How the balance of power in the US Senate could change after today’s midterm elections

The US Senate is the upper chamber on Capitol Hill. There are 100 Senators, two from each state, and Republicans currently hold a razor thin majority with 51 seats. The US Senate writes and passes laws but has a number of other powers and responsibilities, from ratifying treaties with other countries to overseeing investigations of officials…

You can play Xbox One and 360 online multiplayer for free this weekend

Xbox Live members without a Gold membership can play online multiplayer for free until the end of the weekend. The offer is live now and ends on Monday, 19th February at 8am. The event coincides with Ubisoft’s hugely popular multiplayer shooter Rainbow Six Siege and >NBA 2K18 both being free to play until Monday 8am….

New Zealand fisherman pulls 18-month-old baby from sea alive in ‘freakish miracle’

A fisherman in New Zealand pulled an 18-month-old baby from the sea alive after the boy went missing from his campsite where he was staying with his parents. Gus Hutt, who was fishing at a beach near a holiday park in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island, thought he was pulling a doll from…

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds passes 4m players on Xbox One

The Xbox One version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has passed four million players. It’s an incredible milestone for a game which launched barely a month ago, and which just passed the three million player milestone a fortnight back. In celebration, all Xbox One players who own the game as of 31st January will be gifted 30k…

Macron rejects ‘excessively military’ ceremony for Armistice Day, sparking row over commemorations

Emmanuel Macron has provoked a row by ordering that ceremonies in France marking the centenary of the end of the First World War next month must avoid commemorating it as a military triumph. Sixty heads of state and government including US President Donald Trump are to attend ceremonies in Paris on Armistice Day, November 11.  The French…

Donald Trump said black people were ‘too stupid’ to vote for him, his former lawyer Michael Cohen claims

Donald Trump once claimed black people were "too stupid" to vote for him and regularly used explicitly racist language before coming into office, his former lawyer has claimed.  Michael Cohen, who served as the president’s lawyer and fixer for a decade, claimed he witnessed Mr Trump making derogatory comments about black people throughout the 2016…

The migrant caravan is the gift that keeps on giving for Donald Trump’s midterm elections campaign

When Bill Clinton was running for president his strategist James Carville had a sign put on the wall at campaign headquarters reminding everyone the election was about "the economy stupid". In 2018, despite presiding over a booming stock market, low unemployment, and major tax cuts, Donald Trump has decided next month’s US midterm elections are not…

Man pleads guilty to kidnapping and raping British backpacker in Australia

A 23-year-old man has pleaded guilty to the rape and kidnapping of a British backpacker in Australia after holding her captive during a brutal 900-mile road trip across the outback.  Appearing via video in a court in Cairns in north Queensland, Marcus Allyn Keith Martin pleaded guilty to three counts of rape and one count…

Overwatch’s new tool for fighting toxicity is Avoid as Teammate

A new Avoid as Teammate option is coming to Overwatch “as soon as possible”, finally giving us some immediate power to prevent other people ruining our fun. Maybe you’re grouped with a tyrant, maybe you’re grouped with someone deliberately working against the team and throwing the match, or maybe you’re simply partnered with a pratt….