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Manny Berhanu

Fast & Furious 10 Official Release Date Announced

Fast & Furious 10 Official Release Date Announced

The Fast & Furious franchise will be returning to our theatre screens with the 10th edition of the film set for a release back on our big screens for April 7, 2023 was announced by Universal Pictures.

Ever since the first edition of the Fast & Furious film back in 2001, where an undercover cop joins in with the adrenaline of streetcar racing among other avid racers in an action thriller, the franchise has expanded and released 9 different chapters filled with crazy stunts, intercontinental heists and astonishingly high-budgets extracts.

The next edition to the collection, Fast & Furious 10, is set to become the penultimate film of the whole franchise with Justin Lin as director. Lin has directed five previous Fast & Furious films including The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and the latest film released in the franchise, Fast & Furious 9.

Despite the cast not officially revealed yet, it is believed that the majority of the famous Fast & Furious cast will return for another chapter of more thrilling, adventure-filled mayhem. The likes of Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster and Sung Kang are all expected to return. Whilst actor Dwayne Johnson, who has appeared in the 4 films prior to Fast & Furious 9, is not believed to be returning after he admitted that he won’t be in any more of the franchise’s films.

The former WWE wrestler enlightened us that he won’t be in any more Fast & Furious films.

When asked about his future alongside the popular franchise, he said: “I wish them well on Fast 9. And I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they do that will be without me.”

However, many of the other main stars will remain involved, continuing the story.

“Just wait for 10,” joked Vin Diesel. “Let’s just say, the fact that you guys know that the studio is saying we can’t cover all this ground that needs to be covered in just one movie, you can only imagine what is to come.”

SEE ALSO: Blink-182 Star Travis Barker Takes First Flight since Deadly 2008 Crash

Blink-182 Star Travis Barker Takes First Flight since Deadly 2008 Crash

Blink-182 Star Travis Barker Takes First Flight since Deadly 2008 Crash

Blink 182 drummer, Travis Barker, overcame his fears as he flew on an airplane for the first time since he survived a deadly plane crash in 2008. This was confirmed after posts on social media showing an image of himself and girlfriend, Kourtney Kardashian, embracing one another infront of a private jet.

The caption read “With you anything is possible” with the photo posted onto Twitter and Instagram.

The crash, which was caused by maintenance issues during take-off from the Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina occurred on 19th September 2008. The accident saw the deaths of the two pilots as well as two of the four passengers, Barker’s security guard, Charles Still, and assistant, Chris Baker. Travis Barker as well as the other remaining passenger, Adam Goldstein, suffered critical injuries. Since then, the 45-year-old had not boarded a plane.

The drummer suffered various burns across his body and therefore spent a total of 11 weeks in hospital, undergoing 27 surgeries.

Recollecting the unfortunate event, he said: “The plane’s on fire and my hands are on fire so I unbuckle my seat belt and I jump right into the jet, which holds all the fuel. I basically ignite my whole body in fire.”

“I’m so soaked in jet fuel, there’s nothing I can do to put the fire out.”

Ever since then, the Blink-182 star has refused to fly. This has meant that Barker has missed the bands various tours across the world. One of the tours missed was back in 2013 where he withdrew from the bands tour of Australia. However, Blink-182 have also provided plans to accommodate Barker, most notably in 2016 where the band swapped flying within the cloud with sailing in the seas for their tour of Europe.

Speaking to Men’s Health in May of this year, he expressed how he had plans to fly again at some point during his life.

“There’s a million things that could happen to me,” he said. “I could die riding my skateboard. I could get in a car accident. I could get shot”, he proclaimed.

“Anything could happen. I could have a brain aneurysm and die. So why should I still be afraid of airplanes?”

He also let people know on social media that month after that his plans remained the same, tweeting: “I might fly again.”

His first flight in 13 years took place on August 14th where Travis Barker and his girlfriend flew from Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, according to TMZ.

SEE ALSO:

What’s Happening In Afghanistan?

Starship Technologies declare food robot deliveries to more US Campuses

Starship Technologies declare more food delivery robots to more US Campuses

Starship Technologies Declare Food Robot Deliveries to More US Campuses

Starship Technologies, the independent delivery service enterprise, recently declared that delivery services will be expanded to four additional college campuses this upcoming fall, building on the 20 college campuses which already utilize their service.

The University of Nevada, the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), the University of Kentucky (UK) and Reno (UNR) and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach, Florida campuses will be the latest colleges to adopt the company’s zero-emissions distribution robots.

This declaration has come on the same day as Kiwibot, another independent delivery robot company, linked up with hospitality giants Sodexo to help provide food for three more college campuses. Starship will work with the likes of Starbucks, Panda Express and Panera Bread, along with others. Despite the rises in cases of the Delta variant, the delivery companies are still expecting a “normal” school year. These issues could either help or hinder these types of companies. It could mean that more students are forced to stay indoors, but it could also mean that schools shutdown making these handy robots, not so handy at all.

“We see the Starship robots as an important part of safely bringing students back to campus,” said executive director of residential life, housing and food services at UNR, Dean Kennedy, in a statement. He went on to say “everyone wants to resume in-person classes and be back on campus so we’re doing everything we can to make sure it’s done responsibly. The robots offer several advantages – they make social distancing easier, they are convenient, the students we have spoken with love this idea and they continue our heritage of being an innovative campus.”

UIC have been given with 25 of starships’ robots with UNR and Embry-Riddle given 20 each, increasing Starships’ overall delivery robot fleet to over 1,000. The Estonian-born company revealed that they have accomplished 1.5 million rides since its launch in 2014, achieving a sum of $102 million.

The CEO of Starship, Alastair Westgarth, has recognised this achievement. “We’ve worked hard to become a trusted and integrated partner on our campus communities and that hard work has paid off”.

Students as well as faculty will manage to download Starship’s food delivery app in order to choose what sort of meal they would like sent to their location by dropping a pin. They can also track their delivery robot and will also receive an alert once the robot has arrived.

SEE ALSO: Which Universities Brought Home the Gold Medallists for the U.S. in Tokyo 2020?

What's Happening in Afghanistan

What’s Happening in Afghanistan?

Over the past few weeks, the Islamic military organisation known as the Taliban have swept through the country of Afghanistan taking the majority of the nation’s major provinces and cities, most recently the capital, Kabul. By seizing the capital from governmental control, this means that the group have managed to regain control of the South-Central Asian nation for the first time since 2001, when they were removed from power by a US-led force. So what’s happening in Afghanistan?

Who are the Taliban?

The Taliban, translated as “students” in the Pashto language, are an Islamic extremist group that emerged during the early years of the 1990s. They proclaim that they are loyal followers of Islam, however, much of their actions and beliefs are much more extreme compared to a large number of Muslims.

Ever since the organisation was ousted by a US-led military coalition in 2001, they have been fighting to gain back control of the country from the Afghan government. When they governed much of the nation between the years 1996-2001, the group introduced their own strict version of Islamic law. This meant that there were various stern rules and regulations put in place for both men and women. For men, some of these rules included having to grow a beard but the majority of laws heavily impacted women. Not only were women obligated to wear burkas that would cover their whole face as well as body, but they were also barred from working and gaining an education. There were also various other things which the Taliban banned such as forms of entertainment i.e., television and music.

In addition to the strict laws they put in place, there were also extreme punishments for those they believed were breaking these laws, some of the most extreme coming in the form of amputations for those found guilty of theft and public executions for those found guilty of adultery. Due to these rigorous laws and extreme punishments, many in the West have accused the Taliban of violating many human rights codes.

Who are the key figures within the Taliban?

Hibatullah Akhundzada:

Presently, the leader of the group is Hibatullah Akhundzada. He was appointed as leader in 2016 following the death of his predecessor, Mullah Mansour, to a US drone strike.  

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar:

He was one of the founders the Taliban back in 1994 alongside Mullah Omar. Following his release from custody in Pakistan in 2018, he has been a key figure regarding the political side of the Taliban, running the political office of the group.

Sirajuddin Haqqani:

Currently, he is the deputy leader of the Taliban and is the leader of the Haqqani Network. This is the group which administers the Taliban’s military and financial resources across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The group is also disreputable for the use of terrorist attacks within the nation, specifically suicide bombings.

Mullah Yaqoob:

The son Mullah Omar, of one of the founding members of the Taliban, Yaqoob is the military chief of the Taliban and therefore overlooks the groups military operations within the country. He was given the role as military chief in 2020.

