New York police department say teenager thrown to the ground when horse bolted away from its driver
A teenager thrown to the ground Wednesday when a Central Park carriage horse bolted away from its driver has died, according to police.
The 18-year-old was riding in the horse-drawn carriage with three other passengers when the accident happened just before 3pm, according to the New York police department. At least two passengers were sent flying out of the careening cab.
Continue reading...PlayStation 5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch 2, PC; Team Asano/Square Enix
Upbeat, charmingly retro RPG full of treasure-hunting, temple-roaming, monster-slaying and princess-saving is an absolute blast to play
You can’t help but wonder if developer Team Asano is in a private competition with itself to come up with the most ridiculous name for a video game. Following Project Triangle Strategy and Bravely Default: Flying Fairy we have this mouthful: The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. It’s a playable love letter to the Zelda adventures of yesteryear rendered in the studio’s trademark glorious 2D-HD art style, melding evocative pixel sprites with modern visual effects.
From west Philabieldia, born and raised, our hero is adventurer Elliot. The antagonist making trouble in the neighbourhood is a king’s dastardly aide intent on summoning an ancient evil. The story is pure after-school-TV schlock, fully voice-acted but still unafraid to make you sit through reams and reams of text, and the action comprises treasure-hunting, temple-roaming and dispatching monsters. It’s part Chrono Trigger, part Oracle of Seasons as our almost obnoxiously upbeat hero journeys through the ages in order to solve puzzles, tip his fedora and of course, save a princess.
Continue reading...England to play Ukraine or Slovakia if they beat Greece
Scotland probably face Sweden if they win first game
England will need to overcome Greece and either Slovakia or Ukraine to qualify for 2027’s Women’s World Cup, while Scotland were handed a significantly tougher-looking draw and will probably need to beat Sweden, one of women’s football’s most successful nations, if they first beat Czechia, to qualify for next year’s finals in Brazil.
Thursday’s playoff draw brought Wales a potential reunion with their former manager Gemma Grainger’s Norway side in another tricky draw. Northern Ireland’s path to a first World Cup next summer could bring them a game against the League A team Iceland.
Continue reading...The Minnesota Lynx point guard’s creativity has made an impact in her first pro season and has fans racing to watch her highlight reels
For dedicated WNBA fans, every morning begins with the same question: what did Olivia Miles do this time? A no-look pass through three defenders? A crossover that sends another grown woman staggering out of frame? Statue of Liberty layups launched from angles that flout Euclidean geometry? You just never know with this wonder woman. The rush she gives fans makes a double espresso feel like a nightcap.
No player in the WNBA has brought more joy to the season’s opening month than Miles, who has quickly emerged as one of the league’s most compelling talents. Fifteen games into her professional career, the 23-year-old North Jersey native has already established herself as the engine of the Minnesota Lynx offense, pacing the team in average scoring (19.0) and assists (5.7) while sinking more than half her shot attempts. In a 99-83 road win against a short-handed Los Angeles Sparks team on Wednesday night, Miles poured in a season-best 31 points on a blistering 80% percent shooting in just 26 minutes.
Continue reading...Latex aliens, screaming fans and an ‘LGBTQ+ARDIS’ … the big sellout crowds of Gallifrey Cabaret are keeping the fantasy TV show alive – even if its future on the BBC is in the balance
The atmosphere backstage at the Doctor Who-themed queer, adults-only cabaret night is every bit as chaotic as you might imagine. Hairspray clouds air already thick with overlapping conversations between drag kings and queens, singers and burlesque artists. In its midst, Reece Connolly adjusts his ruffled shirt and rhinestoned bow tie, and turns to his fellow performers. “This is a genuine question: do you think these are too tight?” he asks, gesturing to his black trousers. “No, they’re hot,” replies cabaret all-rounder Mariana Trench. The other acts agree, encouraging Connolly to “give [the audience] what they want”. He nods, and looks to me with mock sincerity: “This is community. This is what community looks like.”
Being a fly-on-the-dressing-room-wall backstage at the Wales Millennium Centre is a heady, exhilarating and slightly overwhelming experience. But for the stars of Gallifrey Cabaret, this scene of “gorgeous chaos” (as red-headed, red-moustached drag queen Carrot describes it) is business as usual. The show, which tours the UK with a mixed bill of drag, burlesque, live music, comedy, aerial performance and dance, is celebrating its fifth anniversary this month with an extra-special extravaganza at the Clapham Grand in London, and keeps getting bigger and better. Even fire acts and a dog have been given the Time Lord twist – albeit not at the same time.
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Vanaf 2029 mogen Nederlanders bij pensionering maximaal 10 procent van hun ouderdomspensioen in één keer laten uitbetalen, maar de fiscale en sociale gevolgen kunnen fors zijn voor wie ondoordacht toehapt. De nieuwe vrijheid komt er dus, maar is eerder een mijnenveld dan een cadeautje.
Met de Wet herziening bedrag ineens, die deze week met ruime meerderheid door de Eerste Kamer is aangenomen, krijgen werknemers met een werkgeverspensioen een extra keuzemogelijkheid: eenmalig een bedrag opnemen op de pensioendatum of in januari na het bereiken van de AOW-leeftijd. Het maximum is 10 procent van het opgebouwde ouderdomspensioen; wie kiest voor een uitkering ineens, houdt levenslang een lager maandpensioen over. De regeling gold al jaren als kroon op het pensioenakkoord uit 2019, maar werd acht keer uitgesteld en gaat nu op zijn vroegst in per 1 januari 2029.
Voor de politiek was vooral de schaduwkant van de regeling een struikelblok: één hoog uitkeringsjaar kan mensen in een hogere belastingschijf duwen en kost huur- en zorgtoeslag, waardoor uiteindelijk soms maar 20 tot 40 procent van het brutobedrag overblijft. Emeritus hoogleraar fiscaal pensioenrecht Herman Kappelle beschrijft casussen waarbij mensen tot 80 procent van hun bedrag ineens feitelijk kwijt zijn, doordat toeslagen wegvallen en extra belasting verschuldigd is. Vooral wie vóór de AOW-leeftijd wil stoppen met werken loopt risico, omdat dan ook nog premies volksverzekeringen worden geheven.
Om die valkuilen enigszins zichtbaar te maken ontwikkelt budgetinstituut Nibud een speciale rekentool, naast bestaande rekenhulpen van de Belastingdienst. Pensioenfondsen en het kabinet beloven bovendien intensieve keuzebegeleiding, omdat deelnemers zelden zelf kunnen overzien wat het effect is op netto-inkomen, toeslagen en het pensioen in latere jaren. Uiteindelijk blijft het een vrijwillige optie, benadrukken experts, maar wel een die voor lage en middeninkomens snel tegen hen kan werken.
De vraag is dus niet: wat doet je met die 10 procent, maar: hoeveel houdt je er na de fiscus en de toeslagenmachine écht van over?
