Vibrant yellow fields of canola light up the landscape, as an ideal growing season sees crops flowering earlier than usual. in the south-west slopes and Riverina regions of New South Wales Continue reading...
The Guardian•Photography by Mick Tsikas - AAP15 Sept
The Swans are within touching distance of an unlikely grand final spot while the Dockers have their campaign for a first premiership back on track Sign up for our free weekly AFL newsletter Sydney’s season was meant to be dead and buried by now. The club-imposed suspension of five players for breaching club standards was thought to have weakened the side to such an extent that a straight-sets finals exit was all but guaranteed. But while the spotlight was on the absent players, a galvanised group of those who remained – one still sprinkled with stardust – dialled up the heat to stun Brisbane and surge into a home preliminary final. The emotion-charged triumph made the Swans the 13th team to win a qualifying final by more than 50 points since 2000. Eleven of the previous 12 teams then earned a spot in the decider. But for all of their newfound momentum, Dean Cox’s side have to overcome the loss of another pivotal player after captain Callum Mills sustained a serious knee injury against the Lions. The Swans have turned doubters into believers with the way their players have stepped up in the face of adversity. But it would be another chapter in a story for the ages if they can beat the minor premiers to reach a third grand final in five seasons. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Martin Pegan15 Sept
Modern cars are fitted with features like autonomous emergency braking and fatigue monitoring. But do they support motorists or drive them to distraction? This new car I’m test-driving boasts all the latest bells and whistles – or, rather, beeps and bings. Peer sideways for too long checking traffic and the car emits an irritating sound. Should I take a hand off the wheel to scratch an ear, I’m admonished with a strident beep. When the car determines it’s too near a white line, it tugs the wheel against my hands and brakes as a car slows ahead. Its haptic “buttons” feel like fingers pressing back – as if an invisible presence has its hands and feet on the controls: a ghost in the machine I’m inside. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Andrew Herrick15 Sept
Exclusive: Correspondence requests state MP Melissa Horne to lobby on NextDC’s behalf – but contains alleged AI-created errors Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Victorian jobs minister has accused one of Australia’s largest datacentre companies of using artificial intelligence while requesting she lobby her colleague to approve a massive expansion of its “hyperscale AI factory”. Correspondence between Victorian cabinet minister Melissa Horne and the chief executive of ASX-listed company NextDC, Craig Scroggie, reveals increasing sensitivity to community concerns about datacentres before the state election. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Henry Belot15 Sept
The characters are dead-eyed waxworks which speak with all the nuance of a satnav. But this AI-created workplace comedy is so bad that even the greatest actors alive couldn’t stop it being unwatchable As you will no doubt be aware, one Anthropic researcher claimed there is a greater than one in 10 chance that AI will end all of humanity as we know it within the next decade. However, now that I’ve given it some thought, I think this statistic might actually be a little conservative. This is because I have just watched an episode of a sitcom created by AI, and if I ever have to do it again I’m genuinely going to die of boredom. The show is No Big Deal, and it premiered on YouTube on Friday. I was apparently only the 376th person to watch it. This is by no means a recommendation that you become the 377th, more a warning to avoid it if your algorithm ever decides it hates you enough to suggest this. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Stuart Heritage15 Sept
Robert Garcia expresses concern over ‘any possible foreign entanglement’ between White House and Umar Kremlev Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, is investigating potential ties between the White House and a Russian oligarch who paid for a portion of Donald Trump Jr’s wedding. In a letter sent to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, on Monday, Garcia expressed concern about “any possible foreign entanglement” between the president’s son and the oligarch, Umar Kremlev . Garcia asked Wiles to provide documents, records and communications between the White House and Trump Jr about Kremlev, among other requests. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Ariana Baio15 Sept
15-year-old wants his registration to be cancelled He was to be in squad to face Brighton on Wednesday Manchester United have been left confused and shocked by the news that the talented 15-year-old JJ Gabriel has asked to leave the club, a day before he was to be included in the first-team squad to face Brighton. Gabriel could have become United’s youngest player in the Carabao Cup third-round tie at Old Trafford on Wednesday. But the Guardian understands Gabriel has asked for his registration to be cancelled. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Dominic Booth15 Sept
The player who invented the Peanut Punch talks about his nomadic childhood, love of Chicago and time as a cop By No Helmets Required Defensive back Charles Tillman played 168 games for his hometown team Chicago Bears across 13 NFL seasons. Nicknamed “Peanut” as a child by his mother, he became renowned for the Peanut Punch, where he would whack the ball out of the hands of unsuspecting receivers. After retiring from playing, he spent eight years in the FBI before quitting over the Trump administration’s ICE policies and tactics. Now 45, he spent some of his summer in England, teaching flag football to kids in Liverpool. You went to a dozen schools around the world as a child. Do you share your own experiences when you coach kids now? “Absolutely. I share a great deal because it helped shape me into the person I am today. My dad being in the military and us moving around so much helped my personality. I’m very outgoing and a lot of that stems from my childhood, always being the new kid in school and having to make new friends. So, I talk about those experiences with the kids when it feels appropriate.” Continue reading...
