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ICE presence chills business, cancels events in Twin Cities
ICE operations and protests have led to event cancellations and business closures in the Twin Cities, affecting the local economy and daily life.
Emergency services called to Grand Theft Auto maker Rockstar North after reported boiler explosion
No casualties have been reported, the offices are said to be safe
An Explosion Rocks ‘GTA 6’ Developer Rockstar North, Reportedly An Accident
An explosion and ensuing fire have damaged Rockstar North, but the event seems to have been unintentional, according to the information we have.
Rockstar North 'Open And Operational' After Fire Crews Respond To Reported Boiler Room Explosion
An apparent explosion occurred early Monday morning at the Edinburgh-based studio.
Emergency services called after explosion at Rockstar North offices
Fire crews went to the building in Edinburgh at about 05:00 to deal with structural damage.
Rockstar gives terminally ill fan early access to GTA 6
Rockstar has helped a terminally ill fan play GTA 6 ahead of its November release date.
Terminally ill GTA 6 fan with 6-12 months to live has seemingly been put in touch with Rockstar about playing the game early
After the studio did the same with Red Dead Redemption 2
Sunderland’s Comeback Win & City Revival: A Perfect Afternoon
As I headed home, I was left with one overriding impression – Sunderland AFC and the city the club calls home are marching together in lockstep towards a long-overdue renaissance in their fortunes.
Why AMC Entertainment (AMC) Stock Is Trading Up Today
Shares of theater company AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) jumped 3.8% in the afternoon session after a recent surge in box office attendance, followed the successful release of "Avatar: Fire and Ash."
Redefine Breaking and Entering in GTA Online’s New Mansion Raid
Flex your combat skills in one of Los Santos' bougiest zip codes in Mansion Raid. Use heavy-duty weaponry and explosives to infiltrate a luxury property and make a multi-stage descent to the basement vault to extract the gold — or fend off the would-be...
Online mod for Rockstar’s classic Bully is abruptly taken down after one month
Developers say "this was not something we wanted" as they purge open source project.
Bully Online shoved into a shutdown locker, as the modders behind it say that's "not something we wanted"
Bully Online, a multiplayer mod for Rockstar's Bully, has been shut down not long after release.
Bully Online Mod Creators Insist Shutting the Project Down 'Was Not Something We Wanted'
Cast your mind back to the end of last year, and you may remember we reported that a group of volunteer modders had united to develop an online mode for Rockstar's Bully (also known as Canis Canem Edit in some parts of the world). Fast-forward just a few short months later, however, and now the Bully online project is "shutting down forever."
A month after launch, Bully Online mod "is shutting down forever" and being scrubbed from existence as dev assures "this was not something we wanted"
Bully Online's project lead previously dismissed concerns about legal trouble from Rockstar and Take-Two, but if this is what it looks like, he may have spoken too soon
Health Catalyst, Veeva Systems, 8x8, Amplitude, and DocuSign Stocks Trade Down, What You Need To Know
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after tech stocks pulled back as reports surfaced that Chinese customs authorities blocked Nvidia's H200 AI chips, effectively halting their entry despite recent U.S. export approvals.
Samsung's One UI 8.5 finally offers the wild unlock animations we've been waiting for
Samsung’s LockStar update brings fully customizable unlock animations and manual AOD brightness control to One UI 8.5.
Movies and TV shows casting across the US
Backstage compiled a list of movies and TV shows casting across the US.
New LockStar update brings several screen unlock effects to One UI 8.5
Samsung has released a new update to GoodLock's LockStar app. It brings screen unlock animation effects and manual brightness to the AOD.
One UI 8.5 LockStar introduces new unlock animations, manual AOD brightness and more
Samsung quietly introduced a new LockStar version, which brings support for One UI 8.5 and adds new unlock animations, manual AOD brightness control, and more. This update is not flashy in the keynote sense; it is practical. LockStar has always been the playground for Galaxy users who hate being boxed in. One UI 8.0 polished […]
Oni Press Taps Kickstarter Exec to Lead Business Strategy
Sam Kusek, who most recently served as the platform’s senior outreach lead, will oversee the independent comics publisher’s crowdfunding campaigns, as well as its extensive roster of licensing deals.
‘Grand Theft Auto’ Players Stopped From Recreating Charlie Kirk Assassination Online
Rockstar Games also added “Charlie Kirk” to the “Grand Theft Auto Online” profanity filter.
Rockstar Pulls ‘GTA Online’ Player-Created Missions Involving Charlie Kirk Assassination
Rockstar Games banned a user-created mission in sandbox game "Grant Theft Auto Online" that recreates the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Judge rejects fired Rockstar staff's request for interim relief
The employment tribunal found it unlikely that workers were primarily fired for their union activity
GTA Online Players Keep Making Charlie Kirk Assassination Missions
It seems Rockstar is trying to stop people from spreading these missions online
Rockstar Says 'We Stand by Our Course of Action' as Judge Rejects Fired GTA 6 Developers' Application for Interim Relief
An employment tribunal has today rejected an application for interim relief filed on behalf of the fired Grand Theft Auto 6 developers at Rockstar Games.
Julie Blakstad: Tottenham's new signing on unfinished business in WSL
Tottenham's new signing Julie Blakstad is aiming to make her mark on the Women's Super League second time around after a difficult spell with Manchester City.
Crimson Desert's Open World Is at Least Twice as Big as Skyrim's, and Larger Than the Red Dead Redemption 2 Map
Crimson Desert is an open-world action-adventure game set on the continent of Pywel. But how big is the open world, exactly? It’s “absolutely massive,” its developer has said, bigger even than that of Bethesda’s Skyrim and Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2.
