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Toyota's net profit soared more than fivefold in the first quarter as strong sales were fuelled by the recovery from the coronavirus crisis, but the firm left its annual forecast unchanged Wednesday citing "uncertainties" ahead. The world's top-selling automaker has bounced back quicker than its competitors from the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns, reclaiming the top spot for sales last year. The Japanese giant has also so far weathered a global chip shortage that has forced rivals to slash production targets, although it is now facing some disruption. For the three months to June, Toyota logged an 897.8 billion yen ($8.2 billion) net profit—a record for the first quarter, and up from 158.8 billion yen in the same period last year. Sales surged 72.5 percent to 7.9 trillion yen. "The first-quarter results were the result of our maintaining... stable sales and supply, despite the semiconductor shortage and spread of Covid-19," the company said in a statement. But it maintained its full-year net profit forecast at 2.3 trillion yen, warning of "uncertainties in and after the second quarter". Last week, Toyota said group global sales hit a record high for the six months to June, thanks to healthy demand for its Highlander and Camry models in the United States and Corolla and Lexus brands in China. "Toyota has sustained its strong performance," said Satoru Takada, an auto analyst at Tokyo-based research and consulting firm TIW. The firm "has a good chance of retaining the crown of the world's number one carmaker", Takada told AFP before the results were released. Chip shortage In June, Toyota temporarily suspended operations at two domestic plants because of the global chip crunch, with a third short hiatus currently at a separate factory. Microchips are essential for the electronics systems of modern cars, and have been in short supply since the end of last year. When the pandemic hit, carmakers worldwide scaled back orders, so chipmakers shifted output to consumer electronics as people splurged on equipment to work and relax at home. That left automakers in a tight situation as demand returned, with many slowing or even temporarily halting production. "Semiconductor supplies are expected to remain tight at least until next year, because the global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic should further boost chip demand in many sectors," said Yasuo Imanaka, chief analyst at Rakuten Securities. "On top of the semiconductor shortage, the impact of the spread of the Delta strain of the coronavirus on both sales and production in Asia is a potential risk for Toyota," added TIW's Takada. Toyota shares erased early gains and closed down 0.84 percent on Wednesday, with investors disappointed at no upward revision. Analysts are also focusing on the recent shift to electric vehicles among leading automakers, driven by growing concerns over emissions. Toyota, which pioneered hybrid cars, has announced plans for its first global line-up of battery-powered electric vehicles as other carmakers have pulled ahead in the sector. In early July, rival Nissan unveiled plans to build a massive battery factory in northeastern England, where it will also manufacture a new electric vehicle. Last week, Nissan upgraded its annual outlook, projecting a return to the black for the current fiscal year. Later Wednesday, Honda upgraded its full-year forecast as it returned to the black in the first quarter. Honda's net profit for the fiscal year to March 2022 is now forecast at 670 billion yen, up from the previous estimate of 590 billion yen. "Tech"

Protests are continuing for the fourth day over the alleged gang rape, murder and forced cremation of a nine-year-old girl in the Indian capital, Delhi. The girl's parents have accused a Hindu priest and three others of attacking her when she had gone to fetch drinking water from the crematorium's cooler. Her mother said the gates were shut and she was threatened when she objected to her daughter's cremation. Police have registered a case of gang rape and murder and arrested the men. Warning: some readers may find this story distressing. The girl's parents are Dalits - formerly untouchables - who make a living by begging outside a Sufi Muslim shrine located just across from the cremation ground in Delhi's Nangal area. The girl was their only child. Her mother told me that on Sunday evening, she had sent her daughter to fetch water from the crematorium, just a few metres from their shanty. "When she didn't return for over an hour, I went searching for her. At the crematorium, I found her lying on the ground. Her lips were blue, there was blood under her nose, she had bruises on her hands and arms and her clothes were wet." She said the priest and the three men advised her not to call the police, saying "they would insist on an autopsy and steal her organs and sell them". What do Delhi rape hangings mean for women? The pregnant child caught in a media storm She alleged that they shut the gates to prevent her from leaving, threatened her and even offered to bribe her. The child's father said that by the time he, along with about 150 villagers, reached the crematorium, their daughter's body was mostly burned. The villagers said they called the police and doused the pyre with water, but could only retrieve her legs - which means a post mortem exam to confirm rape would not be possible. A senior police official said that based on the information from the parents, a case of gang rape, murder and forced cremation had been registered against the accused. The incident is drawing comparisons with last year's alleged gang rape and murder of a Dalit teen by four upper-caste men in the town of Hathras in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. That incident had caused global outrage after police forcibly cremated her body despite her family's protests. Dalits, who are placed at the bottom of the unforgiving Hindu caste hierarchy, remain among India's most downtrodden citizens. A large majority of the 200 million Dalits are poor and despite laws to protect them, they continue to be subjected to daily discrimination from the upper castes and the authorities. And Dalit women face the triple burden of poverty, gender bias and caste discrimination. On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Nangal cremation ground, demanding the death penalty for the accused. They also called for some local police officials to be suspended, accusing them of harassing the victim's family. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior leader of the opposition Congress Party Rahul Gandhi visited the child's family and offered to help them get justice. Protesters from the Congress burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of not condemning the crime. A fatal assault, a cremation and no goodbye A woman reported rape. Why are police denying it? Over the past few days, leaders from the Dalit community have participated in the protests and activists and citizens have taken to social media to express outrage. Some have already dubbed it a caste crime - as the accused priest is reported to be an upper-caste Brahmin. Since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in Delhi, rape and sexual violence have been under the spotlight in India. That attack saw days of protests and forced changes to the country's rape laws, but there has been no sign of crimes against women and girls abating. According to recent crime figures, every fourth rape victim in India is a child. In an overwhelming number of rape cases, the victims know the perpetrators. "BBC"

