202 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Richard Lawler

Richard Lawler

Senior News Editor

Senior News Editor

    More From Richard Lawler

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Green light.

    Dan Seifert has gone in-depth on the “new ideas and old compromises” that hamstring Apple’s latest base-model iPad,

    Over the weekend, Mitchell Clark reviewed Belkin’s Continuity Camera mount.

    And don’t miss Thomas Ricker’s exclusive look at Ikea’s new Matter-ready smart home setup.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Maybe that Apple Watch screen is a little too easy to read.

    Before his very careful flag waving at the US Grand Prix this afternoon, Tim Cook popped up on the Sky / ESPN F1 broadcast talking to Ed Sheeran, Eddy Cue, and F1 boss Stefano Domenicali.

    I didn’t notice it at first, but the camera also caught a notification popping up on Cook’s Apple Watch. A cleaner screen grab reveals it was from Apple News, but what if it had been something more sensitive?

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Green light.

    Charles Pulliam-Moore reviews Black Adam, and while the latest DC movie has what some fans are looking for, Warner’s superhero universe is still a pretty messy place.

    Also, this morning we’re going EV off-roading with Tim Stevens, who’s ready to leave emissions behind.

    Liz Lopatto digs into Elon Musk’s Ukraine mess that (might?) get the US government to stop, reverse, or at least slow down, his purchase of Twitter.

    ...and I’m trying to hear both sides about crypto on the latest episode of The Vergecast.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    And now, the feds.

    First, the Washington Post reports Elon might fire 75 percent of Twitter’s staff, and now Bloomberg cites anonymous sources saying that — like Elon himself — US government officials may be uncomfortable with the billionaire buying Twitter.

    The report says the Biden admin is considering a CFIUS review of his deals to consider national security risks.

    US officials have grown uncomfortable over Musk’s recent threat to stop supplying the Starlink satellite service to Ukraine — he said it had cost him $80 million so far — and what they see as his increasingly Russia-friendly stance following a series of tweets that outlined peace proposals favorable to President Vladimir Putin. They are also concerned by his plans to buy Twitter with a group of foreign investors.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Netflix is still trying to make Death Note, again.

    You’d think that disappointing viewers with its 2017 movie adaptation would be enough, but no, as previously reported, Netflix is working on another live-action adaptation of Death Note.

    This one is planned as a TV series made by the production company of Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer, and now Deadline reports they’ve found a writer and EP, Halia Abdel-Meguid.

    A longtime fan of the manga and anime series, Abdel-Meguid — who speaks fluent Japanese and has previously lived in Tokyo — is taking on Death Note having worked with the Duffers on another Upside Down Pictures development project for Netflix. She is a writing consultant on their series adaptation of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s novel The Talisman.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Instacart’s IPO apparently isn’t happening this year, either.

    In recent years Instacart has pulled in a lot of talent from tech companies like Meta — including CEO Fidji Simo last year — as it was seemingly close to going public.

    But tonight, the NYT reports that after cutting its internal valuation from $40 billion to $24 billion in March, it’s now shelving plans to go public in 2022. Maybe 2023 will be the year?

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Green light.

    Good morning! Have you heard that Microsoft is working on a mobile game store? Now you have.

    Now that Tesla and Netflix have announced earnings this week, that leaves AT&T and Snap to provide their updates today, and at 5PM ET, GMC will reveal its electric Sierra Denali pickup.

    Finally, it’s always a good day to learn this fact about Excel.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    M3gan moves up to January 6th.

    The overprotective android horror flick M3gan (stands for Model 3 Generative Android) has a new release date. Charles Pulliam-Moore described its trailer as “serving Small Wonder with a side of murder” — you can watch it right here and judge for yourself.

    It was originally scheduled for release on January 13th, but now Deadline reports it’s moved up a week.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    iFixit cracks open Google’s new watch.

    Not the way that we did during our review, but if you want to see everything that makes the Pixel Watch go, the folks at iFixit can show you. Ultimately, it’s a very first-gen product, inside and out, but has some interesting elements, like a replaceable back cover.