Cell phone plans can get exceedingly complicated, so Comcast’s pitch for Xfinity Mobile’s simplicity is rather appealing — particularly at a time when everything is more expensive than ever. Today, the company is announcing two simple plans priced at $30 and $45 a month that have some serious perks for their prices.
The $30 Mobile Select plan covers the main basics, including 50GB of “premium” full-speed data; Global Travel Pass to cover yourself when traveling in 215 different countries; and Xfinity’s Wi-Fi PowerBoost. That latter feature takes advantage of Xfinity’s wide network of Wi-Fi hotspots around the country. Your phone will automatically connect to those when you’re out and about, and you’ll get priority speeds of up to 1 gigabit on those networks as well as at home.
The $45 Mobile Plus plan adds some pretty significant perks. For starters, you’ll get unlimited premium data and 4K video streaming (the Select plan limits you to 720p). But more significantly, the Plus plan promises device upgrades at literally any time. At this point, most carriers offer ways to upgrade before the typical three-year device payment plan is up, but as someone who did that late last year, I can confirm that the constantly changing promotions around phone upgrades make it hard to know exactly what you’ll be eligible for.
Comcast, however, says that Mobile Plus subscribers can literally upgrade their phone at any time. I asked how it would work if I was crazy enough to switch to a Galaxy S26 six months after getting an iPhone 17 Pro, and they said it would be no issue, regardless of how much I had beat up my iPhone. I’m trying to figure out if there’s a catch, but the company’s representatives were very adamant about “anytime upgrades” being as uncomplicated as they said.
Similarly, the Plus plan also includes lifetime device protection, another thing that most carriers charge separately for. This extends to any connected device on your plan like smartwatches or iPads in addition to your phone. If you need a replacement, just bring it in.
Xfinity Mobile is still limited to people who subscribe to an Xfinity internet plan. But given Xfinity promises five-year price guarantees and even lets customers try a year of the Mobile Select plan for free (or the Plus plan for $15/month) so there’s very little risk involved here.
Uzbekistan is launching a special area in Karakalpakstan called “Besqala Mining Valley” where crypto mining is officially regulated and allowed under government rules, with income from mining operations exempt from taxes until January 1, 2035, according to a new decree signed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The initiative aims to attract investment, expand renewable energy use, and boost employment through regulated mining activities.
Mining is restricted to registered legal entities and is mainly intended to use renewable energy sources such as solar power, with additional provisions allowing the use of other controlled energy systems.
Licensing and supervision will be handled by a state-backed administrative, while operational approvals will be managed by a national agency. Companies can legally mine, trade, and convert crypto assets, provided all earnings are routed through domestic banking channels.
While mining income in the zone is exempt from taxes until 2035, operators must pay a monthly fee based on revenue and higher electricity tariffs when using the national grid.
The rules also include strict controls to prevent illegal activity, requiring companies and owners to pass background checks and follow financial transparency laws.
How Uzbekistan got here
Uzbekistan’s relationship with crypto has been a slow burn.
A 2018 presidential decree first acknowledged digital assets and established a basic regulatory framework, but it came with heavy guardrails. Mining was initially limited to legal entities using solar photovoltaic energy, and the regulatory posture was one of extreme caution.
The country spent several years watching from the sidelines while Kazakhstan next door became a global hashrate magnet, only to see Kazakh authorities forced into crackdowns on unregistered “gray” miners and a battle with grid stability.
Uzbekistan studied that playbook and opted for a deterrent strategy, requiring grid-connected miners to pay double the standard commercial electricity rate.
The stance has shifted with the introduction of a 15% electricity discount for registered miners and data centers, alongside the launch of Besqala Mining Valley.
Virginia man’s before-bed routine leads to a $200,000 lottery prize
March 26 (UPI) — A Virginia man’s routine of playing online lottery games to relax after putting his kids to bed resulted in his winning a $200,000 jackpot.
While audiences in the U.S. keenly wait on The Other Bennet Sister‘s BritBox release, the BBC can boast some fantastic viewership numbers.
The first episode of the BBC-BritBox adaptation of Janice Hadlow’s bestseller has captured the hearts of BBC viewers with a consolidated audience of 7.3 million people.
