A large-scale protest against Russian schools being forced to teach in the Latvian language was held in Riga on May 1, RIA Novosti reported. Between 7,000 and 10,000 took part in the march along the central Brivibas Street, organizers said. The demonstrators carried banners, reading: “Latvia is my country. Russian is my language,” and “Russian schools = peace in Latvia,” and chanted: “Hands off Russian schools.” According to a new law, all of the schools in the former Soviet state are to switch to Latvian by 2021. Despite Russian speakers making up around 40 percent of Latvia’s population of 2 million, Russian is considered a foreign language. Passing a language test is a strict requirement for receiving Latvian citizenship, which results in hundreds of thousands of people, mainly ethnic Russians, only having a ‘non-citizen’ passport and limited rights.

Western Digital's 3D NAND SSD is cheap and fast. The Solid State Drive market is a competitive one, with plenty of options at good prices. There have been a few 500GB SATA SSDs floating at around $100, such as Crucial's MX500 for $114.99, but there's one that's slightly cheaper for the moment: Western Digital's 500GB 3D NAND SSD is just $111.99 right now, and it's one of the fastest SATA drives you can buy. Western Digital owns SanDisk, so the WD Blue 3D SSD is just a re-branded SanDisk Ultra 3D drive. In real-world testing, the 1TB version has a 128K sequential read speed of around 554 MB/s, and sequential writes of roughly 500 MB/s. That's about as fast as SATA drives get. You can buy the WD Blue 3D SSD from Newegg here. Make sure to use the coupon code EMCPUPE28 at checkout to get the full discount.

Microsoft .Net Framework 4.7.2 is a new version of Microsoft's .Net Framework. The new version is integrated in the Windows 10 April 2018 Update release; if you run older versions of Windows, you may download and install the new version to update the framework to the latest version. Microsoft released updates for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 as well as Windows 7 versions 1607, 1703 and 1709. Windows users and administrators may download a web installer or offline installer. The Web Installer is just a small-sized installer which downloads the .Net Framework 4.7.2 from Microsoft servers during installation; the offline installer is a bigger download but it does not require an Internet connection during installation. Download information for Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2 Note: the downloads are for all supported versions of Windows including Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1 on the client-side, and Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 on the server-side. You don't need to download and install the new version if you run Windows 10 version 1803 as it is included already. Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2 web installer for Windows Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2 offline installer for Windows The offline installer has a size of 68 Megabytes. Microsoft lists new features of the .NET Framework 4.7.2. on this Microsoft Docs page. Here are the highlights: The .NET Framework 4.7.2 features a large number of cryptographic enhancements, better decompression support for ZIP archives, and additional collection APIs. Support for ephemeral keys. ASP.NET Support for same-site cookies. ASP.NET Support for dependency injection in Web Forms SQLClient Support for Azure Active Directory Universal Authentication and Multi-Factor authentication SQLClient Support for Always Encrypted version 2 HDPI-aware applications for Windows Forms, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), and Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) can all be deployed by using ClickOnce Windows Presentation Foundation Support for Finding ResourceDictionaries by Source, Finding ResourceDictionary owners, and Finding ResourceDictionary owners. Closing Words Should you update right away? In my opinion, it is probably better to wait and see if the new version causes any issues before you upgrade unless you need it for work or development right away. I suggest you use the offline installer to update as it is less error-prone and reduces the connections your device makes to Microsoft to install the new NET version.

Microsoft released the April 2018 Update for Windows 10 on April 30, 2018 and users and administrators have been upgrading machines to the new version of Windows since that day. The update is available on Windows Update but also as a separate download for users who prefer to create installation media. Tip: we started to collect issues of Windows 10 version 1803. If you have not upgraded a PC yet make sure you check out the issues before you do so. Microsoft removed some features in Windows 10 version 1803. Other features are still included in the new version of Windows 10 but they are not in active development anymore and will be removed at a later point in time. You can check out the overview of removed or deprecated features in the Fall Creators Update and Creators Update as well. Windows 10 version 1803: removed features The list of removed features is relatively short: Connect to suggested open hotspots removed. Connect to wireless networks (including open hotspots) by selecting the hotspots manually instead. Control Panel: Language Settings moved to the Settings application. Conversations in the People app no longer work while offline or when using a non-Office 365 mail account. Groove Music Pass service for streaming music and music sales tracking through the Microsoft Store was removed. Groove Music is still integrated and capable of playing music. HomeGroup feature was removed. Microsoft recommends that users use built-in sharing options to share network printers or files. People suggestions won't suggest "unsaved contacts for non-Microsoft accounts". XPS Viewer is not included by default anymore. If it was installed previously, it is still there but users need to install XPS Viewer via Apps and Features of the Settings application if they require it on clean installs. Windows 10 version 1803: deprecated features The list of deprecated features that are no longer in active development is equally short. The shortness of the list may come as a surprise to admins and users as it does not list deprecated features listed in deprecation lists for previous updates. My best guess is that Microsoft revealed only new features that it does not develop anymore and plans to replace. Contacts feature and Windows Contacts API. Both are no longer in development. Microsoft wants users to use the People application instead. IPv4/6 Transition Technologies. 6to4, ISATAP, and Direct Tunnels are no longer in development as native IPv6 support can be used instead. Offline symbol packages. Microsoft Symbol Server is moved to an Azure-based symbol store. Phone Companion. Use the Phone page of the Settings application instead which offers all features of Phone Companion according to Microsoft. Software Restriction Policies in Group Policy. Microsoft wants users and administrators to use AppLocker or Windows Defender Application Control instead. Windows Help Viewer. The Windows Help Viewer is no longer supported as all Windows help information is available online.

Alongside a comprehensive Star Wars sale. Star Wars Day is this Friday. And while that normally prompts a grumble from me about being force-fed dodgy date-related puns on social media, I'd much rather talk about how GOG has added 1999's Star Wars Episode I: Racer to its storefront. It's live now alongside a pretty comprehensive Star Wars sale. Which is great news. Particularly given the fact Star Wars Episode I: Racer was, before now, GOG's most requested SW game on its Community Wishlist. On a personal level, I've many fond memories of careering around foreign planets in pods to the tune of LucasArts' wonderful orchestral soundtrack—all the while assuring my mates that, yes, this was much more entertaining than Wipeout 3. With a limited-time 14 percent discount, Star Wars Episode I: Racer costs £6.09/$8.49. From now through next week, GOG is also discounting the likes of Knights of the Old Republic (£2.39/$3.39), TIE Fighter Special Edition (£2.89/$3.99), X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter (£2.89/$3.99), and the 2005-variation of Battlefront 2 (£2.39/$3.39). Moreover, both Lego Star Wars—The Complete Saga, and Lego Star Wars 3—The Clone Wars are both on sale for £5.99/$8.47 each. Check out GOG's May the 4th Sale in full over here.

