Latest News

Last updated 27 Feb, 05:20 PM

BBC News

Henry Zeffman: Green victory shows insurgent parties are here to stay - The party's historic win in Gorton and Denton by-election is clearest sign yet of changing political landscape.

Soham killer Huntley still in hospital after attack using makeshift weapon - Huntley, who is serving a life sentence for murdering two schoolgirls, has significant head trauma, the BBC understands.

Private schools lose legal challenge over VAT changes - A group of low-fee paying private schools have challenged the government's removal of the VAT exemption.

'We were bullied for years before our son was killed' - The parents of 14-year-old Ibrahima Seck say they were being harassed and bullied for years.

Cruz Beckham launches music career, having fun amid family drama - Can David and Victoria's youngest son escape the "nepo baby" label and find success with his band?

The Register

Lovable-hosted app littered with basic flaws exposed 18K users, researcher claims - Who's to blame – the vibey platforms or the humans who ignore security warnings? Vibe-coding platform Lovable has been accused of hosting apps riddled with vulnerabilities after saying users are responsible for addressing security issues flagged before publishing.…

Ransomware payments cratered in 2025, but attacks surged to record highs - Smaller crews piled in as old names splintered and rebranded Ransomware payments cratered in 2025, but it seems like the cybercrooks launching the attacks didn't get the memo.…

French DIY etailer ManoMano admits customer data stolen - Crooks claim they helped themselves to over 37M accounts during January hit on subcontractor French online marketplace ManoMano is warning customers their personal data was siphoned off after a cyberattack hit one of its customer support subcontractors – and criminals are already claiming the haul is far larger than the company's carefully worded notice suggests.…

Japan's Rapidus lands $1.7B to chase 2nm chip production by 2027 - Government and 32 private-sector backers fund push to take on TSMC and Samsung at leading-edge nodes Japan's fledgling foundry biz Rapidus has secured funding of $1.7 billion to help it progress to mass production of 2nm semiconductors by 2027, making it a potential rival for Taiwan's TSMC.…

Cops back Dutch telco Odido after second wave of ShinyHunters leaks - Company refuses to pay ransom as attackers threaten larger daily dumps The Netherlands' national police is backing Odido's refusal to pay a ransom after ShinyHunters leaked a second round of records belonging to the telco.…

New Scientist - Home

Ocean geoengineering trial finds no evidence of harm to marine life - Pouring 65,000 litres of sodium hydroxide into the Gulf of Maine removed up to 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere without harming wildlife, according to the researchers behind an ocean alkalinity enhancement test

How worried should you be about an asteroid smashing into Earth? - The dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid, but does that mean we risk suffering the same fate - and should you be worried about the possibility? Leah Crane sets the matter straight

Our verdict on Juice by Tim Winton: Australian climate novel is a hit - The New Scientist Book Club enjoyed our February read, Tim Winton's far-future-set Juice. Head of books Alison Flood rounds up member thoughts

'If a drug had the same benefits as the arts, we’d take it every day' - As the New Scientist Book Club embarks on its read for March, Art Cure, author Daisy Fancourt gives a sneak preview into the myriad ways in which the arts can improve our health

Read an extract from Art Cure by Daisy Fancourt - In this extract from Daisy Fancourt's Art Cure, the March read for the New Scientist Book Club, we learn about how art classes transformed life for Russell after he had a stroke

Hacker News

We deserve a better streams API for JavaScript - Comments

Statement from Dario Amodei on our discussions with the Department of War - Comments

We gave terabytes of CI logs to an LLM - Comments

The Pentagon is making a mistake by threatening Anthropic - Comments

Tenth Circuit: 4th Amendment Doesn't Support Broad Search of Protesters' Devices - Comments

