Keepers at Chester Zoo were left thrilled following the safe arrival of a new eastern black rhino calf when mother Zuri gave birth in the daylight‚ allowing the staff to record the occasion. Rhino experts say it’s unusual for a calf to be born in daylight‚ which gave keepers the unique opportunity to witness its […] The post Birth of Rare Eastern Black Rhino is Cause for Celebration–Watch the Amazing Birth Caught on Camera appeared first on Good News Network.

The world ended… again. Prime Video’s adaptation of the post-apocalyptic video game Fallout is coming next year‚ and we finally have a real look at the series (as opposed to the single image they bestowed upon us a year ago). Walton Goggins (Justified)‚ Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets)‚ and some very large power armor suits feature heavily in the just-released images‚ which tease a world very‚ very changed. Prime’s summary of the series goes like this: Based on one of the greatest video game series of all time‚ Fallout is the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have. 200 years after the apocalypse‚ the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind — and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex‚ gleefully weird and highly violent universe waiting for them. There is‚ alas‚ not a lot of weird to be found in these first images. We get a good look at Purnell as Lucy‚ “an optimistic Vault Dweller with an all-American can-do spirit. Her peaceful and idealistic nature is tested when people harm her loved ones.” Image: Prime Video Kyle MacLachlan plays her father‚ Overseer Hank‚ who “is eager to change the world for the better.” Goggins is The Ghoul‚ whose name and appearance kind of need no further explanation. But apparently the Ghoul “is pragmatic‚ ruthless‚ and hides a mysterious past.” Image: Prime Video The only other character we get a description for is Maximus‚ played by Aaron Moten (Disjointed): “A young soldier hides his tragic past as he serves in a militaristic faction called Brotherhood of Steel. He believes in the nobility of the Brotherhood’s mission to bring law and order to the Wasteland—and will do anything to further their goals.” Image: Prime Video One image gives a greater sense of scale of the world outside the vaults. Image: Prime Video Fallout was developed by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy (Westworld); Nolan directs the first three episodes. Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel) and Graham Wagner (Portlandia) are co-showrunners and writers. The rest of the cast includes Sarita Choudhury (Jessica Jones)‚ Michael Emerson (Lost)‚ Leslie Uggams (Deadpool)‚ Zach Cherry (Severance)‚ and Xelia Mendes-Jones (The Wheel of Time). Fallout premieres on Prime Video on April 12‚ 2024.  

With The Honeys‚ Ryan La Sala demonstrated that he understands everything there is to know about young adult horror‚ from the tone to the content to the characters to the themes. Now‚ with his latest book Beholder‚ he doubles down on the intensity and pushes the reader to their limits in a way that’s both thrilling and terrifying. A decade ago‚ Athan’s parents died in a fire‚ taking with them a prosperous moving business‚ all their money‚ and his yiayia’s (Greek for grandmother) sanity. Now‚ Athan works to keep their meager basement apartment and tends to his yiayia as she spends her days whispering unintelligible words into her hand mirror. Because there’s something else about Athan he doesn’t dare tell anyone: He and his yiayia can use mirrors to turn back time. As long as an object has a reflection‚ they can gaze within it and see everything the reflection captured. But the farther back he goes‚ the harder it is to pull himself out. Heeding yiayia’s warnings‚ he looks away from all reflections. Until one night he doesn’t. He’s at yet another New York City socialite party as the plus one of Uhler‚ an old family friend who took over Athan’s parents’ business and checks in on him from time to time. He peeks into a mirror and something looks back. A cute boy‚ Dom‚ appears out of nowhere and locks him in the bathroom. Then all hell breaks loose. When he finally emerges‚ every single guest is dead. Dom is gone. Athan flees. Yiayia goes missing. Buy it Now Dom offers some answers and even more secrets. Whatever is going on‚ it connects a series of high-profile deaths‚ one-of-a-kind wallpaper‚ and that awful thing in the mirror world. The two teens uncover a conspiracy greater and older than they realized. To stop it and rescue yiayia‚ they’ll have to sacrifice everything‚ possibly even their lives. There are two present tense POVs in the narrative: Athan’s first person and a mysterious entity using second person. It’s not hard to figure out who the second narrator is or who they’re talking to‚ but it is an interesting stylistic choice. While I understand the authorial reasons to have the two perspectives—they provide additional context for some of Athan’s beliefs and behaviors‚ as well as giving the second