Claim a Free Hands On Car Wash Property and Get 3X Rewards on Legal Money Fronts
Start the year off right by keeping your nose clean while bagging laundered GTA$ through a sophisticated network of legit businesses. Play GTA Online anytime through January 14 to claim the Hands On Car Wash for free from Maze Bank Foreclosures — the...
Passionate, Energetic and Consistent - Kansas State University Athletics
Nick Toth hasn't been here long. He arrived at the Vanier Family Football Complex, looked at the indoor football practice facility, checked out the football ...
Movies and TV shows casting across the US
Backstage compiled a list of movies and TV shows casting across the US.
Legislative auditor: Minnesota DHS employees backdated, created documentation in behavioral health grant program
Minnesota’s Department of Human Services (DHS) commissioner said the agency is investigating after the legislative auditor found employees in the agency’s Behavioral Health Administration backdated or created documentation during an audit that focused on the management of taxpayer-funded grants.
NFIB to Congress: Advance Small Business Priorities in 2026
NFIB outlines legislative priorities for the remainder of the 119th Congress
Razer is making computers for AI developers now
It’s launching a new Forge AI workstation that can fit up to four pro-level GPUs.
K-State to Host 8th Annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day Event - Kansas State University Athletics
Kansas State Athletics will host a pregame clinic from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m., on Saturday, February 7, in the Ice Basketball Training Facility in conjunction with ...
A Life of Service to Others - Kansas State University Athletics
You notice the eyes first, piercing, narrowed when he discusses his stints at three Power 4 schools over the last 10 seasons, most recently at Texas A&M, and...
Red Dead Redemption 2 Is Hiding One More Unsolved Mystery
Rockstar's open-world blockbuster seems to be hiding at least one more mysterious puzzle for players to solve
Back in the Home State - Kansas State University Athletics
Jeremiah Johnson, a native of Scandia, Kansas, remembers the two-hour drives southeast to Manhattan for summer coaching clinics at Bill Snyder Family Stadium...
Walz expected to address political future on Monday
Amid questions surrounding his political future, Gov. Walz has called a news conference for Monday morning.
New year, smarter home: 7 AI-powered Kickstarter projects that actually solve problems
The phrase
10 Of The Coolest New Gadgets You'll Want For Your Desk
These cool gadgets can help turn a standard workstation into a setup that gets you excited to start your day.
Lenny Dykstra facing drug charges following traffic stop, police say
Back to business: what to wear to kickstart the new year
Ease yourself into a routine again with relaxed silhouettes, cosy fabrics and slipper-adjacent footwear
African American bookstore in Atlanta to close after 35 years in business
A longtime Atlanta African American bookstore is going to close soon after 35 years in business.
A Third Quarter Scoring Spree - Kansas State University Athletics
Tess Heal had a season-high 17 points to lead four double-digit scorers, and Kansas State used a 28-6 third-quarter scoring run to break a halftime tie and p...
Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT) Reports Sales Below Analyst Estimates In Q3 CY2025 Earnings
Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT) Reports Sales Below Analyst Estimates In Q3 CY2025 Earnings
Wisconsin awarded $200M for rural health care, part of Trump megabill
Wisconsin plans to use the first-year award of $200 million to kickstart its plans to bolster its rural health workforce and invest in new tech.
Movies and TV shows casting across the US
Backstage compiled a list of movies and TV shows casting across the US.
What’s your New Year’s Business Resolution?
The past year has been a big one for the team at View Newspaper Group for many reasons, the biggest being that we launched our 22nd newspaper, the St. Clair Area View in May, making us Michigan’s largest independently-owned newspaper group. Since its start in 2003 View Newspaper Group, locally-owned by Lapeer native Rick Burrough, has
How ‘Call of Duty’ Got Dethroned in 2025
‘Battlefield,’ ‘ARC Raiders,’ and the juggernaut franchise’s own failings knocked ‘Black Ops 7’ off the series’ perennial top perch
Why AMC Entertainment (AMC) Stock Is Falling Today
Shares of theater company AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) fell 3.2% in the morning session after investor concerns about the company's underlying financial health overshadowed a report of strong moviegoer attendance over the final weekend of 2025. The company reported that 5.5 million people visited its theaters globally. Despite this positive attendance, the stock's decline reflected deep skepticism about the company's future. Financial data revealed significant challenges, including a substantial
Ending 2025 – and Non-Con Play – on a High Note - Kansas State University Athletics
There were no fireworks to commemorate the final game of the 2025 calendar year for Kansas State after its 94-85 win over Louisiana Monroe on Sunday that con...
Top 10 for 2025: Business Bites
Y'all love the business bites. Here's the top 10 roundups for 2025, in descending order of web hits. -Business Bites: Chik-fil-A files traffic study, Winco, Panera, Ocean Star Seafood, local wins Emmy Award, United Way surpasses fundraising goal, Christian bookstore opens in the mall [January] -Business Bites: Elevation closing; Panera files for building permit; Safety
This 4 TB DDR5 RDIMM kit is now more expensive than a sports car
This 4 TB DDR5 kit just hit $76,999 The kit is sold by NEMIX and is built for servers and workstations, not gaming rigs. It is a 16-stick set, with 16x
Week in Politics: 2025 politics overview; a look ahead at midterms
President Trump began the year with huge plans and a GOP in lockstep, but heading into 2026 there are cracks in his support that could affect how much his administration gets done.
Costco, Wawa, Sheetz, and more: These 55 business locations opened in central Pa. in 2025
The list includes more than 50 businesses that opened locations in the region in 2025, including medical practices, convenience stores, a sports card shop, a doggie daycare, grocery stores, bookstores, thrift stores, discount stores, housing, a vendor marketplace, a sneaker store, large membership-only warehouses and a pet store.
