Bite marks from a lion on a man’s skeleton, excavated from a 1,800-year-old cemetery on the outskirts of York, provide the first physical evidence of human-animal combat in the Roman empire, new research claims.

While clashes between combatants, big cats and bears are described and depicted in ancient texts and mosaics, there had previously been no convincing proof from human remains to confirm that these skirmishes formed part of Roman entertainment.

Prof Tim Thompson, an anthropologist and first author on the study at Maynooth University in Ireland, said: “This is the first time we have physical evidence for gladiators fighting, or being involved in a spectacle, with big cats like lions in the Roman empire.”

Excavations at the Driffield Terrace burial site, near York city centre, began more than 20 years ago and uncovered about 80 decapitated skeletons. Most belonged to well-built young men and bore signs of brutal violence, leading experts to suspect they had uncovered a

Yostin Andres Mosquera faces trial for the murders of Albert Alfonso, 62, and Paul Longworth, 71, on July 8 last year in the flat the two shared in Scotts Road, Shepherd's Bush, west London.

The defendant, 35, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans, admitted the manslaughter of Mr Alfonso during a hearing at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, but denies and is being tried on both charges of murder.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC told jurors at the Old Bailey on Wednesday that Mosquera "could hardly deny" killing Mr Alfonso, telling them the attack took place while the defendant and Mr Alfonso were having sex - with both the sex and the killing recorded on film.

But the court heard Mosquera blames Mr Alfonso for the death of Mr Longworth.

...

The court heard Mr Alfonso liked "extreme sex" which Mr Longworth, who knew about it and accepted it, had "nothing to do with".

Mr Alfonso would engage in acts with other men, including Mosquera, jurors were told - with the defendant describ

UK licensing bodies have announced a “pioneering” collective licence that will allow authors to be paid for the use of their works to train generative AI models.

The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) – which is directed by the Publishers’ Licensing Services (PLS) and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), representing publishers and authors – will develop the licence, set to be the first of its kind in the UK.

Expected to be made available to AI developers this summer, it will allow copyright holders “who are not in a position to negotiate direct licensing agreements with AI developers” to be paid for the use of their works.

“When we surveyed our members last year, they made it clear that they expect us to do something about their works being used to train AI,” said ALCS CEO Barbara Hayes. 81% of respondents said that they would want to be part of a collective licensing solution if ALCS was able to secure compensation for the use of writers’ works to train AI

So no:

• AI generated memes of images
• AI generated answers to questions

edit: this applies to feddit.uk communities, we won't block AI art communities on other instances or sanction our users for posting on them.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/28031394

A medieval cemetery unearthed near Cardiff Airport is continuing to confound archaeologists, as the mysteries surrounding it are multiplying.

The discovery of the site, dating to the 6th or 7th Century, was announced last year, with dozens of skeletons found lying in unusual positions with unexpected artefacts.

Now researchers have learned nearly all of those buried in the cemetery are women, and while their bones show signs of wear and tear - indicating they carried out heavy manual work - there are also surprising signs of wealth and luxury.

Another unexpected find has been a woman tossed in a ditch, in stark contrast to all the other people who were buried with great care.

"Every time we think we understand something, something else crops up and the picture gets more intriguing," said Andy Seaman from Cardiff University, who is leading the project.

A medieval cemetery unearthed near Cardiff Airport is continuing to confound archaeologists, as the mysteries surrounding it are multiplying.

The discovery of the site, dating to the 6th or 7th Century, was announced last year, with dozens of skeletons found lying in unusual positions with unexpected artefacts.

Now researchers have learned nearly all of those buried in the cemetery are women, and while their bones show signs of wear and tear - indicating they carried out heavy manual work - there are also surprising signs of wealth and luxury.

Another unexpected find has been a woman tossed in a ditch, in stark contrast to all the other people who were buried with great care.

"Every time we think we understand something, something else crops up and the picture gets more intriguing," said Andy Seaman from Cardiff University, who is leading the project.

Britain's economy will be among the hardest hit by the global trade war and inflation is set to climb, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned – as it slashed its UK growth forecast by a third.

In a sobering set of projections, the Washington-based organisation said it was grappling with "extremely high levels of policy uncertainty" - and the global economy would slow even if countries manage to negotiate a permanent reduction in tariffs from the US.

Echoing earlier warnings about the risks to the global financial system, the IMF said stock markets could fall even more sharply than they did in the aftermath of Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement, when US and UK indices recorded some of their largest one-day falls since the pandemic.

It comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to meet her US counterpart Scott Bessent at the IMF's spring gathering in Washington this week.

She is hoping to negotiate a reduction to the 10% baseline tariff the US pr

A United Airlines plane was forced into an emergency landing after it caught fire after a rabbit was reportedly sucked into its engine.

The flight in the US issued an alert following a “giant fireball” after the reportedly got stuck in the plane’s engine before take off.

...

The plane was turned around after around 75 minutes in the air and landed safely. There were no reports of injuries.

An unusual startup announced the world's first sperm race -- a race involving actual sperm -- will be held April 25 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

Sperm Racing, a startup founded by a team of young millionaires, announced representatives from two competing schools -- the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles -- will provide the microscopic swimmers for the inaugural Sperm Race.

The race will take place under a microscopic camera that will track the progress of the sperms as they attempt to cross to the finish line.

The startup said there will be three races held to determine the overall winner, and play-by-play commentary will be provided during each heat. There will also be instant replays, leaderboards and betting through approved partners.

