Angel of Death

Voted

Music title: Twenty One Pilots - The Line (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Audio] Signer: twenty one pilots Release date: Nov 22, 2024 Official YouTube link:

Throwing missiles and attacking hotels was "not the way we do politics" in this country, the Deputy Prime Minister has said. Angela Rayner's comments came as she visited the Holiday Inn Express at Manvers, near Rotherham, where clean-up efforts were taking place after Sunday's riot. "Coming on the streets throwing missiles at the police, attacking police, attacking hotels like this one here today is not a legitimate grievance," she said. "It's not the way we do politics in this country and nobody should be condoning that." Ms Rayner confirmed more than 140 people had been charged so far in connection with the riots across the UK. "It's right that our courts deal with that and we've said that we will support the courts and will support the police in carrying out their duties," she added. "But people need to understand that if you throw missiles, if you attack people, if you incite hatred and violence, whether that's online, or whether you're offline, you will be met with the law because it is unlawful." Ms Rayner said the public in South Yorkshire had been "afraid and scared" by people "shouting racist abuse, shouting abuse and hurling missiles at police" during the weekend's violence. She condemned the "criminality and thuggish behaviour" that had put "lives at risk". Moving forward, the Deputy Prime Minister explained the number one priority was to keep people and streets safe. "The prime minister has set out how we're de ploying police and how we're making sure that we're working with social media companies on the online situation as well," she said. Ms Rayner asked people to "move away" from and not get involved in online material designed to stir up disorder. "I hope that the public and anyone who sees what is happening online, that they will know that online and offline criminality will be faced with the courts and with the law," she added. "We have seen what has happened on the streets, like here in Rotherham, that is not our British values." Several arrests have been made in connection with the violent disorder in Rotherham, with nine people appearing in court. Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9v8pgl4d4lo

A wildlife rescue charity has announced its temporary closure after reaching "maximum capacity" and dealing with what it called daily misuse of its public hotline. Blyth Wildlife Rescue has worked across Newcastle and Northumberland since 2006 to help and rehabilitate a variety of animals, but has recently faced an unprecedented level of demand. In July alone, the charity received 2,896 calls from across Tyneside and admitted almost 300 new casualties while dealing with "critically low" funds. The rescue service will continue to care for its current animals and hopes to keep its emergency hotline for larger animals open, such as deer, foxes and badgers, but will cease to assist with small mammals and birds. In a post on social media, the Blyth Wildlife Rescue cited its already stretched workload was being "greatly burdened by the misuse of our charity’s helpline". Sara Perry, a volunteer medic at the charity, said it faced "daily" calls on the emergency line that were not serious in anyway. On Thursday, someone called to say there was a seagull in their garden. "There was nothing wrong with it," said Ms Perry. "No specialist rescue was needed." The charity has said it will look at how it will work in the future and if any permanent cut backs need to be made after it addresses its funding and resource issues. Ms Perry said it normally cost £80,000 to run the charity each year but, by January, it had spent £10,000 alone on herring fish for its two seal pups. "It's going to be an expensive year for us," she said. "It's always in the back of our minds that we have to get the funds, or we can't take the animals in." Alongside the announcement of the closure of its services, Blyth Wildlife Rescue launched a £20,000 appeal to address its current shortfall. "I get to see the good work the charity does when we finally release animals back into the wild," Ms Perry added. "It's at the forefront of every decision we make." Link:https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw5y5vz0qdgo

England spinner Sophie Ecclestone broke the record for the fastest woman to 100 ODI wickets as England clinched a series win over Pakistan in the third ODI in Chelmsford. Ecclestone reached the milestone in 64 matches to level Australian great Cathryn Fitzpatrick, but beats the record in terms of number of innings bowled (63).Ecclestone removed Pakistan's Umm-e-Hani (4) and Nashra Sandhu (0) with consecutive deliveries in the 28th over to reach the 100 mark and find herself on a hat-trick - which Diana Baig denied her by blocking out the third delivery.England clinched an emphatic 178-run victory shortly after, as Ecclestone (3-15) claimed her third, the hosts triumphing 2-0 in the three-match ODI series to go with their 3-0 whitewash win in the preceding T20s.Heather's Knight side earlier posted 302-5 with the bat, Nat Sciver-Brunt (124no) smashing her ninth ODI ton before Pakistan were dismissed for 124 in reply.Lauren Bell (2-26) prized out openers Sadaf Shamas (2) and Sidra Ameen (10) as Pakistan slipped to 35-3 inside seven overs, before Muneeba Ali (47) provided some resistance with an enterprising cameo, the left-hander taking a particular liking to off-spinner Charlie Dean. Link: https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12123/13145156/england-vs-pakistan-sophie-ecclestone-breaks-record-for-fastest-woman-to-100-odi-wickets-as-hosts-clinch-series-win

