Month: August 2022

Categories
Technology

Telstra Day sale: Score a free Xbox with any Samsung S22

Telstra Day sale: Score a free Xbox with any Samsung S22

TelstradayAugust_FMPfinder_1800x1000

Your favorite monthly Telstra sale turns 1 year old and it’s sharing its presents.

Telstra Day is here again! To celebrate a lap around the sun, Telstra is giving away an Xbox All Access bundle including an Xbox Series S console and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

It can be yours with any Samsung Galaxy S22 series purchase.

You’ve got these Telstra Day phone deals to pick from this month:

New and existing Telstra customers can get today’s phone deals outright or on a 12-, 24- or 36-month repayment plan.

  • Remember: This Telstra Day sale ends at midnight tonight 4 August 2022 AEST.

Samsung Galaxy S22 series

Samsung’s current flagship, the S22 series, are premium phones with a price tag to match. However, if you’re interested in scoring a free Xbox Series S with All Access bundle (RRP $729), now might just be the perfect time to buy.

Get the Samsung Galaxy S22 from:

Get Telstra’s S22 deal here

Get the Samsung Galaxy S22+ from:

Get Telstra’s S22+ deal here

Get the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra from:

Get Telstra’s S22 Ultra deal here

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G

A slightly older Galaxy model, the S21 has a quality camera and good performance. It’s available from:

Get Telstra’s S21 FE deal here

Samsung Galaxy A53 5G

When you want a new Samsung phone but don’t want to fork out for a Galaxy, the A53 is a perfectly acceptable option. It can be yours from:

Get Telstra’s A53 deal here

What do I get on a Telstra mobile plan?

Each Telstra mobile phone plan is available with repayments options of 12-,24- or 36- months.

Telstra operates the largest phone network in Australia, reaching 99.5% of Australians – perfect for when you’re traveling further out of the cities.

With every Telstra plan you can:

  • Make unlimited standard national calls and texts
  • Use unlimited data with no excess data charges (this is slowed to 1.5Mbps after you reach your cap)
  • Share data between up to 10 plans on 1 account
  • Earn points with Telstra Rewards which you can spend on accessories and other goodies.

Save up to $350 on other devices and accessories

Not interested in the Telstra Day phone offerings? Check out these other devices and accessories you can get your hands on for less:

  • Save $350 on Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra 5G – now $1,649
  • Save $150 on Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 (44mm) – now $399
  • Save $150 on Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic Edition (46mm) – now $549
  • Save $100 on Sony WF-1000XM4 noise-cancelling headphones – now $289
  • Save $60 on BlueAnt X2 – now $60
  • Save $25 on BlueAnt X0 – now $24
  • Save $70 on JBL Live 660 Noise-Canceling Headphones – now $179
  • Save $75 on JBL Tune 130NC Earbuds – now $74
  • Save $40 on Sprout Dual Wireless Charger – now $80
  • Save $30 on $150 Telstra Pre-paid SIM starter kit – now $120
  • Save $60 on Nokia C30 pre-paid – now $89

How do July’s Telstra Day deals stack up?

We were expecting Telstra to go big for this anniversary sale and it didn’t disappoint.

If you’ve struggled to get your hands on the latest Xbox model, now is the perfect time to upgrade to a Samsung S22. There’s no discount on the handset but the Xbox All Access bundle is incredible value for money with hundreds of games.

Compared to last month’s Telstra Day sale, however, there’s a lot less variety. Deals tend to come back every so often so if you were hoping to save money on the S22, an iPhone or even a Telstra NBN plan, don’t forget to check back next month.

Looking for more phone deals? Compare mobile plans to find the right one for you.

Categories
Sports

David Klemmer fiasco shows what a mess Newcastle Knights have become

David Klemmer fiasco shows what a mess Newcastle Knights have become

As it stands, Klemmer, having been issued with the show-cause notice, can’t even train with the team. The club has supposedly drawn a line in the sand by standing down the man leading the players’ player voting for seemingly caring too much.

