Tech moves fast, regulation doesn’t – that’s what the prime minister is now having to contend with. 

People invent new technology like AI, new social media features designed to draw you in, new ways to interact online – and in the background, the authorities scramble to keep up.

The prime minister is trying.

Today, he announced the government would close a loophole that meant one-to-one conversations with AI bots weren’t regulated in the same way as social media.

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PM to go ‘into battle’ against AI chatbots

It’s an update to the Online Safety Act that was first shown to Parliament in 2019, more than two years before ChatGPT burst onto the scene and revolutionised how we use the internet.

It took until 2023 to be passed and we only saw widespread enforcement in July last year. There are still elements waiting to be enforced.

During that time, there have been countless AI bots entering the mainstream, from X’s Grok, CharacterAI’s personalised AI agents, Google’s Gemini and more.

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‘We’ve got to act more quickly’

Sir Keir Starmer did address the regulatory lag this morning, saying that if a consultation shows a social media ban is the best course of action for the UK, he will now be able to enforce it “within months, not years”.

He also announced a change that means the social media data of young people will be preserved by default if they die, meaning that bereaved families can get answers sooner about their children’s deaths.

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Could Jools’ Law force social media change?

But for the woman who campaigned for that change, Ellen Roome, Mr Starmer still hasn’t done enough.

Ms Roome began campaigning when her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney died in 2022, after she believed he attempted a dangerous online challenge.

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Since that point, however, she hasn’t been able to access his social media data, so she can’t confirm her suspicions.

This morning, she told me that because of the campaign after her son’s death, there’ll be “no more grieving parents having to beg platforms” and “no more delays while critical evidence disappears”.

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Social media ban: Have we reached a tipping point?

“[But] we must ultimately do more to stop children being harmed or dying in the first place.

“Preservation after death matters. Prevention before harm matters even more.”

She has repeatedly called for children to be banned from social media.

She wants the government to go further than Australia, which recently banned under-16s, and instead wants everyone under 18 years old to be kept from the platforms

“At 16, you’re still quite naive and young. I remember thinking I was very mature at 16. Looking back, I really wasn’t,” she told me last year.

While it considers this, the government faces a challenge to keep up with the tech industry. If it can’t, preventing the deaths of more children will become even more difficult.

FIRST ON FOX: A new report is raising fresh questions about whether billions in federal transit spending are delivering results, as funding climbs to record highs while bus and rail commuting remains below pre-pandemic levels.

Released by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, the analysis argues the disconnect reflects structural flaws in how federal transit dollars are allocated — particularly as remote work reshapes commuting patterns and budget pressures intensify.

Wendell Cox, a senior fellow with the group and the report’s author, traces the federal transit program to its 1960s origins, when it was intended to expand mobility for low-income residents and reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.

AMTRAK ADDING OVER 80 NEW TRAINS IN MASSIVE OVERHAUL OF FLEET; TRAVELERS REACT

There have been less commuters using public transportation since the Covid-19 pandemic.  (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Since then, federal support has grown steadily — but transit’s commuter share has moved in the opposite direction, according to the report.

“Transit’s commute market share in the U.S. has dropped from 12% in 1960 to under 4% in 2024,” Cox told Fox News Digital.

Today, roughly 3.8% of American workers — about one in 25 — commute by mass transit, according to Cox’s analysis of federal data. By comparison, three times as many Americans now work from home.

While transit use has edged down, 88 million more Americans drive to work than in 1960, the report notes, alongside a 17 million increase in remote workers.

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Roughly 88 million more Americans commute to work by car today than they did in 1960. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Cox argues transit struggles to compete with the automobile on speed and access. “Generally, transit travel times are slower than commuting by car,” he said. The average one-way commute is about 26 minutes by car, compared with 48 minutes by transit.

The report also highlights disparities in job access.

Researchers examined how many workplaces a person could physically reach in a 30-minute commute. Because cars offer direct, door-to-door travel, drivers can typically access far more job locations than transit riders, whose trips may involve walking to stops, waiting, and making transfers.

Across the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas, workers can reach 58 times as many jobs by car as by transit, the report finds — a gap that persists even in New York, which has the country’s most extensive public transport network.

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A new report argues that commuting by public transport is slower than commuting by car. (Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images)

Those findings, Cox writes, underscore what he sees as a need for a broader reassessment of federal transit policy.

With federal debt at historic highs and remote work reshaping how Americans commute, Cox argues it may be time to rethink how Washington funds public transit. The question, he suggests, is not whether public transport has a role — but whether federal spending is aligned with how Americans actually travel today.

