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Saudi Arabia activist sentenced to 11 years for 'support' of women's rights

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'My country would disappear'

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Torres Strait Islanders could be forced to leave their homes within the next 30 years if...
Torres Strait Islanders could be forced to leave their homes within the next 30 years if urgent action is not taken on the climate crisis.This would mean a loss of country, sacred sites and culture, the federal court has been told.Uncle Paul Kabai, from the low-lying Saibai Island, said in an affidavit read to the c...
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Paul Auster, American author of The New York Trilogy, dies aged 77

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Akiya houses: why Japan has nine million empty homes

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As the declining population continues to impact Japan’s society and economy, the number of vacant houses...
As the declining population continues to impact Japan’s society and economy, the number of vacant houses has topped nine million – enough to accommodate the entire population of Australia at three people per dwelling.Government figures released on Tuesday show the number of empty houses, known as akiya, as of Octobe...
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What if dreaming is the whole point of sleep?

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Amateur birder in Oregon accidentally photographs bird never before seen in US

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Michael Sanchez was setting up his new camera to capture a waterfall at Oregon’s Hug Point...
Michael Sanchez was setting up his new camera to capture a waterfall at Oregon’s Hug Point at sunrise when he spotted a little bird hopping around. He snapped a few photos, and didn’t think much more of it.A week later, those snapshots have made him the star – and the envy – of the local birding community. Sanchez, ...
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Surreal claims, lawfare and abuse: toxic politic in Spain reflect the new Europe

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Pedro Sánchez may have decided to stay on as Spanish prime minister, but what made him...
Pedro Sánchez may have decided to stay on as Spanish prime minister, but what made him hesitate – “harassment and bullying” of him and his wife by his political opponents – is unlikely to go away anytime soon, in Spain or elsewhere in Europe.In an ever more polarised political sphere and on a social media battlefiel...
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Criminals and oligarchs in EU's sights with new bill targeting football fraud

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Not for the first time in the history of the European parliament, it all started in...
Not for the first time in the history of the European parliament, it all started in Belgium. An investigation into alleged bribery, money-laundering, forged transfer contracts and the involvement of organised crime at the highest levels of professional football that began in 2018 eventually implicated almost 60 agen...
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Plato's final hours recounted in scroll found in Vesuvius ash

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Newly deciphered passages from a papyrus scroll that was buried beneath layers of volcanic ash after...
Newly deciphered passages from a papyrus scroll that was buried beneath layers of volcanic ash after the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius may have shed light on the final hours of Plato, a key figure in the history of western philosophy.In a groundbreaking discovery, the ancient scroll was found to contain a previous...
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No more 12345: devices with weak passwords to be banned in UK

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Tech that comes with weak passwords such as “admin” or “12345” will be banned in the...
Tech that comes with weak passwords such as “admin” or “12345” will be banned in the UK under new laws dictating that all smart devices must meet minimum security standards.Measures to protect consumers from hacking and cyber-attacks come into effect on Monday, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology s...
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The 'boring phone': stressed-out Gen Z ditch smartphones for dumbphones

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It’s almost enough to make you stop doomscrolling: dull devices are now cool.The Boring Phone is...
It’s almost enough to make you stop doomscrolling: dull devices are now cool.The Boring Phone is a new, featureless flip phone that is feeding the growing appetites of younger people who want to bin their smartphones in favour of a dumbphone.The latest model is a collaboration between Heineken beer and the fashion r...
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'The science isn't there': do dating apps help us find our soulmate?

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A class-action lawsuit filed in a US federal court last Valentine’s Day accuses Match Group –...
A class-action lawsuit filed in a US federal court last Valentine’s Day accuses Match Group – the owners of Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid dating apps, among others – of using a “predatory business model” and of doing everything in its power to keep users hooked, in flagrant opposition to Hinge’s claim that it is “design...
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Eating light: Finnish startup begins making food 'from air and solar power'

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Elon Musk praises Chinese workers for 'burning the 3am oil

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How do you become the richest man in the world? In Elon Musk’s case, part of...
How do you become the richest man in the world? In Elon Musk’s case, part of it involves making workers in China put in hours that would be unacceptable according to labor norms elsewhere.On Tuesday, the Tesla boss praised Chinese factory workers for pulling extreme hours while taking a shot at American workers. “Th...
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'Eugenics on steroids': the toxic and contested legacy of Oxford's FHI

