Oil prices surged to seven-month highs this week as global markets responded to escalating tensions between the United States and Iran in advance of critical nuclear negotiations. US crude futures climbed to $67.28 a barrel on Monday, while Brent crude reached $72.50 a barrel, marking its highest point since July 31. Although prices retreated slightly during late trading on Monday, they rebounded on Tuesday morning, approaching the previous day’s peaks. The price increases reflect growing concerns about potential disruptions to global energy supplies amid heightened military posturing in the Middle East. Washington and Tehran are scheduled to hold their third…

Sony has introduced a new pricing transparency feature to the PlayStation Store, allowing customers to see the original launch price of PS5 and PS4 games directly on product pages. The PlayStation Store pricing update is currently rolling out globally across the console storefront, adding another layer of information to help consumers make more informed purchasing decisions when browsing digital game offerings. According to gaming news sources, the update displays a game’s launch price above its current price on the store page. When users highlight this information, the PlayStation Store confirms the price at which the game was sold during at…

A baby boy named Hugo has become the first child born in the United Kingdom to a mother who received a womb transplant from a deceased donor. Hugo Powell was delivered at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea hospital in London in December, weighing 3.09kg, marking a significant milestone in reproductive medicine and womb transplant procedures. The baby’s mother, Grace Bell, an IT programme manager, received the transplanted womb from a deceased donor in 2024. Bell was born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome, a rare condition that results in an underdeveloped or missing womb. She began fertility treatment several months following the womb transplant…

Leading literary agencies across the publishing industry have begun implementing strict policies prohibiting the use of artificial intelligence in manuscript submissions, marking a significant shift in how the industry approaches AI-generated content. The new guidelines require authors to certify that their work is entirely human-written, reflecting growing concerns about the impact of AI on creative writing and literary authenticity. According to The Times, multiple prominent literary agents have updated their submission requirements to explicitly ban AI-generated text in book proposals and manuscripts. Authors must now declare that their submissions contain no content produced by artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT…

A major relief road project in Shropshire that has been under discussion for decades is set to be officially cancelled after the local council deemed it unaffordable. The North West Relief Road in Shrewsbury faces formal cancellation despite more than £30 million already spent on the scheme, with a critical council meeting scheduled to determine its fate this week. Shropshire Council will present a comprehensive report on the North West Relief Road project to a full council meeting on Wednesday. The report specifically addresses the section of road between Holyhead Road and Battlefield, which had received partial funding from the…

A new documentary chronicling the Kenmure Street protest in Glasgow has won critical acclaim for its portrayal of community activism and migrant rights. Everybody to Kenmure Street, directed by Felipe Bustos Sierra, documents the events of May 2021 when UK Immigration Enforcement officers attempted to detain two men on Eid al-Fitr in Glasgow’s most diverse neighborhood. The film has already received a special jury award at Sundance and offers a detailed account of how hundreds of local residents surrounded an immigration van for eight hours until the men were released. The documentary draws primarily from footage captured by participants on…

The Royal Academy in London is presenting Rose Wylie as a “rebel artist” in her forthcoming exhibition, marking a historic milestone as the first solo show by a British woman to occupy all of the institution’s main galleries. At 91 years old, Wylie continues to challenge the art establishment that has long underrated women’s work, bringing her distinctive giant canvases featuring bold colors, painted texts, and wild juxtapositions to one of Britain’s most prestigious venues. The exhibition, titled “Rose Wylie: The Picture Comes First,” will run from February 28 through April 19 at the Royal Academy. Wylie’s unconventional paintings have…

A software engineer has uncovered a serious security vulnerability in DJI robot vacuum cleaners after attempting to control his device with a PlayStation 5 controller. Sammy Azdoufal, head of AI strategy at a holiday rental company, inadvertently exposed a backend security flaw that granted him access to data from nearly 7,000 robot vacuum cleaners across 24 countries, according to reports published by the Verge. The discovery occurred when Azdoufal used an AI coding assistant called Claude Code to reverse-engineer how his DJI Romo vacuum cleaner communicated with the company’s remote cloud servers. While working on this project, he found that…

The popular horror game Phasmophobia is set to receive a major update as developer Kinetic Games has announced the reworked 6 Tanglewood Drive map will launch on March 3, 2026, across all platforms. The Tanglewood Drive rework represents a significant visual and gameplay overhaul of one of the game’s original and most beloved locations, bringing it in line with the studio’s current development standards. According to the developer’s announcement, the update was originally planned to launch alongside the Player Character Update. However, due to the extensive scope of the rework, the studio has decided to release the Tanglewood Drive update…

Electronic Arts has unveiled its updated Quality of Life roadmap for The Sims 4 in 2026, outlining planned improvements focused on game stability, performance enhancements, and addressing long-standing player concerns. The development team announced the initiative will prioritize reducing gameplay friction and improving reliability across frequently discussed problem areas throughout the year. According to the official announcement, the roadmap builds on efforts begun in September when EA first introduced its quality of life initiative. The company stated that planned improvements are based directly on player feedback gathered from EA Forums, The Sims Discord community, and other channels. Priority Fixes Target…

Caves of Qud, the cult classic roguelike RPG that spent 17 years in development, has officially launched on Nintendo Switch following its version 1.0 release in 2024. Developed by American studio Freehold Games, the post-apocalyptic science-fantasy adventure brings its notoriously complex systems and permadeath mechanics to console players for the first time. The Switch port maintains the game’s distinctive retro-inspired visual style while introducing controller-based gameplay to navigate its procedurally generated world. Set in the fictional land of Qud, the game challenges players to survive in an open world populated by warring factions, dangerous creatures, and a mix of mystical…

Boxing legends Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are set to revive one of the sport’s most famous rivalries with a highly anticipated rematch at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The Mayweather vs Pacquiao rematch will be broadcast globally on Netflix, bringing together two fighters nearing 50 years of age for what promises to be more spectacle than sporting contest. Despite questions about the competitive value of the bout, the event is expected to generate massive interest and viewership across Netflix’s 200 million global households. The fight will take place at the Sphere, a cutting-edge Las Vegas venue capable of holding…

YouTube Premium Lite is getting a significant upgrade as Google expands the budget subscription tier with two highly requested features. The company announced that background play and offline downloads are now rolling out to YouTube Premium Lite subscribers worldwide, making the $7.99 monthly plan more competitive with the full Premium offering. The new features began appearing for some users today and should reach all eligible subscribers within the next few weeks, according to Google. YouTube Premium Lite launched as an alternative for users who wanted an ad-free viewing experience without paying for the complete Premium package. The service expanded to…

The owners of London’s oldest Indian restaurant are appealing to King Charles III for intervention as they face potential closure after a rent dispute with the Crown Estate. Veeraswamy, which has operated on Regent Street for a century, finds itself at risk of losing its historic location despite having twice catered events at Buckingham Palace for the late Queen Elizabeth II. Restaurant co-owner Ranjit Mathrani expressed frustration with the negotiations, stating that he felt “100 years of history is being relegated to the dustbin,” according to recent reports. He described the Crown Estate as “like a brick wall covered with…

Capcom has released Resident Evil Village Gold Edition for the Nintendo Switch 2, coinciding with the launch of Resident Evil Requiem on February 27th. A detailed performance comparison between the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch 2 versions reveals significant differences in handheld gaming experience, with testing conducted using review copies provided by Capcom. The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Resident Evil Village struggles with framerate stability despite running at 1080p in handheld mode. According to performance analysis, the game experiences dramatic framerate drops when players reach outdoor village areas, fluctuating well below 45 FPS compared to smoother indoor sequences. Steam…