FRIDAY THE 13

Another record-breaking transfer window closed on Friday after a busy summer that saw Premier League clubs splash out £2.36bn on new players The combined outlay of the 20 clubs during the window smashes the previous spending record of £1.92bn set last summer by £440m, according to financial services firm Deloitte. Premier League clubs spent £255m on deadline day alone, which is more than double the £120m spent on deadline day during last summer's window. That already makes the 2023-24 season have the second-highest transfer spend ever after last season's record £2.73bn, with the January window still to come. Other records include: Premier League transfers accounted for 48% of total spending across the 'big five' European leagues - La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1; Premier League clubs received £550m in transfer fees from overseas clubs, more than double the previous record of £210m in the summer of 2022; With the exception of Spain's La Liga, gross transfer spend increased in all of Europe's 'big five' leagues; Only two of Europe's 'big five' leagues spent more on transfers than they received - the Premier League and Ligue 1; There were 13 Premier League transfers valued at over £50m, which is more than the previous two summer transfer windows combined. Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte's Sports Business Group, said: "A second successive summer of record spending by Premier League clubs suggests that year-on-year revenue growth could return following the pandemic "Nearly three quarters of Premier League clubs (14) spent more this summer than the last, reflecting the increased intensity of competition. "There continues to be pressure on clubs to acquire top talent to satisfy their on-pitch objectives, whether that's qualifying for European competition or simply maintaining their position in the Premier League." For More : https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66688894

Oh, I don’t have a microwave,” that person who doesn’t have a microwave will tell you, judgment dusting their words like icing sugar atop a microwave mug cake. Inevitably, this will be followed by a light humblebrag like: “Call me old-fashioned, but I’ve just never seen the need.” They bake their cakes in the oven, reheat their leftovers on the hob, and they never have ready meals, which is all they really believe a microwave is good for. No matter that last week’s cooking trends report from Waitrose (no less) has revealed that microwave sales are up 13% at John Lewis compared to last year, and that it is this year’s most po[CENSORED]r kitchen gadget among those surveyed; for that person, not owning a microwave is as fundamental to their personal brand as drinking natural wine and riding a fixie. As hot takes on household appliances go, this one intrigues me most. After all, no one gets het up over kettles. I don’t own a toaster for the same reason one might not own a microwave – my kitchen’s too small – but I don’t make a point of it, I just burn my bread under the grill. Sure, spiralisers and juicers were a bit divisive back in their day, but those furores were like the fads themselves, lighthearted and fleeting – as, I bet, will be the current must-have gadget, the air fryer. Nearly six decades since microwaves appeared on the market, however, conversations about them still assume a moral dimension – particularly among foodies who find beeps, buttons and a setting called “chaos defrost” anathema to what “good” food should be. On the one hand, I can see how they got there, as for many years microwaves did mean “bad” cooking. Po[CENSORED]rised in the late 1970s, the gadget spawned a slew of microwave cookbooks, which advocated zapping everything from french toast to roast beef. My dad microwaved scrambled eggs throughout his single parenting years, and though my brother and I liked them at the time, I can still recall their … solid texture. Then came the 80s, and its brightly packaged, highly processed ready meals, and the microwave was tarnished by association when those foods started – rightly – falling from grace. But to associate microwaves only with ready meals reveals a mindset that is stuck in the past – and real foodies know that using them makes eating healthier and more convenient, not lazier. Take lasagne, for example. Call me fussy, but I refuse to condone the belief that melted-then-solidified mozzarella and bechamel sauce is “better” fridge-cold. A microwave is the best (because quickest, tastiest and most energy-efficient) way to reheat it so it’s oozing and bubbling again. Reheating food – particularly curries, stews and pies – brings out flavours that have had time to develop overnight, an effect the Waitrose cooking report informs me is known as “kokumi” or “rich taste”. Reheating cooked pasta lowers its GI, transforming it into a slower-releasing carbohydrate. And a microwave’s ability to cook greens while preserving the nutrients they contain makes it a gadget for life, not just for leftovers. As with every story, this one’s more complicated than it seems, not least by time and trends in food and society. When it comes to ultra-processed food, it is clear the microwave is not the organ grinder but the monkey – and the issues go far beyond “microwave meals”. As for my dad’s eggs – well, while they’re no threat to Delia Smith’s, they do point to the microwave’s power to help people muddle through when they’re struggling. I think of a microwave and I think of my late grandpa, who at 100 years old was still able to live alone thanks to that and Wiltshire Farm Foods ready meals delivery service. I think of my grandma, who batch cooked for my mum so she could maintain her career and still feed us kids well in the evenings. I think of everyone tight on money and time, trying to minimise waste and maximise energy efficiency. On a lighter note, I think of myself and my preference for leftover hot food to be hot when I eat it the next day. So I’m delighted with Waitrose’s report, which as well as giving me a new word, is helping to rehabilitate my much-loved, much-maligned gadget. I’m Clare, I drink just wine, ride a bike with five gears – and I’m that person who has a microwave. link: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/11/food-microwaves-britain-cookery-gadget-cakes-eggs

