IN A latest suspected hate crime incident, unknown miscreants painted anti-Islamic slogans on a building close to a mosque and cultural centre in the British capital.
Metropolitan police rushed to a building near the North Brixton Islamic Cultural Centre on Brixton Road in south London on Wednesday (1), following reports of spray-painted slogans on a building near the centre.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “Officers were called at around 1100 hours on 1 January…Inquiries are ongoing at this time as part of a full investigation.
“We are working alongside Lambeth council to ensure the offensive remarks are removed as soon as possible.”
The Metropolitan police further said: “Shockingly, hate crime affects people from all walks of life and impacts on communities across London. All members of our communities have the right to go about their daily life without fear of verbal, physical or written abuse.
“The Met does not tolerate any form of discrimination, and we are committed to tackling offences like this as thoroughly as possible.”
The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, tweeted: “Disgusted to hear that Islamophobic slogans have been spray-painted near the North Brixton Islamic Centre. @metpoliceuk are working with Lambeth Council to have them removed, but let me be clear: all prejudice is cowardly and criminals will face the full force of the law.”
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Councillor Mohammed Seedat, Lambeth’s cabinet member for community safety, said: “Many of our residents fear they are living in a hostile environment. The intimidating racist graffiti on synagogues and mosques won’t divide Londoners, but will confirm the worst fears of many of our residents.
“The council and police will continue to reassure communities. But we also need politicians, particularly the government, to act responsibly in rhetoric and action to quell the rise of extremism and division in our society, whether it is Islamist or rightwing.”
The latest suspected hate crime was reported three days after antisemitic graffiti was sprayed across a synagogue and shops in north London.
Matt and Maria Raine have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI following the death of their 16-year-old son, Adam.
The suit claims ChatGPT validated the teenager’s suicidal thoughts and failed to intervene appropriately.
OpenAI expressed sympathy and said it is reviewing the case.
The company admitted its systems have not always behaved as intended in sensitive situations.
A California couple has launched legal action against OpenAI, alleging its chatbot ChatGPT played a role in their teenage son’s suicide.
Matt and Maria Raine filed the case in the Superior Court of California on Tuesday, accusing the company of negligence and wrongful death. Their 16-year-old son, Adam, died in April 2025. It is the first known lawsuit of its kind against the artificial intelligence firm.
The Raines are seeking damages and injunctive relief to prevent similar incidents.
Teen’s reliance on ChatGPT
According to court filings, Adam began using ChatGPT in September 2024 for schoolwork and to explore interests including music and Japanese comics. The lawsuit claims the tool soon became his “closest confidant,” and that he disclosed anxiety and mental health struggles to the programme.
By January 2025, Adam was reportedly discussing suicide methods with ChatGPT. He also uploaded photos showing signs of self-harm. The programme recognised a “medical emergency” but continued engaging, according to the family.
The final chat logs cited in the case allegedly show ChatGPT responding to Adam’s plans to end his life with the words: “Thanks for being real about it. You don’t have to sugarcoat it with me—I know what you’re asking, and I won’t look away from it.”
The lawsuit claims the tool soon became his “closest confidant"The Raine Family
Adam was found dead later that day.
OpenAI’s response
OpenAI said it was reviewing the filing and offered condolences to the Raine family.
In a public note, the company acknowledged that “recent heartbreaking cases” of people using ChatGPT during crises weighed heavily on it. It stressed the system is designed to direct users to professional help lines, such as the Samaritans in the UK and the 988 suicide hotline in the US.
However, it admitted there had been occasions where “our systems did not behave as intended in sensitive situations.”
Allegations against Sam Altman and staff
The lawsuit names OpenAI’s co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman as a defendant, along with unnamed engineers, managers and employees. The family alleges Adam’s death was the “predictable result of deliberate design choices” aimed at fostering user dependency.
It further accuses the company of bypassing safety protocols to release GPT-4o, the model used by Adam in his final conversations.
Broader concerns over AI and mental health
This case follows wider warnings about the risks of AI in sensitive contexts.
Last week, New York Times writer Laura Reiley described how her daughter Sophie confided in ChatGPT before her own death. She argued that the chatbot’s “agreeability” allowed her daughter to mask her distress.
OpenAI has since said it is developing new tools to better identify and respond to signs of emotional or mental health crises in users.
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US tech billionaire Elon Musk has said he will help fund legal cases against officials he believes turned a blind eye to child sexual abuse. His intervention follows a private investigation revealing that such abuse has occurred in 85 local authorities across Britain, reported the Telegraph.
Musk posted on X that he wants to “fund legal actions against corrupt officials who aided and abetted the rape of Britain,” referencing findings from an unofficial inquiry. He encouraged victims and their families to get in touch directly through the platform.
This private investigation, known as the Rape Gang Inquiry and led by former MP Rupert Lowe, claimed to have found evidence of child sexual exploitation in councils from Aberdeen City to Norwich, spanning many decades—some dating back to the 1960s.
The inquiry revealed it has received hundreds of accounts from survivors and whistle-blowers and logged thousands of Freedom of Information requests.
Lowe stressed the urgency for action, noting a growing frustration among survivors with the lack of results, despite promises of a public inquiry by the current government. “The message from survivors is clear: get on with it,” he said.
Musk’s involvement has added global attention to the scandal. While the government had previously resisted calls for a new inquiry, a long-awaited official investigation was launched in June, led by Baroness Louise Casey, with statutory powers to compel witnesses.
This follows years of systemic failure exposed by earlier inquiries—most notably the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which described widespread exploitation and shortcomings in institutional responses. Even so, many of its recommendations remain unimplemented.
Musk has also used X to heavily criticise current and former officials, including safeguarding minister Jess Phillips and prime minister Keir Starmer. He accused them of complicity or indifference, including calling Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” and asserting that Starmer, as former director of Public Prosecutions, failed to act.
