About 80 cases of outsourcing certain MRO facilities are at various stages of approvals

An Afghan official says the Taliban will attend a UN climate conference for the first time since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021

On Armed Forces Day, May 1971, 53 years ago, two amateur operators working as WZ6SNI, activated San Nicolas Island, IOTA NA-066. At 61 miles, San Nicolas is the most remote of the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California and is owned by the US Navy.

Now, weather permitting, Will Costello, WC6DX, has been authorized to be active from San Nicolas Island November 8 - 12, 2024. He is tak...

The total amount of aquatic animals captured in the wild fell to 91 million tonnes and the global production rose to 94.4 million in 2022, the FAO said

The cryptocurrency climbed as much as 4.3 per cent to an unprecedented $79,771 on Sunday

The REIT reported 6 per cent higher revenue at ₹623 crore

The maiden edition of Tamil Nadu Kite Festival is set to see custom kites, brought in by professionals from USA, Thailand, Malaysia and India, take flight

Another Kyiv official said Ukraine's army fired artillery at North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk border region

Here is a select list of stories to start the day

Coco Gauff has won the WTA Finals for the first time by rallying to beat Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the final in Riyadh

Six of eight infrastructure segments witnessed a year-on-year contraction in production, while fertilizers and steel output grew at a milder pace than July

Indian steel exports rose to 0.44 million tonnes in October, while imports moderated for the first time this year to 0.98 million tonnes as India tightened import norms

The average selling price of smartphones remained flat YoY and QoQ at $263, ending a rising streak that lasted several quarters, IDC said

The comedian, 31, and the model, 28, looked like they were on cloud nine as they shared a smooch while strolling hand-in-hand through the city.

On May 10, 1908, Mother's Day was observed for the first time in the United States.

OM Italy, FCA and church volunteers impact the community of Torre Pellice in northern Italy through the fifth annual English/sports camp in June.

An under-wraps production-ready version of the upcoming 2020 new generation of the SUV has been spotted which reveals many design and utility details.

MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced that exporters, traders, food processors, etc, can open a private mandi and can buy the agriculture produce by visiting the farmer’s land or house.

Manufacturing PMI stood at a mere 27.4 in April, which was 51.8 in March.

German electricity consumers will for the first time see a drop in the fee added to their bills to fund renewables, a boost for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has pledged to curb the cost for voters.

Global emissions were unchanged last year, the first time that’s happened amid economic growth in four decades, according to the International Energy Agency.

German electricity consumers will for the first time see a drop in the fee added to their bills to fund renewables, a boost for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has pledged to curb the cost for voters.

Global emissions were unchanged last year, the first time that’s happened amid economic growth in four decades, according to the International Energy Agency.

Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kevin Love was one of the few players to enter a training facility Friday as the NBA slowly begins its path back to normalcy but the five-time All-Star described his first day back on the court in almost two months as any but normal. 

The museums of Europe have begun reopening their doors to art lovers desperate to see old favourites and new works

I am cursing my bad luck not to be stuck in lockdown in the Prado. A friend wishes she had stowed away in a closet before they bolted the doors of the National Gallery. Others would give anything for a week in the Rijksmuseum, a day in the Uffizi, an hour with Rembrandt or Vermeer, even just a few minutes with a Samuel Palmer moonscape in the Ashmolean or a Turner sunrise at Tate Britain. Museums are places of the heart.

We see art in time and place; we cannot see it otherwise. Of course there are other whereabouts of the works we most long to set eyes on again, during this evil pandemic: the cave paintings at Chaumet in France, Fra Angelico’s Annunciation in a Florentine monastery, Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty coiled in the glistening waters of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. These were all chosen in an unofficial and entirely self-selecting Twitter survey (mine), along with Leonardo’s The Last Supper and James Turrell’s Deer Shelter Skyspace, framing the blue heavens above Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Essex cancer patient Archie Wilks, four, (right) was allowed outdoors for a family walk after testing negative for coronavirus. He walked through fields with his twin brother Henry (left) and parents.

Major sport returned for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic as UFC 249 took place without fans in Florida. The leading mixed martial arts promotion overcame controversy

Official figures show there were more than 35m cars and 5m commercial vehicles owned in the UK during 2019 - an increase of 1% and more than there has ever ever been on the road at the same time.

Steve Smith was completing a run when on 26, Jonny Bairstow spotted the chance for mischief. The wicket keeper moved to knock the bails with his gloves, forcing Smith to dive.

The 30-year-old Pretty Little Liars alum rocked skinny jeans and a pair of black ankle boots for the solo outing.

