(Image credit: From Software) Between Embracer laying off thousands of employees and Microsoft shuttering studios like Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks, the recent wave of high profile multibillion-dollar acquisitions have proven to be terrible for the games industry. It's hard to look at any game studio that's been gobbled up by a new parent company and not be worried that it may soon be gutted just to promise shareholders 11% higher profits for the next fiscal year. This vile trend was on my mind when I visited FromSoftware in May for PC Gamer's cover story on Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree—despite seeming quite independent, the studio does have a parent company, Kadokawa Corporation. Kadokawa isn't Microsoft big, but it is still big, with revenue of about $1.65 billion in its last fiscal year. FromSoftware is one of Kadokawa's major earners, but the company also makes significant money in the manga publishing and anime markets (Delicious in Dungeon is one of its recent hits). With games like Elden Ring selling more than 25 million copies, you'd think FromSoftware would be free of any meddling—why mess with the golden goose? But that logic hasn't saved other game studios from short-sided across-the-board layoffs at mega publishers like EA, 2K, Sony… the list goes on. So I asked FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki what he could say about FromSoftware's business relationship with its parent company, and whether From was at risk of the same fate that's befallen studios under the Embracer umbrella in the last year. "Speaking to myself and this company, I want to say that this is not something I would wish on the staff at FromSoftware in a million years," Miyazaki said. "I'm pretty sure our parent company Kadokawa understands that and shares that view." Video: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/hJfmxBqL So far FromSoftware hasn't just been immune to the layoff waves that have struck western game companies, but it's been expanding—the studio has grown significantly since it started Elden Ring, and is now big enough to develop at least two games simultaneously (as shown by last year's Armored Core 6). It's also not the only Japanese company in that position: this year Capcom made a point of raising employee pay rather than conducting layoffs (though Japanese wages are notoriously low, which may be one factor insulating them from layoffs). During one of many brutal waves of layoffs this year, fans pointed to the two times former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata took a pay cut instead of laying off workers, a move no current game CEOs seem eager to replicate. But when we spoke, Miyazaki himself also cited Iwata's reasoning in 2013 for not laying off employees even when the company was operating at a loss. "I think it was the old ex-president of Nintendo, Iwata-san, who said that 'people who are afraid of losing their jobs are afraid of making good things.' I'm paraphrasing that, but I totally share this view," Miyazaki said. https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/fromsoftware-boss-addresses-gaming-industry-layoffs-as-long-as-this-companys-my-responsibility-i-would-not-let-that-happen/

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A bumble bee hovers over gorse in Devon, south-west England. A citizen science project monitoring flying insects in the UK found a 60% decline between 2004 and 2021. Photograph: Odd Andersen/AP The UK’s insect po[CENSORED]tions are declining at alarming rates and the next government must put in place plans to monitor and reduce the use and toxicity of pesticides before it is too late, wildlife experts say. In recent years, concerns have been raised over earthworm po[CENSORED]tions, which have fallen by a third in the past 25 years. A citizen science project that monitors flying insects in the UK, meanwhile, found a 60% decline between 2004 and 2021. The overall trajectory, as government monitoring figures show, has been downwards since the 1970s. Yet despite the evidence of the harmful effect of pesticides on our insect po[CENSORED]tion, governmental action has been slow, and experts are concerned that the UK is failing to monitor pesticide use correctly. “There is an almost complete lack of effective monitoring of pesticide use in UK agriculture,” said Nick Mole, the policy officer at Pesticide Action Network UK. “What little we do have is incomplete, out of date and on such a broad scale as to be virtually meaningless. “The UK urgently needs a publicly accessible record of all pesticides used on farms across the UK, that is presented within six months of application and shown at farm level or, at a minimum, by river catchment. We should also have access to pesticide sales data, information which is currently concealed beneath the cloak of commercial confidentiality. Without accurate data, it is impossible to properly assess the impact of pesticides or to make effective decisions. Right now we are legislating in the dark.” The Conservative government was due to publish the National Action Plan on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) in 2018, which would have laid out targets and plans for pesticide reduction and monitoring. But six years later it has still not materialised. The Pesticide Collaboration, made up of 81 NGOs, academics and farming groups including the RSPB, Buglife, British Beekeepers Association, Greenpeace and the Nature Friendly Farming Network, has set out its “red lines” for what needs to be in the delayed plan. It said: “The UK has committed to ‘reducing the overall risk from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals by at least half’ in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed at Cop15. This should now be reflected in national policy, and domestic pesticide regulation must go further than this and use the words ‘use’ and ‘toxicity’ instead of risk.” Labour sources have said that they will immediately consult scientists in the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) if and when the team enters the department after the election. The party has already announced that it will end exemptions