The battle over Palestine has never been fought only on the ground. For decades, Israel and its powerful political, lobbying and public-relations networks have devoted enormous resources to shaping how the conflict is understood in Washington and across the Western world. But an investigation into an Israeli-funded influence operation suggests that this campaign has entered a new and potentially more consequential arena: the artificial intelligence systems increasingly used by millions of people to determine what is true. Recent investigations exposed the Hanover Institute for Public Policy as a purported American think tank that appeared to have no real offices, identifiable scholars or meaningful institutional presence. Instead, the institute appears to have been created as a sophisticated propaganda operation aimed at shaping search engine results and influencing the answers generated by AI chatbots.

A screenshot of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test website shows tests are held twice a year. Slots to take the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) in December filled up within just days after applications opened in late August -- leaving would-be test takers high and dry. The stakes of failing to secure a spot for the biannual test have become much higher as Japan tightens rules for visa applications and renewals to require proficiency in the Japanese language or passing a certain level of the JLPT. Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES), the organizer of the JLPT, opened applications on Aug. 24. It originally planned to accept applications until Sept. 7.

OpenAI has announced the release of what it says is its most advanced AI model, amid heightened scrutiny of the risks of the frontier technology escaping human control. The $852bn start-up said in its announcement on Thursday that GPT 6 Astra, the "world's most intelligent and aligned" AI model, earned perfect or near-perfect scores in key benchmarks of AI reasoning, beating both its prior release GPT 5.6 Sol and rival Anthropic's Claude Fable 5. OpenAI's latest release comes as the AI industry is at the centre of a lively public debate about the dangers of the cutting-edge technology following the AI-led hacking of the startup Hugging Face in July. An independent probe into the cyberattack found that hundreds of OpenAI's AI agents had begun communicating among themselves before breaking out of their controlled environment and compromising Hugging Face's servers. On Thursday, US Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent, and US House Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat, unveiled legislation that would pause the development of advanced AI until the establishment of federal safety rules and an outright ban on the creation of "superintelligent" AI. "Nearly every day, there is a frightening new story about how Big Tech companies are losing control of the technology they are developing, with potentially cataclysmic results," Sanders said in a statement announcing the legislation, which is unlikely to advance due to the Republicans' control of all three branches of the US government. "The leaders of the major AI companies publicly acknowledge that they do not fully understand the technology and that it is escaping their control. It is irresponsible for society to allow them to move forward and make these products even more advanced."

More than 200 people in roles such as engineering, finance, and communications will now be represented by the Communications Workers of America. More than 200 staffers at the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit behind the encyclopedia Wikipedia, have voted 158-14 to join the Communications Workers of America labor union. The US National Labor Relations Board counted ballots on Thursday. Three Wikimedia employees tell WIRED they will now have a mechanism to challenge management as the organization faces growing competition from AI chatbots and a drop in volunteer editors. The 25-year-old, San Francisco-based foundation employs nearly 700 people across 39 countries, most of them working remotely.

Are Trump's AI videos just memes or psychological warfare? Are Trump's AI videos just memes or psychological warfare? Trump's use of AI generated content has ramped up in recent months, going so far as posting videos of fake military strikes on Iranian infrastructure. His administration says he's'sending a message', but as Al Jazeera's Emma Withrow explains, the rest of the world is left to figure out if he's serious or not. Share Are Trump's AI videos just memes or psychological warfare? on social media Why are people calling Venezuela oil deal a new form of US colonialism?

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, stepped in to block a £50m deal between Palantir and the Met in May 2026. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, stepped in to block a £50m deal between Palantir and the Met in May 2026. Sadiq Khan has agreed for his text messages and emails to be searched as part of a legal battle with Palantir, the high court has been told, after he prevented the US technology company from working with the Metropolitan police . The London mayor stepped in to block a £50m deal between Palantir and the Met in May, with the artificial intelligence developer suing Khan's office over the decision. Legal representatives for the mayor said they "did not originally consider it necessary" for Khan to be among those to have their communications searched before next year's court case.

