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Enhance your movie night with the perfect projector for a small room. With so many options on the market, narrowing down what you need can be daunting. From portability to brightness to resolution, let us guide you in choosing the ideal solution to bring big-screen entertainment into your home. Don't let a small room limit your movie experience. A projector is the perfect way to transform any space into an immersive home theater.The best projector for a small apartment - TOP 5 Whether you're setting up a movie theater in your living room or looking for the perfect device to liven up your presentations, these 5 best projectors will fit all your needs in a small room. Take a look at our selection of the five most po[CENSORED]r models on the market today:Best Small Room Projectors - Buyer's Guide With so many projectors on the market, making a selection for small spaces can be daunting. To ensure you get the optimal experience, here are some essentials to keep in mind when shopping for the perfect projector: projection distance To get the best projection in a small space, make sure you choose a projector with an adequate throw distance. This will help images reach their full potential and create optimal conditions for watching movies. Resolution For an amazing viewing experience, opt for a projector with the ultimate resolution: 4K. With this capability, you can be sure to enjoy exceptional image clarity and detail like never before. Glow When shopping for a projector, keep in mind that brightness is of the utmost importance. By making sure your projection has plenty of lumens, you'll be able to enjoy captivating visibility and images, even when light levels are high. connectivity In addition to performance and price, connectivity is a crucial component in selecting the right projector. Be sure to choose a model that has seamless integration with your devices so you can enjoy effortless streaming or projection at all times. Portability For frequent moves, consider a projector that is lightweight and designed for optimal portability. In this way, the transition is always effortless.These projectors will provide you with an amazing viewing experience with brilliant colors and sharp images. Before we go any further, let's explore the unique capabilities of our top 5 models by examining an insightful comparison chart: projector model Resolution lumens Projector distance, min Optoma HD146X 1080p 3600 1m Epson EH-TW740 1080p 3300 0.9m ViewSonic M1 854x480 250 0.64m BenQ GV1 854x480 200 1m BenQ HT2050A 1080p 2200 1.5m Optoma HD146X projector for small rooms https://gagadget.com/es/230525-mejor-proyector-para-habitaciones-pequenas/

Google has assumed an error in the Google Pay payment platform for making payments as rewards to some users, valued between 10 and 1,000 dollars as reported by them through Reddit.Google has made cash transfers to certain users for allegedly having "internally tested the 'software' in beta before its official launch." One of the beneficiaries of this ruling has been the analyst Mishaal Rahman , who has communicated via Twitter that he has received compensation of $13.25 "for testing the Google Pay remittance experience." Rahman has been able to verify this payment from the 'Offers' section of Google Pay. In addition, he has shared the experience of another user who has claimed to have received around $1.00 in different transfers.For its part, Google has contacted all those affected, to whom it has sent an email acknowledging that it was a problem that "was resolved and, where possible, the credit was reversed", according to a capture of this message shared by the analyst. The company has commented that if the money issued in error has already been recovered, this will be reflected in the activity of these users' accounts in Google Pay. On the contrary, in case of not having been able to recover the credit -because the users have already spent it in other transactions, for example- it will assume the expenses. "The money is yours. No other action is necessary," he stressed in this statement. https://www.europapress.es/portaltic/software/noticia-google-pay-asume-error-hizo-transferencias-1000-dolares-concepto-recompensas-20230407160222.html

Some video game franchises seem destined for the mobile gaming scene, their format ideally suited for touchscreen controls or quick on-the-go gaming sessions. Bandai Namco's drum-pounding rhythm game Taiko no Tatsujin is the latest established franchise to make the jump to mobile, and it's a match made in heaven. Bright, colorful, and full of charm, Taiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat will have you smiling from ear to ear as you tap tap tap away to its catchy soundtrack. It's just a shame that fun has such a short shelf life. Pop Tap Beat follows the standard rhythm genre format: notes travel from one side of the screen to the other (in this case right to left), and you tap the screen when each one reaches a circle to score points. The closer to the circle the note is when you tap, the more in rhythm with the song you are and the more points you score. It's a simple system that's easy to understand and pick up even if this is your first time playing a rhythm game, making for a short learning curve and a longer focus on fun. The gameplay loop offers incremental increases in challenge with each subsequent difficulty level, offering an experience that's challenging without ever feeling impossible. Notes come in two colors: red, which signals tapping the drum, and blue, which signals tapping around the edge of it. Higher difficulties will split the drum in half, meaning you not only have to pay attention to the color of each note but also keep in mind which side of the screen needs to be tapped. Pop Tap Beat mixes things up further with special notes, alleviating any monotony. These special notes include drum rolls with continuous tapping, golden drums for furious tapping, and balloon notes for a different kind of furious tapping.Touching the drum in time with the notes feels natural, as if you're playing the drum yourself. Silly animations of dogs dancing and colorful fireworks accompanying certain notes liven up performances so you're not just seeing alternating red and blue notes and moving your fingers in time to the rhythm for every song. It put a smile on my face. Completing longer sequences, especially if you achieve full song combos, feels rewarding with so much colorful on-screen feedback celebrating the achievement. Unfortunately, full combos can sometimes be frustratingly messed up thanks to inaccurate tap controls. The game does not accurately respond to every note, sometimes registering notes early, late, or not at all. It's a rare occurrence, but a frustrating one when it does happen. Imagine conquering every note of a song as fast as Gimme Chocolate by Babymetal, only to lose the combo on the final note through no fault of your own. Your phone might end up in the next room. The song list mixes classical music, Japanese pop songs, original Taiko no Tatsujin pieces from across the series, and even some anime soundtrack classics. Some additions are admittedly weird--why does The Alphabet Song need to be a part of this game again?--but others like the aforementioned Gimme Chocolate or Tekken 7's Heat Haze Shadow 2 are absolute bangers. Oh, and A Cruel Angel's Thesis from Neon Genesis Evangelion is here in case you want to feel sad while you tap along on your mobile device-turned-taiko drum. These songs create a nice variety of tracks for anyone to enjoy, though admittedly it's not as robust as it could be. Only 31 songs are included in the game and they're all available from the beginning. There are no unlockables and no DLC song packs available (as of this writing),which is a bummer. I want to keep playing Pop Tap Beat, but with such a limited number of songs available, the game loses its luster fast. As much as I absolutely love the song, I can only play Cha La Head Cha La from Dragon Ball Z so many times before getting bored. Longevity is the biggest obstacle facing Pop Tap Beat. Going online to challenge random players extends the playtime a bit, but it doesn't change the core problem of the song list being too short. Connecting to other players, however, takes a long time. Minutes can go by before a match is finally found, but once matched it's a clean experience, with no hiccups in notes registering or lag in notes coming down the path. Points are earned after each song, which eventually unlock "Treasure Boxes," but the only prizes found in those boxes are costumes for my little taiko avatar or other ancillary additions. There's nothing wrong with these prizes--my drum looks like a cute little peacock and I would die for it--but they're window dressing at best. They don't add substance to the game, only style, and again because of the short song list, eventually you'll be playing the same songs over and over again to unlock everything. After a while, that gets tiresome. The colorful whimsy of dancing animals that plays out on-screen during a song is delightful, but there's only so much a playlist that small can doTaiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat is a solid offering for Apple Arcade, though you won't be playing it for a terribly long time. Tapping to the beat of the 30+ songs on the playlist is fun, the colorful whimsy of dancing animals that plays out on-screen during a song is delightful, but there's only so much a playlist that small can do, and so you may find yourself lacking a reason to stick around. It's fun while it lasts, but Taiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat only marches to the beat of its own drum for so long. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/taiko-no-tatsujin-pop-tap-beat-review-drum-solo/1900-6417673/