Name of the game: Battlefield Price: $39.99 $4.79 Link Store: Battlefield 1 on Steam Offer ends up after X hours: 30min. Requirements: MÍNIMO: Requiere un procesador y un sistema operativo de 64 bits SO: 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 Procesador: Processor (AMD): AMD FX-6350 Processor (Intel): Intel Core i5 6600K Memoria: 8 GB de RAM Gráficos: Graphics card (AMD): AMD Radeon™ HD 7850 2GB Graphics card (NVIDIA): NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 660 2GB DirectX: Versión 11 Red: Conexión de banda ancha a Internet Almacenamiento: 50 GB de espacio disponible RECOMENDADO: Requiere un procesador y un sistema operativo de 64 bits SO: 64-bit Windows 10 or later Procesador: Processor (AMD): AMD FX 8350 Wraith Processor (Intel): Intel Core i7 4790 or equivalent Memoria: 16 GB de RAM Gráficos: Graphics card (AMD): AMD Radeon™ RX 480 4GB Graphics card (NVIDIA): NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 1060 3GB DirectX: Versión 11 Red: Conexión de banda ancha a Internet Almacenamiento: 50 GB de espacio disponible

Shutterbug-types can return to New Pokemon Snap which has expanded with three new areas and 20 extra pokemon. New Pokemon Snap's first free update is now available on Nintendo Switch, adding three new areas to explore and 20 additional Pokemon to grab some pictures of. Announced last month, the update's new areas include the Secret Side Path, Mightywide River, and Barren Badlands, additional research titles, profile icons, photo filters, stickers, and frames. Barren Badlands is an arid desert environment that features poisonous swamps, Mightywide River takes players on a jungle cruise but without The Rock-type by their side, and Secret Side Path shrinks players down to provide a more titanic experience of nature. As for the extra Pokemon, Nintendo previously teased that Snorlax, Psyduck, Tropius, Gyrados, Feraligatr, Shroomish, Tepig, and Swalot would be included. Beyond that, Nintendo says that other technical issues have been fixed. You can read the full patch notes below: New Pokemon Snap Ver 2.0.0 Patch Notes 3 new areas have been added: Secret Side Path, Mightywide River, and Barren Badlands. These new areas also contain 20 new Pokémon. Additional research titles, profile icons, photo filters, stickers, and frames have been added. Search options for Other Players' Photos have changed. Other issues have also been addressed to improve the game-play experience.

Linux adoption has spiked upwards with Steam gamers Linux usage is spiking upwards according to the latest stats from Steam, and it seems likely that this is down to the Steam Deck driving interest in Linux gaming. The freshly released Steam hardware survey for July shows that Linux now represents a full percentage point of all those gaming on Valve’s platform. Now, 1% might sound like a tiny amount – and it is obviously just a drop in the overall gaming ocean – but it’s a telling milestone for Linux to reach. Best Linux distros for beginners and advanced users Also check out all the best Linux distros for gaming And the best PC games of 2021 As Gaming On Linux, which spotted this development, makes clear, this is the first time in a number of years that Linux has hit the 1% mark. Interestingly, the only time this occurred previously is when Valve first released Proton, its compatibility layer that allows Windows games to be run under Linux. Which is, of course, the very same compatibility tool that’s being used with the custom version of Steam OS which powers the Steam Deck. So it’s not a big leap to draw a parallel here between these two occasions when Linux has reached the 1% mark. To put the increase in context, in June, 0.89% of Steam gamers were running Linux, and that has increased by 0.11% to reach 1% this month. That’s a fairly impressive spike in the niche scale that Linux gamers represent on Steam. Remember that there are some 120 million Steam gamers, so therefore approximately 1.2 million on Linux now, and it sounds much more significant looked at from that perspective – with 130,000 or so joining the fold in the past month. Analysis: Watch this space – and consider other factors What’s going to be really interesting is to watch the next couple of months of figures for Linux adoption under Steam, in order to see if this upward trajectory continues. That’ll make it pretty clear that Valve’s Steam Deck is driving interest in Linux gaming, as folks start installing a distro and presumably playing around with Proton to see how Windows titles run under the compatibility layer. If this uptick is indeed the result of those curious about the Steam Deck, then surely that’ll be their main goal – but test-driving Proton could be something of a double-edged sword at the moment. Remember that as it stands, Proton is bamboozled by a number of po[CENSORED]r Windows games that use anti-cheat software, and there are other issues to be ironed out – so folks could stumble onto off-putting problems. Valve has promised it’s working hard on resolving these stumbling blocks, though, and we’d imagine this must be a big priority. But for now, perhaps what Valve doesn’t want is folks experimenting with Proton and finding more hiccups than they’d ideally like. That said, it doesn’t seem like Steam Deck sales are suffering from any lack of demand – quite the opposite, and shipping times have been pushed out to ‘after’ Q2 2022 at least (though admittedly we don’t know anything about manufacturing capacity and intended production levels). We should also consider other possible factors that might currently be persuading folks to have a look at Linux distros, namely Windows 11 being on the horizon – and suddenly telling users that their Windows 10 PC doesn’t fit the hardware requirements for an upgrade. Those disgruntled people may be looking at Linux rather than just sticking with Windows 10.

AMD's stock has closed at record-breaking prices for the last five days following its most recent earnings report, which revealed that quarterly sales reached an all-time high of $3.85 billion in 2Q21, and chief executive Lisa Su's commitment to shipping next-gen processors heading into 2022 despite the ongoing chip shortage. Yahoo Finance data showed that AMD's stock closed at a record $97.93 on July 28, and set another record at $112.56 on August 3. The price has continued to rise so far today: It peaked at $118.82 this morning and settled at roughly $119 at the time of writing. The tool still marks the stock as undervalued, too, and predicts strong long-term performance. The market appeared to be responding to AMD's strong earnings in the second quarter. The highlight was the revelation that its sales had nearly doubled year-over-year despite the challenges imposed by the coronavirus pandemic and the global chip shortage that's left many companies unable to satisfy demand for their wares. AMD's rising share price could also have benefitted from Intel's repeated warnings that the consumer chip shortage would continue into the third quarter. The company said in its most recent earnings call that margins have suffered as supply chain costs have risen because it hasn't passed those increases on to consumers. Intel continues to lead in terms of market share, especially when it comes to consumer processors, but AMD has eaten away at the high-value data center business with its EPYC lineup. That increased competition might persuade some investors that AMD can truly challenge Intel's dominance in at least one sector. MarketWatch noted that investors could also have been responding to a Bloomberg report claiming UK regulators would block Nvidia's acquisition of Arm over national security concerns. That could make it more difficult for the company to extend its lead in the graphics market to the other sectors in which it competes with AMD.

