95 m. ago ‘Impressive for a robot’: home care chatbots among AI tools being embraced by Australia’s health system

From GPs using the technology to record consultations to AI ‘detectives’ finding brain lesions on scans, experts say it’s only the beginningGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPeta Rolls came to expect Aida’s call at 10am each morning.A daily check-in call from an AI voice bot was not part of the service Rolls expected when she signed up for St Vincent’s home care but when they asked her to be part of the trial four months ago, the 79-year-old said yes because she wanted to help. Although, truth be told, her expectations were low. Continue reading...

Society

1 hour ago Larkhall councillor calls on politicians to unite and help create banking hub in the town

Conservative councillor Richard Nelson has written to Bank of Scotland bosses to state his opposition over the impending closure of the Larkhall branch early next year.

Politics

3 h. ago Nicki Minaj and Cardi B write open letters to each other's kids as they go to war

Nicki Minaj and Cardi B have been locked in a tense war of words with one another on social media, often taking personal digs – now, they've written a letter to each other's children

Events

3 h. ago Pets at Home restocks viral £30 advent calendar that 'sold out online in 2 weeks'

Along with the bestselling dog advent calendar, a cat edition is set to hit the shelves.

Economics

3 h. ago Robertson the star and kids called up – Cardiff City training notebook

The Bluebirds are preparing to face Leyton Orient at the weekend

Politics

5 h. ago Woman loses 20 pounds in 8 weeks with walking and fitness app

Becky was able to make small changes to help keep on top of her personal weight loss journey

Politics

6 h. ago Apple pulls ICE tracking apps after pressure from the White House

Programs allowing public to post information about raids by immigration agents in their communities pulled from App Store following heavy criticism from Trump administration officials this summer

Events

6 h. ago Fresh blow for Keir Starmer as major firm rules out helping Labour introduce digital ID cards because 'they don't have public support'

Louis Mosley, the UK boss of Palantir Technologies, noted how Labour 's manifesto prior to last year's general election made no mention of such a scheme.

Politics

7 h. ago Kemi Badenoch is just ‘a Reform tribute act’, claims Ed Miliband as he lashes out at Tory climate policy

The energy secretary has written for The Independent condemning the Tory leader’s decision to ditch net zero policies

Events

8 h. ago Agriculture: The Spiritual Sound review – unabashedly gorgeous noise from ‘ecstatic black metal’ band

(The Flenser)The LA group’s second album pairs all the power and euphoria of heavy music with imaginative detailing and poignant lyrics – it will have you levitating with joy All of the euphoria, transcendence and power of heavy music emanates with blinding force from the second album by this self-described “ecstatic black metal” band from Los Angeles.The Spiritual Sound pairs crushing weight with imaginative detailing. Lead single Bodhidharma rides a riff fit for a biker gang, then a burst of static and screaming heralds a sad post-rock middle eight. The maligned art of the widdly-woo solo is spectacularly resurrected by guitarist Richard Chowenhill, whose soloing here and on highlight Flea will have you levitating with joy – but then the calm ballad Hallelujah features falling guitar notes played with childlike simplicity. Continue reading...

Culture

9 h. ago Taylor Swift’s Charli xcx hit job misses the point – and underscores her tedious obsession with conflict

Sixteen months after Charli used Brat to air her anxieties about Swift, the US star’s graceless response is a missed opportunity for growth – and betrays her vengeful sideCharli xcx released her sixth album, Brat, on 7 June 2024. Within seconds of it streaming, fans had deduced that the song Girl, So Confusing was probably about Lorde: all it took was the line “people say we’re alike / They say we’ve got the same hair”, riffing on a 2014 video where Charli and an interviewer did a bit about people confusing the two. In the song, Charli laid bare her anxieties about their relationship and admitted: “Sometimes I think you might hate me.” Exactly two weeks later came the Girl, So Confusing Featuring Lorde remix, brokered by the pair over text and voice note in the days after Brat came out. On Lorde’s verse, she owned up to ghosting on dinner dates with Charli and exposed the self-hate, projection and industry-fuelled sense of pop-girl-on-pop-girl rivalry that had made her shy away from...

