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Artificial intelligence has transformed how software is built. Tasks that once took software developers days, if not weeks, to finalize can now be completed in hours with the assistance of generative AI tools.

The promise is compelling, offering faster innovation, increased productivity, and the ability to bring new applications to life at an unprecedented speed. But what is the impact on security?

AI coding has simultaneously put software risk on steroids. This is not because AI-generated code is uniquely flawed; it’s because it enables organizations to build and deploy software faster than any existing security, governance, or risk management process.

Development velocity has accelerated toward machine speed, while governance remains largely human-driven. That gap is now one of the defining software security challenges of the AI era.

Software is moving at machine speed. Security isn't.

AI is not only changing how code is written; it is changing how software is assembled. Developers can now assemble applications using open-source components, APIs, and third-party services faster than ever before. Every new application, integration, and dependency expands the attack surface that organizations must inventory, monitor, and secure.

The result is now a growing imbalance between software creation and software remediation. As the pace of software creation increases, remediation must keep up.

Veracode's 2026 State of Software Security report found 82% of organizations now carry security debt—vulnerabilities that remain unresolved over time — and 60% carry critical security debt, meaning flaws that are severe enough to cause significant damage if exploited.

Third-party code continues to be an especially stubborn source of risk, representing 66% of the most dangerous, long-lived vulnerabilities. The data reveals a simple reality: AI doesn't just generate more first-party code—it is increasing software complexity.

Organizations have always dealt with flawed code. The difference now is the speed and scale at which that code can be created, accepted, and deployed. AI doesn't just introduce risk, it amplifies the challenge of managing risk by enabling teams to generate exponentially more software than traditional security processes were designed to govern.

Traditional security governance assumes humans remain the bottleneck in software creation. Reviews, approvals, audits, and remediation workflows were designed for development cycles measured in weeks or months. AI-assisted development compresses those timelines dramatically.

When software can be generated, modified, and deployed at machine speed, governance models that depend on human intervention alone are no longer sustainable.

AI can help plant a seed, but that does not mean the garden will thrive. A seed needs the right soil, climate, and care. Software is no different. Organizations can generate applications overnight, but without the right security frameworks, operational support, and governance structures, those applications can quickly become liabilities rather than assets.

This is why security leaders must rethink governance for the AI era. The goal can’t be to inspect every line of code or eliminate every vulnerability before deployment; that approach was already becoming unsustainable before generative AI entered the picture. Instead, organizations need governance systems capable of operating at the same pace as software creation.

That means automating risk analysis, continuously evaluating dependencies, enforcing policies through pipelines, and prioritizing remediation based on business risk rather than relying on manual review alone.

Governance becomes the new trust layer

The need for machine-speed governance extends beyond operational efficiency. As AI accelerates software creation, governance becomes the mechanism through which organizations maintain visibility, demonstrate control, and establish trust across an increasingly complex software ecosystem.

Ultimately, this isn't just about scaling security. It's about ensuring software can be trusted and held accountable, regardless of how it's built.

AI can generate software, but it cannot assume responsibility for it. Boards will still hold executive leadership accountable for cyber risk. Regulators will still expect organizations to demonstrate that the software they deploy is secure and resilient. Customers will still expect software they can trust, regardless of how it was built.

AI may change how software is created, but it does not change who is accountable for its consequences.

That shift requires organizations to rethink governance as a strategic capability, not a compliance exercise. Success will depend less on preventing every vulnerability and more on demonstrating that software can be continuously evaluated, understood, and trusted as it evolves. In the AI era, the winners will not simply be those that build software fastest, but those that can govern it most effectively.

AI can help plant the seed, but it cannot tend to the garden. The organizations that lead today will not necessarily be those that generate the most software. They'll be the ones that can confidently answer the question every stakeholder will eventually ask: Can we trust what we've built?

AI has accelerated software creation beyond anything the industry has experienced before. If software risk is now on steroids, governance must be too. Otherwise, the gap between what organizations can build and what they can securely manage will continue to widen.

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A stronger build, more storage, and a battery life that just won’t quit. Here’s what a $1,000-plus sports watch will get you.

• HP and Huawei enter patent-sharing deal, with Huawei's Wi-Fi 7 patents central to the deal
• Huawei is still under the microscope by the US Department of Commerce
• The companies have had a previous run-in about Wi-Fi patents

Huawei has confirmed a multi-year global patent cross-licensing agreement with HP in relation to its Wi-Fi technology, ultimately granting the latter permission to use certain Huawei Wi-Fi patents. In return, Huawei will also receive rights to some of HP's patents.

Central to the agreement is Huawei's Wi-Fi portfolio, including Wi-Fi 7 technology, however neither company has actually disclosed the exact patents that are covered. Further details, like the financial terms or the deal's duration, are also under wraps.

The deal is of great geopolitical significance, with California-based HP striking up a deal with Shenzhen-based Huawei – a Chinese company that remains on the US Department of Commerce's Entity List.

HP and Huawei deal

Although US restrictions have severely restricted Huawei's ability to buy American chips, software and other technology, and other international restrictions including in the UK have sought to remove Huawei hardware from critical national infrastructure, this new deal is proof that the company still has major influence outside of China.

Importantly, an HP spokesperson (via Reuters) stressed that this is merely a patent licensing agreement: "It is not new, and does not represent a broader strategic or commercial relationship, partnership, or collaboration with Huawei." The company noted that such licences are normal because manufacturers need access to patented technology for certain standards, like Wi-Fi.

"This milestone agreement not only reflects the companies’ cooperation in the field of intellectual property licensing but also recognizes Huawei's innovation capabilities and core technological strength as well as HP’s position as a global leader in computers and peripheral equipment," Huawei wrote.

Ultimately, being on the Entity List doesn't represent an outright ban for American companies to transact with Huawei, but it does place the company under US scrutiny. Neither does it mean that HP has been given special treatment to bypass US restrictions to open this deal.

A work in progress

Interestingly, the deal didn't just come from nowhere. HP and Huawei have been involved in a dispute over Wi-Fi intellectual property for a while. Huawei accused HP's products of implementing its Wi-Fi 6 patents without a relevant licence in August 2025.

Standard-essential patent owners are generally expected to make their patents available under FRAND terms to grant manufacturers access to the technology, but cross-licence deals like this latest one are often seen as the most efficient and cost-effective way to open up the technology.

Rather than both companies paying full royalties to each other, HP gets Huawei rights and Huawei gets HP rights in return. It's unclear if one of the companies has also made a balancing payment.

In other circumstances, Huawei's current rates for consumer products are $0.50 per device for both Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7.

For Huawei, it's just another opportunity to turn years of R&D into important revenue. "By the end of 2025, Huawei held a total of 165,000 active patents and had signed over 260 patent licensing and cross-license agreements with many of the world’s largest patent holders," the company shared in a 2026 update.

Now is the time for nonprofits to embrace artificial intelligence (AI).

There is a distinct opportunity to significantly improve their operations using the latest developments in AI and automation.

We are seeing confidence grow in the third sector as organizations come to understand the potential of AI, but now we are entering a crucial phase as they look to implement it.

Given the complex technology involved, it may appear daunting to get the right strategy in place, but a disciplined approach to adoption that is focused on incremental gains - not radical transformation - will ensure a positive outcome.

This will mitigate significant disruption by avoiding large number of components being upgraded at the same time, as that increases the risk of something going wrong.

A pragmatic approach combined with thinking big

Getting to this point is perhaps easier said than done, as many nonprofits rely on purpose-built applications and manual processes. It is incumbent on vendors to articulate a pragmatic approach to integrating AI with these existing systems, focusing on the idea of incremental improvements to processes and ways of working.

In parallel, nonprofits must think big about the potential for positive change. Vendors must work with their customers to help them understand that transformation entails more than just a chatbot or another point solution being added to the technology stack.

Done right, AI will reshape how workflows are triggered, data is interpreted and insights are generated. It will become an intelligence layer acting autonomously to interrogate data and provide teams with cognitive support to make more effective and real-time decisions.

Therefore, if nonprofits are to maximize their AI investments, they must ask themselves big questions: how does AI change the ecosystem the organization operates in? And how can it be used to improve the nonprofit’s mission?

If nonprofit leaders can think ambitiously about these answers, it will empower teams to become true knowledge workers. AI will help them uncover information to inform actions or give workers more time to focus on problem-solving, as the technology is designed to automate repetitive tasks that traditionally consume cognitive bandwidth.

The right data strategy is crucial

A key challenge for nonprofits is data governance, as the AI tools will only be effective if they have access to the right data. In a recent study we conducted called “Closing the Gap: Nonprofit Finance Software’s Crucial Role in Today’s Landscape”, 61% of finance professionals in US nonprofits admitted they still rely on generic spreadsheets for core financial management.

The combination of specialist applications and manual processes makes it difficult to connect information across different applications and workflows. Data must be extracted, transformed and loaded so that it can be analyzed. The extraction process is also challenging because the data is often not in the same format and must be loaded in a particular format for ease of use by the finance team.

To address the data challenge, nonprofits must decide how to make the right data accessible to the AI. The data must be set up in a way that can be interrogated in plain language, and it must be based on good data inputs. Aside from reliability, the data also requires a common analysis framework so that users can understand its origins and who is accountable for it. Then, the organizations must be able to analyze the data chain and how AI is interacting with the data to make decisions.

This requires a detailed appreciation of the semantics of data. For example, the term “project” means something different in the world of nonprofits compared a professional services company or a public sector organizations . The AI must be able to interpret the word correctly to avoid hallucinations.

Equally important is the ability to monitor, evaluate and adjust data as it goes through the data supply chain to avoid inaccuracies in areas such as when it moves from the record to report phase. Nonprofits must work closely with their technology suppliers to ensure everyone in the organization, whether at the leadership, program or project level, can monitor the data for compliance with expectations.

Incrementalism is better than quantum leaps

The concept of incrementalism, rather than the “Big Bang” or quantum leap approach to transformation is the best way to address these fundamental questions.

Most successful IT implementations follow a similar incremental path. For organizations embracing this approach and wanting to ensure operational integrity while transforming IT systems, it is important to start with an evaluation of where the organization is relative to the desired end state. The planning objective is to get to the end state through a process of continuous, incremental adoption of new functionality and applications.

Most importantly, this approach allows staff to build their confidence in collaborating with AI tools. Imagine a team operating in a remote location providing medical assistance and the head of the team realizes they need to order supplies. Using incremental innovation an organization could use a combination of AI and automation to alleviate the burden of replacing missing stock.

In the first phase, an AI tool could monitor existing stocks and prompt staff when it is running low. This will give employees the chance to train the AI tool when it is urgent to replenish stocks. The AI could also use contextual information such as historical usage data and information such as weather to identify likely peak demand. As the AI becomes more autonomous, it could make recommendations to a human co-worker suggesting it completes an order form for new supplies which is reviewed by an employee.

Again, this acts as a training opportunity for AI so that in time employees will have confidence it can autonomously complete such tasks in the background. In time, the whole process will minimize interruption for employees and reduce the burden on them to complete such administrative tasks.

What this example shows is that nonprofits do not have to achieve fully autonomous systems straight away. At each stage, the AI is providing workflow improvements that empower knowledge workers by saving them time to focus on what is important to deliver their missions.

Incremental change will see nonprofits delivering value to their organizations very quickly, if they are able to address fundamental questions around their approach to data, while also thinking big about what AI can enable them to do better.

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Across organizations, AI adoption is entering a new phase. What began as experimentation and isolated use cases is rapidly evolving into enterprise-wide deployment, with AI becoming embedded across operations, customer experiences, decision-making and business strategy.

This shift is creating significant opportunities for growth, productivity and innovation, while also presenting a growing challenge for business and technology leaders: ensuring governance, oversight and operating models keep pace. As organizations scale AI, the question is no longer just what the technology can do, but whether the structures, processes and controls are in place to manage it effectively.

The growing governance gap

In many organizations, AI adoption is expanding beyond the direct oversight of central technology teams. Business units are deploying AI-powered tools to improve efficiency, streamline workflows and accelerate decision-making.

While this democratization of technology can unlock innovation, it can also create complexity. Leaders may find themselves accountable for outcomes generated by systems distributed across multiple teams, platforms and environments. The pace of adoption only intensifies this challenge.

Organizations are under pressure to move quickly as competitors invest in AI capabilities and employees increasingly expect access to AI-powered tools. The urgency is reflected in the UK government's AI Opportunities Action Plan, which highlights IMF estimates that AI could boost UK productivity by up to 1.5 percentage points annually, potentially generating £47 billion in economic gains each year.

As a result, deployment often progresses faster than governance frameworks can evolve.

This creates a fundamental tension between speed and control. Businesses want to capture the benefits of AI quickly, but moving too fast without appropriate safeguards can introduce operational, security and compliance risks. The challenge is not simply deploying AI at scale, but ensuring it can be managed responsibly once deployed.

As investment accelerates, expectations rise

As AI becomes more deeply integrated into business operations, its influence extends beyond execution. AI is increasingly shaping how work gets done, how decisions are made and how organizations allocate resources. In some cases, it is helping leaders identify opportunities and risks that may not have been visible through traditional approaches.

This growing influence means AI is no longer just a technology initiative. It has become an organizational capability that touches every part of the business. Decisions about AI deployment are therefore also decisions about governance, accountability and risk management.

The scale of momentum behind AI is clear. Earlier this year, the UK government highlighted £14 billion in private-sector AI investment commitments and more than 13,000 planned jobs as part of its ambition to establish the UK as a global leader in artificial intelligence.

This reflects a broader shift in how organizations view AI: no longer as an experimental technology, but as a strategic capability expected to drive growth, productivity and competitive advantage.

As investment accelerates, so too does the pressure to deliver measurable outcomes. Yet many leaders are discovering that success depends on more than deploying new AI tools. Without clear accountability, visibility and governance, the benefits of AI can be undermined by operational complexity, fragmented decision-making and increased risk.

The organizations that realize the greatest value from AI are likely to be those that invest as heavily in governance and oversight as they do in the technology itself.

Security, data and trust at scale

Security remains a critical consideration. As organizations integrate AI into business-critical processes, they must address issues such as data protection, model integrity and regulatory compliance. A single failure can have consequences that extend beyond technical disruption, affecting customer trust, brand reputation and regulatory standing.

Public expectations for responsible AI are high, with 72% of the British public saying that laws and regulation would make them more comfortable with the use of AI, underlining the importance of strong governance and oversight.

The challenge is heightened by AI's dependence on large volumes of data drawn from multiple environments and applications. Without visibility into how data flows through these systems, organizations may struggle to assess risk or respond effectively when issues arise. Robust governance and transparency therefore become essential components of any AI strategy.

Alongside security concerns, organizations are also facing greater financial scrutiny. Unlike traditional technology projects, AI programs often evolve rapidly, with new models, services and use cases introduced continuously. This can make it difficult to maintain oversight of spending, performance and risk, particularly as AI becomes embedded across multiple business functions.

These pressures are driving a reassessment of operating models. Traditional approaches to governance were largely built around systems that changed predictably and remained relatively static once deployed. AI introduces a different dynamic: models evolve, outputs vary and operating environments can change rapidly.

Building adaptable AI governance

As a result, organizations are increasingly recognizing the need to build adaptability into their AI strategies. Governance cannot be treated as a one-time exercise. It must become an ongoing capability supported by continuous monitoring, clear accountability and the ability to respond quickly to emerging risks and opportunities.

The organizations seeing the greatest success with AI typically view governance and innovation as complementary objectives rather than competing priorities. They focus not only on deployment, but also on visibility, control and resilience. By establishing clear frameworks from the outset, they create an environment where AI can scale responsibly and deliver sustainable business value.

Infrastructure strategy also plays a key role. Many organizations operate across multiple cloud environments and technology platforms, creating challenges around integration, portability and control. As AI workloads increase, flexibility becomes increasingly important.

Businesses need the ability to deploy, move and manage workloads efficiently without becoming constrained by fragmented architectures.

Scaling AI with confidence

Ultimately, the challenge facing leaders is not whether AI should scale, but how it scales. As adoption accelerates, organizations must look beyond deployment and focus on creating the conditions for sustainable success.

That means investing in governance, strengthening visibility across increasingly complex environments, improving financial accountability and ensuring organizational structures evolve alongside technological capabilities.

AI has the potential to transform how organizations operate, compete and create value. However, realizing that potential requires more than implementing new tools. It requires building the frameworks that allow innovation and control to coexist.

As AI becomes more deeply embedded across the enterprise, the organizations that achieve the greatest success will be those that can balance agility with accountability, enabling them to innovate confidently while maintaining oversight, resilience and trust.

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Although many people would think of phishing as a malicious email containing a suspicious link or attachment, hackers have now moved far beyond this to target trusted business tools including calendars and meeting invites.

We spoke to Soundharya Bharani Poomalai, Associate Threat Analyst, Barracuda, to find out more.

• Why are attackers increasingly turning to calendar invites and .ics files as phishing vehicles, and what has changed in the threat landscape to make this an attractive attack surface now?

Calendars have become part of daily business admin and are used far beyond meeting scheduling. People now get invites for things like policy acknowledgements, handbook reviews, benefits enrolment windows and compliance training reminders. A calendar invite referencing an HR update or a payroll action doesn't look out of place, and this allows attackers to blend in more easily than a suspicious email ever could.

There's also a structural advantage. Calendar entries get added automatically with little or no interaction from the recipient, and they tend to persist even if the original email is deleted or quarantined. Mobile adds another layer to this. A lot of calendar notifications get handled on phones, which often sit outside the reach of desktop-focused security tools.

• How significant is the visibility gap between what an email security system can inspect and what is rendered by a calendar application?

It is significant, and it’s something many organisations haven't accounted for. Traditional email security is built to scan the message body, subject line and attachments, whereas an .ics file often slips through as a calendar object and doesn’t receive the same level of inspection.

The problem is that .ics files carry much more than a date and time. They can include event descriptions, organiser details, locations, attachments, URLs and custom metadata fields, and any of these can be used to hide phishing content. Once the calendar app renders that content, the recipient sees corporate branding, instructions or a QR code that looks entirely legitimate. If the victim then enters their credentials and completes MFA, the attackers can intercept the username, password and session data, giving them full access to the account.

That mismatch between what security tools check and what the user sees is why these attacks succeed.

• Are calendar phishing attacks fundamentally a new technique, or are they an evolution of the same social-engineering and evasion techniques we've seen in email phishing – such as QR codes, impersonation and adversary-in-the-middle attacks?

They’re an evolution rather than an invention. The building blocks are familiar. QR codes hide a destination, brand impersonation builds trust, and adversary-in-the-middle platforms intercept credentials and session data in real time once someone signs in. None of this is new.

What's changed is the delivery container as they’re wrapped inside a calendar invite instead of an email. A QR code buried in an .ics file benefits from all the same advantages it has in a PDF or email body because it avoids text-based detection. It also gets the added benefit of sitting somewhere security tools are paying less attention.

• What does the rise of .ics phishing tell us about how organisations need to redefine what constitutes ‘malicious content’?

It tells us that malicious content is no longer confined to a bad link or attachment. Security teams have traditionally focused on email bodies and file attachments because that's historically where the risk sat. Calendar invites increasingly need to be factored into this as a phishing vehicle. The format of the content is not what determines the risk now, it’s what the content does when it reaches the recipient.

All of this means organisations need to start thinking about any workflow that can display or trigger content on a user's behalf.

What should organisations be inspecting inside a calendar file, and what are the technical challenges involved in doing that effectively at scale?

Calendar files need the same level of scrutiny as a traditional attachment. In practice, this involves parsing the metadata fields, analysing any embedded links or attachments, inspecting HTML-rendered content, and decoding QR codes to check where they lead to.

The technical security challenge is that .ics files were built for interoperability. The format allows an event title, description or organiser field to carry rich content across Outlook, Google Calendar and Apple Calendar, and that flexibility is what makes it hard to inspect consistently at scale.

There's also the matter of what happens after delivery. A calendar entry can sit in someone's diary for days or weeks before a link becomes relevant, so inspection can't just happen once at the point of delivery. It needs to hold up over time.

If a malicious calendar invite gets through, what should the incident-response process look like? Is deleting or quarantining the original email enough?

Deleting or quarantining the original email doesn't remove the calendar entry itself. Because invites are typically added automatically, the event can remain live in someone's calendar even after the source email is long gone, which means the malicious link or QR code is still sitting there and waiting to be clicked on.

A response will only be effective if it removes both the delivery message and the associated calendar entry from every affected mailbox. Teams also need to check identity activity around the time the invite landed and look for things like sign-ins from unfamiliar devices, unexpected MFA prompts, new session creation or OAuth consent activity. If someone did interact with the invite, credentials or session tokens may already be compromised, so containment can't stop at cleaning up the calendar.

(Image credit: Getty Images / Westend61)What are the three most practical things security and business teams can do today to reduce their exposure to calendar-based phishing without disrupting legitimate use of calendars?

First, treat calendar invites as active content rather than passive scheduling data. Apply the same inspection standards to .ics files that already exist for attachments, including checking embedded links, attachments and any QR codes inside the event itself.

Second, strengthen identity security so a successful phishing attempt doesn't automatically become a successful breach. Phishing-resistant MFA such as FIDO2 or WebAuthn, conditional access policies, and the ability to monitor sessions and revoke them quickly all reduce the impact if someone does click through.

Third, update user awareness so people know calendar invites can be malicious too. Employees should be wary of QR codes inside calendar events and treat unexpected HR, payroll or policy notifications arriving as .ics files with the same suspicion as an unusual email.

Are we reaching a point where organisations need to stop thinking of email as the attack surface, and instead think about all the trusted applications and automated workflows that email can trigger?

Yes, and calendar phishing is a good example of why. An email triggers a calendar entry, a calendar entry contains content, and that content leads somewhere else entirely, whether that's a fake sign-in page or a malicious QR code.

Every one of those steps happens in a different application, often with a different set of security controls, or none at all. Attackers are simply following that chain to find the weakest link, and the weak link tends to sit wherever inspection stops.

Organisations that only defend the inbox are defending one part of a much longer chain.

This illustrated guide has evidence-backed advice on how to support fertility for both men and women, including which foods to eat and which activities to avoid.

The price of electricity is soaring in the summer heat, when fans and air conditioners are working nonstop. In Tulsa, Okla., people are having their power cut when they can't pay their bills.

(Image credit: Raelynn McMurchy)

Toy Story 5, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey and Backrooms.'/>

Theaters have had something for everyone this summer, and fans are paying top dollar for premium formats like IMAX. There are also fewer moviegoers, fewer movies, and fewer screens than there were pre-COVID.

Autumn is in the air and now's a great time to start thinking about warm weather gear. A number of big outdoor retailers are running major sales right now, and amongst them are some seriously strong down jacket deals.

A good down jacket is one of the best investments I've made. I wear mine constantly over the colder months, to keep me comfortably warm on everything from big hikes to short dog-walks. A great down jacket will provide an impressive warmth-to-weight ratio — they're lightweight and pack down small, but offer cosiness levels on par with much bulkier options.

My personal brand of choice is Rab — I'm on my second Rab down jacket; the first one got lost, and I replaced it immediately. Rab is the main brand on sale right now, but there are also lightweight down jackets from other major outdoor brands like Patagonia and Arc'Teryx. These are the brands that consistently impressed me during my years as an outdoor gear tester, and I'd happily buy from them.

Scroll down for my top down jacket deal picks. And if you're in the mood to completely upgrade your autumn/winter wardrobe, I've also rounded up the best waterproof jacket deals and the best fleece jacket deals I've spotted — I assume all of these bargains when the cold weather actually arrives, so I wouldn't spend too long deciding.

Men's down jacket deals

Hop to the women's down jacket deals section

Rab Men's Microlight Jacket — Black

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The North Face Men's Hathersage Insulated Light Down Jacket

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Women's down jacket deals

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Berghaus Women's Talmine Long Insulated Jacket

As a regular runner, I sign up to quite a few organised races, from trail runs to marathons. During most of them, headphones are not permitted — with a few exceptions.

Those exceptions are open-ear headphones and bone conduction headphones, which allow runners like me to hear the world around them while listening to motivational tunes, podcasts, and taking calls. Open ears allow you to hear traffic, pedestrians and other hazards on training runs, and instructions from marshals and guides during races.

I met one runner at an event who runs as a guide for blind runners, and in-ear headphones means his shouts and whistles for them to get out of the way and mind the blind runners fall on (literally) deaf ears. Open-ear headphones are about more than just your own safely, but others' safety too.

Shokz is the biggest name in open-ear headphones, and right now is offering a selection of 'back-to-school' deals until 31 August. I often use both the Shokz OpenFit true wireless earbuds and Shokz OpenRun bone conduction series, and there are deals on the budget options from both lines here, making them even better value.

You can get the older Shokz OpenRun discounted from £129.99 down to £94 on Amazon, while the true wireless Shokz OpenFit Air are discounted from £94 down to just £64 on Amazon. The OpenFits would be my budget running headphones pick, but you can view both deals below.

Today's best Shokz deals

You can save £35 on the original and still-very-good Shokz OpenRun, available in slate blue or fetching grey. Immersive stereo audio is delivered to your ears via transducers, and 8 hours of playtime will see you through runs and commutes alike.

Small head? Get the OpenRun Mini for the same price. View Deal

A great deal, and my budget pick. These true wireless earbuds allow you open-ear freedom, although they use speakers to project sound rather than bone conduction, but they still sound great. We rated the Shokz OpenFit Air 4.5 stars out of 5 in our review. View Deal

Across a network of front-line healthcare facilities in Zambia, health workers used a mobile app to be guided by basic clinical prompts and entered symptoms and observations as part of routine primary care encounters.

The syndromic patterns emerging from thousands of consultations indicated a cholera outbreak was on its way, months before confirmed diagnoses appeared.

No new laboratory. No field hospital. No breakthrough treatment. Just real and ordinary information, recognized early enough to matter.

We have seen the same principle at work in Abu Dhabi.

Last year, AI indicated that the influenza season was likely to arrive sooner than usual and highlighted the communities most at risk.

We acted on those insights by launching our vaccination campaign earlier, strengthening preparedness and expanding access for priority groups before cases began to rise.

A powerful reminder

It is a powerful reminder that AI's greatest value lies not in replacing clinicians or public health experts, but in giving them the information they need to make better decisions before a crisis escalates.

The question is no longer whether AI can help detect the next global health threat. In many cases, it already can. The real challenge is whether health systems are prepared to turn those insights into timely action before a local outbreak becomes a global emergency.

The need has never been greater. People are moving into cities faster than ever. Climate change is changing how infectious diseases emerge and spread, and international travel means an outbreak can move across continents in a matter of days. Yet many health systems still operate much as they always have, responding once illness becomes visible rather than monitoring for when the earliest warning signs appear.

By the time a threat appears in confirmed diagnoses or official reports, valuable time has already been lost. AI offers an opportunity to change that—not by replacing doctors, nurses or public health teams, but by helping them recognize patterns that would otherwise go unnoticed. Much of that picture now sits outside hospitals and laboratories.

Millions of people generate health data every day through wearable devices that track heart rate, sleep, activity and other physical signals. One person's data tells an individual story. Combined, they have the potential to help health systems identify risk and intervene earlier.

Health systems

Health systems also produce huge amounts of data through clinical records, laboratory results, environmental monitoring, vector surveillance, and population trends. These sources often sit in separate places and rarely tell the full story. AI can connect them, revealing patterns that would be almost impossible to detect manually.

Those insights allow health systems to prepare services, target prevention efforts and direct resources before an emerging threat becomes a wider public health emergency. This belief—that better information should lead to better decisions—is also what underpins Future Health – A Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi.

When the Future Health Challenge was launched in collaboration with the US-led social enterprise MIT Solve, nearly 400 teams from 68 countries entered. Each explored how AI could strengthen prevention and earlier intervention.

What stood out wasn't one miracle technology, but a shared focus: identifying problems before they become crises.

ThinkMD, the Australian team behind the Zambia example and winner of the Future Health Challenge, equips frontline health workers with AI-enabled clinical decision support, allowing routine patient consultations to contribute to a broader understanding of population health.

