Opener Chris Lynn anchored his innings to perfection as Kolkata Knight Riders were back to winning ways with a comfortable six-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore in an IPL encounter on Sunday.
Chasing a sub-par target of 176, KKR reached the target in 19.1 overs with Lynn scoring an unbeaten 62 off 52 balls with seven fours and a six.
KKR captain Dinesh Karthik relishing his new found role as a finisher, played his part with a 10-ball-23 to make it easy in the end. KKR with eight points remained in fourth place while Virat Kohli's men slumped further with their fifth defeat in seven games.
At the onset of the chase, Lynn and Sunil Narine (27 off 19 balls) provided a solid if not spectacular foundation adding 51 runs in the Powerplay overs.
Lynn's straight six off a Umesh Yadav yorker was exhilarating but he was lucky to get reprieve when he miscued a lofted shot trying to hit Yuzvendra Chahal against the turn but Murugan Ashwin misjudged it completely.
Yadav was also hit for a six over long-off by Narine off the very first delivery of his spell.
There were a few streaky boundaries hit off Tim Southee as KKR were well above Duckworth-Lewis par-score at 55 for no loss when play was temporarily halted at 6.3 overs.
Once the match resumed, Narine was holed out at the long-off boundary off Murugan's bowling.
Robin Uthappa (36 off 21 balls) blazed his way with three fours and three sixes before being caught in deep off Murugan's bowling.
Lynn however kept playing the sweep shot against spinners with varying degree of success as RCB clawed their way back into the match during the middle overs.
But Lynn kept his composure in company of skipper Dinesh Karthik to win it for KKR.
Earlier, skipper Kohli was once again the stand-out performer with an unbeaten 44-ball-68 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru managed a below-par 175 for 4 in 20 overs.
It was a patchy batting performance from the home team and Indian captain's fourth half-century of the season ensured that they had some kind of a total on board.
Kohli's innings comprised of five fours and three sixes while Brendon McCullum contributed 38 off 28 balls.
Two of the three sixes struck by Kohli were pure delight. Both were hit off Andre Russell. With minimum backlift, Kohli whipped one on the block hole into the long-on stands while the other was a flick into the deep mid-wicket stand.
The final six came off the last delivery of the innings as he dispatched one into the mid-wicket stands.
RCB's first 10 overs wasn't as productive as they lost three wickets for 75 runs. It was primarily due to Kohli that they managed another 100 runs in the back-10.
The slow start by RCB was one of the reasons for not getting the par-score of 200 as the Powerplay overs produced only 40 runs.
Put into bat, openers McCullum and Quinton de Kock (29 off 27 balls) put on 67 runs but consumed eight overs in the process.
The South African 'keeper-batsman was scalped by Kuldeep Yadav with his first ball after the strategic break. De Kock's inside out lofted shot was pouched in the deep by Shubman Gill.
RCB lost next two back-to-back wickets in the 10th over when McCullum was caught off Russell and Manan Vohra (0) made a hash of a low full-toss.
Mandeep Singh (19) became Russell's third victim. A slower delivery on off-stump, Mandeep swung and did not get the elevation he needed and Shivam Mavi took the catch at deep midwicket.
Earlier, Naraine was greeted by de Kock with two consecutive boundaries of his first over. First he swept one towards short fine leg and then a cross-batted shot towards deep midwicket fence. De Kock also hit a six off Mitchell Johnson's first over.
Google rolls out Imagen 4, its advanced text-to-image model, for free on AI Studio
The offer is available for a limited time only
Two versions announced: Imagen 4 and Imagen 4 Ultra
Imagen 4 Ultra delivers higher accuracy at a higher price
Gemini integration is expected for paid users soon
Google debuts upgraded text-to-image tool
Google has launched Imagen 4, its latest text-to-image generation model, now available for free via AI Studio for a limited time. The tool promises substantial improvements over its predecessor, Imagen 3, especially in image quality and text generation accuracy.
According to Google’s announcement, there are two new models: Imagen 4 and Imagen 4 Ultra. Imagen 4 is optimised for general use cases and is priced at $0.04 per image when not using the free offer. Imagen 4 Ultra, the more advanced option, costs $0.06 per image and is designed to follow text prompts with greater precision.
At present, Imagen 4 is not available within Gemini, Google’s AI chatbot, but it is expected to roll out to paid users in the coming weeks.
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Scott, known online as Accursed Farms, has spent the past year rallying public and political support.
Ross Scott (Accursed Farms) launched the Stop Killing Games campaign in 2023 after Ubisoft announced it would shut down The Crew permanently
The initiative aims to protect consumer access to games after publishers withdraw support
Petitions in both the UK and EU are nearing their deadlines: July 14 (UK) and July 3 (EU)
Despite wide support, the EU Citizens’ Initiative remains short of its 1 million-signature target
Scott plans to step away from campaigning after July, citing burnout and financial strain
Campaign to preserve games faces critical deadline
With less than a month remaining, the Stop Killing Games initiative launched by YouTuber and gaming advocate Ross Scott is approaching its final deadline. The campaign, which seeks to protect players’ access to games even after publishers shut down their servers, was sparked by Ubisoft’s decision to permanently disable The Crew in 2023.
