niIf you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.

Like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter for the latest deals.

Black Friday 2018 is around the corner. Find our guide on what to expect and how to get the best deals here.

Get £40 Currys PC World Voucher with Carphone Warehouse

Free Currys PC World Voucher with Apple iPhone Contract

Receive a complimentary Currys PC World gift card worth £40 when you purchase the Apple iPhone XR, XS or X 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 £40 Currys PC World voucher

Apple iPhone deals from Carphone Warehouse

• See iPhone XR deals here
• See iPhone XS deals here
• See iPhone XS Max deals here
• See iPhone X deals here

Editor’s Notes: This promotion expires on 22nd November, 2018.

Today’s Best Deals

Currys PC World Pre-Black Friday Deals are Now Live

Even though there’s still two weeks to go before the official event, Black Friday madness has already started with the major retailers releasing their deals early. Currys PC World is one of the biggest retailers that take a full advantage of this occasion to discount their products, and from our previous observations, they tend to have some of the best deals. If you are unsure about whether the prices can go even lower on 23rd November, don’t worry, as Currys PC World will refund the difference if their Black Friday price changes.

Find the best hand-picked offers for laptops, PCs, TVs and more, below or visit Currys PC World Why Wait Event landing page here. Don’t forget to check and bookmark our official IGN Black Friday Deals 2018 page here.

• Google Hue White and Colour Ambiance Mini Smart Bulb B22 Starter Kit and Google Home Mini Chalk Bundle – was £184.99, now £79.99
• SONY BRAVIA KD65AF8BU 65″ Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR OLED TV – was £3,299.00, now £2,799.00
• SONY BRAVIA KD55AF8BU 55″ Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR OLED TV – was £2,299.00, now £1,899.00
• SONY BRAVIA KD55XF8796BU 55″ Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR LED TV – was £1,099.00, now £849.00
• ASUS ROG Strix GL703GM 17.3″ Core  i7 GTX 1060 Gaming Laptop (1TB HDD & 128GB SSD) – was £1,399.99, now £1,199.00
• ACER Predator Helios 300 15.6″ Intel Core i5 GTX 1060 Gaming Laptop (1TB HDD & 128GB SSD) – was £1,099.99, now £1,049.00
• MSI GF72 17.3″ Intel Core™ i5 GTX 1050 Ti Gaming Laptop (256GB SSD) – was £999.99, now £899.99
• MSI Infinite A 8RC 296UK Intel® Core i5+ GTX 1060 Gaming PC (2TB HDD) – was £999.99, now £949.00
• LENOVO 620S-03IKL Intel Core i3 Desktop PC (1TB HDD, Silver) – was £499.00, now £449.00

Get £15 Cashback at GAME with TopCashaback, Including Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

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 ‘CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 4’ 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  02/12/2018 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.

 

Save up to 57% off Norton Security

Grab Norton security bundle for the best value, which includes Norton Security Deluxe 1-year antivirus protection reduced from £69.99 to £29.99. This package will provide protection for up to 5 devices against viruses and ransomware, as well as encrypt the data you send and receive on public WiFi. Grab this offer at Norton Security and save a total of £49.99.

• Norton Security Basic (1-year, 1 PC) at Symantec – was £29.99, now £24.99
• Norton Security Standard (1 year, 1 PC, 1 Mac or 1 mobile device) at Symantec – was £49.99, now £24.99
• Norton Security Deluxe (1-year, 5 devices) at Symantec – was £69.99, now £29.99
• Norton Security Premium (1-year, 5 devices) at Symantec – was £79.99, now £39.99

Nintendo Switch Online for £16.00 per Year

Gain access to Nintendo online gaming service, which includes classic NES titles, data cloud storage and comes with a dedicated app for smartphones and tablets, as well as exclusive member offers. Grab currently the best deal for Nintendo Switch from below. Find out how it works here.

• Nintendo Switch Online at CDKeys – was £17.99, now £16.00 when you Facebook Like CDKeys for 3% off.