The Centennial Case a Shijima Story is a new action mystery game title published by Square Enix and directed by Yasuhito Tachibana, producer of Netflix‘s The Naked Director serving as the Cinematographer and Scenario Director. The game follows an FMV pattern for the game offering beautiful yet thrilling live-action footage intertwines with mysteries to solve, creating highly immersive gameplay. The storyline operated around a mysterious family that eats a magic fruit to stay alive for a century. In this The Centennial Case a Shijima Story Review we would try and rate the game through different metrics for new players in the game. Scan and analyze video clips for Clues and subtle Hints There are several chapters in the game with each having its own videos and mysteries in them. Players are tasked with the responsibility of analyzing each and every video and forming their opinions and suggestions as to who the culprit is in that specific stage. Players take control of novelist-turned-amateur-personal investigator Haruka Kagami, who has one goal: solving the string of mysterious murders surrounding the Shijima family over the past century. Once the players have analyzed the clues in the game, they are tasked with the responsibility of making a hypothesis after carefully stressing out the clues connected and collected. The game as stated before insists players on solving mysteries but some of the mysteries span back to a century and revolve around the family. There are some current findings in the story in terms of mysteries but they are incomplete and cannot be completed without solving the mysteries of the past. Haruka the main character has her work cut out for her, but with her murder mystery novel smarts and a helping hand in Eiji by her side, she’ll be able to solve and fix the pieces of the puzzle one by one and side by side. As the video progresses further players will be able to find new clues and new twists in the story which would force the players to use their critical thinking to solve the mystery at hand Experience FMV graphics along with a decent UI layout Speaking in terms of graphics not much can be complained about as the game follows an FMV pattern and delivers video-based gameplay. The acting and sound effects are pretty solid which allows the game to deliver an engaging and interactive storytelling experience. he UI layout stays pretty solid for the most part of the game, however, it really lacks depth in the hypothesis section of the game where the gameplay really becomes too complex and the UI struggles a bit. Apart from that the game looks and feels well developed. https://gamingonphone.com/reviews/the-centennial-case-a-shijima-story-review/

Without going any further, the StorageReview portal wanted to see how far they could expand the Steam Deck storage, which, as standard, comes with 512 GB of memory that common users can expand either by replacing the console's M.2 SSD or by using a high-speed microSD card (which can be slow for current games but is more than enough for older titles). But StorageReview wanted to go a little further and has connected one of the SSDs with the most capacity in the world to the Steam Deck, a Solidigm P5336 with a whopping 61.44 TB, which as you can guess is designed for companies, whether for video surveillance. or to save very heavy graphic resources in development studios. To begin with, this SSD is large (even wider than 2.5" hard drives), so to make it work with the Steam Deck they have integrated it into an external chassis to which they have also connected a power supply of a desktop PC, since the M.2 port of the Steam Deck does not have the capacity to supply it with the 25 W of power it needs to operate. On the other hand, StorageReview has had to use an adapter from the Steam Deck's M.2 port to the E2 that this unit uses in order to connect it to the console. The surprising thing is that, although connecting the unit to the Deck is an impractical process that we see no use for beyond this experiment, the truth is that once connected at the software level they have had no problems when using it, They have simply formatted it and it has started working without problems on Steam Deck (although with "only" 55.7 TB after formatting) at speeds of 3.6 GB/s in reading and 2.3 GB/s in writing . Noticias