Faster and easier shopping done the Apple way Apple has given its e-commerce website a refresh that has seen a dedicated 'Store' tab reintroduced, marking the return of a feature that disappeared some six years ago. The company's site went down briefly earlier today and, as reported by MacRumors, came back up again with a revised page layout featuring the new tab. The "Store" tab takes customers directly to a dedicated online purchasing section, which allows customers to buy items from the current product lineup. In a move that’s clearly designed to make the purchasing journey that little bit easier, online shoppers can select the likes of the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV in an instant. It essentially bypasses the need to visit a dedicated product page, or locate the traditional ‘buy’ button. We've also featured the best business smartphone choices around And here's the best business tablets pick Start your own online store with the best website builder options Visitors to the Apple site are now also presented with a horizontal selection of products, along with any latest additions, relevant promotions and associated accessories. MacRumors likened the styling tweak to the same sort of experience you get during a visit to the Apple Store app. It certainly appears to be a more rounded design with easier options for browsing current smartphone models including the iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12, iPhone SE and iPhone XR via a dedicated carousel. Apple Store Once a dedicated product is selected, customers can subsequently choose from available colours, storage size and other product variations that are available depending on the model. The improvement means there’s no longer the need to navigate through as much page furniture before arriving at the ‘buy’ button. It’s an improvement over the original Store tab, which disappeared following a 2015 redesign of the Apple website. That original purchase path took you to an entirely different domain. And, while it might not be a radical change to the Apple site, the subtle tweaks appear to make buying products much easier.

Name of the game: Ghostrunner Price: $29.99 $14.99 Link Store: Ghostrunner On Steam Offer ends up after X hours: 1 week. Requirements: MINIMUM: OS: Windows 7, 8.1, 10 x64 Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K (4 * 3300) AMD Phenom II X4 965 (4 * 3400) or equivalent Memory: 8GB RAM Graphics: GeForce GTX 1050 (2048 MB) / Radeon RX 550 (4096 MB) Storage: 22 GB available space Additional Notes: 60FPS, Low settings, 720p) RECOMMENDED: OS: Windows 7, 8.1, 10 x64 Processor: Intel Core i7-6700K (4 * 4000) or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X (4 * 3500) or equivalent Memory: 8GB RAM Graphics: GeForce GTX 970 (4096 MB) or Radeon RX 5700 (8192 MB) Storage: 22 GB available space Additional Notes: (60FPS, High settings, 1080p)

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The White House is making a concerted effort to return the focus of President Joe Biden's schedule to Covid-19 this week as the year-and-a-half-long pandemic again consumes his agenda amid a new spike in cases. The President has multiple events focused on the nationwide, and global, effort to vaccinate more people and combat the spread of variants, an opportunity to reset the administration's messaging after a series of announcements last week left many Americans confused about the state of the virus. The President will meet with his coronavirus team in the Oval Office on Monday after they spent the weekend reviewing the latest data and preparing virtually for the week ahead. The White House announced Monday afternoon that the nation hit the milestone of 70% of US adults getting at least one Covid-19 vaccination shot -- nearly a month after Biden's initial goal of hitting that benchmark by July Fourth. That number was not yet reflected in US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.After updating Biden, the group of public health officials is scheduled to take questions from reporters. Although these appearances initially happened three times a week, they were scaled back in recent months as officials felt there were fewer updates to share. The recent surge of the Delta variant has changed that thinking. The White House made a deliberate choice to hold their public briefing on Monday this week with the hope of developing a clearer line of messaging for the days ahead. Officials spent last week frustrated, believing they weren't effectively communicating the latest information as they rolled out a series of new measures designed to slow the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. While there is consensus on the set of stricter measures among Biden's aides, officials lamented the poor communication to an understandably confused American public. They also accused some in the media of hyperbolic coverage. Asked during a briefing with CNN about the White House's mistakes in messaging and what they plan to do, an official pushed back on the question, but said the administration will continue to use everything in their power to push vaccines -- adding that the White House needs to change as the data changes. The official reiterated a national mandate for all Americans to be vaccinated is not under consideration, saying the White House has determined it is not within Biden's power as president. But the official did not rule out a stricter mandate on federal workers that goes beyond the announcement the President made last week that federal employees must attest to being vaccinated or face stringent mitigation measures. That was only a first step, the official said, designed to make life more difficult for those federal workers who decline to be vaccinated. Biden has asked his team to take a hard look at what authorities he has as it relates to federal workers, and the White House continues to look at all of those options, including within different subsets of the federal government. But one senior administration official told CNN that some of the problems are being caused by political decisions. "I think there are governors in this country who are putting their political interests ahead of public health," the senior administration official said, without naming the governors. A scramble to get back on track On Tuesday Biden is scheduled to give a speech on increasing vaccinations at home and abroad. The White House sees the global vaccination drive as more important than ever, one official said, given it's a way to tamp down on the spread of potential new variants that could reach the US. On Wednesday Biden will meet with the Dr. Eric Lander, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, to discuss his plan for preparing for future pandemics. There's a chance the White House could add another coronavirus-related event to Biden's schedule, depending on how the week plays out. Biden had once hoped to move on from coronavirus to focus on other areas of his governing agenda, including the bipartisan infrastructure deal that is making its way through Congress. But the pandemic has warped those plans as millions of Americans have not got their vaccinations and cases rise. The renewed focus comes as the country grapples with the Delta variant, more contagious and may cause more severe illness than previous strains of coronavirus. The variant is spreading faster in areas of the country with low vaccination rates and threatening to derail much of the progress the nation has made in combating the pandemic. Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its masking recommendations and urged vaccinated people in certain areas of the country to resume wearing masks indoors in public areas. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the agency now recommends people in areas with "high" or "substantial" Covid-19 transmission should resume wearing masks indoors. The White House is racing to get the rest of the po[CENSORED]tion vaccinated and continuously touts the safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines that have received emergency use authorization in the US. More than 99.99% of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have not had a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization or death, according to the latest data from the CDC. Vaccinations rising On Sunday, the US reported 816,203 more Covid-19 doses administered, which was the fifth straight day recording more than 700,000 shots in arms. The current seven-day average of doses administered is 662,529 per day — the highest average since July 7. According to the CDC, 49.6% of the US po[CENSORED]tion is fully vaccinated. The number is 58.1% among vaccine-eligible Americans ages 12 and older. National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins on Sunday credited the rise in vaccinations to the rise in new cases of the Delta variant. "This may be a tipping point for those who have been hesitant to say, 'OK, it's time.' I hope that's what's happening," Collins said on CNN's "State of the Union." "That's what desperately needs to happen if we're going to get this Delta variant put back in its place." A senior administration official also told CNN that the CDC is now tracking more than just hospitalizations in breakthrough cases, despite health officials previously telling CNN they were not tracking cases that don't result in hospitalization or death. This official says the CDC is using vast network of health care workers, nursing homes and other facilities to obtain information on breakthrough cases. The official added they are having "constant dialogue" with other countries on tracking these kinds of infections as well. This senior official declined to provide a more specific number on how many vaccinated people they have found are contributing to the spread of Covid-19. They reiterated that they know it's possible, but still believe those people with breakthrough cases are less likely to spread it than those who are unvaccinated. Asked about any concerns about children returning to school this fall, a senior administration official said the White House is confident they'll be able to contain cases in school and expect to focus more this week on precautions that schools can take. The administration official was clear they don't want schools to have to contemplate returning to virtual learning. On children wearing masks, the official added they don't want children to be bullied for wearing masks in school, but said it's more important kids not be exposed to the virus from others who are not wearing masks. "CNNPolitics"

