Original title: The 95 best Labor Day sales happening now Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, and while the prospect of cooler weather and shorter days can be a tough adjustment for some, at least there is always a great selection of deals to combat the post-summer blues. Lucky for you, we’ve gone ahead and rounded up the best discounts you can get on a variety of Verge-approved gadgets and goods, from earbuds and 4K TVs to the latest e-readers. Being that it’s now September, it’s also a good reminder that the holidays will be here before you know it. Thankfully, some gadgets — including the latest Kindle Colorsoft, the M4 MacBook Air 13, and Sony’s WH-CH520 headphones — have fallen to their lowest price to date, making now an excellent time to get a head start on your holiday shopping. After all, there’s no guarantee they’ll drop lower in price, even when Black Friday and Cyber Monday roll around. Speaker deals JBL’s Flip 7 is on sale for around $129.95 ($20 off) at Best Buy, is on sale for around $129.95 ($20 off) at Amazon Walmar ...

Original title: The 28 best Labor Day deals you still can grab for $100 or less Labor Day has finally arrived, and after a week of early discounts trickling in, the sales are now in full swing. We’ve put together an expansive guide detailing nearly 100 deals we think are worth the money — including everything from big-screen OLED TVs to back-to-school essentials like the latest MacBook Air — but we also recognize that spending a couple a hundred dollars on a new gadget isn’t always feasible in these inflationary, tariff-riddled times. Fortunately for those on a budget, there are plenty of worthwhile deals to be had for $100 or less. To make sifting through them easier, we’ve rounded up a few of our favorites, including the latest Kindle, the entry-level AirPods 4, and Anker’s beefy Laptop Power Bank. We also pulled together a handful of excellent gaming deals, not to mention a steep discount on what has become our favorite budget video doorbell. Update, September 1st: Adjusted pricing / availability and added several new deals, including those for Anker’s Laptop P ...

Original title: No, Trump Can’t Legally Federalize US Elections With the Trump administration assaulting both the spirit and the letter of the United States Constitution on multiple fronts, President Donald Trump has also become increasingly vocal—and combative—in his plans for US election administration. After nearly a decade of federal and state investment in election security and integrity initiatives, researchers and election officials working on the ground around the country have been clear that US election infrastructure is as robust and transparent as it’s ever been. In a March executive order and subsequent comments on social media, though, Trump has promoted a baseless counternarrative that US election infrastructure is outmoded and unreliable, requiring federal intervention. Trump’s administration has also curtailed a significant portion of the federal government’s election security work and installed officials within the Department of Homeland Security who deny the validity of Trump’s 2020 presidential loss. Most recently, election consp ...

Original title: Gold price hits record high as investors seek safety Gold price hits record high as investors seek safety 2 hours ago Share Save Faarea Masud Business reporter, BBC News Share Save Reuters The price of gold has hit a record high as demand for the precious metal remains strong amid global economic uncertainty. The spot gold price hit $3,508.50 per ounce early on Tuesday, continuing its upwards trend which has seen it rise by nearly a third this year. The precious metal is viewed as a safer asset for investors during times of economic uncertainty, and its price rose earlier this year after US President Donald Trump announced wide ranging tariffs which have upset global trade. Analysts say the price has also been lifted by expectations that the US central bank will cut its key interest rate, making gold an even more attractive prospect for investors. Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault, told the BBC’s Today programme that the rise in gold prices over the past few months is really down to Trump and “what he’s done to geopolitics ...

Original title: Scottish drug deaths fall but remain worst in Europe. Why are they still so high? Scottish drug deaths fall but remain worst in Europe 2 hours ago Share Save James Cook Scotland editor Share Save Getty Images Scotland has seen high numbers of people dying from drug misuse for the last seven years Official figures suggest that Scotland remains the drugs death capital of Europe for the seventh year in a row despite a 13% fall in fatalities. There were 1,017 drug misuse deaths in 2024, down 155 from the previous year. National Records of Scotland said the latest figure was the lowest annual number since 2017. It brings the total in a decade to 10,884. After adjusting for age, there were 191 drug misuse deaths per million people in Scotland in 2024. According to the most recent European data, the next highest rate was Estonia with 135 deaths per million in 2023. Scottish Drugs Minister Maree Todd said the fall in deaths was welcome but that there was “still work to be done”. Experts say they are concerned about the potential for deaths to increase again this year. Kirst ...

