software will be available on its successor. But what about physical cartridges? There is still no confirmation that they will work seamlessly with the Switch 2. This opens the door to a costly scenario: the company may sell an accessory to enable compatibility, forcing fans to pay extra if they want to use their physical game copies on the new hardware. The Fate of Nintendo Switch Physical Cartridges Still Up in the Air Some ***** that the no details about the physical cartridge might lead to worrying news. | Image Credit: Nintendo Nintendo has always remained tight-lipped about its upcoming games and hardware, and that’s the case with the Switch’s successor. While the company has reassured players that games will seamlessly transfer through their Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) accounts, the same can’t be said for physical cartridges. Although no official confirmation has been given that this will happen, what if the company decides to go a controversial route and make the Switch’s physical cartridges incompatible with the Switch 2? 古川です。本日の経営方針説明会で、Nintendo Switchの後継機種ではNintendo Switch向けソフトも遊べることを公表しました。また、Nintendo Switch Onlineも後継機種で引き続きご利用いただけるようにします。これらNintendo Switchとの互換性を含む後継機種の詳しい情報は、後日改めてご案内します。 — 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) November 6, 2024 This uncertainty regarding the compatibility of the physical cartridge has sparked various troubling speculations in the community. One of them is that physical Switch games may not work on the new console natively unless the user purchases a newly developed accessory designed specifically for the Switch 2. This strategic move would make it possible for players to continue using their physical games but only by forcing them to pay extra money for an accessory. While the company is known for its innovation and dedication to the gaming experience, it is also no stranger to controversial business decisions. While this is all hypothetical, it’s the kind of move that feels all too familiar in the tech industry, like the controversial decision by Apple to exclude chargers from the iPhone box, forcing customers to purchase one separately if they didn’t have one on hand. Gamers are also already being forced by Sony to purchase a stand for their PS5. So, in this regard, it wouldn’t be a totally unexpected move by Nintendo to sell an accessory for a physical cartridge on Switch 2. Is the Switch 2 Setting Up a Digital-Only Future? While the future ******** uncertain, fans are hopeful that the company will provide a place for physical cartridges. | Image Credit: Nintendo As speculation about the Switch 2 continues to grow, one trend seems clear: Nintendo may be preparing its players for a future dominated by digital games, leaving physical cartridges behind. While the company hasn’t confirmed anything, the growing focus on digital game transfers suggests that this is more than just a passing trend. The promise of seamless digital game transfers via Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) is undeniably convenient. Players can bring their entire digital library to the Switch 2 with just a few clicks, bypassing any potential issues related to physical cartridges. This convenience raises a key question: will physical games eventually become obsolete? For the time being, it doesn’t seem like it will happen anytime soon as the demand for them is still high. However, if Nintendo decides to force players who own large collections of physical Switch games to purchase an accessory like a cartridge adapter, it would nudge players toward going digital. Such a strategic move would also align with the company’s strategy to increase revenue. After all, digital downloads don’t require the production or distribution of physical media, offering the company more control over pricing and promotions as well. In the end, the Switch 2 could mark the start of a new era. Alternatively, Nintendo could prove these speculations wrong and continue supporting physical media natively. Either way, one thing is clear: the anticipation for the Switch 2 is palpable. Source link #Nintendo #Switch #Compatibility #Diabolical #Condition #Hints #Youll #Shell #Money #Play #Games Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Rep. Wild discusses outcome of ethics meeting over Gaetz report Rep. Wild discusses outcome of ethics meeting over Gaetz report Democratic Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, ranking member of the House Ethics Committee, spoke to reporters Wednesday following the panel’s meeting about the investigation into Matt Gaetz. She said that chairman Michael Guest implied that there was an agreement not to disclose the report, which she called incorrect. She said there is an agreement to have another meeting on Dec. 5. Source link #Rep #Wild #discusses #outcome #ethics #meeting #Gaetz #report Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.54 Now Available as a 32GB Preload, Unlocks November 21 Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.54 Now Available as a 32GB Preload, Unlocks November 21 Polyphony Digital has taken the highly unusual step of making a game update for Gran Turismo 7 available to download some 24 hours early, with the 1.54 patch now available to PlayStation 5 players. Source link #Gran #Turismo #Update #32GB #Preload #Unlocks #November Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Robotic pigeon reveals how birds fly without a vertical tail fin Robotic pigeon reveals how birds fly without a vertical tail fin A pigeon-inspired ****** has solved the mystery of how birds fly without the vertical tail fins that human-designed aircraft rely on. Its makers say the prototype could eventually lead to passenger aircraft with less drag, reducing fuel consumption. Tail fins, also known as vertical stabilisers, allow aircraft to turn from side to side and help avoid changing direction unintentionally. Some military planes, such as the Northrop B-2 Spirit, are designed without a tail fin because it makes them less visible to radar. Instead, they use flaps that create extra drag on just one side when needed, but this is an inefficient solution. Birds have no vertical fin and also don’t seem to deliberately create asymmetric drag. David Lentink at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and colleagues designed PigeonBot II (pictured below) to investigate how birds stay in control without such a stabiliser. PigeonBot II, a ****** designed to mimic the flying techniques of birds Eric Chang The team’s previous model, built in 2020, flew by flapping its wings and changing their shape like a bird, but it still had a traditional aircraft tail. The latest design, which includes 52 real pigeon feathers, has been updated to include a bird-like tail – and test flights have been successful. Lentink says the secret to PigeonBot II’s success is in the reflexive tail movements programmed into it, designed to mimic those known to exist in birds. If you hold a pigeon and tilt it from side to side or back and forward, its tail automatically reacts and moves in complex ways, as if to stabilise the animal in flight. This has long been thought to be the key to birds’ stability, but now it has been proven by the robotic replica. The researchers programmed a computer to control the nine servomotors in Pigeonbot II to steer the craft using propellers on each wing, but also to automatically twist and fan the tail in response, to create the stability that would normally come from a vertical fin. Lentink says these reflexive movements are so complex that no human could directly fly Pigeonbot II. Instead, the operator issues high level commands to an autopilot, telling it to turn left or right, and a computer on board determines the appropriate control signals. After many unsuccessful tests during which the control systems were refined, it was finally able to take off, cruise and land safely. “Now we know the recipe of how to fly without a vertical tail. Vertical tails, even for a passenger aircraft, are just a nuisance. It costs weight, which means fuel consumption, but also drag – it’s just unnecessary drag,” says Lentink. “If you just copy our solution [for a large scale aircraft] it will work, for sure. [But] if you want to translate this into something that’s a little bit easier to manufacture, then there needs to be an additional layer of research.” Topics: Source link #Robotic #pigeon #reveals #birds #fly #vertical #tail #fin Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Ethics Committee deadlocks on releasing Matt Gaetz ****, ***** probe report Ethics Committee deadlocks on releasing Matt Gaetz ****, ***** probe report Vice President-elect, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) (L) and former Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) leave the U.S. Capitol after meeting with *********** members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on November 20, 2024 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images The bipartisan House Ethics Committee deadlocked Wednesday on whether to release a report on its investigation into allegations of ******* misconduct and other wrongdoing by former *********** Rep. Matt Gaetz. The outcome of the vote means that the report on Gaetz, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the next U.S. attorney general, will not be released for the time being. Ethics Chair Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters after the closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, “There has been no agreement to release the report.” But Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, the panel’s ranking Democrat, pushed back on that characterization. “The chairman has essentially suggested that there was agreement of the members of the committee, which there most definitely was not,” she said. She stressed that the vote in the 10-member committee, which is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, fell along partisan lines. “There was no consensus on this issue,” Wild said. She noted that the panel did agree to reconvene on Dec. 5 to “further consider this matter.” When asked if she agreed with Guest’s prior remark that the panel’s report is unfinished, Wild paused before saying, “I really don’t care to comment on the status of the report, except to say that we were in a position to vote today.” The ethics probe centered on whether Gaetz engaged in ******* misconduct or illicit ***** use, as well as whether he accepted improper gifts, gave special favors to personal contacts or sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct. The committee had paused its probe in May 2023 at the request of the Department of Justice, which was conducting its own investigation into allegations that Gaetz ****-trafficked a minor girl. The DOJ ended that probe without filing charges. The committee reauthorized its investigation in May 2023. Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing. In September he said he would no longer voluntarily participate in the ethics probe, while revealing that the committee had asked him whether he ever “engaged in ******* activity with any individual under 18.” “The answer to this question is unequivocally NO,” he wrote in reply. The panel was investigating Gaetz until he resigned from Congress last week, shortly after Trump tapped him to become the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Gaetz’s resignation removes him from the committee’s jurisdiction, Guest said. Trump’s decision to select Gaetz, whose time in Congress was filled with controversial remarks and feuds with other lawmakers, for a high-level Cabinet role has spurred intense pushback from Democrats and surprise from Republicans. Of all the people Trump has picked to join his next administration, Gaetz is viewed as the least likely to be confirmed by the Senate. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that there are far more Senate Republicans opposed to Gaetz’s nomination than the three GOP votes he can afford to lose in the next Congress. Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee urged the FBI earlier Wednesday to turn over all the evidence it had gathered from its investigation into Gaetz. “The Senate has a constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on presidential nominees, and it is crucial that we review all the information necessary to fulfill this duty as we consider Mr. Gaetz’s nomination,” reads the letter from Chairman ***** Durbin, D-Il., and nine other Democrats. Source link #Ethics #Committee #deadlocks #releasing #Matt #Gaetz #**** #***** #probe #report Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Tears of Themis gears up for Luke’s birthday with a new SSR card, login bonuses and more Tears of Themis gears up for Luke’s birthday with a new SSR card, login bonuses and more The “Like Sunlight Upon Snow” event launches on November 23rd A new SSR card “Journey Beyond” will be available Listen to Luke’s birthday voice call HoYoverse is celebrating Luke’s birthday within Tears of Themis this month, offering b-day bonanzas and a new SSR card to boot. November 23rd will see a series of limited-time events launching within the romance detective otome, so it’s the perfect time to cuddle up with Luke as the season gets colder this winter. In the latest update to Tears of Themis, Luke fans will take centre stage this time around – in particular, a Luke R card and a birthday Invitation will be up for grabs. Much like the previous birthday events, a new SSR card “Journey Beyond” will have a rate-up chance for you to pull from the summons pool. Dubbed “Like Sunlight Upon Snow”, the event tasks you with solving puzzles to score S-Chips as well as valuable Tears of Themis, all on top of login bonuses where Luke’s birthday voice call will be available to swoon over. Now, I’m personally an Artem fan myself, but Luke does have his appeal too especially given his long history with the female protagonist. If you’re looking to catch up on past narratives, Luke’s previous birthday R cards will also be available to redeem for a limited time. Speaking of freebies, why not take a gander at our list of Tears of Themis codes to get your fill? In the meantime, if you’re eager to join in on all the fun, you can do so by checking it out on the App Store and on Google Play. It’s free-to-play with in-app purchases. You can also join the community of followers on the official Facebook page to stay updated on all the latest developments, visit the official website for more info, or take a little peek at the embedded clip above to get a feel of the vibes and visuals. Source link #Tears #Themis #gears #Lukes #birthday #SSR #card #login #bonuses Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Comcast cable networks spinoff emphasizes need for change in media Comcast cable networks spinoff emphasizes need for change in media Nikolas Kokovlis | Nurphoto | Getty Images Comcast shares posted modest gains Wednesday after the company announced its plan to spin off all of NBCUniversal’s cable networks, except Bravo, into a separate publicly traded entity. Investors’ initial shrug at the proposed transaction underscores the uncertainty of the maneuver. The hope for Comcast is that by shedding declining assets, the company’s shares will rise. Cable networks are still profitable, but they’re hemorrhaging subscribers and revenue every year as Americans cancel traditional pay TV for streaming services. That may be an anchor on Comcast’s shares. Wall Street typically doesn’t like assets with slumping revenue and profit. Still, there’s plenty of uncertainty around the spinoff. It’s unclear if Comcast investors will care that much. The NBCUniversal cable networks are relatively small assets, generating about $7 billion in revenue over the 12 months ended Sept. 30, according to a Comcast news release. For comparison, the rest of Comcast took in about $116 billion in revenue. It’s also unclear if the spun-off company will flourish as a publicly traded entity. If Comcast is shedding cable networks because Wall Street doesn’t like them, why would shareholders want a company that consists of declining assets? There’s a reason Disney decided not to spin its cable assets. The company considered it and ultimately decided the earnings lost from spinning profitable networks would trump any potential multiple expansion from a spin. Still, Disney’s cable networks, including FX and Disney Channel, are more integrated with its streaming platforms than NBCUniversal’s cable networks are with Peacock, the company’s subscription streaming service. The new company, temporarily called “SpinCo,” will generate cash and could pay a healthy dividend to shareholders looking to invest in declining cash assets. But that’s usually more of a private equity strategy. That may ultimately be where cable networks are heading — to private ownership willing to harvest them for cash. It’s also possible some of the cable networks could find new footing outside of NBCUniversal’s ownership. SpinCo’s CEO-to-be, Mark Lazarus, may be able to strike new licensing agreements with other streaming services now that the cable assets aren’t purely a marketing and content distribution tool for Peacock. Profits for SpinCo can be reinvested into businesses, including CNBC and MSNBC, instead of being diverted toward Peacock and NBCUniversal’s theme parks. Another possible path for the spinoff is as a rollup entity for other cable networks. Comcast is purposefully structuring SpinCo with low debt. Perhaps the company could take on some of Warner Bros. Discovery’s debt and its cable networks. The same could be said for Paramount Global. The ******* motivation With so much unknown, Comcast probably isn’t doing this because it’s sure the spin will be a slam dunk for investors. Instead, Comcast’s motivations may be a signal to the media industry that it’s time to enter a new phase. “There’s simply not enough revenue in these businesses to cover the costs anymore,” Kevin Mayer, co-CEO of Candle Media and a former Disney executive, said in an interview. “There has to be consolidation now. It’s Econ 101.” That’s a sentiment Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav addressed during his company’s earnings call earlier this month. “This is an industry that really needs to meaningfully consolidate,” Zaslav said. “If the best content is going to win, there needs to be some consolidation in order to have these businesses be stronger and to have a better consumer experience.” In other words, even if SpinCo flounders as a publicly traded company and Comcast doesn’t get any multiple expansion, simply signaling to the media world that it’s time for a change may be worthwhile. In the long run, perhaps trying something is better than trying nothing at all. One more thing: If Comcast wants to attempt a large merger in a Donald Trump administration, such as buying U.S. cable company Charter or another telecommunications company, shedding MSNBC may not be a bad idea. The last time Trump was president, his Department of Justice blocked AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner — reportedly because Trump was not a fan of CNN. Comcast shares closed up 1.5% on Wednesday. Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC. Source link #Comcast #cable #networks #spinoff #emphasizes #change #media Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

The NBA will air a Christmas Day game with Disney characters The NBA will air a Christmas Day game with Disney characters If you can’t get your kids to sit through one of the five NBA games airing on Christmas Day, tune into Disney+, ESPN+ or ESPN2 for a special Disney-fied version. announced that it will air a “Dunk the Halls” broadcast of the San Antonio Spurs versus the New York Knicks featuring animated Disney characters. The broadcast starts at 12PM eastern. If you just want to watch the game played by regular, boring humans, that will also air on Disney+ and ESPN+ as well as ABC and ESPN. “Dunk the Halls” will use Sony’s Beyond Sports technology to turn Madison Square Garden into Main Street USA from the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. The game will also feature appearances from classic Disney characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy and Donald and Daisy Duck as well as Santa and his elves from the animated Disney short Prep & Landing. This is the first time the NBA has arranged to air a game with animated characters and graphic overlays. It’s also the latest game in a new trend of mixing live sports events with a network’s signature cartoon characters. ESPN+, Disney+ and the NFL+ app will air an alternative version of the Bengals-Cowboys game on December 9 featuring virtual characters and scenes from . ESPN3’s broadcasts use technology designed by Second Spectrum to create augmented graphics that track players movements and provide real time updates. Source link #NBA #air #Christmas #Day #game #Disney #characters Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Meta AI smart glasses say bonjour, hola, and ciao to Europe and new languages Meta AI smart glasses say bonjour, hola, and ciao to Europe and new languages Meta is doing its part to make 2025 the year of smart glasses by releasing the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses in several ********* countries. Soon, people in France, Italy, Ireland, and Spain will be able to buy the AI-powered wearables, and the Meta AI assistant will be able to communicate with users in Spanish, French, Italian, and English. “With Meta AI on Ray-Ban Meta glasses, people have a hands-free way to ask questions on-the-go and receive real time answers and information, recommendations, or even receive some creative writing inspiration,” Meta described in a blog post. “For example, you can ask, “Hey Meta, what’s the best patisserie in Paris?” or “What are some good gift ideas for my kids aged 6 and 8?” and receive an answer instantly. “ ********* locales won’t have access to all the features of the smart glasses available in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Specifically, ********* wearers won’t be able to ask Meta AI about what’s around them and hear a description of landmarks or events around them, at least for now. In the U.S., you might look at the Statue of Liberty and ask about its history or ask the AI to tell you the species of a plant you see on a hike. AI EU That might be a regulatory issue about the smart glasses and their visual processing ability rather than a technical obstacle. This isn’t the first time Meta has cited the EU’s regulatory environment as a barrier to its feature rollouts. Similar rules slowed the release of the Meta AI assistant across the continent. As the tech giant continues to work with government agencies, more ********* countries will likely get access to the smart glasses. Still, four new countries and three new languages are a big deal. They extend the potential market enormously, particularly in regions where English is uncommon. Plus, there are an enormous number of countries where Spanish and French are spoken, albeit in many different dialects. Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable ****** Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content. You might also like… Source link #Meta #smart #glasses #bonjour #hola #ciao #Europe #languages Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

