The Guardian

Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

IOC president gives clearest signal so far that Russia could be at 2028 Olympics

  • Kirsty Coventry: ‘Keep sport a neutral ground’

  • Ukraine sports minister hits out at Fifa president

The International Olympic Committee president, Kirsty Coventry, has given her clearest signal yet that Russia could be back for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

A day after the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, said he wanted Russia reinstated to international football, Coventry used her opening address to the 145th IOC congress in Milan to argue that all athletes should be allowed to compete in sport – regardless of their government’s behaviour.

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Met police to launch investigation into alleged Mandelson-Epstein email leaks

Epstein files appear to show then business secretary passing market sensitive information to child sex offender

UK politics live – latest updates

The Metropolitan police are to formally launch a criminal investigation into allegations that Peter Mandelson leaked Downing Street emails and market sensitive information to the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Guardian understands.

Documents from the Epstein files released in recent days appeared to show the then business secretary sent confidential information in a string of emails to the late financier in the aftermath of the financial crash.

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New home, new outlook? What’s next for the Sundance film festival?

The final Utah edition of the hub for American independent film saw slow sales and a mixed bag of movies but a future in Colorado could bring a refresh

Sundance is over. Well, not quite. The Sundance we all know, with Robert Redford as its head and Park City, Utah, as its location, is over. The festival’s beloved founder died last year months after the festival also opted for a move to Boulder, Colorado.

But on the alarmingly snow-light ground, there was also chatter about what would become of Sundance as a whole, once the shining beacon of American independent cinema, after it entered a new phase. There were standout films as ever but again not quite enough to override concerns over what the festival now represents in a harsh new world where it’s arguably easier to make an indie (or whatever cobbling together bits of AI slop might be called) but harder to get it sold.

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Ben Jennings on the latest revelations from the Epstein files – cartoon

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‘Supermax-style units’ for most dangerous criminals to be introduced in England and Wales

David Lammy also told MPs he would draw up legislation to stop prisoners using human rights laws to challenge tougher jail conditions

The most dangerous extremist prisoners in England and Wales will be held in “supermax-style units” similar to those used in US jails, David Lammy has told MPs.

The deputy prime minister also said he would consider drawing up legislation to stop prisoners from using human rights laws to challenge tougher conditions in jail.

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From ‘nerdy’ Gemini to ‘edgy’ Grok: how developers are shaping AI behaviours

AIs are not sentient – but tweaks to their ethical codes can have far-reaching consequences for users

Do you want an AI assistant that gushes about how it “loves humanity” or spews sarcasm? How about a political propagandist ready to lie? If so, ChatGPT, Grok and Qwen are at your disposal.

Companies that create AI assistants from the US to China are increasingly wrestling with how to mould their characters, and it is no abstract debate. This month Elon Musk’s “maximally truth-seeking” Grok AI caused international outrage when it pumped out millions of sexualised images. In October OpenAI retrained ChatGPT to de-escalate conversations with people in mental health distress after it appeared to encourage a 16-year-old to take his own life.

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The dump dinner: spaghetti is now being served straight on to the table – but why?

A raft of online videos show parents serving up dinner without a single plate in sight, to the amazement of their families

Name: Dump dinners.

Age: Horribly new.

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Cristiano Ronaldo’s no-show leaves Saudi Pro League facing awkward questions

League’s star said to be unhappy over his club’s transfer dealings and Karim Benzema’s move. Now he could face his first backlash

Jurassic Park sounded great given the spectacular beasts on display, but there was chaos after they started to do their own thing. When Cristiano Ronaldo, surely the T rex, and Karim Benzema, perhaps a velociraptor, are scoring in spectacular fashion there are headlines around the world, but the Saudi Pro League is finding out that when they start to flex their muscles off the pitch, there is even more interest and, it turns out, a real problem for the competition.

What happened on a manic Monday in the SPL should have been about what unfolded on the pitch. Al-Hilal, in first, drew with third-placed Al-Ahli. Al-Nassr won, to stay second, closing to within a point of the leaders. If Brendan Rodgers, having a whale of a time with Al-Qadsiah, wins his game in hand then four points will separate the top four with just over a third of the season remaining. It is the kind of title race most leagues would love.

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VK: Voorpagina

Volkskrant.nl biedt het laatste nieuws, opinie en achtergronden

Kim Jong-un tussen de koeien en een dorp voor sledehonden

Bontenbal: ‘De afspraak is dat we niet op elkaars tenen gaan staan’

Van Andrew tot Epstein

Het zal je  maar gebeuren. Op een dag die je in gemoedelijk gezinsverband had willen doorbrengen, krijg je de mededeling dat je naam is opgedoken in de Epstein-files.