The 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe is adding an off-road-themed XRT trim level. It includes appearance upgrades including skid plates, side steps, and different wheels. The XRT starts at $33,485 with front-wheel drive or $35,185 with all-wheel drive. Hyundai is bolstering the 2022 Santa Fe SUV's look, if not its actual off-road capability, with a new XRT trim level. The XRT model includes rugged-looking appearance tweaks but no actual mechanical upgrades. It doesn't even come standard with all-wheel drive, as it starts at $33,485 with front-wheel drive and offers AWD as a $1700 option. The XRT comes standard with black 18-inch wheels, side steps, skid plates, and a different front bumper and grille. The mirrors and roof rack are also painted black. It's similar equipment-wise to the Santa Fe SEL with the convenience package. A naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-four with 191 horsepower and 181 lb-ft is the only engine choice for the XRT, as the turbocharged 2.5L engine is only available on upper trim levels and the hybrid powertrain can't be paired with the XRT model. A 2022 Hyundai Tucson XRT is also set to join the lineup, but we haven't seen images of that smaller crossover with the appearance package yet. We expect it to have similar changes as the Santa Fe. In the meantime, Hyundai says that the 2022 Santa Fe XRT is arriving at dealerships now. This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. "CarandDriver"

At least eight people have been killed in wildfires that have ripped through southern Turkey, ravaging coastal resorts and forcing tourists to flee. The blazes have been raging for six days as Turkey grapples with its worst fire crisis in a decade. On Monday Turkish authorities said more than 130 blazes had been contained as firefighting efforts continued. Elsewhere, firefighters are trying to contain wildfires in parts of Greece, Spain and Italy. Italy's national fire service said it had to deal with more than 1,500 flare-ups across the country on Sunday. In the eastern city of Pescara, at least five people were injured after a fire forced the evacuation of hundreds from beach resorts and homes. In Greece, five villages have been evacuated in the Peloponnese region, where temperatures are expected to reach up to 45C this week. Strong winds and soaring heatwave temperatures across southern Europe have fuelled the destructive fires. Experts say climate change increases both the frequency and intensity of such blazes. Wildfires have torn through forests in southern Turkey, leaving the land scorched The worst fires have occurred along Turkey's Mediterranean and Aegean coasts - a major tourist region. Over the weekend dramatic videos showed tourists being evacuated from beach resorts by boat, with Turkish Coastguard vessels involved in rescue operations. Satellite photos showed vast burnt forests after nearly 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) were consumed by flames. Turkish media said firefighters in planes and helicopters resumed their operations in the south-western towns of Marmaris and Koycegiz on Monday. Resident Susan Dogan told the BBC she could see "smoke, flames and helicopters overhead" from her home in the village of Turunc, about 20km (12 miles) from Marmaris. The British expatriate said many residents had already left and that she had packed bags in case she needed to evacuate. Emergency rescue boats were on standby along the Marmaris shoreline to evacuate anyone should the fires spread and the town be cut off. On Sunday the European Union said it would send water-carrying planes to help douse blazes tearing through forests in Turkey. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu thanked the EU for sending a plane from Croatia and two from Spain. The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been criticised for the shortage of firefighting aircraft in the country. Visiting the town of Manavgat over the weekend, Mr Erdogan said his government would do whatever it takes to help those affected. "BBC News"

