'Final Fantasy XIV' is heading to the XBOX and there is a new expansion on the way.

Kai Cenat and IShowSpeed approached several groups of Japanese girls on their trip to Tokyo Disneyland, making most of them laugh with their antics

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has warned the merger between Vodafone and Three is “dangerous” and risks giving a company with its roots in Communist Party-ruled China a more prominent place in the UK’s mobile network. The former work and pensions secretary and MP for Chingford and Woodford Green said the proposed deal raised serious questions about national security and competition within the UK telecommunications market. Vodafone and Three, both of which have millions of customers in the UK and Ireland, announced earlier this month that they were joining forces in a multibillion-pound deal they said would create one of Europe’s biggest 5G networks. “This is a dangerous deal, which it seems is yet another example of how the Communist Party is trying to create a Western dependency on China,” Sir Iain told The Independent. “Not only does it raise important questions about competition, but it poses risks to our communication networks and personal data.” Three is owned by CK Hutchison, a Hong Kong-listed conglomerate that has been accused of supporting repression in the former British territory, where thousands of residents fled after China’s implementation of a sweeping national security law used by authorities to crack down on dissent against the regime in Beijing. Sir Iain is among a number of cross-party MPs to raise concerns about the growing influence of China in the West, and in particular, telecoms companies who have their headquarters there and are operating in the UK. “The government still doesn’t seem to understand that Chinese companies can be mandated to hand over their data to Beijing at the drop of a hat,” Sir Iain said. “We should be really worried about that. I also think we need to be taking a closer look at who owns these companies, the links between them and the Chinese government and the origins of the money flowing through them.” Last autumn the government announced that Shenzen-based Huawei technology must be removed from the UK’s 5G public networks by the end of 2027, It followed advice from the National Cyber Security Centre and pressure from Washington, which banned equipment made by the company because it posed an “unacceptable risk” to US national security. In March, prime minister Rishi Sunak warned that China plans to “reshape the world” in plans that posed an era-defining challenge for the UK and its allies in the West but dismissed calls for Beijing to be categorised as a threat, something his predecessor Liz Truss pushed for. The union Unite, which has 1.4 million members, is also campaigning against the merger, which some analysts say could result in job losses and higher prices for consumers who are already being squeezed by the cost of living crisis. The deal has triggered an initial investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority and will be subject to approval under the new National Security and Investment Act. Gail Cartmail, Unite’s executive head of operations, said: “Instead of idly watching the CK Group cream profits from UK businesses, the government should ask if they are a suitable custodian of British assets.” Charlotte Nichols, the Labour MP for Wigan North who sits on the Department for Business and Trade sub-committee on national security, said: “Unite the Union has shared research with me that shows this merger would leave sensitive government contracts and the data of millions of UK consumers in the hands of Three, a company whose key leadership have supported repression in Hong Kong and worked hand-in-hand with the Chinese state for decades. “This will be dangerous deal for the UK and I fully support Unite’s campaign against it.” Other MPs – both Labour and Conservative – have tabled questions to government departments asking what security assessments ministers have made of the proposed merger deal. Both Three and Vodafone refused to comment but have previously dismissed concerns about security, saying that they work closely with security bureaus in what is a regulated industry. The Cabinet Office has said it welcomes foreign trade and investment “where it supports growth and jobs in the UK, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements, and does not compromise our national security. “However, we will not hesitate to use our powers to protect national security where we identify concerns.” Read More Vodafone and Three to merge in multibillion-pound deal Vodafone and Three merger: What the huge deal actually means for you Cleverly defends China visit plans and pledges to use UK’s global ‘influence’ Three and Vodafone are merging. Here’s what that means for your phone No one wants to take responsibility for No 10 ‘groper’ complaints, warns accuser Top Tories urge Rishi Sunak to use cabinet reshuffle to get a grip on warring party

Astronauts have never truly been alone. In 1988, on board the Russian space station Mir, the crew noticed something had blanketed one of their windows – from the outside. Whatever it was had even begun to infiltrate its way into the station, slowly destroying the window's titanium-quartz surface. The blanket was eventually revealed to be fungi that had managed to hitch a ride into space by clinging onto the astronauts themselves, Space.com reports. Amazingly, the fungi had managed to adapt to the space environment, surviving and thriving on windows, control panels, and air conditioners. The on board the space station even had their food and water contaminated. Although this was the first instance of a hijacker damaging the space station, it wasn't the last. Many space-borne fungi remain dormant during launch, until "activating" and reproducing to form thick, living mats on various regions in the space station. The fungi can threaten the health of those on board as well as damage electronics and plumbing. Since the 1988 incident, there have been numerous attempts to establish robust cleaning routines for scrubbing the fungi off walls and equipment, in an attempt to prevent the organisms from causing serious issues. Despite the concern surrounding the risks, scientists are trying to take advantage of the fungi's abilities. One team associated with the European Space Agency (ESA) recently conducted hypergravity experiments on fungi to better understand how these organisms survive effortlessly in the harsh environment of space. If these mechanisms are understood, fungi may be able to be used to build off-world settlements and be incorporated into off-world medications. In 2016, researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California launched fungi into space for the first time on board the International Space Station. The team studied how the ISS environment caused the species to create certain molecules it doesn't produce on Earth. "We are never going to be able to get rid of fungi entirely as we venture into space, so we need to understand them," André Antunes, a researcher who is part of the recent ESA study, said in a statement published on Monday. In addition, they offer positive opportunities as well as risks. Down on Earth fungi are employed to make food - such as yeast for fermentation - as well as medicines, chemical enzymes for industry as well as metal nanoparticles used in numerous fields. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 1, 2023--

SAVE 49%: The best service for unblocking Indian Netflix is ExpressVPN. A one-year subscription to

Elon Musk has responded to a parody account pretending to be him on Twitter, calling Mark Zuckerberg a "lizard boy." The fake account with the username @ElonMuskAOC has over 358,000 followers and uses the same image of Musk that the billionaire businessman uses for his Twitter account. Also, their name is "Elon Musk (Parody)" and their profile bio reads: "I’m on a quest to bang AOC on Mars. (Parody Account)." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter On July 7, the parody account tweeted pretending to be Musk where he called Meta co-founder Mark Zuckerberg "Lizard boy." "I spent $44 billion for this app and now Lizard boy just decided to hit copy and paste," to Meta's new social media platform Threads, which is said to rival Twitter. "It's personal now. See you in the cage, Zuck," the account added, referring to Zuckerberg previously agreeing to a cage fight with Musk after Musk tweeted that he was “up for a cage fight” with him. With 35.5m views, 645,000 likes and 22,000 retweets, the parody account's tweet when viral - so much so that the real Elon Musk replied to the tweet. "So many people think this account is me," he wrote, with the eyes emoji. YouTuber MrBeast weighed asking "It's not?" to which Musk confirmed that was not him behind the tweet or account. Another person @stclairashley pointed out something else: "I love that you didn't dispute Zuck being a lizard boy." "Maybe it's just a case of using too much moisturizer," Musk quipped. Well, we all know Zuckerberg likes to slather on the sunscreen at least... Meanwhile the fake parody account decided to riff off of real Musk's tweet and replied in agreement: "Most likely the case, seems like that type." Elsewhere, Mark Zuckerberg ends 11-year Twitter break with ‘savage’ tweet about Threads. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

SAN JOSE, Calif. & SHENZHEN, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 5, 2023--

Dolores Catania received backlash after she put up an Instagram post claiming she was in her 'Khloe Kardashian era'

WASHINGTON A top U.S. auto safety official said Wednesday regulators will soon decide on a petition filed by

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 12, 2023--

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 13, 2023--