Events

9 h. ago Taylor Swift’s Charli xcx hit job misses the point – and underscores her tedious obsession with conflict | Laura Snapes

Sixteen months after Charli used Brat to air her anxieties about Swift, the US star’s graceless response is a missed opportunity for growth – and betrays her vengeful sideCharli xcx released her sixth album, Brat, on 7 June 2024. Within seconds of it streaming, fans had deduced that the song Girl, So Confusing was probably about Lorde: all it took was the line “people say we’re alike / They say we’ve got the same hair”, riffing on a 2014 video where Charli and an interviewer did a bit about people confusing the two. In the song, Charli laid bare her anxieties about their relationship and admitted: “Sometimes I think you might hate me.” Exactly two weeks later came the Girl, So Confusing Featuring Lorde remix, brokered by the pair over text and voice note in the days after Brat came out. On Lorde’s verse, she owned up to ghosting on dinner dates with Charli and exposed the self-hate, projection and industry-fuelled sense of pop-girl-on-pop-girl rivalry that had made her shy away from...

Events

10 h. ago Two Australian women and four children escape Syrian detention camp and flee to Victoria

The six Australians received no government assistance in their 500km journey from the violent Al-Hol detention camp to LebanonFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo Australian women and four children have escaped a Syrian detention camp and made their own way home to Victoria, as pressure mounts on the Australian government to repatriate its citizens.The two women and four children – the Guardian is not revealing their names or ages – escaped from the notorious Al-Hol detention camp in north-east Syria, travelling more than 500km to cross the Lebanese border, where they were able to obtain Australian documents in Beirut. Continue reading...

Politics

10 h. ago Newcastle footballer Anthony Gordon recreates Princess Diana's iconic hairstyles

The Newcastle United star's locks have caused quite the stir after eagle-eyed social media users noted that they seemed to resemble the late Princess of Wales.

Politics

10 h. ago Instagram head dispels rumours the app is listening to you and how you can check

Many people have claimed for years that their phones are listening to them when they see ads about specific things they have been speaking about - and now the head of Instagram has explained how it works

Politics

12 h. ago Bossing it! The makers of Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere on turning Jeremy Allen White into the rock icon

Springsteen’s 1982 lo-fi album Nebraska was recorded when the singer was battling with depression – but about to become a superstar. Now that pivotal period has been brought to the screen – with The Boss’s approvalTwo years ago, film director Scott Cooper and writer Warren Zanes were summoned to Bruce Springsteen’s house in New Jersey. In a sense, the meeting was a surprise: as Cooper notes, Springsteen was known for “saying no to every overture about making a film of his life since 1986”. But something about the screenplay Cooper had written had clearly piqued his interest. It was based on Zanes’ book Deliver Me from Nowhere, not a traditional career-spanning biography, but a forensically researched history of Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska, which Zanes calls “the greatest left-turn performed by someone who is operating at the top of the charts in musical history”.Released between Springsteen’s first US No 1 album, 1980’s The River, and the world-conquering Born in the USA in 19...

Events

19 h. ago Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home review – an extremely moving look into the rock icon’s final months

This fly-on-the-wall documentary was meant to follow the couple as they left LA for Buckinghamshire. It turned into a compellingly intimate memorialAs sad as it was, there was something undeniably poetic about Ozzy Osbourne’s death in July, 17 days after his final performance with Black Sabbath in their native Birmingham, and only four months after he moved back to the UK. Consider Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home the explanatory notes accompanying that eerie, strangely elegant verse; a documentary following the rock icon’s final months as he reflects on his life, roots, work, ill-health and impending death. As for that last one, the 76-year-old didn’t believe in heaven or hell. And he was incandescent at the prospect of dying in his adopted home of America and lying for eternity in a “McDonald’s version of a cemetery”.Ozzy had been suffering from a slow-progressing form of Parkinson’s disease for the past two decades, which in conjunction with a 2019 spinal injury significan...

Politics

21 h. ago Putin dismisses fears that Moscow plans to attack Nato as ‘nonsense’

During speech in Sochi, Russian president also strikes conciliatory note towards Donald TrumpVladimir Putin has vowed to quickly retaliate against Europe’s “escalating militarisation”, while dismissing as “nonsense” western fears that Moscow plans to attack Nato.During a wide-ranging speech in Sochi on Thursday, the Russian president said: “We are closely monitoring the escalating militarisation of Europe We simply cannot ignore what is happening. We have no right to do so for reasons of our own security.” Continue reading...

Politics

23 h. ago EFL referee who asked girls to call him ‘Daddy’ may have preyed on hundreds of victims, police say

Gareth Viccars, 47, pressured three 15-year-olds into sex after meeting online via messaging app Snapchat

Events

24 h. ago Les Misérables lyricist felt lack of credit for transforming musical to English, letters reveal

Late lyricist Herbert Kretzmer had written to producer Cameron Mackintosh to highlight that his contributions were ‘downgraded’

Politics