My partner fantasises about men during sex – and it makes me feel undesired as a woman

He swears it’s just a kink and he will never cheat, but I worry that one day he will leave me for a man

My partner has always been aroused by gay sexual acts and only really manages to have sex with this stimulus. He was honest about this from the start. I’m quite open-minded and went along with a lot of scenarios that turned him on. He says it’s just a kink and he’s not gay.

However, now every time we have sex it’s always focused on the fantasy of him being with a man. He never looks at me with desire other than saying my face is really pretty. I can walk about naked and he won’t bat an eyelid. He sees me as a femdom, which I think means he likes me to make him “come out”. He’s an honest man, good to me and we get along perfectly. I just feel a bit undesired as a woman and worry one day he will decide he is, in fact, gay.

Published: September 30, 2025, 7:00 am

Travel FX slow to refund £1,500 after Singapore dollars failed to show

Currency firm insisted I had to wait for Royal Mail to investigate, forcing me to buy another £1,500 elsewhere

I ordered £1,500-worth of Singapore dollars from Travel FX on 5 July.

The money was taken out of my account and delivery was supposed to be the next day by Royal Mail. The money never arrived and Travel FX insisted that, as it was with Royal Mail, it was out of its hands.

Published: September 30, 2025, 6:00 am

‘Better than a bog-standard running shoe’: the best fitness tech and gadgets, according to experts

We asked coaches and athletes to reveal the gizmos they use to get more from every workout. From smart goggles to turbo trainers, here’s what they recommend

• The best massage guns: tried and tested relief for sore, tired muscles

The fitness-focused tech scene is booming, and there are now more ways than ever to track, analyse and dissect every run, ride and workout rep. From carbon-plated running shoes to form-boosting pool floats, a new wave of fitness kit promises to help you set PBs, win that next match and elevate your athletic abilities.

Not every device, wearable or training tool will be right for your goals, so you’ll need to be clued up on where to invest your hard-earned money. To cut through the marketing gumpf, I enlisted the help of experts across various disciplines and sports to identify the technology that can truly make a difference. And surprisingly, it isn’t always the newest, most expensive releases – some aren’t even “smart”.

Published: October 1, 2025, 9:00 am

‘I think you’re testing me’: Anthropic’s new AI model asks testers to come clean

Safety evaluation of Claude Sonnet 4.5 raises questions about whether predecessors ‘played along’, firm says

If you are trying to catch out a chatbot take care, because one cutting-edge tool is showing signs it knows what you are up to.

Anthropic, a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company, has released a safety analysis of its latest model, Claude Sonnet 4.5, and revealed it had become suspicious it was being tested in some way.

Published: October 1, 2025, 11:47 am

Leading UK tech investor warns of ‘disconcerting’ signs of AI stock bubble

James Anderson voices concern over soaring valuations of artificial intelligence firms

A leading British tech investor has described soaring valuations of artificial intelligence companies as “disconcerting”, amid concerns of an AI stock market bubble.

James Anderson was an early backer of Tesla, Amazon and China’s Tencent and Alibaba, generating vast returns for Baillie Gifford’s flagship fund. Now at the Italian investment company Lingotto, Anderson said he had not seen signs of an investment bubble until recently, when the ChatGPT developer, OpenAI, and its rival Anthropic announced hefty valuation increases.

Published: October 1, 2025, 11:07 am

‘It’s too late to be scared’: readers on the controversial rise of AI ‘actors’

The birth of AI ‘actor’ Tilly Norwood has caused a backlash in Hollywood and has sparked conversation from Guardian readers

• Tilly Norwood: how scared should we be of the viral AI ‘actor’?
  

The unveiling of AI ‘actor’ Tilly Norwood – touted as the next Scarlett Johansson – was met with swift backlash in Hollywood. Here’s what Guardian readers have to say about the controversial rise of AI actors.

Published: October 1, 2025, 9:01 am

‘Reverse Midas touch’: Starmer plan prompts collapse in support for digital IDs

Net public backing for scheme has fallen to -14% after prime minister’s announcement, according to polling

Public support for digital IDs has collapsed after Keir Starmer announced plans for their introduction, in what has been described as a symptom of the prime minister’s “reverse Midas touch”.

Net support for digital ID cards fell from 35% in the early summer to -14% at the weekend after Starmer’s announcement, according to polling by More in Common.

