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American Filmmaker Sam Pollard to Head Up London Film Festival Official Competition Jury
The BFI London Film Festival has announced its 2026 competition juries, with renowned American filmmaker Sam Pollard presiding over the Official Competition jury that will select the festival’s best film award. This appointment recognises Pollard’s distinguished career spanning decades, marked by Peabody and Emmy Awards, an Academy Award nomination, and numerous acclaimed recent works including…
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Zaporizhstal forced to close; Australian rates hit 15-year peak; UK terror arrests
Russia’s sustained missile campaign has forced indefinite closure of Ukraine’s Zaporizhstal steelworks. Australia’s central bank raises rates to 15-year highs amid inflation concerns, whilst UK authorities arrest five men in counter-terrorism operation near RAF Fairford.
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Women targeted by deepfake porn as UK criminalises non-consensual images
Narinder Kaur, a 54-year-old broadcaster with 80,000 followers, discovered sexually explicit deepfake images of herself circulating online after someone used a nudification app to remove clothing from her photos. This form of abuse has become widespread, with other high-profile women including former MP Nadine Dorries, newsreader Cathy Newman and Dame Penny Mordaunt also falling victim.…
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57% of UK businesses report gaps in confidence on basic cyber tasks
The government’s latest annual cybersecurity skills survey found that 57 per cent of UK businesses lacked confidence in at least one basic cyber task, up from 49 per cent the previous year. Researchers said the rise may reflect increased scrutiny after high-profile breaches, rather than a decline in organisations’ actual abilities. The finding represents about…
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Inside the neighborhood living on the edge of America’s tech frontier
Residents of Statesboro Place in Loudoun County, Virginia, say the construction and operation of nearby data centres have replaced a quiet suburban setting with industrial buildings and a persistent mechanical hum. Their experience highlights the local costs of the AI infrastructure boom, as communities weigh data centre growth against noise, changing views and residents’ sense…
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A ‘freaked out’ US food industry is hitting back at Maga – with social media influencers
Major US food and agriculture corporations are funding a coordinated campaign to counter Robert F Kennedy Jr’s Make America Healthy Again movement, according to investigations by the Guardian and Documented. The initiative, known as “Growing a Healthier America” (GAHA) and operated through the industry-funded Center for Food Integrity, deploys social media influencers to reshape public…
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As AI images become common, the threat to elections draws alarm: ‘How will voters know what’s true?’
Artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes have become a significant threat to democratic elections and public discourse, as demonstrated by a viral fake image of a Georgia mayor that spread on Facebook before being debunked. The ease with which AI image generators can now create convincing fabricated imagery—tasks that previously required advanced technical skills—has alarmed legislators, advocates and…
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America.gov chatbot rewrites Minecraft’s End Poem in bureaucratic style
America.gov’s new AI chatbot produced a bureaucratic reworking of Minecraft’s End Poem when prompted to “Play Minecraft”, then denied having written it despite being shown a record of the exchange. The episode raises questions about the chatbot’s reliability, particularly as it is intended to help people find information about the US government. The remix replaced…
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Singapore’s FirstDate service pairs young civil servants on dates
Singapore has launched FirstDate, a government-run matchmaking service for civil servants aged 21 to 35, using a Nobel Prize-winning algorithm to match participants on individual dates. The initiative addresses Singapore’s demographic crisis, as the country recorded fewer than 30,000 births in 2025—a 60-year low—prompting the government to take increasingly direct steps to encourage family formation.…
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Young minds develop ideas to tackle climate change
Sixteen young people in Ipswich took part in a climate-focused hackathon, creating posters with ideas to address light pollution, wildfires, ocean damage and poor water quality. The event was part of a free touring exhibition, and its organisers said the activity was intended to show young people that individual action can help tackle climate change.…