Can a reality TV ‘villain' change the narrative? Tom Sandoval is trying.
Tom Sandoval looked both nervous and determined as he walked down a backstage hallway. His sequined, emerald-green jacket shimmered as he sipped water, slapped his palms together and shook out his shoulders like a boxer loosening up before a match. Except in this case, the Bravo reality TV veteran was walking out with his new musical group to face four celebrity judges on Tuesday's episode of NBC's competition series 'America's Got Talent' and the millions of viewers at home.
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CNN
28 minutes ago
- CNN
Heat exposes vulnerabilities, dog-sized dinosaurs, Jack the Ripper tourism: Catch up on the day's stories
👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! The US wasted 73.9 million tons of unsold or uneaten food — nearly one-third of the country's total supply — in 2023, according to ReFED, a nonprofit focused on reform. Food markdown apps are a popular way to score cheap meals destined for garbage bins. Here's what else you might have missed during your busy day. 1️⃣ Extreme heat: Buckled roads. Broken bridges. Delayed trains. Strained power grids that led to dangerous outages. Cases of heat illness and canceled sporting events. These were just a few of the effects from this week's oppressive heat wave, which exposed some vulnerabilities. 2️⃣ Good and bad: Heart disease is the leading cause of death around the world, yet a new study found that deaths from heart attacks have dropped by nearly 90% in the US. That's encouraging news, of course — but unfortunately, there's a flip side. 3️⃣ 'Off-the-scale offensive': London has leaned into tourism based on Jack the Ripper, the unknown killer who brutally murdered at least five women in the 1800s. Every night, hundreds of curious visitors retrace his steps. The locals don't like it. 4️⃣ Psychedelic therapy: While NFL players were in the middle of a grueling season, Braden Smith of the Indianapolis Colts was fighting a different battle: the one going on inside his own mind. He turned to psychedelics to help with his OCD. 5️⃣ Dino-mite discovery: Scientists have found a new species of dinosaur — one that was the size of a dog and roamed what is now the US about 150 million years ago. See what it looked like. Get '5 Things' in your inbox If your day doesn't start until you're up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to your new favorite morning fix. Sign up here for the '5 Things' newsletter. 🚕 Mixed reviews: Tesla just launched its much-publicized robotaxi service — but only in one neighborhood in Austin, Texas, for a select group of the company's fans — and with a Tesla employee in the front passenger seat. • Trump says US will meet with Iran 'next week'• Exclusive: New Trump administration plan could end asylum claims and speed deportations• RFK Jr.'s new CDC advisers to study childhood vaccination schedule 🖌️ 'You can't ignore it': Thousands of people who gathered in Switzerland for Art Basel encountered a large public square sprayed with white and magenta paint — a work of installation art by Katharina Grosse. 💰 That's how much the Democratic National Committee has in cash reserves. The Republican National Committee has raised nearly five times as much, campaign reports show. 🗳️ Which candidate won New York City's Democratic mayoral primary?A. Eric AdamsB. Andrew CuomoC. Brad LanderD. Zohran Mamdani⬇️ Scroll down for the answer. ⭐ Football and friends: Taylor Swift thrilled folks with a surprise performance at Tight End University in Nashville. The pop star's boyfriend, Travis Kelce, helps organize the summer gathering of National Football League players. ☝️ Puzzling print: Researchers in Spain say they may have uncovered one of the most ancient symbolic objects bearing a human fingerprint on record in Europe, dating back tens of thousands of years. Forensic experts helped them unravel the mystery of who made it. 👋 We'll see you tomorrow.🧠 Quiz answer: D. Zohran Mamdani energized young voters and progressives to win the primary.📧 Check out all of CNN's newsletters. Today's 5 Things PM was edited and produced by CNN's Kimberly Richardson, Chris Good and Sarah Hutter.
Geek Tyrant
30 minutes ago
- Geek Tyrant
James Gunn Reveals New Look at Ultraman in SUPERMAN and He Looks Like a Tuscan Raider — GeekTyrant
Superman director James Gunn has shared a new photo from the DC film giving fans a new look at Ultraman, and the first thing that I thought when I saw it was that it looked like a Tuscan Raider from Star Wars. We still don't know who or what is beneath the mask, but a lot of fans have pointed out the similarities to Doomsday's containment suit in the comics. While I don't think it's Doomsday, Gunn might be hinting at something by sharing this specific shot. I also just want to point out that we can see of Ultraman's neck in the image, and does appear human. Gunn was asked about Ultraman in a recent interview, and when pushed on whether the mysterious villain is part of Lex Luthor's attempt to create a "Superman kind of figure," he responded, "It's close. Yeah, I think that's close. Ultra Man is sort of Lex's thug and is pretty powerful." The filmmaker also confirmed that Hammer of Boravia, who some fans believe is Ultraman in disguise, has ties to LuthorCorp. "Yes, totally. Lex is connected to everything. There's nothing bad happening in Metropolis during this movie that doesn't have some connection to Lex Luthor." Superman is 'set in a world very different from ours and far removed from the DCEU. Heroes have been around for ages, and we'll see how it affected this world's history and has shaped the DCU." The cast of Superman includes David Corenswet as Superman, Nicholas Hoult as Lex, and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois, Skyler Gisondo as Clark's best pal, Jimmy Olsen; Wendell Pierce as The Daily Planet's Perry White; Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl; Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders, aka Hawkgirl; and Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner. It also stars Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord; Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt, aka Mister Terrific; Maria Gabriela de Faria as Angela Spica, aka The Engineer; Sara Sampan as Eve Teschmacher; Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason, aka Metamorphosis; Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr.; Neva Howell as Martha Kent; and Pruitt Taylor Vince as Jonathan Kent.
