Month: April 2019

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Russians will vote for a new president on March 18, with seven challengers facing the incumbent, Vladimir Putin. RT will preview the election this week, starting with a fresh face who has added intrigue to the contest.

Who?

Pavel Grudinin

Party?

He’s backed by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), even though he’s not actually a member. After receiving flak in Russian media over this curious status, Grudinin stated that “it is not important what party certificate you hold, what is important is how you see yourself.”

What is his/her background?

When most people think of Communists, images of stoic, austere men in bland suits usually come to mind. However, the millionaire Grudinin defies all those stereotypes, even if his campaign video does see him posing at Vladimir Lenin’s famous Moscow monument.

The Communists were in a bind at the end of 2017, with perennial candidate Gennady Zyuganov, now in his 70s, polling in third behind another veteran, the nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky. With Zyuganov seemingly unwilling to fully relinquish control but the party in desperate need of a fresh face, they’ve opted for a Russian solution to a Russian problem, presumably in a bid to at least come second. So, rather than promoting from inside, they’ve parachuted in a charismatic outsider.

Grudinin is a successful businessman and the majority shareholder in the Lenin State Farm, outside Moscow. The company is famous for presenting itself as an “oasis of socialism,” where workers, and their families, enjoy access to Soviet-esque social programs, almost akin to the Japanese “company man” model. The candidate sees this as a template for Russian corporations, going forward.

Does he have political experience?

Grudinin has been around the fringes of Russian politics for some time. He was elected to the Moscow Region parliament in 1997 and 2002 and was previously involved in United Russia, the party associated with Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev. In 2016, he unsuccessfully ran for the Communists in the federal parliamentary elections. However, last year he won a council seat in his local area, Vidnoye.

via GIPHY

What are his/her views?

Grudinin was voted as frontman for a group of “patriotic forces” last year and in recent weeks has been attacking Vladimir Putin’s government on national television. He accuses the current authorities of being slow to tackle corruption and believes this failure means Russian’s living standards are well below where they could reach. He’s also suggested many people close to Putin should be in prison.

What are his/her policies?

Much the same as the usual KPRF pledges. A clampdown on money being hidden abroad, big increases in social spending and higher taxes for the wealthy. Yet, Grudinin offers a softer platform than the usual Communist offering, and some party hardliners have dismissed him as a lightweight European “social democrat.”

Potential weaknesses?

Russian tabloid Life News has been bashing Grudinin for some weeks. They’ve accused him of harboring secret bank accounts in Switzerland and Austria. And there have also been revelations about luxury properties in Spain. Furthermore, his status as a multi-millionaire may act as a turn-off for traditional Communist Party voters. At the same time, Grudinin’s expressions of admiration for Stalin have also raised a few eyebrows , in a country deeply divided on the Soviet leader’s legacy.

How is he polling?

Currently at around 7.5 percent, which is a pretty weak showing considering Grudinin offers something different to the status quo. His predecessor Zyuganov scored 17 percent in the 2012 election. The newcomer will hope his rating rises after the debates, which commence this week. Meanwhile, many shrewd pundits believe his final election tally will be significantly higher than polls currently suggest.

What is his likely post-election role?

There has been talk of Grudinin becoming agriculture minister in the next government. But, given his attacks on the current Russian leaders, this may prove fanciful. Instead a good showing may open the door for him to become permanent leader of the Communists.

Slogan

“Pavel Grudinin – the president that Russia is waiting for.

Bryan MacDonald, for RT

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Out Now: Get Kingdom Hearts 3 on PS4 and Xbox One

Relive your childhood memories with the third edition of Kingdom Hearts, featuring the new and improved recreations of Disney worlds. This game was described as “a fulfilling evolution and resolution of the franchise that shows it’s still full of heart” on IGN review, while scoring 8.7/10. It is now available on PS4 and Xbox One. See below for the cheapest way to get a physical and digital copies on all platforms.

  • Read IGN review (8.7/10)

Kingdom Hearts 3 (PS4/ Xbox One) for £34.99 via TopCashback

For PS4 and Xbox One platforms the cheapest place to preorder Resident Evil 2 is GAME via TopCashback, as the standard copies currently sell at around £49.99 at many online stores, such as Amazon. Purchase your copy now for £34.99 by following the instructions below.

