Americas

Clacton by-election looms as Burnham launches cost-of-living tour

• Clacton voters were due to elect an MP on 13 August after Nigel Farage resigned and stood again.
• The main Westminster parties boycotted the contest; 34 candidates were confirmed.
• Andy Burnham launched a UK tour focused on household costs, consumer protections and high streets.

A by-election in Clacton was due to take place on 13 August after Nigel Farage resigned as the constituency’s MP on 8 July and announced that he would seek the seat again. The Reform UK leader had described the contest as a fight between the public and the…

Cars, nukes and cell phones can help us predict the future of AI

Historical context with other tectonic inventions and events can help determine if AI will prove to be a force for good, ill or in-between. 

Trump shifts his tone slightly in Reflecting Pool saga

🌶️ Plus: Taylor Farms recalls more products {beacon}   It’s Monday. We made it to August recess!   In today's issue: Trump admits to ‘contractor error’ in Reflecting Pool Weapon shortage reveals weakness in US defense Taylor Farms recalls more products Obama appears on Larry David’s HBO show…

Terraria’s biggest mod, Calamity, is shutting down after 10 years over what the makers call a “troubled past” and “irrecoverably tainted reputation”

• Calamity’s developers are ending the Terraria mod after 10 years.
• They cite its troubled history and damaged reputation.
• The decision affects a major community-made Terraria expansion.

The team behind Calamity, one of Terraria’s largest and most prominent mods, has announced that development will end after 10 years. The creators said the decision was driven by the project’s “troubled past” and what they described as an “irrecoverably tainted reputation”, bringing a long-running fan-made expansion to…

After eBay’s Resounding Rejection, GameStop Reconsiders Its $56 Billion Acquisition Bid

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen might be ready to pull the plug on his ambitious plan to purchase eBay for $56 billion, a new report claims. Cohen--who came up with the plan while seated on his porcelain throne--had been pursuing the deal ever since it was announced, but eBay rejected the offer, saying…

‘Dragon Ball’ Star Officially Confirms New 2026 Return [Exclusive]

• Jason Douglas confirms he'll voice Beerus again this autumn
• Toei's new series retells the Beerus Saga with fresh visuals and audio
• Announcement made at Big Lick Comic Con in Roanoke, Virginia

Voice actor Jason Douglas has confirmed he will reprise his role as Beerus in *Dragon Ball Super: Beerus*, a new anime series from Toei Animation debuting this autumn. The series retells the God of Destruction arc from Dragon Ball Super, marking the third animated version of this story,…

LexisNexis pulls three services offline after suspicious server activity

• LexisNexis took Diligence, Newsdesk and Metabase API offline after a security scare
• Outage began Wednesday; services restoring progressively, some still incomplete
• Unrelated to separate Metabase SQL injection flaw; a customer plans to seek compensation

LexisNexis took three services offline last week after detecting "unusual activity" on servers hosted and managed by a third-party vendor, disconnecting from those systems to contain the issue and protect customer data. The disruption affects Nexis Diligence, a background and compliance-checking tool; Newsdesk, a news-monitoring service; and the…

‘Total incinerated destruction’: Canada wildfire evacuees wonder if they still have homes

• Bald Range wildfire in British Columbia forces mass evacuations
• One woman, 80, dies fleeing the fast-moving blaze
• Province declares emergency amid over 100 active wildfires

A wildfire in British Columbia's Okanagan region has forced thousands to flee their homes, with officials still assessing how many properties have been destroyed. The Bald Range Fire broke out on Friday and rapidly expanded to 53 square miles within hours, leaving evacuees uncertain whether their homes have…

3 things RFK Jr. gets right about American health — even if you can’t stand him

Author Dan Corrigan argues that despite political polarization surrounding Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his focus on the chronic disease epidemic and the necessity of prioritizing real food over ultra-processed products highlights critical issues in American public health.