This week’s stories include techno, New Zealand, relationships, background music and doodles.

The Trump administration is considering plans to occupy or blockade Iran's Kharg Island to pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, four sources with knowledge of the issue tell Axios.Why it matters: President Trump can't end the war, at least on his terms, until he breaks Iran's chokehold on shipping through the strait.

Weeks of fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan has resulted in hundreds being killed.

Following its recent premiere, The Drama has begun generating first reactions, with Robert Pattinson and Zendaya drawing consistent attention from viewers. Initial responses have Benn largely consistent, with many highlighting the dynamic between the two leads and the tone of the story.

The ActiveBreeze smart bed cools from within, pairing airflow tech with surprisingly detailed sleep data.

Beats getting roasted on the mailing list AI is coming to the Linux kernel in the form of a code review system - not code submissions.…

Once a futuristic shopping mall, El Helicoide became one of Venezuela's most feared prisons. Now, as the country changes, so does its fate — erase it, rebuild it, or remember what happened inside.

Google Messages now lets you share your live location in chats, making meetups easier.

Is there something you can do right now that would impede progress, degrade quality or simply mess up the current situation? Is there a way you could shift perceptions to make people more distraught, less hopeful or even panicked?

2026-01-17

Nancy Hagans is an intensive care unit nurse and president of the NY State Nurses Association. She told BI what her job is like.

Configuration has evolved from static deployment files into a live control plane that directly shapes system behavior. The evolution of configuration management highlights why misconfigurations can trigger large outages and how hyperscalers deploy changes safely using staged rollouts, validation, blast radius limits, and automated rollback at scale.

As the average new-car price hovers around $50,000, here are some affordable used vehicles to check out

Last fall, Chives took over Reddit.

Genesis is no longer making only quiet luxury cars - the brand released a detailed look into its latest creation, the Genesis GV60 Magma. This car is a big change for the company. It moves away from just being comfortable and steps into the world of high-performance electric cars. By mixing its classic elegant look with serious speed, Genesis wants to show that EVs can be as exciting as gas-powered sports cars.

The OnePlus 15T will debut in China on March 24. Ahead of the launch, OnePlus has been gradually revealing key details about the device, with the latest teaser now confirming its camera specifications.