Motability scheme to drop BMW and Mercedes as it aims to buy UK-made cars

The Motability scheme to provide disabled drivers with subsidised cars has said it will remove expensive cars such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz and aim to buy more British-built cars.Motability said it hopes that 50% of the vehicles it offers will come from British factories by 2035. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said the changes to the scheme would “support thousands of well-paid, skilled jobs”, before the budget on Wednesday.The Motability scheme has provided support for disabled drivers for decades to help with the extra costs caused by mobility issues. It buys cars from manufacturers and leases them to disabled drivers

End the tax break that makes flying cheaper than trains | Letters

Your article (Why are flights in the UK so often cheaper than taking the train?, 19 November) states that “it can still come as a surprise when getting on a plane looks like the money-saving choice compared with taking the train”. I don’t think it comes as a surprise to anyone, given that we’ve all seen eye-watering prices for rail travel and are bombarded with adverts for £20 flights to Nice. We’ve all read the stories of people who flew from one UK city to another via Mallorca or some such location because it was cheaper than getting the train.It does come as a surprise, though, that there’s no tax on aviation fuel. I’m the director of the charity Flight Free UK and I speak to a huge number of people about air travel

‘It’s hell for us here’: Mumbai families suffer as datacentres keep the city hooked on coal

As Mumbai sees increased energy demand from new datacenters, particularly from Amazon, the filthiest neighbourhood in one of India’s largest cities must keep its major coal plantsEach day, Kiran Kasbe drives a rickshaw taxi through his home neighbourhood of Mahul on Mumbai’s eastern seafront, down streets lined with stalls selling tomatoes, bottle gourds and aubergines–and, frequently, through thick smog.Earlier this year, doctors found three tumours in his 54-year-old mother’s brain. It’s not clear exactly what caused her cancer. But people who live near coal plants are much more likely to develop the illness, studies show, and the residents of Mahul live a few hundred metres down the road from one.Mahul’s air is famously dirty

One in four unconcerned by sexual deepfakes created without consent, survey finds

One in four people think there is nothing wrong with creating and sharing sexual deepfakes, or they feel neutral about it, even when the person depicted has not consented, according to a police-commissioned survey.The findings prompted a senior police officer to warn that the use of AI is accelerating an epidemic in violence against women and girls (VAWG), and that technology companies are complicit in this abuse.The survey of 1,700 people commissioned by the office of the police chief scientific adviser found 13% felt there was nothing wrong with creating and sharing sexual or intimate deepfakes – digitally altered content made using AI without consent.A further 12% felt neutral about the moral and legal acceptability of making and sharing such deepfakes.Det Ch Supt Claire Hammond, from the national centre for VAWG and public protection, reminded the public that “sharing intimate images of someone without their consent, whether they are real images or not, is deeply violating”

Travis Head’s devastating knock gives Australia’s selectors a dilemma

Accidents do not come much happier. Usman Khawaja’s mid-game back problem was annoying for the player and potentially damaging for his team, until it wasn’t. Clearing out the regular dry-powder opener created space in the final stanza of the Perth Test, allowing Travis Head to finish off England with the gory certainty and splatter count of a Mortal Kombat fatality move. Sometimes you mash the buttons and it all just works.Consider an Ashes innings of 123 from 83 balls, on a bouncy pitch where two other players nudged 50, in an effort that did not just win the match, but has sent the opposition into a demoralising tailspin

England asked for CCTV footage of Tom Curry’s alleged tunnel scuffle

England have been told to provide CCTV footage of the alleged tunnel bust-up between Tom Curry and Felipe Contepomi after Argentina lodged a formal complaint and demanded an investigation into the incident.It is understood that Six Nations Rugby – which organises the autumn Tests – has asked for England to provide footage as well as a formal statement before deciding whether to begin disciplinary proceedings. The Rugby Football Union is also expected to provide any other relevant video captured of the incident.In an extraordinary press conference after England’s 27-23 victory on Sunday, Contepomi described Curry as a “bully” and accused the flanker of shoving him in the tunnel and telling him to “fuck off”. Contepomi also claimed Curry had “broken” the knee of Juan Cruz Mallía with a “reckless” tackle in the 75th minute – the incident that sparked the post-match bad blood