Latest news with #FourSeasons
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Yaoling Li in Persona 5 The Phantom X: Best weapons, teams, skill priority, and more
Persona 5: The Phantom X has introduced Yaoling Li, the formidable Phantom Idol and a powerful curse-based debuffer who operates under the codename Rin. Li's unique power lies within debilitating enemies, which makes her the cornerstone for strategic team compositions. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now With her Meng Po persona, she disrupts enemy strategies, enabling high-damage setups. Here is how you can optimize Rin's potential, covering her synergistic teams, ideal weaponry, and crucial skill priorities for dominating Metaverse. Best weapons for Yaoling Li in Persona 5 The Phantom X Yaoling Li thrives like a Saboteur. She wields her Meng Po Persona to inflict debilitating Curse effects. Her effectiveness remains hinged on equipping the right weapons to amplify her core stat, Speed. The stat fuels Rin's unique debuff, thereby scaling mechanics. For some early game dominance, Infinite Moment, Rin's powerful 5-star weapon, lets her boost speed by 15 percent and enhance debuff potential using Waters of Oblivion. It increases Rin's taken enemy damage. Yaoling Li Synergy Rank 1 - Persona 5: The Phantom X For players lacking a 5-star weapon, Four Seasons, her 4-star weapon is highly recommended. It offers attack boosts and some additional Speed stacks after Rin inflicts debuffs. It enables her to reach the critical thresholds and maximize debuff percentages faster. It brings in a balanced mix of Speed, survivability, and Attack. Her passive, on the other hand, synergizes well with debuff heavy playstyle, thereby ensuring she could meet all skill requirements without any heavy investment. Yaoling Li's optimal teams and best skills Rin's true power shines when enabling high-damage teammates. Pair Rin with some high-damage dealers, including Wonder/Joker, who can benefit from her defense reduction and Curse vulnerability. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Teams like Leon, Joker, and Okkyan capitalize on debuffs, while Joker, Cattle, and Okkyan offer more sustenance for the longer battles. Li's ability to reduce enemy Defense and to significantly increase the taken damage makes her invaluable right alongside potent attackers. She forms some exceptional partnerships with the characters specializing in Curse damage, like Wonder. Pair her with some other debuffs, like Musubi Matsukata (YUI), and create overwhelming pressure on foes. To master Rin's skill, rotation is important. Give priority to upgrading her first skill, which is Underworld Fury. It reduces group Defense scaling with her speed. Follow it with her Flowers of Naihe, the third skill, especially when it's enhanced by Meng Po Soup resource, for inflicting Forget (locking skills) and even further increasing vulnerability. Early on, keep less focus on Rin's second skill, Lion Dance of Oblivion. The 1-3 skill priority helps ensure maximum debuff uptime. Maximizing the impact and potential of Rin Yaoling Li stands out quite arguably as a premier debuffer. Her survival debuffs offer incredible flexibility, slotting quite seamlessly into varied team archetypes. To invest in resources like her core skills and Four Seasons weapon would yield some substantial returns quicker. Rin's mechanics, which are centered around Meng Po Soup buff and Speed, are quite straightforward for grasping and yet offer depth for strategic timing. While Rin's higher Awareness level offers incremental power spikes, she functions quite exceptionally, even at a base level. The players must feel confident when building her early on without having to feel a need for extensive duplicate pulls. Keep a focus on her core roles—relentlessly weakening enemies to pave the way for damage dealers to secure victory within the depths of Mementos.
