News Atlas — live world news feed

GuardianSep 27Preview

Late-night drive and a 999 call: farmer’s chance encounter that led to terrorism arrests at RAF base

Local people say members of WhatsApp group noticed suspicious activity around vans in Whelford overnightIn the early hours of Sunday morning, a resident of the village of Whelford was driving home from a party when she saw three white vans parked on a country road. She was immediately suspicious, she said, and all the more so when she spotted a “large group of hooded and balaclavaed” men. She called 999 and police arrived on the scene 15 minutes later.The resident, who asked not to be named but reportedly is a local farmer, told the Press Association: “It would appear that by doing so I just derailed whatever they [the men] were planning. A plucky amateur shouldn’t be spotting an unusual bit of activity at 1am when the airbase is on high alert. I think it’s absolutely astonishing.” Continue reading...

Jamie Grierson and Helena HortonUK newsEngland

NYTSep 27Preview

Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own?

An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.

Carl ZimmerArtificial IntelligenceResearch

GuardianSep 27Preview

Shannon felt a ‘sense of doom’ as she sought justice for sexual assault. A new NSW program hopes to alleviate that

Exclusive: Dedicated service to support sexual assault victim-survivors as they navigate legal system to open in NSWFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt took Shannon Stokes two years and 11 days to successfully prosecute her former boyfriend for sexual assault and domestic violence offences. The lengthy trial left her feeling as though “there wasn’t going to be an end in sight”.Prosecutors secured convictions on nine of the 11 charges, and he was later sentenced to five years in prison. Continue reading...

Achol ArokNew South WalesDomestic violence

BBCSep 27Preview

More than 50 arrested at Palestine Action support rally

More than 250 protesters sat outside Labour's party conference in Liverpool to support the banned group.

GuardianSep 27Preview

Thomas Tuchel resists ‘madness’ of calls to rest England players despite longer window

I don’t take calls from Premier League managers, he saysEngland play Czechia in Prague on TuesdayThomas Tuchel says it would be “madness” to allow his England players or the clubs to pick and choose their matches during the elongated Nations League window as he promised to go full throttle for victory against Czechia in Prague on Tuesday.The manager did accept that Declan Rice needed to rest and could not be part of the squad in light of the Arsenal midfielder’s heavy workload across a number of seasons and well-documented fitness issues. Rice was at Wembley on Saturday to watch England lose 3-2 against Spain in their opening Nations League game. Continue reading...

David HytnerEnglandThomas Tuchel

NYTSep 27Preview

The Surprising Reasons China Is Skeptical of A.I. Safety Calls

In China, A.I. doomsday warnings can feel distinctly Western or like a ploy to stop Chinese A.I. companies from trying to overtake their U.S. rivals.

Lily KuoArtificial IntelligenceDoomsday

BBCSep 27Preview

Venezuela releases dozens of political prisoners as election calls grow

A slew of dissidents being released from long-term detention comes days after the nation's interim leader met the US president.

GuardianSep 27Preview

The four minutes that lasted a lifetime as Wallabies won all-time chaos classic | Jack Snape

One year from a home World Cup, in circumstances comically heroic, this was the match Australia neededWith four minutes to go, and four players down, Australia lead by two tries against the world champions in Perth. The Wallabies have been unbeaten in four matches under new coach Les Kiss, but they have not yet been tested against a rugby power. If they were looking for a test, this is now it.On the arena where the men’s rugby World Cup will begin in just over one year, Australia are showing promise. They had led South Africa 42-17 midway through the second half. Now, the score is 42-31. Continue reading...

Jack SnapeRugby unionAustralia rugby union team

BBCSep 27Preview

Police get more time to quiz suspects in alleged plot against Jewish community

Two men - both in the 30s - were arrested under the 2000 Terrorism Act in Manchester on 20 September.

GuardianSep 27Preview

With turbulence all around, Armani plays it safe and easy in Milan

The late designer’s niece echoes his sense of relaxation, as the house seeks to prove itself to potential buyersA year after the death of Giorgio Armani, the Italian fashion house he founded in 1975 is facing increasing uncertainty about its future ownership.In his will, Armani, who ruled over the business for 50 years, instructed his heirs to sell an initial 15% stake of the company within 18 months of his death. If a private sale does not materialise, an IPO is mandated to take place. Now there are reports the group is readying itself for formal talks with the French conglomerate LVMH, the beauty giant L’Oréal and the eyewear group EssilorLuxottica – three of Armani’s preferred acquirers – over the possible sale of a minority stake. Continue reading...

Chloe Mac DonnellArmaniFashion

GuardianSep 27Preview

One Nation boss called David Farley an ‘asshole’ in lead-up to Farrer byelection, text messages reveal

Exclusive: Documents seen by Guardian Australia show that Kelvin Morton has also clashed with party HQ staff and Brisbane volunteersListen to episode 3 of The Populist podcastFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastOne Nation’s general manager, Kelvin Morton – brought in by the party to improve its vetting processes – referred to David Farley as an “asshole” just days before Farley’s historic Farrer byelection win for the party in May.In a series of text messages seen by Guardian Australia, Morton responds to a news article published in the Sydney Morning Herald about infighting among senior party figures over Farley’s previously undeclared support for the Labor party.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Politics, really newsletter here Continue reading...

