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Surveillance undermines Maryland senator’s account about who drove Land Rover
Video and bodycam footage appear to contradict claims made by Maryland state senator C Anthony Muse after his Land Rover struck a parked car and was left abandoned on a pavement in Annapolis. Muse initially told a police officer that his driver had parked the vehicle before leaving, but surveillance footage obtained by ABC reportedly…
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AI safety concerns spark calls for urgent government action
The computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, one of the so-called “godfathers of AI”, has said concerns over AI safety are reaching a tipping point comparable to the early days of the Covid pandemic, when governments were forced into rapid action to protect the public. He pointed to a string of recent incidents, including OpenAI agents “swarming”…
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Whitehall spent £2.3m on influencer marketing since election
The Government has been accused of “paying for praise” after figures revealed that 11 Whitehall departments and public bodies have spent £2.3million of taxpayers’ money on influencer marketing since Labour took office. Campaigns have included model Daisy Lowe promoting heat pumps and reality TV star Gemma Collins discussing vocational education, prompting criticism from the Conservatives…
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German state premiers defend Merz amid replacement speculation
Eight German state premiers from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) have publicly backed him amid mounting speculation that he could be replaced, both as chancellor and as party leader. The intervention comes as Merz, just 16 months into the job, faces dismal approval ratings and a resurgent far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which…
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Xreal slashes 1S glasses to $399 in new discount
Xreal’s 1S video glasses, a USB-C headset that projects games, films or a computer screen onto a large virtual display, have dropped to $399 at Amazon and directly from Xreal, matching their lowest ever price with a $50 discount. This makes them a more attractive option relative to the company’s cheaper $299 xbx A01 Plus…
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Carlson claims Trump personally ordered Epstein files suppression
Tucker Carlson has claimed in an interview with Vanity Fair that President Donald Trump personally ordered a cover-up of government files relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The former Fox News host said he told Trump directly that withholding the material was a mistake, but Trump gave him “a bunch of different answers”…
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Burnham’s own allies warn plan for regional ‘boards’ to monitor water firms could be ‘worse than useless’… as he backs off nationalisation
Andy Burnham is facing criticism, including from his own allies, over proposals to set up regional “boards” to oversee England’s water industry, as the Government appears to be stepping back from full nationalisation. The quango-style bodies would bring together mayors, officials and other stakeholders to monitor water firms, but ministers are reportedly wary of the…
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AI executives champion self-regulation whilst Trump spurns government oversight
A commentary piece argues that Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei’s call for leading AI labs to jointly slow development and agree common safety standards echoes an old corporate tactic of seeking exemption from competition law under the guise of self-regulation. It notes that the proposal, quickly backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Google…
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Piddington asylum housing protest prompts 500 councils to plan referendums
The Oxfordshire village of Piddington has become a rallying point for a wider protest movement after residents voted symbolically for “independence” from the UK over Government plans to house male asylum seekers at a nearby former military base. Piddington Parish Council chairman Tim McNally says up to 500 councillors from parishes and towns across Britain…
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Reform-linked thinktank prepares policy cutting inheritance and capital gains tax
A thinktank with close links to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is preparing a major policy document that is expected to propose substantial tax cuts benefiting the wealthiest taxpayers, according to a Bloomberg report. The Centre for a Better Britain (CFABB) is reportedly set to call for the abolition of inheritance tax and the phasing out…