Culture

Matt Lauer living quietly in Hamptons as accuser details alleged 2014 rape

Matt Lauer is living a private life in the Hamptons eight years after being ousted from the "Today" show, but he returned to headlines after one of his accusers, Brooke Nevils, detailed the bloody aftermath of an alleged 2014 rape in an excerpt of her upcoming memoir obtained

Politics

Minneapolis police caught between federal immigration agents and city residents

The Minneapolis Police Department says its roughly 600 officers are stuck between the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge and residents of Minneapolis and St. Paul after a surge of about 3,000 federal immigration agents, and in the wake of two recent deaths, the New York Times reported on

Culture

Colleagues at Gatwick Covid lab became close friends after moving to London

When Brandon moved to London from Wales in April 2021 he took a job in a Covid lab at Gatwick Airport processing PCR tests for travellers, and in June Christine, a biology graduate who had transferred from the PCR testing lab at Heathrow, joined the team; they clicked straight away,

Culture

Deadlock's update hides Rem's secret bedroom in map vents

As of last week, Deadlock's Old Gods, New Blood update added a revamped map, a new mode, quality-of-life changes and a phased rollout of six characters — and players also found a hidden feature: a secret bedroom tucked behind vents on the updated map. Players discovered the updated necromantic

Tech

Linux community drafts succession plan to replace Linus Torvalds

The core Linux kernel community has drafted a project‑continuity plan describing how it would replace Linus Torvalds as the top‑level maintainer if something happened to him or if he retired. The draft was written by longtime contributor Dan Williams and was discussed at the Linux Kernel Maintainer Summit

Culture

Dispatch blends TV-style storytelling into a superhero game — Switch launch Jan. 28

According to a Polygon review, AdHoc Studio’s episodic workplace adventure Dispatch comes to Nintendo Switch on Jan. 28 and succeeds at borrowing television techniques to tell a tightly paced superhero story. Dispatch follows Robert Robertson III, a normal man in a world of heroes who pilots a mech his

Culture

Bradford’s 1 in 12 Club still fighting after 45 years

Bradford’s 1 in 12 Club, an anarchic volunteer‑run social centre and gig venue, is 45 years on and remains active in the city. As part of Bradford’s year as the 2025 UK City of Culture, and in collaboration with cultural history organisation Home of Metal, a new

Culture

Ubisoft replies to Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag remake leak with GTA meme

Ubisoft appeared to acknowledge mounting leaks about an Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag remake by replying to a recent collectible leak with a Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas meme posted from the series’ official account. The latest leak centered on an Edward Kenway figure reportedly tied to the new

Tech

LG UltraGear 27″ OLED gaming monitor 41% off — 0.03ms, 240Hz for $474

Right now the LG UltraGear 27-inch OLED gaming monitor is discounted by 41%, dropping from $800 to $474 on Amazon. The monitor uses a 27-inch QHD panel with a 2560 x 1440 resolution and supports a 240Hz refresh rate, a combination Kotaku says balances sharper visuals than 1080p with lower

Tech

Meta forecasts $115 billion to $135 billion in 2026 A.I. spending

On Jan. 28, 2026, Meta said it set its capital expenditure forecast for 2026 at $115 billion to $135 billion, nearly twice the $72 billion the company spent last year, and said the increase was intended to bolster its position in the artificial intelligence race. Much of the projected spending

Culture

BBC’s new 'Lord of the Flies' teaser released — full series on iPlayer Feb 8

A first teaser trailer for the new adaptation of Lord of the Flies has been released online, and the series will drop in full on BBC iPlayer on Sunday, February 8, with BBC One airing episodes weekly on Sundays at 9 p.m., the BBC has announced. The 40-second teaser

Politics

Keir Starmer to meet Xi Jinping in Beijing to deepen economic ties

Keir Starmer will meet Chinese president Xi Jinping on Thursday in Beijing for a 40-minute meeting at the Great Hall of the People, the prime minister's first visit to China in eight years aimed at deepening economic ties. Starmer told journalists on the flight to Beijing he wanted

Culture

Brittney Griner and wife Cherelle ‘embraced the slow’ after 2022 detainment

Brittney Griner and her wife Cherelle told PEOPLE on the Sundance red carpet that they have resettled into life at home after the WNBA star’s 2022 detainment in Russia, and that their house became a haven as they healed. The couple, married six years, also share an 18-month-old son,

