Technologies

COP26 protests go global as first week of climate summit draws to a close

On Saturday, half a million people attended marches in the UK, where the UN climate summit is being held.

More than half a million people across the UK took part in climate marches Saturday to protest the inaction of leaders and negotiators attending the United Nations’ COP26 climate conference this week. The protesters were part of a Global Day Action that saw more than 300 different demonstrations take place around the world, with organizers estimating the total number of participants to stretch into millions.

Protestors were demanding action from world leaders and governments, who they feel aren’t meeting commitments. These include keeping increases in global temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius and providing developing countries, which didn’t cause the climate crisis but are suffering the worst as a result of it, the funding they need to adapt and survive.

As climate change takes hold, with rising sea levels and more extreme weather events causing droughts, floods and forest fires, protestors who together are part of the climate justice movement, want urgent change. Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden and other world leaders attended COP26, but in spite of several agreements and announcements coming out of the summit, Greta Thunberg and other activists have denounced the summit as a failure and a «PR event.»

In Glasgow, Scotland, where the UN climate summit is taking place, organizers estimated that about 100,000 people took part in protests on the city’s streets. People faced winds and rain to walk more than 2.5 miles from Kelvingrove Park to Glasgow Green, where a rally gave a platform to leaders of Indigenous communities and other civil society groups, including Black Lives Matter and trade unions.

Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate spoke at the rally, describing how, in her home country, a school where she’d organized to have solar panels installed had been destroyed by storms. But she maintained the same message of hope from her speech the previous day, following the Fridays for Future rally.

«Even deniers will start to see what we see, their eyes will be opened and enlightened by our persistence and truth, and they won’t deny anymore,» Nakate said. «They’ll join us in this fight.»

Asad Rehman, one of the organizers of Saturday’s Global Day of Action, spoke as well, declaring the beginning of a new climate justice movement and an end to the era of injustice. «The story of Glasgow is not the story of the climate negotiations or the story of the conference of the polluters,» he said. «It’s the story of us, the conference of people.»

«There’s nobody coming to save us,» Rehman said. «We are the ones that are needed.»

Technologies

Xbox Game Pass Adds Grounded 2 and Others This Month

Game Pass subscribers will also be able to play the new 90s-inspired horror game Abiotic Factor.

The award-winning, quirky survival game Grounded is like the game version of the classic ’80s comedy film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. And Xbox Game Pass subscribers can get early access to that game’s sequel, Grounded 2, on July 29.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, a CNET Editors’ Choice award pick, offers hundreds of games you can play on your Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One and PC or mobile device for $20 a month. A subscription gives you access to a large library of games, with new ones, including Doom: The Dark Ages, added monthly, plus other benefits such as online multiplayer and deals on non-Game Pass titles.

Here are the games Microsoft is bringing to Game Pass soon. You can also check out other games the company added to the service recently, like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4.

RoboCop: Rogue City

Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play now.

Serve the public, protect the innocent and uphold the law as the cyborg RoboCop. You’ll investigate crimes in Old Detroit before using your cyborg strength, cybernetic implants and arsenal of weapons to eradicate gangs from the area. This game is a whole new RoboCop story based on the film series, and Peter Weller, the original RoboCop himself, returns to voice the titular character.

My Friendly Neighborhood

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play now.

Something’s going on with everyone’s favorite Saturday morning puppet show, and it’s up to you to figure out what in this survival horror game. You’ll solve puzzles and use tools and improvised weapons to fend off your multicolored foes. So if you have anything against Barney or Big Bird, you can take out your feelings on them with this game.

Back to the Dawn

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play now.

This game is like if the series Prison Break took place in the Zootopia universe. You’ll play as either a fox named Thomas or a black panther named Bob as they try to navigate the prison system and escape with their lives. With multiple escape routes and over 100 quests you can complete, you can replay this game numerous times and have a different experience each time.

Abiotic Factor

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play on July 22.

Science meets violence in this 1990s-inspired sci-fi survival game. You and up to five other players can choose your areas of expertise, build your scientist and explore a massive, top-secret underground complex filled with artifacts and supernatural horrors that could tear you limb from limb. And remember, safety, security and secrecy are of the utmost importance… usually.

Wheel World

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play on July 23.

If you want to take a nice, relaxing bike ride, this game is for you. Previously known as Ghost Bike, this game puts you behind the handlebars of one of the last ghost bikes around. These bikes can traverse between the lands of the living and the dead. You can explore these lands at your leisure while you race other riders and upgrade your ride with treasures you find along the way.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play on July 24.

This souls-like RPG is set during the final days of the Ming Dynasty. You play as an amnesiac pirate warrior named Wuchang on a quest to uncover the truth behind a world full of chaos. You’ll fight monstrous creatures in forgotten temples and overgrown ruins, unlock new weapons and master devastating techniques in order to bring peace to yourself and others.

Grounded 2 (game preview)

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play on July 29.

You’ve been shrunk to the size of an ant — again — and you’ll have to survive the dangerous, miniature world. You’ll fight spiders and wasps, craft weapons and homes and even ride on your own insect friends to get around. You’ll unravel new mysteries along the way, but be careful. Something else is out there, and it hasn’t forgotten about you.

Farming Simulator 25

Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play on Aug. 1.

Farming isn’t always as simple as games like Stardew Valley might make it out to be, but it can still be very rewarding. If you want a taste of what goes into building and maintaining your own farm, give Farming Simulator 25 a try. You’ll grow diverse crops, raise different animals and with the weather-changing, ground-deforming atmosphere, you’ll face all kinds of challenges along the way.

Games leaving Game Pass on July 31

While Microsoft is adding those games to Game Pass soon, it’s also removing three other games on July 31. So you still have some time to finish your campaign or complete any side quests before you have to buy these games separately.

Gigantic: Rampage Edition
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank

For more on Xbox, discover other games available on Game Pass now, read our hands-on review of the gaming service and learn which Game Pass plan is right for you. You can also check out what to know about upcoming Xbox game price hikes.