I admire NEO: The World Ends With You for its youthful attitude and wild characterizations through eccentric personalities, extravagant character designs, and cheesy irreverence. To play through NEO TWEWY is to feel young again, inviting me to relive that too-cool-for-school vibe I had all those years ago with its predecessor. But that's also because, while it's a sequel that can be enjoyed on its own, its adherence to the original story of The World Ends With You brought me back to another time, and that might leave you lost if it passed you by. Still, NEO TWEWY has its share of attractions, like a standout action-RPG combat system that evolves into an exciting rush of flashy spells filling up the screen. And while you might roll your eyes at the cast of characters' quirks in the beginning, they'll grow on you like good friends who were annoying at first. The same can be said about its soundtrack--songs that are odd upon first listen become bops that get stuck in your head. This is also a story-heavy RPG with intriguing twists and turns. However, in its exploration, riddle-laden objectives, and narrative wheel-spinning, NEO TWEWY drags its feet for a bit too long and too often before reaching its payoff. NEO TWEWY revolves around the Reapers' Game, the premise that drove the original game. In a parallel dimension of real-world Japan, called the Underground (or UG), characters trapped in the Reapers' Game have been posthumously invited to play a game of ambiguous rules and objectives for another chance at life. But rules are meant to be broken and parameters are meant to be mani[CENSORED]ted, so much so that you eventually disregard its logic and just embrace the cool nonsense used to bend the fate of the characters and the setting of Shibuya itself. The concept goes off in many directions, but it's the foundation for understanding the desperation for survival portrayed through main character Rindo and his friends Fret and Nagi--all teenagers who constantly wrack their brains to overcome the Reapers' Game's seemingly impossible odds. The effortless bouncing between the lighthearted quirkiness and the story's darker side is something I really appreciate about NEO TWEWY. Supporting characters and whether they're friend or foe, they make the core ensemble all the more stronger. Characters are at the heart of NEO TWEWY--from their striking fashion sense to their overstated idiosyncrasies, it's how you come to understand these characters and they drive most of what makes this game memorable. While Rindo, who is your avatar, is the level-headed empath, most of the supporting characters fill in archetypes with confidence and their own personable touch, which is also a credit to the voice actors who play these roles. Not everyone is particularly likeable (although a few are straight-up loathsome for narrative purposes). One notable letdown is the disappointing characterization of an old favorite (who I won't spoil); it's as if the character were written by someone who picked up slang on the spot and threw together a poor amalgamation of what you'd hear in American streets. Otherwise, the wide cast, and the freedom of expression NEO TWEWY affords these personalities, make it easy to find characters to identify with, and it's one of the strongest hooks here. And while I definitely can't get into spoilers, those who loved the original TWEWY (including myself) are treated to some hype moments through important story connections and sweet callbacks. A few aspects of this do come across as hamfisted at times, but I also can't deny the jolt of nostalgia that made the experience all the more enjoyable. Ultimately, that leaves those who never engaged with the original TWEWY out of the loop. NEO TWEWY tries to accommodate by throwing in references to what happened in the first game, but they're vague and rarely go beyond a sort of, "Hey, remember that this happened back then?" Even I was somewhat taken aback by how much NEO TWEWY relies on its predecessor (and the additional content that came out with the Switch remaster), so NEO TWEWY will hit differently for different folks, depending on past experiences. At the end of the day, NEO TWEWY is a game about people and the strength of their relationships. I wouldn't call it deep per se, but it is undeniably endearing. As such, it should surprise no one that the power of friendship is the prevailing theme here, represented in melodrama you love to see. As for the storytelling, NEO TWEWY takes a long time to get the ball rolling and sometimes drags its feet even when things really start to heat up. It's not that NEO TWEWY's exposition is bad; it's actually where a ton of its charm comes from, letting characters express themselves and imprint their mannerisms in your mind. It's just that there is so much of it, and it often feels like filler and dialogue for the sake of dialogue. There is a lot to work through, and not all of it is particularly fascinating. Its story is so shrouded in mystery and clings onto obscurity longer than it should, running the risk of losing your interest before it gets real spicy. It hurts its momentum by dragging you through wild goose chases, funneling you from point to point for a chunk of dialogue to move the story a step forward. You're frequently asked to solve riddles or investigate an anomaly, which can sometimes be an interesting brain exercise, but as stated above, these moments frequently feel like busy work rather than actually engaging with the game world. NEO TWEWY is backloaded with some of its best moments, but the earlier fluff forces you to simply trust that it'll all pay off at some point. It's also worth noting that most of the game's story is told through character portraits in manga-style panels accompanied by dialogue. The game's wonderful art style complements the approach, but the over-reliance on character stills takes away from the feeling of being present in a bustling city like Shibuya and that things are actually happening in those streets. It's a shame, too, because the toonish rendition of Shibuya is full of color, life, and potential, and the game's handful of cutscenes are stunning and beautifully drawn and animated. Unfortunately, in several story-critical moments, you have to use quite a bit of your imagination to visualize what's happening instead of actually seeing it unfold. Combat picks up some of that slack, though. The chaos of the action-packed battles is a visual treat, especially as things ramp up when extra party members join the fight. And thankfully, it's a blast to play, too. The foundation of combat are Pins, which are your equippable spells and attacks that get mapped to a specific button for a certain character, depending on the attack type. You have melee, ranged, charged, damage-over-time, and area-of-effect abilities, all of which can be fired off simultaneously or strategically used to string together combos with good timing. Doing so is rewarded in boosting your Groove meter, which then lets you cast a powerful super-like ability to further pound your enemies. You're constantly earning new Pins throughout the game, giving you new ways to engage in combat and rethink what's most effective for your party. Once you start building up a collection of Pins, devising effective combos, and reading the patterns of the various enemy types, NEO TWEWY's gameplay really shines. It becomes absolute chaos when you start stacking and juggling multiple attacks, yet remains fast-paced and satisfying. What's more is that combat difficulty can be fine-tuned at any moment in your journey. NEO TWEWY features the basic easy, normal, hard, (and extra hard) settings but also lets you slide your party's level down in increments to further tweak the way you're challenged. It's also a means for adjusting how you earn rewards like new Pins and experience points. In the overworld, you can choose when you engage with enemies and how many at a time, letting you gather encounters before initiating them. You could also just worry about the battles necessary to advance the story if you want. NEO TWEWY is designed to accommodate various playstyles in creative ways. Having the streets of Shibuya as your overworld, and the familiarity you build with it, is one of the joys of NEO TWEWY as well. So while the core story misses the opportunity to use Shibuya as a proper stage for some major story beats, shopping for new gear and ordering food to boost your stats in the different districts is a nice way to connect to the city. Side quests, while fairly basic in design, represent the lives of the people who fill these streets, and a few of these have neat little stories to boot. It's also part of how you build out your social network, a grid of perks you unlock by progressing through the game, connecting with shop owners, and completing these sidequests. Not all of the perks are useful, and the best ones are tied to main story progress, but it's incentive enough to seek them out in each chapter. Lastly, one of the most significant pieces in creating NEO TWEWY's distinct atmosphere is in its oddball yet lovable soundtrack. With a complete disregard for consistent music genre, you'll hear grungy punk or full-on hardcore tunes one minute then some catchy J-pop- and J-rock-style bops before going into uptempto synthwave--occasionally tossing elements from each into one song. It'll throw you for a loop at first, but you'll be humming along to this fun mish-mash of sick jams. The playlist grows as the game goes on and a few songs in particular are why certain moments got me so hyped. Music was paramount to the first game's identity (and OG TWEWY fans may find NEO calling back to that), so it's great to see this new soundtrack carry on that tradition. It's representative of NEO TWEWY itself, in that it doesn't really care about adhering to norms and doubles down on its attitude--and you can't help but admire that. The world of TWEWY is a unique one that offers a chance to feel young, wild, and free--and it brings that same heat as a fun, action-packed RPG in the exciting setting of Shibuya. It's largely made for those with a fondness for the first game, which becomes increasingly apparent as the story goes on, so your mileage may vary. NEO TWEWY can be cheesy as hell in both its serious and lighthearted tones, but after embracing that, it's a ride worth taking. Despite my gripes and the number of ways NEO TWEWY almost stunts my enthusiasm for it, I'm glad it exists. I can live with the lulls along the way for the memorable moments the journey gave me. And I can still wish it did more with its storytelling while loving its personalities, extraordinary sense of style, and connections to the original. I can also find value in the age-old question it posits: What good is a place you love without the people who matter most? Many stories have asked and answered this--and maybe the game puts too neat of a bow on it--but I find the way NEO TWEWY answers the question the most satisfying part of the experience. PS4, Nintendo Switch

