FRIDAY THE 13

ONDON, July 16 (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic has experienced everything possible on a tennis court during his trophy-laden 23-year career but said he has never faced a player quite like Carlos Alcaraz. Alcaraz de-throned the 36-year-old Serb on Centre Court on Sunday, winning a riveting Wimbledon final with a game-style Djokovic later described as like facing a blend of the big three -- himself, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer. Subduing it proved beyond even his powers as his quest for a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon title and fifth in a row was thwarted, as was his bid to match Margaret Court's record 24 Grand Slam titles. In winning his first Wimbledon, to go with his 2022 U.S. Open triumph against Casper Ruud, Alcaraz erased any doubts about his world number one status and avenged his cramp-affected loss to Djokovic in the French Open semi-final. Djokovic, who had suffered only two Wimbledon defeats since losing to Andy Murray in the 2013 final, said he was surprised at how quickly the 20-year-old Alcaraz had mastered playing on all the sport's surfaces. "I didn't expect him to play so well this year on grass, but he's proven he's the best player in the world," Djokovic said after his 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 defeat. "I haven't played a player like him ever, to be honest. I think people have been talking in the past 12 months or so about his game consisting of certain elements from Roger, Rafa, and myself. I would agree with that. "He's got basically the best of all three worlds. He's got this Spanish bull mentality, fighting spirit and incredible defence that we've seen with Rafa. I think he's got some nice sliding backhands, some similarities with my backhands. Djokovic, who looked irritated at times with the pro-Alcaraz crowd, was magnanimous in defeat. But he admitted there were some regrets after lacking his usual clinical ability to take chances when they came his way at crucial moments. After outplaying Alcaraz in a one-sided first set, Djokovic then slugged out an 85-minute second and had a point for a two-set lead in the tiebreak but dumped a backhand into the net. After battling back into the match and taking the fourth set, Djokovic then looked odds on to break serve for a 2-0 lead in the decider but made a hash of a high forehand volley. Minutes later he dropped his own serve and disintegrated his racket into the net post in frustration. "In the tiebreak in the second, the backhands kind of let me down," he said. "Set point, I missed the backhand. A little bit of a bad bounce, but I should not have missed that shot. "Then 6-6, another backhand from middle of the court in the net. That's it. The match shifted to his side and I wasn't myself for quite some time. "I managed to regroup and regain the momentum midway in the fourth. I felt that the momentum shifted to my side. That break point (in the fifth), I think I played a really good point, but it was very windy and the wind took it to an awkward place where I couldn't hit the smash." Djokovic received a warning for his racket-smashing antics, having had one for taking too long to serve at the heart of the second-set tiebreak. He was fortunate that the flying chunks of his racket did not make contact with an official or a fan. "There's not much to talk about that. It was frustration," said Djokovic, who left a sizeable dent in the net post. https://www.reuters.com/sports/tennis/ive-never-faced-player-like-alcaraz-says-beaten-djokovic-2023-07-16/

Lisa Ray has been a fighter all her life and her recent note against societal expectations is a reflection of it. Taking to Instagram, the actor wrote, “Got married to my habibi at 40 (because it never occurred to me not to); welcomed our glorious twin girls at 45 (because we have the technological advancements to assist a cancer survivor having children); first book published at 46 (because it’s been my dream to be a published writer since I was a kid – and because telling your own story is essential).” The 51-year-old continued, “Co-founded an art tech platform at 50 (because I love art and now we have the disruptive tech to re-imagine how art is shared, bought and enjoyed); lived in five diverse cities post marriage across Asia (because why would you remain in one place if you have the opportunity to move countries?)”“Healed and learned to cherish and prioritise health and happiness above everything (because this process is lifelong),” she mentioned alongside snippets from her family life. Recalling the diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in 2009 on World Blood Cancer Day today, Lisa expressed, “This particular chapter comes to post a diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma, a blood cancer and a thriving career in front of the camera that while it afforded a level of fame and independence, nearly killed me. The business of entertainment is not aligned with my values and inner life. But it has given me a platform to say: Societal rules? WHAT RULES? If it has never occurred to live on your own terms, WHY NOT?”In another post shared in November 2022, Lisa had opened up about the “life-altering” diagnosis and how it shifted her “center of gravity”.“My center of gravity shifted after getting diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2009. A diagnosis is as individual an event as is any human reaction to a life altering experience. The gravitational pull will not always be in the direction of healing. It’s not that simple. But what I can say today, 13 years later, is a fully realised life is not only possible but perhaps for some – like me- the net result of passing through an experience that makes you face your mortality. That cuts very close to the bone.” https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/feelings/lisa-ray-note-societal-rules-blood-cancer-survivor-8662269/

