On 10 September, 2023, gamblers at the famous MGM Grand casino in Las Vegas started to encounter a series of strange events.
First, slot machines began freezing, switching off and displaying error screens. Then, when they went to cash points on the casino floor, they were out of order. Credit card payments at restaurants would not work, and suddenly the digital room keys for hotel guests didn’t either.
The same problems were repeated across MGM properties elsewhere in Vegas and across the US, causing anger and confusion among customers, and significant financial losses for the casinos.
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politics
What Mahmood as chancellor could mean for taxes and benefits
Shabana Mahmood has unveiled sweeping changes to future settlement rights ((Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is now the frontrunner to be Andy Burnham’s chancellor, but what will her appointment mean for taxes and benefits?
Will Mahmood become chancellor?
While her appointment hasn’t been confirmed, a senior Labour source told The i Paper Mahmood had previously said she wanted to stay at the Home Office, but is “prepared to move wherever helpful” — heavily hinting at a shift to the Treasury.
Secretary of State for the Home Department Shabana Mahmood is keen to stay in post under Burnham.
(Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz)
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What will Mahmood in the Treasury mean?
1Economy: Experts say Mahmood is likely to act as a “cipher” for Burnham’s economic vision, rather than pushing her own.
2Taxes: As chancellor, Mahmood will potentially have to deliver the introduction of capital gains and wealth taxes.
3Pensions and benefits: Mahmood’s consistent willingness to tighten eligibility as Home Secretary may give a clue as to her attitude towards pensions and benefits.
4Immigration: Mahmood has driven through the toughest asylum rules in decades. Moving her could give Burnham room to soften her reforms.
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Opinion | “Starmer’s sad little spectacle reminded us how unfit he was for the top job” says Ian Dunt. “Keir Starmer’s last PMQs had a lilting, melancholic tone, a mournful background hum. It was all terribly good humoured and gentlemanly. But underneath the mannered speeches there was a sense of tragedy and waste, of a historic squandered opportunity. “This was supposed to be the man who saved the country from decline and political squalor. But he proved utterly ill-suited to the task”. You can read Ian’s full article on The i Paper’s website. #ukpolitics #starmer
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Four things to know as No 10 wades in Falklands row
Downing Street has been forced to wade in after the Argentinian football team paraded a banner in support of their country’s claims to the Falkland Islands.
Caption: Argentina’s Giovani Lo Celso holds a banner with the words “The Malvinas are Argentine”, referring to the Falkland Islands, while teammate Argentina’s Nicolas Otamendi gestures to him, at the end of the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Photographer: Rebecca Blackwell
Provider: AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Source: AP
Copyright: Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
What happened?
Following England’s 2-1 loss to Argentina at the World Cup semi-finals last night, the Argentinian players presented a banner reading “The Falklands are Argentinian”, in Spanish.
Caption: Argentina’s Giovani Lo Celso holds a banner with the words “The Malvinas are Argentine”, referring to the Falkland Islands, while teammate Argentina’s Nicolas Otamendi gestures to him, at the end of the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Photographer: Rebecca Blackwell
Provider: AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Source: AP
Copyright: Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
‘This was a football match, not a high-powered meeting between world leaders or even a political discussion TV show,’ says Polly Hudson (Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty)
The banner reinforces the Argentinian claim that the Falkland Islands, which are a British overseas territory, should belong to Argentina.
The background
Argentina, which claims sovereignty over the islands, invaded the Falklands in 1982, starting a 74-day war. Some 655 Argentinian servicemen died, along with 255 from Britain.
The islands remain a British territory, has had a British settlement there since 1764 and voted to remain a British territory in 2013.
Royal Marines march towards Port Stanley during the 1982 Falklands War (Photo: Pete Holdgate/Getty)
Photographer: anjci (c) all rights reserved
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Moment RF
Four things you need to know:
1Argentina’s national security minister had warned no one with flags or political messages “related to the Falklands” would be allowed to enter the match.
2However, Argentina’s foreign minister backed the team’s banner stunt, saying it “reaffirms Argentina’s sovereign rights over the Malvinas Islands”.
3When asked about the banner during a television interview, Leandro Paredes replied: “The Falklands will always be Argentinian.”
4In Buenos Aires, some fans were seen burning an England flag, while others painted a St George’s cross on a coffin.
Downing Street’s response:
The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are. Our position is unchanged. Self-determination rests with the islanders and our commitment to the Falklanders will never waver.
spokeswoman for the prime minister
Sir Keir Starmer speaking during the debate on the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, known as the Hillsborough Law, in the House of Commons, Westminster (Photo: PA)
Watch: Argentina spit and trample on the English flag
news
What do Labour’s property reforms actually mean for homebuyers?
Buying a home in England could soon change significantly under Government plans to overhaul the home-buying process.
Here is everything you need to know.
What reforms are being introduced?
