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Nothing makes our ears perk up more than a good deal and shoppers have found a brilliant offer you don’t want to miss.

For a limited time only, you can now claim two years of Xbox Game Pass for free with a little-known hack. Yes, you read that correctly.

So, what do you need to do? Scroll down to find out everything you need to know.

Getty/Alistair Berg

What is Xbox Game Pass Ultimate?

Serious gamers will know Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is designed to enable you to play new games on the same day they’re released. After signing up, you will be granted instant access to hundreds of games on your console, PC, or the cloud.

We’re talking indie classics, Electronic Arts titles, and iconic franchises from the likes of Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks. Plus, you’ll be able to play exclusive challenges with members-only content and early trials of new titles up for grabs too. What more could you ask for?

For price comparison, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate currently costs $19.99 per month on the official Xbox website. So, that’s a grand saving of $479.76 over 24 months.

How to claim 24 months of Xbox Ultimate Game Pass for free now

Verizon is behind the incredible offer and it’s perfect timing if you fancy an Xbox upgrade or have yet to make the exciting purchase.

All you need to do is buy either an Xbox Series S or Xbox Series X through the Verizon website and you will be gifted 24 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for free. Below, discover the Xbox deals currently up for grabs on Verizon, from the console’s features and perks to savings to be had.

What to know about the Xbox Series S

Verizon/Xbox

• 512GB
• 4 teraflops processing power
• 1440p gaming resolution

24 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

• Hundreds of games
• Day one releases
• Online multiplayer
• EA Play membership

Prices start from $26.99 per month.

What to know about the Xbox Series X

Verizon/Xbox

• 1TB internal storage
• 12 teraflops processing power
• True 4k gaming resolution

24 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

• Hundreds of games
• Day one releases
• Online multiplayer
• EA Play membership

Prices start from $36.99 per month.

A deadline for the above Verizon Xbox Ultimate Game Pass offers has not been confirmed. You must be a US resident to claim the offer. Ts&Cs apply.

Visit the Verizon website now to find the best deal for you.

Elon Musk has responded after Mark Zuckerberg confirmed Meta would be following X in making a major change to how its social media platforms are run.

Zuckerberg – who now has a net worth of $213 billion – founded Facebook in 2004.

Meta acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and went on to launch Threads – an alternative to Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter – in 2023.

Now, all three Meta-owned social media sites are set to loosen moderation by scrapping third-party fact-checking in the US.

Meta’s fact checking program was introduced in 2016 and sees posts that appear to be false or misleading referred to independent organisations for verification.

Inaccurate posts are labeled with wider context and information.

Facebook, Instagram and Threads users in the US will notice the change (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The system is being axed in a bid to restore ‘free expression’, Zuckerberg said in a video update.

Instead, Meta is switching to an X-style Community Notes system where users flag content as false or misleading.

Zuckerberg said the decision was about ‘restoring free expression’ on its platforms and ‘reducing mistakes’ it said automated content moderation systems were making, which Meta believed was amounting to censorship in some cases, accusing some fact-checkers of being influenced by their own biases.

Fact-checking practices will remain as usual outside the US.

Full Fact, a fact-checking organization involved in verifying Facebook posts in Europe, called Meta’s decision a ‘backwards step’.

Zuckerberg explained Meta’s moderation changes in a new video (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Their chief executive Chris Morris said: “We absolutely refute Meta’s charge of bias – we are strictly impartial, fact check claims from all political stripes with equal rigour, and hold those in power to account through our commitment to truth.

“Like Meta, fact checkers are committed to promoting free speech based on good information without resorting to censorship. But locking fact checkers out of the conversation won’t help society to turn the tide on rapidly rising misinformation.”

The community notes system was first introduced on X back in 2021, becoming more widely used after Musk took over the social media giant in 2023.

It allows platform users who have signed up to the program to respond to potentially controversial posts with clarifications and wider context in a break out box.

People can then vote on if they find the annotations helpful.

And Musk – an outspoken advocate for ‘free speech’ – has since responded to Zuckerberg’s moderation changes.

Sharing a screenshot to his X profile of a Free Speech Union article headlined: “Facebook dumps fact-checkers in attempt to ‘restore’ free speech,” Musk simply responded: “This is cool.”

Elon Musk

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This is cool

7:50 AM · Jan 7, 2025

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The Meta changes come weeks before President-elect Donald Trump – who previously criticized Meta’s fact-checking policy – takes office. Trump even threatened Zuckerberg with life in prison at one point.

