United Kingdom

Senior government figures including the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, were concerned about the amount of influence applied from outside Whitehall, according to documents submitted to the second module of the Covid inquiry.

In evidence shown today, Johnson claimed it was “optically wrong” for him to hold regular meetings with the leaders of the devolved nations.

Doing so, he said, risked making the UK appear a “mini EU”, adding: “That is not, in my view, how devolution is supposed to work.”

A new ultra-cheap Chinese shopping app taking Britain by storm could be illegally harvesting the data of phone users, claims a report.

Temu, pronounced tee-moo, offers shoppers cut-price products shipped directly from Chinese factories. It launched in the UK in April and has surged in popularity, becoming the most-downloaded app on Google's Play Store following similar success in the US.

Distinguished by its bright orange logo, Temu is thought to have more than nine million users in the UK who have been drawn in by its ultra-low prices and free delivery.

...

But alarm bells are ringing among analysts and observers of Chinese companies.

This month, financial analyst Siegfried Eggert, the boss of US firm Grizzly Research, published a report claiming Temu was one of the 'most dangerous' popular apps, alleging it contained 'aggressive' programmes designed to harvest data.

Eggert also accused Temu's owner, Chinese e-commerce giant PDD, of 'intentionally' hiding the software within the app.

'We Believe Temu is the most dangerous app in wide circulation,' the report said.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/6537002

The swords indicate the presence of the Roman military in Cotswolds, England.

To whom it may concern.

Archive link for us cheapskates:

https://archive.ph/zVt1R

Suella Braverman has reacted to a photo in which she was pictured standing on a guide dog’s tail at the Tory party conference.

The Home Secretary issued an “apology to all dogs” after she took to the stage at a Blue Collar Conservatism reception on Tuesday (3 October).

Ms Braverman was pictured with her foot on a guide dog’s tail.

The dog, named Inca, was at the conference with Guide Dogs UK, who are campaigning for a ban on pavement parking.

“I don’t think any dogs were harmed in the filming of my visit,” Ms Braverman said.

Whilst the prime minister is right that HS2 has proved much more expensive than planned, the casting of his decision as part of a reset focused on making long-term decisions is hard to take. The HS2 cancellation is likely to have been at least partly driven by a desire to create short term financial headroom ahead of the general election to fund tax cuts – the very definition of short-termism.

cross-posted from: https://radiation.party/post/118400

[ comments | sourced from HackerNews ]

If you don't want to sign up to sounds you can listen on the terminal using mpv/vlc. Example:

mpv https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001r7jn

Interesting interview - it is incredibly spicy at points. Both of them lost their cool at several points here and I don't think either of them come out sounding good.

For what it's worth I think Hallam's spiel about acting emotionally instead of using critical thinking sounds pretty suspect but clearly he's found this an effective line to take when campaigning.

Rishi Sunak and cabinet ministers set out their vision for the future in Manchester, at what was likely the last party conference before a general election. But outside of the main hall, corporate sponsorship ran wild. Business leaders – including representatives from gambling and social media companies – paid up to £3,300 to dine with ministers in charge of key policy decisions, with no record of what was discussed. Policy Exchange, a think tank that does not disclose its funders and has a track record of influencing government policy, hosted a range of events.