How could the U.S. military be used for Trump’s mass deportation plan? How could the U.S. military be used for Trump’s mass deportation plan? President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to start the largest deportation effort in ********* history — his signature 2024 campaign promise — as soon as he takes office, signaling this week that he would enlist the help of the U.S. military for the massive operation to deport undocumented immigrants. Earlier this week, he shared a social media post indicating that he’d declare a national emergency and deploy military assets to carry out deportations. Still, how exactly the military would be tapped to carry out this promise of mass deportations is unclear. And there are untested legal questions about involving service members in immigration enforcement operations. The Department of Defense has provided operational support to immigration and border authorities for decades, under both *********** and Democratic presidents. Roughly 4,000 service members – primarily from the National Guard – are currently authorized to support the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) security mission along the southwest border, according to the U.S. Northern Command. While longstanding federal law generally prohibits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement – which includes immigration arrests and deportations – a few rarely invoked statutory exceptions exist. The Department of Defense’s vast funding and resources could be instrumental in helping the incoming administration address the operational and financial challenges of carrying out deportations on a monumental scale. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation branch has a fraction of the resources that would be necessary, with 6,000 agents and 41,000 detention beds. About 11 million immigrants are estimated to be living in the U.S. illegally. What have Trump and his allies said about using the military for deportations? In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” last month, Tom Homan, who Trump has appointed to be his “border czar,” indicated that one way to increase manpower for the mass deportation plan would be to re-hire retired ICE agents. Contractors, he added, could do some of the operational work, including handling transportation and setting up so-called “soft-sided” facilities, or tent detention sites, to hold migrant detainees. Homan said transportation and supply assets from the Department of Defense would also be helpful, suggesting that military planes could be used for deportation. But Stephen Miller, the incoming White House deputy chief of staff, has gone further than Homan, suggesting the National Guard could be deputized to arrest undocumented immigrants. “We will deputize them as immigration enforcement officers,” Miller said during a radio interview last year. “They know their states, they know their communities, they know their cities.” And while U.S. law generally bans the use of the armed forces for domestic law enforcement, during an interview with the New York Times last year, Miller said a revamped Trump administration would invoke what’s known as the Insurrection Act to create an exception, enabling the use of federal troops to apprehend migrants. The military, Miller has also indicated, could be dispatched to the southern border with “an impedance and denial mission.” “You reassert the fundamental constitutional principle that you don’t have the right to enter into our sovereign territory, to even request an asylum claim,” Miller said at last year’s CPAC. “The military has the right to establish a fortress position on the border to say no one can cross here at all.” Finally, Trump has pledged to use the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 — a law invoked during World War II to approve the surveillance and detention of Italian, *******, ********* immigrants — to deport suspected migrant gang members. How could the military be deployed to the U.S. border? The U.S. military’s role at the U.S.-Mexico border dates back to the ******** ********* War, with additional buildup of troops at the southern border during the ******** Revolution and World War I. “For basically the past 40 years, the military’s involvement at the border has been steadily growing,” said Joseph Nunn, counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s School of Law, “And it has gone from sort of ad hoc to routine to deeply entrenched into how we approach border security and immigration.” Members of the military stationed at the border have historically performed an array of support tasks, experts tell CBS News – from operating surveillance aircrafts and transporting U.S. Border Patrol personnel in helicopters to laying concertina wire and maintaining Customs and Border Protection vehicles. Homan’s suggestions of using the military for some of the operational work that doesn’t involve engaging with migrants would fall under this category and would be an expansion of the duties National Guard and a small number of active-duty troops have performed at the southern border under previous administrations. As recently as last year, troops were deployed to the border to help Border Patrol with administrative tasks, like warehouse management and clerical work. Military involvement now “is just essentially to get access to more bodies and more aircrafts,” Nunn explained, calling military mobilization a force multiplier. “Suppose you want to set up a checkpoint on a highway in Texas or Arizona. Under normal circumstances, you need five CBP agents to run a checkpoint. If you have access to military personnel, you can run a checkpoint with one CBP agent assisted by four soldiers. Then suddenly five CBP agents assisted by soldiers can run five checkpoints instead of one.” “[The Trump administration] would also use the military to do things like build bases and facilities to hold people,” senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, Thomas Warrick, told CBS News. “He could use the military to fly detainees around the country or indeed to deport them to other countries if they can get landing rights.” Can the U.S. military act as domestic law enforcement? Using the military in an active law enforcement role, rather than in a support capacity, would be more complex and unusual, but subject to at least one legal loophole. The Posse Comitatus Act bars federal armed forces from participating in law enforcement activities unless expressly authorized by Congress. But the 1807 Insurrection Act, which Miller mentioned, allows the president to utilize the military in domestic cases that warrant it. While the National Guard is under state control and not activated for federal service, it is not subject to Posse Comitatus. Abraham Lincoln used it during the Civil War, and in the 20th century, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy relied on the law to desegregate schools, deploying troops to the South after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The most recent time it was used was in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush after both city and state leaders asked for federal help to quell the L.A. riots. According to the law, the military may be activated to enforce the laws on U.S. soil or to “suppress rebellion” whenever “unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion” make it “impracticable” to enforce federal law in that state by the “ordinary course of judicial proceedings.” Can this be challenged in court? Lee Gelernt, a lawyer at the ********* Civil Liberties Union, said using the military to carry out deportations under the Alien and Sedition Acts would be “patently unlawful,” because current circumstances don’t allow for it. “The law requires an invasion by a foreign government,” said Gelernt, who challenged many of the first Trump administration’s immigration policies. “That’s not what is happening with immigration.” There already is an agency, ICE, that handles enforcing immigration laws with arrest authority that the U.S. military does not have. “It was designed for unexpected emergencies,” Nunn said, but added that, “its text grants vast discretion to the president” with “no meaningful criteria” to justify invoking it. In 1827, the Supreme Court ruled in Martin v. Mott that the president has the sole authority to decide whether a situation warrants deploying the military. However, “If you can prove that the president has invoked the insurrection act in bad ******, which is going to be a high bar to clear but not impossible, you could potentially challenge the decision to invoke the Insurrection Act,” Nunn explained, adding that the centuries-old law does not permit the military to violate constitutional rights or to violate otherwise applicable federal law. Peter Feaver, a professor of political science and public policy at Duke University who focuses on civil military relations, said using the military as law enforcement would be controversial and could degrade trust in the military, even if there is a legal case for it. “This is not what the military trains for, but on top of all of that, it would be deeply politically polarizing because there’d be many many Americans who would view this as an inappropriate mission, a betrayal of our ********* values or something,,” said Feaver, who has written a book called “Thanks for Your Service: The Causes and Consequences of Public Confidence in the US Military.” Congress has no role in invoking the Insurrection Act. In July, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, renewed his legislative push to overhaul the law. He first introduced a bill reforming the Insurrection Act in 2020, after Trump’s threats to use troops to respond to civil rights protests across the U.S. following the police ******** of George Floyd, but his efforts were stalled by *********** opposition and pushback from the Trump administration. What if Trump declared a national emergency at the border? Trump declared a national emergency at the border during his first administration, after Congress declined to fund border wall construction. He used the declaration to unilaterally divert Pentagon funds to expand the border wall. “The Pentagon budget – that’s where the money is,” Warrick said. “It’s where the people are. It’s where the aircrafts are.” The long-term cost of deporting 1 million people per year could average $88 billion annually, according to the ********* Immigration Council, surpassing the Department of Homeland Security’s $62 billion budget in fiscal year 2025 and totalling nearly $968 billion over a decade. The operation would also demand lightning-speed expansion of the immigration court systems and detention facilities. “It’s going to be astronomically expensive,” Nunn said. “And not only is it going to be straightforwardly expensive, but it’s also going to come with opportunity costs – every military service member and military asset that is diverted to assist with a mass deportation program or to assist with border security is a service member or asset that is not carrying out their normal duties.” Caitlin Huey-Burns contributed to this report. More from CBS News Camilo Montoya-Galvez Camilo Montoya-Galvez is the immigration reporter at CBS News. Based in Washington, he covers immigration policy and politics. Source link #U.S #military #Trumps #mass #deportation #plan Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

US charges Indian billionaire Gautam Adani with ****** US charges Indian billionaire Gautam Adani with ****** Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been charged with ****** in the US, which has accused him of orchestrating a $250m (£198m) bribery scheme and concealing it to raise money in the US. The ********* charges, filed on Wednesday in New York, are the latest ***** to 62-year-old Mr Adani, one of India’s richest men, whose business empire extends from ports and airports to renewable energy. In the indictment, prosecutors alleged the tycoon and other senior executives had agreed to the payments to Indian officials to win contracts for his renewable energy company expected to yield more than $2bn in profits over 20 years. The Adani Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The conglomerate has been operating under a cloud in the US since 2023, when a high-profile company published a report accusing it of ******. The claims, which Mr Adani denied, prompted a major market sell-off. Reports of this bribery probe have been circling for months. Prosecutors said the US started investigating the company in 2022, and found the inquiry obstructed. They allege that executives raised $3bn in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm’s anti-bribery practices and policies, as well as reports of the bribery probe. “As alleged, the defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars and… lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from U.S. and international investors,” US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement announcing the charges. “My office is committed to rooting out *********** in the international marketplace and protecting investors from those who seek to enrich themselves at the expense of the integrity of our financial markets,” he added. On several occasions Mr Adani met personally with government officials to advance the bribery scheme, officials said. Mr Adani is a close ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has long faced claims from opposition politicians alleging that he has benefited from his political ties, which he denies. The US Attorney positions in the US are appointed by the president. The filing comes just weeks after Donald Trump won election to the White House, pledging to overhaul the US Justice Department. Last week on social media, Mr Adani congratulated Trump on his election win and pledged to invest $10bn in the US. Source link #charges #Indian #billionaire #Gautam #Adani #****** Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Criterion Collection ****** Friday ***** – 50% Off Box Sets, Kurosawa Films, And More Criterion Collection ****** Friday ***** – 50% Off Box Sets, Kurosawa Films, And More Movie collectors, and especially those who love the classics, will want to check out the Criterion Collection ****** Friday ***** at Amazon and Barnes & Noble before it’s gone. Dozens of Blu-rays, 4K Blu-rays, and DVDs in the Criterion Collection are available for 50% off until December 2. The ****** Friday promotion kicked off earlier this month, but Amazon just restocked some notable deals that have been out of stock for weeks. Along with individual films from beloved directors such as Akira Kurosawa and Guillermo del Toro, you’ll find numerous box sets for steeply discounted prices, including Bruce Lee’s Greatest Hits, Godzilla: The Showa-Era Film Collection, The Samurai Trilogy, and the newly released CC40 Amazon ****** Friday *****: 50% off Criterion Collection Box Sets 50% off Akira Kurosawa Movies 50% off Guillermo del Toro Movies Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and Dreams CC40 Collection isn’t the only box set featured in Amazon’s 50% off *****. Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits is on ***** for $62.48 (was $125). This Blu-ray box set comes with remastered editions of five Bruce Lee films in a display-worthy fold-out case. Bruce Lee fans will want to grab this deal soon, as it has been sold out for most of the month. As of November 20, the Bruce Lee five-film box set is in stock at Amazon. Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films is also on ***** for $62.48 (was $125). Meanwhile, Godzilla: The Showa-Era Collection is up for grabs for $112.48 (was $225). Just like with the Bruce Lee set, Amazon was sold out when the ***** started on November 1, but it’s now in stock and eligible for the 50% discount for the first time. Arguably Criterion’s best-looking release, this Blu-ray collection includes high-definition remasters of the 15 classic Godzilla films released between 1954 and 1975. In addition to HD versions of 15 movies, the Showa-Era Collection has a series of archival interviews and some new ones, featurettes that pull back the curtain on the special effects techniques utilized in the movies, and the ********* version of King Kong vs. Godzilla. The Godzilla Showa-Era Collection comes in oversized packaging with a fold-out case and a hardcover book with reflections by cinema scholars and exclusive new artwork. Some new releases beyond the CC40 Collection are eligible for the discount, too. For example, Akira Kurosawa’s legendary action film Seven Samurai just released on 4K Blu-ray on November 12, but you can already save $30. It’s one of numerous films from the iconic ********* filmmaker featured in the promotion. You can also save 50% on upcoming releases like Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water which joins the Criterion Collection in 4K on November 26. Multiple of del Toro’s other Criterion Collection films are included in the promotion, too. Blu-ray editions of Pan’s Labyrinth, The ******’s Backbone, and Cronos are available for $20 each, down from $40. The director’s imaginative retelling of Pinocchio is discounted to $15, but this is the DVD version–the 4K edition sold out. Uncut Gems | Pan’s Labyrinth Other notable deals include award-winning movies such as The Silence of the Lambs and Parasite for $20 each (normally $40). Parasite earned a long list of accolades, and it became the first foreign language film to win the Oscar for Best Motion Picture. The dark comedy examines wealth inequality before taking a dramatic turn to become something much more sinister. Speaking of firsts and Best Picture, The Silence of the Lambs was the first horror film to win Best Picture. The legendary psychological horror movie stars Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector and Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling. Hopkins won Best Actor, while Foster took home the Oscar for Best Actress. The film’s director, Jonathan Demme, won Best Director, and Ted Tally nabbed Best Adapted Screenplay. The movie is based on Thomas Harris’ novel of the same name. Here’s a look at some of our other favorite films on ***** during the ****** Friday Criterion Collection promotion. These discounts disappear on December 2, so cash in while you can. More Criterion Collection Movies for 50% off Source link #Criterion #Collection #****** #Friday #***** #Box #Sets #Kurosawa #Films Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Analysis: Election conspiracies persist, even with different outcomes in the 2024 election Analysis: Election conspiracies persist, even with different outcomes in the 2024 election We just had another election with a clear and verifiable victor, overseen by hundreds of thousands of election officials. Those public servants have suffered years of harassment, and despite their successes, are still being accused of taking part in a massive and impossible *********** — a *********** led by the party out of power to steal an election and cover up all evidence. Despite all evidence, many still believe that the opposition Democrats secretly overwhelmed the power of the Trump administration in 2020 to steal an election by 7 million popular votes and 70 electoral votes. And they believe that the Biden administration suddenly lost this mythical election-stealing power while controlling the executive branch in 2024. Within hours of President-elect Donald Trump’s projected victory in the 2024 election, *********** theories began to spread among those who opposed him. On the left, there were claims that “the math just didn’t add up,” that 20 million ballots were “missing” or that Elon Musk’s Starlink was uploading fake votes to help Trump. There was mischaracterization about why voters might split their votes between Trump and a Democrat. On the right, from those who supported Trump came claims that the “20 million missing ballots” were actually proof that the 2020 election had been stolen and that there was no possible way that President Biden could have received 81 million votes that year. For those who work in elections, and particularly the election officials around the country — public servants of both parties — these claims are familiar, and exhausting. And to be clear, these claims are false on their face. Millions of ballots weren’t missing – they were being counted, and when the election is officially certified, we will confirm that the 2024 election saw only slightly lower turnout than 2020’s all-time record. For those questioning “missing votes,” the 2024 election will end up seeing the second-largest number of ballots cast in any ********* election, and the second-highest turnout in any election in over 100 years, behind only 2020’s record turnout. As for split votes, that happens all the time. Sometimes, as in 2020, there are a large number of voters who dislike both presidential candidates and choose to leave that race blank on their ballots. Sometimes, as in 2024, a significant number of people vote only for president, and leave the rest of their ballots blank. This is normal. Republicans in Arizona, Nevada, and Wisconsin didn’t game the system to give Trump a win this year while allowing Democratic senators to win in each of those states. Democrats in 2020 didn’t rig the system to defeat Trump that year, only to then give up key seats in state legislatures right before redistricting that would decide control of Congress. And we have the paper ballots that confirm this. And those paper ballots are the key. Trump won in 2024 in a verified, confirmed election with over 95% paper ballots, including all the ballots in all the swing states. Hand audits of those ballots are nearly complete and will confirm the results. Similarly, Mr. Biden won in 2020 in a verified, confirmed election with over 95% audited paper ballots, including all the ballots in all the swing states. The math adds up because the ballots add up, and the election officials have shown their work. We know who won the last two presidential elections, thanks to the paper ballots, audits, and more election litigation and court review than any election in world history. In dozens of court cases, losing candidates couldn’t produce a single piece of evidence that raised any question about the 2020 election outcome. When Rudy Giuliani and Kari Lake were sued for defamation about their false claims, they could have defended themselves with evidence that they were speaking the truth. Instead, they conceded liability (Giuliani’s assets have begun to be seized, and Lake just settled her case this past weekend). Fox News settled its defamation case with Dominion Voting Systems for nearly $800 million, rather than attempt to present evidence of the truth of its claims. A group of esteemed ************* legal scholars further confirmed the 2020 election was “Lost, not Stolen.” But whether coming from the right or the left, the conspiracies continue, and our nation’s election officials are concerned about the lasting damage. Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer of the Georgia Secretary of State’s office told me, “Ideas that Musk’s Starlink or ****** box voting might change votes plant seeds that will germinate into deeper *********** theories, and then further undermine ****** in elections and institutions.” Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates confirmed, “People who push *********** theories without basis that tabulation machines have been breached or that ***** people have voted by the thousands do harm to our democracy, regardless of whether the allegations come from the right, left or the middle of the political spectrum.” Our elections are incredibly decentralized, with nearly 10,000 different election jurisdictions nationwide, varying in technologies and processes. Our process is run by hundreds of thousands of election officials nationwide, of both parties. Every voter registration requires ID under federal law, and our voter records are as accurate as ever. In the exceedingly rare cases where ****** is attempted, it is caught and prosecuted. It is effectively impossible to steal a major election in the ******* States. But foreign adversaries and domestic grifters understand how to exploit concerns about the security of ********* elections. They have employed a more effective strategy, to convince us against all evidence that our elections are being stolen. They have become masters at leveraging the losing side’s disappointment at the outcome to create a fantasy world of election denial and to stoke *****, anger and hate directed at our fellow citizens, including our public servants. We saw on Jan. 6, 2021, how this anger can lead to *********. Entertaining these delusions could threaten our agency as voters. Worse, our susceptibility to these false claims aids U.S. adversaries, and puts public servants at risk. If we become a nation where both parties can only accept the integrity of our election system when they win, we are truly lost as a democracy. David Becker is executive director and founder of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research. He’s a former trial attorney in the voting section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. He also serves as a CBS election law contributor. More Source link #Analysis #Election #conspiracies #persist #outcomes #election Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

