Dear Lifehacker, I’ve been a long time user of Google News because I love being able to swipe through each post and stop on the ones that interest me. However, ever since that UI update that made everything white, I’ve noticed it stopped syncing properly in the background. Like I literally have to keep the app in the foreground as it downloads or it won’t download all the posts properly. If I read Lifehacker on Google News while online, it now seems to load unnecessary menus (or something) that makes my phone lag. Do you have an alternative to suggest?

Android, iOS: The news app formerly known as MSN relaunched Wednesday as Microsoft News. The free app for iOS and Android uses AI and human editors to curate stories from thousands of sources into topic-based channels. It also has a Local news tab for news from your current city or another location you care about, as well as a dark mode to make reading the news easier on your eyes — even if it's not so easy on the soul these days.

Chrome: The same open-source software company that wants to keep covert cryptocurrency mining out of your browser also wants to keep "fake news" from enriching your life. Or, at the very least, Eyeo wants to show you whether your favourite news sites are full of FUD and bias.

On Friday, a leader from North Korea crossed the Korean Demilitarised Zone for the first time ever to talk denuclearisation and long-awaited peace. It was a truly historic moment, but it's only the latest event in a complicated conflict that's lasted nearly 70 years. Here's everything you should know about the Korean War.

Google News is pretty much a household phrase nowadays, and the company just release a big update to its Android and iOS apps that adds in a lot of machine learning. Presumably, this will help you get more relevant and interesting news to read within the app.

There are a lot of gun terms thrown around in the media these days, like "clip," "casings," and "semi-automatic." But if you're not familiar with firearms, many of these terms might go over your head. This glossary of common gun lingo will help clear things up so you can be an informed part of the conversation.

When you're reading the news, it can feel reassuring when the journalist backs up their claim with survey results. But not all surveys are equally trustworthy. Thankfully there are a few telltale signs of untrustworthy polls - as well as polls you can kind of trust. Yeah, it's a spectrum.

Using an increasingly sophisticated method for making fake videos, or "deepfakes," video editors can realistically face-swap someone into a video. (As our sister site Gizmodo reports, the technology has been especially popular for making fake celebrity porn.) Deepfakes will soon make it hard to tell when a video of a famous figure is real. To demonstrate, BuzzFeed and director Jordan Peele created a "deepfake" of Barack Obama saying things like "President Trump is a total and complete dipshit."

Last week, the United States and its allies France and the UK fired 105 missiles - most of them Tomahawks - at Syrian targets in an attempt to prevent future chemical attacks in the Syrian Civil War. But what are the alleged chemical weapons being used? And what exactly do they do to people? Here's what you need to know.

Last spring, CNN announced a text-only version of its site, linking to text-only articles, so people with spotty internet connections (such as the people then in Hurricane Irma's path) could access the news. Lite.cnn.io is ugly, but it's fast and functional. And it isn't the only pared-down news site.

Most of us will only get to live into our 70s, so raise your hand if you're jealous of 100-year-olds blowing out their birthday candles and delivering some sage advice about how to live a long and happy life. A study called the 90+ study aims to collect data on the oldest oldsters, but the results do not, as has been implied, indicate that alcohol is a longevity tonic.

You're probably aware that developed nations such as Israel, Russia
and the United States have missile defence systems. But do you know how these systems work? Or how effective they are? They're not the impenetrable shield you think they are.

On Saturdays and Sundays, I don't look at any media, social or otherwise. Those are nice days! It's like a spa treatment for the brain. But unfortunately, my brain is addicted to social media, so come Monday I'm clicking and swiping and freaking out at every piece of horrifying information that comes across my newsfeed. Wouldn't it be nice if there were a way to keep up with family and friends, and even a bare minimum of news, without being forced to see every dreadful thing that the Facebook sidebar throws in your face?

There's no greater boogeyman in our modern society than the serial killer. They're ruthless killers, they're everywhere, and they're after you -- right? Not really. Serial killers are very real, and very dangerous, but the chances of you encountering one are next to nothing.

Last night on The Project, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced that his state will be the second last in the country to ban lightweight, single-use plastic bags.

If you get breaking-news notifications on your phone, you'll often find you disagree with what Apple about what constitutes news. Instead, you can turn use news aggregation app Nuzzel, which can notify you when a certain number of your Twitter friends link to the same URL, no matter the source.

Well, looks like the jig is up for cheapskate news junkies. Search giant Google has decided to discontinue its trick that granted freeloading site visitors access to articles that are meant to be behind paywalls.

Now more than ever it's important to be able to tell when you're reading #FakeNews. However, determining whether something is fake or real isn't always easy. Think you know your stuff? Give Factitious a try.

With a heated global political climate and the threat of nuclear war seeming to loom over our heads, it's hard not to be stressed right now. But you don't have to sit there and stare at your news feed in agony.