Breaking AI & Tech News Analyzed

Breakthrough Cancer Drug Reveals Hidden TumorsA smart drug that stops cancer cells "hiding" from treatment can shrink tumours by at least 30% in six of the world's most common forms of the disease, according to early trial results. While immunotherapy treatments have improved survival rates for many patients, their effectiveness can stall or fail when tumour cells hide and then spread.How the Smart Drug WorksResearchers in Oxford have developed a drug designed to stop cancer cells concealing themselves from the immune system, allowing immunotherapy treatments to identify and destroy them. In a trial spanning the UK, France, Spain and Australia, 83 patients with cervical, bladder, liver, bowel, lung or head and neck cancers were given the experimental drug, GRWD5769, alongside the immunotherapy treatment cemiplimab.The smart drug was able to remove "invisibility cloaks" from tumour cells, exposing them to the parts of the immune system that attack infections and diseases. This allowed the cemiplimab immunotherapy to pinpoint and destroy the cancer.Trial Results Across Cancer TypesResearchers, led by the Christie NHS foundation trust in Manchester, England, found that tumours shrank in 26 patients. Of those, 15 experienced tumour reductions of at least 30%. All participants had previously failed to respond to treatment, and most had no options left when they joined the study.GRWD5769 was shown to shrink tumours in all six cancer types included in the trial. The drug halted progression of the disease for at least six months in 18% of cervical cancer patients, 32% of liver cancer patients, 36% of bladder cancer patients, 38% of those with neck and head cancer, and more than half of bowel (51%) and lung (55%) cancer patients.Significance for Cancer TreatmentImmunotherapy enlists T-cells – immune system cells that attack infections and diseases – to hunt and destroy cancer. Although it has revolutionised cancer care, it fails in about two-thirds of patients. This is because immunotherapy struggles when tumours hide from the immune system.Tumours can evade the immune system by manipulating an enzyme called ERAP1 (endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1). By altering this enzyme, cancer cells can hide from a patient's T-cells. GRWD5769 solves this problem by inhibiting ERAP1, which removes cancer's invisibility cloak and makes tumour cells visible to T-cells that could not previously find them.Future Outlook for Cancer TreatmentThe findings were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago, the world's largest cancer conference. Prof Fiona Thistlethwaite, the principal investigator, noted: "For a drug that is given as a tablet, this is very impressive. It's early days, and we need further studies, but this is a new drug with a new mechanism that clearly helps immunotherapy perform more effectively."The tablets, which were developed by Oxford-based Greywolf Therapeutics and were tolerated well by patients. The trial remains ongoing, with a larger study planned. Cancer Research UK's research information lead, Dr Samuel Godfrey, noted: "Immunotherapy has transformed treatment for some cancers but it doesn't yet work for everyone. This trial seems to show how this new drug could make immunotherapy more effective, including in some cases where immunotherapy had previously failed."

From Celebration to Crisis: The Trigger for Legislative ActionThe recent Champions League victory by Paris Saint-Germain, marking the team's second consecutive win, devolved into a night of severe unrest in the French capital. The aftermath left more than 200 people injured and resulted in one fatality. In response to this escalating pattern of violence—which mirrors similar scenes following both last year's final and this year's semifinal against Bayern Munich—French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has called for extraordinary parliamentary measures.The RIPOST Bill: Expanding Law Enforcement CapabilitiesOriginally presented by the government on March 25 and already cleared by the Senate, the RIPOST security bill is now being pushed to the top of the legislative agenda. Lecornu has requested that President Emmanuel Macron convene an extraordinary parliamentary session in early July to expedite its adoption. The legislation is designed to combat what the government terms everyday disorder, specifically targeting:Illegal rave partiesMisuse of nitrous oxide and firework mortarsPublic drug useTo enforce these measures, the bill proposes a significant widening of police authority and public surveillance capabilities.Financial Accountability: A New Approach to RestitutionBeyond expanding law enforcement powers, the French government is shifting its focus to the financial burden of civil unrest. Lecornu criticized the current paradigm where repair costs for destroyed property are too often charged to society. He advocates for a much more coercive approach to recovering these funds from perpetrators.While ruling out the outright suspension of welfare benefits, the Prime Minister floated a controversial proposal: utilizing a portion of state benefits—excluding the minimum living allowance—to finance compensation for damages caused by rioters.Political Implications and Future OutlookThe fast-tracking of the RIPOST bill signals a hardening stance on public order by the Macron administration. By linking the bill's urgency to high-profile sports riots, the government is leveraging public outrage to bypass standard legislative delays. If passed during the proposed extraordinary session, France will see a swift rollout of enhanced policing powers and a novel framework for holding rioters financially accountable.

