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In the months leading up to the theatrical release of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, there was all kinds of tie-in merchandise flooding store shelves. Everything from Hasbro action figures to cases of bottled water had the Star Wars logo on it. It's hard to say there was a shortage of Force Awakens products, but one noticeable omission was the lack of an official video game adaptation of the movie. The closest gamers got was the Disney Infinity 3.0 Force Awakens play set, which recreated moments from the film. But soon, that will (kind of) change.
In the past decade, there have been numerous LEGO Star Wars video games released for various platforms, providing an entertaining spin on the events of the previous six films. The series has sold more than 33 million copies, so it's no surprise that TT Games and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment are at it again and will release a LEGO Force Awakens game on June 28, 2016. You can watch the amusing announcement trailer above.
The game will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS. A deluxe edition of the title will be made for PS4 and Xbox One, including an exclusive Finn mini figure and access to the game's season pass. The PS4 and PS3 versions of LEGO Force Awakens provides exclusive downloadable content, the Droid Character Pack, and the Phantom Limb Level Pack.
In addition to playing through the events of The Force Awakens in the classic LEGO video game way, Star Wars fans have a little extra incentive to pick up a copy. LEGO Force Awakens will feature additional story content that fills in the gap between Return of the Jedi and Star Wars 7, providing new insight on the movie and its characters. There's no word on what exactly that information will entail, but it's a tantalizing tease nonetheless. Few would have predicted a light-hearted LEGO video game would be the source for new details about the Star Wars galaxy, so this is quite a surprise from the Lucasfilm story group. Everything is canon as it turns out.
The new title will also introduce fresh gameplay features for the LEGO series. There's an enhanced "Multi-Builds" system where players can choose from multiple building options to advance the narrative. Players can also participate in intense Blaster Battles for the first time, using the surrounding environments to drive back the First Order soldiers. There is also the opportunity to take part in high-speed flight gameplay via arena based battles and space dogfights. A variety of vehicles will be available, including the Millennium Falcon.
For gamers looking for a Star Wars fix on their console of choice, LEGO The Force Awakens sounds like it'll be worth picking up. The previous games in the franchise were all fun to play, so there's reason to believe the latest edition will be more of the same. EA may have decided to never move forward with an "actual" tie-in game for the film (choosing to concentrate efforts on Star Wars Battlefront), but this should make up for that. It's hard to go wrong with LEGO.
LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be available June 28, 2016.
Star Wars: Episode 7 – The Force Awakens is now in theaters, and will be followed by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on December 16th, 2016, Star Wars: Episode 8 on December 15th, 2017, and the Han Solo Star Wars Anthology film on May 25th, 2018. Star Wars: Episode 9 is expected to reach theaters in 2019, followed by the third Star Wars Anthology film in 2020.
The United Nations climate talks that seemed headed for sure disaster were saved from utter collapse late Friday night in Copenhagen, after leaders from the U.S., India, Brazil, South Africa and China came to an agreement to combat global warming. The deal contained no specifics on emissions cuts, but it did commit the countries to look to keep global warming at 2°C or less and to promise $30 billion in funding to battle climate change by 2012. It also created a framework for international transparency on climate actions for developed and developing nations alike. The agreement is far from perfect and a long way from what environmentalists were hoping from the Copenhagen summit just a few months ago but it is a start. "For the first time, all major economies have come together to accept their responsibility to combat climate change," said President Obama, visibly tired after a long day of emergency negotiations in Copenhagen. "This is a consensus that will serve as the foundation for global action against climate change for years to come."
But while the five countries that reached the agreement may be satisfied, the deal was far from finalized. Most African nations and small island states did not initially confirm that they would agree to its outlines. But after delegates in Copenhagen worked through the night, a motion was passed Saturday morning recognizing the U.S.-backed agreement. U.N. Secretary-General Ban-ki Moon told journalists, "Finally, we sealed the deal." He went on to say that this was an "essential beginning" but noted that the agreement must be made legally binding next year. To be accepted as an official U.N. agreement, the deal needs to be endorsed by all 193 nations at the talks.
Environmental groups are split, with mainstream groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council welcoming the news Friday as a first step, with more liberal organizations like Greenpeace denouncing it. Indeed, almost immediately there was harsh condemnation. In a hastily called press conference on the steps of the media center, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, Sudan's U.N. Ambassador and the head of the G-77 negotiating bloc of developing countries, lambasted the agreement and vowed to fight it. "The deal remains just an idea," he said. "Obama acting the way he did definitely established that there's no difference between him and the Bush tradition."
