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The incident came less than a day after NATO leaders pledged that strikes close to the alliance's territory would drive the trans-Atlantic organization to increase support for Kyiv.

(Image credit: AP Photo)

Some real estate agents and researchers say home buyers and sellers should not pay this out-of-pocket fee.

(Image credit: Patrick Apfelbeck)

NASA employees say they've lost vital equipment and staff needed to make sophisticated spacecraft amid the agency's abrupt relocations over the past several months.

(Image credit: Jolearra Tshiteya)

The poles of U.S. politics are coming together over AI. Sanders and Bannon will appear at the "Pro-Human Assembly" in Washington, D.C., to convince Congress to work faster to curb the impact of AI.

(Image credit: Sanders credit: Sarah Rice/Getty Images and Bannon credit: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

The legislation would establish rules of the road for the crypto sector for the first time — but opponents are up in arms, and the bill faces an uncertain prospect in the Senate.

(Image credit: Karen Bleier)

Haitians in the U.S. lost their Temporary Protected Status under Trump's immigration crackdown. Now facing deportation to a homeland wracked by gang violence, disease and extreme poverty, Haitians in Miami are meeting the moment with grief, anger, and courage.

(Image credit: Eva Marie Uzcategui for NPR)

Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark discusses growing concerns about artificial intelligence, recent warning signs and what he says companies should do to reduce the risks.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch)

The Supreme Court has rejected President Trump's push for new mail-in voting restrictions for the midterm election.

The high-end processor is the company’s first to use TSMC’s 2-nanometer process.

John Brennan has been subpoenaed to testify before a Florida grand jury in a Justice Department probe into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against President Trump.

(Image credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

• Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis experience director Jeff Adams confirms "no old code exists" for the original 1996 game
• This meant Crystal Dynamics had to build the game from the ground up on Unreal Engine 5
• Adams says the engine also allowed the studio to create its own custom tech for the "reimagining" of the classic title

Crystal Dynamics has explained why it chose to build Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis from the ground up, instead of doing anything close to a remake of the 1996 game, revealing that no source code exists.

In a Q&A at Gamescom following an exclusive presentation that TechRadar Gaming attended, experience director Jeff Adams discussed what he's previously called a "reimagining" of the original Tomb Raider game and what it meant for the development team, who built the game from the ground up using Unreal Engine 5.

"We are in Unreal Engine 5," Adams said, "no old code exists. We are basically taking it and remaking it, or not remaking, reimagining it. We are bringing it from the ground up."

When asked to talk about how effective Unreal Engine 5 has been for the team, Adams explained that it enabled them to "have our own custom implementation for physics in the engine," which means engineering their own features, custom physics, and general upgrades; this made Legacy of Atlantis a true, modern reimagining.

"Unreal creates a really great sandbox platform for building a game, but when we're making a specific type of experience, we're going to have things that we really want to target and get to a right fidelity level where we're happy with it," the developer continued.

"So while things like Nanite and Lumen [UE5's technologies that offer realistic graphics capability] allow us to make a beautiful game environment, there might be some things that we're saying, 'Hey, we wish it could do this a little bit better.' That's when we'll break out and say, our engineers will create something custom that helps solve that issue, so that we can make sure that we're delivering an authentic Tomb Raider experience on Unreal."

He added that Lara Croft's long braid, which reacts to her movement, is "a perfect example of that."

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis launches on February 27, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

• SIXUNITED builds laptop packing 192GB of LPDDR5X-8533 memory total
• It has some gaming specs but also screams AI workstation
• Two M.2 2280 SSD bays run on PCIe Gen4 for storage upgrades

Chinese manufacturer SIXUNITED has released what it calls the world's first laptop built around AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 495 "Gorgon Halo" processor.

The device, designated AXN88B-160M-YD, pairs the processor with an unusually large 192GB of LPDDR5X-8533 memory.

This memory capacity is rarely seen on a laptop, and it’s rated at 8,533 MT/s, raising questions about who actually needs such capacity in a portable computer.

Built for heavy workloads

The device comes with a 16-inch display that supports 2560 x 1600 resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate and wide color gamut coverage, which can also rotate up to 145 degrees, and the chassis houses two M.2 2280 SSD bays running PCIe Gen4.

Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, two USB-C ports rated at 40Gbps, an HDMI 2.1 output, and a 2.5GbE RJ-45 port, alongside a USB-A 5Gbps connector, a faster USB-A port rated at 10Gbps, and a UHS-II SD card slot.

The laptop's two M.2 slots use the PCIe Gen4 interface, allowing fast storage upgrades for users handling large AI datasets.

The chassis is built from metal and includes a full-key RGB backlit keyboard alongside a fingerprint sensor for quick logins.

The laptop weighs about 2.1kg, measures 18.35mm thick, and carries a dual battery setup rated at 99.9Whr and 85Whr combined.

A gaming machine? Not exactly

The 192GB memory on this device points toward large language model workloads and professional software rather than the typical demands of everyday gaming.

AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ chips pair a CPU with an integrated GPU and a large unified memory pool for on-device AI tasks.

Traditional gaming laptops rely on dedicated graphics cards with their own video memory, not on shared system RAM.

Furthermore, the power delivery of this laptop reaches 120W, a figure closer to workstation-class laptops than typical thin-and-light gaming laptops.

Its audio comes from a pair of small 2W speakers which seem better suited to video calls than immersive gaming sessions.

The HDMI port supports version 2.1 with fixed-rate link, useful for connecting external high-refresh monitors during extended work sessions.

A single 3.5mm jack handles both headphone output and microphone input, a fairly standard inclusion for this category.

The built-in camera is a modest 2MP sensor paired with an infrared module that also enables secure face-based login.

None of these choices are unusual on their own, but together they suggest a workstation aimed squarely at professionals rather than casual gamers.

SIXUNITED has not detailed exact pricing or a wider international release, but it is expected to retail for about $10,000, more expensive than comparable desktop workstations and gaming laptops with high-end discrete graphics chips.

Marketing this configuration as a gaming laptop looks questionable when its strongest selling point is clearly local AI memory capacity.

Considering its major selling points, this laptop will more likely be attractive to developers or researchers than gamers chasing higher frame rates.

Via ITHome (originally in Chinese)

• Kioxia is pushing flash memory into DRAM territory
• AI workloads are forcing data centers to rethink memory expansion methods
• Kioxia XL1 could add capacity without requiring equivalent increases in DRAM

Kioxia is developing flash memory products designed to help data centers reduce their dependence on costly DRAM as AI workloads demand increasing amounts of memory.

The Japanese memory maker plans to combine faster NAND technology with new interfaces built for demanding AI systems that require large volumes of accessible data.

Its approach includes PCIe 6.0 SSDs and CXL memory expansion technology, though the company has not claimed these products will fully replace DRAM.

Kioxia's SSD lineup targets high-performance AI infrastructure

Kioxia is now showcasing its GP1 Series PCIe 6.0 NVMe SSDs, engineered for extremely high input and output operations within AI infrastructure environments.

These drives support direct communication between GPUs and storage, potentially reducing data movement through conventional system pathways during intensive computational workloads.

PCIe 6.0 could draw particular attention because it offers substantially greater interface bandwidth than earlier generations used in many data center SSDs.

The company is also exhibiting its CM10 Series enterprise SSDs and NX1 Series data center drives, which feature liquid cooling support.

The CM10 Series relies on Kioxia's tenth-generation BiCS FLASH technology, while the NX1 Series uses an E1.S design with PCIe 5.0 connectivity.

These products specifically target data center environments where strong performance gains and improved thermal management increasingly shape storage architecture decisions today.

Kioxia believes shifting certain workloads onto flash storage could ease the capacity shortages and rising costs currently straining global memory supply chains.

The XL1 series aims to bridge DRAM and storage

According to Nikkei Asia, Kioxia has plans to use fast NAND as a direct alternative to conventional DRAM.

Kioxia's most notable development is the XL1 Series, a CXL-compatible memory expansion module built on its XL FLASH technology for lower latency.

The module intends to use a CXL interface with memory-access speed carried across a PCIe link.