Blackstone's CTO explains how he uses his 35-minute subway ride to stay sharp and upskill
John Stecher reads about technology in another industry on his daily subway ride to work and spends his weekends being hands-on with tools.
Movies and TV shows casting across the US
Backstage compiled a list of movies and TV shows casting across the US.
What giving flu shots backstage taught me about public health
On or off Broadway, public health lives or dies at the level of ordinary, everyday interactions.
McClellan Excited for Strong Family Bond at K-State - Kansas State University Athletics
Nick McClellan, a first team all-state honoree at Christian Brothers College (Mo.) High School and one of the finest two-way players in the country, had star...
From Handshake to Hug - Kansas State University Athletics
We're in the back corridor of the T-Mobile Center prior to his official unveiling to Kansas City as a member of the Kansas State Wildcats, and preseason All-...
10 best concerts of 2025, ranked
From Backstreet Boys to Oasis, we saw more than two dozen major shows in 2025. Here are the 10 most remarkable concerts of the year.
Alabama scores 27 straight points to stun Oklahoma 34-24 and advance to Rose Bowl vs. Indiana
The College Football Playoff starts with a rematch as the first round kicks off Friday night.
Blackstone business seeks city relief from streetcar construction impacts
A Blackstone District business owner is asking city officials for financial relief after reporting significant revenue losses during streetcar construction on Farnam Street.
Entering an Important Window of Time - Kansas State University Athletics
Kansas State head coach Jeff Mittie said that he loves this time of year. The university is on winter break, meaning academics aren't a part of the equation,...
Here's what it's like to be in Blackstone's annual holiday video
What's it like to dress up like Max Headroom or execute a "Dirty Dancing" lift at work? Blackstone executives take us behind the scenes.
Spears Business HTM students excel at ICHRIE competitions testing hotel management skills
Students in OSU’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management excelled in two recent International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education competitions. Mel Gelnar won the ICHRIE Hotel Challenge, while Carrie Bailey placed second in the ICHRIE Hotel Challenge and the LEVEL UP competition.
The Futuristic New Progen Luiva Supercar Arrives for the Holidays in GTA Online
Don’t be alarmed by the absence of a roof, windshield, or windows — that’s all part of Progen’s creative vision… and the Luiva’s goal of fusing high-caliber performance with weightlessness. Think of it as a super powered sleigh that's purpose-built for...
Blackstone’s Schwarzman Says Data Center Business Not a Bubble
Blackstone Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Schwarzman brushed aside talk of a bubble surrounding the data centers powering artificial intelligence, saying the business is conservative.
McGraw was ‘Raised on K-State’ - Kansas State University Athletics
They train together, father and son, running hills in northeast Kansas, even now — especially now — as Lawson McGraw finishes his senior year at Blue Valley ...
Movies and TV shows casting across the US
Backstage compiled a list of movies and TV shows casting across the US.
Cate Blanchett says she swears by a 'cliché' morning habit to kickstart her day
Cate Blanchett says her beauty habits let her skip heavy makeup: "If your skin is in good shape, there's no need for a lot of cover-up."
A Journey of Constant Change - Kansas State University Athletics
It wasn't hard to spot Dejon Ackerson Jr. at the National Signing Day ceremony at Putnam City (Okla.) High School on December 3. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound line...
Spears Business marketing and communications director honored at 2025 Distinguished Service Awards
Multiple Spears School of Business staff members were recognized at the Staff Advisory Council Distinguished Service Award ceremony Dec. 11 in the Student Union. Stephen Howard, Spears Business director of marketing and communications, was a finalist and placed third among all eligible OSU-Stillwater staff members.
Mariners reportedly sign C Andrew Knizner for depth role
Seattle has found their backup backstop, potentially.
Ayaneo's first smartphone is a major callback to the Xperia Play
Ayaneo will launch the Pocket Play smartphone through Kickstarter soon.
Police respond to reported ICE raid at Brooklyn Park business
Brooklyn Park police verified that Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested one staff member on Friday at a business on the 8500 block of Zane Avenue North.
New Business: Bound Together bookstore opens in Nashua; CodeX speakeasy reopens
THE NAME of the new used bookstore in Nashua perfectly captures owner Michelle Audet’s goal of creating a space for people of all ages.
Ayaneo Pocket Play is a reincarnation of the Xperia Play
Ayaneo’s first smartphone is set to launch soon. Ayaneo is entering the smartphone market, and its first device will take a different approach from the...
Red Dead Redemption 2 Character Referenced In New GTA Online Update
Rockstar Games have seemingly referenced Red Dead Redemption 2 once again inside of GTA Online. We've seen Rockstar previously include screenshots from Red Dead Redemption 2 inside the game, the cash notes in GTA 6 contain the presidents of the game and much more.
