A total of 384 travellers are missing after a flood in the Rasuwa district, including 12 Britons

• Flash floods on Nepal/Tibet border – latest updates

Twelve British citizens including a 13-year-old girl are among 384 travellers missing after a flash flood in the Rasuwa district of Nepal, according to reports.

The Nepali tourist board said the “sudden” flood happened on the Tibetan side of the Bhote Koshi River at about 8.30am local time on Wednesday.

An increasing tension between players and publishers about ownership of titles could lead to a divestment from the system the big companies are trying to enforce

At the time of press, there is a well-publicised protest taking place in the video games community. PlayStation 5 owners are being encouraged to log off from their consoles between 23 and 30 August – no playing games, no downloading new titles. The motivating factor is Sony’s decision to cease physical game disc production from January 2028. After that, games will only be released as digital products. In an act of poor timing or wilful defiance, Sony chose this week to send out a mass email reminding customers of their PS5 terms and conditions: “The software is licensed to you, not sold,” states the relevant clause. “You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and personal license to play … ” It knows, of course, that most customers won’t open the email, let alone read it.

There has always been a tension between game players and game publishers – an underlying sense of mutual mistrust. Players are wary of their favourite franchises being canned, or games being delayed or released with bugs. Publishers and manufacturers are wary of piracy and the capricious tastes of consumers. But now the atmosphere among many game players feels more starkly political than ever. Microsoft has been targeted by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement for its ties to the Israeli military; the consumer advocacy group Stop Killing Games is gaining support; players have protested over the purchase of Electronic Arts by a Saudi-led consortium – boycotts have been proposed in part due to the possible ramifications regarding LGBTQ+ content in titles such as The Sims. As the games industry has grown and globalised, its impact on culture, society and politics has increased. Yet, on an individual level, gamers and consumers are feeling increasingly powerless.

First-wave punks rejected religion – but come the 90s, bands embracing eastern thought found legions of devotees. Ahead of reformations and reissues, they discuss the Bhagavad Gita, brawls and tulasi beads in the pit

Whether wielded as shock tactic or part of a considered philosophical stance, mockery and distrust of religion have been baked into punk rock’s DNA from the get-go. The Damned, Crass, the Germs and the Dead Kennedys all proffered early potshots and takedowns, and if Bad Brains received a grudging pass for their Rastafari leanings, in general, songs kowtowing to gods or masters were about as likely to win you scene cred as praise for Reagan, cops or nuclear war.

As the 80s ticked into the 90s, however, something curious began to happen: a clutch of bands emerged who were wise to the hardcore classicism of Minor Threat and SSD but also looked east to Krishna consciousness. Leading the way was Ray “Raghunath” Cappo who, barely into his 20s, had already broken down walls as frontman for Youth of Today, a New York band who combined a straight-edge philosophy with animal-rights advocacy and a sense of full-throated positivity. He and guitarist John Porcelly had “witnessed enough young people screwing up their lives that we thought, as simple as it is, it’s a positive message. Let’s rally behind it,” he says. “And it became big, bigger than we expected.”

‘Janet had eight children. Her husband drove a boda-boda taxi, but had lost a leg – so she had been working in her local quarry for 10 years. “I am now the husband in this home,” she said’

In 2017, my wife, Adele Brown, was invited to spend three weeks at an NGO in Gulu, Uganda, teaching critical thinking skills to blind high school-age students. I was asked along to document the organisation’s activities. I became fascinated by the town’s main market, where vendors sold goods such as used clothes, fruit and firewood. I asked the Ugandan teachers how I might approach someone to take their portrait. They suggested I offer a modest “model fee” after seeking permission.

One of the students – Emmanuel (Emma) – wanted to assist me. We would visit the market together. When I saw a vendor I wanted to photograph, Emma would approach and seek their consent. Most agreed, but after returning home to New York, I looked at the results and was disappointed. As with other well-intentioned projects, I thought that was the end of it.

The £85m midfielder passed his exams a year early, is studying for a degree and is ready to tackle Premier League learning curve

“He’s like a computer,” the former Lille head of academy recruitment Mathieu Frison says of the £85m Manchester City recruit Ayyoub Bouaddi. “You teach him something, he learns it and can do it immediately.” Bouaddi has the mountainous challenge at his new club of replacing the best central midfielder in the world. It would be difficult for any player but at 18 years old it feels monumental, although those who know the Morocco international best would not bet against him.

Bouaddi has known only Lille and Ligue 1 but is entering one of the biggest clubs in the world where a season without a trophy is deemed a failure. For someone so young, however, he has plenty of experience. He made his European debut three days after his 16th birthday and has played three full seasons in the first team, culminating in a place at the World Cup this summer.

Trump administration had not formally announced John Ratcliffe’s trip, but various outlets captured the flight tracking data of the US jet and the Kremlin confirmed the meeting

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A US military strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean on Tuesday killed four people, officials said.

US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a post on X that the strike targeted a vessel “operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean.”

OAKLAND (ANP) - Meta treft een schikking die kan oplopen tot 18 miljard dollar met Amerikaanse staten die het socialemediabedrijf hadden aangeklaagd voor de vermeende verslavende werking van Instagram en Facebook op jongeren. Dat maken openbaar aanklagers en het bedrijf bekend. Meta belooft ook aanpassingen aan zijn socialemediaplatforms, waaronder verplichte nachtelijke pauzes, tijdslimieten en het verbergen van aantallen 'likes' bij minderjarige gebruikers.

In totaal beschuldigen 29 Amerikaanse staten Meta ervan zijn platforms opzettelijk een verslavend ontwerp te geven. Met het genoemde schikkingsbedrag is het door Mark Zuckerberg opgerichte techbedrijf veel minder geld kwijt dan de 200 miljard dollar die een verloren rechtszaak zou kunnen kosten.

Hoeveel Meta daadwerkelijk betaalt, hangt ook van concurrenten TikTok en Google-dochteronderneming YouTube af. De afspraak is dat de betaling van 5,3 miljard dollar door Meta alleen doorgaat als deze video-apps ook tijdslimieten invoeren en een even hoog bedrag betalen.

​Gasexperts hekelen de negatieve sfeer rondom de vuldoelen van de Nederlandse gasopslag. “Het is vervelend dat mensen zo somberen, en ja, eigenlijk echt haten op de stand van de gasreserves in Nederland. Ze lezen een keer een bericht in het nieuws en zijn meteen van opvatting dat het vat half leeg is. Wij zeggen: 45 procent is gewoon een mooi getal an sich. Waarom moet je dat nu weer kapot gaan analyseren? De gasopslag is niet half leeg, maar half vol.”

Het vuldoel halen moet voor gasexperts ook niet heilig zijn. “Het is een beetje als met het direct nastreven van geluk: dat werkt ook niet. Geluk is een bijproduct van stabiele relaties, tevreden zijn met je werk, het gevoel hebben dat je iets voor een ander kan betekenen in het leven. Zo moet je de vuldoelen van gasreserves ook een beetje zien: als een bijproduct van een prachtige onderneming, niet als einddoel op zich.”

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