Treasury says Northerners typically receive £2,000 more per year in government services
Andy Burnham has vowed to divert more power and resources to the North, arguing that the region has traditionally lost out to wealthier places in the South of England.
F-35 jet crashes at original Top Gun base leaving aircraft in smoking wreck
An F-35 fighter jet has crashed at the Miramar Air Base in San Diego, California.
Honda Prelude review: Finally, a new car that isn't an EV or an SUV - but can the hybrid coupe deliver excitement?
When carmakers revive iconic nameplates from the past, they could strike gold or have it blow up in their face. Honda is hoping the return of the Prelude after a 25-year hiatus will be the latter.
The Major Labels Propose Rules to Keep AI Slop Off the Charts
Major record labels including Universal, Sony, and Warner have proposed excluding AI-generated songs from official charts unless they are "substantially human made," properly labeled, legally produced, and free from manipulation concerns. The Verge reports: The proposal goes quite a bit further than a labeling proposal put forth by the RIAA, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), SAG-AFTRA, and others. That would create a set of standardized labels for AI-generated and AI-assisted music. The labels' proposal would require songs be clearly labeled, but it would also keep them off international charts unless they met specific criteria, including being "substantially human made."
To be eligible, the songs would also have to respect the terms of service of whatever AI service was used, the model would have to have the rights to any data it was trained on, and "not raise stream or chart manipulation concerns." What sort of concerns and what constitutes "substantially human made" are currently vague. Sony Music, UMG, and Mom+Pop Music did not immediately respond to a request for clarification. The IFPI has thrown its weight behind the labels' proposal, though no charting organization has signaled any immediate plan to adopt the rules [...].
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IBM: Three Demonstrations Prove Quantum Advantage Has Been Reached
Gemma Collins says her grief is 'coming in waves' as she thanks fans for their kind messages after the death of her beloved mum Joan
The former TOWIE star, 45, has said her grief is hitting her like waves after the death of her beloved mother, Joan.
FIFA's World Cup plot turns to rubble: Deluded Gianni Infantino's controversial plan is dead as key allies rebel and more nations unite to oppose bid to sell off football
Gianni Infantino's divisive plan to sell stakes in the World Cup appears to be dead after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) joined UEFA and Concacaf in opposing the plot.
Woke NYC mayor says he's open to paying reparations to black residents because Big Apple was 'very complicit' in slave trade
Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed support for cash reparations to black New Yorkers because the city was 'very complicit' in slavery.
Most Australian Teens Still On Social Media Three Months After Ban
More than 81% of Australian children ages 10 to 15 were still using social media three months after the country's under-16 ban took effect, with roughly half saying platforms never checked their age. Reuters reports: In a study published on Friday, eSafety also found most children aged between 10 and 15 were using social media just as frequently in March as they had before the ban came into force on December 10 last year, while parental awareness of their habits decreased. Children's continued social media use took place even as account ownership declined to 42% from 52%, with "statistically significant" reductions across YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok in particular, the report said.
"Most under-16s who had social media accounts before commencement were able to either retain them or create new ones at the three-month mark, with social media platforms' failure to implement effective age assurance measures cited as the main reason," eSafety said in a statement [...] Before the ban, nearly 86% of children surveyed reported using at least one age-restricted platform. Three months later, that figure remained above 81%, the report said. About 58% of teenagers reported using social media daily or more often, barely down from roughly 60% before the ban, it found. The report showed minimal change in "sports and physical activity, arts and music, spending time with friends and family, and attendance at community events."
Around half the children who retained their accounts said platforms had not checked their age, the most common reason they were able to stay on the services. Others said their accounts listed them as aged 16 or older or that age-checking systems had incorrectly determined they were older. The findings broadly matched snapshot data eSafety published in late March.
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Goodwood revellers get creative as they smuggle mystery bottles into venue...where a small champagne costs £20
Fashionable, figure-hugging frocks appeared to conceal 100ml cosmetics containers - often used for travel - as guests made their way to the glamorous venue at Chichester, West Sussex.
Labour paid foreign criminals £6.5million of taxpayer cash to persuade them to leave the country
Some £6.5million has been paid out to foreign criminals from when Labour came to power in July 2024 until October 2025, including £500 to convicted sex offender Hadush Kebatu (pictured).
How CAN Harry moan about privacy when Meghan posts an 'extraordinary' amount of pictures from their secret family holiday? REBECCA ENGLISH bristles at Sussexes' 'hypocrisy' - including 'exploitative' image appearing to show Archie visiting Diana's grave
Richard Eden agreed with his co-host, arguing the images were made worse by the fact that Meghan's Instagram account exists explicitly to promote her lifestyle brand, As Ever.
A family affair! Maria Shriver reunites with Arnold Schwarzenegger for his 79th birthday… 15 years after cheating scandal imploded their marriage
Shriver, 70, tied the knot with Schwarzenegger in 1986 and welcomed four children with him - Katherine, 36, Christina, 35, Patrick, 32, and Christopher, 28.
Boy George breaks his silence after pulling out of Jesus Christ Superstar in the West End amid controversy following the release of pro-Israel song
Boy George has broken his silence after pulling out of Jesus Christ Superstar in the West End just days before his stint was about to start amid controversy following the release of his pro-Israel song.
Two nightmarish ransom notes sent to Savannah Guthrie are released in full by sheriff, with second offering chilling details on how 84-year-old Nancy DIED shortly after her abduction
The sheriff's office released both chilling notes in full on Friday - one demanding a $4 million ransom and a second, written in a similar tone, claiming Guthrie had died before offering an apology.
Sony Heard Backlash Over Dropping PlayStation Discs, Plans to Press Ahead
Sony says it will proceed with ending PlayStation disc sales in January 2028 despite petitions, boycott threats, and concerns about digital ownership and the disappearance of the secondhand market. PCMag reports: After Sony's recent earnings call, an investor Q&A session saw analysts ask about its controversial decision to end disc production across all of its consoles. The company hadn't publicly commented since its announcement and had reduced activity on social accounts and other marketing channels. Sony's chief financial officer, Lin Tao, broke that silence during the Q&A. "There are various reasons we made this decision," she said through an interpreter. "The biggest being that the digitalization of content overall has been progressing. That's the big factor. It's not just for PlayStation, but for all kinds of content, digitalization is progressing. "And so when we think about the future, and we put in a lot of thought and time, and we cautiously considered this, and we came to this conclusion, and we're going to cautiously move this forward," Tao said.
"We have received various opinions, and people have strong views, and we understand that the community has put forth those views to us," said Tao. [...] Tao says Sony wants to "consider" the emotions of disgruntled customers, especially as titles are "connected to people's fond memories in many cases." Tao also alluded to the possibility of future measures to lessen the blow for anyone unhappy with the decision, but it appears Sony hasn't yet finalized what those may be. "In the future digital ecosystem, how do we engage the gamers is something that we would like to continue to explore," she said.
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Hackers Targeted Municipal Water Systems In 7 States This Week, FBI Says
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: Cyberattacks targeting municipal water systems have been reported in at least seven states this week, prompting the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency to warn utilities nationwide that hackers are trying to disrupt critical water infrastructure. In a public service announcement Thursday, the agencies said water and wastewater utilities have reported incidents to the FBI, with some malicious activity degrading water operations. The announcement does not name the states.
The warning comes after hackers targeted more than 30 municipal water facilities in Minnesota in an attack that had hallmarks of Iranian meddling, according to a law enforcement official. It is still under investigation. A spokesperson for Minnesota's information technology services agency said Thursday there was no indication the breaches contaminated any municipal water supplies. The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a separate alert that some larger attacks on water infrastructure had "resulted in boil water notices and sustained manual operations," though it did not say where.
[...] The federal advisory said the malicious cyber actors, or MCAs, targeted specific brands of control systems used by municipal water utilities, though the FBI and the EPA urged operators of all systems to take precautions. [...] The agencies said the hackers remotely accessed internet-facing devices, changed IP addresses and passwords, and caused utilities to lose monitoring and control capabilities. The federal advisory calls on system operators to remove programmable logical controllers, or PLCs, from direct internet exposure by putting them behind secure gateways and firewalls; use strong passwords; and limit communications between authorized control system devices through access control lists.
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Trump seizes on Spain migrant chaos to warn America is NEXT if Republicans lose
President Donald Trump launched a fierce attack on Spain's socialist government over a dramatic surge of migrants entering the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
Anthropic says its AI also escaped testing environment to hack into three organisations during testing
The popular AI assistant Claude went rogue and hacked into three companies during an experiment, its creators have revealed.
WNBA star Brittney Griner files for divorce from wife Cherelle... three years after she fought to free her from Russian prison camp
Griner, 35, is seeking 'joint legal and physical custody' of the couple's two-year-old son, while also requesting an equitable division of all marital assets.