The New WHO Pandemic Treaty and Global Health Governance: Incorporating Common but Differentiated Responsibilities into PABS - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
On May 20, 2025, the World Health Assembly unanimously adopted the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement, an international treaty designed to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. The product of three years of arduous negotiations, the treaty marks a new era of global cooperation in public health. However, core aspects of the agreement remain unresolved—notably the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) System, which is intended to ensure equitable access to pandemic-related materials and benefits. To support the successful implementation of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” should be formally incorporated into the negotiating agenda of the PABS annex. Introduction For the first time, an international treaty has enshrined the principle of “One Health,” the compelling idea that the health of animals, humans, and the environment all contribute to pandemic risks. SARS (2003), H1N1 (2009–10), Ebola (2014–16), and COVID-19 all emerged through zoonotic spillover from animal hosts—respectively, civets, hogs, and bats. Together, they underscore the need for a coordinated, cross-sectoral approach. The Pandemic Agreement responds to this call, requiring state parties to acknowledge the ecological interplay and commit to a comprehensive “One Health” strategy. Specifically, Article 5 charges governments to address “the drivers of pandemics and the emergence and re-emergence of infectious disease at the human-animal-environment interface,” including wild animal markets, deforestation, and antibiotic overuse. Yet the effectiveness of this “One Health” vision depends equally on the free flow of scientific information and data among countries and institutions. Just as environmental and animal health factors have been neglected in past global frameworks, so too has data sharing been marginalized, despite its centrality to timely detection and response. The Pandemic Agreement takes an important step by requiring governments to enhance data collection and cooperate with the World Health Organization (WHO). However, these provisions will remain aspirational without a robust Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex. The PABS system will determine whether countries and researchers can rapidly exchange pathogen samples and genetic data while ensuring equitable access to resulting research and development, including diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. Without such mechanisms, the treaty’s promise to operationalize “One Health” and strengthen global preparedness will risk becoming largely symbolic, echoing earlier failures to translate shared principles into coordinated action. Equity Concerns When the 2025 Health Assembly adopted the Pandemic Agreement, it left the difficult question of access to pathogens and the sharing of resulting benefits to be addressed in a separate agreement. Negotiations on this separate agreement, PABS, are now underway in Geneva. Yet governments remain divided over fundamental questions of equity between the countries that primarily contribute to the system and those that primarily draw from it—and consequently benefit. For example, wildlife in countries bordering the equator is likely to produce PABS materials, but companies in Europe are likely to use them to develop lucrative products. The most likely contributor countries are likely to be those biodiverse countries around the equator, such as Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia, where the number of human-mammalian viral host interactions is large. Conversely, countries most likely to benefit from this material are those with the technology, investors, and infrastructure to capitalize on genomic data, such as the United States, EU member states, and Japan. This imbalance reflects a broader pattern seen in prior international frameworks. Now, as in the past, the wealthiest countries in the world (a useful heuristic is membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)) disproportionately benefit from systems in which pathogens and genomic sequencing data are contributed to a common source. Under the International Agreement on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (the “Plant Treaty” or “Seed Treaty”) and the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework, companies from Europe and North America disproportionately withdraw biological samples and data for development into lucrative medical products. Their governments and companies have both statutory and contractual claims to the products that those companies correspondingly produce. PABS appears poised to follow the same pattern. The text calls for strong language on access to pathogens and associated data, but the corresponding benefits that should flow to poorer countries are couched in equivocal or non-binding language. Common but Differentiated Responsibilities To address these inequities, the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” should be formally incorporated into the negotiating agenda of the PABS annex. Common but differentiated responsibilities are often a feature of climate change negotiations. The basic principle is that, even though all countries should reduce carbon emissions, governments that became rich and powerful through massive carbon emissions (e.g., France, the United Kingdom, the United States) should have a greater obligation to address the resulting crises. Applied to PABS, it would require that governments hosting and supporting companies developing lucrative products carry greater obligations toward the cost of running the PABS system; share benefits or final medical products; and transfer technology to help countries worldwide develop their own capacities to innovate and manufacture vaccines during an emergency. For example, an annex could mandate that any company based in an OECD country that withdraws PABS material would be obligated to donate the resulting diagnostics, therapeutics, or vaccines to the WHO during a public health emergency or pandemic. Questions remain about how robust those donations would be, but the principle is that they should deliver highly significant lifesaving benefits to be equitably shared. Theoretically, this approach mirrors the PIP Framework, in which companies withdrawing influenza samples are required to pay half of the operating costs. In practice, however, the framework has fallen short. The PIP Framework Secretariat has struggled to secure payments from companies, with companies often disagreeing over how much is owed. Additionally, without another pandemic influenza to test the strength of the agreement during a public health emergency, corporate compliance with sharing mechanisms remains unknown. Even if these limitations did not characterize the PIP Framework, partially paying for operating expenses does not address the inequity in access to genetic data and pathogen samples that left less developed countries last in line for COVID-19 vaccines (and, before them, H1N1). Common but differentiated responsibilities would go further, addressing governments’ legitimate grievances regarding information sharing. It would make withdrawals of PABS material and resulting products more transparent, building trust across the board. Enforcement and Enduring Success A key implication of this approach is that the governing mechanism of the PABS must have real enforcement authority. The WHO Pandemic Agreement delegates its core governance responsibilities to a Conference of the Parties (COP)—a governing body composed of one representative from each participating government, similar to those established under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The proposed WHO Pandemic Agreement COP is charged with oversight functions but ultimately possesses no real authority to compel a government to take any action it does not wish to take. The text does not give the COP the ability to, for example, sanction a party that does not comply with either textual obligations or PABS provisions. In other words, there are no effective mechanisms in place to ensure compliance. Perhaps just as significant, establishing a meaningful enforcement mechanism within the PABS system would strengthen the WHO’s credibility and its ability to ensure compliance across global health governance. By setting a precedent for accountability, such a mechanism could enhance the organization’s authority not only within the Pandemic Agreement but also in enforcing the revised International Health Regulations and other frameworks for public health emergencies. Conclusion The PABS annex can—and should—be different. It should establish clear responsibilities for funding as well as for sharing the diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines that result from contributions to the system. The system, in turn, must include a dedicated body empowered to hold governments and the corporations they sponsor accountable for their responsibilities before, during, and after pandemics. Doing so would restore trust in the broader agreement, which was eroded as commitments were repeatedly diluted while parties scrambled to meet their own self-imposed deadlines during the Pandemic Agreement negotiations. A robust PABS Annex would cement a grand social bargain. Wealthier countries and their corporations would gain unimpeded access to scientific information essential for developing and manufacturing lifesaving medical products. As such, they would stand to gain considerable economic benefit. Yet that privilege must be matched with responsibility. The grand bargain must include not only the right to innovate, but also the duty to ensure that innovation serves all. As medical products are developed and produced through collective contributions, every person must have equal access. All human beings deserve an equitable chance to survive—to save their own life, the lives of their families, and the well-being of their communities. … Sam Halabi, JD, MPhil, is the Bette Jacobs Endowed Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Health and the Director of the Center for Transformational Health Law at Georgetown Law. He serves as the co-lead for the WHO’s Working Group on Regulatory Consideration on AI and Health’s training workstream. He earned his JD from Harvard, his MPhil from Oxford, and undergraduate degrees from Kansas State University. Lawrence Gostin, LLD (Hon.), JD, BA, is University Distinguished Professor and Founding Director and Timothy and Linda O’Neill Professor of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. He is the author of Global Health Security: A Blueprint for the Future (Harvard University Press, 2021); Global Health Law (Harvard University Press, 2014); Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint (University of California Press, 3rd ed., 2016); Public Health Law and Ethics: A Reader (University of California Press, 3rd ed., 2018); Law and the Health System (Foundation Press, 2014); Principles of Mental Health Law & Practice (Oxford University Press, 2010). He also directs the WHO Collaborating Center at Georgetown University. Image Credit: United States Mission Geneva, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
GTA Online: A Safehouse in the Hills Now Available
Status is everything, and in GTA Online: A Safehouse in the Hills you can now revel in your rightful position amongst the city's elite with a lavish new mansion property.