VectorCam, a Distinguished Finalist from the USA, applies AI to mosquito surveillance helping public health teams identify changing disease risk before outbreaks take hold.

Huna, a Brazilian health technology company and Distinguished Finalist, uses AI to analyze routine blood tests to identify elevated cancer risk earlier and guide individuals into appropriate screening and care.

These tools tackle different problems but share the same aim: spotting risk where there is still time to act.

So, if the technology is already this capable, what is holding it back?

Complex, cautious, and overstretched

Health systems are complex, cautious, and often overstretched. Data remains fragmented across organizations. Procurement cycles can be slow. Clinical staff have little time to absorb new tools and healthcare rightly demands strong evidence before new algorithms become part of clinical or public health decision-making.

These are not barriers to innovation. They are the conditions for adopting it responsibly.

An alert is only useful if someone knows what it means, trusts the evidence behind it and has a clear pathway to act. Earlier detection achieves little unless it leads to earlier action.

The next phase of AI in healthcare is likely to be defined less by new algorithms and more by stronger systems. That means building the infrastructure that connects information securely across organizations. It means designing AI that fits naturally into clinical workflows rather than adding complexity. It means creating policy frameworks that reward prevention alongside treatment.

Most importantly, it means bringing together clinicians, researchers, innovators and policymakers to solve implementation challenges collectively.

No technology will prevent every future outbreak. Nor should AI ever replace strong public health infrastructure. But earlier, better information can change the course of an emergency. It can influence where testing is deployed, where resources are directed and how quickly interventions begin.

In public health, timing matters.

The ability to detect earlier warning signs is increasingly within reach. The task now is to build health systems that are ready to respond.

AI will never replace human judgement, nor should it. Its real promise lies in strengthening decision-making and helping health systems respond with greater confidence, precision and speed when it matters most.

We've featured the best Electronic Health Records software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

• Watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 free on YouTube (select countries)
• Unlock your stream with Surfshark (save up to 85%)
• UCI Mountain Bike World Championships: Wed, Aug 26 – Sun, Aug 30

Watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 live streams, as Tom Pidcock, Valentina Höll and Mathieu van der Poel headline the action at Val di Sole in the Dolomites. The five-day event covers five disciplines: Cross-Country Olympic (XCO), Cross-Country Relay (XCR), Cross-Country Short Track (XCC), E-Mountain Bike (E-MTB) and Downhill (DHI).

Day 1 begins with the Women’s Elite E-Mountain Bike Cross-Country from 4am ET / 9am BST, followed by the Men’s Elite E-Mountain Bike Cross-Country from 5.30am ET / 10.30am BST, and the Mixed Team Relay from 11am ET / 4pm BST.

Reigning champion Anna Spielmann is in fine form, and her closest challenger in Valais last time out, Kathrin Stirnemann, has since retired. Jerome Gilloux is out for a hat-trick after winning each of the past two editions of the race, dating back to Vallnord two years ago. 2023 winner Joris Ryf is expected to challenge, having finished second to Gilloux last year.

The Mixed Team Relay sees each nation field a rider from all six mountain bike classes – Elite Women, Elite Men, U23 Women, U23 Men, Junior Women and Junior Men – in any order of their choosing, to race around a 2.4km circuit with 120m of elevation gain. France, Italy and Switzerland made the podium 12 months ago.

Here's how to watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 from anywhere in the world. We've also listed the schedule and reigning champions below.

Can you watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 for free?

Yes. Free UCI Mountain Bike World Championships coverage is available via the UCI YouTube channel in places where Val di Sole 2026 hasn't picked up a broadcasting partner, such as New Zealand.

Free coverage is also available via VRT and RTBF (Belgium), RSI/RTS/SRF (Switzerland), RAI (Italy) and L'Équipe (France).

Traveling abroad right now? You can use a VPN to watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 for free as if you were right at home.

Use a VPN to watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 live streams

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How to watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 live streams in the US

Cycling fans in the US can stream UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 live on FloBikes.

A subscription costs $155.88/year or $39.99/month.

If you're traveling outside of the US, you can make use of Surfshark to catch the action.

How to watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 live streams in the UK

(Image credit: Other)

In the UK, live UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 coverage is being provided by TNT Sports.

You can add TNT Sports to your Sky, Virgin Media or EE TV package, or get an HBO Max plan that includes TNT Sports. Prices start at £25.99/month if you commit to a year.

If you're out of the UK but still want to tune in, explore the VPN route set out above, which will help you access your accounts from anywhere.

How to watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 live streams in Australia

(Image credit: free)

Stan Sport is showing the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Australia.

Stan Sport costs AU$20/month on top of a Stan subscription, which itself starts at AU$9.99/month. It's also home to the Premier League, Rugby's Greatest Rivalry, Super Rugby, Six Nations and Nations Championship.

Visiting Australia from New Zealand? Use Surfshark to watch free-to-air Val di Sole 2026 coverage.

How to watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 live streams in Canada

(Image credit: Other)

In Canada, FloBikes is showing UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026.

A subscription costs CA$49.99/month or CA$215.88/year.

Not in Canada right now? You can simply use a VPN like Surfshark to watch all the action as if you were back home.

UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2026 Q&AUCI Mountain Bike World Championships schedule 2026

Click to see more ▼

(All times UK)

Wednesday, August 26
9am – Women’s Elite E-MTB Cross-Country
10.30am – Men’s Elite E-MTB Cross-Country
4pm – Mixed Team Relay

Thursday, August 27
8.30am – Women’s Junior Cross-Country Olympic
10am – Men’s Junior Cross-Country Olympic
2.30pm – Women’s U23 Cross-Country Short Track
3.30pm – Men’s U23 Cross-Country Short Track
4.45pm – Women’s Elite Cross-Country Short Track
5.30pm – Men’s Elite Cross-Country Short Track

Friday, August 28
9.30am – Women’s Junior Downhill qualification
Followed by Men’s Junior Downhill qualification
2.30pm – Women’s Elite Downhill qualification
Followed by Men’s Elite Downhill qualification

Saturday, August 29
8.15am – Women’s Junior Downhill
9am – Men’s Junior Downhill
12.20pm – Women’s Elite Downhill
2pm – Men’s Elite Downhill

Sunday, August 30
8am – Women’s U23 Cross-Country Olympic
10am – Men’s U23 Cross-Country Olympic
12pm – Women’s Elite Cross-Country Olympic
2.15pm – Men’s Elite Cross-Country Olympic

Who are the reigning UCI Mountain Bike World Championships champions?

Mountain Bike World Championships reigning champions

Men's champions

• Cross-Country Marathon – Keegan Swenson (6:01:44.3)
• Downhill – Jackson Goldstone (2:54.153)
• Electric Cross-Country – Jerome Gilloux (48:28)
• Electric MTB Enduro – Adrien Dailly (31:32.11)
• Enduro – Richard Rude Jr (29:37.67)
• Pump Track – Eddy Clerte (20.023)
• Cross-Country Short Track – Victor Koretzky (21:26)
• Cross-Country Olympic – Alan Hatherly (1:30:30)

Women's champions

• Cross-Country Marathon – Kate Courtney (7:10:11.1)
• Downhill – Valentina Höll (3:27.136)
• Electric Cross-Country – Anna Spielmann (44:08)
• Electric MTB Enduro – George Swift (38:06.55)
• Enduro – Elly Hoskin (35:13.67)
• Pump Track – Sabina Kosarkova (22.424)
• Cross-Country Short Track – Alessandra Keller (20:43)
• Cross-Country Olympic – Jenny Rissveds (1:21:35)

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Am I surprised that Reacher season 4 isn't just dominating Prime Video, but the internet itself? No. Am I surprised that fan opinions feel more contradictory than ever? Absolutely.

In case you've not caught up yet, new episodes are following Reacher (Alan Ritchson) as he becomes embroiled in a CIA conspiracy after suspecting a woman on a New York City subway train is actually a suicide bomber. Unlike our first three seasons, this political espionage plot has got us thinking in a way we're not used to.

But of course, there's not that much thinking happening. The general story arc of Reacher getting involved in something that's much bigger than he first thought and punching his way out of it is very much alive and well.

Reacher coming close to — yet never quite reaching — The West Wing or The Diplomat levels of political severity seems to be causing a new tear in the fabric of the fandom. Some Reddit users have branded season 4 as the worst of all time, while others think that it's Reacher's strongest outing since season 1.

I've got a feeling that this all comes down to one important point... and it's something we've forgotten (or we are choosing to overlook). On top of that, it begs a question: do we no longer allow our TV programs to be silly for silly's sake?

Letting Reacher be a bit of an idiot is key to getting the most out of season 4

(Image credit: Prime Video)

Let's face it: Reacher is a borderline idiotic, light-hearted crime drama that was never meant to be anything else. It's as superficial as superficial gets, and anybody looking for something grittier or more meaningful underneath is baseline is sadly misguided.

If I'm being completely honest, this is something I found grating when I first discovered Reacher-world. We're spoilt for choice when it comes to gripping crime dramas, both on streaming services and linear TV. So surely to be the best, a show needs to be critically engaging at all times, leaving no stone unturned in the process.

We expect everything to be Sherlock-levels of enigma-solving in order to be worth our time, but is this actually the case? Reacher season 4 is just the latest installment to prove otherwise... if you're willing to accept the series for what it is.

The actual storyline, and whatever whodunnits need solving along the way, is the least important cog in the machine. Reacher himself is what draws viewers in (and keeps them watching), with his authentic mix of a troubled military background, hidden personality and abs chiseled to high heaven the unique selling point that keeps on giving.

All in how he interacts and builds meaningful relationships with his sidekicks for the season, and you're watching for the people, not the plot. There has yet to be a single connection that Reacher has fostered that I haven't enjoyed or been invested in, and that speaks volumes about what we're actually watching.

Yes, we want to see Reacher pumping iron before battering a load of bad guys, making the lives of those around him better in the process. No, we don't actually need anything else. If Reacher season 5 sticks to this tried and tested format, there won't be any less satisfaction — but will you be open to it?

A fire erupted early Wednesday in a nursery for newborns at a major government hospital in Pakistan's capital, killing 14 babies, according to hospital officials and the government.

(Image credit: M. Yousaf)

• Metro 2039 will have a speaking protagonist called The Stranger at the center of the game's story
• Executive producer Jon Bloch says players will learn how the character feels about unfolding events
• He adds that a silent protagonist wouldn't have allowed 4A Games to tell the story properly

Unlike the core Metro trilogy, Metro 2039 will feature a new speaking protagonist, The Stranger, which allowed 4A Games to tell a darker, more personal story.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming about the real-life impact the Russia-Ukraine war has had on the studio's upcoming game, creative director Andriy Shevchenko and executive producer Jon Bloch also touched on the sequel's new protagonist and how his motivations are at the center of the story.

"We've also gone way darker with the story," Bloch said. "It's a lot more personal story. The story is directly about our protagonist, The Stranger, about him, about his history, about the things he struggles with, about his singular motivation for what he's doing."

Artyom is the established main character of the preceding games, Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, and Metro Exodus, and is a silent protagonist, while Metro 2039's The Stranger is fully voiced, allowing players to hear his thoughts throughout.

According to Bloch, this shift enabled 4A Games to more deeply explore who the character is, how he feels about unfolding events, and "what's inside of him."

"It goes hand in hand with telling a personal story," he added. "If we stuck with the silent protagonist method, we wouldn't be able to tell this story properly."