Obama seemed to anticipate this mixed reception in his remarks after the agreement was struck by the five countries. He emphasized that even though new analyses have shown that existing carbon pledges by developed and developing nations are far too weak to head off severe warming, this deal is only meant to be the beginning. "The actions that we are going to set, we know that they will not by themselves be sufficient to get to where we need to get by 2050," Obama said. "That's why this is going to be a first step."
As part of the accord, developed and developing countries would list their national actions and mechanisms for addressing climate change, then provide information on those actions, and how well they're carried out, through "national communications, with provisions for international consultations and analysis under clearly defined guidelines," according to an Administration official. That last point was particularly important for the U.S.: the Chinese were resistant to coming under international scrutiny, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had earlier called transparency a "deal breaker." Though the details of exactly how the monitoring will be carried out remain unclear like much in the agreement it apparently fit Obama's requirements. "Transparency, mitigation and finance form the basis of the common approach the U.S. and other partners have embraced here in Copenhagen," he said before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington.
When Obama arrived in Copenhagen on Friday morning, ministers and some heads of state had been up much of the night attempting to craft a workable agreement without success. Obama's day was spent being shuttled from meeting to meeting with major developed and developing economies. He was stood up at one meeting by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao; by some reports he had to finesse his way into a key meeting with Chinese, Indian and Brazilian officials, where the agreement was finally struck. The deal, "if not what we expected, may be a way of salvaging something and pave the way to another meeting or series of meetings to get the full result of this proceeding," said Sergio Serra, Brazil's chief climate negotiator. In fact, the accord drops the expected goal of setting a deadline to achieve a true international treaty by the end of 2010; the details of such a treaty will most likely require months or years of further negotiation.
Obama was quick to note that the deal was not legally binding for anyone neither the U.S. nor developing nations like China. Each country will list its climate actions in an appendix to the document; then there will be international analysis and reporting similar to what happens under the World Trade Organization. But there will be no legal penalties if countries fail to achieve their targets. "We'll receive a sense of what each country is doing," said Obama. That way the signatories will know "we are in this together, and we will know who is emitting and who is not."
For some, there was a sense of relief and excitement that, after two weeks of stalled talks and a day of frustration and cancelled meetings, at least something was achieved. Fans of the deal focused on its potential to kick-start clean-energy investment. It may also speed the adoption of cap-and-trade legislation by the U.S. Senate, which is seen as key to establishing a more ambitious global treaty. But for activists and many delegates in Copenhagen, the deal fell far short of what science demands to combat global warming. Many countries are already irritated that they were left out of the last-minute negotiations. "This is a declaration that small and poor countries don't matter, that international civil society doesn't matter, and that serious limits on carbon don't matter," said Bill McKibben, the head of the environmental activist group 350.org. "The President has wrecked the U.N., and he's wrecked the possibility of a tough plan to control global warming."
Even by passing a final plenary vote, the deal will still need to be voted on by the wider U.N. and with the way the troubled negotiations have gone so far, that's no sure thing. In the end, the compromise was pure Obama: pragmatic, with a little bit for everyone to like and dislike. "This progress did not come easy, and we know that this progress alone is not enough," he said. "One of the things I've felt very strongly over the years is that the hard stuff inspires not paralysis but going ahead and making the best of the situation you are in and then continuing to try to make progress." After two hard weeks, some will argue, it's better than nothing.
New compensation scheme pays donors to take time off work during operation and recovery.
Australia is encouraging people to donate their organs as supply falls short of demand.
For example, there are 1,200 people on Australia's kidney waiting list.
Compensation is one of the ways being used to drive up supply, with people being paid while taking time off work to donate and then recover following surgery.
With better medical practises and plenty of doctors, all that is needed is more organ donors, say doctors.
Give me land, lotsa, lotsa land! 10 beautiful acres located in the Montague School District. Property is cleared and ready to built your dream home on.... and bring your horses. Great horse property! Peaceful, scenic, and private setting! Enjoy the space and sunshine! Are you ready to build and saddle up?
Nevada willing to host the NFL team's training camp, but "would 100 percent need help" funding the facility upgrades required to bring team to town.
Nevada Wolf Pack athletic director Doug Knuth would love to see his university host Oakland Raiders training camp in the future, but he’s also realistic about the kind of money his department would be willing to sink into the infrastructure upgrades required to lure the NFL team to Reno.
Nevada hosted Raiders president Marc Badain, Democratic governor candidate Steve Sisolak and Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve last Thursday as the trio toured potential camp sites. Knuth cautioned it’s early in the process, but if the Raiders do move camp to Reno – it remains a major question mark if they will – the Wolf Pack’s facilities are the leading candidate (the tour also went to Hug and Wooster high schools).
Badain, whose franchise will move to Las Vegas for the 2020 season, has visited Reno a few times over the last three years, but there haven’t been substantial talks on a potential camp move.
“There was no meat on the bone,” Knuth said of the latest visit. “There was no discussion about possibilities. They were coming up to look around at a couple different options, and frankly that’s where they are at this point. Marc Badain has shared with me that their first concern is getting the stadium (in Las Vegas) done. That’s a big, big project. They’ve got to get that done to get ready to go to play games.
MORE: We asked. You answered. And you don't want the Raiders.
In each of the last two summers, Knuth has visited Raiders training camp in Napa, which has hosted the team since 1996. He said the Wolf Pack has the majority of the facilities required to house Raiders camp. The only major upgrades required on Nevada’s campus would be to turn its practice fields from FieldTurf to grass and to build a locker room for the team (the price tag on that would start around $5 million).
Knuth said hosting Raiders training camp would boost the Wolf Pack’s national visibility and help its recruiting. Nevada football coach Jay Norvell, who was an assistant for the Raiders from 2002-03, has been a proponent of luring the Raiders to town. Knuth said it’d be a boon for the region.
“There’s something about hosting an NFL team,” Knuth said. “The NFL is such a big organization and it just draws so many eyeballs and attention, especially if they’re in contention. If they’re a Super Bowl-caliber team, which they very well could be the next bunch of years, every time they do something – anytime they have a practice, anytime their quarterback is out throwing and catching with receivers – they’re going to talk about training camp at the University of Nevada, and there’s value in that.
If the Raiders do eventually pick Reno, the financials will have to be figured out. Schieve said last week she is willing to do “whatever it takes” to bring the Raiders to Reno except spend taxpayer dollars. Knuth said his department can’t front the money. The Raiders, who got $750 million in taxpayer money to help fund its stadium in Las Vegas and a discount for its practice field property in Henderson, have a history of looking for and getting handouts. The RSCVA could put some money into the venture to try and draw Bay Area fans to the Biggest Little City. But, for now, it’s too early to tell where Raiders training camp will land.
Murray's Mailbag: How much money did Colin Kaepernick cost himself with protest?
ECCO student Christian Welburn talks with Fresenius Kidney Care’s Michelle Londo and Mindy Ensley during the 27th Annual Job Fair on April 20. Recently receiving his GED, Welburn plans to be taking classes this Fall Term.
Lane Community College’s 27th annual Job Fair took place Thursday, April 20. The Center for Meeting and Learning lobby buzzed with energy as Lane staff welcomed job seekers and ushered them into the event room.
A wide range of sponsors made up the 40-table event. There were community organizations, private employers, retail stores, restaurants and even government employers like City of Eugene and Oregon State Police in attendance.
The four-hour event was free and open to the public. Attendees were encouraged to bring a resume and dress as if they were going to a job interview with a pitch prepared. Some attendees came in casual clothes and seemed to be gathering resources for the future.
Isabella Zitting, a recent high school graduate and freshman at Lane, was wearing business attire and came prepared to meet potential employers.
While some companies require training or experience, others offer entry-level positions.
“Usually for these types of things we are looking for entry-level internship type stuff. We’re always looking for people to help with our promotions department, production department,” Alex Braga of Cumulus Radio said.
The Career Center in Building 19 Room 266 offers plenty of employment-related resources year-round.
Join the Cox Media Group (CMG) Miami team, where your goal is to make our client experience as efficient, customized and gratifying as a full-service media group should provide. You'll develop strategies that drive sales and innovation for our valued clients and prospects, while demonstrating a commitment to our three core pillars: speed, passion and courage.
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Our Associate Program is highly competitive where we choose one individual to train directly with our top talent who will be their Mentor for a minimum of one year to learn the backend fulfillment, product knowledge, marketing information, and generally how the media business works. This Associate will be promoted into a Media Consultant role after they have demonstrated certain criteria. A Media Consultant role is to sell our media portfolio made up of radio and digital to small, medium, and large businesses in the South Florida market.
