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‘These risks are real’: the threat of AI bioweapons – podcast

In his annual speech on threats to the nation, Sir Ken McCallum, the head of the UK’s intelligence service, MI5, warned that AI had the potential to ‘change the stakes’ on existing and even new bioweapons. To find out why, and how, Ian Sample speaks to Dr Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the Bloomberg School of Public Health. He explains what has governments so worried and what measures could be put in place to reduce the risks

Could AI ‘change the stakes’ in the development of bioweapons?

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© Photograph: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

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Why terrorism laws stopped Sally Rooney selling books in the UK – podcast

The bestselling author says her books will no longer be supplied to UK bookshops over fears of prosecution. Zoe Williams and Haroon Siddique report

For now there might be a copy or two of Intermezzo left kicking around in your local bookshop – snap it up if you haven’t already, because soon that will be it.

Last year, Sally Rooney said she would be using her royalties to support Palestine Action, a group that is proscribed as a terrorist organisation under UK law. Since then, thousands of people have been arrested for supporting the group. Now, faced with the risk of prosecution under terrorism legislation, Rooney and her publishers have decided to stop supplying her books to retailers in the UK.

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© Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP

© Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP

© Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP

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