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter join Geoff Bennett to discuss the latest political news, including President Biden's trip to Europe and presidential campaign developments. le in th So, President Biden is once again trying to make the case that America is back and that America is a trusted partner and that this alliance that Putin's invasion of Ukraine made stronger is holding tight. And obviously, as we have just heard in this conversation, there's discussion of Sweden being allowed to join NATO. That — it appears there has been a breakthrough on that. President Biden had a call with President Erdogan of Turkey on the flight over. So what's at stake is sort of the shape and size of the alliance, but also, domestically, the perception of the war in Ukraine and the U.S. ro that. That's right. I think a lot of it, though, still is — the dividing line really is, do you identify more as a Republican, do you identify more as a Democrat, rather than intraparty fights. There are some bubbling. As we know, on the presidential side, you have Republicans like Donald Trump, like Ron DeSantis being less supportive of more aid to Ukraine, versus what I would call more of the old-school Republicans, defense hawks like Mike Pence or Nikki Haley. But, fundamentally, what we saw at the very beginning, when the invasion happened, support among Democrats and Republicans for the U.S. doing more was equal. It took about six months for partisanship to really take hold. But I think — I think that — and this is really what's remarkable — if you think back to what could be a unifier for Americans in this time of depolarization, an invasion of a sovereign country by Vladimir Putin would probably be one of those unifying voices — unifying events. And it truly was,until it became about Biden, and then it became much less about Putin, and much more about, do you really support this president? I wouldn't say that it's necessarily yielding results. The views of the economy are polarized, just like views on everything else, which is to say that Republicans say the economy is terrible, because Joe Biden is president of the United States. So, the same Republicans thought the economy was incredible under Donald Trump. And the reality is that, aside from the big pandemic period, the economy is — the Biden economy has basically recovered to where Trump was pre-pandemic. But there is this divide, this pulling apart, where Americans say that their personal economy is pretty great. Like, they feel good about how they're doing. They feel optimistic about their future. How is the U.S. economy doing? Terrible. ........................ I was talking for a piece I wrote the other week with a Democratic strategist, who said something similar, which is: I don't trust any of this data, whether it's consumer confidence, or do you approve or disapprove, to tell us how people really feel about the economy. Asking people about the economy, you're asking them, as you point out, about a lot of other things. At the same time, there's — there is no doubt that inflation still is taking something of a bite out of people's wallets. And that's a lot of what this frustration is. We're not quite yet back to a place where the Fed feels comfortable enough to say, OK, we have got gotten inflation under control. I also think there's a bit of a messenger problem. The other poll number that you will see next to do, how well do you think President Biden's doing on the economy or other issues is, what do you think about his mental, physical fitness? What do you think about his age? And there's a lot of concern about that across the board. Obviously, more Republicans feel that way than Democrats. But, as a messenger, being able to sell also means people have to see you as being, like, a credible person doing that. And I think those two things, you can't necessarily separate worries about his age with worries about how well he's handling the economy and will handle the economy if he's reelected. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/tamara-keith-and-amy-walter-on-bidens-trip-to-europe-and-presidential-campaign-politics

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Nickname: @FRIDAY THE 13 Video author: BELAL FF Name of the game: FreeFire link vedio :