Snelgroeiende autonome AI-assistent die taken van gebruikers overneemt, is een ‘disaster waiting to happen

Sillicon Valley is in de ban van zogenoemde ‘AI agents’, die triviale taken overnemen. Het populaire OpenClaw is wel erg autonoom en zit „in de ideale positie om dingen te kapot te maken.”

kottke.org

Jason Kottke's weblog, home of fine hypertext products

The Case of the Green Covers is a risograph-printed...

The Case of the Green Covers is a risograph-printed zine that documents the history of the “Green Penguins”, “a series of hundreds of crime novels published with green covers by the UK publisher Penguin in the 1960s”.

💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org

Podcast interview with two photojournalists who have...

Podcast interview with two photojournalists who have been covering ICE in Minnesota. “It’s a conversation about what they’ve seen, the vital role of photojournalism at this moment, and the personal toll of doing this work.”

💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org

Slashdot

News for nerds, stuff that matters

PayPal's CEO Change Blindsided HP's Board

An anonymous reader shares a report: PayPal said on Tuesday it was booting its CEO and replacing him with its board chair Enrique Lores, sparing no ambiguity as to why: "The pace of change and execution was not in line with the Board's expectations," it said in a statement. One group that was blindsided was HP, where Lores was until Tuesday serving as CEO, according to people familiar with the matter.

Lores' switchup sent them rushing to launch a search process, those people said. HP's board does have internal candidates which it's considering for the top job, according to a person familiar with the board's thinking. As chair of PayPal's board, Lores played a role in a process evaluating internal and external candidates. It was unclear when or if he recused himself from the final decision to name him as CEO. But HP's board was only made aware that Lores was taking the CEO role at PayPal in recent weeks, the people said.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Wel.nl

Minder lezen, Meer weten.

Novo Nordisk waarschuwt voor lagere verkopen door concurrentie

KOPENHAGEN (ANP/BLOOMBERG) - Novo Nordisk, producent van de bekende diabetes- en afslankmiddelen Ozempic en Wegovy, verwacht dat de verkopen dit jaar met 5 tot 13 procent dalen. Het Deense farmacieconcern schrijft dit toe aan groeiende concurrentie. Het bedrijf wordt ook geraakt door het Amerikaanse beleid om medicijnprijzen te verlagen.

De omzetdaling is veel groter dan marktkenners hadden voorzien. Novo Nordisk publiceert woensdag zijn volledige resultaten. De jaarlijkse verkopen van Novo Nordisk daalden voor het laatst in 2017, tijdens een prijzenslag over insuline in de Verenigde Staten.

Novo Nordisk heeft op de markt voor afslankmiddelen terrein verloren aan het middel Zepbound van rivaal Eli Lilly, dat volgens vergelijkingen effectiever zou werken. Het bedrijf kreeg eind vorig jaar in de VS goedkeuring om een pilversie van zijn obesitasinjectie Wegovy op de markt te brengen.


Persbureau: VS schieten Iraanse drone neer nabij vliegdekschip

WASHINGTON (ANP/RTR) - De VS hebben een Iraanse drone neergeschoten. Dat meldt persbureau Reuters op basis van een Amerikaanse functionaris. Volgens de bron zou het onbemande toestel een Amerikaans vliegdekschip in de Arabische Zee zijn genaderd.


The Register

Biting the hand that feeds IT — Enterprise Technology News and Analysis

CISA updated ransomware intel on 59 bugs last year without telling defenders

GreyNoise's Glenn Thorpe counts the cost of missed opportunities

On 59 occasions throughout 2025, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) silently tweaked vulnerability notices to reflect their use by ransomware crooks. Experts say that's a problem.…

Palantir declares itself the guardian of Americans' rights

CEO Alex Karp meets criticism with soaring revenues and a sermon

Opinion  Palantir had a whopper of a Q4, showing accelerating revenue growth, beating Wall Street's profit estimates, and enjoying a share price jump of as much as 11% during pre-market trading on Tuesday before coming back down to earth.…

The Moscow Times - Independent News From Russia

The Moscow Times offers everything you need to know about Russia: Breaking news, top stories, business, analysis, opinion, multimedia

Russia’s Opposition Has Representation in PACE. Can They Achieve Anything?

Some hail the group’s existence as a major milestone, while others remain skeptical of what Russia’s fractured opposition can accomplish.