2 h. ago What we lose when we surrender care to algorithms | Eric Reinhart

A dangerous faith in AI is sweeping American healthcare – with consequences for the basis of society itselfThe computer interrupted while Pamela was still speaking. I had accompanied her – my dear friend – to a recent doctor’s appointment. She is in her 70s, lives alone while navigating multiple chronic health issues, and has been getting short of breath climbing the front stairs to her apartment. In the exam room, she spoke slowly and self-consciously, the way people often do when they are trying to describe their bodies and anxieties to strangers. Midway through her description of how she had been feeling, the doctor clicked his mouse and a block of text began to bloom across the computer monitor.The clinic had adopted an artificial-intelligence scribe, and it was transcribing and summarizing the conversation in real time. It was also highlighting keywords, suggesting diagnostic possibilities and providing billing codes. The doctor, apparently satisfied that his computer had captu...

Politics

3 h. ago ‘If it tells me to walk, I get my stick’: How robots are caring for Britain’s vulnerable and elderly

Home care robots are being rolled out across the UK, providing reminders, health support, and companionship in a health system under strain

Politics

4 h. ago Two care workers charged after police probe into Edenfield Centre mental health unit

Described by police as a nurse and a support worker, they will appear in court next year

Events

4 h. ago Care workers charged after alleged mistreatment at mental health unit

BBC’s Panorama filmed patients allegedly being mistreated at an NHS mental health facility

Economics

4 h. ago Trump’s assault on voting intensifies as midterms loom:‘a wholesale attack on free and fair elections’

White House is manipulating voting system, from redistricting to rule changes, to affect midtermsA year out from the 2026 midterms, with Republicans feeling the blows from a string of losses in this week’s elections, Donald Trump and his allies are mounting a multipronged attack on almost every aspect of voting in the United States and raising what experts say are troubling questions about the future of one of the world’s oldest democracies.While Democratic leaders continue to invest their hopes in a “blue wave” to overturn Republican majorities in the House and Senate next year, Trump and some prominent supporters have sought to discredit the possibility that Republicans could lose in a fair fight and are using that premise to justify demands for a drastically different kind of electoral system. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Novels I haven’t finished reading are piling up by my bedside. What if that’s a good thing? | Hanna Thomas Uose

Authors are sounding warnings about the length of the modern attention span, but my series of abandonments is a sign of something elseThis is embarrassing, but here goes. There are five novels beside my bed, all partially read. On my phone, I am partway through 36 audiobooks, which pales in comparison to the 46 ebooks I have abandoned on my Kindle. This doesn’t count the growing pile of advance copies beside my coffee table, vying for blurbs, now that I am a published novelist myself.At first glance, these stats seem to corroborate Ian Rankin’s words. Commenting a fortnight ago on how easy it is to lose a reader’s focus, when it is fragmented by social media and the news cycle, the writer said: “Maybe as people’s attention spans change the literature will have to change with them.” But as someone who used to doggedly finish whatever I was reading, I now consider it a human right to put down a book that I’m not in the mood for.Hanna Thomas Uose is a writer and strategist. She is the ...

Politics

8 h. ago 'I chose a girlfriend who looks just like my mum, I don't care if it's gross'

A young man says he’s been slammed for having 'mummy issues' and his family have even been accused of incest because his girlfriend and mum look so similar and dress the same

Politics

8 h. ago ‘Never lose hope’: how a new Afghanistan women’s team helps refugees cope with trauma

Afghan Women United is comprised of players forced to flee their homeland and is another step in overcoming major barriers“When I step on to the pitch everything else is automatically erased from my mind,” says the captain of Afghan Women United, Fatima Haidari, when asked how football helps her cope with the traumas she has suffered.“I train, I play, and a fire inside me is lit, not just because of the power that I feel at that moment as a player, but because I feel I have many other girls with me. It’s like I’m taking their hands. Like I’m playing with them. It’s not just for me, and I feel powerful.” Continue reading...

