A digest of top world and technology headlines, pulled from a handful of publisher feeds once a day and stored here. Every link goes straight to the original story.
Follow the day’s news live.Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast‘Huge relief’ after two more Australians located, but still ‘serious concerns’, Chalmers saysThe Albanese government still has “serious concerns” for the Australians missing in the Nepal-Tibet floods, Jim Chalmers says. Speaking to ABC’s News Breakfast, the treasurer said it was “good news that two Australians have been located overnight [but] we are concerned for the 36 who are still unaccounted for”.That would be a huge relief to the loved ones of these two Australians who’ve been located, but we still have very serious concerns for the 36 Australians that we haven’t been able to be located yet.This is very much designed to try and get the government back in control of the nicotine market, not organised crime gangs.We are hoping that the combined package of what we’re proposing here, not just the dropping of the excise, but the regulation of the market and making it certainly more difficult for children to access these products. In the enforcement surge and the anti-smoking and anti-vaping campaigns, we are hoping to put downward pressure on smoking rates. Continue reading...
Justice department files emergency request seeking to have court lift Judge Indira Talwani’s order temporarily blocking postal service from implementing planSign up for US Breaking News emailsRepublican oversight chair James Comer has also weighed in on Leon Black not sitting for a deposition about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The billionaire financier, who has denied wrongdoing, filed suit against the oversight committee Thursday alleging the subpoenas were improper.“It’s a shame Leon Black is hiding behind litigation rather than provide answers to the American people. Our investigation is examining how the federal government for decades failed survivors of Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes and how Mr. Epstein sought to curry favor with influential individuals to avoid scrutiny,” Comer said in a statement. “Mr. Black’s testimony is crucial to our investigation as he was one of Mr. Epstein’s fee paying clients and has several nondisclosure agreements.” Continue reading...
US vice-president says he’s ‘extremely skeptical’ of Iran reports when asked whether US was responsible for deathsThe US vice-president, JD Vance, said “sometimes things happen” when asked on Thursday whether an American strike was responsible for killing four people, including a child, at a wedding celebration in southern Iran this week.The strike hit Kuhestak, a town in Sirik county on the strait of Hormuz. The toll was reported not by the Iranian government but by the Iranian Red Crescent, a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that operates independently of Tehran and is generally treated by international monitors as a credible source on casualty figures. Continue reading...
Investigation broadcast by Channel 4 News shows man posing as ‘impermissible donor’ paying for polling that helped ReformNigel Farage is facing fresh criticism on the eve of the Reform UK party conference after some of his team were filmed appearing to plot to avoid electoral laws on foreign donations in an undercover investigation broadcast by Channel 4 News.A group of investigative journalists called Verbatim, founded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, posed as a potential Reform supporter and his wealthy American father, an impermissible donor, who paid for £30,000 of polling commissioned by Reform and which benefited the party. Continue reading...
Wildfire victims rebuilt their homes in Lahaina only to find USPS had ‘eliminated’ their addresses – while houses that didn’t burn receive mail as normalTwo months after a devastating wildfire whipped through Lahaina in August 2023, Pam Reader was allowed back to see what was left of her home. With a heavy heart, she returned to the Hawaiian oceanside town now filled with endless blocks of burned houses. As she rounded her corner, she saw the only thing remaining was her bright turquoise mailbox.“It was an old crappy mailbox,” Reader said. “It was metal, though, which is why I think it survived.” Continue reading...
Deadlocked jurors to return on Friday to see if they can reach a decision after dramatic day of deliberationsThe deadlocked jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial went home without a verdict Thursday in a dramatic sixth day of deliberations.Her defense lawyer told the judge that the panel’s foreperson said in a note that a single juror would not follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt and was holding up a verdict. Continue reading...
This year's Super El Niño has brought unprecedented weather to Rio de Janeiro. Unaccustomed to tornado-strength winds, the city found an unusual partner to combat the weather: a spiritual adviser.
Nepalese groups in North Texas, which has one of the largest communities of people from Nepal in the U.S., continue to grieve the loss of hundreds of people after the devastating floods in August.
Exclusive: New environment secretary insists ‘nothing is off the table’ in dealing with ailing Thames WaterBritain’s insolvency laws cannot deal with the aggressive behaviour shown by the companies that control Thames Water, the environment secretary has said, as she confirmed ministers were prepared to take it into public ownership.Angela Eagle told the Guardian she was determined to reform the water industry after being told by Andy Burnham to make it her top priority. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Angela Eagle urges people to be ‘a bit more resilient’ as she tells UK citizens to plan for national emergenciesBritish people have been urged to have enough food and water on hand to survive a few days without power or water, as the UN said the El Niño climate phenomenon was “supersizing before our eyes”, exacerbating extreme weather events worldwide.Forecasters say they are braced for the biggest El Niño in 1,000 years, bringing wildfires and floods to parts of the world, and the threat of a wet, stormy winter for the UK. As the British government plans a campaign urging citizens to prepare for national emergencies, Angela Eagle told the Guardian the likelihood of a wild winter showed the importance of having supplies at home. Continue reading...
Julio Sosa-Celis, who was shot in the leg by Christian Castro and survived, was one of three people shot by federal immigration agents during Trump’s ‘Operation Metro Surge’A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer has been indicted on charges of lying to investigators about the events leading up to the shooting of a Venezuelan man during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown earlier this year, according to multiple reports.A source told the Associated Press that Christian Castro, the officer accused of shooting Julio Sosa-Celis in the leg in January, has been charged by US federal prosecutors with making false statements to federal investigators. He had been previously charged in state court. Continue reading...
Troops escort settlers into al-Mughayyir and raze village outside Hebron as ethnic cleansing of West Bank continuesIsraelis have shot dead two teenagers in a Palestinian village encircled by settlers, and Israeli troops have razed an entire village outside Hebron, in the latest attacks in a surge of Israeli terror and ethnic cleansing across the occupied West Bank.The shootings targeted Khalil Abu Alia, 16, who was about to start 11th grade at the al-Mughayyir boys school, and 19-year-old Omar al-Nassan, who graduated from the same institution with top marks this summer. Continue reading...
Two Democrats are demanding that Homeland Security officials fund election security ahead of the midterms. And, trail-blazing journalist Gloria Steinem has died.
Chevron's $7 billion Venezuela bet deepens U.S. ties to the country's oil industry. Critics say the deal poses risks to democracy and could fuel discontent over Washington's embrace of the government.
Relations between the Trump administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have turned rocky since Trump called a truce with Iran. Trump seeks progress in Gaza, but Netanyahu is taking a defiant stance ahead of an election.
China's President Xi Jinping visits Egypt this week for the first time in a decade. The trip illustrates China's growing ambitions at a time when U.S. influence has been weakened by its war in Iran.
Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife have asked a judge to dismiss the drug trafficking indictment against them on the grounds that they have immunity as the leader and first lady of a foreign country
Does your power bank have "CryoPulse technology" or a "Cyber Window"? If you disappointingly answered "no" to both, you might want to consider upgrading to Ugreen's new MagFlow Pro Magnetic Power Bank. It's available starting today for $149.99, which puts it on the really expensive end of power banks with only a 10,000mAh battery, but […]
This week on Uncanny Valley, we dig into the latest prediction market buzz, Flock’s AI-powered police search tool, and how tech bros don’t know how to talk about “rouge” AI agents
A Ravenloft series is currently in development from executive producer Alfonso Cuarón, writer and executive producer John August, and Hasbro Entertainment, Deadline reports. It could bring to life one of Dungeons & Dragons' most iconic campaign settings, which got an update earlier this year with Ravenloft: The Horrors Within. Netflix's Ravenloft series will reportedly center […]
TikTok backed out of a congressional committee's "public roundtable" set for this month over concerns it would be asked about child safety practices, the chair of the committee said. After negotiating "in good faith" to bring TikTok's chief security officer before the House Select Committee on China to answer questions about Chinese government access to […]
Abliteration.AI is making powerful AI models without guardrails easier to access, arguing that giving defenders the same tools as bad actors could ultimately improve cybersecurity.
For its new Muse Spark model, intended for operating coding and other agents, Meta is offering an explicit discount averaging out to about 95% for users who "contribute" to the development of future models by sharing their prompts and model outputs.
Researching, buying, then finally assembling a sound system for your TV is daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. If you want one of the best kits you can get at a rare discount, Best Buy and Amazon are selling the Samsung Q990F Soundbar for $999.99. It normally retails between $1,300 and $1,600. This bundle […]
OpenAI claims that Astra represents "a new frontier on computer and browser use," and that it handles tasks with unmatched "speed, accuracy, and safety."
OpenAI's next big model is here: GPT-6 Astra. The company calls it a "generational leap in capability" for areas like cybersecurity, professional work, software engineering, science, and computer use. As OpenAI announced earlier this week, it's also the first model designated as meeting OpenAI's "critical cybersecurity capability threshold" - but the company promises that won't […]
Microsoft is announcing some major changes to Xbox Cloud Gaming today, less than a year after opening up cloud gaming to its Xbox Game Pass Premium and Essential tiers. While all Game Pass plans have included unlimited cloud gaming over the past year, from November this will be limited to just 15 hours on Ultimate, […]
Microsoft says it will let anyone access Xbox Cloud Gaming in November, without the need to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass. The change to a pay-as-you-go model is part of some sweeping changes to Xbox Cloud Gaming today, and is designed for people who don't use cloud access enough to warrant a monthly subscription. "Players […]
The Circular Ring 3 series announcement comes amid a year of heightened competition in the smart ring market, following the launches of the Oura Ring 5 and RingConn Gen 3.
OpenAI recently estimated its Cursor partnership would make more than $1 billion in revenue a year, WIRED has learned. It still walked away after Elon Musk’s SpaceX acquired the AI coding startup.
The family-focused AI assistant wants access to the details of your everyday life, but says it won’t use that data to train AI models or share it with others.
Just a few months after getting back into the smartwatch game, Motorola is targeting the premium end of the market with the first Moto Watch Ultra. It comes with some upgrades from the recent Moto Watch - most obviously the jump to Wear OS - but lacks the outdoorsy features that would make it a […]
Circular announced its new Ring 3 Series today as a follow-up to the Ring 2 that debuted at CES 2025 with upgraded sensors and FDA-cleared atrial fibrillation detection. The new Ring 3 collection consists of both a Pro model that carries forward those same health-tracking features, and a smaller Slim option that offers more limited […]
Cast your mind back a decade or so, and smartphone makers were obsessed with shrinking the bezel on phones. Screens got bigger, the black bars around them got smaller, and for a while it looked like truly edge-to-edge displays were imminent. Then, progress just stopped. The bezel shrunk down until it was a millimeter or […]
When the beta arrives next year—15 years after its predecessor—Guild Wars 3 will have a new momentum engine that makes combat in the game feel closer to an action RPG.
An underground detector recorded a strange interaction pointing to a particle with some properties that signify dark matter. The detection is small but promising.