The model, British tech and Russia’s war machine The model, British tech and Russia’s war machine Instagram Part-time model Valeria Baigascina appears to have a jet-set lifestyle High-tech equipment made by a *** firm worth $2.1m (£1.6m) has been sold to companies in Russia connected to the military, customs documents seen by BBC News suggest. The documents indicate the British-made camera lenses were shipped by a company registered in Kyrgyzstan, apparently run by a swimwear model. The *** manufacturer, Beck Optronic Solutions, which has worked on British Challenger 2 tanks and F35 fighter jets, told us it had not breached sanctions, had no dealings with Russia or Kyrgyzstan, and was unaware of the shipments. Our investigation raises questions about the effectiveness of sanctions imposed on Russia since the war in Ukraine began. The trail led us to Valeria Baigascina, a 25-year-old, originally from the central ****** state of Kazakhstan but now living in Belarus. A part-time model, she posts regularly about her jet-set lifestyle on social media. In the past two years she has visited Dubai, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. Her social media gave no indication she was also the director of a firm which had channelled millions of dollars’ worth of equipment to sanctioned companies in Russia, as our search of customs documents revealed. According to Belarusian registration details, Ms Baigascina was the founder and director of a company called Rama Group LLC. Set up in February 2023, it is registered to an address in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan – 2,300 miles (3,713 km) from her home in Belarus. Both countries are former ******* states with strong trading links to Russia. Belarus ******** Moscow’s strongest ally in Europe. Trade data shows that since sanctions on Russia were introduced in February 2022, *** exports to Kyrgyzstan have increased by more than 300%. Experts suspect some goods are actually destined for Moscow. The customs documents obtained by the BBC suggest that Rama Group made two shipments to Moscow of high-end optics that can be used in missiles, tanks and aircraft. The equipment is listed on the customs form as being made by Beck Optronic Solutions in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. The company manufactures high-precision lenses used in targeting and surveillance systems. Though some of its lenses are used in healthcare and engineering, Beck’s website details extensive military and defence applications. The lenses and optical technology sold by Beck Optronics are specifically listed as goods that either cannot be legally exported to Russia, or that need permission from *** authorities before any ***** can take place. The BBC has identified, through customs documents, a total of six shipments of products said to have been made by Beck with a total value of $2.1m (£1.6m) and transferred to Moscow through Rama and another intermediary company, Shisan LLC. In December 2023 and January 2024, Rama Group made its two shipments to Moscow listing them as “rotating part of camera”. These shipments went to Sol Group, a company based in Smolensk, 200 miles (320km) south-west of Moscow, which has been sanctioned by the US. It is not clear what international route the goods took – the documents indicate some of the shipments may actually have originated in Thailand. Shisan LLC, another Kyrgyz company, was responsible for four further shipments of Beck Optronics’ products worth $1.5m (£1.1m). Two of those shipments involved “short-wave infrared camera lens” and went to the Ural Optical & Mechanical Plant, which makes *****-aiming equipment and is also sanctioned because of its links to the Russian military. Rama Group and Shisan share the same address in Bishkek – a modern five-storey block in a prosperous part of the city. However, when we visited we were told Valeria Baigascina was out of the country on a business trip. We found her number through her social media posts and put our allegations to her. Instagram Valeria Baigascina poses with a rifle Ms Baigascina said she was the founder of the company but had sold it in May. She denied the allegations, saying that when she had owned it, “nothing like that was supplied”. She then hung up. Later, by email, she told us the accusations were “ridiculous” and based on “false information”. Our research shows that in May this year she sold Rama Group to her best friend, Angelina Zhurenko, who runs a ********* business in Kazakhstan. Ms Zhurenko told us: “Trading activities are carried out exclusively within the framework of the current legislation of Kyrgyzstan. The company does not violate any prohibitions. Any other information is false.” Instagram Angelina Zhurenko runs a ********* business in Kazakhstan and also travels a lot The director of the other intermediary company, Shisan, is listed as Evgeniy Anatolyevich Matveev. We put our allegations to him by email. He told us that our information was “false” and that he ran “a business supplying exclusively civilian goods manufactured in ****** countries”. He continued: “This does not contradict the laws of the state in which I work, and has nothing to do with US sanctions, because it is impossible to prohibit free trade in ****** goods available for ***** and delivery.” There’s no evidence that Beck Optronics knew about these shipments or that the final destination of the lenses was Russia. The company told us it had nothing to do with the shipments: “Beck has not shipped anything contrary to *** export controls or any sanctions applying in the ***. It has had no dealings with any party or company in Russia, Kyrgyzstan or Thailand, was not aware that any shipments might ultimately be destined for any of these destinations and has not shipped anything to these destinations.” It believes some of the equipment listed wasn’t even made by the company and that customs documents may have been falsified. But these alleged exports are part of a much ******* picture involving shipments from a number of sources. Analysis of customs documents by the Washington-based security think tank C4ADS suggest that Shisan completed 373 shipments via Kyrgyzstan to Russia between July and December 2023. Of these, 288 contained goods that fall under customs codes for “high-priority battlefield items”. Over the same six-month *******, Rama Group completed a total of 1,756 shipments to Russia. Of these, 1,355 were for items on the “high-priority battlefield items” list. Its most recent shipments, including electronics by US and *** companies, went to a Russian company named Titan-Mikro, which has been subject to US sanctions since May 2023 for operating within Russia’s military sector. “When they sell this technology to a client who is potentially a Russian end-user, they fully should understand that this is to ***** people,” says Olena Tregub from NAKO, Ukraine’s independent anti-*********** organisation. She warns that the holes in the sanctions regime are costing lives. “Without those technologies, those weapons would not fly. The brain of those ballistic missiles, the brain of those kamikaze drones, are made of Western technology,” she says. Getty Images David Cameron – then British Foreign Secretary – met the Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev in April and urged him to tighten the country’s sanctions compliance International authorities are aware of Kyrgyzstan’s role in sanctions evasion. In April, ***’s foreign secretary at the time, David Cameron, travelled to Bishkek and urged the Kyrgyz authorities to do more to tighten their sanctions’ compliance. The Kyrgyz president expressed confidence that Lord Cameron’s official visit to his country would “give new impetus to multifaceted co-operation between Kyrgyzstan and the ***”. David O’Sullivan, the EU’s Special Envoy for the Implementation of Sanctions told us that efforts continue to shut down “illicit procurement networks”, and that “companies are required to undertake due diligence checks to understand who is the final end-user and where ‘battlefield items’ end up ultimately”. Source link #model #British #tech #Russias #war #machine Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Rafael Nadal’s tennis career: A king of clay who should be remembered as so much more Rafael Nadal’s tennis career: A king of clay who should be remembered as so much more Rafael Nadal retired from tennis on Tuesday night. He won 22 Grand Slam titles in 23 years across all three tennis surfaces, with an Olympic gold medal and 92 ATP titles in all. He was most dominant on clay, winning 63 percent of his titles on the surface and compiling an 81-match win streak between April 2005 and May 2007, which ******** the longest single-surface streak in the Open era of men’s tennis. He also spent his entire career battling his own body, with Nadal’s injuries both acute and chronic carving the trajectory of his career and to an extent the way he played tennis. King of clay. Warrior. Spanish bull. Nadal embodied all these things, and tributes written so are not ill-fitting. But describing Nadal only in such terms does one of the greatest men’s tennis players of all time a catastrophic disservice. A tennis player in constant evolution, Nadal — and his rivalries with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic that constituted the ‘Big Three’ era — refigured the sport. Nadal possessed shotmaking talent, tennis IQ, finesse and flair too often lost in the brick-red dust. Rafael Nadal’s greatness on clay has sometimes overshadowed the extent of that greatness. (Julian Finney / Getty Images) The world tends to define athletes and sometimes people in general in absolute terms. It’s a way of making sense of complex personalities and performers — whittling them down to a single characteristic like a superhero. It also creates easy archetypes for comparison: in Nadal’s case, he was the ferocious physicality to Federer’s effortless elegance and Djokovic’s rubber-limbed flexibility. All three suffered for their superheroism. Federer was so aesthetically pleasing that his supreme fitness and remarkable defensive abilities were glossed over. Djokovic was cast as reactive, which doesn’t do justice to his point construction or his extra gear in pressure moments (the all-or-nothing cross-court forehand against Federer in the semifinal of the 2011 U.S. Open just one example of many). Djokovic’s three French Open titles barely register because of the 10 he has won in Melbourne, and who cares about a hat-trick of wins when your biggest rival has won 11 more times? Well, as so many players told The Athletic in June, Djokovic is very possibly the second-best male player on clay of all time. Nadal still suffered most for his greatness on one surface. He was perhaps the second-most complete male baseliner to ever play the sport after Djokovic, with an all-round game good enough to deliver four U.S. Opens (tied with Djokovic and just one shy of the Open-era record held by Federer, Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors), and two Wimbledons from five final appearances at the All England Club. As he evolved his game to meet his body’s limitations and started to shorten points more concertedly, he become one of the best volleyers on the ATP Tour. Subtract Nadal’s 14 Roland Garros titles and his eight remaining majors give him more than tennis legends like John McEnroe and Boris Becker, and tie him with Andre Agassi, Connors and Ivan Lendl. It’s true that some surface homogenization in the early 2000s helped him do more than his clay-court specialist compatriots like Sergi Bruguera, Carlos Moya, Albert Costa and Juan Carlos Ferrero — who all won the French Open but not a major more — but Nadal’s mastery of every surface came from the way he reconfigured tennis itself alongside Djokovic and to an important but lesser extent Federer. Nadal changed the sport in myriad ways. His shotmaking ability, on the slide and on the run, and the unseen revs and kick of his forehand helped redefine the mechanics of tennis (as with the surfaces changing, equipment changing helped too). Even that shot, which he splintered beautifully into the inside-out thrash, the banana whip, the cross-court ***** and so many more variations, is normally figured in terms of brute force as opposed to David Foster Wallace’s “liquid whip” description of Federer’s own devastating groundstroke. Rafael Nadal retires from tennis Rafael Nadal’s return position blunted his opponents’ strengths and allowed him to impose his own. (Jason Heidrich / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Nadal’s initially belittled deep return position neutralized opponents with ******* serves. It allowed him to start rallies where he could be favorite while knowing that his opponents would do little to counter it. That position, which Dominic Thiem also adopted early, has now become fundamental to men’s tennis. What all these evolutions have in common is movement, and that is where Nadal remade tennis most of all alongside Djokovic. The return strategy, the baseline missiles launched with margin and the deftness in the forecourt were underpinned by staggering court coverage, whether running round his backhand time and again or sliding a lost position into a winning one, transposing clay-court movement onto new surfaces. While Djokovic was and ******** the true master of sliding, it was the collective strength of their innovations tipped the scales away from servers, and forced up-and-coming players who ran into them to not just dominate on serve, but scramble and rally too. Daniil Medvedev is perhaps the most direct descendant by force. That’s before considering how the Nadal-Djokovic-Federer-Andy Murray nexus, who contested so many semifinals and finals, made each other better while making everybody else look worse. None of this means that Nadal is as naturally talented as Federer nor as elastic as Djokovic. Nadal himself felt Federer was more blessed. His team agreed: his uncle and first coach Toni said in an interview by phone this week that Nadal “had a very good volley, but not a nice volley like Federer”. Nadal was king of clay. His power and will to win were hard to ignore. But to watch Nadal finding seemingly impossible angles or leaning into his backhands mid-match was to see a master of his craft at work. A fighter yes, but a genius too. (Top photo: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images) Source link #Rafael #Nadals #tennis #career #king #clay #remembered Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