Published: October 1, 2025, 11:52 am

California police stumped after trying to ticket driverless car for illegal U-turn

San Bruno officers pull over Waymo but say a ticket wasn’t issued, as ‘citation books don’t have a box for “robot”’

If a driver makes an illegal U-turn, but no one is behind the wheel, does the car still get a ticket? A police department in California grappled with this existential question last week.

During a DUI enforcement operation, officers in San Bruno pulled over a car without anyone behind the wheel after the autonomous vehicle made an illegal U-turn at a light. A post by the San Bruno police department on Saturday shows an officer looking into a Waymo – the leading autonomous ride-hailing vehicle in the San Francisco Bay Area – after stopping the signature white car.

Published: September 30, 2025, 1:12 am

The divide: who really profits in today’s economy?

Broadway flops despite rising ticket costs, farmers face huge shortfalls largely due to Trump’s tariffs, tech cashes in

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I spent the weekend wondering about the insistent feeling in the United States that few but the ultra-rich, even businesses, are making enough money to afford the basics of a comfortable life.

The New York Times published a story recently about Broadway’s rising costs that featured the grim stat: “None of the musicals that opened last season have made a profit.” The shows’ failure to recoup their investments comes even as Broadway tickets are more expensive than ever before. So who is making any money?

The Guardian view on AI and jobs: the tech revolution should be for the many not the few | Editorial

Why I gave the world wide web away for free

Zuckerberg hailed AI ‘superintelligence’. Then his smart glasses failed on stage

Madeline Horwath on AI chatbots and cognitive decline – cartoon

Published: September 30, 2025, 2:00 pm

‘A tool in the fight against Amazon’: independent bookshops to begin selling ebooks

A new platform will be an alternative to Kindle, and bookshops will earn 100% of the profit from sales

The online store Bookshop.org is launching a platform through which independent bookshops in the UK will be able to sell ebooks as an alternative to Amazon’s Kindle offering.

Independent bookshops will earn 100% of the profit from sales, and ebooks will be priced the same as they are on Amazon.

Published: September 30, 2025, 11:00 pm

‘It felt like we had gone back centuries’: Afghans express relief after internet restored

For 48 hours Afghanistan had been cut off from mobile and internet services in a Taliban-imposed shutdown

Just before nightfall on Wednesday, the near-deserted streets of Afghanistan’s capital suddenly filled with people – mobile phones everywhere had pinged back to life.

With phones pressed to their ears or tightly gripped in their hands, Afghans poured on to the streets of Kabul to check if others were also online.

Published: October 1, 2025, 4:31 pm

‘Better than a bog-standard running shoe’: the best fitness tech and gadgets, according to experts

We asked coaches and athletes to reveal the gizmos they use to get more from every workout. From smart goggles to turbo trainers, here’s what they recommend

• The best massage guns: tried and tested relief for sore, tired muscles

The fitness-focused tech scene is booming, and there are now more ways than ever to track, analyse and dissect every run, ride and workout rep. From carbon-plated running shoes to form-boosting pool floats, a new wave of fitness kit promises to help you set PBs, win that next match and elevate your athletic abilities.

Not every device, wearable or training tool will be right for your goals, so you’ll need to be clued up on where to invest your hard-earned money. To cut through the marketing gumpf, I enlisted the help of experts across various disciplines and sports to identify the technology that can truly make a difference. And surprisingly, it isn’t always the newest, most expensive releases – some aren’t even “smart”.

Published: October 1, 2025, 9:00 am

Welcome to the Filter US, the Guardian’s home for product reviews and recommendations

We’re here to help you with rigorous product reviews, advice on taking care of what you already own – and we’ll even tell you what not to buy. Here’s our guide to Filter US

• Based in the UK? Read our Filter UK product reviews

• Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things

The Filter US is the Guardian’s new product reviews and recommendations site, grounded in rigorous testing and first-hand experience. We’ll offer rigorous assessments of items for home, travel, wellness and more, as well as enlightening interviews with product experts, advice on taking care of what you already own, and gift guides to help you find thoughtful things for others.

Our approach is shaped by the fact that the Guardian is a global news organization, and we will seek perspectives on what to buy from around the world. Moreover, we will take into account questions of sustainability and ethical consumption. Our goal is to help you buy fewer, better things.

Published: September 30, 2025, 2:00 pm

Tilly Norwood: how scared should we be of the viral AI ‘actor’?

