Chemical signatures of a sugar called erythrulose have been detected near the centre of the Milky Way.
(Photo supplied: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Susan Stolovy (SSC/Caltech) et al.)
The astronomers used data from the Yebes 40m (pictured) and IRAM 30-metre radio telescopes. (Wikimedia: Yebesoan)
(Photo: Wikimedia - Yebesoan)
Erythrulose is a sugar that contains four carbon atoms, four oxygen atoms, and eight hydrogen atoms.
(Photo supplied: JimĂŠnez-Serra et al. Nature Astronomy)
Signs of sugar detected near centre of the Milky Way
Astronomers have detected signs of a type of sugar in gas clouds near the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way.
Sugars provide energy and are key building blocks of life on Earth, such as DNA, but how they got here is a mystery.
It is not uncommon to find sugar in the cosmos â simple sugars such as ribose and glucose have been previously discovered on asteroids in our Solar System.
But this is the first time sugar molecules have been found beyond our Solar System in the interstellar medium, astronomers report in Nature Astronomy.
They found the chemical fingerprint of erythrulose (C4H8O4), which contains four carbon molecules, and is a type of sugar known as a ketose.
On Earth, it is found in raspberries and is used as an ingredient in self-tanning lotions.
The study's lead author, Izaskun JimĂŠnez-Serra, of the Center for Astrobiology CSIC-INTA in Spain, said the detection of erythrulose suggests these compounds may be more universal than originally thought.
"The detection of the first sugar in interstellar space suggests that the key ingredients for life can form in molecular nebula before stars and planets form," Dr JimĂŠnez-Serra said.
The astronomers say the discovery provides clues about how sugars may have formed in the universe and became building blocks of life on Earth.
By Genelle Weule
ABC News - 14 July 2026
Astronomers have detected signs of a type of sugar found in raspberries in gas clouds near the centre of our galaxy the Milky Way.
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IMAX Melbourne has the largest film format you can project on â you wonât see a sandalled Matt Damon any bigger.
(Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon)
Christopher Nolan shot the entirety of The Odyssey with IMAX film cameras.
(Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon)
Dan Drobik is one of only a few people in Australia qualified to thread an IMAX 70mm projector, making him extremely valuable ahead of The Odysseyâs release.
(Photo: Jason South)
Dan Drobik splicing and threading film reel in IMAX Melbourneâs projection room.
(Photo: Jason South)
17 kilometres of film, $47 a ticket: How The Odyssey is resurrecting film
Over the next few weeks, Dan Drobik will be cooped up in a little cinema booth bringing The Odyssey to life.
He didnât star in the film or help make it. But without Drobik, and other projectionists like him, people wouldnât be able to see the mythological epic exactly as Christopher Nolan intended: in IMAX 70mm.
This, the IMAX technical manager explains, is an analog film format. It relies on a projector and physical film prints rather than standard digital prints to tell a story. Itâs also the largest film format you can project on â you wonât see a sandalled Matt Damon any bigger.
âFilm prints have gone the way of the dinosaurs, but thankfully Christopher Nolan is a big fan of IMAX 70mm. So, weâre lucky enough to have maintained our projector and can still display it here,â Drobik says.
IMAX Melbourne is the only cinema in the Southern Hemisphere screening The Odyssey in such a format. There are only 40 other cinemas worldwide showing the film this way, with some fans travelling from as far as Germany to experience it. It also has the largest 1.43:1 screen in the world, making it the exact ratio Nolan shot in. According to an IMAX Melbourne spokesperson, patrons will see up to 40 per cent more image than in a standard cinema.
By Nell Geraets
The Age - July 14, 2026
Shared from Apple News
Just a few dozen cinemas worldwide are showing The Odyssey exactly as its director intended â and one of them is in Australia.
The actor died surrounded by family, according to a post on his official social media channels.
(Photo: Lawrence Smith)
Sam Neill and Judy Davis in My Brilliant Career (1979).
(Photo supplied)
Neill in a scene from the film Jurassic Park III (2001).
(Photo: Reuters)
Sam Neill in 1989, the year he appeared in Dead Calm.
(Photo: Fairfax)
Sam Neill pictured with journalist Laura Tingle in 2019. He said they had three wonderful years together before splitting in 2021.
Photo: Brendon Thorne / Getty Inages)
Vale Sam Neill: Honorary Australian who charmed on and off the screen
SAM NEILL â¨September 14, 1947 â July 13, 2026
Handsome, talented and with an easy, gracious charm that delighted audiences, Sam Neill was a consummate professional with a stellar career who switched effortlessly between leading roles in Hollywood blockbusters, arthouse films and big-ticket television shows. Often compared to Cary Grant, the Northern Ireland-born, New Zealand-raised actor was an honorary Australian who kept a home in Sydney since the late 1970s and was ever loyal to the Australian film and television industry.