Klemmer is renowned for his short fuse. There is no doubt he should have handled the situation better and listened to instructions rather than fire off an expletive-laden tirade at trainer Hayden Knowles. However, anyone who sits on the sideline at an NRL game will tell you that you’d struggle to go through a round without seeing something similar.

O’Brien is in Klemmer’s corner. According to sources at the Knights, he has privately thrown his support behind the embattled prop despite the power he once yielded seemingly diminishing by the day.

The question that has been asked during the past 24 hours, since Newcastle sent out a press release confirming the decision, is whether there is more to the story. There has to be, right? The course of action seems out of context with the incident.

Apparently not. Suggestions there was a post-match altercation between Klemmer and Knowles have been strongly denied.

Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien is under pressure to keep his job.

Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien is under pressure to keep his job.Credit:Getty

Klemmer was taken away by Sport Integrity Australia testers and did not return to the change rooms until much later, otherwise there may have been another heated exchange, judging by the steam coming out of his ears during the team’s hapless performance against his former club.

Knowles and Klemmer had history. The trainer, who joined the Knights from Penrith this year, is the right-hand man of NSW coach Brad Fittler. Klemmer was controversially left out of the Blues squad a couple of years ago.

The 28-year-old prop wasn’t the biggest fan of the alternative methods of Knowles and Fittler, but has embraced Knowles’ ways at the Knights in 2022. It’s said the outburst on Sunday was not as a result of bad blood between the pair.

The red pen was put through his name for the Blues due to his attitude, NSW insiders have said. Despite playing 14 games for NSW between 2015 and 2019, Klemmer was not named in Fittler’s 27-man squad for the 2020 post-season Origin series.

Those connecting Parramatta’s pursuit of Klemmer on Monday and Newcastle’s sanctions are off the mark, too.

Klemmer is comfortable with the club not letting him leave. In fact, it was Klemmer who stopped the potential switch in his tracks for family reasons, given he would have to leave his wife and four children for up to 10 weeks.

Now he finds himself at a crossroads in his career. He has one year left on his Knights deal, worth about $800,000.

The club’s salary cap is not in great shape. A club with one of the best junior league nurseries in the world is now relying on a recruitment manager based in Queensland, who is close to the chief executive.

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Perhaps the seemingly excessive action against Klemmer isn’t a lack of judgment, but a move with desired intentions. Time will tell.

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Categories
US

‘We could feel it’: Kansans celebrate upset abortion rights victory | Kansas

YoIn a conference room at the Sheraton in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, people screamed, whooped, cheered and cried as a vote to protect abortion rights in Kansas’s state constitution came down late on Tuesday night.

And it wasn’t just Democrats.

James Quigley, 72, a retired doctor and a Republican from Johnson county, sat on his own drinking a glass of white wine after hearing the news. “Abortion is a much more nuanced issue than anti-choice individuals would have you think,” he told the Guardian. “It is deeply personal, sometimes tragic, but also sometimes a liberating decision – and we should trust women, their physicians, and their God on that,” he said.

“We could feel it – we’ve been feeling it for weeks,” said Marcia Corbett, 71, a swing voter and local business owner, before the vote came in.

The result had been eagerly awaited, as Kansas was the first state in the country to put abortion rights on the ballot since Roe v Wade, which federally guaranteed them, was overturned by the supreme court. It came after weeks of uncertainty, in a race in which misinformation bounded and tactics got ugly.

The victory – and its sheer scale in a usually reliably Republican and socially conservative state like Kansas – has sent shockwaves through the United States and provided a shot in the arm for efforts to protect abortion rights under siege across America.

In Kansas, that fight had gotten dirty. On Tuesday, a former Republican congressman was linked to messages targeting voters with an anonymous, misleading text encouraging people to vote yes to protect abortion – when in fact a yes vote would have overturned a constitutional right to abortion. Vandals also spray-painted the walls of a Catholic church weeks earlier, with the phrase, “My body, my choice.”

Nor had victory seemed certain on the day of the vote.

