Technology

Nintendo will release a free 3.0 update for Animal Crossing New Horizons on January 15, 2026, with an optional paid Switch 2 upgrade that adds 4K and expanded multiplayer.

Family members paid tribute after 54-year-old taxi driver Mosrab Ali died in a collision in Bolton; Greater Manchester Police are investigating.

Amy Scott, the New South Wales police officer who confronted the Bondi Junction attacker in April 2024, has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer; NSW Police Legacy has raised almost $65,000 to support her and her family.

President Trump said he plans to speak with Elon Musk about restoring internet access in Iran, where authorities have cut service amid anti-government protests. Musk and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Wegmans and other U.S. retailers have deployed facial-recognition systems in a small number of stores, and privacy advocates and some lawmakers say oversight, accuracy and transparency are limited.

A British man, believed to be in his 50s, died after an avalanche while skiing off-piste at the La Plagne resort in the French Alps; rescue teams located him under snow and the resort offered condolences.

Four people were named locally after a head-on crash on Wigan Road in Bolton; emergency services attended in the early hours and five others were taken to hospital, and police said investigations were continuing.

Launched on Jan. 11, 2026, NASA's Pandora is now in orbit and will record visible and infrared observations of host stars to help separate stellar activity from exoplanet signals.

Elon Musk said critics "want any excuse for censorship" as governments and regulators probe reports that X's AI chatbot Grok produced sexualised images, including material reported as involving children; Indonesia has temporarily blocked Grok and Ofcom is carrying out an expedited assessment.

President Trump posted on Truth Social that oil and money from Venezuela to Cuba will stop and urged Cuba to 'make a deal before it is too late'; the article links the comment to a reported US operation that seized Nicolás Maduro on January 3.

Sir Keir Starmer's call for an international response to X's AI bot, Grok, was weakened after Canada publicly stepped back from an outright ban; Downing Street has been discussing a coordinated approach with allies.

The Crave series Heated Rivalry centres on a romance between two professional hockey players and highlights queer joy that unsettles hockey's hypermasculine norms, prompting wide online discussion and watch parties.

CES 2026 featured new RGB panel technology (branded as RGB mini-LED or Micro RGB) and brighter OLED updates; the reviewer lists five TVs they most want to test, highlighting LG and Samsung mid-range and flagship OLEDs and Hisense's RGB efforts.

The Conservative Party has pledged to ban social media access for under-16s, with leader Kemi Badenoch saying the change would raise the online 'age of consent' to protect children from harmful content. The plan would require platforms to use non-government ID age checks and points to moves in other countries as precedents.

A collision between a Seat Leon and a Citroen on Wigan Road in Bolton in the early hours of Sunday has been reported to have killed four people and injured five, Greater Manchester Police said.

Kemi Badenoch said the Conservatives would set a 16-year age limit to restrict under-16s from social media and proposed banning smartphones in schools with age verification for platforms; the government says it is monitoring developments.

Many Instagram users reported unexpected password reset emails after a dataset linked to 17.5 million accounts appeared on BreachForums; Instagram says reset messages come only from @mail.instagram.com and that a reset email alone does not prove a breach.

India has proposed new smartphone security requirements — including source code review, limits on background permissions, year-long log retention and periodic malware scans — and major manufacturers and industry groups have expressed objections.

India has proposed telecom security standards that would ask phone makers to share device source code and notify authorities about major software updates; government and industry are engaged in consultations and no final legal rule has been imposed.

The NASUWT has called on the UK government to introduce a statutory ban on social media for under-16s, saying unregulated access is harming pupils' mental health and behaviour; the government points to the Online Safety Act and school phone guidance as current protections.

Singer Yeison Jimenez and five others were killed when a light aircraft crashed while travelling to Medellin; authorities confirmed all six occupants died.

NetBlocks reported Iran's internet shutdown had lasted 60 hours as of 8am local time, and the outage reportedly also affected international phone calls; some people have had access via Starlink while authorities were reported to be attempting to jam those signals.

Ashley St Clair has said the AI chatbot Grok was used to produce sexualised deepfake images of her as a teenager; the Internet Watch Foundation reported analysts found imagery of children aged 11–13 that appears to have been created with the tool.

Greenland's remoteness, limited infrastructure and complex geology have so far prevented commercial rare earth mining; experts and companies say development would likely take years and faces significant hurdles.

Officials report major bushfires have burned more than 350,000 hectares in Victoria, and leaders have warned people not to enter fire‑impacted areas.

The Canon R6 Mark III upgrades to a 33MP sensor and expands video tools (including 7K open-gate), while keeping a familiar body and refined controls; it is priced above the Mark II and sits amid strong competition from Nikon, Sony and Panasonic.

Tropical Cyclone Koji is expected to cross the coast between Townsville and Bowen on Sunday, bringing heavy rain and strong winds, and emergency services report teams are in position.

John Kelly, 84, was found injured on an icy path in East Kilbride and was pronounced dead at the scene; police say a slip on ice is being examined and Lorraine Kelly has asked for privacy after posting a tribute.

Security firm Malwarebytes reported that about 17.5 million Instagram account records were published online and that Meta has not yet confirmed the breach.

The German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) reported a magnitude 6.8 earthquake off Indonesia's Talaud Islands, while Indonesia's BMKG gave a 7.1 reading and said there was no tsunami threat.