Sports

João Pedro double sends Chelsea past Napoli and avoids Champions League playoff

João Pedro scored twice as Chelsea came from behind to beat Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in the Champions League league stage, Cole Palmer setting up both goals. The victory ensured Chelsea finished in the top eight and avoided a two-legged playoff, while Napoli were eliminated. Chelsea had

Crypto

XRP’s domino setup: reclaiming the 20-day EMA could spark a run to $3.30

XRP is trading about 1% higher over the past 24 hours, but BeInCrypto says the bigger story is structural: short-term sellers are exiting, medium-term holders are rebuilding conviction, and XRP ETF flows have turned positive again — together setting up a potential domino effect that could lead back to last year’

World

Hillary Clinton and Tucker Carlson Speak at Saudi Real Estate Forum in Riyadh

Hillary Clinton and Tucker Carlson spoke separately at a real estate conference held in a hotel ballroom in Riyadh on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, according to The New York Times. Neither focused heavily on real estate. Mrs. Clinton said, "It is exhilarating to see the development," and Mr.

World

Tens of Thousands Without Power in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana After Storm

Tens of thousands of residents across Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana were without power or heat on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, after a winter storm over the weekend coated large parts of the region in ice and damaged hundreds of power lines and poles. Nearly an inch of accumulated freezing rain

Culture

Collider’s IMDb-ranked list: Highlights from the 15 best animated superhero movies (Nos. 15–6)

Collider published a ranking titled “15 Best Animated Superhero Movies, Ranked According to IMDb,” updated Jan. 28, 2026, listing animated superhero films by IMDb score; the excerpted entries here run from No. 15 through No. 6. No. 15 is Megamind (7.3/10), which the piece highlights for subverting expectations

Culture

TikTok's potato bed trend promises cosy cocoon but experts flag risks

The potato bed is a hot new sleep method on TikTok, about two months old, that creates a soft, cocoon-like sleeping space on top of a bed. To make a potato bed you place a fitted sheet upside down on the mattress, stuff the edges with pillows and blankets to

Sports

Joao Pedro double sends Chelsea into Champions League last 16 with 3-2 win at Napoli

Joao Pedro scored twice as Chelsea beat Napoli 3-2 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday to seal their progress into the Champions League last 16, a comeback victory for Liam Rosenior’s side in his sixth game in charge. Chelsea opened the scoring in the 18th minute when

Tech

CachyOS vs EndeavorOS: which Arch Linux spinoff makes Arch easier to use

ZDNET compares CachyOS and EndeavorOS, two Arch-based Linux distributions that aim to make Arch Linux easier to use; both are available to download and install for free. CachyOS is the newer project and emphasizes speed. ZDNET reports it as "lightning fast," using Btrfs by default with an installer

Culture

Sly Dunbar, reggae drummer and half of Sly and Robbie, dies at 73

Sly Dunbar, the Jamaican drummer who as one half of the rhythm duo Sly and Robbie helped bring driving, rock-influenced beats to reggae, died overnight on Monday at his home in Kingston, Jamaica. He was 73. Guillaume Bougard, a close friend and frequent collaborator, said the cause was cancer. For

Tech

Microsoft CFO Amy Hood spotlights OpenAI and Anthropic deals, Copilot SDK and Maia 200

Microsoft reported $81 billion in second-quarter revenue, and CFO Amy Hood sent an internal memo to staff after the results that was viewed by Business Insider. In the note, Hood called out recent AI-related moves including new chips, coding tools, and deals with OpenAI and Anthropic. Hood sends these emails

Sports

Lindsey Vonn reveals battle scars to Scarlett Johansson ahead of 2026 Olympics

Lindsey Vonn showed off her skiing battle scars to actress Scarlett Johansson in an NBC Sports featurette posted to YouTube ahead of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. In the humorous promo the two sit bundled around a fire pit as Vonn recalled a string of career injuries, pulling up

Business

Fed leaves interest rates unchanged at 3.5%–3.75%

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday, keeping the target range at 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent at the central bank’s first meeting of the year, the Fed said. The Fed’s policy statement said economic activity has been expanding at a "