IDC says phone makers will ship only 1.12 billion smartphones as compared to 1.26 billion last year.

Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal's new wearable startup Temple has raised $54 million in a friends-and-family round at a post-money valuation of about $190 million.

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You’ll be relieved to know that the world’s most accomplished and respected diplomats are set to convene at United Nations Headquarters in New York in order to formulate strategies to eradicate once and for all the foremost scourge of our time: “Islamophobia.” Yes, we can all breathe easier, now that the United Nations Alliance of …

Continuing the hot streak. In case you thought that 2025 was a big year for Ernest, which included co-writing not one but four of Morgan Wallen’s multi-platinum, #1 hits off I’m The Problem and releasing two projects, Cadillac Sessions and  Live From The South, 2026 is shaping up to be even bigger for the Nashville native. If you recall, back in December, he revealed that he’s working with none other than Brooks & Dunn to help them produce their first new record in 19 years. Later in the month, he’d tell Bobby Bones that he had already completed his upcoming album, which was later revealed to be titled Deep Blue. In the same interview, the “Tennessee Queen” singer would also tell Bones that Deep Blue will be released sometime around spring break, essentially guaranteeing a March or early April release. “I’ve recorded and finished my next album, and I’m going to shoot the album art soon. And I’m going to put it out sometime like spring break. It’s going to be the perfect time for boat season.” As for what to expect from the album, Ernest would reveal that it will have some beachy/island vibes mixed with some of his patented southern flair. He’d go as far as to call it Alabama meeting Jimmy Buffett. “There’s a little island inspiration in this next album for sure. And just like a little southern, too. It’s like Alabama and Jimmy Buffett had a baby.”  During a recent interview us on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast, the “I Had Some Help” songwriter would also reveal that the Deep Blue will feel like a grown-up, beach-inspired version of his 2019 debut album, Locals Only. “It’s kind of a grown-up version of the first project I put out called ‘Locals Only,’ which was all heavily inspired by and largely written in Saint Thomas and Saint John. It’s 10 years later since a lot of the songs got written, and I’ve done a lot of growing. My voice has gotten deeper. I’ve had a lot of smoke in my throat since then. (My voice) is weathered, and my technique… I’ve sang a million songs since then.” Last month, he got the ball rolling on Deep Blue’s upcoming release with the infectious new single, “Lorelei,” which fulfilled the promise of delivering some stellar, beachy tunes and has been in heavy rotation on my personal playlist lately. On Monday, he announced the project’s second pre-released single, “Boat Named After You,” which was released today. View this post on Instagram Following in the footsteps of “Lorelei,” “Boat Named After You” is another island-centric heartbreaker from the Nashville native. Written by Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift’s long-time co-writer who has penned the likes of “All Too Well,” “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” and Tony Lane, a Nashville staple who has written the likes of Cody Johnson’s “On My Way To You” and George Strait’s “Run,” the track finds Ernest adrift at sea, reeling from a heartbreak once again. Making the track even more heartbreaking, as the song’s title suggests, the boat is ultimately named after his long-lost lover, essentially being the only thing he has left of her memory. “You might be out in California Top down, Rodeo Drive Back there in your hometown Having kids and doing fine Maybe up in Colorado Keeping warm with someone new Me, I’m out here on the water On a boat named after you” Despite the boat being the only thing he has left of her, Ernest reveals that it is fading quickly. Crooning in the second verse that her name is slowly being washed away by the waves, it presents an excellent dichotomy of his lover being erased from his life while her memory continues to haunt him. “It’s all that I got left of you Your pretty name in painted blue But every day it fades a little more” Overall, “Boat Named After You” is yet another winner from Ernest. Between the rock-solid songwriting from Chapman and Lane, Ernest silky smooth vocal delivery and some breezy production, which includes a nice mix of electric guitar and piano throughout, the track is firing all cylinders. Though the “Hangin’ On” singer has yet to confirm Deep Blue’s release, it’s safe to say that we’re in for another gem when it comes out in the coming weeks. “Boat Named After You” Live From The South 2026 Dates: 2/27 – Charleston, S.C. – Charleston Music Hall > 2/28 – Norfolk, Va. – NorVa > 3/5 – Indianapolis, Ind. – The Egyptian > 3/6 – Rosemont, Ill. – Joe’s Live > 3/7 – Columbus, Ohio – The Bluestone > 3/11 – Grand Rapids, Mich. – The Intersection # 3/13 – Detroit, Mich. – Filmore # 3/14 – McKees Rocks, Pa. – Roxian Theatre # 3/19 – Durant, Okla. – Choctaw Casino 3/26 – Boston, Mass. – House of Blues* 3/27 – New York, N.Y.– Irving Plaza* 3/28 – Bensalem, Pa. – Parx Casino* 4/2 – Houston, Texas – White Oak Music Hall* 4/3 – New Braunfels, Texas – Gruene Hall* 4/4 – Ft. Worth, Texas – Billy Bob’s* 4/16 – St. Louis, Mo. – Hawthorn # 4/18 – Minneapolis, Minn. – First Avenue # * Support By Chandler Walters > Support By Cody Lohden # Support By Rhys RutherfordThe post Ernest Finds Himself Heartbroken At Sea In Stellar New Track, “Boat Named After You” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