New season of Welcome to ****** School, Iruma-kun is in production New season of Welcome to ****** School, Iruma-kun is in production While not as popular as other mainstream shonen titles, Welcome to ****** School, Iruma-kun is still quite well-received among anime fans. Well, get ready for some good news because a new season has been greenlit. Screen Rant reported that the anime’s official X account announced that a fourth season of Osamu Nishi’s Welcome to ****** School, Iruma-kun has been confirmed. In the tweet announcing the sequel, a short announcement video was also uploaded. More info from Anime News Network states that the announcement was made coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the anime. The video features Iruma and the mysterious 13th member of the Misfit Class, Purson Soi, who is seen in the background standing on a small roof holding a trumpet. This officially means that Season 4 will be adapting the Music Festival Arc. アニメ「魔入りました！入間くん」 ／ 第４シリーズ制作決定スペシャル映像公開 ＼ 夕暮れの屋上で誰かを探す入間と 13人目のクラスメイト プルソン・ソイの姿が…！[Hidden Content] pic.twitter.com/PLzQ1NwDdy — アニメ『魔入りました！入間くん』【NEP公式】 (@nep_irumakun) November 17, 2024 It’s still undecided when Season 4 of Iruma-kun will be released or how many episodes the sequel will have. Considering the previous seasons have all been 20 plus episodes long, it’s highly likely that the anime will follow the same path. As mentioned earlier, it might not garner the same amount of viewers compared to other popular shonen titles, but Iruma-kun is still releasing more seasons and it’s pretty evident that it will finish the whole source material when it’s completed. Source link #season #****** #School #Irumakun #production Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

DC Area ******* Starts Support Group for Parents With Trans-Identifying Children DC Area ******* Starts Support Group for Parents With Trans-Identifying Children BURKE, Virginia – The transgender issue reaches far and wide and affects hundreds of thousands of Americans, and now churches are starting to address it. One in northern Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C., has started a support group for parents with trans-identifying children. It’s an issue almost no one discussed five years ago but today is impossible to ignore. The transgender crisis affects an estimated 1.6 million Americans and is now so common that pastors are weighing in. Marty Baker is the senior pastor at Burke Community ******* in Burke, Virginia. “As gender ideology began to surface in 2017-2018, began to be infiltrated into the school systems, taught to children, that type of thing, well by definition, you started having parents wondering, ‘what is this?'” Baker said in an interview with CBN News. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on transgenderism and consistently teaches on it from the pulpit. “We’ve taught [the congregation] a lot about the information, the apologetics of it, how to defend, how to push truth as opposed to error, those types of things, so they’re very educated on that, but what do you do with all of the life stories? And there’s lots of those,” Baker explained. He says those life stories came up during a women’s retreat at the *******. More than 100 women had questions and needed wisdom. Ed Stetzer, the dean at Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology, told CBN News, “I think a lot of churches five years ago weren’t talking about this. But the last five years has seen such an acceleration, I think it’s time for churches to be teaching more on the topic.” Stetzer says Christians need to speak on this issue in a biblical way that’s filled with grace. He sees a big opportunity for the *******. “I think this is an opportunity for the ******* of ****** ******* to actually put forth a beautiful image of sexuality and gender that I think will actually call to people who are living in a confused – and we’re all in a broken world – but just unsure about those things,” he explained. “Let’s say, ‘The ****** gives us a path. We want to walk with you on that path.'” Burke Community ******* member Dr. Susan Ashton-Lazaroae deals directly with teens on this path as a pediatrician. “Thankfully the number of children presenting with gender dysphoria has decreased in the past couple of years, which is truly encouraging,” Ashton-Lazaroae told CBN News. On a recent plane trip, she says she saw ****’s hands at work when she happened to sit next to the head of the ********** Post, and the issue of transgenderism came up. “Once we started talking about that, the CEO, Christopher Chou, said, ‘Oh we’re trying to have an event in northern Virginia but we can’t find a ******* that’s brave enough to host this event for us.’ And that’s when we started chatting about the fact that I thought our pastor, Pastor Marty, would most likely be interested in hosting an event in conjunction with the ********** Post,” Ashton-Lazaroae explained. And it happened. She and other experts gathered at Burke Community ******* in October for a conference. During the event, leaders announced the formation of a new support group. “Wonderfully Made” is a ministry for parents with children who identify as trans and refuse to bow to the pressure of society to socially and surgically transition them. “The group is for parents whose children are struggling with their identity,” said Ashton-Lazaroae. “Our aim is to walk in prayer and support and grace with these families, to help them feel that they’re not alone.” The group has no pastoral leadership or curriculum. It’s simply parents leaning on parents. “It’s caring for each other,” said Baker. “And that’s getting down into the mess of other people’s lives, crying with them, being concerned about them, because a lot of these people feel alone.” “Wonderfully Made” had its first meeting at the beginning of November. The ******* tells CBN News 12 people showed up, a mix of people wanting to help launch the group and others needing support. ***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly ********** perspective.*** Source link #Area #******* #Starts #Support #Group #Parents #TransIdentifying #Children Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Ravens say they aren’t pondering a kicking change, but Justin Tucker is cause for concern Ravens say they aren’t pondering a kicking change, but Justin Tucker is cause for concern Citing a lack of consistency in the kicking game, Baltimore Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome announced that the team was releasing young kicker Stephen Hauschka, who hours earlier missed a 36-yard attempt against the Cleveland Browns on “Monday Night Football.” Hauschka was just 9-of-13 on field goal attempts through nine games, and all of his misses were from under 50 yards. The Ravens replaced him by signing free agent Billy Cundiff, who was working at a venture capital firm at the time. That transaction occurred in November 2009. That’s the last time the Ravens made an in-season, performance-based change at typically one of the most volatile positions in the sport. Ravens coach John Harbaugh made clear Monday that he has no plans on making another one, even as his longtime kicker, Justin Tucker, is mired in the most difficult stretch of his 13-year career. “There’s no thought to that,” Harbaugh said. “You have to find that competition first if you’re going to be blunt about it. Where is that competition? That would be one thing. The best option right now is to get Justin back on point, because he’s fully capable of doing it. (We) certainly haven’t lost any confidence in Justin Tucker.” Harbaugh’s comments came a day after Tucker missed two kicks in an 18-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. After entering the season as the most statistically accurate kicker in NFL history, Tucker has missed 6 of 22 attempts this year, along with a point-after try. Two of the misses came from inside 50 yards, where Tucker had made 90 percent of his kicks over his first 12 NFL seasons. His extra-point miss was just the seventh of his career. GO DEEPER ‘They’ve had our number’: Ravens again unable to overcome themselves in loss to Steelers “It’s certainly frustrating, especially when we know that these games come down to the wire, like this one did, that I let a couple get away,” Tucker said after Sunday’s game. “But, like I’ve said before, the only thing that we can do is just get right back to work and focus on making the most out of our next opportunity.” Considered one of the most unique weapons in the league for over a decade and the Ravens’ most reliable performer since he entered the league in 2012, Tucker — and by extension, the team’s field goal operation — has suddenly become one of the reasons Baltimore is losing games. It’s harsh and it feels uncomfortable to say or write about a guy who has been the gold standard in the sport at his position for many years, but the numbers are hard to ignore. The Ravens’ four losses have come by a total of 17 points, and Tucker missed a field goal in each of them that factored prominently in the defeats. Tucker “needs to make kicks,” Harbaugh said after Sunday’s frustrating loss in Pittsburgh. “He knows that. He makes them in practice, and he made the long one (54-yarder) later, which was good to see. He’s still very capable. Kick them straight, we’ll be good.” Missing seven total kicks through 11 games would get plenty of other kickers a pink slip. That’s just the nature of the position in the NFL and the fine line between winning and losing. Kicking issues are omnipresent around the league, and Tucker is hardly alone among proven veterans having a tough time this season. The New York Jets have had four different kickers in as many weeks. GO DEEPER Normally ‘automatic’ kickers like Justin Tucker, Younghoe Koo are struggling in 2024 For the Ravens, however, kicking stability has been a constant. Matt Stover, nicknamed “Money Matt” for his accuracy, was the team’s kicker from 1996 to 2008. Cundiff replaced Hauschka in 2009 and was the team’s kicker for three seasons before his crushing late miss in the AFC Championship Game loss to the New England Patriots in January 2012. Tucker arrived on the scene as an undrafted free agent several months later, beat out Cundiff for the job and hasn’t missed a game in 13 seasons. Just the idea of making a kicking change in Baltimore seems blasphemous, given Tucker’s well-earned status. Before the two misses in Pittsburgh on Sunday, Tucker’s career field goal percentage (89.7) made him the most accurate kicker in NFL history and put him on a Hall of Fame track. His clutch kicking as a rookie in 2012 was instrumental in the Ravens winning their last Super Bowl. He’s been selected to seven Pro Bowl teams and named an All-Pro on eight occasions. Time and time again when the Ravens needed points, particularly late in games, Tucker stepped up, performed his tried-and-true pre-kick ritual and calmly delivered. He’s previously been the highest-paid kicker in the sport, and for good reason. Tucker’s kicking brilliance, along with his charisma, outgoing personality and multitude of talents, made him one of the faces of the team and