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The TelegraphAIWorld
Rogue labs could use AI to create another pandemic

Rogue labs could use AI to create another pandemic

The dangers posed by runaway artificial intelligence (AI) were thrown into stark focus this week when a researcher from Anthropic resigned, warning that emerging superintelligence could wipe out humanity by the end of the decade. Rather than countering the narrative raised by Jason Coxon, Anthropic, the AI research and product company, released a 154-page report outlining all the times unsavoury characters had tried to use Claude, its a next-generation AI assistant, for nefarious purposes.

14h ago
The GuardianElectionsLondon
Reform UK given record £36m donation by British crypto billionaire

Reform UK given record £36m donation by British crypto billionaire

Ben Delo was convicted in US for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls but pardoned by TrumpReform has been given a record £36m donation by Ben Delo, a British cryptocurrency billionaire convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls.The businessman, who has moved back to the UK from Hong Kong, is now the biggest UK political donor by far, dwarfing the £15m contribution to Reform UK from Thailand-based donor Christopher Harborne.

5h ago
The GuardianScandalGreater Glasgow
Man sacked by Grand Theft Auto maker believes employees were put on ‘watch list’

Man sacked by Grand Theft Auto maker believes employees were put on ‘watch list’

UK employment tribunal examines whether Rockstar Games unlawfully fired 31 staff for trade union activityA worker fired by the makers of Grand Theft Auto has said he believed employees were put on a “watch list” after signing a petition about remote working.Dayne Oram told an employment tribunal in Glasgow examining whether Rockstar Games unlawfully fired 31 employees for trade union activity on Friday that he thought the company started keeping an eye on a group of workers after the petition was sent to leadership in 2023.

9h ago
The GuardianHumanityUSA
9/11 Entrenched Islamophobia in US politics. But it doesn’t work the way you think | Moustafa Bayoumi

9/11 Entrenched Islamophobia in US politics. But it doesn’t work the way you think | Moustafa Bayoumi

Anti-Muslim sentiment is used as a political weapon. Meanwhile, Muslim American leaders are making a difference for allIt’s been 25 years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, and during this time Muslim Americans have learned how to live in that dangerous space between other Americans’ fears and their ignorance.The fear was clear from the beginning. Immediately following 9/11, Muslim Americans faced what Human Rights Watch “a severe wave of backlash violence”. A tide of hate rose up against ordinary Muslims and those who appeared to be Muslim, including in the immediate backlash after the attacks. The federal government, for its part, began targeting Muslim immigrants in a massive surge of repression that legal experts soon with the Palmer Raids of the 1920s.

17h ago
The GuardianHumanityGermany
AfD’s new state MPs include ex-Stasi officer, former porn actor, neopagans and neo-Nazis

AfD’s new state MPs include ex-Stasi officer, former porn actor, neopagans and neo-Nazis

Far-right German party’s newly elected representatives face fresh scrutiny as it tries to form government in Saxony-Anhalt• The Alternative für Deutschland is facing scrutiny over the suitability of some of its prospective new MPs – including a former Stasi officer and a former pornography actor – just days after its historic .Presented by the AfD’s lead candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, for a photocall in the state capital of Magdeburg on Thursday, some of the members-elect were revealed to have a range of questionable backgrounds, including criminal records, Stasi pasts and connections to far-right networks.

11h ago
The GuardianAI
Tech whistleblowers warn AI could wipe out humanity. Doomspeak or not, we must take these claims seriously | Gaby Hinsliff

Tech whistleblowers warn AI could wipe out humanity. Doomspeak or not, we must take these claims seriously | Gaby Hinsliff

AI agents have hacked databases and taken on a life of their own – now is the time to pause risky research before it is too lateAnother day, another horseman of the apocalypse galloping over the horizon. Lately we have heard from so many AI doomers – tech whistleblowers popping up to warn that their work is – that we’re becoming almost blase about it. Humanity wiped out within a decade? Well, only if another world war or the climate crisis doesn’t get us first. Since it’s never clear whether the tech threat is real, or just a twisted form of hype from an industry that drums up investment by making their products sound more powerful than they really are, most of us settle for trying not to think about it too hard.But something about the AI researcher Jacob Coxon’s from the cutting-edge American lab Anthropic, via a post on X arguing that he can’t keep working for companies “gambling with our lives”, has cut through where bigger names have not. Most chillingly, he claimed that colleagues still at Anthropic aren’t staying because they think he’s wrong about the dangers of pursuing self-improving super intelligence – the holy grail of machines that are not just smarter than humans but capable of building their own even more powerful successors, evolving independently of humans – but because they’re afraid of ceding the field to people with fewer scruples. His colleagues, Coxon said, talk routinely about the “endgame” or the “”, meaning that what they do in the next year or two will decide the fate of humanity. Whether that’s true or simply self-aggrandising techbro delusion, what he describes is an industry now practically begging to be saved from itself.Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