John Boyega is hinting at a time jump between Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: Episode 9. The Last Jedi actually broke from tradition by picking up right after its predecessor, The Force Awakens. Prior to that, the films within each Star Wars movie trilogy were typically separated by about 1-3 years, with the exception of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones (which take place a decade apart). A lot has changed since Episode 9 first entered development. The film was originally set to be cowritten and directed by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World), before the filmmaker stepped down over creative differences with Lucasfilm. Force Awakens helmsman J.J. Abrams has since signed on to direct Episode 9 instead, from a script that Abrams is cowriting with Argo, Batman V Superman, and Justice League screenwriter Chris Terrio. The pair are tasked with not only bringing the current trilogy to a satisfying close, but also finding a tasteful way to “retire” the Leia character after Carrie Fisher’s death in 2016. Between having to deal with all that and everything that went down in Last Jedi, it’s no surprise to hear Boyega hint that Episode 9 will feature a significant jump ahead in time. Speaking about his involvement in the launch of the UK DeamLab app (a mobile phone app to help in the fight against cancer), Boyega revealed that his character Finn will be sporting much longer hair the next time audiences see him. Here’s his exact quote, per Yahoo! Finance: “I can’t wait to start shooting the next and final leg of the [Star Wars] franchise. The first step is growing out my hair, so you can wait for the trailer to see why.” Since Leia was still alive at the end of Last Jedi, it would’ve been impossible for Episode 9 to pull a Last Jedi and pick up with the surviving members of the Resistance in the Millennium Falcon, right after their narrow escape on Crait. It’s not clear yet how far ahead in time Episode 9 will jump from that point, but it will be enough time for Finn’s hair to have grown substantially it seems. That could mean anything from a matter of months to a year or longer, depending on how Abrams and Terrio decide to play things. Finn’s longer hair should also be a reflection of how much more experienced the character is in Episode 9, compared to the scared runaway stormtrooper that audiences first met in Force Awakens. After defeating his old boss Captain Phasma and surviving yet another massive battle with the First Order, Finn will be a much more seasoned fighter and warrior by the time he returns to the big screen. Moviegoers could be in store for a dramatic transformation along the lines of what Luke Skywalker went through, between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. As for Leia, a time jump should make it easier for Abrams and Terrio to give the character a fitting sendoff. Since there are no plans to recast Leia or “replace” Fisher in the role (that we know of, anyway), Episode 9 will need to find a way to respectfully bring her story to an end offscreen, one way or another. Based on everything he’s accomplished with the Star Wars franchise already, there’s fair reason to be confident that Abrams will succeed in this respect too. KEY RELEASE DATES Solo: A Star Wars Story release date: May 25, 2018 Star Wars 9 / Star Wars: Episode IX release date: Dec 20, 2019

Josh Gad got to see Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom early – and loved what he saw. The Jurassic Park franchise had a hard time figuring out the next step following 2001’s Jurassic Park III. That entry was essentially a plotless retread of the first two movies, and while it was a financial success it didn’t leave much of a lasting impact on viewers. Several concepts were thrown around in the intervening years, including the outlandish suggestion of Raptor/human hybrids. The series returned after nearly 15 years with Jurassic World, which had the elegantly simple concept of the park being open and working – and then things go to hell. While Universal expected the movie to be a success, they probably weren’t quite predicting how just big it would become; it ended its box office run with $1.6 billion worldwide, and is currently the 4th highest grossing movie of all time. It didn’t take long for the studio to greenlight the next movie, with J.A. Bayona taking on directing duties for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom story sees returning characters Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) leading a rescue mission to Isla Nublar to save the remaining dinosaurs from a volcano – only to find the company financing the mission has darker motives. The most recent trailer made the movie look like a hybrid of blockbuster and horror movie. Anticipation has been steadily building for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom with each new trailer, so Gad’s recommendation – making the reasonably safe assumption the “dinosaur” movie he means is Fallen Kingdom – won’t hurt the hype machine any. The third movie has already been with greenlit, with Jurassic World helmer Colin Trevorrow returning to co-write and direct the final part of the trilogy. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom also sees the return of Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm. Malcolm has been an audience favorite since the first movie, and Fallen Kingdom will be the character’s first appearance since The Lost World. Sadly, Malcolm’s appearance in the sequel will amount to a cameo, though the character will play a much larger role in upcoming video game Jurassic World: Evolution. The chaos theory expert will be on hand to advise players building their very own park, and given his level of experience in such matters, his advice should prove valuable. KEY RELEASE DATES Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom release date: Jun 22, 2018

Hasbro, Inc. has acquired the rights to several Saban entertainment brands, most notably Power Rangers. Paramount inked a deal with Hasbro just last fall, with the intention of developing movie franchises based on the company’s popular IPs like G.I. Joe, Micronauts, ROM the Spaceknight, and M.A.S.K. This fresh deal between Hasbro and Saban gives Paramount even more brands to add to that collection and could even pave the way to an eventual big screen reboot of the Power Rangers franchise. Lionsgate only just released its own Power Rangers movie reboot last year, featuring new versions of the characters from the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers property. The film certainly has its supporters, but overall critics were lukewarm on its efforts to combine Breakfast Club-style raw teen drama with the campy action and villains of the Power Rangers brand. Power Rangers also disappointed financially, taking in $142.3 million at the worldwide box office on a $100 million budget (not counting marketing costs). While fans have been holding out hope for a sequel in spite of all that, a direct followup has been a remote possibility for awhile now. Now the Power Rangers brand has been purchased by Hasbro in a deal with Saban Properties LLC. The deal is valued at $522 million in cash and stock and includes the Power Rangers IP, along with Saban properties like My Pet Monster, Popples, Julius Jr., Luna Petunia, and Treehouse Detectives. Power Rangers is naturally the crown jewel of the deal and is highlighted accordingly in the official statement that Hasbro CEO and chairman Brian Goldner issued to go with the announcement: “Power Rangers is an iconic brand built on a heritage of great storytelling and merchandising with tremendous upside potential when fully executed across Hasbro’s Brand Blueprint. Shortly after entering into our licensing arrangement, it became clear that now was the time to begin investing in unlocking Power Rangers’ full potential. We see significant opportunity for Power Rangers across our entire Brand Blueprint, including toys and games, consumer products, digital gaming and entertainment, as well as geographically throughout our global retail footprint. We couldn’t be more pleased that Haim Saban will continue in a consulting role to further guide our development of this valuable property for the next generation of Power Rangers fans.” The Power Rangers IP turns 25 this year and spans several mediums, as Goldner notes in his statement. Hasbro’s recent movie deal with Paramount suggests that a big screen relaunch could be part of the company’s efforts to unlock “Power Rangers’ full potential”, as the Hasbro CEO puts it. That doesn’t necessarily mean a hard reboot of the Power Rangers films either. The main cast of the 2017 movie have continuously expressed a desire to reprise their roles over the past year and would almost certainly be willing to do so in a soft reboot, if possible. Alternatively, Hasbro may decide to focus on growing the Power Ranger brand in other mediums in the foreseeable future, rather than moving straight into a movie reboot. The live-action Power Rangers films have never been huge performers at the box office and the franchise has long enjoyed more success with its TV shows, comic books, and video games by comparison. Perhaps for that reason, Goldner avoids mentioning film specifically as being an area where Hasbro sees “significant opportunity” for additional growth of the Power Rangers IP in his statement about the deal. Either way, Paramount is actively moving forward with other movie adaptations of Hasbro properties. That includes a ROM: Spaceknight film that Zak Penn (Ready Player One) is writing and a M.A.S.K. movie that F. Gary Gray (The Fate of the Furious) is attached to direct. Look for further announcements regarding the future of Power Rangers and other Saban IPs acquired by Hasbro on the big screen, over the year ahead.

