‘Gamechanging’ brain tumour test reduces diagnosis from eight weeks to two hours

37-year-old BBC broadcaster was shot in 1999 in case detectives have previously said may never be solvedTechnological advances are allowing police to review old CCTV footage in the unsolved murder of the BBC broadcaster Jill Dando, Scotland Yard has revealed.Advances in CCTV enhancement technology have allowed detectives to return to 27-year-old footage of Putney Bridge Underground station, Scotland Yard said. But detectives stressed that the review was part of existing inquiries – not a new investigation. Continue reading...

Behind the stories of bombings and mass deaths, the everyday challenges facing Palestinians living under siege portray a quieter tragedy we rarely hear What does it take to make a morning cup of tea in Gaza?For Alaa Hessi, in her final month of pregnancy, this small ritual begins with a calculation of gas rations. Her family gets a ration of 6kg of gas every three months – enough to heat a pot for 18 precious minutes a day. That’s needed for cooking – so for tea, a fire must be built instead. Continue reading...

Province’s rat patrol called in to investigate as town of Bowden announces discovery of dead verminFor more than seven decades, residents of Alberta have shared something in common with Antarctica and the high Arctic: all locations are officially free of rats.But on Thursday the Canadian province’s reputation as a firewall against rodent infestation took a hit when the town of Bowden announced the discovery of a dead rat and called on the province’s “rat patrol” to investigate. Continue reading...

US president is said to expect renewed strikes after midtermsUS president Donald Trump has said he has rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the strait of Hormuz within a week and resume nuclear talks in return for the lifting of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports.“They made a proposal but I reject it,” he told reporters at the White House. Continue reading...

Thélyson Orélien had been in the running to win a top literary prize before the AI claim emerged on social mediaThe organisers of France’s most prestigious literary prize said they had removed a critically acclaimed novel by a Canadian-Haitian writer from the longlist after an anonymous online account claimed the book was “almost entirely” written by AI.The Académie Goncourt, a Paris-based literary organisation, said on Friday its decision to withdraw Thélyson Orélien’s novel C’était ça ou mourir (It Was That or Die) was “driven by the desire to preserve the integrity of the Goncourt prize and the academy itself, whose central role is to promote and honour literature written by women and men”. Continue reading...

Mountaineer’s body recovered about 20 metres below the summit of Torrecerredo, the highest peak of the Picos de Europa rangeA British man has died after falling about 61 metres (200ft) while descending from the summit of a mountain in northern Spain, according to local law enforcement.The 28-year-old mountaineer fell down a vertical gully on the east side of the Torrecerredo – the highest peak of the Cantabrian mountains – on Thursday afternoon, the Spanish Civil Guard for the Asturias region said. Continue reading...

New research suggests the technology could be used to increase out-of-hospital access to life-saving devicesDrones could help cut the time it takes to get a defibrillator to people experiencing cardiac arrests when not in hospital, researchers have suggested.In the UK alone, there are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests a year where emergency medical services attempt to resuscitate the individual, according to the British Heart Foundation. However, fewer than one in 10 people survive such an event, and some who do are left with neurological problems. Continue reading...

Jane Smith reportedly used ChatGPT to edit photo to show name Trump ordered US agencies to use for Lake Ontario amid trade war with CanadaThe CEO of a Michigan credit union is no longer employed there, according to the organization, after she posted on social media what appeared to be an AI-generated image of her and her family wearing sweaters emblazoned with the Donald Trump-associated words “Lake America”.In the statement recently announcing that Jane Smith would no longer be its CEO, Family First Credit Union also apologized “for the concern, disappointment and pain this situation has caused”. Continue reading...

A council ban on drinking on the median strip in Canning Street, Carlton, sparks a peaceful protest featuring punch bowls, chips and laughterGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt looked like a typical spring evening on Melbourne’s Canning Street when a few dozen picnickers gathered on the grassy median strip on Friday, with drinks in hand.People in one group who’d come with a full alfresco setting chattered as they ladled punch out of a glass bowl on a wooden table, set with a tablecloth and yellow flowers in a vase. Others sat on picnic blankets, passing around bags of chips. Continue reading...

Pontiff says artificial intelligence must remain at service of people in first official papal visit to country in 18 yearsPope Leo has warned against losing humanity in a “paradise of machines” as he addressed global concerns over the dangers of artificial intelligence at the start of a three-day visit to France.“If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for people to be educated in ethical discernment, capable of seeing what is morally right,” he said in a speech at the Élysée. Continue reading...

President’s ‘hard, drastic and necessary measure’, likely to attract widespread public support, polls suggestThe Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has signed an order banning fixed-odds sports betting just over a week before the first round of the presidential election, in a move he said was designed to tackle the pervasive problem of families falling into debt.The decision ends the operation, offering, intermediation and advertising of betting. Continue reading...

Israel ‘categorically rejects’ publication and says businesses on database have committed no wrongdoingThe UN human rights office has added 61 more companies to a blacklist of firms that it says are involved in violating Palestinian human rights through business ties to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.The vast majority of the total 214 companies, which are based in 11 countries, are Israeli. Five of the 158 companies listed last year were removed in the latest update. Continue reading...