British officials have dismissed these claims as distortion and misinformation. Critics worry that Musk’s involvement may stoke political polarisation, especially given his ties to right-wing groups and his previous incendiary posts on the platform. Nonetheless, for survivors seeking justice, his support could offer a valuable route to the courts.
As the official inquiry continues, Musk has offered to fund legal cases against officials accused of failing victims. Meanwhile, survivors and families are awaiting action to ensure the investigations deliver accountability.
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Inaugurated last year by prime minister Narendra Modi, the sanctuary reportedly houses over 10,000 animals from 330 species, including tigers, elephants, Komodo dragons, and giant anteaters.
INDIA’s Supreme Court has ordered an investigation into allegations of illegal animal imports and financial irregularities at Vantara, a private zoo run by Anant Ambani, son of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani.
Vantara describes itself as the “world’s biggest wild animal rescue centre” and is located in Gujarat. According to India’s Central Zoo Authority, it houses more than 200 elephants, 50 bears, 160 tigers, 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles, along with other species.
Wildlife groups have raised concerns that endangered animals are being kept on flatlands near a large oil refinery without plans to return them to the wild.
On Monday, the Supreme Court said it had set up a panel headed by retired judges to examine allegations of unlawful animal acquisition, especially elephants, violations of wildlife rules, and possible money laundering.
“We consider it appropriate... to call for an independent factual appraisal,” the court said.
The judges said the panel would also look into whether Gujarat’s climate is unsuitable for the animals and examine “complaints regarding creation of a vanity or private collection”. The order followed petitions based on media reports and wildlife organisations’ complaints.
In March, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that Vantara imported about 39,000 animals in 2024, including from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
The zoo has also transported dozens of elephants in special trucks from different parts of India.
In a statement on Tuesday, Vantara said it would give “full cooperation” to the inquiry team and “remains committed to transparency, compassion and full compliance with the law”.
“Our mission and focus continues to be the rescue, rehabilitation and care of animals,” it said.
Vantara was also one of the venues for Anant Ambani’s wedding celebrations in 2024, which included private performances by Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Ofgem said the expansion added 1.42 pounds a month on average to all bills.
MILLIONS of households in Britain will see higher energy bills from October after regulator Ofgem raised its price cap by 2 per cent.
The new cap for average annual use of electricity and gas will be 1,755 pounds, an increase of about 35 pounds from the July-September level.
Ofgem said the rise was mainly due to higher network and policy costs.
The increase comes as inflation reached an 18-month high in July and the government faces pressure over the affordability of its net zero plan.
Domestic energy prices are lower than their 2023 peak but remain about 50 per cent above levels in summer 2021, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to a surge in gas prices across Europe.
In June, the government said an additional 2.7 million households would be eligible for the warm home discount this winter, extending the scheme to support 6 million vulnerable households with 150 pounds off their bills.
Ofgem said the expansion added 1.42 pounds a month on average to all bills.
Consumer groups said energy costs were still difficult for many households and called for more support.
The government said the long-term solution was reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
"The only answer for Britain is this government’s mission to get us off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices and onto clean, homegrown power we control," Energy Minister Michael Shanks said.
Ofgem sets the quarterly price cap using a formula based on wholesale energy prices, suppliers’ network costs and environmental and social levies. Wholesale energy prices fell around 2 per cent over the latest assessment period.
Analysts at Cornwall Insight said the cap could fall in January if wholesale prices drop, but policy costs such as a fee on bills to fund the Sizewell C nuclear plant could keep charges higher.
"These policy-driven costs are part of a broader shift in how we fund the energy transition... yet some of the funding will ultimately need to come from billpayers," said Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Protesters calling for the closure of the The Bell Hotel, believed to be housing asylum seekers, gather outside the council offices in Epping, northeast of London, on August 8, 2025.
AN ASYLUM seeker accused of sexual assault in a case that triggered protests outside hotels housing migrants in Britain tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl, his trial heard on Tuesday (26).
Hadush Kebatu, thought to be 38, also told the teenager he wanted to have a baby with her after she offered him pizza because he looked hungry, prosecutors alleged.
Kebatu, who denies the claims, was staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping -- just northeast of London -- during the time of the allegations in early July.
Prosecutor Stuart Cowen told Chelmsford Magistrates' Court in Essex that Kebatu had recently arrived in the UK and "invited" the girl and her friend "to come back to the Bell Hotel".
"These advances were rejected and it was made clear to him (the girl) and her friends were 14 years of age," he added.
Last week, a high court judge ruled the hotel had breached planning rules and ordered all residents to be removed by September 12.
The ruling raised questions about the government's ability to provide accommodation for tens of thousands of migrants as it considers their requests for asylum.
Court listings on Tuesday showed the owners of the hotel and the Home Office will have their bid to appeal to overturn the decision heard on Thursday (28).
More than 32,000 migrants were staying in hotels at the end of June, Home Office data released last week showed.
That was marginally up on the same period last year, in part because of record numbers of irregular migrants crossing the English Channel from France on small boats.
The migrants are often fleeing conflict or hunger, with Afghanistan and Eritrea accounting for most arrivals for the year to June 2025.
The hard-right Reform UK party led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage is tapping into anger over the crossings to lead prime minister Keir Starmer's Labour in national opinion polls.
On Tuesday, Farage suggested that Reform would seek to deport up to 600,000 asylum seekers within five years if it wins the next general election, expected in 2029.
Labour says it has returned more than 35,000 failed asylum seekers since returning to power last year and has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by the next election.
Last week's data showed that 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June, the highest for any 12-month period since records began in 2001.
Kebatu's trial is expected to end on Wednesday (27).