New Photo - A 'softer' Jesus connects with kids in 'The Chosen' animated spinoff. Where to find it.

A 'softer' Jesus connects with kids in 'The Chosen' animated spinoff. Where to find it. Erin Jensen, USA TODAYAugust 31, 2025 at 7:00 PM MIDLOTHIAN, TX – Amazon Prime Video will soon be blessing audiences with an animated spinoff of "The Chosen.

- - A 'softer' Jesus connects with kids in 'The Chosen' animated spinoff. Where to find it.

Erin Jensen, USA TODAYAugust 31, 2025 at 7:00 PM

MIDLOTHIAN, TX – Amazon Prime Video will soon be blessing audiences with an animated spinoff of "The Chosen."

The streaming service plans 14 11-minute episodes of "The Chosen Adventures," inspired by the biblical drama. "Adventures" centers on Abby (Romy Fay), a character introduced in Season 1 of the live-action series depicting the life of Jesus (Jonathan Roumie). Abby, 9, lives in Capernaum and is full of curiosity. But she feels no one can satisfy her inquisitiveness until she and her best friend Joshua (Jude Zarzaur) cross paths with Jesus (also voiced by Roumie). The series is expected to arrive later in 2025.

In the third episode of the original series, Jesus spends time with a group of children "and people resonated with that episode so deeply," "The Chosen" creator Dallas Jenkins says on the set of his hit series while filming Season 6. Jenkins is an executive producer on "Adventures." "So when we started to realize that there was an opportunity to do an animated show, to explore these stories even more from the perspective of children," he thought the children who appeared in the earlier series were a "perfect" fit.

It's not merely a retelling of "The Chosen, but it's the random things that kids at that time would've gone through," Jenkins says, with a "whimsical tone."

"It will explore their lives," Roumie says, "and their questions about what it means to have faith, and who Jesus was and what impact his teachings have on their lives in a way that is done from a kid's perspective. ... Adults will still get so much out of it, but kids will love to see their perspective and their attitudes and the questions they may have; their curiosity reflected in this show."

"The Chosen Adventures" centers on Abby (Romy Fay) and her best friend Joshua (Jude Zarzaur), two children introduced in Season 1 of biblical drama "The Chosen."

"Adventures" introduces new characters to the "Chosen" universe. Paul Walter Hauser will voice a sheep character and Yvonne Orji a pigeon. Jordin Sparks has been cast as Fish. In addition to Roumie, other actors from "The Chosen" include Yasmine Al-Bustami (Ramah), Noah James (Andrew), Paras Patel (Matthew), Brandon Potter (Quintus), Elizabeth Tabish (Mary Magdalene), Joey Vahedi (Thomas) and George H. Xanthis (John).

Roumie says his portrayal of Jesus in the animated series will resemble his representation in the drama.

"I wanted to approach it just a little bit softer because he is coming in for these moments of teaching and wisdom," he says. "You don't get the fullness of the conversations with Jesus on the adult level, but you get the important nuggets of wisdom that kids I think will be able to draw from and use in their own lives."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Animated 'Chosen Adventures' spinoff comes to Amazon Prime

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A 'softer' Jesus connects with kids in 'The Chosen' animated spinoff. Where to find it.

A 'softer' Jesus connects with kids in 'The Chosen' animated spinoff. Where to find it. Erin Jensen, U...
New Photo - Mark Hamill Reveals Secrets to Successful Marriage After 47 Years

Mark Hamill Reveals Secrets to Successful Marriage After 47 Years Katherine SchaffstallAugust 31, 2025 at 8:01 PM Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images Mark Hamill has been married to his wife, Marilou Hamill, for 47 years, and the couple recently revealed their secrets on how they have stayed...

- - Mark Hamill Reveals Secrets to Successful Marriage After 47 Years

Katherine SchaffstallAugust 31, 2025 at 8:01 PM

Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

Mark Hamill has been married to his wife, Marilou Hamill, for 47 years, and the couple recently revealed their secrets on how they have stayed happy in their relationship.

"Don't sweat the little stuff," Marilou, 70, said of how they have remained a solid in an interview with People published on Sunday, August 31. "And also, go in knowing you're not going to change anyone. So you have to accept their quirks and their behavior."

After Marilou made the comment, Mark, 73, jokingly chimed in, "What quirks?"

The Star Wars actor said he agreed with everything Marilou said, adding that "acceptance" and "communication" are essential parts of a successful marriage.

"I just think that when you find the right one, the odds are against you," Mark continued. "But if you do get lucky, you just have to hang on and be grateful that you were able to find that one."

Mark and Marilou met in the mid '70s at a dental office, where she worked as a dental hygienist. After they fell in love, the couple got marriage during a wedding ceremony in December 1978 at their Malibu home. They went on to welcome three kids: Nathan Hamill, 46, Griffin Hamill, 42, and Chelsea Hamill, 37.

There's no denying that the couple is still madly in love, and Mark shared a tribute to Marilou on their wedding anniversary in December 2024. "On This Day in 1978: I married my dental hygienist, Marilou York," he wrote alongside one throwback photo and one recent snapshot of the couple. "She cleaned my teeth & the rest … is history."

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Shortly after Mark shared the post, several fans rushed to the comments section to congratulate them on the milestone. "Happy Anniversary! GREAT looking couple…both THEN AND NOW!!" one person wrote, and another added, "Glad to see you found the greatest treasure mankind has ever sought. Love."

This story was originally reported by Parade on Sep 1, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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Mark Hamill Reveals Secrets to Successful Marriage After 47 Years

Mark Hamill Reveals Secrets to Successful Marriage After 47 Years Katherine SchaffstallAugust 31, 2025 at 8:01 PM Gilb...
New Photo - NYC's West Indian parade set to celebrate Caribbean culture with music, merriment and more security

NYC's West Indian parade set to celebrate Caribbean culture with music, merriment and more security August 31, 2025 at 11:12 PM 1 / 3West Indian DayFILE A reveler poses for a picture during the West Indian Day Parade on Sept. 2, 2024, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.

- - NYC's West Indian parade set to celebrate Caribbean culture with music, merriment and more security

August 31, 2025 at 11:12 PM

1 / 3West Indian DayFILE - A reveler poses for a picture during the West Indian Day Parade on Sept. 2, 2024, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City's West Indian American Day Parade, one of the world's largest celebrations of Caribbean culture, is set to step off Monday with increased security after a fatal shooting at last year's event.

The police department is sending thousands of officers plus helicopters and drones and using barricades to create a "moat" between marchers and the many spectators lining the nearly 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) Brooklyn parade route, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

It will be the department's largest deployment of the year, Tisch said, with more officers assigned to safeguard the event than New Year's Eve in Times Square or the July Fourth fireworks on the East River.

"We are not going to allow one or two individuals to spoil the festivities," Mayor Eric Adams said at a Friday press briefing, noting that there were no specific or credible threats against the parade.

The annual Labor Day event fills Eastern Parkway from Crown Heights to the Brooklyn Museum with vibrant costumes, colorful flags, and the sounds of soca and reggae music.

Along with crowds of hundreds of thousands of people, it's also a magnet for local politicians, many of whom have West Indian heritage or represent members of the city's large Caribbean community.

Last year, one person was killed and four others were wounded in the shooting along the parade route. Tisch said Friday that, a year later, police were still looking for the shooter.

The parade is the culmination of days of carnival events in the city, which includes steel pan band performances and J'Ouvert, a separate street party earlier in the day that commemorates freedom from slavery.