The Razer Blade 15 Advanced, the spiced-up version of the Blade 15 Base Model, is getting refreshed with powerful 11th Gen Intel H-series CPUs. Spider-Man Miles Morales composer John Paesano told us he's a huge fan of the Razer Blade series, allowing him to play his favorite titles such as Division 2 and Cyberpunk 2077. It's no wonder why Paesano enjoyed using the Razer Blade series: it's slim and light, and packed with powerful internals. Plus, it has a sleek, minimalist design for gamers who prefer a subdued chassis. Now, the Blade 15 Advanced is getting a processor upgrade that is making us salivate over its potential gaming vigor. The best VR-ready laptops of 2021 The best cheap gaming laptops of 2021 The best gaming laptops of 2021 The Razer Blade 15 Advanced Razer boasts that its refreshed Blade 15 Advanced gaming laptop is still the "best, thinnest and fastest" on the market. We can't wait to test out Razer's claims with rigorous testing of the Blade 15's performance, graphics, battery life and more. The updated Blade 15 Advanced now comes with up to 11th Gen Intel Core i9 H-series CPUs, up to 32GB of RAM (expandable by up to 64GB), up 1TB of PCIe SSD storage (expandable up to 4TB), and up to an Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU with 16GB of VRAM. Design Razer declared that the Blade 15 Advanced is the world's thinnest RTX gaming laptop. It is only 0.6 inches thick. Competitors such as the MSI GS66 Stealth, Gigabyte Aero 15 and Alienware M15 R4 are 17%, 25% and 31% larger, respectively. The Blade 15's dusky chassis retained its urbane, refined design with that pop of emerald many gamers love thanks to the eye-catching Razer logo. Razer said the Blade 15 Advanced, made of CNC aluminum with a durable anodized finish, is crafted with precision. The chassis also has an anti-fingerprint coating, so you don't have to worry about keeping a microfiber cloth handy. Display The Blade 15 Advanced sports a 15.6-inch display. Screen options include a 360Hz display with a 2ms response rate, a 240Hz QHD display with a 2.5ms response rate, and a 4K AMOLED display with a 1ms response rate. It's also worth noting that the display's bezels are 4.9mm thin, allowing ample room for gaming screen real estate. The top bezel features a 1080p webcam, a nice departure from the sea of 720p cameras on the market. Keyboard The Blade 15 Advanced comes with per-key RGB lighting and anti-ghosting technology. Two speakers flank the island-style keyboard so you can enjoy top-firing sound while playing your favorite games. Ports Razer boasts that the Blade 15 Advanced has "lots and lots of ports," including two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an SD card reader, a USB Type-C port, two USB Type-A ports and an HDMI 2.1 output. Bottom line Advertisement The Razer Blade 15 Advanced starts at $2,229. The most expensive configuration, packed with a 4K OLED display, will set you back $3,339. The refreshed gaming rig will be available for pre-order on May 17 via the Razer Store.