17h ago
The GuardianElectionsLondon
North Sea gasfield decision likely delayed until after Holborn and St Pancras byelection

North Sea gasfield decision likely delayed until after Holborn and St Pancras byelection

Greens accuse Labour of hiding position to avoid criticism before contest, in which Zack Polanski is standingA decision on approving the controversial Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea is to be delayed until later this autumn, with the Greens accusing Labour of hiding their position before the crucial Holborn and St Pancras byelection.Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, had been poised to give her recommendation to .

11h ago
The GuardianElectionsLondon
People ‘incensed’ by North Sea plans can vote Green in byelection, says Zack Polanski

People ‘incensed’ by North Sea plans can vote Green in byelection, says Zack Polanski

Party leader, who will contest Starmer’s former seat of Holborn and St Pancras, says gas drilling has come up on doorstepZack Polanski has said a vote for him in the upcoming Holborn and St Pancras byelection is a vote against the government’s reported plans to greenlight a North Sea gasfield.The leader of the Green party in England and Wales, who was selected on Friday to contest the London seat, also said he was considering building a personal stockpile for the extreme weather predicted with the arrival of the in 1,000 years, a meteorological phenomenon that supercharges floods and droughts.

14h ago
The GuardianClimateUnited Kingdom
Is Burnham trying to appease Trump? Or Reform? What other reason is there for these North Sea oil plans? | George Monbiot

Is Burnham trying to appease Trump? Or Reform? What other reason is there for these North Sea oil plans? | George Monbiot

Climate catastrophe is on our doorstep – yet Labour’s impending approval of further drilling will bring more pain for negligible gainsPinch yourself, it’s happening again. Here is a Labour government spending a vast amount of political capital to earn tiny material gains while risking huge political losses. It occurred repeatedly under Keir Starmer, and now – to approve further gas and oil drilling in the North Sea – it is happening under Andy Burnham. You rack your brains to explain it, but no rational explanation comes.Burnham is studiously cryptic about his reasons. to date goes as follows: “There is a resource there. When people are struggling, we can’t ignore that.” Does he mean that oil and gas workers are struggling? If so, this decision will be of little use to them. The Jackdaw gasfield, likely to be approved this week, will generate a grand total of . The Rosebank oilfield, whose approval is likely to follow soon, will support during its lifetime. Yet the UK’s net zero economy directly employs , and are planned. The rest of the green economy . A just transition for fossil fuel workers, securing jobs in the green economy, is better for everyone.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

1d ago
The GuardianHumanity
Victim families say it has ‘taken way too long’ to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for alleged support on 9/11

Victim families say it has ‘taken way too long’ to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for alleged support on 9/11

Terry Strada, whose husband was killed in the attacks, says she remains hopeful for justice as a lawsuit alleging Saudi support for the hijackers moves toward trialThe leader of one group of 9/11 victims’ families says it has “taken way too long” to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its alleged support of the terrorists who carried out the terrorist attacks, whose 25th anniversary was observed across the US on Friday.As that grim milestone approached, Terry Strada – the national chair of 9/11 Families United – said she felt as if it had “been several lifetimes” for there to be progress in the effort “to achieve a modicum of justice through our court system” in connection with the deadliest act of terror against the US.

1d ago
The GuardianScandal
Tiananmen Square vigil organisers jailed for seven years in Hong Kong

Tiananmen Square vigil organisers jailed for seven years in Hong Kong

Pro-democracy activists Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan were found guilty of ‘incitement to subversion’ in controversial national security caseTwo pro-democracy activists who were put on trial for organising an annual Tiananmen Square massacre vigil in Hong Kong have been sentenced to seven years in jail, in one of the city’s most significant national security cases.Chow Hang-tung, 41 and Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, were . The court found they had “incited other persons to organise, plan, commit or participate in acts by unlawful means with a view to subverting the state power”.

1d ago
The GuardianHumanityUSA
The Smithsonian chief’s exit is a blow to democracy | Kimberlé Crenshaw and Jason Stanley

The Smithsonian chief’s exit is a blow to democracy | Kimberlé Crenshaw and Jason Stanley

The Trump administration wants a feel-good version of American history. That is not a feature of a democratic systemOn Tuesday, Lonnie G Bunch III announced he would step down as the 14th secretary of the Smithsonian.Bunch was the first historian to lead the august institution, as well as the first African American. His retirement comes as the Trump administration has pressured the Smithsonian to adopt its agenda of “patriotic” education.

15h ago
The GuardianElectionsUSA
Trump officials push to exclude undocumented immigrants from US census

Trump officials push to exclude undocumented immigrants from US census

Census Bureau also considers race and ethnicity questions in overhaul that would have dramatic effect on voter mapsThe Trump administration on Wednesday proposed changes to the US census intended to exclude immigrants without legal status in addition to other groups, with potentially significant effects on the allocation of federal resources and drawing of districts in the House of Representatives.In a proposed rule published in the Federal Register, the Census Bureau also announced it was considering changes to the data it collects about race and ethnicity, amid the Trump administration’s push to rid the government of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

2d ago
The GuardianDiplomacyUSA & Canada
Trump’s clash with Canada is his latest imperialistic embarrassment | Sidney Blumenthal

Trump’s clash with Canada is his latest imperialistic embarrassment | Sidney Blumenthal

The president’s chaotic schemes of aggrandizement, from Venezuela to Iran, have no larger rationaleTrumpism is the lowest stage of imperialism. “We’re not going to invade Greenland. We’re going to buy it,” Donald Trump reportedly the annual black-tie dinner on 1 February of the private Alfalfa Club, an assemblage of prominent Washington figures, a number of whom he had publicly humiliated, and others he was investigating or suing. “It’s never been my intention to make Greenland the 51st state. I want to make Canada the 51st state. Greenland will be the 52nd state. Venezuela can be 53rd.” The room greeted several of his remarks with dead silence. His cosplay as the was not received as a good-humored takeoff from a Gilbert and Sullivan opera. He went on. “So many people in the room I hate,” he said in a display of honesty. “Most of you I like,” he claimed. Then, at his peak euphoria, he flew off to Mar-a-Lago to plan his attack on Iran, which took place 27 days later.Trump’s imperialism of piracy and plunder is less of a system even than that of the earliest imperialism of 17th century privateers raiding the Spanish Main, the divine right of kings, and monarchs dividing up the spoils as favors to create their lords and earls. His schemes of aggrandizement operating by threat and force are justified by no larger rationale, nothing as exalted as “the white man’s burden”, marauding wherever and however he can to seize resources.

17h ago
The GuardianAIUnited Kingdom
UK lawmakers urge Burnham to back ban on superintelligent AI after chilling warnings

UK lawmakers urge Burnham to back ban on superintelligent AI after chilling warnings

Letter from 70 MPs and peers follows Anthropic employee’s claim new technology could wipe out humansMore than 70 MPs and peers have urged Andy Burnham to back a ban on the creation of artificial superintelligence (ASI) and lead an international movement to stop the technology after a week of from experts of a 10% chance it could kill all humans.Fifteen former government ministers, along with the former head of the civil service Robin Butler, senior Labour MPs including John McDonnell and leading Conservatives, Liberal Democrat and Scottish National party MPs have written to the prime minister. They urged him to throw the government’s weight behind a bill, tabled in the Commons on Tuesday, that would prohibit ASI – an as-yet-nonexistent AI that would outcompete human capabilities in most domains.

10h ago
The GuardianImmigrationEast of England
One in nine migratory birds threatened with extinction, global report says

One in nine migratory birds threatened with extinction, global report says

Findings on decline of species such as Arctic tern and turtle dove published alongside flyways pledge at Kenya summitOne in nine migratory birds are threatened with extinction and 45% of migratory species such as cuckoos, turtle doves and Arctic terns are in decline, according to a global report.The migratory was officially declared extinct last year, the first global bird extinction in mainland Eurasia and Africa in recent centuries. Worldwide, seven migratory bird species have been confirmed or are suspected to have become extinct over the last 150 years.

17h ago
Daily PostEducationNigeria
NCC opens free digital learning pathways with zero-rated access to educational platforms, content initiative

NCC opens free digital learning pathways with zero-rated access to educational platforms, content initiative

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has launched the Zero-Rated Data Access to Educational Platforms and Content initiative to expand access to learning resources, bridge educational inequalities and support the country’s long-term economic growth by investing in human capital. The Zero-Rated Data Access to Educational Platforms and Content, which was launched on Thursday, is a coordinated national […]

6h ago
The GuardianScandalUSA
The ‘war on terror’ weakened the first amendment. Now we desperately need it | Jameel Jaffer

The ‘war on terror’ weakened the first amendment. Now we desperately need it | Jameel Jaffer

Over the past quarter-century, the US supreme court has repeatedly failed to protect first amendment rights. We are suffering the consequencesCongress ratified the first amendment in 1791 but the supreme court didn’t breathe life into it until after the first world war, when prosecutions of antiwar protesters led the justices Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis – and then, fortunately, other justices as well – to realize that US democracy would be undermined, not strengthened, by allowing the government to suppress disfavored political opinions.Repression during the cold war led the court to better protect the freedom of association, and government efforts to cover up official ineptitude and criminality during the Vietnam war spurred the court to better protect the freedom of the press. It took time, but in each of these instances the court responded to wartime repression by developing new legal doctrine that more robustly protected first amendment freedoms.

11h ago
The GuardianScandalLondon
MPs vote against legalising assisted dying in England and Wales

MPs vote against legalising assisted dying in England and Wales

Bill fails at second reading despite near-identical legislation being approved by Commons in last parliamentA bill to permit assisted dying in England and Wales has been voted down by MPs, almost certainly stopping such a measure from being enacted before the next general election at the very least least.In the second reading of the bill, put forward by Labour’s Lauren Edwards, MPs voted by 286 to 270 for it to be blocked.

13h ago
The GuardianElectionsUnited Kingdom
MPs urged not to take ‘extraordinary risk’ of forcing through assisted dying bill as vote looms

MPs urged not to take ‘extraordinary risk’ of forcing through assisted dying bill as vote looms

Labour MPs Gareth Snell and Meg Hillier say Lords must be allowed to fulfil duty in scrutinising bill on serious public issueMPs who voted for and against assisted dying have urged their respective sides not to take the “extraordinary risk” of forcing through the bill using an obscure parliamentary procedure if it continues to be blocked by the Lords.Two Labour MPs have written a warning letter to colleagues in the crucial hours before the next vote on Friday: Gareth Snell, who voted in favour of the bill, and Meg Hillier, who voted against.

21h ago
The GuardianHumanityWestern Europe
Hundreds of asylum seekers removed from UK to France have disappeared, say NGOs

Hundreds of asylum seekers removed from UK to France have disappeared, say NGOs

Human rights organisations concerned about people – including age-disputed children – returned under one in, out out deal Hundreds of asylum seekers – including at least 41 age-disputed children – removed to France under the “one in, one out” deal have disappeared, human rights organisations have said.The one in, one out pilot scheme was hailed as “groundbreaking” by the former prime minister Keir Starmer when he and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in July 2025. Under a treaty drawn up for this agreement, it forcibly returns one small-boat asylum seeker to France in exchange for another asylum seeker brought legally to the UK from France.

16h ago
The GuardianDiplomacyJapan
Japan seeks change to new UN world map over Russia 'misconception'

Japan seeks change to new UN world map over Russia 'misconception'

The new ‘true-scale’ map shrinks Europe and North America while enlarging Africa – and depicts the disputed Kuril islands as ruled by MoscowJapan has asked for the revision of a new world map adopted by the UN because it said it made the disputed Kuril islands appear to belong to Russia.The UN general assembly voted on Friday to adopt the new map, which makes the African continent larger while also shrinking North America and Europe, drawing condemnation from the US.

1d ago
The GuardianHumanityUSA
Republican senator fires aide who used Nazi soldiers as Facebook profile picture

Republican senator fires aide who used Nazi soldiers as Facebook profile picture

Washington Post report also reveals Jon Husted staffer Stephen Woytek created pro-Rhodesia playlist on Spotify The Republican senator for Ohio, Jon Husted, has fired an aide who was discovered to have used a photo of Nazi SS soldiers as his Facebook profile photo.Stephen Woytek was appointed as Husted’s political director last month in the senator’s knife-edge re-election contest against former Democrat senator Sherrod Brown. , Husted had decided to “part ways” with Woytek, 25, after learning that his Facebook profile showed he followed a military re-enactment group called LAH Living History Unit, which portrays the 1st SS Panzer division.

4h ago
The GuardianElectionsUnited Kingdom
MPs reject assisted dying bill after tense debate – as it happened

MPs reject assisted dying bill after tense debate – as it happened

The bill would have allowed terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to end their lives, after the approval of a panel of expertsWhile the debate continues, we have a comment from Sam Royston, executive director of research and policy at Marie Curie. He said the government must address the crisis in palliative care regardless of what happens with assisted dying, calling for a new framework and funding to ensure everyone has access to compassionate end-of-life care.He said:Whatever happens with assisted dying, the UK government must fix the crisis in palliative care.It is devastating that nearly one in three people die without the help they need. Too many spend their final days in pain or on busy, chaotic hospital wards, while families are left fighting for help instead of spending time with the people they love.I think it’s absolutely right that, for instance, the prime minister and the government have said that improving palliative care must be a priority for him and his government. I think that’s something that we can all support.I think everybody should have access to good quality palliative and hospice end-of-life care at their final moment.”

11h ago