All GTA Online Vehicles Given The Missile Lock-On Jammer In A Safehouse in the Hills Update
As part of the new GTA Online update titled A Safehouse in the Hills, Rockstar Games have given an additional 50 vehicles the ability to equip the Missile Lock-On Jammer.
Spears Business faculty, staff honored at 2025 University Awards Convocation
The Spears School of Business was well-represented at Oklahoma State University’s 2025 University Awards Convocation. The annual ceremony honors faculty, staff and administrators who go above and beyond to propel OSU forward.
ECU Health recognized for digital health achievement as 2025 Digital Health Most Wired Survey Recipient
Recognition highlights organization’s excellence in digitally enabled health care
Blackstreet Signs Deal With XOXO Entertainment
Legendary R&B group Blackstreet has signed a new deal with XOXO Entertainment and is prepping a new album and tour for 2026.
New at the Rockstar Store: Apparel, Collectibles, and More
We’re excited to announce that a haul of new official gear is now available on the Rockstar Store, featuring new apparel, fun accessories and collectibles, and more.
Michael Returns In New GTA Online Mansions Update
The next GTA Online update, A Safehouse in the Hills, has finally gotten its release date confirmed by Rockstar Games. The company fully revealed on Friday that they'd be releasing yet another winter DLC as expected next week. The new update was first teased by Rockstar last week but details aside from the fact we'll be able to buy mansions have been fairly limited. Now we know Michael is back and more.
GTA Online: A Safehouse in the Hills Coming December 10
Prime luxury real estate comes to GTA Online in A Safehouse in the Hills, the monumental new update arriving December 10 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Red Dead Redemption Remaster with 4K and 60fps is now live — and it's completely free for owners of the original Xbox 360 version to upgrade to
Relive one of Rockstar Games' most critically-acclaimed games of all time with next-gen graphics as the Red Dead Redemption Remaster is now available on Xbox Series X|S
Mirumi the furry companion robot is now available on Kickstarter
More robots need to come wrapped in fur.
Movies and TV shows casting across the US
Backstage compiled a list of movies and TV shows casting across the US.
Red Dead Redemption Out Now on Netflix, iOS, Android, PS5, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch 2
Experience John Marston's journey across the sprawling expanses of the American West and Mexico to hunt down the remaining members of the Van der Linde Gang in Red Dead Redemption along with his fight to stop a virulent zombie plague in Undead...
Rockstar Causes Confusion Over Red Dead Redemption Upgrade On Xbox
It's not working properly right now
XOXO Entertainment Signs Blackstreet For Management
The Grammy-winning R&B group Blackstreet has signed with XOXO Entertainment Corp for management representation. The group, best known for their hit "No
Science must move from materialism to mystery
Theoretical physicist and neuroscientist Àlex Gómez-Marín argues that modern science has become trapped in a framework that mistakes matter for the whole of reality. In this wide-ranging interview, Gómez-Marín challenges the foundations of materialism, defends the scientific study of near-death experiences, and calls for a new type of science grounded in mystery and a renewed sense of the sacred. He suggests that abandoning materialism could open the door to a deeper understanding of consciousness, death, and the purpose of human existence. Simon Custer: You are both a theoretical physicist and a neuroscientist, and you have also been fiercely critical of materialist theories of mind and consciousness. What do you think the ultimate nature of reality is?Àlex Gómez-Marín: I don't know what the ultimate nature of reality is, but what I try to first assess is whether the stories that they [mainstream science] have told us about it are right, or maybe whether there are other alternatives. That's why I've been a fierce critic of materialism. As a scientist, I realized that they had sold us this idea that to be a good scientist you also had to subscribe to many other -isms, like materialism, reductionism, and even secularism. And so first I think one needs to unmount these -isms, and then, as is happening today in consciousness studies, we have a huge landscape where there isn't only one game in town, the idea that matter is the only thing that really exists. But because we are studying the hard problem of consciousness, it may be the case that other views of reality, like idealism, or even dualism, or other theories like dual aspect monism... these are philosophical ideas that now, I think, have room in science to be taken seriously. How does something like materialism relate to dualism or idealism? What is materialism in the first place?Well, materialism is the philosophical position that matter is the only really ‘real’ thing in the universe. And I think that worked kind of well because science started 400 years ago and Galileo made that split, I call it the foundational wound. It was a great business move.He said, let's start doing science on that portion of reality that lends itself more easily to mathematization and measurement. So, for some reason, the solidity of this table or the movement of planets lend themselves very well to this foundational idea of science. But as time went on, 400 years later, we realized that we had forgotten the other side, which is what really matters.What really matters is pain, is love, is feelings, sensation, consciousness, which is very hard to define, but very intimate. We all know what it is. It's that thing that disappears when we go into deep sleep and comes back in the morning. SUGGESTED VIEWING On the edges of knowledge With Michael Shermer, Rupert Sheldrake, Güneş Taylor It's what it is like to be, as Nagel said. It's the feeling of being alive. So, materialism is good to study certain things, but then when it ossifies into this ideology and then is dressed like science, now it's preventing us from understanding these key questions that are really that everybody wants to know.Why are we here? Why do we feel reality? Where do we go when we die? And so we need other ways. We need pluralism. I'm only asking for having more options on the table and taking them seriously. Why does materialism fail to explain consciousness? For example, if you were to lobotomize me, I would not be a functional human being. What do you say to someone who might think that materialism adequately explains the mind?Well, here we could speak about different things. We could talk about physics or about neuroscience. I happen to have training with both.For instance, for neuroscientists, 99% of them, I'm not included in that portion, believe that the brain can only be a productive organ. It's an organ that somehow, somewhere, consciousness emerges. It's like a lamp. And then something happens, magic happens, and then consciousness