Marvel Snap has been one of the most famous and followed games since its release. The game always comes up with tons of new features that actually attract the crowd but sometimes few changes or updates make some features a bit questionable among fans and thus we can witness a few debatable talks between the fans themselves. So, let us know about some of the recent update leaks and opinions that are witnessed over social media from the Marvel Snap fans themselves. Spider-Man 2099 is reportedly going to be a broken cardAs we know, in June, the new season is going to be based on the world of Spider-Man. The season is said to be more focused upon the characters of Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse which is the newest and upcoming Spider-Man movie on 2nd June. In this season, a new card of Spider-Man 2099 is going to be released with a cost and power ratio of 4/5 is now buffed and is set to be released with a cost and power ratio of 4/6. The card has a very great ability, that is when it moves to a location for the first time, it destroys an enemy card. Fans are coming up with mixed opinions and most of the opinions are mostly inclined towards a future prediction. By knowing about the power, ability, and cost of the card, anyone can figure out how powerful this card is going to be. Based on this, fans have already started predicting that within 3 months of release, this card is going to be nerfed as it will rule the game. Players added by saying that the card will be nerfed and lastly will hold a cost and power of 4/4 or 4/3. Mane fans were also found commenting on this card as “Broken” and “Overpowered with this cost and power”. Fans have mixed opinions over the Wave Nerf Marvel Snap came up with a patch note update on 16th May 2023 where they announced the nerfing of the card of Wave from their end. Previously the card was considered as one of the strongest 3 cost cards, but after the nerfing fans were found coming up with many mixed opinions. Somewhere found stating that the Nerf was not required and the main motto of the card is being demolished. Some fans were also found stating that this is a good decision as other cards got hampered. Later many fans also came up with future thoughts such as one fan stating that Wave had to go nerf as it restricted future design space. But also another leak came up that, if the card of Wave goes too much suppressive then the officials might bring a change in the plan again. This speculation came in comparison with the card of Sandman, as Sandman serves the same purpose but with 2 more energy. As Wave’s ability helps players to get cards for 4 till the next turn after the player has used the card, it helps them to use it as a destructive tool at such an early stage of the game and helps them out to win. Final Thoughts Marvel Snap has come up with such leaks and speculations before as well. Also, fans have come up with debatable arguments on some previous updates, nerfing, and so on. Marvel Snap always tries to keep up with the words of their players and makes the gameplay experience evenly good without any hurdle for other cards. So, what are your opinions on both above-mentioned updates which are going on throughout Twitter, let us know in the comment section. https://gamingonphone.com/news/marvel-snap-leaks-reveal-the-introduction-of-spider-man-2099-in-its-next-update/

In 2019, Grinding Gear Games gave us our first look at Path of Exile 2, and with the exception of a couple of small teasers, we've heard almost nothing about it since then. It was supposed to be a sequel akin to Overwatch 2—originally not really a new game per se, but more like a giant patch or remaster that would update the game with new graphics, content, and systems. At ExileCon this year, all that got blown up. Path of Exile 2 is a separate game, and it's a true sequel set 20 years after the original. I for one can't wait. We learned a ton about GGG's new baby during the keynote presentation, so let's get into it. Two games, one Path The story of Path of Exile 2 is one of scope creep. It all started with a desire to update some ancient (2007ish) character models. Then, as game director Jonathan Rogers described it, it became a series of fun projects. 'Why don't we update the models' became 'Why don't we update Act 1' became 'Why don't we fix the way skill gems work' became 'Aww screw it let's make a new game.' "We realized that our plan to replace PoE 1 with PoE 2 would essentially be destroying a game that people love for no reason, so we made a decision," Rogers said in the keynote. "Path of Exile 1 and 2 will be separate, with their own mechanics, balance, endgame, and leagues." What this means for us as players is essentially twice the Path of Exile. Both games will run concurrently, with a league each every three months (a new league every month and a half for sickos like me who will almost certainly play both). Rest assured, however, that your beloved stash tabs and Righteous Fire skins won't be going to waste. Your impossible to craft legacy six-links in Standard won't be retconned to have funny new gem links, and anything you purchase in the future will be usable in both games (unless it's something like a shapeshifting werebear skin, 'cause that's not in PoE 1). https://www.pcgamer.com/path-of-exile-2-preview-6-new-classes-first-details/