Scott, known online as Accursed Farms, has spent the past year rallying public and political support. Despite media attention and significant effort, the campaign's key goal, a European Citizens’ Initiative reaching one million signatures, remains unmet.
Two major deadlines loom: 3 July for the EU initiative and 14 July for the UK parliamentary petition. With time running out, Scott has signalled he will step away from leading any further campaigns.
A fight against silent erasure
The heart of Scott’s campaign is simple: digital games should not disappear without a clear warning or alternative access. He argues current laws are inadequate, sometimes contradictory, and often ignore consumer expectations. “The law wasn't written for this situation,” he explains. “The industry's terms might possibly be illegal… traditional expectations are that games last indefinitely.”
Scott stresses that the campaign does not demand publishers support games forever, but rather that end-of-life plans and clear communication be required. He believes hitting the one million-signature mark would give regulators a clear mandate to act.
“If we had rolled up with 1 million signatures… that would've been the easy way out for regulators,” Scott said. But as of now, the petition sits at just under half a million.
Awareness vs action
Despite the initiative being one of the most popular active EU Citizens’ Initiatives for much of the past year, progress has slowed. “The problem isn’t getting gamers to care about games; it’s getting people to care about anything,” Scott remarked.
He has worked tirelessly—often 12 to 14 hours a day—on outreach, media appearances, and community engagement. But significant obstacles have stood in the way, including bans on political advertising on YouTube and Twitch in many EU countries, as well as the complexities of working across languages and legal systems.
“I kept hoping someone with more reach and better ad campaigning could just point people to the destination and get it done,” he said, noting that his limitations in marketing, fundraising, and legal planning made the role unsustainable.
Online criticism and internal conflict
In a recent video, Scott also addressed criticism from fellow content creator PirateSoftware (Thor), who he says misrepresented the initiative. Scott spent a significant portion of the video refuting claims that the campaign demanded indefinite game support or only applied to single-player titles.
“It was written on the website from day one,” he said in frustration. “I must’ve said this 100 times now.”
What happens after July?
Whether or not the EU petition succeeds, Scott is stepping back. “No way am I going to spearhead something like this again,” he said. “I took it to the best of my ability. That wasn’t good enough.” He added that the campaign had affected his income and that he now needed to focus on more sustainable work.
- YouTubeYouTube/ Accursed Farms
While he may still assist others behind the scenes, Scott has no plans to lead another full-scale initiative.
Still, he remains realistic about what success might mean. Even if the petition triggers action, it’s unlikely to be simple. He predicts that some games currently “on death row” could be shut down early, but new protections would prevent the same fate for future titles.
A broken system and a final appeal
Scott believes the industry has quietly normalised the removal of digital purchases without public consent. “Nobody voted on this. Companies just started taking away your purchases, nobody stopped them, and it slowly got normalised,” he said. “It felt like a coup.”
He concluded his video with a blunt reflection on the process: “It’s stupid that we didn’t have clear laws on this to begin with… that me, a chump YouTuber, was the one spearheading this.”
Still, despite his exhaustion and the uphill battle, Scott is encouraging those who support the cause to take action before the final deadline.
To learn more or sign the petition before it closes, visit Stop Killing Games. EU residents can sign the European Citizens’ Initiative until 3 July, and UK residents can support the parliamentary petition until 14 July.
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(From left) Axiom Mission 4 Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu, Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, Commander Peggy Whitson, and Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski wave from inside the Space Dragon spacecraft. (Photo: NASA)
INDIA’s Shubhanshu Shukla and three other astronauts entered the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday after a 28-hour journey aboard the Dragon spacecraft. The crew received warm hugs and handshakes upon arrival as the capsule docked with the orbital laboratory.
The spacecraft, named Grace and fifth in the Dragon series, made a soft capture with the ISS’s Harmony module at 4:01 pm IST while flying over the North Atlantic Ocean. Full docking procedures, including power links and pressure checks, took about two more hours to complete.
“The #Ax4 crew -- commander Peggy Whitson, ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, ESA astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and mission specialist Tibor Kapu -- emerges from the Dragon spacecraft and gets their first look at their home in low Earth orbit,” the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) posted on X.
The #Ax4 crew—commander Peggy Whitson, @ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, @ESA astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and mission specialist Tibor Kapu—emerges from the Dragon spacecraft and gets their first look at their home in low Earth orbit. pic.twitter.com/5q0RfoSv4G — NASA (@NASA) June 26, 2025
“We are happy to be here. It was a long quarantine,” said Whitson, who is making her fifth spaceflight. The four astronauts waved at mission control in Houston during their live interaction.
Soft capture, docking and crew entry
Live footage from NASA showed the Dragon spacecraft approaching the ISS. The docking was confirmed at 4:15 pm IST. After its launch from Florida at 12:01 hours on Wednesday, the spacecraft fired thrusters in a series of controlled manoeuvres to position itself for docking.
The approach progressed faster than expected, with mission control skipping planned pauses at “waypoint-1” and “waypoint-2”, allowing the docking to advance by nearly 30 minutes.
At just 20 metres from the ISS, the spacecraft used laser-based sensors and cameras to align precisely with the docking port on the Harmony module. Once soft capture was achieved, hard-mating followed through 12 sets of mechanical hooks and the activation of power and communication links.
The ISS crew then carried out leak checks and pressure equalisation between the two spacecraft. The hatch was opened after ensuring pressure levels matched those at sea level on Earth.
Whitson entered the space station at 5:53 pm IST, followed by Shukla, Slawosz and Kapu.
Shukla first Indian on ISS, others also make history
Shukla, a test pilot with the Indian Air Force, is the second Indian to go to space and the first since Rakesh Sharma’s mission in 1984.
Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, an engineer and project astronaut from the European Space Agency, is the second person from Poland to travel to space, and the first since 1978.
Tibor Kapu, a mechanical engineer and mission specialist, is the second Hungarian to go into space. Hungary’s last space mission took place 45 years ago.
The ISS already has seven astronauts onboard – Nicole Ayers, Anne McClain and Jonny Kim from NASA, Takuya Onishi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Roscosmos cosmonauts Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.
INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE cricket franchise Rajasthan Royals' majority owner has accused his former co-owner of trying to blackmail him by alleging he was defrauded out of his minority stake in the club.
London-based venture capitalist Manoj Badale and his company Emerging Media Ventures are suing businessman Raj Kundra at London's High Court for allegedly breaching a 2019 confidential settlement agreement.
The case centres on Kundra's former shares in Rajasthan Royals, winner of 2008's inaugural IPL which is now cricket's richest tournament with a brand value of $12 billion (£9.5bn).
Badale's lawyer Adam Speker said Kundra, who is married to Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, had threatened to report serious allegations to Indian authorities in a "blackmail attempt".
Kundra, however, says he has been told information about the claimants and his lawyer William McCormick that, if that is not true, "in due course it will be exposed".
Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra (Photo credit-/AFP via Getty Images)
Kundra had to forfeit his 11.7 per cent stake after being found guilty in 2015 of betting on IPL games in a scandal which led to the Rajasthan Royals being suspended for two years, Speker said.
He added in court filings that Kundra emailed Badale "out of the blue" last month, alleging he had been "misled and defrauded of the rightful value of my 11.7 per cent stake".
The email to Badale said Kundra had filed a complaint with Indian authorities and threatened to make a report to India's Cricket Board (BCCI).
Kundra added, however, that he was willing to discuss a deal involving "the restoration of my original equity or compensation reflecting the true and current valuation of the Rajasthan Royals franchise".
Speker said Kundra also messaged disgraced IPL founder Lalit Modi this month, saying Badale "did not realise cheating me of the true value would cost him dearly".
Badale and his Emerging Media Ventures, which holds a 65 per cent stake in Rajasthan Royals, obtained an interim injunction against Kundra on May 30, preventing Kundra from breaching the settlement agreement by making disparaging statements.
Kundra's lawyer McCormick said Kundra accepted the injunction should continue until a full trial of the lawsuit.
"It is not an admission that anything improper has been done or is being threatened," McCormick said.
(Reuters)
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Guests including Isha Ambani celebrate culture and sustainability at London’s biggest summer art gathering
Isha Ambani Piramal led the host committee for the 2025 Serpentine Summer Party in London.
She wore a vintage Valentino dress first seen at Paris Fashion Week in 2019.
The event featured South Asian voices including architect Marina Tabassum and artist Subodh Gupta.
Celebrities like Cate Blanchett and Sonam Kapoor also attended the exclusive gathering.
Isha Ambani Piramal made history this week as she became the first Indian to chair the Serpentine Summer Party’s host committee. The event, held at Kensington Gardens in London on 24 June 2025, celebrated 25 years of the Serpentine Pavilion with a spotlight on South Asian artists and sustainable fashion.
South Asian artists take centre stage at Serpentine Pavilion 2025
This year’s Serpentine Pavilion was designed by award-winning Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum, whose installation A Capsule in Time explored space and memory using natural materials. Complementing it was Indian artist Subodh Gupta’s A Place in the Sun, a large-scale sculptural work built from everyday Indian household items like tiffin boxes and steel plates. The Pavilion’s 25th anniversary brought together international guests, artists, and designers, reflecting a shift toward broader cultural inclusion.
Serpentine Summer Party in LondonInstagram/vogueindia
Isha Ambani re-wears Valentino gown in quiet nod to sustainability
Isha Ambani turned heads in a champagne-grey Valentino couture dress she first wore at Paris Fashion Week in 2019. Styled with diamond drop earrings, a gold clutch, and strappy heels, her look stood out for its elegance and eco-conscious repeat.
Her co-hosts included Serpentine CEO Bettina Korek, artist Hans Ulrich Obrist, Hollywood actor Cate Blanchett, and philanthropist Michael R. Bloomberg. Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor Ahuja also made an appearance in Dior. Isha’s role as chair is not only about her influence in global art circles but also her evolving fashion narrative, one that brings together luxury with responsibility.