Exclusive to Nintendo: Preorder Nintendo Switch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Edition Mario Pack

Grab an exclusive Nintendo Switch bundle with one of the most anticipated games of 2018, which is being released on 7th December, 2018. The pack includes a console with a dock featuring fighters from the original game, Super Smash Bros. themed controller, digital copy of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Official Steelbook, a Nintendo Switch hard pouch in black and a Nintendo Switch Mario battle pad. This bundle is unique to Nintendo Store and you won’t be able to purchase this anywhere else. Everything bough separately would cost you over £359. Preorder it now to get it on 16th November, 2018.

• Nintendo Switch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Edition Mario Pack at Nintendo Store – was £358.98, now £339.99
• Nintendo Switch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Edition Pack (without a controller and hard pouch) at Nintendo Store – was £329.99, now £319.99

Alternative Deals:

• Link (Rider) amiibo (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Collection) at Nintendo Store – £12.99
• New Smash Bros Amiibo Preorders (Wolf, Splatoon Girl, Ridley) at Nintendo Store – £12.99

Save 20% off Pre-Owned Games

The gaming titles include the most beloved games of 2018; God of War, Call of Duty WW2, Far Cry 5, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and many more.

• Get this deal here

Save £600 off LG 70-Inch 4K Ultra HD HDR LED TV

The LG 70-inch 4K Ultra HD HDR LED TV features advanced HDR technology and 4K Ultra HD visuals to bring your favourite entertainment to life. You can now save £600 off this TV at Currys PC World. Click here for more deals on their site.

• LG 70UK6950PLA 70-inch 4K Ultra HD HDR LED TV at Currys PC World – was £1,599.00, now £999.00

Alternative Deals:

• Samsung QE49Q6FNATXXU 49-inch 4K Ultra HD HDR QLED TV at Currys PC World – was £1,299.00, now £899.00
• Samsung QE55Q7FNATXXU 55-inch Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR QLED TV at Currys PC World – was £1,799.00, now £1,299.00
• LG OLED55C8PLA 55-inch Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR OLED TV at Currys PC World – was £1,999.00, £1,699.00
• Sony Bravia KD49XF7596BU 49-inch Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR LED TV at Currys PC World – was £749.00, now £599.00

THE C64 Mini for Under £50

Feeling nostalgic? Play all your favourite classics by hooking up THE C64 Mini console to your TV’s HDMI port. Includes 64 pre-installed classics

• THE C64 Mini at ShopTo – was £69.99, now £49.85

Save up to 50% off adidas Outlet

Snag up to 50% on adidas Outlet products, including clothing, shoes and accessories. The below listed products are just some of the best deals we love that are currently being offered at adidas Outlet Sale. Click here to explore more.

• Predator 18+ Firm Ground Boots at adidas – was £249.95, now £174.96
• Adidas BY Kolor ZNE Hoodie at adidas – was £249.95, now £124.98
• Tango Stadium Icon Hybrid at adidas – was £59.95, now £41.96
• Arhletics Adidas Z.N.E. Parley Backpack at adidas – was £159.95, now £79.98
• Speed 200 Boxing Gloves at adidas – was £79.95, now £55.96

Samsung 250GB T5 USB with V-NAND SSD and Assassins Creed Odyssey PC under £83

Purchase Samsung’s SSD at a discounted price at My Memory between now and 30th November, and receive a complimentary digital copy of Assassins Creed Odyssey standard PC edition.

• Samsung 250GB T5 USB 3.1, USB-C External V-Nanda and Assassins Creed Odyssey Std Edt. PC at My Memory – was £159.99, now £82.99

Alternative Deal:

• Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SSD at Amazon – was £132.92, now £84.95

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

IGN Exclusive: Red Dead Redemption 2 Xbox One Digital Key for £46.28 Using Our Exclusive Discount Code

Use our exclusive discount code IGN4 to receive a redeemable digital key for Red Dead Redemption 2 instantly in your e-mail address on day of release for just £46.28. To put this deal in perspective, an Xbox One Digital Key for Red Dead Redemption 2 is currently listed for £59.86 at Amazon.