On Tuesday, as voting began, the mood seemed amicable in Douglas county on a hot, sticky day, where temperatures consistently threatened to hit the hundreds. Polling booths in Lawrence and Eudora saw a steady drip of voters, even in the middle of the day, with dozens of voters lining up to vote at any given time. Many were unaffiliated, but turned up just to vote in the referendum.

At the Eudora community center in Douglas county, Patrick Perry, 43, a mechanic and registered Republican, said he was voting no. A veteran who had fought in Iraq, he said he was voting due to his own “personal circumstances” – his wife needed an abortion in a medical emergency during their marriage, in a pregnancy that would have otherwise taken her life. But he didn’t expect Kansas to side with him. “We’re a Republican state,” he said. “And we don’t generally vote that way.”

But on a night of huge turnout, Kansas voted to protect abortion in the state’s constitution, with the no vote securing a whopping 59% to 41% of the anti-abortion movement.

At the beginning of the night, the mood had been cautiously hopeful at the Kansas for Constitutional Freedom event in Overland Park, with the no vote ahead from the start. “We’re in the lead, and it’s not better than yes!” a young girl said to her mother de ella, from next-door Missouri. The two had been canvassing together for weeks.

The Democratic congresswoman Sharice Davids stood up to speak early in the night, telling the audience of about 100 people: “The [supreme court] decision definitely felt like a gut punch to a lot of people in our community … But we stood up and got to work.”

Following speeches, all eyes in the room were on a television projection blaring MSNBC’s election statistics guru Steve Kornacki, whose voice was barely audible over the sounds of people chattering, drinking and bursting into cheers whenever a county’s no vote was called.

“Imagine how good we are going to feel when we beat the anti-abortion movement and the Republicans, who lied at every turn,” state congresswoman Stephanie Clayton said.

“I feel really good right now,” said Leslie Butsch, who had tears in her eyes by 8.30pm. She was watching as the vote in Johnson county first showed signs of leaning heavily towards no, after weeks of spending her evenings knocking on doors there. An hour later, when the result came through, she was one of the few people without a celebratory drink in her hand – she’d just spent all her cash from her tipping the bar staff in a flurry of happiness.

“I feel overwhelmed with gratitude. Today we learned that organizers are more powerful than ever. We did the impossible,” she said.

Voters mark their ballots during the primary election and abortion referendum at a Wyandotte county polling station in Kansas City, Kansas.
Voters mark their ballots during the primary election and abortion referendum at a Wyandotte county polling station in Kansas City, Kansas. Photograph: Eric Cox/Reuters

State Senator Dinah Sykes burst into tears when the vote was called, covering her mouth and showing friends goosebumps on her arms. “It’s just amazing. It’s breathtaking that women’s voices were heard and [that] we care about women’s health,” she said.

She knew that the vote would be close in a state that gave Trump a 15 percentage point lead over Biden in the 2020 election. “But we were close in a lot of rural areas and that really made the difference – I’m just so grateful,” she said.

Ashley All, the spokesperson for KCF, said the success of their campaign was testament to non-partisanship – and other states should take heed. “It will be interesting for other states to watch this, and see this is not a partisan issue,” she said.

Joe Biden made a statement on the result late on Tuesday. “Voters in Kansas turned out in record numbers to reject extreme efforts to amend the state constitution to take away a woman’s right to choose and open the door for a statewide ban,” the president said.

“This vote makes clear what we know: the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and should have the right to make their own healthcare decisions.”

Meanwhile, the defeated anti-abortion group Kansans for Life sent out an email to supporters following the vote, sharing their dismay. For a movement that has been on the rise in America – since before Roe was overturned, and after – it was clear they had suffered a powerful blow.

“The mainstream media propelled the left’s false narrative, contributing to the confusion that misled Kansans about the amendment,” he said, and vowed to fight on. “Our movement and campaign have proven our resolve and commitment. We will not abandon women and babies.”

Categories
Technology

World of Warcraft developers scrap mobile game

World of Warcraft developers scrap mobile game

Activision Blizzard scrapped a mobile MMO (massively multiplayer online) game based in the World of Warcraft universe over a financial dispute with partner NetEase, a Chinese game development company.