A Critical Portrait of George MichaelIn 1998, George Michael was arrested for public lewdness in an LA lavatory, an incident that finally led the singer to publicly come out. The following day, Sathnam Sanghera found himself unable to leave his room at university: the doorway had been mockingly plastered with tabloid newspaper headlines – "ZIP ME UP BEFORE YOU GO-GO!" – by fellow students aware of his longstanding fandom. As a writer, Sanghera is best known for a series of award-winning books on the British empire, which he calls his "specialist subject". Judging by Tonight the Music Seems So Loud – not a biography so much as a miscellany, a set of themed essays that tend to digress in all kinds of intriguing directions – the life and work of one Georgios Panayiotou runs imperialism and its legacy a very close second.The Complex Legacy of a Pop IconIt is an unashamedly partisan book, although not an uncritical one. Sanghera is as alive to Michael's personal and professional failings (whether the naffness of some of his early work as one half of Wham! or his high-handed treatment of the duo's other half, Andrew Ridgeley) as he is in love with his artistic triumphs. These, of course, range from Careless Whisper and Wham!'s annually inescapable Last Christmas to the 1996 solo masterpiece Older, a peculiar and peculiarly effective cocktail of raw grief at the Aids-related death of his lover Anselmo Feleppa and unrepentant horniness.The Evolution of Critical ReceptionSanghera's love for his subject is evidently sharpened by the opprobrium of others. Indeed if the book has a flaw, it's that the author is old enough to remember an era when George Michael was deemed insufferably uncool by some arbiters of taste (incredibly, when Wham! performed at a 1984 benefit show for striking miners, the only mainstream pop act to show support for the cause, they were received stone-faced by the audience and savaged by the music press for their trouble), and thus has a tendency to underestimate how much both he and his music have been critically re-evaluated in the 21st century.The Artistic Journey of George MichaelHe says one of the spurs to write the book was his belief that "most truly popular music is not generally deemed worthy of serious analysis and George Michael's music most certainly is not". That might have been true once, but certainly not of late: when he died, this newspaper alone ran six features by critics analysing different aspects of his music. "He sang so exquisitely about the marrow of life, about the vital, corporeal things", wrote one, which definitely doesn't amount to taking George Michael insufficiently seriously.double quotation markEven as he skinned up in front of journalists and discussed his drug use and sex life, he was concealing the extent of the addictions that eventually killed himFamily Background and Cultural IdentitySanghera is very good on the climate of homophobia in the 80s, which might have given any gay public figure serious qualms about coming out, and fascinating on Michael's family background: how growing up embedded in north London's Greek Cypriot community impacted on everything from Wham!'s image – not camp, Sanghera suggests, but "the vision of two children of immigrants imagining a kind of glamour they had not actually experienced before" – to his work ethic and control freakery. His dad made good in England by working exceptionally hard, running such a tight ship at his restaurant that he summarily fired his only son for messing up the drinks orders. The fact that the same son went on to hire 12 different saxophonists before finding one that could play the solo on Careless Whisper to his satisfaction doesn't come as a huge surprise.The Perfectionist and Contradictory ArtistThis my-way-or-the-highway perfectionism could yield hugely impressive results – Careless Whisper's sax hook may well be the most famous in pop history – but it could equally lead to intransigence and self-sabotage. Michael worked incredibly hard to transform himself from a member of a teen pop band into a more adult-facing solo artist, but having sold a staggering 25m copies of his 1987 solo debut Faith, he refused to promote its follow-up Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, or even make videos for its singles: a better album than its predecessor, it achieved only a fraction of its sales as a result. It was evidence of a deeply contradictory nature that occasionally has Sanghera throwing up his hands in bewilderment.The Public and Private Faces of George MichaelMichael was a polymath, keen to be duly credited as the sole singer, writer, producer and musician on a succession of tracks, but also had a weird habit of talking down his abilities, claiming he couldn't play instruments he was perfectly capable of playing. He was a Stakhanovite who increasingly worked at an agonisingly glacial pace, endlessly fussing over details, a state of affairs not much