How does it work?

  • 100% cashback up to £15 at GAME, means that TopCashback will refund 100% cashback up to £15 spends at GAME.
  • E.g. spend £49.99 on ‘Kingdom Hearts 3’ or and get £15 cashback. Purchases over £15 will receive a maximum of £15 cashback.
  • The 100% cashback up to £15 at GAME offer end date is 25/02/2018 23:59.

How to receive cashback?

  • Sign up on the right of this page, once signed up you’ll be redirected to TopCashback’s offer page
  • On the offer page you will see the offer information, hit the “Get Cashback” button, you’ll then be redirected to GAME’s website .
  • Once on GAME’s website make your purchase as normal.
  • After you’ve made your purchase, you should see your cashback pending in your account within 1 week. Once payable you can withdraw the cashback to your bank account.

Editor’s Notes: You have to be a new member to qualify for this offer.

Watch American Netflix in the UK: Get PureVPN for £2.25 per Month

This VPN deal makes PureVPN one of the cheapest VPN that is compatible with Netflix.  At just ~£2.25 per month (on top of your current Netflix monthly payments), you can get PureVPN and watch American Netflix content in the UK. Getting a VPN to watch American Netflix has never been more worth it after news that Netflix is once again raising its subscription prices in the United States. You can also use PureVPN to watch American Amazon Prime Video content, but you must have an Amazon Prime membership.

  • For more information, and how to watch American Netflix in the UK, check out our very own guide on how to use a VPN for Netflix.
  • Get PureVPN 1-year subscription deal – ~£2.25 per month or £27.00 billed annually (73% off)

50% off Audible Membership for 3 Months

Love books? With Audible it’s easy to tune into audiobooks wherever you are. By streaming or downloading books onto the free Audible app you will be able enjoy your favourite titles on the go, in your car or even at the gym. Try Audible membership at a discounted rate, which will save you 50% during the first three months, and you can opt-out any time.

  • Discounted Membership (50% off, just £3.99/month for the first 3 months)

Alternative Deals

  • Free Trial (30 day free trial, £7.99/month after) at Audible

Samsung 49-Inch 4K Ultra HD TV with HDR

A great price for this TV, as the current RRP price at elsewhere shows as £679.99. This LED TV is 49-inch with curved design, 4K ultra HD resolution and comes with a stand.

  • Samsung UE49NU7100 49-inch Smart 4K Ultra HD TV with HDR at AO – was £399.00, now £389.00

SanDisk Ultra 128GB microSDXC Memory Card with SD Adapter under £17

Get plenty of storage for your camera or phone with SanDisk’s microSD card, where you can store of up to 128GB. Amazon offers savings of more than half price, so buy it quick while the promotion is live.

  • SanDisk Ultra 128GB microSDXC Memory Card with SD adapter at Amazon – was £34.77, now £16.99

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4) for £13

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a critically acclaimed and highly anticipated sequel of Wolfenstein: The New Order. Get the cheapest copy at AO for just £13.

  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4) at AO – was £19.00, now £13.00

Save £40 off Google WiFi Whole Home System

Improve your Wi-Fi coverage at home or office with Google’s Wi-Fi system. It works with your modem and internet provider to strengthen your Wi-Fi signal to get good coverage in every room. Google Whole Home System comes with two Wi-Fi points and Google Wi-Fi app, which provides parental controls to block adult websites and even pause Wi-Fi access on your children’s devices during bedtime. It’s priced at £189 at Vodafone.

  • Google WiFi Whole Home System at Vodafone – was £229.00, now £189.00

Apple iPad 9.7 Inch 32GB WiFi (2017) under £260

Great savings on the 5th generation iPad when purchasing through eBay. This iPad features 2048 x 1536 resolution, 9.7-inch screen and 32GB storage capacity. Buy it for £259.99 and save more than £69.

  • Apple iPad 9.7-inch 32GB WiFi Cellular (2017) Silver at eBay – was £329.00now £259.99

Grab the Best Broadband Deals in January

If you’re in the market for a broadband deal, whether it is superfast fibre, brodband and TV bundles or just standard broadband, then check the best offers using our sister site’s PCMag broadband comparison tool to get the best deal.