Speaking to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity, an insider revealed how both Activision Blizzard and NetEase disagreed over terms, eventually halting production on the mobile title. Codenamed Jupiter, the game had been in development for over three years.

Project Jupiter was intended to be an MMORPG in the same universe as World of Warcraft, albeit in a different time period. When reached for comments, both NetEase and Activision Blizzard declined to comment.

Activision Blizzard’s foray into the mobile market is relatively new — despite success with Hearthstone, a mobile card battler that achieved huge milestones in player count and revenue earned, other attempts at breaking into mobile games fell flat. Another Warcraft mobile game, which drew inspiration from Pokemon Go and was codenamed Orbis, was canceled after a four-year development period.

Their most recent attempt, which was announced in May, will see a release sometime later this year. Named Warcraft Arclight Rumble, the game features gameplay similar to Clash Royale, where players place units strategically as they march on enemy territory.

World of Warcraft was released in China under NetEase’s watch, being the sole distributor of the game since its launch in 2009. However, as a result of project Jupiter being scrapped, NetEase laid off more than 100 employees. Only a handful will be internally shifted to other projects, with some likely heading over to work on the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, Dragonflight.

This is yet another bump in the road for Activision Blizzard, which is awaiting the fate of its massive Microsoft buyout deal. The deal is so huge that rival company Sony sees no way to compete with its flagship title Call of Duty. Despite these claims, however, Call of Duty is seeing a sharp decline in users — the series has lost over 30 million users in the past year.

Original reporting by Bloomberg.

Written by Junior Miyai on behalf of GLHF.

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Categories
Sports

What next in F1’s messy Alpine/Piastri contractual tug of war?

What next in F1's messy Alpine/Piastri contractual tug of war?

It has been an extraordinary and tumultuous two days for the Alpine F1 team.

In the space of just 48 hours, the Anglo-French outfit lost Fernando Alonso and also appears to have lost their highly-rated junior driver Oscar Piastri in one of the most remarkable F1 rows of recent times.

The chaotic events have seen the 2023 driver market explode into life and led to a messy public dispute. But how did we get here?

making sense of madness

Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix – the final race before the summer break – Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from F1 at the end of the 2022 season.

Naturally, thoughts quickly turned to who might replace the four-time world champion. Alonso, whose contract with Alpine was expiring, seemed like a dream statement signing for Aston Martin.

Although the Spaniard refused to completely rule a switch out, everything pointed towards him staying put for 2023. That’s what Alpine also believed, with Alonso assuring the team he had not signed with anyone else as the team prepared to leave Hungary on Sunday night.

The following morning, Aston Martin confirmed they had signed Alonso on a multi-year contract beginning in 2023, sending shockwaves through F1.

The bombshell news took Alpine by surprise, with team principal Otmar Szafnauer telling reporters in a press conference on August 2 that he first learned of Alonso’s departure when he read Aston Martin’s official press release.

Just hours later on late Tuesday afternoon, Alpine announced that Piastri, who won last year’s F2 championship, would make his F1 debut in 2023 “in line with the commitments made by the team to the young Australian”.

But Piastri responded by tweeting that he had “not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023 and will not be driving for them next year”. The 21-year-old said the announcement was “wrong” and had come “without my agreement”.

Prior to Alonso’s shock exit, Alpine had been looking to find Piastri a spot on the grid, with Williams at one stage appearing to be Piastri’s most likely destination.

The nature of Piastri’s public condemnation of Alpine’s announcement suggests he is confident about having another deal already lined up. Piastri, who is managed by ex-F1 driver Mark Webber, is understood to have an agreement with McLaren.

What happens next?

The dramatic stand-off, which appears to have been orchestrated by Alonso – who, just minutes after Piastri’s tweet, posted a video of him sticking his thumb up on Instagram – is set to rumble on.

Both parties believe they are in the right and a contractual tug-of-war looks set to follow during what is meant to be F1’s quietest period since the season began.