Endless content and tight rhythm-based gameplay make Final Bar Line the best Theatrhythm yet. Since the franchise's introduction in 2012, the Theatrhythm games have masterfully capitalized on the Final Fantasy series' incredible soundtracks. Using a gameplay system that's approachable yet deceptively challenging, while also mixing iconic scenes from past games in the background, the games act as a playable portfolio of FF's most memorable moments. Final Bar Line is speculated to be the final game in the Theatrhythm series, at least for a while, and if that's true, it's an incredible final act. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line presents 385 music tracks from across the Final Fantasy spectrum, with a healthy mixture of fan favorites and deep cuts spread out across 29 different categories. After selecting a song, players will press buttons along to its rhythm via three types of notes: red, which requires a single button press; yellow, where a button press is paired with flicking the joystick in a designated direction; and green, which must be held for as long as the green bar is present. This traffic light-esque system sounds simple, but it can be downright devilish in practice, especially on higher difficulty levels. Keying in on which parts of the song the notes are corresponding to can be tough, especially with compositions as complex as what longtime composer Nobuo Uematsu and his peers have devised over the years. That said, it's still immensely fun being able to interact with these iconic songs in this way, as I found my whole body moving to the beat while I tapped along on the controller. There's one small foible about these notes that I must mention, as it's easily what's given me the most trouble--not only in the game, but throughout the entire franchise. During a green note, when the end of the strip is reached, the button must be released in rhythm with the song as well, and the timing of the release affects your note streak. I've lost more streaks to this than anything else, simply because my brain is tricked into thinking I'm supposed to hold the note until the next note hits. It's a novel little mechanic that ups the challenge, but also ups the frustration until it starts to feel more natural. To say that the 385-song library of Final Bar Line is extensive is an understatement. The greatest hits from the series are here--Zanarkand, multiple versions of One Winged Angel, Melodies Of Life, etc.--but there are some unexpected tracks that do a wonderful job of exploring the full breadth of Final Fantasy's portfolio. There's a track from The Star Onions, a band created by composer Naoshi Mizuta that strictly covers FFXI music. There are also a few songs from the electronica remix albums SQ Chips and More SQ. Even a pair of FFVII arrangements featured in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate--Cosmo Canyon by Yoko Shimomura and Aerith's Theme from Keichii Okabe--are here. This is an anthology of music rarely seen in one place, and having all of these great tracks together is much appreciated. Each song fits into one of three different formats, or what the game refers to as "Music Sequences." The first is Battle, where each note appears in one of four different static rows on-screen. I found Battles to be the easiest of the three sets, as even though notes were coming quickly from left to right, I was able to focus on the target area and time my presses to them more efficiently than the other Sequences. For veterans of rhythm-based games, Battle Music Sequences felt like Guitar Hero or Rock Band to me, and that familiarity helped out in the long run.Field Music Sequences go back to horizontal notes, but this mode also incorporates sliding green notes, where players must hold the joystick up or down to hit the little dots inside the green strip. I suspect many will develop a love/hate relationship with this format, as the sliding can turn even the slowest and most melodically simple track into a challenge. Of all three formats, this was the one that caused the most restarts, as the sliding target caused more confusion for me than the other modes' static rows. I did eventually wrap my head around it, and when that happened it was marvelous, but the learning curve is higher than the other modes. Most of Theatrhythm's songs need to be unlocked, and that happens in the Series Quest mode. Here, a party of four characters will walk through each game's story via its music, while also showcasing the important moments in each game. As more games are unlocked via Series Keys earned during the playthrough, more characters can be unlocked for the party. Completing songs earns experience points for each member of the party, and leveling up earns new abilities for those characters as well. Completing a special objective in each song also unlocks a CollectaCard, which gives access to screenshots and other items in the Museum mode.While customizing a party and outfitting them with special abilities is cool, it doesn't add much to the overall experience. My focus is on tapping notes and listening to music, so the party traveling through a town and fighting the occasional monster is ancillary at best and flat-out distracting at worst. Sure, the damage my party deals increases as I do better in the song, and my misses cause damage to be dealt to the team, but with the fights happening away from the targets I can't really pay attention to the action. I get that something has to be going on in the background, and I appreciate the light RPG elements both hearkening back to the source material, but don't expect the impact on overall gameplay to be more than helping you complete optional quests. That being said, watching Squall, Auron, Sephiroth, and Ramza from Final Fantasy Tactics team up is neat in any context. When Series Quests are finished, every unlocked song can be played again in the Music Stages list. Custom playlists can be created and played without pause from start to finish, which opens up even more ways to challenge yourself. The other main gameplay mode is Multi Battles, where up to four players play through a song and compete for high scores, but the core gameplay doesn't see any major changes. These modes, while enjoyable, involve playing the same songs as those in the Series Quests, so they don't add much to the game outside of different ways to experience the same music. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is the apex of theTheatrhythm spin-off franchise. Its vast and varied library of music is a nostalgic thrill, the gameplay is approachable while offering plenty of challenge, and the sprinkling of RPG elements like party customization offers a personal touch--even if that touch isn't super impactful. There's something here for everyone, from the staunchest Final Fantasy fan to the person who only knows Cloud and Sephiroth from Smash Bros. There are a few minor missteps along the way, but none of them create any major malfunctions in the experience. Simply put, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is a master-class symphony of fun and nostalgia, and it is a game worthy of the music library it features. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/theatrhythm-final-bar-line-review-greatest-hits/1900-6418029/

In the second half of our hands-on preview with Final Fantasy XVI, we had the pleasure of sitting in on a group interview between myself and The Verge's Ash Parrish along with three of the lead designers on Final Fantasy XVI with Michael-Christopher Koji Fox assisting in interpretation. Among those present were Producer Naoki Yoshida, Director Hiroshi Takai, and Combat Lead Ryota Suzuki for an intimate forty-minute session digging into some of the lore and story choices as well as what both RPG and hardcore character action fans can look forward to in Final Fantasy XVI.Ash Parrish (The Verge): In an interview with IGN, you addressed Final Fantasy XVI’s struggle with diversity. In that interview, you said the homogeneity was chosen on purpose because of the isolated nature of the politics and the world in itself and that was the kind of story you wanted to tell. You wanted to focus on this isolated place [where] people all look this same. We respect that that’s the kind of story that you want to tell but from that interview, there have been a lot of concerns and comments from fans of color that feel a [certain] way about it, thinking that because this place [Valisthea] is based on European history, that automatically defaults it to an ‘All-White’ setting. I wanted to know if you had the opportunity to hear that feedback and what you might want to say to fans of color who are turned away from the game. Naoki Yoshida: This is a very difficult question and it deserves great care with words and phrasing and nuance. It’s something that means a lot to different people and it can be very nuanced in how different people interpret the situation. I believe that with Final Fantasy XVI, we’ve weaved together a variety of peoples and cultures set in this sweeping fantasy narrative and world that we have strived to create with care and respect, something that’s being done with the Final Fantasy series. We hope that when players finally get able to take up [Final Fantasy XVI] in their own hands, they will be able to see what we have aimed for and will ultimately be able to connect with that unique experience. Other than that, going deep into it is something that we’ve already done and this is what we believe in and that’s all about when players get it into their hands and make that decision for themselves about what they see in the game. Kai: Over the past decade and a half, Final Fantasy has been trending more in line with modern and futuristic settings. Why the return to High Fantasy for Final Fantasy XVI? And to follow-up: in the West, darker High Fantasy has been a very po[CENSORED]r genre over the past few years. Is the story for Final Fantasy XVI reactionary to what’s po[CENSORED]r in the West, or has that always been a part of your design philosophy? Naoki Yoshida: You are correct in your observations that these past three Final Fantasy [titles] have all been very modern, but when you look back at the entire thirty-five-year history of Final Fantasy, more than half of [the titles] when you look back have been High Fantasy and it’s just that it has switched to a modern type of setting. When it came to [deciding] what kind of game to make with Final Fantasy XVI, the reason we chose High Fantasy is that, as creators, it’s the genre that we enjoy. To your other question about if this was reactionary towards Dark Fantasy in the West, more than that, again, we really like Dark Fantasy as well and that’s what we want to create. The minute that we knew that our team was going to be creating the new Final Fantasy XVI, the first that came to us was that if we were going to be creating it and we are going to spend all of this time and effort doing it, let’s do something that we love and that’s why we chose this genre. And of course, as we were starting [development], dark fantasy was starting to get very po[CENSORED]r in the world and this was the perfect time to do this as well. Ash: I remember that at the beginning of the presentation that elsewhere you wanted Final Fantasy XVI to be a roller coaster and I wanted to know why. It seems like there’s this hard pivot away from the kinds of themes and experiences that fans have come to expect from Final Fantasy. After playing the Eikon battles, [it feels like] somebody woke up and watched Pacific Rim and [decided] to put Kaiju battles into Final Fantasy XVI. I just wanted to know what your thoughts or philosophies were on why you wanted to turn away from what fans would expect. Naoki Yoshida: It’s not like we went into this thinking that we were going to step away from expectations. For me, I was a fan of the original Final Fantasy and around the same time, the original Dragon Quest had come out. Of course, having played both, I compared them and what I really enjoyed about Final Fantasy was that it felt like a movie. There’s no opening and you’re immediately in the game. Then you cross the Drawbridge and then you get that title screen and it really felt like you were playing in a movie. That was thirty-five years ago and now we have the PlayStation 5 technology where it actually does feel like you’re in a movie and controlling the movie. That’s the thing we wanted to create with Final Fantasy XVI and going back to those Final Fantasy roots. Just over these past thirty-five years, we’ve seen that Final Fantasy fans are distancing themselves from the series and there aren’t as many people playing the series as time went on. It’s up to us to see how we’re going bring in new players and bring back players that left the series. Creating a game of this scale and scope costs a lot of money and if people aren’t playing your game, you can’t recoup your development costs *laughs*. There is a fear of the series becoming more niche. Final Fantasy has always been about a series where it would come out and everyone would buy it so it’s about bringing those people back and bringing new people in. To do that, the best way was to challenge ourselves and that one idea was to make [Final Fantasy XVI] full action. Going back to your earlier comment about how it felt like the Kaiju battles in Pacific Rim, the battle that you got to play (Ifrit vs. Garuda), again, was designed to feel like a Kaiju battle that you’d see in Ultraman or Evangelion. But that’s only that battle and that style is only used in that one battle. We have other Eikon vs. Eikon battles that may resemble a 3D shooting game or a high-speed action kind of game. Each of these battles is created from the ground up and they’re all unique with a different type of feel to them. We are going to provide players with a unique experience for each individual battle. Hiroshi Takai: I don’t think that, or at least it wasn’t our intent, to drift away too far from what the core series brings. We get asked by a lot of media about what we think constitutes a Final Fantasy game. I think that, for me, the one thing is how each game in the series always tries to do something new and challenge something one of the Final Fantasies in the past had done to bring something new to the series. With Final Fantasy XVI, our challenge was to go full action and have these Eikon-vs-Eikon battles. Because this change is so big, that’s what sticks out to players and they feel like it’s bigger than it actually is. Again, up until now especially with this event, we’ve been putting a lot of focus on the action aspects of the game, but what we have here is an action RPG. Being Square-Enix, we put a lot of pride into our RPG elements. Those RPG elements, while we haven’t talked about them much, do exist in the game; we do have side quests and weapon customizations and things like that. Hopefully, in the near future, we can talk about that and ease the fears that fans feel like Final Fantasy XVI is only action. There is an RPG here as well. If you look at Final Fantasy XVI, one game that is kind of close to how the whole game works is the most recent God of War (2018). Kai: With this being the first Final Fantasy developed specifically for PlayStation 5, has Luminous Productions assisted Creative Business Unit III with development? Will any of the newer technologies that were in Forspoken, such as DirectStorage, be utilized in Final Fantasy XVI? Naoki Yoshida: To talk a little bit about business, Forspoken and Final Fantasy XVI began development around the same time. Final Fantasy XVI is actually using an engine we’ve created specifically for Final Fantasy XVI, so there isn’t much sharing of technology between the Forspoken and Final Fantasy teams.Naoki Yoshida: Final Fantasy XVI, being a role-playing game, has aspects of leveling up. As you level up, your character gets stronger, your defense gets stronger and you deal more damage with your weapon. The game is based around that if players are not as good technique-wise, as long as they level up their character and get that better gear and use the Timely Accessories, then they’ll be able to enjoy the story. You’ve mentioned the Savage tier, where you have the monster changing its actions to create a more difficult battle. We don’t have things like that. How we adjust the difficulty is by putting the player in a situation where it’s going to test the player's actions. We cap the level and stop the ability to level up. It becomes a situation where the player has to use their own technique to defeat the battle rather than the RPG parameters from leveling up. It’s really a test of the player’s skills . https://wccftech.com/final-fantasy-xvi-developer-interview-new-engine-with-no-forspoken-tech-arcade-mode-global-leaderboards/