Sally-Anne Huang, 47, will take the reins as the next high master of the west London private school which boasts a ream of notable alumni including former Prime Minister Spencer Compton.

An under-wraps production-ready version of the upcoming 2020 new generation of the SUV has been spotted which reveals many design and utility details.

Kannada actors Radhika Pandit and Yash became proud parents to a baby boy in October 2019. The couple received congratulatory wishes from all their fans, but they have not shared pictures of the baby. Fans have been waiting with eagerness to

The new Maruti Suzuki Dzire has been spotted at a dealer's yard for the first time since it was launched in the Indian market. The images of the new Dzire by Gaadiwaadi have surfaced indicating deliveries will begin soon.

True and magnetic north to synch at Greenwich for first time in 360 years  New Atlas

True North to align with Magnetic North at Greenwich for first time in 360 years  Telegraph.co.uk

For the first time in its history, the National Zoo has bred strawberry dart frogs (Oophaga pumilio), which are known primarily for their vibrant colors and poisonous skin. These frogs also stand out among others because of their dedication to their young as they undergo metamorphosis from egg to tadpole to frog.

The post Strawberry dart frogs bred at National Zoo for first time in Zoo’s history appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In their laboratory, scientists from the University of Cambridge, the University of Southampton and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, observed as a number of adult locusts walked along a horizontal ladder. After covering the right or left eye of an insect, the scientists observed a significant increase in the error rate of rungs missed by the front leg on the side of the covered eye.

The post For first time, scientists prove locusts use vision to place their legs when walking appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For the first time since exoplanets, or planets around stars other than the sun, were discovered almost 20 years ago, X-ray observations have detected an […]

The post NASA’s Chandra sees eclipsing planet in X-rays for first time appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For the first time, researchers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Migratory Bird Center have accurately tracked small migratory ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla) to their tropical […]

The post Miniaturized GPS Tags Allow Tracking of Small Songbirds for first time appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

We’ve seen a serious series of super moons this summer and the show’s not over yet. Mark your calendars: the next one will light up […]

The post Cutting through the dust: Radar shows moon’s true face for first time appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For the first time in nearly 22 years, the Spirit of St. Louis is lowered onto the floor of the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall. […]

The post Lowering the Spirit of St. Louis for the first time in 22 years appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The covers to the last issues of the current runs of "Avengers" and "New Avengers," leading into "Secret Wars."; Credit: Marvel

Marvel Comics held a press conference this week announcing details about "Secret Wars," a company-wide comic book crossover that they promise will change everything.

Promises of change in comics often don't amount to much, but here's why this one just might, with Marvel teasing that it will produce a whole new world for its characters.

"We see this as putting an endcap to decades of stories and starting a new era," said Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso. "And when you see the scope of the event, you see what we're doing, what we're willing to do, this is a place where we're going to be bringing new pieces onto the board and taking old pieces off. You guys will be yelling and screaming, you'll be loving, hating, and in equal measure."

Reboot history

Rival DC Comics has always been quick to have stories designed to streamline their history, with the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" being the most famous one — a story that destroyed the DC Comics universe of the time, birthing a new timeline that gave us the versions of DC's heroes we know today. Several minor and major reboots followed, with the biggest since then being 2011's New 52 (and a tease of another one with this April's "Convergence").

Meanwhile, Marvel still refers back to stories from their early days, beginning with the first issue of "Marvel Comics" in 1939, and more so since the launch of "Fantastic Four" and the interlinked Marvel Universe in the 1960s, led by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Marvel previously launched a line of comics meant to offer a fresh vision of the Marvel characters called Ultimate Comics, but now the worlds of those characters and the traditional Marvel universe are getting combined thanks to "Secret Wars."

"The Ultimate Universe, the Marvel Universe, they're going to smash together," said Alonso. "This is the Marvel Universe moving forward."

"We've never done anything like this, ever," said Marvel senior vice president and executive editor Tom Brevoort. "And what we're going to do to top it, I don't know. Hopefully that will be somebody else's problem."

The stories leading to "Secret Wars," and what is Battleworld?

The story that's been built up so far has to do with different universes colliding into each other — and in the first issue of "Secret Wars," the Marvel and Ultimate Earths collide, with the heroes of those worlds unable to stop it. What's left behind is what Marvel is calling "Battleworld," a patchwork planet with different parts of it inhabited by the characters from different famous Marvel crossovers of the past (you can see some of those past titles in the slideshow above).

Marvel released this video to help you visualize what exactly Battleworld is:

Battleworld video

See a map of Battleworld here, showing the different worlds made up of old storylines to be explored in "Secret Wars" (and click to enlarge):

Brevoort described Battleworld as "The little melting pot in which the new Marvel Universe will be created" after the Marvel and Ultimate versions of Earth are destroyed. He said that Battleworld is what Marvel is going to be "during, through and after" the beginning of "Secret Wars."