Marvel released a brand new trailer for Ant-Man and The Wasp. Phase 3 is surprisingly already nearing its end. With Black Panther having made over $1 billion and Avengers: Infinity War setting box office records, the sequel to Ant-Man has taken the backseat for Marvel Studios’ 2018 slate. After the modest success of the first film, the studio reshuffled their slate to fit a sequel in between their once two-part Avengers story. Its placement in the slate required returning director Peyton Reed to work with the Russos so both Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) align with the plan of Avengers. The oddity of Ant-Man and The Wasp, though, may be that while it hits theaters after Infinity War, it could actually take place before Thanos arrives. The first Ant-Man and the Wasp trailer focused on the size-changing heroes’ lives after Captain America: Civil War, setting up the on-the-run nature of the sequel’s story. While that trailer only teased fans of what was to come, a new trailer is here to flesh things out. Marvel debuted a brand new trailer today for Ant-Man and The Wasp, offering further insight into the sequel. Featuring much more of the leading duo, the latest footage offers up more action through the use of Pym particles. It also provides more context for the story, sending Team Ant-Man on the hunt for the original Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer). The trailer once again puts the focus on Wasp and her finally becoming the hero she was meant to be. She’s largely showcased in action scenes, and they all look stellar. Even though audiences already got a taste of what Ant-Man’s size shifting abilities look like, it appears director Peyton Reed has found a fun new way to bring Wasp’s abilities to the screen. We also know that it’ll be an emotional movie for her, as the trailer further teases the mission to rescue Janet van Dyne – and the above picture could just be Hope’s reaction to seeing her mother for the first time in years. There’s a bit more information given on Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) too, as she’s also trying to gain access to the Quantum Realm it appears. We also see the first look at Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster, leading to a fun exchange with Scott over the record height they’ve hit as Goliath. Whether or not Fishburne actually suits up remains to be seen, but the Ant-Man and the Wasp poster at least indicated that Janet will in some capacity. It doesn’t necessarily answer what Ant-Man and Wasp were doing during Infinity War, but that may be a mystery Marvel’s waiting for the actual movie to solve. Until then, this lively new trailer is exactly what Ant-Man and The Wasp needed to remind everyone why they should be excited to see it in a few months. KEY RELEASE DATES Avengers: Infinity War / The Avengers 3 release date: Apr 27, 2018 Ant-Man & The Wasp release date: Jul 6, 2018 Captain Marvel release date: Mar 8, 2019 The Avengers 4 / Untitled Avengers Movie release date: May 3, 2019 Untitled Spider-Man: Homecoming Sequel release date: Jul 5, 2019

American Gods season 2 has begun filming with a different show-running team in place. Series creators Michael Green and Bryan Fuller did a remarkable job adapting Neil Gaiman’s novel American Gods to television in season 1, garnering praise for the Starz series. The show was even able to expand on the original work, with some help from Gaiman himself. But while the author mostly consulted on the first season of the show, he’s taking a more hands-on approach this time around due to some creative shake-ups. Late last year, Fuller and Green exited American Gods due to creative differences. Given how critically acclaimed the series was and how true to the book’s spirit the two showrunners were, fans and industry insiders alike were shocked by the move. And while we may never know what exactly transpired, it was reassuring when we learned that Gaiman would step up and take a larger role for season 2. Now, we have our first look at the new and returning faces of the series as the latest batch of episodes has begun production. Deadline is reporting that American Gods season 2 will be comprised of 8 episodes (the same as season 1) and is expected to arrive in 2019. The first episode of the new season, meanwhile, will be directed by Chris Byrne (Star Trek: Discovery, Hannibal). Flanking the author are Yetinde Badaki (Bilquis) and Ricky Whittle (Shadow Moon) on his right and Ian McShane (Wednesday) and Mousa Kraish (The Jinn) on his left. Directly behind Gaiman is American Gods‘ new showrunner Jesse Alexander, along with Omid Abtahi (Salim) and Orlando Jones (Mr. Nancy). The end of season 1 saw all these forces heading to the House on the Rock for a big meeting between the gods. That moment also demonstrated how the show would break up the plot of the book, meaning there’s at least a few seasons’ worth of story yet to tell. While the loss of Fuller and Green is unfortunate, it’s hard not to have confidence in American Gods season 2 with Gaiman himself involved so heavily. As for Fuller, the move was actually one of several high-profile departures. The creative left Star Trek: Discovery before it even got going, and earlier this year Fuller exited the Amazing Stories reboot for Apple. We will have to wait and see if any of Fuller’s future projects work out, but Gaiman is certainly busy. Along with being more involved in American Gods, Gaiman recently served as showrunner on Good Omens – the upcoming small screen adaptation of the book that he cowrote with Terry Pratchett – and is producing a new TV adaptation of the Gormenghast novels. For fans of Gaiman’s work in general, it’s certainly an exciting time as the author is able to be directly involved in these adaptations – meaning, American Gods season 2 should be in good hands. American Gods season 2 premieres sometime in 2019 on Starz.

A new teaser for 13 Reasons Why season 2 suggests that instead of tapes, photographs will be used to continue the narrative. 13 Reasons Why arrived on Netflix in 2017 under a cloud of controversy; the hard hitting drama told the story of Hannah Baker and why she decided to commit suicide. The show also dealt with the topics of bullying, substance abuse, and rape. Despite the uproar from some, 13 Reasons Why was a huge hit, and the show was picked up for a second season. With filming completed some time ago, 13 Reasons Why season 2 still hasn’t gotten a premiere date, to the frustration of many, who had hoped it would arrive back in March. Amid rumors of reedits and a delayed launch date, Netflix has not really given anything away regarding the storyline for season 2 or when it could arrive. We know that Hannah won’t be the narrator for season 2, but the character will still feature in flashbacks. Season 2 is said to deal with the aftermath of her death; in particular the Baker’s lawsuit against the school, as well as Bryce facing justice for his raping of Hannah and Jessica. 13 Reasons Why season 1 ended on several cliffhangers; perhaps the most worrisome of these was Tyler, who was in the school’s photography department, developing pictures, his backpack loaded with guns. Throughout the season, Tyler had been ostracized by all of his peers; his stalker-like behavior with his camera and his obsession over Hannah Baker led to Clay Jensen spreading a naked photo of him around school, and others dismissing him as a ‘weirdo.’ Whether or not Tyler’s intentions are as they seem to be, and he will attempt a school shooting, remain to be seen. The brief, silent teaser shows part of a photo developing, and when it’s complete you can see it’s Hannah’s face. We know Tyler is the only one who enjoys old-school photography, and he took a lot of photos of Hannah. Therefore it seems reasonable to assume Tyler and his pictures will play a big part in season 2. This would also led credence to the theory that Tyler will be the narrator for 13 Reasons Why‘s second season. While there are many plausible options available, having Tyler telling things from his perspective would give a totally different take on the events that led up to him arming himself and heading into school. In light of the recent Parkland shooting, there were rumors that 13 Reasons Why season 2 was delayed in order that a school shooting scene could be reedited. That’s far from confirmed, though, and it’s also worth remembering that in the season finale, Alex Standall was rushed to hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. Shortly before leaving the dark room, Tyler had removed a photo of Alex that was hanging up. Did Alex try to commit suicide, or was he shot by Tyler? The teaser doesn’t reveal a premiere date for season 2, but it certainly can’t be too far off now. Hopefully, a proper trailer for season 2 will be released in the near future. 13 Reasons Why season 1 is available to stream on Netflix now. Season 2 is expected in 2018.

