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  • iOS 26: New Lock Screen Features

    iOS 26: New Lock Screen Features

    When you’re not using your iPhone, the Lock Screen is what you see most often. Liquid Glass is everywhere in iOS 26, and it starts right when you pick up your device. The Lock Screen got a Liquid Glass overhaul, plus a few other new features.

    Here’s what you’ll see first when you upgrade to ‌iOS 26‌.

    Liquid Glass

    The two customizable control buttons on the Lock Screen are larger and have a floating, glass-like appearance like the other Liquid Glass interface options in ‌iOS 26‌. The clock has a frosted glass appearance with the new “Glass” option, using lighting effects to make it look like glass in the real world.

    ios 26 home screenios 26 home screen
    Glass can be selected for any of the clock fonts, and you can choose a color to tint the glass. Apple has multiple preset options, or you can select your own.

    When you tilt your ‌iPhone‌, light reflects and glints with the movement, for a realistic glass effect.

    ios 26 b2 widgetsios 26 b2 widgets
    Notifications that are on your Lock Screen have a Liquid Glass aesthetic with a frosted glass look that leaves your wallpaper visible behind them.

    Clock

    In addition to having a Liquid Glass aesthetic, the clock can be resized to better match your ‌iPhone‌’s wallpaper using a new adaptive feature. When you’re customizing your Lock Screen, you can grab the corner of the time and drag it down to expand it.

    ios 26 lock screen timeios 26 lock screen time
    Adjusting the size of the time only works with the first font option, and only with the standard Arabic, Western numbering.

    lock screen time colors ios 26lock screen time colors ios 26
    With photo wallpapers, the time can automatically expand to fill in missing space, and it can change based on the image if you have Photo Shuffle set. The subject in photo wallpapers is meant to always be visible, and can overlap the time in unique ways in ‌iOS 26‌.

    ios 26 lock screen time featuresios 26 lock screen time features
    There is a Photos watch face for the Apple Watch that also supports time that changes size and position based on the wallpaper.

    Wallpaper

    There is a new default wallpaper that was designed for ‌iOS 26‌. It’s multiple shades of blue, with the same floating glass aesthetic that the rest of ‌iOS 26‌ features. The wallpaper can subtly shift with ‌iPhone‌ movement.

    ios 26 lock screen wallpaperios 26 lock screen wallpaper
    It’s a small detail, but the icons for selecting different wallpaper categories have been updated to better match the Liquid Glass design.

    Spatial Scenes

    Aside from the Liquid Glass time, Spatial Scenes are the biggest change to the Lock Screen. 2D photos that you set as wallpaper can be turned into 3D spatial images that separate the subject of the photo from the background using depth information.

    ios 26 wallpaper spatial sceneios 26 wallpaper spatial scene
    When you move your ‌iPhone‌, Spatial Scenes shift and move along with it, making the images feel alive. Spatial Scenes is a feature in the ‌Photos‌ app too, and it can be added to any image that you’ve taken with your ‌iPhone‌, including older ones.

    Tap on the small icon with a mountain and a sun to activate the Spatial Scenes setting when choosing a photo wallpaper.

    Lock Screen widgets can be placed on the top of the display under the time, or at the bottom of the display. In earlier versions of iOS, you could only put widgets at the top of the screen. With the adaptive clock and new wallpaper options, widgets can also shift down automatically to ensure the subject of an image is always visible.

    ios 26 bottom widgets lock screenios 26 bottom widgets lock screen

    Apple Music

    Apple added a new Lock Screen widget for Apple Music search, but there are no other new Lock Screen widget options. What is new, though, is a new full screen Now Playing interface that shows album art. Artwork expands and animates right on the Lock Screen.

    iOS 26 Lock Screen Full Screen Album ArtiOS 26 Lock Screen Full Screen Album Art

    Read More

    We have a dedicated iOS 26 roundup that goes into detail on all of the new features that are available in the update.

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  • Gaza hospital director killed in Israeli strike, Hamas-run health ministry says

    Gaza hospital director killed in Israeli strike, Hamas-run health ministry says

    The director of Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital has been killed in an Israeli air strike on his home in Gaza City along with several family members, the Hamas-run health ministry has said.

