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9 Jul 2025

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TV magician Wayne Dobson dies, aged 68
The wisecracking entertainer was a well-known face on British television in the 1980s and 1990s.

Microsoft says Edge is now much faster
Microsoft announced in a blog post that its Edge browser is now significantly faster than before. “Through a concerted effort over the past few months, we’ve reached an important milestone: achieving a global First Contentful Paint (FCP) of under 300 milliseconds,” the company writes. FCP measures how quickly a browser starts displaying content on a web page, and a value below 300 milliseconds means that content is displayed almost immediately. Microsoft points out that loading times above 300 to 400 milliseconds can have a negative impact on the user experience. Note that FCP is not the same as the entire page being fully loaded. According to Microsoft, Edge has achieved an average of 40 percent faster load times for 13 key features, including settings, reading aloud, split screen, and workspaces. You can see a demonstration in the video below.

Spain's Pina scores 'one of the goals of the tournament so far'
Claudia Pina curls a perfect right-foot shot into the top corner to put Spain 5-2 up against Belgium in their Euro 2025 Group B match in Thun.

Liverpool players return to training after Jota death
Liverpool players have started to return to the club for pre-season training following the death of team-mate Diogo Jota.

Assume 100ml liquid limit remains, flyers told after airports change rules
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander says passengers should check with airports about carry-on rules.

Five things we now know about the Post Office scandal
A key report into the Horizon IT scandal details the huge impact on sub-postmasters and their families.

Children in England living in 'Dickensian' levels of poverty, commissioner warns
Children's Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza says one told her "in the night rats came and bit his face".

Stop Killing Games takes action against gaming giants
In recent years, companies such as Electronic Arts and Ubisoft have cancelled many games, causing great aggravation to the games’ consumers and fans. In protest, Stop Killing Games has launched a petition aimed at getting the game companies to do right by their customers. At the time of this writing, almost 1.3 million people have signed on to the consumer movement. According to Stop Killing Games, the legality of publishers selling expensive games without specifying how long they can be played is questionable. “This practice is a form of planned obsolescence and is not only harmful to customers, but makes the preservation of computer games virtually impossible,” writes consumer organization spokesperson Ross Scott. The hope is that the EU will pass new laws to protect consumer rights and ensure that defunct games can be played on private servers. If successful in European countries, there’s a good chance U.S. consumers would also benefit as a consequence, as Scott notes in the video below.

Farrell England return would be amazing - Itoje
Captain Maro Itoje would welcome Owen Farrell's return to the England fold if his Saracens team-mate wants to come back into the squad.

Chef's food decoration at Chinese pre-school poisons 233 children
The kindergarten students are being treated in hospital after eating food with inedible paint.

Israeli defence minister plans to move Gaza's population to camp in Rafah
Israel Katz tells Israeli media the so-called "humanitarian city" in Rafah will eventually house 2.1 million Palestinians.

The teenage wildcard fuelling England's Euro 2025 hopes
England teenager Michelle Agyemang has only played 14 minutes of senior international football - but has already made an impression.

Norman Tebbit: Outspoken hero of the Conservative political right
Norman Tebbit's radical views on self-help kept him at the cutting edge of Conservative politics.