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Russian war deaths are rising to unsustainable levels, says Ukraine

Al Jazeera

Could Ukraine hold a presidential election right now? Will Europe use frozen Russian assets to fund war? How can Ukraine rebuild China ties? 'Ukraine is running out of men, money and time' Russian mortality rates on the front lines are rising to levels that cannot be sustained by the current method of voluntary recruitment, Ukrainian figures suggest. "In December, 35,000 occupiers were eliminated - and this has been confirmed with video footage," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a Monday evening address.


Elon Musk's Grok AI appears to have made child sexual imagery, says charity

BBC News

Elon Musk's Grok AI appears to have made child sexual imagery, says charity The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) charity says its analysts have discovered criminal imagery of girls aged between 11 and 13 which appears to have been created using Grok. The AI tool is owned by Elon Musk's firm xAI. It can be accessed either through its website and app, or through the social media platform X. The IWF said it found sexualised and topless imagery of girls on a dark web forum in which users claimed they used Grok to create the imagery. The BBC has approached X and xAI for comment.


We were fired, and we're owning it – here's how to find a new job that works for you

BBC News

We were fired, and we're owning it - here's how to find a new job that works for you The new year is a natural time to reflect, and for many of us, that involves thinking about our careers. Kristina O'Neill and Laura Brown are both editors who lost their jobs after restructures, and they initially thought it was the end of the world. I poured my heart into the role... I believed in the values we promoted. Yet, when it came to me, those values weren't there, says Laura.


Trump calls for US military spending to rise more than 50% to 1.5tn

BBC News

Trump calls for US military spending to rise more than 50% to $1.5tn President Donald Trump has called for US defence spending to be increased to $1.5tn (£1.1tn) in 2027 for what he called these very troubled and dangerous times. That would be more than 50% higher than this year's $901bn budget, which was approved by Congress in December. This will allow us to build the Dream Military that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe, Trump said on social media on Wednesday. In separate posts, the president said he would crack down on payouts to bosses and shareholders of major US defence contractors unless the firms speed up deliveries of armaments and build new manufacturing plants. Economists have previously warned that the gap between US spending and its income has reached unsustainable levels.


Inside the sub-zero lair of the world's most powerful computer

BBC News

It looks like a golden chandelier and contains the coldest place in the universe. What I am looking at is not just the most powerful computer in the world, but technology pivotal to financial security, Bitcoin, government secrets, the world economy and more. Quantum computing holds the key to which companies and countries win - and lose - the rest of the 21st Century. In front of me suspended a metre in the air, in a Google facility in Santa Barbara California, is Willow. Frankly, it was not what I expected.


How tariff disruption will continue reshaping the global economy in 2026

BBC News

President Trump's favourite word is tariffs. He reminded the world of that in his pre-Christmas address to the nation. With the world still unwrapping the tariffs gift from the first year of his second term in office, he said they were bringing jobs, higher wages and economic growth to the US. What is less debatable is that they've refashioned the global economy, and will continue to do so into 2026. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that although the tariff shock is smaller than originally announced, it is a key reason why it now expects the rate of global economic growth to slow to 3.1% in 2026.


Tracking the oil tankers seized by the US

BBC News

BBC Verify has been tracking the Marinera for weeks. Housing, Europe ties, economy... what Canadians are hopeful for in 2026 The BBC spoke to people in Toronto and Montreal to find out what they're optimistic about heading into the new year. The powerful storm system brought blizzard conditions to areas of the Midwest and East Coast causing some travel delays. Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency for parts of California, including Los Angeles, San Bernardino and San Diego. The White Settlement Police Department is searching for two suspects.


Is AI headed for a breaking point?

Al Jazeera

The Take Is AI headed for a breaking point? From surveillance, job losses and resistance movements, what the next phase of AI could mean in 2026. Artificial intelligence is moving fast: from chatbots to autonomous systems and physical machines. As investment surges, so do concerns about job losses, surveillance, warfare and whether the boom can last. We take a look at where AI is headed in 2026 and the growing resistance against unchecked technological power.


World's oldest poison-tipped arrow discovered in South Africa

Popular Science

Science Archaeology World's oldest poison-tipped arrow discovered in South Africa The 60,000-year-old relic contains traces of a toxic onion. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. For thousands of years, hunters around the world have employed poison-tipped arrows to assist in taking down prey. For example, the curare plant poisons used by South and Central American hunters paralyzes the respiratory system. Meanwhile, inhabitants of the Kalahari Desert have relied on the toxins harvested from beetle larvae .


The best new science-fiction shows of 2026

New Scientist

New Year is a time of reinvention. In that spirit, I would like to shake up this preview of 2026's best sci-fi and science-related TV with a radical act: including a series that started last year. That may seem strange, but the second season of Fallout (Amazon Prime Video) aired in only mid-December, so, for my money, it counts. Set in a retrofuturistic US, generations of humans have lived inside radiation-proof bunkers sold to them by the shadowy Vault-Tec corporation. Last season, former vault-dweller Lucy (Ella Purnell) went surface-side to find her missing father, encountering cowboys and cannibals along the way.