    The ministry said Dr Marwan Sultan had a long career in medicine, and condemned “this heinous crime against our medical cadres”.

    The Israeli military said it had struck a “key terrorist” from Hamas in the Gaza City area and that claims “uninvolved civilians” were harmed as a result of the strike were being reviewed.

    Meanwhile, at least five people were killed and others injured, including children, in a strike on the al-Mawasi “safe zone”, one of several other attacks reported by news agencies.

    The health ministry said Dr Sultan’s career was one of compassion “during which he was a symbol of dedication, steadfastness and sincerity, during the most difficult circumstances and most trying moments experienced by our people under continuous aggression”.

    Dr Sultan was the director at the Indonesian Hospital, declared out of service by the health ministry after what the UN later described as “repeated Israeli attacks and sustained structural damage”. The Israeli military had said it was fighting “terrorist infrastructure sites” in the area.

    There are now no functioning hospitals in the north Gaza governate, according to the UN.

    The health ministry accused the Israeli military of targeting medical and humanitarian teams.

    In its statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals” and “operates to mitigate harm to them as much as possible”.

    The IDF said Hamas “systematically violates international law while using civilian infrastructure for terrorist activity and the civilian population as human shields”.

    But Dr Sultan’s doctor’s daughter, Lubna al-Sultan, said “an F-16 missile targeted his room exactly, right where he was, directly on him”.

    “All the rooms in the house were intact except for his room, which was hit by the missile. My father was martyred in it,” she told the Associated Press.

    She said he was “not affiliated with a movement or anything, he just fears for the patients [he] treats, throughout the war”.

    Across Gaza, at least 139 people were killed by Israeli military operations in the 24 hours before midday on Wednesday, the health ministry said.

    In the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, at least five people were killed and others, including children, wounded in an Israeli strike that hit a tent housing displaced people, news agencies reported.

    Family members of those killed said it hit at 00:40 local time (22:40 BST) while they were sleeping.

    Tamam Abu Rizq told AFP the strike “shook the place like an earthquake”, and she “went outside and found the tent on fire”.

    The al-Mawasi area was declared a “safe zone” by the Israeli military, as the UN says 80% of Gaza is either an Israeli military zone or under an evacuation order.

    “They came here thinking it was a safe area and they were killed… What did they do?” Maha Abu Rizq said.

    At the scene, surrounded by destruction and a jumble of personal items, one man held up a pack of nappies and asked: “Is this a weapon?”

    Footage recorded by AFP shows men alighting from a car in front of nearby Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and rushing inside carrying blood-covered children in their arms. Inside the hospital, young children cry as doctors treat their wounds.

    Women weep over the bodies of their relatives in funerals at the hospital in other AFP footage.

    “Anyone of any religion must take action and say: Enough! Stop this war!” Ekram al-Akhras, who lost several cousins in one of the strikes, said.

    In Gaza City, another four people from the same family were killed in an Israeli air strike on a house, news agencies reported.

    The four people killed were Ahmed Ayyad Zeno, his wife Ayat Zeno, and their daughters, Zahra Zeno and Obaida Zeno, according to Palestinian news outlet WAFA.

    The BBC has contacted the IDF for comment about the two incidents.

    Rachel Cummings, who is working in Gaza with Save the Children, told reporters that during “wishing circles” at the charity’s child-friendly spaces, children have recently been “wishing to die” in order to be with their mother or father who has been killed, or to have food and water.

    As a heatwave spread across the UK and Europe this week, temperatures also topped 30C in Gaza.

    Displaced people living in tents said they were struggling to stay cool without electricity and fans, and with little access to water.

    Reda Abu Hadayed told the Associated Press the heat is “indescribable” and her children cannot sleep.

    “They cry all day until sunset, when the temperature drops a little, then they go to sleep,” she said. “When morning comes, they start crying again due to the heat.”

    Israel has continued to bomb Gaza and control the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid as mediators meet to negotiate a potential ceasefire proposal.

    Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 back to Gaza as hostages.