When WWDC 2021 kicked off in June, it began with the official unveiling of iOS 15 which is Apple's operating system for the iPhone line. You can now download the public beta, and we've tested iOS 15 with some initial findings for you to read through. As we have already detailed the features for macOS Monterey, watchOS 8 and iPadOS 15, here are all the useful features announced, both at the keynote and on Apple's site, of what is included in iOS 15. Want to give it a try? While the developer beta was released shortly after WWDC 2021, the iOS 15 public beta went live at the end of June, and it's available for anyone with an iOS 15-compatible device. It's worth noting that this isn't the finished software – just the first of many public beta versions that will slowly add new features. All features will arrive in iOS 15's finished and full release, which we expect to come out alongside the iPhone 13. While iOS 14 brought widgets and improvements to iMessage and Shortcuts, it isn’t without its issues, despite how much it improved the operating system for both iPhone and iPad. This year, it looks like refinement is the theme for iOS 15, with improvements across the board, adding up to a substantial feature set over the previous release. Cut to the chase What is it? The next big update for iOS When is it out? Probably September 2021, unveiled on June 7 How much will it cost? It will be free, as always iOS 15 release date New versions of iOS typically land in mid-September. Generally they’re accompanied by a new iPhone launch, so we could see iOS 15 land alongside the iPhone 13 in September 2021. Launched at WWDC (and you can see everything that happened here), the developer beta is available now, and we're constantly fishing through the many discoveries that are emerging across this week. The public beta has arrived ahead of schedule at the end of June, and anyone who has an iOS 15-compatible device can download it now. While the developer betas haven't been too finicky, the public betas are typically less buggy, and should be a lot more stable for most users to try out on their main devices. Make sure to back up your device just in case before updating to iOS 15, and follow our guide for how to get iOS 15 beta on your phone. Apple has also said that the final version will arrive in the fall, which, following past releases, sounds like September will be the most likely time for it to appear. Of course, while we’re talking about iOS 15 here, iPadOS 15 will almost certainly follow the same trajectory, which was also announced at tonight's keynote. iOS 15 Supported Devices As Apple's main section on iOS 15 states, the update will work with an iPhone 6S and above. There may be some features unavailable in earlier iPhone models, but these will be detailed soon. FaceTime improvements Apple has brought new features to FaceTime in iOS 15, with a focus on being more comfortable and lifelike. Spatial audio is coming, which means 3D audio gives the impression that your recipients are in the same room as you. Voice isolation now focuses on your voice only, and blocks out any other ambient noise. There's also Wide Spectrum, which focuses on you and the environment around you. There's also Grid View, which shows a group call, alongside Portrait Mode coming to the application. The background is now blurred, and focuses on you. There's also FaceTime links, which can generate a link to help plan a call, similar to how a Google Meet link works. SharePlay is also new in iOS 15, where you can share music, watch TV shows and movies, alongside sharing your screen, so you can show a recipient how you use a certain app. You can also extend SharePlay to an AppleTV, which is helpful especially for a movie. This is also an API, so an app can work with this very soon. Supported services such as Disney+, Twitch, ESPN, TikTok and more are using SharePlay for iOS 15. Messages Another massive improvement to iOS 15, group chats now gain collages, as a way to easily display multiple images. Shared with You in the News app shows what your friends have shared with you, such as links, and they can be easily copied into a Messages chat. It's also available in Safari, Music and more apps. There's also statuses, which look very similar to WhatsApp and other messaging apps. You can even mute notifications in group chats if you wish, individually. So if you want to mute for an hour or for a day, now you can. After many refinements over the years, notifications are now redesigned for iOS 15. Notification Summary is now here, where these can be scheduled to appear at certain times, or even by Apple's own machine learning algorithms. This looks to replace Notification Center, with better management for all your notifications on your iPhone. Do Not Disturb is also part of the improvements here, with it showing for your friends and family if they have it switched on themselves. Focus is also another feature for Notification Summary, which recommends you on your lock screen to let you know of certain apps, dependant on your calendar and even your location. Apple are pushing Intelligence as a big part of this, which looks to be their renamed machine learning methods, such as for Siri Suggestions. Safari Apple's web browser has seen a big redesign in iOS 15, with extensions being carried over from macOS, to the iPhone. The address bar is now at the bottom, with gestures to easily switch between different tabs and go back to a full screen view, alongside a pull to refresh web window, similar to refreshing your mail or even your tweets, now in Safari. There's also a new home screen, which you can customize to your liking and even choose your own photos. Many buttons that were accessible are now hidden behind a button, so this user interface may change as we receive new betas in the coming months. Live Text Craig Federighi also demoed a feature where you can take a photo of text, and it will highlight it, and then copy it into a document, or even translate it. This is a direct competitor to Google Lens and looks to be very convenient if you take many photos or you have a holiday booked Photos Photos are now in Spotlight suggestions, so you can look for someone in particular who are in a photo you've recently taken. There's also improvements to intelligent Photos called Memories, where it creates new slideshows and carousels of photo collections with music, and it even shows the music being played during this. Apple Wallet Apple Wallet has seen another improvement in iOS 15, with CarKey gaining U1 support, which allows you to unlock your car, or even open your trunk. There's also the ability to enter your workplace or home with Wallet, and soon, hotels such as Hyatt will be enabling this feature for iOS 15 enabled devices. Identity cards such as driving licences (in the US) will also be viewable in Apple Wallet, with TSA enabling security checkpoints soon. Other features As shown in its breakdown of all iOS 15 features, the magnifier is now back when you highlight text, making it much easier to see the letters and words that you want to mani[CENSORED]te. The weather app is now redesigned, taking advantage of the Dark Sky acquisition from last year, with more detailed and more accurate weather, with high-resolution weather maps to see the state of the weather around you. There's now notifications for when rain or snow is about to occur in the next hour, and you can even mute certain cities that you've added from within the app, to control the amount of alerts you may get from however many cities you've added. The Maps app is seeing some useful improvements in iOS 15, with new details for commercial districts and buildings. Elevations and a refreshed color scheme has also arrived, with landmarks being particularly highlighted. Drivers are also gaining a refined look when setting routes from one destination to another, making it even easier to look at highway interchanges and upcoming traffic conditions. You can now create favorites to your transit routes, so you can make sure of your commute, and even when you're in the subway, Maps will track your progress, and let you know of the next stop. Widgets have seen more improvements this year, with new ones for Find My, Game Center, App Store Today, Sleep, Mail, and more. While Control Center hasn't seen a redesign this year, there are more easy access points for Focus and much more, alongside a redesigned Siri Remote for Apple TV devices. With Shortcuts now available on macOS Monterey, it also means that any you create or edit can now be synced to your iPhone on iOS 15, so you can carry on the work on your Mac. There's plenty of small features that users are already discovering now that the developer beta is here. Your DualSense or Xbox Controller can now have their rumble features be used when playing a game in iOS 15, so your games can be much easier to control if there's a plethora of controls that are covering your iPhone's touch screen. When selecting a date and time for when you're setting an alarm, or an event in Calendar, you can now scroll through these times as you could in previous iOS releases. Now, you have the choice of scrolling or typing in the date and time you need to add. You can now pull to refresh in the redesigned Safari, alongside muting notifications in an app or a Messages thread for either an hour or a day, similar to how you can mute chats in WhatsApp. With drag and drop now in iOS 15, you can select a photo from Files, and drop it into an email for example, making it much easier to share your files and photos between applications.

DH1 good video, good music, i like that.

from my part. Good luck.