"Once you hit 'Secret Wars' 1, there is no Marvel Universe. There is no Ultimate Universe. All there is is Battleworld, and a whole lot of empty void," Brevoort said.

"Every single piece of this world is a building block for the Marvel Universe moving forward," Alonso said. "None of these stories are Elseworlds, or What Ifs, or alternative reality stories. They aren't set in the past or the future. They're not set in an alternate reality. They're set in the reality of the Marvel Universe."

It's also a story that uses an old name — the original "Secret Wars" involved an alien taking heroes from Earth and forcing them into battle for the fate of the universe. It remains unclear if the villain from that crossover will play a role here.

Why is Marvel rebooting?

Observers were quick to speculate on some of the behind-the-scenes reasons for the change. Combining the Ultimate Universe with the traditional Marvel Universe would let them incorporate the half-black, half-Latino Spider-Man from the Ultimate line that grabbed headlines a few years ago. It would let them do something different with characters like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, who have been a flashpoint for controversy due to Fox retaining rights in perpetuity to any films based on those characters.

It also opens the door to a longtime comic book trope: Bringing back to life the dead.

"If we were to want to resurrect Gwen Stacy, this would be the place to do it, wouldn't it?" Alonso said.

What do creators and fans think about "Secret Wars"?

Speaking of the death of Gwen Stacy, the writer who pulled the trigger on killing her, Gerry Conway, tells Newsarama that he's on board.

"I think like with any idea, the execution will matter more than the idea itself. The idea of a reset is, by itself, not a bad idea," Conway said.

One who's less on board with it: longtime Spider-Man artist John Romita.

"My guess is new fans will be okay with it, and old fans will grumble," Romita told Newsarama. "I’m not a businessman, but I do know that comic companies, for almost 100 years now, do whatever they can for shock value. They grab attention. Personally, I hate all the goofy things they do. When I was there, I used to fight stuff like this. But you can’t stop them."

Current Marvel writers have been sworn to secrecy about what happens once "Secret Wars" is done:

Dan Slott tweet

The lack of certainty about what this all means has led fans to wildly speculate, as well as poke fun at what might happen:

Fan tweet 1

Fan tweet 2

It's a story that's been years in the making.

"Every single time we've done an event, we've always had to be mindful of 'Secret Wars,' and we've had to make decisions based on the fact that we knew that 'Secret Wars' was headed our way," Alonso said.

Brevoort said that Hickman proposed a version of "Secret Wars" years ago, but that vision has since become significantly larger.

"It sounds like typical Stan lee hyperbole — and there's nothing wrong with typical Stan Lee hyperbole — but it is difficult to imagine something that would be larger in scope, in scale, than what we are doing with 'Secret Wars,'" Brevoort said.

That father of the modern Marvel comics world, Stan Lee, tells Newsarama that the reboot is "probably good."

"Anything they do that’s unexpected and different usually captures the attention of the fans," Lee said. "It sounds intriguing to me."

Lee also tells Newsarama that if he were to do it all again, he'd do it basically the same, describing what he did as "the right way to go, and maybe sometimes, even the perfect way to go."

"I liked making the Fantastic Four superheroes without a secret identity. I liked the tragedy of Spider-Man’s origin, the ‘with great power, there must also come great responsibility.’ I thought it was the right way of doing things at the time. And I still like what I’ve done," Lee said. "I can’t think, off the top of my head, of anything I’d really want to change."

What does "Secret Wars" mean for fans?

More details are promised in the weeks to come, with a free preview issue being released on Free Comic Book Day, May 2. While fans wait, they may want to heed the wait-and-see approach advocated by Conway and famed "Thor" artist Walt Simonson.

"Maybe this is coming back out of my old geology days, but I try not to have instant reactions to things and say, ‘Oh my God! That’s terrible!’" Simonson told Newsarama. "My basic reaction is usually ‘let’s see the evidence in the field.’ Let’s come back in a year and see what we’ve got. That will tell the story.”

And for those who say that Marvel is ruining their childhood by messing with the history of their favorite characters, Conway tells Newsarama:

"I would say to them, no, your childhood is still your childhood. There’s a point to be made, and it’s a universal one: We have to see that there’s a difference between what people do today, and what they did yesterday. Yesterday still exists, those stories still exist. Now someone else is getting a chance at a new childhood. And that’s nice."

Watch the full "Secret Wars" live press conference below:

Secret Wars press conference video

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

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