The unraveling contract saga echoes a similar motorsport dispute that is ongoing between Chip Ganassi Racing and McLaren over the destination of reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou.

Ganassi has issued a lawsuit against Palou after the Spaniard denied the team’s announcement that he is under contract for 2023 and beyond. Hours later, McLaren issued their own press release claiming that Palou had signed with them.

A similar situation occurred in F1 back in 2004 when BAR-Honda and Williams were both convinced they had legitimate deals with Jenson Button, who had tried to quit BAR to rejoin Williams.

BAR ultimately won their fight with Williams for Button to drive for them in 2005 after F1’s Contract Recognition Board (CRB) ruled in their favor.

Intriguingly, Szafnauer, then vice president of Honda Racing, was also involved.

Should the Alpine/Piastri dispute end up in a legal battle, the outcomes are seemingly two-fold; either Piastri stays and races for Alpine in 2023, or some kind of settlement deal with McLaren is reached.

Where does this leave Ricciardo?

The complicated tussle leaves question marks surrounding the future of Daniel Ricciardo, who is under contract at McLaren until the end of the 2023 season.

Should Piastri get his way, he will replace his compatriot at McLaren.

Ricciardo’s future has been the subject of intense speculation ever since McLaren boss Zak Brown admitted the under-performing Australian’s time with the team had not met expectations.

However, on July 13, Ricciardo issued a statement insisting he would not walk away from F1 and underlined his commitment to seeing out the rest of his McLaren contract.

If McLaren end up fielding Piastri alongside Lando Norris next season, they will have to pay off Ricciardo, and that won’t be cheap.

While Alpine hopes that Piastri will fill the seat vacated by Alonso, alternative options will be considered should the team not be able to keep the highly-rated youngster, who is considered a future F1 star.

As an eight-time grand prix winner, Ricciardo would be the most attractive and obvious option on the market for Alpine, despite the fact he left the Enstone team after just two years to join McLaren in 2021.

It would be a potentially awkward move, given Ricciardo’s decision to quit did not go down well with the Renault hierarchy. However, Alpine’s team management has since changed and they could be left facing a driver market limbo if they lose Piastri.

Speaking prior to the Piastri development on Tuesday, Szafnauer did not rule out a return for Ricciardo.

Plenty more twists and turns are likely before this driver market drama is resolved.

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Categories
Australia

Australian man jailed over sex abuse ring after more than a dozen children rescued

Australian man jailed over sex abuse ring after more than a dozen children rescued

An Adelaide man, 68, who remotely instructed and recorded the sexual abuse of children on 55 occasions over webcam has been sentenced to 15 years in jail.

The investigation led to the rescue of 15 victims in the Philippines and the arrests of five women accused of facilitating the “horrific” abuse, some of whom are the mothers and relatives of the victims.

The predator had pleaded guilty in February 2021 to 50 offenses between March 2018 and January 2020, but was charged with further offenses as investigations uncovered more information.

Watch the latest News on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >>

Police believe the youngest child was aged just three when they were first abused.

Thirteen children and two young adults were removed from harm in the Philippines following a major investigation by Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australian Border Force, SA Police, Anti-Child Exploitation teams, and multiple agency partners in the Philippines.

AFP Commander Erica Merrin said: “Children are being forced into the most appalling violence and torment on camera by the people who are meant to love and to protect them.

“The abuse is then live-streamed to customers in Western nations, shamefully that includes Australia.

“This Adelaide man did not just watch children being hurt – he ordered specific abuse to happen and preyed on the economic vulnerability of the people involved.”

The five alleged facilitators were aged between 18 and 29 at the time.

One of the 15 young victims being rescued by Philippine authorities. Credit: AFP
One of the alleged offenders of the ongoing child sex abuse hides her face inside a premises in the Philippines before her arrest. Credit: AFP

“One of the women charged was then an 18-year-old who was allegedly offering three girls online to offenders – her nine-year-old niece, 12-year-old cousin and 18-year-old best friend,” the AFP said.

