Technology

What AI doesn’t know: we could be creating a global ‘knowledge collapse’ | Deepak Varuvel Dennison

As GenAI becomes the primary way to find information, local and traditional wisdom is being lost. And we are only beginning to realise what we’re missing This article was originally published as ‘Holes in the web’ on Aeon.co A few years back, my dad was diagnosed with a tumour on his tongue – which meant we had some choices to weigh up. My family has an interesting dynamic when it comes to medical decisions. While my older sister is a trained doctor in western allopathic medicine, my parents are big believers in traditional remedies. Having grown up in a…

Politics

Microsoft has ‘ripped off the NHS’, says MP amid call for contracts with British firms

Samantha Niblett highlighted government’s multi-billion-pound deals with Microsoft and ‘getting locked in’ Microsoft has “ripped off the NHS”, it was alleged in parliament on Wednesday, as MPs called on ministers to divert more of the government’s multibillion-pound computing budget away from US technology companies and towards British alternatives. The Seattle-based firm’s UK government contracts include a five-year deal with the NHS to provide productivity tools reportedly worth over £700m, while the wider government spent £1.9bn on Microsoft software licences in the 2024-25 financial year alone. Continue reading… Source link

Word News

UK weather: ‘blizzard conditions’ likely in north-east England

Snow hits UK coasts with Met Office warning worst-affected regions could face travel disruption and power cuts Blizzard conditions are possible in parts of north-east England where an amber warning for snow has come into force, the Met Office has said. Sleet and snow showers continued to hit UK coasts overnight into Thursday, with the worst-affected areas facing disruption to travel and potential power cuts, the forecaster said. Continue reading… Source link

Technology

‘Fear really drives him’: is Alex Karp of Palantir the world’s scariest CEO?

His company is potentially creating the ultimate state surveillance tool, and Karp has recently been on a striking political and philosophical journey. His biographer reveals what makes him tick In a recent interview, Alex Karp said that his company Palantir was “the most important software company in America and therefore in the world”. He may well be right. To some, Palantir is also the scariest company in the world, what with its involvement in the Trump administration’s authoritarian agenda. The potential end point of Palantir’s tech is an all-powerful government system amalgamating citizens’ tax records, biometric data and other…

Top Stories

More than half of UK novelists believe AI will replace their work

A new study by the University of Cambridge found many authors’ work has already been used – without their permission – to train large language models More than half of published novelists in the UK believe artificial intelligence could eventually replace their work entirely, according to a new report from the University of Cambridge. The study, conducted for the university’s Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, suggests widespread unease about the speed and scale of AI’s advance into the literary world. Continue reading… Source link

Business

Ban on veggie ‘burgers’: plant-based products may lose meaty names in UK under EU law

Exclusive: Trade agreement means UK is subject to some food labelling rules, with vote on vegetarian food terms this week Calling plant-based food veggie “burgers” or “sausages” may be banned in the UK under the new trade agreement with the EU, the Guardian understands. The Labour government secured a new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the EU earlier this year, which allows British businesses to sell products including some burgers and sausages in the EU for the first time since Brexit. Continue reading… Source link

Politics

Reform’s Welsh hopes damaged after Senedd member suspended for ‘vile’ racial slur

Parliament suspends Laura Anne Jones, Reform’s only Senedd member, for two weeks in further blow after party lost Caerphilly byelection Reform UK’s only member of the Welsh parliament has been suspended for two weeks over a racial slur she posted in an office WhatsApp group. Laura Anne Jones used an offensive Chinese slur in a discussion about the threat of the Chinese government utilising TikTok for espionage. Continue reading… Source link

Technology

Master System at 40: the truth about Sega’s most underrated console

Forty years ago, the Nintendo Entertainment System dominated the markets in Japan and the US. But in Europe, a technologically superior rival was making it look like an ancient relic There’s an old maxim that history is written by the victors, and that’s as true in video games as it is anywhere else. Nowadays you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Nintendo Entertainment System was the only console available in the mid-to-late 1980s. If you were brought up in Nintendo’s target markets of Japan and North America, this chunky contraption essentially was the only game in town – the…

Politics

British Jews turn to Greens and Reform UK as support for main parties drops

Study finds new party divide as backing for Labour and Conservatives plunges from 84% in 2020 to 58% in 2025 A new party divide is emerging among British Jews, research has found, with support rising fast for the Greens – buoyed up by younger and “anti-Zionist” Jews – while older Orthodox men turn to Reform UK as trust in the two main parties “collapses”. Support for Labour and the Conservatives among British Jews had fallen to 58% by July 2025 from nearly 84% in 2020, according to a report from the Institute of Jewish Policy Research (JPR), which said…

Word News

Secret translation of Nauruan president’s interview on NZYQ deal with Australia to stay suppressed for decade