CXL allows memory devices to connect more closely with processors, creating additional capacity without requiring every byte to remain in DRAM.

Kioxia says that combining high-speed NAND with a CXL controller module reduces data-read latency to less than one-tenth that of conventional NAND products.

The company positions XL1 to occupy the performance and cost space between conventional DRAM and ordinary SSD storage devices.

Kioxia states that replacing part of a system's DRAM with CXL modules can double memory capacity while improving performance by 30%.

That distinction matters because NAND flash remains inherently slower than DRAM, meaning wholesale replacement would create performance penalties for latency-sensitive applications.

Evaluation units are scheduled for delivery to technology partners during August 2026, giving potential customers a chance to assess the technology.

Kioxia plans to discuss these technologies at FMS 2026 in Santa Clara, California, through presentations, technical sessions and live demonstrations.

Its overall strategy focuses on supplementing existing DRAM rather than eliminating it from AI server memory configurations.

As if Stuart Fails to Save the Universe couldn't be more unhinged, this week the gang is trapped in a legitimate comic book... as illustrated versions of themselves.

It feels like a chaotic move, but actually, we probably should have been expecting it. As HBO itself puts it, "Finally a world that Stuart can (hopefully) thrive in."

But will he? My vote is no. Still, when does Stuart Fails to Save the Universe episode 9 arrive on HBO Max?

What time can I watch Stuart Fails to Save the Universe episode 9 on HBO Max?

For US viewers, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe episode 9 will drop on Thursday, September 17 at 6pm PT/9pm ET.

Internationally, you're looking out for these timings:

• US – Thursday, September 17 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• Canada – Thursday, September 17 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• UK – Friday, September 18 at 2am BST
• India – Friday, September 18 at 6:30am IST
• Singapore – Friday, September 18 at 9am SGT
• Australia – Friday, September 18 at 11am AEST
• New Zealand – Friday, September 18 at 1pm NZST

When do new episodes of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe come out?

(Image credit: HBO Max)

New episodes of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe will make landfall every Thursday in the US, and on Fridays everywhere else. Here are the all-important dates you need to know about:

• Episode 1: out now
• Episode 2: out now
• Episode 3: out now
• Episode 4: out now
• Episode 5: out now
• Episode 6: out now
• Episode 7: out now
• Episode 8: out now
• Episode 9: September 17
• Episode 10: September 24

• China shipped 46 tons of drone material to a sanctioned Russian firm
• The shipment was hidden on paper under a civilian customs code
• Alabuga-Volokno sends 89% of its output straight to Russian defense firms

Internal shipping records reviewed by the US and UK governments revealed that a Chinese state-owned enterprise transferred 46 tons of carbon-fiber precursor material to a sanctioned Russian drone manufacturer earlier in 2026.

The documents describe two large containers moving between Jilin Chemical Fiber Group and Alabuga-Volokno, a subsidiary of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

Investigators say the cargo was logged under a customs code normally reserved for civilian synthetic fiber, obscuring its actual military use.

A disguised customs code

Alabuga-Volokno makes 39 separate carbon-fiber products for aviation, rocket engineering, drones, shipbuilding, and armor.

The company barely releases any civilian products, as roughly 89% of its output is expected to serve Russian defense firms by 2030.

Weapons expert David Albright said using the correct shipping code would have flagged the shipment as a dual-use item with both civilian and defense applications.

Albright estimated the volume shipped could supply enough material for as many as 1,300 long-range attack drones.

Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre says it has tracked at least eight tenders for similar shipments between the two firms since 2022.

It claims that the sanctions have left Beijing as nearly the sole supplier of composite materials for Russian weapons manufacturing.

A Kiel Institute analysis found that China supplies more than 60% of the components sustaining Russia's military production.

Former deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell said dozens of Chinese firms now maintain deep ties to Moscow's defense sector in exchange for military technology transfers.

The disclosure arrives weeks before Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Xi Jinping in Washington, a summit both governments would likely prefer to focus on trade rather than sanctions enforcement.

Beijing denies any wrongdoing

China's embassy in Washington rejected the allegations, saying the country strictly controls dual-use goods and has never armed either side of the conflict.