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NYC’s West Indian parade set to celebrate Caribbean culture with music, merriment and more security

NYC's West Indian parade set to celebrate Caribbean culture with music, merriment and more security August 31, 202...
New Photo - Man is found dead at annual Burning Man festival in Nevada, sheriff's office says

Man is found dead at annual Burning Man festival in Nevada, sheriff's office says August 31, 2025 at 11:13 PM Burning Man attendees camp in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, on Saturday.

- - Man is found dead at annual Burning Man festival in Nevada, sheriff's office says

August 31, 2025 at 11:13 PM

Burning Man attendees camp in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, on Saturday. - Siobhan McAndrew/USA Today/Imagn

A man found dead in a pool of blood is being investigated as a homicide at the annual Burning Man art and music festival in the northwestern Nevada desert, authorities say.

Authorities were alerted about the man Saturday at the gathering in the Black Rock Desert about 110 miles north of Reno.

Deputies along with rangers from the Bureau of Land Management responded and "found a single white adult male lying on the ground, obviously deceased," the Pershing County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Sunday.

The investigation has included interviewing several participants and cordoning off a perimeter in the area where the body was found in the makeshift encampment called Black Rock City. The identity of the dead male was not immediately known, the sheriff's office said. No other information was released.

The body was taken to a medical examiner's office.

The Pershing County Sheriff's Office said it appears to be a singular crime but urged everyone at the festival to be vigilant of their surroundings and acquaintances. The festival ends on Monday.

Burning Man officials said in a statement that they are cooperating with law enforcement and asked participants in Black Rock City to not interfere with their investigation.

"The safety and well-being of our community are paramount," the statement said. It noted that support services, including a crisis support team, are available and participants have access to free Wi-Fi If they need to communicate with loved ones.

The annual gathering in the Black Rock Desert attracts tens of thousands of artists, musicians and activists each year for a mix of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances, highlighted by the burning of a large wooden effigy of a man.

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Man is found dead at annual Burning Man festival in Nevada, sheriff’s office says

Man is found dead at annual Burning Man festival in Nevada, sheriff's office says August 31, 2025 at 11:13 PM Burn...
New Photo - At least 250 killed in 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan

At least 250 killed in 6.0magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan Mushtaq YusufzaiAugust 31, 2025 at 11:33 PM An injured boy being treated at a hospital Monday after an earthquake near Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

- - At least 250 killed in 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan

Mushtaq YusufzaiAugust 31, 2025 at 11:33 PM

An injured boy being treated at a hospital Monday after an earthquake near Jalalabad, Afghanistan. (AIMAL ZAHIR / AFP - Getty Images)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — At least 250 people have been killed and over 500 have been injured in Afghanistan after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit the country, Taliban officials said Monday.

The earthquake struck 17 miles from the city of Jalalabad near the border with Pakistan around midnight local time (3:30 p.m. ET Sunday), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Because the earthquake hit a remote mountainous area, "it will take time to get the exact information about human losses and damage to the infrastructure," said Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the Afghan Public Health Ministry.

"We have launched a massive rescue operation and mobilized hundreds of people to help people in the affected areas," Zaman said.

Since the initial quake, at least five aftershocks ranging from 4.5 magnitude to 5.2 magnitude have hit the area throughout Monday, according to the USGS.

Aftershocks can last for days and can sometimes be worse than the first quake.

Afghanistan is especially vulnerable to earthquakes as it sits on top of several fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian plates meet. The mountainous terrain of eastern Afghanistan is also prone to landslides, making it harder for emergency services to carry out rescues.

This quake was especially devastating as it hit at a shallow depth of 5 miles, making it far more destructive even at moderate magnitude.

In 2022, around 1,000 people were killed and thousands more were injured when a 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan.

That, too, was a shallow quake.

The next year, three 6.3-magnitude quakes hit the western Afghanistan province of Herat in one week, killing around 1,500 people, according to the U.N.

Monday's quake comes at a challenging time for Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest countries, which is suffering from four consecutive years of drought and the influx of over 2.3 million Afghans who have returned from Iran and Pakistan this year.

"Below-average first and second season crop production and reduced livestock income limit their ability to stock food for the winter," the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, which was established by the United States Agency for International Development, said in a report last week.

Mushtaq Yusufzai reported from Peshawar and Mithil Aggarwal from Hong Kong.

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At least 250 killed in 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan

At least 250 killed in 6.0magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan Mushtaq YusufzaiAugust 31, 2025 at 11:33 PM An injured b...
New Photo - The success of AI music creators sparks debate on future of music industry

The success of AI music creators sparks debate on future of music industry KELVIN CHAN August 31, 2025 at 9:22 AM This photo provided by Hallwood shows British AI music creator Oliver McCann, on Aug. 7, 2025, in West Hollywood, Calif.

- - The success of AI music creators sparks debate on future of music industry

KELVIN CHAN August 31, 2025 at 9:22 AM

This photo provided by Hallwood shows British AI music creator Oliver McCann, on Aug. 7, 2025, in West Hollywood, Calif. (Hallwood via AP)

LONDON (AP) — When pop groups and rock bands practice or perform, they rely on their guitars, keyboards and drumsticks to make music. Oliver McCann, a British AI music creator who goes by the stage name imoliver, fires up his chatbot.

McCann's songs span a range of genres, from indie-pop to electro-soul to country-rap. There's just one crucial difference between McCann and traditional musicians.

"I have no musical talent at all," he said. "I can't sing, I can't play instruments, and I have no musical background at all."

McCann, 37, who has a background as a visual designer, started experimenting with AI to see if it could boost his creativity and "bring some of my lyrics to life." Last month, he signed with independent record label Hallwood Media after one of his tracks racked up 3 million streams, in what's billed as the first time a music label has inked a contract with an AI music creator.

McCann is an example of how ChatGPT-style AI song generation tools like Suno and Udio have spawned a wave of synthetic music. A movement most notably highlighted by a fictitious group, Velvet Sundown, that went viral even though all its songs, lyrics and album art were created by AI.

It fueled debate about AI's role in music while raising fears about "AI slop" — automatically generated low quality mass produced content. It also cast a spotlight on AI song generators that are democratizing song making but threaten to disrupt the music industry.

Experts say generative AI is set to transform the music world. However, there are scant details, so far, on how it's impacting the $29.6 billion global recorded music market, which includes about $20 billion from streaming.

The most reliable figures come from music streaming service Deezer, which estimates that 18% of songs uploaded to its platform every day are purely AI generated, though they only account for a tiny amount of total streams, hinting that few people are actually listening. Other, bigger streaming platforms like Spotify haven't released any figures on AI music.

Udio declined to comment on how many users it has and how many songs it has generated. Suno did not respond to a request for comment. Both have free basic levels as well as pro and premium tiers that come with access to more advanced AI models.

"It's a total boom. It's a tsunami," said Josh Antonuccio, director of Ohio University's School of Media Arts and Studies. The amount of AI generated music "is just going to only exponentially increase" as young people grow up with AI and become more comfortable with it, he said.

Yet generative AI, with its ability to spit out seemingly unique content, has divided the music world, with musicians and industry groups complaining that recorded works are being exploited to train AI models that power song generation tools.

Record labels are trying to fend off the threat that AI music startups pose to their revenue streams even as they hope to tap into it for new earnings, while recording artists worry that it will devalue their creativity.

Three major record companies, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Records, filed lawsuits last year against Suno and Udio for copyright infringement. In June, the two sides also reportedly entered negotiations that could go beyond settling the lawsuits and set rules for how artists are paid when AI is used to remix their songs.

GEMA, a German royalty collection society, has sued Suno, accusing it of generating music similar to songs like "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega and "Forever Young" by Alphaville.

