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• University of California San Diego researchers said a modern AI system passed a rigorous three-party Turing test, with GPT-4.5 judged human 73% of the time in live chats. • The study found LLaMa-3.1-405B was picked as human 56% of the time, while baseline systems ELIZA and GPT-4o were chosen only about 23% and 21% of the time. • Lead author Cameron Jones said the right “persona” prompt let models show “tone, directness, humor and fallibility,” raising questions about deception, trust and how people judge AI online.

The flight from Melbourne to Dallas was forced to land temporarily in Tahiti due to the alleged disruptive behaviourA passenger has been banned from future Qantas travel after a plane travelling on a long haul flight from Australia to the US was diverted over the weekend after the man allegedly bit a flight attendant.The QF21 flight left Melbourne at 2.30pm on Friday en route to Dallas and was diverted to Papeete on the island of Tahiti seven hours later after the behaviour of the disruptive passenger forced it to temporarily land. Continue reading...

State oil company fast-tracks previously undisclosed project, which is expected to double export capacityBusiness live – latest updatesThe United Arab Emirates has announced it will complete a new oil pipeline bypassing the strait of Hormuz by next year to secure its future crude exports against the threat of disruption.The current blockade of the vital waterway, through which 20% of oil and seaborne gas flowed before the Iran war, is approaching the 11-week mark, sending energy prices soaring around the world and throttling Gulf economies. Continue reading...

Home affairs minister Tony Burke says listing will stop group from organising and meeting, and may prevent more ‘horrific bigoted rallies’The government has banned neo-nazi group, National Socialist Network, also known as White Australia, as prohibited hate group, under legislation passed in the wake of the Bondi terror attacks.The listing will mean that activities including supporting, funding, training, recruiting and joining the group will constitute a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Continue reading...

If state’s house passes bill, redrawn map could could give state Republicans a 5-1 congressional majoritySign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailOn Thursday, the Louisiana state senate voted 27-10 to pass a new congressional map that would eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black House districts. The resulting map could give Louisiana Republicans a 5-1 congressional majority.The supreme court’s recent decision in Louisiana v Callais, a case that centered on the state’s congressional maps, severely weakened the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The fallout from the decision was swift, with several other southern states calling special sessions to pass redistricting maps that would limit Black voting power. Continue reading...

• Atlanta Braves climbed to the top of MLB Power Rankings for the first time this season with a 30-13 record, up from No. 3 last week. • The Braves' offensive surge is powered by Matt Olson and Drake Baldwin, while the Dodgers fell to No. 2 after their top hitters cooled off, including Shohei Ohtani's 11-game homer drought ended Tuesday. • Top five remains stable with Yankees, Cubs, and Rays holding positions 3-5; St. Louis Cardinals entered top 10 at No. 10 with a 24-18 record after series wins over Dodgers, Pirates, and a split with Padres.

Health minister Mark Butler says six people from MC Hondius plus flight crew from charter plane to be isolated for weeksFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralians and New Zealanders who were aboard the deadly hantavirus-hit cruise ship will undergo the first three weeks of their quarantine at the Bullsbrook national resilience centre, just outside Perth.The flight crew that brings them back to the country will have to join them, Australia’s health minister, Mark Butler, said. Continue reading...

French woman taken to Paris in serious condition while American flown to Nebraska is asymptomatic, say officialsEurope live – latest updatesA French woman and an American national evacuated from the cruise ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak have tested positive for the virus, as the complex operation to repatriate those on board continued on Monday.The French woman was one of five French passengers who disembarked from the ship in Tenerife on Sunday before being flown to a hospital in Paris. Continue reading...

Twenty people from MV Hondius cruise spend first day living in self-contained flats in MerseysidePassengers evacuated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak are spending their first day at an isolation facility after being repatriated from Tenerife.A chartered Titan Airways flight transported the MV Hondius passengers from the Canary Islands to Manchester airport on Sunday evening. The evacuation of passengers of all nationalities will be completed on Monday, with flights arriving from Australia and the Netherlands, Spain’s health minister has said. Continue reading...

Airport reports 5% decline but transit passenger business rises as fliers use hub to avoid Middle East airportsBusiness live – news updatesThe number of passengers flying from London Heathrow fell last month, as war in the Middle East weighed on demand for international travel.About 6.7 million people flew through the airport in April, a 5% drop compared with the same period last year. Continue reading...

• Seventeen passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are being flown to the National Quarantine Unit in Omaha, Nebraska, the same facility used during the early COVID-19 pandemic, after potential hantavirus exposure aboard the vessel. • CDC officials confirmed three deaths related to the outbreak and are monitoring at least nine Americans across six states—Arizona, California, Virginia, Texas, Georgia, and New Jersey—for possible infections, though none have shown symptoms yet. • Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, stated the outbreak "is on the end of its run right now," noting hantavirus has very limited person-to-person transmission capability and is a "rare exception" for spread.

Thirty years after first person-to-person transmission was documented in Patagonia, scientists say global heating could increase world’s exposureAn outbreak in rural communities 30 years ago in the Patagonia area of Argentina led scientists, for the first time, to document person-to-person transmission of hantavirus, which until then had been known only to spread through contact with rodents.Nearly a decade ago another outbreak, also in Patagonia, provided detailed evidence of inter-human transmission when an infected 68-year-old rural worker attended a birthday party in a small village. The infection spread and resulted in 11 deaths. Continue reading...

MV Hondius anchors offshore carrying 146 people as authorities scramble to get planes to take them homeThe cruise ship at the centre of a deadly outbreak of hantavirus has arrived in Tenerife for the evacuation of those onboard.The ship arrived in the Canary Islands in the early hours of Sunday morning carrying 146 people, after three people died of the virus and eight more became ill. Continue reading...

Spanish health officials says all 146 passengers remain asymptomatic as vessel arrives in Tenerife waters Good morning, and welcome to our Europe live blog. Spanish health ​officials have said all the passengers on the ‌hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius remain asymptomatic after the vessel arrived in Tenerife on Sunday, almost a month after the first passenger died of the rodent-borne disease on board the ship.“The anchoring has been a success despite all the difficulties,” the health minister, Mónica García, said after intensive preparations to receive the ship in the port of Granadilla were carried out over recent days.Vladimir Putin has said he thinks the Ukraine war is winding down, adding that he was ready to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a third country only once all conditions for a potential peace agreement were settled.The pro-European centre-right leader Péter Magyar has been sworn in as prime minister of Hungary, marking the official end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power.The king of Denmark asked a centre-right politician to try to form a new government after the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, failed to put together a ruling coalition. Continue reading...

• The U.S. Senate approved a measure prohibiting members of Congress and their staff from placing bets on prediction markets, announced on May 8, 2026. • Chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reported the action from Capitol Hill, targeting political gambling amid rising concerns over insider trading. • The ban addresses ethical issues in financial markets forecasting political outcomes, responding to recent scandals involving lawmakers' wagers.

Revocations will start on Friday for those who owe $100,000 or more, and then expand to those who owe $2,500 or moreSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The US state department will begin revoking the US passports of thousands of parents who owe a significant amount of unpaid child support.The department told the Associated Press on Thursday that the revocations would begin on Friday and be focused on those who owe $100,000 or more. That would apply to about 2,700 American passport holders, according to figures supplied to the state department by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Continue reading...

Argentina, where the MV Hondius cruise departed, consistently ranked by WHO as having highest incidence of hantavirus in regionOfficials and experts in Argentina are scrambling to determine if their country is the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has gripped an Atlantic cruise ship, amid reports that a number of passengers have already returned to their home countries.Argentina, where the cruise to Antarctica departed, is consistently ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having the highest incidence of the rare, rodent-borne disease in Latin America. Investigators there are working to contact trace the source of contamination. Continue reading...

Lenders increase borrowing rates by 0.25%; pro-Palestine meeting barred from council venue goes ahead outside in Darlington. Follow updates liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNext week’s federal budget will fund a dedicated national centre to detect and disrupt the evolving threat of online violent extremism and terrorism.The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, will announce the $74m in funding over two years for the project on Wednesday. It is part of the government’s response to the Bondi terror attack in December.A bolstered online threat capability will give AFP and Asio the resources they need to target terrorists and violent extremists online.Just because I, and other people, might find it personally offensive does not mean that governments have unlimited power to constitutionally strike down the right of everybody else to freedom of political communication. Continue reading...

MV Hondius remains off the coast of Cape Verde after a suspected respiratory virus outbreak killed three people and left three more seriously ill. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Stephanie Convery with the main action.Mortgage holders are set to be hundreds of dollars worse off per month than they were at the start of the year as the Reserve Bank prepares to unload a third consecutive interest rate hike on borrowers. More coming up. Continue reading...

• India has rejected Nepal's claim and objection to the upcoming Kailash Mansarovar Yatra (pilgrimage) scheduled to proceed via the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand. • The dispute underscores ongoing border demarcation issues between India and Nepal, specifically regarding the Lipulekh region in the western Himalayas. • The disagreement could impact bilateral relations and regional stability, with implications for trade and cross-border cooperation between the two nations.

• Spirit Airlines collapsed on May 3, 2026, stranding passengers at airports like Newark who must pay higher fares on other carriers to return home. • White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett stated energy shocks from surging gas prices contributed to Spirit's demise but will impact airline profits only for the next quarter. • The shutdown raises concerns for other U.S. carriers' financial stability ahead of the summer travel season amid record fuel costs.

Further three people taken ill, including 69-year-old Briton reported to be in intensive care in South AfricaThree people have died after a suspected hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship sailing in the Atlantic.One case of hantavirus infection had been confirmed and there were five additional suspected cases, the World Health Organization told Agence France-Presse on Sunday. Continue reading...

• Reports indicate Iran may be circumventing international sanctions through cryptocurrency exchanges, with Nobitex allegedly linked to figures close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's circle acting as a key financial conduit for sanctioned entities and individuals. • Blockchain analysis suggests millions of dollars have moved through the platform despite Western restrictions, utilizing advanced obfuscation tactics to obscure transaction trails. • The alleged sanctions evasion exposes enforcement gaps as the Trump administration grapples with containing financial flows from Iran, raising questions about the effectiveness of existing economic pressure campaigns.

Republicans blame Biden administration block on JetBlue deal; Democrats point to fuel price surge amid Iran warSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email US airlines and government officials battled on Saturday to deal with stranded passengers and stricken employees after discount carrier Spirit Airlines abruptly ceased operations – and a political and business blame game got under way over the collapse of the low-cost carrier.“If you have a flight scheduled with Spirit Airlines, don’t show up at the airport; there will be no one here to assist you,” the US secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy, warned at a press conference after laying out measures for customers booked with the Florida-based company to obtain refunds or find discounted flights on other airlines. Continue reading...

The East West Rail project linking Oxford to Milton Keynes was finished in 2024. There’s just one hitch: no servicesThe rumbling noise in the night, still enough to waken the unhabituated, is what really goads some people living in Winslow, Buckinghamshire. Freight trains running through the new station since late 2024 prove this stretch of railway is operational. But the long-promised passenger services have yet to appear – and there is no sign of any arriving soon.Welcome to East West Rail, open or not. For well over a decade, ministers have talked up a new railway linking Oxford to Cambridge via Milton Keynes to accelerate the drive for housing, jobs and growth – an arc of tech industry hailed as the UK’s answer to Silicon Valley. Continue reading...

• The U.S. Congress passed a 45‑day stopgap extension of a controversial law granting warrantless surveillance authority under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, giving lawmakers more time to debate limits on bulk data collection. • The extension narrowly averted an automatic lapse of the surveillance regime, which intelligence officials say underpins roughly half of the National Security Agency’s counterterrorism and counter‑espionage operations. • Civil‑liberties groups criticized the short‑term fix, arguing that the U.S. government continues to collect vast amounts of Americans’ digital communications without individualized warrants, while the White House pressed Congress to restore full Section 702 powers.

Lawmakers agree 45-day extension but Republican and Democratic critics urge reform of surveillance programThe US Congress has passed a 45-day extension of a law that grants US intelligence agencies warrantless spying powers.Bitter infighting over section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in the Republican wing of Congress has repeatedly tanked conservative leaders’ plans to renew the controversial surveillance law for multiple years. The deadlock continued on Thursday, as the Republican House speaker Mike Johnson refused to include key reforms pushed by hardliners in his party and progressive Democrats. Continue reading...

Bipartisan measure includes funding for Secret Service and TSA, but excludes immigration enforcement operationsPartial government shutdown ends after Congress votes to fund DHS The US House of Representatives has voted to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security – excluding immigration enforcement operations – and end the longest government agency shutdown in history.The deal struck on Thursday aims to draw a line under a 75-day impasse that had threatened airport chaos and exposed fresh strains within the Republican party. Continue reading...