The Adelaide man was first caught at Melbourne Airport with child abuse material on his mobile phone by Australian Border Force officials as he returned to Australia on an international flight in February 2020.

A forensic examination of the man’s digital storage devices “uncovered horrific footage of sexual acts involving children”, and police found more than 55,000 images and videos of child abuse material.

The man was charged over the illegal content.

Five alleged female facilitators of exploitation and child sex abuse were arrested by Philippines authorities. Credit: AFP

Further investigation found that the man “communicated with adult ‘facilitators’ in the Philippines to procure several children for his depraved requests,” AFP said.

“The children were forced to perform sexually explicit acts on camera which he watched live from his suburban Adelaide home. “

He was charged with the additional offenses in April 2020.

In November 2020 and May 2021, the AFP obtained a restraining order in relation to the property where many of his internet-based offenses allegedly took place.

The case served as the first example where an AFP taskforce had sought to confiscate the home of a person charged with sex offences. Credit: AFP

He was ordered to pay a total of $165,000, half of what his home was worth. This was the first time the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) had sought to confiscate the home of a person charged with sex offences.

This is because he was allegedly using his property as “an instrument of crime”.

The AFP worked with its partner agencies in the Philippines, including the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC), to continue the investigation there.

Philippines authorities executed search warrants at multiple locations in Bislig City, a remote area in the country’s east, in August 2020.

“The rescues and arrests are a powerful reminder of why the AFP works closely with partners around the globe, sharing intelligence and the resources necessary to target anyone who preys on children, no matter where in the world they are hiding,” AFP International Command Detective Superintendent Andrew Perkins said.

The Adelaide man has been sentenced to a total of 15 years, three months and 19 days’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 10 years, for the commonwealth offences, as well as nine months for a state offence. They will be served cumulatively.

Girl hospitalized in inner Melbourne sex attack.

Girl hospitalized in inner Melbourne sex attack.

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Categories
US

Sinema eyes changes to tax, climate portions of reconciliation bill

Sinema eyes changes to tax, climate portions of reconciliation bill

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is eyeing changes to Democrats’ $740 billion reconciliation bill — specifically increasing climate funding and restructuring the tax provisions — as the Senate moves rapidly toward final passage before the August recess, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Sinema is the one senator potentially standing in the way of Democrats clinching President Biden’s longtime goal of passing an ambitious package tackling climate change, health care and taxes — renamed the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.”

  • That position gives her a huge amount of leverage as Democrats await a verdict from the Senate parliamentarian on whether the bill complies with the “Byrd Rule,” which controls what provisions can be included in the budget reconciliation process.
  • The fact the negotiations were conducted entirely in secret between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.V.) — catching Sinema by surprise — has left her space for an 11th hour intervention.
  • Sinema has so far refused to weigh in on whether or not she will support the bill until the parliamentarian renders her judgment on the measure.

What we’re hearing: Sinema is looking at significantly beefing up the reconciliation bill’s funding for droughts and water security in the Southwest, sources familiar with her thought process tell Axios.

  • She views the current $369 billion climate and energy portion of the bill as insufficient for addressing threat resilience funding.

On taxes, Sinema has concerns with the structure of the 15% corporate minimum “book tax” and whether the burden could get passed down to employees, the sources said.

  • Sinema supports cracking down on tax avoidance, but has long voiced her opposition to closing the carried interest loophole.
  • She’s concerned that the provision, which would contribute $14 billion toward paying down the bill’s $740 billion total, could undermine economic competitiveness, the sources said.

Behind-the-scenes: Sinema has been meeting privately, both virtually and in-person, with key stakeholders in Arizona as she continues to work through her assessment of the bill.

  • Sinema last week visited Flagstaff, Arizona, where she met with local officials who are still reeling from recent flooding and a wildfire that ravaged the state.
  • Arizona is one of the fastest-warming states in the US, and the state’s largest county, Maricopa County, has already hit a record for heat-related deaths this year.
  • “There are some who were surprised to learn Kyrsten was enthusiastic about the climate provisions last year, because they rightly consider her a centrist. But she’s a Senator from Arizona, first and foremost,” John LaBombard, Sinema’s former communications director and SVP at ROKK Solutions tells Axios.

in to phone call tuesday with Arizona’s Chamber of Commerce, local business leaders and manufacturers discussed with Sinema what the proposed 15% corporate minimum tax and closure of the carried interest loophole would mean for Arizona.