More than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Damon Albarn, released a silent album to protest proposed changes to U.K. laws on AI they fear would erode their creative control. Meanwhile, other artists, such as will.i.am, Timbaland and Imogen Heap, have embraced the technology.

Some users say the debate is just a rehash of old arguments about once-new technology that eventually became widely used, such as AutoTune, drum machines and synthesizers.

People complain "that you're using a computer to do all the work for you. I don't see it that way. I see it as any other tool that we have," said Scott Smith, whose AI band, Pulse Empire, was inspired by 1980s British synthesizer-driven groups like New Order and Depeche Mode.

Smith, 56 and a semi-retired former U.S. Navy public affairs officer in Portland, Oregon, said "music producers have lots of tools in their arsenal" to enhance recordings that listeners aren't aware of.

Like McCann, Smith never mastered a musical instrument. Both say they put lots of time and effort into crafting their music.

Once Smith gets inspiration, it takes him just 10 minutes to write the lyrics. But then he'll spend as much as eight to nine hours generating different versions until the song "matches my vision."

McCann said he'll often create up to 100 different versions of a song by prompting and re-prompting the AI system before he's satisfied.

AI song generators can churn out lyrics as well as music, but many experienced users prefer to write their own words.

"AI lyrics tend to come out quite cliche and quite boring," McCann said.

Lukas Rams, a Philadelphia-area resident who makes songs for his AI band Sleeping With Wolves, said AI lyrics tend to be "extra corny" and not as creative as a human, but can help get the writing process started.

"It'll do very basic rhyme schemes, and it'll keep repeating the same structure," said Rams, who writes his own words, sometimes while putting his kids to bed and waiting for them to fall asleep. "And then you'll get words in there that are very telling of AI-generated lyrics, like 'neon,' anything with 'shadows'."

Rams used to play drums in high school bands and collaborated with his brother on their own songs, but work and family life started taking up more of his time.

Then he discovered AI, which he used to create three albums for Sleeping With Wolves. He's been taking it seriously, making a CD jewel case with album art. He plans to post his songs, which combine metalcore and EDM, more widely online.

"I do want to start putting this up on YouTube or socials or distribution or whatever, just to have it out there," Rams said. "I might as well, otherwise I'm literally the only person that hears this stuff."

Experts say AI's potential to let anyone come up with a hit song is poised to shake up the music industry's production pipeline.

"Just think about what it used to cost to make a hit or make something that breaks," Antonuccio said. "And that just keeps winnowing down from a major studio to a laptop to a bedroom. And now it's like a text prompt — several text prompts."

But he added that AI music is still in a "Wild West" phase because of the lack of legal clarity over copyright. He compared it to the legal battles more than two decades ago over file-sharing sites like Napster that heralded the transition from CDs to digital media and eventually paved the way for today's music streaming services.

Creators hope AI, too, will eventually become a part of the mainstream music world.

"I think we're entering a world where anyone, anywhere could make the next big hit," said McCann. "As AI becomes more widely accepted among people as a musical art form, I think it opens up the possibility for AI music to be featured in charts."

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The success of AI music creators sparks debate on future of music industry

The success of AI music creators sparks debate on future of music industry KELVIN CHAN August 31, 2025 at 9:22 AM This...
New Photo - Tennis star Kamil Majchrzak meets young fan who had hat snatched from him in viral US Open video

Tennis star Kamil Majchrzak meets young fan who had hat snatched from him in viral US Open video Issy Ronald, CNNAugust 31, 2025 at 3:27 PM Kamil Majchrzak meets a young fan at the US Open.

- - Tennis star Kamil Majchrzak meets young fan who had hat snatched from him in viral US Open video

Issy Ronald, CNNAugust 31, 2025 at 3:27 PM

Kamil Majchrzak meets a young fan at the US Open. - From Kamil Majchrzak/Instagram

Polish tennis star Kamil Majchrzak has met the young fan who had a hat snatched from him in a viral video clip after one of Majchrzak's matches at the US Open.

Majchrzak gave the boy a US Open-branded bag of gifts, including another cap, and posed for photos alongside him, posting the encounter to his Instagram stories on Saturday.

"Today after warm up, I had a nice meeting," he wrote. "Do you recognize (cap emoji)?"

"Hello world, together with Brock, we wish you a great day," he wrote in another story.

The two first encountered each other when Majchrzak was signing souvenirs for the crowd, after Majchrzak's second round win against Karen Khachanov on Thursday.

The Pole took off his cap and appeared to pass it to the boy who was clutching a giant tennis ball with both hands. As the boy reached out to take the cap, a man standing next to him snatched it away and gave it to a woman who put it in her handbag despite the boy's visible protestations. The boy and the man appeared not to know each other.

Kamil Majchrzak defeated Karen Khachanov in the second round at the US Open. - Sarah Stier/Getty Images

The clip subsequently went viral on social media, with one X post alone gathering 10 million views.

Social media users identified the man as a Polish CEO, whose company was review-bombed with hundreds of one-star reviews on Trustpilot, all referencing the incident. CNN has not been able to independently verify the man's identity and has reached out to the company for comment.

After seeing the incident, Majchrzak launched a search for the boy, posting on his Instagram story, per Sky News, "Hey guys, could you help me find the kid from my match."

He later posted, according to Sky News, "I am impressed by the power of the Internet. We got it! All good now."

After defeating No. 9 seed Khachanov, Majchrzak was forced to retire during his third round match against Leandro Riedi due to a torn intercostal muscle.

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Tennis star Kamil Majchrzak meets young fan who had hat snatched from him in viral US Open video

Tennis star Kamil Majchrzak meets young fan who had hat snatched from him in viral US Open video Issy Ronald, CNNAugus...
New Photo - House-rich, cash-poor homeowners are tapping their record-high equity to cut their debts

Houserich, cashpoor homeowners are tapping their recordhigh equity to cut their debts Claire BostonAugust 31, 2025 at 10:41 AM After years of bruising inflation, Americans are carrying more debt than ever before. And more are using their homes to help them dig out.

- - House-rich, cash-poor homeowners are tapping their record-high equity to cut their debts

Claire BostonAugust 31, 2025 at 10:41 AM

After years of bruising inflation, Americans are carrying more debt than ever before. And more are using their homes to help them dig out.

Cash-out refinances, which let homeowners withdraw money from their homes when they refinance their mortgage, are on the rise, making up 59% of all refinancing transactions in the second quarter, according to ICE Mortgage Technology data. Paying off debt is among the most popular uses of the cash, with anywhere from 44% to 67% of refinancers in recent years saying they were doing so.

Learn more: Cash-out refinance or home equity loan — Which should you choose?

Many mortgage lenders say they're handling more of these refinancings as people struggle to stay afloat. Many of today's homeowners are effectively rich in equity but low on cash. Balances on high-interest consumer debt like credit cards and auto loans are at record highs, but home equity levels are also higher than ever.

"Inflation is catching up to everybody," said Matt Gouge, a Sacramento, Calif.-based loan originator at UMortgage. "More and more people are in that position where their cash flow is running negative, and you can't do that forever. So you look at your home."

As of the end of June, American consumers had a record $5.44 trillion in non-mortgage debt, according to New York Fed data, led by growth in credit card and auto loan balances. Homeowners, meanwhile, have record levels of equity after the dramatic run-up in home prices in recent years — $11.6 billion is considered tappable, meaning an owner could draw from that while maintaining at least 20% equity in their home, ICE Mortgage data shows.

Low-rate catch

For most borrowers, cashing out at today's rates means giving up lower mortgage rates. It's a sacrifice many are willing to make. About 70% of recent cash-out borrowers took on a higher mortgage rate in the process. On average, they added 1.45 percentage points to their rate in exchange for $94,000 in cash.

