It's the "hottest and most widely telegraphed partnership in Silicon Valley", said the Financial Times, after Apple CEO Tim Cook yesterday announced a venture with artificial intelligence pioneer OpenAI.

The tie-up, announced at Apple's annual developer conference, will see AI integrated into iPhones by embedding a suite of models into the operating system, under the "catch-all term" of Apple Intelligence.

Pledge to improve the human existence
The new features "showed off" by Apple can read your calendar, check traffic on routes, reschedule a meeting, draft a message to contacts, summarise articles, rewrite emails or sort texts according to priority, said Katelyn Chedraoui  on CNet. "Groundbreaking" this is not. 

But think of Apple's plans as a "top-to-bottom makeover" of the iPhone, said NBC News tech reporter David Ingram. The idea is that using AI on the devices will seem "so normal that sometimes you might not even notice it's there".

"I get excited about helping people do things faster, better, higher quality," Cook told The Washington Post. "Anything that improves the human existence. And I think AI can do that again, subject to keeping the rails on it appropriately."

Privacy problems
Tesla and X boss Elon Musk has criticised the new features as an "unacceptable security violation". The billionaire accused Apple – without evidence – of "turning over user data" to OpenAI and warned that if the plan goes ahead, "Apple devices will be banned at my companies".

Apple said the new system would be "rooted in privacy", with many of the features confined to the iPhone, without users' data ever leaving it. But the row "reflects the diverging views surrounding AI, and how quickly the technology is being developed and implemented", said Sky News.

Apple 'will win consumer AI game'
For Apple, AI is "not a separate service to sell but a way to make its core product, the iPhone, more attractive", said NBC News. By naming the system Apple Intelligence, the company is seemingly "trying to redefine 'AI' from an initialism for artificial intelligence" to one that refers to Apple itself.

And that puts Apple in a powerful position, according to Dan Ives, managing director of Wedbush Securities, because those popular devices have "invaluable data". Apple "will win the consumer AI game", he predicted.

The leaders of the world's seven largest economies will meet in Italy this week hoping to thrash out an agreement to give further support to Ukraine and end the war in Gaza.

Coming "amid a resurgence of authoritarianism worldwide, renewed geopolitical tension, and existential climate crisis", this G7 represents "a critical opportunity to reinforce democratic values and restore trust in international institutions", said American Progress. And the two conflicts will dominate the agenda.

Ukraine
This is a "critical G7 in charting a course for the West's approach to the war in Ukraine", said an editorial in The Telegraph. The summit is the first major international forum hosted by Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has surprised many with her tough stance towards Russia. The election of the far-right Eurosceptic initially "sent shivers throughout the European establishment", said The New York Times, but in the 18 months since Meloni came to power, she has become a "critical player" in the push to support Ukraine.

Ministers could use the summit to sign off a planned "centrepiece of support for Ukraine", said the Financial Times – a mechanism to loan interest generated by the estimated $300 billion (£235 billion) of Russian assets currently frozen in G7 territories to Ukraine.

Gaza
All of the G7 leaders last week issued a joint statement calling for a ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages, an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, and an "enduring end" to the conflict with the aim of a "two State solution". 

But "other disagreements" among the G7, including the possibility of the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, "may mean the world's leading economies fail to reach a consensus on a long-term path to peace", said CBC News.

Other issues on the agenda
Meloni also wants to focus on "Africa and migration, economic security, and international co-operation on artificial intelligence (AI)", said the BBC. Attendees at the summit may look to build on the Hiroshima AI Process, intended to promote "safe, secure, and trustworthy AI worldwide", which was agreed at the G7 summit in Japan last year.

The popularity of silent retreats – in which guests are offered the chance to cut themselves off completely from the outside world – has exploded in recent years.

The potential benefits sound enticing and include lower stress levels, improved concentration and better sleep. But as with so many wellness trends based in spiritual practices, commercial iterations "run the risk of appropriating the cultures they draw inspiration from", said Tasha Kleeman in Conde Nast Traveller. It's important to do your research and "make sure you know what you're signing yourself up for".

Here are some of the retreats being hosted at incredible locations across the world:

Moulin de Chaves, France
Once a Zen monastery, this meditation centre in the Dordogne is an "idyllic place to retreat from the world", said Jane Dunford in The Guardian. Accommodations are split between the "beautiful" main house and outdoor tents, with healthy vegetarian meals provided. 

Hvammsvik Hot Springs, Iceland
Only 45 minutes from Reykjavik, this beginner-friendly, one-day retreat is ideal for "fitting into a wider itinerary across the Nordic isle", said Alicia Miller in the London Evening Standard. The retreat includes body scanning, a mindful walk, restorative yoga and a dip in the thermal hot springs. 

PachaMama, Costa Rica
This spiritual eco-village is located on "lush forested Pacific coastline", and the stunning surroundings "only heighten the sense of peace and wellbeing" at PachaMama, said Miller. The village runs regular silent retreats that conclude with a riverside sweat lodge session. 

Social care is a timebomb beneath Britain – why does neither main party have a plan to tackle it?
Gaby Hinsliff in The Guardian
Care is "the story of millions", writes Gaby Hinsliff, and dementia is "one of the hidden forces" reshaping Britain's political landscape. "Endlessly weaponised" but "never resolved", the issue "now sits ominously in Labour's in-tray". Previous plans have been "derided as a dementia tax" or a "death tax", but what carers want seems "heartbreakingly" modest: "better pay for care workers, help navigating the bureaucratic maze that conceals whatever help they're entitled to" and "more chances… to meet others in the same situation".

Starmer left behind by his beloved EU
Daily Mail editorial board
Just as Britain is "shifting to the Left", politics in Europe is "racing in the opposite direction", says the Daily Mail. "Hard-Right movements are on the rise", with the Left "pushed to the margins". So if Keir Starmer "foolishly attempts to undo our Brexit freedoms", he will "find himself bargaining with a Europe which is significantly out of sync with his self-proclaimed socialism". It is a "rich irony" that he should find the "object of his ardour so utterly transformed".

Is Donald Trump okay?
Eugene Robinson in The Washington Post
"It is irresponsible" to focus on Joe Biden's "tendency to mangle a couple of words" while Donald Trump "is out there sounding detached from reality", writes Eugene Robinson. "Biden, who is old, at least makes sense", but Trump, "who also is old, rants like someone you'd cross the street to avoid". In 2016, Trump said "outrageous things at his campaign rallies to be entertaining". But now "his tangents raise serious questions about his mental fitness".