Events

8 h. ago It would be dereliction of Borthwick’s duty not to harness Arundell’s raw talent | Gerard Meagher

It is a test of Steve Borthwick’s coaching credentials to develop speedster Henry Arundell into the player he so obviously can becomeSome things never change. Twickenham can always make a hash of the pre-match festivities, Fiji will always take the breath away and there is no substitute for pace in the elite game. If there is one thing that Steve Borthwick takes from this helter-skelter victory over Fiji, it must be Henry Arundell’s 70th-minute try on his first England appearance since the 2023 World Cup. Some way to celebrate his 23rd birthday.Chasing down Marcus Smith’s grubber kick, Arundell gave Fiji’s outside-centre Kalaveti Ravouvou an enormous head start yet still won the foot race. Suffice it to say he does not lose many and at a stroke, the Pacific Islanders were finally put out of sight. There are plenty of caveats, those who will consider hyping up Arundell’s cameo as getting carried away. He was fresh, having just come off the bench whereas Ravouvou was not. One swallow ...

Politics

8 h. ago Does Trump truly care about Nigerian Christians? Of course not – he just knows faith sells | Simon Tisdall

In a bid to exercise absolute power, today’s crop of authoritarian leaders is recruiting – and exploiting – believersDonald Trump’s crusading threat to invade Nigeria and save Christians from Islamist terrorists is typical attention-seeking. Surely even he must realise that unilateral US military intervention would invite disaster. And he’s got his facts wrong. The threat of Islamist terrorism is real, but it affects Nigerian Muslims as much, if not more, than Christians. There’s no evidence of genocide, contrary to the alarmist claims of US far-right internet warriors. Trump’s intervention was about politics, not faith.In speaking out, he was massaging a key domestic constituency, not acting from genuine, God-fearing concern for “our cherished Christians” in a land he’s never visited. Christian nationalist votes helped clinch Trump’s two presidential victories despite the obvious insincerity of his professed beliefs. His support among white evangelical Protestants is much higher th...

Politics

10 h. ago Fears care workers sponsored by SNP Government will face 'indescribable levels of exploitation'

Union bosses have called for care workers sponsored to work by the Scottish Government to boost the publicly-run social care sector

Politics

11 h. ago It's a national scandal, it's shameful, and it's time we started calling it that

When I speak to my friends, family, colleagues, interviewees, acquaintances about welcoming their children into the world through NHS maternity care – there’s a devastating common theme. And there's one place we should be pointing the finger

Politics

12 h. ago UK drivers hit with six points and £200 fine over common action

Despite it being against the law, drivers do not seem to care enough to stop the common habit

Economics

21 h. ago NHS 24 technical issue as Scots told to only call 111 'if urgent'

NHS 24 has advised Scots only to use its 111 telephone service if they are in need of urgent care.

Politics

23 h. ago Cats smothering babies with pillows and moms throwing kids out of planes: The violent videos pushed to toddlers that every parent should worry about

Video producer and AI consultant Jeremy Carrasco says his research shows that disturbing clips are being served up by algorithms typically geared towards kids.

Politics

23 h. ago European football: Harry Kane’s late equaliser saves Bayern from first defeat

Danilho Doekhi puts Union Berlin ahead twice in 2-2 drawBayern six points clear as RB Leipzig lose at HoffenheimHarry Kane headed in a stoppage-time equaliser to prevent a first defeat of the season for Bayern Munich but their 2-2 draw at Union Berlin ended their record winning start across all competitions.Union thought they had won it with Danilho Doekhi’s second goal in the 83rd minute but Kane headed in the leveller. Bayern top the Bundesliga on 28 points and in fact extended their lead to six, as RB Leipzig lost 3-1 at Hoffenheim.This story will be updated Continue reading...

Politics

27 h. ago Dog owner shares devastating warning as puppy dies after walk

A dog owner was left devastated after her one-year old Springer Spaniel puppy was rushed to intensive care after developing an infection after a walk where later he sadly passed away

Events

27 h. ago Woman issues tragic warning to all dog owners after puppy dies in intensive care

When a woman's dog fell seriously ill after a walk, it was rushed to intensive care and tragically passed away. Now, the dog owner is issuing important advice to others

Events

28 h. ago Home carers open up on terrifying 'threats, abuse and assaults' faced at night in Glasgow

Staff are demanding Glasgow’s health and social care partnership listen to their concerns.

Events

28 h. ago Families on SNAP worry about not just feeding themselves but also their pets

With SNAP benefits going out late, nonprofits are begging for pet food donations to prevent desperate owners from surrendering their dogs and cats to animal shelters

Politics