Many homeowners who held ultra-low rates still come out ahead by cashing out at today's average rates of about 6.5%, depending on their circumstances. That's because most consumer debt rates are far higher. Today's credit card rates are about 21% on average. Personal loan rates are 12%, and auto loan rates start at around 8%.

Dig deeper: The best ways to pay off credit card debt

A homeowner carrying significant credit card debt can end up shaving hundreds off their monthly debt payments, even if their new mortgage rate and payment increase.

"I'm getting calls from people who are literally saying to me, 'I can't sleep at night with [this debt],' that they've got to do something," said Amy Sodowich, a New Jersey-based mortgage loan officer at Financial Resources Federal Credit Union.

She had one recent client with a home in Northern New Jersey who used his home equity to pay off $155,000 of consumer debt. Though he gave up a 3.125% mortgage rate to do so, he ultimately ended up paying $2,500 less each month overall.

Debt drop, score boost

John Cola Jr. and his husband didn't have to give up an ultra-low mortgage rate when they refinanced the mortgage on their home earlier this year — they had already gone from a 2.3% rate to a 6.9% rate when they moved from Florida to Connecticut in 2023. After "watching interest rates like a hawk," they refinanced when mortgage rates briefly dropped in April, pulling some cash from the home to reduce credit card debt with 24% interest they had accrued from a series of unexpected home repairs, and lowering their mortgage rate to 5.8%.

Learn more: This map shows mortgage rates in every state

"Things broke, and we racked up quite a bit of debt," said Cola Jr., 36. But thanks to Connecticut's hot housing market, their home outside of Hartford had appreciated around $150,000 in just two years. Even after taking out cash, their monthly mortgage payment fell by around $200.

"We were able to get a jump-start to pay some other stuff off," he said.

It's a similar story for most cash-out refinancers. Between 2014 and 2021, homeowners who pulled cash from their homes dropped their credit card debt by an average of $4,500 and saw their auto loan debt decline by almost $3,000 in the months immediately following their transactions, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau study released in January. Their credit scores got an immediate boost too.

There are other methods of pulling cash out of a home, and mortgage brokers say many of those are popular right now as well. Home equity lines of credit, which are revolving loans that work similarly to credit cards, are one such option. Another is a home equity loan. Both preserve a homeowner's current mortgage rate, but are considered forms of second mortgages and carry higher interest rates because they're higher risk. Average HELOC and home equity loan rates hover in the 8% to 9% range today — still far lower than credit card rates but higher than a first mortgage.

No matter which option a homeowner chooses, many financial experts advise caution around using a home for debt consolidation. While cashing out can help cut monthly debt payments and free up cash, they also say it's important for borrowers to address how they got into debt in the first place — and how they'll avoid doing so again in the future.

The CFPB study found that many refinancers' credit card balances crept up again in the year following a refinance, though they remained below pre-refi levels.

Rich Flanery, the broker-owner and financial planner at Peak Capital Mortgage in Estes Park, Colo., said he's seen cases where people use their homes to help pay off debt, only to end up back in a hole a few years later. He tries to counsel prospective refinancers on their long-term goals and assess if tapping equity will help them get there.

"It's not financially wise to use your house as an ATM that way and keep repeating it," Flanery said. "You have to break that cycle."

Claire Boston is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.

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House-rich, cash-poor homeowners are tapping their record-high equity to cut their debts

Houserich, cashpoor homeowners are tapping their recordhigh equity to cut their debts Claire BostonAugust 31, 2025 at ...
New Photo - I'm a Mechanic: 6 Electric Vehicles I Would Buy and Why They Are Worth It

I'm a Mechanic: 6 Electric Vehicles I Would Buy and Why They Are Worth It Josephine NesbitAugust 31, 2025 at 12:21 PM DREW PHILLIPS / Hyundai Thinking about buying an electric vehicle (EV)? They're a good option if you want to save money on gas and maintenance and reduce your carbon footprint, but n...

- - I'm a Mechanic: 6 Electric Vehicles I Would Buy and Why They Are Worth It

Josephine NesbitAugust 31, 2025 at 12:21 PM

DREW PHILLIPS / Hyundai

Thinking about buying an electric vehicle (EV)? They're a good option if you want to save money on gas and maintenance and reduce your carbon footprint, but not all EVs are built the same.

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According to car experts, some models stand out for their reliability, performance and long-term value. To help narrow down your search, here are EVs they recommend and why they're worth a closer look.

And while you're on the hunt for an electric, make sure you avoid these rides.

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Tesla Model 3 -

MSRP: $44,130 to $56,630

"Tesla tops the list for me. Model 3 is the best of them all. They are futuristic styled. They have all the features one would want in a vehicle, especially in the electronics aspect. They have good battery life and battery distance," Chris Pyle, auto expert with JustAnswer, the expert on-demand platform, wrote in an email.

It also retains its value as long as you trade them in before the battery starts to wear out, he noted. But that could take years. According to Insurify, the average lifespan of a Tesla battery is between $300,000 to $500,000 miles, or 15 to 20 years of use.

"Tesla's battery system is unique, and in many ways, it's superior to what other brands offer," added Melanie Musson, an auto expert with Quote.com. Its placement and weight is another pro, Musson pointed out, which can help the Model 3 maintain balance on the road and handle corners well.

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Lucid Air -

MSRP: $71,400 to $250,500

According to Pyle, the Lucid Air, a luxury sedan that first launched in the 2022 model year, is often seen at the top of lists. Its recent launch and price also mean it's a rarity on the road.

Pyle has never seen or talked to anyone who's driven one, but he said it looks great.

"The distance to empty is at the higher range. Downfall though, is that the car is very expensive and when it breaks, finding a shop near you will be next to impossible, but EVs rarely go to the shop," he wrote.

Ford F-150 Lightning -

MSRP: $56,975 to $87,190

Want something tough but environmentally friendly? Musson recommends the Ford F-150 Lightning.

"Drivers who are looking for something that can handle off-road situations praise the Lightning for its toughness," Musson wrote.

It's powerful yet quiet, and comes with top-of-the-line features.

"It's a good mix of rugged traditional truck capabilities and luxurious modern electric mechanics," Musson added. "The Lightning holds its value well, which is not something many EVs have been able to do."

Hyundai Ioniq 6, Kia EV4 and Kia Niro EV -

Ioniq 6 MSRP: $39,095 and $52,345

Kia EV4 MSRP: $37,000 to $50,000

Kia Niro EV MSRP: $40,0995 and $45,523

When it comes to budget-friendly EVs with solid range and reliability, Hyundai and Kia are hard to ignore.

"Although I think the Ioniq is ugly, Kia and Hyundai are putting in the work to make affordable vehicles that have what you need, most of what you want and the longevity and low repair costs you expect," Pyle claimed.

He also pointed out that both brands choose to focus on longevity, low repair costs and repeat customers rather than a wow moment with sleek designs.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: I'm a Mechanic: 6 Electric Vehicles I Would Buy and Why They Are Worth It

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I’m a Mechanic: 6 Electric Vehicles I Would Buy and Why They Are Worth It

I'm a Mechanic: 6 Electric Vehicles I Would Buy and Why They Are Worth It Josephine NesbitAugust 31, 2025 at 12:21...
New Photo - Hays hits tiebreaking homer and Reds deck Cards to stop 5-game slide

Hays hits tiebreaking homer and Reds deck Cards to stop 5game slide The August 31, 2025 at 10:36 PM Cincinnati Reds' Austin Hays, left, celebrates with Elly De La Cruz after hitting a tworun home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, Aug.

