Sex robots ‘could kill’ if hacked, experts warn
And other stories from the stranger side of life
Hackers could make sex robots kill humans, experts have warned. The creations feature increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence with each new model, allowing users to enjoy intimate simulations. However, a Hong Kong law firm is warning that “hacking into many modern-day robots, including sexbots, would be a piece of cake”. Nicholas Patterson, a cybersecurity lecturer at Deakin University in Melbourne, added: “Once hacked they could absolutely be used to perform physical actions for an advantageous scenario or to cause damage.”
Cleric says vaccines turn patients gay
An Iranian cleric has warned his followers that the Covid-19 vaccination turns people into “homosexuals”. In a post on social media, Ayatollah Abbas Tabrizian said: “Don’t go near those who have had the Covid vaccine. They have become homosexuals.” Last year he burned a medical manual in a filmed ceremony, claiming that “Islamic medicine” had made such books “irrelevant”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
13-year-old arrested for drink driving
A 13-year-old boy is facing a driving ban before he can get a provisional license after he allegedly took his dad’s car on a joyride while drunk. The boy crashed his father’s Ford Escort into a lamppost in Hampshire in the early hours of the morning. Metro reports that when he failed a breathalyser test, he became angry and spat at police. If convicted he could become the youngest drink-driver in Britain.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
The best homes of the year
Feature Featuring a grand turret entrance in New York and built-in glass elevator in Arizona
By The Week Staff Published
-
Nordstrom family, investor to take retail chain private
Speed Read The business will be acquired by members of the family and El Puerto de Liverpool, a Mexican real estate company
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden commutes most federal death sentences
Speed Read The president downgraded the punishment of 37 of 40 prisoners on death row to life in prison without parole
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia's shadow war in Europe
Talking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
By The Week UK Published
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
The nuclear threat: is Vladimir Putin bluffing?
Talking Point Kremlin's newest ballistic missile has some worried for Nato nations
By The Week UK Published
-
Russia vows retaliation for Ukrainian missile strikes
Speed Read Ukraine's forces have been using U.S.-supplied, long-range ATCMS missiles to hit Russia
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published