Fox News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
‘Liver King' follows alleged Joe Rogan threat by vowing videos ‘will never stop' after arrest
A prolific fitness influencer known for his bizarre, animalistic diet is back online after being arrested for allegedly making terroristic threats toward UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan. Brian Johnson, known as the "Liver King" on his popular social media platforms, has been released from a Texas jail after he was arrested Tuesday night, according to posts on his Instagram. Johnson immediately returned to social media Wednesday night to post a series of rambling videos discussing his arrest and seemingly poking at Rogan without addressing him directly. In one video, Johnson addressed the incident leading to his arrest, telling viewers "some guy, he thought if you just put them in jail [and] have the violent crimes division come arrest them for a terroristic threat." Johnson went on to reveal in a separate video that he was "given the gift" of a restraining order following his alleged threat against Rogan. "If anybody knows of someone else whose first name rhymes with 'blow' whose last name is Rogan," Johnson said, seemingly appearing to dodge mentioning Rogan by name. The fitness influencer also told the camera that his charges had been reduced, before adding, "But I don't want to give any details, nor any names. That's how you get ready for a fight, and you thought the videos would stop. But they will never stop. You've got an infinite amount of venom, and then we'll hug and unite. At some point you have to capitulate something. Real tension, real fight." The statements came two days after Johnson posted a series of videos to his Instagram page – including one of him appearing shirtless and holding what appeared to be two golden firearms – before allegedly traveling to Rogan's hometown. "Joe Rogan, I'm calling you out," Johnson said in an Instagram video posted on June 23. "My name's Liver King. Man to man, I'm picking a fight with you. I have zero training in jiu-jitsu. You're a black belt, you should dismantle me. But I'm picking a fight with you. Your rules." According to the Austin Police Department, Rogan told authorities the two men had never met and that he felt the videos were threatening in nature. Detectives subsequently obtained a warrant for Johnson's arrest and he was taken into custody at the nearby Four Seasons hotel without incident, police said. A video of Johnson handcuffed while sitting in the back of a police vehicle was posted to his Instagram account on Tuesday night. Johnson participates in a self-described "ancestral lifestyle," rising to internet stardom by discussing topics such as his diet of primarily raw meat – including animal liver. Johnson was charged with allegedly making a terroristic threat and initially held at the Travis County Jail, according to APD. Representatives for both Rogan and Johnson did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
Forbes
a day ago
- Forbes
Forbes Travel Guide's Best Ibiza Hotels, The Top Spa Suites And More Travel News
. It's not too late to plan a summer getaway to Ibiza, long considered one of the world's great party destinations. But the Balearic Island, just off the eastern coast of Spain, has so much more to offer than bass-thumping nightlife, including agritourism, a burgeoning art scene and, of course, 100-plus miles of beaches. To help narrow down where to stay, the editors of Forbes Travel Guide recently named the five best hotels in Ibiza. . Leave it to the Orient Express to put the fun back in fungus. In November, the famed French hospitality group that operates luxury trains throughout Europe, will launch a new itinerary to coincide with Italy's truffle season. The Truffle Route spans two nights, traveling from Rome to Piedmont (and back) aboard La Dolce Vita Orient Express, with enough food, wine, and pastoral views to make you forget your inbox. . Whether a pilgrimage is secular or spiritual, hiking through ancient, historical or religious routes is arguably the oldest form of mindful travel. And in this increasingly turbulent world, the number of pilgrims is on the rise—particularly the renowned European pilgrimages. From the Camino de Santiago along the coasts of Spain and Portugal to Saint Olav's Way in Norway and Sweden, here are eight iconic pilgrimages in Europe. This is the published version of Forbes' Passport newsletter, which offers a first-class guide to luxury travel. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox every Friday. . The next time you think about logging into the free airport Wi-Fi to pass the time before a flight, think again. Hackers have long used airport Wi-Fi systems (or spoofed them altogether) to steal information, identities and of course money. Here's how to protect yourself when using airport Wi-Fi.'As I make my slow pilgrimage through the world, a certain sense of beautiful mystery seems to gather and grow.'. There's being pampered on vacation and then there's booking a spa suite. From Taipei to Tulum, spa suites have become one of hospitality's hottest wellness trends. Driven by a post-pandemic desire for personalization and private relaxation, hotels are converting existing spaces—including the entire fourth floor at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills—or designing new facilities specifically for these ultra-exclusive getaways. Here's what you need to know about spa suites.