- - Hays hits tiebreaking homer and Reds deck Cards to stop 5-game slide

The August 31, 2025 at 10:36 PM

Cincinnati Reds' Austin Hays, left, celebrates with Elly De La Cruz after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Abdoul Sow) ()

CINCINNATI (AP) — Austin Hays hit a tiebreaking two-run homer and Matt McLain went deep for the second consecutive game to back a solid start by Brady Singer as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 on Sunday to snap a five-game skid and avoid a series sweep.

Elly De La Cruz hit his 28th double leading off the fifth inning against Andre Pallante (6-13), and Hays followed with his 12th homer for a 5-3 lead.

Hays doubled and scored on Ke'Bryan Hayes' two-out single for a 6-4 lead in the seventh, and McLain capped the scoring with his 13th homer — a solo shot off Andre Granillo in the eighth.

Singer (12-9) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. Tony Santillan struck out the side in the eighth and Emilio PagƔn did the same in the ninth for his 26th save.

TWINS 7, PADRES 2

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Byron Buxton set a career best with his 29th home run and Joe Ryan pitched seven scoreless innings as Minnesota beat San Diego.

Buxton and Royce Lewis each had two hits for the Twins, who took two of three games in the series. San Diego began the day a game behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

Ryan (13-7) scattered five hits and struck out eight. He threw a season-high 104 pitches while bouncing back from a pair of rough outings.

The All-Star right-hander allowed 11 earned runs in nine innings over his previous two starts.

Buxton sent a changeup from Kyle Hart (3-3) three rows deep into the left-field seats for a two-run shot that gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead in the third. It was his fourth homer in four games, surpassing his previous season best of 28 home runs in 2022.

Recalled from Triple-A El Paso earlier in the day, Hart permitted three runs in 1 1/3 innings of relief as the Padres went with a bullpen game. He hit Luke Keaschall with a pitch to start the Minnesota fourth, and he scored on a single by James Outman.

Keaschall and Lewis had RBI singles in a three-run fifth to make it 6-0.

RED SOX 5, PIRATES 2

BOSTON (AP) — Jarren Duran hit an inside-the-park homer, Lucas Giolito pitched six effective innings and Boston beat Pittsburgh to avert a three-game sweep.

In a tight race for one of three American League wild cards, the Red Sox won for the eighth time in 11 games.

Alexander Canario hit a solo homer over the Green Monster for Pittsburgh, which had won nine of 12.

Duran's three-run homer into the Fenway Park triangle in right-center field capped a four-run fifth against starter Mitch Keller (6-13), pushing Boston ahead 4-1.

Coming off his best start of the season, when he went eight shutout innings last Tuesday in a victory over Baltimore, Giolito (10-2) gave up a run and three hits. He struck out six and walked five.

Aroldis Chapman got three outs for his 27th save.

RAYS 7, NATIONALS 4

WASHINGTON (AP) — Brandon Lowe hit a grand slam in Tampa Bay's six-run second inning, Everson Pereira drove in two runs and the Rays beat Washington to sweep the three-game series.

Tampa Bay starter Ian Seymour (3-0) gave up four runs — one earned — and four hits with eight strikeouts.

Pete Fairbanks pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save this season. Dylan Crews singled to lead off the ninth and moved to third on a single by Daylen Lile, who tried to stretch it into a double but was thrown out by Pereira at second before Brady House struck out swinging to end the game.

Josh Lowe tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Pereira to make 7-0 in the third.

Jacob Young doubled to drive in House in the third. Riley Adams walked to lead off the fourth and scored when Crews reached on a fielding error by third baseman Junior Caminero. House singled to drive in two runs that made it 7-4.

Nationals starter Brad Lord (4-8) allowed seven runs and five hits in three innings.

BLUE JAYS 8, BREWERS 4

TORONTO (AP) — Myles Straw and Nathan Lukes each drove in two runs, George Springer reached base three times and scored twice and Toronto beat Milwaukee to avoid a three-game sweep.

Tommy Nance (2-0) pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning as Toronto improved to 59-4 when scoring at least five runs.

Nance was one of five relievers who combined for five shutout innings in relief of a shaky Max Scherzer.

William Contreras hit a two-run home run, his 17th, and Brice Turang added a solo shot, his 16th, but the Brewers failed to set a club record with a 22nd win in August. Milwaukee went 21-9 this month.

The Brewers still own the best record in baseball at 85-53.

Scherzer allowed four runs and a season-high nine hits in four innings.

MARINERS 4, GUARDIANS 2

CLEVELAND (AP) - Julio RodrĆ­guez drove in two runs with an infield hit and Seattle snapped a seven-game road losing streak with a victory over Cleveland to salvage the three-game series finale.

With a combined two-hitter, the Mariners extended their lead to three games over the Guardians for the third AL wild-card spot. Seattle entered play two games up on Kansas City.

Randy Arozarena hit a two-run homer for the Mariners, who got six strong innings from Bryce Miller (4-5). The right-hander gave up just two hits — on consecutive pitches in the third.

Gabe Speier and Matt Brash each pitched a perfect inning and AndrƩs MuƱoz worked the ninth for his 32nd save.

MARLINS 5, METS 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Sandy Alcantara pitched seven strong innings, AgustĆ­n RamĆ­rez hit a two-run homer and Miami defeated New York in a game that got testy.

The scappy Marlins took three of four from New York after losing their previous seven series. The Mets finished 11-17 in August despite scoring 177 runs and hitting 53 homers — both franchise records for a calendar month.

New York leads Cincinnati by four games in the race for the last National League wild card.

Alcantara (7-11) allowed four hits and struck out six. He carried a shutout into the seventh, when he gave up a leadoff single to Jeff McNeil and plunked Mark Vientos with a pitch. Alcantara and Vientos stared each other down before the benches and bullpens emptied, though no punches were thrown as players milled around the mound.

Alcantara induced a pair of forceouts, the second of which scored McNeil, before striking out Starling Marte to end the inning. The right-hander has a 2.82 ERA in his past eight starts after opening the season with a 7.14 ERA through 19 outings.

Senga allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings. He has a 5.90 ERA in nine starts since coming off the injured list July 11.

ANGELS 3, ASTROS 0

HOUSTON (AP) — JosĆ© Soriano and two relievers combined for a two-hitter and Oswald Peraza hit his first home run since a trade from the Yankees to lead Los Angeles to a win over the Houston.

Soriano (10-9) allowed one hit and struck out eight in seven innings. Luis GarcĆ­a allowed one hit in a scoreless eighth and Kenley Jansen threw a perfect ninth for his 25th save.

There were two outs in the fifth when Peraza connected off Hunter Brown (10-7) into the bullpen in right-center field to put the Angels up 1-0. His homer comes after his two-run single in the ninth inning Saturday helped Los Angeles to a 4-1 victory that snapped a three-game skid.

Brown allowed three hits and a run with five strikeouts in six innings. McCullers Jr. allowed three hits and two runs in his first relief appearance since 2018.

TIGERS 5, ROYALS 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tarik Skubal pitched seven innings of four-hit ball, the Tigers scored four times off Michael Wacha in the fifth inning, and Detroit went on to beat Kansas City in the rubber game of its three-game set.

Skubal (12-4) struck out four and walked one while bouncing back from his first loss in more than six weeks. Jake Rogers drove in two runs for Detroit, while Colt Keith and Gleyber Torres also drove in runs.

It was a crucial game between AL Central rivals. The Tigers began the day with a half-game lead over East-leading Toronto for the best record in the American League, while Kansas City had climbed within two games of Seattle in the wild-card race.

Wacha (8-11) was matching Skubal into the fifth, allowing a single baserunner while striking out four. But things suddenly went awry, beginning with a leadoff walk to Spencer Torkelson and a one-out single by Zach McKinstry.