Syrian President Bashar Assad will deliver a speech on Sunday in a rare address to the nation, state media said, as rebels fighting to topple his embattled regime pressed ahead with an offensive on the capital.
The official SANA news agency said in a brief statement Saturday that Assad will speak about the latest developments in Syria. The speech would be the first by the leader since June, and comes amid intense fighting between government troops and rebels on the outskirts of Damascus.
Assad has rarely spoken in public since the uprising against him began in March 2011. In each of his previous speeches and interviews, the president has dug in his heels even as Western powers have moved to boost the opposition in Syria's civil war.
In his last public comments, Assad vowed in an interview with Russia Today on Nov. 8 that he would "live and die in Syria."
Fighting has raged for weeks in the neighborhoods and towns around Damascus that have been opposition strongholds since the Syrian revolt began. The uprising started with peaceful protests but morphed into a civil war that has killed more than 60,000 people, according to a recent United Nations recent estimate.
The rebels are trying to push through the government's heavy defenses in Damascus, prompting the regime to unleash a withering assault on the suburbs that has included intense barrages by artillery and warplanes.
Diplomatic efforts to end the Syrian crisis have failed so far to bring an end to the bloodshed, although the international community continues to push for a peaceful settlement.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told reporters after a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart in Riyadh that there should be an immediate end to the bloodshed in Syria and called for a peaceful political transition.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have both called on Assad to step down, and Riyadh has also been an outspoken supporter of the rebels.
The president of the U.N. Security Council said Thursday there are important developments in efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the 21-month conflict in Syria and there could be another U.S.-Russia meeting with international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi next week.
Brahimi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov both said after their meeting last Saturday that the Syrian crisis can only be settled through talks, while admitting that neither the government nor the opposition has shown a desire to compromise. Neither official hinted at a possible solution that would persuade the two sides to agree to a ceasefire and sit down for talks about a political transition.
But Lavrov said Syrian President Bashar Assad has no intention of stepping down — a key opposition demand — and it would be impossible to try to persuade him otherwise. Russia is a close ally of the Syrian government, and has shielded it from punitive measures at the U.N.
It was not clear what kind of initiative, if any, Assad may offer in his speech.
Meanwhile the violence continued unabated Saturday.
Rebels and government troops clashed in suburbs south of Damascus, including Harasta and Daraya, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Fighting in Daraya alone left 10 dead, including six rebels, according to the Observatory, which relies on reports by activists on the ground.
The army dispatched fresh reinforcements to Daraya, part of an offensive aimed at dislodging rebels from the district, located just a few kilometers (miles) from a strategic military air base west of the capital, the Observatory said. Regaining control of Daraya would provide a boost to the regime's defense of Damascus.
Government troops also arrested several residents in raids in the suburb of Qatana, the Observatory said. Fighting was also heavy in the central province of Hama, Idlib, and in the southern part of the country, in Daraa, the birthplace of the Syrian uprising. Besides the deaths in Daraya, 35 people were killed around the country, the group said.
There was also fighting on the road to the Damascus International Airport, which has not been functioning since last month when clashes first erupted on the airport road, and international airlines have yet to resume flights to the capital. Airport officials have said the facility is open, but have not said which flights are operating.
Rebels frequently target government officials for assassination, and have killed several regime figures since the revolt began, including a suicide bombing in December that wounded Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar. After the Dec. 12 blast, al-Shaar was secretly sent to neighboring Lebanon for treatment of a back injury, but was rushed out of a Beirut hospital and back home two weeks later for fear of being arrested by Lebanese authorities.
State media also said Syrian journalist Suheil al-Ali who worked for the Dunya pro-government television station died Friday of wounds sustained in a shooting attack in the suburbs of Damascus four days ago. The SANA state news agency blamed a "terrorist," the term the government uses for those trying to topple Assad.
In Tehran, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad discussed the conflict and ways to end it with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian State TV said. Iran is one of Syria's strongest allies.
The conflict has increasingly taken sectarian overtones, with predominantly Sunni Muslim rebels fighting the ruling regime that is dominated by Alawites, an offshoot group of Shiite Islam.
