EasyJet refuses to honour a promised £472 refund

We had to buy a new ticket after an air traffic control outage but the airline is giving endless excuses for not repaying us

The day before my easyJet flight to Budapest last July, a UK air traffic control outage caused significant disruption at Gatwick.

On my arrival at the airport check-in, easyJet staff refused to issue me with a boarding pass because a smaller aircraft, with fewer seats, had had to be substituted. This left 35 passengers unable to board.

Published: February 10, 2026, 7:00 am

Apple and Google pledge not to discriminate against third-party apps in UK deal

Critics brand voluntary commitment with competition regulator as ‘lightweight’

Apple and Google’s commitment to avoid discriminating against apps that compete with their own products under an agreement with the UK’s competition watchdog have been labelled “lightweight”.

The US tech companies have vowed to be more transparent about vetting third-party apps before letting them on their app stores and not discriminate against third-party apps in app search rankings.

Published: February 10, 2026, 1:10 pm

Telstra joint venture to axe more than 200 jobs amid AI rollout

Some jobs will be moved offshore in wake of telco’s $700m partnership with tech consultancy Accenture

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More than 200 Telstra jobs are expected to be cut, as the telco rolls out AI capabilities and sends some jobs to India.

Telstra and the technology consultancy Accenture announced a $700m joint venture (JV) in 2025 to drive efficiency, modernisation and productivity.

Published: February 10, 2026, 9:38 am

Beats Powerbeats Fit review: Apple’s compact workout earbuds revamped

Secure, noise-cancelling Bluetooth earbuds that shine for exercise and everyday use on Android and iPhone

Apple’s revamped compact workout Beats earbuds stick to a winning formula, while slimming down and improving comfort.

The new Powerbeats Fit are the direct successors to 2022’s popular Beats Fit Pro, costing £200 (€230/$200/A$330). They sit alongside the recently redesigned Powerbeats Pro 2 as Apple’s fitness alternatives of the AirPods.

Published: February 10, 2026, 7:00 am

Files cast light on Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to cryptocurrency

Newly released documents detail convicted sex offender’s early backing of bitcoin and Coinbase

Millions of files related to Jeffrey Epstein have brought to light his ties to the highest echelons of the cryptocurrency industry.

Documents published last week by the US Department of Justice reveal Epstein bankrolled the “principal home and funding source” for bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, during its nascent stages; he also invested $3m in Coinbase in 2014, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, and cut a check that same year to Blockstream, a prominent bitcoin-focused technology firm. Both crypto startups accepted Epstein’s investments in 2014 – six years after his 2008 conviction in Florida for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Published: February 9, 2026, 2:00 pm

‘We’re being turned into an energy colony’: Argentina’s nuclear plan faces backlash over US interests

Push to restart uranium mining in Patagonia has sparked fears about the environmental impact and loss of sovereignty over key resources

On an outcrop above the Chubut River, one of the few to cut across the arid Patagonian steppe of southern Argentina, Sergio Pichiñán points across a wide swath of scrubland to colourful rock formations on a distant hillside.

“That’s where they dug for uranium before, and when the miners left, they left the mountain destroyed, the houses abandoned, and nobody ever studied the water,” he says, citing suspicions arising from cases of cancer and skin diseases in his community. “If they want to open this back up, we’re all pretty worried around here.”

Published: February 9, 2026, 2:00 pm

‘Was I scared going back to China? No’: Ai Weiwei on AI, western censorship and returning home

He has been jailed, tracked and threatened by China’s government. What was it like pay a visit home? As he publishes a polemic about surveillance and state control, the artist relives a momentous trip to see his mother

Ai Weiwei is talking me through the decision-making process before his first visit to China in over a decade. The artist, known around the world as the most famous critic of the Chinese communist regime, had to do some fraught arithmetic before deciding to head back home.

Before boarding a flight with his son, who had never met the artist’s elderly mother, Ai thought back to his time in detention when his captors told him he would spend the next 13 years in custody on bogus charges: “They said, ‘When you come out, your son won’t recognise you.’ That was very heavy and really the only moment that touched me.”

Published: February 9, 2026, 5:00 am

How a decades-old video game has helped me defeat the doomscroll

Trading social media for Pokémon battles and evolutions in Kanto on a Game Boy Advance has been surprisingly serene

Cutting back on doomscrolling must be one of the hardest new year resolutions to keep. Instinctively tapping on the usual suspects on your phone’s home screen becomes a reflex, and vast quantities of money and user data have been specifically employed to keep you reaching for the phone, ingraining it into our work, leisure and social lives. You’ll get no shame from me if you love your phone and have a healthy relationship with your apps, but I’ve found myself struggling lately.

This year, I’m attempting to cut back on screen time – sort of. I’m replacing the sleek oblong of my smartphone with something a little more fuzzy and nostalgic. In an attempt to dismantle my bad habit, I’m closing the feeds of instant updates and instead carrying around a Game Boy Advance. I’ve been playing Pokémon FireRed, a remake of the very first Pokémon games, which turn 30 this month. Even this refreshed version is more than two decades old.

