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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Website of Claude seen in an iPhone screen on 21 May 2023. Website of Claude seen in an iPhone screen on 21 May 2023. Anthropic is planning a $10bn fundraise that would value the Claude chatbot maker at $350bn, according to multiple reports published on Wednesday. The new valuation represents an increase of nearly double from about four months ago, per CNBC, which reported that the company had signed a term sheet that stipulated the $350bn figure. The round could close within weeks, although the size and terms could change.

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.

Sarah Owen, chair of the committee, said'we do not view it as appropriate to use such a platform to share our work'. Sarah Owen, chair of the committee, said'we do not view it as appropriate to use such a platform to share our work'. The influential Commons women and equalities committee has decided to stop using X after the social media site's AI tool began generating thousands of digitally altered images of women and children with their clothes removed. The move by the cross-party committee places renewed pressure on ministers to take decisive action after the site was flooded with images including sexualised and unclothed pictures of children, generated by its AI tool, Grok. Sarah Owen, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, said that given preventing violence against women and girls was among its key policy areas, "it has become increasingly clear that X is not an appropriate platform to be using for our communications".

In this week's newsletter: Stranger Things' climactic showdown is the latest pop culture spectacle to feel like its been ported straight from a console. The industries' reciprocally influential relationship can be to everyone's gain Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? I t had begun to feel like an endurance test by the end, but nonetheless, like the sucker I am, I watched the Stranger Things finale last week. Because approximately 80% of the final season comprised twentysomething "teenagers" explaining things to each other while using random 1980s objects to illustrate convoluted plans and plot points, my expectations were not high. After an interminable hour, finally, something fun happens, as the not-kids arm themselves with machine guns and molotovs and face off against a monstrously gigantic demon-crab.

AI company's chatbot faces criticism over its generation of sexualized, nonconsensual images of women and girls Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company has raised $20bn in its latest funding round, the startup announced Tuesday, even as its marquee chatbot Grok faces backlash over generating sexualized, nonconsensual images of women and underage girls. The funding round exceeded its initial $15bn target, according to xAI's press release. The company touted Grok's image-generation abilities in the announcement of its latest funding round. Nonetheless, the company has been able to win government contracts and billions of dollars in investment amid the AI boom. Over the past week, Grok has responded to tens of thousands of prompts from users on X requesting the chatbot remove women's clothing in images or pose them in sexualized ways.