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-67587763 School closures in January 2021 could have been avoided if ministers had taken action earlier the previous autumn, Matt Hancock has said. The former health secretary told the Covid inquiry that avoiding a lockdown led to tougher measures later on. WhatsApp messages from October 2020 showed he was worried then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak was putting "pressure" on Boris Johnson "not to do enough again". He also accused local leaders of putting "politics over public health". The West Suffolk MP suggested that politicians in Greater Manchester such as the mayor, Andy Burnham, had been "actively unhelpful" when the government tried to put local restrictions in place. This was the inquiry's second day of hearing evidence from Mr Hancock, who was health secretary for the bulk of the pandemic. 'I'm still alive Mr Hancock', says former city mayor He was forced to resign in June 2021 after being caught breaching social distancing guidance by kissing his aide, Gina Coladangelo. Asked about the incident, he acknowledged it could have damaged public confidence in the rules. line More on Covid and the Covid Inquiry What is the UK Covid inquiry and how long will it take? How inquiry is exposing deep flaws in Covid decision-making The private WhatsApp messages from inside Downing Street What to do if you have Covid: Can you go to work or school? line Questions at the start of Friday's session focused on decisions made from September 2020, when Covid cases started to rise after a lull in the summer. WhatsApp messages from October 2020 show Mr Hancock asking civil service head Simon Case for information about a meeting, from which he claims he was "blocked". "Rishi is in the room... so the PM will be under enormous pressure to not do enough once again," he wrote. Mr Case responded: "Rishi has already resigned himself to the choice ahead... his only question (and a fair one) is about nonessential retail - where obviously we have no evidence of transmission. "He thinks better to do something in secondary schools (where we know transmission takes place) instead of closing all shops (where we know it doesn't seem to)." Speaking to the inquiry counsel, Hugo Keith KC, Mr Hancock rejected suggestions that there was a trade-off between health and economic considerations, saying: "If we don't lock down there will be more deaths and we will have to have a tougher lockdown in the future." "So on reflection and with hindsight if we had taken action sooner in September of 2020, then we might for instance have avoided the need to close schools, which in the end we had to because cases were so high by January." Mr Hancock added that, by January, the situation had become so serious that "every lever had to be pulled". There has been concern about the damaging effect of schools closures on children - particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Earlier this year, MPs warned it could take 10 years for the gap between disadvantaged children and others to narrow to what it was before the pandemic. 'In despair' In mid-October 2020, in a bid to slow the spread of the virus, the government introduced the tier system, whereby different rules were implemented in areas depending on the local case numbers. In his statement to the inquiry, Mr Hancock said he was "in despair" when the policy was announced because he knew it "would not work". He argued that was because the toughest restrictions were not strong enough, but also because negotiations with local leaders had led to delay and confusion. He had praise for Joe Anderson, who was Liverpool mayor at the time, saying they were able to work together to put in place an "effective" package of support. However, he raised eyebrows when he said Mr Anderson was "sadly, no longer with us", despite the fact the former mayor is still alive. Mr Anderson responded by posting a message on social media: "Just took my pulse and I seem to still be here and I feel ok." Andy Burnham gave evidence to the inquiry earlier in the week Comparing Mr Anderson to other local leaders, Mr Hancock, said they were "not so constructive and in some cases actively unhelpful". Mr Keith KC asked if that is what former Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance was referring to when, in his diaries, he mentioned "difficult negotiations in Manchester". Mr Hancock said it was and stressed that his comments related to the local leadership, adding "I have got no beef with the fine city of Manchester." Greater Manchester was placed into tier three restrictions on 20 October, meaning pubs and bars had to close and household mixing was restricted. The decision triggered a row between Mr Burnham and the government over how much financial support should be provided for the area. Responding to the criticism, Mr Burnham said: "That may be Mr Hancock's opinion, but he's wrong. "The mayor and 10 leaders in Greater Manchester, including a Conservative leader, spent many hours trying to negotiate a deal with the government... it would not have been right to place further restrictions on the residents of Greater Manchester without the financial package to support them." 'Therapy sessions' Mr Hancock also said the way then-First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon communicated UK-wide decisions was "unhelpful and confusing" and "undermined" the response to Covid. Welsh ministers' Covid powers illogical - Hancock The inquiry was shown messages in which Mr Hancock said he wanted to make a particular announcement as soon as possible, saying: "It will leak anyway - and the Scots will try to get their announcement out first." He told the inquiry: "Sometimes, [she] would leave a meeting and begin communication of a decision, for instance, sooner than agreed." He said he had a good relationship with health ministers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and compared their meetings to "therapy sessions". Ms Sturgeon appeared at the inquiry in June this year but is expected to make further appearances, with public hearings continuing until 2026. Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are expected to give evidence to the inquiry before the end of the year