The network's late-night personality and go-to host will lend his voice to the Alyson Hannigan and Leslie Bibb vehicle. Promising news for one of ABC's comedy pilots. As the broadcast network starts mulling pickups for the 2018-19 season, Jimmy Kimmel is joining Man of the House. The Jimmy Kimmel Live host and go-to ABC emcee is lending voice to the Frank Pines and Vijal Patel project, serving as the off-camera narrator — a grown version of the character Bradley, played on-screen by actor Jake Short. "I’ve often thought of myself as an 'Older Bradley,'" said Kimmel, "so that works out well." Man of the House stars Alyson Hannigan and Leslie Bibb as dissimilar divorced sisters who move in together to raise their children. The pilot, a multi/single-camera hybrid, is inspired by Pines' real life being raised by his mother and aunt. Kimmel and Short's Bradley is the lone male of the cast, juggling his life at home with the two matriarchs, a sister (Reece Caddell) and cousin (Jenna Ortega) and the masculine word of football at school. Pines and Patel serve as writers and executive producers on the ABC Studios project, with Gail Berman and Joe Earley serving as EPs for The Jackal Group and Kerry Washington and Pilar Savone for Simpson Street.

Adam Driver plays the partner of John David Washington’s Ron Stallworth, a black police detective who infiltrated the KKK, in a first look image from Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman. In his first feature film since 2015’s Chi-Raq, Spike Lee tells the unlikely true story of how Ron Stallworth, the first black police detective in Colorado Springs history, managed to execute an undercover operation that saw him posing as a member of the KKK. Not only did Stallworth infiltrate the Klan’s Colorado Springs operation, rising to become a leader of the chapter, he also got to know famed former Klan Grand Wizard and latter-day politician David Duke. Stallworth pulled off his unlikely operation with the help of his white partner, referred to in his book as “Chuck,” who would attend face-to-face meetings in Stallworth’s place while Stallworth did his end over the phone. In Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, Adam Driver plays the role of Stallworth’s partner, now named “Flip Zimmerman.” Via EW, we have now gotten our first look at Adam Driver together with John David Washington in BlacKkKlansman. The film takes place in the late ’70s, as becomes immediately obvious from the hair. In the scene, Washington’s Stallworth shows Flip his KKK card. As Washington told EW, the real Stallworth still has his Klan card to this day and happily shows it off to anyone who wants to see it. Check out the image, below. Audiences who got to see footage from BlacKkKlansman at last week’s CinemaCon described the film surprisingly as almost a buddy comedy between Washington’s character and Driver’s. Indeed, Spike Lee has a reputation for infusing humor into his otherwise serious topical films in this way. Sometimes Lee receives criticism for an excessive willingness to subvert genre in such a manner, as in his 1992 film Malcolm X, which threw a full-on musical number into the biopic of the famed civil rights leader. As for the comedy trappings in BlacKkKlansman, Jason Blum (whose Blumhouse Productions has a stake in the film along with Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw), said at CinemaCon that the movie is all about “shining a light on how stupid and idiotic” the KKK are (via THR). Evidently, Klan leadership is so bungling and inept that there was no way to depict Stallworth’s story without going into comedic territory. Lee’s provocative, and apparently surprisingly entertaining, film gets its world premiere at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival ahead of a U.S. release timed to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Charlottesville. BlacKkKlansman also stars Topher Grace as David Duke and Corey Hawkins as Stokely Charmichael. Laura Harrier, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, Ryan Eggold, Ashlie Atkinson and Harry Belafonte round out the cast. In addition to BlacKkKlansman, Adam Driver can soon be seen – assuming the legal issues clear up and the movie is allowed to be released – in Terry Gilliam’s long-awaited The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. KEY RELEASE DATES BlacKkKlansman release date: Aug 10, 2018

A brand new poster for Ant-Man and The Wasp is here, confirming the next trailer arrives soon. All eyes are on Avengers: Infinity War at the moment and rightfully so, but its only a matter of months before the next entry in the MCU arrives. The sequel to Ant-Man has largely flown under the radar thanks to the attention Infinity War and Black Panther have received this year. While neither of the sequel’s leading characters were present for Infinity War, fans will get to see what they were doing leading up to that movie since Ant-Man and The Wasp takes place prior to Thanos’ arrival. Marketing for Ant-Man and The Wasp hasn’t fully kicked in just yet, with only one poster and one trailer having been released thus far. Now that Infinity War is in theaters though, it’s only a matter of time before the size-shifting heroes take the spotlight. They’re already doing so in a newly-released poster, ahead of a new trailer dropping online this week. The Wasp herself, Evangeline Lilly shared a brand new poster for Ant-Man and The Wasp that sees her become the first female superhero to be featured in the title of an MCU movie. Along with the poster and the details that can be gleamed from it, Lilly has also confirmed that a full-length trailer is going to debut tomorrow on Tuesday, May 1. The poster is designed to put equal emphasis on the film’s co-leads. The bright red and yellow colors flood the entire poster, as Lilly and Paul Rudd are featured front and center helmet-less. Wasp is the highest featured character on the poster, which is just the latest example of her potentially being more important than Ant-Man in the movie. Ant-Man and The Wasp revolves around the operation to rescue Hope van Dyne’s (Lilly) mother, so it makes sense for The Wasp to be more prominently featured in the film’s poster. Speaking of which, this one-sheet also offers the first look at Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne, aka. the original Wasp. The image confirms what many expected and that Janet has still aged despite spending decades in the Quantum Realm. It also appears that she’s wearing a suit of her own, and since the entire design can’t be seen, it should be assumed that this is the same costume she was wearing when she went subatomic back in the 1980s. The first Ant-Man and The Wasp trailer hinted at the rescue mission to save Janet, but didn’t offer any specific details on the matter. This new trailer should reveal more about that storyline and may even touch on how Janet’s years in the Quantum Realm have impacted here.

Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady and a terrifying new hybrid dinosaur, the Indoraptor, are featured on a new Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom cover for Total Film. The previous movie was a massive smash hit at the box office upon its release in 2015, grossing a staggering $1.67 billion at the worldwide box office, and the sequel (directed by J.A. Bayona) hopes to continue that momentum by offering more new dinosaur species, and bringing back Jeff Goldblum as Doctor Ian Malcolm. While Jurassic World was mainly an adventure film, in which a new version of Jurassic Park falls victim to the same fate as the original, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will lean more into the horror elements of the franchise – especially after the halfway point. The movie starts out with raptor trainer Owen and former park operations manager Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) returning to Isla Nublar to oversee a dinosaur rescue mission when an erupting volcano threatens the lives of every species on the island. However, they discover too late that the real agenda behind the mission is obtaining valuable dinosaur DNA that can be used to create living weapons. Set for release in June, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the main feature of this month’s issue of Total Film, which hits newsstands on Friday. In addition to the main magazine, there will also be a 36-page Jurassic Park celebration mag, looking back on where the franchise began. We can probably expect to see all sorts of behind-the-scenes details and interesting plot tidbits emerging from the feature, so keep your eyes peeled this week for news about the next wave of dinosaur carnage. While Jurassic World was a bigger hit than just about anyone expected it to be, as the first entry in the franchise since 2001’s Jurassic Park III, the reviews were somewhat mixed and interest in the sequel has been muted, in part thanks to the pretty lacklustre trailers. However, there’s still time to really get the excitement going over the next few weeks, and the Indoraptor does look particularly terrifying – a manmade combat dinosaur created from a lethal combination of some of the deadliest species. Chris Pratt, meanwhile, can currently be seen in the massive superhero team-up Avengers: Infinity War, which is already shattering records at the box office. Even if the dinosaurs alone aren’t enough to draw people in to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, it can only benefit from featuring Star-Lord himself front and center in the cast. Let’s hope that Bayona’s sequel can match the thrills of Jurassic World, and maybe even outdo them. KEY RELEASE DATES Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom release date: Jun 22, 2018

Netflix has released the trailer for Evil Genius, a documentary series that explores one of the more bizarre true crime stories out there. The true crime series explore the 2003 death of Brian Wells, a 46-year-old who made his living delivering pizzas for 30 years. On August 28, 2003, he showed up outside an Eerie, Pennsylvania television station with a customized metal collar bomb around his neck, and he soon received instructions for a bizarre scavenger hunt and robbery. The plan went horribly wrong, as the subsequent investigation into the event revealed. The infamous Pizza Bomber incident became a media sensation and has been the source material for investigative broadcast reports, long-form essays, and podcasts ever since. Now, the case will receive the Netflix series treatment. Earlier today, Netflix posted Evil Genius’ official trailer to YouTube. In the clip, a 911 call and news footage establishes the context for the initial pizza delivery drama. But according to interview subjects, the apparent hostage wasn’t necessarily an innocent victim but maybe a participant in a well-planned robbery with a diabolical twist. The trailer introduces various suspects, along with evidence that doesn’t initially make sense to investigators. However, as the clip suggests, the core investigation seeks to explore who put a bomb on the pizza deliveryman’s neck, and why. You can also check out the poster for Evil Genius, below. The Netflix series is the latest collaboration with Jay and Mark Duplass, who founded Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996. In the 2000s, they produced “Mumblecore” productions (The Puffy Chair, Baghead) before focusing their attention on indie dramas this past decade (The Skeleton Twins, Creep, Tangerine). In recent years, the duo has produced the HBO series Togetherness, Animals. and Room 104. Both men are accomplished actors as well, even if they’re mostly recognizable for their performances in lower-budget independent productions. In 2018, Mark can be seen alongside Charlize Theron in Jason Reitman’s Tully, while Jay has a role in Miguel Arteta’s Duck Butter. Both films premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. While Evil Genius may not impact pop culture, this much is clear: the Duplass Brothers are excellent storytellers. So, if Netflix is willing to pay high for performers like Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, and Dave Chappelle, it makes sense to keep some extra room in the budget for the brothers Duplass, both of which have a knack for connecting with their audiences on a visceral level.

'Black Panther' and 'Avengers: Infinity War' show how far the studio has come — and how much further it must go — with onscreen representation. [This story contains spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War] Ten years ago, Marvel Studios gave audiences the first tease of the proliferation of costumed heroes that would arise as a result of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) becoming Iron Man. James Rhodes (Terrance Howard) looked up at Tony’s silver Mark II armor that would eventually serve as War Machine, and said “next time, baby” an Iron Man line that not only promised a larger universe, but a universe where heroism belonged to more than white males. 10 years later, Marvel hosts a spectrum of heroes of different colors and genders, showcasing at the very least, a surface level sense of diversity. Yet, something still feels missing, still feels false in this presentation of representation, despite the success of Avengers: Infinity War. Avengers: Infinity War deserves all the praise and box office success its receiving. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo bring in almost every significant character that’s been introduced over the past 10 years and manage to balance them in a way many believed they never could. But in watching Infinity War, with all of its characters coming together, it is hard not to notice how much of the Marvel Cinematic Universe centers around the arcs of white guys, both narratively and emotionally. They are great white guys, charming, well-cast, and the viewer is made to feel for them regardless of their personal backgrounds, but they don’t exactly display a studio with a great track record in diversity. Sure, sidekicks like War Machine (Don Cheadle, who replaced Howard in 2010’s Iron Man 2), Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), and Wong (Benedict Wong) are present, and given a few quips and some solid action beats. Aliens played by people of color in the forms of Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Drax (Dave Bautista), and Groot (Vin Diesel) are each given their time to shine, with Gamora (Zoe Saldana) having the most notable role on this front. And Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) are scene stealers in their action sequences. But Marvel’s release of Black Panther earlier this year has changed the perception of things by hitting highs that make us more aware of some of Marvel’s flaws when it comes to really seeing the characters who fill our screens. Before Black Panther, seeing representation in the form of sidekicks and supporting characters was cause for celebration itself. It was just something to be seen and counted. Ryan Coogler’s film made major strides for blacks and women, presenting characters who had rich interior lives, whose race and gender were embedded in their experiences across the moral spectrum. In the aftermath of that film’s incredible success, we’re left to wonder if there’s something more that these characters who fall under Marvel’s umbrella of diversity can mean, beyond simply their ability to show up and look cool. With three films (Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel and Avengers 4) remaining in this chapter of the MCU, Marvel still has a shot to make good on the promise of representation and Infinity War, while making us aware of an emptiness in characterization in some regards, also makes a few noteworthy steps towards forward motion when it comes to representation. One of Infinity War’s strongest arcs is Gamora’s, who is forcibly reunited with her stepfather Thanos (Josh Brolin) and has to come to terms with her complicated feelings for him. While her alien heritage doesn’t exactly do anything for race in terms of the in-film narrative, despite Saldana’s casting, Gamora does become the most complex female figure in the MCU. In her willingness to save the sister Nebula (Karen Gillan) who’d been made her enemy, to ask the man she loves (Chris Pratt's Peter Quill) to kill her, and to come to terms with the fact that her hatred for Thanos is also punctuated by love, and even admiration, we’re allowed to witness a hero’s journey that is punctuated by a shocking end, one that is focused on her emotional experience. Furthering Infinity War’s interest in the heroism of women is Scarlet Witch, who, while is in part defined by her relationship with Vision (Paul Bettany), manages to define herself as the Avengers’ last hope, with Vision kept in the damsel in distress role. While Infinity War isn’t exploring womanhood anywhere near the degree that Black Panther explored race, there is something profoundly satisfying about watching Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, and Okoye (Danai Gurira) team-up to take on Proxima Midnight (Carrie Coon), and it increases hopes for the rumored female Avengers movie that could with any luck properly explore the roles of women of power in a male dominated society. Arguably, Infinity War’s interest in female heroes, with the exception of Gamora, is ancillary to the male heroes bearing the weight of the film, but with Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6) and Captain Marvel (March 6, 2019) promising a larger role for women in this universe, beyond love interests, the hope remains that by the time the fourth Avengers film rolls around next year that they’ll have just as much impact on the story as the men have thus far. (In another step for representation, Marvel is also working on finding a female director for a Black Widow solo movie.) When it comes to race, Infinity War has too much on it plate to delve into questions of why the Wakandans are serving as battle fodder for Thanos’ thralls while the U.S. military remains uninvolved. And from a more intimate perspective, James Rhodes and Sam Wilson’s race was never explored in any of the previous films in a way that allowed them to be part of a question that asks how they feel about being subordinates to the most powerful white men on Earth, or how they see themselves and their heroism in a world where slavery and the Civil Rights Movement were still issues, despite the existence of gods and heroes. While it’s entirely plausible that these aren’t questions that supporting characters can be tasked with outside of receiving their own solo films, it is also evident that Black Panther managed to do so with everyone from T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), Killmonger (Michael B Jordan) and Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) to M’Baku (Winston Duke). Perhaps it comes down to the race and social experiences of the filmmakers and screenwriters behind the film. But from a black perspective, it feels like a significant oversight for Rhodes and Wilson not to at least comment on what it’s like to be in the most advanced civilization in the world, and one that’s entirely controlled by black people. The final few films of this phase of the MCU will never be able to tackle all of these issues of representation, and they shouldn’t be expected to entirely make up for Marvel’s late start on this front. But there should at least be a recognition that Black Panther has changed what these films are capable of, that beyond blacks and women, there are entire groups of people, across races, cultures, and the LGBTQIA communities who deserve, if not a Black Panther of their own, then at least a chance to see themselves presented on screen. Presented, not just as bodies ready to show up, but as personalities shaped by the socio-politics that keep this world moving, or in some cases hold it back, and as minds who are always aware of their place in the world as minorities. They’ve shown up as audiences, now it’s time for Marvel to allow them to truly show up in their films. While it may not happen this time around, next time, baby we’re go