one of the most popular and recognizable athletes in Baltimore. Tucker’s No. 9 jerseys are not hard to find when you’re scanning the seating bowl at Ravens games. But this season has brought long-avoided angst in Baltimore about the performance of the kicker and led to a small but growing segment of Baltimore’s fan base to question why the organization hasn’t moved on, or at least brought in competition, for its longtime star. “Knowing the team, knowing the character of Justin, yes, his performance in the past does warrant him the benefit of the doubt, for sure,” Stover said. “But this is the NFL. It is a very immediate performance you have to have. With an objective job like being a kicker, it becomes a quick response for people to say, ‘Hey, man, what’s wrong with you? Do we need to make a change?’” Yet, Stover said, “He’s one of the best who has ever done it. Who are you going to get who you can guarantee will be better?” Justin Tucker has missed a field goal in each of the Ravens’ four losses this season. (David Eulitt / Getty Images) Bringing in another kicker in mid-November likely means either signing a well-traveled veteran who hasn’t been able to land another job or plucking someone off another team’s practice squad. It’s inconceivable at the moment that the Ravens would trust one of those options more than Tucker at a time when they fancy themselves as Super Bowl contenders. “He’s definitely our best option, and he’s going to make a lot of kicks — I really believe that,” Harbaugh said. “But it’s up to him and the guys he works with every day to make those ****** go straight. Competition right now, at this time, no that’s not something we’d want for Justin.” Stover, who is in the Ravens’ Ring of Honor, still lives in the Baltimore area and has relationships with many people in the building, including Tucker. He also understands what Tucker is going through. There were times early in his career with Cleveland when he struggled and the Browns brought in competition for his job. In 1999, the Ravens claimed kicker Joe Nedney on waivers while Stover remained on the roster. “That was brutal. He wasn’t on the practice squad. He wasn’t on IR. He was on the roster,” Stover said. “It really just comes down to performance. There’s no subjectivity. I got through it. “Justin is going through a little blip. He’s mentally strong. He’s got a great support staff around him. He’s got a head coach who totally gets it. To do it for 12 years as well as he’s done it says a lot about who he is and his character. It’s the first time he’s ever had to deal with this. I dealt with it three or four times. It was hard and it sucks. He’ll get through it.” Stover, who trains young kickers, acknowledged that he hasn’t broken down Tucker’s mechanics, but he maintains the fact that Tucker has missed all seven kicks wide left is a “good thing,” because that often points to a fixable issue. It doesn’t appear to be a leg strength issue with Tucker. Almost all of his kicks, except one, have had the necessary distance. Scoop City Newsletter Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox. Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox. Sign Up There has been plenty of speculation about whether his issues are being caused by snapping and/or holding problems, but Tucker and others at the Ravens’ facility have continued to say snapper Nick Moore and holder Jordan Stout, who aren’t new at this or to the team, are doing their jobs. After Sunday’s misses, Tucker retreated to the locker room to address reporters and insisted his struggles are not a confidence issue, either. “I’m still confident I’m going to go out there and nail every single kick,” Tucker said. “Part of the way we stay confident is by continuing to work and trust the process, and I know I might sound like a broken record, but it’s a part of what brings us success — just trusting the process and then taking it one kick at a time.” Harbaugh, a former special teams coach, has a very close relationship with the kicker. Senior special teams coach ****** Brown has been with Tucker every step of his career and is considered one of the top kicking gurus in the league. Ravens assistant special teams coach Sam Koch is a former holder for Tucker and one of his closest confidants. Stout has been holding for Tucker for three seasons, and Moore has been in the Ravens organization since 2020. The kicking battery and coaching staff have an established routine that has yielded very strong results for many years. “You try to ******* everything to the utmost that we can, across the board,” Harbaugh said. “Justin is one of the aspects that we’re looking at. He’s going to get it figured out. We have coaches. We have technique. We look at the tape. He’s practicing well. He’s got to kick it straight.” (Top photo: Barry Reeger / Imagn Images) Source link #Ravens #arent #pondering #kicking #change #Justin #Tucker #concern Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Dragon Age Veilguard and Silent Hill 2 launch sales ‘relatively slow’ in Europe Dragon Age Veilguard and Silent Hill 2 launch sales ‘relatively slow’ in Europe Launch month sales for Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Silent Hill 2 were reportedly relatively slow in Europe. That’s according to GSD data shared by GamesIndustry.biz’s Chris Dring, which covers physical sales from major markets and digital sales from most leading publishers, excluding Nintendo and 505 Games. Compared with other high profile RPGs released this year, Dragon Age: The Veilguard sales are tracking 18% below Dragon’s Dogma 2 and almost 21% behind PS5 exclusive Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Dring said on Bluesky. The new Dragon Age title was the seventh best-selling game across Europe in October, one spot behind Silent Hill 2 on the monthly chart. Launch sales for Konami’s survival horror remake are 57% lower than Resident Evil 4 remake and 31% behind the ***** Space remake, both of which came out last year. Despite launching on Game Pass for Xbox and PC, the release of ****** Ops 6 helped drive a 12.4% rise in game sales across Europe in October. Sales of the new Call of Duty were 5% higher than last year’s disappointing Modern Warfare 3 launch, but down 28% compared with 2022’s Modern Warfare 2. Sales of the PlayStation versions of the game were up 26% compared to Modern Warfare 3, and 2% higher than they were for Modern Warfare 2. Super Mario Party Jamboree debuted at No.5 on the monthly chart. Its launch was down 6% compared to 2021’s Mario Party Superstars. Source link #Dragon #Age #Veilguard #Silent #Hill #launch #sales #slow #Europe Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Tiger Lils Perth to reopen as Lil’s, a two-level bar and rooftop oasis on Murray Street Tiger Lils Perth to reopen as Lil’s, a two-level bar and rooftop oasis on Murray Street Long-closed Perth CBD venue Tiger Lil’s is to reopen as a bar and rooftop venue this summer, with a ‘fresh, grown-up atmosphere for work and play’. Source link #Tiger #Lils #Perth #reopen #Lils #twolevel #bar #rooftop #oasis #Murray #Street Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Disney, ESPN to air Mickey Mouse alt-cast for Knicks-Spurs on Christmas Disney, ESPN to air Mickey Mouse alt-cast for Knicks-Spurs on Christmas It will be a Mickey Mouse production for the NBA on ESPN. On Christmas Day, the network and the league will continue the trend of presenting alternative broadcasts when the New York Knicks face the San Antonio Spurs at noon, Disney announced Wednesday. While the traditional broadcast will be available on places like ESPN and ABC, ESPN2 will have what is being dubbed as “Dunk The Halls,” the first animated game in NBA history. Both versions will be available on the streaming services, ESPN+ and Disney+. The presentation will utilize Sony’s “Beyond Sports Technology” by recreating the game action of stars like Victor Wembanyama and Jalen Brunson on Magic Kingdom’s “Main Street USA.” Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy and Chip and Dale will cheer on the players and deliver pretend pre-game and half-time speeches. At intermission, the Disney characters will compete in a slam dunk contest. The Pulse Newsletter Free, daily sports updates direct to your inbox. Free, daily sports updates direct to your inbox. Sign Up After a long night of work, Santa’s helpers have been contracted to operate the cameras, while Santa, himself, will work ESPN’s “SkyCam” during the game. Drew Carter, Monica McNutt and sideline reporter Daisy Duck will be the trio on the broadcast. The traditional telecast will feature Ryan Ruocco and Corey Alexander with Cassidy Hubbarth on the sideline. ESPN said in its release that fans will also find out if snow will fall on “Main Street,” though it is doubtful any ******** sites will take wagers (a white Christmas is a strong favorite, nonetheless). If that is not enough to entice viewers, Goofy will see how many churros he can eat. The telecast continues the trend of alternative broadcasts. In 2021, the NBA and ESPN teamed up with Disney Marvel characters for an alt-cast. Required reading (Photo: Courtesy of ESPN) Source link #Disney #ESPN #air #Mickey #Mouse #altcast #KnicksSpurs #Christmas Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Real Reason Valorant Shot Itself in the Foot by Destroying its Most Balanced Controller Real Reason Valorant Shot Itself in the Foot by Destroying its Most Balanced Controller The latest patch for Valorant is here and it seems like Riot Games decided to make some huge changes to the game. In the latest patch 9.10, the studio has rolled out various gameplay changes, the new Regen Shield, and balancing changes for Cypher, Sage, Deadlock, Omen, Clove, Phoenix, and Jett. One-way smokes allowed Valorant players to place smokes on small structures above the ground level (Image via Riot Games) While some changes are appreciated, fans are not happy with the changes Riot Games made to Omen. The agent has been a part of the game since day one and even today, it stands as one of the best Controller agents in the game, however, Riot Games tweaked the agent’s Dark Cover ability to stop players from placing one-way smokes. This has left the community wondering if Riot Games ever thinks about the casual players. In competitive games, this smoke would certainly give players an unfair advantage but this was hurting no one in casual games. Omen’s Dark Cover Ability Has Been Nerfed In Valorant The latest patch 9.10 for Valorant includes a nerf to Omen’s Dark Cover ability. Omen players were able to place one-way smokes, which Riot Games believes provides “defensive power with low counterplay.” As a result, Dark Cover will now always fall to the level geometry where players can stand, and will not allow players to place one-way smokes on “small ornamental pieces of Geometry.” Several other agents also received balancing updates, check out the complete list on Valorant‘s official website. Omen is a very popular pick mainly because of how strong his smoke abilities are. Players are able to smoke halfway across the map, plus it has a low cooldown that allows for quick smokes. Riot Games hasn’t touched the number of smokes or the cooldown, it is just that players will no longer be able to place unfair one-way smokes. Was The Omen Nerf Necessary? Several other agents received balancing updates (Image via Riot Games) Players who don’t play as Omen will find this nerf fair and valid, however, Omen mains have pointed out how taking away this ability from Omen takes away his “unique identity.” As a player explained on Reddit, other Controllers have unique identities. Clove has smokes after ******, Brimstone has long smokes, Astra has global smokes, and Viper has decay. Similarly, Omen had one-way smokes. Comment byu/no1mustardseed from discussion inVALORANT Comment byu/no1mustardseed from discussion inVALORANT Comment byu/no1mustardseed from discussion inVALORANT Comment byu/no1mustardseed from discussion inVALORANT This is another change that Riot Games has rolled out just to satisfy the pro players. It’s clear that the studio often ignores its large fanbase of casual players. This change will directly affect their gameplay. Riot Games has pointed out that it will be keeping an eye out here for how these changes affect the overall controller ecosystem, so it all depends on how players respond to it. This nerf could be revoked in the future but