European Central Bank Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras said any interest-rate increase in September would be the last

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that the Trump-appointed US attorney who is investigating Hunter Biden has been given "special counsel" status.

Developers say they “audibly gasped” when first using Apple’s upcoming augmented reality headset, the company has said. Apple announced the Vision Pro headset in June, when it said it would arrive early next year and cost $3,500. In the wake of that announcement, it allowed some journalists to use the headset, including The Independent. Since then, however, Apple has kept its Vision Pro largely hidden. Some units have been shipped out to developers, and it is offering special sessions where they can try out their apps in Apple’s buildings, but those taking part have been asked to sign expansive non-disclosure agreements that mean they cannot talk about those experiences. Now Apple has published some comments from some of those early users, however, who have detailed the first experience of using the headset. Actually strapping the headset on is fundamentally different from using it in the simulator that Apple has provided so that developers can start work on their augmented reality apps, they said. “I’d been staring at this thing in the simulator for weeks and getting a general sense of how it works, but that was in a box,” said David Smith, the developer of the app Widgetsmith. “The first time you see your own app running for real, that’s when you get the audible gasp.” Another developer said that it changed the experience of using his app. Michael Simmons – who runs Flexibits, which creates apps such as calendar tool Fantastical, said that using the kit was a surprise. “It was like seeing Fantastical for the first time,” he said. “It felt like I was part of the app.” Using the app in augmented reality meant that he was already thinking of new ways to get past the “limiting” nature of a screen with a border, he said in Apple’s post. “Experiencing spatial computing not only validated the designs we’d been thinking about — it helped us start thinking not just about left to right or up and down, but beyond borders at all.” Slack employee Chris Delbuck also said that he had come to think about the way the app might work in three dimensions in new ways. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that without having the device in hand,” Apple quoted him as saying. Apple is allowing any adult developer to apply to attend one of its “Vision Pro labs” for free, which are being held in a range of cities across the world. Developers must bring either an app they are working on for the Vision Pro, or an iPhone or iPad app that they want to see in augmented reality. Some reports have suggested that Apple has seen less interest for the labs than it might have hoped, possibly in part because it is not offering the labs on the east coast of the US. The labs have been “under-filled”, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported earlier this month – which might explain why the company is so keen to stress the importance of attending the sessions. Read More iPhone 15 could bring two major changes to fix battery life iPhone owners to receive payouts from Apple iPhone 15: Global smartphone demand collapses as Apple aims to take top spot

Philippines head coach Alen Stajcic said the Women's World Cup debutants faced a "monumental" task to beat Norway and squeeze...

A preliminary investigation suggests there was confusion among pilots just before a fatal mid-air collision at the National Championship Air Races last month but sheds little light on why

Thousands of muddy plastic bottles and other waterlogged pieces of rubbish are piled onto a flatbed trailer on the banks of the Tisza River in Hungary — a metric ton of waste that was removed by hand from the waterway and its floodplain in a single day

An Arizona ranch became a sanctuary for JFK when he fell gravely ill in 1935

The governor of the German state of Bavaria says he will let his deputy stay in office despite a furor that started with allegations he was responsible for an antisemitic flyer when he was a high school student 35 years ago

Sony has announced the PS5 slim, a smaller version of its PlayStation 5 console. The long-rumoured, new PS5 is more than 30 per cent smaller than its predecessor, the company said. It has also added Otherwise it keeps the same specs – including the option of a disc drive – as well as a largely similar design. That initial look, which relied on a bright white, swooping look for the console, proved divisive when it was first released. But the PlayStation 5 was incredibly popular, remaining sold out for months after it first went on sale. Now Sony says that it created the new console to “address the evolving needs of players”. “Our engineering and design teams collaborated on a new form factor that provides greater choice and flexibility,” it said. That meant cutting down its volume by more than 30 per cent, and its weight by 18 per cent and 24 per cent depending on the model. As with the existing PlayStation 5, customers will be able to choose between an “digital” edition and one with a disc drive, though an external Blu-Ray reader can also be used. The PS5 will remain on sale for now, PlayStation said. But when all of that inventory has sold out, the new one will become the only model, and despite months of rumours referring to it as a “PS5 slim”, Sony only called it the “new PS5 model”. It will go on sale in the US in November. It will then continue to “roll out globally in the following months”. Though Sony said that the console was being redesigned ready for the “holiday season”, that suggested that it may not be available in all countries before the end of the year. The recommended retail price of the new PS5 remains the same as the existing model it replaces. It will cost $499, €549, or £479 for the version with the disc drive, or $449, €449 or £389 for the “digital edition” without one. Read More ChatGPT founder says bitcoin is ‘super logical’ next step for tech Google to trial AI in UK traffic light systems to reduce stop-and-go emissions Viral WhatsApp warning of cyberattack targeting Jewish people is fake

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Joel Embiid just missed Philadelphia’s first triple-double of the season with 35 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists and the 76ers ended the Oklahoma City Thunder’s six-game winning streak with a 127-123 victory Saturday.

Among other popular and expensive Barbie dolls, was The Pink Splendor Barbie, which made its debut in 1966

It's time for Nick Fury to take charge after the Skrulls take over a large part of Earth in 'Secret Invasion'