helped by his gargantuan appetite for marijuana: coupled with bouts of writers' block, it meant he released only six albums of original material in a career that lasted 34 years. He was a Labour voter, booster of the NHS and famously generous philanthropist who also engaged in tax avoidance. After being publicly outed, he became a notoriously frank interviewee ("as if nothing can embarrass him anymore" the Guardian's Simon Hattenstone suggested when he met him in 2009). But even as he skinned up in front of journalists and freely discussed his drug use and sex life, he was concealing the extent of the addictions that eventually killed him.The Decline and Final YearsMichael emerges as a messy, unpredictable but ultimately hugely likable figure, which makes the essay about his demise particularly tough reading. Listed starkly on the page, the facts of his final 10 years make it obvious that he was a deeply unwell man whose life had spun wildly out of control: drug busts, medical emergencies, visits to rehab, rumours of breakdowns and suicide bids and seven incidents in which he either crashed his car or was found comatose at the wheel.The Professional Mask of Personal StruggleThat it somehow didn't appear obvious at the time – that his death at 53 felt like a shock rather than a grim inevitability – seems remarkable, but as Sanghera points out, Michael's professionalism did a lot to paper over the cracks. He was always available to the media and always smart, funny and self-effacing: to use a modern turn of phrase, he controlled the narrative. He was punctilious about his appearance – the star certainly never looked like an ailing drug addict – and unfailingly superb onstage.The Hidden Realities Behind the FameBehind the scenes, it was a different story. He struggled to make new music: at one juncture he booked six months of recording sessions but never turned up to the studio once. His once-acute commercial instincts seemed to desert him: even Sanghera can't muster much enthusiasm for the handful of still-unreleased songs he completed in his final years. He cut off close friends and family who tried to intervene. No one who knew him seems to have been particularly surprised by his death: the list of adjectives used to describe him on his official website now includes not just "icon" "legend" "soul singer" and "philanthropist" but "addict" "repeat offender" and "depressive".An Imagined Alternative LegacyAs the book draws to a close, Sanghera offers a heartbreaking alternative history. He imagines Michael conquering his addictions, coming to a complete accommodation with his musical past (to the end of his life, he was dismissive of Wham!, describing their oeuvre as an exercise in "ignoring my own intelligence" and declining to play most of their hits live) and headlining Glastonbury, "getting pleasure from the audience reaction to Club Tropicana".The Enduring Power of George Michael's MusicIt's affecting because you can imagine it so vividly: the endless succession of hits that anyone with even a passing interest in pop music knows, the pandemonium in the crowd when he breaks out Careless Whisper, the encore of Freedom '90. You don't have to be a fan on Sanghera's level to understand what a triumph it would have been. Tonight the Music Seems So Loud: The Meaning of George Michael by Sathnam Sanghera is published by Picador (£22). To support the Guardian, buy a copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

The Allegation and Suspension Sri Lanka’s Buddhist hierarchy has suspended a prominent senior monk accused of sexually abusing a child, in the religiously conservative nation’s highest-profile case involving a local clergyman. The monk, 71-year-old Pallegama Hemarathana, was stripped of his responsibilities on Saturday as the chief custodian of a highly venerated Ficus plant grown from a sapling of a tree believed to have sheltered the Buddha. The Investigation and Legal Proceedings Police arrested Hemarathana on May 9 following allegations he sexually abused an 11-year-old girl in 2022 at the venerated Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi temple in Anuradhapura, 200km (125 miles) north of Colombo. Hemarathana was detained during his stay at a private hospital in the capital Colombo, where he had checked in for treatment as the criminal investigation progressed. Authorities said the victim’s mother had also been arrested for aiding and abetting the monk. The Impact on the Community The temple draws thousands of people daily who pay homage at the tree Buddhists believe is closely connected to the same Ficus that sheltered the Buddha when he attained enlightenment. Hemarathana’s suspension came on the same day Sri Lanka celebrated Vesak, the anniversary of the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death. The Context of Clergy Abuse in Sri Lanka There have been several cases of clergy abusing children in Sri Lanka, but Hemarathana is the most senior monk to be accused of such a crime. Last month, 22 monks were arrested at Colombo’s international airport after 110kg (242lbs) of cannabis was found hidden in their bags, in what was the biggest drug smuggling discovery ever in the facility. The monks have remained in custody pending prosecution, but have not been suspended from the priesthood. The Future Outlook Hemarathana has since been granted bail while a court has barred him from travelling abroad. The Council of Monks of the Malwatte Chapter decided to suspend Ven. Hemarathana until the conclusion of the legal proceedings against him. This case highlights the challenges faced by religious institutions in addressing allegations of abuse within their ranks.