Trump said at a news conference: “Honestly, I think they have come a long way, Meta, Facebook.”

Asked whether Zuckerberg was ‘directly responding’ to threats Trump had made to him in the past, the incoming president responded: “Probably”.

Elon Musk was spotted giving an enthusiastic thumbs up during Donald Trump’s inaugural speech, which massively contrasted Barron Trump’s reaction.

People tuning into Donald Trump‘s inaugural speech were left gasping for air with laughter after the cameras showed Elon Musk and Barron Trump during the speech.

As Trump commented on America‘s goal of putting a person on Mars, Musk is seen giving a super enthusiastic thumbs up, while stood next to Barron Trump and applauding.

Barron on the other hand, looked pretty unfazed by the whole thing and doesn’t so much as give a smile. Take a look:

As you can imagine the clip of the moment has already started spreading on social media with many delighted by the night and day difference between the two men.

One user commented: “Barron Trump looked like he feared being the first person sent to Mars.”

While another wrote: “Barron Trump giving zero f**ks about Mars while standing next to Elon Muck.”

A third wrote: “Tuned into the Trump inauguration speech for literally less than a minute and was just in time to get this screen shot of Barron Trump looking like he wants to k*ll himself being stuck next to Elon Musk.”

With another adding: “I’m gonna assume Baron Trump is Not a fan of Elon Musk by what I just saw on cam lol.”

The only acceptable face to make when Mars is mentioned (YouTube/AFP)

Now, it does make sense why Musk would be spotted applauding and beaming ear to ear based on what Trump said.

The now sworn-in-president said: “We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.”

This is something Musk has publicly spoken about for years and a man on Mars is one of the goals he wishes to see achieved in his lifetime – despite the planet recently being deemed as ‘unsafe for humans to live’ by experts.

Despite the hopes of Musk, experts have also been clear of the many difficulties that starting a civilization on Mars could expect.

Last year David Kipping, the Assistant Professor, Department of Astronomy at Columbia University, spoke to Valuetainment and explained how some people have their doubts regarding Musk’s plans to put civilizations on the red planet.

He said: “Yeah, some of my colleague’s kind of think it’s ridiculous and think it’s just totally crazy that we’ll ever do this.”

Humanity getting to mars has long been a dream (Getty Stock Image)

However he did note that he had no issue with Musk putting his money into projects that could lead to Mars’ colonization.

He continued: “I get the philosophy. The philosophy is, as long as we’re all on planet Earth we’re at risk because all it takes is one giant meteor or one nuclear war or whatever cataclysm you want, and we’re all gone.

“So, if your objective is to preserve the species then it totally makes sense that you would want to have a second base and whether that base be on the moon or Mars, I don’t really have a strong opinion.”

People have been wondering if Donald Trump’s decision not to put his hand on the Bible while being sworn in has had any impact on his oath of office.

Yesterday (January 20) marked a historical day for the White House as Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, becoming the 47th President of the United States.

The inauguration ceremony in Washington has already caused a stir on social media, as eagle-eyed viewers didn’t skip a beat spotting some seemingly strange moments.

From First Lady Melania Trump‘s excessively large hat which allowed her to ‘dodge’ a kiss from the president to Elon Musk’s thumbs up next to Barron Trump before later being accused of making a ‘Nazi salute’ – something he has denied.

Now, another snippet from the ceremony has gone viral where Trump is being sworn in during his oath of office.

Donald Trump didn’t put hand on Bible during oath

The tradition of swearing on a Bible dates back to George Washington, who actually kissed the scriptures after taking his oath, but as Trump raised his right hand to ‘solemnly swear’ to commit to the position and ‘serve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States’, his left hand strayed away from hovering over the two Bibles his wife held in front of him.

He had a family Bible, given to Trump by his mother, and a Bible used by the 16th President Abraham Lincoln used in his own inauguration in 1861. But apparently, Trump didn’t touch either of them, despite doing so in his first inauguration in 2017.

Many have since been left wondering if Trump’s choice not to touch the holy texts has had any impact on his oath and how the Bible actually factors into the whole affair.

Donald Trump didn’t touch the Bibles next to him while making his oath (MORRY GASH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Taking to Twitter, an apparent Trump supporter wrote: “Great. Just great. No hand on the Bible.

“Melania tried to get it close to him but Roberts and Trump didn’t notice.

“Now we get four more years of people saying he’s not president, and four more years of people saying he’s the AntiChrist.”

It’s not clear why Trump decided not to put his hand on the Bible.

Does Trump not putting his hand on the Bible have an impact on oath?

