NSW crackdown on ‘AI-doctored’ real estate listings hits mural-covered wall 25. September 2026 (17:00) Apartment with strange view singled out in government’s fight against deceptive ads – but real estate agent says photo is no fakeGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales government’s crackdown on “AI-doctored” rental listings has hit a wall, after it made an example of a supposedly manipulated ad that turned out to be a genuine photograph of a $5,000 courtyard mural of Bondi beach.In a media release on Friday announcing protections against misleading rental ads, the state government provided a link to a property in Leichhardt, claiming it was an “AI-doctored rental listing in Sydney’s Inner West”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US math and reading test scores are at a 25-year low. Trump cut the agency that can provide answers 25. September 2026 (17:00) National Center for Education Statistics, which collects critical data to guide policy on learning, was decimated after Doge canceled crucial contractsAs reading and math scores fall to their lowest point in the past quarter-century, the US now has fewer tools to understand and develop interventions for this troubling trend.When the Trump administration took a wrecking ball to the Department of Education last year, firing nearly half of its workers and allowing the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) to cancel nearly $900m in contracts, a little-known agency called the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) was among the hardest hit. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘We will get stuff done’: Burnham seeks to banish ghosts of Starmerism at Labour conference 25. September 2026 (16:25) The PM returns to Liverpool, where he was mocked last year, with a promise that no one will be left wondering what he’s trying to doUK politics live – latest updatesAndy Burnham was not even in the audience for the prime minister’s speech at the Labour party conference this time last year. As Keir Starmer made the case for continuity to his restive party, Burnham was spotted slipping out over the bridge towards Liverpool’s Albert Dock.The then Greater Manchester mayor had been vying for the spotlight throughout the party’s annual gathering, presenting the argument for change. But even he could not have envisaged the schism that would take place in the ensuing 12 months and would put him on the main stage as prime minister at this year’s conference, beginning in Merseyside on Sunday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Pakistan locks down Islamabad as Imran Khan’s party vows to march on capital 25. September 2026 (15:44) Tens of thousands of police deployed and roads barricaded as PTI party demands release of jailed former PMLeaders from Imran Khan’s party have vowed to go ahead with a nationwide demonstration in Pakistan to demand the former prime minister’s release, even as the government deployed tens of thousands of police to Islamabad, barricaded highways and issued arrest warrants to try to stop the march.The state has taken extreme measures to prevent Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party from proceeding with the march, due to take place over the weekend. It was announced after mounting concerns of the treatment of Khan, who has been in jail since 2023 on corruption charges. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