Metro 2039 will release in February 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

• Metro 2039 will feature the return of the claustrophobic metro tunnels
• Executive producer Jon Bloch says the game "goes back to the roots" of the series
• However, the team didn't want to "ditch everything that we did in Metro Exodus," and the game will still offer open-world zones

Metro 2039 executive producer Jon Bloch has explained how 4A Games has balanced the return of claustrophic metro tunnels and open-world zones.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, Bloch explained that it was a priority to bring back the tunnels, which were mostly absent from the previous game, Metro Exodus, since most of the experience takes place above ground.

"Metro 2039 goes back to the roots," he said, "and brings back a lot of that deep, dark, claustrophobic, thick atmosphere tunnels, like the spookiness, all that stuff that we love from those first two games."

Bloch continued, saying, "We didn't want to ditch everything that we did in Metro Exodus that was great and all the things that we learned. So there are different elements throughout the game.

"This game is a story-driven game. It's like we've said before, it's a very personal story. He's [The Stranger] on a singular mission, and in order to tell that kind of story, we're able to actually utilize a lot of the design methodologies from the earlier games. And in order to really make sure that the story is compelling, it's immersive."

Creative director Andriy Shevchenko added that the games are all in the same universe and the team took "the best parts" from each for Metro 2039, explaining that players will feel "freedom" and the danger from the open-world zones.

"Every step forward, the farther away you are from your station or from your safe place, the more dangerous it's supposed to be," Shevchenko said. "But as John mentioned, we are a story-driven game, and to drive story without bottlenecks or our pure metro corridors is almost impossible."

The developer reiterated that it's impossible to translate that sense of danger in just an open world, saying, "That's one of the reasons we're getting back to our dark underground roots."

Metro 2039 arrives in February 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC. The developers have also confirmed that the team has prioritized optimization across all platforms, not just PC.

Every country tells a different economic story. It's time to test your knowledge of the big ideas we've collected on our World Tour. Eight questions stand between you and your Summer School diploma.

• Executive producer Jon Bloch reveals Metro 2039's audio system has been rebuilt and "reimagined"
• Bloch says the new system supports the game's "dense atmosphere"
• 4A Games' newest game engine also offers a sense of realism in both visuals and audio

4A Games has confirmed that Metro 2039's audio system has been rebuilt to offer a deeper sense of immersion.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, where creative director Andriy Shevchenko and executive producer Jon Bloch discussed Metro 3039 at length, the pair revealed that the newest version of the studio's engine has allowed the team to take things to the next level, whether that's improving the visual density of the game, having full ray-tracing, or an overhauled audio system.

When asked how the audio design is key to bringing the game's post-apocalyptic world to life, Bloch called it "hugely important," and said the audio team will come in after the level designers have completed their work to add in all the effects players will hear.

"They need to see what elements are in there," Bloch explained. "If there's water that needs to be dripping or, you know, if there's a machine in the corner, like that kind of stuff, like they have to wait for level artists to do their thing first.

"But it's hugely important, and it's one of the reasons why we spend so much time and energy overhauling the audio system; the entire audio system has been rebuilt."

Bloch continued, explaining that the audio system hasn't necessarily been built from the ground up, but built upon and "reimagined in a way to really support thick, dense atmosphere" on top of the refined visuals.

"The audio system is more dense," the developer said. "There's a lot more going on. There are a lot more things you can hear. There's a lot more variety when it comes to, you know, even simple things like footsteps on different materials on the ground. Every bush makes a sound when you touch it.

"The dynamics of how the player moves and what you hear in his equipment and his suit, like things that might normally be forgotten as a really important thing in some games, like the level of detail, the granularity that the audio department can get to is more than we've ever been able to do in Metro games, certainly."

Metro 2039 launches in February 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

• Metro 2039 creative director Andriy Shevchenko says the new game engine allows for "billions" of objects
• Executive producer Jon Bloch reveals it enables 4A Games to create a realistic and dense world
• Bloch says the team is working to optimize the game for lower-spec, as well as high-spec, systems

Metro 2039 creative director Andriy Shevchenko has revealed that 4A Games' latest game engine allows for "billions" of assets to create a dense, realistic world.

In a new interview with TechRadar Gaming, Shevchenko, alongside executive producer Jon Bloch, discussed how the new engine enabled the team to overhaul the game's audio system, enhance ray-tracing, and improve visual immersion by increasing the density of objects and characters.

"We're able to push so much more into the world to make it that much more realistic, that much more alive feeling, that much more tactile," Bloch said, adding that these improvements also come with challenges of balancing these features and ensuring the game is "performant."

"I would say probably the most striking on the surface thing is going to be the density of what you see in the picture of all the objects," he said.

Shevchenko added that during the development of Metro Exodus, the game engine could support up to 30 million objects, but it supports "billions of objects" for Metro 2039.

"It's all to give freedom for level art, level design, all [the] people working on this level, [to] do whatever you want," the creative director said. "We have almost endless limits. And we are reaching these limits every time."

As Bloch said, these impressive technical leaps also come with challenges, with Shevchenko explaining that there's some "black magic of balancing" and "getting rid of something really unnecessary and focusing on really cool things. But it's a really user-friendly engine," with "limits only in your head."

Metro 2039 will be multiplatform, launching on PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC, and Bloch explained that it's one of the team's priorities to make sure the game is optimized across all platforms.

"We don't develop on PC and then port later to consoles," he said. "We're developing constantly across everything that we're going to support. So from day one, we're running on console, and so we're keeping all that in mind.

"We're optimising to the low end, to the lowest spec, and then also trying to push things as far as we can with the other platforms that allow us to push, particularly obviously with PC when new kinds of video cards come out; we're like, 'Oh, what can we do with this now?' While still making sure that the lower-spec hardware can still handle things."

Metro 2039 arrives in February 2027.