Chevy has released the latest version of its drag-racing special, fitting it with either a colossal 572-cubic-inch big block V-8 or smaller, but still large, LS-based motors. The Chevy COPO Camaro, a dedicated drag-racing special, returns for the 2022 model year and will be offered with three engines. A 572-cubic-inch (9.4-liter) big block V-8 is available, along with two small block V-8s, a 580-hp 350-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) unit and a 470-hp 427-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) motor. The 572 option starts at $105,500, while the naturally aspirated 427 will cost $117,500 and the supercharged 350 will set you back $130,000. UPDATE: While Chevrolet did not include a power figure for the 572 engine in the press release, it was included in the COPO order form. The 9.4-liter V-8 is rated at 430 hp by the NHRA, making it the least powerful engine option for the 2022 COPO Camaro. A recent report suggested that the current sixth generation Chevrolet Camaro could be replaced by an electric performance sedan in the near future, but before the Camaro ditches fossil fuels, Chevy has taken its muscle car to the extreme with the new 2022 COPO Camaro drag-racing special. Back in the late 1960s, Chevy had a system called Central Office Production Order (COPO) which allowed dealerships to order cars and trucks with non-standard colors or features. The purpose of COPO was for speciality vehicles for fleet customers, like trucking companies or police departments, but some savvy dealers who were passionate about drag-racing utilized COPO to create purpose-built dragsters. Chevy revived the COPO name in 2012 and has built speciality drag-racing Camaros every year since. For 2022, the COPO Camaro is available with a gigantic 572-cubic-inch (9.4-liter) big-block V-8, which Chevy says "channels the spirit of the original 1969 COPO Camaro." Chevy didn't reveal horsepower figures for the 572, but said that it uses a cast-iron block with aluminum heads, a forged steel crankshaft and connecting rods, and forged aluminum pistons. Chevy will also offer the COPO Camaro with two LS-based small block V-8s: a supercharged 350-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) unit rated by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) at 580 horsepower and a naturally aspirated 427-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) engine with 470 horsepower. All three engines are mated to an ATI Racing Products TH400 three-speed automatic transmission sending power exclusively to the rear wheels. The COPO Camaro is not street legal but does qualify to race in NHRA Stock and Super Stock eliminators. All COPO Camaros feature a carbon fiber hood and wheelie bars, while a trunk-mounted weight box and parachute are optional. In the past, Chevy limited production of COPO Camaros to 69 units per year (mimicking the production run of the original 1969 COPO Camaro) and had customers enter a lottery, but Chevy won’t restrict production of this 2022 model and will sell it on a first-come, first-serve basis. The 572 COPO Camaro starts at $105,500, while the 427 starts at $117,500 and the 350 starts at $130,000. Customers are told to "see your dealer" about tax, registration, and destination charge. Buyers can submit an order form online and can receive a private tour of the COPO Build Facility in Oxford, Michigan, with their new drag-racing Camaro. "CarandDriver"

"We have already caught staff with minors inappropriately," said a federal contractor on the audio of a May training session obtained by NBC News. New audio from inside a U.S. government shelter for unaccompanied migrant children in Fort Bliss, Texas, reveals allegations of sexual misconduct by staff toward minors, acknowledgment the children were running low on clean clothes and shoes and a reluctance by officials to make public the scope of the facility's Covid outbreak. "We have already caught staff with minors inappropriately. Is that OK with you guys?" says a federal contractor running a training session with staffers inside Fort Bliss in May. The crowd shouts back, "No!" "I hope not," she says. "If you catch them, especially if it's a staff member, you separate that minor from that person immediately," the contractor says, making no mention of flagging supervisors to report the incident. At its peak this spring, the temporary facility at Fort Bliss held nearly 5,000 migrant children, as the Department of Health and Human Services scrambled to take in children who were overcrowding Border Patrol stations. At the time of the training session, the facility held about 3,000 minors. Later in the training session, the contractor says children have complained about staff bouncing up and down on their beds to wake them up. "I know there have been a lot of complaints from minors about staff members waking them up in the morning," she says. "We've got some staff members that are picking up and shaking the bed to wake up the minor. Or they're bouncing them on the bed. They think they're being playful, but that constitutes child abuse. I want you guys to know that." A few minutes later, she acknowledges there is a shortage of clean clothes and shoes for minors. "We are aware of a shortage of underwear, socks and shoes. Management knows, and we're working on getting more for the minors," she says. In a statement, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the agency takes "every allegation of wrongdoing seriously." "Every emergency intake site we have launched, we started from scratch," Becerra said. "We constantly work to improve the conditions and services required to care for children in these challenging shelter settings." The federal contractor's comment confirms recent allegations from whistleblowers who came forward to talk about the difficulty they had in getting clean clothes for children at the shelter. Arthur Pearlstein and Lauren Reinhold, two federal workers recently detailed to Fort Bliss in April, May and June, said in a report filed by the Government Accountability Project that when they raised concerns with government workers and contractors in charge, they were told to wait. "There were so many of them that complained that they had no underwear or one pair with nothing to change into," Pearlstein told NBC News. "I began to ask some of the management officials, 'Well, can't a federal employee that has a purchase card just go to Walmart or Costco?'" But Pearlstein said he was told, "No, the contractor needs to wait for it." In another meeting with Fort Bliss employees, a doctor for the U.S. Public Health Service refused to give out information on Covid rates, according to audio obtained by NBC News. "I can't give you daily numbers and breakouts and graphs and things like that," he said. "Assume everyone has Covid, act appropriately. … Sorry, it's not a great answer." The doctor also acknowledged there had been reports of sexual activity at the shelter, though he did not say whether staff had been involved with minors. An employee asked: "There is a concern about the kids having sex with each other and possible sexual assault. Thoughts on that?" "That's been on our radar since day one," the doctor answered. "That will always be a situation that you're always dealing with. There are processes for reporting, for intervening, for doing interviews on allegations." He added, "Having gender separation has been fantastic, right? OK, it's better than where it was in the first week, when we had boys and girls in the first week and there's no barrier. Imagine that." In responding to earlier reporting by NBC News on the allegations Pearlstein and Reinhold detailed in their complaint, an HHS spokesperson said: "The care and well-being of children in our custody continues to be a top priority for HHS. Currently, children at the Emergency Intake Site at Fort Bliss meet with a case manager weekly and we have close to 60 mental health and behavioral counselors on site working with the children. It remains our policy to swiftly report any alleged instances of wrongdoing to the appropriate authorities." Today, Pearlstein said, the Fort Bliss facility holds far fewer children, alleviating some of the overcrowding concerns. But he and Reinhold still worry that the government is not being transparent about what is happening inside. "We were told to not share practically everything we witnessed there," Reinhold said. "We were told not to be on social media, to limit our conversations about the site with close friends and family and to definitely not talk to the media." "NBC News"