You can also use our exclusive Black Friday discount code IGN4 at SCDKey up until the end of November to get 4% off Digital PC and Xbox One games, Xbox Live and PlayStation Plus subscriptions, and more.

• Red Dead Redemption 2 (Xbox One, Digital) – was £59.99, now £46.28 w/ code IGN4
• Red Dead Redemption 2 Special Edition (Xbox One, Digital) – was £74.99, now £58.91 w/ code IGN4 
• Red Dead Redemption 2 Ultimate Edition (Xbox One, Digital) – was £89.99, now £73.22 w/ code IGN4
• PlayStation Plus 3 Month Membership – was £19.99, now £16.41 w/ code IGN4
• Xbox Live 12 Month Membership – was £39.99, now £33.68 w/ code IGN4
• Xbox Live 3 Month Membership – was £14.99, now £11.78 w/ code IGN4
• Xbox 3 Month Game Pass – was £19.99, now £14.72 w/ code IGN4

PS Plus 12-Month Membership for £36.13

We always recommend getting bigger subscription packages if you know you are going to be renewing your membership after the old one runs out. Electronic First currently offer the best price, especially when you Facebook like their page and redeem your unique promo code that will help you save 3% off.

• PS Plus 12 Month Membership – was £49.99, now £36.13 when you Facebook like Electronic First for 3% off

Alternative Deals:

• PlayStation Plus 3 Month Membership – was £19.99, now £16.41 w/ code IGN4
• PlayStation Plus 15 Month Membership – was £49.99, now £45.58 when you Facebook Like CDKeys for 3% off.

Forza Horizon 4 Xbox One under £33

The price for one of the most beloved games, Forza Horizon 4, has gone down to under £33.

• Forza Horizon 4 Xbox One at ShopTo – was £49.99, now £32.86

IGN Exclusive: CyberGhost VPN for Only £1.59 per Month

Recently, VPNs are becoming increasingly popular because they can ensure your security and privacy when browsing the web. CyberGhost VPN is also a great VPN to access American Netflix from the UK and paying £1.59 per month on top of your current Netflix subscription to get all of the Netflix content you get in America is definitely worth it. This exclusive deal for IGN readers makes it the cheapest VPN available right now which is compatible with Netflix.

Read our guide on how to get American Netflix content in the UK. 

• IGN Exclusive: CyberGhost VPN 4-year subscription deal – £1.59 per month, £19.08 billed annually (80% off).

Alternative VPN Deal

• IGN Exclusive: PureVPN 1-year subscription deal – £2.30 per month, £27.60 billed annually (73% off).

The Best Broadband Deals in November

Best Broadband Deals for November

Wondering what are the best broadband deals this month? November sees a lot of great Broadband offers. Get Unlimited Broadband and Calls package with Post Office for just £15.50 per month with no set up costs and no in-contract monthly price rise.

You can also compare the best broadband, phone & TV deals in your area now at our sister site PCMag. Just enter your postcode and they will do the job for you.

• Compare deals here

£150 off ASUS 15.6-Inch Full HD Gaming Laptop

In the market for a good gaming laptop? You can start saving ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as this Asus laptop is discounted by £150 at Amazon. It is armed with great specs, including Intel i5-7300HQ processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Dedicated Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics card, and more.

• ASUS FX503VM-EN184T 15.6-inch Full HD 120 Hz screen gaming laptop at Amazon – was £899.99, now £749.99

Buy 3 Months Gold, Get £10 Xbox Live Credit for Free

Yep, you read right. Worth £24.99 usually but available for £14.99 right now.

• Buy it at GAME

You will receive two codes when you purchase this product. You must redeem each code individually. After you complete the purchase, you will receive a link on the order-confirmation page with detailed instruction to redeem your code on Xbox Live. This link is also stored in your Games & Software Library. Please Note: The £10 Gift Card is valid for online purchase in UK only, one per customer.