for bee-killing pesticides that have been outlawed in the EU but which the UK government has approved for four years in a row. This year, the Conservative government allowed the use of thiamethoxam, also known as Cruiser SB, on sugar beet crops – against the advice of its scientists, who said it would pose a threat to bees. Prof Dave Goulson, a bee expert at the University of Sussex, has warned that one teaspoon of the chemical is enough to kill 1.25bn honeybees. Even a minuscule trace of this toxin can disrupt a bee’s ability to navigate and reproduce, significantly reducing its chance of survival. There is also a growing gap in ambition on pesticides between the UK and the EU. The UK has failed to ban 36 pesticides that are prohibited in the EU, even though ministers promised the UK would not water down EU-derived environmental standards after Brexit. The UK has failed to ban 36 pesticides that are not allowed for use in the EU. Photograph: Loop Images Ltd/Alamy Campaigners have called for the next government to put in place a proper strategy for pesticide reduction. Vicki Hird, agriculture lead at The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Pollinating insects like bees and moths, and predators of crop pests like ladybird beetles and dragonflies, are the foundation for a productive and sustainable food system. Yet these two groups of bugs have declined by 18% and 34% respectively since 1970. An overreliance on chemicals – combined with habitat loss and climate change – could see these figures plummet even further. This would make a bad situation much worse for UK wildlife and potentially spell disaster for UK food production. “Despite outlining some positive intention to reduce pesticide use, the current UK government has failed to give this issue the attention it deserves. Earlier this year, it sent signals to the rest of the world that insects don’t matter by authorising the use of a banned pesticide, thiamethoxam, on sugar beet crop for the fourth year in a row. We want to see an end to these emergency authorisations and a proper plan to dramatically reduce pesticide use over the next few years. This issue – and indeed dangerous chemicals – must not be kicked into the long grass.” Richard Benwell, the CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “The UK is signed up to an international pledge to halve the risk from pesticides and hazardous chemicals by 2030. Political parties should offer greater incentives to farmers to reduce or cease pesticide use across their farms, ban the use of pesticides in urban areas, and review the approach to authorisations so that banned chemicals cannot continue to be granted emergency use”. Under the new post-Brexit farming payments, the environment land management schemes, farmers are rewarded for using fewer pesticides. However, agricultural businesses argue that more support and education is needed so farmers do not fear moving away from the pesticides they have long relied on to grow their crops. Martin Lines, the CEO of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, said: “We’ve been on a journey of change for the last 10 to 15 years. I remember seeing fields being cultivated with very few worms and hardly any birds following the plough, so we changed the way we managed our soil to reduce disturbance and increase the organic matter that feeds the worms. As a result, I’ve seen numbers greatly increase along with improved soil health. “Having healthier soil is leading to healthier crops, which in turns leads to less disease and less use of fungicides to control them. Gaining knowledge of the role of predatory insects, pollinators, invertebrates and beetles in managing and controlling pests led me to change practices and put more diversity of habitats in our farmed landscape. The flower-rich margins and grass margins we placed in and around our fields are home to the predatory insects and pollinators that now control the majority of our pests. This has allowed me to stop using insecticides altogether.” Defra has been approached for comment. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/14/wildlife-experts-urge-action-on-pesticides-as-uk-insect-po[CENSORED]tions-plummet

Israeli official cites prime minister as saying daily pause is ‘unacceptable’ as army continues attacking Gaza. Aid organisations have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the besieged and bombarded enclave [Eyad Baba/AFP] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is opposed to plans announced by the military to hold daily tactical pauses in fighting along one of the main roads into the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip to facilitate aid delivery into the Palestinian enclave. The military had announced the daily pauses from 05:00 GMT until 16:00 GMT in the area from the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards. “When the prime minister heard the reports of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the morning, he turned to his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him,” an Israeli official told the Reuters news agency. The military clarified that normal operations would continue in Rafah, the main focus of its ongoing assault in southern Gaza, where eight soldiers were killed on Saturday. Israel forces razed homes in the area and attacks there continued on Sunday, despite it being the first day of Eid al-Adha, the most important Muslim celebration of the year. An Israeli attack on two homes in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed nine people, including six children, according to the Palestinian state news agency Wafa. Meanwhile, at least two Palestinians in Rafah’s western Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood were killed in another Israeli attack, which the military followed up by targeting an ambulance trying to reach the victims, according to Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondents on the ground. The Israeli military also announced the death of three soldiers, two of them reservists, in fighting on Sunday. Divisions among government, army Netanyahu’s opposition to the tactical pauses underlined political tensions over the issue of aid coming into Gaza, where international organisations have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis and looming famine. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads one of the far-tight nationalist religious parties in Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, denounced the idea of a tactical pause, saying whoever decided it was a “fool” who should lose their job. Far-right government ministers want to slash aid coming into Gaza further, even though it has been largely cut since Israel took over the vital Rafah border crossing. And for months, right-wing Israelis have been protesting and blocking roads to prevent aid shipments from reaching Gaza, further straining the flow of desperately needed aid to the territory. Prior to the May 6 seizure of the crossing, there was already an inadequate flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, especially into northern Gaza where famine has already taken hold. The spat was the latest in a series of clashes between members of the coalition and the military over the conduct of the assault on Gaza, now in its ninth month. It came a week after centrist former general Benny Gantz quit the government, accusing Netanyahu of having no effective strategy in Gaza. The divisions were laid bare last week in a parliamentary vote on a law on conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military, with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant voting against it in defiance of party orders, saying it was insufficient for the needs of the military. Religious parties in the coalition have strongly opposed conscription for the ultra-Orthodox, drawing widespread anger from many Israelis, which has deepened as the war has gone on. Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, the head of the military, said on Sunday that there was a “definite need” to recruit more soldiers from the fast-growing ultra-Orthodox community. Despite growing international pressure for a lasting ceasefire, an agreement to halt the fighting still appears distant, more than eight months since October 7, when Israel unleashed its most ruthless offensive in Gaza following Hamas attacks into southern Israel. Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 37,300 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health ministry figures, and destroyed much of the enclave. Although opinion polls suggest most Israelis support the government’s aim of destroying Hamas, there have been widespread protests attacking the government for not doing more to bring home around 120 captives who have been held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7. As fighting in Gaza has continued, a lower-level conflict across the Israel-Lebanon border is now threatening to spiral into a wider war as near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group have escalated. In a further sign that fighting in Gaza could drag on, Netanyahu’s government said on Sunday that it was extending until August 15 the period it would fund hotels and guest houses for residents evacuated from southern Israeli border towns. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/16/netanyahu-opposed-to-israeli-military-tactical-pauses-for-gaza-aid

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai speaks during the 21st Nelson Mandela annual peace lecture on the 10th anniversary of his death, in Johannesburg, South Africa, December 5, 2023 [Sumaya Hisham/Reuters] The Israeli war on Gaza has entered its ninth month. In this “hell on earth”, as the United Nations has described it, Palestinian women are exposed to unimaginable atrocities and suffering. Women and children make up 70 percent of deaths from the Israeli army’s relentless bombardment. Pregnant and lactating women face high health and malnutrition risks. There have been reports of Caesarean sections carried out without anaesthesia, births taking place in unsafe conditions, and miscarriages happening at unprecedented levels. Palestinian women have also reported humiliation, torture and sexual violence at the hands of Israeli soldiers in detention. Hundreds of thousands of young women and girls have been deprived of education, as the Israeli army has systematically destroyed schools and universities. The levels of violence and abuse that Palestinian women face are indeed devastating. This should be cause for concern and action for anyone who cares about women’s rights. And, indeed, many advocates for women’s rights have spoken up. Among them is Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who has released several statements, condemning violence against civilians and calling for a ceasefire. She has also donated $300,000 to charities supporting the Palestinian people. But for many, Malala’s solidarity with the Palestinian people rang hollow when it was announced that she is co-producing the musical Suffs with Hillary Clinton. The news caused a lot of outrage, given Clinton’s unwavering support for Israel, rejection of calls for a ceasefire, and historic role in other conflicts in the region. Many brought up past criticisms of Malala that she is a “puppet” of the West and a carrier of the white saviour complex narrative. In a statement following the controversy, she insisted that there ought to be “no confusion” about her support for the people of Gaza and condemned the actions of the Israeli government. While it is commendable she sought to clarify her solidarity with the Palestinian people, she failed to distance herself from the powerful figures who are complicit in what is going on in Gaza. By blaming only Israel, she overlooked the involvement of the West, especially the United States. Since Israel’s war on Gaza began, the Biden administration has signed a $17bn package of military aid to Israel. It has vetoed a number of ceasefire resolutions at the UN Security Council and ignored condemnations by UN agencies. It has rejected an International Court of Justice provisional ruling that Israel may be committing genocide in Gaza and criticised the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor for seeking the arrests of Israeli officials, threatening to sanction him. President Joe Biden has even claimed in his speech, “What’s happening is not genocide.” With her global influence, Malala can challenge the unconditional support of the US and the West for Israel. She can stand up to the structures of colonial dominance they are maintaining that cause so much suffering in Gaza and the rest of the Global South. Yet she continues to align herself with them. Perhaps remaining silent on complicity is good for her fundraising efforts, but it ultimately hurts her cause. It also reduces her calls and statements on Gaza to performative activism – that is being committed to a cause only in words, but not in deeds. This perfunctory approach to activism is also apparent in her decision to co-produce a musical that talks about the suffragist movement while only superficially addressing its racism and exclusion of Black women in the Jim Crow era. Historically, the feminist movement in the West has predominantly represented white, middle-class women. It has prioritised their concerns while neglecting the experiences of those from marginalised groups. Any acknowledgement of their struggles has often been performative and self-serving. We saw this in 2022, when Western women’s rights groups, activists and celebrities spoke up in support of women’s protests in Iran and some even cut their hair in solidarity. But many of them – including Clinton who called for Iran to be removed from the UN women’s commission – are now silent on the plight of Palestinian women and girls. The white liberal feminist movement typically alienates marginalised women. One has to wonder then why Malala – a Muslim woman of colour – wants to align with this movement and its narrative. She should be working to dismantle the oppressive systems instead of giving in to them. Malala would serve the women and girls of colour she claims to want to help much better if she renounces white feminism and embraces intersectional feminism, which identifies and acknowledges challenges faced by those who experience overlapping systems of oppression like sexism and racism. Activists who engage with this concept in good faith cannot ignore the colonial and racist structures of domination that affect women’s and girls’ lives in the Global South and in marginalised communities in the Global North. They stand with women and girls of all colours and faiths and challenge oppression in all its forms, including white imperialist ones. If Malala and others like her were to really stand up for Palestinian women and girls, they would not be co-producing musicals with Clinton. Instead, they would challenge her on her racist, colonial views and criticise her for her role in the US’s deadly colonial pursuits. In the past, Malala has been praised for being bold and unapologetic in her fight for girls’ education. There is no reason why she cannot extend this drive to Gaza’s women and girls. With her unparalleled platform and influence, she can do much better than pander to white feminism. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/6/16/how-not-to-show-solidarity-with-the-palestinian-people

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@RAIDEN ™ added to Devil Harmony team Welcome bro!

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Name: 7aMoDi Rank: DaddyBoss Tutorial: How to record demo Hello, Today I will give a simple tutorial of how to use a demo record recording. I know that it is easy, but there are many who do not know how, especially the new admins in the staff of NewLifeZM, Because some of the staff do not know how to do a demo, especially when they see someone broking the rules and some proofs requires a demo recording.. So today we will explain how to do a demo simply and easily [ 1 ] - Open the console of the game And type "record" + Any name of file you want to make a new demo. Now you see the console said "recording to NewLifeZM.dem" So that's mean the record has started. [ 2 ] - To stop recording just type "stop" Now you see the console saying "Demo completed" This means that the demo is saved in your game files. [ 3 ] - To View the demo just type "viewdemo" + Name of the file. Look, you see all the settings, Now you have displayed the demo that you have already recorded, and all the video settings appear in front of you and you can control the demo whenever you want. [ 3 ] - How to see the demo file? It's easy! [ 3.1 ] - If you have a steam CS just go the Library of steam and press right click on the mouse then: [ 3.2 ] - If you don't have steam it's okay, go to the icon of the game then right click and: Then cstrike file: Now here you can found the file and upload the demo for the proof banlist. [ 4 ] - How to upload the demo? Sure! it's easy step with a lot of website to upload the demo's like: ( Photo's ) [ 1 ] - streamable.com [ 2 ] - www.veed.io/tools/video-hosting/video-upload [ 3 ] - gemoo.com/tools/video-uploader [ 4 ] - screenpal.com/tool/video-upload ~ Thank you for reading it! I hope you like it and are satisfied If you have any questions or inquiries, you can leave a comment below. Best Regards: DaddyBoss 7aMoDi

The 2025 BMW M2 arrives with 473 horsepower, 20 ponies more than before. The six-speed manual is still offered, but automatic M2s also gain 37 pound-feet of torque over the 2024 model. The interior has been altered slightly too, with a bigger emphasis on screens instead of physical controls. The latest generation of the BMW M2 arrived for the 2023 model year with a muscular new design and a 453-hp twin-turbo inline-six. Just two years later, BMW is already giving its smallest sports car a series of tweaks. The 2025 BMW M2 will hit the streets later this year with an extra 20 hp, new paint options, and an upgraded infotainment system. More Punch The twin-turbo 3.0-liter engine now produces 473 ponies, 20 hp more than the 2024 model and nearly 70 hp more than the previous-generation M2 that went out of production in 2021. The M2 remains rear-wheel-drive-only and also retains its available six-speed manual gearbox; an eight-speed automatic transmission is also offered. Automatic-equipped M2s receive a substantial boost in torque, from 406 to 443 pound-feet; manual M2s stand pat at 402 pound-feet. BMW says the throttle map has