Better

Researchers find capacity stunted by pollution was restored after introduction of ultra-low emission zoneChildren’s lungs grew bigger and stronger after the most polluting vehicles were restricted from entering London, a study has found.Examinations of London schoolchildren before and after the introduction of the city’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) found a restoration of lung capacity that had been stunted by exposure to pollution. Continue reading...

As Karoline Leavitt plans to step down, it’s apparent how the president above all values a readiness to twist the truthAs Karoline Leavitt prepares to step down from her role as Donald Trump’s fifth White House press secretary, a brief review of her tenure, and that of her predecessors, makes clear that the most fabulist president in US history prizes one quality above all else in the women and men who speak for him: a willingness to tell outrageous lies.Leavitt started her tenure by telling a wild falsehood at her very first news conference, when she claimed that the Biden administration had planned to use $50m in taxpayer dollars to send condoms to Gaza. Later the same day, the Guardian reported that the claim was directly contradicted by USAID records. Continue reading...

• DeepSeek claims its refreshed V4-Flash model outperforms the V4-Pro preview in coding tasks while costing only a third of the price. • In a real-world test involving three coding jobs, V4-Flash proved to be the superior model in terms of performance. • Despite the lower per-token cost, V4-Flash consumed significantly more tokens than V4-Pro, resulting in nearly identical final bills.

• Spain is facing an acute security crisis in Ceuta, but EU partners have failed to provide adequate support, instead issuing a joint letter of criticism. • The letter, promoted by Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen and signed by Germany, focused on sending firm signals to domestic electorates regarding immigration. • The lack of solidarity is attributed to political score-settling over Spain's regularization of irregular migrants and its divergent stance on defense spending to appease the Trump administration.

• OpenAI has updated ChatGPT to use the same "Sol" model for both quick responses and complex tasks, streamlining the experience for Plus and Pro users. • A new slider is now available across web, mobile, and desktop platforms, allowing users to manually control the level of "thought" or reasoning the model applies to an answer. • This update specifically benefits users testing prompts for Codex or Work, as it provides more consistency and improved performance on longer, more complex tasks.

When asked to detail what would make a better life in three to five years, 60% of US adults said greater financial securityAmericans may seem increasingly divided on beliefs and values, but in a new survey of more than 30,000 adults from across the country spanning generations and economic classes, a majority of Americans agree there’s a significant barrier to achieving a better life: the rising cost of living.When asked to describe what a better life in three to five years would look like, 60% of Americans said they wanted greater financial security, according to a survey that was conducted by the McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility and the WK Kellogg Foundation in mid-April. Continue reading...

• TS Lombard reports that South Korea's tech rally may slow down due to cooling memory-chip pricing and increased competition from expanding Chinese capacity. • While the research firm remains positive on overall AI capital spending, it has shifted to a neutral view on South Korean equities. • The firm identifies Taiwan and Japan as more durable markets for investors seeking exposure to the global AI buildout.

Prosecutor tells court that ‘gaps or inconsistencies’ in the woman’s account ‘enhances her credibility’, but the defence maintains she is lyingGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA woman who accused a well-connected Melbourne man of rape “could have done a much better job” if she was inventing the story for money, a Melbourne court has heard.The man, who cannot be named, faces two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, and has pleaded not guilty in Victoria’s county court. Continue reading...

• A series of AI updates includes upgrades to Claude and ChatGPT desktop apps, alongside the release of the Kimmi K3 model featuring 3 trillion parameters. • Legal and corporate tensions are rising, highlighted by a bias lawsuit against Meta and public criticism from Microsoft's CEO regarding Anthropic. • Strategic delays are impacting the market, specifically with the postponed release of Google’s Gemini 3.5 Pro.

• Speakers at the 2026 CEO Summer Forum, hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) in Jeju Island on Thursday, outlined the next phase of the AI revolution. • Experts argued that future progress will shift away from simply building larger language models toward improving AI literacy and developing AI-native business models. • A critical technical focus will be the creation of energy-efficient semiconductor designs to sustain AI growth and reduce power consumption.

• Supreme Court justices informed Congress on Tuesday that they are making a concerted effort to increase transparency regarding the "shadow docket." • The court is focusing on providing more detailed explanations for decisions made on its interim docket rather than issuing brief, unexplained orders. • This shift is a direct response to growing public and legal demands for greater accountability and clarity in the Court's emergency ruling process.

• AI development in July 2026 has shifted focus from increasing model size to improving economic efficiency and practical real-world applications. • Key releases and achievements include the launch of Claude Sonnet 5 and the discovery of new vaccine components. • The Ames Laboratory utilized a physics-trained model, DuctGPT, to successfully discover rare-earth-free permanent magnets by balancing material physics with production costs.

• SBS's revenge action thriller *Agent Kim Reactivated* has achieved a 21.6% nationwide viewership rating in South Korea after only four episodes. • As of July 6, 2026, the series has also become a global hit on Netflix, ranking No. 1 in 26 different countries, including Japan, Thailand, and the UAE. • The show's rapid growth in popularity is driven by positive fan reception and strong performance across both traditional television and streaming platforms.

• Anthropic is reportedly seeking to renegotiate the terms of its partnership with Amazon to secure more favorable conditions. • The move is driven by the escalating costs of training and inference for frontier AI models, which require massive amounts of computing power. • This shift highlights a growing trend where leading AI developers are gaining more pricing power as demand and infrastructure requirements surge.