Benjamin Netanyahu said his administration would "restore governance, peace and personal security" By Yolande Knell & David Gritten BBC News, Jerusalem & London The most religious and hard-line government in Israel's history has been sworn in. Benjamin Netanyahu returns as prime minister, after his Likud party formed a coalition with ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies. There is domestic and international concern it will inflame the conflict with the Palestinians, damage the judiciary and restrict minority rights. Mr Netanyahu has promised to pursue peace and safeguard civil rights. Addressing a special session of the Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem, he stated that his administration would "restore governance, peace and personal security to the citizens of Israel"."I hear the opposition's constant laments about 'the end of the state', 'the end of democracy', members of the opposition, losing the elections is not the end of democracy - this is the essence of democracy." Palestinian fears heightened as Israeli far right heads to power Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's comeback leader Mr Netanyahu was heckled by his opponents, some of whom chanted "weak". They suggest he has been forced to sign deals with hard-line parties because more liberal ones refuse to sit in government with him while he is on trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He denies any wrongdoing. Several hundred protesters meanwhile gathered outside, waving Israeli flags, rainbow flags bearing the Star of David, and signs reading "shame", "danger" and "down with racism". Mor, a woman from Jerusalem, told the BBC: "I'm here because my country's falling apart from its democratic values."Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Knesset ahead of the swearing-in ceremony This is a record sixth term as prime minister for Mr Netanyahu, who was ousted by his opponents 18 months ago, but his coalition partners are pledging to lead the country in a new direction. The first guiding principle of the new government, published on Wednesday, declares that "the Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the land of Israel". It says that includes the occupied West Bank and promises to "advance and develop" settlements there. About 600,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel's occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. There are also some 100 outposts - small settlements built without the Israeli government's authorisation - across the West Bank. In a coalition deal with the ultranationalist Religious Zionism party he signed last week, Mr Netanyahu agreed to retroactively legalise the outposts. He also promised to annex the West Bank while "choosing the timing and weighing all of the State of Israel's national and international interests". Such a step would be opposed by Israel's Western and Arab allies.(R) will hold key positions in the new government Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich, a West Bank settler, will be finance minister and also oversee the Civil Administration, which approves settlement building in the West Bank and controls important aspects of Palestinians' lives. Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir, another settler and ultranationalist politician who has previously been convicted of racism and supporting a terrorist organisation, will be national security minister, responsible for the police. A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned that the plans to develop West Bank settlements would have "repercussions for the region". Mr Netanyahu's coalition partners reject the idea of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict - the internationally backed formula for peace which envisages an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank alongside Israel, with Jerusalem as their shared capital. There have also been expressions of concern both inside and outside Israel about some ministers' very rigid views on the application of Jewish law and LGBTQ rights. Avi Maoz, head of the anti-LGBTQ Noam party, will serve as a deputy minister in the prime minister's office. He has called for Jerusalem's Gay Pride event to be banned, disapproves of equal opportunities for women in the military, and wants to limit immigration to Israel to Jews according to a strict interpretation of Jewish law. Activists, doctors and business leaders have meanwhile warned that discrimination against LGBTQ individuals could potentially be legalised if the anti-discrimination law is changed to allow businesses to refuse services to people on religious grounds.Daniel Johnas said he was concerned about future of life in Israel for himself, his husband and children Although the coalition deal between Likud and the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party calls for such an amendment, Mr Netanyahu has said his administration will not allow any harm to the LGBTQ community. He has also chosen an openly gay member of Likud, Amir Ohana, to be parliamentary Speaker. Critics have expressed concern at the coalition's intention to pass legislation that would give a parliamentary majority the ability to override Supreme Court rulings. Mr Netanyahu's coalition partners have also proposed legal reforms that could end his corruption trial. At Thursday's protest, a woman from Tel Aviv, who did not want to give her name, said: "I refuse to accept what I feel is the possibility of the beginning of a fascist regime and I want to protect the rights of every citizen living in this country." Daniel Johnas, an activist in the religious LGBTQ community, said he was worried for the first time to go on the street with the rainbow flag. He was also concerned about the future of life in Israel for himself, his husband and children. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64115141

Stowaways from abroad may have specific needs, including controlled temperature, lighting and humidity By Nathalie Edell BBC News A tiny frog, smaller than a 10p coin, has survived a journey of more than 3,000 miles in a bunch of bananas delivered to a supermarket in the UK. Jannet Giovinazzo, 71, discovered the creature last week while unpacking her shopping in Epsom, Surrey. She said she was "very surprised" to spot the amphibian, which has since been named Lidl. Whilst the small hitchhiker took a nap near a radiator after its epic journey, Ms Giovinazzo called the RSPCA. She said: "I always make a habit of checking fruit for any creatures that may have climbed inside.I'm usually worried I'm going to find a spider in there. I was very surprised indeed to spot the little frog. "It was a nice surprise though, he was very cute."Stowaways such as Lidl have to be rehomed to specialist keepers, zoos or wildlife parks Ms Giovinazzo said she believed it to be a Mount Nimba reed frog from the Ivory Coast. She said: "I knew he would be used to temperatures much warmer than we have here, so I popped him safely inside a little tub which was well-ventilated and put him near the radiator. "He looked very happy there, having a little snooze." The frog was taken to a reptile rescue centre by Louis Horton, an RSPCA animal rescue officer. "Lidl was in very good health and will spend some time at the RSPCA centre before being rehomed by someone able to care for his specialist requirements," he said. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-65191253

A US judge has approved the record $14.7bn (£12bn) settlement Volkswagen will pay in the country over its diesel emissions scandal. Under the settlement, the German carmaker agreed to spend up to $10bn on buybacks and owner compensation. An additional $4.7bn is to go to programs to offset excess emissions and to clean car projects. The deal was agreed in June after regulators discovered VW software designed to cheat emissions tests. Vehicle owners will be able to choose between having their car bought back at pre-scandal "trade in" value or having VW repairing the cars if regulators approve the fixes.They will also receive an additional compensation of between $5,000 and $10,000 depending on how old their vehicles are. The US judge turned down objections from owners who thought the compensation should have been higher, saying the agreement was "adequate and fair".The cheating software detected when emissions test we being done Part of the fines will see the world's second biggest carmaker fund programs towards a better charging infrastructure for electric cars, the development of zero-emission ride-sharing fleets and general efforts to boost sales of emissions-friendly cars. Over the next three years, the automaker will also pay to fund infrastructure on Native American tribal land to reduce diesel emissions. Caught cheating Volkswagen installed software in diesel cars sold worldwide to detect when they were being tested so the cars could cheat the results. Some models could have been pumping out up to 40 times the legal limit of the pollutant, nitrogen oxide, regulators disclosed. The carmaker said that around 11 million cars were affected worldwide. The scandal has pulled down VW's global business, damaged its reputation and led to the ouster of chief executive Martin Winterkorn. Volkswagen also still faces a flurry of fines and lawsuits outside of the US expected to the add to the overall bill the company will have to pay for the scandal. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-37771216

Aidan, 52, therapist (left), meets Richard, 58, local social housing managerAidan on Richard What were you hoping for? A fun, politics-free evening. Something stimulating rather than challenging – it was Saturday night, after all. First impressions? He wasn’t on his phone. Smiling, open, friendly. What did you talk about? Italy. Families. Cycling in London. Football (not my normal go-to subject). Battersea power station. Cooking.Most awkward moment? Getting confused between hare and hair. Hare was on the menu (Richard had pie, I had braised – first time for both of us) and hair – on the head – which you could say is a strong point for neither of us. Our waitress was very understanding. Good table manners? Impeccable. Good napkin skills. Best thing about Richard? Positive about everything. I would imagine he’s very kind to everyone he meets. Would you introduce Richard to your friends? You couldn’t not like Richard.And … did you kiss? No. If you could change one thing about the evening what would it be? I wish I’d ordered two puddings – the food was so good. Marks out of 10? 7. Would you meet again? Maybe. The spark wasn’t there but we agreed we both need to see Abba Voyage.Richard on Aidan What were you hoping for? I was hoping to meet someone new who wouldn’t just disappear after one chat … First impressions? We’d never met before but I felt as though I knew him already! He came across as very relaxed and comfortable in my company.What did you talk about? Music. Family. LGBTQ+ matters. Most awkward moment? I can honestly say there weren’t any awkward moments. Aidan made me feel quite at ease all evening. Good table manners? Impeccable. Best thing about Aidan? He was very polite and not overbearing. Would you introduce Aidan to your friends? Certainly, he would fit right in. They would like him straight away. Sam and Yolanta. Blind date: ‘I showed him a scar from my woodworking class’ Read more Describe Aidan in three words. Gentlemanly, open, engaging. What do you think Aidan made of you? Not sure. I hope I didn’t talk too much and take over the conversation. Did you go on somewhere? We both had things scheduled for Sunday, but were very surprised how late it was. It was a full evening.And … did you kiss? Just a little peck. If you could change one thing about the evening what would it be? That we had more time: it seemed to go so fast. Marks out of 10? 10. Would you meet again? We’ve made plans to see Abba Voyage. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/apr/08/blind-date-aidan-richard

