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ARIA excludes unauthorised AI music from Australian charts
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has become the first chart body in the world to bar unauthorised AI-generated music from its official sales and streaming charts, adopting eligibility principles set out by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The change follows an AI-assisted cover of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” reaching Australia’s top…
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Lockerbie bombing trial postponed days before it was due to start
The trial of Libyan national Abu Agila Mohammad Kheir Al-Marimi over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing was postponed for a third time, just days before it was due to begin in Washington DC, after new evidence emerged in the case on 21 August. His defence lawyers said the material was previously unknown to both them and…
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Kit Harington replaces Nicholas Hoult as Gilderoy Lockhart
Nicholas Hoult withdrew from HBO’s Harry Potter reboot barely a fortnight after his casting as Gilderoy Lockhart was announced, following a backlash from campaigners critical of author JK Rowling. Hoult cited “scheduling issues” for his exit, and Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington has since taken on the role instead. The episode highlights the pressure…
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The Great Dictator by Matthew Sweet review – the life of Barbara Cartland
Matthew Sweet’s new biography, The Great Dictator, offers a serious and compassionate portrait of Barbara Cartland, the phenomenally prolific romantic novelist who dictated her books aloud to secretaries while reclining with a pekingese on her lap. Rather than mocking Cartland as a lazy joke or camp figure, as some previous accounts have done, Sweet treats…
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Tell us: do you think AI has made Google search better or worse?
The Guardian is inviting readers to share their views on whether Google’s growing use of artificial intelligence has improved or worsened its search engine. Google now places AI-generated “AI Overviews” at the top of search results, summarising answers before users reach the traditional list of links, a shift the company describes as its most significant…
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Police respond after aircraft crashes near Groote Eylandt
A small plane has crashed into remote waters off the coast of Australia, near Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory, prompting a police response. Details of the incident, including the aircraft type, number of occupants and any casualties, have not been confirmed in the available reporting. The crash occurred in a sparsely populated coastal area,…
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TV tonight: this heartwrenching drama about Indigenous child welfare will make you seethe with anger
Tonight’s TV listings feature a range of programmes, headlined by a heartrending double bill of a drama depicting the Sixties Scoop, the historical period when Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families in Canada. The episode follows Patti Bird’s fight to reclaim her children, alongside a flash-forward showing the grown Esther confronting her adoptive…
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Songs created by AI banned from Australia’s music charts
Australia’s music industry body ARIA has confirmed new rules banning songs that are largely or wholly created by AI from the country’s music charts, requiring all eligible releases to be “substantially human made” from this week. The change follows controversy over Australian DJ Josh Fawaz’s AI-assisted cover of Madonna’s “Like A Prayer”, which topped the…
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The ear witness: Turner-winner Lawrence Abu Hamdan and his ‘sound evidence’ exposés of human rights abuses
Lawrence Abu Hamdan, the Lebanese-British artist who jointly won the Turner prize in 2019, leads a dual career as founder and director of Earshot, a human rights NGO he set up in 2023 that investigates abuses using sound evidence. The organisation examines cases ranging from Israeli soldiers’ shootings of emergency workers in Gaza to the…