  • The private equity industry, which has contributed heavily to Sinema, is lobbying her heavily on shooting down the carried interest portion.
  • “I remember last year, she was hearing feedback from small business owners, concerned about the potential implications of any tax policy changes, and how it might affect their capital investment streams,'” LaBombard said.
  • “She is somebody who errs on the side of caution when it comes to changing tax policies. … obviously, I think [their input] shaped where she is on the economic parts of this bill.”

What they’re saying: “What’s clear from our conversation is she’s taking a thoughtful and diligent approach as she considers her position on this legislation,” Danny Seiden, CEO of the Arizona Chamber, told Axios’ Hans Nichols.

  • “She was very interested in learning what specific impacts the tax provisions will have on Arizona manufacturers — and we believe she will consider these implications seriously as negotiations continue over the coming days.”

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Categories
Technology

This Steam Chart Topper Is A Perfect Twist On GOTY Contender Vampire Survivors

This Steam Chart Topper Is A Perfect Twist On GOTY Contender Vampire Survivors

vampire survivors is a very simple gothic roguelike that snuck onto Steam Early Access at the end of 2021. By the start of this year it had begun blowing up, and the game that lets you “be the bullet hell” has since racked up over 100,000 positive reviews. Now it has a spiritual sibling out called 20 Minutes Till Dawn that asks the all important question: what if vampire survivors had guns? The answer is it would be another Steam hit.

While not nearly as big as vampire survivors, 20 Minutes Till Dawn managed to draft off of the former’s success thanks to small but significant tweaks to its core formula. Both games are about maneuvering around a 2D map trying to survive a horde of enemies while negotiating a steady stream of random upgrade trade-offs. But where combat in vampire survivors is 99% automated, 20 Minutes Till Dawn functions like a twin-stick shooter complete with limited bullets in the chamber and regular reload animations.

Created in just a few months by solo developer Flanne and released in June, it’s horror-based but trades 8-bit-style pixel art for lo-fi anime vibes. Its difficulty curve is also steeper. You move slower while shooting, reloading takes time, and rather than a hit point meter your life is represented by just a few discrete heart icons (complete with veins and regular pulsing). In this case more challenge equals more agency, and where vampire survivors can occasionally feel like an auto-battler, 20 Minutes Till Dawn requires more constant vigilance, especially early on in each new run.

Initially you’re mowing down swarms of baby Cthulhu-looking creatures and demonic trees. Later serpentine gargoyles join the mix as well as mini-boss encounters that require you to switch up your tactics. Collecting the runes they leave behind lets you level up and earn upgrades like magical ice daggers, baby dragons, and, of course, more bullets and wider spreads for your guns (the runes are also spent outside of each run on permeant unlockable and upgrades) . Enemies take longer to kill at first, and sometimes 20 Minutes Till Dawn can feel a bit rougher around the edges than the smooth dopamine drip of vampire survivorsbut the greater sense of control over my character and each run keeps me coming back.

the Hades-like meta progression is still where the most fun is, and level-ups come early and often. There’s also an array of extra characters and starting guns to unlock that offer even more room for experimentation. As the name suggests, you’re trying to survive against a clock counting down from 20 minutes (vampire survivors last till minute 30). There’s even a compressed 10-minute mode where you can experience the full cycle of horde survival in half the time.

It’s common for certain sub-genres of games to consistently do very well on Steam. even still, 20 Minutes Till Dawn‘s meteoric rise is noteworthy. Chris Zukowski reported on the whole mini-cycle at his blog, showing how it made all the right moves to capitalize on a trail blazed by vampire survivors. He’s quick to point out, though, that it only worked because 20 Minutes Till Dawn is a fun game that delivers its own smart spin on the formula. Flanne had been working on an homage to Final Fantasy Tactics called Spiritlink Tactics for five years when he pivoted, and now he’s devoting all of his time to continuing to update his surprise hit.