  • Compare the best broadband deals using PCMag comparison site

Hand-Picked Deals:

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Get up to 66% OFF – Norton™ Security Deluxe and FREE Norton Secure VPN. *

Connecting to public Wi-Fi is convenient but it may not always be secure. Sending data over the web when using Wi-Fi hotspots, like those at coffee shops or airports, could expose your most sensitive information like passwords, photos and credit card numbers to cybercriminals. Using a VPN encrypts the information you send and receive, while masking your IP address and location. It helps provide you with a more secure, private and worry-free connection so that you can enjoy greater protection, at home and on the go.

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Nintendo 2DS XL with Three Games under £130

Grab the new Nintendo 2DS XL in white and orange design together with three games, including Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer, The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes and Bravely Second: End Layer, all for £129.99 at GAME.

  • Nintendo 2DS XL White with three games at GAME – was £144.95, now £129.99

IGN Exclusive: MyHeritage DNA for £75.00 £59.00 with Free Delivery

Fiind out more about your personal genetics and your deeper ancestry using an easy-to-use DNA testing kit. According to MyHeritige DNA, their ancestry service kit can show the user exactly where their ancestors come from, and it’s all done using a simple mouth swab.

It makes an ideal Valentine Day present, especially when you can get 20% off your kit and save £9.95 on the delivery with our exclusive code IGNFREESHIP.

  • MyHeritage DNA kit – was £75.00now £59.00

Editor’s Notes:  The promotion expires on 4th February, 2019.

Save up to £400 off Dell PCs and Monitors

If you’re in the market for a new PC, monitor or both, you can enjoy saving up to £400 off selected Dell products at their clearance sale. This means you can bag yourself Inspiron 24 5000 All-in-One desktop computer for just under £900, Dell 24 Ultrathin Monitor: S2419HM for £210, and more for lower prices.

  • See this deal here

Editor’s Notes: The promotion expires on 30th January, 2019.

Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition (PC) under £35

Snag up to £19 off Resident Evil 2 preorder for PC when you purchase it at SCDKeys with our exclusive discount code IGN4.

  • Resident Evil 2/ Biohazard RE2 Deluxe Edition (PC) at SCDKey – was £54.27now £37.08 or £34.29 w/ code IGN4

Resident Evil 2 Steelbook Edition (PS4/ Xbox One) under £47

In Resident Evil 2, the classic action, tense exploration, and puzzle solving gameplay that defined the Resident Evil series returns. This edition is exclusive to Amazon, as each copy come with a unique steelbook and Elza Walker costumer DLC.

  • Resident Evil 2 Steelbook Edition (PS4) at Amazon – £46.99
  • Resident Evil 2 Steelbook Edition (Xbox One) at Amazon – £46.99

Nintendo Switch Bundles for £289

Deals for Nintendo Switch console bundles are back on at Amazon, priced at just £289. The games on offer are Mario Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Just Dance 2019 and Sports Party. Hurry up and get yours while it’s still in stock.

  • Nintendo Switch Neon with Mario Rabbids at Amazon – was £301.73, now £289.00
  • Nintendo Switch Neon with Just Dance 2019 at Amazon – was £306.74, now £289.00
  • Nintendo Switch Neon with Sports Party at Amazon – was £298.92, now £289.00

Get £25 Currys PC World Voucher with Honor View 20 Contract

Receive a complimentary Currys PC World gift card worth £25 when you purchase the Honor View 20 on a pay monthly contract. To claim the voucher you will have to enter your email here before purchasing the contract. The further information on how to get your reward will be communicated to you via email and your contact details will not be stored or used for any other purpose. After you have competed this step, chose a mobile contract deal that is right for you.

  • Enter your email here for £25 Currys PC World voucher

Honor View 20 deals from Carphone Warehouse

  • See Honor View 20 deals here

You can now get HONOR Watch Magic when you purchase Honor View 20 8GB RAM handset at Carphone Warehouse.

  • Find out how to claim HONOR Watch Magic here

Editor’s Notes: This promotion expires on 19th February, 2019.