Sarah MartinOne NationAustralian politics

GuardianSep 27Preview

Democracy blindsides Silicon Valley’s power players looking to transform the world with AI

‘The push against datacenters speaks to the frustration of people who don’t feel they are making the choices in their lives’The Stanford ethicist Rob Reich was once invited to a dinner organized by a Silicon Valley mogul to discuss what a state designed to maximize science and tech powered by commercial models might look like. The gathered technologists were drawn to the idea of building a small nation-state dedicated to the endeavor, Reich recalls in “System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot it”.When Reich asked whether this state would be a democracy, he got a cool no. “Democracy is too slow, and it holds science back,” he was told. “To optimize for science, we need a beneficent technocrat in charge.” Continue reading...

Eduardo PorterAI (artificial intelligence)Technology

GuardianSep 27Preview

Trump allies could use midterms ‘counting window’ to disrupt results, experts warn

Fears grow that loyalists in key states could use critical period when votes are counted to amplify false claimsElection experts have warned Donald Trump’s administration could use the crucial hours and days after November’s midterm elections to disrupt the results after struggling to enforce a crackdown on voting.With less than six weeks remaining until polls close, and control of US Congress in the balance, the post-election “counting window” is seen as as a particularly vulnerable moment by former US federal government officials. Continue reading...

George ChidiDonald TrumpUS politics

GuardianSep 27Preview

Bill Gates says unchecked AI could ‘cause a billion deaths’ in call for regulation

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist speaks with NBC’s Kristen Welker in interview airing on SundayBill Gates has called on the US’s federal legislators and law enforcers to regulate the development of artificial intelligence (AI), saying in an interview airing on Sunday that the technology left unchecked could cause “a billion deaths” and “no one thinks self-regulation is enough”.“You need law enforcement and the politicians to get into the discussion about what safeguards and monitoring look like,” the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist said to Kristen Welker, the NBC Meet the Press host. “And that has to be a required thing.” Continue reading...

Ramon Antonio VargasBill GatesAI (artificial intelligence)

GuardianSep 27Preview

‘Viscerally dedicated to social issues’: behind Lula’s drive to win final term in Brazil’s crunch election

Longtime friend tells of president’s obsession with social justice and fears for country’s future under another Bolsonaro presidencyOn 1 January 2023, a few hours after being sworn in for his third stint as Brazil’s president, a ravenous Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sneaked away from a celebratory cocktail party packed with politicians and diplomats to grab a snack with one of his oldest friends.“This is your penultimate term,” that friend, the Dominican theologian and writer Frei Betto, recalls telling Lula as the pair chewed the fat in a back room of the foreign ministry in Brasília. Continue reading...

Tom Phillips Rio de JaneiroLuiz Inácio Lula da SilvaJair Bolsonaro

NPRSep 26Preview

Trump calls Iranian plan to reopen Strait of Hormuz not 'acceptable'

President Trump said he was rejecting an Iranian plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian proposal is similar to a memorandum of understanding agreed upon by the U.S. and Iran back in June.(Image credit: Aaron Schwartz)

Ava Pukatch

GuardianSep 26Preview

UN adds 61 firms to settlements blacklist over alleged human rights violations against Palestinians

Israel ‘categorically rejects’ publication and says businesses on database have committed no wrongdoingThe UN human rights office has added 61 more companies to a blacklist of firms that it says are involved in violating Palestinian human rights through business ties to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.The vast majority of the total 214 companies, which are based in 11 countries, are Israeli. Five of the 158 companies listed last year were removed in the latest update. Continue reading...

Associated PressWest BankUnited Nations

GuardianSep 26Preview

Lamine Yamal: ‘Football is mechanised but players like me have that special spark’

Spain and Barcelona wonderkid has won World Cup and European Championship but says there are no limits for his careerLike the kid he is, Lamine Yamal just wanted to keep playing. This wasn’t Plaça Joan XXIII, wasn’t El Parque de Rocafonda either; it wasn’t the Mataró neighbourhood where it all began, but it might have been. “We’re in a World Cup final and I wanted to carry on,” he says, and there’s the smile again, the braces. Really? “Yes”. No nerves? “No. I never thought: ‘Just blow the whistle’. I was enjoying it.” No fear, just fun: 19 July, New Jersey and he knew: this 19-year-old who had happily been asleep on the bus to the biggest match of his life.And now he sits in a first-floor office in Las Rozas, surrounded by tactics boards and stats sheets. There’s a Spain keyring hanging from the door and a second star on his shirt. In the corridor, crates loaded for London. Son of Mounir

Sid LoweSpainBarcelona

GuardianSep 26Preview

15 great small hotels, inns and restaurants with rooms for an autumn stay in the UK

From a cosy Cornish inn with open fires to a boutique hotel in Northumberland, these new and revamped boltholes tick all the right boxes• 15 great cottages and cabins for an autumn escape in the UK Continue reading...

Rhiannon BattenHotelsTravel