At the same time, that's down 2 cents from the final quarter of 2017. Fueled largely by box-office blockbuster Black Panther, the average price of going to the movies clocked in at $9.16 during the first quarter of 2018. That's down 2 cents from the final quarter of 2017, but up 32 cents — or 3.6 percent — over the same quarter in 2017, when the average price was $8.84. And it's up 19 cents — or 2 percent — from the average price for all of 2018, or $8.97. The National Association of Theater Owners released the data for the January-March corridor on Monday morning. Ticket prices fluctuate from quarter to quarter depending on the strength of the marketplace, particularly titles that can charge a premium or films that get a run in Imax theaters. NATO has long contended that the cost of going to the movies has remained relatively static when accounting for inflation, noting that the average ticket price of $2.23 in 1977 is $9.26 when adjusting for inflation.

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely look back at Marvel Studios' biggest conclusion ever: "The question was, 'How did you get there?'" [This story contains spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War] Avengers: Infinity War is unlike any Marvel Studios film before it. In addition to combining more heroes than ever, screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely managed to give audiences the most surprising conclusion in Marvel movie history, a move that has paid off in critical acclaim and box office success. The third Avengers film enjoyed the top opening weekend of all time at the U.S. box office with $258 million, and has fans already ready to line up for 2019's Avengers 4, which will once again be written by Markus and McFeely and directed by the Russo Bros. For the final moments of the film, the screenwriting duo took inspiration the acclaimed Infinity Gauntlet comics by Jim Starlin. To reiterate the warning above, there are spoilers below for Avengers: Infinity War. Markus and McFeely's ambitious script sees Thanos (Josh Brolin) succeeds in his quest to acquire all six Infinity Stones. With the snap of his fingers, he eliminates half of the life in the universe, a move Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige told the screenwriters not to shy away from. "From the very beginning, Kevin said, 'Don't be afraid of that move. It's OK to go there, and let's go there,' " McFeely tells Heat Vision. In Starlin's 1991 series The Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos' finger snap comes much earlier — in the first issue of the series — and it wasn't a given that this moment would happen at the end of the Infinity War movie. "The question was, 'How do you get there? How do you bring the most story and emotion and pathos?' And was it going to be where it was? Do you do it at the end of the movie? Do you do it at some other spot?" says McFeely. While the ending is the biggest cliffhanger in Marvel Studios history, the screenwriters noted that they wanted to provide closure in the sense that audiences should know that, yes, Thanos does complete his plan in this film. "There are still questions. What are they [The Avengers] going to do, and all those sorts of things," says Markus. "But if you had stopped it before he snapped his fingers, or with four stones, that really is just a pause button. That really is just going, 'What's he going to do?' 'Will your hero stop dangling from the cliff?' And we wanted to put a much more definitive 'Yes, this happens. Deal with it,' tone at the end of it, rather than jerk you around." In a conversation with Heat Vision, the screenwriting duo — known for penning 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, 2014's The Winter Soldier, 2016's Civil War and 2019's Avengers 4 — also explain why Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) wasn't in this film as much as you'd think and where Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) were all this time. With so many characters in play, were there any that were hard to crack as writers? Markus: Some of the people, when you weigh up who you are seeing, seem to take a little bit of a back seat in this one. When we did crack them, what we realized was they had far more potential in the movie coming next year, just in terms of how their character would be tested by the story. I'm not telling you what the story is. I will say there is less Steve Rogers and Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) than you might expect in this movie [Infinity War]. Because they are such hard-bitten people, when a threat comes, they stand there and they take the threat. They don't crack. They don't whimper. They don't start talking about all their failed opportunities. So, there isn't that much to explore, especially when you don't have a lot of time. But there's a lot later. McFeely: We cracked them both [Infinity War and Avengers 4] together, so we had to give ourselves permission to say that some people are going to get more in the next movie. People are very interested in Hawkeye and Ant-Man's whereabouts during Infinity War. Why didn't they appear? McFeely: When we get to this time next year, all will become clear. Ant-Man clearly had a specific requirement, which is he had an entire movie [July's Ant-Man and The Wasp] that is going to come between these two movies. Same thing with Captain Marvel, by the way. We looked at that as an opportunity, not as some sort of back-bend we had to do. Markus: Also, Ant-Man the franchise is very light-hearted. It's fun. It maybe even skews younger. If we were to put Ant-Man in this extremely heavy movie, and then have to say to the guys who are making the Ant-Man movie, "Yeah, he went through hell, but now go ahead and have your little romp and we'll pick it up afterwards," that's why we have to really sort of manage your interconnections and go, "Let's go and hold off so you can enjoy that without feeling a bad taste in your mouth." Director Scott Derrickson did a great job introducing Doctor Strange in his solo movie, and you were able to take the ball and run with it. I was pleasantly surprised by how much Strange was in this. Was he a challenge to get right? McFeely: We were surprised he popped so much. You always worry when you put somebody next to Robert Downey Jr., they are going to be the straight man, right? To a degree that's okay, but we wanted him to get his licks in. But also, he ends up being in a movie with such peril, he ends up being the reasonable adult in the room. I think a lot of audience members look to him and go, "Oh, it's going to be okay, Doctor Strange is here. He's got a handle on this." Markus: He's got the widest perspective available, so it's like, "Thank god, somebody gets it." His place in all of this solidified when we got to the line, "If it comes down to the Time Stone, you [Tony Stark], or the kid [Spider-Man], I won't hesitate to let either one of you die." This is a person with responsibilities so far beyond heroism, even, that he becomes a fascinating addition. We see Gamora flashback as a kid. That's the scene where I understand Thanos and his compassion. How did you craft that? McFeely: In many ways, this is Thanos' hero's journey. So, we wanted him to be a rich character. He's basically the protagonist of the movie. We've been saying that, and when people see it, they will realize that's actually legit. Part of that is the things that means the most to him. We wanted to show that. It wasn't just power, it wasn't just an ideal. It was people. While the Thanos stuff was emotional, the Peter Parker death was maybe the most emotional scene in the MCU. What was the key to that? McFeely: It was Tom Holland. He crushes that. For more from Markus and McFeely, check out part one of our interview here, where they discuss working with Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn on tone, and tease why Avengers 4 is "bigger" and "better" than Infinity War.