emerges.That's the position you need to be if you're a materialist because if the only really ‘real’ thing is matter, then you need to say, just give us some more time and money and we'll figure out how mind emerges or is produced from matter. There are many philosophically sophisticated ways of criticizing this.Now there's another option, which is the brain as a permissive organ. This was said by William James more than 100 years ago.Now then the brain wouldn't be like this machine, like for instance, a heat engine whose smoke is consciousness, which is what we would have in the first big model, the productive model. But in the permissive model, the brain would be a kind of a filter. And so the brain would still have a very important role in consciousness, but it wouldn't be a productive role.It would be permissive, much like a filter or much like a prism which would receive light. And - I'm speaking metaphorically - it would receive the light of the mind and then it could reflect it and refract it.Now, with these two big options on the table, I think we can make progress into what I call the edges of consciousness, which are all these experiences, weird experiences that many people have, but we don't talk about enough, like near-death experiences, precognitive dreams, synchronicities. These experiences are very important for humans and they have a place in the permissive hypothesis and they are literally impossible in the productive hypothesis. So that's yet one more reason to explore alternatives to materialism. There may be anecdotal evidence for near-death experiences, but is there robust evidence that would be accepted by the majority of scientists who subscribe to the scientific method?Sure. And the plural of anecdotes, someone said, is data.And there's a lot of data. Actually, this year is the 50th anniversary, half a century, since Dr. Raymond Moody realized that we have two ears and one mouth and started listening to what his patients had to say about their experiences while they were clinically dead.The heart had stopped, breathing had stopped in these patients. These patients would come back and tell him these amazing stories that some people may say are hallucinations, but for the patients were hyper-real, like seeing light at the end of the tunnels, seeing deceased family members waiting for them, feeling bliss.___I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain.___And so he and others started taking them seriously and writing their accounts down. And then you can do a science based on that material of experience that people have. Now, on the more objective side, more recently people have started to measure what's going on in the brain when people are clinically dead and brought back. This has opened a proper field of study, which is near-death studies.Evidence is a difficult word, because sometimes people think that when you say evidence, this is just the final proof. Evidence is like in a jury. You bring testimony, you bring pieces of data that point in one direction or another.I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain. When brains are broken or shut off, there can still be mind going on. And that's revolutionary.That would entail that when we die, it's not game over, which, by the way, is the thesis of materialism. If consciousness survives, materialism dies. It's game over for materialism if something of us continues after we die. Do you think that there is mental continuity after death?Well, I think so, and I believe so, and I could also say I may have experienced it myself, because four years ago I had a near-death experience. I was in the hospital, I lost a lot of blood, and I saw those beings at the end of the tunnel, three beings, and there was yellow light. I was in a well, I was looking upwards, and I hadn't read about NDEs by then, but when I came back from this experience, I decided I would try to integrate this also in my professional life. Not just my personal life, of course, but my professional life as a physicist and as a neuroscientist. So I may have had the experience of glimpses of what an afterlife would be, and I'm not ashamed to say it in this way, and then one can do science of it, and then one can do philosophy of it.One can think about what -isms we were discussing, what views on reality would allow those experiences to be really ‘real,’ as opposed to, well, poor guy, the brain was kind of broken, it must have been a hallucination. Do you have a view about whether individuality or “the ego” persists after death, or whether we sort of merge into some sort of cosmic consciousness instead?I don't know, but my view would be along those lines you're suggesting. I think we could speak about a kind of universal mind, and then the problem is not how we emerge from matter, but how we fragment from a more holistic consciousness into these individual eddies and then when we die, this kind of dissipates.But I'm not sure. For instance, idealism would promote that view, but then what would survive of us after these eddies just vanish and become again the big Consciousness, I'm not sure what that would be. I don't know for sure, but I would tell you I believe something of us survives.And there are other lines of research, not just near-death experience, that can address this really hard question of survival. For instance, there are children who remember previous lives. This was studied by Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia for more than 50 years.___Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.___It's amazing research. He went all over the world, especially in the East, and collected all these case studies, all these stories. In plural, these were data of kids, very young age, who would describe up to 40 items that then he could go and verify.There was no internet. There was really no way the kid could know. Why would the kid say that when I was living in this other body and I was a woman and that's how my house would look like or that's how I would die, right? Again, there is evidence, not proof, but there's evidence not only that something weird and interesting is happening as we cross the threshold, but also when we come back to this life.Scientists should not be afraid of studying this, but they are because there's stigma. There's usually stigma upon the enigma, and this is so unfortunate. And one of the reasons is because of the ideology of materialism, because those things cannot be possible. What is wrong with the politics of science such that they have generated this stigma?So many things. Science is a human activity to begin with.So it falls prey to all our passions and ego and greed. That's one thing. Science is a job for the good and for the bad.You need to get a salary. You need to get grants. Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.And then, we didn't have time to unpack this, but science for many years become entangled, as I was suggesting before, to other -isms, materialism, secularism. So anything that smells like the afterlife, people may think has to do with God, and then they freak out.Anything that suggests that there's something about the mind that may not need a physical material substrate to exist, it smells like non-materialism. So, all these -isms are ideologically blocking that kind of research, and then there are all these sociopolitical constraints as to what should be studied and what shouldn't be studied.I call it the backstage of science. Sometimes we scientists or science communicators seem to speak as if the data is the only thing that matters. We say, well, data and theory.But then there's a third leg of this stool, which is all the politics that goes behind the scenes. And we often don't speak about this, and it's quite vicious and petty, and it's very real. Why is materialism so attractive to most scientists?Well, an easy answer is because we've grown up with it.It's what the educational system promotes, and that's what you hear when you go to university. So it's like growing in a culture. It feels like the air in which you breathe.So it's very hard to begin with to detect, well, maybe there's another alternative. Maybe there are other ways of doing science, other environments in which one could do science. That's one reason.And other reasons maybe are more profound, and I'm not qualified to explain them, but I could say, looking at this 400-year history of science, since it started around 1623 with Galileo's book The Assayer, that science went and coupled with all what's going on in the West.And so the fall of religion, you could say, and science presented us this new alternative that then could be coupled very well with other -isms, and this idea of growth, and then science losing its good twin brother, which was philosophy. There's a whole natural history of science starting as philosophy, kind of emancipating or breaking out from philosophy, and then marrying technology, and then marrying other social systems.From that point of view, materialism is a very convenient idea to propose. There were attempts, like the German idealists tried to do a more romantic science. But no, the idea prevailed, like Francis Bacon said: You should pursue nature through all her corners, he said, and make her spill her secrets.Our attitude towards nature in the science that dominates is very much reflecting how we treat nature in our society, in our culture, like a resource to extract secrets by force and then dominate it. How is materialism related to the notions of growth and progress? What's wrong with having a productive citizenry?This is another very interesting and very difficult question to answer.But there's this recent book coming out by Paul Kingsnorth. In it, he explains this idea of the machine and this idea of progress. And this, again, this conflation of more is better, of we need to go forward always, and convincing us that the way to do that is to continually extract more from nature. But because we don't have the religious context anymore, because God is dead, then what do we have? We have what we can do as humans with our own gadgets.It's kind of the story of the Promethean fire. We will just build anything to make ourselves God.A good example today is transhumanism. Transhumanism is this pseudo-religion dressed in technoscientific language whose goal is very religious. They promise immortality, they promise redemption, they promise transformation of the entire natural world, but it's done by human means through technology. Are you suggesting that we can't have ethics without religion?Well, we should have ethics with or without religion. That's another pruning that has happened in science. We say, forget about aesthetics, although some physicists still think that beautiful means probably true, and forget about politics. We pretend there's no backstage of science, and even let's forget about ethics.___Science needs to be in the service of mankind.___Scientists, when they become more like engineers, they're just thinking how to make things work so that they can go to the moon, go to Mars, make machines that think, but they don't think whether that's a good idea.And also consider metaphysics. Many scientists for a long time pretended, and maybe that comes from the stream of positivisms, that really one doesn't need metaphysics at all, except that materialism is always the metaphysics running the system.You see, it's not just ethics. It's the pruning of all of these, you could say, five main legs of philosophy that just makes a kind of unconscious science, a science that doesn't really know what it's doing. It's doing it very well locally, but it just doesn't know what it's doing globally. Do you think science has to have an ultimate vision and purpose behind it for it to be effective or for it to be meaningful and transformative?Yes, a way I would say that is that science needs to be in the service of mankind. And it hasn't been that. And we can see it through, you know, when we discovered the secrets of the atom, and all of a sudden, the Manhattan Project, and then we create nuclear weapons.And now we're trying to crack how machines may think, and now we're creating this mess, right? So science needs to be in service of mankind, not in service of a few ideas that maybe want to make more money or just dominate upon nature. What about planes, trains, automobiles, and modern medicine? Hasn't science served mankind by helping us develop those technologies?Yes and no. I see where you're going, and it's fair.I came here by plane, and it's a blessing. When I almost died, the surgeons did their job, and they saved my life. But these two forced choices between Luddites and Silicon Valley types, I think, of course, it's a false dichotomy.Progress, in a way, it's good, but we often don't speak about the dark side of the moon. We say the great things that progress has brought, and we don't speak about the disasters, the side effects that it has come with, and the same when we promise new technologies. We tend to think that any technology is great, that email is going to save us so much time because we don't need to write letters and send them anymore.Is that true? I spend so many hours a week writing emails. Let's just say there are great things about it and bad things about it. People like Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, for example, argue that we've made moral progress over time because of the Enlightenment. Do you think that's totally wrong-headed?I think he's emphasizing a side of the moon, and he does that very well, and you can find tons of plots where there's a slope going up and say it's great. But I think he should also tell the not-so-friendly story.But if your ideology is just to resist and continue to explain that the Enlightenment is the best thing ever and reason is the best thing ever… this feels to me like you're worshipping these abstractions.I'm very critical of it and also of these, again, science communicators and scientists that say, Oh, science says, in the name of science, experts say. It's like, come on, let's be careful because we can shoot ourselves in the foot by putting forth to the people an image of science that we know is not really true. Recently there's been a resurgence of spirituality and of people who say that they're spiritual but not religious, especially in the United States. If materialism is going away, what is going to fill that gap? Are we going to return to traditional religion? Do you see that being connected with the rise of the political right?I'm not a fortune teller, so I don't know what's going to happen. But, yeah, we could say we're in this post-materialist age and even post-secular age. One cannot come back to the past, but maybe just to contact with the roots is a good idea.What do I mean by that? I think we need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method. We need to do so in a culture where we realize humans cannot thrive in a vacuum where there's this idea that the sacred has to be removed.Now, how do we do that without bringing in back all the vices of religion? I don't know. I'm from a Catholic country.Here we are in England, so there are differences and interreligious dialogue has always been a challenge. But I think maybe a way of putting it is: after all these conflicts and branchings I was quickly alluding to, science from philosophy and then also from religion, now there's a time of reconciliation perhaps and maybe debates in the proper sense, like exchange of ideas in service of learning and getting into something higher than both poles. We need science to talk to religious people and it's interesting when people say they're spiritual and not religious.I think this is just a way of saying, no, I don't want to go back, I want to go forward. But at the end of the day, religions have offered us practices and grounding that we now desperately need. Everybody can and should just meditate or pray or do whatever they want, but we're in a crisis and it's time for reconciliation. What do you say to critics that say you are merely projecting our need for meaning onto a fundamentally indifferent universe?Yeah, I know that the typical science communicator says something like this. But we're not projecting. Human beings feed on meaning.It's the other way around. If you're a materialist, because the only thing that there is is matter, all that comes next, free will, consciousness, meaning, this is a kind of illusion that we need to explain.They're just craving for meaning, but there isn't really for them. I would also like to remind my materialist friends that for decades, if not centuries, they've said in the name of science, we know that this and this and this doesn't really exist. I think now they sense they're forced to say, well, actually, we don't know. We've been saying, for instance, that there's nothing after you die, and now probably they need to admit that they don't know the answer.___We need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method.___So it's a moment to open up possibilities and also to gently but fiercely critique these claims that I think harm society. If you say in the name of science, get on with it, when your father dies, you'll never see him again. Well, what the F do you know about it? You haven't studied the literature, you haven't had any of those experiences, and basically what you're doing is you're just doing marketing on ideology. This needs to stop. Do you think that it's scarier for some people to entertain the thought that there might be life after death, compared to a materialist worldview where you just die, given that there might be consequences for unsavory behaviour?Well, death and dying is scary. It's maybe the ultimate ending. It's a limit on life, and when we're in this conquest mode, we don't like limits.And it also has, there's a shockwave backwards, so I think if you change your notion of what death is or may be, you live differently. It also has consequences, as you're saying, for the future because this is not our only goal here and we come back in whatever form. And again, different religions would say different things. I the East, they are more happy with the idea of reincarnation, and here in the West, there are other preferences. But in any case, it changes how we live, and that's really what matters.It's not about just projecting or imagining what we'll be after, but how we live now and also how we treat those who are dying. So it goes from the individual to the families, to the hospitals.Now in the near-death research I do, this has ramifications at all these levels, all the way to society.But our society is thanatophobic. It has a phobia of death. We don't want to hear about death, and this is another thing we need to put on the table and be willing to talk about it. Do you think that we might get closer to answering ultimate questions like why is there anything at all if we jettison materialism?That’s an excellent question, Simon. Two things: we should stop treating reality, I believe, as a great sudoku, as an enigma, as something that with intelligence, money, and time that we will crack and instead treat reality more like a mystery. And what you do for in front of a mystery is not to be the clever guy in a class and say “I’ll solve you” but more like “I will bow and you will transform me.”I know this sounds a bit like a scientist speaking like a mystic. But I think this reorientation is needed. In the end, we won’t crack the big questions, but they will transform us. If we free ourselves from this prison of materialism, the way we will explore these questions will be freer, more creative, and in service of mankind. Do you think exploring mystery is the reason why we are here?I think we are here because, and this pseudo-theological argument I’m making off the cuff, But the One, the Absolute, if there is such a thing, had everything except limitation. We are that absolute experiencing that contingency. It’s like an act of divine proprioception. It’s a wonderful adventure, it’s just incredible to be alive. Perhaps we have forgotten why we are here and the whole point is to experience the flesh.Let me end by saying this. I criticize materialism harshly. I bang on this dead horse, because I think it’s dead. But matter is a great mystery. So maybe my invitation is as follows: hey materialist friends, come here, let’s work on materialism 2.0! Consciousness is a mystery, but matter is also a mystery. The fact that we can have an intersubjective experience consensus, the fact that we can apply mathematics, that we can measure things... the physical world we take for granted, but it is a great mystery too.Maybe that’s related to your last question: why are we here? Why did spirit decide to incarnate? Being in the flesh may be a great thing if spirit decided to do so.Àlex Gómez-Marín, thank you very much.My pleasure.
Gaming Solutions Stocks Q3 Teardown: Accel Entertainment (NYSE:ACEL) Vs The Rest
The end of an earnings season can be a great time to discover new stocks and assess how companies are handling the current business environment. Let’s take a look at how Accel Entertainment (NYSE:ACEL) and the rest of the gaming solutions stocks fared in Q3.