OpenAI hack on Australian government reveals anxiety at heart of global artificial intelligence dilemma 25. September 2026 (17:12) As the UN warns traditional safeguards are ‘unravelling’, Donald Trump says he will encourage, not restrain, the AI raceWhen the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, sat down for an interview in the heart of Silicon Valley at the weekend he had known for two days that his was the first government known to have been attacked by a rogue AI agent.He didn’t reveal the attack then, but he sounded a warning about the march of AI: “the risk is that AI develops in a way in which humans are no longer in control of what AI is producing.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Major milestone’: TfL to launch new public bus operator in London 25. September 2026 (17:04) Buses for London aims for ‘greener, safer and better-value’ service but private operators say move will not fix problemsLondon buses in decline? Why public transport is slowing to a crawl – visualisedA publicly owned company, Buses for London, will start running services in the capital next year, Transport for London has announced.TfL said the launch was a “major milestone” in its plans to improve buses for drivers and passengers. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Robust little’ vessel begins treacherous 22,000km journey around Antarctica in the name of climate science 25. September 2026 (17:00) Powered by sun and wind, the uncrewed vehicle will collect data to help Australian scientists better understand how oceans absorb emissionsA small uncrewed vessel has embarked on a lap around Antarctica and may not return for months.The seven-metre craft, which looks like a large kayak in hi-vis orange, is expected to travel about 22,000km through inhospitable waters, propelled by powerful westerly winds and energy from the sun. The journey is seven times the distance between Sydney and Perth. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
NSW crackdown on ‘AI-doctored’ real estate listings hits mural-covered wall 25. September 2026 (17:00) Apartment with strange view singled out in government’s fight against deceptive ads – but real estate agent says photo is no fakeGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales government’s crackdown on “AI-doctored” rental listings has hit a wall, after it made an example of a supposedly manipulated ad that turned out to be a genuine photograph of a $5,000 courtyard mural of Bondi beach.In a media release on Friday announcing protections against misleading rental ads, the state government provided a link to a property in Leichhardt, claiming it was an “AI-doctored rental listing in Sydney’s Inner West”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US math and reading test scores are at a 25-year low. Trump cut the agency that can provide answers 25. September 2026 (17:00) National Center for Education Statistics, which collects critical data to guide policy on learning, was decimated after Doge canceled crucial contractsAs reading and math scores fall to their lowest point in the past quarter-century, the US now has fewer tools to understand and develop interventions for this troubling trend.When the Trump administration took a wrecking ball to the Department of Education last year, firing nearly half of its workers and allowing the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) to cancel nearly $900m in contracts, a little-known agency called the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) was among the hardest hit. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘We will get stuff done’: Burnham seeks to banish ghosts of Starmerism at Labour conference 25. September 2026 (16:25) The PM returns to Liverpool, where he was mocked last year, with a promise that no one will be left wondering what he’s trying to doUK politics live – latest updatesAndy Burnham was not even in the audience for the prime minister’s speech at the Labour party conference this time last year. As Keir Starmer made the case for continuity to his restive party, Burnham was spotted slipping out over the bridge towards Liverpool’s Albert Dock.The then Greater Manchester mayor had been vying for the spotlight throughout the party’s annual gathering, presenting the argument for change. But even he could not have envisaged the schism that would take place in the ensuing 12 months and would put him on the main stage as prime minister at this year’s conference, beginning in Merseyside on Sunday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
