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Readers divided over future of state pension triple lock
This Guardian letters page collects reader responses to earlier coverage of whether the UK’s pensions triple lock should be scrapped, revealing sharply divided opinion among the public on the policy. The debate matters because the triple lock, which guarantees the state pension rises by the highest of inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5%, has become…
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‘Like a military base’: Somerset headteacher suspends 25 pupils in first WEEK of term as parents say offences included ‘zipping their bag too loudly’ and ‘looking out a window’
A newly arrived headteacher at Frome Community College in Somerset has been accused of running the school “like a military base” after issuing 25 pupil suspensions in the first week of the autumn term. Parents say their children were disciplined for trivial reasons such as zipping a bag too loudly, looking out of a window,…
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‘They are very similar’: Arsenal’s Dowman reminds Merino of Lamine Yamal
Arsenal’s 16-year-old forward Max Dowman scored twice as his side beat Ipswich Town 4-2 to reach the last 16 of the Carabao Cup, prompting midfielder Mikel Merino to compare him to Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal. Merino, who plays alongside Yamal for Spain, said the two teenagers share a fearless character and thrive under pressure, highlighting how…
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Bob the Builder ‘used to spread Net Zero propaganda’ as children’s TV icon returns for E.On solar power advert
Bob the Builder has returned to television for the first time in 15 years, voiced again by Neil Morrissey, to front an advert for energy firm E.On promoting the Government’s Net Zero agenda. In the advert, the children’s TV character explains that after a trip to Australia he enrolled at a “Net Zero training academy”…
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Millionaire widow of tech titan says she was scammed out of $6million by a male escort she fell in love with
Marianne Flippo, the widow of Roblox programmer Chad Flippo, has filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court against New York escort Greggory Starr, alleging he and his agent manipulated her into paying nearly $6 million while she was grieving and medically vulnerable. The 49-year-old claims Starr, 38, and his agency exploited her emotional state and…
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New York to end Regents exams requirement from 2028
New York’s Board of Regents has voted to scrap the long-standing Regents exams as a graduation requirement for high school students from 2028, ending decades of standardised testing in maths, English, science and global studies. The decision was welcomed by Felicia Thomas-Williams, a former school principal and the board’s Long Island representative, who said she…
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Snap unveils Specs wearable computer designed to reduce smartphone use
Snap is officially launching its long-awaited Specs augmented-reality glasses at an event in Los Angeles, with CEO Evan Spiegel due to deliver a keynote at 4pm PT on 16 September 2026. The device, first shown off earlier this year at the Augmented World Expo, has been pitched by Spiegel not as another pair of AI-powered…
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Duct-taped passenger claims no memory of alleged mid-flight assault
An Arizona estate agent, Layne Lundeen, 67, has spoken for the first time after being duct-taped to his seat mid-flight following an alleged racist and homophobic outburst. The incident occurred on a flight from Dallas to Newark, forcing an emergency landing at Baltimore airport, where Lundeen was arrested; the case has drawn wide attention after…
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Xreal slashes 1S glasses to $399 in new discount
Xreal’s 1S video glasses, a USB-C headset that projects games, films or a computer screen onto a large virtual display, have dropped to $399 at Amazon and directly from Xreal, matching their lowest ever price with a $50 discount. This makes them a more attractive option relative to the company’s cheaper $299 xbx A01 Plus…
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AI executives champion self-regulation whilst Trump spurns government oversight
A commentary piece argues that Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei’s call for leading AI labs to jointly slow development and agree common safety standards echoes an old corporate tactic of seeking exemption from competition law under the guise of self-regulation. It notes that the proposal, quickly backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Google…