The Guardian•Gavin Willacy15 Sept
As a cyclist I want the authorities to act with clarity. Lime bikes and renters can be annoying, but the true threat is those who dangerously flout the law One of the curiosities of debates about cycling in the UK is that almost all of them centre on the place with the greatest concentration of not only bikes but also politicians and journalists: inner London. Inevitably this is just a small part of the story. Much of the current focus is on so-called share bikes operated by companies such as Lime and Forest – nippy electric-assist machines that can be picked up and left on pavements. On Saturday, a Guardian investigation revealed that councils in the capital have so far this year seized 3,393 dangerously parked or abandoned ebikes , a number 23% higher than the total for the whole of last year. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Peter Walker15 Sept
Ruling comes a day before homeland security department’s substantial restrictions were set to take effect A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from implementing a new rule that would limit how long foreign students and journalists can remain in the US without applying for extensions. F Dennis Saylor, the US district judge in Boston, ruled in favor of a coalition of unions and higher education advocacy groups a day before the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s rule was set to take effect. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Reuters15 Sept
She has played rugby for Wales, is putting a Welsh spin on Princess Leia and is returning to TV screens as Shirley, the explosive, traumatised MI5 agent. Why is Edwards so drawn to liars, crooks and sneaks? There was a moment, just before Aimee-Ffion Edwards jumped off a nightclub balcony in Slow Horses, when she had to lie to herself about what she was about to do. “It was quite hard,” says the actor. “You basically tell yourself, ‘You’re not jumping.’ Obviously, you know you’re harnessed in, but you’re also going, ‘This is mad! This is mad! This is mad!’” She laughs. “I couldn’t feel my fingers for a second. I was like, ‘Huwwaah!’” She sucks in her breath, then says: “But there were 200 people stood there watching. You’re like, ‘Well, I gotta do it.’” Continue reading...
The Guardian•Donna Ferguson15 Sept
Ex-England footballer also admits to failing to provide a specimen as he appears at Basingstoke magistrates court The former England footballer Raheem Sterling has admitted dangerously driving a Lamborghini on the motorway. Sterling pleaded guilty at Basingstoke magistrates court on Tuesday to driving a Lamborghini Urus dangerously on the M25, the M3 and the A327 before he crashed on 28 May. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Press Association15 Sept
Natalie Greenwood says surgery is no ‘magic fix’ for chronic pelvic pain – a view backed up by a new study “It’s really frustrating to be in this cycle of continuous surgery. It makes you feel helpless,” says Natalie Greenwood, of a condition that affects her so badly she is “non-functioning most of the time because of the constant fatigue”. Greenwood, 36, needs to have an operation every few years to limit the impact of the endometriosis that gives her chronic pelvic pain, as well as extreme tiredness and brain fog. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Denis Campbell Health policy editor15 Sept
Disbanding of department in Trinidad comes after arrest of a resident for posting about issues with local water supply A police department in Texas that arrested a local resident for complaining on social media about their city’s contaminated water supply has been ordered closed after failing to prove it provided any benefit to the community. State officials stepped in to investigate after Jennifer Combs spent a night in jail in May after a post appeared on her Facebook page suggesting people were hospitalized by bacteria in the water pipes of Trinidad, a municipality in Henderson county about 75 miles south-east of Dallas. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Richard Luscombe15 Sept
After Jennifer Sellitti lost her partner Joe Mazraani, she thought everything was over. Then she inherited his ship After Joe died, Jennifer Sellitti felt as though she were living underwater. Other people became murky, their words muffled. She slept constantly; unconsciousness was a blessing. On the worst days, memories bowled her over. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Amanda Joan McDougall15 Sept
Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack are joined by Marva Kreel and Chris Paouros to discuss the weekend’s WSL action On the podcast today: Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack are joined by Marva Kreel and Chris Paouros to discuss the weekend’s WSL action. Chelsea hit five goals past Manchester United with five different goalscorers. Crystal Palace show they are not here to just make up the numbers as they earn a point against Arsenal at the Emirates – but will draws prove costly for Reneé Slegers’ side once again in their quest for the title? Continue reading...
