Category Archives: UK news

‘We have to adapt or die’: Daniel Bedingfield says AI is music’s future

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Exclusive: Gotta Get Thru This singer argues that ‘neo-luddites’ risk being left behind as technology develops

The growing use of artificial intelligence in the creative industries has been described as an existential threat to jobs and artistic integrity. Earlier this year artists including Billie Eilish and Katy Perry signed an open letter urging tech companies not to “sabotage creativity”, while Nick Cave has called lyrics written by ChatGPT “a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human”. But according to the musician Daniel Bedingfield, AI is music’s future, and anyone who fights against it faces being left behind.

“AI is now here for ever,” he told the Guardian. “And so I think that there will be two paths: there’ll be the neo-luddite path, and then there’ll be everyone else, most of the planet, who thinks the music’s really good and enjoys it.”

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Riot police on standby across England and Wales for further far-right protests

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At least 25 rallies thought to be planned as religious leaders condemn attempts to sow hatred after Southport killings

Riot police will be on standby in every force in England and Wales to tackle planned far-right protests across the country this weekend, as religious leaders condemned “shameful” attempts to sow hatred after the Southport murders.

Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Christian leaders were among those calling for calm at any demonstrations, amid warnings of potential escalation of violent disorder.

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Starmer’s live facial recognition plan would usher in national ID, campaigners say

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PM accused of ignoring civil rights and aping autocracies as he proposes new powers after far-right unrest

Civil liberties campaigners have said that a proposal made by Keir Starmer on Thursday to expand the use of live facial recognition technology would amount to the effective introduction of a national ID card system based on people’s faces.

Silkie Carlo, the director of Big Brother Watch, said it was ironic the new prime minister was suggesting a greater use of facial matching on the same day that an EU-wide law largely banning real-time surveillance technology came into force.

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Robert Jenrick focuses Tory leadership bid on promises to cut immigration

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Former Home Office minister says he is open to capping immigration and wants to reimpose Rwanda scheme

Robert Jenrick has said he would hope to detain and deport people who arrive in the UK on small boats “within days” if he wins the Conservative leadership race and the next general election.

The former immigration minister said he was “open” to a cap restricting immigration to fewer than 10,000 people a year and shared his hopes of reimposing the Rwanda scheme.

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‘Reputational car crash’: insiders rue BBC’s handling of Huw Edwards

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Staff feel disillusioned with senior management and bitter that his pay had become an unstoppable snowball

For Huw Edwards, once the most trusted newsreader in Britain, now a convicted user of images of the most serious child sexual abuse, the disgrace is total – and nowhere more than in his home country of Wales.

Hours after he pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children as young as seven, a plaque on a building at Cardiff castle commemorating its unveiling by Edwards had already been wrenched off; his voice was also deleted from its guide. He is likely to be stripped of honorary titles at Bangor and Cardiff universities. A mural of the newsreader’s face in his home village of Llangennech, Carmarthenshire has already been painted over by the artist.

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Stephen Lawrence’s father says he was not told son’s body was being exhumed

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Neville Lawrence says he learned of plans to return remains to UK after he saw video of damaged grave in Jamaica

Stephen Lawrence’s father has said he was not informed of the decision to exhume his son’s body in Jamaica and return it to the UK, and that he is “appalled” at the condition his grave was left in.

It comes after Stephen’s mother, Doreen Lawrence, said her family had decided to “bring Stephen home to be closer to us” after originally burying him on the Caribbean island because they felt “he would not be at peace in this country”.

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Don’t be fooled by the interest rate cut – higher rates are here to stay

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Mortgage payers and business owners vainly hope cut to 5% signals return to pre-pandemic era of cheap borrowing

Mortgage payers and business owners will be hopeful that a cut in interest rates to 5% by the Bank of England this week signals a return to the pre-pandemic era of low borrowing costs.

Unless much lower interest bills arrive soon, thousands of homeowners and businesses could be forced to sell up.

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Anti-racists mobilise to counter ‘unprecedented’ UK far-right rallies

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Mass movement aims to ensure rightwing demonstrations this weekend are opposed

A mass movement of anti-racists is being mobilised to counter a number of far-right rallies taking place across the UK this weekend, campaigners have said.

Counter-protests are being planned across the country in response to far-right demonstrations expected to take place in more than 25 towns and cities after the Southport attack that left three children dead.

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Fear of US recession rattles global markets as tech shares fall

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Europe’s main indices all decline and Japanese equities suffer worst day since 2020 while gold hits fresh record

Stock markets in Europe, Asia and New York tumbled on Friday as fears of a US economic slump grew and technology shares were hit by underwhelming earnings.

Concerns that the US could be sliding towards a recession spurred a global sell-off, which accelerated after a poor employment report on Friday showed that the US jobs market was cooling fast, pushing up the unemployment rate.

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Far-right call to arms over Southport has echoes of Dublin stabbings aftermath

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Misinformation and disinformation played major part in riots after stabbings involving children

Anyone in Ireland sitting in front of their television screen or checking their mobile phone about events unfolding in Southport this week could not help but be struck by the similarities to what happened in Dublin in November last year.

On both occasions young children were repeatedly stabbed.

