Author: staff
ChatGPT, Grok and Claude provided full news summaries drawing on EU-sanctioned Russian state media outlets — including RT and Sputnik — sharing links and quotes without warning users that the content came from banned sources, according to a study by Reporters Without Borders published this month. The investigation, led by RSF technology desk head Vincent Berthier, tested six AI chatbots by explicitly requesting news from a list of sanctioned Russian outlets: RIA Novosti, Russia Today and its foreign-language editions, Rossiya RTR, Rossiya 24, Sputnik and the Strategic Culture Foundation. Where direct access was blocked, the researchers instructed the tools to…
At a time when every euro spent and saved is being scrutinised in the search for ways to reduce France’s deficit, Oxfam is targeting a tax break for inherited family businesses that it says disproportionately benefits the wealthiest heirs. In a report published on Tuesday, the NGO called for tighter limits on the Dutreil pact, which exempts 75% of a qualifying company’s value when gift or inheritance tax is calculated. Oxfam estimates that reforming the scheme could raise more than €3bn a year, as France searches for savings and additional revenue ahead of its 2027 budget. As the French public…
US President Donald Trump and UN Secretary-General António Guterres offered conflicting visions for how the world should manage artificial intelligence at the UN on Tuesday. Armed with a new UN science report that warns of a slight but real potential of catastrophic and irreversible harm, Guterres kicked off the parade of world leaders speaking at the General Assembly by calling for more oversight of AI, warning in vivid if not ominous terms of what could go wrong. “Let us resolve that life-and-death decisions must never be surrendered to machines. Killer robots must have no place in our future,” the UN…
From marathons in Amsterdam to HYROX in Hamburg, autumn is shaping up to be the season of the “race-cation”. Google searches for “marathon abroad” have soared by some 1,255% in the past year, as runners increasingly combine race day with a quick city break – and new data suggests they’re already planning what to do once they cross the finish line. Findings from Bókun, a Tripadvisor-owned company, have revealed that searches for overseas marathons have hit an all-time high in 2026, and it’s perfect timing, as research shows that a quarter of marathons globally take place in October. Now, searches…
French citizen Martin Ryan is being released from Azerbaijani prison, one day after Paris successfully lobbied Brussels to lift sanctions on Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov. Ryan, who was convicted of espionage charges, was one of several individuals pardoned by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. The Financial Times reported that the delisting was part of a deal that could see French nationals released from detention in Azerbaijan. Paris has significantly stepped up its role in the South Caucasus in support of Armenia, a pro-EU democracy that has spent decades locked in conflict with Azerbaijan.
By Frances Lopez & Video by Léa Becquet Published on 23/09/2026 – 10:28 GMT+2 Planes, trains and cars… Are Europeans changing how they get around? According to the latest Eurostat data, the answer appears to be yes, albeit slowly. Nevertheless, cars remain by far the continent’s favourite way to travel. Cars carried 69.2% of all passenger travel across the EU in 2024. That’s still overwhelmingly the most common way to get around, but it’s a share that’s been slowly shrinking. For the first time since 2014, trains have overtaken buses, coaches and trolleybuses. Rail edged ahead to 7.5% of all travel, just past…
Published on 23/09/2026 – 10:02 GMT+2 Relatives of people who died after buying lethal substances from Canadian poison seller Kenneth Law are due to speak in court this week, as a judge begins deliberating how long the former chef should spend in prison. Justice Michelle Fuerst has set aside four days at a court in Newmarket, just north of Toronto, to hear victim impact statements and further evidence. It is not yet clear when she will hand down her sentence. Law pleaded guilty in May to aiding the suicides of 14 people in Canada. Prosecutors dropped murder charges after concluding…
Is Britain about to re-engage with the world in a more meaningful way than any time in the past decade? After a frantic 24 hours in New York, Andy Burnham declared to the UN: “Britain is back.” But what does that mean in practice? And after a rebuke over rhetoric on Russia from Donald Trump, is the new PM taking a different stance to Moscow from his predecessor? Sam Coates and Anne McElvoy unpack the PM’s message on Ukraine, the US and the future of AI – and ask whether these themes will shape his first Labour conference speech as…
Published on 23/09/2026 – 9:35 GMT+2•Updated 9:36 Israel rebuked French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday after he criticised Israeli actions in the West Bank in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly. In his last speech as president addressing the UN’s signature annual diplomatic gathering, Macron deplored the humanitarian situation in Gaza, from which Hamas led the deadly 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, as well as actions by Israel in the West Bank. Macron said that “Hamas has never struck in the West Bank,” a territory seized by Israel in 1967 that is home to the Palestinian Authority.…
Published on 23/09/2026 – 9:10 GMT+2 Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was at the centre of abuse allegations that spurred the MeToo movement in Hollywood, will be sentenced again later on Wednesday for sexually assaulting a former production assistant. Weinstein, 74, faces at least two decades in prison for forcibly performing oral sex on Miriam Haley in 2006, one of dozens of women who have made accusations against the “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love” producer. Weinstein was sentenced 23 years in 2020 for the sexual assault, but it was overturned on appeal in 2024. A jury found him…