Co-op staff told to boost promotion of vapes after costly cyber-attack, document shows

The Co-op has quietly told staff to boost promotion of vapes in an effort to win back customers and sales after a devastating cyber-attack.The ethical retailer is making vapes more prominent in stores via new​ displays and additional advertising, according to an internal document seen by the Guardian. It is also stocking a bigger range of vapes and nicotine pouches.The action plan is to tackle a big sales drop after the April hack that resulted in gaps on its shelves.Called Powering Up: Focus Sprint: Cigs, Tobacco and Vape, the document says: “Sales haven’t recovered compared to pre-cyber

Wall Street and FTSE 100 hit record highs after US inflation report fuels interest rate cut hopes – as it happened

Newsflash: US inflation has risen, but not as much as expected, new delayed economic data shows.The annual US consumer prices index rose to 3% in September, up from 2.9% in August, but lower than the 3.1% which economists had forecast.That means the cost of living is continuing to rise faster than the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, as the US central bank comes under pressure from the White House to cut interest rates faster

‘He’s one of the few politicians who likes crypto’: my day with the UK tech bros hosting Nigel Farage

It is a grey morning in Shadwell, east London. But inside the old shell of Tobacco Dock, the gloom gives way to pulsating neon lights, flashy cars and cryptocurrency chatter.Evangelists for Web3, a vision for the next era of the internet, have descended on the old trading dock to network for two days. For many, the main event is one man: Nigel Farage.“Whether you like me or don’t like me is irrelevant, I’m actually a champion for this space,” the leader of Reform UK tells the audience of largely male crypto fanatics at the Zebu Live conference

‘Sycophantic’ AI chatbots tell users what they want to hear, study shows

Turning to AI chatbots for personal advice poses “insidious risks”, according to a study showing the technology consistently affirms a user’s actions and opinions even when harmful.Scientists said the findings raised urgent concerns over the power of chatbots to distort people’s self-perceptions and make them less willing to patch things up after a row.With chatbots becoming a major source of advice on relationships and other personal issues, they could “reshape social interactions at scale”, the researchers added, calling on developers to address this risk.Myra Cheng, a computer scientist at Stanford University in California, said “social sycophancy” in AI chatbots was a huge problem: “Our key concern is that if models are always affirming people, then this may distort people’s judgments of themselves, their relationships, and the world around them. It can be hard to even realise that models are subtly, or not-so-subtly, reinforcing their existing beliefs, assumptions, and decisions

Australia beat South Africa by seven wickets after King’s seven-for: Women’s Cricket World Cup – as it happened

Tahlia McGrath’s verdictThat was good fun! How good was Kingy? It was pretty awesome – it felt like she’d take a wicket every ball. Super happy for her.It’s awesome to get the job done and walk away with a bit of momentum going into the semi-finals.Laura Wolvaardt’s reactionDefinitely not the way we wanted to end the group stages. Kingy bowled excellently – we spoke a lot about facing her and it didn’t quite go to plan

Rejuvenated Joe Root all revved up to end Ashes century drought in Australia

Joe Root has declared himself ready to thrive in this winter’s Ashes, having changed his approach to focus more on getting himself in the ideal frame of mind rather than fixating on his technique.Root goes into the one-day international series against New Zealand having not played since early September, since when his only batting has come in the indoor nets in Sheffield. “It’s been nice to have a break,” Root said.“With what we’ve got coming up, it’s important to utilise that. I’ve done a little bit of batting, not loads