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English hospitals brace for ‘alarming’ disruption as GPs go on strike

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Exclusive: A&Es and mental health services face ‘dangerous’ surge that could continue into 2025, say bosses

The NHS faces “alarming” and “dangerous” disruption until Christmas and potentially into 2025, health chiefs have said, after GPs began their first industrial action in 60 years amid a major row over funding.

Hospitals, A&E units and mental health services are already under huge pressure. They are now braced for a surge in demand from thousands of patients turning to them for help after family doctors in England launched work-to-rule action on Thursday.

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Environmentalist becomes first juror to swear oath on river water

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Paul Powlesland, the co-founder of Lawyers for Nature, says he considers the River Roding to be sacred

When jurors are called to court, they are required to swear on a holy book or make a secular promise to tell the truth.

So court officials were perplexed when the environmental activist and barrister Paul Powlesland was called for jury service and produced a vial of river water and asked to swear on the River Roding.

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Boy, 11, arrested on suspicion of arson and seven men charged over Hartlepool rioting

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Police car was set on fire during Wednesday’s violent disorder, for which 12 people were arrested, in wake of stabbing attack in Southport

An 11-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a police vehicle was set alight, while seven men have been charged, all in connection with the violent disorder in Hartlepool that followed the Southport stabbings.

On Friday morning, Cleveland police said all seven men were charged with violent disorder. Among them, a 42-year-old was additionally charged with assault by beating of an emergency worker; and a 28-year-old man was additionally charged with possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.

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‘We don’t want to feel unsafe in the place we love’: Muslims and asylum seekers fear more far-right protests

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Faith leaders have been seeking security advice, while asylum seekers have decried the ‘ideology of hate and blame’ after the Southport attacks

It was about 6pm on Wednesday when faith leaders at the Nasir mosque in Hartlepool were told by police to close its doors due to a protest by far-right activists in the town.

“The police came and said we need to block the gate because there is trouble on the way,” recalled Muhammad Ali Ahmad, general secretary of the mosque.

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‘Humongous’ fort found in Wales may disprove theory of Celtic-Roman peace

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Site in Pembrokeshire suggests area was more militarised than previously thought, says expert who made discovery

A previously unknown Roman fort discovered in Pembrokeshire in Wales overturns assumptions that the area’s indigenous Celtic tribe was on peaceful terms with the Roman invaders.

The site, which has excited archaeologists, had been hidden until now beneath an enormous, overgrown field. It explains why the land had been unsuccessful for farming: the farmer kept hitting stone.

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‘I’m lucky. Others are not so fortunate’: man injured in Southport attack tells story

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John Hayes was stabbed in leg as he tried to stop attacker who killed three girls

A man who was stabbed in the leg while trying to stop the Southport attacker has said he is lucky the knife just missed an artery, as he praised the police and paramedics for being “the real heroes”.

John Hayes, 63, was speaking from his hospital bed after he was stabbed in the leg as he tried to stop the attacker, who entered a dance and yoga class on Monday and stabbed several children.

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Keir Starmer confirms new violent disorder unit after ‘thugs’ rioted in wake of Southport attack – live

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As exclusively revealed by the Guardian, the PM has announced a new unit to deal with violent disorder in the wake of the Southport rioting

The British Medication Association (BMA) said action by GPs in England will be a “slow burn” rather than a “big bang”.

Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of the BMA’s GP committee for England (GPCE), said:

This will not be a ‘big bang’. It will be a slow burn. It’s likely that impact may not be felt for some time. We hope this will give the new government time to consider our proposed solutions including fixing our contract once and for all.

General practice should be the front door of the NHS, not the doormat. We don’t want to have to take this next step, but must if we’re to stop our services from collapsing completely.”

We had a huge response to this ballot, and the results are clear – GPs are at the end of their tether. This is an act of desperation. For too long, we’ve been unable to provide the care we want to.

We are witnessing general practice being broken. The era of the family doctor has been wiped out by recent consecutive governments and our patients are suffering as a result.”

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Man jailed after shoplifting hundreds of Cadbury Creme Eggs

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Layton Richards, 29, sentenced to eight months in prison for string of thefts in Dorset, Hampshire and West Sussex

A thief has been jailed for eight months after being found guilty of shoplifting almost 800 Cadbury Creme Eggs over a three-month period.

Layton Richards, 29, had been charged with 24 shoplifting offences between 6 January and 18 April this year, with Hampshire and Isle of Wight constabulary accusing him of stealing as many as 798 of the confectionery items.

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Relief for borrowers as UK interest rates cut but little sign big reductions to come

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Incremental cuts likely over two to three years with rates expected to stay well above pre-Covid levels of 0.75%

Borrowers will breathe a collective sigh of relief. The Bank of England has cut interest rates by a quarter point to 5% and major lenders are shaving their best-buy mortgage offers in response.

Those wanting to get on the housing ladder should find property slightly more affordable after the cut, which ends a year of ultra-high borrowing costs and is the first rate cut in more than four years.

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Maoist cult leader was found dead in bed in prison cell, inquest hears

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Aravindan Balakrishnan, jailed in 2016 for string of sexual assaults, died of natural causes, coroner rules

A Maoist cult leader jailed for a string of sexual assaults and for keeping his daughter captive for three decades was found dead in bed in his prison cell, an inquest has heard.

Aravindan Balakrishnan, 81, who called himself Comrade Bala and brainwashed his cult into thinking he had godlike powers and could read their minds, died at HMP Dartmoor in Devon on 8 April 2022.

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