Game of Thrones Johnnie Walker White Walker Scotch Whisky for £34

Johnnie Walker has partnered with HBO’s Game of Thrones to launch a limited-edition collaborative whisky blend. A true Game of Thrones fan? You can now indulge yourself with a glass of a unique limited edition Game of Thrones inspired White Walker Whiskey by Johnnie Walker. Flavor notes include caramelized sugar, vanilla, fresh berries with a touch of orchard fruit, and is better to be served cold. It makes an ideal gift for any Game of Thrones or whiskey fan this Christmas.

• Game of Thrones Johnnie Walker White Walker scotch whisky – £34.00

Get Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience, Cities: Skylines with After Dark DLC, and a Forager Sneak Peek for Just £9.15

‘Humble Monthly is a curated bundle of games sent to your inbox every month. Each month offers over $100 worth of games for just $12! Every game is yours to keep, and 5% of each month’s proceeds support charity. All subscribers receive 10% off in the Humble Store and exclusive access to the Humble Trove of DRM-free games.’

• Get Humble Monthly Bundle for £9.15 per month

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Covenant’s Morgan Lane and Washington (Mo.) University’s Annie Pitkin have been selected as the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III National Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.

 

Lane, a junior first baseman from Chattanooga, Tenn., was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate last week with five runs scored, a double, three homers and eight runs batted in, as the (5-1) Scots swept a doubleheader from Agnes Scott. She homered and had two RBI in a 4-3 win in the opener, and doubled and homered twice with six RBI in the nightcap, a 13-2 triumph.

Pitkin, a junior right-hander from West Springfield, Mass., held her opponents scoreless and allowed just two hits while walking none and recording 13 strikeouts in two appearances in the circle for the (4-2) Bears at the Warrior Spring Fling. She had seven strikeouts over five innings of one-hit pitching in a 7-0 victory over Westminster and fanned six and allowed one hit in 4.1 innings of relief during a 13-5 win over host Hendrix.

Other Selected Top Performances

Averett freshman outfielder Olivia Cooper hit .667 (2-for-3) with two runs, a double, RBI and two steals in a twinbill sweep of Southern Virginia. … Mary Hardin-Baylor sophomore catcher Cori Drake was 7-for-12 (.583) with three runs, a double and five RBI in a three-game American Southwest Conference sweep of LeTourneau. She went 2-for-4 in the opener, then a combined 5-for-8 in a twinbill the following day. … Covenant freshman pitcher Joni Johnson recorded a win and a save in a doubleheader sweep of Agnes Scott. The right-hander allowed no runs on one hit with no walks and three strikeouts over five innings for the week, including one hit in two innings of relief in the opener and three perfect innings in the nightcap. … Mary Hardin-Baylor sophomore right-hander Haley Parker went 2-0 for the week with 10 hits (just one for extra bases), two walks and seven strikeouts over 13 innings in a pair of shutouts of LeTourneau. … Averett junior right-hander Mary Beth Smith had six strikeouts over two perfect innings to get the win in a 23-3 victory over Southern Virginia in her lone appearance in the circle last week. At the plate, meanwhile, she batted .714 (5-for-7) with four runs, three doubles, a walk and two steals. … Washington (Mo.) University sophomore utility player Janet Taylor hit .556 (5-for-9) with three runs, a homer and four RBI in a pair of wins over Westminster and Hendrix. She went 2-for-4 against Westminster and 3-for-5 versus Hendrix.

The Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III National Hitter and Pitcher of the Week are selected by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions.

2015 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III National Hitter of the Week

March 4 — Morgan Lane, Covenant, Jr., 1B, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Feb. 25 — Taylor Golden, DePauw, Sr., 3B, Chicago, Ill.

2015 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III National Pitcher of the Week

March 4 — Annie Pitkin, Washington (Mo.), Jr., P, West Springfield, Mass.

Feb. 25 — Taylor Golden, DePauw, Sr., 3B, Chicago, Ill.

Population growth in Canada has accelerated in the past few years, thanks to higher federal immigration targets meant to help Canada cope with an aging population and a labour shortage.

