Epstein kept me ‘separate’ from his sexual side because I’m gay, Mandelson tells BBC 3 hours ago Laura Kuenssberg Lord Mandelson has said he never saw girls at Jeffrey Epstein’s properties, and declined to apologise to the late paedophile’s victims for maintaining his friendship with the American because he was not “knowledgeable of what he… Continue reading Epstein kept me ‘separate’ from his sexual side because I’m gay, Mandelson tells BBC

Musk says X outcry is ‘excuse for censorship’ Elon Musk has said critics of his social media site X are looking for “any excuse for censorship”, after its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok drew criticism over its use to create sexualised images of people without their knowledge or consent. Ofcom says it is conducting an… Continue reading Musk says X outcry is ‘excuse for censorship’

Elon Musk’s Grok AI image editing limited to paid users after deepfakes Elon Musk’s platform X has limited image editing with its AI tool Grok to paying users, after it came under fire for allowing people to make sexualised deepfakes. There has been a significant backlash after the chatbot honoured requests from users to digitally… Continue reading Elon Musk’s Grok AI image editing limited to paid users after deepfakes

Ofcom urged to use ‘banning’ powers over X AI deepfakes The government has urged the regulator Ofcom to use all its powers – up to and including an effective ban – against X over concerns about unlawful AI images created on the site. Ofcom’s powers include the ability to obtain a court order to prevent… Continue reading Ofcom urged to use ‘banning’ powers over X AI deepfakes

Government to water down business rate rise for pubs The government is poised to announce a climbdown on forthcoming increases to the business rates bill faced by pubs in England. In the coming days the government is expected to say it will make changes to how pubs’ business rates are calculated, resulting in smaller rises… Continue reading Government to water down business rate rise for pubs

Chris Mason: Trump and Starmer speak as ship seizure caps extraordinary few days What an extraordinary few days it has been for UK-US relations, with three developments each pointing in a different direction. Imagine being a fly on the phone line as the prime minister and President Trump caught up last night, speaking for the… Continue reading Chris Mason: Trump and Starmer speak as ship seizure caps extraordinary few days

UK forces helped US seizure of tanker, says MoD British armed forces supported the US seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence has said. The Marinera, a Venezuelan-linked tanker previously known as the Bella 1, was stopped by the US Coast Guard, as it travelled northwards… Continue reading UK forces helped US seizure of tanker, says MoD

Chris Mason: UK grapples with new era of US unpredictability The UK and its European neighbours confront two case studies, simultaneously, in how the continent is attempting, with varying degrees of success, to bind the United States into its future. Firstly, there is Ukraine and then there is Greenland. And all this at a time… Continue reading Chris Mason: UK grapples with new era of US unpredictability

US action in Venezuela morally right, Badenoch says 46 minutes ago Becky MortonPolitical reporter PA Media The US military action in Venezuela was the right thing to do “morally”, Kemi Badenoch has said. The Conservative leader told the BBC that while she did not understand the legal basis for Donald Trump’s operation to remove President… Continue reading US action in Venezuela morally right, Badenoch says