been revised to improve responsiveness. BMW claims the stick-shift M2 is a tenth of a second quicker to 60 mph than before, quoting a 4.1-second time. The automatic-equipped M2 is said to do the same sprint in 3.9 seconds. In Car and Driver testing, we clocked the manual M2 at 3.9 seconds, suggesting BMW's claims are a bit conservative. Top speed is capped at 155 mph, with the M Driver's package pushing the limit to 177 mph. New Looks BMW is offering several new paint colors for 2025, including Sao Paulo Yellow, Vegas Red metallic, Skyscraper Grey metallic, and Portimao Blue metallic. There are also flashy new hues through BMW's Individual customization program: Java Green metallic, Voodoo Blue, Grigio Telesto Pearl Effect metallic, and Twilight Purple Pearl Effect metallic. For 2025, models can also be specced with a bright silver finish for the wheels. Other design tweaks include black badges outlined in silver and standard black tailpipes. Inside, BMW restyled the steering wheel with new spokes, a flat-bottomed rim, and a red center marker at the 12 o'clock position. The steering wheel comes wrapped in leather as standard, with options for Alcantara and heating. The M Carbon bucket seats can now be ordered as a standalone option. Previously, they required the $9900 Carbon package. The standard leather seats can now be ordered in black with a red accent. The curved display atop the dashboard, which houses a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and 14.9-inch touchscreen, runs the latest version of BMW's operating system. The climate control settings are now handled by digital controls, with the ability to also use voice commands. As a result, the dashboard has been restyled to further reduce the number of buttons. The 2025 M2 will continue to be assembled at BMW's factory in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, with production beginning this August. The M2's base price rises slightly to $66,075 from the 2024 model's $64,195 tag. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a61087231/2025-bmw-m2-refresh-price/

Most of the victims in the deadly blaze that engulfed a block housing immigrant workers are from India. Kerala's Health Minister Veena George consoles the mother of a victim of Kuwait fire in Pathanamthitta district in India's southern state [Stringer/Reuters] From a father-of-two who planned to leave his job to a 29-year-old due to visit his family in August, two dozen Indians from the southern state of Kerala died in a fire that ripped through a labour-housing facility in Kuwait, leaving their families bereft. India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said 40 Indians died in the blaze at a building housing workers in Kuwait’s Mangaf city, which also killed at least nine others, including three Philippine nationals. Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Abdullah al-Yahya told reporters on Thursday that one person succumbed to injuries, taking the number of deaths to at least 50. More than 50 other workers were injured, some critically, but their nationalities could not immediately be confirmed by the Kuwaiti government. Most of oil-rich Kuwait’s four million-plus po[CENSORED]tion is made up of foreigners, many of them from South and Southeast Asia working in construction and service industries. They often live in overcrowded accommodations. For decades, a disproportionately large share of Indian workers in the Gulf have been drawn from Kerala, a densely po[CENSORED]ted state along southern India’s Arabian Sea coast. In Kerala, Norka Roots, a government agency for the state residents living outside, placed the number of dead from the state at 24. The federal government arranged a special flight to bring the bodies, Norka secretary K Vasuki said. In a post on X late on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country was “doing everything possible to assist those affected by this gruesome fire tragedy”. Next of kin will receive payments of 200,000 rupees ($2,400), his office announced. Kirti Vardhan Singh, India’s junior foreign minister, reached Kuwait on an Indian Air Force plane to help survivors and repatriate remains. “Some of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition, so DNA tests [are] under way to identify the victims,” he told Indian media. People walk past the building in Mangaf where the deadly fire took place [Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP] ‘State of shock’ News of the disaster spread quickly in Kerala. Among the victims from the state was Muralidharan Nair, who had been working in Kuwait for 32 years, including 10 as a senior supervisor in the company that owned the housing facility where the fire broke out. “He came on leave in December for two months with a plan to end his career in Kuwait. The company called him back,” his brother, Vinu V Nair, told the Reuters news agency, adding that the family identified the 61-year-old from a list of names published by India’s embassy. His two roommates also died in the blaze. The family of Saju Varghese, 56, found out about the fire from television and social media and confirmed his death from friends and relatives in Kuwait. Working in the Gulf nation for the last 21 years, Varghese planned to visit Kerala later this month to arrange his daughter’s higher education. “The family is in a state of shock,” their neighbour, George Samuel, said. Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister Fahad Yusuf Al-Sabah speaks with police officers in front of the burned building [Reuters] Another victim, Stephin Abraham Sabu, 29, who worked as an engineer in Kuwait since 2019, called home almost daily. He had visited his hometown Kottayam “two or three times” since he left, and had booked air tickets to return in August for the housewarming of his family’s new home and to help them buy a new car, his friends said. Sabu’s father has a small shop in Kottayam while his mother is a housewife. His brother, Febin, also works in Kuwait but lives separately. Authorities in Kuwait have not officially announced the nationalities of those who died. But the other dead included three Filipino workers, Leo Cacdac, the Philippine migrant workers minister, said in a statement on Thursday. Two other Filipinos were hospitalised and in critical condition. Kuwaiti officials have detained the building’s owner over potential negligence and have warned that any blocks that flout safety rules will be closed. The blaze was one of the worst seen in Kuwait, which borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia and sits on about 7 percent of the world’s known oil reserves. In 2009, 57 people died when a Kuwaiti woman, apparently seeking revenge, set fire to a tent at a wedding party when her husband married a second wife. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/13/state-of-shock-kuwait-fire-leaves-many-families-bereft-in-indias-kerala