Penny Wong says translation notes were ‘taken hastily’ by official who was not accredited translator and were ‘for internal purposes only’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A top secret translation of the Nauruan president’s public commentary on the NZYQ deal will remain suppressed for a decade after the Albanese government considered its release “inappropriate”. Nauru declined to endorse an informal translation by Australia’s High Commission of the 10-minute public interview uploaded to Facebook in February, nor did it provide its own translation, newly released…

Technology

Crypto market sheds more than $1tn in six weeks amid fears of tech bubble

Bitcoin price at lowest level since April while FTSE 100 falls as Google boss warns there is ‘irrationality’ in AI boom Business live – latest updates More than $1tn (£760bn) has been wiped off the value of the cryptocurrency market in the past six weeks amid fears of a tech bubble and fading expectations for a US rate cut next month. Tracking more than 18,500 coins, the value of the crypto market has fallen by a quarter since a high in early October, according to the data company CoinGecko. Continue reading… Source link

Top Stories

A Man on the Inside season two review – Ted Danson’s despicably bland show is everything wrong with TV

Only our current tech hellscape could create a comedy so insidiously inoffensive. Prepare to be pummelled into submission as your time is siphoned off by OK entertainment This is a cosy, lighthearted whodunnit about a retired professor who gets a second wind as a private eye. It’s also a bingo card for just about everything that makes streamer-era TV so patronising, uninspiring and mind-numbingly dull. On the surface, A Man on the Inside’s crimes might seem negligible: it’s a little schmaltzy, a little too pleased with itself in that wisecrack-stuffed American comedy way. Yet it’s exactly that inoffensiveness that…

Business

What does the left want? A wealth tax. What will that accomplish? Very little | Aditya Chakrabortty

Imposing a 1% levy on the super-rich isn’t a policy, it’s pantomime. Tackling inequality in Britain will require much more far-reaching changes By this time next week you will be digesting the budget, you lucky thing. Yet even before Rachel Reeves has commended a single damn thing to the house, her efforts have been written off as a “shambles”, from a “chaotic” government that is Labour in name alone. Which begs the question: what is the leftwing alternative? Because there is one, on which agreement stretches from Labour backbenchers to many of their opponent MPs and far beyond. Whether…

Politics

Up to 50,000 nurses could quit UK over immigration plans, survey suggests

Exclusive: union leaders say proposed changes are immoral and could threaten patient safety if there is staff exodus Up to 50,000 nurses could quit the UK over the government’s immigration proposals, plunging the NHS into its biggest ever workforce crisis, research suggests. Keir Starmer has vowed to curb net migration, with plans to force migrants to wait as long as 10 years to apply to settle in the UK instead of automatically gaining settled status after five years. Continue reading… Source link

Politics

People are right to ask ‘what is the point of Labour?’ when it can’t agree on anything | Martin Kettle

Who knows where this government’s credibility will be after next week’s exceptionally difficult budget By instinct and conviction, Rachel Reeves is a traditionally social democratic, centre-left Labour chancellor. When she delivers her budget next week, though, those qualities will be hard to discern. The reason for that is simple but powerful. She has become hemmed in on every side by avoidably tight commitments on taxation, spending and borrowing. Above all, however, she is hemmed in by Labour politics. It did not have to be this way. Reeves would have had a freer fiscal hand if she and Labour had…

Technology

Roblox rolls out age-verification features in Australia as gaming platform insists child social media ban should not apply

Online gaming company says voluntary age assurance technology will limit teens and children messaging users outside their own age groups Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast As Roblox rolls out new age assurance features to prevent teens and kids from chatting with adults they do not know, it has insisted Australia’s upcoming under-16s social media ban should not apply to its services. The company, which is releasing the new features in Australia first, said that from Wednesday users will be able to voluntarily have their…

Top Stories

Tell us: have you ever received a terrible Secret Santa?

We’d like to hear all about your Secret Santa disasters It’s that time of year again… Whether it’s with family, colleagues or friends, many of us will be asked to take part in a Secret Santa as the festive period approaches. You know the drill: a fixed budget, a random name draw, and a high risk of ending up with something a bit naff. But hey, that’s Christmas, right? Maybe you’ve been lucky, and have done well out of Secret Santas over the years. But we’re looking for stories of when it’s gone really, really wrong. Have you received…

Business

All wrapped up: the 10 best British towns and cities for Christmas shopping with a local flavour

Where better to source what you need for the season than the places with a reputation for making it? From fizz and food to fine art, here’s our festive shopping guide Stock up on festive fizz with a trip to the heart of Kent’s flourishing wine region. Start the tastings at Simpsons’ wine estate, 10 minutes’ drive from Canterbury, then head to Domaine Evremond, Taittinger’s UK vineyard, where its first release, Classic Cuvée Edition I, is available at the Cellar Door shop. Nearby, the medieval village of Chilham makes an ideal stop for lunch at the Woolpack Inn. Back…

