Fortnite is celebrating Star Wars in a big way as its next season - Galactic Battle - is arriving on May 2 and will feature not only a Star Wars-themed Battle Pass and a five-part saga with plenty of surprises, but also the arrival of Darth Jar Jar to the Battle Royale.The surprising yet incredible news was shared during Star Wars Celebration, and we got a tease of even more of the Star Wars fun headed our way next month, including that Force Lightning will be joining the game as an in-game ability. It was also confirmed that Emperor Palpatine and mashups like Wookiee Cuddle Team Leader will be part of the Battle Pass, new Item Shop offerings will include Mace Windu, players will be able to pilot and co-pilot X-Wings and TIE Fighters, there will be themed map locations, and much more.As for the Star Wars saga we will be experiencing, each week will have a "different overarching theme," and they are as follows;Imperial Takeover – May 2, 2025The Pull of the Force – May 8, 2025Mandalorian Rising – May 22, 2025Star Destroyer Bombardment – May 29, 2025Death Star Sabotage – June 7, 2025And yes, this saga will culminate in an in-game narrative live event that will "surely have players feeling like they've got the fate of the whole galaxy in their hands."For more from Star Wars Celebration, check out how The Mandalorian & Grogu's Sigourney Weaver had Grogu steal her heart, our chat with Hayden Christensen about returning to Anakin, how and all the biggest news from The Mandalorian & Grogu, Ahsoka, Andor panels.Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

Marco writes: Tools is a free assets pack containing free Geometry Nodes setups that can be used for generating snow on top of objects, simulate particles bouncing on meshes, simulate cloth... Source

Super together!Nintendo has gone all out for its first Western Switch 2 commercial, bringing back actor Paul Rudd to showcase the console's new GameChat functionality.Wait... bringing back, you say? Yes, for those who grew up in the SNES days, you might remember Paul Rudd starred in a similar 1991 commercial for Nintendo's successor to the NES. You remember the one: "Now you're playing with power... Super power!".Read the full article on nintendolife.com

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ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images 2025-04-20T08:17:35Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an Easter cease-fire in Ukraine. Russian military operations were supposed to cease from Saturday evening until midnight Monday. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said "isolated" attacks have continued. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said early Sunday that Russian forces were "continuing isolated attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine" despite Moscow's Easter cease-fire announcement.In a morning update, Zelenskyy said the Russian army was "attempting to create the general impression of a ceasefire.""Across various frontline directions, there have already been 59 cases of Russian shelling and 5 assaults by Russian units," Zelenskyy wrote on X, citing a report from Ukrainian Armed Forces commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.He added that Russian forces had also carried out artillery strikes and used drones in Russia's Kursk region, where the two sides have been locked in combat since Kyiv launched a surprise offensive last summer.During a meeting at the Kremlin on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had called for his forces to cease all military operations from 6 p.m. Moscow time Saturday to midnight Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a post on Telegram."Guided by humanitarian motives, the Russian side announces an Easter cease-fire," the statement read. "I hereby order all military operations ceased for this period."The statement said Moscow expected Ukraine to follow its example but that Russian forces should be "prepared to repel possible cease-fire violations and provocations by the enemy, as well as any aggressive acts on their part."But in a series of social media updates, Zelenskyy said Russian attacks had not subsided and cast doubt on Moscow's motives for the cease-fire."According to the Commander-in-Chief reports, Russian assault operations continue on several frontline sectors, and Russian artillery fire has not subsided. Therefore, there is no trust in words coming from Moscow," he wrote on Saturday evening.On Sunday, Zelenskyy also reiterated his call for the so-called Easter truce to be extended to 30 days, saying the offer "remains on the table" and that Ukraine would "act in accordance with the actual situation on the ground."It comes after President Donald Trump said Friday that he would "take a pass" on attempting to broker a peace deal between the two sides if "one of the two parties makes it very difficult." Recommended video

Nintendo Switch 2: the best and the worst of the new console – Reader’s Feature GameCentral Published April 20, 2025 9:00am There are pros and cons to the new console (Nintendo) A reader tries to sort out the good, the bad, and the in-between of Nintendo’s Switch 2, from its impressive looking games to its controversial pricing. Now that the dust has (somewhat) settled on the Nintendo Switch 2 showcase I thought I’d give my opinions on the upcoming release. The Good The games – Whilst the first Switch had a an arguably better launch day line-up it was also able to draw from the Wii U. Given how successful the Switch has been that’s less of an option this time. However, Mario Kart World looks fantastic and is sure to be a huge success and Donkey Kong Bananza, although not immediately available, looks great fun and is only a short wait. And although I don’t always care for the first person shooter genre Metroid Prime 4 looks intriguing. Coupled with a raft of third party games and things are shaping up nicely. The console – On one hand Nintendo are playing it safe, on the other they are building on an already successful console by making improvements. The bigger screen, which is capable of HDR, is a great step forward in my eyes and a welcome addition. Also, for those that play local multiplayer, the split Joy-Cons look a noticeable improvement. Digital Foundry have noted that the console seems to have a similar level of power as a PlayStation 4 but by utilising current technology is able to significantly outperform the PlayStation 4 in terms of graphical capability. Personally, given that the Switch 2 will primarily be used a as a handheld this meets my levels of expectations. The third party support – Two big games of recent years – Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077 – have been announced already, along with Final Fantasy 7 remake. Ubisoft have also announced Star Wars Outlaws and Capcom Street Fighter 6. I imagine, given their support for the original Switch, further Ubisoft and Capcom games will be heading to Switch 2. And although I’m sure these versions will have some compromises, from what has been shown so far it looks like Switch 2 ports will be more comparable with current gen compared with the previous Switch console. The Bad Upgrades – The upgrade situation seems a bit of mess, really. Seemingly for the most part it would be cheaper to purchase a Switch 1 game and upgrade than buy the Switch 2 version outright. Also, subscribing to Nintendo Switch Online means upgrades are free, except the price for Nintendo Switch Online for Switch 2 is likely to be more expensive than the current price and as far as I’m aware hasn’t been announced yet. Factor in that it hasn’t been announced the price to upgrade from Switch 1 to Switch 2 in the UK and other countries and it all gets a bit frustrating. ‘C’ button – Oh the C button the unrealised potential you once had, before we all knew that the C stood for chat. On the one hand I suppose it makes sense on the other, how anticlimactic. I think the most egregious thing is Nintendo acting like they’d invented talking to friends in multiplayer games, as if it’s not been a thing for years. Actually, scrap that. The most egregious thing is having to pay possibly an extra £20 for a few extra mini-games in Super Mario Party Jamboree when you’ve already forked out £50 for a camera. Welcome Tour – I can’t help but compare this game/tech demo with Astro’s Playroom on PlayStation 5. A great introduction to the console that was fun, imaginative, and – best of all – free. The Switch 2 Welcome Tour, on the other hand, looks bland and lacking in any charm. To then have the audacity to charge for the game is daft. This should have been bundled with the console. Just seems like a slapdash cash grab. The In-Between Pricing – I’ve heard some grumbling about the price of the console, but I don’t think it’s too bad. Granted I was more hopeful for a £350 price point. However, £395 is reasonable when you compare it to other handheld devices and when you consider that both Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 were more expensive at launch and that was five years ago nearly. I do, however, think the pricing of peripherals is a lot. Namely the camera, which I can’t see being a big seller, along with the price of the controllers. However, the bigger issue people have is the game pricing. I think it’s a more pressing concern for those in other territories, given £75 is a similar price as some first party PlayStation 5 games that we are used to in the UK. However, it’s still disappointing given that it’s highly unlikely that Mario Kart World will ever receive a significant discount, whereas other publishers will offer sizable price reductions on their games after a period of time has passed. I do appreciate though that Nintendo are offering a reasonable discount on digital titles. As someone who favours physical media generally, I unfortunately feel we are heading towards digital-only consoles in the near future, so at least this seems like a decent incentive to choose digital titles. Hopefully Nintendo will also bring back game vouchers and rewards to offer further discounts this way. Also, Currys have offered significant discounts on new titles throughout the Switch’s lifespan so there’s hope this might continue with the Switch 2. Don’t get me wrong I’m not thrilled with paying £75 for Switch 2 games but hopefully Nintendo and other retailers might make create some deals to take the sting out a bit. The future of Switch 2 – At the moment it’s looking pretty rosy in terms of third party support and since current gen-only games such as Star Wars Outlaws are due a Switch 2 release there’s no reason to say that Switch 2 games couldn’t release alongside their Xbox/PlayStation 5 counterparts. But I guess it’s too early to judge the quality of these ports and whether publishers will continue to support the Switch 2, and the proof will be when the system is released. Less known is whether the Switch 2 will be left behind when the next generation starts, presumably in the next few years with the new Xbox and the PlayStation 6. It’s likely this current gen has some years left, but you never know. The other issue is that it’s likely first party Nintendo games are going to be less plentiful than with previous systems. Nintendo are no doubt going to be affected by increased development times and although I’m no expert I imagine given how often Nintendo raided their back catalogue during the Switch era they are running out of options for games to remake/remaster/re-release. More Trending Again, I’m not a Nintendo superfan, so could be wrong, but the only big games that I can think of that might fit the bill are the Zelda games from the Wii/Wii U era and Super Mario Galaxy 2. All of this means that must-have games are likely to be less frequent on Switch 2 but given the increase in game prices perhaps that’s not a bad thing. By reader Matc7884 Metroid Prime isn’t a traditional first person shooter (Nintendo) The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro. You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

في أجواء يملؤها التقدير للعلم والعلماء، نُظم اليوم الثلاثاء 15 أفريل 2025 برنامج خاص بمناسبة يوم العلم، من تنظيم مؤسسة وسام العالِم الجزائري، وذلك بالمركز الثقافي محمد عيسى مسعودي – حسين داي، الجزائر العاصمة.اللقاء عرف حضورًا مميزًا لمداخلتين من تقديم: الأستاذة فريدة لبعل الدكتورة قصباجي نشيدةحيث قدّمتا رؤى عميقة حول دور العلم في بناء الإنسان الجزائريشكرًا لكل من حضر وساهم في إنجاح هذا الموعد العلمي والثقافي

Nature, Published online: 16 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08842-1Upon intramuscular administration, COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are primarily taken up by macrophages, in which the cellular machinery extends their poly(A) tails, thereby increasing mRNA stability and translation, providing an explanation for the efficacy of these vaccines.

Scientists have identified some reasons why yawns spread from person to person.