Also on Saturday, an Arab League official said the group's foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting in the coming days in Cairo to discuss ways to assist Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
More than half a million Syrians have fled violence and sought shelter in neighboring countries, including some 130,000 to Lebanon. The country's government has requested $180 million from international donors to help its efforts with refugees.
Associated Press Writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, Zeina Karam in Beirut, Aya Batrawy in Cairo, Abdullah Shihri in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Question: Do auto insurance requirements vary a lot in the U.S, or are most state minimums about the same? Also, are you obligated to buy car insurance or are there other options?
Answer: By viewing our interactive state requirement map or list of minimum state coverages, you can see what all states and the District of Columbia require in regard to auto insurance. You'll find that liability requirements vary greatly from state to state.
For example, Alaska mandates drivers carry bodily injury liability of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident along a $25,000 property damage limit (referred to as 50/100/25). In comparison, California requires bodily injury liability limits of only $15,000 person, $30,000 per accident and just $5,000 for property damage liability (15/30/5).
And then there are no-fault states that require you to carry personal injury protection (PIP) or medical payments (MedPay), in addition to liability coverages. For instance, New York requires drivers to carry auto insurance liability limits of 25/50/10, uninsured motorist bodily injury of $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident (25/50), and PIP limits of at least $50,000.
The reason the mandated amount of auto insurance varies by state is because state governments are in charge of making their own financial responsibility laws in regard to motor vehicles. For all states to have the same car insurance mandates there would need to be a federal law on how to insure motor vehicles, which there is not.
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Generally you aren't obligated to buy car insurance if you don't have a car. However, if you are registering a car, you'll normally be asked for proof of financial responsibility. And while car insurance is the preferred method of showing financial responsibility by most drivers, there are other options beyond buying car insurance - in some states.
There are laws in some states that specifically require that car insurance be carried by car owners, while other states' laws are written in a way that car owners and drivers are only required prove to the state that they are maintaining an approved method of financial responsibility on their vehicle.
Alternative methods allowed in such states typically include bonds, deposits of cash or securities, or self-insurance.
A certificate of financial responsibility should be issued in lieu of an insurance card for the above options.
And, then there is New Hampshire, whose law only requires that after an accident you are able to provide sufficient funds to meet the states' financial responsibility laws. If you can't, then penalties will be handed down - such as having your driver's license and registration suspended.
Even with the radically different financial responsibility laws that are in place throughout the U.S., drivers usually choose to buy a car insurance policy as a means to comply with the law because it's the generally accepted way to show financial responsibility - not to mention it's so easy to do.
Not only that, other types of financial responsibility arrangements don't pay to fix your car. If you obtain collision and comprehensive coverage, your car will be covered if you are in an accident (regardless of fault) and for damages to your vehicle as the result of hail, flood waters, wind, fire or animal strike.
If you are looking for a way in which to comply with your states financial responsibility law, you can comparison shop and buy a car insurance policy online in less than a half-hour and, in many states, the proof of insurance is electronically submitted to the state. It's that simple.
NYC Transit President Andy Byford got sidelined from the L train slowdown at a contentious meeting Tuesday over the new approach to fixing the Canarsie tunnel.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority shifted responsibility to its construction chief Janno Lieber and director, Veronique Hakim.
Byford — who had vowed to get an independent study into the L train repair proposal — was largely silent during the nearly four-hour, hastily-arranged MTA board hearing.
In the meantime, the MTA board members who showed up to the last-minute meeting grilled engineers from WSP, the contractor that planned the original L train shutdown to repair the Canarsie tunnel, and is now validating the new approach.
The discussion raised questions about the effectiveness and safety of the new approach — issues that WSP officials said can be addressed.
The polymer that’ll encase the tunnel’s crumbling bench wall — used in bridges and the extension of the No. 7 line — is susceptible to fire, one expert said.
“If exposed to fire it will melt and it will give off fumes,” said WSP’s Michael Abrahams, an engineer with experience in bridges. The team is proposing a glass-fiber material to reduce that possibility. If necessary, a cement-like coating can make it fireproof. MTA engineers are confident in the safety of the material, which is currently used in the system, a spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the lifespan of the work depends on MTA keeping an eye out for cracks and maintaining it regularly — a responsibility that it couldn’t meet when it came to keeping track and signals in good working order.
"It certainly would have been advantageous for long-term service life to completely tear out the duct banks and completely replace them,” Abrahams said.

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