The death toll has climbed steeply already this year By Raffi Berg BBC News Online Middle East editor There has been an intensification of violence between Israel and the Palestinians since the start of this year, with deaths mounting on both sides. Here is a brief guide to what is going on. What is happening? The current violence is mainly taking place in the West Bank and East Jerusalem - areas occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war. While the starting point is debatable, it began to escalate in March 2022. In a period of days, Israel was rocked by a series of deadly Palestinian attacks and the Israeli military launched an open-ended operation in the West Bank in response, resulting in near nightly raids into the occupied territories.How has it got worse? There have been many individual injuries and deaths resulting from Israeli military operations and Palestinian attacks over the past year, but what marks this period of violence out is both the scale of the loss of lives and the number of incidents in which multiple people have been killed. Last year, at least 146 Palestinians - militants, civilians and attackers - were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank and East Jerusalem - more than any time since UN records began in 2005. Meanwhile, 29 Israelis and two foreign nationals - all but four of whom were civilians - were killed in attacks by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs. This was deadliest year for Israelis since 2015. Already in the first two months of this year, the death toll - 60 Palestinians and 14 on the Israeli side - has been higher than any similar period in 2022, swelled by some of the bloodiest incidents in years.In one Israeli military raid in Nablus in February, 11 Palestinians were killed in the ensuing violence, with dozens more injured by bullets, according to the Palestinian health ministry. In another raid and gun-battle in Jenin the previous month,10 Palestinians were killed.Israelis have also reeled from a spate of particularly deadly attacks: seven civilians were shot dead outside an East Jerusalem synagogue in January, while in another incident in February three were killed in a ramming attack at a bus stop on the outskirts of the city. Many others have been killed and injured on both sides in near-daily incidents, fuelling what is often described as a cycle of violence. What is driving the violence? Each side blames the other, but there are also longer-term underlying causes. Palestinian attackers and those who support them say they are fighting Israel and the occupation and avenging Israeli assaults. Some of the attacks have been carried out by "lone wolves" - individuals who were not acting on the orders of an organisation. Israel accuses the Palestinian Authority (PA) - the Palestinians' governing body in the West Bank - of inciting such attacks. Other attacks have been carried out by Palestinian militant groups, including the newly formed Lions' Den, whose po[CENSORED]rity on the Palestinian street has surged. A 100-year-old conflict Israel says its ongoing operation in the West Bank, called "Break the Wave", is targeting militant groups with arrest raids to stop them from launching attacks. The raids, however, are often taking place in densely po[CENSORED]ted refugee camps and other urban areas, where they meet resistance from gunmen and often turn bloody. Is there an end in sight? Not in the short-term. Israel says it has to continue its operations to weaken the militant groups and thwart attacks, while Palestinians say the attacks are a response to Israel's actions and overwhelmingly more powerful military. There is also no political peace process which could offer the prospect of a permanent solution, leaving decades-old grievances - the Palestinians' want of a state and Israel's want of security chief among them - festering. The PA - derided and seen as complicit in Israel's military occupation by many Palestinians - shows no appetite to act against militants, a move which would be unpo[CENSORED]r among ordinary Palestinians and put its own survival at risk. Israel's new hard-line, right-wing government is also intensifying measures against Palestinian violence, including accelerating demolitions of attackers' homes, allowing for attackers to be deported, and expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The ongoing expansion of Jewish settlements on land Palestinians claim for a future state is seen by them as a root cause of their long conflict with Israel. Settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. A faint flicker of hope lies with US-brokered talks, which brought Israel and the Palestinians face-to-face in the first meeting of its kind for years in Jordan on Sunday in an attempt to de-escalate tensions, with an aim for the two sides to meet again in March. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64757995

The new AMD processors are already among us and, in order to get the most out of their speed and performance, it is necessary to have RAM memories specially designed to work with Zen 4 and its new AMD EXPO profiles . To do this, if you are interested in good memories for the Ryzen 7000, today we bring you the latest from CORSAIR, the new Vengeance RGB DDR5 designed for AMD.As you know, RAM memories incorporate profiles so that we can make them work to the maximum of their benefits just by activating said profile in the BIOS. With Intel we have the XMP profile (eXtreme Memory Profile), while with AMD until now we could also take advantage of this profile, called in this case AMP. Now, with the introduction of the new AM5 platform, AMD has created the AMD EXPO profile , which is precisely the fundamental characteristic of these memories and what differentiates them from the Vengeance RGB DDR5 that we have already analyzed in the past on the Intel Alder Lake platform. -S.The memory modules have a sober and very careful design. We can see a heatsink, which is not very thick, that covers both sides of the memory, with a metal sheet where the word "Vengeance" is screen printed in the central part. In this case, the color of the heatsink is not black but gray ("Cool Grey" according to CORSAIR's website). This RAM offers latencies of 30-36-36-76, and is designed to run at 1.4 volts. Each module has an independent voltage controller on the PCB itself that we can adjust with this manufacturer's software or from the BIOS. Of course, as it couldn't be less, each module has a total of 10 ultra-bright and addressable RGB LEDs that we can customize, to our liking, thanks to the iCUE software. https://hardzone.es/reviews/memorias-ram/corsair-vengeance-rgb-ddr5-amd-expo/

The small cages contained multiple rabbits By Caroline Lowbridge BBC News The RSPCA has rescued more than 160 rabbits from one garage amid what it describes as a "rabbit crisis". The owners, in Great Easton, Leicestershire, had started with just four rabbits but allowed them to breed out of control. Animal charities including the RSCPA say they are dealing with a huge influx in abandoned rabbits due to breeding and the cost-of-living crisis. They advise adopting rabbits rather than buying from breeders or pet shops. They also urge people to get rabbits neutered so they cannot breed, and so the females do not get uterine cancer.The RSPCA found the rabbits in small cages piled on top of each other RSPCA inspector Richard Durant, who helped rescue the rabbits, said: "This is a very good example of the problems that can be encountered by rabbit owners who fail to neuter their rabbits and then end up becoming totally overwhelmed. "The owners said they tried separating them, but they weren't quick enough and the rabbits bred again and again. They told us that the sad situation had all got out of hand." The RSPCA was alerted by a pet-sitter when she found a dead rabbit in September. Mr Durant said most of the rabbits were healthy but their overcrowded environment "clearly wasn't suitable". "The smell in the garage was pretty overpowering and we found the rabbits in basic cages stacked up - some of them contained six rabbits," he said. The RSPCA said the number of rabbits dropped to about 150 as some had health issues and several were put to sleep.Walter and George have been waiting for a new home for six months Brinsley Animal Rescue in Nottinghamshire said it too had been inundated with unwanted rabbits, and that this had worsened due to the cost-of-living crisis. The charity turned away 222 rabbits in the first three months of 2023, due to not having enough space and money to care for them. Jon Beresford, who runs the charity, said there was never a reason to buy a rabbit from a pet shop or breeder. "People go into garden centres or farm shops or pet shops and the kids see baby rabbits, so it's often impulse, and they've not put any thought into it," he said. "People think they are easy pets and you can stick them in a cage, but you can't. "Rabbits are the most abused and neglected https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-65203901

WATCH: Israeli minister visits contested Jerusalem site surrounded by police By Yolande Knell & Raffi Berg BBC News, Jerusalem & London Palestinians have condemned a visit to a contested holy site in Jerusalem by a far-right Israeli minister as an "unprecedented provocation". National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has called for a harder line towards the Palestinians, walked around the site surrounded by police. Competing claims to the compound bitterly divide Israel and the Palestinians. Tensions have risen with the advent of Israel's new nationalistic government. Mr Ben-Gvir's visit was his first public act since the government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was sworn in five days agoThe hilltop site is the most sacred place in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. It is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, site of two Biblical temples, and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, the site of Muhammad's ascent to Heaven. The entire compound is considered to be al-Aqsa Mosque by Muslims. Jews and other non-Muslims are allowed to go to the compound but not pray, though Palestinians see visits by Jews as attempts to change the delicate status quo. Mr Ben-Gvir, leader of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, has long said that he wants to bring about a change to the rules to allow Jewish worship at the site. There is no indication that Mr Ben-Gvir prayed during Tuesday's visit. "The Temple Mount is open to everyone," he tweeted, accompanied by a photograph of him surrounded by a security cordon with the golden Dome of the Rock in the background. Itamar Ben-Gvir has said he wants to change rules to allow Jewish prayer at the site Ahead of November's election, Mr Ben-Gvir said that he would demand that Benjamin Netanyahu introduce "equal rights for Jews" there. However, Mr Netanyahu has sought to reassure Israel's allies that he will not allow any changes. A clause in his coalition deals states that the status quo "with regard to the holy places" will be left intact. Mr Ben-Gvir was given the go-ahead for his first visit since becoming a minister after consulting Mr Netanyahu and security officials. Following the 15-minute walkaround, the Palestinian foreign ministry denounced what it described as "the storming of al-Aqsa mosque by the extremist minister Ben-Gvir and views it as unprecedented provocation and a dangerous escalation of the conflict". Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh called for "thwarting the raids that aimed at turning the al-Aqsa Mosque into a Jewish temple", saying Mr Ben-Gvir's visit was "a violation of all norms, values, international agreements and laws, and Israel's pledges to the American president". A spokesman for the Palestinian militant Islamist group, Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, called it a "crime" and vowed the site "will remain Palestinian, Arab, Islamic", AFP news agency reported. Jordan, one of a small cluster of Arab countries to formally recognise Israel, summoned Israel's ambassador in protest. In his tweet, Mr Ben-Gvir sent a message of defiance to Hamas, declaring: "No Israeli government that I'm a member of is going to bow to a despicable and murderous terror organisation... and if Hamas thinks that I'll be deterred by its threats, it needs to accept that times have changed and that there's a government in Jerusalem."Tensions between Israel and Palestinians which escalated into violence at the site in May 2021 saw Hamas fire rockets towards Jerusalem, triggering an 11-day conflict with Israel. A visit to the site in 2000 by Israeli right-winger Ariel Sharon, then opposition leader, infuriated Palestinians. Violence which followed escalated into the second Palestinian uprising, or intifada. The Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif is the most sensitive site in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Situated in occupied East Jerusalem, it was captured by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war. Under a delicate set of arrangements, Jordan was allowed to continue its historical role as custodian of the site, while Israel assumed control of security and access. Muslim prayer continued to be the only form of worship allowed there, although a bar on Jewish visits was lifted. Palestinians argue that in recent years, steps have been taken that undermine the status quo, with Orthodox Jewish visitors often seen praying quietly without being stopped by Israeli police. The number of visits by Jews has swelled in the past few years, something Palestinians claim is part of a surreptitious attempt to take over the site. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64150409