An island nation with a small 1,700-troop army, Malta spent the last three years creating its own elite rapid-response team. The unit entered the spotlight this week after a dramatic raid on a tanker, hijacked by asylum seekers.

The Maltese special operations team seized the ship on Thursday morning. The raid was difficult because it wasn’t immediately clear how many migrants participated in the hijacking, and there were women and children among more than 100 asylum seekers on board. There were no reports of shots fired and no casualties. A total of five people were arrested.

While the authorities provided little detail of the operation, footage from the scene showed heavily armed, masked men patrolling the liberated vessel.

© Facebook / Armed Forces of Malta

The small Mediterranean nation of Malta has 475,000 residents, with around 1,700 of them being active-duty military personnel. The country decided to create a separate Special Operations Unit (SOU) in 2017, shortly after the EU migrant crisis reached its peak. The grueling training included lessons with US and Italian instructors.

The SOU is largely based on the army’s ‘C’ Company, which is designated for deployment in the most “challenging” environment. The new unit assumed its role as the nation’s elite rapid-response force. It now boasts the best weapons and equipment. So much so, in fact, that the local media wrote that the new unit’s members received Swiss-made SIG SG 530 assault rifles, while the regular troops were left with “cheap AK clones.”

The Armed Forces of Malta’s ‘C’ Company during 2018 training in Italy. © Facebook / Armed Forces of Malta

Headquartered in the Hay Wharf naval base in the coastal town of Fiorina, the SOU has two platoons with the third one due to be set up this year.

The special ops unit doesn’t have much combat experience as, just like the rest of Malta’s Armed Forces, it is mostly used to deal with migrants during the missions of the EU’s border control agency, Frontex. The SOU teams also help the police in raids against organized crime, including hunting for contraband and drug-busting.

The Armed Forces of Malta’s ‘C’ Company during 2018 training in Italy. © Facebook / Armed Forces of Malta

Maltese troops do, however, receive anti-piracy training, as part of Operation Atalanta, a joint EU effort to combat Somali pirates.

The Armed Forces of Malta’s Boarding Team during a naval drill in 2013. © EU NAVFOR

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Gold Pass and general admission single-session tickets are now available for the World Cup of Softball XI and Border Battle VIII, which will be held July 4-10 in Oklahoma City, Okla. at ASA Hall of Fame Complex – OGE Energy Field – INTEGRIS Field. Highlighted by the top 10 teams in the world, tickets are on sale by phone at 800-654-8337 or online at ASAUSASoftball.com.

Click here to see the World Cup of Softball XI game schedule

Tickets are available for Gold Pass reserved seating for $20 and general admission seating is $10 a ticket.  Tickets for the event are for an entire day with fans having the opportunity to watch all games played on their selected dates.  The complete game schedule can be found at ASAUSASoftball.com.

With a record-12 countries slated to participate, the World Cup of Softball XI features No. 1 Japan, No. 2 USA, No. 3 Australia, No. 4 Canada, No. 6 China, No. 7 Netherlands, No. 8 New Zealand and No. 10 Czech Republic.  Also slated to compete are No. 11 Puerto Rico, No. 14 Mexico, No. 19 Venezuela, No. 23 Philippines and the USA Softball Women’s Elite Team. Rankings are calculated by the WBSC world ranking system, which tracks the performance of each country’s National Team over a three-year period.

All-session tickets, which are $175 for Gold Pass reserved seating and $60 for general admission seating, are also available online and can be purchased by phone at 800-654-8337 or online atASAUSASoftball.com.  Gold Pass all-session tickets include a USA Softball hat, World Cup XI program, a personalized name slide on the videoboard at OGE Energy Field, exclusive parking and advanced autograph sessions.  Fans that hold the Gold Pass All-Session ticket will have open seating in the Gold Pass section (click here to view seating chart).  Single session Gold Pass and general admission tickets will go on sale in early June.

In addition, the eighth-annual Men’s Border Battle Slow Pitch game will return to Oklahoma City for the first time since 2013 when the USA Men’s Slow Pitch National Team takes the field against Canada in Border Battle VIII on July 6

For updates on the USA Softball National Teams and the 2016 season visit ASAUSASoftball.com.