Last month, the Government announced proposals aimed at modernising the home-buying process in England and Wales.
Caption: A drone view shows rows of terraced houses in the constituency of Gorton and Denton ahead of a parliamentary by-election, in Manchester, Britain, February 18, 2026 REUTERS/Phil Noble TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Photographer: Phil Noble
Provider: REUTERS
Source: REUTERS
The Enterprise Investment Scheme is designed to encourage investment into small, early-stage UK companies (Photo: Aitor Diago/Getty)
A central part of the reforms is the wider use of reservation agreements, under which buyers and sellers each pay a reservation fee and agree to progress the sale within a set timeframe. Ministers also want more information about a property to be available before it is listed for sale.
How will this impact the market?
Caption: File photo dated 29/07/25 of model houses on a pile of coins and bank notes. Councils risk becoming financially unsustainable unless they cut, reduce or overhaul critical services, a watchdog has said, as it warned of a near ?1 billion funding gap. The Accounts Commission said Scotland’s local authorities are facing a combined revenue gap of ?975 million across the next two years amid increasing financial pressures. Issue date: Thursday June 11, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Photographer: Joe Giddens
Provider: Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Source: PA
Higher upfront costs
Buyers would be expected to spend more on due diligence before the reservation agreement.
Fewer failed sales
Encouraging buyers and sellers to commit earlier should mean fewer sales collapse.
(Photo: Getty).
Real estate investment and loan, mortgage and refinance concept. – stock photo. (manusapon kasosod/ Getty)
Strain on first-time buyers
First-time buyers could be most exposed as they have to save for a deposit.
Watch more from The i Paper
Sir Olly Robbins, a former top Foreign Office civil servant, has launched a legal challenge after he was sacked following the Lord Mandelson vetting scandal. Robbins was fired from his position in April after Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper lost confidence in him, saying he had failed to tell ministers of a recommendation to deny Mandelson security vetting clearance.
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news
EV drivers face pay-per-mile scheme from 2028 – what we know
UK enquiries for EVs have risen sharply since the Iran conflict began. (Photo: John Walton/PA)
The Government has confirmed that a new pay-per-mile scheme for electric vehicles will be introduced in April 2028.
How does the new scheme work?
Electric car drivers will be required to pay a tax of 3p per mile.
It will be calculated through the use of driver mileage estimates and an upfront charge based on that figure.
Motorists will then submit an actual mileage reading at the end of the year and this will be backed up by a mileage reading at the car’s annual MOT.
At the end of the year, drivers will see their balance and either pay any outstanding amount or spread the cost over the following 12 months.
Expert opinion:
At such a crucial point in the switch to electric, ministers should be making the system simpler, fairer and easier to understand, not pressing ahead with a policy whose key faults remain unresolved.
Vicky Edmonds from Electric Vehicle Association England said that the move “still does not work for drivers”.
Caption: (FILES) People charge their electric cars at a Tesla electric charging station in Saint-Herblain, western France, on April 15, 2026, as US-Israel war on Iran, launched on February 28, has roiled global energy and equities markets, sending oil prices skyrocketing after Tehran virtually closed the key Strait of Hormuz. New electric car sales in France jumped 48 percent year-on-year in the first four months of the year to 148,302 units, even as the broader automotive market struggled, the automotive industry body PFA, which represents all carmakers, said on May 1, 2026. (Photo by Loic VENANCE / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: LOIC VENANCE
Provider: AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
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Opinion | “England might not have exactly swaggered into the World Cup semi-finals but they most definitely can win it” says Mark Douglas. “After a suffocating quarter-final win – both on account of the conditions and the tension that accompanied much of their second-half display – England now meet the best team they have played in two years. “But there is nothing to fear from Argentina and clear signs that this is a team that can end that long wait for silverware”. You can read Mark’s full article on The i Paper’s website. #fifaworldcup #england #footballscominghome
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What is the Hillsborough Law and what will it change?
Andy Burnham has said the Hillsborough Law will help shift the balance of power between the people and the state.
Liverpool fans display a banner in memory of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster before a match in 2025 REUTERS/David Klein
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What is the Hillsborough Law?
The Hillsborough Law takes its name from the 1989 disaster at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield.
A banner stating ‘justice’ outside Saint George’s Hall as thousands of people gather to attend a vigil for the 96 victims of the Hillsborough tragedy (Photo: Christopher Furlong /Getty)
Andy Burnham leaves the venue of the second Hillsborough inquests in Warrington after hearing the coroner’s conclusions in April 2016 (Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty)
The legislation, which cleared commons on Tuesday, aims to prevent cover-ups by requiring officials to be transparent during investigations and inquiries into failures by the state.
What is the Hillsborough Disaster?
The Government has signed the ‘Hillsborough Charter’ which promises public bodies will act with what Rishi Sunak called ‘honesty, transparency and candour’ (Photo: Paul Ellis/Getty)
What happened?
