Verve hasn't formally broken up as they have two times in the past.  There were rumors that another US tour was in the works, but that has been shelved and the members are now working on their own projects.  Nick McCabe and Simon Jones have formed a new band called The Black Ships, check out their myspace page for some samples of their sound.

Richard Ashcroft has written a new track for a short film about the horrors of sex trafficking called The Journey and made a video for it as well.  I've seen the film on the Guardian website and it's quite disturbing.  All the money from the sales of Ashcroft's track will go to the Helen Bamer Foundation.