Published: February 9, 2026, 2:29 pm

‘Disturbing’: Australian government demands review of Roblox’s PG rating after reports of child grooming

Communications minister Anika Wells points to media reports alleging children can access spaces meant for adults which include explicit sexual content

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Reports of child grooming and vile content on popular game service Roblox has “alarmed” the communications minister, Anika Wells, who has demanded the platform explain how it is addressing sexual and self-harm material, and that its PG rating be examined by the Australian Classification Board.

The eSafety commissioner has also written to the game platform, saying it plans to test the promises it made about keeping children safe online, including disabling chat features and making underage accounts private.

Published: February 9, 2026, 11:30 am

Logitech MX Master 4 review: the best work mouse you can buy

Ergonomic shape, quality materials and satisfying clicks, now with novel haptic feedback and repairable design

Logitech’s latest productivity power-house updates one of the greatest mice of all time with smoother materials, a repair-friendly design and a haptic motor for phone-like vibrations on your desktop.

The MX Master 4 is the latest evolution in a line of pioneering mice that dates back more than 20 years and has long been the mouse to beat for everything but hardcore PC gaming. Having given it a magnetic free-spinning scroll wheel, plenty of buttons and precise tracking, now Logitech is trying something different for its seven-generation: the ability to tap back at you.

Published: February 9, 2026, 7:00 am

Six planets line up for rare parade throughout February

Celestial spectacle will be at its most impressive on 28 February, when Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune will align across the sky

Space enthusiasts are in for a treat at the end of this month as six planets will appear close together in the night sky.

The phenomenon, known as a planet parade or planetary alignment, occurs when at least four or five planets can be seen altogether, according to Nasa. On 28 February, stargazers will have the chance to spot Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune aligned closely across the sky – making this a rare planetary display.

Published: February 10, 2026, 4:59 am

Astronomers celebrate cancellation of $10bn Chile project that threatened clearest skies in the world

Astronomers had warned that proximity of INNA facility to telescopes would have irreparably damaged observation

The scientific community is celebrating the cancellation of a project which would have threatened the clearest skies in the world in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

The proposed $10bn, 3,000-hectare green hydrogen and ammonia production facility, known as INNA, included a port, transport links to the coast and three solar power plants, and had been under evaluation by Chile’s environmental regulator for almost a year.

Published: February 10, 2026, 12:48 pm

Jeffrey Epstein and the scientists – podcast

The release of the latest batch of documents relating to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has shed further light on his close relationship with the world of science. To find out why he cultivated scientists and where his interests lay, Ian Sample hears from Dan Vergano, a senior editor at Scientific American.

Clips: Al Jazeera

Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod

Published: February 10, 2026, 5:00 am

Traditional food could help reverse Nepal’s ‘diabetes epidemic’, studies suggest

With medication largely unaffordable in the country, experts hope community support and a change in diet could reduce soaring type 2 diabetes rates

A return to the traditional lentil and rice dishes that have nourished generations of Nepalis could save them from a diabetes epidemic prompted by the influx of western junk foods, doctors have said.

In a country where one in five of those over 40 has type 2 diabetes, the foods enjoyed by their grandparents have showed remarkable results in reversing the condition.

Published: February 10, 2026, 10:00 am

A couple of teas or coffees a day could lower risk of dementia, scientists say

Findings suggest smaller cognitive decline, but US study cannot prove daily caffeine hit is good for the brain

People who have a couple of teas or coffees a day have a lower risk of dementia and marginally better cognitive performance than those who avoid the drinks, researchers say.

Health records for more than 130,000 people showed that over 40 years, those who routinely drank two to three cups of caffeinated coffee or one to two cups of caffeinated tea daily had a 15-20% lower risk of dementia than those who went without.

Published: February 9, 2026, 4:00 pm

Almost 70% of NHS areas in England offer only one cycle of IVF, data shows

Charity says situation breaks Nice guidelines and is having devastating impact on couples struggling with infertility

Millions of women in England are able to access only one round of IVF on the NHS because of health authority cutbacks and in contravention of official policy, research from a fertility charity has shown.

Nearly 70% of local areas fund just one cycle for women under 40 who have been unable to conceive for two years, rather than the three full cycles they should be offered in line with official guidance, according to data collected by the Progress Educational Trust (PET).

Published: February 9, 2026, 3:07 pm

People with obesity 70% more likely to be hospitalised by or die from infection, study finds

Being unhealthy weight raises risk of severe illness or death from most infectious diseases significantly, researchers find

People living with obesity are 70% more likely to be hospitalised by or die from an infection, with one in 10 infection-related deaths globally linked to the condition, research suggests.

Being an unhealthy weight significantly increases the risk of severe illness and death from most infectious diseases, including flu, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections and Covid-19, according to a study of more than 500,000 people.

Published: February 9, 2026, 11:30 pm

Synthetic opioids may have caused hundreds more UK deaths than thought

Study find nitazenes, which are up to 500 times stronger than heroin, can degrade significantly in portmortem blood samples

Deaths caused by a synthetic opioid that is hundreds of times stronger than heroin may have been underestimated by up to a third across the UK, according to research.

Nitazenes are a class of synthetic opioids that are extremely potent, and up to 500 times stronger than heroin. They were manufactured originally as a painkiller in the 1950s but their development was halted due to their extreme potencies resulting in a high risk of addiction.

Published: February 9, 2026, 5:00 am