Universities could be restricted in recruiting students to poor quality courses, under new government plans. Ministers will ask the independent regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), to limit numbers on courses that do not have "good outcomes". Education Minister Robert Halfon said imposing restrictions would encourage universities to improve course quality. Labour said the move would "put up fresh barriers to opportunity in areas with fewer graduate jobs". ADVERTISEMENT The advocacy group Universities UK said university was a great investment for the vast majority of students. A spokeswoman for the organisation warned any measures must be "targeted and proportionate, and not a sledgehammer to crack a nut". How much will university cost me? University student complaints hit another record high The government said courses that do not have "good outcomes" for students would include those that have high drop-out rates or have a low proportion of students going on to professional jobs. It will also look at potential earnings when deciding if a degree offers enough value. PM Rishi Sunak said: "The UK is home to some of the best universities in the world and studying for a degree can be immensely rewarding. But too many young people are being sold a false dream and end up doing a poor-quality course at the taxpayers' expense that doesn't offer the prospect of a decent job at the end of it." Nearly three-in-10 graduates do not progress into highly-skilled jobs or further study 15 months after graduating, according to the OfS. The OfS already has the power to investigate and sanction universities which offer degrees falling below minimum performance thresholds - but the new rules would permit the regulator to limit student numbers for those courses. The current thresholds for full-time students doing a first degree are for: 80% of students to continue their studies 75% of students to complete their course 60% of students to go on to further study, professional work, or other positive outcomes, within 15 months of graduating. This announcement does not change these criteria, and other aspects of the policy are unclear, such as how many students may be denied a place at university in future. If one in five students would have been better off not going to university (according to a study from the Institute for Fiscal Studies) is that the kind of numbers the government has in mind? It won't say. What are these poor quality courses? Are some subjects more likely to have high drop out rates than others? The Department for Education can't say which courses would be at risk of recruitment limits - that would be for the OfS to determine. But this raises a further question: If some courses are of such poor quality, why not just scrap them entirely? Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, Education Minister Robert Halfon said putting limits on underperforming degrees will mean those courses "will then improve". "Students will be able to make informed choices," he said. "If a course has poor outcomes they might choose to do another course at university, they may still decide to do that course but will have the recruitment limits on it." He said any recruitment limits on courses will be a matter for the regulator, the OfS, rather than the government. He suggested that the OfS would use "existing powers" to look into poor quality courses, saying: "We can't order the Office for Students to do anything." Labour's shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the announcement was "an attack on the aspirations of young people". But Mr Halfon dubbed that accusation as "nonsense". "The Labour party has been obsessed with quantity over quality and had been party of poor standards in education," he said. Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Munira Wilson said the prime minister was "out of ideas" and had "dug up a policy the Conservatives announced and then unannounced twice over". She said: "Universities don't want this. It's a cap on aspiration, making it harder for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to go on to further study." Universities UK said the UK had the highest completion rates of any OECD country and overall satisfaction rates were high. "However, it is right that the regulatory framework is there as a backstop to protect student interests in the very small proportion of instances where quality needs to be improved," a spokeswoman said. The idea originated in a 2018 review set up under then-Prime Minister Theresa May. The same review also suggested that more money needed to be pumped into education and that tuition fees needed to be cut - but these are not being implemented. The new pledge comes ahead of three by-elections in Conservative-held seats on Thursday. link: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-66216005

Fishers who reeled in the swordfish said they regularly catch fish with cookiecutter shark bites, but this is the first time they have seen a creature covered in dozens of fresh, oozing wounds. Fishers in Australia have hauled in a swordfish covered in dozens of strange, circular wounds following a shark "pack attack." Tony "TK" Walker and his crew were fishing off the northeastern coast in the Coral Sea when they reeled in the large fish and soon identified the wounds as cookiecutter shark bites. "The cookie cutter sharks have had a go at this guy," Walker, a former commercial fisher from New Zealand, wrote in a Facebook post on July 19. "Must've been a pack attack, they made more than a snack out of him, that's for sure." Sponsored Links Man Who Made Millions Unveils Mind-Blowing New Prediction! VisionaryProfit The swordfish (Xiphias gladius) was alive when the fishers hauled it onto their boat, but the bites were oozing blood, and the creature died shortly afterwards. As shown in a video on Walker's YouTube channel, the wounds were fresh, suggesting the attack occurred minutes before the mutilated swordfish was reeled in. Related: Shark bites man wading in waist-high water off South Carolina beach resort Although he regularly catches fish with cookiecutter shark bites, Walker said he'd never seen one so badly mauled. "We see these bites daily and often the fish will have three or four fresh bites and plenty of healed or semi-healed bites," he told Newsweek. But in 40 years of fishing, Walker had "never seen an attack like that." Cookiecutter sharks (Isistius brasiliensis) are some of the weirdest sharks lurking in the ocean. They are named after their cookie cutter-shaped jaws, which they use to latch onto prey before spinning to scoop out a chunk of flesh, according to the Australian Museum. These alien-looking sharks only grow to around 20 inches (50 centimeters) long, but they terrorize animals of all sizes, mostly around the coast of Australia and Tasmania. They are known to attack animals much larger than themselves, including great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), whales, orcas (Orcinus orca) and even humans. In 2009, the first and only known cookiecutter shark attack on a human took place off the coast of Hawaii, when a long-distance swimmer was bitten on the chest and left calf. link: https://www.livescience.com/animals/fish/swordfish-missing-circle-shaped-chunks-of-flesh-hauled-in-by-fishers-what-bit-it