Rosatom likewise disputed any wrongdoing tied to its subsidiary's customs filings.

“Rosatom and its enterprises operate in full compliance with applicable laws and regulatory requirements,” said a spokesperson for the Russian state firm.

“Any claim to the contrary is false and demonstrates a lack of understanding of how Russia’s customs authorities operate.”

Former U.S. officials remain skeptical of Beijing's denials, arguing that state-owned firms operate under close government oversight.

“They are doing it knowing that the Chinese government will not bust them for it,” said Dennis Wilder, former CIA deputy assistant director for East Asia and the Pacific.

“The idea that Chinese state-owned enterprises can hide things from the Chinese government just doesn’t wash.”

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has always maintained that China will not participate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“We would not add fuel to the fire, and above all we would not profiteer,” Xi said in 2023.

Despite the denials from Beijing and Moscow, Ukraine argues that Chinese support keeps Russia's defense industry expanding production of drones and missile components.

Kyiv warned that continued shipments only strengthen ties between two of the West's strategic rivals, deepening cooperation across their industrial sectors.

Ukraine called for secondary sanctions, tighter export controls, financial pressure on intermediaries and closer coordination with Asian partners to counter these networks.

Via Politico

• A new Mac music player called YM Pro has been released on the Mac App Store and promises 'bit perfect' playback
• It bypasses macOS' system mixer to connect directly to your DAC
• Changes the DAC to match the file, not the other way around
• PCM audio only, requires Apple Silicon

If you're looking for a hi-res music player for your Mac that can make the most of your external audio equipment, YM Pro could be just what you're looking for.

It's free, open source, available on the Mac App Store, and offers an interesting alternative to Apple's way of doing things, especially if you use an external DAC. And while it's very much a work in progress it's got lots of potential.

Developer Yonesh Murugan has posted details of the app to r/audiophile. Getting it approved was apparently a "nightmare" because the app takes exclusive control of your audio hardware, something App Store reviewers weren't too happy about. But it's now approved and live, although there are a few rough edges still.

The key difference between YM Pro and other apps is that it bypasses the system mixer completely, connecting directly to your DAC and automatically switching its sample rate to the file you're playing, up to 192kHz.

It also has "hog mode", which turns off all your system sounds and other audio while you're listening.

YM Pro audio player: what works, and what needs work

The "bit-perfect" claim is about how the app handles music playback. Rather than up- or downsampling audio files to match your DAC's set bitrate, it adjusts your DAC to match the audio file's resolution — and does it directly, without any other software resampling as it passes through the OS, so your audio should remain pure.

Although YM Pro's core mission is to play hi-res, bit-perfect FLAC files, which the Apple Music app doesn't do (Apple wants you to use its ALAC equivalent instead), it also handles common formats including MP3 and WAV.

It's purely for PCM formats, not DSD, and it requires Apple Silicon (as does macOS 27, which launches imminently).

The app doesn't connect to your Music library; instead, you point it to the folder containing the music you want it to catalog and play. That folder can be the one containing your existing Music library, but it lacks auto-scanning and auto-updating so you'd need to keep it up to date manually.

This is a first release, so inevitably there are some issues. And I seem to be encountering more than most: I can't persuade it to use my preferred audio output, no matter how many times I change it in System Settings > Sound; the workaround described in the r/audiophile thread isn't working on my Mac Mini, where the app isn't paying attention to my selection. There are some interface issues, and others report some playlist organization issues too.

However, early feedback from others says the app sounds good, and as it's free, it's worth taking a look at or listen to so you can compare it with the likes of VOX.

Murugan seems keen on feedback from users, and is promising to make some enhancements based on the comments provided so far.

Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay is hosting the Emmy Awards on Monday night. We'll be updating this list as winners are announced.

The Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration's request to allow mail-in voting restrictions under a U.S. Postal Service plan for the midterm general election.

(Image credit: Patrick T. Fallon)

McConnell spent weeks in recovery before explaining he was "briefly unconscious" following the fall that sent him to the hospital and a weeks-long recovery process.

(Image credit: Finn Gomez)

Apple just opened the door to foldable iPhones, and the Duo may not be alone for long.