And while experts generally agree that this will be a boost to Canada’s economy in the long run, in the short run the population boom is causing a rental crisis in Greater Toronto, and it appears the country continues to waste the talents of many of its skilled immigrants.

Population growth is “exceeding even the most optimistic demographic projections,” Benoit P. Durocher, the senior economist at Quebec’s Caisse Desjardins, wrote in a report issued Monday.

Watch: Precarious work is on the rise. Here are 2 solutions to fight back (story continues below)

Some 413,000 people arrived in Canada in the 12 months to July, a growth rate of 1.4 per cent, the fastest among G7 countries. The population passed the 37-million mark earlier this year, according to Statistics Canada.

“Canada has close to double the growth of the second-ranked country, the United States,” Durocher wrote.

“However, this quicker growth does not yet appear to be making a significant difference in the number of people who are actually participating in the labour market.”

As Canada’s population ages, the share of retired people has been growing and the share of people with a job has been declining. This is part of what has led to a record large skilled-worker shortage in Canada this year, with some 400,000 jobs going unfilled in recent months.

The federal Liberals’ increase to immigration levels was meant to help halt this trend, among other things, but Durocher says it hasn’t been enough.

“It is also possible that a certain proportion of new immigrants have still not fully integrated into the labour market and are therefore still not part of the labour force,” Durocher noted.

“For now, the faster population growth therefore does not appear to be sufficient to solve the country’s labour shortage.”

A separate report issued Monday, from the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council, suggests even Canada’s most skilled migrants are struggling to integrate into the economy.

The report found that immigrants in Toronto — the single largest destination for those coming to Canada — have a jobless rate that’s twice as high as among non-immigrants, at 12.5 per cent in 2016. However, the gap has shrunk over the years, the TRIEC report noted.

Women immigrants with a university degree earn on average half the amount of their Canadian-born counterparts, the report found.

“This has barely changed in 15 years,” the report said.

Immigrant men with a bachelor’s degree have a median income that is 74 per cent of Canadian-born men, the TRIEC report found. But the average male immigrant income was just 41 per cent of the Canadian-born average, suggesting that very few immigrant men are at the top of the income ladder, the report said.

“We need to do more if we are to be able to deliver on the promise of prosperity for all people—including immigrants— and if Canada is to remain competitive in the fight for global talent,” the TRIEC report concluded.

The report urges policymakers to look at creating supports specifically for women immigrants; to move away from “Canadian experience” requirements among those hiring; and to create more pathways for foreign credentials to be recognized by Canadian employers.

Toronto housing ‘in crisis’

Canada’s strong population growth is also boosting the real estate market, something that Durocher sees as a positive development given residential real estate has slowed significantly this year amind higher mortgage rates and tough new lending rules.

“The population aged 25 to 34, often identified as being the age group for first-time home buyers, has also accelerated in recent years in most parts of the country. This boosts demand for homes, which drives residential construction and existing home sales,” Durocher wrote.

This “partly offset the adverse effects of the gradual increase in interest rates on the housing market.”

But the evidence is mounting that Canada’s cities are not prepared for an unusually large influx of newcomers. In Greater Toronto, which has seen its population jump by 100,000 in the past year, including refugees and students, the rental housing market is under severe pressure.

Market rents for one-bedroom apartments have soared by 15.6 per cent in the past year, according to data from Padmapper, and now sit at an average of $2,220 a month. The apartment vacancy rate sits at a very low 0.5 per cent. And with the slowdown in sales seen over the past year, developers are cutting back on new home construction.

“We’ve reached a point now where given the amount of people, industries we’re attracting, we are already becoming terribly unaffordable for everyone,” University of Toronto professor and famed urbanist Richard Florida told Bloomberg News.

“We’re at a crisis and we don’t even realize it: Our transit, traffic problem and housing problem are urgent matters.”

Disagreement over solutions

The provincial government of Premier Doug Ford recently dropped rent controls on new buildings, something the previous Liberal government had implemented in 2017 in an effort to improve home affordability.