Rogers followed with a fly ball that center fielder Tyler Tolbert badly misplayed, resulting in a two-run triple. Keith added a line drive that found a gap for a two-run double, and Torres a grounder that got through the infield to make it 4-0.

Wacha left after 4 2/3 innings. He was charged with four runs and four hits and a walk.

WHITE SOX 3, YANKEES 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Lenyn Sosa hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth inning and Chicago cooled off New York with a victory.

Sosa drove a 1-2 sinker from Tim Hill over the wall in center field for his 18th homer, extending his career high. Hill (4-4) retired his first two batters before Sosa went deep.

Cam Booser (2-4) got one out for the win. After Booser issued a leadoff walk to Trent Grisham in the ninth, Mike Vasil retired Paul Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger for his third save.

New York had won a season-high seven in a row. It also had a nine-game road win streak.

The Yankees fell three games back of AL East-leading Toronto, which held off Milwaukee for an 8-4 win.

ROCKIES 6, CUBS 5

DENVER (AP) — Pinch-hitter Mickey Moniak hit a walk-off RBI triple, Tanner Gordon struck out a career-high nine and Colorado beat Chicago to avoid a series sweep.

The major league-worst Rockies snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 39-98. They finished August with 11 wins, their most in any month this season.

Orlando Arcia had three hits and an RBI for Colorado, and Braxton Fulford added two hits and an RBI. Ryan Ritter had two hits and scored the winning run, and Brenton Doyle drove in two runs.

Gordon allowed two earned runs in six innings. Juan Mejia (2-1) picked up the win, striking out two in a perfect ninth. Daniel Palencia (1-5) took the loss.

DODGERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pinch-hitter Will Smith homered leading off the bottom of the ninth inning to give Los Angeles a victory over Arizona that prevented a three-game sweep.

Los Angeles took a two-game lead in the NL West over rival San Diego, which lost 7-2 at Minnesota.

Smith sent the second pitch he saw from reliever John Curtiss (2-1) a projected 420 feet into the left-center stands. His 17th home run of the season saved the Dodgers after they blew a late lead.

Corbin Carroll tied it 4-all by launching a three-run homer off Tanner Scott with two outs in the eighth.

Blake Treinen (1-2) pitched a perfect inning for the win.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in seven innings and matched his career high with 10 strikeouts for the Dodgers. He retired his first 10 batters before Ketel Marte bunted for a single.

RANGERS 9, ATHLETICS 6

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Joc Pederson homered, doubled and drove in three runs, Jacob deGrom struck out six in five scoreless innings, and Texas beat the Athletics to sweep the three-game series.

DeGrom (10-6) allowed two hits and walked one to help the Rangers win their fifth straight game.

Josh Smith walked to leadoff the game, Wyatt Langford struck out and Pederson hit a 3-2 pitch from J.T. Ginn (2-6) down the line and over the wall in right field to make it 2-0.

Josh Jung homered off Ginn to lead off the second and doubled to drive in Adolis GarcĆ­a in the ninth.

Smith hit an RBI double and scored when Pederson doubled with two out in the fifth to give the Rangers a 5-0 lead.

Langford drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home Ezequiel Duran before Helman singled to drive in Smith and make it 7-0.

GIANTS 13, ORIOLES 2

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rafael Devers homered, doubled and drove in two runs to help Justin Verlander earn career win No. 265 as San Francisco beat Baltimore to take two of three games in their series.

Verlander (3-10) struck out a season-high 10 in five shutout innings. He threw 121 pitches — his most since June 2018. He allowed three hits and walked four.

The 42-year-old Verlander reached 10 strikeouts for the 73rd time and first since he had 10 against Philadelphia on Oct. 4, 2022. He tied Jim McCormick for 39th place in wins and pulled within four strikeouts of Gaylord Perry (3,534) for eighth on the career list.

Devers homered off Tomoyuki Sagano (10-7) for a 1-0 lead in the first. It was his 28th of the season and 13th for the Giants.

Drew Gilbert, Heliot Ramos and Devers had consecutive singles in the third for a two-run lead, and Willy Adames added a sacrifice fly.

Gilbert hit a two-run triple before scoring on Ramos' single for a 7-0 advantage in the fourth. Devers doubled to chase Sugano, who allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Dominic Smith had an RBI single off Corbin Martin in a three-run sixth. Devers, Ramos and Gilbert each had three of the Giants' 16 hits.

Spencer Bivens allowed two runs in the ninth but pitched the final three innings for his first career save.

BRAVES 3, PHILLIES 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Drake Baldwin broke a ninth-inning tie with a two-run homer and Atlanta avoided a four-game sweep with a win over Philadelphia.

Braves rookie Hurston Waldrep pitched 5 2/3 strong innings. Jake Fraley came off the bench in the seventh and went 2 for 2. Michael Harris II also had two hits for Atlanta.

Brandon Marsh homered for the Phillies, who lead the NL East by six games over the New York Mets heading into September.

Matt Olson tied it at 1 with an RBI groundout for the Braves in the eighth.

Fraley started the ninth with an infield single off JosƩ Alvarado (4-2) and went to second on a sacrifice bunt. Vidal BrujƔn struck out, but Baldwin drove Alvarado's first pitch, a 98 mph sinker, over the wall in left field.

Baldwin walked as a pinch hitter in the eighth and remained in the game at catcher.

Tyler Kinley (4-3) tossed a perfect eighth and Raisel Iglesias struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 23rd save in 28 chances.

Waldrep continued to impress, giving up one run on four hits with nine strikeouts and four walks. After starting two games in 2024, the 23-year-old right-hander, the No. 24 overall draft pick in 2023, was called up to the Braves on Aug. 2 and has a 1.01 ERA in six outings, including five starts.

Phillies starter JesĆŗs Luzardo pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up two hits while striking out seven and walking one.

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Hays hits tiebreaking homer and Reds deck Cards to stop 5-game slide

Hays hits tiebreaking homer and Reds deck Cards to stop 5game slide The August 31, 2025 at 10:36 PM Cincinnati Reds...

Zoƫ Kravitz is not a fan of the homophobia in "Friends" and other '90s shows Ryan ColemanAugust 31, 2025 at 10:40 PM Dia Dipasupil/Getty Zoƫ Kravitz in New York City on Aug. 26 '90s nostalgia? Zoƫ Kravitz says bring it on.

- - Zoƫ Kravitz is not a fan of the homophobia in "Friends" and other '90s shows

Ryan ColemanAugust 31, 2025 at 10:40 PM

Dia Dipasupil/Getty

Zoƫ Kravitz in New York City on Aug. 26

'90s nostalgia? Zoƫ Kravitz says bring it on. But the casual homophobia laced throughout so much media from the decade? Keep it.

The star of Big Little Lies confessed her new film, Caught Stealing, kindles a powerful yearning for some aspects of the era.

"[I'm] really nostalgic for that time," Kravitz recently told PEOPLE. "Then also the fashion, all that stuff's so cool. New York City and the grunge."

But there's one thing she'd never ditch the 2020s for: "Super homophobic jokes on mainstream television. If you watch Friends now you're like, 'Whoa.'"

Kravitz's costar in Darren Aronofsky's comic crime caper, Austin Butler, responded to Kravitz's reservation with shock, asking, "Wow, even in Friends?"

Kravitz replied, "Oh, so much in Friends. Like, things that aren't punchlines are punchlines. It's wild. So maybe that? We can keep that there."

