35 m. ago Creative industries are among the UK’s crown jewels – and AI is out to steal them | John Naughton

The tech firms’ efforts to change copyright laws and gain free access to intellectual property is patently wrongThere are decades when nothing happens (as Lenin is – wrongly – supposed to have said) and weeks when decades happen. We’ve just lived through a few weeks like that. We’ve known for decades that some American tech companies were problematic for democracy because they were fragmenting the public sphere and fostering polarisation. They were a worrying nuisance, to be sure, but not central to the polity.And then, suddenly, those corporations were inextricably bound into government, and their narrow sectional interests became the national interest of the US. Which means that any foreign government with ideas about regulating, say, hate speech on X, may have to deal with the intemperate wrath of Donald Trump or the more coherent abuse of JD Vance. Continue reading...

Events

40 m. ago Met Office map shows where 70mph winds and 12 hours of rain could hit UK tomorrow as weather warnings issued

The Met Office has said rain accompanied by strong winds will make for very poor weather conditions tomorrow, especially on roads.

Events

41 m. ago Man 'lucky to be alive' after thug stamped on his head at train station in Glasgow

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES Daniel Dolan was accosted by the thug after getting on a train to go visit his brother.

Politics

83 m. ago Kris Jenkins hit 'The Shot' to win Villanova a national title. So what happened to his ring?

Kris Jenkins owes a Villanova fan a drink

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2 h. ago NHS warns ‘clothes not fitting well’ could be sign of back condition

It could need treatment, the NHS warns

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2 h. ago Mother who aborted her healthy baby after doctors wrongly diagnosed unborn daughter with fatal form of dwarfism reveals her devastation

Warning: This article contains details some readers may find upsetting. A 20-week scan at Blackpool Victoria Hospital identified serious issues with Kay Young's daughter, Keira.

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2 h. ago A very big house in the city! Blur star Graham Coxon is renting out this £3m family home on AirBnB as his divorce costs spiral

The four-bed Muswell Hill home is 'perfect for group getaways' but guests booking on Airbnb are warned their stay may be interrupted by viewings as the property is also listed for sale.

Society

3 h. ago Weather map reveals where 70mph winds and 12 hours of rain to hit tomorrow as yellow warnings issued for large chunks of Britain

The UK is bracing for 70mph winds and 12 hours of rain tomorrow, as travel disruption is expected and some areas may experience flooding as well as loss of power.

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3 h. ago Fired rangers warn of chaos at national parks as Musk’s sweeping cuts remove vital services

The Trump administration laid off 1,000 National Park Employees last week, a move rangers say will cause chaos across the country.

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3 h. ago Traitors winner Leanne reveals fiancée's heartbreaking breast cancer battle inside their Welsh home

WARNING: Contains content some may find distressing - Leanne Quigley, who won hit BBC One show Traitors last month, is engaged to fellow army recruit Sophie Jones, who was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer last year

Events

3 h. ago Phil Collins admits he’s ‘very sick’ following retirement announcement

‘I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens but I'm not hungry for it anymore’

Politics

3 h. ago Top shale boss says US oil companies will not flock back to Russia

Harold Hamm warns executives will be wary of any peace deal between Trump and Putin

Politics

3 h. ago 'New Covid' discovered in bats has a much higher mortality rate, Wuhan scientists warn

Scientists from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China have shared warnings of a new strain of Covid found in bats which has a fatality rate of 35%, amid fears of a new pandemic

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4 h. ago New tax in England could end UK tourism, warns industry boss

The idea of an England-wise levy that would act as a tourism tax have ben slammed as the CEO of UK Hospitality says the already struggling industry is being 'taxed out of existence'

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4 h. ago Yellowstone 1923's Alex star issues 'devastating' warning ahead of season 2

Yellowstone prequel 1923 is set to return for a second season and Alex actress Julia Schlaepfer has issued a 'devastating' warning to fans

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4 h. ago 'No wonder' verdict as NHS in Wales faces recruitment crisis

Audit Wales warned that progress to tackle the problems are "hampered by the absence of a national workforce plan, gaps in data and uncertainty over the future shape of healthcare services"

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4 h. ago Bong Joon Ho: ‘I wish I had Ken Loach’s energy, but I’m just thinking about nap time’

How do you follow up an Oscar winner like Parasite? If you’re the South Korean auteur, you make a sci-fi satire where Robert Pattinson dies over and over again. The director discusses the inspirational Loach and Mike Leigh and why it’s hard being a ‘middle-aged film-maker’We are in the run-up to the release of Bong Joon Ho’s latest, Mickey 17, and Warner Bros has got the Oscar-winning Korean director stashed away in what appears to be some kind of basement storage room, with grey-painted brickwork and exposed wiring. In fact, this room could pass for one of the “gritty and kind of nasty” cargo-container-packed cabins of his film’s spaceship setting.Not that anyone is complaining. Bong, who speaks good English but prefers to conduct interviews via his longtime interpreter Sharon Choi, appears cheerful throughout our conversation, taking occasional sips from a takeaway coffee cup, while dressed in his usual arthouse auteur uniform of a slate-grey blazer over a black T-shirt. He i...

Politics

4 h. ago Met Office weather warning sparks fears of flooding as 12 hours of heavy rain to hit Wales

There are two weather warnings in place in Wales over the next few days

Events

5 h. ago ‘I tried this unusual wellness activity loved by Meghan Markle and was wowed by the results’

If you're looking for a new wellness activity to try, then sound baths could be for you. Here's what happened when one writer tried an experience reportedly loved by Meghan Markle

Politics

5 h. ago ‘The essential ingredient is openess’: Curtis Sittenfeld on the deep joy of midlife friendship

Friendships become closer as you get older argues the novelist, because by middle age everyone has faced dramatic challenges, disappointments and sorrows – and being honest about them is a powerful point of bondingMy ninth book is published this week, and in recent years I’ve described my writing like this: I take care with my sentences, but exquisite prose isn’t my goal. My goal is to give the reader the feeling that you – and by you, I mean me – have when you’re going for a long walk with a close friend, and the friend says: “The craziest thing just happened to me.” What?! You think and possibly say. Tell me immediately! And then what happened, and then what happened? As a writer, this is the urgency I’m chasing, this is the investment, the richness of emotion, the confiding and closeness and caring.A line in Miranda July’s 2024 novel All Fours, a book I’ve discussed with many friends, perfectly captures for me this sense of participating in a bottomless conversation: “I was often...

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