The new government says eliminating rent controls will encourage developers to build more rental housing. Supporters of the previous Liberal policy point out that there were no rent controls on newer buildings until 2017, and yet developers failed to build rental buildings in any significant quantity; there is more money to be made building condos.

Florida suggested Toronto needs to get more creative in addressing its housing issues. For instance, developers could focus on cheaper, faster modular construction of homes.

Still, for all the short-term problems, Durocher says Canada’s large immigrant wave will give the country a competitive advantage over countries with slower-growing populations.

“A more rapid population increase means a higher potential for economic growth for Canada in the long term,” he wrote.

“It is reassuring to see that Canada is in the lead among G7 countries despite its many demographic challenges. Keeping population growth faster in Canada than in most other industrialized countries could prove beneficial in the long run.”

Centered around the experience of a Chinese immigrant family, the short film Bao is an important glimpse into the life of a mother learning to let go. Like many shorts that air before Pixar feature-length films, Bao tells an important, familiar story through clever, unconventional ways. In this case, director Domee Shi felt it was important to use food as the driving metaphor behind the film’s message.

“In Chinese culture — and I think in a lot of cultures around the world — food and family just go hand in hand,” Shi told IGN during a recent junket for The Incredibles 2’s home video release. “My parents don’t say ‘I love you,’ they say ‘Oh, have you eaten yet?’, ‘Eat more,’ ‘You’re too thin,’ or ‘Oh no, you ate too much!’

According to Shi, portraying the child of the family as a sentient Bao was a necessary metaphor for its importance both personally and within Chinese culture.

“Food is just a way of communication for my family in particular, so I felt like a Bao and food was just a great metaphor to kind of play with the story about a parent learning to let go of her child, this family story,” Shi said. “My mom would always hold me close and be like, ‘Oh, I wish I could put you back in my stomach so I knew exactly where you were at all times!’ And I’d be like “Oh, mom…that’s creepy. But sweet. I love you.'”

With her directorial debut in Bao, Shi hopes to help people better understand their own families while getting a glimpse of the experience of a Chinese immigrant in the west.

“I don’t know what it’s like to be a mom, and it was just a really great opportunity to put myself in someone else’s shoes–in this character’s shoes–and kind of just learn more about my own mother and why she was this way to me growing up. And now, I understand her a little bit better,” said Shi. “Also, the whole act of making dumplings and making Bao is very family-oriented in Chinese culture. I remember so many weekends where my mom and I would just park ourselves in front of the TV, put on a movie, and we’d just be folding dumplings while watching TV and just talking, and that’s a very social thing that we do.”

Watch the video above for the full interview and to learn more about the approach to making the short.

For more on Incredibles 2, check out our chat with director Brad Bird, in which we learned about the one superpower the Parr family almost had and why Bird doesn’t want an Incredibles spin-off film. Also, read our Incredibles 2 review to see why we consider it a great sequel to the 2004 original film.

Cassidee is an editor and producer on IGN’s social team who always feels the impulse to call her mom when watching Bao. You can chat with her on Twitter. 

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today the three finalists for the 14th annual USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award.

 

The award, which is considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women’s collegiate softball, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country. Florida’s Lauren Haeger (Peoria, Ariz.), Oregon’s Cheridan Hawkins (Anderson, Calif.) and Michigan’s Sierra Romero (Murrieta, Calif.) are the three remaining athletes in the running.

Past winners of this award include UCLA’s Stacey Nuveman, Florida State’s Jessica Van der Linden, three-time winner Cat Osterman of the University of Texas, Tennessee’s Monica Abbott, Virginia Tech’s Angela Tincher, two-time winner Danielle Lawrie of the University of Washington, Stanford’s Ashley Hansen, back-to-back winner Keilani Ricketts of the University of Oklahoma and 2014 winner Lacey Waldrop from Florida State.