narrator some crucial character development—those scenes didn’t totally work for me. Much of what the narrator reveals has already been revealed or strongly implied in Athan’s POV. Those scenes also end up lessening the impact of the second narrator‚ because in some of those scenes the narrator comes off a bit petulant and creepy in a not very interesting way. The way La Sala blended together the two supernatural events didn’t quite work for me‚ either. It felt almost like ideas for two different books that were jammed together. On one hand you have the mind-altering wallpaper and the tormented artist whose work has left a trail of bodies across New York City. On the other you have Athan and his psychic mirror ability being hunted by an interdimensional monster. I liked both concepts a lot‚ I just didn’t like how they collided together. Both are big ideas with a lot of complexity but the execution leaves too much untouched potential. La Sala has an imagination that weirds me out (in the best possible way). His first YA novel was about a queer kid who battles an evil drag queen in a pocket universe. His second was a cutesy YA romcom about a bedazzling cosplayer and his closeted soccer playing boyfriend. Then came The Honeys about a genderfluid teen who stumbles into bee magic at an evil‚ rich kid summer camp. And now Beholder‚ about mindfuckery wallpaper‚ psychic time traveling mirrors‚ and an interdimensional spider demon. If nothing else‚ La Sala is one of the most creatively off-kilter writers in YA speculative fiction. You never know what you’re going to get except that it’s going to be deeply weird‚ very queer‚ and more than a little disquieting. Beholder is a fresh‚ frightening young adult horror novel. Whatever you think of the nightmare wallpaper and mirror magic‚ there is no doubt of La Sala’s imagination. He knows how to write tension in a way that keeps you hooked while also making you sit with your discomfort. If you love YA and horror‚ put this on your TBR immediately. Beholder is published by PUSH. Alex Brown is a Hugo-nominated and Ignyte award-winning critic who writes about speculative fiction‚ librarianship‚ and Black history. Find them on twitter (@QueenOfRats)‚ bluesky (@bookjockeyalex)‚ instagram (@bookjockeyalex)‚ and their blog (bookjockeyalex.com).

With Patty Duke as his mom‚ actor Sean Astin grew up in the spotlight in Los Angeles. Although he had a successful career‚ and his famous mother took good care of him‚ there was still something missing from Sean’s life. He didn’t know who his biological father was. It wasn’t until his mid-twenties that all three of his potential fathers took a DNA test. This is the unbelievable story of how the... Source

Rep. Jim Banks‚ R-Ind.‚ is pressuring the Air Force to conduct an investigation of text messages to airmen warning against attending a conservative rally‚ according to a letter obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation. In leaked text messages Nov. 17‚ a master sergeant at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota urged leaders to caution airmen about the potential for violence against members of the military at the conservative rally and about participating in a political advocacy group‚ Fox News first reported. Banks‚ who chairs a House Armed Services subcommittee on military personnel and heads the chamber’s Anti-Woke Caucus‚ said the texts from an unidentified Air Force leader defamed a conservative organization and interfered in an airman’s right to free assembly and the political process‚ the letter stated. “If Eighth Air Force and 5th Bomber Wing leadership do not carry out a full investigation of and take the appropriate disciplinary action against the servicemember who wrote the text message‚ it will‚ in essence‚ have permitted an airman to threaten servicemembers who hold conservative beliefs‚ to falsely smear a conservative organization as ‘alt-right’ and to interfere in the political process‚” Banks wrote. The original text message referred to a guest speaker who represents Turning Point Action‚ which the leader characterized as “alt-right.” “Additionally‚ please remind them that participation with groups such as Turning Point Action could jeopardize their continued service in the U.S. military‚” the text message read. Tyler Bower‚ Turning Point Action’s chief operating officer and the speaker in question‚ is a “conservative activist‚” according to Turning Point USA’s website. The group‚ which trains young leaders‚ has a history of support for former President Donald Trump. Sen. Kevin Cramer‚ R-N.D.