Original title: Venice: Kaouther Ben Hania on Gaza Drama ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’: “At Least, With This Film, I Wasn’t Silenced” For more than a decade, Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania has blurred the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, crafting work that moves between dramatization and documentary while remaining anchored in lived experience. Her feature debut, The Challat of Tunis (2014), used documentary techniques to probe a local urban legend. Beauty and the Dogs (2017) dramatized the aftermath of a sexual assault in Tunis with unsettling precision. In 2020, she became the first Tunisian director nominated for an Academy Award with The Man Who Sold His Skin, a satirical drama about a Syrian refugee whose body becomes a commodity. Three years later, her hybrid doc Four Daughters — part testimony, part re-enactment — bowed in competition at Cannes, went on to win the prize for best documentary, and was nominated for an Oscar. Her latest feature, The Voice of Hind Rajab, which premieres in competition at Venice before heading to Toronto, pushes that interplay of documentary and dramatization furth ...

Original title: ‘The Ivy’ Tells of an Unexpected Bond, Unresolved Desire, and Trauma (Exclusive Venice Clip) A connection formed between two outsiders from different social backgrounds and of different ages, which transcends trauma in a world that tries to exclude them, is at the heart of The Ivy (Hiedra), the third feature by Ecuadorian director Ana Cristina Barragán (Alba, La Piel Pulpo), which world premieres at Venice on Wednesday, Sept. 3. “Azucena, a woman in her 30s, approaches Julio, a teenage boy living in a group home, for reasons he doesn’t understand,” reads a synopsis. “As they spend time together, an uneasy closeness grows, changing the shape of a bond neither of them expected to find.” The two “are connected by a shared experience of trauma,” according to a description. “Together, they set out on a journey beyond the confines of a society that has never truly included them. With fearlessness and intimacy, the film explores the complexities of disordered, unresolved desire and intimate, often wordless relationships.” Starring Simone Bucio (The Untamed) and first-time actor Franc ...

Original title: Kim Novak’s Longtime Confidante Reveals Surprising Reason ’Vertigo’ Star Fled Hollywood: Sour Pickles Much has been made over the years about why Vertigo icon Kim Novak did what many seemed unthinkable when she fled Hollywood and said goodbye to an enviable and still thriving acting career that saw her collaborate with everyone from Alfred Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart to Billy Wilder and Frank Sinatra. But her longtime manager and confidante, Sue Cameron, revealed a surprising new reason for Novak’s departure while participating in a press conference at the Venice Film Festival, which hosted the world premiere Alexandre O. Philippe’s new documentary Kim Novak’s Vertigo. Cameron claimed it all came down to … sour pickles? By the time she started shooting Richard Quine’s 1965 film The Notorious Landlady opposite Jack Lemmon and Fred Astaire, Novak had made up her mind that she hated Hollywood and was ready to leave, Cameron said. So when she and her sister went for a drive near picturesque Carmel, Calif., not far from where they were shooting the film, the siblings happened upon a gorgeou ...

Original title: Farhana Bhula Named Director of Film4 Farhana Bhula is the new director of Film4, U.K. broadcaster Channel 4‘s feature film division, the company said on Tuesday. Bhula has served as interim director of Film4 since July, following the news of Ollie Madden’s departure. “She will take up the role immediately, following an extensive external recruitment process,” Channel 4 said. The executive joined Film4 in January 2022 as senior commissioning executive, later becoming head of creative & deputy director. She has overseen such film projects as Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature How to Have Sex, Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers, plus such upcoming titles as Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevada, Oliver Hermanus’ The History of Sound, and Philippa Lowthorpe’s H Is for Hawk. Bhula launched Future Takes in partnership with the BFI, currently in its second iteration, to support and nurture emerging talent. “Following the success of How to Have Sex, Molly Manning Walker has reunited with the channel on her upcoming TV series Major Playe ...

Original title: Lab-Grown Gems Are Robbing Botswana of Its Diamond Riches Across Botswana the lines of patients outside government clinics are lengthening, construction companies dependent on state jobs are firing workers and university students are threatening to boycott lectures after not getting the allowance increases they were promised. The economic slowdown is a sharp reversal from just a few years ago when the world’s richest diamond deposits allowed the sparsely-populated desert nation of 2.5 million people to invest in free and efficient healthcare and plow money into funding tertiary education for students both at home and abroad. Its robust finances allowed it to provide for its citizens in a way that made it the envy of southern Africa. ...