34 h. ago Inseparable, sensuous and confident, the Kessler twins were pioneers of variety show culture

Alice and Ellen Kessler, who died by joint assisted suicide this week, entertained – and occasionally scandalised – Europe with their glitzy and subversive pop music and classically informed dance• The Kessler twins die together aged 89 – newsWhen Dean Martin announced the Kessler sisters’ appearance on his show in 1966, he remarked that he had been desperate to book them not just because the German-born dancer-singers were “so pretty and so talented”, but “also because they’re twins, that means there are two of them”. “They’re a double,” he added with a nod to his half-drunk crooner persona, “and there’s nothing I like more than a double”.The two sisters, who died by joint assisted suicide earlier this week, also performed with Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte and Fred Astaire, but the American market never impressed them much. In 1964 they turned down a role in Elvis’s Viva Las Vegas for fear of being pigeonholed in American musical comedies. Continue reading...

Culture

3 d. ago This country has just become the smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup

The nation carries a land mass of 171 square miles and boasts a population of less than 157,000

Politics

4 d. ago M40 serious crash LIVE: Tanker and car collision closes busy motorway with big queues

Specialist teams are currently working at the scene, according to National Highways, with the main carriageway closed for "safety reasons" overnight on Monday, November 17

Events

4 d. ago M40 chemical spill LIVE: 'Significant damage' to motorway after tanker crash as road remains closed

Specialist teams are currently working at the scene, according to National Highways, with the main carriageway closed for "safety reasons" overnight on Monday, November 17

Events

5 d. ago Maxon Margiela dead at 21: Rapper dies one week after hospitalization over suicide attempt

Rapper Maxon Margiela - born Mason Reyes - has died at just 21. The rising star passed away in Miami on Sunday, one week after a reported suicide attempt.

Events

8 d. ago Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in second ODI as tour continues despite bombing

The three-game series is being played out amid the fallout from a suicide bombing earlier this week

Events

8 d. ago Pakistan says Afghan nationals behind two recent suicide attacks

Pakistan’s interior minister says Afghan nationals carried out two fatal suicide attacks this week

Events

9 d. ago Pakistan says Afghan nationals carried out this week’s suicide attacks

Pakistan’s interior minister says Afghan nationals carried out two fatal suicide attacks this week, one targeting a cadet college near the Afghan border and the other outside a court in the capital, Islamabad

Events

2 w. ago ChatGPT accused of acting as ‘suicide coach’ in series of US lawsuits

Chatbot was first used for ‘general help’ with schoolwork or research but ‘evolved into a psychologically manipulative presence’, plaintiffs sayChatGPT has been accused of acting as a “suicide coach” in a series of lawsuits filed this week in California alleging that interactions with the chatbot led to severe mental breakdowns and several deaths.The seven lawsuits include allegations of wrongful death, assisted suicide, involuntary manslaughter, negligence and product liability.In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Afghan official says 4 civilians killed in border clash with Pakistan during peace talks

Tensions have risen between Pakistan and Afghanistan after a clash along their shared border killed four Afghan civilians and wounded five others

Events

2 w. ago Secretive artist snuck unusual painting into national museum and displayed it

The artwork, which appears to be AI-generated, was snuck into the National Museum of Wales by an artist who has carried out similar stunts

Culture

2 w. ago 'Persistent and relentless paedophile' raped child every week for years leaving them suicidal

'You have no capacity of understanding or even wanting to understand or try to come to terms with the enormity of your offending. You are a persistent and relentless paedophile' - Judge

Events

3 w. ago Pakistan partially reopens Torkham border crossing to allow Afghan refugees to leave

Pakistan has partially reopened the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan, allowing thousands of stranded Afghan refugees to return home

Events

3 w. ago France needs its own No Kings day to protect its most valuable treasure | Patrick Boucheron and Pierre Singaravélou

We have no crown jewels: the Louvre panic is a distraction from the real threat the far right poses to our democracyAccording to some international commentators – and France’s perpetually doomsaying conservatives – the break-in at the Louvre was much more than a burglary; it was the latest chapter in a grand narrative of national collapse. Never mind that it was probably carried out by a couple of chancers with a crowbar: for some of the pessimists, it’s civilisation itself that’s being prised open.Funny how the same people who decry France’s alleged dysfunctionalism probably marvelled at the Paris Olympics of summer 2024 – that brief, dazzling interlude when the city actually worked, the trains ran on time, and millions around the world fell a little bit in love with France again.Patrick Boucheron is a French historian and author, and professor of history at the Collège de France; Pierre Singaravélou is professor of history at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon- Sorbonne. Continue r...

Politics

3 w. ago Over half a MILLION ChatGPT users exhibit signs of mania, psychosis or suicidal thoughts every week, OpenAI warns

In a recent blog post, the AI giant warned that 0.07 per cent of its weekly users showed signs of serious mental health emergencies.

Events

3 w. ago More than a million people every week show suicidal intent when chatting with ChatGPT, OpenAI estimates

Finding is one of most direct statements from the tech company on how AI can exacerbate mental health issuesMore than a million ChatGPT users each week send messages that include “explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent”, according to a blogpost published by OpenAI on Monday. The finding, part of an update on how the chatbot handles sensitive conversations, is one of the most direct statements from the artificial intelligence giant on the scale of how AI can exacerbate mental health issues.In addition to its estimates on suicidal ideations and related interactions, OpenAI also said that about 0.07 of users active in a given week – about 560,000 of its touted 800m weekly users – show “possible signs of mental health emergencies related to psychosis or mania”. The post cautioned that these conversations were difficult to detect or measure, and that this was an initial analysis. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Hurricane Melissa update as rare category 5 storm set to be strongest ever to hit Jamaica

The Carribean nation is bracing for its worst storm in history as Melissa strengthens into a category 5 hurricane

Events