Volkswagen has struck a deal with the US authorities over some 80,000 VW, Audi and Porsche cars with 3-litre diesel engines. The agreement is another step towards allowing the German car maker to put the emissions cheating scandal behind it. In June VW agreed to a $15bn (£12.1bn) settlement for another 475,000 vehicles affected by the scandal. The new agreement will cost Volkswagen an estimated $1bn, US authorities said. US District Judge Charles Breyer said owners of the 3-litre cars made between 2009 and 2016 would get "substantial compensation" for having them fixed or repaired.However, there were some remaining issues to be resolved and another hearing will be held on Thursday, he said. VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said the deal was "another important step forward in our efforts to make things right for our customers". The firm admitted in September 2015 to installing secret software in 475,000 US 2-litre diesel cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests and make them appear cleaner in testing than they really were. They emitted up to 40 times the legally allowable pollution levels. The $15bn settlement in June covered those vehicles, including an offer to buy them all back. The US Justice Department said VW had agreed to contribute another $225m to a fund to offset excess diesel emissions. In a separate filing, California's government said the company would increase the number of electric vehicles it sells in the state. Robert Bosch, the German engineering firm that made the software for the VW diesels, has also agreed in principle to settle civil allegations at a cost of about $300m. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-38386544

Give your home instant kerb appeal with these colourful displays – and there’s one for every spot.Myhouse has had so many renovations that it has been left with the characterless exterior typical of a face that’s had all its wrinkles removed. On top of that, there is no front garden because it sits right on the pavement of the main route out of town. In another life, I might chip away at the plaster until its lovely old stone was revealed, but time is short and flowers are plentiful.So, instead of going at it with a chisel, I am going to add window boxes, and planters round the door, to create a more uplifting, appealing welcome. The house will gain character and instead of looking out of my window at traffic, I can be distracted by flowers and greenery. There’s no reason why all our windows shouldn’t be crowned in something floral. Life on the edge can be brutal, so choose the right containers, and plants adapted to your conditions All the best-looking window boxes and planters have one thing in common – they are loved. So be consistent with watering and feeding. Making plants live in tiny spaces is asking a lot of them, so don’t starve them – use a liquid feed such as seaweed, every seven to 10 days. Life on the edge can be brutal, too, so choose the right containers, and plants adapted to your conditions. Once filled with soil, planted up and watered, a window box is heavy, and potentially dangerous if it falls. A few screws each side of the window and a piece of wire are not sufficient in high winds. Get substantial brackets, use the appropriate wall plugs and screws, and go in beyond the plasteryou don’t have much of a ledge, use a trough or window box frame. A well-made trough is about £50, a frame between £100 and £140. Frames are designed to accommodate pots or containers, but you can plant directly into the trough using a liner. Plastic makes the most sense as it is light and won’t dry out quickly. Metal may look good, but if your aspect is south- or west-facing it can heat up and burn developing roots. Wood is heavy when wet, but means you can make something bespoke relatively cheaply. Gardening, different spring and summer flowers, flower box and gardening tools on garden table<br>Deutschland, Gardening, Blumen pflanzen, Blumenkästen für Fensterbänke bepflanzen, Focus auf Handschuhen und Schüppe, selbermachen, Vorliebe für die Farben pink, violett, rosa, Sommerblumen, Frühlingsblumen, Holzmöbel, Balkon, Terrasse, Gartengeräte, Gartenhandschuhe, Petunia, Mittagsblume (Delosperma), Fleissiges Lieschen ( (Impatiens walleriana), Margeriten (Leucanthemum), Million Bells (Petunia), Frühingsgefühle A window box brings joy and spring colour Read more Whatever your container, you need a minimum depth of 30cm. If it’s shallower than that you must stick to growing alpines, succulents and very small ferns. If you can get hold of horticultural wool (or recycle the Woolcool that comes with food deliveries), line your window boxes with this to help cut down on watering. Here are window boxes and planters for every type of site, and tips on choosing your container. Full sun and exposedyour ledge is in full sun and exposed to wind, look to the mountains, where plants have adapted by creeping along rock faces and making homes in crevices. The bonus is that they have shallow roots, so you can get away with a 15cm-deep planter. Alpines and succulents have thick leaves that don’t dry out and can cope with bright conditions, but they must have the right soil. Add 50% grit to your compost mix to ensure good drainage. I think the best displays go for a mixture of plants, to create a miniature garden effect, rather than mono planting. Succulents such as Sempervivum tectorum and Sedum spathulifolium ‘Purpureum’ are perhaps the most drought-resistant. For floral interest add saxifraga, with its mossy foliage and starry flowers in white, pinks and reds. Try S. arendsi, S. paniculata ‘Rosea’, S. hypnoides or the tiny, but punchy yellow flowers of Draba rigida v. imbricata or Draba aizoides. The thrift Armeria juniperifolia, from central Spain, is as tough as old boots, with cushions of pretty pink flowers; if you sit in reach of sea spray, go for Armeria maritima instead. If you can water more often, aubretia are wonderful things: the Cascade group comes in purple, blue or slightly pinkish-red, will flower on and off from early spring through to autumn and trail delightfully over the edge of window boxes. All these plants are much loved by bees, too. Sheltered with some sun (minimum of six hours a day) Out of the wind, you can get away with using larger-leaved plants, but you will have to water daily in the summer if you want full-looking boxes. Doubles, bicolour and other overbred petunias are perhaps too much, but a single-coloured petunia is not to be sniffed at. They are tough and will work hard for you, creating a great mass of flowers and foliage all summer long if you water, feed and deadhead regularly.For something wilder-looking, the tiny white-and-pink daisies of Erigeron karvinskianus never fail to please, and work well with something like Allium nutans to create an effortless, foolproof display. Another option is the daintier cultivars of sweet williams, Dianthus barbatus or cheddar pinks, D. gratianopolitanus, which will weave their way elegantly through the daisies. Or mix the California poppy, Eschscholzia californica ‘Rose Chiffon’ to complement the daisies as they turn pink with age.For a cheaper option, dabble with a wildflower mix. Most of the species won’t grow to full height in a window box and you certainly don’t need to sow the whole packet, which is usually enough to do square metres of soil. Use just a pinch and water regularly and you’ll be surprised how many of the species will adapt to the conditions and give pollinators a small meadow to marvel in. deep shade, you will not get an abundance of flowers, but you can make up for that with textures. Try ferns, such as Asplenium scolopendrium and cultivars Adiantum imbricatum, Athyrium filix-femina and smaller shield ferns such as Polystichum setiferum ‘Plumosum Densum’, and of course ivies, such as Hedera helix ‘Duckfoot’, H. helix ‘Triton’, ‘Lalla Rookh’, ‘Green Ripple’ or ‘Cockle Shell’ . If possible, add composted bark mulch to your potting mix to create richer soil conditions. The plants I’ve suggested are pretty tough, so you should be able to get away with watering the box or planter just once a week in the growing season, unless the weather is extremely hot. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/apr/07/pretty-ideas-for-window-boxes-flowers-planters

