UK economy beats forecasts with 0.3% growth in November; Ofwat investigating South East Water over outages – business live

Newsflash: The UK economy has returned to growth, and more vigorously than expected.UK GDP expanded by 0.3% in November, new data from the Office for National Statistics shows, after shrinking a little in October.That’s faster than expected; City economists had expected growth of just 0.1%In another boost, September’s growth figures have been revised higher, showing that the economy didn’t shrink that month after all

South East Water boss in line for £400,000 bonus despite outages

The boss of the company that has left thousands of households in Kent and East Sussex without water for days is in line for a £400,000 long-term bonus regardless of his performance, if he resists calls for him to resign over the outages.David Hinton, the chief executive of South East Water, is to receive the payout if he stays on until July 2030.Hinton is facing calls to give up his right to the previously unreported “service award”. The payment, which was disclosed in the company’s annual report, is not performance-related, meaning that as long as he remains, Hinton will receive it whatever the company’s record on water supplies or pollution.South East Water has faced immense pressure after 30,000 households in Kent and East Sussex endured days of water supply failures in November and again in January

Grok AI: what do limits on tool mean for X, its users, and Ofcom?

Elon Musk’s X has announced it will stop the Grok AI tool from allowing users to manipulate images of people to show them in revealing clothing such as bikinis.The furore over Grok, which is integrated with the X platform, has sparked a public and political backlash as well as a formal investigation by Ofcom, the UK’s communications watchdog.Here is a guide to what X’s announcement means for the social media platform, its users and Ofcom.The social media platform said on Wednesday it had implemented “technical measures” to stop the @Grok account on X from allowing the editing of images of real people so that they appear to be in revealing clothing such as bikinis. Before this, users had been able to ask @Grok to manipulate images, with the results being published on the platform

‘Not regulated’: launch of ChatGPT Health in Australia causes concern among experts

A 60-year-old man with no history of mental illness presented at a hospital emergency department insisting that his neighbour was poisoning him. Over the next 24 hours he had worsening hallucinations, and tried to escape the hospital.Doctors eventually discovered the man was on a daily diet of sodium bromide, an inorganic salt mainly used for industrial and laboratory purposes like cleaning and water treatment.He bought it over the internet after ChatGPT told him he could use it in place of table salt because he was worried about the health impacts of salt in his diet. Sodium bromide can accumulate in the body causing a condition called bromism, with symptoms including hallucinations, stupor and impaired coordination

Tension at the tennis: inside the high-stakes world of racket stringing

Underneath Rod Laver Arena, a group of tennis specialists cut and twist and weave – intently focused on their preparation for the action on the blue court a few metres above their heads. In the lead-up to the Australian Open, these experts maintain a consistent workload, training their muscles and technique, ready to peak as if they were the athletes taking to the courts themselves. But they won’t step on the court – their unique domain is tennis rackets. Racket stringing, specifically, and as the Yonex string team leader, Jim Downes, has learned over his 30-year stringing career, “it’s a high demand job”.The world’s top tennis players are, unsurprisingly, “very particular” about how their rackets are strung, Downes says, referring to how tight or loose the strings that crisscross the frames are pulled

Canada cleared of US allegations they rigged skeleton qualifying for Winter Olympics

Canada’s skeleton team have been cleared of allegations they rigged a qualifying event for the Winter Olympics and denied rival athletes from qualifying for next month’s Games.USA’s Katie Uhlaender, a five-time Winter Olympian in skeleton, accused the Canadian team of deliberately pulling four of its six athletes from a race in Lake Placid, New York, last weekend in order to make it harder for athletes from other countries to qualify. The reduced field meant fewer qualifying points were available and Uhlaender, who won the event, did not secure her place at this year’s Games, which will take place in Milan-Cortina, Italy. Uhlaender claims Joe Cecchini, the head coach of Canada’s skeleton team, told her he had come up with the scheme.However, the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) said it would take no action after investigating the allegations