‚ and Charlie Kirk‚ founder of Turning Point Action and Turning Point USA‚ raised an immediate outcry after screenshots of the text messages surfaced on an anonymously run Facebook page‚ The Associated Press reported. An Air Force spokesperson earlier told Banks that “one of our Security Forces members identified a potential concern with Airmen participating in the event‚” according to the letter. “Without appropriate coordination a Master Sergeant sent an unofficial message to his peer group—First Sergeants across the wing—to warn them of a perceived security concern related to the event.” Banks demanded that Air Force Maj. Gen. Jason Armagost‚ commander of the Eighth Air Force‚ release more information about the circumstances behind the text messages and what justified the “potential concern” surrounding the rally at the center of the controversy. Minot Air Force Base leadership acknowledged the message in a statement Nov. 21‚ but labeled it as “unofficial … based on incorrect data and sent outside of official base messaging platforms.” “Once the error was identified‚ base security officials corrected the message traffic to categorize the event as a local political fundraiser‚ with no security concerns‚” the statement said. “Further‚ the updated message communicated there were no issues with military members participating in their personal capacity—in line with their First Amendment rights. All Air Force airmen have a constitutional right to freedom of assembly.” It’s common for military leaders to communicate with subordinates and lower-level leaders via group text messages. However‚ Air Force regulations designed to maintain the professional‚ apolitical character of the military forbid members of the U.S. armed forces from participating in political activities or attending openly partisan gatherings while wearing their military uniforms. “Airmen may attend partisan political rallies or speeches when not in uniform‚ not on duty‚ and when solely acting as a spectator‚” the regulation states. Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post Rep. Jim Banks Demands That Air Force Justify Threatening Airmen’s Careers for Attending Conservative Rally appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: Google Maps removed directions to a Washington‚ D.C.‚ pro-life pregnancy center and instead offered searchers options that included a local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. Users who attempted to search for Capitol Hill Crisis Pregnancy Center on Monday via Google Maps (on either iPhone or desktop) found that Google Maps did not offer directions to the location. Instead‚ Google Maps suggested two different doula locations‚ a pro-life pregnancy center across the river in Maryland‚ and “Planned Parenthood – Carol Whitehill Moses Center‚” an abortion clinic. The Daily Signal reached out to Google on Monday around 11 a.m. after confirming that Capitol Hill Crisis Pregnancy Center could not be found on Google Maps (though it could be found on Apple Maps). Shortly afterward‚ the pregnancy center’s location became available on Google Maps. Google confirmed to The Daily Signal that the pregnancy center’s location had‚ in fact‚ been removed. “This listing was incorrectly removed and we have since reinstated it‚” a spokeswoman told The Daily Signal. “We use many sources to keep Maps updated‚ including feedback from our community‚ information from businesses‚ and imagery. When we find inaccuracies‚ we correct them as quickly as possible.” Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center clinic director Janet Durig told The Daily Signal on Tuesday afternoon that she would like to think this incident was an accident. “But when you think of all the past things that have taken place affecting the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center in a negative way‚” she said‚ “I can’t help but wonder if this was on purpose.” “It comes back to totally misunderstanding the extensive services that we offer women in crisis pregnancies‚” she added. “The fact that‚ yes‚ we offer pregnancy testing and we offer options‚ education‚ but we also go way beyond this with walking with them for months‚ if not sometimes years‚ and helping them with their child with material resources‚ emotional resources‚ and spiritual support.” Google has repeatedly been accused of suppressing or censoring pro-life viewpoints and content. YouTube‚ which is owned by Google‚ automatically flags all abortion-related content with the description: “An abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy. It uses medicine or surgery to remove the embryo or fetus and placenta from the uterus. The procedure is done by a licensed healthcare professional.” Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center has also been the focus of attacks and vandalism in the wake of the leak of the draft opinion indicating that Roe v. Wade would soon be overturned. In June 2022‚ shortly before the overturn of Roe‚ a vandal or vandals dumped a bucket of red paint on the pregnancy center‚ spray-painted the words “Jane’s Revenge” on the wall of the center‚ and egged the windows. The pro-life pregnancy center is about a four-minute drive from the Supreme Court and offers baby clothing‚ baby food‚ and other resources to needy D.C.-area parents who come to the center hoping they can find help rather than resort to abortion. Durig‚ the clinic’s director‚ shared with The Daily Signal in October 2022 that the Metropolitan Police Department had increased its presence around the center due to the vandalism. Though the center itself had increased security measures‚ she said at the time‚ there had still been several incidents involving a male beating on the center’s windows that had made her feel very uncomfortable. The Daily Signal also learned in October 2022 that D.C. police had suspended their investigation into the June 2022 vandalism pending further evidence. D.C. police confirmed in early August 2023 that investigation is still suspended pending further evidence—in other words‚ the vandal or vandals haven’t been found‚ and it is unlikely anyone is looking for them.  “The police have had our safety at heart‚” Durig told The Daily Signal in August. “They inform us if they hear or know of events that might create problems.”  On the first anniversary of the June 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization‚ which overturned Roe v. Wade‚ she said‚ “two police cars sat outside our building. Last year‚ the D.C. police department placed QR codes in our windows. These monitor how often patrol cars pass the building.”  “We are grateful for the officers and all they do to protect us‚” she added‚ noting that her center hasn’t come under any kind of attacks since far-left protesters interrupted the center’s banquet in December 2022. That event took place in Crystal City‚ a neighborhood in Arlington‚ Virginia‚ just across the Potomac River from Washington. Her center has never heard from the FBI‚ Durig said‚ though the attacks on her center appear to amount to violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act‚ which “prohibits threats of force‚ obstruction and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services.”  “There isn’t anything to say about national support‚” she said. “It would be helpful if leaders who think certain lives are expendable take the time to learn firsthand what centers like ours do to help families.”  Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post Google Maps Removed DC Pregnancy Center‚ Offered Planned Parenthood Instead appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The BorderLine is a weekly Daily Signal feature examining everything from the unprecedented illegal immigration crisis at the border to immigration’s impact on cities and states throughout the land. We will also shed light on other critical border-related issues like human trafficking‚ drug smuggling‚ terrorism‚ and more. ——————————————————— The Biden administration would have you believe that its purportedly “safe‚ orderly‚ and humane” immigration policy comes at no cost to you‚ the American citizen. But the truth is just another casualty of its open border agenda.   Joe Biden has presided over an unprecedented degradation of U.S. sovereignty‚ as our laws no longer determine who gets in. Instead‚ aliens do—just by showing up. This loss of sovereignty at the border can literally apply to territory as well: Recently‚ the Texas Department of Public Safety had to move Mexican cartel gunmen off Fronton Island in the middle of the Rio Grande.   Since January 2021‚ the Biden Department of Homeland Security has abandoned the effort to deter‚ detain‚ and deport illegal aliens in favor of letting in as many as Congress will fund. This “Mayorkas Migration Machine” (I named it after our feckless secretary of homeland security‚ Alejandro Mayorkas) grinds away nationally and locally‚ from the border town of McAllen‚ Texas (which I just visited)‚ to up north and our failing big cities. And the bills are coming due.   In New York‚ the homeless shelters are full and city officials are running out of makeshift places to put the relentless stream of illegal aliens. Mayor Eric Adams has announced cuts to city services on which citizens rely—including police‚ education‚ and libraries—to pay to feed and house them‚ and the City Council seems likely to approve them.   Chicago plans to build a giant tent camp to hold 2‚000 of the illegal aliens waiting for free housing. This will cost over $30 million‚ on top of the $250 million the city already spent this year on illegal aliens‚ such as those who are housed in a K-12 school. Locals are outraged—maybe because‚ according to Fox News‚ other migrant shelters in the city have been prone to “loitering‚ engaging in late-night partying‚ prostitution‚ littering‚ and even fighting with community members.” Chicago’s budget for 2024 is already half a billion in the red‚ but taxpayers‚ not illegal aliens‚ will pay this cost. When the city says “equity‚” it means treating newly arrived aliens who’ve never paid taxes better than Chicagoans. Massachusetts‚ a “sanctuary” state nicknamed “Taxachussetts” for its historically high taxes‚ finally capped its free housing of illegal aliens at 7‚500 people. But they keep coming. Boston’s Logan Airport has been informally housing families flown from the border for months. The airport’s manager gave the excuse that “they’re paying passengers”—but who’s paying? All of us are‚ through FEMA and numerous other government grants paid to nongovernmental organizations that transport‚ shelter‚ feed‚ advise‚ and provide other “wrap-around” services to illegal aliens coming to the U.S.    