Wang Yi struck a friendly pose for Hungarian media as he met Foreign and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto By Tessa Wong BBC News, Asia Digital Reporter Over the past year, leaders in the West have tried to cajole China to help them end the Ukraine war. Now Beijing has given its firmest response yet - and it's not something many in the West would like. In recent days, China has launched an assertive charm offensive, kicking off with top diplomat Wang Yi's tour of Europe, which culminated in a warm welcome by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Beijing has released not one but two position papers - the first offering the Chinese solution to the war, and the other outlining a plan for world peace. These largely retread China's talking points from the past year, calling for respect for sovereignty (for Ukraine) and the protection of national security interests (for Russia), while opposing the use of unilateral sanctions (by the US).The West may come away unimpressed - but convincing them was never likely the main goal for Beijing. China's goal: send a clear message to US Firstly, it clearly seeks to position itself as a global peacemaker. An obvious clue about who it's really trying to charm lies in one of its papers, where it mentions engaging South East Asia, Africa and South America - the so-called Global South.In preaching an alternative vision to a US-led world order, it is wooing the rest of the globe, which is watching to see how the West handles the Ukraine crisis. But another goal is to send a clear message to the US. "There is an element of defiance," said Alexander Korolev, an expert in Sino-Russian ties at the University of New South Wales. "It is signalling: 'If things get ugly between us, I have someone to go to. Russia is not alone, which means that I will not be alone when there is a confrontation… don't get comfortable in bullying me.'" The timing, say observers, is a giveaway. Relations between the US and China have hit a new low, exacerbated by the spy balloon saga. Some have also questioned why China - if its intention is to help end the war - is only just now making its big diplomatic push for Ukraine peace. "China had ample opportunities to display leadership, it was invited early on to contribute to ending the war… If the goal was to truly display the image of a global leader, you don't have to sit on the fence for one year and try to perform a diplomatic dance," said Dr Korolev. There was a third goal, and it could be seen in Mr Wang's itinerary. By visiting France, Germany, Italy and Hungary, whose leaders China perceives as taking less of a hardline stance on Russia, Mr Wang may have been testing the waters to see if China could lure some of Europe into China's orbit.Beijing sees a "logical convergence of interests" with these countries, said Zhang Xin, an international political economy expert with the East China Normal University in Shanghai. "It believes the US has hegemonic power, and that a large part of the Transatlantic world could benefit from detaching from that system." But whether China will succeed in that particular goal is questionable. Mr Wang's speech at the Munich Security Conference, where he criticised the US, did not play well in a roomful of America's staunchest allies and, according to diplomats, only spawned greater distrust of China's true motives. His tour "was a very overt push to say: 'We don't have problems with Europe, we have problems with the US, we can fix things with you Europeans and you need to understand that the US is leading you down a problematic road'", said Andrew Small, a senior fellow specialising in Europe-China relations at the German Marshall Fund think tank. "But I think in most places in Europe, this message doesn't have much traction." Zelensky wants to meet Xi Jinping to discuss peace plan The key question now is whether Beijing will live up to its word of making peace as it tightens its embrace of Russia. The US has warned this week that China was considering supplying lethal weapons to Russia, and that Chinese firms had already been supplying non-lethal dual-use technology - items which could have both civilian and military uses, such as drones and semi-conductors. Publicly China has reacted with angry rhetoric. But behind closed doors, Mr Wang made it clear to top EU official Josep Borrell that it will not provide weapons to Russia.Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly welcomed Mr Wang in Moscow According to Mr Borrell, Mr Wang had also asked: "Why do you show concern for me maybe providing arms to Russia when you are providing arms to Ukraine?" It is a revealing line, say observers, showing that Beijing still truly believes the West is to blame for fuelling the war. "Sending weapons to any warring party is considered as further escalation - that is the position of the Chinese state so far," said Dr Zhang. There is scepticism that Beijing would supply weapons to Moscow, given how it runs counter to Chinese interests. Such a move would be seen by others as a clear escalation of the war, and would lead to sanctions and disruption of trade with the West - hugely damaging for China, as the EU and US are among its top trading partners. It would also raise global tensions significantly and likely push US allies further into Washington's embrace, stymieing Beijing's plan to woo some of them away. What is more likely to happen, say observers, is that Beijing will continue or even step up indirect support to Russia, such as boosting economic trade - which has provided a financial lifeline to Moscow - and abstaining from sanctions on Russia. What support is China giving Russia? What weapons are being supplied to Ukraine? They may even supply more dual-use technology through third party states such as Iran or North Korea, according to Dr Small, so that they can lend support "as deniably as possible". But as the war drags on, the issue of giving lethal weapons will resurface, he warned. "There hasn't been a question yet on what kind of significant things China could be asked to do, because previously Russia didn't need to resupply," said Dr Small. "But they are hitting that juncture. How long is China willing to say to Russia it will not do it?" Days before the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin declared they had a "friendship without limits". A year on, China will have to answer the question of how far it would go for its special friend. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-64754510

HIGHLIGHTS The smartphone is available in, Azure Blue, Night Black and Emerald Green It sports a 6000mAh battery and supports 10W charging The Infinix Smart 7 is priced at Rs. 7,499Budget smartphones tend to mainly focus on providing the basic features and not so much on design, but Infinix has other plans for its latest budget offering. We got to spend some time with the Infinix Smart 7, and in this article, we'll share our first impressions of the device. The Infinix Smart 7 is a budget offering and comes with all the basic accessories in the box such as a USB Type-C charging cable, some documentation, user manual, sim eject tool, and a TPU case.The Infinix Smart 7 is available in a sole variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It comes in Azure Blue, Night Black and Emerald Green colour options. The smartphone is priced at Rs. 7,499 in India. The Infinix Smart 7 features a polycarbonate housing which quite frankly, is sturdy. At 207g, the smartphone definitely feels heavy. It has flat sides with the power key and volume buttons on the right and the SIM slot on the left. The Type-C charging port, microphone, speaker grille and headphone jack are all located at the bottom. The Infinix Smart 7 sports a textured matte-finished back panel. The wavy pattern looks fresh and feels smooth to the touch. We also have the Infinix branding at the bottom, followed by a huge camera module that also houses the fingerprint sensor. The Smart 7 comes equipped with a dual-rear camera setup, which includes a 13-megapixel primary camera and a depth camera, followed by the flash. Looking at some of the initial samples I took in daylight and at night, the quality seems strictly average as you'd expect from a phone at this price point. The Infinix Smart 7 uses a 5-megapixel front camera in the water-drop notch in the display. The Infinix Smart 7 comes with a 6.6-inch HD+ LCD display with a 60Hz refresh rate and a maximum rated brightness of 500 nits. Content looks decent but legibility under direct sunlight is not good. Infinix is heavily marketing the Smart 7's ability to have “up to 7GB of RAM”, which is nothing more than the RAM extension feature seen on nearly every other Android phone, that uses 3GB of the storage as virtual RAM, thereby adding up to 7GB. The Infinix Zero Ultra has a decent set of specifications on paper, but does the phone justify its high asking price? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.gadgets360.com/mobiles/reviews/infinix-smart-7-4-64-price-in-india-first-look-3916268

Bing's new 'chatbot', based on ChatGPT, is now available on Microsoft 's SwiftKey keyboard , which introduces the search engine icon to its interface to allow users to query with its Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. It was at the beginning of February when Microsoft presented the new version of Bing and its browser, Edge, supported by the technology developed by OpenAI. Then, he pointed out that this 'chatbot' would be able to offer "more complete" answers, a new chat experience and the ability to generate content. In mid-March, the company announced that it had customized GPT 4 for Bing search, where users who had accessed the preview in previous weeks had been able to see the improvements it incorporates compared to GPT 3.5, the previous version that powered this chatbot. Now, users of Microsoft's virtual keyboard, SwiftKey -available on iOS and Android phones and tablets- have noticed that it has a shortcut to access Bing in any application that integrates this tool. The Bing icon is located next to other common ones on this keyboard, such as the emoticons, the clipboard, the 'To Do' symbol or the language change symbol, as some users have shared through Reddit . This option, which is "slowly rolling out", as Microsodt's CTO of Commerce and mobile devices, Pedram Rezaei , has advanced , is currently available in the beta version of the keyboard, available on Google Play, although it has not yet reached iOS. Counter More information Microsoft Artificial intelligence ChatGPT Sanna Marin pierde las elecciones en Finlandia y el país da un claro giro hacia la derecha elDiario.es | Patrocinado Bielorrusia, aliada de Rusia, plantea un alto al fuego "sin derecho al movimiento de tropas" en Ucrania elDiario.es | Patrocinado Angela Saini, periodista científica: “El enemigo no son los hombres, son los sistemas que privilegian a los hombres poderosos” elDiario.es | Patrocinado Estas son las últimas fotos de Anna Nicole Smith Game Of Glam | Patrocinado La Casa Blanca achaca las dificultades de retirar las tropas estadounidenses de Afganistán a la Administración Trump Ucrania se queja de que los cazas MiG-29 de Polonia y Eslovaquia no son lo suficientemente modernos Un actor de Juego de tronos critica las escenas de sexo: "Restaba importancia a la trama política" El presidente de Montenegro dimite como líder del PDS tras perder la segunda vuelta de las elecciones El presidente de Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, ha presentado este jueves su renuncia como líder del... Europa Press Moldavia confirma que el militar ejecutado en Ucrania por soldados rusos era moldavo Ucrania.- El Ejército ruso detiene a un antiguo miembro de las Fuerzas Armadas de Ucrania por espiar para Kiev Ukraine.- UK says Russia is "probably" concerned about "unexplained explosions" in Mariupol Real Madrid ties the Euroleague podium Europe Press UK says Russia's announcement of taking Bakhmut "is likely" "out of the realities on the ground" Europe Press Ukraine.- The Georgian Prime Minister accuses Ukraine of trying to "open a second front" with Russia in Georgia Europe Press Lavrov argues that Russia considers the European Union an "unfriendly association" Europe Press The most read They dismantle Genesis Market, one of the largest markets for stolen digital credentials New Outlook for Windows preview supports Gmail accounts Microsoft's SwiftKey keyboard integrates Bing search with ChatGPT The WhatsApp 'Newsletter' tool will be presented as 'Channels' Microsoft Edge Workspaces public beta now available for individuals Google Play apps should have an option to easily delete accounts and user data LAST NEWSSPAININTERNATIONALSPORTSVIDEOS ECONOMYSOCIETYSCIENCEPLUSPORTALTICMILOJOS.ES EPSOCIALCHANCECULTURELEISUREDISCONNECTEPDATA.ES INFOSALUSENGINETOURISMNOTIMERICCONTACTPHOTO FOLLOW US Contact Legal warning Normative compliance Catalogue Cookies policy Privacy Policy Web map Topics Cookie Settings Christmas lottery Current affairs and news portal of the Europa Press Agency. © 2023 Europa Press. The redistribution and redistribution of all or part of the contents of this website without your prior and express consent is expressly prohibited.The Bing icon is located next to other common ones on this keyboard, such as the emoticons, the clipboard, the 'To Do' symbol or the language change symbol, as some users have shared through Reddit . This option, which is "slowly rolling out", as Microsodt's CTO of Commerce and mobile devices, Pedram Rezaei , has advanced , is currently available in the beta version of the keyboard, available on Google Play, although it has not yet reached iOS. https://www.europapress.es/portaltic/software/noticia-teclado-swiftkey-microsoft-integra-busqueda-bing-chatgpt-20230406162242.html