Technology

Amazon vs Perplexity: the AI agent war has arrived

A lawsuit over automated shopping reveals a deeper struggle over who will control the next generation of AI and what happens when autonomous agents start acting on our behalf Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery. Lies, damned lies and AI: the newest way to influence elections may be here to stay Elon Musk’s Grok AI briefly says Trump won 2020 presidential election AI is guzzling energy for slop content – could it be reimagined to help the climate? How Google’s DeepMind tool is ‘more quickly’ forecasting hurricane behavior Anthropic announces $50bn plan for datacenter construction…

Word News

Edinburgh TV Festival could leave Edinburgh

Organisers look at other UK venues amid concerns over costs and industry’s lack of working-class voices For almost 50 years, the great and the good of British broadcasting have descended on Edinburgh each summer to discuss the trials and tribulations of the TV world. David Attenborough, Tina Fey, Emily Maitlis and Rupert Murdoch are among those to have previously given speeches at the city’s TV festival. Yet amid concerns about the industry’s lack of working-class voices and the high cost of a hotel room in the city, the event’s organisers are thinking the unthinkable: the Edinburgh TV festival could…

Technology

Cloudflare outage causes error messages across the internet

US company that defends millions of websites against malicious attacks says it believes issue ‘is now resolved’ Explainer: What is Cloudflare? A key piece of the internet’s usually hidden infrastructure suffered a global outage on Tuesday, causing error messages to flash up across websites. Cloudflare, a US company whose services include defending millions of websites against malicious attacks, experienced an unidentified problem that meant internet users could not access some of its customers’ websites. Continue reading… Source link

Business

Ford UK boss warns Rachel Reeves against higher taxes on electric vehicles

Lisa Brankin says new levies could discourage switch to EVs amid reports chancellor mulling pay-per-mile charge Business live – latest updates The boss of Ford UK has warned Rachel Reeves against increasing taxes on electric vehicles in next week’s budget, saying it could discourage drivers from making the switch away from petrol and diesel cars. Lisa Brankin, the managing director of Ford UK, said it was “certainly not the right time” to introduce new levies on EVs, amid reports that the chancellor could implement a new pay-per-mile charge on electric vehicles (EVs) from 2028. Continue reading… Source link

Top Stories

Markets rally after Nvidia’s strong results calm AI bubble fears, and investors await US jobs report – business live

Investors cheer forecast-beating results from chipmaker, as attention turns to delayed US employment report The Chinese ministry of commerce has said the dispute over the supply of chips from Nexperia, the Dutch-based Chinese-owed company, is still not fully resolved. “There is still a gap to completely solve the problem,” the Chinese ministry of commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday. “Minister Karremans justified his actions by accusing Nexperia’s CEO of various acts of alleged mismanagement. Wingtech strongly rejects these accusations and points out that, to date, no proof has been provided,” The minimum is no additional cost for business. Every time…

Technology

Do you really need to buy a new TV? Seven simple ways to upgrade your setup (some are even free)

Don’t splash out just yet! From a system update to better room lighting, a little fine-tuning could save you hundreds • Do you really need to buy a new laptop? Do you really need to buy a new TV? While the latest specs and outrageous screen sizes may well be a temptation, perhaps you can save money (and the environment) by holding off a little longer. With some simple tips and tricks, you can level up your TV experience. Of course, the Fomo is real. Back in the day, the only reason to buy a new TV was when…

Word News

Coalition to help Labor rush through new nature laws if environmental protections dropped

Sussan Ley’s offer allows a clear path to pass laws to rewrite Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act in final sitting week Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Coalition has offered to help Labor rush through new nature laws if it agrees to gut environment protection, challenging Labor to side with business interests over green groups to implement the long-awaited changes. Environmental lawyers are urging the government against further weakening already flawed laws at the “behest of industry”. Continue reading… Source link

Top Stories

The play that changed my life: ‘It was frightening at first but The Inheritance let me discover myself’

Roles as EM Forster and a young, gay American dying of Aids in the 2018 play allowed an opportunity for deep personal and social reflection In 2018 I had recently lost my mother, so I was looking for connections with the spirit. The Inheritance allowed me to talk about matters of the heart. It was the world premiere at the Young Vic in London, so we were making something brand new, which is always thrilling. They’d already done a week’s rehearsal with another actor who had pulled out of what became my role. I stayed up all night reading…

Word News

Justice department has 30 days to release all Epstein files after Trump signs bill – US politics live

Trump attacks Democrats as he seeks to shape the narrative surrounding his links with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein Donald Trump has confirmed a long-awaited meeting with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will happen in Washington this week. The sit-down, which Trump said on social media would take place on Friday in the Oval Office, could possibly represent a detente of sorts between the Republican president and Democratic rising star. Continue reading… Source link

