Mark Carney: the ‘rock star central banker’ weighing up run to be Canada’s PM

Mark Carney, who has said he is considering a run to replace Justin Trudeau as the Canadian premier, spent seven years in the UK as the Bank of England governor.Carney was headhunted in 2013 by the then chancellor, George Osborne, after serving as the governor of the Bank of Canada, and was known at the time by the unlikely epithet of “rock star central banker”.He remains an influential figure on the global economic stage, and Rachel Reeves hailed his endorsement at the 2023 Labour conference – given by video message – as the party sought to present itself as economically credible. Carney called Reeves a “serious economist” who “understands the economics of work, of place and family”.Carney arrived in London determined to bring change to the stuffy Bank

‘Just make people come in on the second Thursday of the month’: workspace provider Mark Dixon on the WFH debate

The head of the flexible office company IWG is a big fan of hybrid shifts and says ‘working close to home’ is the way forwardWorking from home isn’t generally a success for Mark Dixon. “I’m too easily distracted,” he says. “You have to be quite disciplined to be a successful home worker, whether that’s for one day or five days.”The tycoon’s admission will not raise any eyebrows given his ­decades-long role running FTSE‑listed IWG (International Workplace Group) – one of the world’s largest office space providers, valued at £1.6bn

Apple says it will update AI feature after inaccurate news alerts

Apple has said it will update an artificial intelligence feature that has issued inaccurate news alerts on its latest iPhones, including that a man accused of killing a US insurance boss had shot himself and that the tennis star Rafael Nadal had come out as gay.The tech company said it was developing a software update that would “further clarify” when news notifications were actually summaries generated by the company’s Apple Intelligence system. It said the update would be rolled out in the coming weeks.It follows a formal complaint by the BBC in December, when news alerts branded with the corporation’s logo told some iPhone users that Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson, had shot himself. Mangione is alive and being held at a prison in Brooklyn

British AI startup with government ties is developing tech for military drones

A company that has worked closely with the UK government on artificial intelligence safety, the NHS and education is also developing AI for military drones.The consultancy Faculty AI has “experience developing and deploying AI models on to UAVs”, or unmanned aerial vehicles, according to a defence industry partner company.Faculty has emerged as one of the most active companies selling AI services in the UK. Unlike the likes of OpenAI, Deepmind or Anthropic, it does not develop models itself, instead focusing on reselling models, notably from OpenAI, and consulting on their use in government and industry.Faculty gained particular prominence in the UK after working on data analysis for the Vote Leave campaign under Dominic Cummings, who went on to serve as Boris Johnson’s adviser

Dignity and humanity of Afghan women must be worth more than game of cricket | Jonathan Liew

“There’s all types of lines you can draw. We’ve drawn a line.” So explained Mike Baird, the chair of Cricket Australia, last month in explaining the governing body’s stance on playing against Afghanistan, the country that has just banned women from looking out of windows.According to a new decree from the Taliban government, new buildings must not be constructed with windows through which women can be seen. Existing buildings with windows must be walled up or covered

England’s Six Nations hopes dealt major blow with Feyi-Waboso ruled out

England are set to go into the Six Nations without two of their first-choice back three players after Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was ruled out of the championship after his decision to undergo shoulder surgery.The 22-year-old Exeter winger is set to miss the entire tournament, joining the Northampton full-back George Furbank on the sidelines and dealing Steve Borthwick a major setback before a crucial Six Nations.Feyi-Waboso suffered a dislocated shoulder in Exeter’s defeat by Sale last month. He had been weighing up whether to have an operation and the trainee doctor has come to the decision to go under the knife. Feyi-Waboso is one of the 17 players handed an enhanced contract in October – giving Borthwick the final say over sports science matters – and it is understood the decision was made after consultation with England