for now, it will stay. Along with the agent changes, Riot Games also rolled out a brand new armor called Regen Shield. This shield gives players an immediate 25 HP to the player in armor while also maintaining a 50 HP regeneration pool. When 25 HP base armor is damaged, the pool can fully regenerate twice. Source link #Real #Reason #Valorant #Shot #Foot #Destroying #Balanced #Controller Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nvidia beats, but fails to provide spark Nvidia beats, but fails to provide spark By Jamie McGeever (Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in ****** markets. Investors hoping that Nvidia’s eagerly-awaited earnings after the U.S. close on Wednesday would inject renewed vigor into world markets will be disappointed, heralding the prospect of a lukewarm open in Asia on Thursday. Wall Street spent all day Wednesday firmly in the red before a late rally, bond yields and the dollar were higher, and a weak 20-year U.S. Treasury bond auction was a reminder of how deep Washington’s fiscal deficit runs and the strain on investors to fund it. The global picture wasn’t particularly reassuring either. ********* stocks fell for a fourth day – their worst run in over two months – China’s yuan slipped to a three and a half month low on the spot market, and volatility ticked higher. Then came Nvidia. The world’s most valuable company reported a beat on third-quarter earnings per share and forecast fourth-quarter revenue slightly above estimates. But shares immediately fell in after-hours trading by as much as 5% before recovering, and Nikkei and Wall Street futures are pointing to a lower open in Japan and the US on Thursday. Is the AI darling’s shine beginning to fade? Thursday’s economic calendar in Asia is relatively light, with South Korean export, Indonesian current account and Hong Kong inflation data the main releases. Annual inflation in Hong Kong is seen slowing to a 1.7% pace in October from 2.2% in September, which would mark the steepest decline since April and heighten concern that deflationary pressures on the ******** mainland could be spreading. There may be more market fireworks from Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda, who is scheduled to speak at a financial forum in Paris. Investors and traders will be trying to determine if his tone and signals differ from his fairly balanced remarks earlier this week that kept the door open to a December rate hike but also cautioned against moving too fast. Judging by the yen’s behavior recently, whatever markets think the BOJ will do is being completely overwhelmed by renewed hawkishness surrounding the Fed outlook. The yen has only appreciated in one out of the last eight trading sessions, and finds itself back below 155.00 per dollar. It might need a notably hawkish signal from Ueda to engineer a sustainable recovery or get September’s 140.00 per dollar back into view. But right now, the ********* swaps market is pointing to less than 50 bps of BOJ tightening by the end of next year. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is moving closer to a historic break above $100,000, boosted by increasing confidence that President Donald Trump’s administration will be a crypto-friendly regime. Story Continues Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Thursday: – Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda speaks in Paris – Hong Kong inflation (October) – South Korea exports (October) (Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Deepa Babington) Source link #Nvidia #beats #fails #provide #spark Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

How Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will be impacted by ***** Martino’s exit How Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will be impacted by ***** Martino’s exit As Inter Miami closed in on a record-setting 74-point season and a Supporters’ Shield trophy, much of the credit was given to Lionel Messi. When healthy, the 37-year-old Argentina national team captain was dominant. Messi played in just 19 of Miami’s 36 league matches but was still performing at MVP level, even if this was perhaps unsurprising for an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner. Messi, though, has attributed Miami’s rise from a last-place club to the league’s standard to head coach ***** Martino. “The team has grown so much with Martino’s arrival,” Messi told reporters on the eve of the Leagues Cup final in August 2023. He repeated that on October 2 this year in a post-match interview with Apple TV after scoring two goals against the Columbus Crew to secure the Supporters’ Shield. On Tuesday, The Athletic reported Martino had resigned as Miami’s head coach due to personal reasons. The club announced that Martino, club co-owner Jorge Mas and president of football operations Raul Sanllehi will address the media on Friday. The reasons for Martino’s abrupt departure from Miami, who were eliminated from the MLS playoffs on November 9, will become more clear. But it may not answer every pending question regarding the future of the club and how this change will affect Messi. The World Cup winner has a contract through the 2025 season and a reported option for 2026. Messi is much more than a star player at the club. His contract includes a purchase option that would make him a partial owner in the future. He’s an influential figure. Martino speaking to Messi in training (Megan Briggs/Getty Images) In June 2023, cameras in Argentina captured Martino leaving Messi’s gated community in Rosario. The unconfirmed meeting took place two weeks after Messi told the world that he would end his ********* career and head to the ******* States. It preempted the third iteration of a Messi-Martino partnership. Martino coached Messi for one season at Barcelona in 2014 then again in 2015-2016 with the Argentina national team. Former Barcelona director of football Andoni Zubizarreta claimed in 2020 that Martino had voiced concerns about Messi’s authority at the Catalan club during a Barcelona training session a decade ago. According to Zubizarreta, Martino told Messi, “I know you can call the president and he’ll ***** me, but *****, you don’t have to demonstrate that every day. I already know.” “Those words never came out of my mouth,” Martino said shortly after. Their relationship has been overanalyzed. The fact that Martino could not win a major trophy alongside Messi fueled the hypothesis that a lack of success had created fissures between the two. The evidence at hand, though, doesn’t add up. Messi and Martino shared an embrace during last summer’s hype-filled Leagues Cup run which seemingly put an end to that theory. Messi’s public support of Martino this season carries weight as well. A stinging loss can change everything in professional sport. But Martino’s resignation coincides with a shift in dynamics inside the walls of Miami’s facility in Fort Lauderdale. To begin with, there is no shortage of decision makers at the club. There’s Mas, the outspoken billionaire executive who personally recruited Luis Suarez. His brother Jose Mas is also a club adjudicator. Co-owner David Beckham has a say across multiple departments, too. Martino himself had significant authority on player signings early in his short tenure. Things get complicated when it comes to the club’s sporting department. It was originally led by chief soccer officer Chris Henderson until Mas hired Sanllehi to oversee that division. It will be Sanllehi, not Henderson, who will flank Martino and Jorge Mas during Friday’s press conference. Sanllehi has twice held the position of director of football, first at Barcelona and then at Arsenal. He and Martino crossed paths during the Argentine’s lone year in La Liga. Before joining Miami, Sanllehi was the director general of Real Zaragoza in Spain — where Mas is part of the ownership group. Shortly after Sanllehi arrived in Zaragoza, the club’s owners replaced head coach Juan Ignacio Martinez with Juan Carlos Carcedo, a former assistant of Unai Emery at Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla, among other clubs. Sanllehi described Carcedo, the current head coach of Cypriot team Pafos FC, as “hard-working, knowledgeable and modern” in an interview with The Athletic in 2022. By hiring Sanllehi, Mas sent a clear message. He has experience in key administrative positions in Europe and will help shape Miami’s sporting strategy. But there are major differences between managing a top-tier ********* side and maneuvering the convoluted squad and financial restrictions of an MLS club. Sanllehi (left) is a key figure at Miami (Inter Miami) Sanllehi was instrumental in the highly-publicized deal that saw Neymar move from Santos to Barcelona in 2013. Neymar has been the latest superstar to be linked to a move to Miami. But Messi also has allies within the club in important roles. One is Guillermo Hoyos, Miami’s director of player development and methodology. Hoyos, an Argentine, was a youth coach of Messi’s at Barcelona. In 2010, Messi referred to Hoyos as “my footballing godfather.” Henderson is one of just a few professionals within the organization who has vast experience as an MLS executive. The club’s director of player personnel and compliance, Meghan Cameron, is a former MLS league office employee who was hired in 2021 after Miami were sanctioned for the MLS salary budget and roster guidelines. Henderson has thus far survived the ongoing shakeup. Miami’s vice president of soccer operations Niki Budalic, who works closely with Henderson, ******** at the club. Others do not. Former first team director of scouting and recruitment Mark Prizant, a former Manchester ******* scout, left the club over the summer for new MLS expansion side San Diego FC. He was named assistant sporting director. After Miami’s 2-1 win over Atlanta ******* on October 25, Martino credited Henderson, Budalic and others for identifying midfielder Yannick Bright in the 2023 college draft. Bright, 23, was a revelation in 2024. Martino clearly respected their opinions. With so many important voices in some of Miami’s most prominent positions, Martino had limited sway. In the end, Martino, who took Miami from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to the league’s best-ever point total, is just a coach. Never mind that his eye for talent identification has resulted in two of MLS’ most prolific teams. Atlanta ******* in 2018 and the 2024 version of Inter Miami have Martino’s fingerprints throughout both teams. But as Martino told reporters two weeks ago, Miami fell well short of their objectives this season. The bar was high when he was hired shortly after Messi announced his decision to join. The standard, now, is even higher. Martino’s successor will have to manage up and appease the club’s most powerful voices. Miami’s next head coach must find common ground with Messi immediately, and outperform the team’s 2024 exploits. Carcedo could be a dark horse candidate based on his previous history with Mas and Sanllehi. Former Barcelona midfielder and manager Xavi, currently unemployed, checks the most boxes. Together with Messi and Sergio Busquets, Xavi was an integral part of Barcelona’s glorious run from the mid 2000s. Mas admires the Barcelona DNA. His successful courtship of Messi, Suarez, Busquets and Jordi Alba have been a boon for the club and for MLS. Mascherano could be an option for Miami (Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images) Then there’s Javier Mascherano, another former Barcelona midfielder and a legend with the Argentina national team. Mascherano and Messi have a long history together. Mascherano, 40, is the head coach of Argentina’s U-20 and U-23 teams. He talks openly about his friendship with Messi. He also tried to include Messi in his squad for the Paris Olympics as an overage player. The Miami job is a desirable one from the outside. Thanks to Messi, the club’s brand is well known around the world. But whoever is hired as Miami’s next manager will have the unenviable task of coaching an aging Miami team with limited depth at next summer’s Club World Cup. Martino’s exit has been put down to personal reasons — but what Martino says on Friday, in what will be a highly visible news conference, could be telling. (Top photo: AFP via Getty Images) Source link #Lionel #Messi #Inter #Miami #impacted #***** #Martinos #exit Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]