New shop checkouts will allow you to pay with a smile, reported The Telegraph. Under plans unveiled by Mastercard, customers will soon be able to pay by smiling or waving at checkouts after signing up for the company’s “biometric checkout programme”. Customers will be asked to take a picture of their face or scan their fingerprint to register with an app, before linking a credit card to their biometric data. This will allow them to pay for goods and services in-store by smiling into a camera or waving their hand over a reader to pay.
Veterans ‘told to keep mouths shut’ over UFOs
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Oasis guitar sells for £325,000
A guitar that was damaged backstage at an Oasis concert and culminated in the band breaking up has sold for €385,500 (£325,000) at an auction in Paris. Noel Gallagher’s red Gibson was broken at the French capital’s Rock en Seine festival in 2009. Jonathan Berg, a guitar expert and co-founder of the Artpèges gallery that held the auction, told The Guardian that the guitar marked “a cult moment” in music history.
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Wilde Cambridge: home-away-from-home in a prime city spotThe Week Recommends This laid-back aparthotel is the perfect base for a weekend of exploring
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The best alcohol-free alternatives for Dry JanuaryThe Week Recommends Whether emerging from a boozy Christmas, or seeking a change in 2026, here are some of the best non-alcoholic beers, wines and spirits to enjoy
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A lemon-shaped exoplanet is squeezing what we know about planet formationUnder the radar It may be made from a former star
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How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
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Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
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Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
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Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
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Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
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Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
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Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
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Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