    Since then, Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 people, including more than 15,000 children, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

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  • US, India push for trade pact after Trump strikes deal with Vietnam, sources say – Reuters

    1. US, India push for trade pact after Trump strikes deal with Vietnam, sources say  Reuters
    2. Trump says US could reach trade deal with India, casts doubt on deal with Japan  Reuters
    3. India-US Interim Trade Deal: Focus on Garments, Dairy, and Seafood  ABP Live English
    4. Deal Or Deceit? US Pressures India To Open Farms – Is Washington Pushing A One-Sided Trade Trap?  Zee News
    5. India is an essential partner, we want fair and reciprocal trade: US State Departments Mingon Houston  Tribune India

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  • Women 65+ show higher cervical cancer risk from HPV infections than younger women, large study finds – McKnight's Long-Term Care News

    1. Women 65+ show higher cervical cancer risk from HPV infections than younger women, large study finds  McKnight’s Long-Term Care News
    2. Women 65+ still at heightened risk of cervical cancer caused by HPV  BMJ Group
    3. Women over 65 still at risk from cancer from HPV and should be offered cervical screening – study  The Guardian

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  • Pentagon Again Shifts Assessment of Damage to Iran’s Nuclear Program – The New York Times

    1. Pentagon Again Shifts Assessment of Damage to Iran’s Nuclear Program  The New York Times
    2. US says its strikes degraded Iran’s nuclear programme by one to two years  Al Jazeera
    3. Military force may have delayed Iran’s nuclear ambitions – but history shows that diplomacy is the more effective nonproliferation strategy  The Conversation
    4. The Destruction of Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program  RealClearDefense
    5. Is US-Israel attack on Iran’s nuclear sites backfiring?  Firstpost

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  • Cisco scores a perfect 10 for a critical comms flaw • The Register

    Cisco scores a perfect 10 for a critical comms flaw • The Register

    If you’re running the Engineering-Special (ES) builds of Cisco Unified Communications Manager or its Session Management Edition, you need to apply Cisco’s urgent patch after someone at Switchzilla made a big mistake.

    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CM) consolidates IP telephony, high-definition video, unified messaging, instant messaging, and Presence status indicators. Its Session Management Edition centralizes dial-plan and trunk aggregation across multi-site deployments.

    However, the ES builds of both packages have hardcoded credentials baked in, and they cannot be changed or deleted, meaning an unauthenticated, remote attacker can quickly get themselves full root control of a system if they know where to look. There’s no workaround, and the only solution is to upgrade to the newest code for Unified CM, Cisco said.

    There is an ostensible purpose behind the mistake, dubbed CVE-2025-20309, with a critical rating of 10.0. The credentials have been left in there to make development work easier, Cisco said in its advisory. However, if the attacker identifies the development account, then they can use these credentials and gain root – and then it’s game over for users.

    The affected packages are Cisco Unified CM and Unified CM SME Engineering Special releases 15.0.1.13010-1 through 15.0.1.13017-1, and admins can find the patch needed to fix the issue here. If you want the ES patch, however, you need to go to your Cisco Technical Assistance Center account to get the fix.

    To check if some malicious actor has already had a go at this, admins need to look for a log entry in

    /var/log/active/syslog/secure
    

    by using the

    cucm1# file get activelog syslog/secure
    

    command in the command line. Admins can then check if someone has been inside the system with sshd daemon and a successful SSH login as root – if so, that’s a parade of red flags.

    Security staff at Cisco have got to be feeling nervous for their jobs at the moment – this is the second CVSS 10 flaw in a week and the third critical. On June 26, Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector were fixed, one an (im)perfect 10 and the other just a CVSS 9.8. Admins, and Cisco itself, better get busy locking down their systems. ®

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  • U.S. crude supplies up, other petroleum data mixed-Xinhua

    HOUSTON, July 2 (Xinhua) — U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 17.1 million barrels per day (b/d) during the week ending June 27, 118,000 b/d more than the previous week’s average, according to the weekly report issued by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.

    Refineries operated at 94.9 percent of their operable capacity last week, said the EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Data Report.

    Gasoline production went down last week, averaging 9.6 million b/d, while distillate fuel production went up by 244,000 b/d, averaging 5 million b/d.

    U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, surged by 3.8 million barrels from the previous week to 419 million barrels, about 9 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.

    Total motor gasoline inventories rose by 4.2 million barrels last week, about 1 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.

    Distillate fuel inventories dropped by 1.7 million barrels last week, around 21 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.