Word News

Democratic Florida lawmaker indicted for allegedly stealing $5m in Fema funds

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick accused of funneling money to family healthcare business for 2021 congressional campaign Democratic representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly funneling more than $5m worth of federal disaster funds from her company into her 2021 congressional campaign. The indictment states that Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, stole $5m in Fema overpayments that their family healthcare company received, moving the money through multiple accounts to hide its origins. The indictment alleges that the majority of the money was used for Cherfilus-McCormick’s congressional campaign, as well as for the personal benefit…

Word News

Papua New Guinea ‘not happy’ as Australia walks away from bid to host Cop31

Australia had been pushing to host climate conference next year with south Pacific nations, which are increasingly threatened by rising seas and climate-fuelled disasters Papua New Guinea has voiced frustration after Australia ditched a bid to co-host next year’s UN climate talks with its Pacific island neighbours. “We are all not happy. And disappointed it’s ended up like this,” foreign minister Justin Tkatchenko told Agence France-Presse after Australia ceded hosting rights to Turkey. Continue reading… Source link

Word News

Larry Summers to relinquish Harvard teaching role amid Epstein investigation

Decision comes after ex-treasury secretary said he would step back from public commitments over links to Epstein Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard University, will stop teaching at the school while it investigates his connection to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a spokesman for Summers said on Wednesday. Emails recently released by the US House oversight committee reignited questions about Summers’ relationship with Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex-trafficking minors. Many of the messages indicated a friendship that lasted well into 2019. Contact only ceased shortly before Epstein was…

Word News

Trump signs bill to compel release of more Epstein documents

President attacks Democrats in post on Truth Social after US lawmakers swiftly move bill through Congress Donald Trump signed a bill Wednesday directing the justice department to release files from the investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, surrendering in the face of joint pressure from Democratic opponents and the president’s conservative base. The signature marked a sharp reversal for Trump, who had the authority as president to release the documents himself, but chose not to. Continue reading… Source link

Word News

Rabih Alameddine wins National book award for fiction with darkly comic epic spanning six decades

True to his irreverent style, author of The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) thanks his psychiatrist, his gastrointestinal doctors and his drug dealers Rabih Alameddine has won the National book award for fiction for The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother), a darkly comic saga spanning six decades in the life of a Lebanese family. The novel, which traverses a sprawling history of Lebanon including its civil war and economic collapse, is told through the eyes of its titular protagonist: a gay 63-year-old philosophy teacher confronting his past and his…

Word News

Samoa PM suspends country’s only daily newspaper from press briefings amid dispute over coverage

Prime minister has accused the Samoa Observer of inaccurate reporting during his eight-week medical stay in New Zealand Samoa’s only daily newspaper has been banned from attending press conferences with the Samoan prime minister, in a move that critics say threatens the democratic integrity of the Pacific nation. Relations between La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt and the Samoa Observer have deteriorated in recent weeks, with the prime minister accusing the newspaper of inaccurate reporting during his eight-week medical stay in New Zealand. Continue reading… Source link

Word News

Any Ukraine peace plan needs Kyiv and Europe ‘on board’, says EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas – Europe live

European foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels as reports circulate about a secret plan between Moscow and Washington to end the war EU foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels this morning amid reported growing pressure on Ukraine to consider a secretive draft plan to end the war based on what effectively amounts to a capitulation from Kyiv. The draft plan, which was reportedly developed by Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the Kremlin adviser Kirill Dmitriev, would force draconian measures on Ukraine that would give Russia unprecedented control over the country’s military and political sovereignty. The plan is likely…

Word News

Andy Burnham calls on Labour to rethink plans to make it tougher for asylum seekers to settle permanently – UK politics live

The home secretary’s plans ‘may leave people in a sense of limbo and unable to integrate’, Burnham said Good morning. On Monday Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, announced drastic changes to the asylum system. Today, in a statement to MPs, she will announce changes to the legal migration rules – in particular those affecting how long people have to wait until they are given a permanent right to stay in the UK. Mahmood strongly criticised by the Commons speaker over the amount of pre-breifing there was ahead of Monday’s announcement, and this morning the Home Office has been more…

Word News

Wanna hear the one about the low-paid dad who took paternity leave?

MPs will tell ‘dad jokes’ in parliament to highlight ‘real joke’ of UK paternity leave, which is a class issue Toe-curlingly bad jokes (“I’m reading a book about anti-gravity, it’s impossible to put down”) are not the preserve of fathers, but as a demographic, dads are widely recognised for their unique comic talents. Which is why on Thursday, dozens of MPs, many of them dad-joke specialists, will tell groan-worthy gags in the House of Commons to highlight the “real joke” of paternity leave in the UK. Winner: I gave my handyman a to-do list, but he only finished items…