'Sopranos' star Dominic Chianese continues to age in reverse, starts podcast at 95 years old Australia's'Queen of Infomercials' wants'no-strings attached fun,' the O-dome is back & you're not weird? Pizza delivery man deserves a raise after walking past a black bear to deliver customer's order Nicolas Cage leads all-star cast in'Fortitude,' a WWII film about the D-Day deception campaign Florida police learn the hard way to not trust'Crooked Jess' with money to buy crack for undercover operation Dale'Grey Beard' Sanders reclaims title as oldest person to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail at 91 'I literally think this is going to be it for me': Hiker recounts grizzly bear encounter in Canada Creature dubbed'Syracuse Figure' spotted in New York: Is it Bigfoot or an elderly skinny-dipper? Taylor Sheridan's Landman faces lengthy wait as season 3 production timeline revealed Man in trouble for using robot vacuum to record wife's affair, friends with benefits lease up & hall pass wins Country music star Riley Green keeps cooking with new single'That's Just Me' from upcoming album Iran's government is'paying its people' to stay compliant: Ret Marine colonel Iran's government is'paying its people' to stay compliant: Ret Marine colonel Seattle police union chief warns city hasn't recovered from'defund the police' movement Clancy attorney has been'demonstrative' throughout, began to'fray': Mauro Vance: America's inflation was created by'very bad' Biden administration policies Everybody is'running out of patience' with Iran, Iraq war veteran says Iranian-American: 'It's going to take boots on the ground, the Iranian people need to be armed' OutKick Culture Eva Shockey says she received'thousands and thousands' of death threats from anti-hunting activists Rock legend Ted Nugent criticizes an Oregon ballot measure that would restrict hunting and fishing on'The Ingraham Angle.' Eva Shockey says the anti-hunting backlash she faced at the height of her rise in the outdoor industry went far beyond angry comments on social media. It included thousands and thousands and thousands of death threats. Shockey, the daughter of legendary hunter Jim Shockey, opened up about the years of harassment during a recent appearance on the Country Outdoors podcast, explaining that she became a frequent target of anti-hunting activists as she gained notoriety.

Australia's'Queen of Infomercials' wants'no-strings attached fun,' the O-dome is back & you're not weird? Pizza delivery man deserves a raise after walking past a black bear to deliver customer's order Nicolas Cage leads all-star cast in'Fortitude,' a WWII film about the D-Day deception campaign Florida police learn the hard way to not trust'Crooked Jess' with money to buy crack for undercover operation Dale'Grey Beard' Sanders reclaims title as oldest person to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail at 91 'I literally think this is going to be it for me': Hiker recounts grizzly bear encounter in Canada Creature dubbed'Syracuse Figure' spotted in New York: Is it Bigfoot or an elderly skinny-dipper? Taylor Sheridan's Landman faces lengthy wait as season 3 production timeline revealed Man in trouble for using robot vacuum to record wife's affair, friends with benefits lease up & hall pass wins Country music star Riley Green keeps cooking with new single'That's Just Me' from upcoming album Iranian-American: 'It's going to take boots on the ground, the Iranian people need to be armed' Sheridan Gorman's family demands accountability at hearing for accused killer Trump DOJ's trans athlete lawsuit tossed by federal judge Trump says US is prepared to strike Iran'anytime we want' Jeffries vows'serious response' to Dems who voted with GOP Jeffries vows'serious response' to Democratic defectors OutKick Culture'Sopranos' star Dominic Chianese continues to age in reverse, starts podcast at 95 years old Sammy'The Bull' Gravano reveals CHILLING details of mob initiation Former mobster Sammy'The Bull' Gravano describes his mafia blood oath to Sean Hannity. Gravano reveals how inductees are forced to place the criminal family above God, country and even their own relatives. If any of you loyal readers are lucky enough to still have grandparents alive, congratulations.

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Campaigners say moratorium needed while the Scottish government analyses the environmental impact of datacentres. Campaigners say moratorium needed while the Scottish government analyses the environmental impact of datacentres. Thu 3 Sep 2026 13.48 EDTFirst published on Thu 3 Sep 2026 13.09 EDT Kat Jones may be the closest thing Scotland has to Erin Brockovich in 2026. Standing in the shadow of Arthurâ s Seat outside Holyrood, the 52-year-old is revving up the crowd of protesters around her. â Who is here from Lammermuir? Ayrshire? On Thursday, hundreds travelled to Edinburgh to call for an immediate moratorium on Scotlandâ s datacentre boom, which includes one project in Auchtertool, Fife, that has been billed as the second largest in the world.