Staff at US gaming giant Activision Blizzard have staged a walk-out over accusations of sexism and harassment.
The company behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft was sued last week by the state of California over alleged violations of state workplace protection laws.
Female employees described a "frat boy" culture, the lawsuit said. pg
Activision denied the allegations claiming they were "distorted and in many cases false".
On Tuesday, Activision's CEO said the initial response had been "tone-deaf".
Employees protested outside the company's campus in Irvine on Wednesday. Some were pictured holding signs that read "women's voices matter" and "fight bad guys in game, fight bad guys IRL".
On social media, a number of gamers said they would not login to anything Activision Blizzard during the walkout in solidarity with employees.
The allegations against Activision were contained in a legal filing from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) following a two-year investigation.
It included accusations of drunken harassment of female employees by male colleagues or supervisors, a culture of ignoring complaints and retaliation against women who made them, and widespread discrimination against women in areas such as equal pay and promotion opportunity.
The lawsuit found that women make up only 20% of Activision's staff.
More than 2,000 employees have signed an open letter calling for an end to mandatory arbitration in harassment cases, improvements in recruiting practices and creation of a diversity and equity task force.
Chief Executive Bobby Kotick said on Tuesday that the company will "continue to investigate each and every claim" of sexism at Activision "and will not hesitate to take decisive action".
"Anyone found to have impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences will be terminated," he said.
Mr Kotick added that Activision's games criticised as being sexist, will also be removed following complaints from staff and gamers. He said that there would be listening sessions for staff to "speak out and share areas for improvement".
The UK is already undergoing disruptive climate change with increased rainfall, sunshine and temperatures, according to scientists.
The year 2020 was the third warmest, fifth wettest and eight sunniest on record, scientists said in the latest UK State of the Climate report.
No other year is in the top 10 on all three criteria. pgslot game
The experts said that, in the space of 30 years, the UK has become 0.9C warmer and 6% wetter.
The report's lead author Mike Kendon, climate information scientist at the UK Met Office, told BBC News: “A lot of people think climate change is in the future – but this proves the climate is already changing here in the UK.
“As it continues to warm we are going to see more and more extreme weather such as heatwaves and floods.”
Scientists warn of worse extreme weather if global temperatures rise and politicians fail to curb carbon emissions. Liz Bentley, head of the Royal Meteorological Society, said that even if governments could achieve the challenging outcome of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C – which looks very unlikely - that would still lead to a 10% increase in the amount of water the air can hold.
“In the UK,” she said, “we are likely to see temperatures of 40C. As we get 1.5C warming, that’ll be something we see on a regular basis.
"People don’t realise that even a small temperature rise of 0.1 or 0.2 degrees overall can make a huge difference – especially in the frequency and intensity of extreme events. “We had roads melting last year, rails start to buckle, electric cabling starts to buckle. We often say we’d like a climate like the Med, but people were soon complaining they were too hot - not just in the day but especially at night.
“It often takes a massive high-impact event to change attitudes to the climate – so let’s hope what’s been happening recently with extreme weather will raise the will to tackle the problem.”
The State of the Climate report also indicates that plants are responding to the changes in climate. Leaves appeared on average 10.4 days earlier than the 1999- 2019 baseline for a range of common shrub/tree species.
While the signs of spring got earlier, so did the indications of autumn - trees in 2020 went bare on average 4.3 days earlier than the baseline.
A federal judge in Texas has ruled that a programme protecting migrants who came to the US as children from deportation is illegal.
Judge Andrew Hanen said new applicants should not be enrolled in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca).
But he said the ruling does not require the government to deport any Daca recipients.
Nearly 650,000 people - known as Dreamers - are currently enrolled in the programme.
President Joe Biden has ordered his administration to strengthen the initiative. The US Supreme Court last year blocked a bid by former President Donald Trump to end Daca.
In Friday's ruling, Judge Hanen agreed with a group of states that had filed a lawsuit arguing the programme was illegally created by former President Barack Obama in 2012.
Texas and eight other conservative states said Mr Obama had acted without due congressional authorisation. Daca recipients are shielded from deportation, granted work authorisation, can have driving licences and apply for education financial aid. slot wallet
This is the second time a federal court in Texas has dealt a blow to Mr Biden's immigration agenda.
In January, a judge blocked the Democratic president's attempt to impose a 100-day moratorium on deportations.
Democratic US Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey tweeted on Friday it was time for Mr Biden's party, which commands narrow majorities on Capitol Hill, to act.
"Congress must seize the moment and any and all opportunities to finally provide a pathway to legalisation for millions of undocumented immigrants," he said.
Mr Biden has already proposed legislation that would provide a path to US citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US.
According to the Politico website, Democrats plan to create a way to citizenship for Dreamers and other undocumented groups in a forthcoming $3.5tn (£2.5tn) spending bill.
However, it is unclear whether the immigration provisions can get by the Senate's strict rules.
The legal blow to Daca comes on the day that the numbers of migrants arriving at the south-western border broke yet another record.
Border officials caught migrants there 188,829 times in June, the largest number in a single month in more than two decades.
This included over 15,000 children who were travelling alone, said US Customs and Border Protection.
Also on Friday the Pentagon confirmed to the BBC that Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas was being used by US immigration officials to fly undocumented migrants into the country's interior.
Live snails, fresh leaves and a quarter-pound of beef were found this month - not on a plate or grocery store but inside luggage at a Texas airport.
A passenger arriving from Nigeria initially disclosed the dried beef in her suitcase, before adding 15 giant African land snails to her declaration.
The snails, which were handed over to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), can cause meningitis in humans.
They are illegal to own in the US without a permit. slot
Giant African land snails are among the most damaging snails in the world.
They are native to West Africa, where they are considered a delicacy
But they're also known to carry a parasite with a rather menacing name: rat lungworm. This parasite can cause meningitis, an inflammatory illness that affects the brain and spinal cord.
More than 2,800 cases of the disease have been reported across 30 countries, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In most cases, infected people have mild symptoms, like headaches, a stiff neck, and nausea - or no symptoms at all.
These snails also pose a potentially serious threat to the environment, damaging local ecosystems and buildings. They are known to eat at least 500 types of plants, but if fruits and vegetables aren't readily available, they can turn to tree bark and even paint and stucco on houses.
They're also stubborn guests: once they arrive, they're hard to get rid of.
The species was first found in the US, in southern Florida, in the 1960s, according to the USDA. It took 10 years and $1m (£730,000) to eradicate them.
In 2011, the snails made their return to Florida, and efforts to remove them are again underway.
The process can be a race against the snail's speedy reproductive system. A single giant African snail can produce about 1,200 eggs in a year.
The July discovery by Houston border agents is one of an estimated 250 pests found each day at US ports of entry.
Dusty Hill, the bassist of US blues rock band ZZ Top, has died at the age of 72.
Bandmates Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard said that Hill died in his sleep at his home in Houston, Texas. They did not give further details.
Earlier in July, ZZ Top had announced that Hill would not play some upcoming shows due to a hip injury.
Known for his bushy beard and sunglasses, Hill played with ZZ Top for over 50 years. pgslot
"We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature, and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the 'Top'," the statement from Gibbons and Beard said.
"You will be missed greatly, amigo."
Born Joseph Michael Hill, the bassist originally played guitar alongside his brother Rocky in Dallas before moving to Houston and joining Beard.
ZZ Top was founded in 1969, and played their first live concert the following year.
The trio would go on to release 15 studio and four live albums, with hit singles like Gimme All Your Lovin', Sleeping Bag, and Viva Las Vegas.
ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
In addition to the bass guitar, Hill played keyboard and was a secondary lead vocalist for the band.
Hill also made cameo acting appearances in the Back to the Future Part III film and HBO's Deadwood, along with the animated television series King of the Hill.
Following news of his death, fans and fellow musicians of Hill's took to social media to express their grief.
"For 50 entire years, Dusty Hill anchored down one of the greatest rock power trios that's ever existed," music journalist Corbin Reiff wrote on Twitter.