How have the Taliban attained back control of the country?

In the last 20 years, the Afghanistan government have been supported by the US following the war. However, in April 2021, US President Joe Biden announced that US troops would be leaving the nation, imposing a deadline of 11th September.

Since that announcement from the US President, the Taliban have been ravaging through the country, taking control of various different territories in a matter of weeks. Key cities which they have seized control of include Herat, Kandahar and Mazar-i-Sharif. The speed in which these areas have been taken have increased in recent weeks leading the group to draw closer to the capital, Kabul. Consequently, in recent days, the group managed to gain control of Kabul, taking possession of the presidential palace and therefore claiming victory.

What do the Taliban want for Afghanistan and what will happen now?

One of the Taliban’s main aims is to restore the strict Islamic laws introduced when they were last in power. However, in recent talks regarding political settlement, the group has made affirmations to the West that they would allow for women to participate in more activities permitted by Islam such as enabling the ability to be educated and to work. Nevertheless, there is still trepidation and fear from many that the Taliban will continue to force changes. Opposers from different Taliban-controlled regions are already expressing worry for women with reports claiming that the group is already driving changes to the way they appear and their right to work.

In excess of 60 countries have contributed to a joint statement instructing the Taliban to let civilians be evacuated and allow for them to leave Afghanistan for their safety.

What have the US government done?

The US have sent over troops to aid with the evacuation and removal of their staff and the Afghan troops.

“We’re relocating the men and women of our embassy to a location at the airport,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on ABC when asked what’s happening in Afghanistan. “That’s why the president sent in a number of forces to make sure that, as we continue to draw down our diplomatic presence, we do it in a safe and orderly fashion.”

 SEE ALSO: The U.S. Heatwave Explained 

Which Universities Brought Home the Gold Medallists for the U.S. in Tokyo 2020?

Once again, the United States topped the medal table on the final day of the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, surging in front of China, collecting 39 golds, 41 silvers and 33 bronzes totalling to 113 medals. Taking into account the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games, the US have amassed 2,941 total medals among the summer and winter games, along with 1,166 gold medals.

The majority of the athletes representing the Unites States have gotten into college or have plans to enrol imminently. Information from the NCAA states that from the complete 626 members within the 2020 US Olympics team, around 75% of the athletes have participated in the various division levels at the colleges in which they attended.

Out of all of the 39 gold medal winners, the Universities that reigned supreme were the University of Southern California and Stanford University, tied at the top with 10 gold medallists each which includes the likes of Katie Ladecky (Stanford University) winning two golds in the swimming and Allison Felix (University of Southern California) winning gold in the Women’s 4x400m relay.

The full list of gold medal rankings:

1st (Joint) – University of Southern California & Stanford University (10 golds each)

  • University of Southern California: April Ross (beach volleyball); Kendall Ellis, Allyson Felix, Dalilah Muhammad (women’s track); Rai Benjamin and Michael Norman (mens’ track); Kaleigh Gilchirst, Stephanie Haralabdis, Paige Hauschild and Amanda Longan (women’s water polo).
  • Stanford University: Valarie Allman (discus); Alix Klineman (beach volleyball); Katie Ladecky (two golds in swimming); Aria Fischer, Mackenzie Fischer, Jamie Neushul, Melissa Seidemann, Maggie Steffens, (women’s water polo); Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson and Kathyrn Plummer (women’s volleyball).

3rd (Joint) – University of Connecticut & UCLA (6 golds each)

  • University of Connecticut: Sue Bird, Tina Charles, Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi (women’s basketball); Stefanie Dolson (women’s 3 x 3 basketball).
  • UCLA: Jru Holiday and Zach Levin (mens’ basketball); Rai Benjamin (men’s track); Rachel Fattal, Maddie Mussleman, and Alys Williams (women’s water polo).

5th (Joint) – University of Kentucky, University of Texas & University of Minnesota (5 gold each)

  • University of Kentucky:  Sydney McLaughlin (women’s track); William Shaner (shooting); Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker and Keldon Johnson (men’s basketball).
  • University of Texas: Ryan Crouser (men’s shot put); Lydia Jacoby (women’s swimming); Kevin Durant (men’s basketball); Ariel Atkins (women’s basketball); Chiaka Ogbogu (women’s volleyball).
  • University of Minnesota: Gable Stevenson (men’s wrestling); Bowen Becker (men’s swimming); Tori Dixon, Sarah Parsons and Hannah Tapp (women’s volleyball).