Stabbings Erupt After Arsenal’s Title CelebrationSix individuals were stabbed in north London after the evening of Arsenal’s Premier League victory parade, according to the Metropolitan Police. The attacks occurred after most supporters had begun to disperse, prompting an immediate police response.Details of the Evening ViolenceThe Met reported that 24 people were arrested, including ten on suspicion of assaulting officers and several on charges ranging from sexual assault to drug‑related offences. Two police officers were injured – one with a slash wound to the hand and another struck on the head by an object thrown from the crowd.Additional incidents included damage to four police vans on Theberton Street, a small hotel fire believed to be caused by a flare, and the rescue of about 75 people who became stuck on rooftops while trying to watch the parade.Numbers Highlight Scale of the IncidentSix stabbing victims – one in his 20s was initially in a life‑threatening condition but later stabilised.24 arrests total, covering assault, sexual assault, drug offences, and public‑order breaches.500+ police officers deployed for the event.Approximately 75 people rescued by the London fire brigade.Implications for Public Order at Major Sports EventsCommander Stuart Bell described the violence as “pockets of antisocial behaviour” that escalated into gang‑related incidents as crowds thinned. The Metropolitan Police authorised extra stop‑and‑search powers overnight, signalling a shift toward more aggressive policing tactics for future large‑scale celebrations.What Authorities Expect Moving ForwardChief Superintendent Jason Stewart indicated that police will maintain a visible presence in Islington while investigations continue. Ongoing inquiries aim to identify all offenders, and the incident is likely to influence future crowd‑management protocols for high‑profile sporting events across the UK.

The three‑year Sudanese civil war has shattered the country’s health system, leaving patients like diabetic Murtada Mohieddin to grapple with scarce, often spoiled insulin and a flood of unregulated medicines.War‑Driven Collapse of Sudan’s Pharmaceutical ProductionThe conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has shut hospitals, health centres and domestic drug factories. Yasser Ahmed Youssef, a pharmaceutical industry expert, notes that pre‑war factories once produced large quantities of life‑saving drugs, but today most production lines are silent.More than 50,000 people killed14 million displaced (≈25% of the population)40% of health facilities nationwide non‑operational (HeRAMS, Oct 2025)87% closed in Khartoum, 85% in North KordofanHumanitarian Numbers Highlight a Deepening Health CrisisA WHO release (14 April 2026) labels Sudan the world’s largest humanitarian crisis: 21 million people lack basic healthcare out of 34 million in need of aid.UNFPA (Aug 2025) reports that the only functioning maternity hospital in el‑Fasher faces imminent closure due to medicine shortages.Smuggling Networks Flood Market with Dangerous “Boko” MedicinesWith formal supply chains broken, illicit “Boko” medicines—especially intravenous malaria drugs—are entering the market without temperature control or quality checks, often arriving spoiled.Mutawakil Hamza, a pharmacist in Omdurman, warns that patients now confront a double threat of exorbitant prices and life‑threatening quality issues.Unregulated drugs bypass sterility standards, risking bloodstream infections, systemic shock, or deathNational Medical Supplies Fund claims 75% availability for cancer meds and full supply for kidney patients, yet overall warehouses have collapsedOutlook: Humanitarian Aid and Health System Recovery ChallengesInternational deliveries face up to 90 days transit times from Douala via Chad, while armed groups repeatedly target medical facilities—e.g., drone attacks on Al‑Daein Teaching Hospital (20 Mar 2026, 64 dead) and Al‑Jabalain Hospital (2 Apr 2026, 10 staff killed).WHO Director‑General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for renewed international solidarity, emphasizing that without decisive political and humanitarian action, Sudan’s health system may edge toward total collapse.