Slashdot

Sam Altman Says OpenAI Shares Anthropic's Red Lines in Pentagon Fight - An anonymous reader shares a report: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in a memo to staff that he will draw the same red lines that sparked a high-stakes fight between rival Anthropic and the Pentagon: no AI for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons. If other leading firms like Google follow suit, this could massively complicate the Pentagon's efforts to replace Anthropic's Claude, which was the first model integrated into the military's most sensitive work. It would also be the first time the nation's top AI leaders have taken a collective stand about how the U.S. government can and can't use their technology. Altman made clear he still wants to strike a deal with the Pentagon that would allow ChatGPT to be used for sensitive military contexts. Despite the show of solidarity, such a deal could see OpenAI replace Anthropic if the Pentagon follows through with its plan to declare the latter a "supply chain risk." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Netflix Ditches deal for Warner Bros. Discovery After Paramount's Offer is Deemed Superior - Netflix is walking away from a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's studio and streaming assets after the WBD board on Thursday deemed a revised bid by Paramount Skydance to be a superior offer. From a report: Earlier this week, Paramount raised its bid to buy the entirety of WBD to $31 per share, up from $30 per share, all cash. It was the latest amendment to Paramount's multiple offers in recent months -- and since moving forward with a hostile bid to buy the company -- and it's now unseated a deal between WBD and Netflix to sell the legacy media company's studio and streaming businesses for $27.75 per share. Last week, Netflix granted WBD a seven-day waiver to reengage with Paramount, resulting in the higher bid. Paramount's offer is for the entirety of WBD, including its pay-TV networks, such as CNN, TBS and TNT. Netflix had four business days to make changes to its own proposal in light of Paramount's superior bid, the WBD board said in a statement Thursday. Instead, the decision by the streaming giant to walk away puts a pin in a drawn-out saga that saw amended offers from both bidders. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft: Computer Programming Is Dying, Long Live AI Literacy - theodp writes: On Tuesday, Microsoft GM of Education and Workforce Policy (and former Code.org Chief Academic Officer) Pat Yongpradit posted an obituary of sorts for coders. "Computer programmers and software developers are codified differently in the BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics] data," Yongpradit wrote. "The modern AI-infused world needs less computer programmers (coders) and more software developers (more holistic and higher level). So when folks say that there is less hiring of computer programmers, they are right. But there will be more hiring of software developers, especially those who have adopted an AI-forward mindset and skillset. [...] The number of just pure computer programming roles has already been declining due to reasons like outsourcing, AI will just accelerate the decline." On Wednesday, Yongpradit's colleague Allyson Knox, Senior Director of Education and Workforce Policy at Microsoft, put another AI nail in the coder coffin, testifying before the House Committee on Education -- the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education on Building an AI-ready America: Teaching in the Age of AI. "Thank you to Chairman Tim Walberg, Ranking Member Bobby Scott, Chair Kevin Kiley, Ranking Member Suzanne Bonamici and members of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to share Microsoft perspective and that of the educators and parents we hear from every day across the country," Knox wrote in a LinkedIn post. "Three themes continue to emerge throughout these discussions: 1. Educators want support to build AI literacy and critical thinking skills. 2. Schools need guidance and guardrails to ensure student data is protected and adults remain in control. 3. Teachers want classroom-ready tools, and a voice in shaping them. If we focus on these priorities, we can help ensure AI expands opportunity for every student across the United States." Yongpradit and Knox report up to Microsoft President Brad Smith, who last July told Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi it was time for the tech-backed nonprofit to "switch hats" from coding to AI as Microsoft announced a new $4 billion initiative to advance AI education. Smith's thoughts on the extraordinary promise of AI in education were cited by Knox in her 2026 Congressional testimony. Interestingly, Knox argued for the importance of computer programming literacy in her 2013 Congressional testimony at a hearing on Our Nation of Builders: Training the Builders of the Future. "Congress needs to come up with fresh ideas on how we can continue to train the next generation of builders, programmers, manufacturers, technicians and entrepreneurs," said Rep. Lee Terry said to open the discussion. So, are reports of computer programming's imminent death greatly exaggerated? Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Your Smart TV May Be Crawling the Web for AI - Bright Data, a company that operates one of the world's largest residential proxy networks, has been running an SDK inside smart TV apps that turns those devices into nodes for web crawling -- collecting data used by AI companies, among other clients -- and most consumers have had no idea it was happening. The company has published more than 200 first-party apps to LG's app store alone and still lists Samsung's Tizen OS and LG's webOS as supported platforms, though LG says the SDK is "not officially supported" and its operation on webOS "is not guaranteed." Google, Amazon, and Roku have all since adopted policies restricting or banning background proxy SDKs, and Bright Data no longer supports those platforms. Several Roku apps still running the SDK disappeared from the store after a journalist with The Verge behind this reporting contacted the company. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

OpenAI Raises $110 Billion in the Largest Private Funding Round Ever - OpenAI has closed what is now the largest private financing in history -- a $110 billion round at a $730 billion pre-money valuation that more than doubles the $40 billion raise it completed just a year ago, itself a record for a private tech company at the time. Amazon invested $50 billion, SoftBank put in $30 billion, and Nvidia committed $30 billion, and additional investors are expected to join as the round progresses. The valuation is a sharp jump from the $500 billion OpenAI commanded in a secondary financing in October, and the round dwarfs recent raises by rivals Anthropic ($30 billion) and xAI ($20 billion). The company has been telling investors it is now targeting roughly $600 billion in total compute spend by 2030, a more measured figure than the $1.4 trillion in infrastructure commitments CEO Sam Altman had touted months earlier. OpenAI is projecting more than $280 billion in total revenue by 2030, split roughly equally between consumer and enterprise. ChatGPT now has over 900 million weekly active users and more than 50 million paying subscribers. Read more of this story at Slashdot.