The longevity of the first Test always depended on how long the Indian first innings lasted. So, once skipper Rohit Sharma decided, just over 40 minutes after lunch on the third day, that a lead of 271 was enough, it was only a question of how long the West Indies would survive. The answer: not very long, just over the length of an ODI innings. Spin was introduced in the fifth over of the hosts’ second essay, and Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared the first four wickets – interestingly, the off-spinner getting two right-handers, and the left-arm spinner two left-handers – as the West Indies were reduced to 58/5 inside 30 overs. And when Ashwin had the impressive debutant Alick Athanaze caught at short leg, the writing on the wall said that the Test won’t see a fourth day. A victory margin of an innings and 141 runs points to a one-horse race. When the dust settled, Ashwin, who couldn’t find a place in the playing XI for last month’s World Test Championship (WTC) final, had added 7/71 to his five in the first innings. It became so routine for him that the master off-spinner even stopped celebrating his wickets. The hosts’ totals of 150 and 130 were comfortably outscored by debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal, telling the tale of India’s domination in Dominica. The West Indies are no longer one of the stronger sides in international cricket – as their recent debacles in white-ball formats would testify. This Test series was an opportunity to get some positive feeling back in Caribbean cricket, and it was not just up to the players out in the middle. Whoever was responsible for dishing out a pitch that made the Indian spinners feel right at home disadvantaged the home side to a great extent. The surface was akin to what one would expect in Delhi or Mumbai, prepared to make quick work of visiting teams. Rahkeem Cornwall and Jamal Warrican weren’t equipped to make full use of the facilities. A more pace-friendly wicket would have brought the likes of Kemar Roach, Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph into play to a larger extent, and possibly could have even allowed the inclusion of Shannon Gabriel. As it turned out, the West Indian batsmen were nowhere good enough to deal with one of the most potent double spin acts in the history of the game. All but eight of the 50.3 overs in the second innings were bowled by the two Indian spinners, and 17 of the 20 West Indian wickets in the game were shared by Ashwin and Jadeja. Earlier, Virat Kohli struggled through an innings that made him look like an ordinary mortal. It had little to do with the challenge posed by the West Indian bowlers. There was not much in the form of sustained excellence in either pace or spin, but Kohli was given some anxious moments nevertheless. Starting the third day on 36, he could have been sent back for 40 had Kraigg Brathwaite held on to a very catchable uppish drive off Warrican at short cover. He could have been out in the first over after lunch had wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva held on to a regulation outside edge when Kohli went for a loose drive outside off-stump. He was on 72 then. https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/ravichandran-ashwin-snares-another-seven-as-india-thrash-west-indies-in-first-test-8838293/

Sept 24 (Reuters) - Grammy-winning artist Usher will headline the halftime show at the 2024 Super Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada, the National Football League (NFL), Apple Music and label Roc Nation announced on Sunday. The Super Bowl is scheduled to take place at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11, 2024. "It's an honor of a lifetime to finally check a Super Bowl performance off my bucket list," Usher said in the statement. "I can't wait to bring the world a show unlike anything else they've seen from me before." Advertisement · Scroll to continue Since the release of his debut album in 1994, Usher Raymond IV has sold over 80 million records worldwide, climbing atop music charts and bringing home eight Grammy awards, considered by many to be the most prestigious awards in the music industry. Billboard magazine crowned him the second most successful artist of the 2000s. "U Got It Bad," "OMG," and "Yeah!" are among the 44-year-old singer's chart-topping hits. Usher is currently performing in Las Vegas as part of his residency show "Usher: My Way." Advertisement · Scroll to continue "Usher is an icon whose music has left an indelible mark on the cultural landscape throughout his career," NFL Head of Music Seth Dudowsky said in the news release announcing the decision. Last year's Super Bowl Halftime Show, headlined by R&B star Rihanna, was the most-watched halftime performance of all time, organizers said. Iconic artists including the Rolling Stones, Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, Prince and Bruce Springsteen have taken the Super Bowl stage over the years. Source.