Commission of Inquiry accuses Israel and Palestinian groups of war crimes. Here’s a breakdown. Israeli forces have committed crimes against humanity of extermination, murder, gender persecution, forcible transfer, and torture and inhuman and cruel treatment, a UN-backed inquiry has reported [File: Eyad Baba/AFP] A United Nations-backed inquiry has concluded that war crimes have been committed by Israel and by Hamas as well as other Palestinian groups, during the now eight-month conflict. The independent Commission of Inquiry report, released on Wednesday, cover the period from the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza, with the period of investigation ending December 31, 2023. Who does the report accuse, Israel or Palestinian groups? Both, it accuses both Israel and Palestinian groups. It found the Hamas-led Palestinian fighters who attacked Israel on October 7 committed war crimes, failing to make a distinction between Israeli combatants and non-combatants during their attack. It also found that Israel and its army are committing “crimes against humanity” in Gaza, including “extermination; murder, gender persecution targeting Palestinian men and boys; forcible transfer; and torture and inhuman and cruel treatment”. Israel has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians in Gaza in an assault that shows no sign of stopping. The report also found an explosion of violence across the occupied West Bank since October 7 and Israeli government efforts to arm and mobilise an already radicalised settler movement. What did Palestinian groups do on October 7? According to the report, the Hamas-led fighters, including members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, carried out waves of attacks against Israeli civilians, including sexual and gender-based violence as well as murder and torture. Children, teenagers and the elderly were also targeted. The report notes the subsequent “desecration of corpses by burning, mutilation and decapitation” as well as “the sexualized desecration of both male and female corpses”. Investigators could not determine if rape had been carried out during the attack due to their inability to access and interview witnesses and victims. So Israel wasn’t at fault at all on October 7? Israel’s response to the attack was also criticised, the report finding that the Israeli army used its Hannibal Directive – a military that allows the army to do anything to stop the capture of Israelis, even kill them. The Israeli military killed at least 14 Israeli civilians because of the directive, the report found. What did Israel do in Gaza? Israel initially said it would assault Gaza to retrieve the captives taken there and to destroy Hamas’s ability to govern. Instead, soon a total siege was imposed on the enclave as collective punishment of the people Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called “human animals”, the report said. “Given Israel’s repeated assertion that militants are ‘embedded’ within the civilian po[CENSORED]tion, the Commission considers these statements indicate that the Israeli Government has given [the Israeli Security Forces] blanket authorisation to target civilian locations widely and indiscriminately in the Gaza Strip,” it continued. The report also found that widespread sexual and gender-based violence, as well as torture, have all been characteristic of the Israeli response. Men and women were repeatedly forced to strip in public, with the men and boys’ experience filmed and posted online, the Commission concluding that “forced public stripping and nudity and other types of abuse by Israeli military personnel were either ordered or condoned”. What Israel touted as its efforts to “minimise civilian casualties” were also heavily criticised. Instructions to civilians on how to reach “humanitarian zones” were unclear and the time given was insufficient as thousands of starving, injured, and elderly people were forced to walk carrying their entire lives from one spot to another, trying to follow unclear Israeli calculations. Evacuation routes were chaotic, with evacuees stopped and harassed at checkpoints by members of the Israeli military. There are 1.7 million Palestinians displaced within Gaza. How easy were the Commission’s attempts to investigate this? According to the report, requests for information were sent to both Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The PA responded positively and provided the Commission with extensive comments on the report’s contents. The Israeli government was uncooperative and failed to respond to six requests for information. The Israeli government has also blocked the Commission’s investigators from accessing medical staff within Israel. What has the official reaction been to the report? Hamas military wing has rejected all accusations that its forces committed sexual violence against Israeli women on October 7. Israel’s diplomatic mission to the UN in Geneva denied the charges in the report in a social media post saying that the Commission of Inquiry “has once again proven that its actions are all in the service of a narrow-led political agenda against Israel”. The Israeli government is considering taking measures against UN agencies operating in Israel and the Palestinian territory, including the possible expulsion of staff, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. It is not clear if this is in response to Wednesday’sreport, or UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ move last week to add Israel to the list of countries and organisations that fail to protect children in conflict. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/13/israel-in-gaza-palestinian-fighters-in-israel-what-the-un-accuses-them-of

AELTC has contingency ready to mark Briton’s career Record prize pot of £50m at this year’s championships Andy Murray leaves the practice courts at Wimbledon in 2023. Photograph: Steven Paston/PA The All England Club is “ready and prepared” to commemorate Andy Murray’s career should the two-times Wimbledon champion announce his retirement plans at the tournament, which will offer record prize money of £50m when it begins on 1 July. At Wimbledon’s annual pre-event press conference, Sally Bolton, the AELTC’s chief executive officer, said that the club would be guided by Murray on whether and how they would mark the Briton’s career. Emma Raducanu celebrates a point against Daria Snigur at the Nottingham Open. Raducanu copes with windy conditions to breeze into Nottingham last eight Read more “We have certainly got plans in place and we’re ready and prepared,” said Bolton. “But ultimately, it’s Andy’s decision and we’ll very much be led by him and we can amend our plans accordingly.” It remains to be seen if Murray, who said this year that he is unlikely to continue playing after this summer, will decide to actually retire at Wimbledon. The Briton hopes to compete at the Olympic Games, but his presence in Paris will probably depend on whether he can compete in doubles. The Olympic team will be named at the end of this week but the Olympic doubles entrants will not be confirmed until July. Should Wimbledon be Murray’s final tournament, Bolton said the AELTC would require no notice. “We’re ready, we’ve got plans,” she said. “They’re very adaptable. We’re clear about what we want to do. But it’s really important that this is Andy’s call and so we’ll be very much led by him in the decision he makes.” Wimbledon will offer a prize pot of £50m for this year’s tournament – an increase of £5.3m from last year. This year, the men’s and women’s champions will receive £2.7m each. First round losers will receive £60,000. The tournament, meanwhile, will continue to open up Centre Court at 1.30pm on most days this year despite suggestions from Murray and Novak Djokovic that play should start earlier after unpredictable weather led to late finishes. Start times at grand slam tournaments have been a general issue recently, with play finishing as late as 3am at the French Open. Wimbledon at least has a strict curfew of 11pm. “We’re still confident we can achieve what we need to do in that period of time,” said Bolton. “We’ve reviewed it, we’ve thought long and hard, and looked at the data around length of matches and the trends that are occurring in that space. We’re very confident and happy with the decision that we’ve made this year.” The All England Club, meanwhile, will continue to provide support for displaced Ukrainian players, including allowing access to facilities and places to train for the duration of the grass-court season. In 2022, the All England Club announced a donation of £100,000 to support the British Red Cross’s Ukraine Crisis Appeal. The club also allocates 1,000 tickets for refugees. Asked whether the AELTC intended to specifically donate to causes in Gaza, where Israeli air attacks and ground incursion into the territory has killed over 30,000 Palestinian people, Deborah Jevans, the All England Club’s new chair, only reiterated that the Wimbledon Foundation donates to the British Red Cross, which allocates its funds to numerous causes, including Gaza and Ukraine. “One of our significant charitable partners is the Red Cross and we provide funds to them through our foundation and they then distribute those funds internationally throughout the world, which include Gaza as well as Ukraine,” said Jevans. “Our approach is that they have a good partnership with them, they are an international charity and they determine where funds go.” https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/13/wimbledon-plan-if-andy-murray-announces-retirement-tennis

Vogue’s editor-in-chief says she hopes UK’s next prime minister recognises importance of arts and fashion Anna Wintour is working with the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, on this year’s Vogue World event. Photograph: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP As Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, finalised plans for her third instalment of Vogue World, an entertainment extravaganza that will take place in Paris this month, she expressed hope that some of the French attitude towards fashion might rub off on the UK. “I have not read what I assume will be the next prime minister’s stand on the arts but hopefully he can be convinced to support not only the arts organisations but also fashion in this country, which is such an important part of the economy,” she told the Guardian on Monday at Condé Nast’s offices in London. While France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, regularly hosts events for designers at the Élysée Palace, acknowledging the importance of the industry as France’s top export sector, Wintour believes that in the UK the fashion industry continues to be misunderstood, despite contributing more than £60bn to the British economy. “Over the years I have seen prime ministers host events at Downing Street and say a lot of the right things but I’m not sure how knowledgable they are about how many jobs the fashion industry creates in this country or how important it is to [London] in so many different ways. “So I’m hoping whoever the next prime minister is will be very open to it,” she said, adding that she was hopeful “we can all lobby the government to do more”. Ruling out any rumoured plans to move back to the British capital – saying “I love spending time here but New York is very much my home” – Wintour described the importance of fashion to French culture. “I remember flying into Paris for Yves Saint Laurent’s final couture show in 2002 and my driver greeted me almost in floods of tears. Fashion touches the whole city. They realise how important it is and what it means to their culture.” It is in this fashion capital that the third instalment of Vogue World will take place in the Place Vendôme on 23 June, with a cast of more than 500 stars, including the models Kendall Jenner and Ashley Graham, Olympic athletes – the event will be focused on sport – and surprise musical performers descending on the square in the first arrondissement alongside 800 ticketed seats, which are open to the public. Sport is the focus of the Vogue event. Photograph: Bardia Zeinali/Vogue Orchestrated by Wintour and her global team, the event will last for less than 60 minutes but is set to go down in French history as a fashion coup. Asked if she gets nervous, she said: “Of course, it’s a huge undertaking.” Wintour, who has been the global chief content officer for Condé Nast since 2020, says she is working closely with the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, on the event, which aims to celebrate 100 years of French fashion. She says Hidalgo has been “amazing from the word go. She understands what we are trying to achieve and who we are trying to honour.” The Paris edition of Vogue World follows its inaugural version in 2022 in which the singer Lil Nas X performed while Serena Williams strode down the cobbled streets of New York’s Meatpacking District. A London iteration in September confirmed Wintour’s position as the most powerful person in fashion as she persuaded everyone from Kate Moss and Stormzy to Ian McKellen to take part, raising more than £2m for London-based arts organisations. This time proceeds from ticket sales will go to Secours Po[CENSORED]ire, a French nonprofit that promotes access to sport for children. Third-row tickets start from £1,895. Some tickets will be given free to fashion students and aspiring athletes. Mark Guiducci, US Vogue’s creative editorial director said they were aiming to raise at least €1m for the cause, but alongside individual contributions from a number of organisations and donors expected the final figure to be much higher. The French fashion editor, Carine Roitfeld, Off-White’s creative director Ibrahim Kamara and fashion historian Alexandre Samson will oversee the event’s fashion content, which is to feature looks from each decade since 1924, the last time the Olympics took place in Paris. Wintour says they are aiming to honour past designers and those who are “very much part of the French scene today.” Each decade will be paired with a different sport, from cycling to breakdancing with looks from houses including Chanel and Balenciaga. Cara Delevingne will host a live stream. “If a ticket isn’t an option for you then the best seat in the house will be watching it live,” said Guiducci. Asked about the growing fusion of sport and fashion such as this summer’s tenniscore trend, Wintour said: “It’s interesting over the years that I’ve worked with Vogue to see how sport has infiltrated really all of fashion. “At Vogue we always embraced the world of sport and integrated it with the world of fashion just as we have done with musicians and theatre and film. I think fashion is so inclusive today and athletes are global superstars of today and tomorrow. It’s the right timing.” https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/article/2024/jun/11/anna-wintour-vogue-world-sport-uk-arts

Black bear apparently opened the vehicle by lifting door handle with its mouth, after breaking into same car last year After a string of vehicle break-ins in a north Canadian town, local residents have identified the culprit: a black bear with a taste for upholstery foam. Awoken by a noise near midnight on 11 June, Kayla Seward, who lives in the Ontario township of Larder Lake, went outside to investigate – and found the sleepy black bear locked inside her car. A photo Kayla Seward took of the damage. Photograph: Kayla Seward A video of the encounter showed a dozy-looking ursid visible behind condensation-misted windows, sitting in the front passenger seat. “He’s nodding off, baby look at him,” Seward said, before her husband opened the car door to release the creature off-camera. The bear had apparently opened the unlocked vehicle by lifting a door handle with its mouth. The same tagged bear had already broken into her vehicle last year, Seward believes. “This bear this time last year broke through my back window and was then transported by the ministry [of Natural Resources and Forestry] 200km away,” Seward told the Guardian. “Well, it walked all the way back to take revenge.” The bear returned last week and broke into three cars around her off grid-home, she said. “Apparently, the bears are attracted to foam, that’s why they eat four-wheeler seats and stuff I was told,” Seward said. Wildlife officers had tried to retrap the nuisance bear last week but were unsuccessful, a spokesperson for the ministry said. Parks Canada estimates that more than 380,000 of North America’s 600,000 black bear po[CENSORED]tion lives in Canada. Black bears are not normally aggressive towards humans, with most interactions occurring near what bears identify as food sources. Last year a federal judge fined a man for shooting a black bear in Jasper national park, rejecting his defence that he was afraid of the predator. In 2021, however, a 26-year-old woman working as a helicopter engineer in Alberta was killed in a rare black bear attack. Seward’s most recent wildlife encounter may prove to be costly, as the bear tore up the upholstery and door panels and defecated after somehow locking itself inside her car. “Nothing a little duct tape won’t fix,” Seward joked in another video as she inspected the interior of her Honda Civic. Seward received a rude shock when she contacted her insurance company who said her policy would not pay out as she did not choose comprehensive coverage, leaving her to repair the damage herself. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/12/ontario-black-bear-car

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@Era added to team Devil Harmony, Welcome bro!

Accepted! We need staff, You deserve 3 days to prove your activity so good luck! Welcome to the Devil Harmony staff.

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