— Courtesy of ASA/USA Softball

Wonder Woman 3, which will arrive at some point in the future following 2020’s Wonder Woman 1984, is “definitely a contemporary story.”

Speaking to THR, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins has said that she has an idea where Wonder Woman 3 could go and, unlike the first two films, she wants it to be set more in the present time as opposed to being a period piece.

“It’s definitely one of the things we talked about,” said Jenkins. “I’m not planning to put it in the past again, because where are you going to go? You have to go forward. It’s definitely a contemporary story. That’s all I can say. Where we put it and how that gets figured out, I haven’t totally nailed down.”

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League both take place in contemporary times, and future Wonder Woman films, if Jenkins has her way, will follow suit.

While Jenkins has a well thought out plan for Diana Prince’s future, she hasn’t been confirmed to be directing the third film.

“I have pretty clear plans for Wonder Woman 3,” Jenkins said to Vanity Fair. “Whether I [direct] it or not, I see how her arc should end in my incarnation of Wonder Woman. I have great passion for that.”

Wonder Woman 1984 is set to be released in theaters on June 5, 2020, and will be directed by Jenkins and scored by Hans Zimmer, who scored her theme for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

DC’s latest film, Aquaman, recently crossed the $1 billion dollar mark at the worldwide box office and, due to its success, has caused Warner Bros. to be “less focused” on the DC Shared Universe.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN who can’t wait to travel back to 1984 in 2020. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst.

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals say the rate at which new judges are appointed to the bench will ramp up later this month when cabinet returns to the national capital.

So far this year, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has appointed or promoted 65 judges, including 19 just last week, after appointing or promoting 100 last year.

Her office says 212 judges have been appointed or promoted overall since the Liberals took office.

57 judicial vacancies

A spokesperson for Wilson-Raybould says the frequency of appointments will increase with the return of regular cabinet meetings when the House of Commons returns from its summer break on Sept. 17.

The government faces constant pressure to fill empty seats on federal benches over complaints that cases are being thrown out because of lengthy trial delays.

The office of the commissioner for federal judicial affairs says there are 57 judicial vacancies, a rising figure the Liberals say is partly a result of government spending to create more judicial positions.

Earlier:

SALEM, Va. — The University of Texas at Tyler swept two games from Messiah College in the best-of-three championship series on Monday at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex to capture its first NCAA Division III national softball championship.

The (49-5) Patriots won the first game, 3-0, and the second, 7-0, while outscoring their opponents 30-1 over six Salem games to avenge a loss to three-time titlist Tufts University in last year’s championship.

Schutt Sports/NFCA Division III Player of the Year top three finalist and four-time NFCA All-American Kelsie Batten was named tournament Most Outstanding Player after winning four games at the event. She recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts in the first championship series game earlier in the day and then struck out four more in 2.2 innings in relief of Alaina Kissinger in the decisive second game.

Texas-Tyler took control with a five-run third and never looked back. Raven Rodriguez doubled in the Patriots’ first run and Vanessa Carrizales drove home three more with a double of her own. Lexi Ackroyd singled up the middle to plate the final run of the frame.

Kaylee Prather (three hits) led off the seventh with a triple and promptly scored on Rodriguez’s sacrifice fly. Carrizales hit a two-out solo homer to cap the scoring.

Erin Cressman and Shannon Denny had the only two hits in the game for Messiah (47-6), which set a school record for wins in a season, four more than its national championship run in 2009.

In the first game, Texas-Tyler broke a scoreless tie with all three of its runs in the top of the seventh. Carrizales drove in the first run with a fielder’s choice, while KK Stevens and Bianca Van Vlerah (3-for-3) each singled home a run apiece. Cheyenne Thompson singled and tripled in the contest.

Becky Notte had two of the Falcons’ four hits in the loss.

Messiah (47-6) headed into this year’s championship series as the only unbeaten team at this year’s NCAA Finals, winning its first three games by an average of seven runs and outscoring its trio of opponents, 21-8, including defeating Rowan, 9-1, in six innings on Saturday.

