Yob killer sentencing row, OpenAI’s Astra maths breakthrough, Sydney knifeman tasered

The headline brings together separate developments. In London, the five-year-and-three-month manslaughter sentence given to bus driver Demiesh Williams for the death of Andrew Clark prompted criticism from Mr Clark’s family and political opponents, who argued that it was too low. Clark died after being struck during a dispute over queue-jumping at a Beckenham supermarket; Williams had denied murder but admitted manslaughter. Separately, NSW Police arrested two men after officers responding to reports of suspicious behaviour in Burwood, Sydney, used a Taser on a 43-year-old man alleged to have been carrying two knives. He was taken to hospital under police guard while inquiries continued.

OpenAI said an internal version of its unreleased next major model, Astra, had produced ten results resolving or substantially advancing long-standing questions in mathematics and theoretical computer science. The company published manuscripts, reasoning accounts and Lean formal-verification certificates, while saying humans used the model to prepare the papers. The work includes results in geometry, coding theory, group theory, quantum complexity, cryptography and combinatorics. Although the certificates provide machine-checkable formalisation, the importance and interpretation of the claims remain matters for scrutiny by the wider mathematical community.