A grueling journey downriver has a happy ending, for once, in this National Geographic documentary directed by Neil Gelinas. As handsomely mounted as you'd expect from National Geographic, Into the Okavango takes the viewer on an expedition down a tributary system that runs across Angola, Namibia and Botswana. Accompanying a crew made up of scientists and local river guides over four months, director Neil Gelinas documents a fact-finding mission rife with dangers, from fires to marshland to marauding hippos. Angola's civil war hangs over the journey, with the team traveling through unexploded minefields on their way to Botswana's Okavango Delta, which feels even more starkly unspoiled in comparison. Conserving the Okavango, a wetland paradise teeming with animal and plant life, is the film's object as well as its subject, with Nat Geo running a fundraising campaign in tandem with the doc’s Tribeca premiere and subsequent worldwide airing. Three quarters of the planet's wilderness has disappeared since the advent of human beings, we're told, with the rate of degradation accelerating. The Okavango reminds South African conservation biologist Steve Boyes, the expedition's leader and an expert on the area, of what the world was like before. Setting out to trace the source of one of the rivers that supplies the Delta, the Cuito, Boyes is joined by Angolan marine biologist Adjany Costa, a self-described "marine bush lady," and Tumeletso Setlabosha, an indigenous guide, along with a crew of cooks, field scientists and polers, who ferry the group downriver in fiberglass "makoros" (canoes). Gelinas checks in with Boyes, Costa and to a lesser extent Setlabosha throughout the trip, a 121-day odyssey in which morale ebbs and flows. We get potted histories of each, with Boyes a bullied kid who found a refuge in nature, and Adjany a child of the civil war. Taking us on a tour of the bathroom in which she sheltered from bombs as a child, Adjany talks eloquently about her hope for her country's future. That hope sits alongside skepticism of Boyes as a white adventure tourist, a suspicion that eventually transforms into a sense of loyalty inspired by shared hardship. One obstacle follows another, beginning in Angola at the source of the Cuito, which soon dries up, forcing the group to drag canoes — weighing 400 kilograms laden with gear — over sun-blasted marshland for eight punishing days. "I'm questioning everything in life at this point," says Adjany. 'Everything' includes the preparedness of the expedition, and its leadership. It’s not exactly smooth-sailing once they're back on the river, either, with capsizing canoes and fires a prelude to the film's most frightening sequence, in which a hippo rips through one of the boats, turfing its occupants, including Boyes, into the water. The sun-kissed lensing by Gelinas, Jon Betz and Roger Horrocks is slick everywhere but here, and the cameraman's fright is amplified on the faces of Boyes and his crew, hugging each other on the shore. The sympathetic way the offending animal is spoken about is in keeping with the film's reverence for the natural world, with the filmmaker and his co-editor/co-writer Brian Newell cutting from aubergine skies to time-lapse footage of the stars to slo-mo sequences of elephants rolling around underwater. Aerial photography and map graphics chart the journey, with the group collecting data on the fly while traversing a territory twice the size of England. Scientific breakthroughs — the discovery of peat deposits that throw into question accepted modeling around water flow — are less immediately ballyhooed than the animals on the banks. The killing of 100,000 elephants in Angola, many by hunter-tourists from America, has led to an influx of them into Botswana, but Adjany is moved to discover that some are still left in her native country. An ornithologist as well as a biologist, Boyes is more focused on what's overhead, namechecking pied kingfishers and yellow-billed storks and reed cormorants with an excitement worthy of Terrence Malick. But Boyes also cautions that the Cuito could stop flowing in three to five years; if hunters continue to burn forests to flush out animals, "we lose the water." It's hard to imagine a more vivid record of what a loss that would be. Production company: National Geographic Director: Neil Gelinas Producer: Neil Gelinas Screenwriters: Neil Gelinas, Brian Newell Cinematographers: Neil Gelinas, Jon Betz, Roger Horrocks Editors: Neil Gelinas, Brian Newell Music: Sven Faulconer 94 minutes.

Law firm Hagens Berman has filed a class action lawsuit against Samsung, Micron, and Hynix in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. According to the firm's investigation, the three DRAM manufacturers conspired to limit the supply of DRAM chips between 2016 and 2017 with the purpose of inflating their prices. The firm affirmed that DRAM saw a 47 percent increase in price during 2017, which made it the largest jump ever in the last 30 years. As noted by the filing, Samsung, Micron and Hynix collectively own 96 percent of the worldwide DRAM market as of 2017. The "conduct changed abruptly" when the Chinese government launched an investigation to look into the matter. This class action is opened to consumers in the U.S. who've purchased a device that uses DRAM between July 1, 2016 and February 1, 2018. "What we've uncovered in the DRAM market is a classic antitrust, price-fixing scheme in which a small number of kingpin corporations hold the lion's share of the market," stated Hagens Berman managing partner Steve Berman. "Instead of playing by the rules, Samsung, Micron and Hynix chose to put consumers in a chokehold, wringing the market for more profit." This isn't Hagens Berman's first time to the rodeo either. The firm had previously achieved a $300 million settlement for consumers who paid high prices for DRAM back in 2006. Samsung and Hynix pleaded guilty to the charges and paid a collective sum of $731 million in criminal fines, and both DRAM manufacturers served a collective 3,185 days of jail time.

