Air fryers have taken over our kitchens, but which wins the crown for the crispiest cooking? Our expert peeled 7kg of potatoes to find out

• The best blenders to blitz like a pro, tried and tested

Air fryers inspire the sort of feelings that microwaves did in the 1980s. I vividly remember those new-fangled boxes being spoken about often, either dismissively or with delight. A rash of cookbooks followed, and dinner changed across the land. Fast-forward a few decades, and air fryers have become the same kind of kitchen “disruptors”, offering time-saving convenience and healthier cooking, but with the added allure of easily achieved, mouth-watering crispiness.

Since launching with a single-drawer design, air fryers have evolved. Sizes range from compact to XL, while drawer configurations can be double, split or stacked. Alongside air frying, many will grill, roast and bake, and some will dip to lower temperatures for dehydrating, fermenting and proving dough. One we tested features steam cooking, allowing you to whip up dim sum as easily as a roast dinner, while another included racks for cooking on four levels.

Best air fryer overall :
Tefal Dual Easy Fry XXL EY942BG0

Best budget air fryer:
Tower AirX AI Digital Air Fryer

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There is no point pretending that change is not happening, or that it can be avoided. But these are the risks we must address

The idea of serving the public has been baked into the bones of journalism ever since the profession was created.

Whether it was quality information to inform the citizenry, or sensationalism and gossip, newsrooms and editors have had the desires and needs of their audiences, noble and ignoble, front of mind.

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Thinktank says internet flooded with disinformation by Russia-aligned Pravda network, which many websites treat as credible

Hundreds of English-language websites – from mainstream news outlets to fringe blogs – are linking to articles from a pro-Kremlin network flooding the internet with disinformation, according to a study released by a London-based thinktank .

The study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) found that in more than 80% of citations it analysed, the websites treated the network as a credible source, legitimising its narratives and increasing its visibility. The disinformation operation – known as the Pravda network – was identified by the French government last year.

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Clifford Chance to cut jobs in business services and transfer some work to countries such as Poland and India, FT reports

The law firm Clifford Chance is reducing the number of business services staff at its London base by 10%, with the increased use of artificial intelligence a factor behind the decision.

The head of PwC has also indicated that AI may lead to fewer workers being hired at the accountancy and consulting group.

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AI-generated songs are topping Spotify charts. This isn’t about the ‘democratization’ of art – it’s about scale

Making music is hard. Well, at least it used to be. I remember the old days, when you had to spend hours and hours honing skills, coming up with something clever or personal to say, then actually recording sounds that people would want to listen to. But that’s the past. In our sparkling future, a pre-teen can dump a bunch of words into a machine and out comes a catchy tune. In 2025, a robot can be a pop star. (Although Data from Star Trek did drop an album back in the 90s. How soon we all forget.)

Three AI-generated songs recently topped Spotify’s “Viral 50” charts . One of the “creators” responsible for these songs, Broken Veteran, who squirted out a track about immigration policies, told the Guardian that AI is “just another tool for expression, particularly valuable for people like me who have something to say but lack traditional musical training”. It used to be that if you didn’t know how to do something, you wouldn’t do it.

Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist

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Online fashion retailer says action to cut discounts and deter ‘serial returners’ contributed to fall in sales

• Business live – latest updates

Asos has turned to online stylists powered by artificial intelligence as it attempts to win back customers and reverse a fall in sales.

The online fashion retailer said sales had fallen 12% in the year to 31 August, and City analysts predicted another year of declining sales ahead.

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Users noted that in a raft of now-deleted posts, the chatbot would frequently rank Musk top in any given field

Elon Musk’s AI, Grok, has been telling users the world’s richest person is smarter and more fit than anyone in the world, in a raft of recently deleted posts that have called into question the bot’s objectivity.

Users on X using the artificial intelligence chatbot in the past week have noted that whatever the comparison – from questions of athleticism to intelligence and even divinity – Musk would frequently come out on top.

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Technology secretary fears digital frontier may be outpacing regulator, with AI chatbots a particular concern

The UK’s internet regulator, Ofcom, is at risk of losing public trust if it fails to use its powers to tackle online harms, the technology secretary, Liz Kendall, has said.

Kendall last week told Ofcom’s chief executive, Melanie Dawes, she was deeply disappointed at the pace of the regulator’s enforcement of parts of the Online Safety Act, which is intended to protect the public from harms caused by a wide range of online platforms, from social media to pornography websites.

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Leading US stock markets tumble less than 24 hours after strong results from chipmaker Nvidia sparked gains

Fears of a growing bubble around the artificial intelligence frenzy resurfaced on Thursday as leading US stock markets fell, less than 24 hours after strong results from chipmaker Nvidia sparked a rally.

Wall Street initially rose after Nvidia, the world’s largest public company, reassured investors of strong demand for its advanced data center chips. But the relief dissipated, and technology stocks at the heart of the AI boom came under pressure.

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