    Propane/propylene inventories went up by 3 million barrels last week, 11 percent above the five-year average for this time of year.

    Total commercial petroleum inventories increased by 9.4 million barrels last week.

    Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 20.3 million b/d, down by 1.1 percent from the same period last year.

    Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 9.2 million b/d, down by 0.1 percent from the same period last year.

    Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 3.7 million b/d over the past four weeks, up by 0.6 percent from the same period last year.

    Jet fuel product supplied was up 2.4 percent compared with the same four-week period last year.

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  • Google Releases Emergency Fix For Chrome Zero-Day Flaw – Users Should Update Now – TechRepublic

    1. Google Releases Emergency Fix For Chrome Zero-Day Flaw – Users Should Update Now  TechRepublic
    2. Chrome Zero-Day CVE-2025-6554 Under Active Attack — Google Issues Security Update  The Hacker News
    3. Fresh zero-day vulnerability in Chrome found to be actively exploited by hackers in the wild  PC Gamer
    4. Google Chrome hit by another serious security flaw – update your browser ASAP  ZDNET
    5. Google fixes fourth actively exploited Chrome zero-day of 2025  BleepingComputer

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  • Asia Set for Cautious Open Ahead of US Payrolls: Markets Wrap

    Asia Set for Cautious Open Ahead of US Payrolls: Markets Wrap

    (Bloomberg) — Asian shares were poised for a cautious open as investors awaited US jobs data after stocks hit another record following Donald Trump’s announcement of a trade deal with Vietnam.

    An MSCI gauge of global shares set a new peak after the S&P 500 rose 0.5% to a new high Wednesday. The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.7% as tech outperformed. News of a trade deal supported apparel stocks including Nike Inc. amid hopes the latest accord will avert a potential supply-chain catastrophe. Asian equity-index futures were little changed. Tesla Inc. jumped 5% as a drop in sales was seen as better than feared.

    Treasuries fell Wednesday following heavy selling in the UK, where concerns about Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ future reignited questions over the nation’s fiscal position. The US 10-year yield climbed four basis points while the UK 10-year yield soared 16 basis points Wednesday. Gold rose, oil climbed around 3% and the dollar was little changed.

    The cross-asset moves underscored cautious optimism as traders contend with pockets of uncertainty ahead of US jobs data that will help identify the path ahead for interest rates. Like in the UK, investors have also raised similar concerns in the US, where Trump’s signature economic legislation stalled in the House Wednesday afternoon as Republican fiscal conservatives delayed a key procedural vote.

    “Investors are already pricing in the One Big Beautiful Bill, at least in some form,” Zachary Griffiths, head of investment-grade and macroeconomic strategy at CreditSights, told Bloomberg Television Wednesday. “We’re going to see more supply from the US and there’s concerns fiscally across the globe” including in the UK.

    On the Vietnam trade deal, Trump said he reached a deal with the country after weeks of negotiations. A 20% tariff will be placed on Vietnamese exports to the US, with a 40% levy on any goods deemed to be transshipped through the country. Trump said that Vietnam had agreed to drop all levies on US imports.

    Markets Live Strategist Mary Nicola says:

    The deal also includes a 40% duty on transshipped goods, a clause clearly aimed at Chinese exports. Details on enforcement remain scarce, but this heightens risks of a potential response from Beijing.

    Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Rachel Reeves will stay on as Chancellor of the Exchequer, as he sought to draw a line under speculation about her future that sparked the bond selloff.

    Back in the US, monthly nonfarm payroll data due later Thursday — a day earlier than usual due to a holiday —  will show slower hiring and the highest unemployment rate since 2021 as the Trump administration’s trade and immigration policy shifts start to leave an imprint.

    Separate private payrolls data from ADP Research on Wednesday showed employment at US companies fell for the first time in over two years. Despite signs of a downshift, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has repeated the labor market remains solid. Policymakers have refrained from lowering interest rates this year as they wait to see the impact of tariffs on inflation.

    “One of the reasons the Fed has been able to be patient before cutting rates was because the job market was holding up so well, so if that were to change, then the Fed may be forced to move earlier than they would like,” said Chris Zaccarelli at Northlight Asset Management.

