The UK Just Lost Its Sixth Prime Minister of the Decade

UK prime minister Keir Starmer has resigned from office less than two years after leading the Labour party to a landslide general election victory. Starmer’s popularity has tanked since the start of his premiership as Britons have faced tax hikes and spending cuts, and struggled to see the promised improvements to creaking public services. May’s…

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Some Newer Cars Are Missing a Spare Tire

Since 2020, about 9 percent of the cars tested by Consumer Reports have come with a full-sized spare. Studying our database, we found that 46 percent came with a temporary (aka space-saver) spare tire, and the rest were equipped with a sealant kit (34 percent), a run-flat tire (7 percent), or nothing at all (4…

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Clearly Filtered Discount: Pitcher, Water Bottle, Under-Sink

Water filters are a booming fear-based economy. But people have good reasons to be leery of their drinking water—chlorine, microplastics, PFAS everywhere, heavy metals in the groundwater, whatever else bothers me tomorrow. But while most water filters seem to make many promises, only some back them up with independent third-party lab tests—something I’ve been sad…

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How to Choose the Right Vacuum for the Job

These lightweight tools (most weigh under 10 pounds) are much more powerful than they used to be. But their cleaning prowess still can’t match an upright or canister (especially on carpet), so they’re better for targeted tasks. They’re good enough that if you live in a small space with mostly hard-surface floors, a top model…

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Best Mobility Scooters

Our engineers developed a testing protocol based heavily on the feedback from users with lived experience of using mobility scooters. One of our distance tests measures how long each scooter can travel on a full charge over an outdoor course with hills and curves; the other measures recharging by miles per hour of charge, to…

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Best Spiral Ham From Popular Brands, Tested by Our Experts

Hams have been a holiday meal centerpiece for generations, whether for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or another special occasion. For many families, a spiral-sliced ham became the only choice after Harry Hoenselaar, the founder of HoneyBaked Ham, invented the slicing technique in 1930s Detroit. Lovers of sweet, salty, sliced pork have been indulging ever since. But…

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Best Clear Bags to Take to Games and Concerts

These bags allow stadium security (and everyone else) to see what’s in your bag, thus ensuring greater safety for everyone. And fair warning: If you wait until the last minute, you could get stuck with a not-so-great option depending on where you buy it (more on this later). We evaluated seven stadium bags, looking at…

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