Since the show launched on March 15, the 28-day figure makes The Other Bennet Sister the biggest launch of a new drama in the U.K. across all platforms and streamers since May last year, with 4.1 million (56 percent) of the audience viewing through BBC iPlayer.
Playing the oft-overlooked middle sister in Pride and Prejudice, Mary Bennet, titular star Ella Bruccoleri caught up with The Hollywood Reporterabout fan reaction only last month. “It’s a story about the transformative power of kindness, really,” she said in the sitdown interview. “It’s about realizing that you’re worth more than just your appearance. And it’s about found family. I think it’s quite an affirming watch.” The show is set to drop on BritBox May 6.
Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, said the Beeb is “delighted” the series has been taken into the nation’s hearts. “It seems Mary, brought beautifully to life by Ella Brucolleri, may have been overlooked by her own family, but she has been embraced with open arms by the audience. How glorious is that!”
Jane Tranter, CEO of production company Bad Wolf, added: “Bringing such a significant new audience to the world of Jane Austen on the BBC has been, from start to finish, a joy. Janice Haddow’s brilliant original story was loved into life by Sarah Quintrell, Jennifer Sheridan and Asim Abbasi and of course our brilliant cast led by the incomparable Ella Bruccoleri.
“Mary Bennet may have begun this journey as a wallflower, but she is now, quite rightfully, on everyone’s dance card. Hugest thanks to the BBC for giving us the chance to make this piece, and to the whole Bad Wolf crew in Cardiff for their talent, commitment, and support.”
Core Scientific, which mines Bitcoin, said it would offer $3.3 billion worth of speculative-grade debt to capitalize on the AI boom.
The firm is currently developing six data center facilities under a deal with cloud-computing firm CoreWeave, per Bloomberg.
The company said last month that it is willing to sell the entirety of its Bitcoin holdings in order to fund its ongoing pivot.
Core Scientific, a Bitcoinminer turned data center operator, said on Tuesday that it plans to offer $3.3 billion worth of speculative-grade debt to fund its massive pivot into AI infrastructure.
In an announcement, the company valued around $6.55 billion said that it would use a portion of proceeds from the raise to refinance debt. The firm did not say what the notes due in 2031 would pay in terms of an interest, nor when they would be offered to investors.
Under a 12-year agreement with cloud-computing firm CoreWeave, which could generate roughly $10 billion in revenue, Core Scientific is currently building six data center facilities, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
Core Scientific shares rose 4.5% on Tuesday to $20.77, according to Yahoo Finance. As the AI boom has continued to drive demand for high-density data centers across the U.S., the company’s shares have surged 42% year-to-date.
The junk-bond sale would capitalize the firm with additional funding after it secured up to $1 billion in financing from Morgan Stanley. Core Scientific CEO Adam Sullivan said the firm would be deploying capital to accelerate service timelines associated with its projects.
Days before, the Austin, Texas-based firm indicated that it would continue offloading Bitcoin in order to finance its pivot. At the time, CFO Jim Nygaard estimated that the company currently owns less than 1,000 Bitcoin after selling 1,900 Bitcoin for $175 million in January.
Billing itself now as a leader in digital infrastructure and high-density colocation, the company concluded 2025 with 2,537 Bitcoin on its balance sheet that would be worth $192 million today, with Bitcoin recently changing hands around $75,800, according CoinGecko.
Although the company is distancing itself from the leading digital asset, Bitcoin mining has remained the firm’s biggest money-maker. In the fourth quarter, Core Scientific earned $41.1 million from mining Bitcoin for itself compared to $31.3 million from colocation.
The firm is among several that have historically mined Bitcoin but are now prioritizing AI, including Hut 8, TeraWulf, Riot Platforms, MARA Holdings, and Bitfarms.
When Core Scientific emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024, the company described itself as one of the largest Bitcoin miners in North America. And the previous year, its fleet of miners produced 13,762 Bitcoin, a sum valued at roughly $1 billion today.
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Iran responded to the US capture of one of its tankers close to the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week by capturing two foreign commercial vessels on Wednesday and moving them to its coast. Iran called the US attack on its ship by the US an act of “piracy” and, on Wednesday, said the two tankers it had seized had violated maritime regulations, according to Iranian state media.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said: “This is in line with what we heard from the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] previously, saying that any passage of ships, vessels or oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz should be with the permission and coordination of the IRGC.”
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He said the seizure reflected Iran’s continuing strategy to impose control and authority over maritime traffic through the chokepoint, adding that Iranian officials were now discussing charges and transit fees for vessels using the route.
On Monday, the US military fired on and then seized the Iranian-flagged container ship Touska close to the Strait of Hormuz in the northern Arabian Sea as it was en route to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) and President Donald Trump said the Touska had refused to follow US orders to withdraw from its planned passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The seizure came after the US imposed a naval blockade on all Iranian ports on April 13.
Iran called Washington’s capture of the vessel “an act of piracy”.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has been accused of piracy. Last year, Venezuela also made the allegation when the US seized sanctioned oil tankers off its coast.
But is this the case?
Here’s what we know about US strikes on Iranian ships:
What happened to the Touska?
The US military enforced its naval blockade on Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz in response to Iran’s block on most vessels coming through the narrow waterway. Since the war began, Iran has allowed only a few ships belonging to nations that have struck deals with Tehran to pass.
The US military said it would bar any ships belonging to Iran or travelling to or from Iranian ports from passing through the strait.
On Monday, according to the US military, the Touska tried to defy the US blockade by crossing from the Arabian Sea via the Gulf of Oman through the Strait of Hormuz towards Bandar Abbas.
CENTCOM reported: “American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the US blockade.”
“After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room” before the US destroyer fired at the Iranian ship, the CENTCOM statement said.
Subsequently, US Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded the Touska and captured the ship.
(Al Jazeera)
What other Iranian ships has the US targeted?
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said US forces had detained another oil tanker sanctioned for transporting Iranian crude oil as it sailed in the Bay of Bengal, which links India and Southeast Asia.
In a post on social media, the Pentagon said US forces “conducted a right-of-visit maritime interdiction” of the M/T Tifani “without incident”.
“As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran – anywhere they operate. International waters are not a refuge for sanctioned vessels,” it added.
Washington has been targeting Iranian ships throughout the war on Iran, which began when the US and Israel launched air strikes on Tehran on February 28.
On March 4, a US submarine sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena with a torpedo in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka. The ship and its crew were returning home from Visakhapatnam on India’s east coast after participating in naval exercises. US forces have been criticised for leaving the ship to sink and not making efforts to rescue survivors afterwards.
Sri Lanka’s navy, which mounted a rescue effort, reported that 32 Iranian sailors were rescued, 87 bodies were recovered and 61 of the crew remain missing.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strike on the Iranian warship was the “first such attack on an enemy since World War II”.
How has Iran responded?
After the US sinking of the IRIS Dena, Tehran responded with drone and missile attacks on Israel and US military assets and infrastructure in Gulf countries, causing multiple deaths.
After the recent capture of the tankers by the US, Iran called Washington’s actions “piracy” and threatened to strike back.
“We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military,” a spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya, Iran’s joint military command, said hours after the capture of the Touska.
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Washington’s naval blockade constituted a breach of the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran. “Striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation [of the ceasefire],” he said.
A spokesperson for Tehran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told state television on Tuesday that Iran had yet to decide whether to attend further talks with the US. He described the boarding of the tanker as well as the earlier seizure of the cargo ship as “piracy at sea and state terrorism”.
If the US keeps flexing its maritime muscle at the edges of conventional legal frameworks, some might say the only thing missing is an eye patch and a parrot
by Jason Chuah, professor of maritime law, City University of London
Is the US guilty of piracy?
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), acts of piracy are “any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft”. They can take place either on “the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft” or can be directed “against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State”.
Piracy also refers to “any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft”.
Jason Chuah, a professor of maritime law at City University of London, told Al Jazeera that legally, therefore, the US actions do not constitute piracy.
“Piracy requires private gain, not government vessels enforcing sanctions or a blockade in times of armed conflict,” he said.
“However, if the US keeps flexing its maritime muscle at the edges of conventional legal frameworks, some might say the only thing missing is an eye patch and a parrot,” he added.
US law allows its Coast Guard to conduct searches and seizures on the high seas if the purpose is to enforce US laws. It states that the US Coast Guard “may make inquiries, examinations, inspections, searches, seizures, and arrests upon the high seas” to prevent violations.
The container ship Touska was flying the Iranian flag. However, its owners have been under sanctions issued by the US Department of the Treasury and the US Office of Foreign Assets Control and have been accused of helping Iran evade sanctions.
In previous enforcement actions against sanctioned ships, the US has seized not only the ship itself but also the oil on board. In 2020, it confiscated fuel from four tankers allegedly carrying Iranian oil to Venezuela.
It is unclear what the Touska was carrying when it was seized, but Trump posted on Truth Social after the capture that American sailors are “seeing what’s on board”.
Apurva Mehta, a partner at the Indian law firm ANB Legal, noted that Article 87 of the UNCLOS guarantees all states the freedom to navigate on the High Seas.
“While acts of the US cannot be termed as piracy, US warships on government service and authorised as such, can carry out seizures on account of piracy,” she said.
“Under Article 110, warships are entitled to board foreign vessels in high seas, if they believe that the vessel is engaged in piracy, slave trade, carrying out unauthorised broadcasting or playing without a flag etc.”
Has the US captured ships before?
Yes. In December, Trump said the US had captured a sanctioned oil tanker close to the coast of Venezuela.
According to a Reuters news agency report, British maritime risk firm Vanguard identified the crude carrier captured as the Skipper.
Venezuela also described that incident as an “act of piracy”.
At the time, the US was building up a military presence in waters near the northern coast of South America. From those positions, it had already carried out strikes on at least 21 boats that it claimed – without showing any evidence – were carrying drugs destined for the US. Many of them were Venezuelan, it said.
After canceled gigs in the U.K., France, Switzerland and Poland, Kanye West‘s upcoming concert in Italy is sparking an uproar due to the rapper’s antisemitic remarks.
West, now known as Ye, is scheduled to headline the Hellwat Festival on July 18 at the RCF Arena in the Northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia. The venue has a capacity of 103,000 spectators, making it one of West’s biggest arena appearances ever, according to organizers.
While the Reggio Emilia concert is currently on track, the city’s Jewish community, anti-fascist resistance groups, trade unions and politicians are up in arms, calling for it to be canceled.
Pina Picierno, who is vice president of the European Parliament and a senior member of Italy’s Democratic Party, has urged the Italian government to intervene and take a stance similar to the U.K., France and Poland.
“The United Kingdom denied the visa. France effectively prevented the Marseille concert,” Picierno told local newspaper La Gazzetta di Reggio. “Italy, meanwhile, is just staying idle with 68,000 tickets sold, as if nothing had happened.”
The city of Reggio Emilia was awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor in 1950 for having a crucial role in the Italian resistance against the Nazis during World War II.
The city’s mayor Marco Massari, however, is taking a neutral stance. In a statement, Massari said he was “distancing himself from Kanye West’s behavior and remarks,” but added that any decision regarding West’s entry into the country and his performance lies with Italy’s Ministry of the Interior, which so far has not commented.
West, who has said “I Love Nazis” on social media, sold T-shirts with a swastika on his website and last year released a song called “Heil Hitler,” published a full-page apology in the Wall Street Journal in January, attributing his behavior to manic episodes caused by bipolar disorder.
In a statement to Italian news agency ANSA, Hellwatt Festival artistic director Victor Yari Milani called the event “a space for free artistic expression.” Milani added, “The artist’s past comments have certainly provoked a legitimate reaction, but we also want to remember that Ye formally apologized through the Wall Street Journal in January, stating that he is not a Nazi or antisemite but suffers from bipolar disorder.”
“I would add that we have asked him to apologize in Italy as well,” he continued.
Variety has reached out to West’s reps for comment.
Other top artists expected at this year’s Hellwat Festival include include Travis Scott, Rita Ora and Martin Garrix.
Besides Italy, the other remaining stops in West’s announced European tour are Turkey, the Netherlands, Madrid and Portugal.
The hit Netflix series based on the graphic novels by Alice Oseman will end with a movie, titled “Heartstopper Forever,” which is set to drop on the streamer on July 17.
In the film, Kit Connor and Joe Locke reprise their roles as Nick and Charlie as they stand on the cusp of adulthood. With Nick about to head to university and Charlie becoming more confident at school, the main question is whether their relationship will survive becoming long-distance.
The film will pick up directly from the Season 3 finale, which saw the couple – like some of their friends – take the relationship to a new level.
Connor and Locke will also exec produce the movie, which is directed by Wash Westmoreland.
“On a basic level, of course, I want the movie to be a beautiful and emotional send-off for the ‘Heartstopper’ story — celebrating what ‘Heartstopper’ means to people, while offering a chance to say goodbye to our beloved characters, and many hints of what’s to come in the characters’ future lives,” said Oseman.
The graphic novelist said she understood if fans are “a little apprehensive” about the new format, with the movie running much shorter than a full season, because she was too originally. “But once I began to see the entire vision, I knew it would be something even more beautiful than a regular season could achieve,” she said. “We are feeling very ambitious about what is possible in a movie format. With no need for end-of-episode cliffhangers or a new twist every episode, every part of ‘Heartstopper’ can be elevated to a higher quality to create something memorable, sophisticated, and atmospheric.”
Crypto exchange Kraken says it filed 56 million crypto-transaction forms with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the 2025 tax year. Roughly 18.5 million of them covered transactions worth less than $1, and over half were for $10 or less.
Only 8.5% of the newly introduced Form 1099-DAs cleared $600, the threshold that triggers reporting for non-employee compensation, and 74% were for less than $50, the company said in a Wednesday blog post.
Each form is also sent to the customer and creates a reconciliation task for the taxpayer who receives it. On top of that, standard tax software does not handle crypto transactions. Kraken estimated the additional burden on an active crypto holder at $250-$500 a year for dedicated tax software, on top of standard filing costs.
“The hours taxpayers spend reconciling these micro-transactions, often with incomplete data, generate costs wildly disproportionate to any revenue the IRS will collect from them,” Kraken said.
The Tax Foundation estimates individual returns already cost Americans a combined $146 billion in time and expenses, the exchange said, and the National Taxpayers Union Foundation puts the average time for non-business filers at about 13 hours and $290 per return.
Brokers reporting for 2025 provide gross proceeds without cost basis, meaning the form shows what was sold, but not what it was bought for. Kraken said it fielded thousands of client questions about forms that captured only one side of the calculation.
Two problems
Kraken pointed to two parts of the tax code that cause problems. One is the lack of a de minimis, or low-level, exemption for crypto payments, which means even small purchases with crypto can trigger a taxable event that needs to be declared.
“Imagine you walk into a Steak ’n Shake and pay for a $7.99 meal with Bitcoin through a payment app. You have triggered a taxable event,” Kraken wrote as an example. “You are technically required to look up the cost basis of the specific Bitcoin you spent, calculate whether you had a gain or loss on that fraction of a coin, and report it on Form 8949.”
That’s the same argument libertarian think tank Cato Institute recently made. According to the institute, buying a cup of coffee every day with BTC “can result in over 100 pages of tax filings.”
The second issue is staking. Rewards earned on staked assets are treated as ordinary income at the moment of receipt, based on the token’s market price that day. Most holders keep those tokens instead of selling them, meaning they owe tax on tokens that haven’t been sold.
If the token price falls between receipt and filing, the tax can exceed the asset’s current value. Kraken calls this phantom income and says a large share of the sub-dollar 1099-DAs it issued were staking distributions.
Legislation moving through Congress includes a de minimis provision, but is limited to stablecoins. Kraken is pushing for a broader inflation-indexed exemption, paired with anti-abuse guardrails to prevent structuring.
The exchange is also asking Congress to let taxpayers elect when staking rewards are taxed, either at receipt under current rules or at sale, when a gain or loss is realized.
Kraken says its systems and those of other exchanges already support both reporting methods, but the choice needs to be authorized.