More than 130,000 people in England will be offered free workplace health checks in the next six months under a new initiative to try and prevent heart disease. From September, employees in several sectors including building and hospitality will be able to access quick assessments that will determine their risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD), which can cause heart attacks and strokes. Those aged between 40 and 74 who do not have certain pre-existing conditions linked to heart disease will be eligible. According to the government, these checks will save thousands of hours of NHS time and will help to cut waiting lists. The scheme is an effort to increase the number of NHS Health Checks, first introduced in 2009, that are carried out. As well as targting heart disease, the programme aims to prevent diabetes and kidney disease, as well as some cases of dementia among adults. Health minister Andrew Gwynne said that while over 16 million people were eligible for the check, current data showed only 40% went on to complete one. "This is especially true for men, who are less likely to get early help but who are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease at an earlier age than women," he said. "This new programme aims to reach more people through their place of work and make it more convenient for people to understand and improve their cardiovascular health." People taking part will be required to answer a short lifestyle questionnaire; have their height, weight, and waist measured; undergo a blood pressure test; and have a simple blood test to measure cholesterol and blood sugar levels. The checks will also record key information including smoking status; family history of coronary heart disease; and cholesterol level. They are part of government efforts to boost economic growth in the UK by improving healthcare. “Health checks can save lives. They can prevent people from developing largely preventable diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, Type 2 diabetes and liver disease," said Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association. Plans for a digital version of the NHS Health Check have also been announced, with testing for this due to take place next year. Councils in Norfolk, Medway and the London borough of Lambeth have signed up for the trial. It is estimated the initiative will deliver one million checks in its first four years and there are plans to then roll it out nationally alongside face-to-face assessments. CVD is a leading cause of death and disability in England. It accounts for 1 in 4 deaths in England, according to NHS figures, despite being largely preventable if people lead a healthy lifestyle. Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clywg73vzxdo

Donald Trump is facing blowback both from anti-abortion activists and from within his own party after he implied he might support easing restrictions on the procedure in his home state of Florida. The Republican presidential nominee was asked in an interview with NBC News on Thursday how he would vote this November on the state’s ballot measure to protect abortion. Florida banned the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy after the US Supreme Court struck down the right to abortion nationwide – a law reproductive rights activists are now campaigning to end. “I think the six week is too short,” Trump said. “It has to be more time. I told them that I want more weeks.” “I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks,” he said when pressed. Trump has criticised Florida's six-week abortion ban before. Last September he said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made a "terrible mistake" signing the ban into law. Mr DeSantis was challenging the former president in the Republican primary at the time. Thursday's comments further open a rift between Trump and the anti-abortion movement, which plays a critical role in shaping conservative politics in the US. “If Donald Trump loses, today is the day he lost,” conservative pundit Erick Erickson wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “The committed pro-life community could turn a blind eye, in part, to national abortion issues. But for Trump to weigh in on Florida as he did will be a bridge too far for too many.” Albert Mohler Jr, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote on X that Trump's comments on reproductive rights, including on the six-week ban, "seem almost calculated to alienate prolife voters". “Pro-life Christian voters are going to have to think clearly, honestly, and soberly about our challenge in this election - starting at the top of the ticket," he said. The November ballot initiative would amend the Florida constitution to protect abortion access in the state until the point of foetal viability, which is about 23-25 weeks of pregnancy. As it stands, the state has a near-total ban on abortion, as many women do not know they are pregnant at six weeks. The proposed amendment states: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” Voters cannot choose a number of weeks into a pregnancy that abortion should be permitted. They can only choose “Yes” to support the amendment or “No” to reject it. The Trump campaign did not respond to a request to clarify his stance and whether he would vote yes or no to the measure. Campaign spokeswoman Karoline Levitt told the New York Times that Trump “has not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida”. “He simply reiterated that he believes six weeks is too short,” she said. Trump's running mate, Senator JD Vance, tried to clarify the campaign's position on CNN on Friday. Mr Vance said the former president will "make his own announcement on how he's going to vote" on the Florida measure that will be based on "his own judgement". Opinion polling indicates that a majority of Americans support abortion access. A July poll from the University of North Florida suggested that 69% of likely voters supported the ballot measure, and 23% opposed it. The political backlash after the Supreme Court brought an end to Roe v Wade - the landmark precedent that protected abortion access nationwide - in 2022 has presented Trump with a political conundrum he has yet to fully solve. Trump rose to power with the help of the religious right, which broadly supports restrictions on the procedure. In his first run for president, he pledged to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn the constitutional right to abortion in the US. He kept the promise by appointing three conservative jurists who ultimately voted to overturn Roe v Wade. Abortion has now become a central issue in the 2024 presidential campaign - one that Democrats have used to rally voters. His opponent, Vice-President Kamala Harris, has made reproductive rights central to her campaign. Trump has taken the position that abortion policy should be left to individual states. At the Republican National Convention in July, rank-and-file party members fell in line behind the former president, even though his position can seem at odds with their personal opposition to abortion. Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy547v72nd4o

