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Your Expired Visa Card Could Be ‘Zombified’ to Make Contactless Payments
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have revealed that expired Visa cards can be “zombified” to make fraudulent contactless payments, exploiting a flaw in how Visa handles card expiry checks during transaction authentication. This matters because it undermines the common assumption that an expired card is worthless to a thief, meaning discarded cards left…
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‘Embryonic’: lost novel by French film-maker Éric Rohmer is republished
An English translation of Élisabeth, a 1946 novel written by French New Wave director Éric Rohmer under a pseudonym years before he turned to film-making, has been republished and is receiving enthusiastic reviews. Critics and scholars are hailing it as both a lost modernist work in its own right and a revealing precursor to the…
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Sandra Wollner’s ‘Everytime’ Wins Best Film in Sarajevo, Ana Urushadze Crowned Best Director
Sandra Wollner’s film “Everytime” has won the top prize for best narrative feature at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival, taking the Honorary Heart award and 16,000 Euros. The Austrian director’s film, starring Birgit Minichmayr, follows a mother and her two remaining children as they travel to Tenerife to cope with the death of their eldest…
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The blueprint for Burnham’s plan to ‘rewire Britain’ could be found 700 miles away
Andy Burnham’s early weeks as prime minister have centred on a plan to radically decentralise power away from Westminster, an approach he has termed “Manchesterism”. The former Greater Manchester mayor wants to shift decision-making and funding to local communities, giving city-region mayors a share of income tax revenue and pursuing public control of essential services,…
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‘Black community-only’ days and bans for non-German speakers: How swimming pools have become Germany’s new cultural battlegrounds
German swimming pools have become a flashpoint in wider debates over integration and multiculturalism, with reports of some venues introducing “Black community-only” swimming sessions alongside separate rules barring visitors who cannot speak German. The developments have stirred controversy, with critics arguing that such measures amount to segregation or exclusion, while supporters frame them as responses…
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Hunter Biden dismisses 2028 presidential run with relapse joke
Hunter Biden has ruled out any run for the US presidency in 2028, telling chat show host Bill Maher during an appearance on HBO’s Real Time that anyone who hears he is announcing a campaign should instead assume he has relapsed into addiction. The remark, made on Friday, plays on his long and publicly documented…
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Sinner withdraws from US Open as NHS accused of hiding failings
World number one Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the 2026 US Open because of a right knee injury, the tournament confirmed on 21 August. The Italian had already pulled out of the Cincinnati Open, saying the problem meant he was not ready to compete, and his absence removes one of the leading contenders from the…
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Bill Maher Puts Hunter Biden in the Hot Seat: ‘I’ve Seen You With Your Dick Out’
Hunter Biden appeared on Bill Maher’s HBO show “Real Time” on Friday, continuing a wide-ranging media tour that has also included appearances on right-leaning podcasts hosted by figures such as Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens. The interview opened with Maher making pointed jokes about Biden’s past struggles, including his laptop scandal and drug…
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Women’s Super League 2026-27 preview No 1: Arsenal
Arsenal begin the 2026-27 Women’s Super League season with a heavily reshaped squad, following a trophyless campaign that left the club hungry for silverware. Eleven players have departed, including club legends Beth Mead and Katie McCabe, who have moved to Manchester City and Chelsea respectively, while seven new signings arrive, among them Spain full-back Ona…
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Dutch regulator fines Uber $966m for automating driver suspensions
The Dutch Data Protection Authority has fined Uber €825m ($966m) for deactivating drivers’ accounts using automated systems without adequately informing them or allowing meaningful human review, in a decision dated 17 August. It is the second-largest penalty ever issued under the EU’s GDPR, behind only a €1.2bn fine imposed on Meta by Ireland in 2023,…