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In 2023, I reported that the development team of then-upcoming fighting game Diesel Legacy included Mike Zaimont, previously a developer on Skullgirls and Indivisible who had been accused of sexual misconduct at Lab Zero, the indie studio behind those games. Diesel Legacy released to little fanfare more than a year later, but the next fighting game from the team behind it, Gameplay Group International, has accumulated significantly more buzz. That game is Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game, due out on July 23.

After a viral media post brought Zaimont's likely involvement in Avatar Legends' development to light, the game's publisher has confirmed his role on the game.

"Mike Zaimont holds a position as an individual contributor at the developer Gameplay Group International working specifically on backend programming, engine architecture and netcode," a PR representative for publisher Paramount Game Studios wrote in a statement to PC Gamer.

When I reported on Diesel Legacy's development in 2023, the publisher's then-CEO Christina Seelye said that she hired Zaimont because "you have to create a way for [people] to show the world that they've changed and decided to do better," and that she believed he "was committed to it and that he didn't want everything that went down to be the end of his story. He wanted the opportunity to have the redemptive arc that's in so many stories that we all love."

Zaimont's former colleagues from Lab Zero who I spoke with disagreed with that framing. When the company fell apart, two of its former developers, creative director Mariel Cartwright and CEO Francesca Esquenazi, sued Zaimont over wrongful termination and retaliation. He counter-sued, which the employees I spoke with pointed to as one indication Zaimont hadn't actually made up for his past behavior, which included making a joke about the death of George Floyd in 2020 and an accusation of "frequently mentioning his genitals, forcing unwanted physical contact, making sexual comments about himself or about employee's bodies, insulting coworkers privately or openly in front of other coworkers, or using very personal details to threaten or demean coworkers when they didn't go along with what he wanted" at Lab Zero.

The lawsuit wasn't settled until April 2026, at which point a joint statement between Cartwright, Esquenazi and Zaimont "agreed to resolve" the lawsuit. Terms of the settlement were not made public.

Zaimont remains a controversial figure in the fighting game community, with Legend of Korra comic book artist Irene Koh raising his involvement with Avatar in a viral Bluesky thread last week.

Hey y'all, I wanted give people a heads-up that Mike Z is still working on the Avatar Legends dev team, for anyone who wanted to know before deciding whether to buy/support the game. (If you don't know who that is or need a refresher, here's the Kotaku article: kotaku.com/workers-leav...)

— @koh.money ( @koh.money.bsky.social ) 2026-07-15T00:54:40.994Z

"As an Avatar + fighting game fan, I was extremely disappointed to hear that he's involved. I'm proud of my work on the Korra comics & contributions to the IP over the last decade," Koh wrote, after publisher Paramount seemingly went radio silent after being asked about his involvement.

Paramount has now disclosed Zaimont's role in development, but he hasn't returned to having a public presence online since 2020.

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Commons health committee also recommends end to junk food advertising on billboards and public transport

Fast food chains such as KFC should be stopped from opening near schools, and advertising for junk food on billboards and public transport should be banned to help curb obesity, MPs will say today.

The Commons health committee will also urge ministers to stop giving in to food industry lobbying and get tough to tackle a problem that costs the UK £74bn a year and causes huge illness.

Supermarkets should be forced to display fruit and vegetables prominently, for example near entrances and checkouts, to help boost sales.

All food must start carrying front-of-pack, traffic light-style labels telling consumers how healthy or unhealthy they are, which some supermarket chains already use.

The government should urgently progress its previously announced intention to compel food producers to reveal what percentage of their sales come from healthy and unhealthy products.

Ministers should “be more courageous [and start] standing up to challenge from industry”, which often seeks to delay the introduction of measures to limit bad diet.

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Alaska Airlines is making changes in Hawaii.

The Seattle-based carrier will add two new routes from its hub at Honolulu's Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL): daily service to Idaho's Boise Airport (BOI) from Dec. 17 through March 21, 2027, and Saturday-only flights to Spokane International Airport (GEG) in Washington from Dec. 19 through April 17, 2027.

Both new HNL routes will be flown with Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

At the same time, Alaska will end Hawaiian Airlines ' service to New Zealand. Flights from HNL to Auckland Airport (AKL) on an Airbus A330 will not resume in November as planned.

Hawaiian began flying the HNL-AKL route in 2013, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.

Alaska said the changes are "designed to align capacity with evolving travel demand."

The airline will add flights during peak periods from HNL to Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas with the A330s freed up from the AKL route.

Post-merger map changes

The pace of network changes is picking up since Alaska closed its merger with Hawaiian in 2024. In June, the airline ended five routes to Mexico in favor of added capacity between the mainland U.S. and Hawaii. And, in 2025, it ended Hawaiian's flights to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Fukuoka Airport (FUK) in Japan, and Incheon Airport (ICN) near Seoul from HNL.

At the same time, Alaska debuted new intercontinental flights from its Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) base. Nonstops to Tokyo's Narita Airport (NRT) and ICN began in 2025. This summer the carrier is adding service to London's Heathrow Airport (LHR), Keflavik International Airport (KEF) in Iceland and Fiumicino Airport (FCO) near Rome .

The goal, as Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci puts it, is to build the airline into a global carrier.

"We are creating the fourth global airline in our country to compete against the Big 3," he said in January referring to American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

Prior to the latest changes, seats on Alaska and Hawaiian from HNL were down nearly 1% this year compared to 2025, Cirium schedules show. Seats from SEA were up nearly 2%.

Alaska Atmos loyalty members can still access New Zealand on one of the carrier's Oneworld alliance partners. For example, American serves AKL from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Qantas Airways from Sydney Airport (SYD).

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Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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The Grand Tour will return on September 4 with new hosts.

They’re James Engelsman, Thomas Holland, and Francis Bourgeois.

Fans seem split on the reboot, but many said they’ll give it a chance.

Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond signed off as host of The Grand Tour in the fall of 2024. Now, nearly two years later, the program is set to return with a trio of new hosts.

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In a series of social media posts, The Grand Tour announced the show would return on September 4 on Prime Video. They added it’s the “same show,” but “new knobs.”

More: This Is Who’s Taking Over The Grand Tour After Clarkson Left The Tent

The hosts were announced earlier this year as James Engelsman and Thomas Holland of Throttle House fame. They’ll be joined by lesser-known trainspotter Francis Bourgeois, who is just 26.

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Little is known about the new season at this point and it’s not even on Amazon’s official press calendar. In fact, the retail giant hasn’t said much about the reboot at all.

That doesn’t exactly exude confidence in the series, but the debut is still nearly a month and a half away. As a result, there’s plenty of time left for teasers and marketing.

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That being said, fan reaction has been somewhat mixed. A number of people have chimed in on the post to say they’ll give the rebooted series a shot. Others are less optimistic and have suggested “no one cares” as it was the chemistry between Clarkson, Hammond, and May that made the original worth watching.

It’s hard to argue with that as Top Gear famously struggled after their departure and has been off the air for years. Furthermore, viewers established a relationship with the trio over decades and were invested in them.

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That’s not the case with the new group, but Holland and Engelsman should have plenty of chemistry as they’ve been working together for years. They’re also widely known in automotive circles, so they seem like a natural fit.

With all that being said, are you interested in the new version of the show and will you be watching?

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