A bunch of code is being pushed as the next Scarlett Johansson, a creation that is already causing pushback from real human actors

• Emily Blunt and Sag-Aftra join film industry condemnation of ‘AI actor’ Tilly Norwood

It takes a lot to be the most controversial figure in Hollywood, especially when Mel Gibson still exists. And yet somehow, in a career yet to even begin, Tilly Norwood has been inundated with scorn.

This is for the simple fact that Tilly Norwood does not exist. Despite looking like an uncanny fusion of Gal Gadot, Ana de Armas and High School Musical-era Vanessa Hudgens, Norwood is the creation of an artificial intelligence (AI) talent studio called Xicoia. And if Xicoia is to be believed, then Norwood represents the dazzling future of the film industry.

Published: September 30, 2025, 9:03 am

Why the enormous Saudi-led deal to acquire EA matters, whether you play games or not

In this week’s newsletter: The private equity effort to acquire the makers of Fifa and more is the biggest deal in gaming history – financially and morally

When Microsoft announced its intention to buy Activision-Blizzard for a touch over $68bn in 2022, it was the biggest deal ever struck in the games industry, and one of the most surprising. But that shock pales into comparison to the reaction to the latest big move in the industry: EA (Electronic Arts), the publisher best known for its juggernaut sports games Madden and EA Sports FC (previously called Fifa), is being taken private in the “biggest leveraged buyout in history”. It’s a deal worth $55bn, by a trio of investors who, on paper, look like a collection of end-of-level bosses.

Enter player one: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The Saudi royal family has been investing its wealth in video games for some years now, and owns its own Savvy Games Group, led by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, perhaps best known for mass-arresting his own citizens and ordering the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Player two: Affinity Partners, an investment company led by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of the current US president. And player three: Silver Lake, just your run-of-the-mill evil private equity firm, which currently owns a large stake in game engine-maker Unity. Game File’s Stephen Totilo noticed that Affinity Partners’ logo is a mirror image of that used by the evil corporation in the Assassin’s Creed series. Truly you couldn’t make this stuff up.

Published: October 1, 2025, 2:00 pm

Sperm racing is all the rage among the tech bros. Why am I not surprised? | Arwa Mahdawi

It started as a gag, but Eric Zhu’s sperm races are doing good work in putting male fertility under the microscope – literally

Remember when Elon Musk challenged Vladimir Putin to physical combat and Mark Zuckerberg to a cage fight? Neither of those brawls took place for various reasons. Not least, I suspect, because Musk is just self-aware enough to know that he would not emerge with his dignity, or his spine, intact. However, if the richest man in the world is still casting around for a way to publicly demonstrate his virility, I think I’ve hit on the perfect way: sperm racing.

This isn’t some below-the-belt insult. Sperm racing is an emerging “thing” among tech types now. A teenage entrepreneur called Eric Zhu came up with the idea, and went viral with his first sperm race in April. That initial race was rudimentary: college students gave sperm samples to be analysed and the results were turned into an animated race that visualised the fastest offerings.

Published: September 30, 2025, 1:36 pm

Autism should not be seen as single condition with one cause, say scientists

Those diagnosed as small children typically have distinct genetic profile from those diagnosed later, study finds

Autism should not be viewed as a single condition with a unified underlying cause, according to scientists who found that those diagnosed early in childhood typically have a distinct genetic profile to those diagnosed later.

The international study, based on genetic data from more than 45,000 autistic people in Europe and the US, showed that those diagnosed in early childhood, typically before six years old, were more likely to show behavioural difficulties from early childhood, including problems with social interaction, but remain stable.

Published: October 1, 2025, 3:00 pm

Prospect of life on Saturn’s moons rises after discovery of organic substances

Scientists studying water vapour plume from Enceladus find presence of complex molecules that could harbour life

The likelihood that one of Saturn’s moons may harbour life has risen, experts say, after finding an array of carbon-based substances being spewed out of Enceladus.

The sixth largest of Saturn’s moons, Enceladus has become one of the leading contenders in the search for bodies that could harbour extraterrestrial life, with the Cassini mission – which ended in 2017 – revealing the moon has a plume of water ice grains and vapours erupting from beneath the surface at its south pole.

Published: October 1, 2025, 9:00 am

Big pharma is at war with the UK, and the government can’t back down now | Nick Dearden

The industry has always wanted the NHS to pay more for its drugs; now it is pulling research and investment out of Britain

This year so far, some of the biggest pharmaceutical corporations in the world have withdrawn about £2bn in proposed investment from the UK. One has even threatened to withhold new medicines from NHS patients. Taken together, it’s hard not to conclude that big pharma is at war with the UK.

Merck has scrapped a £1bn research facility, while AstraZeneca ditched a £450m vaccine lab and is rethinking an expansion of another research unit. Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has cancelled 34 partnerships with the NHS in the last year, and Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novartis are all believed to have put investments “on hold”. BMS is also threatening to play hardball with its new schizophrenia drug, saying it is “prepared to make the difficult decision” to “walk away” if the NHS won’t pay the price the corporation wants to charge.

Nick Dearden is director of Global Justice Now (formerly World Development Movement)

Published: October 1, 2025, 11:00 am

Human skin cells are turned into eggs in fertility breakthrough

Scientists say their early-stage work could help older women or same-sex male couples have children

Researchers have created human eggs from skin cells, potentially transforming IVF treatment for couples who have no other options.

The work is at an early stage but if scientists can perfect the process it would provide genetically related eggs for women who are infertile because of older age, illness or medical treatment. The same procedure could be used to make eggs for same-sex male couples.

Published: September 30, 2025, 3:00 pm

Study links greater inequality to structural changes in children’s brains

Researchers say findings show inequality creates toxic environment and reducing it is ‘a public health imperative’

Scientists have linked the impact of living in an unequal society to structural changes in the brains of children – regardless of individual wealth – for the first time.

A study of more than 10,000 young people in the US discovered altered brain development in children from wealthy and lower-income families in areas with higher rates of inequality, which were also associated with poorer mental health.

Published: September 30, 2025, 9:00 am

Colon cancer is on the rise among young people – and research points to one major culprit | Devi Sridhar

If smoking was the cancer villain of the 20th century, eating ultra-processed food may be its 21st-century counterpart

• Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

Cancer used to be seen as part of ageing: something that mainly afflicted people over the age of 60 or 70. But although it is still true that the majority of new cancer diagnoses affect the over-70s, the pattern is changing in subtle ways. Some cancers are increasingly found in younger people.

Take colorectal (bowel) cancer: while rates have declined in those over 60, data shows a sharp increase in many developed countries among people under 50, in what’s called early-onset disease.

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

Published: October 1, 2025, 7:00 am

Is there such a thing as a ‘problem shark’? Plan to catch repeat biters divides scientists

Some experts think a few sharks may be responsible for a disproportionate number of attacks. Should they be hunted down?

First was the French tourist, killed while swimming off Saint-Martin in December 2020. The manager of a nearby water sports club raced out in a dinghy to help, only to find her lifeless body floating face down, a gaping wound where part of her right thigh should have been. Then, a month later, another victim. Several Caribbean islands away, a woman snorkelling off St Kitts and Nevis was badly bitten on her left leg by a shark. Fortunately, she survived.

Soon after the fatal incident in December, Eric Clua, a marine biologist at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, got a phone call. Island nations often ask for his help after a shark bite, he says, “because I am actually presenting a new vision … I say, ‘You don’t have a problem with sharks, you have a problem with one shark.’”

Published: September 30, 2025, 7:00 am

Jane Goodall, world-renowned primatologist, dies aged 91

Jane Goodall Institute says ‘tireless advocate’ for natural world died in California during US speaking tour

The world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall has died at the age of 91, her institute has said.

The Jane Goodall Institute announced that she had died of natural causes while in California as part of a US speaking tour.

Published: October 1, 2025, 8:34 pm

Jane Goodall – a life in pictures

The world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall has died at the age of 91

Published: October 1, 2025, 7:28 pm

Will Labour’s fracking ban end practice in the UK for good?

Ed Miliband’s move to bring forward ban is gambit to stop would-be Reform voters from backing Nigel Farage’s pro-fracking party

Ed Miliband announced on Wednesday that Labour was speeding up plans to bring in a “total ban” on fracking. But how will this work and could it stop a future Reform government from fracking?

Published: October 1, 2025, 2:07 pm

Jane Goodall: the conservationist who communed with chimps – video obituary

The world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall has died at the age of 91, her institute has said.

Born in London in 1934, Goodall began researching free-living chimpanzees in Tanzania in 1960. In 1977 she founded the Jane Goodall Institute, which works to protect the species and supports youth projects aimed at benefiting animals and the environment.

She was considered the leading expert on chimpanzees, her career spanning more than 60 years. Her research was pivotal in proving the similarities in primate and human behaviour

• Jane Goodall, world-renowned primatologist, dies aged 91

• Jane Goodall – a life in pictures

Published: October 1, 2025, 9:53 pm