8th (Joint) – Pennsylvania State University & The University Notre Dame (4 golds each)

  • Pennsylvania State University: David Taylor (men’s wrestling); Micha Hancock, Megan Courtney and Haleigh Washington (women’s volleyball).
  • The University Notre Dame:  Lee Kiefer (fencing); Skylar Diggins-Smith and Jewell Loyd (women’s basketball); Jackie Young (women’s 3 x 3 basketball).

10th (Joint) – The University of South Carolina, University of Nebraska, Louisiana State University and Texas A and M University (3 golds each)

  • University of South Carolina: A’ja Wilson (women’s basketball); Allisha Gray (women’s 3 x 3 basketball); Wadeline Jonathas (women’s track).
  • University of Nebraska:  Jordan Larson, Justine Wong-Orantes and Kelsey Robinson (women’s volleyball).
  • Louisiana State University: Michael Cherry and Vernon Norwood (men’s track); Sylvia Fowles (women’s basketball).
  • Texas A & M University: Athing Mu (women’s track); Bryce Deadmon (men’s track); Khris Middleton (men’s basketball).

As a collective, 47 different US universities and colleges managed to acquire a gold medal winner from the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games among their alumni.

 

SEE ALSO: What’s Happening in Afghanistan?

brushfire

The U.S. Heatwave Explained

Millions of people throughout the Unites States were subject to receiving heat alerts from the National Weather Service as temperatures continued to soar on Thursday in areas including much of the Pacific Northwest, the Northeast and the South. Cities such as Washington, Boston and Indianapolis have been affected with some of these warnings set to be in force until the weekend. With temperatures reaching the cusp of 122 degrees Fahrenheit the current heatwave has become record breaking. This has triggered alarming wildfires ravaging through the west coast. California has been one of the areas that has suffered. So far in 2021, the state has lost vast amounts of its land burnt down due to the fires, exceeding the five-year average. So, what categorises a heatwave and how have these record-high temperatures come about?

What is a Heatwave and how do they occur?

As stated by the National Weather Service, heatwaves are labelled when temperatures are exceeding the national averages in an area for more than two days. But this definition depends on which area within the United States you are located.

Heatwaves are born when the high pressure placed up in the atmosphere shoves the warmer area towards the direction of the ground. The air that is being pushed therefore increases in temperature due to it being compacted making us feel considerably hotter. In this case, it is the work of two high pressure systems, one moving into the Northwest from the Eastern Pacific Ocean and another edging the Southeastern US coast.

This system also increases in size vertically when being compressed causing it to push other types of weather systems nearby, further away. Moreover, by doing that it also causes little to no cloud cover and extremely low wind speeds, making the air a lot more humid.

Why is it a record-breaking Heatwave?

Much of the reason for temperatures climbing can be explained through global warming. Since the 1900s, the globe has gradually become warmer, increasing around 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit each year, with the speed of increase accelerating in recent years. Warmer baseline temperatures have brought about a growth in extreme weather situations and aids the duration of the intense heat last longer.

Have people been affected and how many?

The stifling temperatures recorded have left millions of Americans struggling to live their daily lives and have left many vulnerable. More than 150 million people have been put under various heat alerts stretching for nearly 1,500 miles of the nation. There have been issues such as the loss of electricity and with many homes built in these regions without air conditioning, there have been cases of numerous deaths.

Thousands have had to retreat to areas that have provided cooling centres which include stadiums where people can continue with their lives and have a safe place to sleep. In various shops, essentials have been sold out as well as fans and portable air conditioners.

Those in urban areas have been extremely affected as the infrastructure absorbs considerably larger amounts of heat compared to the more rural areas. In some of these urban areas, power cables have completely melted, and roads have buckled.

When will the Heatwave end?

Numerous forecasters have anticipated that the high temperatures will continue into next week for the majority of the Pacific Northwest. The high pressure systems have been moving easterly into towards Canada, with various warnings being placed there.

 

SEE ALSO: What’s Happening in Afghanistan?