Researchers captured Cassius in 1984 because the "big old gnarly crocodile" was causing trouble on a cattle farm, and ferried him to Green Island, Australia, where he still lives today. Cassius, the world's largest crocodile living in captivity, just turned 120 years old. Or at least that's his estimated age, scientists say. It's difficult to determine a crocodile's age based on its size. Once they reach adulthood, the rate at which crocodiles grow slows down and eventually grinds to a halt. The largest crocodiles are usually the ones that grow in irregular spurts as juveniles, with males typically growing bigger than females. "There is no way of knowing Cassius' actual age as he was born in the wild and the age is just an estimate," Toody Scott, a crocodile keeper who looks after Cassius at Marineland Crocodile Park on Green Island, told Live Science in an email. The nearly 18-foot-long (5.5 meters) saltwater giant's birthday "was essentially made up a few years ago" and this time of year is actually "the wrong time of year for a crocodile to be born in northern Australia," Scott added. Sponsored Links Flawless Grace: Discover the Bestselling Evening Trends Milla In 1984, researchers captured the crocodile on a cattle ranch southwest of Darwin, Australia, after the ranch owners complained they were losing livestock. Even then, when Cassius was estimated to be between 30 and 80 years old, he was the biggest crocodile ever caught alive in Australia. "He was 16 feet, 10 inches [5.13 m] with at least another 6 inches [15 centimeters] of tail missing and a bit of a snout missing," Grahame Webb, a crocodile researcher who participated in the capture, told ABC News. "He was a big old gnarly crocodile then. Crocs of that size are not normal." Related: Crocodile murder mystery deepens following discovery of 2nd corpse with 'fileted' head Nearly 40 years later, and after 35 years living on Green Island, the colossal crocodile is still growing, "which is unusual for a big croc" and is providing scientists with "serious knowledge on longevity," Webb said. Cassius was a difficult catch for Webb and his colleagues back in the 1980s. Large crocodiles had been prime targets for hunters, so researchers rarely had the opportunity to study them. "Adult crocodiles that survived the hunting period were very wary," Webb said. (Australia's Northern Territory banned crocodile hunting in 1971.) Now, Cassius is anything but wary, according to his keepers. "He still has a lot of spark in him" and is "always up for an interaction," Scott told ABC News. While other old reptiles tend to be docile and uninterested, "he's one of the liveliest crocs and very engaging." Saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) typically live for more than 70 years, according to the nonprofit conservation organization Oceana. The largest saltwater crocodile ever captured was Lolong, a 20.3-foot-long (6.17 m) beast from the Philippines. A massive "salty" crocodile was captured in Australia in 2018, but the 15.4-foot-long (4.7 m) animal was nowhere near the size of Cassius, who has been holding onto the Guinness World Record for the largest captive crocodile since 2011. link: https://www.livescience.com/animals/alligators-crocodiles/worlds-largest-captive-croc-turns-120-giving-scientists-serious-knowledge-on-longevity

New Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou says he has spoken to Harry Kane but the chat was "nothing earth-shattering". The 29-year-old England captain has been linked with a move to Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich this summer. Postecoglou said that while Kane is still at Spurs, he remains "totally committed to what we're doing". Spurs are in Postecoglou's native Australia, preparing to face West Ham in a pre-season friendly on Tuesday. At a news conference in Perth on Monday, Postecoglou said: "I had a good chat with Harry. "It was nothing earth-shattering as people are seeking. Just a good chat, introduced myself, and we spoke mainly about the club, where it's at and where he thinks can improve. "It's not a specific vision for one person, it's about the group and we're perfectly aligned on that - we want to see a successful team this year." Kane, who has one year left on his contract at Tottenham, was selected in the squad for the tour of Australia and the Far East, but former France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was left out. In a statement, Spurs said club captain Lloris, 36, had been omitted so he can "explore prospective transfer opportunities". ADVERTISEMENT Bayern have reportedly made two bids for Kane, and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy met with officials from the German giants last Thursday over the possible sale. Uli Hoeness, who is Bayern's honorary president, said in an interview there had been talks with Kane's advisers and the Bavarian club were confident they will sign him. Kane has yet to make a decision on his future, but the PA news agency reported Spurs have offered their record scorer a new contract that features a significant increase on his current £200,000-a-week deal. Postecoglou is confident Kane, who scored 30 Premier League goals last season, is "not going to get fazed by anything". The 57-year-old said: "He's here and while he's here, he's totally committed to what we're doing, and that's the way I've seen things. "No one has spoken to me from Munich. If other clubs want to talk about our contracted players, that's more of an issue for them than us. "We've got nearly a month until the season starts, the transfer window's still open, so we'll see what transpires." After visiting Perth, Tottenham will fly to Thailand, where they will face Leicester on 23 July before heading to Singapore for a game against local side Lion City on 26 July. link: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66219512