Lawyers for former US President Donald Trump have met federal prosecutors, fuelling speculation he is about to be charged over efforts to overturn the 2020 US election result. Mr Trump's attorneys John Lauro and Todd Blanche met officials at the office of special prosecutor Jack Smith in Washington DC, US media report. Mr Trump said earlier this month that he expected to be indicted in the case. On Thursday he said his lawyers got no indication of when action could follow. "My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ [Department of Justice] this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country," he wrote on social media. Meetings between lawyers and prosecutors are not unusual ahead of charges being filed. Mr Trump previously said he had been told by Jack Smith's office that he was a target of the federal investigation into efforts to overturn his defeat in the presidential election. According to media reports, the target letter Mr Trump received on 16 July cites three federal statutes: conspiracy to defraud the US, deprivation of rights and tampering with a witness. The letter also called for the ex-president to report to a grand jury, "which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment", Mr Trump claimed. Dozens of top Trump administration officials and advisers have been interviewed as part of the special prosecutor's investigation, including former Vice-President Mike Pence and former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.Those who have testified before the grand jury said they were asked about efforts by Mr Trump's team to organise slates of "fake electors" who would claim he had defeated Democrat Joe Biden in seven key battleground states. Prosecutors in the state of Georgia are also investigating the former president on similar grounds, focusing on whether he illegally pressured officials there to discard Mr Biden's poll victory. A decision by prosecutors in Atlanta on whether to indict Mr Trump there is expected next month. In June, Mr Smith's team charged Mr Trump in a different case where he is accused of mishandling classified documents. Mr Trump has also been charged in New York City with falsifying business records over 2016 hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66329430

Today's topic will be about downloading the CarX Street game for Android phones, the global version available to all countries around the world. Finally, the Carx Street game was released to all countries after it was limited only to the country of Russia in the beginning. At that time, not many people were able to try it, including me personally, who suffered a lot of problems with the VPN applications for this country. The game comes in a size of 2 GB after downloading files from the store and other files from within the game. After that, it will give you a login and pass the training stage and then buy your first car. After that, you can roam as you wish and enter into missions and do anything you want. A map The game is very large and has many tasks that you can participate in, of course. Download CarX Street for Android for all countries Watch also April 27, 2018 Officially!! Download the original getting over it game for Android!! The hardest game in history!! April 26, 2018 5 secret information about the Fortnite Mobile game!! Secrets of the Fortnite mobile game!! April 24, 2018 Secrets and secrets of the game PUBG MOBILE!! Secret places and loopholes that will make you master the game!! Now, the CarX Street game has officially been released on the store, and you can all download it and try it on your phones. All you have to do, my friend, is enter the game link below. It will take you directly to the store, and you will find that the game is available for download. If you encounter that the game is not available in your country, then the problem is. From the Google Play Store, which takes days for the game to appear in all countries without a problem. If you encounter this problem, you can also download it from the external link that you will also find below. You can also modify the graphic settings according to your phone's settings however you want, and this is what I frankly liked about this version. One of the things that I suffered from is some interruptions due to pressure on the playing server or from the game itself. Frankly, I do not know the exact problem. Other than that, the game is legendary and I advise you to download it. And definitely try it on your phones through the links below, as if you do not download the latest version, it will not work for you at all. https://www.mg4a.com/2023/02/carx-street-global-android.html

Valve announced last week the arrival of Steam Deck OLED, a new model of its portable console with improvements in the screen or autonomy that immediately reminded many of us of the Switch OLED, the revision that Nintendo made of its hybrid console. Specifically, Greg Coomer, one of the Steam Deck designers, has given an interview to The Washington Post in which he talks not only about his console, but also about the Nintendo Switch and its OLED model, praising the platform. Big N game and about how they have shown people the quality and fidelity that an OLED panel can give to a laptop. "Without a doubt the Nintendo Switch OLED has shown people that the fidelity of an OLED screen is generally superior. It is a great product from Nintendo that makes a lot of customers happy around the world," says Coomer. Along with this news, today we also learned that the Steam Deck has already sold "several million" units around the world, millions that are far from the 132.46 million units of the Nintendo Switch that they praise, but that are a resounding success for the company run by Gabe Newell. https://vandal.elespanol.com/noticia/1350766800/valve-elogia-el-trabajo-de-nintendo-con-switch-y-switch-oled/