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Two weeks ago it was quietly announced that the Future of Humanity Institute, the renowned multidisciplinary...
Two weeks ago it was quietly announced that the Future of Humanity Institute, the renowned multidisciplinary research centre in Oxford, no longer had a future. It shut down without warning on 16 April. Initially there was just a brief statement on its website stating it had closed and that its research may continue ...
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BBC presenter's likeness used in advert after firm tricked by AI-generated voice

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There was something strange about her voice, they thought. It was not unfamiliar but, after a...
There was something strange about her voice, they thought. It was not unfamiliar but, after a while, it started to go all over the place.Science presenter Liz Bonnin’s accent, as regular BBC viewers know, is Irish. But this voice message, ostensibly granting permission to use her likeness in an ad campaign, seemed t...
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The demise of Twitter: how a 'utopian vision' became a 'toxic mess'

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If anything is emblematic of the demise of Twitter, it is the rise and stall of...
If anything is emblematic of the demise of Twitter, it is the rise and stall of the account of Oprah Winfrey.Oprah joined the platform in 2009, tweeting for the first time live from her wildly popular TV show: “HI TWITTERS. THANK YOU FOR A WARM WELCOME. FEELING REALLY 21st CENTURY.”It was “a breakthrough moment” for...
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How a mysterious star could help the search for extraterrestrial life

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It is our galaxy’s strangest star, a flickering globe of light whose sporadic and unpredictable output...
It is our galaxy’s strangest star, a flickering globe of light whose sporadic and unpredictable output has baffled astronomers for years. But now the study of Boyajian’s star is being promoted as a research model that could help in one of the most intriguing of all scientific quests: finding intelligent life on othe...
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Orca calf successfully returned to open water after bold rescue in Canada

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An orca calf, trapped for weeks in a remote lagoon in western Canada, has freed herself...
An orca calf, trapped for weeks in a remote lagoon in western Canada, has freed herself and is travelling towards open waters, hailed as “incredible news” by a growing body of human supporters.The move puts her one step closer to reuniting with her family one month after a tragic accident left her stranded.The two-y...
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Tesla Autopilot feature was involved in 13 fatal crashes, US regulator says

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US auto-safety regulators said on Friday that their investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot had identified at least...
US auto-safety regulators said on Friday that their investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot had identified at least 13 fatal crashes in which the feature had been involved. The investigation also found the electric carmaker’s claims did not match up with reality.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA...
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My undying love for the painfully uncool Amiga

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I have told my wife that I want a Mini Amiga for Christmas. I know it’s...
I have told my wife that I want a Mini Amiga for Christmas. I know it’s only April, but I do this with things I want in the hope that when it suddenly appears in the house next week, my wife will think she bought it for me. I have slipped the purchase of seven games machines, a stuffed tarantula and an air fryer...
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Tesla among electric carmakers forced to cut prices as market stalls

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Elon Musk became the world’s richest man by evangelising about electric cars – and delivering them...
Elon Musk became the world’s richest man by evangelising about electric cars – and delivering them by the million. Yet in recent months his company, Tesla, has struggled to maintain its momentum: sales have dropped this year, and so has its share price.Those struggles have become emblematic of a broader reckoning fa...
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Post Office tried to 'hush up' case of worker who killed himself, inquiry hears

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The Post Office sought to “hush up” the case of Martin Griffiths, a post office operator...
The Post Office sought to “hush up” the case of Martin Griffiths, a post office operator who took his own life, by “drip feeding” compensation payments to his widow and lining up a media lawyer to protect its reputation, a public inquiry has heard.Angela van den Bogerd, a former business improvement director at the ...
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GMB launches legal action against 'out of control' Amazon at Coventry warehouse

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The GMB is taking legal action against Amazon in the long-running battle for recognition at its...
The GMB is taking legal action against Amazon in the long-running battle for recognition at its Coventry warehouse, accusing the US firm of trying to “induce” staff to leave the union.An employment tribunal claim is being lodged on behalf of five workers at the large site, known as BHX4.The GMB cites practices inclu...
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