Approval draws criticism over transparency and safety tests.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Warzone update patch notes have been shared by Infinity Ward to clarify whats changed to the game on May 7.

All our hopes and dreams for the next generation of consoles now have a fitting container! Aside from that, Mewtwo misplaces his tail and it...

From realism in Final Fantasy games to the sordid history of Pokémon patches, we get all sorts of feedback this week. And then we play...

Sam Wachter tries to convince us that Moco Moco Friends’ Plushkins are not Pokémon. Anna Marie goes through all the feels. Chris continues his therapy...

Jingle bells, tarutaru smell, people played FF 14. Alex played more Xenoblade and Alice played Warframe. Happy Holidays!

Alice has returned, has delivered missiles, and has many stories of Final Fantasy inspired cafés. Anna Marie is still busting Ba’als. Jonathan has begun a...

Big show this week as we go over our PAX experience. We’ve also got our Extra Life plans, legion impressions, and Persona 5 jealousy. Now...

We’re jumping onto the bandwagon of folks looking for a Vita version of that new Digimon game. We’re also checking our TGS info cards to...

I’ll be honest with you. I’m pretty sick and I don’t remember what happened on this episode. I think I eventually complained about Mass Effect...

Chris confesses his lack of Fire Emblemy skill. Anna Marie confesses her love for melty slimes. Simon sleeps for most of the show. But all...

As we gear up for E3, we get hyped about the latest games. That’s right, we’ve got some hot impressions on Harvester and Diablo II....

Happy Holidays! We wrap up the final podcast of the year affirming it's OK for Anna Marie to play casual games, even if Chris disagrees. While Josh and Kelley are making New Year's resolutions, Chris also disagrees about what should be a brief story. We'll see everyone in 2019!

We’re joined by a new staffer (Peter) this week for a HUGE cast! We set off a KEMCO alert with massively overpriced DLC, we’re accidentally...

With barbers closed, actors and footballers have resorted to shaving off their hair - but experts warn it isn’t for everyone

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With salons closed due to physical distancing guidelines, many men have resorted to cutting their hair at home. And instead of opting for a short back and sides, male celebrities have decided to just shave all their hair off.

Riz Ahmed, the Rogue One and Four Lions actor, has labelled it the #stayathome haircut, and Line of Duty actor Stephen Graham posted footage of his son clipping off his hair with the caption “lockdown locks!”

C&A, Adidas/Reebok, Esprit and M&S round out top five as average scores increase year on year, but Max Mara, Pepe Jeans and Tom Ford fall flat

The H&M Group, C&A, Adidas/Reebok, Esprit, Marks & Spencer and Patagonia are the world’s most transparent major fashion brands, according to the 2020 fashion transparency index from the campaign group Fashion Revolution.

The annual report, now in its fifth year, ranks the amount of information companies disclose about social and environmental policies, processes and effects within their operations and supply chains.

Comfortable and chic, these are perfect transitional pieces for spring. Layer a thin polo neck underneath on chillier days, or style with a fitted blazer to look smarter

Miniature devices that could be developed into safe, high-resolution imaging technology, with uses such as helping doctors identify potentially deadly cancers and treat them early, have been created.

Researchers have made a breakthrough in understanding the structure of a key genetic molecule, called RNA, and revealing for the first time how these changes impact RNA's function. The research team developed a bioinformatics technique to resolve separate structures of RNA rather than viewing them as a 'blur' that averaged multiple structures. This underpinned their discovery that the structure of RNA can influence how cells function.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have approved Novartis' Mayzent to treat relapsing multiple sclerosis in adults, the Swiss drug maker said in a statement on Saturday. Other drugs approved by China's National Medical Products Administration to treat MS include Novartis' Gilenya, Bayer's Betaferon and Sanofi's Aubagio. China has an estimated 30,000 patients with MS. (Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Kevin Yao in Beijing; Editing by Edwina Gibbs

JOHANNESBURG -- The dealer had a stash, but the young woman wasn't getting through the door without an introduction. That's where her friend, already a trusted customer, came in. And even then there were complications.The woman wanted Stuyvesants. The dealer had Courtleighs. But in a South Africa where the sale of cigarettes is newly illegal, quibblers risk nicotine fits.She took the Courtleighs and high-tailed it out of there."I feel like I'm buying cocaine," said the woman, 29, who asked not to be named for fear of being fined or arrested.In late March, in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, the South African government banned the sale of tobacco and alcohol as part of a broad lockdown -- one of the strictest anywhere. But even as the government has begun rolling back the lockdown, the bans remain in effect.A government minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, cited "COVID-19 reasons" for maintaining the ban.Dlamini-Zuma, a doctor who served as health minister in the 1990s and is now cooperative governance minister, said that "besides the effects itself on the person's lungs," there were concerns that smoking could promote coronavirus infection."The way sometimes tobacco is shared does not allow for social distancing," she said, "but actually encourages the spread of the virus."Defending the ban of alcohol sales amid cries of protest from the liquor industry, President Cyril Ramaphosa said alcohol was "a hindrance to the fight against coronavirus.""There are proven links between the sale and consumption of alcohol and violent crime, motor vehicle accidents and other medical emergencies at a time when all public and private resources should be preparing to receive and treat vast numbers of COVID-19 patients," the president said in a statement.The government has also cited the risk of domestic violence in households where families are isolated at home.Perhaps not surprisingly, an underground market in both cigarettes and alcohol quickly sprung up.Like bootleg markets everywhere, it relies on word-of-mouth, as the 29-year-old woman who settled for the Courtleighs soon learned.She made her purchase in a suburb of Vereeniging, a city south of Johannesburg, where dealers are said to sell only to buyers referred by someone they know. And they sell only from their homes to avoid driving around with large quantities of cigarettes, since if they were to be caught at one of the dozens of police roadblocks set up around the country, they could be arrested on the spot.Instead, the smoker carries the risk -- and the cost. A pack of 20 cigarettes now goes for upward of 150 rand (about $8), three times the old legal price. Underground alcohol prices have also skyrocketed. A bottle of low-end vodka that usually sells for 120 rand ($6) now sells for at least 400 rand ($21).South Africa lifted its nationwide lockdown on May 1 but is continuing to implement strict social distancing and face mask rules. Already under siege from HIV, the country has around 8,200 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and has reported about 160 deaths.The country had implemented one of the world's most stringent lockdowns after recording its first coronavirus-related death in March. In addition to banning the sale of cigarettes and alcohol, the regulations banned jogging and dog-walking, and shuttered parks.Before the lockdown, with a ban looming, some smokers stocked up on cartons of cigarettes. But when the ban on cigarettes was extended beyond May 1, things for smokers began to grow tense.Now it's a matter of who you know. The cafe owner willing to slip a box under a container of milk, perhaps, or a supermarket cashier willing to steal and resell cigarettes languishing in the storeroom.In one Pretoria township where everyone knows everyone -- including the police -- few dare sell cigarettes from their homes. Instead, dealers hide among young men milling around on the neighborhood corner.A 23-year-old smoker said that when he saw a group of four men sharing a cigarette, he approached them to find out where they had found the contraband. They just so happened to be selling, they told him.Desperate after a failed attempt to quit smoking, he said, he paid 160 rand for his favorite brand and "ran home," where he took a photograph of the sealed pack, planning to share it on WhatsApp with envious fellow smokers.But when he opened the pack, a cloud of sawdust choked him. There was not a cigarette to be found.Smokers say they are finding fake cigarettes in sealed boxes that look exactly like legitimate brands. And those who are desperate enough are buying unknown brands that have appeared during the lockdown, with names like Pineapple and Chestel, and are notorious for inducing immediate coughing.The tobacco industry has not taken kindly to the government's new policy.The ban has fueled an underground cigarette trade that was thriving even before the lockdown. By some estimates, it made up more than 30% of the market, depriving the above-ground tobacco industry of profit and the government of tax revenue.Now both industry and government are losing even more.The country's largest cigarette manufacturer, British American Tobacco South Africa, at one point threatened legal action if the government did not drop its ban, but Wednesday changed course. "We have taken the decision not to pursue legal action at this stage," it said in a statement, "but, instead, to pursue further discussions with government."The company said, "We are convinced that by working together we can find a better solution that works for all South Africans and removes the threat of criminal sanction from 11 million tobacco consumers in the country."The ban on cigarettes and alcohol has set off a debate on civil liberties in a country with one of the world's most liberal constitutions. While South Africa was an early adopter of public smoking regulations, many see the bans as a symbol of government overreach.Though its coronavirus policies may have succeeded in keeping the outbreak in check, some are calling the government hypocritical. Junk food remains readily available. And officials strictly limited outdoor exercise during the lockdown.In a country increasingly struggling with diabetes and obesity, such inconsistencies undercut the government's argument that it is guarding the public's health, said one South African constitutional law expert, Pierre De Vos."In the long term, if the government overreaches and it wants to continue imposing these limits when the threat has subsided, I think the courts will invalidate this," he said.Still, the ban may have yielded at least one former smoker: the man who bought the box of sawdust."I cannot just go around losing money like that," he said. "I just said to myself, 'Nah, man, it's not worth it. I'll stay home and eat sweets, as that's what's legal now.'"This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

The novel coronavirus pandemic has now killed more than 275,000 people worldwide. Over 3.9 million people across the world have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding the scope of their nations' outbreaks.

The tech giant has often been accused of mistreating workers, but our desire for instant gratification is part of the problem

Tim Bray resigned as an Amazon vice-president last week. “Who he?” I hear you say. And why is this news significant? Answers: first, Bray is an ubergeek who’s an alumnus of many of the outfits in tech’s hall of fame (including DEC, Sun Microsystems, the OED project at the University of Waterloo, Google’s Android team and, eventually, Amazon Web Services); and second, he resigned on an issue of principle – something as rare as hen’s teeth in the tech industry.

In his blog, he wrote: “I quit in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of Covid-19.” It was an expensive decision. Bray said the decision to resign would probably cost him more than a million dollars in salary and shares, and that he regretted leaving a job he enjoyed, working with good colleagues. “So I’m pretty blue.”

In Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, we finally steer away from seeing intimacy through the male gaze

The portrayal of lesbians in mainstream cinema tends to involve prosthetic vaginas and gratuitous sex scenes; so Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire comes as a breath of fresh air. It is the story of the burgeoning relationship between two young women – emancipated artist Marianne (Noémie Merlant), who is commissioned to paint a portrait of sexually repressed Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), leading to a heated romance.

On paper, it looks like the classic lesbian cinematic narrative – there is a buildup of tension, they finally kiss, and then their possibility of a future together seems doomed. However, what makes Portrait of a Lady on Fire different is its heightened self-awareness. The film is constructed with lesbian representation in mind through careful interrogation of the lesbian gaze. There is a lot of looking. Marianne looks at Héloïse because she has to secretly paint her, and Héloïse looks at Marianne out of curiosity. Eventually, there is a shift in the way they start looking at each other – out of desire.

Like dozens of women in the entertainment industry, the actor, model and writer Zoë Brock has claimed she had a traumatic encounter with the film producer Harvey Weinstein. Now she is faced with a settlement offer that she believes would allow him to escape blame for the alleged assaults. Also today: Lily Kuo on the spread of the deadly coronavirus in China

The actor, model and writer Zoë Brock was on a retreat in the New Zealand bush in 2017 when an email pinged into her inbox. It was from a friend sending a link to a breaking news story of allegations against Harvey Weinstein. The claims from several women against the film producer were eerily familiar to an incident that Brock alleges happened to her.

This week, Weinstein goes on trial charged with rape and sexual assault. But for dozens of women with claims against him, their only recourse is to civil courts. Brock tells Anushka Asthana that while she is part of the class action suit against Weinstein, she is deeply unhappy with the terms of the proposed settlement, which she believes would allow him to accept no blame for the allegations.

Ad-Rock and Mike D host a convivial trip down memory lane in this filmed record of a live show staged in tribute to third member Adam Yauch

The release of this documentary coincides with #MeAt20, a heart-twisting craze on social media for posting pictures of yourself at 20 years old. Middle-aged people’s timelines are speckled with funny, sweet and sometimes unbearably sad images of themselves in unlined, unformed youth, doing goofy things in milky analogue pictures from back when you had 12 or 24 exposures on your roll-film camera and getting them developed at Boots was a pricey business. That’s what I thought of while watching this engaging, oddly moving film from Spike Jonze: a record of the live stage show he devised at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, in tribute to white hip-hop stars and tongue-in-cheek party-libertarian activists the Beastie Boys. It is presented by the two surviving members, Adam Horovitz and Michael Diamond, in tribute to the third member, Adam Yauch, who died of cancer in 2012. Jonze is reuniting with the band after having directed a string of their music videos, including the crime-TV spoof for their single Sabotage in 1994.

Horovitz and Diamond amble on stage, apparently dressed head-to-toe in Gap, and appear for all the world to be about to unveil the iPhone 4S, although actually their jokey anecdotalism makes the show in some ways like the regional tours once presented by George Best and Rodney Marsh. With amiably rehearsed back-and-forth banter, they introduce the embarrassing photos and excruciating TV clips that are shown on a big screen. And the effect of seeing them juxtaposed with the plump-faced frizzy-haired imps of 1986 is startling and bizarre. In the present day, the advancing years seem to have boiled away the badass attitude, leaving behind the quirky humour.

A visually distinctive, semi-effective Canadian thriller pits a First Nation community against a zombie invasion

Given how movies about the undead refuse to die, a tweak on what’s become a decaying formula is always a welcome surprise, especially if said tweak involves a little more than “what about zombies but strippers”. Back in the 60s, and at rare times since, the zombie subgenre has been used as a way of sneaking social commentary into horror, the set-up of an invading force destroying a community allowing for a range of sly metaphors.

Related: 'I'm indigenizing zombies': behind gory First Nation horror Blood Quantum

The director of King of New York, Bad Lieutenant and The Funeral recommends film and TV for a coronavirus age, in the hope that ‘the light becomes more evident in the darkness’

• Read the rest of our Lockdown watch series
• The best arts and entertainment during self-isolation

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

The winners and results of last night's Mega Millions lottery, plus how to avoid falling victim to a lottery scam.

It has been 60 years since the FDA first approved the birth control pill on May 9, 1960. It emerged as an essential pillar of women's ability to have good quality of life.

Messenger Rooms will be free for all users, with no time limit

A team of researchers from Utrecht University, the Erasmus Medical Center and Harbour BioMed has identified a human monoclonal antibody that neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1 coronaviruses in cell culture. Named 47D11, this cross-neutralizing antibody targets a communal epitope (antigenic determinant) on these viruses and may offer potential for prevention and treatment of COVID-19. “This research [...]

Saar Gur is adept at identifying the next big consumer trends earlier than most: The San Francisco-based general partner at CRV has led investments into leading consumer internet companies like Niantic, DoorDash, Bird, Dropbox, Patreon, Kapwing and ClassPass. His own experience stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic spurred his interest in three new investment […]

Locals staged a protest at the chemical plant in R R Venkatapuram in Vizag demanding relocation of the factory.

Visakhapatnam, May 09: Days after styrene gas leak from the LG Polymers Private Limited in Vizag that claimed 11 lives and caused 800 others to be hospitalised, locals staged a protest at the factory. Protesters demand the relocation of the chemical

Chennai, May 09: Tamil Nadu government has announced some relaxations in the Coronavirus lockdown in non-containment zones from May 11. The extension includes working hours of standalone and neighbourhood shops and allowing private establishments to function with a reduced number of employees

Growing evidence suggests the covid-19 outbreak may not have started at Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Market in December after all. Finding its origins may help us stop it happening again

Thousands of babies were born with severe brain damage after the 2015 Zika outbreak. New findings could tell us which therapies could help them most

Getting less sleep for five nights in a row can make you view other people’s expressions more negatively, including facial reactions seen over video calls

A study of brain cells in a dish adds to growing evidence that Alzheimer’s disease can be caused by herpes viruses, but antiviral treatment may help stop it

New Zealand is on track to eliminate covid-19 altogether, but keeping the virus out for good will be a challenge, and the economic impacts are likely to hurt

The legendary Bafana Bafana striker has backed the Amakhosi midfielder, who is facing stiff competition in midfield

Sania Mirza took to social media to post a picture with her son Izhaan.

Gary Neville took to Twitter to answer questions around Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes, and Manchester United's future transfer policy.

President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign launched a massive, multi-million dollar ad blitz against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Thursday, its biggest onslaught against Biden since the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States.