Category Archives: News

Paris Paralympics: Wang Ziying, China’s first wheelchair tennis semi-finalist, eyes medal

Wang Ziying has described how wheelchair tennis modified her life after turning into the primary Chinese language participant to achieve a Paralympic semi-final.

The world No 5 was the one remaining ladies’s singles podium eager for China after toppling Angelica Bernal of Colombia 6-2, 6-3 within the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros on Tuesday.

4 Chinese language gamers had reached the final eight – a primary – however Zhu Zhenzhen misplaced her match to Japan’s Kamiji Yui 6-1, 6-2, whereas China’s different two contenders, Li Xiaohui and Guo Luoyao, additionally exited.

Wang, nevertheless, edged nearer to her childhood dream of successful a Paralympic medal, establishing a last-four conflict with top-ranked Diede de Groot of the Netherlands on Wednesday night Hong Kong time.

China had 4 quarter-finalists within the ladies’s singles at Roland-Garros. Photograph: Reuters

After going through world No 6 Bernal for the primary time, Wang admitted to having felt “fairly nervous”, earlier than finishing what she known as “an emotional feat”.

Plein Air Competition Coming To Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Plein Air Smokies is ready to kickoff September 21 in Nice Smoky Mountains Nationwide Park/Pals of the Smokies

Practically two dozen established artists will likely be in Nice Smoky Mountains Nationwide Park later this month to reveal their abilities throughout the annual Plein Air Smokies occasion staged by Pals of the Smokies.

The artists will create one-of-a-kind work that seize the fantastic thing about the Smokies and promote the paintings to lift cash for the park.

The occasion is scheduled for September 21-28. The week begins with artists venturing to areas all through the Smokies to color scenic landscapes. The paintings will likely be accessible to buy September 27-28 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Now in its third 12 months, the earlier two years of Plein Air Smokies raised greater than $160,000 for the park.

Plein Air Smokies additionally provides native college students from two space colleges the prospect to study immediately from skilled artists. The scholars chosen by their colleges will spend a day in Nice Smoky Mountains Nationwide Park creating their very own items with instruction from plein air artists on strategies distinctive to out of doors portray.

“This occasion celebrates the longstanding custom of artists capturing and sharing the fantastic thing about the Smokies,” stated Dana Soehn, president and CEO of Pals of the Smokies. “Art work is a crucial means for individuals to make significant connections to this particular place.”

The primary alternative to buy the work will likely be on the Collectors Soiree on September 27 at Regas Sq. Occasions in downtown Knoxville. Tickets to the soiree fundraiser are $150 every and may be bought now on the Plein Air Smokies web site. Art work remaining after the soiree will likely be accessible for the general public to purchase Saturday, September 28, at Regas Sq. Occasions.

The festivities proceed all through downtown Knoxville on the morning of Saturday, September 28, with a Fast Draw contest anybody can enter. Competing artists should register on-line and pay a $30 entry payment by September 20. The morning of September 28, artists will check in on the Market Sq. stage after which have till 11 a.m. to color the placement of their selection in downtown Knoxville. Judges will overview the paintings at 11:30 a.m. with prizes introduced at midday. Artwork created throughout the Fast Draw can even be accessible to buy. Full particulars on the Fast Draw guidelines, schedule, and find out how to register are on the Plein Air Smokies web site.

A prestigious prize of the Fast Draw open competitors is an invite to be one of many Plein Air Smokies artists in 2025. Susan Waters of Georgia gained the 2023 Fast Draw open competitors and returns in 2024. She joins plein air artists Harsh Agrawal, Marc Anderson, Zufar Bikbov, John Caggiano, Henry Coe, Vlad Milan Duchev, Orville Giguiento, John Guernsey, Neal Hughes, Shelby Keefe, Chuck Marshall, Dylan McKnight, Charles Newman, Kathie Odom, Antwan Ramar, Jeremy Sams, Richard Sneary, Richie Vios, and Stewart White.

Extra data on this 12 months’s artists, sponsors, and the complete schedule of occasions can be found on the Plein Air Smokies web site.

Oregon hospital hit with $303M lawsuit after a nurse is accused of replacing fentanyl with tap water

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Attorneys representing each dwelling and deceased sufferers of an Oregon hospital filed a $303 million lawsuit towards the power on Tuesday after a nurse was accused of changing prescribed fentanyl with nonsterile faucet water in intravenous drips.

The wrongful dying and medical malpractice grievance accuses Asante Rogue Regional Medical Middle in Medford of negligence. The go well with says the hospital failed to observe medicine administration procedures and stop drug diversion by their workers, amongst different claims.

A spokesperson stated the hospital had no remark.

Dani Marie Schofield, a former nurse on the hospital, was arrested in June and charged with 44 counts of second-degree assault. The fees stemmed from a police investigation into the theft and misuse of managed substances that resulted in affected person infections. She has pleaded not responsible.

Schofield will not be named or listed as a defendant within the grievance filed Tuesday. A separate go well with was filed towards Schofield and the hospital earlier this 12 months on behalf of the property of a 65-year-old man who died.

The 18 plaintiffs within the new go well with embrace 9 sufferers and the estates of 9 sufferers who died. In keeping with the go well with, the hospital started informing them in December that an worker had changed fentanyl with faucet water, inflicting bacterial infections.

“All Plaintiff Sufferers had been contaminated with bacterium uniquely related to waterborne transmission,” the grievance says.

The entire plaintiffs skilled psychological anguish, in line with the go well with, which seeks hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in damages for medical bills, misplaced earnings and the ache and struggling of those that died.

Medford police started investigating late final 12 months, after hospital officers observed a troubling spike in central line infections from July 2022 by July 2023 and instructed police they believed an worker had been diverting fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a robust artificial opioid that has helped gas the nation’s overdose epidemic, however it is usually utilized in professional medical settings to alleviate extreme ache. Drug theft from hospitals is a longstanding downside.

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James Darren, ‘Gidget’ teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 | News, Sports, Jobs

LOS ANGELES — James Darren, a teen idol who helped ignite the Sixties browsing craze as a charismatic seaside boy paired off with Sandra Dee within the hit movie “Gidget,” died Monday at 88.
Darren died in his sleep at a Los Angeles hospital, his son Jim Moret advised information retailers.
Moret advised The Hollywood Reporter that Darren was supposed have had an aortic valve alternative however was too weak for the surgical procedure. “I at all times thought he would pull by,” his son advised the leisure commerce, “as a result of he was so cool. He was at all times cool.”
In his lengthy profession, Darren acted, sang and constructed up a profitable behind-the-scenes profession as a tv director, helming episodes of such well-known sequence as “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place.” Within the Eighties, he was Officer Jim Corrigan on the tv cop present “T.J. Hooker.”
However to younger film followers of the late Fifties, he can be remembered finest as Moondoggie, the dark-haired surfer boy within the smash 1959 launch “Gidget.” Dee starred because the title character, a spunky Southern Californian who hits the seaside and ultimately falls in love with Moondoggie.
“I used to be in love with Sandra,” Darren later recalled. “I assumed that she was completely good as Gidget. She had large attraction.”
The movie was primarily based on a novel {that a} California man, Frederick Kohner, had written about his personal teenage daughter and helped spur curiosity in browsing — one which influenced pop music, slang and even style.
For Darren, his success with teen followers led to a recording contract, because it did with many younger actors on the time, amongst them Tab Hunter and Annette Funicello. Two of Darren’s singles, “Goodbye Merciless World” and “Her Royal Majesty,” reached the High 10 of the Billboard Scorching 100 chart. (“Goodbye Merciless World” additionally appeared in Steven Spielberg’s 2022 semi-autobiographical movie, “The Fabelmans.” ) Different singles included “Gidget” and “Angel Face.”
Darren was the one “Gidget” solid member who appeared in each its sequels, 1961’s “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” and 1963’s “Gidget Goes to Rome.” Dee was changed by Deborah Walley within the second movie and Cindy Carol within the third. (“Gidget” later turned a tv present, launching the profession of Sally Subject. )
“That they had me underneath contract; I used to be a prisoner,” Darren advised Leisure Weekly in 2004. “However with these beautiful younger women, it was the perfect jail I feel I’ll ever be in.”
As a contract participant at Columbia Studios, Darren appeared in grown-up movies, too, together with “The Brothers Rico,” “Operation Meatball” and “The Weapons of Navarone.”
By the mid-’60s, when Darren appeared in “For These Who Suppose Younger” and “The Energetic Set,” his big-screen performing profession was virtually over. He appeared in only a handful of flicks after the Sixties ended, final showing in 2017’s “Fortunate,” directed by John Carroll Lynch.
However he remained energetic on tv, showing as a lead on the sci-fi present “The Time Tunnel” within the late Sixties, and doing visitor spots and small recurring roles in TV reveals similar to “The Love Boat,” “Hawaii 5-O” and “Fantasy Island.”
Darren was a sequence common for 4 seasons of the William Shatner-starrer “T.J. Hooker” within the Eighties. Whereas showing on the present, he seen that no director was listed for an upcoming sequence and requested if he might check out for it.
“When it was proven, I bought a number of provides to direct,” he advised the New York Every day Information. “Quickly I used to be getting so many provides to direct, I sort of gave up performing and singing.”
For nearly two years, Darren directed episodes of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Hunter,” “Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills 90210” and different sequence. He returned to performing within the Nineties with small roles in “Melrose Place” and “Star Trek, Deep House 9.”

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LOS ANGELES — James Darren, a teen idol who helped ignite the Sixties browsing craze as a charismatic seaside boy paired off with Sandra Dee within the hit movie “Gidget,” died Monday at 88.

Darren died in his sleep at a Los Angeles hospital, his son Jim Moret advised information retailers.

Moret advised The Hollywood Reporter that Darren was supposed have had an aortic valve alternative however was too weak for the surgical procedure. “I at all times thought he would pull by,” his son advised the leisure commerce, “as a result of he was so cool. He was at all times cool.”

In his lengthy profession, Darren acted, sang and constructed up a profitable behind-the-scenes profession as a tv director, helming episodes of such well-known sequence as “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place.” Within the Eighties, he was Officer Jim Corrigan on the tv cop present “T.J. Hooker.”

However to younger film followers of the late Fifties, he can be remembered finest as Moondoggie, the dark-haired surfer boy within the smash 1959 launch “Gidget.” Dee starred because the title character, a spunky Southern Californian who hits the seaside and ultimately falls in love with Moondoggie.

“I used to be in love with Sandra,” Darren later recalled. “I assumed that she was completely good as Gidget. She had large attraction.”

The movie was primarily based on a novel {that a} California man, Frederick Kohner, had written about his personal teenage daughter and helped spur curiosity in browsing — one which influenced pop music, slang and even style.

For Darren, his success with teen followers led to a recording contract, because it did with many younger actors on the time, amongst them Tab Hunter and Annette Funicello. Two of Darren’s singles, “Goodbye Merciless World” and “Her Royal Majesty,” reached the High 10 of the Billboard Scorching 100 chart. (“Goodbye Merciless World” additionally appeared in Steven Spielberg’s 2022 semi-autobiographical movie, “The Fabelmans.” ) Different singles included “Gidget” and “Angel Face.”

Darren was the one “Gidget” solid member who appeared in each its sequels, 1961’s “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” and 1963’s “Gidget Goes to Rome.” Dee was changed by Deborah Walley within the second movie and Cindy Carol within the third. (“Gidget” later turned a tv present, launching the profession of Sally Subject. )

“That they had me underneath contract; I used to be a prisoner,” Darren advised Leisure Weekly in 2004. “However with these beautiful younger women, it was the perfect jail I feel I’ll ever be in.”

As a contract participant at Columbia Studios, Darren appeared in grown-up movies, too, together with “The Brothers Rico,” “Operation Meatball” and “The Weapons of Navarone.”

By the mid-’60s, when Darren appeared in “For These Who Suppose Younger” and “The Energetic Set,” his big-screen performing profession was virtually over. He appeared in only a handful of flicks after the Sixties ended, final showing in 2017’s “Fortunate,” directed by John Carroll Lynch.

However he remained energetic on tv, showing as a lead on the sci-fi present “The Time Tunnel” within the late Sixties, and doing visitor spots and small recurring roles in TV reveals similar to “The Love Boat,” “Hawaii 5-O” and “Fantasy Island.”

Darren was a sequence common for 4 seasons of the William Shatner-starrer “T.J. Hooker” within the Eighties. Whereas showing on the present, he seen that no director was listed for an upcoming sequence and requested if he might check out for it.

“When it was proven, I bought a number of provides to direct,” he advised the New York Every day Information. “Quickly I used to be getting so many provides to direct, I sort of gave up performing and singing.”

For nearly two years, Darren directed episodes of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Hunter,” “Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills 90210” and different sequence. He returned to performing within the Nineties with small roles in “Melrose Place” and “Star Trek, Deep House 9.”

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The Casting Of Frank Stone Review

Cedar Hills police officer Sam Inexperienced storms into the hellish inferno that’s the Cedar Metal Mill furnace, lit up an all-consuming crimson. Frank Stone in his torn, bloodied metallic masks towers over a wailing child who lies on a catwalk by the smoldering flames beneath. I performed this chapter as a part of my The Casting of Frank Stonepreview final month — Sam will get hooked on a metallic pipe, Lifeless by Daylight-style, and has to fend off the killer with nothing however his personal two fists and a flashlight. Again then, I used to be decided to win and save the infant, so I locked in for each fast time occasion. However right here, I sat again and let him fail. It’s basically a tutorial, so I do know he can’t die… proper?




Proper. As an alternative, his eye was gouged out by a big, dirtied thumb, and reasonably than wriggling off the pipe, he collapsed to the bottom with it nonetheless wedged inside his flesh, completely damaging his shoulder. I grabbed my gun on the final attainable second as Frank held the infant within the air above the burning fireplace and shot him sq. within the head. In my preview, the infant was nonetheless on the bottom screaming as Frank fell into the pit, engulfed by the flames and jutting metallic spikes, however right here? Each plummeted to their deaths.


The Casting of Frank Stone is a Lifeless by Daylight spin-off from Supermassive Video games within the type of Till Daybreak, The Quarry, and The Darkish Footage Anthology. However greater than all three of those titles, it excels on the subject of participant selection. I used to be astounded at simply what number of little particulars pile as much as fully change the route of the narrative, which the primary chapter sums up completely.

You may both run up the ramp or climb the ladder to succeed in Frank, which is offered as a rapid-fire key selection, however each paths in the end result in the identical consequence. The distinction as a substitute comes from these smaller moments just like the QTEs—due to my failures, Sam can be lacking a watch and struggling a everlasting damage for your entire sport, and failing to save lots of the infant will solely worsen his inevitable PTSD and make him that rather more obsessive over the mill and due to this fact that rather more distant a father. It’s a special path that radically adjustments his characterisation, reasonably than opening an arbitrary new department within the story.


In a sport pushed by selection, it’s refreshing to see the main focus shifted to those quieter moments, because the payoff hours later into the story is that rather more satisfying once you realise that your then inconsequential choice had such a wide-reaching knock-on impact. Somewhat than on the spot gratification, it’s a gradual burn that provides extra replay worth as a result of each little element is value investigating additional.


One of many new options in The Casting of Frank Stone is the Slicing Room Ground, a timeline that exhibits each single choice within the sport. These are blacked out till you uncover them, however you may see how many individuals selected what, and what number of paths you’re lacking. You may then click on on choose scenes and re-open them to play via that selection once more to vary characters’ fates and discover hidden strands within the story. Not needing to start out a brand new playthrough to see all the things the narrative has to supply is a blessing.

Whereas it runs the danger of pulling again the curtain and demystifying the intrigue by making decisions really feel mechanical, these smaller particulars curb this drawback totally. As an alternative of opening new paths via binary decisions, you must puzzle out what these blacked out containers are by revisiting older chapters and discovering what may alter a personality’s destiny and even simply change a miniscule second of dialogue.


There are three time durations in The Casting of Frank Stone: 1963, 1980, and 2024. Within the ‘80s, we observe an beginner movie crew slash buddy group Linda, Jaime, and Chris. In a later chapter, Jaime can die (probably not a spoiler—because it’s a Supermassive sport, everybody can kick the bucket if you happen to mess up), however it’s first offered as a easy narrative selection. Selection A results in his loss of life, selection B saves him.

The Slicing Room Ground, nevertheless, exhibits a diverting third path after Selection A with out the cranium icon marking his premature demise. There’s a strategy to save him. My thoughts was racing, what may probably get him out of this predicament? My ideas shot again to the third chapter when the crew’s digital camera breaks and you’ll both attempt to get it repaired on the drugstore or purchase a brand new one on the curiosity store.


You’ll all the time find yourself visiting each, however in my first playthrough, Chris went to the pharmacy by herself after the curiosity store. After wanting round, I discovered a field of firecrackers and she or he contemplated utilizing them within the movie, if solely she had sufficient cash. On the time, I didn’t assume a lot of it, however with the concept that Jaime could possibly be saved by one thing earlier on within the sport, this felt like a promising lead. So, I replayed the chapter and went to the pharmacy first with $20 in my pocket—lo and behold, Jaime purchased them.

I returned to the later chapter, selected Selection A, and all of the sudden, I had a QTE to make use of the firecrackers. Jaime was saved. The Slicing Room Ground doesn’t rip again the intrigue, it transforms the alternatives you make into mysteries, appearing like a detective board with clues to suss out. If anyone dies otherwise you make a careless mistake, it doesn’t really feel like a punishment, however a possibility.


The Casting of Frank Stone Jaime and Robert looking at each other, blurred, while Chris walks into frame

With this being the primary occasion of the Slicing Room Ground, it isn’t good. Sadly, you may’t simply change a selection and soar forward to see the knock-on impact. It’s essential to play via your entire sport from that time another time to see the way it shapes the long run, which might be tedious once you’re attempting to change a selected level a number of chapters forward. Every second is related by a line, and your particular path can be illuminated in purple, so it’s a disgrace which you can’t merely direct this purple line your self after you’ve got overwhelmed the sport to extra simply unravel moments within the story.


Selections hardly matter if the narrative doesn’t maintain up, although. Fortunately, The Casting of Frank Stone is a gripping horror that embraces the style with open arms. It doesn’t use IP or acquainted faces to hammer dwelling that it is a celebration of all issues spooky, as a substitute mixing quite a lot of genres meticulously to pay homage to a whole century of horror cinema. We open with a slasher-esque showdown, reduce to a psychological nightmare sequence, after which drive alongside a darkish highway passing a hitchhiker to a creepy manor that feels one half homicide thriller, one half haunted home.

Later we see extra sci-fi horror, with segments that really feel ripped proper out of 13 Ghosts, and Eldritch nightmares akin to Color out of House. This love for the style runs via The Casting of Frank Stone’s very foundations, with one of many strongest teams of characters we’ve had since Till Daybreak. I used to be enamoured by Jaime and Chris’ relationship, and it was a pleasure to see simply how a lot individuals modified between eras, like Linda who grew from a quiet, nervous buddy dragged into filming shlock, to an artsy, daring auteur making elevated horror. Even characters just like the unbearable Stan, a wealthy snob who doesn’t ever allow you to neglect it, added a lot character to this world.


Nonetheless, with such a big forged spanning three eras, not each character will get time within the highlight. Chapter 2 introduces us to Madi, a valley woman approach out of her depth. She’s endearing, wrapped up in a thriller from the second we meet her, however assured and succesful, stepping foot right into a horror nightmare and but by no means backing down. However with the sport alternating between 1980 and 2024, the characters shared between the 2 eras like Linda and Sam rapidly push characters like Madi to the wayside, leaving them woefully underdeveloped—I’d have beloved to see extra of Madi, Robert, Bonnie, and even Stan, however there’s simply no room.

The Casting of Frank Stone Madi, Stan and Linda in a museum surrounded by statues in glass cabinets


I gained’t delve into spoilers—the precise narrative is unbelievably fascinating and full of peculiar twists and turns foreshadowed from the very begin which might be unimaginable to look at unfold—however what actually hooked me was the forged. I did my greatest to save lots of these I beloved as a result of by the tip, I actually cared about them. And the much less concerning the titular villain, the higher.

The Casting of Frank Stone is amongst Supermassive’s greatest work but, with one in every of its strongest casts, a narrative that emboldens Lifeless by Daylight’s world whereas standing by itself two toes, and a lot thought and care behind each single interplay. Not solely is Frank Stone its greatest since Till Daybreak, it even surpasses that seminal fashionable basic.

Former aide to NY Gov. Kathy Hochul charged with being Chinese agent

A former aide to 2 New York governors was charged Tuesday with performing as an unlawful agent of the Chinese language authorities who used her state positions to subtly advance Beijing’s agenda in trade for monetary advantages price tens of millions of {dollars}.

Linda Solar, who held quite a few posts in New York state authorities, together with deputy chief of employees for Gov. Kathy Hochul and deputy range officer for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was arrested Tuesday morning alongside together with her husband, Chris Hu, at their $4 million house on Lengthy Island.

