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Burnham’s First Parliamentary Appearance as Prime Minister Faces Scrutiny on Prisoner Releases and Public Services
Andy Burnham used his first Commons statement as Prime Minister to call for greater public control over water, energy and transport, arguing these services have become unreliable and unaffordable under the current model and that public ownership could drive economic growth. The appearance, his first at the despatch box in 16 years, gave MPs their…
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The 1974 Genesis album Steve Hackett refused to revisit: “I would probably leave it”
Guitarist Steve Hackett has said he has no wish to perform Genesis’s 1974 double album “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” live again, preferring to leave that task to others. The record, a dystopian concept album built around Peter Gabriel’s narrative, was the band’s first major double album and is regarded as one of prog…
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ANDREW NEIL: With the AI bubble, soaring debts and rising interest rates, even the hardiest souls are spooked. We should ALL be fearful of the financial crisis that’s coming
Andrew Neil warns that a combination of soaring debt, rising interest rates and an AI investment boom is creating serious risks for the global financial system, echoing concerns raised by Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey. In his role as chairman of the Financial Stability Board, Bailey told G20 finance ministers meeting in North Carolina…
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‘Shadow Has Fallen’: Iwan Rheon, Brendan Coyle, Atandwa Kani Join ‘Has Fallen’ Season 3
StudioCanal, Urban Myth Films, Millennium and G-Base have confirmed that Iwan Rheon, Brendan Coyle and Atandwa Kani have joined the cast of Shadow Has Fallen, the third season of Gerard Butler’s Has Fallen franchise, with filming now under way in South Africa and the UK. The series follows Paris Has Fallen and the forthcoming Apollo…
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The honeymoon’s over, Andy! Burnham under fire on prisoner release and tax as he finally faces MPs today – six weeks after becoming PM
Andy Burnham will face MPs in the House of Commons for the first time as Prime Minister today, six weeks after taking over from Keir Starmer, with the session likely to focus on anger over the prisoner early release scheme and concerns about possible Budget tax rises. Having taken office just as Parliament rose for…
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Roland’s new digital piano has built-in Wi-Fi that integrates with a teaching app
Roland has launched the FP-40, a digital piano with built-in Wi-Fi, a feature that is highly unusual for this type of instrument. While Bluetooth connectivity is fairly common in digital pianos for linking to teaching apps, Roland says Wi-Fi offers a faster, more seamless connection, and it enables the piano and its companion software to…
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How misconceptions and woeful PR allowed Musk to shred USAID so easily | Jeremiah A Carew
A former USAID official argues that poor public understanding of the agency’s work, combined with weak communication of its achievements, made it an easy target when Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) moved to dismantle it in January 2025. The writer contrasts USAID’s low public profile with Nasa’s carefully cultivated national prestige, arguing that…
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If hardware price squeezes make you sad, VMware says it will all end in tiers
VMware is expanding its memory tiering technology to help customers cope with soaring memory and hardware prices, betting that businesses will want to delay server purchases rather than pay inflated costs. The tool, built into VMware’s ESX hypervisor and part of Cloud Foundation, shifts “cold” data out of expensive DRAM onto fast NVMe storage, freeing…
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Samsung’s new Galaxy Book 6 model is a budget-friendly $799 laptop
Samsung has added a cheaper model to its Galaxy Book 6 laptop range, priced from $799, positioning it as a more affordable Windows rival to devices like the MacBook Neo. It broadens a lineup that previously started above $1,000, giving budget-conscious buyers access to Samsung’s latest laptop hardware and software features without the premium price…
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Price rises gather pace in UK shops amid higher energy costs
Price rises in UK shops accelerated to their fastest pace in two years in August, according to a British Retail Consortium survey, as higher energy costs and strong AI-driven demand for chips pushed up the cost of food and electronics. This adds pressure on households already grappling with rising bills and comes as a fresh…