For the seventh year in a row, experts and pioneers of Arabic calligraphy meet at the Cairo International Forum for the Arts of Arabic Calligraphy, which was inaugurated by Enas Abdel Dayem, the Egyptian Minister of Culture, the day before yesterday evening, considering it “one of the vocabulary of identity.” She emphasized that the Cairo Forum continues with confident steps to shed light on the charm of Arabic letters, and continues to play the symphony of pen and feather creativity over paintings that speak of beauty, stressing that the forum contributed to supporting the adoption of Arabic calligraphy by UNESCO, which described it as "an expression of consistency and beauty." This session is held under the title “Renewed Pioneers in a Hundred Years (1922-2022)” as part of the celebration of the symbols of culture and art during the twenties of the last century. The forum includes a number of exhibitions in the halls of the Egyptian Opera House, and it was inaugurated with the opening of an exhibition of Arabic calligraphy at the Palace of Arts in the Opera House. , Al-Diwani, written by famous calligraphers at the time, including Yaqut Al-Mustasimi, Abd Al-Rahman bin Al-Sayegh from the Mamluk era, Helmi Fawzan and Muhammad Sami from the Ottoman era, and it also included works from the Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s holdings. The seventh session (June 2022) witnesses the participation of 125 artists from 15 countries, including 63 Egyptians and 27 from China, Tunisia, Pakistan, Iraq, Japan, Thailand, Algeria, Indonesia, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, India, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, and Serbia. Saudi Arabia is participating as a guest of honor through a number of its artists, including the Arabic calligraphy artist Abdel Aziz Al-Dahim, who is being honored, and five paintings bearing Quranic verses and aphoristic articles are presented to him. The second is Egypt, and meeting my colleagues and professors of calligraphers, and I have participated in several exhibitions in Saudi Arabia and abroad for more than thirty years,” stressing that he is “a calligrapher who works in the spirit of amateurs, and has holdings in the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information.” The Moroccan calligrapher Abd al-Rahman Jolin also participates in several Quranic paintings, stressing that the Moroccan calligraphy represents a system on its own, whether it is the simple line, which is the line of the Qur’an or the Moroccan third, and Kufic, indicating that “the posts represent oxygen for the artist to learn about the experiences of others and meet another different audience, His painting of Surat Al-Nasr aroused the interest of the participants. Within the activities of the seventh session of the forum, which is organized by the Cultural Development Fund, an international scientific symposium will be held under the title “Pioneers and Innovators”, which will be held over three days and include multiple axes, and a number of experts and university professors will participate in it. Several important axes, including the role of the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science “ALECSO” in preserving and protecting the elements of intangible cultural heritage, reading the biography of Sheikh Calligrapher Mahmoud Ibrahim, presenting a memorial book about him, and registering the “Arabic Calligraphy Arts” file on the list of intangible cultural heritage with UNESCO Organization. This year, the forum celebrates the calligraphers Abdul Aziz Abu Al-Khair, born in 1935, and Muhammad Hassan Abu Al-Khair, born in 1921, who are among the pioneers of the art of Arabic calligraphy in Egypt, and they held several exhibitions in various Arab countries. https://www.i3lam-al3arab.com/إطلالة-جدي

One of Europe's largest reservoirs is drying up after the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine. Satellite images, analysed by BBC Verify, show four canal networks have become disconnected from the reservoir. The UN says drinking water supplies could be affected for more than 700,000 people, mostly in Russian-occupied areas. Experts say the loss of water from the canals would be critical for food production in the region. ADVERTISEMENT The Kakhovka Dam was destroyed in the early hours of 6 June, causing widespread flooding which hit settlements and farmland across the region. Since the dam collapsed, satellite images show water levels in both the reservoir and the canals it feeds have continued to drop. As well as the canals being a source of drinking water to large parts of southern Ukraine, they also provided irrigation for vast areas of farmland. The dam acted as a flood defence to places downstream, mainly to the south and south-west. BBC Verify monitored the four canal entrances using satellite imagery, and by 15 June, all had become disconnected as the reservoir water level kept dropping. Further images reveal the reservoir, which previously held 18 cubic kilometres of water, had dried up significantly. Shallower parts of the reservoir were exposed first, revealing some of the original shape of the Dnipro River prior to the dam's construction in 1956. Images show the canals still contain water further away from the reservoir. It is unclear how long it will take for them to run dry. Before the war, about 5,840 sq km (584,000 hectares) of cropland on both sides of the Dnipro river could potentially be serviced by the canals, with more than half the area reliant on irrigation systems. link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65963403

Today you have been accepted into Devil Harmony, so wait 3 days to send another project application !!!!