NCAA DIII Softball Championship All-Tournament Team

Most Outstanding Player — Kelsie Batten, Sr., University of Texas at Tyler

Lexi Ackroyd, Jr., University of Texas at Tyler

Erin Cressman, Fr., Messiah College

Ashley DeYoung, Sr., Rowan University

Kristin Lopez, Sr., University of Texas at Tyler

Lexi Marshall, Sr., Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Brooke Pompeo, Sr., Messiah College

Ashley Powers, So., Emory University

Raven Rodriguez, Sr., University of Texas at Tyler

Shilah Snead, Sr., Rowan University

Lindsey Thayer, So., St. John Fisher College

Bianca Van Vlerah, Jr., University of Texas at Tyler

Madelyn Yannetti, Fr., Messiah

PR-obsessed Irish PM Leo Varadkar was left squirming after leading Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day parade alongside recently-arrested UFC bad boy Conor McGregor. Varadkar claimed McGregor “wasn’t representing Ireland.”

Varadkar led the massive, three-hour parade through the streets of the Windy City on Saturday, as part of his annual four-day trip to the US as Taoiseach (Prime Minister of Ireland). Unbeknownst to Varadkar, he would be marching alongside UFC fighter Conor McGregor.

Marching beside a national sporting hero would normally be no big deal, except McGregor’s violence outside the octagon has recently landed him in trouble with the law. The 30-year-old fighter was charged with robbery and criminal mischief in Miami last week, for snatching a fan’s cell phone and stomping it to pieces on the ground. McGregor was also convicted of disorderly conduct in New York last year, after vandalizing a bus carrying UFC rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Photos taken at the parade and splashed across the front pages of Irish tabloids show Varadkar squirming and nervously eyeing up the loose-cannon fighter.

Varadkar told reporters he was “unaware” that McGregor would be heading the parade. Asked whether it was appropriate for a convicted criminal to represent Ireland on the world stage, the Taoiseach said “I don’t think he was representing the country, that’s kind of what I was doing.”

Perhaps Varadkar was simply worried about being upstaged. After all, the Irish leader is nowhere near the household name McGregor is in the US.

Known in Ireland for his obsession with image and presentation, Varadkar established a ‘Strategic Communications Unit’ after taking over his party’s leadership in 2017. The department, dubbed a “propaganda unit” by opposition leader Micheál Martin, had a budget of €5 million, and churned out lavish videos to promote policy, until it was shut down last year.

Varadkar was not the only Irish leader to court controversy over St. Paddy’s weekend. In New York, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald was condemned for marching in the city’s parade behind a banner reading “England, Get Out of Ireland.” Given her party’s history as the political wing of the IRA, the banner inflamed tensions at home.

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OTTAWA — The pressure on the Liberals to loosen protections around Canada’s dairy sector took new focus on Sunday as the key stumbling block in North American Free Trade Agreement talks came under scrutiny and spin on political talk shows on both sides of the border.

A member of an influential Congressional panel — and a Donald Trump supporter — said in a Canadian interview that providing American dairy farmers with more access to the Canadian market may appease the president.

To the south, Trump’s agriculture secretary suggested deeper concessions would be coming from the Canadians over Canada’s system of managing supply and prices in the dairy sector.

Republican Tom Reed, a member of the House ways and means committee, said Trump doesn’t necessarily want the Liberals to get rid of the system, but simply to remove what the Americans see as trade barriers.

“Many have seen this market over the last few decades, from an American point of view, as just being off the table,” Reed said in an interview with Global’s “The West Block” that aired Sunday morning.

“We’re just interested in breaking those barriers and having a solid relationship with our partners to the north.”

The politically thorny issue remains an obstacle in NAFTA negotiations as discussions drag on without an agreement after 13 months of talks, started at Trump’s behest.

How negotiations play out will determine the fate of numerous jobs and hundreds of billions in trade between the two nations.

Dairy is a hurdle, Trump adviser claims

Canada and the U.S. are trying to finalize a text that could be submitted to Congress by the end of the month to join the deal the Trump administration signed with Mexico.

Also unresolved are protections to Canada’s cultural sector and the Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism.