Federal prosecutors stated Solar, on the request of Chinese language officers, blocked representatives of the Taiwanese authorities from gaining access to the governor’s workplace and formed New York governmental messaging to align with the priorities of the Chinese language authorities, amongst different issues.

In return, her husband received assist for his enterprise actions in China — a monetary enhance that prosecutors stated allowed the couple to purchase their multimillion-dollar property in Manhasset, New York, a condominium in Hawaii for $1.9 million, and luxurious vehicles together with a 2024 Ferrari, the indictment stated.

Solar additionally obtained smaller items, the indictment stated, together with tickets to performances by a visiting Chinese language orchestra and ballet teams and “Nanjing-style salted geese” that had been ready by the private chef of a Chinese language authorities official and delivered to Solar’s dad and mom’ house in New York.

If true, the allegations present that Chinese language authorities had been in a position to acquire affect on the highest ranges of state authorities in New York for almost a decade.

“As alleged, whereas showing to serve the individuals of New York as Deputy Chief of Employees inside the New York State Government Chamber, the defendant and her husband really labored to additional the pursuits of the Chinese language authorities and the CCP,” United States Lawyer Breon Peace stated, utilizing the acronym for the Chinese language Communist Social gathering. “The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s household to the tune of tens of millions of {dollars}.”

Solar and Hu pleaded not responsible throughout an preliminary court docket look on Tuesday afternoon in Brooklyn and will probably be launched on bond. Solar has been barred from having any contact with the Folks’s Republic of China’s consulate and mission.

Her protection lawyer, Jarrod Schaeffer, stated, “We’re wanting ahead to addressing these prices in court docket. Our shopper is understandably upset that these prices have been introduced.”

The case is a part of a broader Justice Division effort to root out secret brokers for the Chinese language authorities working within the U.S. Lately, federal authorities have charged Chinese language nationals not solely with covertly advancing Beijing’s pursuits but in addition with harassing and intimidating dissidents on the federal government’s behalf.

Final yr, the Justice Division charged a pair of males with establishing a secret police station in New York Metropolis whereas performing underneath the course and management of the Chinese language authorities.

Solar, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, labored in state authorities for about 15 years, holding jobs in Cuomo’s administration and finally turning into Hochul’s deputy chief of employees, in line with her LinkedIn profile. In November 2022, Solar took a job on the New York Division of Labor, as deputy commissioner for strategic enterprise growth, however she left that job months later in March 2023, the profile stated.

In a press release, a spokesperson for Hochul’s workplace stated the administration fired Solar after “discovering proof of misconduct.”

“This particular person was employed by the Government Chamber greater than a decade in the past. We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering proof of misconduct, instantly reported her actions to regulation enforcement and have assisted regulation enforcement all through this course of,” the assertion reads.

The indictment stated that, amongst different issues, Solar labored to make sure that representatives of Taiwan’s authorities couldn’t get conferences with high-ranking New York state officers. The Chinese language authorities considers Taiwan to be a part of China.

It additionally outlined a sequence of exchanges Solar had with officers within the Chinese language Consulate in New York in January 2021, when Cuomo was nonetheless governor and Hochul was lieutenant governor. Neither chief is called within the doc however are as an alternative known as “Politician-1” and “Politician-2.”

After Chinese language officers requested a Lunar New 12 months video from the governor, Solar stated Hochul may in all probability do it and requested for “speaking factors of belongings you need her to say.”

“Principally vacation needs and hope for friendship and cooperation / Nothing too political,” an official informed her, in line with the indictment.

Solar later informed a special official that she had argued with Hochul’s speechwriter over the draft, as a result of the speechwriter insisted on mentioning the “Uyghur state of affairs” in China. She promised that she wouldn’t let that occur, and the ultimate speech didn’t point out the Muslim ethnic minority, in line with the indictment.

Solar’s alleged actions in New York paved the best way for profitable enterprise offers for Hu in China, prosecutors stated, together with discussions a couple of enterprise to export frozen seafood to China. Hu then tried to hide the earnings by numerous strategies within the U.S., in line with the indictment.

On the arraignment, Assistant U.S. Lawyer Alexander Solomon stated there have been a “multitude of shell and enterprise entities” used within the crimes, including, “That is no atypical monetary fraud.”

The FBI searched the couple’s multimillion house in Manhasset in late July however declined to launch particulars on the time.

Solar is charged with violating the Overseas Brokers Registration Act, cash laundering and serving to individuals commit visa fraud and enter the U.S. illegally. Hu is charged with cash laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit financial institution fraud and misuse of technique of identification. Neither has been charged with espionage.

Cuomo spokesperson Wealthy Azzopardi downplayed Solar’s attain within the former governor’s administration, saying she “labored in a handful of companies and was certainly one of many neighborhood liaisons who had little to no interplay with the governor.”

Solar and Hu stay in a gated neighborhood on Lengthy Island referred to as Stone Hill. The couple bought the home in 2021 however positioned it in a belief earlier this yr, information present.

___

Related Press reporters Michael R. Sisak and Larry Neumeister in New York and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

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The Casting of Frank Stone (PS5) Review

After I sat all the way down to take a primary have a look at The Casting of Frank Stone, I used to be initially hooked. It had been so lengthy since I performed a Telltale-style, choice-based interactive film like this that I used to be genuinely excited to see how all the pieces proceeded. Not solely that, however as somebody who didn’t get loopy deep into Lifeless by Daylight, I used to be to see how this recreation would flesh out the world. 

The Casting of Frank Stone is a curious little expertise. There’s a lot to love about it, and a lot I genuinely don’t. And whereas I don’t suppose I’ll be going again to it to see how issues might need turned out in another way, it definitely compelled me to keep it up proper to the very finish—which is one thing not a variety of video games are likely to do. 

I touched on the story briefly in my preview, however I don’t suppose I used to be ready for the way wildly it was going to veer in loopy instructions. Whereas the idea of the narrative includes a killer named Frank Stone, who’s in the end gunned down initially of the sport, it’s truly just a little extra sophisticated than that. Leaping to the Eighties, the story includes a gaggle of teenagers who’re filming a horror film which, pulled in by the machinations of a girl named Augustine Liber,  unintentionally releases the spirit of Frank Stone.

Nevertheless, by way of the usage of a wierd digicam, they can entice the vengeful spirit in celluloid and vow to separate it, guaranteeing it can’t be unleashed on the world ever once more. Flash to 2024, and a gaggle of strangers are known as to a mysterious mansion by the identical Augustine Liber—every stated to own a portion of a wierd movie. Little do they know that this invitation is likely to be to their final doom.

In true Supermassive vogue, The Casting of Frank Stone seems like a B-movie from prime to backside. It’s obtained a macabre sense of humour because it’s full of hammy characters you virtually need to see die, and it has a sure cheesiness to it that makes it profoundly pleasing. Not solely that, nevertheless it additionally offers a easy framework for the plot of Lifeless By Daylight for anybody who could not have performed it. Nevertheless, if I’ve any criticisms of the story, it’s that it may have used a bit extra focus, or maybe a bit extra tightening. 

The Casting Of Frank Stone (Playstation 5) ReviewThe Casting Of Frank Stone (Playstation 5) Review

Lots of in-service to the “Die Collectively” recreation mode—which we’ll get to later—so the narrative does just a little an excessive amount of leaping round between the 2 time durations and characters and finally ends up feeling a bit extra pointless than disorienting. This speedy shift makes The Casting of Frank Stone’s story really feel considerably rushed as sure plot factors—or selections that you simply suppose are going to have an effect on the plot—don’t actually go anyplace, and different issues simply change on a whim. It’s arduous to inform how a lot of this was intentional. 

As I discussed in my preview, the gameplay is kind of the usual Supermassive affair. Whereas gamers will discover spooky environments and do some gentle puzzle fixing, the majority of the sport is pushed by character interactions the place making selections can have an effect on how gamers really feel about you and the way the story progresses. Whereas this felt pretty rudimentary once I began the sport, the longer I performed the extra these outdated acquainted annoyances started to creep in. 

Gamers all have relationships with one another, and sure selections can have an effect on how they really feel about you, however so typically, it felt like making rational, sensible selections would end in a lowered relationship ranking. At one level, once I dared to query the motives of why Augustine Liber had known as the three characters to her mansion, I used to be hit with a “Madison was disapproving of your suspicions.” And I sat there considering, “We’re in a creepy mansion with an individual who hasn’t precisely been forthright with us. I don’t actually care how you are feeling about my suspicions, Madi; WE’RE IN A SUSPICIOUS SITUATION!”

The Casting Of Frank Stone (Playstation 5) ReviewThe Casting Of Frank Stone (Playstation 5) Review

Moreover, The Casting of Frank Stone suffers from the issue of binary alternative choices, by no means actually giving the gamers tangible choices to cope with the state of affairs, which bleeds into the sport’s want for the participant to discover and discover sure tidbits of data. Each time I discovered one thing and was given a immediate as to the way it is likely to be helpful, it virtually by no means got here up or resulted in a lowered character rating. 

“Like I stated in my preview, The Casting of Frank Stone finds a technique to implement the gameplay of Lifeless By Daylight into this expertise in a manner that’s each campy and enjoyable.”

It creates a considerably pointless drawback the place the sport needs gamers to discover and makes them suppose doing so will give them an edge in dialog, however makes it fairly clear pretty shortly that it doesn’t thus disincentivizing exploration. That is the place that aforementioned rush feels current within the gameplay as effectively. In a variety of methods, The Casting of Frank Stone may have performed higher with a bit extra linear design. 

There’s this sort of omnipresent have to discover areas, however the one motive to take action is to gather trinkets or references to Lifeless By Daylight. That is so obvious that gamers might be in the midst of speaking, and for those who veer off the trail to discover, they’ll simply cease mid-sentence, and if you get again, they’ll say one thing like, “In order I used to be saying…” and simply decide up at first of the dialogue. 

The Casting Of Frank Stone (Playstation 5) ReviewThe Casting Of Frank Stone (Playstation 5) Review

And for that reason, I felt myself getting pulled out of The Casting of Frank Stone fairly continuously. If the exploration had felt a bit extra naturalistic and targeted, it may have resulted in a way more efficient expertise. And this was genuinely upsetting as a result of there are moments the place the sport REALLY works. Like I stated in my preview, The Casting of Frank Stone finds a technique to implement the gameplay of Lifeless By Daylight into this expertise in a manner that’s each campy and enjoyable.

Exterior of the QTEs, I couldn’t assist however giggle once I needed to restore a generator a few occasions; however there have been a handful of moments the place gamers are trapped in a room the place Frank will seem randomly and they should focus a video digicam on him as a way to briefly cease him whereas exploring or looking for generator components. 

The one problem with these components is that stopping Frank is just a little too straightforward, and he by no means feels just like the menace he may very well be. There are a number of locations within the room the place gamers can squeeze by way of gaps or crawl underneath constructions, however they by no means actually come into play. However you possibly can undoubtedly see the place, with a bit extra work and a bit extra time these may have been extremely efficient sequences that felt true to this expertise, in addition to the mainline Lifeless by Daylight.

The Casting Of Frank Stone (Playstation 5) ReviewThe Casting Of Frank Stone (Playstation 5) Review

Not solely that, when—within the closing moments of the sport—The Casting of Frank Stone combines the cinematic parts with the QTEs and timed generator restore when a monstrous model of Frank pursues you thru the mansion, it feels so extremely tense, determined, thrilling and even scary at occasions. This type of gameplay type actually lends itself effectively to the horror expertise, even a campy one, as a result of needing to make split-second selections in a life-or-death state of affairs is extremely participating.

“Whereas I can’t say it does all the pieces proper, particularly in comparison with Supermassive’s different video games, The Casting of Frank Stone did precisely what it wanted to.”

Lastly is the “Die Collectively” mode—I instructed you we’d get to it—which is a sofa co-op mode the place two to 5 gamers might be assigned one of many 5 playable characters, and when it’s their flip to play, they cross the controller off. It feels form of functionally pointless due to the way in which the sport jumps characters so typically you could possibly simply do that in the usual “Die Alone” model. And I can’t assist however suppose if gamers had been going to do this anyway, the sport may’ve been designed a bit extra tightly round fewer characters. 

The Casting Of Frank Stone (Playstation 5) ReviewThe Casting Of Frank Stone (Playstation 5) Review

It finally ends up as a mechanic that feels considerably meta, and I don’t know if it was intentional. Like, Lifeless By Daylight is a five-player recreation, so this recreation labored in a mode that 5 individuals may play? However in the long run, I can’t assist however really feel like the sport suffers for it because of the aforementioned rapid-fire narrative shifts. 

On the technical aspect, I don’t know if that is unique to the PlayStation 5 model however The Casting of Frank Stone is a little bit of a multitude. It may be a bit janky with how characters transfer relative to at least one one other leading to a number of occasions I obtained caught whereas they blocked doorways. Sure interactable objects have very exact set off areas and it’s worthwhile to place your self completely as a way to get them to work.

There have been fairly a number of noticeable graphical glitches and bodily ones—my favorite was when a personality from the 1980 solid simply appeared in one of many ending cinematics for no obvious motive. I additionally seen fairly a number of spelling errors in among the recreation’s textual content. It’s simply one other manner the sport feels a bit rushed and will’ve performed with some additional polish. 

The Casting Of Frank Stone (Playstation 5) ReviewThe Casting Of Frank Stone (Playstation 5) Review

Though I’ll say if there’s one motive to play by way of The Casting of Frank Stone it’s the ending. I gained’t give away what it’s particularly, nevertheless it truly comes collectively in such a technique to join it to Lifeless By Daylight that once I realized what it was doing I used to be HOWLING with laughter. Severely, it’s bonkers. 

Whereas I can’t say it does all the pieces proper, particularly in comparison with Supermassive’s different video games, The Casting of Frank Stone did precisely what it wanted to. It may be a irritating expertise at occasions, nevertheless it was not less than an fascinating one, and in comparison with among the video games I’ve reviewed lately, I’ll definitely take that over mediocre.

Jennifer Garner’s House: Step Inside the Actor’s Cozy California Home

The inside design course of centered on creating a peaceful, impartial palette with an emphasis on pure textures. “Jen loves classic items,” says Brooke, who acquired a French 1850s farmhouse desk for the eating room, together with midcentury ornamental objects from Swedish and Danish designers. “There’s additionally one thing a bit whimsical about her. And he or she likes light shapes, curves. This place is type of the home model of Jen’s persona.”

Some of the welcoming areas is the kitchen, which options honed marble and soapstone counter tops, rounded mohair-covered breakfast desk chairs, and a hearth. (It additionally opens immediately onto the swimming pool.) “She responds to mushy and comfy,” Steve says of his shopper. “She’s not attempting to be showy or have big pops of colour or stuff like that. There’s a type of pure quietness to the issues that she likes.”

Garner additionally needed to create areas that help memory-making. “She had completely different concepts of what was necessary to her household and the way she imagined utilizing these completely different rooms,” Brooke explains. This led to distinctive options like a comfy blue examine and an upstairs studying nook full with a pair of stained-glass home windows. The home windows are the work of artist Reed Bradley and are impressed by the illustrations made by his mom, Marla Frazee, within the youngsters’s e book All of the World, a household favourite. The work options owls representing Garner’s youngsters and their canine, Birdie.

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The kids’s examine options stained-glass home windows impressed by illustrations from one of many household’s favourite books.

Artwork: Judson Studios

The out of doors areas, designed in collaboration with panorama designer Christine London, are supposed to be closely trafficked. A kitchen backyard supplies recent vegetables and fruit, whereas a pool and firepit space are excellent for hangouts and low-key entertaining. Having produce proper exterior the door is harking back to Garner’s childhood residence. She says of rising up in West Virginia, “Very early, I bear in mind my mother saying, should you choose one thing proper off a vine, you’re so more likely to love it. It’s like you possibly can style the sunshine.”

As a result of Garner actually lives in her residence, Steve and Brooke knew that the spot would proceed to evolve. “I don’t assume properties are ever completed,” Brooke says. “That is one second in time of their life. Because the household grows and as her youngsters become older, they’re going to add a layer and alter issues round.” Nonetheless, for immediately, Garner says with contentment, “I’m joyful that I really feel like we use the area rather well, and that the youngsters are everywhere in the home. They’re as snug sitting in the lounge as they’re doing homework within the eating room. And that’s the dream, proper?”

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Jennifer Garner, sporting a Lafayette 148 sweater over a CO costume with Tiffany & Co. earrings and a Cartier watch, performs ball with Bugsy, a yellow labrador, and Birdie, a golden retriever.

Trend styling by Jordan Johnson Chung. Hair: Adir Abergel utilizing Advantage Labs for A-Body Company; Make-up: Kara Yoshimoto Bua for A-Body Company; Manicure: Thuy Nguyen for A-Body Company.

Jennifer Garner’s home seems in AD’s October difficulty. By no means miss a narrative if you subscribe to AD. Learn extra in regards to the designers’ strategy to the undertaking on AD PRO.

Jennifer Garner’s Home Includes A Harry Potter-Inspired Office, A Slumber Party Room And More

Jennifer Garner opened up her attractive Los Angeles house for an Architectural Digest tour and it didn’t disappoint. From a Harry Potter-themed workplace for her son to an unofficial slumber occasion room, Garner’s house each centered on her youngsters whereas concurrently showcasing beautiful design.

Garner, who constructed her house with designers Steve and Brooke Giannetti, walked followers by the modest mansion.

“I’m such a non-public particular person about my house and right here I’ve simply taken you thru your entire home, and actually it’s for a few causes,” the actor mentioned within the Architectural Digest video.

“I’ve by no means constructed something all on my own earlier than, and I’m so pleased with it. I’m crammed with gratitude each time I stroll into my home, that I get to reside right here, that I’m so fortunate to have my children right here. It’s not like me, and but I’m so completely happy to have shared it with you.”

Garner shares her three children — Violet, 18, and Seraphina “Fin,” 15, and son Samuel, 12 — with ex-husband Ben Affleck. All through the tour, she mentions her children’ actions within the house.

Whereas showcasing the lounge space — which featured a whole again wall of huge sliding glass doorways that open to create an indoor-outdoor house — Garner jokes that typically she has to look away when damp teenagers come inside from the pool.

“The one downside is, if my children are having their class pool occasion right here or one thing, it’s very laborious to maintain moist children out of the home,” she jokes. “I’ve to essentially simply stand guard and say, ‘Get away.’ I’ll look over, and there shall be two moist youngsters taking part in the piano, and I’m identical to, ‘OK, don’t look, don’t look.'”

Garner in her lounge.Architectural Digest / Youtube

Garner provides that she’s “so completely happy” together with her cozy house, which she mentioned makes you “really feel like (you are) inside a treehouse.”

“You know the way you simply think about it, after which some day you’ve an ideal second the place it really comes true? That may be a, like, (chef’s kiss) sort of second,” she says.

A blue sectional and fuzzy armchair in front of blue built-in bookshelves
Garner’s attractive blue library/TV room.Architectural Digest / Youtube

She confirmed off a number of gathering areas inside the house, together with a stunning blue library/TV room, a research space with a large fish tank and studying nook in addition to a slumber occasion room with a number of bunk beds.

Garner additionally revealed her son’s Harry Potter-themed “workplace,” which, fittingly, is a small room below the staircase. Noting Garner and her children are enormous followers of the sequence — which opens on an 11-year-old Potter who lives in “a cabinet below the steps” — they determined to make the room equally magical.

A small desk with a leather chair.
Garner’s son’s “workplace” in a small room below the steps.Architectural Digest / Youtube

Painted a darkish blue with darks and different fantastical components, Garner says the room is supposed to be a “little spot for him to return in and dream.”

“Principally he hides from me and eats sweet however I can’t blame him,” she jokes. “I’d do the identical factor.”

Rebecca Cheptegei: Ugandan Olympic runner set on fire by her boyfriend

A Ugandan athlete residing in Kenya was attacked and set on hearth by her boyfriend and is receiving remedy for burns on 75% of her physique, police stated.

Rebecca Cheptegei, a distance runner who completed on the forty fourth place on the 2024 Paris Olympics, was attacked in her home within the western Trans Nzoia County.

Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom stated Monday that Cheptegei’s boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, purchased a jerrican of petrol, poured it on her and set her ablaze throughout a disagreement Sunday. Ndiema additionally sustained burn wounds, and the 2 are receiving specialised remedy on the Moi Instructing and Referral Hospital in Eldoret metropolis.

Cheptegei’s dad and mom stated their daughter purchased land in Trans Nzoia to be close to the county’s many athletic coaching facilities.

A report filed by the native chief states the couple was heard combating over the land the place the home was constructed earlier than the hearth began.

In 2023, Ugandan Olympic runner and steeplechaser Benjamin Kiplagat was discovered lifeless with stab wounds. In 2022, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee was discovered lifeless. A postmortem report stated she was strangled.

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