Councils and schools urged to do more as figures show there is no information on whereabouts of 32,100 ‘Neets’Business live – latest updatesThe government has urged councils and schools in England to drastically improve the way they identify young people at risk of dropping out of training and work, as it admitted thousands are unaccounted for.Publishing official figures on Thursday, the government said councils had no information on the whereabouts of 32,100 young people aged 16 to 17 who were not in education, employment or training (Neet). Continue reading...

Twelve countries with a free trade agreement with Brussels have their quota reduced by just one-thirdBusiness live – latest updatesThe EU has halved the amount of duty-free steel it will accept from abroad, but has agreed to higher levels of imports for 12 trading partners including the UK.The curbs are designed to reduce cheap Chinese steel coming into the bloc. However, 12 countries with a free trade agreement (FTA) with Brussels, including the UK, have had their quota reduced by just one-third. Continue reading...

• Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh has initiated a leadership shift focused on streamlining the central bank's communications and operations. • Recent changes include a dramatically shorter policy statement that removes hedging boilerplate and replaces vague inflation goals with a definitive commitment to deliver price stability. • During his press conference, Warsh adopted a leaner approach, refusing to engage in speculative forecasting or pretend the bank has a "crystal ball."

• Consumer sentiment in the United States has increased in recent weeks, reversing a downward trend seen earlier this year. • According to a University of Michigan survey, the decline began following U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran in February and was exacerbated by soaring energy costs. • This shift indicates a positive change in how Americans perceive the economy after a period of instability and rising prices.

• Speakers at the Global Banking Festival (GBF) emphasized that South Korea's AI future depends on improving data quality and implementing "programmable money." • Experts argued that AI must evolve from simply answering questions to performing complex tasks and executing financial payments autonomously. • The shift is critical for financial institutions to remain competitive as AI transitions into "agentic" workflows that handle end-to-end business processes.

• Former leaders from the FDA, CDC, and NIH convened at the BIO International Convention to discuss the dismantling of the Department of Health and Human Services under the Trump administration. • The panel focused on the collapse of existing US public health structures and the urgent need to rebuild a more effective system. • Experts warned that immediate action is required as infectious disease outbreaks, including Ebola and hantavirus, are becoming increasingly common.

• Emma Hayes, the celebrated manager, faced widespread ridicule after appearing on an ITV analysis set designed to look like a kitchen during England's victory over Croatia. • Critics argue the "sexist gimmick" undermines Hayes' expertise as an exemplary pundit and represents a significant missed opportunity for the broadcaster. • The controversy highlights a shift in World Cup coverage, with the BBC operating from Salford and former talisman Gary Lineker moving to Netflix for his "Rest is Football" podcast.

• The author argues that Turkey and Israel are the primary hegemonic aspirants in the Middle East, predicting an eventual collision between the two as Iranian power collapses. • A potential conflict would likely expand beyond the Middle East, impacting Greece, Cyprus, and broader European stability. • The analysis suggests that the U.S. must prioritize conflict management to prevent intra-alliance warfare and ensure the continued freedom of navigation and energy development.

‘Gender norms explain some of it, but not all of it’ says Tiya Banerjee, an economist at the e61 InstituteGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIn about a week’s time, the Socceroos will step up against Turkey, their first opponents in this year’s World Cup.Winning their first match will be a big ask; progressing beyond the first round will be a bigger one. Continue reading...

• Investors are comparing Salesforce and Braze to determine which technology stock offers better value heading into 2026. • Salesforce provides massive scale and profitability, while Braze is characterized by rapid growth and high user engagement. • Salesforce faces critical headwinds, including significant cybersecurity risks, evolving data privacy regulations, and intense competition from Microsoft, Alphabet, and AI-native startups.

• The author argues that the next major AI breakthroughs will be driven by high-quality, research-driven dataset design rather than simply increasing model size. • Current industry trends have seen talent and funding disproportionately gravitate toward hardware innovation and model development, leaving a shortage of specialized teams focused on domain-specific data. • This shift is critical because success in new AI frontiers depends on access to large volumes of rigorous, high-quality data to improve performance.

• Investors are comparing Salesforce and Braze to determine which technology stock offers a better investment opportunity heading into 2026. • Salesforce provides market dominance through scale and profitability, while Braze is characterized by rapid growth and high user engagement. • Salesforce faces significant headwinds, including cybersecurity risks, evolving data privacy regulations, and intense competition from Microsoft, Alphabet, and AI-native startups.

Research suggests NHS trusts with higher empathy ratings also benefit financially and have improved staff wellbeingPatients and staff fare better at hospitals that rank highly on empathy, research suggests, with institutions also benefiting financially by spending less on agency staff, locums and consultants.The finding comes from the first study to rate NHS trusts in England according to an empathy score that is drawn from information on the organisation’s culture, leadership behaviour and practitioner empathy, among other factors. Continue reading...

Badenoch differentiated herself from Nigel Farage in response to Henry Nowak’s murder and supporters say her ratings are risingKemi Badenoch has a hard-earned reputation for combativeness, especially on culture war issues, but at prime minister’s questions, with the murder of Henry Nowak in the headlines, Keir Starmer ended up thanking the Conservative leader for her “tone”. So is she a changed politician? Well, not exactly.To an extent, Badenoch’s approach ahead of her weekly Commons showdown with Starmer was shaped by events. Widespread concern on Wednesday at the police response to Nowak’s murder – the student who was handcuffed while he bled to death after being falsely accused of racism – spiralled into rioting on Tuesday night. The imperative not to inflame matters further was obvious. Continue reading...