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Devolution row, house price slump and Sussexes’ silent return dominate the news
The Greens face an internal by-election battle in Holborn and St Pancras, UK house prices dipped annually for the first time since 2023, and Buckingham Palace stayed tight-lipped as Harry and Meghan returned home; plus a Staffordshire baby murder probe and Indonesian flight chaos.
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Joey Barton to remain in custody until trial after bail application turned down
Joey Barton, the former footballer, will remain in custody until his trial next year after a judge refused his renewed application for bail. Appearing by video link from HMP Liverpool, the 44-year-old was told by Judge David Potter that he would stay on remand, with his trial pushed back to March 2027 rather than proceeding…
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Painful, unconvincing and boring: welcome to John Healey’s late show | John Crace
In this sketch column, Guardian writer John Crace lampoons John Healey’s first major outing as chancellor, delivering a scathing verdict on his debut speech at a manufacturing centre in Coventry. Crace portrays Healey, previously seen as a principled defence secretary who once resigned over defence spending pledges, as strikingly hesitant and lacking authority now that…
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The Cure’s 1981 classic that left their producer “on the verge of a nervous breakdown”
The Cure’s early 1980s output, particularly the 1981 album Faith, proved so relentlessly bleak that co-producer Mike Hedges refused to work with the band again afterwards, saying the sessions left him “on the verge of a nervous breakdown.” This period marked a stark contrast to the band’s later, poppier image, cementing their reputation as post-punk…
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‘Mistrust’ of Palantir may affect NHS research, says health minister
The health innovation minister, James Frith, has warned that public “mistrust” of Palantir could undermine NHS research, after new figures showed a surge in patients opting out of sharing their medical data. The comments come as the government weighs whether to terminate Palantir’s £330m contract to run the NHS’s federated data platform, amid pressure from…
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French winemakers forecast 30-year low harvest after severe drought and heat
French wine producers are forecasting their smallest harvest in 30 years after a severe drought and the country’s hottest summer on record, the agriculture ministry has said. The decline matters because it reflects the accelerating impact of the climate emergency on one of France’s signature industries, threatening both the volume and, potentially, the quality of…
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Nightwing CEO accidentally broadcasts internal memo to journalists
Nightwing’s chief executive Bob Coleman accidentally sent an internal Labor Day thank-you message to journalists, including The Register, after apparently selecting the wrong distribution list. The mishap is notable because Nightwing is a cybersecurity and intelligence contractor that markets itself on secure communications, making the slip-up something of an embarrassment for a firm spun out…
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Architect of UK’s AI policy quits after Anthropic conflict of interest concerns
Matt Clifford has been forced to step down as chair of the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) after MPs raised concerns that his new full-time role at Anthropic, the San Francisco-based AI firm behind Claude, represented a “clear conflict of interest”. Clifford had tried to retain both positions simultaneously, with Anthropic saying he…
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Chris Langham, Thick of It actor, dies at 77
Chris Langham, the actor and writer best known for playing hapless government minister Hugh Abbot in the BBC political satire The Thick of It, has died of pancreatic cancer aged 77. His career was defined by both notable comic achievement and disgrace: after early success he was jailed in 2007 for downloading child pornography, an…