The 2015 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Pitcher of the Year, Lauren Haeger has amassed a 26-1 record, an 1.34 ERA and 183 strikeouts in the circle through regional play. If that wasn’t enough, the senior also holds a .335 batting average, .653 slugging percentage and .474 on-base percentage. Haeger was voted SEC Pitcher of the Week three times this season and was the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Week in week two. Florida will face Kentucky in this week’s Super Regionals for a spot in the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS), which will be held in Oklahoma City on May 28-June 3.

Back-to-back Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, Cheridan Hawkins boasts a 29-3 record, an 1.40 ERA and 249 strikeouts through regional play. Ranked in the top 10 in the nation in wins, shutouts and saves, Hawkins was also named first team All-Pac 12 and leads the conference in wins, ERA and opposing batting average.  Oregon will vie with N.C. State this week in the Eugene Super Regional, with the winner earning a spot in the WCWS.

A two-time Big 10 Player of the Year, Sierra Romero ranks in the top 10 nationally with a .474 batting average, a .628 on-base percentage, 78 RBI and a .987 slugging percentage, while slugging 21 home runs. A three-time unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten first team, Romero was also named the 2015 espnW Player of the Year and established a new NCAA record for career grand slams. Behind their junior slugger, the Wolverines won their eighth straight Big 10 regular season title and will face Georgia in this week’s Super Regionals.

The winner of the 2015 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award will be announced on May 26 at a banquet just prior to the start of the WCWS.

The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award is voted on by coaching representatives from 10 Division I conferences in the 15 ASA Regions, members of the media who consistently cover Division I softball across the country as well as past winners of the award.

— Courtesy ASA/USA Softball

WASHINGTON — The original NAFTA deal has landed back atop Donald Trump’s hit list, with the U.S. president again declaring he intends to terminate the 24-year-old trade pact — a move that appears designed to pressure lawmakers on Capitol Hill into approving its recently negotiated successor.

Trump, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto signed the new U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement — USMCA, although the federal government in Ottawa has rechristened it CUSMA — during an awkward ceremony at the outset of G20 meetings Friday in Argentina.

Trump was on board Air Force One on his way back to Washington late Saturday when he announced that he would notify Congress of his intention to terminate NAFTA, a long-threatened move that would give lawmakers six months to approve its replacement once formal notice is delivered.

“I will be formally terminating NAFTA shortly,” the president said of the trilateral agreement he and his supporters have long loved to hate.

“I’ll be terminating it within a relatively short period of time. We get rid of NAFTA. It’s been a disaster for the United States. It’s caused us tremendous amounts of unemployment and loss and company loss and everything else. That’ll be terminated.

“And so Congress will have a choice of the USMCA or pre-NAFTA, which worked very well. You got out, you negotiate your deals. It worked very well.”

A number of Democrats in Congress, empowered by their new majority in the House of Representatives, say they don’t much like the new agreement in its current form either, and say they won’t support it without more stringent enforcement mechanisms for new labour rules and environmental protection.

Some Republicans say they, too, are disinclined to support the agreement in its current form.

Kristin Dziczek, vice-president of industry, labour and economics at the Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research, was not surprised to hear of Trump’s decision, something he threatened several times during negotiations in an effort to spur progress and curry favour with his supporters.

“I don’t think it’s a bluff,” Dziczek said Sunday. “I think that’s how he thinks he’s going to whip votes.”

Dziczek said she’s anticipates a scenario where Trump signs a formal intent to withdraw, but ignores the fact that congressional approval would be required to repeal the underlying legislation that enforces the terms of the original agreement — a scenario she’s dubbed “zombie NAFTA.”

“I think it’s really, really likely we end up in that situation,” she said. “Without this, he’s got little leverage over Congress, and Congress has got detractors on both sides — on the Democrat and the Republican side — who don’t really like the deal.”

Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and one of more than a dozen names believed to be eyeing a presidential run in 2020, has added her name to the list of lawmakers who say they won’t support the new agreement.

“As it’s currently written, Trump’s deal won’t stop the serious and ongoing harm NAFTA causes for American workers. It won’t stop outsourcing, it won’t raise wages, and it won’t create jobs. It’s NAFTA 2.0,” Warren told a luncheon audience last week during a foreign policy speech in Washington.

