Who's who in the Royal Box at Wimbledon on Day Eight? Carole and Pippa Middleton lead the famous faces at SW19, joined by tennis star Roger Federer
Tennis royalty brushed shoulders with the real deal today, as Roger Federer made an appearance at Wimbledon, alongside the Princess of Wales's mother Carole and sister Pippa.
Microsoft Lays Off Nearly 5,000 Employees Across Xbox, Commercial Sales
Microsoft is laying off about 4,800 employees, including 1,600 from Xbox, as it restructures around AI investments and tries to reset its struggling gaming business. "Our business is changing because the world around it is changing. The way technology is built, deployed, and used is transforming faster than at any point in my time here," said Amy Coleman, EVP and chief people officer at Microsoft. "Our customers' needs are shifting, the business models that serve them are shifting, and that means the work itself -- what we do, where we focus, and how we're organized -- has to transform too." She continued: "Companies don't get to choose whether their industry changes; they only get to choose whether they change with it. That means we will need to adjust resources and roles and shift how we operate so we can have the greatest impact for our customers." TechCrunch reports: Coleman stressed that the roles being eliminated today "are not being replaced by AI," but noted, "what is true is that AI is changing how work gets done." "Some of the tasks we do every day can now be automated, and that means we all need to keep learning, keep building new skills, and keep adapting as the work evolves," Coleman wrote. [...] Speaking about the Xbox layoffs, Coleman said little: "We are restructuring to position the business for long-term success. Engineering teams across the company will also evolve their structure and priorities to meet customer needs and innovate for the future."
Of today's 4,800 layoffs at Microsoft, 1,600 will hit Xbox, with about 3,200 cuts in total expected through fiscal year 2027, according to Asha Sharma, CEO of Xbox. In an email she sent to employees on Monday, Sharma called this "the most significant restructure in Xbox history." "Our business today is not healthy," Sharma wrote. "We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses." She added that Xbox made bets like its monthly subscription service Game Pass, alongside moves to grow its portfolio of content and invest in multi-platform, among other attempts to breathe life into the business. None of those strategies grew at the expected pace, leading to the core business weakening even as Xbox added more teams and investment. "And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history," Sharma said. "We must reset Xbox."
As part of the shift, Microsoft will transition four of its gaming studios to operate under new management, ensuring preservation of intellectual property and ongoing projects. Specifically Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will return to independent studios, according to Sharma. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs are coming under new ownership with funding to complete and grow some of their more popular games. According to Sharma's memo, Xbox is also flattening management hard, cutting the current 14 management layers to no more than five, but ideally three. As part of this major organization redesign, Xbox is making longtime executive Helen Chiang chief operating officer with end-to-end profit and loss authority across content, hardware, platform, and services. Xbox's restructuring plan centers around narrowing focus by dropping sprawling creative bets that don't produce platform-scale returns, and instead homing in on core strategic pillars like Mojang and King, the businesses behind Minecraft and Candy Crush.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Have you heard of BTS? As Spotify's most streamed group of all time kick off their world tour in London, FRED KELLY reveals how the 'Bulletproof Boy Scouts' have taken K-Pop (and the globe) by storm
Together, the seven young men - ranging in age from 28 to 33 - make up South Korean boyband BTS , by almost any metric the most successful K-Pop act of all time.
Hilarious moment Mexico manager swears at England's Anthony Gordon during hydration break - before both dissolve into laughter
Gordon made the mistake of treading near the potty-mouthed veteran shortly after the game's first hydration break. Aguirre, 67, looked the winger up and down.
Princess of Wales blows kisses and accepts flowers during moving visit to children's hospital…as 10-year-old patient sweetly asks 'are you the queen?'
Catherine, 44, made a low-key arrival at the medical facility near Westminster, where she has been patron since 2018.
Dutch woman, 35, and her friend are kidnapped and gang-raped after travelling to Pakistan to meet 'crypto investors' - as politician's grandson is held
A Dutch woman and her friend were allegedly kidnapped, tortured and gang-raped after travelling to Pakistan to meet a group of crypto investors.
Tech billionairess Susan Dell, 62, shows off her incredibly toned arms as she joins Trump for White House announcement
Dell was among those gathered in the Oval Office on Monday to celebrate the launch of Trump's new policy allowing the government to invest in newborns.
Prince Harry has touched down in the UK after being told he can't stay at Buckingham Palace 'after taking too long to accept invitation'
Prince Harry has touched down in the UK after being barred from staying in Buckingham Palace over a missed invite deadline.
Panicked European leaders scramble to stop Trump 'blow-up' as one big NATO ally turns up without a plan
The President will also be looking to evaluate NATO's progress on defense spending goals, a point of long-standing friction between Trump and Europe.
Eight fire crews tackle serious field blaze the size of 40 football pitches
A major field fire has affected around 50 acres of heathland near Clacton.
Eight fire crews tackle serious field blaze the size of 40 football pitches
A major field fire has affected around 50 acres of heathland near Clacton.
Man charged with two counts of attempted murder after assault outside pub
A man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder following an assault outside a pub in Essex.
Man charged with two counts of attempted murder after assault outside pub
A man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder following an assault outside a pub in Essex.
Former Labour minister George Howarth dies at the age of 77
The former Merseyside MP, first elected in 1986, was praised by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for 'a lifetime of public service'.
Ancient 'lost world' discovered off the US West coast rewrites story of first Americans who arrived 13,000 years ago
An ancient island chain hidden off America's West Coast could upend everything scientists thought they knew about America's first settlers.
Man accused of attempted murder after Buckhurst Hill pub attack is named
Two men sustained injuries and were taken to hospital
Homeowner who erected section of Berlin Wall in his garden without planning permission is ordered to tear it down or pay £20,000 fine after council warned it created an 'oppressive sense of enclosure'
Steven Thorpe, 65, bought a section of the notorious wall from a German farmer and put it up behind his Herne Hill, south London , home earlier this year.
EU urged to act after Pegasus infects phone of spyware inquiry MEP
Campaigners demand investigation and long-delayed action on PEGA Committee recommendations
Man denies trying to kill woman in 'serious incident' in Chelmsford city centre
He will go on trial later this year
Nintendo Switch 2 Is Getting a Replaceable Battery in Europe
Nintendo will stop selling the original Switch in Europe in mid-February 2027, nearly 10 years after the console's launch. In its place, the company will release updated versions of the Switch 2 and several controllers with user-replaceable batteries to comply with new EU regulations. The Verge reports: The news comes as Nintendo is making a bunch of changes to the rest of its lineup due to EU regulations requiring user-replaceable batteries. Starting this summer, the company says it will start introducing updated versions of various devices on "a rolling basis," ahead of the regulations coming into effect on February 18th, 2027. "There is no difference in functionality between current products and revised products containing user-replaceable batteries," Nintendo says.
The Switch 2 is the most notable product being updated -- the new version is expected to start rolling out in the fall -- but there will also be versions of the Joy-Con controllers, Joy-Con 2, Switch 2 Pro Controller, and N64 and GameCube Switch controllers with user-replaceable batteries. "Due to a variety of factors, revised products may not become available in all European countries simultaneously," Nintendo notes.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.