Over the summer I talked to the CEO of Springboards, a startup building an LLM that's designed to come up with a wider variety of responses than its mainstream rivals do. At the start of the call, he said something that's been stuck in my head since: "We often say that we're a self-loathing AI company. We don't know if we really like what we're doing." "I guess that makes me a self-loathing AI journalist," I replied.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is taking legal action against Thames Valley Police over his arrest in February. The former Prince Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, in the wake of information that emerged from the Epstein files in the United States. Mountbatten-Windsor's lawyers are said to be challenging the search warrants used in Sandringham and at Royal Lodge in Windsor relating to his arrest, as first reported by the Telegraph. Thames Valley Police confirmed: We are engaged in legal proceedings in relation to warrants previously obtained from the Central Criminal Court. As these legal proceedings are currently ongoing, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further, a spokesperson for the force that carried out the arrest said.

The UK's biggest broadband provider, BT, has agreed to rescue rival operator TalkTalk in a takeover. The deal, which will need to be approved by the UK's competition regulator, would mark end of months of speculation over the future for TalkTalk, which has been on the brink of administration because of its debts. TalkTalk has 1.5 million retail customers and one million wholesale customers across the UK. Some have raised concerns about the increased control BT will have over the broadband market as a result of the deal. BT chief executive Alison Kirkby said the deal provided a safety net for the households and businesses who rely on TalkTalk.

Court of Appeal to hear residents' parade challenge over Drumcree dispute A challenge to the decision to allow a controversial Orange Order parade to go down a predominantly nationalist road is due to be heard in court later. The deadlock over the proposed march in Portadown - opposed by residents of the Garvaghy Road - has lasted since last Sunday morning. The stalemate has reopened what was once the most bitter parading dispute in Northern Ireland, with stand-offs in the mid-to-late 90s accompanied by riots, roadblocks and killings. The fresh Court of Appeal application argues that the Parades Commission, the organisation that approved the march, had materially misdirected itself on the police assessment of the potential for disorder. The application also said the commission had not given an accurate representation of PSNI evidence in its decision.

Scotland is on course to miss legally-binding targets to cut child poverty by a wide margin, according to a report from a leading social reform charity. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said one in five children was in poverty and radical change was needed to put the Scottish government's pledges back on track. It urged ministers to craft a much bolder and properly-funded plan to reduce poverty by rewiring local government, public services and the tax system. The Scottish government said it had made great strides, with its policies keeping 100,000 children out of poverty this year, but accepted there was more to do. In 2017, MSPs passed a law requiring ministers to hit four targets, external, including pushing the share of children in relative poverty below 10% by 2030.

The UK-based IWF has assessed 6,310 AI images that met legal definition of child sexual abuse this year, compared with about 4,500 in all of 2025. The UK-based IWF has assessed 6,310 AI images that met legal definition of child sexual abuse this year, compared with about 4,500 in all of 2025. Abuse material monitor says number of AI images assessed this year is already 40% higher than last year's total AI-generated child sexual abuse material is proliferating online, with the amount of illegal material investigated this year already exceeding the total for 2025. Analysts at the Internet Watch Foundation have found more photorealistic child sexual abuse material in the first half of 2026 than for the whole of the prior year. The UK-based IWF, which monitors abuse material globally, said it had assessed 6,310 AI images that met the legal definition of child sexual abuse, 40% higher than last year's total of more than 4,500.

Image caption, Some 5,000 people took to the streets on Sunday carrying red-and-green flags of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party Thousands of supporters of Pakistan's jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan are marching to the capital Islamabad as they call for his release. Concerns over the 73-year-old's health have grown louder in recent months. His family claims he has lost most of his vision in his right eye after prison authorities failed to take action. The cricket star-turned-politician, who faces charges in more than 100 cases, was jailed for 14 years over corruption last year. Khan said all the cases against him are politically motivated.

OpenAI's Altman says AI benefits warrant accepting some risks Sam Altman, CEO and co-founder of OpenAI says regarding AI, the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the benefits of artificial intelligence justify accepting some risks and argued the technology should remain broadly accessible to the public. "We believe that the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency," Altman said in an interview with Politico's technology-focused newsletter Decoded. Altman said there remained a fundamental difference in worldview between OpenAI and rival Anthropic on AI regulation, adding: "I think there's a lot of daylight." "I disagree, but I understand the perspective of people who are like, 'This technology is going to get so powerful, and it's so dangerous, that a single lab in San Francisco should have it and make sure nothing bad happens, and kind of figure out how to dole out the benefits,'" Altman said.

Image caption, Many of Monday's papers are leading with coverage of the Conservative Party conference and the Times angles its front page piece on Kemi Badenoch pledging to scape a range of environmental regulations including strict net-zero standards. Image caption, The Daily Mail takes a wider view of Badenoch's reset of the party, saying she has moved to get it battle-ready for an election with a direct echo of Margaret Thatcher's approach in the 1970s by releasing plans for a return to'common sense' Tory values. Image caption, Under a large headline reading Bad to the future the Daily Mirror runs a piece that opens Badenoch is accused of trying to take the country back to the days of austerity under the'nasty party'. Image caption, The Metro runs a large image of Badenoch next to a story saying she has vowed to be like a no-nonsense mum as she moves to make the Conservatives the'common sense' party, and also likens her approach to an echo of Thatcher. Image caption, Badenoch's promise to save the pension triple lock and her attack on Prime Minister Andy Burnham for going after the elderly is the top line of the front page of the Daily Express. Image caption, Atop its front page, the Sun has a short story on Badenoch warning that Britain must not become a nation of'little ghettos' and migrants should embrace our culture.

The job interview question you don't have to answer To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Figure caption, Watch: How much is your salary? Prepare all you like, but there is often still one job interview question that leaves you feeling uncomfortable. While employers in the UK are within their rights to ask you how much you get paid in your current role, applicants are not obliged to tell them. Recruiters have been encouraged to stop posing questions about salary history and, in the EU, new rules will prevent them doing so.