The Investigation Wise, the UK-based international money transfer service and darling of the London fintech scene, has confirmed it is answering questions from Belgian prosecutors investigating money laundering, sending its shares tumbling. Details of the Investigation In a statement to the stock market, Wise said it was “currently working with the Brussels prosecutor to respond to queries about our business, as we routinely do with regulators and law-enforcement authorities. “His office’s inquiries are still incomplete and no specific findings have been shared with us to date.” Market Impact Shares in the company plunged by more than 10% by early afternoon, as investors digested official confirmation of discussions with the Belgian prosecutor’s office. Background and Allegations The London-based firm, which has 19 million customers, processes 4.7m transactions a day and is valued at more than £8bn, issued the statement in response to a report by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). The report claimed that Belgian authorities are investigating whether Wise accounts have been “used by criminals to launder the proceeds of fraud, corruption and drug trafficking”. Prosecutors in Belgium reportedly opened the investigation last year, on the basis that Wise accounts had featured in hundreds of requests for cross-border help in criminal proceedings from more than 30 countries across Europe. The transactions under investigation amounted to €500m (£433m). Wise's Response and Compliance “Like every financial institution, we face the reality of increasingly sophisticated bad actors attempting to exploit our platform, and we continually invest in tech-enabled systems and teams to stay ahead of ever-evolving threats,” Wise told investors. “We start by verifying customers before they open an account and continue monitoring hundreds of data points in real time as customers use our products, with teams reviewing transactions, offboarding customers when needed, and proactively reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement. “We take our responsibility incredibly seriously. Around one-third of Wise’s global team is dedicated to protecting our customers from financial crime and this focus is shared across all of our teams.”

The Heatwave Prompt and a Glimpse into Everett’s PastDuring a scorching London heatwave, Rupert Everett—now 67—sits in a Bloomsbury café and admits the weather triggers memories of the summer of 1976, when he was a lanky teenager dreaming of stardom. The interview opens with his self‑deprecating humor about weight and age, setting the tone for a raw, introspective conversation. The 1997 Hollywood Resurgence: “My Best Friend’s Wedding”Everett’s most notable comeback arrived in 1997 when he played Julia Roberts’ gay best friend in My Best Friend’s Wedding. This role vaulted him into the position of the coveted “camp bestie” for leading ladies, briefly turning him into a box‑office draw.1997 – Cast as the gay confidant in My Best Friend’s Wedding1998‑2002 – Frequent supporting roles alongside A‑list actresses2006 – Publishes first memoir, Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins Memoir Revelations: Sex, Drugs, and Unflinching GossipEverett’s two memoirs—Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins (2006) and Vanished Years (2012)—expose a life of heroin use, cocaine experimentation, and selling himself for sex during lean periods. He spares no one: calling Madonna “vaguely sweaty,” describing Julia Roberts as “beautiful and tinged with madness,” and lampooning public figures like Alastair Campbell and Alan Sugar. The memoirs positioned Everett as a modern‑day Hedda Hopper, wielding ruthless, barbed gossip as a form of self‑critique. Personal Reckoning: Body, Identity, and the Weight of MemoryEverett confronts the physical and psychological toll of his past. He acknowledges his current “chubby” physique, the lingering “punk upper‑class attitude,” and the paradox of heroin as an “upper‑class version of punk.” The actor admits he often sabotaged his own performances—disrupting shows, sending bizarre gifts to critics, and indulging in drug‑induced escapism—behaviours he now finds “horrifying.” Looking Ahead: Redemption, Legacy, and the Role of Truth‑tellingDespite the self‑destructive legacy, Everett hints at a desire for redemption through honesty. By laying bare his flaws, he hopes to reshape public perception and perhaps inspire a new generation of actors to confront their own demons. The interview ends with a quiet acknowledgment that the heatwave, while uncomfortable, may finally force him to “smash his past up through sex” and move toward a more authentic future.

The Colombian Presidential Runoff SetFar-right outsider Abelardo de la Espriella will face left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda in the runoff for Colombia's presidential election next month. As polls closed on Sunday, the two candidates surged ahead in the vote tally, quickly extinguishing the hopes of right-wing Senator Paloma Valencia, a former frontrunner.Election Results and Voter TurnoutAs of Sunday afternoon, with 99 percent of the votes tallied, de la Espriella took the lead, with 43 percent of the ballots cast in his favor. Cepeda trailed him by more than 600,000 votes, earning 40 percent of the ballots. Neither candidate breached the 50-percent threshold needed to avoid a head-to-head match-up on June 21.More than 23.6 million Colombians voted in Sunday's election, though there was a high number of blank or nullified ballots. Early estimates indicate that 245,342 voting sheets were null, and another 406,830 were left blank.Contrasting Campaign StrategiesDe la Espriella, a businessman and lawyer who has never held elected office, leaned heavily into fears of crime as he launched an outsider campaign, similar in style to the dark-horse bid of Argentinian President Javier Milei. His platform includes a pledge to undertake a crackdown on crime and build 10 mega-prisons. Nicknamed "The Tiger", he founded the Defenders of the Homeland political party, known for its slogan, "Stand firm for the nation."By contrast, Cepeda is a well-known quantity in Colombian politics. His father was a senator too, as well as a leader in Colombia's Communist Party, before he was assassinated in 1994. Cepeda himself has served as a senator since 2014 and represents Colombia's outgoing left-wing president Gustavo Petro's Historic Pact party.Security Policies Divide the CandidatesCentral to the rift in Colombia's politics is the country's six-decade-long internal conflict. Cepeda has been critical of right-wing efforts to solve the conflict through military might alone. Instead, he has allied himself with Petro's "Total Peace" platform, which actively seeks negotiated solutions to the fighting, in addition to military tactics.De la Espriella, meanwhile, has embraced the kind of hardline security platform commonly associated with El Salvador's leader Nayib Bukele. "The only peace process I believe in is one imposed by the force of arms and the laws of the republic," de la Espriella told The Associated Press. Like United States President Donald Trump, de la Espriella has also threatened to launch a bombing campaign to disrupt drug-trafficking.Regional Political Shifts at PlayThe second round is likely to be an uphill battle for Cepeda. Colombia's right-wing is expected to consolidate behind de la Espriella in the second round. In Sunday's vote count, more than 10.3 million ballots were cast for de la Espriella, compared to roughly 9.7 million for Cepeda.A victory for the right would continue a regional trend in Latin America. Last year alone, left-wing governments in Chile, Honduras and Bolivia were all replaced by right-wing presidential contenders.What's Next in Colombia's Political LandscapeThe runoff on June 21 will present voters with starkly different approaches to Colombia's long-standing challenges. De la Espriella signalled optimism about the second round in a social media post as the results rolled in: "We are going to defeat tyranny and absolutism... In 21 days, we will make history!"Cepeda, acknowledging "immense challenges" with the current peace policy, has nevertheless pledged to carry it forward while rejecting overly militaristic solutions. The outcome will not only determine Colombia's next president but could also influence the direction of regional politics in Latin America.