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images Jessica Hecht and Jane Sibbett on 'Friends'

The placid sitcom centered on the lives of six young adults living in New York City seems the platonic ideal of an unproblematic fave, having been syndicated and streamed continually by millions since it left the air over 20 years ago. But Friends' queer fan base would have no trouble telling you exactly how regressive the series could be.

Two of the main storylines that make Friends a particularly hard rewatch, where LGBTQ rights are concerned, are the relationship between Carol (Jane Sibbett), Ross' (David Schwimmer) ex-wife and her longtime girlfriend Susan (Jessica Hecht), and Chandler's (Matthew Perry) trans parent.

The episodes featuring Carol and Susan, particularly the season 2 episode "The One With the Lesbian Wedding," are rife with jokes at the queer couple's expense, and many in the cast and crew have expressed retroactive regret for how derisively Chandler's parent was written and treated.

"We kept referring to her as Chandler's father, even though Chandler's father was trans," Friends creator Marta Kauffman noted in 2022. "Pronouns were not yet something that I understood... So we didn't refer to that character as she. That was a mistake." In 2018, the actress who played the character, Kathleen Turner, declared, "The show hasn't aged well."

on Entertainment Weekly

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ZoĆ« Kravitz is not a fan of the homophobia in “Friends” and other '90s shows

Zoƫ Kravitz is not a fan of the homophobia in "Friends" and other '90s shows Ryan ColemanAugust 31, 2025...
New Photo - Blizzard Co-Founder Mike Morhaime Slashes Wildgate Price After Selling Only 130K Copies

Blizzard CoFounder Mike Morhaime Slashes Wildgate Price After Selling Only 130K Copies Paula TudoranAugust 31, 2025 at 11:01 PM Blizzard CoFounder Mike Morhaime Slashes Wildgate Price After Selling Only 130K Copies Legendary Blizzard cofounder Mike Morhaime, who helped create "World of Warcraft" and...

- - Blizzard Co-Founder Mike Morhaime Slashes Wildgate Price After Selling Only 130K Copies

Paula TudoranAugust 31, 2025 at 11:01 PM

Blizzard Co-Founder Mike Morhaime Slashes Wildgate Price After Selling Only 130K Copies

Legendary Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime, who helped create "World of Warcraft" and "Overwatch," now faces a survival battle at Dreamhaven after "Wildgate" and "Sunderfolk" sold far fewer copies than expected, according to Bloomberg.

Wildgate and Sunderfolk Miss the Mark

Dreamhaven launched its multiplayer shooter, "Wildgate," in July, but sales reached only 130,000 units, despite positive reviews, Bloomberg reported. The company's earlier release, "Sunderfolk," fared even worse, selling just 62,000 copies since April, according to the report.

In a letter to staff, Morhaime admitted Dreamhaven's "monthly expenses are outpacing revenue," stressing the need to "urgently reduce costs" while insisting "we are committed to Dreamhaven surviving through this."

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To attract players, Morhaime slashed the price of "Wildgate" by one-third, cutting it to $20 on Steam. He told Bloomberg that "making commercially successful games has always been challenging" and that studios must "adapt to the environment and continue listening to our communities and their feedback."

"Forever Games" Dominate While Startups Struggle

New studios like Dreamhaven face big competition from entrenched "forever games" such as "Fortnite," "League of Legends," "Counter-Strike 2," and "DoTA 2." These titles refresh constantly with new content, keeping players engaged while locking them into ecosystems filled with digital items, Bloomberg reported.

Frost Giant Studios, also founded by Blizzard veterans, is another example of a troubled company in the industry. Its real-time strategy title "Stormgate" has struggled to gain traction. Frost Giant Studios CEO Tim Morten said in a LinkedIn post that the game was not reaching expected traffic or sales. The company disclosed in an annual report filed in April with the Securities and Exchange Commission that revenue from early access sales was not enough to cover operating expenses, with losses of $11.7 million on just $1.4 million in sales.

"The games business has always been inherently hit-driven, but as existing games continue to draw players, competition from other digital media like TikTok has increased." Morten told Bloomberg. "Record numbers of new games are being launched, so the challenge is harder than ever."

Trending: An EA Co-Founder Shapes This VC Backed Marketplace—Now You Can Invest in Gaming's Next Big Platform

Venture Capital Retreats After Pandemic Boom

During the pandemic, gaming investment surged as people turned to digital entertainment. Venture deals jumped to 1,683 in 2021, totaling $13.7 billion, according to PitchBook data.

Since then, momentum has cooled. By Aug. 21, there had been only 396 deals, half the 2021 level. Bloomberg reported that PitchBook analyst Eric Bellomo cited the lack of breakout hits and a saturated market as reasons for the sharp decline.

One major studio under pressure is Fantastic Pixel Castle, founded by former Riot Games executive Greg Street. Sources said that the company is at risk of losing funding from NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES), according to Bloomberg. The game, code-named "Ghost," was initially backed with more than $100 million, but NetEase has been cutting costs as CEO William Ding becomes more cautious about gaming investment.

NetEase told Bloomberg that it remains committed to offering a broad range of titles and regularly reviews game progress to make business decisions. A spokesperson disputed the reported budget size.

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A Legendary Career Meets a New Challenge

Morhaime co-founded Blizzard in 1991 and was instrumental in shaping titles including "World of Warcraft," "Diablo," and "Overwatch." Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) acquired Activision Blizzard for $69 billion in 2023, the largest gaming merger ever.

He left years earlier, founding Dreamhaven in 2020, Bloomberg reported. The company now faces the challenge of cutting costs and adapting strategy in a saturated market that has already pushed other well-funded startups to the brink, according to the report.

Read Next: Bill Gates Says Climate Change 'Needs to Be Solved' — This Award-Winning Building Material Is Tackling It Head-On

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Blizzard Co-Founder Mike Morhaime Slashes Wildgate Price After Selling Only 130K Copies

Blizzard CoFounder Mike Morhaime Slashes Wildgate Price After Selling Only 130K Copies Paula TudoranAugust 31, 2025 at...
New Photo - Shares in Samsung, SK Hynix drop after US makes it harder to make chips in China

Shares in Samsung, SK Hynix drop after US makes it harder to make chips in China Heekyong YangAugust 31, 2025 at 11:03 PM By Heekyong Yang SEOUL (Reuters) Shares in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped on Monday after Washington revoked authorisations that allowed them to secure U.S.

- - Shares in Samsung, SK Hynix drop after US makes it harder to make chips in China

Heekyong YangAugust 31, 2025 at 11:03 PM

By Heekyong Yang

SEOUL (Reuters) -Shares in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped on Monday after Washington revoked authorisations that allowed them to secure U.S. semiconductor manufacturing equipment for their chip plants in China.

The move is set to go into effect in 120 days.

Analysts estimate that more than a third of Samsung's DRAM output comes from China, while 30–40% of SK Hynix's DRAM and NAND production is based there.

Shares in Samsung were down 2.3% in morning trade while shares in SK Hynix lost 4.4%. That compared with a 0.7% fall in the benchmark KOSPI.

The two chipmakers had, until now, benefited from exemptions to sweeping restrictions that the U.S. had imposed on chip-related exports to China.

In response to the move, SK Hynix said it would maintain close communication with both the Korean and the U.S. governments and take necessary measures to minimise the impact on its business.

Samsung declined to comment.

Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities, said he thought the short-term impact would be limited.

"Samsung and SK Hynix have planned their new production lines and processes primarily in South Korea, while maintaining the status quo in China," he said.

Shares in other chip assembly and product suppliers also retreated on concerns that they too would be affected. Hana Micron fell 1.7% and Hanmi Semiconductor dropped 4.4%.