2024 is the year Google finally introduced its entire range of Pixel devices in India, including the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. In short, this year, consumers have plenty of Pixel devices to choose from, depending on the budget. Starting at Rs. 79,999 for the base Pixel 9 and going all the way to Rs. 172,999 for the book-style Pixel 9 Pro Fold. 2024 is the year Google finally introduced its entire range of Pixel devices in India, including the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. In short, this year, consumers have plenty of Pixel devices to choose from, depending on the budget. Starting at Rs. 79,999 for the base Pixel 9 and going all the way to Rs. 172,999 for the book-style Pixel 9 Pro Fold. On paper, the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL might only differ in terms of display size and battery, but the real difference lies in everyday use. One is compact to fit in the smallest pockets and convenient to use with one hand, while the other is huge at 6.8 inches. This year, Google added one phone to its Pixel lineup, which is the Pixel 9 Pro, which we will review here. Much like how Apple brought all the bells and whistles from its Pro Max model to Pro this year, Google also tries to fit all the firepower in the compact body of the Pixel 9 Pro. So, who should exactly buy this one or consider an alternate flagship? I try to answer this in my review. Google Pixel 9 Pro Design: Compact form wins Dimensions - 152.8mm x 72mm x 8.5mm Weight - 199 grams Durability - IP68 dust and water resistance The Pixel 9 series finally ditches the bar-style rear back that housed the camera in a way that was loved and hated by some. The good news is that there's a new island placement on the rear for cameras, and it looks mature. It is easy on the eyes and makes the new Pixels shine in a crowded market with no distinct design except the iPhones. I like the matte back panel and glossy frame finish on the Pixel 9 Pro. Thanks to the matte treatment, the back isn't a fingerprint magnet; however, it is a slippery phone. I accidentally dropped it twice during this review, but thankfully, the 9 Pro survived both drops without scratches. Unlike the iPhone 16 Plus (Review), the Google Pixel 9 Pro doesn't wobble on a flat surface mainly because the centre-aligned island at the back keeps it even. Link: https://www.gadgets360.com/mobiles/reviews/google-pixel-9-pro-review-7090497#pfrom=indepth

It’ll be no surprise to regular readers that I love my Meta Quest 3. Whether it’s diving into the excellent Batman: Arkham Shadow or streaming a Netflix show onto a giant virtual screen I love using the VR headset – and thanks to a capture card I might have a new favorite use for it. A few months ago Meta launched HDMI Link, a tool which allows you to use it as a display for your PC or a console like a PS5. The only catch is you need a capture card, as the Quest 3 lacks the hardware to translate the HDMI signal through its USB-C port. I’ve finally picked one up – the Elgato 4K X – and have been spending my evenings playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 in my own private cinema. Folks, it’s superb and as I write this all I can think about is my next gaming session. HDMI Link is fantastic, and easy to set up After tweaking the HDR settings to suit the Meta Quest 3’s displays the picture looks excellent even on the vision-filling immersive screen. If anything the screen is a little too big, as there have been times I’ve had to physically turn to see action on the fringes of the virtual monitor. The latency and refresh rate seems manageable, though. Black Ops 6 comfortably runs at 60Hz and I haven’t noticed any obvious issues with lag – if there is any, it didn’t stop me earning a free-for-all victory (even if an in-game bug counts 1st-place finishes as a defeat right now). Plus, HDMI Link was super-easy to set up. After downloading the latest firmware to the Elgato 4K X and turning off HDCP in my PS5’s HDMI settings I simply had to connect my console to the capture card via the HDMI-in port, and my headset to the card via the included USB-C to USB-C cable and I was off to the races. It’s not just a PS5 that should work. Any gadget that outputs video via HDMI should be able to work with the capture card and the Quest’s HDMI Link, provided it doesn’t have any HDCP restrictions. Given that I mentioned it above, here's a quick explainer on HDCP: High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection is used by some apps and devices to try to prevent you from recording content from the best streaming services, such as Netflix, or in some games it stops you being able to stream key cutscenes that contain major spoilers. On PS5, if HDCP is turned off, you won’t be able to use some media apps – but you can always switch it back on when you’re finished using the HDMI Link app. If you’re wanting to try Meta’s HDMI link for yourself you’ll need a capture card. They can be a little pricey – especially the Elgato card I used – but thanks to this year’s Black Friday deals you can score one at a great price. Below I’m highlighting four for the US and UK respectively: two from Elgato and two from other brands. I can only vouch for the Elgato cards from my own experience, as that’s what I used, but other HDMI Link guides have relied on the two cheaper alternatives that you might want to try if you plan to use the capture card as solely a Quest 3 add-on, rather than for creating gaming content for YouTube or Twitch as well. Link: https://www.techradar.com/computing/virtual-reality-augmented-reality/playing-black-ops-6-on-my-meta-quest-3-is-fantastic-all-you-need-is-a-ps5-a-free-app-and-one-of-these-capture-cards