    Following ADP Research’s private payrolls data, traders added to wagers on at least two rate reductions this year, with the first coming in September. If the upcoming jobs report shows further weakness, traders reckon the Fed could move up cuts.

    Some of the main moves in markets:

    Stocks

    • S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 8:22 a.m. Tokyo time
    • Hang Seng futures were little changed
    • S&P/ASX 200 futures fell 0.1%

    Currencies

    • The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
    • The euro was little changed at $1.1800
    • The Japanese yen was little changed at 143.56 per dollar
    • The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1620 per dollar
    • The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6585

    Cryptocurrencies

    • Bitcoin fell 0.1% to $109,061.54
    • Ether fell 0.2% to $2,586.18

    Bonds

    • Australia’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.18%

    Commodities

    • West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $67.25 a barrel
    • Spot gold fell 0.1% to $3,352.62 an ounce

    This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

    –With assistance from Richard Henderson.

    ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

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  • BBL DRAW A HIT FOR HEAT | Gabba Hosts Home Games

    BBL DRAW A HIT FOR HEAT | Gabba Hosts Home Games

    The 2025-26 KFC Big Bash League season will see Brisbane strive to bring the heat in more ways than one across five home matches at the Gabba this summer.

    Buoyed by the signing of number one International Draft Pick and fast bowling tyro Shaheen Shah Afridi, the Heat will host the Perth Scorchers, Adelaide Strikers, Melbourne Stars, Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers at the Gabba.

    It will be the first time since Brisbane’s championship season in BBL|13 in 2023-24 that the Scorchers will have played in Brisbane, with Perth arriving for the Heat’s Opening Night game on Friday 19 December.

    Included in the Heat’s five home matches highlighted in today’s release of the BBL|15 draw is a rare day game, hosting the Sydney Thunder on Saturday 10 January in a 3pm match as part of a bumper BBL double-header that day.

    The Heat will host the last game of the regular season, a potential blockbuster against the Sydney Sixers at the Gabba on Sunday 18 January which could feature Pakistan superstars Afridi and Sydney’s Babar Azam as well as Australian Test players being available.

    Heat CEO Terry Svenson said the fixtures presented an almost perfect summer draw for Brisbane fans and members.

    “We’ve got all games in the school holidays, two Friday night games, two Saturday matches including a family friendly afternoon slot, and a Sunday night blockbuster to wrap up the regular season,’’ he said.

    “The matches are ideally spaced, with a pre-Christmas clash with the Scorchers, the Festive Bash game on 27 December against the Strikers that is right in the sweet spot for families on holidays, a Friday night match just after New Year and then two more games a week apart in January.”

    “This summer promises to be one of the biggest ever on record for cricket, and if our membership renewal interest is any guide, we’re thrilled at the prospect of attracting loads of fans to the Gabba which in turn should inspire the team to be at their most exciting,” Svenson said.

    Brisbane Heat Memberships went on sale yesterday, with the club producing its highest ever first day of sales in 14 years.

    The record sales return came on the same day that the Heat announced Royal Caribbean as its official Membership and Holiday Partner, with a family holiday for four to be given away ahead of the season.

    Heat tickets will be on sale from next month through Ticketek.

    Brisbane will open its season away with a return to Geelong where it will take on the Melbourne Renegades on 15 December.

    The Heat has played the Renegades three times at GHMBA Stadium in Geelong, winning their inaugural clash at the venue before losing the next two.

    This included the infamous COVID match in January 2022 where Brisbane was forced to field an entirely new side after the main playing group was quarantined on the Gold Coast following an outbreak of illness in the squad.

    The Heat will also play the Sixers at Coffs Harbour International Stadium, the third year in a row it has visited the NSW coastal city for a BBL game, as well as make a return to Canberra to take on the Thunder at Manuka Oval.

    The 40 regular season matches will run uninterrupted from December 14 to January 18, except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The BBL|15 Finals series will feature four matches from Tuesday, January 20, culminating in the Final on Sunday, January 25.

    Every BBL|15 match will once again be aired on FOX SPORTS and available on Kayo Sports, including ten matches exclusive to FOX CRICKET.

    The summer schedule features 30 regular season BBL matches and every final that will be shown live and free on Seven and 7plus.

    The WBBL Heat fixtures will be announced next week.

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