Jewelry in a Roman treasure hoard found in Thetford Forest, East Anglia, indicates that Thetford was Pagan until the fifth century, which is longer than previously believed, reveals a new paper in the Journal of Roman Archaeology.

The Thetford treasure was first found by a metal detectorist trespassing on a construction site at Fison's Way on Gallows Hill, Thetford in 1979. It consisted of 81 objects, including 22 gold finger-rings, other gold jewelry, and 36 silver spoons or strainers. It is now in the collections of the British Museum and can be seen on display there.

The author of the research, Professor Ellen Swift of the University of Kent, argues that there is compelling evidence that the treasure was buried in the fifth century rather than the late fourth.

Swift says, "Since wider evidence found at the site confirms the religious context previously established by inscriptions o

The angry man can be seen confronting the vegan campaigners, who held up screens showing animal slaughter and used the megaphones to get their point across to shoppers.

One man took direct action against the protesters, grabbing a loudhailer from an activist named Ella Wild and breaking it on the ground before walking away.

Ms Wild posted a video of the incident on her Instagram, calling the shopper who retaliated "an angry customer".

Most of the commenters sided with the shopper, with one saying: "Good man glad someone done it".

Good? Bad? Indifferent?

Look Up

It Begins

The notorious “Am I The Asshole?” subreddit is being turned into a gameshow for Comedy Central UK hosted by LOL: Last One Laughing UK’s Jimmy Carr. Jimmy Carr’s Am I The Asshole? will invite members of the public to come before the host and a panel of two other comedians to ask controversial questions. These questions will cover everything from jaw-dropping relationship disputes to the pettiest of family squabbles and stories of behaviors that are guaranteed to split opinion. The “Am I The Asshole?” sub-reddit is famous worldwide and uses the acronym AITA. The BBC mined Reddit in the past for its hit comedy Am I Being Unreasonable?, which is also a famous subreddit. Jimmy Carr’s Am I The Asshole? is being produced by STV Studios-owned Tuesday’s Child. The series will be filmed in late spring and is due to air later this year on Comedy Central UK. Carr said: “There are an impressive number of assholes in our country and they’re finally getting the recognition they deserve on national

Netflix‘s strategic investment in Welsh production hubs has generated more than £200 million ($265 million) for the U.K. economy since 2020, according to a report released Wednesday by the streaming giant and Creative Wales.

The economic windfall comes as the streamer gears to bow director Gareth Evans’ action thriller “Havoc,” starring Tom Hardy – now holding the distinction as the largest feature film ever shot entirely within Wales.

...

The Welsh investment represents part of Netflix’s broader U.K. production strategy, with the nation becoming a key filming destination for the streamer’s high-profile content. Beyond “Havoc,” Wales has hosted production for tentpole series including “The Witcher,” creating substantial economic ripple effects throughout the region.

According to the report, Netflix productions have supported over 500 Welsh businesses across multiple sectors since 2020. For every £1 ($1.32) spent by the streamer in Wales, 58 pence (76 cents) flows to TV

A year ago, Lionsgate flew Henry Cavill to Las Vegas, where he charmed audiences at CinemaCon with tales of the extensive sword training he was undergoing to star in Highlander for the studio. The project had been in development for almost a decade with filmmaker Chad Stahelski, but finally seemed to be moving forward.

Now, that project is indeed still moving forward, but it will be headed to Amazon MGM Studios’ United Artists, which is in final negotiations to acquire the package from Lionsgate. The film is intended as a theatrical play.

At one time, Lionsgate was plotting an entire universe for Highlander, with Stahelski to oversee it all. But the new deal will give UA full rights to the franchise, which dates back to the 1986 feature about immortal warriors starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery. As the tagline “there can only be one,” suggests, these warriors are pitted in battle agaisnt one another. With each immortal they kill, they become stronger, until only one

A series of exceptionally dry summers that caused famine and social breakdown were behind one of the most severe threats to Roman rule of Britain, according to new academic research.

The rebellion, known as the “barbarian conspiracy”, was a pivotal moment in Roman Britain. Picts, Scotti and Saxons took advantage of Britain’s descent into anarchy to inflict crushing blows on weakened Roman defences in the spring and summer of AD367.

Senior Roman commanders were captured or killed, and some soldiers reportedly deserted and joined the invaders. It took two years for generals dispatched by Valentinian I, emperor of the western half of the Roman empire, to restore order. The last remnants of official Roman administration left Britain about 40 years later.

...

The study, published in Climatic Change, used oak tree-ring records to reconstruct temperature and precipitation levels in southern Britain during and after the barbarian conspiracy. Combined with surviving Roman accoun

Elon Musk has joined forced with Republican power broker Peter Thiel on a bid to help build Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defence shield.

Mr Musk’s SpaceX is partnering with Mr Thiel’s Silicon Valley data company Palantir Technologies and US drone builder Anduril Industries on a joint proposal for the project.

It would involve SpaceX supplying up to 1,000 orbiters that would provide an early warning of a missile or nuclear launch against the US.

A separate fleet of 200 attack satellites armed with missiles or lasers, probably from another manufacturer, would then shoot down the enemy warheads.

While Golden Dome has attracted interest from more than 180 companies, the three companies have already pitched the plan to top officials from the White House and the Pentagon, according to Reuters, which reported the story citing unnamed sources.

The situation is likely to fuel criticism that Mr Musk is profiting from his political role in the White House. He hol