Labour's new International Development Minister, Kirsty McNeill, has recommitted to the party's manifesto pledge to raise foreign aid spending from 0.3 per cent to 0.7 per cent of national income, more than doubling the current budget without setting a timetable for doing so. The pledge comes as Labour…
A pilot scheme in British Columbia that decriminalised small amounts of hard drugs, including fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and crack cocaine, has failed to reduce overdose deaths, according to a new study, and has since been scrapped. Launched in January 2023, the programme allowed people carrying under 2.5 grams…
Apple Wallet and Google Wallet serve the same basic purpose, acting as a secure digital store for payment cards, tickets and passes on iPhone and Android devices respectively, while Apple Pay and Google Pay handle the actual transactions. Which app someone uses is determined entirely by their choice…
Waymo has launched its self-driving robotaxi service in Las Vegas, initially covering a 24-mile area around the Las Vegas Strip before expanding further into Clark County. The move makes Vegas the latest US city to gain access to the Alphabet subsidiary's driverless rides, adding to a rapid wave…
Scottish Conservative MP Harriet Cross has criticised First Minister John Swinney for attending a "separation summit" in Cardiff with Plaid Cymru and Sinn Féin, accusing him of ignoring the outcome of May's Holyrood election. She argues Swinney explicitly campaigned on the basis that an SNP majority would provide…
Elon Musk's X Corp and SpaceXAI have moved to dismiss their antitrust lawsuit against Apple, according to a court filing in a federal court in Texas. The original complaint, filed last year, accused Apple of favouring OpenAI's ChatGPT within Apple Intelligence and suppressing rival apps such as Grok…
This is an opinion column by Stephen Daisley criticising a meeting of four pro-independence leaders held at a hotel overlooking Cardiff Bay, whom he mocks for using corporate-style jargon while discussing plans to break up the United Kingdom. The piece is a satirical commentary rather than a straight…
Scotland's Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth has rejected claims that she bullied officials, calling reports of the allegations "entirely baseless". The claims, first published by the Scottish Sun last month, alleged she had become more difficult to work with since being promoted by First Minister John Swinney, and…
Volkswagen has unveiled the Mission Efficiency, a prototype electric vehicle so aerodynamic and lightweight that it achieved the equivalent of roughly 323 miles per gallon under ideal conditions. Rather than simply promoting the concept with theoretical figures, as automakers often do, Volkswagen built and drove the car on…
Netflix has struck a new deal with Sega to produce a slate of film and television adaptations based on the company's video game franchises. The projects include a live-action comedy film based on the taxi-driving game Crazy Taxi and a live-action crime film adapted from Stranger Than Heaven,…
Leeds United host Newcastle United in a Premier League fixture the Guardian describes as one of English football's most atmospheric lower-key rivalries, with both sides heading into the match in reasonable form. Leeds secured comfortable survival last season and reinforced their squad over the summer, while Newcastle have…
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2026 is underway, offering an early look at films and series that could shape the year ahead in cinema, with past editions having launched eventual hits and awards contenders. The Verge is covering the festival with daily, bite-sized reviews of the many…
USB-C's near-universal adoption across laptops, phones and other gadgets has simplified charging and connectivity, but not every USB-C port or cable can carry a video signal, catching out users who assume otherwise. The key is checking whether a device, cable and display all support DisplayPort Alternate Mode (DP…
Almost 9,000 Brazilian migrants have received "golden goodbye" payments of up to £3,000 each to leave Britain through the Home Office's Voluntary Returns Service, part of a scheme that has cost taxpayers over £40million in under two years. The payments, intended to cover travel and living expenses, are…
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) has published a report aimed at helping US local authorities negotiate more effectively with developers proposing new datacentres, an area where officials often lack expertise and leverage. The guide comes amid a construction boom driven by the AI industry, which has left…
Apple has released the public versions of iOS 27, macOS 27 ("Golden Gate"), iPadOS 27, watchOS 27 and visionOS 27, headlined by the long-delayed debut of Siri AI, a major overhaul of its virtual assistant. Siri AI can draw on personal information from various apps and use on-screen…
Collider has published a ranked list of the 15 best science-fiction television shows released since the year 2000, highlighting how advances in production technology have allowed the genre to flourish on the small screen. The list praises both widely celebrated hits and underappreciated gems, arguing that 21st-century sci-fi…
Researchers have confirmed that the stones forming the Devil's Arrows, Britain's tallest standing stone alignment near Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire, were deliberately transported by Neolithic people rather than carried by glaciers. Isotopic analysis published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A traced the stones to Brimham Rocks,…
Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine has warned that artificial intelligence development has become a Cold War-style arms race between the US and China, with neither country willing to slow down for fear of being left vulnerable. Speaking on the Alas Vine & Hitchens podcast, Vine compared the competitive…
Apple's iOS 27 introduces a significantly upgraded Siri, built on Google's Gemini models rather than the previous ChatGPT-assisted version, and a TechCrunch reviewer reports genuinely returning to using it after years of relying on it only for basic tasks. The relaunch matters because it follows more than two…