The Guardian•Presented by Faye Carruthers with Suzanne Wrack, Marva Kreel and Chris Paouros. Produced by Sophie Downey and Holly Fisher, and the executive producer is Tayo Popoola15 Sept
Companies are boosting datacenters and fossil fuels and together manage $7.3tn in investments The energy portfolios of 20 private equity firms produce 1.5bn tons of greenhouse gases a year, more than the annual emissions of any country except China, the US, India and Russia, according to a new report. Together, these firms manage $7.3tn in assets of all kinds, affording them the ability to shape the pace of the transition away from fossil fuels. However their energy investments include significant fossil fuel assets including natural gas and coal-fired power plants to provide electricity to datacenters. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Sara Sneath15 Sept
Exclusive: Screening if used alone risks leading people to believe they are inevitably going to develop dementia Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Researchers have warned that social media may be misleading healthy people into taking Alzheimer’s blood tests, causing severe anxiety over biological markers that may never actually cause dementia. Blood-based biomarker tests, including p-tau217 and p-tau181, detect biological signs of changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease, which is a progressive brain disorder and the leading cause of dementia. Continue reading...
The Guardian•Melissa Davey Medical editor15 Sept
The rise of AI-generated tributes and bots for ‘talking’ to the dead has experts concerned more people will grieve in isolation Tributes rolled in after the death of Dolly Parton last month. Jack White performed Jolene at a London gig. Kesha sang Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You), a single her mother wrote for the country music titan. Even Pitbull stopped his Madison Square Garden show to memorialize Parton and all the other “powerful women” in the crowd. But one of the strangest – and most viral – eulogies did not come from a celebrity. It did not even come from a person. Run Jolene, at just under five minutes, is an earworm of a country song, containing all the cliches of the genre: twangy singer, banjo licks, corny lyrics. Those lyrics concern Jolene, the fictional romantic rival made infamous by Parton. “Somebody better warn Jolene / Dolly’s coming through those gates,” the voice croons. “Run Jolene / Girl you better move your feet.” Continue reading...
The Guardian•Alaina Demopoulos15 Sept
Surely that’s the lesson the Reform polling furore should teach us. Politics should be about actually helping people, not mastering the line on a graph Solemn faces all round. We will listen. We will learn. We will hone and improve. Yes, it’s time for the latest bout of profound soul-searching in the UK polling industry following the allegations raised by the recent Channel 4 investigation that a polling firm reportedly failed to declare that three polls it published before the local elections in May were commissioned by Reform. By now these reckonings are becoming a regular occurrence in the wake of big elections: pollsters gather in a room, nibble biscuits, ritually self-flagellate, and pledge to learn all the right lessons from the electorate they’ve just catastrophically misread. Yet for all its very public ignominies, political polling is one of those rare and precious industries that somehow manages to keep failing upwards. You might think that after botching the 2015 and 2017 general elections , the 2016 Brexit vote and the 2021 London mayoral poll, we might have learned better than to trust in the mystical magic graph. In this parallel universe Keir Starmer is now sitting on a colossal 318-seat majority, as forecast by Survation in its final MRP poll on the eve of the 2024 general election, overstating the actual result by a mere 144 parliamentary seats. Jonathan Liew is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
The Guardian•Jonathan Liew15 Sept