Battle Crush, the new action title from NCSOFT offers a complete PvP experience for the players in the game. The game, Battle Crush will start its closed beta test from October 23 to 30 this year on various platforms including Switch PC and Android. It is expected to be released in Spring 2024. Battle Crush would offer a complete battle-royale experience filled with unique weapons and vantage points First announced this February, Battle Crush will aim to provide a complete battle royale experience, where players will have to compete with real-time players from around the world. Battle Crush aims and deliver an experience that includes a unique environment and characters having all different types of power-ups and skill sets that players can browse through and select according to their needs and desires.Poseidon, Hades, Medusa, Hermes, and other mythological figures have arrived at the arena with each bringing unique ability and gameplay tactics that would be needed from the players’ end to help them succeed.The game is all about surviving the onslaughts and managing to outlive your opponents in the game by either defeating them or letting them defeat themselves. There are treasure maps spread all across the maps with each offering different and unique offerings in terms of weapons and equipment which are much needed to succeed in the game. Mythic elements and weapons have the capabilities and capacity to provide a game-changing boost to the players and hence should not be avoided. The game offers a well-developed combat system with each character having its own set of combat moves through which they stand a great chance to assert dominance over their enemies and defeat them in combat. In Battle Crush there are various game modes, ranging from 1 man teams where players have to defeat all 30 teams, and the 3 man team modes where they join a party and fight their way together to victory .The game is all about surviving the onslaughts and managing to outlive your opponents in the game by either defeating them or letting them defeat themselves. There are treasure maps spread all across the maps with each offering different and unique offerings in terms of weapons and equipment which are much needed to succeed in the game. Mythic elements and weapons have the capabilities and capacity to provide a game-changing boost to the players and hence should not be avoidedThe game offers a well-developed combat system with each character having its own set of combat moves through which they stand a great chance to assert dominance over their enemies and defeat them in combat. In Battle Crush there are various game modes, ranging from 1 man teams where players have to defeat all 30 teams, and the 3 man team modes where they join a party and fight their way together to victory. The game, Battle Crush will be having its closed beta test from October 23 to 30 on Android and various other platforms in Spring 2024. Interested players till then can follow the developers on their social media platforms to stay updated. https://gamingonphone.com/news/battle-crush-ncsofts-action-title-is-set-to-have-a-closed-beta-test-on-android-from-october-23-2023/

This does not mean that it should be considered dead completely. On October 13, Mat Piscatella, CEO of Circana, uploaded a post on 2022. The last time a new Vita was sold was in November 2021, when 3(!!) were purchased. Does all this mean anything? No. They are curious sales data without any relevance. Circana is a company that tracks millions of products from more than 2,000 categories in more than 500,000 stores in 20 countries, including console sales data in markets that represent 97% of the hardware, as Piscatella himself indicates in the comments to your post. Since its announcement at E3 2011, the console did not get off to a good start, many of those present were not sure what they had seen, despite having interesting technology, with HD images, a characteristic tablet-type Wii U Gamepad controller that had a screen, microphone and even a camera and with the commitment to asymmetrical play. However, few games took advantage of these unique Wii U features. Noticias

A new surge of migrants at the US-Mexico border has placed immense pressure on federal resources and tested President Joe Biden’s border policies only months after going into place, prompting fresh criticism from Republicans and concern within the administration over a politically delicate issue. Biden has been plagued by issues on the border since his first months in office when the US faced a surge of unaccompanied migrant children that caught officials flatfooted. Over the last two years, his administration has continued to face fierce pushback from Republicans – and at times, Democrats – over his immigration policies. That complicated political landscape was put into sharp focus this week when administration officials were forced to contend with images of migrants crossing into the US in large groups, while also heralding a major move that will make hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans already in the US eligible to work, addressing a major sticking point with allies in New York. But the new wave of newcomers – many of whom are from Venezuela – paints a grim outlook for the fall as Biden ramps up his reelection campaign and Republicans continue to hammer the administration over its handling of the border. On Thursday, Biden blasted Republicans in Congress during remarks at the 46th Annual Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s Gala in Washington, DC, saying they “continue to undermine our border security” by blocking bipartisan efforts to pass immigration reform. “We need our colleagues to act – for decades, immigration reform has been bipartisan in this country,” he said. “Unfortunately, MAGA Republicans in Congress spent four years gutting the immigration system under my predecessor,” he added. In the absence of immigration reform, the administration has put in place a patchwork of policies to try to stem the flow of migrants journeying to the US southern border amid unprecedented mass migration in the western hemisphere. Earlier this year, the administration rolled out new and additional avenues for migrants to enter the US legally, like a mobile app, to keep people from crossing unlawfully. They have also stood up centers in the hemisphere to allow migrants to apply to come to the US. But desperation and disinformation from smugglers have prompted migrants to cross anyway. Homeland Security officials are monitoring the situation and while they gave no clear explanation for what prompted the latest surge, they cited poor economies, authoritarian regimes and the climate crisis as forces driving migration. This week, US Border Patrol apprehended more than 8,000 migrants daily, according to two Homeland Security officials. That’s up from around 3,500 daily border arrests after the Covid-era border restriction known as Title 42 expired in May and triggered more severe consequences for people who crossed the border illegally. The Department of Homeland Security has ramped up capacity in border facilities to accommodate the growing number of migrants, as well as continued to conduct deportation flights of migrants deemed ineligible to stay in the United States. US officials are also coordinating with Mexico to try to drive down crossings. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is set to travel to the border on Saturday, going to McAllen, Texas, for a meeting with President Xiomara Castro of Honduras. The Department of Defense, for its part, is sending 800 new active-duty personnel to the US-Mexico border, in addition to the 2,500 National Guard members already in place, to provide support to federal authorities. The arrival of migrants at the US southern border also affects inner cities, where asylum seekers usually reside as they go through their immigration proceedings, expanding the scope of the issue for the Biden administration. The administration addressed a major concern among Democrats this week by making more than 472,000 Venezuelans already in the US eligible for Temporary Protected Status, which provides deportation protections and allows them to work in the US. Democratic allies had urged the White House to speed up the ability for Venezuelans to obtain work authorization so they wouldn’t have to rely on social services. “As a result of this decision, immigrants will be temporarily allowed to work, fill needed jobs and support their families while awaiting an asylum determination. The decision will also substantially reduce the cost to New York taxpayers with respect to the sheltering of asylum-seekers,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of whom are New York Democrats, in a statement. Source

Ocean explorers recently stumbled upon an extremely unusual sight in the Pacific's deep sea — a rare, shapeshifting "gulper eel" with its most recent meal still clearly visible in its stomach. The pelican eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides), also known as a gulper eel, was spotted June 20 by researchers on board the Research Vessel (RV) Falkor while controlling the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian. The ROV was on the last dive of the Octopus Odyssey expedition — a mission to investigate an unusually large group of octopuses at the Dorado Outcrop off the west coast of Costa Rica — when it came across the serpent-like fish with a noticeable lump in its midsection around 6,900 feet (2,100 meters) below the surface. A short video of the encounter, which was shared on Twitter by representatives from Schmidt Ocean Institute who organized the mission, showed the eel contorting its misshapen body as it swam up to the camera before disappearing into the darkness of the deep. Sponsored Links Explore The Trendiest Languages To Learn Babbel The elusive eel, which has only been spotted a handful of times in the wild, gets its name for its ability to unhinge its jaw and expand its throat like a pelican. It also has one of the most stretchy mouths in the animal kingdom. Experts thought that this uncanny ability likely enables it to consume much larger meals than its slim body would suggest it capable of but until now, nobody has reported seeing one with a belly full of food. Related: 10 bizarre deep sea creatures found in 2022 "In all our combined years of exploring the deep ocean, this was the first gulper eel for all of us," said mission scientist Diva Amon, a Caribbean marine biologist who was inside the ROV control room when the gulper eel was found. "And to see it with a remarkably full tummy was the icing on the cake." It is the sort of thing that you can normally only see in textbooks, she told Live Science in an email. Experts aren't sure what was inside the belly of the gulper eel, but SOI representatives guessed that it could have been a "squid or swarm of shrimp," and based on the size and shape of the lump, a squid seems like the most likely of the two. But gulper eels are also suspected to eat large lumps of seaweed, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) in Massachusetts. Gulper eels are not particularly skilled hunters or swimmers. Instead, they use bioluminescence to produce a red light at the end of their tails that lure their prey in close enough to be swallowed whole, according to WHOI. There is also evidence to suggest that gulper eels can use their remarkable jaw mechanism to help inflate their flexible bodies with water to intimidate potential predators into thinking they are larger than they actually are. In 2018, researchers on board the Ocean Exploration Trust's Exploration Vessel (EV) Nautilus came across a ballooned gulper eel while exploring the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument near Hawaii with another ROV. In a viral video of the encounter, the team watched the eel transform from a giant ball with a tail into a regular-shaped eel after extending and then closing its remarkably flexible jaw. link: https://www.livescience.com/animals/fish/watch-rare-footage-of-a-shapeshifting-eel-with-remarkably-full-tummy-swimming-in-the-deep-sea