Nowadays, almost all hardware devices already incorporate RGB lighting , and there are times when the motherboard software is not enough to have them all synchronized in a homogeneous way and to be able to create effects that look good, both on the computer and peripherals. Taking advantage of the fact that the prestigious manufacturer be quiet! launched its series of FX products on the market , today we are going to tell you how you can synchronize your lighting using the SignalRGB software , as well as the different effects that you can create with it.RGB lighting can look great on PC, but if you let each product work "its own way", you could end up creating the opposite effect and your computer looking like a spaceship or even worse, a nightclub with everything showing a different color. color and a different effect. For this reason, creating a homogeneous RGB ecosystem is essential to have a good aesthetic, and although there are many ways to achieve it, with SignalRGB we will have it easier than ever. What do you need to make this work? Of course, before you jump into downloading software, you must first be sure that your products are compatible. As we have mentioned before, the FX products of be quiet! They are, and they are the ones we are going to use in this article to exemplify how they work. Make sure that you have the latest firmware installed for your devices, and especially that the motherboard chipset drivers are up to date, since ultimately, they are the ones that have to do with lighting control. hardzone.es hardzone.es NewsReviewstutorialsreportsOffersForumsin trend Team Group Zone About us Legal warning Privacy Policy Cookies policy Change privacy options Learn how to use SignalRGB to synchronize your products be quiet! fx Issue Learn how to use SignalRGB to synchronize your products be quiet! fx Rodrigo Alonso Posted on December 13, 2022 • 2:00 PM be quiet FX Front page reportsIssue Learn how to use SignalRGB to synchronize your products be quiet! fx Nowadays, almost all hardware devices already incorporate RGB lighting , and there are times when the motherboard software is not enough to have them all synchronized in a homogeneous way and to be able to create effects that look good, both on the computer and peripherals. Taking advantage of the fact that the prestigious manufacturer be quiet! launched its series of FX products on the market , today we are going to tell you how you can synchronize your lighting using the SignalRGB software , as well as the different effects that you can create with it. RGB lighting can look great on PC, but if you let each product work "its own way", you could end up creating the opposite effect and your computer looking like a spaceship or even worse, a nightclub with everything showing a different color. color and a different effect. For this reason, creating a homogeneous RGB ecosystem is essential to have a good aesthetic, and although there are many ways to achieve it, with SignalRGB we will have it easier than ever. What do you need to make this work? Of course, before you jump into downloading software, you must first be sure that your products are compatible. As we have mentioned before, the FX products of be quiet! They are, and they are the ones we are going to use in this article to exemplify how they work. Make sure that you have the latest firmware installed for your devices, and especially that the motherboard chipset drivers are up to date, since ultimately, they are the ones that have to do with lighting control. be quiet FX On the other hand, the manufacturer recommends not having other RGB management software active to avoid interference, such as Razer Synapse, CORSAIR iCUE, etc. Beyond that, just make sure everything is wired up and in place, and if you have an RGB/A-RGB controller, make sure not only that everything is wired up right, but also that it's on the proper RGB channels. . And precisely this, leads us to the next point of the article… The importance of having an RGB hub like the one from be quiet! When you have a lot of devices with RGB or A-RGB lighting, it's quite easy for your motherboard to run out of connectors available to everyone; For this, there are RGB hubs like the one included in be quiet! in its Pure Base 500 FX box , an integrated controller that will allow you not only to control the lighting of up to 6 connected RGB devices, but also the fans, it's a 2×1!In this way, with a single controller you can connect up to six RGB / A-RGB devices using a single header on the motherboard. Note that there are other methods to achieve the same thing if you don't have a be quiet! Pure Base 500FX; for example, with the pack of three fans be quiet! Light Wings also includes an A-RGB hub that will allow you to do the same, although it is true that in this case it is only used for lighting and not for fan operation.What do you think about how all the hardware lighting looks like using this system? Of course, you can also add your peripherals, such as keyboard and mouse, as well as RAM or graphics card if it is compatible and even if the motherboard has integrated RGB. https://hardzone.es/reportajes/tema/signalrgb-be-quiet-fx/

Developer Platinum Games' style is instantly recognizable--flashy, fast-paced action that oozes with personality and flair. World of Demons brings that signature style to Apple Arcade, giving you control of a samurai named Onimaru and thrusting you into, well, a world of demons. That successful Platinum formula translates well to iOS devices, with simple touch controls and quick action that looks and feels great on the smaller screen. There are some issues lying underneath--mostly in the camera system--but those problems aren't enough to derail this otherwise solid action experience. World of Demons follows Onimaru, a lone samurai fighting against an army of vicious demons called yokai. Our hero is building an army of his own, however, as every enemy he defeats will join him in the fight against the game's main antagonist, the demon king Shuten Doji. Onimaru himself controls exactly like a Platinum Games protagonist, deftly running around stages while slashing with his massive katana. Consecutive presses on the attack button will result in stylish combos, with better rewards given for higher combos at the end of a skirmish. Holding down the button will slow attacks down, making strikes more powerful but making you vulnerable to enemy counterattacks. The yokai Onimaru battle comes in all shapes and sizes, from small bean farmers to massive pink blobs, each with its own attack abilities. Each yokai is assigned a color (red, blue, or green), with each color having strengths and weaknesses over the other in a rock-paper-scissors system. Defeating a yokai adds it to your collection, and before each chapter you'll be able to equip two yokai for the following mission. Other yokai defeated during the chapter are added to a "deck" and disappear after one use.Allowing you to have two yokai you can always depend on, while also adding more throughout a mission, creates a dynamic battle system that really shines. Paying attention to each enemy's health bar and attacking with corresponding yokai adds a layer of complexity to each battle that feels natural and fun, making the yokai more than just glorified summons. You'll never know which yokai you'll encounter in a mission, but the rock-paper-scissors element mitigates any detriments caused by that instability. Mixing Onimaru's sword attacks in with the supporting yokai gives you plenty of options in combat, encouraging strategizing before every enemy. Boss fights in particular require this approach, as you need to gauge when you can switch from quick sword strikes to the more powerful blows while also using yokai to inflict more damage. It's fast and it's frantic, but most importantly, it's a lot of fun, emulating that signature Platinum Games style impressively well.It's not a perfect translation however, as I found one major annoyance during my run with the game: the camera. As World of Demons uses a touchscreen control scheme, character movement and camera movement are assigned to the screen itself. The left half of the screen controls character movement, while the right controls camera movement. The problem with this is the camera half of the screen is obstructed by the rest of the touch controls, giving you only half the amount of screen for camera movement that you have for moving Onimaru. This makes the camera awkward and confusing both in and out of battle. An auto-targeting system tries to counter this by zeroing in whichever enemy you're attacking. This works to a point, but the camera is easily the most frustrating part of what is otherwise a solid game.World of Demons looks wonderful, with every stage looking like it was taken straight from a ukiyo-e wood print (most reminiscent of a game like Okami). Each area jumps off the screen with color and beauty, and even darker stages feature personality, with blue waves crashing in the background or swelling dark clouds blocking your path in the distance. You'll have the opportunity to take in the sights, too, as the game encourages checking every nook and cranny for items and loot. Each map is divided into sections, with each section featuring a certain number of battles to fight and treasure to find. Once everything in a section is completed it will turn gold on your map with a red "Complete!" stamp, letting you know there's nothing left to find.This map format does lead to one minor complaint, however; missions can sometimes feel repetitive, with the game's only variety being found in the yokai that appear during battles. When you start a mission, you'll see a purple cloud marking your first battle point. You'll approach the cloud, and a dramatic two-second pause occurs before yokai appear. You'll fight the yokai and a statistics screen pops up to give you a grade for the battle. Once that goes away you can continue to the next point, and rinse and repeat until the final battle of the chapter. There's some exploration thrown in, but the bulk of each chapter follows this exact same structure, and after a few extended gameplay sessions, it starts to feel a little stale. One feature that I truly appreciate is the ease in which World of Demons allows you to get back into the game in between play sessions. Say you're trying to explore an area but your attention is pulled elsewhere, forcing you to close the game and quit playing. When you load back up you'll be in the exact spot where you left off, and the map will even pop onto the screen to remind you what you've explored so far. Being able to trust this game to take me right back where I left off is a huge relief, and something I wish more mobile games would do with such precision. World of Demons proves that Platinum Games' trademark action can flourish on small phone screens. The yokai mechanics are smartly implemented, while boss battles are intense and rife with adrenaline. The camera issues can be annoying, but they're not enough to ruin the thrilling experience onscreen. A Platinum Games title working well on iOS sounds like a long shot, but World of Demons is not only a fun mobile action game, but a solid title regardless of what platform it's on. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/world-of-demons-review-a-cut-above/1900-6417684/#comments-block-33558552

