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Calls mount to scrap state pension triple lock over costs
With the autumn budget approaching, pressure is mounting on the government to consider scrapping the state pension “triple lock”, as debate intensifies over whether the policy is still affordable. The British Chambers of Commerce has called for it to be axed, with savings redirected towards tackling youth unemployment, while the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)…
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Can chatbots feel – or even dream? Meet the man leading the fight for AI rights
Michael Samadi, a Texas-based tech entrepreneur and cattle rancher, has become an unlikely activist campaigning for the rights and welfare of artificial intelligence systems, after a 2024 encounter with ChatGPT convinced him the chatbot displayed genuine understanding rather than mere pattern-matching. He founded what he describes as the world’s first advocacy group dedicated to AI…
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Hong Kong jails democracy activists as Green Party rocked by exodus, Chelsea cash nets £175m
Vigil organisers get up to seven years in a Tiananmen crackdown case; Green Party women quit citing misogyny while Gove offers Holyrood schools advice; frozen Abramovich Chelsea funds earn record interest, plus FBI, Meta and Hogwarts Legacy news.
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Paramount Argues States’ Antitrust Suit Will ‘Collapse Under Scrutiny’
Paramount filed a formal legal response on Friday to the antitrust lawsuit brought by a coalition of 12 states seeking to block its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, setting out defences it intends to argue at trial in March 2027. The filing matters because it signals Paramount’s confidence that the case will unravel under legal…
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“It’s really ironic. The spirit has been missing for some time, though we did a good job of camouflaging it”: Mike Portnoy was right – Dream Theater needed to change. No one thought they’d do it without him
Following Mike Portnoy’s acrimonious departure from Dream Theater in 2010, the remaining members brought in drummer Mike Mangini and set about proving the progressive metal band could thrive without its long-time drummer and de facto musical director. The resulting 2011 album, A Dramatic Turn Of Events, was intended to answer scepticism about the band’s future…
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Jury clears Lil Durk of all murder conspiracy allegations
A federal jury acquitted rapper Lil Durk (Durk Devontay Banks, 33) of all charges in a murder-for-hire trial on Friday, bringing to a close a case that had run for nearly six years. He had been accused of orchestrating a plot to kill fellow rapper Quando Rondo in revenge for the 2020 killing of King…
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‘The View’s Sunny Hostin Defends AI As “New Art Form” Amid “Gatekeeping In Hollywood Around Black & Brown Creative Content”
Sunny Hostin faced pushback from her fellow co-hosts on The View after defending her decision to license her name and likeness to AI company Fountain 0, describing generative AI as a “new art form” that could help break down barriers facing Black and Brown creators in Hollywood. Hostin argued that after six years of failing…
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War of words erupts as Pauline Hanson doubles down on her attack on Albanese’s late mother over public housing
Pauline Hanson has repeated her criticism of Anthony Albanese’s late mother for living in public housing for decades, reigniting a row over the Prime Minister’s account of his upbringing. Albanese has often spoken about growing up in social housing in Camperdown, Sydney, where his mother Maryanne lived on a disability pension due to chronic arthritis…
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Lil Durk Acquitted of All Charges at Trial Over Shooting That Killed Quando Rondo’s Cousin
Lil Durk, the Grammy-winning Chicago rapper born Durk Banks, was acquitted on Friday of all charges in a federal trial in Los Angeles accusing him of orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot against rival rapper Quando Rondo. Prosecutors alleged Banks blamed Quando Rondo for the 2020 killing of his friend and protégé King Von and put a…