Forget the fact that Black Friday is officially known as November 29 in 2024, because "Black Friday," the deal-a-palooza is already underway right now. And this is one of the best times of the year to find significant savings on SSDs and external storage drives. The Black Friday 2024 SSD deals are here and they could change your computing life. The nice thing about storage devices -- whether it's a new boot drive for your laptop, a second internal SSD for your desktop or a small USB Flash drive you can use to keep files in your pocket -- is that you always need more of them. If you have a 1TB drive, going to 2TB helps and, if you have a 2TB, moving up to 4TB is a major improvement. And there's also the opportunity to get faster internal drives that speed up your application open times or external ones that connect via 10, 20 or 40 Gbps ports. On this Black Friday SSD deals live blog, we're tracking all the best and latest deals of all kinds, throughout the holiday shopping season. If it's cheap, it holds your data and it's actually worth your money, we'll be highlighting it here, with updates many times per day. Link: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/live/best-black-friday-ssd-deals-2024

Assassin's Creed Valhalla studio Ubisoft Montreal is reportedly working on a new Animal Crossing-inspired social sim featuring Minecraft-like building elements, with former Gotham Knights creative director Patrick Redding said to be at the reins. That's according to Insider Gaming, which claims the title - currently codenamed Alterra - has been in the works for around 18 months. Alterra is said to have risen from the ashes of an earlier Ubisoft Montreal project, canceled after four years of development, with the two games supposedly sharing a focus on voxel creation. Insider Gaming's source describes Alterra as an "Animal Crossing-inspired social sim" in which players inhabit a home island po[CENSORED]ted by NPCs known as Matterlings. These Matterlings are "somewhat like Funko Pop figures", sporting large heads and designs blending fictional and real-world creatures, from polar bears to dragons. Alterra's social aspect is reportedly combined with that aforementioned voxel creation element, featuring building mechanics "somewhat similar" to those seen in Minecraft, with players able to fashion items using resources found out in the world beyond their home. Here, it's claimed they'll encounter different biomes containing specific resources and different Matterling types, as well as unique enemies, materials, and more - with one example given being an ice biome, inhabited by snow-ice Matterlings, where players can create objects from snow and ice. It'll apparently be possible to encounter other players out in the world too. Insider Gaming adds Ubisoft veteran Fabien Lhéraud is serving as lead producer on Alterra, and that the project's launch is "likely still a few years away". Ubisoft's release slate is, of course, a bit fuzzy beyond next year's delayed Assassin's Creed Shadows and Anno 117: Pax Romana, although the publisher has confirmed a new Rayman project is currently in the "exploration phase". That's alongside the very long in the works Beyond Good & Evil 2 and Ubisoft's troubled Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake, with the latter now targeting a 2026 release. In more recent news, Ubisoft has now launched its first-ever blockchain game, featuring NFT figurines costing up to £50k. Link: https://www.eurogamer.net/ubisoft-reportedly-developing-animal-crossing-style-social-sim-with-minecraft-like-building

PlayStation is set to announce black versions of its DualSense Edge controller, Pulse Elite wireless headphones and Pulse Explore wireless headphones. That's according to reliable leaker billbil-kun of Dealabs, who suggested the lineup will be announced "within the month", so we are looking at some time before Christmas (yes, Christmas really is that soon). Outside of the recently released anniversary controller, these accessories have previously only been available in white. billbil-kun said these alleged black PlayStation accessories will retail for the same price as their white equivalents. As per the source, the black versions will be priced as such: Stay tuned for more information as and when it is available. Perhaps we will hear something on 3rd December, as part of PlayStation's 30th anniversary celebations? At least there isn't too much longer until we find out. In the meantime, if you are looking for some PlayStation savings in the here and now, be sure to check out Digital Foundry's best PS5 Deals for Black Friday 2024. In other news, it was recently reported that Sony is developing a portable version of the PlayStation 5, however the device is said to be in the "early stages" of development, and may not make the market at all. Link: https://www.eurogamer.net/ps5-dualsense-edge-and-pulse-headphones-reportedly-getting-black-colour-version