Dairy has been singled out as a key hurdle, including on Friday when Larry Kudlow, a senior economic adviser to Trump, said in a Fox Business Network interview that what “continues to block the deal is m-i-l-k.”

When asked about Kudlow’s comments, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said bluntly: “He’s not at the negotiating table.”

“We’re looking for a deal which is good for Canadians, which is good for Canadian workers, which is good for Canadian families (and) good for Canadian farmers,” Freeland said on “The West Block.”

Canada expanded foreign access to its dairy sector in trade deals with the European Union and with 10 Pacific Rim countries. The Pacific trade pact provided those countries with access to 3.25 per cent of Canada’s market, and expectations are the U.S. won’t go any lower.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said he expected Canada to also scrap a two-year-old pricing agreement that has restricted U.S. exports of ultra-filtered milk used to make dairy products.

“Our farmers don’t have access to the Canadian markets the way that they have access to us,” Perdue said in an interview that aired Sunday on C-SPAN.

“If they want to manage the supply, we are simply saying manage your supply for your dairy industry and let’s be done with it.”

Trump threatens to leave Canada behind

Canada’s dairy farmers believe they’ve already given enough to foreign producers in previous trade deals and aren’t interested in ceding any more ground.

Former Quebec premier Jean Charest said on CTV’s “Question Period” any decisions the Liberals make now will have ramifications in the 2019 federal election, particularly in vote-rich Ontario and Quebec.

“For this government to go out and be seen as giving too much to the American side on agriculture, and dairy in particular, would be … almost suicidal politically,” Charest said.

Trump is threatening to move ahead on a deal without Canada.

He is also looking for a political win ahead of November’s midterm elections where members of Congress in border states, like Reed, are looking to retain their seats and calm the nerves of businesses whose biggest export customer is Canada.

The hope is for a trilateral agreement in principle that Congress can approve before Mexico’s new president takes office on Dec. 1.

Lucasfilm has announced the actors and artists who will be attending the Star Wars Celebration Chicago, along with revealing the exclusive poster for the event.

The poster art shows both light and dark sides encompassed within the symbol of the Jedi Order. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader are prominently shown on their opposing sides.

Exclusive poster for the Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019

Original characters such as Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Leia Organa, and Han Solo can be seen on the light side next to the newer films’ heroes, Rey and Finn.

On the dark side, Darth Sidious, Count Dooku, Darth Maul, and Boba Fett can be seen, among the new comers including Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma. Queen Amidala (Padme) is shown in the middle of the two sides, most likely showing the struggle she experienced and connection to both light and dark sides with Luke and Anakin (Vader).

Joonas Suotamo, the 6-foot-11 Finnish actor who has played Chewbacca in the newer Star Wars installments, will be in Chicago this year signing autographs for the event.

Sam Witwer, who plays Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and in Solo: A Star Wars Story, will also be at the Star Wars celebration this year.

Other actors include Greg Grunberg, who played the Resistance X-wing pilot Snap Wexley in The Force Awakens; puppeteer Dave Chapman, who helped bring BB-8, Rio Durant, and Lady Proxima to the screen; Greg Proops, who has voiced Jak Sivrak and Garma in Star Wars Resistance as well as Fode in The Phantom Menace; Paul Kasey, who portrayed Admiral Raddus in Rogue One and Ello Asty in The Force Awakens; Ian McElhinney, who played General Dodonna in Rogue One; and Orli Shoshan, who is known for playing the Jedi Master, Shaak Ti, in Attack of the clones and Revenge of the Sith.

Some of the artists who will be in attendance include Darren Tan, Jason Christman, Zoltan Simon, Dianne Harrop, Kayla Woodside, Adrianna Vanderstelt, and Danny Haas.

The Star Wars Celebration Chicago will take place April 11-15, 2019 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL. Stay tuned to IGN for more details and coverage of the event.

For more Star Wars news, read about how Carrie Fisher’s brother is “thrilled” with the footage of Leia for Episode IX and how director Rian Johnson said that Luke’s portrayal in The Last Jedi is “100% consistent” with the original trilogy.

Jessie Wade is a news writer for IGN and thinks of herself as a wannabe-Grey Jedi. Chat with her on Twitter @jessieannwade about anything Star Wars.