Local Texans used to swim‚ boat‚ and recreate on the Rio Grande near McAllen. No longer. On a recent fact-finding mission‚ I visited the Hidalgo County water pumping station‚ which owns property on the river. Its employees have been shot at by cartel thugs on the other side. The river was devoid of civilian traffic. Cartels battle each other for control of the Mexican side and the lucrative payoffs from illegal aliens crossing through their turf. Dead bodies—executed victims of the narco-traffic wars—regularly wash up on the banks. The water authority had to install a screen to keep the corpses out of their pumps. Drug cartels have sabotaged Border Patrol boats by stringing cables underwater to destroy outboard engines and at head height to kill or injure American officers. The Border Patrol boats now use water-jet engines and are equipped with twin wires from the bow to the top of the command box to divert strung cables.   At the airport in McAllen‚ I saw several families who appeared to be from Haiti camped out on the floor‚ waiting for their free flight north. Sources at the airport told me that 100 such people go through security and board flights every day with nothing more than their Notice to Appear—a letter from DHS telling them to go to immigration court at some point in the future—as identification. The Transportation Security Administration is required to accept this worthless document from foreigners‚ although you and I need a “Real ID” such as a state driver’s license or passport to board a plane.    An airline employee told me that her early morning flight to Dallas is usually half full of women and children from the border. That plane holds about 160 people. That’s just for one flight‚ one airline‚ one border airport‚ one day. On my early afternoon flight to Dallas‚ I sat across from two young men with neat clothes‚ Puma sneakers‚ and fashionable haircuts‚ both incessantly on their late-model phones. They had Haitian passports and the telltale folders of travel itineraries and documents given by nongovernmental organizations to released illegal aliens for their onward journeys further into the U.S. Who were they? What did they do back in Haiti?  I have no idea‚ and neither does DHS. Haiti’s government is feckless‚ and civil order has given way to high levels of murder‚ theft‚ and kidnapping. But although many poor Haitians are victims of all this‚ someone is doing the murdering‚ too. So how does DHS know the two guys on my plane and thousands more like them who they let in each week are average citizens or victims and not the perpetrators fleeing the consequences of their own crimes? They don’t.   Lacking any way to verify identities and check foreign criminal records in most cases‚ DHS is forced to trust the information provided by people who have everything to gain and nothing to lose by lying. It is a statistical certainty that some of the millions paroled in or released at the border will have committed acts at home that render them legally ineligible to be admitted into the United States. The high risk of this percentage of aliens re-offending is now borne by the American communities into which DHS is sending them.   To take but one example‚ in July 2023‚ Border Patrol caught a 25-year old man entering the U.S. illegally in Hidalgo‚ gave him his Notice to Appear‚ and let him go. Three months later‚ Boston police arrested him for assaulting a member of his family—probably before he even made his first immigration court appearance. Did he have a criminal record in Haiti that could have warned DHS or Boston police that he had a history of violence? It’s too late to ask now.   In recent testimony before the Senate‚ Mayorkas claimed that he had paroled into the U.S. over 240‚000 aliens on a “case-by-case” rather than blanket basis. This is simply not credible. He’s just rolling the dice on the safety of the American people. The cold hard truth is‚ Biden’s policies have surrendered control of our borders to Mexican cartels and illegal aliens and foisted all the ensuing costs and risks onto our taxpayers.   Read Other BorderLine Columns: Will Biden Going Soft on Venezuelan Dictator Lead to Increase in Immigrants to US? Senate Hearing Shows—Again—Why Mayorkas Should Be Impeached New York’s ‘Right to Shelter’—Why Are Taxpayers Forced to House Unlimited Illegal Aliens? Cities‚ States Can’t Continue to Shoulder Costs of Biden’s Deliberate Border Crisis Revoke the Visas of Students Who Support Terrorists Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post The BorderLine: Memo from McAllen—A Look Inside the Mayorkas Migration Machine appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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YGBKM: 'Pause' Brokers Now Pushing a Cease-Fire to End War -- On Hamas Terms