(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Ed Davies and Edwina Gibbs)

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Shares in Samsung, SK Hynix drop after US makes it harder to make chips in China

Shares in Samsung, SK Hynix drop after US makes it harder to make chips in China Heekyong YangAugust 31, 2025 at 11:03...
New Photo - 1.2M immigrants are gone from the US labor force under Trump, preliminary data shows

1.2M immigrants are gone from the US labor force under Trump, preliminary data shows COREY WILLIAMS August 31, 2025 at 11:11 PM FILE Migrant farmworkers head to pick crops on an early morning in Fresno, Calif., on July 18, 2025.

- - 1.2M immigrants are gone from the US labor force under Trump, preliminary data shows

COREY WILLIAMS August 31, 2025 at 11:11 PM

FILE - Migrant farmworkers head to pick crops on an early morning in Fresno, Calif., on July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

It's tomato season and Lidia is harvesting on farms in California's Central Valley.

She is also anxious. Attention from U.S. Immigration Control and Enforcement could upend her life more than 23 years after she illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border as a teenager.

"The worry is they'll pull you over when you're driving and ask for your papers," said Lidia, who spoke to The on condition that only her first name be used because of her fears of deportation. "We need to work. We need to feed our families and pay our rent."

As parades and other events celebrating the contributions of workers in the U.S. are held Monday for the Labor Day holiday, experts say President Donald Trump's stepped-up immigration policies are impacting the nation's labor force.

More than 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July, according to preliminary Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center. That includes people who are in the country illegally as well as legal residents.

Immigrants make up almost 20% of the U.S. workforce and that data shows 45% of workers in farming, fishing and forestry are immigrants, according to Pew senior researcher Stephanie Kramer. About 30% of all construction workers are immigrants and 24% of service workers are immigrants, she added.

The loss in immigrant workers comes as the nation is seeing the first decline in the overall immigrant population after the number of people in the U.S. illegally reached an all-time high of 14 million in 2023.

"It's unclear how much of the decline we've seen since January is due to voluntary departures to pursue other opportunities or avoid deportation, removals, underreporting or other technical issues," Kramer said. "However, we don't believe that the preliminary numbers indicating net-negative migration are so far off that the decline isn't real."

Trump campaigned on a promise to deport millions of immigrants working in the U.S. illegally. He has said he is focusing deportation efforts on "dangerous criminals," but most people detained by ICE have no criminal convictions. At the same time, the number of illegal border crossings has plunged under his policies.

Pia Orrenius, a labor economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said immigrants normally contribute at least 50% of job growth in the U.S.

"The influx across the border from what we can tell is essentially stopped, and that's where we were getting millions and millions of migrants over the last four years," she said. "That has had a huge impact on the ability to create jobs."

'Crops did go to waste'

Just across the border from Mexico in McAllen, Texas, corn and cotton fields are about ready for harvesting. Elizabeth Rodriguez worries there won't be enough workers available for the gins and other machinery once the fields are cleared.

Immigration enforcement actions at farms, businesses and construction sites brought everything to a standstill, said Rodriguez, director of farmworker advocacy for the National Farmworker Ministry.

"In May, during the peak of our watermelon and cantaloupe season, it delayed it. A lot of crops did go to waste," she said.

In Ventura County, California, northwest of Los Angeles, Lisa Tate manages her family business that grows citrus fruits, avocados and coffee on eight ranches and 800 acres (323 hectares).

Most of the men and women who work their farms are contractor-provided day laborers. There were days earlier this year when crews would be smaller. Tate is hesitant to place that blame on immigration policies. But the fear of ICE raids spread quickly.

Dozens of area farmworkers were arrested late this spring.

"People were being taken out of laundromats, off the side of the road," Tate said.

Lidia, the farmworker who spoke to the AP through an interpreter, said her biggest fear is being sent back to Mexico. Now 36, she is married with three school-age children who were born here.

"I don't know if I'll be able to bring my kids," said Lidia. "I'm also very concerned I'd have to start from zero. My whole life has been in the United States."

From construction to health care

Construction sites in and around McAllen also "are completely dead," Rodriguez said.

"We have a large labor force that is undocumented," she said. "We've seen ICE particularly targeting construction sites and attempting to target mechanic and repair shops."

The number of construction jobs are down in about half of U.S. metropolitan areas, according to an Associated General Contractors of America analysis of government employment data. The largest loss of 7,200 jobs was in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California, area. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale area lost 6,200 jobs.

"Construction employment has stalled or retreated in many areas for a variety of reasons," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. "But contractors report they would hire more people if only they could find more qualified and willing workers and tougher immigration enforcement wasn't disrupting labor supplies."

Kramer, with Pew, also warns about the potential impact on health care. She says immigrants make up about 43% of home health care aides.

The Service Employees International Union represents about 2 million workers in health care, the public sector and property services. An estimated half of long-term care workers who are members of SEIU 2015 in California are immigrants, said Arnulfo De La Cruz, the local's president.

"What's going to happen when millions of Americans can no longer find a home care provider?" De La Cruz said. "What happens when immigrants aren't in the field to pick our crops? Who's going to staff our hospitals and nursing homes?"

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1.2M immigrants are gone from the US labor force under Trump, preliminary data shows

1.2M immigrants are gone from the US labor force under Trump , preliminary data shows COREY WILLIAMS August 31, 2025 a...
New Photo - Trump declares DC a 'CRIME FREE ZONE' amid his federal crackdown

Trump declares DC a 'CRIME FREE ZONE' amid his federal crackdown Emma BusseyAugust 31, 2025 at 8:13 PM President Donald Trump has declared Washington, D.C. to be crimefree.

- - Trump declares DC a 'CRIME FREE ZONE' amid his federal crackdown

Emma BusseyAugust 31, 2025 at 8:13 PM

President Donald Trump has declared Washington, D.C. to be crime-free.

Posting on Truth Social on Sunday, the president wrote: "DC IS NOW A CRIME FREE ZONE, IN JUST 12 DAYS!!! President DJT"

In a second post, Trump added a list of updates and data.

"This is a list I get every single day!" he said.

Jeanine Pirro: Trump Has Changed The 'Safety Landscape In Dc

President Donald Trump declared Washington D.C. a 'CRIME FREE ZONE' on Sunday.

In an update for August 30, Trump's post said there had been 76 arrests and five firearms seized.

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Trump also said an El Salvadorian national and MS-13 gang member was among those arrested, two "drivers of violence" were arrested for felon in possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm.

He also said a person was arrested for assault on a federal officer and threats against the president, as well as another person arrested for threatening National Guard personnel. Lastly, he said an arrest was made for a sexual assault.

The president's posts came over two weeks after he declared a public safety emergency in the city and invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to place the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under federal control.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn Criticizes Democrats Who Make 'Villains Out Of Law Enforcement'

He went on to deploy around 800 National Guard troops to D.C. with 100–200 on duty at any time.

Trump also reassigned federal agents from agencies like ICE to patrol the city.

Members of the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Secret Service and Metropolitan Police Department detain an individual amid President Donald Trump's crime crackdown in D.C. in August 2025.

Within the first 13 days, federal authorities reported around 550 arrests and preliminary MPD data showed a 40% drop in robberies and auto break-ins.

By August 24, aggregated data indicated over 700 arrests and 91 illegal firearms had been seized, showing a substantial uptick in enforcement activity.

Original article source: Trump declares DC a 'CRIME FREE ZONE' amid his federal crackdown

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Trump declares DC a 'CRIME FREE ZONE' amid his federal crackdown

Trump declares DC a 'CRIME FREE ZONE' amid his federal crackdown Emma BusseyAugust 31, 2025 at 8:13 PM Presid...

 

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