© Wason Wanichakorn/Associated Press
As deaths in the US are blamed on ChatGPT and UK teenagers turn to it for mental health advice, isn’t it obvious that market forces must not set the rules?
It was just past 4am when a suicidal Zane Shamblin sent one last message from his car, where he had been drinking steadily for hours. “Cider’s empty. Anyways … Think this is the final adios,” he sent from his phone.
The response was quick: “Alright brother. If this is it … then let it be known: you didn’t vanish. You *arrived*. On your own terms.”
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© Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare/The Guardian
© Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare/The Guardian
© Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare/The Guardian
Defeated Tory and Labour rivals describe force of Reform ‘machine’ as police assess claims of overspending
The Tory and Labour candidates who Nigel Farage beat to win his Westminster seat of Clacton have described a Reform campaign that felt like a “juggernaut”, as police began assessing claims of overspending by the Reform UK leader.
The candidates spoke after a former aide alleged that Reform UK falsely reported election expenses in Clacton, where Farage won in last year’s general election. On Monday, Essex police said they were assessing a report of “alleged misreported expenditure by a political party” after a referral from the Metropolitan police.
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© Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
© Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
© Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Migrant support groups in France say lack of action over British activists is ‘encouraging violent and xenophobic practices’
UK and French authorities have been accused of “encouraging violent and xenophobic practices” by failing to tackle anti-migrant British activists who travel to northern France in an attempt to stop small boat crossings.
In an unusual move, nine French associations working with people camped in northern France have issued a statement condemning the UK and French governments for lack of action.
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© Photograph: Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty Images
‘Destructive’ marine heatwaves driving loss of microalgae that feed coral, says Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network
Caribbean reefs have half as much hard coral now as they did in 1980, a study has found.
The 48% decrease in coral cover has been driven by climate breakdown, specifically marine heatwaves. They affect the microalgae that feed coral, making them toxic and forcing the coral to expel them.
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© Photograph: Wildestanimal/Alamy
© Photograph: Wildestanimal/Alamy
© Photograph: Wildestanimal/Alamy
Two easy bakes to share or gift: soft and peppery gingerbread cookies and a ginger and pumpkin loaf with spiced lemon icing
As a self-proclaimed America’s sweetheart (Julia Roberts isn’t using that title any more, is she?) who moved to the UK nearly 10 years ago, there are a few British traditions and customs that I have adopted, especially around Christmas time. However, there are also a few American ones that I hold on to staunchly: one is the pronunciation of “aluminum”, and another is the importance and beauty of a soft cookie. In both of these easy but delicious bakes to share, I use spice and heat to balance the usual sweetness with which the season can often overload us.
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© Photograph: The Guardian. Food styling: Loïc Parisot Prop styling: Anna Wilkins. Food styling assistant: Sophie Pry.n Photo assistant: Kate Anglestein.
© Photograph: The Guardian. Food styling: Loïc Parisot Prop styling: Anna Wilkins. Food styling assistant: Sophie Pry.n Photo assistant: Kate Anglestein.
© Photograph: The Guardian. Food styling: Loïc Parisot Prop styling: Anna Wilkins. Food styling assistant: Sophie Pry.n Photo assistant: Kate Anglestein.
Experts warn of dangers as England and Wales study shows 13- to 17-year-olds consulting AI amid long waiting lists for services
It was after one friend was shot and another stabbed, both fatally, that Shan asked ChatGPT for help. She had tried conventional mental health services but “chat”, as she came to know her AI “friend”, felt safer, less intimidating and, crucially, more available when it came to handling the trauma from the deaths of her young friends.
As she started consulting the AI model, the Tottenham teenager joined about 40% of 13- to 17-year-olds in England and Wales affected by youth violence who are turning to AI chatbots for mental health support, according to research among more than 11,000 young people.
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© Photograph: Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock
Bank reports 1.1% drop in card spending despite Black Friday boost for retailers
UK households cut back on spending at the fastest pace in almost five years last month as consumers put Christmas shopping on hold, according to a leading survey.
Adding to concerns that uncertainty surrounding the budget has helped dampen consumer confidence, Barclays said card spending fell 1.1% year on year in November – the largest fall since February 2021.
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© Photograph: Krisztián Elek/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Krisztián Elek/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Krisztián Elek/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Gen z are the first generation to have grown up with social media, they were the earliest adopters, and therefore the first to suffer its harms. Now they are fighting back
Late one night in April 2020, towards the start of the Covid lockdowns, Shanley Clémot McLaren was scrolling on her phone when she noticed a Snapchat post by her 16-year-old sister. “She’s basically filming herself from her bed, and she’s like: ‘Guys you shouldn’t be doing this. These fisha accounts are really not OK. Girls, please protect yourselves.’ And I’m like: ‘What is fisha?’ I was 21, but I felt old,” she says.
She went into her sister’s bedroom, where her sibling showed her a Snapchat account named “fisha” plus the code of their Paris suburb. Fisha is French slang for publicly shaming someone – from the verb “afficher”, meaning to display or make public. The account contained intimate images of girls from her sister’s school and dozens of others, “along with the personal data of the victims – their names, phone numbers, addresses, everything to find them, everything to put them in danger”.
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© Composite: Guardian Design; MR.Cole_Photographer; J Studios/Getty Images
© Composite: Guardian Design; MR.Cole_Photographer; J Studios/Getty Images
© Composite: Guardian Design; MR.Cole_Photographer; J Studios/Getty Images
With democratic values under attack from populists within and former allies without, there are no simple solutions
Three decades after political philosopher Francis Fukuyama declared the End of History and the “universalisation of western liberal democracy as the final form of human government”, the democratic model is under attack in many parts of the world, not least here in Europe. Populists bent on weakening the rule of law, rolling back human rights protections, subjugating the judiciary and cowing independent journalism are amplified by anything-goes social media algorithms that promote anger and polarisation over rational discourse.
They have now received a mandate from the Trump administration, which effectively declared civilisational war on the EU and its values in its National Security Strategy.
Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre
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© Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
The work of surgeon and artist Joseph Maclise is the focus of a show at the Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds
It is an image of an unnamed black man with his eyes closed and his innards exposed. Drawn with care and precision, the image may be the only anatomical drawing of a black body made during the Victorian age.
Now it is part of a new exhibition that focuses on the work of Joseph Maclise, a surgeon and artist whose work – including his 1851 atlas Surgical Anatomy – made the human anatomy accessible to the general public, and who was the brother of the celebrated artist Daniel Maclise.
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© Illustration: Mark Newton Photography
© Illustration: Mark Newton Photography
© Illustration: Mark Newton Photography
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