New York Post
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘Liver King' freed after threatening Joe Rogan — and immediately starts ranting online again
Troubled influencer Brian 'Liver King' Johnson has been freed after his arrest for allegedly making terroristic threats against Joe Rogan — and immediately began posting bizarre videos again. The 47-year-old steroid-popping influencer was arrested in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday night after he suddenly showed up in Rogan's hometown after ranting for days about 'picking a fight' with the podcaster — at one point seemingly brandishing guns. The testicle-munching muscleman has since posted a $20,000 bond, according to court records reviewed by KXAN. He has been banned from contacting Rogan or his family, and ordered to stay at least 600 feet from any of their homes and businesses. He was also ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation within a week of his release, the records showed. 3 Johnson posted a $20,000 bond after his arrest on Tuesday night. @liverking/Instagram Once out, Johnson quickly resumed posting bizarre videos on social media — which he has been doing for the last eight months after appearing to abandon his once-popular Youtube channel. 'I'm gonna make a bunch of videos this week, and then I'm not gonna make 'em for a long while — then I'll make some more again,' he said in one clip, without explanation. 3 Johnson immediately started posting more bizarre content after his release from prison. @liverking/Instagram 'Thank you for all the prayers — all the people praying for me,' he said in one of more than a dozen videos posted to Instagram since his release. In another, he said a prayer — with an F-bomb — while holding candles and dancing to classical music. The influencer — whose philosphy supposedly revolves around living like cavemen — then later complained about the poor facilities in his room at the Four Seasons. 3 Johnson was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation within the next week. @liverking/Instagram Johnson was charged with making terroristic threats after traveling to Rogan's home and challenging him to a fight in a bizarre Instagram video. 'Joe Rogan, I'm calling you out, my name's Liver King. Man to man, I'm picking a fight with you,' he said, while shirtless and sporting a wolf pelt. Rogan told police he didn't know Johnson and thought he appeared Rogan, 57, told police he was unaware that the influencer, who he'd never met, was 'targeting him' and had been told by other people that Johnson 'has a significant drug issue,' according to legal documents obtained by TMZ. Johnson has never been featured on Rogan's popular podcast 'The Joe Rogan Experience,' but the influencer has come up multiple times on the show in discussions about performance-enhancing drugs. The macho meat-lover infamously denied ever using steroids to achieve his freakish frame — instead crediting his diet of raw meat, animal testicles, liver and fertilized chicken eggs. However, he was exposed for being on steroids and human growth hormone in late 2022 after leaked emails revealed he had been spending $11,000 a month on muscle-building drugs.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Cooper Flagg, a competitive apparel battle and the winning pitch: ‘Like a movie'
Four conference rooms. Three pitch meetings. All for one chance to land a future star. Rewind to May 20, 2024, the day three factions of rival apparel company executives descended on the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. The purpose of their one-day visit? Woo Cooper Flagg, the then-17-year-old wunderkind widely considered one of basketball's budding young stars. Advertisement In hindsight — especially after Wednesday night, when the Dallas Mavericks selected Flagg with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft — it feels foolish for anyone to have ever doubted Flagg's trajectory. But at the time, the 6-foot-8 forward had yet to play a minute of college basketball at Duke. His unofficial breakout at Team USA's pre-Olympic training camp — where he more than held his own against the likes of LeBron James and Steph Curry — wouldn't happen for another two months, either. Still, Flagg oozed such potential that high-profile apparel brands were lining up to work with him when he was just a high school junior. In the fall of 2023, when the Newport, Maine, native opted to reclassify and enroll at Duke a year early — effectively skipping his senior season of high school — NIL (name, image and likeness) offers came fast and furious. Chief among them were major shoe companies like Nike, Adidas and New Balance, all wanting to sign Flagg to their star-studded rosters. Flagg, his family and his representation wanted that major decision settled before he arrived on campus in Durham, N.C., so he could focus on hoops. That meant devising a solution: They'd hear pitches from three select companies, all on the same day, and then pick their future partner once the meetings concluded. 'Like a movie,' said Naveen Lokesh, New Balance's global marketing director of basketball and football, who also spearheaded the company's pitch to Flagg. 