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TalkFuse afternoon briefing, 2 Sep 2026 13:39
Andy Burnham’s first PMQs saw him dodge tax questions and face pension warnings, while US Democrats fended off left-wing challengers, a second Grand Canyon flood victim was named, and Coco Gauff triumphed at the US Open.
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New York law requires hairdressers to learn how to work with all hair types
A new law in New York state requires trainee hairdressers to be taught how to work with all hair types, from the tightest curls to the straightest, as part of their cosmetology qualifications. Sponsored by assembly member Michaelle Solages and signed by governor Kathy Hochul in 2023, the measure aims to stop clients being turned…
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Burnham doubles down on blaming Brexit for UK’s woes at PMQs as he vows to use summit to get closer to Brussels
Andy Burnham used his second day as Prime Minister to reinforce his view that Brexit is largely responsible for a “decade of low growth” in the UK, using Prime Minister’s Questions to make the case again after first raising it in his Commons debut a day earlier. He said he wanted a closer relationship with…
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Star Wars Zero Company is a great game that’s busted and may never be fixed
Star Wars Zero Company, a tactics game developed by Bit Reactor and published by Electronic Arts, has earned strong critical reviews (an 85 on Metacritic) for its story and gameplay, but is plagued by serious technical problems including stuttering, crashes and input lag on PC and console. This matters because the studio behind the game…
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Next-gen AI networks may hinge on the telephone switchboard’s return
Nvidia and other AI hardware makers are betting big on optical circuit switching (OCS) to enable future data centre designs packing hundreds or thousands of accelerators into a single system. This matters because next-generation AI clusters need flexible, high-speed ways to reconfigure networks on the fly, and traditional packet-switching ASICs cannot fulfil this role alone,…
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British banks in crosshairs as pressure mounts on Burnham to tax profits
Chancellor John Healey is reportedly weighing a windfall tax on banks and oil companies for his late-October budget, the first under Prime Minister Andy Burnham, as he looks for ways to fund support for households facing rising energy bills. Britain’s four biggest lenders – HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group – have made £200bn…
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Tim Cook handed $47m package for new role as executive chair of Apple
Tim Cook has been awarded a $47m (£35m) pay package for his new role as Apple’s executive chair, following his handover of the chief executive role to John Ternus on Tuesday. The sum sits close to the $58m package granted to Ternus as his successor, reflecting both men’s continued significance to the $4.7tn company as…
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Blackout risk rises as heatwave stresses largest US electric grids
The US Department of Energy has warned of a heightened risk of power outages across a wide stretch of the country on Wednesday as an intense heatwave pushes electricity demand to near-record levels. The concern centres on the PJM Interconnection, the largest US electric grid, which supplies 67 million people from Washington DC to Chicago,…
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Lizzo ‘grateful’ after judge dismisses lawsuit against production company
US pop star Lizzo has spoken publicly after a district judge dismissed the remaining claims in a lawsuit brought against her production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc, by her former wardrobe assistant Asha Daniels. Daniels had alleged she suffered “degradation, forced physical labor, denial of medical care, sexual harassment, and racial harassment” while briefly…