Physically touching a Bible is not actually mandatory or a legal requirement – the Constitution simply requires the president take the oath before assuming office, religious text or not.

Speaking to Reuters, Jeremi Suri, a University of Texas history professor and presidential scholar, revealed there is no practical impact if a president declines to swear on a Bible or historical document.

Suri said: “There’s nothing in the Constitution that says the president has to connect this to God in any way. The oath is to the Constitution.

“I don’t think it has any bearing on him taking the oath.”

Trump and his wife, Melania, during his swearing in in the US Capitol on Monday (Julia Demaree Nikhinson – Pool/Getty Images)

The academic also added that the Constitution allows any incoming president to either swear or attest, meaning it is ‘open to someone who is an atheist’.

Long-standing tradition

But that hasn’t stopped Trump’s predecessors from following the tradition to a tee, including Joe Biden, who used a Bible that had been in his family since 1893.

In some instances where the Bible was not used, US presidents used other texts: John Quincy Adams, the sixth president, placed his hand on a book of law, while Lyndon B. Johnson used a Catholic prayer missal that was found on the plane that transported John F. Kennedy’s casket after his assassination, reports The New York Times.

Trump has also referenced God during his inaugural address, commenting that he was ‘saved by God’ to ‘make American great again‘.

UNILAD has contacted the White House press secretary for comment.

All the executive orders Donald Trump has signed so far

Policy recognising only ‘two genders’

The president signed an order which will make it an official policy that there are only ‘two genders’.

The policy reads: “Agencies will cease pretending that men can be women and women can be men when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination.

“These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”

The order will also bring to an end ‘wasteful’ government programmes which promote diversity and inclusivity, as well as ‘defending women from gender ideology extremism’.

Free speech

The president accused the previous administration of ‘trampling free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech’ and vowed to restore freedom of speech.

The order states it will ‘ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen’ and will ‘end censorship of protected speech’.

Leaving the World Health Organisation

The president accused the organization of fumbling the COVID-19 pandemic and said the US would no longer be ‘ripped off’ by it.

While signing a document to have the US leave the health agency, Trump said: “World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore.”

TikTok ban

As expected, Trump signed an executive order which hits pause on the US’ ban of the popular app, allowing time for an ‘appropriate course forward’.

“I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally,” he said.

January 6 pardons

Trump’s loss in the 2020 election led to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in turn resulting in the arrests of a number of Trump supporters.

And as anticipated, the president has wasted no time in issuing pardons for offenders. Trump said he’s pardoned around 1,500 people and issued six commutations.

Immigration

Trump has issued a slew of immigration-related policies during his first day back in the White House as he declared illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border a national emergency.

Trump has already gotten started on reversing several Biden-era immigration orders and has plans to send US troops to help immigration agents and restrict refugees.

The president has also got the wheels in motion to prevent children of immigrants in the US illegally from having citizenship.

Speaking at his inauguration, he said: “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”

Restoring the death penalty

Calling capital punishment an ‘essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes’, Trump signed an order which will ensure states have enough lethal injection drugs for executions.

“The Attorney General shall pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use,” the order says.

Renaming the Gulf of Mexico

Following through on his promise during a press conference earlier this month, Trump has now ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be called the Gulf of America.

“President Trump is bringing common sense to government and renewing the pillars of American Civilization,” the executive order said.

Despite the order, it won’t change how it is named globally.

Energy policy

Trump has vowed to ‘unleash American energy’, promising to export US energy globally as he signed the order amid what he describes as a ‘national energy emergency’.

“America is blessed with an abundance of energy and natural resources that have historically powered our Nation’s economic prosperity. In recent years, burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations have impeded the development of these resources, limited the generation of reliable and affordable electricity, reduced job creation, and inflicted high energy costs upon our citizens,” the order states.

The order will also reverse Biden’s ban on drilling in Alaska as Trump declared America ‘will be a rich nation again’.

Cost of living

In the order, Trump vowed to issue ’emergency price relief’ to Americans aimed at lowering housing prices and availability and creating ’employment opportunities for American workers’.

Trump will also ‘eliminate harmful, coercive “climate” policies that increase the costs of food and fuel’.

Drug cartels

Trump has said drug cartels will now be classified as terrorist organisations.

“International cartels constitute a national-security threat beyond that posed by traditional organised crime,” the orders says.

Federal workers

Federal employees have now been classified as political hires – a move which in theory would make them easier to fire.

Trump also declared a federal hiring freeze which will reduce the size of federal government.