Update 0.7.4 just came on July 30, adding a new character called Luna who can use black holes to crowd-control enemy mobs. Like its Early Access inspiration, it feels as if 20 Minutes Till Dawn is only going to keep getting better.

Categories
Entertainment

Home and Away reveals first look as four new characters arrive

Home and Away reveals first look as four new characters arrive

Home and Away spoilers follow for UK viewers.

Home and Away has introduced four new characters who might drive a wedge between Felicity Newman and Tane Parata.

In upcoming scenes to air in the UK, viewers will get acquainted with Felicity’s (Jacqui Purvis) friends Bob (Rob Mallett), Eden (Stephanie Panozzo), Kirby (Angelina Thomson) and Remi (Adam Rowland), who formed the band Lyrik.

Felicity and Tane (Ethan Browne) are shocked when a band have an impromptu concert on their front lawn. While Tane is less than impressed, Felicity immediately recognizes her old mates and brings them inside.

lyrik arrive in summer bay

Channel 5

embargo 01082022 lyrik arrive in summer bay

Channel 5

Related: Home and Away confirms new love interest for Rose Delaney

Lyrik have been on the road for a while and are in need of a place to stay. A grumpy Tane agrees that they can stay for the night, but she does not want this rowdy bunch around for any longer than necessary.

Meanwhile, Felicity is elated to be with her pals from the city again. But after tension between the band members begin to show, and Felicity fails to convince Mackenzie Booth (Emily Weir) to book Lyrik to play at Salt, it becomes clear that the reunion can’t last very long.

embargo 01082022 lyrik arrive in summer bay

Channel 5

embargo 01082022 lyrik arrive in summer bay

Channel 5

Related: Home and Away confirms why Jasmine Delaney won’t be back

Despite Felicity insisting that Tane should get to know them, he gets frustrated when Lyrik takes over the living room and pulls the plug as they’re jamming.

But they finally seem to reach a common ground when the band promise to follow house rules and Tane and bass player Eden bond over wild memories of Felicity.

Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5 and 6pm on 5STAR. First-look screenings air at 6.30pm on 5STAR and the show also streams on My5.

In Australia, the show airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7pm on Channel 7 and streams on 7plus.

Selected classic episodes are available via Amazon Prime Video in the UK.

Read more Home and Away spoilers on our dedicated homepage

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CONFIRMED – Diogo Jota signs new long-term Liverpool contract – Liverpool FC

CONFIRMED - Diogo Jota signs new long-term Liverpool contract - Liverpool FC

Diogo Jota has put pen to paper on a new five-year contract with Liverpool, with the club rewarding the excellent form of their No. 20 since joining in 2020.

Jota has provided an excellent addition to the Reds’ attacking ranks since his £45 million transfer from Wolves two years ago, with 34 goals in 85 games.

Such has been his emphatic form that the long-standing front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino have undergone a more comfortable shift, with a new-look attack now in place.

Salah is among those to have signed a new contract this summer, and now Jota has joined the Egyptian in agreeing an extension to his deal.

Liverpool have announced a new long-term deal for Jota, which is believed to be for five years and on a significant increase on the terms finalized back in 2020.

“Really proud, I have to say,” the Portuguese told LiverpoolFC.com.

LONDON, ENGLAND - Wednesday, March 16, 2022: Liverpool's Diogo Jota celebrates after scoring the first goal during the FA Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC at the Emirates Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

“Obviously since I arrived two years ago I established myself as an important player in this team – that’s what I wanted from the beginning.

“Now, signing a new long-term deal, it’s obviously from the club’s perspective proof of the belief in myself as a player.

“For me, obviously it’s really good to establish I’ll be here for a while.

“So, the beginning of a new season, let’s do it.”

Jota’s new deal follows extensions for Salah as well as James Milner and Joe Gomez, with Naby Keita and Harvey Elliott expected to be next in line.

.