Winter is coming … back? Super League could revamp schedule as part of NRL takeover
Super League could move back to a winter competition to allow year-round global broadcasting of rugby league if the NRL agrees a deal to take control of the British game.Andrew Abdo, the CEO of the NRL, told the Guardian the Australian governing body would consider the calendar switch as a key part of a potential multimillion-pound takeover and investment package that would also include a strong focus on a London-based club and major governance reform.Talks between the NRL and Super League about a deal have ramped up further this week, with Abdo flying to England to speak about how feasible a deal may be.Any successful investment would be significant for Super League, who would essentially cede administrative control to the NRL in return.Abdo said London Broncos would be central to the NRL’s vision and insisted no deal is possible without the clubs currently giving up the power they have in the British game.
The NRL is run by an independent commission but in Super League club owners have almost all the power.Hull FC have announced that head coach John Cartwright has stepped down from his duties with immediate effect.Cartwright had indicated after Thursday night’s 24-14 defeat to St Helens that his future was set to be thrashed out in a series of meetings early next week.However, Hull said in a statement on Friday that Cartwright will be replaced by his assistant Andy Last, with former Catalans Dragons coach and FC player Steve McNamara stepping in on a permanent basis for the start of next season.The statement read: “Hull FC can confirm that John Cartwright has stepped away from his day-to-day duties as head coach with immediate effect.
John remains an employee of Hull FC, and the Club would like to place on record its sincere thanks for his efforts during his time as Head Coach at Hull FC,”Cartwright was cheered by home fans during and after Thursday night’s defeat, after the club made the unpopular announcement last week that they would not be renewing his contract at the end of the season,Cartwright had said he felt “betrayed and disrespected” by the move, adding after the game with Saints that he “didn’t know” if he would see out his deal in charge,PA MediaWith the prospect of a global broadcast deal for both competitions also a possibility if the NRL had administrative control, Abdo has opened a discussion about Super League switching back to a winter season for the first time since 1996 in order to allow the NRL to sell rights all year round,When asked if it was an option, Abdo told the Guardian: “It’s a really good question.
These are the things that need to be worked out,And the thing is there are clear pros and cons for it in both cases,Obviously playing in the summer here like Super League does, you’re not clashing with the hugely popular Premier League,“But equally, creating a global calendar is pretty compelling,So as I say, there are pros and cons.
That’s not something we really have a fixed view on yet though.Those are the things that need to be worked out.But ultimately the answer will be: what is going to be what our customers want and what’s going to service our existing fans and help us win new ones.”No formal offer has been submitted yet, with Abdo and the NRL likely to return next month to speak with clubs in more detail.However, he has warned those clubs must relinquish control in order to convince the NRL to part with their riches and to allow the sport to flourish under the leadership of a newly-formed independent commission that the NRL would have a major say in.
In return for that, Super League club owners – who collectively are losing almost £20m per year – would gain access to riches the competition has never seen before, which would almost certainly cover the cost of the salary cap for all clubs and allow them to reinvest their own wealth in other areas.“I think you definitely need the ability to have independent decision-making,” Abdo added.“So yes, there would need to be a governance change if we were going to become partners in the game here.There needs to be separation between allowing an independent governing body to make those tough calls.”The NRL is a huge advocate of London being centrally positioned in the game, and are even weighing up the prospect of bringing major Australian fixtures to the city themselves.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Abdo has endorsed the need for a strong London-based club in Super League to be part of their vision if an agreement can be finalised.“London offers a lot for the game,” he said.“It’s a diverse community.It has many of the aspects that we think can bring a whole other dimension to the game.I think having a London team in the Super League is going to add a whole other dimension in terms of acquisition of fans, acquisition of sponsors.
I think it’ll benefit the league if it’s done appropriately and executed well.”Abdo will now return his findings to the NRL board and Australian clubs before any offer is placed, but he accepted that with Super League’s broadcast deal with Sky Sports expiring at the end of this season, there are time sensitivities attached to any potential deal – especially with the prospect of the NRL globalising its own TV rights.“The objective is to grow the game and globalise it and broadcasting is how you reach people,” he said.“Broadcast is an incredibly important piece of the puzzle and we’re at a critical stage in relation to the rights cycle.If we are going to do something together, then it’s really important we’re able to influence the growth of the game.
That needs to happen over the course of the next few weeks and months.”
Liz Kendall urges UK public to embrace AI as government makes first £500m fund investment
The UK technology secretary has urged the country to “make AI work for Britain”, brushing off fears about its impact on jobs and cybersecurity as the government announced its first investment under a £500m sovereign AI fund. Liz Kendall said the UK had to “seize” the opportunity offered by AI despite concerns underlined this month when US startup Anthropic revealed it had developed an AI model that posed a potentially significant cyber threat. Asked how the government makes the case for embracing a technology that could disrupt jobs and now cybersecurity, Kendall said: “We have to seize this to make it work, for Britain, for our jobs, for solving the biggest challenges we face as a world.”Speaking on Thursday as the government unveiled its first investment in a UK company as part of a £500m sovereign AI fund, Kendall acknowledged “people are worried about the risks and what it means for their jobs”, but AI entrepreneurs also believed they can “make it work … they can create jobs”.In January Kendall admitted “some jobs will go” as AI automates certain tasks and roles, but it would also create new employment opportunities
‘How do I end a call?’: the elderly Japanese people determined to master smartphones
It’s not only young people whose gaze is fixed on tiny screens. But for these users in Tokyo, clicking and scrolling is anything but second nature.“I can’t deal with all of the apps that jump out at me,” says one. “How do I know if I’ve definitely ended a call?” asks another.They are common concerns among the four women and one man attending a beginner’s smartphone class at a public facility for older residents in Nerima in the Japanese capital’s north-west suburbs
Labour and Lib Dem MPs demand ‘shameful’ Palantir NHS contract be scrapped
MPs have queued up to demand the government scraps its £330m NHS contract with the spy-tech company Palantir, calling it “dreadful” and “shameful” in a debate on Thursday, after which the government said it was “no fan” of the US company’s politics.Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs led the calls for Palantir, which also works for Donald Trump’s ICE immigration crackdown and the Israeli military, to be removed as a supplier to the NHS federated data platform (FDP), with one Labour backbencher, Samantha Niblett, questioning whether it could be “trusted as a custodian of the intimate health records of tens of millions of British citizens”.The Lib Dem MP Luke Taylor, who called the deal “shameful”, said: “Palantir and Peter Thiel must have their hands ripped off of our NHS before it is too late.”Thiel, a Trump-supporting tech billionaire, founded the company and has previously said that democracy and freedom are incompatible.In response to the MPs who spoke in a Westminster Hall debate, the government confirmed it would consider whether to continue with the deal when a break clause is due in spring 2027, although £210m of the £330m has already been spent
Man used AI to make false statements to shut down London nightclub, police say
A businessman has pleaded guilty to making false statements in order to shut down a nightclub, which police believe were generated using AI.A Metropolitan police source said the use of AI to generate letters by complainants who do not exist is a growing issue.Aldo d’Aponte, 47, the CEO of Arbitrage Group Properties, pleaded guilty to writing two letters, supposedly by his neighbours, objecting to the reopening of Heaven nightclub, which temporarily closed after a rape allegation against one of its security guards.D’Aponte was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £26 victim surcharge.Heaven, an LGBTQ nightclub in central London had its licence suspended in November 2024 after a 19-year-old woman accused a bouncer of rape
NAACP lawsuit accuses Elon Musk’s xAI of polluting Black neighborhoods near Memphis
A new lawsuit accuses Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company of illegally spewing toxic pollutants into residential neighborhoods on the border of Tennessee and Mississippi.The suit, filed on Tuesday in Mississippi federal court, alleges xAI is violating the Clean Air Act due to emissions from its makeshift power plant in Southaven, Mississippi, which powers its datacenter there. The NAACP, represented by the environmental groups Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice, says xAI has been polluting areas with homes, schools and churches, including in historically Black communities, by using dozens of methane gas generators without permits.The organization is seeking to force the company to stop operating its unpermitted turbines in Southaven.“A data center should not be a potential death sentence for a community’s health,” Abre’ Conner, the director of environmental and climate justice for the NAACP, said in a statement
Fisa surveillance vote sparks fierce debate as Congress splits on warrantless monitoring
A controversial law that grants the US government sweeping powers for warrantless surveillance is set to expire next week. Replacing it has inspired fierce debate within the White House and Congress, including a scheduled vote cancelled the day of.A coalition of progressive Democrats and far-right Republicans is pushing for reform of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), but they face strong bipartisan opposition from lawmakers advocating for an 18-month renewal with no changes, in line with Donald Trump’s demands. House GOP leaders delayed a procedural vote on a clean extension of Section 702 on Wednesday, after the chamber’s rules committee approved the measure on Tuesday night. Republican leadership was expected to bring the measure to the floor on Wednesday but canceled the scheduled vote, amid dissent from privacy advocates in their own party
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