UK Special Coverage The British Populist Left Secures Its First Victory The Greens dominated the Gorton and Denton by-election with a combination of social leftism and pandering to immigrants. UK Special Coverage It is 10 years since the French author Michel Houellebecq published his satirical novel, Submission, about an electoral alliance between the metropolitan left and Islamism. The bestseller caused a storm of criticism for its alleged racism and Islamophobia. But this morning it looks rather more like a prescient forecast of the destination of British electoral politics. The all-important Gorton and Denton by-election was won this morning by the Green Party, not on climate change or the environment, but largely by appealing to the prejudices and preoccupations of the Muslim community in Manchester. It won its first-ever by-election victory by campaigning in minority languages, waving Palestinian and Pakistani flags, and condemning Zionism and “genocide in Gaza.” In election leaflets, the Greens portrayed the Labour prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, as a friend of the Indian Hindu nationalist leader, Narendra Modi. This importation of the sectarian politics of another country—Modi is anathema to the Pakistani Muslim community in Manchester—is not entirely new in British politics, but never on this scale. The defeated Reform candidate, Matt Goodwin, said the victorious Hannah Spencer had united a coalition of “Islamists and woke progressives that came together to dominate a constituency.” Reform, which has been leading recent UK opinion polls, had hoped to win in Gorton and Denton and in the end came a poor second. But they do not seem too disappointed. Nigel Farage’s upstart populists pushed the Labour candidate into third place in what was supposedly the governing party’s sixth-safest parliamentary seat. The Conservatives returned only 706 votes and lost their deposit. The Greens didn’t just win this by-election. They trounced the establishment parties, winning a majority of 4,000 and 41 percent of the vote in what was supposed to have been a close race. The Labour Party, which regards northern cities like Manchester as its home ground, is in a state of profound shock today. In the 2024 general election Labour won over 50 percent of the votes in Gorton and Denton.   Two things will now happen in the aftermath. The pressure on Starmer to step down will renew after a few weeks in which he had appeared to have been consolidating his position. The party he leads is also likely to move sharply to the left in an attempt to claw back the votes lost in unprecedented numbers in this heartland seat. It will almost certainly tone down its recent rhetoric on immigration. The Labour government’s recent moves to control illegal migration are deeply resented here. It may also accelerate its much-criticized plans to make “Islamophobia,” defined as hostility to “Muslimness,” a criminal offense. The Labour government recently squashed moves to ban first-cousin marriages, which are prevalent in British Pakistani communities. Of course, Gorton and Denton is only one midterm by-election, but it comes at a pivotal moment in British politics and culture. The polling guru Professor John Curtice of Strathclyde told BBC Radio this morning that the result “raises major, major questions about the future of our traditional Labour–Conservative duopoly.” It also raises major questions about the extent to which Britain is fragmenting into what are called “parallel communities” in which British democratic values no longer apply. There was significant evidence of family voting in Gorton and Denton yesterday. This illegal practice involves members of minority ethnic families being lined up in polling booths and effectively being told how to vote, usually by the patriarch. Democracy Volunteers, the accredited observers of the by-election, said they had seen “the highest levels of family voting at any election in our 10-year history of observing elections in the UK.” The victorious candidate, Hannah Spencer, who calls herself a “plumber,” did not campaign entirely on the ethnic vote. She also capitalized on resentment at the cost-of-living crisis and the collapse in the jobs market for graduates. But there was no disguising the character of this campaign by the Greens. It is the fruit of the party’s change under its charismatic new leader, Zack Polanski, who blames society’s ills on “billionaires not paying their share,” wants to legalize hard drugs, and aspires to “a world without borders”. But no mainstream party has so blatantly appealed to sectarian sentiment in British politics. This was another humiliation for the Labour–Tory duopoly, sometimes called the “uniparty,” which has dominated British politics for the last century. It will also be seen as confirmation that mass immigration has altered British culture and introduced tribalism into politics. Ultimately, this could benefit Reform and other anti-progressive parties. The U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio would no doubt cite Gorton and Denton as a prime example of what he calls “civilizational erasure.” The post The British Populist Left Secures Its First Victory appeared first on The American Conservative.