'Almost like 'Air.'' On pitch day, the groups of executives huddled in their Four Seasons conference rooms for final rehearsals. Quietly, New Balance was confident in its pitch — particularly with one secret component, which it hoped would make all the difference. Lokesh and his team entered a separate conference room where Flagg, his family and his Creative Artists Agency (CAA) team waited to be wowed. Lokesh wasted no time playing the high notes. He reminded the Flaggs how every summer they used to attend a tent sale every summer at New Balance's factory in Skowhegan, Maine — a half-hour drive from Flagg's hometown — and pick out sneakers for the upcoming school year. (Kelly, Flagg's mother, even remembers doing the same when she was a little girl.) Lokesh stressed how important New England was to New Balance, which is based in Boston, as well as the Flagg family. They discussed philanthropy opportunities and product possibilities, and they reiterated that the privately owned brand was not looking to sign Flagg as one of a number of new athletes. Advertisement Rather, New Balance only wanted him. An all-in bet. 'If he goes to another brand,' Lokesh remembered saying, 'they're going to do great storytelling, and they're gonna have great products. Great marketing, big campaigns. All the things we can do.' Pause. Secret weapon time. 'There's one more thing we want to show you,' Lokesh continued, 'that nobody else can show you or give you. It's a small message.' Suddenly, a video started playing of the Skowhegan factory, countless assembly lines within it and the process of a custom pair of basketball shoes being made. At one point, the father of one of Flagg's former grassroots teammates — who still works at the facility — made an appearance. Then another worker shortly thereafter, proudly proclaiming that, 'Cooper Flagg being from Maine and being the basketball prodigy that he is, it just gives you that sense of pride.' Eventually, the 53-second clip ended with a still shot of the gray shoes, with 'FLAGG' stitched directly onto the tongue. As the lights came up inside the Four Seasons conference room, Lokesh pulled out his grand finale: The pair of custom shoes from the video, straight from Maine, still the only pair of Cooper Flagg New Balances in existence. 'It was pretty cool to see that video and the Maine shoes and some familiar faces,' Flagg told The Athletic. 'That meeting, going through their plans and kind of the future they saw for me, it just aligned really well with the future that I saw for myself.' In December 2023, two months after Flagg committed to Duke, Lokesh was sitting in New Balance's Boston headquarters when chief marketing officer Chris Davis swung by his desk and plopped down a magazine. It was a copy of SLAM magazine — the edition with Flagg on the cover celebrating his commitment. 'Go get him,' Davis told Lokesh. 'He's perfect.' Lokesh understood the challenge in doing so. Landing Flagg would represent New Balance's biggest basketball acquisition since 2018, when it signed likely Hall of Famer Kawhi Leonard away from Jordan Brand. That move reignited a basketball line that had been dormant since the 1980s, back when James Worthy was still New Balance's signature basketball athlete. And while New Balance had complemented Leonard with other top NBA players over the last seven years — including Jamal Murray, Dejounte Murray and Tyrese Maxey — it still looked for another top-line star. Advertisement New Balance's basketball division saw that person in Flagg. He was someone, depending on how his career broke, who could carry the larger mantle alongside brand's other worldwide faces: tennis star Coco Gauff, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani and Arsenal midfielder Bukayo Saka. From December until May, Lokesh and his team researched what it would take to make the landscape-altering signing. They dove into Flagg's humble origins and came to appreciate someone who preferred a tight-knit circle over mass exposure. Their priority on keeping jobs in New England aligned with Flagg's overwhelming support for his home region. Perhaps most importantly, New Balance's private 'boutique' approach meant they could sell Flagg on being a centerpiece rather than just another face in the crowd. That last piece appealed to Flagg and his family in a major way. In fact, it was one of the deciding reasons they eventually chose New Balance over other apparel companies — including Nike, which sponsored the EYBL grassroots circuit Flagg played and starred in. 'It was just the way that they were willing to believe in Cooper and invest in him early on and say, 'He's our guy,'' Kelly Flagg said. 'They had a very clear strategic plan of how they were going to implement him into their space, and there was a clear path to him potentially getting his own shoes or his own things — where some of the other companies were playing it maybe a little more safe and saying, 'You know what, we'll see how he does,' and kind of put it on the shelf.' After the Four Seasons meeting, New Balance was firmly in the driver's seat to land Flagg, but it still needed to seal the deal. Lokesh wanted to arrange for the entire family to fly to Boston to meet with Davis, someone they'd be working with directly on many of Flagg's future endeavors. But it was already June 2024, and the Flaggs had scattered: Cooper was on Duke's campus; his twin brother, Ace, was back in Maine training with former Boston Celtics center Brian Scalabrine; and his parents were in the process of moving to Greensboro, N.C., where they stayed all of last season to be close to both boys. In the days leading up to the Boston meeting, Lokesh overheard Kelly lamenting how she hadn't seen Ace in a while because of the chaos. So when Davis eventually booked Cooper's and his parents' flights to Beantown, he also scheduled a car service to drive Ace down for the day. Not for any business reasons. Just to show what New Balance was about. 