Done

Developer Roll7 has improved on every aspect of the OlliOlli franchise to create a huge, fun arcade skating game that's easy-going, but just as challenging as its predecessors.It's easy to drop an hour or two into OlliOlli World without even realizing it. Send your cartoony character careening down one of its brightly colored 2.5D skateboarding courses and you might find yourself trying again and again to nail a tough jump, or discover the right pathway to slip into a background portion of the level and unveil new secrets. It's a game that invites you in with catchy music and a lighthearted art style, but can quickly make time evaporate as you fight to complete one last challenge, hit one last high score, or beat one last rival. The balance between chill and intense, between losing yourself in the skating flow and feeling like you need to check off every challenge the game can throw at you, is a precarious one. What makes OlliOlli World so good is that it manages to nail that balance, providing a bunch of different experiences even on the same course. You can take the more carefree approach, nailing tricks here and there and just enjoying the ride, since merely getting to the end of a level allows you to advance to the next. Or, you can make the game feel as hardcore as its predecessors, the often-punishing 2D arcade skaters OlliOlli and OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood. Developer Roll7's top-flight level design makes this a game that supports a variety of approaches to playing it, improving on the things that were fun about the earlier games in the franchise, while opening up the formula to new ideas. In the past, OlliOlli games have tried to focus on the technical difficulty of skateboarding, translating that into button movements on a controller that require precise actions and timing. OlliOlli World, somewhat mercifully, pulls back those demands. As in the series' earlier games, tricks are performed by moving your controller's left analog stick in specific ways, not too unlike the special moves of a fighting game. As your tricks get more advanced, they also become more complex, with grinds also requiring you to push the left analog stick, grabs added to the right stick, and spins on the shoulder buttons. In older OlliOlli games, however, the most important part of it all was the landing, which you'd have to stick by pressing a button in time with your character hitting the ground. Blow it, and you'd blow the trick, falling and forcing a reset. The landing timing still exists in OlliOlli World, but it's not essential for actually staying on your board. Instead, your character automatically lands almost all of their tricks, provided you're coming down on a flat, stable surface. You still have to hold the analog stick in a certain direction to execute a grind, and hitting stairs or an obstacle, for instance, will trip you up. If you do hit the right timing on a landing, you earn bonus points for your run's score. Roll7 has said that, with OlliOlli World, it was looking to make a more welcoming entry in the series, and this certainly hits that mark. It's possible to finish the game without ever really leaning into the most advanced moves or challenges the game has to offer, and the removal of the landing requirement to stay standing makes it fully reasonable to complete the game even if you're not an OlliOlli pro. It can still be a tough, challenging game that tests your skateboarding skills and timing along the way, but it's not so hard that the difficulty tends to act as a gatekeeper. And that's a change that makes OlliOlli World all the more fun and inviting, and encourages skill-building even more. The other major change from earlier OlliOlli games is that this one has characters and a narrative, although it's fairly thin. You travel around the skateboarding haven of Radlandia with the goal of honing your skills to become the next skate wizard--a sort of skater guru who brings balance between the people of Radlandia and the heavenly skate gods who created the land. There are a variety of other skaters to meet along the way who, along with your small crew of companions, mostly exist to encourage you.It's not an especially deep story and the characters mostly hang around to be funny and cute, but these little additions pair well with the generalized sense that OlliOlli World is a game about having some relaxed fun, regardless of how intensely you get into it. The skate wizard story and its characters are consistent reminders that this is about the experience, rather than your score. You never encounter negative people, or find yourself goaded into competition. You can do as much or as little as you want. You can run a course until you know every inch of it, or you can take your time and enjoy the scenery, and both approaches are equally viable for reaching your goal of becoming a skate wizard. OlliOlli World excels at feeling like a place where you're hanging out, as much as you are taking on its arcade challenge. That atmosphere lends itself to providing lots of different ways to engage with OlliOlli World, and the variety results in it feeling like it offers a whole lot of opportunities and content. Most of the game's courses have multiple pathways through them hidden in their backgrounds, which you can sometimes access by hitting a button at the right time to "change lanes," and sometimes have to find by completing a quick jump or riding a less-obvious or hard-to-reach grind rail that deposits you in a new place. The more hidden routes are sometimes designated "Gnarly" to point out that they're tougher, and they'll usually help you attain higher scores. But these routes can also lead you to characters who bring you to additional side quest levels or are necessary to complete a course's three special challenges, which range fromdoing specific tricks at key moments to popping inflatable pool toys or avoiding hitting specific objects. Even if you're not interested in topping the leaderboard for every level, there's plenty of engaging adventure-platforming to do as you scrutinize each to fully understand them, and it doesn't require mastering all of the game's more technical aspects.OlliOlli World provides players not only with a massive amount of things to do, but just as many ways to do them. That said, the game isn't without its occasional frustrations. Players who want to go hard and max out their scores will definitely have to push themselves, because this is a game that demands perfection if you want to brush its skill ceiling. However, there are also places where executing a jump or a grind just a hair's breadth too late results in a fall, and in these places, it can be difficult to tell what you're doing wrong in order to fix it. On more than one occasion, I used my PlayStation 5 to record a video of a run just so I could go to the tape and try to figure out why I couldn't jump a long gap or kept slamming into a certain object. It's not a problem all the time (and often these challenges are optional anyway), but struggling to understand why you're failing makes it difficult to succeed. Still, there's so much to OlliOlli World that you can always leave a course to try something else for a while before coming back. That freedom to just leave a problem and tackle it again later, or to shut off the point-scoring part of your brain and get into the flow, is what makes OlliOlli World so endearing. Its controls feel great, its art style is gorgeous, and its characters are light and fun. It's a game that will push you to be the most ridiculously skilled skater you can be, or just let you spend some time in its world for a bit. Either way, it's easy for hours to evaporate as you rattle off tricks and snag sick grinds. That seems like a perfect conception of skateboarding to me. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/olliolli-world-review-half-pipe-heaven/1900-6417822/

Japanese publisher CAPCOM has been on a roll these past few years, releasing multiple excellent titles that have come to be considered among the best entries in their respective series, like Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter Rise, and Resident Evil Village. The publisher, however, hasn't been idle when it comes to new properties, as it has been working on the multiplayer third-person action game Exoprimal for some time. With the game set for release this Summer, CAPCOM is about to allow players worldwide to try out Exoprimal with an open beta on PC and consoles that features cross-play support and a small portion of the experience, bigger than what was offered last year during the Closed Network Test but still not the entirety of what the game will offer. And, as I spent more time with it, I couldn't help but feel how its success will greatly rely on how it will be supported after launch.What Exoprimal seems to get right is the gameplay, although the map design doesn't feel particularly exciting. The open beta only features a single mode called Dino Survival, a PvE mode with sprinkles of PvP thrown in that pits teams of five players against one another, challenging them to complete a variety of missions before the opponents. These missions, which range from simple dinosaur culling to protecting objectives, are set in moderately intricate maps that don't seem to influence gameplay too much. In Dino Survival mode, the game itself guides players from one objective to the other, so map design feels pretty much inconsequential, but things may change in the final game with other play modes. What Exoprimal seems to be lacking in map design, it makes up for when it comes to combat. Unlike similar games, players are not stuck with the Exosuit they pick before a game begins but can change it on the fly at any time. This unique option is well-woven into the experience and doesn't feel included just for the sake of it, as the different nature of the mission objectives requires some flexibility. In Dino Culling missions, for example, Tank Exosuits like Roadblock are not particularly useful but are almost required for missions that require players to defend an objective. Truth be told, Exoprimal makes it very easy for players to adapt to any given situation, given how greatly all Exosuits are designed. I did notice this back in the Closed Network Test, but this is way more evident in the Open Beta, as all launch suits are available in this new test version. While they are grouped into three general groups - Assault, Tank, and Support - they couldn't be more varied. In the Tank group, for example, the aforementioned Roadblock and Murasame couldn't work more differently. The first is a defense-oriented Exosuit capable of putting up a shield and taunting dinosaurs to make them focus on it. Murasame, on the other hand, is more offense-oriented, featuring katana attacks with great range and a counter ability that can be unleashed after enough damage has been blocked. The same goes for Assault and Support suits, as Assault suits Deadeye and Zephyr, for example, specialize in different areas of combat, ranged and melee, respectively. With so much variety, finding the best suit for one's own playstyle is rather easy.With hordes of dinosaurs going after the players, combat obviously feels very chaotic and a little simplistic, much in the vein of Koei Tecmo's Warriors series. Still, it's not without depth, especially against bigger dinosaurs like Triceratops and T-Rexes, and it feels fun enough. However, the main question is how long such an experience can stay fun. The open beta did feature a first glance at the progression system, which grants in-game currency, emblems to customize one's profile as well as combat perks by leveling up both the player and the different Exosuits, but I feel the game, much like any live service game, needs a solid and rewarding progression system to be successful. As we are still a few months away from release, CAPCOM will surely talk more about the matter in the coming weeks, but if things stay as simple as the open beta suggests, I honestly don't see too many players sticking around in the long run. With its solid Exosuit, combat design, and decently varied missions, Exoprimal has much potential, but how the game will be supported after launch will make or break it. Live service games have been dying left and right lately, and only a select few continue to thrive, so CAPCOM will really have to bring things up a notch if they want Exoprimal to succeed where others have failed. Thankfully, we won't have to wait much longer to see if the Japanese publisher will succeed, as the game will release on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One in a few months, on July 13th. The game will also be available on Xbox Game Pass from day one. https://wccftech.com/exoprimal-open-beta-hands-on-preview-reptilian-onslaught/

The animals at North Ferriby Riding for the Disabled provide therapy for people with disabilities An animal charity that helps people with disabilities has hit out after its site was broken into and vandalised. North Ferriby Riding for the Disabled said it was "absolutely horrified" to find its vehicle had been driven onto a field of alpacas, ponies and sheep. Volunteer Jill Spriggs said the animals were left "traumatised" as the culprits damaged a fence during their buggy joyride early on Wednesday. Police said they were investigating reports of a burglary at the centre.Volunteer Jill Spriggs described the break-in as "really despicable" Ms Spriggs said the vandals smashed one CCTV camera but the incident had been caught on one of the centre's other CCTV cameras.She said volunteers arrived at the centre on Riverside Walkway to discover its buggy had been "hotwired" and used for a joyride around the field before it was rammed into a fence causing significant damage. "It's just so sad and really, really devastating that somebody could do this to a charity," said Ms Spriggs. "It's not only the cost of things that it takes to repair, its the violation of having somebody up here in the middle of the night and the trauma to the animals, stressing them out, but they are thankfully recovering from that now."The charity has started an online fundraising campaign to pay for repairs and buy a new vehicle. It has so far raised nearly £650 in under 20 hours. Ms Spriggs said the animals were "very lucky" not have been physically harmed as CCTV images showed the suspects smashing one of the security cameras before joyriding among them. She said the animals provided therapy for people with disabilities and the centre would continue to run as normal with its regular activities such as alpaca walking and sheep feeding. Humberside Police has appealed for anyone with information to come forward. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-65206675