-
Eco-friendly holiday claims under fire as watchdog cracks down on misleading adverts
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has used an AI-powered monitoring system to identify misleading environmental claims in holiday adverts from Thomas Cook and Loveholidays, ruling that terms such as “eco resort” and “eco hotel” were not properly explained. The watchdog found that consumers could reasonably interpret these labels as indicating genuine environmental benefits, yet the…
-
Cambridge lecturer called passenger ‘jihadist’ and told him to ‘blow himself up’ in drunken outburst on BA flight
Cambridge academic Dr Adam Coutts has been given a suspended prison sentence after racially abusing a fellow passenger on a British Airways flight, calling him a “jihadist” and telling him to “blow himself up”. Coutts, 48, who has advised the UN on migration and refugees, launched the drunken tirade against Hammad Aziz and his wife…
-
‘Superhero’ officer killed in A66 crash to be laid to rest today with procession through his home town
PC Matthew Blades, 37, is being laid to rest today in Hartlepool with full police honours and a procession through his home town, following his death alongside colleague PC Tom Clough, 38, in a head-on crash on the A66 on 22 August. The officers were killed when their vehicle collided with a car carrying a…
-
Millionaire racing tipster who ‘abused’ vulnerable women in chamber beneath remote Highland lodge loses travel ban appeal
Kevin Booth, a millionaire racing tipster who abused vulnerable women in an underground chamber at his remote Highland lodge, has lost an appeal against a global travel ban imposed on him last year. Booth recruited women to work at his isolated Lochdhu Lodge in Caithness, where he subjected them to so-called “punishment beatings” in a…
-
This Bonkers Hollywood Icon Officially Inspired ‘Coyote Vs Acme’s Most Important Character
Coyote vs. Acme, the animated film Warner Bros. once shelved for a tax write-off before Ketchup Entertainment rescued it for release, features a pivotal character named Dr. Lorre who turns out to be directly inspired by the real Hollywood actor Peter Lorre. The character first appeared as an unnamed “Mad Scientist” in the 1946 Looney…
-
King Lear — and yet so far
A new production of King Lear at Sheffield’s Crucible theatre, directed by Titas Halder, has been reviewed unfavourably, with lead actor Ian McDiarmid failing to recapture the acclaim of his previous turn in the role. McDiarmid, best known internationally for playing Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars, returns to Sheffield Theatres and to this play after…
-
Record gas prices squeeze Americans as summer travel season ends, midterms loom and Iran war wages on
Americans paid the highest-ever Labor Day petrol prices as the summer driving season ended, with the national average reaching a record $4.15 a gallon, adding further strain to household budgets. AAA said roughly 40 million Americans travelled over the holiday weekend despite the elevated costs, which broke the previous Labor Day record of $3.82 set…
-
‘Who do you really believe?’: the true crime fans who became a part of the story
HBO’s new true crime docuseries “A Killer Story” examines the 2002 murders of Mike Sisco and Karen Harkness in Topeka, Kansas, and the campaign by amateur investigators Keen and Eileen Umbehr to overturn the murder conviction of Sisco’s ex-wife, Dana Chandler. The three-part series, made by film-makers Matthew Galkin and Josh Levine with veteran journalist…
-
Suno trained its v6 AI music models with help from Warner and BMG
AI music generator Suno has launched its v6 family of models, marking the first time it has trained new systems using data licensed from record labels, including Warner Music and BMG. The launch formalises Suno’s commercial relationship with major labels following a 2024 copyright infringement lawsuit brought by the industry’s largest players; Warner dropped its…