Iran lied about its nuclear program, making the 2015 deal invalid, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address from Tel Aviv, using big-screen presentation slides and video. Netanyahu showed the public a massive bookcase filled with folders, claiming this represents the number of documents that Israel has on Iran's program. He went on through his presentation on human-sized long screens, showing slides and pictures of what he claimed was evidence of Tehran violating the agreement with global powers. Though Iran claimed it never had a nuclear weapons program, “100,000 secret files prove it did,” Netanyahu said. After the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran “continued to preserve and expand its nuclear weapons knowledge” for future use. "After signing the nuclear deal in 2015, Iran intensified its efforts to hide its secret files," he said. "In 2017 Iran moved its nuclear weapons files to a highly secret location in Tehran." According to the PM, Tehran had preserved and expanded its military nuclear know-how in a secret atomic archive after the 2015 deal was signed. He said that “half a ton” of documents from the archives were obtained by Israel in “a great intelligence achievement.” Netanyahu claimed that the files contain incriminating evidence that Iran has been working to develop a nuclear bomb as part of a program called “Project Amad.” Israel has long opposed the 2015 agreement, which saw international sanctions on its main geopolitical rival lifted in exchange for Iran curbing it controversial nuclear program. Iranian media have dismissed Netanyahu’s presentation, with the news agency Fars calling it “a propaganda show” and the state news agency IRNA describing the Israeli PM as “famous for ridiculous displays.” After his meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday, Netanyahu said that “the attempt of Iran to acquire nuclear weapons” remains “the greatest threat” to Israel, the US, and the whole world. US President Donald Trump has slammed the Iran nuclear deal as “the worst deal ever” and threatened to pull the US out of the agreement. Trump’s threat will be carried out if he doesn’t renew a waiver on sanctions against Iran until May 12. The leaders of the UK, France, and Germany vowed to defend the Iran nuclear deal in a joint statement on Sunday, calling it “the best way” to keep Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Blaming ‘Russian bots’ following an election loss has become the ‘default’ position for failing Western governments and political parties, a former British intelligence officer told RT. Former MI5 agent Annie Machon rebuked a Sunday Times article claiming thousands of suspected Twitter accounts promoted propaganda favoring Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in the seven weeks before last year’s snap election. Research by the broadsheet and Swansea University claimed they sent out "mass-produced" and "orchestrated" political messages to garner support for the Opposition. Building on claims by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell on Monday that the allegations are just another attempt by the Tory-backed Sunday Times to smear the Opposition leader, Machon said the report is “rather risible” and blasted it for “intimating that anyone supportive of Jeremy Corbyn must therefore be a Russian bot.” “We’ve seen this time and time again in the run up to general elections in the past few years,” Machon said. She cited the so-called Russiagate investigation in the US, as well as allegations of Russia interfering in the EU referendum, French and German elections, much of which has been disproved. (LINK) “This seems to be the default position in the run up to elections in western countries at the moment. To say, ‘well, we might be losing so let’s make sure we can blame the Russians for it.’ “That is what we see going on in the UK at the moment because, of course, we are in the run up to local elections across the UK in the next month and it looks like the Conservative Party is going to get a thrashing at those elections. “So it’s quite handy to say it must be Russia bots trying to influence the British electorate just in case that they can then be blamed if the Conservatives receive a bad result.” She went on to claim that alternative views in the Western world are seldom accepted: “The West does not like dissent, it doesn’t like alternative views, and the internet has offered people the chance of developing this alternative news and viewpoints, and as soon as you have those you must of course be working as one of Putin’s useful idiots, or as a Russian troll bot or whatever it is.”

Provoked by harsh anti-Iran statements from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Iran’s Foreign Ministry accused the US-Saudi partnership of triggering instability and war in the region. Fierce criticism followed Pompeo’s hawkish comments regarding Tehran’s foreign policy during his whirlwind Middle East tour. The ex-CIA chief claimed than Iran “destabilizes this entire region” and exploits its influence in Yemen and Syria. His accusations, however, were not left unanswered. “What the US secretary of state describes as Washington’s partnership with Saudi Arabia is a partnership aimed at triggering instability and war as well as promoting arms races and extremism,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said in a Monday. Such policies, especially those instigated by Saudi Arabia have already sparked “animosity and distrust” among countries in the region, thus fueling the ongoing crisis. Pompeo’s criticism, Qassemi highlighted, was “baseless” due to the lack of any proof. The official reminded Washington that Iran’s presence in Iraq and Syria was a response to the “requests of their legitimate governments and in line with fighting terrorism in the region. This support will continue,” he added, “as long as the two governments need such help to combat terror.” The US-led coalition has been waging its air-campaign against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Syria without any UNSC mandate or a respective invitation from Damascus. What’s more, its deployment of troops on the ground and execution of airstrikes on pro-Assad forces were a complete violation of international law, Moscow and Damascus have argued. Qassemi has also hit out at Riyadh’s claims that Iran is meddling in Yemen’s internal affairs. The ultra-conservative kingdom has repeatedly slammed Tehran for alleged involvement in the war-torn state, which is in turn enduring a Saudi-led bombardment for the fourth consecutive year. The spokesman insisted that such remarks are aimed at deflecting public attention from “the crimes being committed daily by Saudi Arabia in its aggression against the country." Riyadh has been in hot water over numerous cases of civilian casualties, blamed on its bombing campaign. And its key ally, Washington, which sells weapons and provide logistical support to the Saudis, has been also bashed for “unconstitutional” quasi-involvement in the conflict. Unlike former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who used to have major clashes with US President Donald Trump over the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Pompeo’s viewpoint is identical to those of the commander in chief. His tough stance on Iran was particularly welcomed by Israel, which has has long-dubbed Iran its greatest threat. Israel has also been insisting on the revision of the Iran nuclear deal, arguing that the existing accord would not hold Tehran back from developing its nuclear program. With a May 12 deadline looming for Trump to recertify the nuclear deal with Iran, Pompeo said, “if we can’t fix it, he is going to withdraw.” Despite Trump’s hopes to succeed in keeping a hard line against Iran, Tehran has indicated that it would not yield to pressure. Trump’s EU allies have also vowed to defend the landmark nuclear deal.

Iran drops the dollar. Others tried and were bombed. 'It's all about the banking,' says Lee Camp Iran recently announced it is dropping the US dollar in foreign trade. Just as Iraq did shortly before it was invaded by the US, or Libya planned to before it was bombed by NATO-led allies. Lee Camp is starting to see a pattern. The US is gearing up to abandon the Iran nuclear deal, which has all but killed Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, because it's not restrictive enough. With Iran already saying it won't accept more demands or more sanctions, it's anyone's guess what kind of chain reaction might ensue. Comedian Lee Camp's guess is pretty grim. He notices how Iran recently ditched the dollar in favor of the euro – something Iraq also did 18 years ago, a couple years before the US invaded it under the phony pretext of weapons of mass destruction. Libya wanted to do the same, although its leader Muammar Gaddafi wanted to establish its own currency, the gold dinar – but in 2011, NATO warplanes bombed his country to support an uprising against him. Almost immediately, the rebels formed their own central bank and were given leave by the US and the UN to legally sell oil from the land they controlled. On his show Redacted Tonight, Lee deconstructs these parallels and more, because "It's all about the banking!" WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE: