Goto

Collaborating Authors

 Antarctica


Drone footage shows Bondi Beach gunmen on bridge

BBC News

Australian police say a shooting at Bondi Beach, which killed 12 people - including one gunman - targeted the Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah. Twenty-nine people were injured, with a second gunman in critical condition. Drone footage appears to show a gunman firing from a bridge in a nearby carpark. In the wake of a recent fatal shark attack, the BBC is off the coast in Sydney to learn how authorities are trying to protect people. The BBC's Katy Watson was in the courtroom as Erin Patterson was sentenced to life.


He created Grand Theft Auto. Now he's back with a novel about an AI that hijacks your mind

BBC News

He created Grand Theft Auto. Dan Houser was one of the masterminds behind revolutionary video game series Grand Theft Auto. Now, after leaving Rockstar Games and launching his own company, he's released a debut novel about a very different type of game. A Better Paradise is a dystopian vision of the near future in which an AI-led computer game goes rogue. Set in a polarised world, it finds Mark Tyburn attempting to create a virtual haven for people to find sanctuary and reconnect within themselves against an all-consuming social media hellscape.


Binge-watching 2025's Christmas films: The good, the bad and the so-bad-it's-good

BBC News

'Tis the season to slob out on the sofa and demolish a packet of mince pies in front of a good movie, or a bad movie - or a movie that's so bad it's good. This year, as ever, a crop of new Christmas films are hoping to be part of our festive viewing - and perhaps even join the ranks of enduring classics alongside the likes of Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually and Die Hard (don't start). So, in an effort to bring you a vital public service by sorting the crackers from the turkeys, and in an attempt to get myself into the Christmas spirit, I binged as many new Christmas films as possible in a day. This is the only 2025 release on Rotten Tomatoes' list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time. The Jonas Brothers find themselves stuck in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must get home for Christmas.


I thought I'd struck lucky on a dating app but invited a monster into my life

BBC News

I thought I'd struck lucky on a dating app but invited a monster into my life Handsome, charming, a gentle giant - Katie Yates believed Jason Smith was a real catch after meeting him on a dating app. But within months he had subjected her to relentless physical and mental abuse before raping her and attempting to drown her in the bath just before Christmas. Katie, 42 and from Cardiff, has waived her anonymity as a victim of sexual assault to warn women to be wary of strangers they meet on dating apps who may pose as nice guys in an attempt to lure them in. You scroll on all the profiles with smiling photos and slick words but there are some people who should be looking for a therapist, not a girlfriend, she said. Katie had been single for five years when she signed up to a dating app in February 2018.


Ukraine's health supplies hit in series of Russian strikes on medical warehouses

BBC News

Ukraine's health supplies hit in series of Russian strikes on medical warehouses Warehouses supplying the vast majority of Ukraine's pharmacies have been destroyed in a series of Russian attacks over recent months. Medical supplies worth about $200m (ยฃ145m) were destroyed in just two strikes in December and October. A large warehouse storing medicines in the city of Dnipro was destroyed in a Russian air strike on 6 December. As a result, about $110m worth of medicines were destroyed - estimated at up to 30% of Ukraine's monthly supply. It was a missile and drone strike against our facility.


Online gaming escaped Australia's social media ban - but critics say it's just as addictive

BBC News

Online gaming escaped Australia's social media ban - but critics say it's just as addictive Wednesday afternoons have become a ritual for 15-year-old Sadmir Perviz. It's a circuitous route from home in Perth to the Fiona Stanley Hospital - but it's worth it, he says, to sit down for a game of Dungeons & Dragons with people he may not know but with whom he shares a great deal in common. Sadmir and his board game companions are just some of the 300 patients at the gaming disorder clinic, Australia's only publicly-run institution of its type, helping patients wean themselves off excessive online gaming habits. The room where they meet is a simple space in a faceless hospital but in the corner, there's a pile of boardgames on a chair. Jenga, Uno and Sushi Go are also popular choices at the informal group which is attended by both patients and clinicians.


Amazon pulls AI recap from Fallout TV show after it made several mistakes

BBC News

Amazon has pulled a video recap made with artificial intelligence (AI) from its hit TV show Fallout after users said it got several facts wrong about the series. The firm said in November it was testing the first-of-its-kind tool in the US to help viewers catch up on some of its shows on streaming service Prime Video - including Fallout, its adaptation of the popular video game franchise. But it has since disappeared from the site after users highlighted mistakes in its video summarising the events of Fallout season one - including claiming one scene was set more than 100 years earlier than it was. The BBC has approached Amazon for comment. The move to apparently press pause on its AI-powered recaps was first reported by tech publication The Verge .


Watch: Clair Obscur sweeps The Game Awards with nine wins

BBC News

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been named game of the year in a record-breaking haul at this year's Game Awards. The French-developed role-playing game (RPG) cleaned up in nine of the 10 categories it was up for, with further wins in best narrative, best music and best performance. I think that's what I find really beautiful is that people really reacted strongly to all the passion we put into this game. Influencer Tallulah Metcalfe took part in the BBC Teen Summit in Bradford, and gave us her best tips. Dr Kaitlyn Regehr has this advice to help you stop looking at your phone and go on a digital detox.


Clair Obscur sweeps The Game Awards with nine wins

BBC News

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been named game of the year in a record-breaking haul at this year's Game Awards. The French-developed role-playing game (RPG) cleaned up in nine of the 10 categories it was up for, with further wins in best narrative, best music and best performance. It fended off competition from Death Stranding 2, Nintendo platformer Donkey Kong Bananza, indie games Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades 2, and medieval adventure Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 to claim the top prize. During the ceremony in Los Angeles, players also got their first glimpses of two new Tomb Raider games, sequel Control Resonant and a new Star Wars role-playing game. Clair Obscur is set in a world where a supernatural being known as The Paintress prevents the population from growing past a certain age.


Trump signs order to block states from enforcing own AI rules

BBC News

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at blocking states from enforcing their own artificial intelligence (AI) regulations. We want to have one central source of approval, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. It will give the Trump administration tools to push back on the most onerous state rules, said White House AI adviser David Sacks. The government will not oppose AI regulations around children's safety, he added. The move marks a win for technology giants who have called for US-wide AI legislation as it could have a major impact on America's goal of leading the fast-developing industry.