In 2023, Neill published his memoir Did I Ever Tell You This?, in which he reflected on his life and career as he was undergoing chemotherapy for blood cancer. He wrote the book quickly because: âThe truth was, I didnât know how long I had to live. What I had was aggressive. I thought Iâd better scribble down some stuff before I shuffle.â
In April this year, he told 7News he was cancer-free after undergoing a new treatment when the chemotherapy stopped working. âI was at a loss and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasnât ideal, obviously,â Neill said, as he advocated for government funding for the revolutionary treatment called CAR T-cell therapy. âIâve just had a scan now and there is no cancer in my body, this is an extraordinary thing.â
Sam Neill is survived by his brother, sister, four children and eight grandchildren.
Obituary by Amy Ripley
Additional reporting by Karl Quinn
The Age - July 13, 2026
Shared from Apple News
Handsome, talented and with an easy, gracious manner, the Northern Ireland-born actor was a consummate professional with a stellar career sp
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Related YouTube video >>
YouTube video : ABC TV program Australian Story - His Brilliant Careers ⢠Sam Neill documentary [ABC 25 October 2023 / 30min.]:
As a tribute to the late Sam Neill, we look back over the actorâs dazzling career and recent health struggles.
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Sam Neill
(Photo: Carlo Allegri / AP)
Remembering the quiet genius of Sam Neill
I remember watching an interview with actor Sam Neill, who has died aged 78, saying âGood screen acting hints at secrets. At other lives underneath the veneer.â
At the time, I wondered what were these secrets Neill was referring to.
I just had to look at the vast body of Neillâs work, the characters he played, and how he played them to answer that question.
Neillâs ability at nuance made his roles so believable and authentic.
When we view his body of work, we can see Neillâs characters always have a significant level of intellect and astuteness. He was often cast in roles of men of intelligence, quiet authority or class. Neill was the reasonable, decent man everyone looked at for stability and strength when disaster fell, and all others were losing their heads.
He had this understated quality to many of his roles. Not being the overt method actor like many of his generation, he chose restraint and reason, embellishing his characters with a feeling of genuine realism.
Neill was able to relate emotion through slight facial expressions or minute vocal inflections. He could be equally delighted, menacing or upset with just a glance.
Neill uncovered the secrets in the lives of all of his characters, presented them to us in his own inimitable style and made even the most ordinary moments feel quietly extraordinary.
Obituary by Daryl Sparkes
The Conversation - July 13, 2026
Sam Neill has died at 78. He was an actor who chose restraint and reason, embellishing his characters with a feeling of genuine realism.
Copyright Š Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Licensed by ARS/Copyright Agency.
BLUE POLES
How Pollock Created a Masterpiece
By Sarina Noordhuis-Fairfax
[Sarina Noordhuis-Fairfax is the National Galleryâs Curator of Australian Prints and Drawings]
Jackson Pollockâs monumental painting Blue Poles is recognised today as an Abstract Expressionist masterpiece. The work is a prime example of his unique approach to action painting.
He started Blue Poles in 1952 by working on the floor of his studio, a converted barn on Long Island in the United States of America. It was painted on a large roll of prepared canvas using commercially produced enamel and aluminium paints. It measures 213 centimetres high by 489.5cm centimetres wide and weighs 99 kilograms.
Blue Poles was purchased from New York collector Ben Heller for Australiaâs national collection in 1973.
Jackson Pollock painted Blue Poles using flung and dripped lines of brightly coloured household paints. We see the vivid brilliance of ultramarine blue, the deep warmth of cadmium yellow, a reddish orange like tangerine, thin drips of white, puddles of thickened cream and squiggles and splashes of black. These paints are standard colours, like those we might buy in cans from a hardware store.
Pollock also used a shiny silver-coloured paint manufactured from aluminium particles. He was excited by the textural contrast this metallic paint formed in combination with ordinary oil paint. Certain colours were left to dry before he added further layers. Others were layered wet on wet to mix on the canvas, the paints mingling, their intersections forming pockets of marbling. The effect of this seemingly random mixing of colour and Pollockâs rhythmic actions means that there is an equal impression of chaos in a small section as in the overall painting.
Pollock painted Blue Poles when he was forty years old. A few years earlier he had made the radical shift from working on an easel to unrolling lengths of canvas onto the ground. For Pollock, this impulse brought together his experience working on murals during the Great Depression, his long interest in the sand paintings of south-western Native Americans and the vast plains of his unsettled childhood in Wyoming, Arizona and California.
With his pivotal shift in approach and scale, Pollockâs work became increasingly abstract, as he relied on his unconscious for guidance. His figurative paintings had been darkly symbolic, drawing on Jungian archetypes excavated through a decade of analysis and treatment for recurring alcoholism and depression. He distilled his life experience in this late stage of his career into physical gestural rhythms, with his figurative symbolic images becoming obscured beneath layers of energetic linework.
Headline: OUT OF THE BLUE How the conservation project unfolded Intro: While the National Gallery was temporarily closed due to COVID-19, an
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Related documentary video >>
JACKSON POLLOCK: BLUE POLES
A Documentary film by Alison Chernick [Video 17min.+17sec.]:
A living archive and conservation project by the National Gallery of Australia
A living archive and conservation project by the National Gallery of Australia
The Reflecting Pools in Washington, D.C. were designed for one purpose: reflection. They are supposed to mirror the beauty, dignity, and symbolism of the monuments around them. They were never intended to look like a chlorinated Olympic swimming pool where you can count pennies on the bottom.
That soft, dark surface is the point. The slight haze, the ripples, the depth â all of it creates the illusion of the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument floating in history itself. Itâs art, architecture, and symbolism combined.
But Trump looked at them the way a casino owner looks at a hotel fountain: âWhy canât I see the bottom?â Because he fundamentally does not understand the difference between beauty and branding.
Every fifth grader on a D.C. field trip learns that these spaces were designed to inspire reflection about democracy, sacrifice, and history. Trump sees murky water and thinks somebody forgot the bleach.
That tells you everything.
To him, if something doesnât sparkle like a gaudy resort lobby, it has no value. History becomes dĂŠcor. Symbolism becomes maintenance failure. National monuments become props for a photo op.
The Reflecting Pools are not there to showcase perfect filtration systems. They exist to reflect America itself â complicated, imperfect, deep, and worthy of contemplation.
The tragedy is that Trump can stare directly at a reflecting pool and still never see himself clearly.
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âWe may not revolt as one, but we are revolted as one, e pluribus nauseam.â
â Sarah Kendzior, They Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America Complacent
âI never wondered what made Baker commit atrocities, because the answer is the same for every serial abuser: people let him. Ordinary people saw that he was committing exceptional crimes, and they let him get away with it.â
â Sarah Kendzior, They Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America Complacent
âWhat, to the Slave, is the Fourth of Julyâ â Historical Context
On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass was invited to address the citizens of his hometown, Rochester, New York. Whatever the expectations of his audience on that 76th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Douglass used the occasion not to celebrate Americaâs triumphs but to remind all of the reality of race relations in their nation, including its continuing enslavement of millions of people.
Elon Muskâs self-appointed mission is to reshape the world and project cyberspace in his own image â while the rest of us havenât even been consulted.
(Photo: Susie Dodds / AAP)
As head of DOGE, Musk tried to turn government into a problem of data synthesis and pattern recognition.
(Photo: Evan Vucci / AAP)
Canadian political economist Quinn Slobodian and technology journalist Ben Tarnoff scrutinise Elon Musk - both the man and the means at his disposal - in their carefully researched, well written and thought-provoking book, Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed.
(Photo: Penguin Random House)
Elon Musk and Donald Trump with a Tesla car outside the White House in 2025.
(Photo: AAP)
The idea of Musk as a Bond villain, out to rule the world, might seem comical â but itâs deadly serious.
(Photo: Jordan Strauss / AAP)
Elon Musk is remaking the world, like Henry Ford before him â but more dangerously
Elon Musk, briefly the worldâs first trillionaire â but now a mere billionaire again â is a man of exceptions. Heâs built not one, but two of the worldâs most pioneering technology companies (Tesla and SpaceX). He was talking about settling humans on Mars with a straight face some 20 years ago. Unlike most tech CEOs, he posts on social media multiple times daily, via his own platform, X.
In 2025, he gave what looked like a Nazi salute, very publicly, in Washington DC. That same year, he held a very senior role in the United States government, with no prior political experience, while simultaneously expanding his business empire.
In his brief and chaotic tenure as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), he tried to turn government into a problem of data synthesis and pattern recognition, leading to optimised policy solutions. All the while, he seemed to forget that real people, entitled to fairness and justice, were affected profoundly by his desk-based decisions.
All this has made him a household name and one of the worldâs most powerful individuals. Some, like journalist Cory Doctorow, have been asking: is he now exceptionally dangerous? And where does he fit in with other oft-criticised West Coast âbroligarchsâ, like Amazonâs Jeff Bezos, Palantirâs Alexander Karp and Metaâs Mark Zuckerberg?
Book review and commentary by Noel Castree
[Noel Castree is Adjunct Professor of Society & Environment, University of Technology Sydney]
The Conversation - July 1, 2026
A new book, Muskism, sheds light on Elon Muskâs mission to remake the world in his image â while the rest of us havenât even been consulted.
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Related book publisher reference link >>
Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed
By Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff
Published: 23 June 2026
ISBN: 9780241805114
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Imprint: Allen Lane
Format: Hardback / Pages: 256
A pyrotechnic examination of Elon Musk as a symptom and avatar of our postliberal age
Billionaires are a danger to themselves and (especially) us
A billionaire is a machine for producing policy failures at scale.
Even if rich people were no more likely to believe stupid shit than you or me, it would still be a problem. After all, I believe in my share of stupid shit (and if you think that none of the shit you believe in is stupid, then Iâm afraid weâve just identified at least one kind of stupid shit you believe in).
The problem isnât whether rich people believe stupid shit; itâs the fact that when a rich person believes something stupid, that belief can turn into torment for dozens, thousands, or millions of people.
But if youâre a rich person, you can surround yourself with people who will tell you that you are right even when you are so wrong, with the result that you get progressively more wrong, until you literally kill yourself âŚ
Billionaires are a danger to themselves and (especially) to the rest of us. They are wronger than the median person, and the consequences of their wrongness are exponentially worse than the consequences of the median personâs mistake.
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Elon Musk has been called out by a hate prevention expert for his handling of antisemitism on social media platform X.
(Photo supplied: Evelyn Hockstein / Reuters)
The Online Hate Prevention Institute's Andre Oboler said the organisation has had success in getting antisemitic and extremist content removed from some platforms, while others were less cooperative.
(Photo: Abbey Haberecht / ABC News)
Dr Oboler says the charity has not had contact with X for years.
(Photo: Abbey Haberecht / ABC News)
Businessman and political figure Elon Musk was criticised for a salute he twice made on January 20, 2025, while speaking at a rally celebrating U.S. president Donald Trump's second inauguration, interpreted by many as a Nazi or a fascist Roman salute.
(Photo supplied: Evan Vucci / Reuters)
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue's Hannah Rose says any regulation of social media platforms must also consider the role of fringe forums, blogs and websites where hate speech often goes unchecked.
(Photo: ABC News)
Media and communications scholar Terry Flew gave evidence to the inquiry about the challenges in regulating the digital space.
(Photo: Abbey Haberecht / ABC News)
Trillionaire Elon Musk partly to blame for anti-Jewish hatred on X, royal commission hears
An online hate prevention charity which monitors and reports antisemitic content says trillionaire Elon Musk is partly to blame for anti-Jewish hatred on social media platform X.
Formerly called Twitter, the platform has not responded to repeated requests for engagement by the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
The third round of hearings has been examining the prevalence of antisemitic content and other forms of hate speech on social media, with witnesses telling the commission of the barriers they have encountered in attempting to get offensive and threatening posts removed.
The Online Hate Prevention Institute's Andre Oboler said the organisation has had success in getting antisemitic and extremist content removed from some platforms, while others were less cooperative.
An analysis by the institute showed that in a sample of more than 400 videos reported to TikTok, 64 per cent were removed, while just 17 per cent of more than 1,000 Reddit posts were taken down by the platform.
Meta had removed 54 per cent of the 950 Facebook posts reported as offensive, and X scrubbed 24 per cent of the 1,700 posts that were flagged.
Dr Oboler told the inquiry on Wednesday X Corp was "generally difficult to work with, particularly from Australia".
By Phoebe Pin
ABC News - 1 July 2026
An online hate prevention charity which monitors and reports antisemitic content says trillionaire Elon Musk is partly to blame for anti-Jew
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Related Wikipedia File link >>
Wikipedia File: Elon Musk's Salute at Donald Trump's Second Inauguration.gif
On January 20, 2025, while speaking at a rally celebrating U.S. president Donald Trump's second inauguration, businessman and political figure Elon Musk twice made a salute interpreted by many as a Nazi or a fascist Roman salute.
It was widely condemned as an intentional Nazi salute in Germany, where making such gestures is illegal. The Anti-Defamation League said it was not a Nazi salute, but other Jewish organizations disagreed and condemned the salute.
American public opinion was divided on partisan lines as to whether it was a fascist salute. Musk dismissed the accusations of Nazi sympathies, deriding them as "dirty tricks" and a "tired" attack. Neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups celebrated it as a Nazi salute. Multiple European political parties demanded that Musk be banned from entering their countries.
File:Elon Musk's Salute at Donald Trump's Second Inauguration.gif - Wikipedia
Description: Musk's salute during the second inauguration of Donald Trump. He turns around and repeats the salute before saying: "My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured."
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (pictured right) has accused US tech tycoon Elon Musk (pictured left) of "trying to whip up division" in the UK following anger over the police handling of the murder of a white student by a Sikh man.
Elon Musk has posted numerous times on X about the police response to the stabbing.
(Photo: Leon Neal - AP / Toby Melville - Reuters)
Elon Musk shared a video of the UK Home Secretary delivering a statement to the House of Commons.
(Photo: Elon Musk - X)
Protesters demonstrate with police officers in Southampton, southern England, on June 2.
(Photo: Justin Tallis / AFP)
Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage held an 'emergency address' via his YouTube channel, telling people to respond to the murder with "pure cold rage".
(Photo: Paul Ellis / AFP)
British PM Keir Starmer says Elon Musk 'trying to whip up division' over student's murder
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has accused US tech tycoon Elon Musk of "trying to whip up division" in the UK following anger over the police handling of the murder of a white student by a Sikh man.
The case of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, who was put in handcuffs by police as he lay mortally wounded after being stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, 23, in the southern city of Southampton in December, has become highly politicised in the UK.
Digwa lied and told police he was the victim as Mr Nowak had racially insulted him.
Far-right figures have seized on the murder as an example that police forces in Britain treat white people and ethnic minorities differently â an allegation Mr Starmer's Labour government and police chiefs vehemently deny.
Mr Musk, the billionaire owner of X, has posted numerous times on the platform about the police response to the stabbing.
In one, he asked whether people knew that "official police policy requires them to be racist against Whites?"
Mr Musk has offered to fund a private prosecution against the police over its handling of the murder, and insulted the Hampshire Police force.
"We need to also assert who we are as a country, because Musk, again, has been interfering in our politics in the last few days, trying to whip up division. That is not who we are in Britain," Mr Starmer told reporters.
"In Britain, we are reasonable, tolerant people.
"When we have a terrible case like Henry's caseâŚ, we react calmly, as his family have done," the prime minister added, referring to pleas from Mr Nowak's father that his son's murder should not be used "to create further division, hatred or tension".
The PM was expected to meet Mr Nowak's family in Downing Street on Thursday afternoon, local time.
AFP / Reuters
ABC News - 5 June 2026
Keir Starmer has criticised Musk's posts on X, saying the billionaire should stop creating "further division, hatred or tension".
At 80 years of age, Linda Kelly maintains health through a proactive lifestyle and fitness routine.
(Photo supplied - Linda Kelly)
Linda and her dog enjoy the health benefits of walking.
(Photo supplied - Linda Kelly)
âAt 80, my fitness is rated âexcellentâ for my age â these 11 exercises keep me strong and mobileâ
Linda Kelly has been active her whole life, running half-marathons, scuba diving, skiing and hiking mountain trails
At 80, Linda Kelly maintains the fitness level of someone decades younger, with an activity history that includes 5Ks, cross-country running, and a lifelong commitment to movement.
'My activities shifted with every environment, but somewhere I could always ride a bike, walk a dog, or dance to Jane Fonda tapes while cleaning the house,' says the Alaska resident. 'I never played team sports, yet I learned to ski downhill and cross-country, scuba dive, snorkel, hike mountain trails, and run everything from 5Ks to half-marathons.'
Her son Jacob, a doctor specialising in preventive and performance cardiology and an endurance athlete, measured Linda' fitness level on a treadmill to find out her VO2 max â the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise. Lindaâs result of 30.7 ml/kg/min was outstanding for her age group and would still be commendable even for someone in their 50s.
'It's inspiring to know that she's been successfully [active] for 40 years longer me. I'm only just picking up some habits and traits that she's had to teach herself,' says Jacob.
'She's passed along her behaviours and traits to so many people â her family, her sisters, her students [Linda was a former teacher]. These everyday activities and behaviours have added up over life.'
Linda Kelly's 11-move strength and mobility routine
For over 16 years, Linda has started every day with a 20-3o minute 'yogandizing' session. 'It's a term I coined because it blends exercises from yoga poses, Tai Chi, and ballet. I added these over the years to heal a muscle injury or strain, a herniating spinal disk, or to support arthritis,' she said.
To form the routine, she's taken tips from books like 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life by Robin McKenzie and Total Fitness in 30 Minutes a Week by Laurence Morehouse and Leonard Gross and advice from her son Jacob, a cardiologist and endurance athlete.
By Kate Cheng
Womenâs Health - June 29, 2026
Shared from Apple News
Linda Kelly has been active her whole life, running half-marathons, scuba diving, skiing and hiking mountain trails
Posts on the One Nation supporter Facebook pages are designed to provoke outrage and engagement. Much of the content is Islamophobic and AI-generated.
(Illustration: Facebook / Guardian Design)
Much of the content posted to the Pro-One Nation Facebook group - including this fake image - is AI-generated.
(Illustration: Facebook)
Pro-One Nation Facebook groups appear to be run by foreign âmeme factoriesâ that monetise content
Exclusive: Guardian analysis suggests several groups with thousands of members run by what expert calls âengagement farmâ operations in south-east Asia.
Some of the largest One Nation supporter groups on Facebook appear to be run from overseas by foreign digital creators who monetise content.
Guardian Australia examined 14 of the largest pro-One Nation public groups with at least 8,000 members, and found most were created this year.
While some groups appear to be longstanding and set up by genuine supporters, the majority are full of content overwhelmingly fed by what digital media researcher Timothy Graham said appeared to be âa foreign-run, predominantly Indonesian, for-hire engagement farm operationâ.
Many of the administrators and top posters in these public groups are tagged as âdigital creatorsâ and offer subscriptions, meaning they may be making money through Facebook programs that allow forms of content to be monetised.
One of the largest groups with more than 117,000 members is run by at least two administrators whose personal profiles indicate they speak Indonesian and are based in south-east Asia. They are tagged as digital creators.
By Ariel Bogle and Nick Evershed
The Guardian - 28 June 2026
Exclusive: Guardian analysis suggests several groups with thousands of members run by what expert calls âengagement farmâ operations in sout
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âOnce you hone your algorithmic ragebait, thereâs very good money to be made from slop.â
(Photo: Dado RuviÄ / Reuters)
Whoâs behind the Facebook page posting hateful AI slop about the UK? The answer might lie in South Asia
Our research has uncovered young entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka and Pakistan using AI tools to make deeply objectionable content â and money.
Scroll through any Facebook feed in Britain and, between the baby announcements and petty neighbourhood beefs, youâre likely to come across an account with a union jack profile picture and a vague, generic name like Britain Today.
These accounts â and there are hundreds, possibly thousands of them â present themselves as the work of British patriots. In one typical, AI-generated video, a middle-aged man claims his local cafe âhas stopped serving pork, bacon and sausages just to avoid offending peopleâ. Another post from the same account includes a sepia-tinted set of images of Victorian London, mourning a time when the city âwas English, first-world and beautifulâ. Alongside this type of reactionary nostalgia, itâs not unusual to see memes that call Islam a âcancerâ, decry Muslims praying in public as an âinvasion of the westâ or promote the âgreat replacement theoryâ (which claims that white populations are being deliberately replaced by non-white immigrants).
For the past seven months, I have been investigating who is really behind pages like these. The answer, it turns out, is often young, entrepreneurial men from south Asia. They tend to have zero interest in UK politics, but the content they create often boosts far-right talking points in Britain and contributes to the increasingly hostile atmosphere for immigrants and British Muslims. Theyâre part of a booming cottage industry producing commercial AI slop.
Itâs notoriously difficult to determine the extent to which people are influenced by what they see online. But after months of trawling through these Facebook pages, itâs hard not to feel that they have a poisonous effect: look at the comments beneath these videos and youâll see accounts calling for all Muslims to be deported from the UK, fantasising about an ethnic civil war or commenting cry-laugh emojis on AI-generated videos of migrants drowning in the Channel.
The financial incentives for creating this kind of content are huge, particularly for creators in the global south. At the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, we looked in detail at two very successful âsloperationsâ targeting British audiences from Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They make money from the online ads that Meta places next to high-performing content. Meta shares a proportion of the ad revenue with the creators and also makes direct payments to creators to reward posts that receive a lot of engagement.
By Niamh McIntyre
Niamh McIntyre is a senior reporter at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism
The Guardian - 19 May 2026
Our research has uncovered young entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka and Pakistan using AI tools to make deeply objectionable content â and money, sa
In Narrow Road to the Deep North, Elordi plays one of the 60,000 Australian POWs who were forced to work on the Thai-Burma Railway in WWII.
(Photo supplied: Amazon Prime)
Jacob Elordi and Odessa Young as young lovers Dorrigo and Amy, who form a bond over poetry.
(Photo supplied: Amazon Prime)
Elordi says the character of Dorrigo Evans is not one who "wastes words".
(Photo supplied: Amazon Prime)
Olivia de Jonge, who played Priscilla Presley in 2022 film Elvis, plays the young Ella in the TV series.
(Photo supplied: Amazon Prime)
Flanagan based the character of Dorrigo Evans â here played by CiarĂĄn Hinds â on real-life war hero Edward "Weary" Dunlop.
(Photo supplied: Amazon Prime)
More than 2,800 Australian POWs died while working on the Thai-Burma Railway.
(Photo supplied: Amazon Prime)
Thomas Weatherall plays Australian POW Frank Gardiner in Narrow Road to the Deep North.
(Photo supplied: Amazon Prime)
Why Jacob Elordi, star of Narrow Road to the Deep North, jumped at the chance to work with film director Justin Kurzel
When writer Richard Flanagan won the Booker Prize for his novel Narrow Road to the Deep North in 2014, his "good mate" filmmaker Justin Kurzel was in London to celebrate with him.
So when it came to adapting the acclaimed novel for the screen, Flanagan wanted Kurzel â the award-winning director of Snowtown (2011), The True History of the Kelly Gang (2018) and Nitram (2021) â at the helm.
"He asked me at his shack on Bruny Island â where he actually wrote the book â over lunch," Kurzel tells ABC Radio National's The Screen Show.
"He said something beautiful to me, which was, 'You have to make it your own and ⌠find your own cinematic lens on it, which is going to be different from the book.'"
Based on Flanagan's father's experience as a POW, the novel is told in flashbacks as Dorrigo Evans â a famous war hero and celebrated surgeon â recalls episodes from his past: his childhood in rural Tasmania, a torrid love affair in his 20s and his time as a POW on the Thai-Burma Railway in World War II.
Flanagan's only request to Kurzel was to retain the book's non-linear structure, a wish the filmmaker and his longtime collaborator, screenwriter Shaun Grant, honoured.
In the screen adaptation â starring Australian actor Jacob Elordi as the young Dorrigo Evans â the action shifts between the early 1940s before Dorrigo is deployed, the POW camp and the 1980s, when he is in his 70s (played by Irish actor CiarĂĄn Hinds).
By Nicola Heath and Jason Di Rosso
ABC Radio - The Screen Show
ABC News - 17 April 2025
The Hollywood star plays a POW in the much-anticipated screen adaptation of Richard Flanagan's Booker-Prize-winning novel, Narrow Road to th
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Related film trailer >>
YouTube video: The Narrow Road To The Deep North - Official Trailer / Sony Pictures Television [Prime Video / 15 April 2025 / 2min.+42sec.]:
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Love. Loss. Survival.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North film story spans the Thai-Burma Railway in 1943 and across the Pacific during World War II, charts the cruelty of war, the tenuousness of life and the impossibility of love, as seen through the eyes of an Australian doctor and prisoner of war.
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Related podcast >>
Listen to ABC Radio National - The Screen Show podcast
Program: Jacob Elordi and Justin Kurzel on The Narrow Road to the Deep North / The Count of Monte Cristo / Lost and Found
Jacob Elordi in The Narrow Road to the Deep North
(Photo supplied: Prime Video)
Presenter, Jason Di Rosso
Producer, Sarah Corbett
Sound engineer, Tim Jenkins
Executive producer, Rhiannon Brown
The Screen Show podcast: 54 min.
ABC Radio National - 10 April 2025
Brisbane-born Hollywood star Jacob Elordi fronts Justin Kurzel's TV adaptation of Richard Flanagan's Booker Prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
In Lost and Found, filmmaker Raoul Peck follows Ernest Cole's journey as the first Black freelance photographer in apartheid South Africa.
Jason meets the directors of The Count of Monte Cristo in Paris, the new French adaptation of Alexandre Dumasâ epic tale of romance and redemption.
Brisbane-born Hollywood star Jacob Elordi fronts Justin Kurzel's TV adaptation of Richard Flanagan's Booker Prize-winning novel The Narrow R
The Iran peace deal must demand the release of Narges Mohammadi and other prisoners of conscience
Few Iranian women are as celebrated for defending freedom in Iran as Narges Mohammadi. She is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Andrei Sakharov Prize, the Olof Palme Prize, and the PEN and UNESCO press freedom awards, among others.
Yet, like thousands of other political prisoners in Iran, her own freedom still matters little to the powerful forces around her.
As US President Donald Trumpâs administration negotiates a deal with the Iranian regime to end their nearly four-month war, Mohammadiâs fate has not received even a mention. There has been no commitment from Iran to release political prisoners as part of the deal. Nor does it appear the Trump administration has even made this request at any stage of the negotiation.
Narges Mohammadi is one of thousands of prisoners of conscience across Iran. For decades, Iranâs authorities have carried out large-scale arbitrary detentions with impunity. They have detained both real and perceived dissidents, as well as âdebt prisonersâ (those unable to pay their financial obligations).
In response to the massive street protests across Iran in late 2025 and early 2026, the regime rounded up more than 50,000 people, including human rights defenders, lawyers, medical workers, students and even children. Thousands more are believed to have been arrested since the war began.
Many are being held in secret and unofficial detention facilities run by security and intelligence bodies, where they are subjected to forced confessions. Some face charges that carry the death penalty.
Amnesty International believes at least 2,159 people were executed in Iran in 2025, more than double the 2024 total. Since the war began, the organisation says at least 36 people have been executed on politically motivated charges.
By Shadi Rouhshahbaz
The Conversation - June 17, 2026
Tens of thousands of people were arrested this year alone in Iran, and thousands are executed every year.
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People in Iran say they feel "betrayed" by the United States as it signs a deal with the Islamic Republic regime.
(Photo: Majid Asgaripour / Reuters)
Donald Trump told reporters in France he had signed the deal with Iran.
(Photo: Evelyn Hockstein / Reuters)
Donald Trump says he has signed the Iran memorandum as he walks out of the Palace of Versailles.
(Photo: Michel Euler / Reuters)
Prices of everyday items have been soaring in Iran.
(Photo: Majid Asgaripour / Reuters)
People in Iran are "shattered" after the United States announced it had signed a deal with the Islamic Republic.
(Photo: Reuters)
âThey simply liedâ: Iranians left devastated as US signs deal with Islamic Republic regime they hoped would fall
Many Iranians who oppose the Islamic Republic regime say they feel "abandoned" and "betrayed" after the US and Iran struck a deal to end the war.
When launching the war, US President Donald Trump had urged Iranians to "rise up" against their government, hinting at his support for regime change, but he has now said he thinks the current leaders are "very smart".
The agreement gives the US and Iran up to 60 days to negotiate a final deal, with key issues including Iran's nuclear program and the future administration of the Strait of Hormuz to be ironed out in these talks.
The United States and the IRGC have both labelled this deal as a victory, but for Iranians who hoped for real change, it is a devastating loss.
Many Iranian people who spoke to ABC believe Islamic Republic regime crackdowns on dissent are again increasing, including executions and arrests.
Iran executed at least 1,639 people last year, according to a report by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (EPCM).
"We, the unfortunate people of Iran, remain captives, abandoned and forgotten," Sahar said.
"No-one, absolutely no-one, cares about [us]."
By Tavleen Singh
ABC News - 19 June 2026
From inside Iran, citizens say they feel abandoned and forgotten as the United States signs a deal with the regime Washington launched a war
Hydration breaks have been introduced for every game at this World Cup.
(Photo: Richard Sellers / Getty Images)
Managers and coaches are permitted to speak to players during the drinks breaks.
(Photo: Jose Breton / Getty Images)
Socceroos players take a drink during the game against TĂźrkiye.
(Photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulos / Getty Images)
World Cup: FIFA's hydration break farce the ultimate insult for weary football fans
The hydration breaks.
Everyone knows what they are, and everyone knew what they were the second FIFA announced them. Even your mate who is still checking if gullible really is misspelled in the dictionary was quick to see through this cynical ploy immediately.
FIFA says these three-minute breaks, called at the referee's discretion midway through each half, are purely to protect the players from the stifling North American heat of summer 2026.
But unlike the extreme heat policies introduced previously in football and in other sports, there is no temperature threshold that triggers these breaks. They're here for every single game, no matter if it's 23 degrees and raining or 33 degrees. Or in an air-conditioned stadium with the roof shut.
Their real purpose, as almost everyone has long-since deduced, is to effectively break the game up into quarters, providing broadcasters the chance to beam an extra batch of commercials to the billions watching around the world.
This latest, most gratuitous cash grab hurts most because it strikes at the heart of football's most endearing quality: its natural cadence and tempo, the uninterrupted rhythm that means a goal could come for either team at any moment.
By Dean Bilton
ABC News - 15 June 2026
Football fans are forced to endure much to keep their love of the beautiful game alive, but FIFA's cynical new "hydration breaks" are stretc
