We must avoid inequalities between the global north and global south being perpetuated in the digital age

I come from Trinidad and Tobago. As a country that was once colonized by the British, I am wary of the ways that inequalities between the global north and global south risk being perpetuated in the digital age.

When we consider the lack of inclusion of the global south in discussions about artificial intelligence (AI), I think about how this translates to an eventual lack of economic leverage and geopolitical engagement in this technology that has captivated academics within the industrialised country I reside, the United States.

Krystal Maughan is a PhD student at the University of Vermont studying differential privacy and machine learning

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An experienced clinician in prosthetics, Jim Ashworth-Beaumont found himself the perfect guinea pig for a radical new option for amputees

When the air ambulance brought Jim Ashworth-Beaumont to King’s College hospital in south-east London, nobody thought he had a hope. He had been cycling home when a lorry driver failed to spot him alongside his trailer while turning left after a set of traffic lights. The vehicle’s wheels opened his torso like a sardine tin, puncturing his lungs and splitting his liver in two. They also tore off his right arm. Weeks after the accident, in July 2020, Ashworth-Beaumont would see a photo of the severed limb taken by a doctor while it lay beside him in hospital. He had asked to see the picture and says it helped him come to terms with his loss. “My hand didn’t look too bad,” he says. “It was as if it was waving goodbye to me.”

Ashworth-Beaumont, a super-fit and sunny former Royal Marine from Edinburgh, would go on to spend six weeks in an induced coma as surgeons raced to repair his crushed body. But as he lay on the road, waiting for the paramedics, his only thoughts were that he was dying. He did not have the wherewithal to consider the irony of his predicament.

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Tech company expected to report 4% rise in revenue over past quarter despite drop in stock price and looming tariffs

Apple has been under pressure this year. It’s playing catch-up to its fellow tech giants on artificial intelligence, it’s seen its stock fall by double digits since the year began, it closed a store in China for the first time ever this week, and looming US tariffs on Beijing threaten its supply chain. On Thursday, the company will release its third-quarter earnings of the fiscal year as investors scrutinize how the iPhone maker might turn things around.

Despite the gloomy outlook, the company is still worth more than $3tn, and Wall Street appears optimistic it will deliver on earnings. Analysts are expecting Apple to report a 4% rise in revenue over the last quarter to $89.3bn, according to S&P Global .

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The Succession star is reportedly the leading choice to play the controversial tech mogul in Aaron Sorkin’s follow-up

Jeremy Strong is reportedly the leading choice to play Mark Zuckerberg in the upcoming sequel to The Social Network.

According to Deadline and Variety , sources claim that though no formal offer has been made, the Succession actor is the preferred pick to play the Meta CEO and Facebook founder in the Social Network Part II, alongside The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White and Anora’s Mikey Madison in unspecified roles.

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Serve up perfect rice every time with our expert-tested rice cookers, from space-saving mini appliances to microwave steaming bowls

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How often do you eat rice? Even if it’s not a daily staple in your house, it’s safe to say most Britons cook and eat rice at least a few times a week. And while it may seem a simple thing to cook, it can be surprisingly difficult to get it right.

From long-grain to quick-cook, brown basmati to jasmine, different rice grains have different cook times, different rates of absorption and varying starch levels, which can all affect the result. Instead of fluffy, individual grains, you may find your rice burnt, stuck to the pan or with a claggy, chalky or overly glutinous texture. Dinner ruined.

Best rice cooker overall:
Yum Asia Bamboo rice cooker

Best budget rice cooker:
Russell Hobbs large rice cooker

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A group of parents in Maine were wary of buying smartphones for their 10-year-olds – and took a drastic step

Among the many useless but consoling facts I’ve hung on to at the expense of real knowledge is the telephone number of my best friend from high school. I can say it in my head – 612505 – and, like a combination lock, it throws open the door to a memory of me sitting on the stairs after school, yakking to the person I’d just said goodbye to on the bus. Given it’s more than 30 years since I used that number, I have to assume it will stay with me – along with the lyrics to the Cadbury’s Roses ad from 1983, the name of the fictional head teacher of Summer Bay High (Mr Fisher) and my own telephone number from that era (623492) – until the day I die.

I hadn’t given much thought to landlines or the teenage experience of sitting on them after school every day, until a recent piece in the Atlantic shared the results of a small, highly localised experiment: in Portland, Maine, a parent nervous of giving her 10-year-old child a smartphone took the eccentric step of reintroducing a landline , and then persuaded the parents of her child’s friends to do the same. Before she knew it, between 15 and 20 families in the area had reinstalled landlines for their preteens in what the Atlantic called a “retro bubble”. Charming scenes ensued, communications habits changed, and everyone learned a valuable lesson about the advantages of ancient technology.

Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist

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AI platform Flok Health to be rolled out to other NHS trusts but experts warn tech-based care could increase health inequalities

The first NHS AI-run physiotherapy clinic has halved the waiting list for back pain and musculoskeletal services, according to the NHS trust where the pilot has taken place.

More than 2,500 patients living in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were able to access Flok Health, a physiotherapy platform run by AI, over a 12-week period starting in February.

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Ahead of Meta’s quarterly earnings report, CEO says his company aims to bring powerful AI into the lives of millions

Whether it’s poaching top talent away from competitors, acquiring AI startups or proclaiming that it will build data centers the size of Manhattan, Meta has been on a spending spree to boost its artificial intelligence capabilities for the better part of a month.

In a new memo posted on Wednesday ahead of the company’s quarterly earnings report, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg describes his ambitions for developing what he calls “superintelligence”.

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Huge increase in online age verifications but many users turn to virtual private networks to access pornography sites

Five million extra online age checks a day are being carried out in the UK since the introduction of age-gating for pornography sites , according to new data.

The Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) said there had been a sharp increase in additional age checks in the UK since Friday, when age verification became mandatory for accessing pornography under the Online Safety Act .

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