A senior Tory has expressed regret for posting a video in which he said Afghanistan had been "transformed" under the Taliban. Speaking to TalkTV's Piers Morgan Uncensored, Tobias Ellwood said he "got it wrong" and had subsequently deleted the clip from Twitter. He had initially tweeted the video during a trip to Helmand province. Mr Ellwood now faces a motion of no confidence in his position as chair of the Commons Defence Committee. But the motion, signed by four committee members - Conservatives Mark Francois and Richard Drax, and Labour's Kevan Jones and Derek Twigg, can not be voted on until the Commons returns from its summer break in September. In his TalkTV interview, the Bournemouth East MP said the days after he posted the widely-criticised video had been his "most miserable" as an MP. In the film, Mr Ellwood said corruption in the country was falling and security had improved. MP's Taliban claims fact-checked Afghan women slate UK MP's praise for 'country transformed' Tory MP criticised over Taliban re-engagement call He praised the appearance of solar panels in Afghanistan and noted that the country's opium trade had "all but disappeared". He also urged the UK to "re-engage" with Afghanistan diplomatically and argued that re-opening the British embassy would be a way to "incrementally" improve women's rights. Fellow defence committee member Mark Francois called the video "utterly bizarre" and accused it of "lauding the Taliban's management of the country". 'Very sorry' Speaking to the BBC, Fawzia Koofi, the first ever female deputy speaker of the Afghan parliament, said Mr Ellwood's comments showed ignorance of how restricted life had become for Afghan women. Asked about the video on TalkTV, Mr Ellwood said: "It's important to put your hand up and acknowledge errors, however well intentioned. "I stand up, I speak my mind. I try and find solutions especially on the international stage, and I'm very, very sorry that my reflection of my visit could have been much better worded and have been taken out of context." Downing Street said the views expressed in the now-deleted video were "not an assessment that the UK nor the prime minister agrees with at all". Asked whether Mr Ellwood was still fit to lead the defence committee, Mr Sunak's spokesman said: "I think that is first and foremost a decision for parliamentarians themselves and not one for the prime minister to seek to influence." In February Mr Ellwood said the UK's withdrawal from Afghanistan was "a dark chapter" for the UK, and the defence committee which he chairs warned that the country was again becoming a haven for terrorists. In 2001, following the 9/11 attacks, US-led troops - including British forces - invaded Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban government. Twenty years later, America and its allies, including the UK, pulled out of the country - leading to the sudden collapse of the Western-backed Afghan government and the resurgence of the Taliban. Britain's 20-year military presence in Afghanistan cost nearly £30bn and the lives of 457 British military personnel. link: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-66250592

Scientists studied the fossilized teeth of megalodon and determined that the jumbo-size extinct species of shark was warm-blooded. Megalodon, a mega-size species of extinct shark that prowled the world's oceans between 23 million and 3.6 million years ago, was likely warm-blooded and had a body temperature that was significantly higher than that of modern-day sharks, new research suggests. A team of international scientists made the discovery while studying the fossilized teeth of the megalodon (Otodus megalodon), whose species name means "big tooth." These jumbo-size carnivores often grew to be similar in length to tractor-trailers, roughly 50 feet (15 meters) long, according to a study published Monday (June 26) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Like many shark species, including great whites (Carcharodon carcharias), megalodon is classified in the new research as being "regionally endothermic," meaning that it can maintain its body heat even when its external environment is much cooler. Sponsored Links Incredible toothbrush is all the rage in Europe Well-Being-Review.com For the study, researchers used a combination of geothermal techniques to estimate the giant shark’s body temperature based on the compositions of various isotopes, or versions of elements, in fossilized megalodon teeth. Related: Could the megalodon still exist today? "The temperature at which the mineral formed, including biologically mineralized hard tissues like teeth, can be extrapolated from the degree to which these isotopes have bonded or 'clumped' together," study co-author Kenshu Shimada, a professor of paleobiology in the College of Science and Health at DePaul University in Chicago, told Live Science in an email. "The geochemical technique employed was previously used to examine the warm-bloodedness of dinosaurs. The new study demonstrates that the method can be applied also to marine vertebrates like sharks using their hard, well-mineralized anatomical components such as teeth." The study found that the average body temperature of the megalodon was approximately 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), whereas modern-day sharks with regional endothermy have an average body temperature between 72 F to 80 F (22 C to 26.6 C), according to the study. link: https://www.livescience.com/animals/extinct-species/megalodon-was-a-warm-blooded-killer-but-that-may-have-doomed-it-to-extinction

Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham scored his first goal and was named man of the match in a 2-0 win over Manchester United in a pre-season friendly in Houston, Texas. The 20-year-old England midfielder, playing just his second game since an £88m move to the Spanish champions, produced a delicate lob in the sixth minute to beat United's debutant keeper Andre Onana. An acrobatic Joselu finish sealed the win two minutes from time in front of a 67,801 crowd at the NRG Stadium. "There is a lot to aim for," Bellingham said after the match. "It is the biggest club with the best players. The expectations are high, as they should be." On the evidence of his debut performance against AC Milan on Sunday and now United, Bellingham has settled in already. A price tag that could eventually reach £115m is not weighing him down. He has excelled in his new position at the tip of an attacking diamond and his brilliant goal showed he has the class to excel at the Bernabeu Stadium. His goal came from a well-timed run to instantly control Antonio Rudiger's long pass and then chip the advancing Onana from the edge of the penalty area. "I look like I am enjoying it, I like to think," he said. "I was confident coming here because I knew how good the players were. I know the qualities I can bring and I feel like I have slotted in. ADVERTISEMENT "I am enjoying playing with this team, learning from so many great players. I am definitely not getting carried away just yet. There are big challenges to come and I just want to keep up the rhythm going into the season." Jude Bellingham: Why Real Madrid move makes 'perfect sense' Bellingham dismissed a first-half altercation with United defender Lisandro Martinez as the pair clashed following a nasty tackle from the Argentine. Bellingham pushed his opponent, who responded before Mason Mount stepped in to calm the situation. "It was one of those things," he said. "I came in at half-time and I was unhappy. But when he came over to wish me all the best when he came off, I really respected it. "It was two players trying to win for their team and sometimes it spills over. That is part of the game. He is a great competitor and a great player." link: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66321914

The UK's dedicated competition watchdog, the CMA, is calling for it to resume its investigations into the mobile browser and cloud gaming sectors, with a particular focus on Apple and Google's dominance and impact on competition. In November 2022, the Co mpetition Authority announced its intention to conduct the second phase of investigations into Apple and Google because there are expectations that each company is hindering competition in the mobile web browser market and the impact of the restrictions imposed by Apple on cloud gaming services for the iOS operating system. Due to complaints from Apple and Google as well as a row with the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal the competition authority was forced to suspend its plans earlier this year to investigate. The Court of Appeal has approved the Capital Markets Authority’s request to appeal against the cloud gaming issue, and a one-day hearing is scheduled until the court issues its ruling, as the Capital Markets Authority may not continue its investigations. The CMA's concerns about cloud gaming were evident when it blocked Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft has since proposed an alternative plan to sell the cloud gaming rights to Activision Blizzard games to an independent third party, Ubisoft. The Capital Markets Authority has provisionally approved this revised deal and is expected to make a final decision by the end of this week. Do you expect these problems to approach a radical solution soon, dear reader? https://www.vga4a.com/archives/202125

Taiwan's age rating system has listed the re-release of some titles from the first PlayStation and PSP that will be part of the PlayStation Plus Classics catalog included in PS Plus Premium for PS4 and PS5. Classics have also been leaked this way in the past, such as this month's Disney's Up. The new additions, which could be scheduled for December, are Disney/Pixar Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000) for PlayStation, which is an adventure with the character from the Toy Story films, and the other two are Thrillville (2006) and Thrillville: Off the Rails (2007), both in PSP versions. The catalog for subscribers to PS Plus Extra and Premium during this month includes Teardown, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme vs. Maxi Boost On, Dead Island: Riptide Definitive Edition, Superliminal and Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising, among others. For the Premium subscription, add five games from previous generations such as Grandia, Jet Moto, Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series and PaRappa the Rapper 2. https://vandal.elespanol.com/noticia/1350766958/una-filtracion-revela-proximos-clasicos-de-playstation-y-psp-para-el-catalogo-de-ps-plus-premium/

ollowing his defeat in the 2020 election, President Donald Trump spoke to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to discuss the results, a source familiar with the call told CNN. Publicly, Ducey said at the time that the two Republican leaders had spoken, though he did not describe what they had talked about. Behind closed doors, Ducey said that the former president was pressuring him to find fraud in the presidential election in Arizona that would help him overturn his loss in the state, a source with knowledge said. Trump narrowly lost Arizona to Joe Biden by less than 11,000 votes. Trump also repeatedly pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, to help him find evidence of fraud and overturn the 2020 election results. Pence told the governor that if there was hard evidence of voter fraud to report it appropriately, one of the sources said. Pence spoke to Ducey multiple times about the election, though he did not pressure the governor as he was asked, sources familiar with the calls said. A spokesperson for Pence declined to comment. The Washington Post first reported on Trump pressuring Ducey on overturning the election results. Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to reporters Friday, June 9, 2023, in Washington. Former President Donald Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents according to an indictment unsealed on Friday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Exclusive: Special counsel trades immunity for fake elector testimony as Jan 6 probe heats up Trump publicly attacked Ducey over the state’s certification of the results. As Ducey was certifying the election results in November 2020, Trump appeared to call the governor – with a “Hail to the Chief” ringtone heard playing on Ducey’s phone. Ducey did not take that call but later said he spoke with Trump, though he did not describe the specifics of the conversation. A spokesman for Ducey told CNN earlier this week that the former governor had not been contacted by the office of special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 elections. Those efforts include outreach to various state officials, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whom Smith has interviewed. In January 2021, Trump told Raffensperger to “find” the votes he needed to win the state, a call that’s at the center of the Fulton County district attorney’s investigation into attempts to overturn the election in Georgia. The special counsel’s office did not respond to a request for comment. A Ducey spokesman said Saturday that the former governor “stands by his action to certify the election and considers the issue to be in the rear view mirror – it’s time to move on.” “This is nothing more than a ‘copy and paste’ of a compilation of articles from the past two years, disguised as something new and relying on shaky and questionable sourcing,” spokesman Daniel Scarpinato said in a statement. “Frankly, nothing here is new nor is it news to anyone following this issue the last two years. Governor Ducey defended the results of Arizona’s 2020 election, he certified the election, and he made it clear that the certification provided a trigger for credible complaints backed by evidence to be brought forward. None were ever brought forward.” Trump is currently seen as the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination as he seeks a return to the White House. A Trump spokesperson said in a statement: “These witch-hunts are designed to interfere and meddle in the 2024 election in an attempt to prevent President Trump from returning to the White House to make this country great again. They will fail and President Trump will be re-elected https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/01/politics/trump-ducey-arizona-2020-election-overturn/index.html

The 20-year-old Spaniard prevailed in five sets 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6 and 6-4 in a final that lasted almost 5 hours. Charly won the third Grand Slam of the year and remains number one in the world by INFOBAE The Serbian Novak Djokovic and the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz starred in one of the most exciting finals of the year on the center court of the All England. The number 1 and 2 in the ATP ranking played the Wimbledon final and the young 20-year-old tennis player was the one who took the victory 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6 and 6-4 in four hours of play and 42 minutes of play against a Nole who was looking for his 24th Grand Slam in his history. The youngest of tennis number ones, Alcaraz, who had already been crowned champion at the 2022 United States Open, lifted his second Grand Slam cup in his third participation in London and on a surface, the grass, that until recently I hardly knew. This was the first Wimbledon final for Alcaraz and the ninth for Djokovic, who had not lost on this center court since he was defeated in the 2013 final by Scotsman Andy Murray. The Balkan will seek revenge at the US Open, the next major tournament to face. With total dominance of the game, be it with his serve, groundstrokes and shots at the net, Nole prevailed with some ease and defeated the 20-year-old 6-1 in the first set. However, for the second everything was going to change. The man from Palma recovered and, after 1 hour and 25 minutes, managed to turn the situation around after starting 0-3 and leveling the result (7-6). Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz at the awards ceremony after the Wimbledon final (REUTERS/Toby Melville)Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz at the awards ceremony after the Wimbledon final (REUTERS/Toby Melville) For the third set, Alcaraz paid the same coin to the Belgrade-born by winning a resounding 6-1 after breaking his rival's serve on his seventh chance and getting 4-1. For the fourth, the Serbian managed to break the Spaniard's serve in the fifth game and stretch the lead by maintaining his serve (4-2). https://noticiasaldiayalahora.co/deportes/carlos-alcaraz-vence-a-novak-djokovic-y-se-consagra-campeon-de-wimbledon-por-primera-vez/

re other people contacting you about their John Lewis Partnership credit card? The reason I ask is that I have just received a letter from HSBC claiming I’ve been transferred to it, but nothing from John Lewis. HSBC used to offer the John Lewis card but last year customers were all switched over to another firm, NewDay. Concerned that this might be a scam – the HSBC alert letter wants me to set up a direct debit – I rang the customer care line at John Lewis Finance and spoke to a very confused person who had had several similar calls. It’s my main credit card, so I need to understand what’s going on. He was unable to clarify. This is fishy or incompetence. Can you shed any light on it? VJ, by email My immediate reaction to this was, like your own, to assume this was a scam, and that fraudsters were trying to elicit people’s bank details. However, on this occasion, it turns out that it is not. A John Lewis Finance spokesperson says: “We want to reassure customers that the correspondence they have received from HSBC UK is legitimate. “It has been sent as a legal requirement in regard to their historic partnership card accounts. We’re sorry for any confusion caused.” It added that the letter only applies to customers who still have an outstanding balance, and if you don’t, you can ignore it. Given that you pay off your balance in full each month, it’s unclear why you were sent the letter, but you were right to question it. The switch to NewDay was a painful process for many cardholders and this episode does little to instil confidence or loyalty. We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/jul/11/hsbc-set-off-a-scam-alert-over-my-john-lewis-partnership-credit-card