CNET
31 minutes ago
- CNET
Pokemon Go's Gold Bottle Cap: Pay To Win or Worth $20?
I've been playing Pokemon Go since its release in 2016, and I've never caught a perfect shiny legendary. They're absurdly rare, because you need to roll the right stats and the alternate pigmentation on the same Pokemon. I suspect I'll be seeing a lot more shiny legendary Pokemon with max stats (or shundos, as the community calls them) soon, though, since developer Niantic has released the first Gold Bottle Cap into Pokemon Go. This powerful item lets you have total control over your Pokemon's stats for the first time in the game's history, but there are a couple nasty catches -- the biggest one being that it's locked behind an additional $20 battle pass, and you only have one week to complete it. Is it worth it for you to buy that pass and grind out the tiers until you have that sweet Gold Bottle Cap? Here's what you need to know about this hot commodity. The Gold Bottle Cap has shown up in every Pokemon game since Sun and Moon came out on the 3DS. Niantic/Screenshot by CNET What is Pokemon Go's Gold Bottle Cap? The Gold Bottle Cap might be a new item in Pokemon Go, but it has made multiple appearances in mainline Pokemon games. The first Gold Bottle Caps appeared in the Generation 7 games Sun and Moon, where they were used to max out all of a single Pokemon's individual values (IVs). These IVs are hidden stats that are intrinsic to a Pokemon -- you can manipulate them through breeding techniques, but the only way to change them on an already-generated Pokemon is through using the bottle caps. The Gold Bottle Cap in Pokemon Go serves the same purpose as it does in the mainline games. This item will boost a single Pokemon's Attack, Defense and HP IVs to 15 (the max value in Pokemon Go), assuming you're able to complete the Hyper Training tasks the Gold Bottle Cap unlocks. The current way to manipulate a Pokemon's IVs in Pokemon Go is to trade it with a friend (and each Pokemon can only be traded once), so the Gold Bottle Cap is the only true guarantee that you'll get a specific perfect Pokemon. The Gold Bottle Cap debuts alongside Go Fest Global 2025, the biggest Pokemon Go event of the year. Niantic/Screenshot by CNET How to earn the Gold Bottle Cap in Pokemon Go Currently, the only Gold Bottle Cap available to you in Pokemon Go is locked behind the final tier of a premium battle pass. Much like the Lucky Trinket gets locked behind the monthly Go Pass, the Gold Bottle Cap is the big draw of the special Go Fest 2025 Go Pass -- so you'll have to shell out cash and then put in the work to reach tier 100 in order to unlock this IV-maxing item. Since this is only the first Gold Bottle Cap Pokemon Go players have had a chance to earn, it's hard to say whether or not there will be alternative acquisition methods in the future. An item this absurdly powerful will definitely stay rare, just like the Master Ball. If and when more Gold Bottle Caps are added to the game, it'd be a safe bet to assume they'll remain out of reach of free-to-play players. The Go Pass: Ancients Recovered has a strong focus on the Regi line of legendary Pokemon. In addition to the Gold Bottle Cap, you'll encounter a whole lot of these guys. Niantic/Screenshot by CNET Is it worth it for you to buy the Ancients Recovered Go Pass? The Ancients Recovered Go Pass is an event battle pass designed to run in tandem with Go Fest Global 2025. That means it's extremely time limited -- you can start making progress right now, but the whole battle pass will disappear after June 29. That means you have less than a week to knock out every tier. You can earn a maximum of 10 tiers a day until June 28, and then the daily battle pass experience point limit will be uncapped. Essentially, if you don't have a weekend to dedicate to playing Pokemon Go, there's no way you're going to unlock everything on this Go Pass (including the Gold Bottle Cap). The pass also costs $20, which is a much steeper price than the $8 Niantic asks for in exchange for the monthly Go Pass. Even if you make it to tier 100 of the event battle pass and unlock the Gold Bottle Cap, there are some strings attached to its usage. You can only use this item once, in order to boost a single Pokemon's IVs -- and if you don't use your Gold Bottle Cap by July 6, it'll simply disappear from your inventory. Tough luck. You can't use this item on Shadow Pokemon, and the Pokemon you want to use it on has to be your Good Buddy (or higher). If you don't have a Pokemon already in mind to use the Gold Bottle Cap on, it's probably not worth your time and money to invest in the pass. Of course, if you are on the fence about whether or not to purchase this (very expensive) Go Pass, there are rewards on every other tier as well. If you're gunning for that Gold Bottle Cap tier, you'll also pick up bonus experience points, lure modules, a lucky egg, an incense, an incubator and encounters with the legendary Pokemon Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Regieleki and Regidrago. You'll also collect candy and candy XL for those legendaries. If you progress the pass to the extra tiers past the Gold Bottle Cap, you can even earn upwards of 100,000 stardust -- which goes far when it comes to powering up your Pokemon. The value offered by the Gold Bottle Cap is completely subjective. Pokemon Go thrives off of FOMO -- think about how long ago it was that Armored Mewtwo and the clone Pokemon from Pokemon: The First Movie last appeared in raids -- but you shouldn't feel compelled to buy into every new thing that gets added to the game. The difference between a couple IV points is negligible, and you can build a meta team of 'mons without the Gold Bottle Cap. FAQs How many Gold Bottle Caps are in the Go Pass? There are no Gold Bottle Caps in the monthly Go Pass, and only a single one in the special Go Fest Ancients Recovered Go Pass. Can you buy more Gold Bottle Caps? No, you can't directly purchase Gold Bottle Caps in Pokemon Go. There is only one Gold Bottle Cap currently obtainable in the game, and that one is at the end of the premium track for the Ancients Recovered Go Pass.