'We're not signing Ace, but come on. Your mom's here,' Lokesh said. 'This is how a family brand works.' There was only one major hiccup in Flagg signing with New Balance. Duke was a Nike school. Per the university's Nike agreement — which is standard across college athletics — Flagg would only be allowed to play in Nike apparel during his time in Durham. New Balance could still sign him to a personal, long-term brand deal … but for a year, as Flagg was exploding on the college basketball scene, the company would have to watch him in a rival's apparel. It was an unforeseen complication in the NIL era, especially amid one of the most lucrative individual apparel deals a college athlete has signed to date. Advertisement No wonder that back in the Four Seasons conference room, one of Kelly's first questions was, 'How would we handle this?' 'We're in it for the long term,' Lokesh told the Flaggs. 'One year of him wearing a direct competitor's product will not upset us or ruin something we know is great down the road.' Instead, Duke and New Balance were proactive to work around the situation. Between Duke's two summer school sessions, for example, Flagg flew home to Maine and shot the advertising campaign New Balance used to announce his signing in October 2024. The company also outfitted Flagg — and his family, which had accrued a healthy amount of rival apparel during Flagg's grassroots career — in more New Balance gear than they could fit in their closets. Flagg and Duke coach Jon Scheyer even had a 'friendly conversation,' in Scheyer's words, during the preseason about how they'd manage the arrangement. 'If anything, in 2025,' Scheyer said, 'the player has the power to do whatever they want.' But Flagg never forced the issue, understanding the terms of the dual contracts he was bound by — although he did still bust Scheyer's chops a time or two about wanting to wear New Balances in a game. 'I mentioned it a couple of times,' Flagg said, grinning, 'but it was always just jokes.' Lokesh and several other New Balance figureheads were in Durham for Flagg's first regular-season college game, a blowout win over Maine in which he posted 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. But that was one of only two times Lokesh said he saw Flagg between June 2024 and the end of Flagg's freshman season, which culminated with Duke losing to Houston in the NCAA Final Four. Instead of suffocating its new signee throughout the season, New Balance sent a basic message to Flagg. 'Enjoy college. Don't feel like you've got to go do an appearance at the New Balance store because you're in North Carolina,' Lokesh explained. 'We strategically set out the pitch that said if we do this long-term deal … then we don't have to worry about one year at Duke.' Advertisement That didn't prevent New Balance from celebrating Flagg from afar, though. The company posted billboards in various ACC cities celebrating Flagg's standout campaign, and another round after he was named ACC Player of the Year. Once Duke made it to San Antonio for the Final Four, New Balance made sure to pepper the airport with more promotional materials celebrating the teenager, who by that point had been named the consensus national player of the year. And now? With Flagg officially in Dallas as the face of the franchise's future? Now comes the fun stuff. That began with a draft party this week at Flagg's hometown high school in Maine, Nokomis Regional, where he won a state championship his freshman season alongside brothers Ace and Hunter. (New Balance is even making Nokomis new basketball uniforms as part of Flagg's deal.) The brand also worked with Maine's state legislature to officially declare June 25, the first day of the NBA Draft, as 'Flagg Day.' But what's next is what everyone, Flagg included, has been waiting for: shoes. During his lone season at Duke, the Blue Devils would open their facility late at night so Flagg could 'stress-test' different pairs of New Balances, in anticipation of a limited-edition Canvas Series colorway set to launch in the lead-up to his Dallas debut. Flagg recently chose the colors and shot a promotional campaign for the shoes back in — of all places — Los Angeles, where he spent most of his pre-draft prep time. 'We're not gonna do a signature shoe (yet),' Lokesh said, 'but we'll do a small run of stuff that will be accessible to people all around the world: to have a piece of Cooper at this really pivotal moment.' A post shared by New Balance (@newbalance) That'll be as welcome for the Flagg family as it is for any of Cooper's fans. 'Everybody has been crazy bugging us from the state of Maine: When is he going to have something? There's the Kawhi (shoe); when is the Cooper shoe coming in?' Kelly joked. 'I don't know how many people there are in Maine, but I imagine that they're gonna sell out pretty quickly.' Advertisement Back when Flagg was a kid, getting a new pair of shoes every summer at the Skowhegan tent sale, he never could have imagined that one day, shoes bearing his favorite colors might be sold at the same place. Now that he's on the precipice of that reality, it's only underscored that he and his inner circle made the right choice 13 months ago. 'That was never really a thought, or anything I thought would be reality,' Flagg said. 'But definitely going through it now, it's really cool to just be in the position of seeing how it all works and being given these opportunities.'