She cited a lack of enforcement tools for labour standards, drug company “handouts” and a lack of sufficiently robust measures to cut pollution or combat climate change, particularly in Mexico — and her refusal to use the deal’s new name hinted at precisely why Trump wants to do away with the old one.

“For these reasons, I oppose NAFTA 2.0, and will vote against it in the Senate unless President Trump reopens the agreement and produces a better deal for America’s working families.”

Among the Republicans who see problems is Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who tweeted his fears that the current agreement gives agricultural producers in Mexico an unfair advantage.

“As currently drafted this deal will put Florida seasonal vegetable growers out of business,” Rubio wrote. “It allows Mexico to dump government-subsidized produce on the U.S. market.

“Going forward America will depend on Mexico for our winter vegetables. Unacceptable.”

Lighthizer: ‘I think we will get the support of a lot of Democrats’

In a blog entry posted shortly after the agreement was signed Friday, Cato Institute trade analyst Simon Lester appeared to anticipate Trump’s move — although he acknowledged it would have made a lot more sense if the Republicans still had control of Congress.

“The Democrats are in a different position,” Lester wrote.

“Many of them don’t like NAFTA to begin with, so a withdrawal threat wouldn’t feel so threatening. Furthermore, a withdrawal threat could lead to an internal GOP war over trade policy, which would be wonderful for the Democrats. This all puts the Democrats in a pretty good spot to make demands.”

Shortly after Friday’s signing, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer insisted that the deal was negotiated with bipartisan support from both Democrats and Republicans, and expressed confidence it would survive the congressional approval process.

“I think we will get the support of a lot of Democrats, a very high number of Democrats, absolutely — I have no doubt about it,” Lighthizer said. A number of the their concerns will be addressed in the implementing legislation that will have to be brought forward for ratification, he added.

A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Trump’s comments are part of the American ratification process.

“We’re moving forward with our own process now that the new NAFTA has been signed,” Adam Austen said.

Now that it’s been signed, reopening the deal is a non-starter, Dziczek said.

What’s more likely is months of political horse-trading as Democrats and Republicans alike make their support contingent on other political initiatives, such as the controversial Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, which protects illegal immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children.

“I think they’re betting on Congress not letting it all go to hell,” she said. “And I think Congress won’t let it all go to hell, but we’re going to go through a lot of crazy before then.”

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has become the best pre-selling Super Smash Bros. and Nintendo Switch title ahead of its release next month.

Announced by Nintendo Versus, a short gameplay trailer breaks the news that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is “punching its way into the record books!”

This news comes only a day after The Pokémon Company revealed Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! have sold three million copies in one week and have become the fastest selling Nintendo Switch titles since the system’s launch.

With Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launching on the Nintendo Switch on December 7, this record may be in jeopardy if these pre-sale estimates hold or are exceeded.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which we have said “feels like a museum for its own franchise,” is a love-letter to everything Nintendo and beyond and will include 74 characters at launch.

It won’t end there, as a post-launch plan has been put in place that will see five sets of DLC – all with a character, stage, and music tracks – released by February 2020.

Error 429 Mashing buttons will get you nowhere!

Mashing buttons will get you nowhere!

Guru Meditation:

XID: 711164550

---

Varnish cache server

There will also be a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighters Pass that will include all DLC for $24.99 USD. Additionally, all who purchase Super Smash Bros. Ultimate before January 31, 2019, will receive Piranha Plant as a new character for free.

Besides fighting their friends, Smash players will be able to look forward to the World of Light campaign which will allow players to unlock characters, solve puzzles, fight bosses like Monster Hunter’s Rathalos, and much more.

We’ve put together a guide of everything you need to know about the World of Light story mode and a breakdown of all the different ways you’ll be able to play/purchase Super Smash Bros. Ultimate when it’s released on December 7.

Error 429 Mashing buttons will get you nowhere!

Mashing buttons will get you nowhere!

Guru Meditation:

XID: 711164551

---

Varnish cache server

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN who can’t believe Smash is out in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst.