DesignTAXI

United Airlines found itself battling some unexpected turbulence after an internal memo appeared to offer passengers a free route away from Florida’s newly renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport. The airline has since tried to bring the story back down to earth, insisting that no such policy exists. The controversy began when aviation website Live and Let’s Fly published details from what it described as an internal United memo.

KFC served up a little extra salt before the 2026 FIFA World Cup final by turning one of soccer’s most sentimental photographs into a fast-food roast aimed squarely at McDonald’s. KFC South Africa reworked the widely shared image of a young Lionel Messi bathing an infant Lamine Yamal. In the parody, Colonel Sanders replaces Messi, while baby Yamal becomes a miniature Ronald McDonald, red hair, striped outfit and all.

Renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz is turning the lens on Observer Media with a copyright lawsuit over one of her most recognizable celebrity portraits. The image, which features Justin and Hailey Bieber in matching Dolce & Gabbana polka dots, was originally photographed for Vogue in 2019.

Image: Realbotix The newest teaching assistant at one New York school district isn't human. Realbotix has introduced its first humanoid robot and AI-powered teaching assistant at Salamanca City Central School District, where the technology will support STEM education. Located on the Seneca Nation Reservation, the district is the first in the U.S. to pilot the program. The company itself has an unconventional backstory. Before becoming Realbotix, it operated as the crypto-focused firm Tokens.com.

Image: Netflix Stranger Things is rewinding the tape for its 10th anniversary, and Netflix is fully embracing the 1980s. To mark a decade since the series debuted on July 15, 2016, the streamer has released a VHS Special Edition of Season 1 that makes the show look as though it came straight from a video rental store in 1983. The newly recut edition trades crisp streaming quality for fuzzy nostalgia.

A supply chain hack has revealed new details about how Suno, one of the best-known AI music generators, gathered audio to train its models, bringing new information to an ongoing debate over copyright and artist consent. Source code reviewed by 404 Media suggests the company collected material from YouTube Music, Deezer, Genius, Pond5, Jamendo, Freesound, IMSLP, and large podcast libraries.

While books have a way of pulling readers into new worlds, this one practically invites them to step inside. Los Angeles has unveiled a record-breaking pop-up book so large that turning a page feels less like reading and more like opening the curtain on a stage production. Unveiled on July 2, Luceros y Penumbras has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest pop-up book.

Swatch and Omega are taking another trip to the Moon, but this mission comes with a strict passenger list of just 1,969. Their latest MoonSwatch release looks back to one of history’s defining space missions, giving collectors a watch that is as much about the story behind its materials as the time it keeps. Called Mission to the Moon 1969, the limited-edition watch celebrates the Apollo 11 Moon landing with a production run of 1,969 individually numbered pieces.

OnePlus is hanging up the call on two of the markets that helped build its global reputation. After more than a decade of taking on smartphone heavyweights with high-spec devices at relatively affordable prices, the brand is pulling back from North America and Europe, signaling the end of a chapter that many Android enthusiasts have followed since its earliest days.

FitFlop is taking a vibrant step with a collaboration that looks beyond style and asks whether color can shape the way we feel. Teaming up with PANTONE, the British footwear brand has introduced a collection that pairs comfort-focused design with curated hues. Called The Color of Comfort, the two-part collaboration debuted on July 9 as part of FitFlop’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection.