UK startup snares $20m to recreate gigs with ‘hyper-realistic’ digital avatars 20. September 2026 (15:00) Unit1 hopes to offer cheaper version of shows such as Abba Voyage, showcasing living and dead artists in any venueThe former chief executive of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s entertainment group has obtained a near-£15m investment for his UK music tech startup that hopes to recreate classic concerts by manifesting musicians as digital avatars.Unit1 was set up last year by Barney Wragg, an entertainment executive who ran Lord Lloyd-Webber’s Cats-to-Evita empire for five years from late 2011. It has secured the $20m in funding from a group of investors, including tech backer Balderton Capital through its partner Daniel Waterhouse, who made early investments in Spotify. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
RNLI warns supporters their personal information may have been hacked 20. September 2026 (14:28) Data raid comes amid targeting of lifeboat charity by far-right agitators who object to migrant boat rescuesSupporters of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) have been warned that their personal information could have been stolen by hackers amid targeting of the charity by far-right agitators.In a letter accompanying the autumn copy of its Lifeboat magazine, the charity warned members that their “name, contact details and records of interactions with the RNLI” could have been breached in the raid on a company it uses for customer relationship management. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Former president of Chile abandons UN secretary general candidacy 20. September 2026 (14:04) Former president of Chile drops out after support collapsed in security council straw poll, leaving seven candidates in contestMichelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile, has withdrawn her candidacy to become the next secretary general of the UN, ending a bid that had struggled to gain traction among security council members.Bachelet, 74, announced her decision in a video posted on Instagram on Saturday, saying: “I will now continue, with the same determination as always, my international work.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘I have nothing in the UK at all’: British man torn from his Swedish wife and home 20. September 2026 (14:02) Charles lands at Heathrow with just two bags and nowhere to go as a result of Brexit and Stockholm’s hardline immigration positionDoubled over a Heathrow baggage trolley, the former British business director is sobbing uncontrollably, exhausted emotionally and physically after being deported from Sweden.Hours earlier the 65-year-old had been marched on to a plane in Stockholm, separated from his home and his Swedish wife after a five-year battle to stay in the country after Brexit came to an end. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Rabies concerns grow in the US – but it’s unclear if there’s an increase of the fatal disease 20. September 2026 (14:00) Rabid goats at a North Carolina petting zoo and a diseased beaver attacking a Maryland boy have set the public on edgeRecent unusual incidents involving humans and rabid animals and a subsequent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory have prompted concerns about rabies, but it’s not clear if there has actually been an increase in cases of the deadly disease in the United States, experts say.In recent months, rabid beavers have attacked three people in Maryland, and hundreds of people were exposed to goats with rabies at a petting zoo in North Carolina, according to news reports. The CDC issued a health advisory on 10 September “in response to recent reports of increases in human exposures to rabid or possibly rabid animals”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US environment agency let Bayer pick regulations for destructive weedkiller, documents show 20. September 2026 (14:00) Environmental Protection Agency asked firm to choose rules it wanted for dicamba, then put the choices in a proposed federal ruleThe EPA allowed pesticide giant Bayer to pick from a menu of regulation options for the controversial and destructive weedkiller dicamba, newly released internal agency documents show.The documents provide an unusually clear look into the process of developing pesticide regulations, which is typically done out of public view. It shows in detail how the EPA asked Bayer which regulations it wanted, received a response from Bayer, then put Bayer’s choices into a proposed federal rule. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
China’s stranglehold on rare earths must be ended, says hopeful supplier to EU 20. September 2026 (13:00) Rafael Moreno, whose company has opened demo plant in Brazil, says market is ‘nervous’ as Trump-Xi summit loomsThe head of a mining company hoping to supply the EU with rare earths in two years’ time has said it is “paramount” to end China’s stranglehold on the supply of the raw materials used in everything from cars to wind turbines and military jets.As Donald Trump and China’s president, Xi Jinping, prepare to meet on Thursday in their second summit of the year, Rafael Moreno said it was also “imperative” that they do a deal for Beijing to ease up, once again, on its threat to ban exports of rare earths. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘It’s transformed the village’: the volunteers greening up Britain’s train stations 20. September 2026 (13:00) Exclusive: Five gardening teams shortlisted for Royal Horticultural Society’s new Railway Stations in Bloom awardEvery year since 1964, towns across the UK have bloomed with hanging baskets and brightly coloured flowerbeds planted by residents.They wield their trowels in aid of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain in Bloom competition, a coveted accolade for the 1,600 communities that enter each year. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Leftists make waves and Trump flexes muscles: US primary season takeaways 20. September 2026 (12:00) Candidates have been selected for November’s midterms – have Republicans and Democrats made the right choices?Primary season has official concluded in the United States, with Democrats leading the polls among voters amid widespread economic anxieties, a war with Iran and Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda continuing into the end of the year.Democratic and Republican voters have selected contenders for key races in the 3 November midterms that will decide the balance of power in Congress, and the future of both parties. Democrats have been rocked by the primary victories of leftwing candidates. Republicans have doubled down on backing the president’s policies, despite his low approval ratings. And both parties are navigating the fallout from a series of scandals that have forced some candidates from the race, while others decided to press on. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
As White House shields the AI gold rush, Trump family and other allies strike it rich – with few guardrails 20. September 2026 (12:00) It’s not clear that financial interests are driving White House policy, but they run parallel even as resistance mountsDonald Trump’s sons, through a series of AI-linked defense and technology ventures, have picked up a $620m Pentagon loan, a Marine Corps robotics contract and an undisclosed air force drone deal in the past year. His longtime friend Michael Dell won a Pentagon contract worth nearly $9bn. And this week, as public support for artificial intelligence sinks to some of the lowest levels ever recorded, the president went to bat for the industry. .“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades,” he posted on Truth Social Monday. “There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers.” It was the first of many aggressively pro-AI posts he would make this week. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