The 1989 Hillsborough disaster claimed 97 lives after a crush during the FA Cup semi-final.
Police response
Afterwards, police spread false narratives blaming Liverpool fans and withheld evidence of their own failings.
Tributes to the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster outside Liverpool’s Anfield stadium
Steve Kelly, the brother of 38-year-old Michael Kelly, and Sue Roberts, the sister of 24-year-old Graham Roberts, during the press conference (Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Inquest findings
Fresh inquests held in 2016 found the fans had been unlawfully killed and that police had caused or contributed to their deaths.
What will the law do?
1The law will create a legally-enforceable “duty of candour” for public officials to tell the truth to inquiries and investigations.
2The Hillsborough Law will also ensure victims of disasters or state-related deaths are entitled to parity of legal representation during inquests and inquiries.
3Bereaved families will get access to public funding, just as public money is used to support Government and public authority lawyers.
Thousands of miles away, on the other side of the Atlantic, the culprit was sitting in the bedroom of his family’s east London council flat.
Thalha Jubair, then 17, was an unlikely leading member of a cyber crime group known as Scattered Spider, which had unleashed malicious software on MGM and at least 46 other American organisations including its federal courts.
Known as ransomware, the cyber attack worked by shutting down company computer systems and demanding large payments to unlock them and release encrypted data. According to the US Department of Justice, victims paid at least $115m (£86m) in ransom payments.
A criminal complaint charging Jubair with offences including computer fraud and money laundering said that going under online pseudonyms including “EarthtoStar”, “Brad”, “Austin”, and “@autistic”, he had conspired with others to conduct the attack and launder the funds obtained.
But before Jubair could be tried in the US, he was arrested for another cyber attack, this time targeting Transport for London (TfL).
Pandemonium for London transport system
Jubair and other members of Scattered Spider struck in September 2024, a year after the MGM attack, and caused chaos once more. As TfL fought against the intrusion, it was forced to shut down major operation systems to restrict the hackers’ access.
Live Tube information, the Dial-a-Ride service for disabled people and Oyster and travelcard payments ground to a halt. While public transport kept running, there was pandemonium across the systems used across TfL operations. The attack cost the transport network £29m and rendered more than 140 systems inoperable, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Data was stolen from millions of Oyster card holders but unlike in the MGM case, no ransom was demanded for its return. This time, investigators believe, Jubair and his associates were mainly seeking notoriety and kudos within the cyber criminal community.
Jubair, now 20, and fellow Scattered Spider member Owen Flowers, 18, were each jailed for five years and six months at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday after admitting offences under the Computer Misuse Act.
Mr Justice Turner said: “I’m satisfied that your actions were primarily motivated by selfish bravado heedless of the consequences on others.”
Paul Foster, head of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) cyber crime unit, said it was the “biggest ever criminal prosecution” of its kind.
“Scattered Spider have, over the last two years, been the biggest criminal cyber crime threat to the UK,” he added. “Their activities and their impact has now been severely degraded as a result of this action.”
Foster said the number of people in Scattered Spider and their locations were still unknown, describing the group as a “loose collective” of English-speaking boys and young men who coalesce in online hacking communities.
Jubair had started offending by the age of 14, and was convicted in 2023 for attacks by the Lapsus$ hacking group on major companies including Nvidia and BT.
“He received an 18-month Youth Rehabilitation Order, but of course, very quickly he began reoffending,” said Commander Ollie Shaw, of the City of London Police.
Flowers was also known to the authorities before the TfL hack, having been given a “cease and desist notice” by West Midlands Police in October 2023. He was offered training and given advice around computer misuse offences but did not want to engage, the NCA said.
Living with parents, trying to get into college
Outside of the online world, neither of the young men’s lives showed signs of their work as notorious international cyber criminals.
Flowers lived with his grandma and uncle in a three-bedroom property in Walsall, spending most of his time in his room playing computer games and using chat forums.
Jubair lived with his parents, who both worked as carers, in a two-bedroom flat on the third floor of a 21-storey council block in Bow, east London. Before being arrested, he attempted to enrol at a further education college after completing his GCSEs.
In its annual threat assessment, the NCA said teenagers were being drawn into cyber criminality by an “internet-based subculture nicknamed ‘The Com’”, who co-ordinate to conduct a wide range of online attacks for profit and clout.
Chief Crown Prosecutor Lionel Idan said that since the arrest of Jubair and Flowers, the number of attacks attributed to Scattered Spider has “dropped to zero” – a dramatic decrease for a group linked to hundreds of incidents between 2022 and 2025.
But its other members remain active, and NCA officials have not ruled out a resurgence in attacks under a new name or the group’s previous brand. “We’d never be so bold as to say there is no chance going forwards that anyone will be subject to a Scattered Spider attack,” Foster said.