Read the full report:

An investigation is being launched into claims a campaign group closely aligned with Labour hired lobbyists to investigate journalists.

The prime minister said the Cabinet Office will investigate Labour Together after the Sunday Times reported it paid £36,000 to a US public affairs firm, Apco, to examine the “backgrounds and motivations” of reporters behind a story ahead of the 2024 general election.

The paper had reported that the campaign group, which was essential to getting Sir Keir elected as Labour leader, had failed to declare more than £700,000 in donations.

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The Sunday Times said Apco produced “deeply personal and false claims” about Gabriel Pogrund, its Whitehall editor. Harry Yorke, the deputy political editor, was named alongside him and the pair were deemed “persons of significant interest”.

They suggested the journalists might be part of a Russian conspiracy or had relied on emails hacked by the Kremlin, according to The Sunday Times.

Josh Simons, now a Cabinet Office minister, was head of Labour Together at the time Apco was paid to look into the journalists, The Sunday Times says.

Confirming the investigation into Labour Together on Monday, Sir Keir said: “There will be a Cabinet Office investigation into the allegations.

“And quite right to – so, that is already in place.”

He added that he “didn’t know anything” about the Apco investigation.

“It absolutely needs to be looked into. So, the Cabinet Office will be establishing the facts,” he said.

Number 10 later said Sir Keir has confidence in Mr Simons.

When the story that Apco had made claims against the journalists emerged in early February, Mr Simons posted on X: “This is nonsense.

“APCO were asked to look into a suspected illegal hack, which had nothing to do with UK journalists at Sunday Times, Guardian or any other brilliant UK newspaper.

“APCO’s investigation never fully got to the bottom of this.

“Those who know me know I think the work of journalists is vital to our democracy.”

Sky News has contacted Mr Simons for a comment about the government investigation being launched.

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Editors said the accusations against the journalists were “profoundly concerning” and warned of a potential “chilling effect” across the industry.

“Journalists asking questions about funding, influence or public life are not adversaries to be investigated; they are carrying out a fundamental democratic duty,” Dawn Alford, chief executive of the Society of Editors, said.

“The idea that reporters could themselves become the subject of intelligence-style inquiries simply for doing their jobs is profoundly troubling and sets a dangerous precedent, regardless of which political party or organisation is involved.”

Labour Together was fined £14,250 in September 2021 for late reporting of donations, totally £730,000 between 2017 and 2020, after referring itself to the Electoral Commission.

Sky News has contact Apco for a comment.

Researchers have discovered the wreck of a luxury steamer ship that sank in Lake Michigan in 1872, they announced Friday.

Shipwreck World, a group that works to locate shipwrecks around the globe, announced the find last week, crediting a team led by Illinois shipwreck hunter Paul Ehorn. Ehorn, 80, says his team discovered the wreck of the Lac La Belle roughly 20 miles offshore between Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin, in October 2022.

He added that the announcement was delayed because his team planned to release three-dimensional video of the wreck along with the announcement, but weather prevented access until last summer.

Ehorn told The Associated Press he has been searching for the Lac La Belle’s location since 1965.

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Sailboats move on Lake Michigan as a blue supermoon rises above Chicago on Aug. 30, 2023. (Getty)

“It’s kind of a game, like solve the puzzle. Sometimes you don’t have many pieces to put the puzzle together but this one worked out and we found it right away,” he said. The finding left him “super elated.”

Ehorn said he was able to narrow down his search thanks to a clue from wreck hunter and author Ross Richardson. Ehorn declined to say what the clue was, but Richardson told The Associated Press that he had heard of a local fisherman who pulled up an item specific to a steam ship in a “certain location.”

According to an account on Shipwreck World, the Lac La Belle was built in 1864, in Cleveland, Ohio. The massive 217-foot (66-meter) steamer ran between Cleveland and Lake Superior but sank in the St. Clair River in 1866 after a collision. The ship was raised in 1869 and reconditioned.

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The ship’s final trip began when it left Milwaukee for Grand Haven, Michigan, in a gale on the night of Oct, 13, 1872, with 53 passengers and crew and a cargo of barley, pork, flour and whiskey. About two hours into the trip, the ship began to leak uncontrollably.

The wreck of the Lac La Belle was found off the coast of Wisconsin. (iStock)

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The captain turned the Lac La Belle back to Milwaukee, but waves came crashing over the vessel, extinguishing its boilers. The captain ultimately ordered lifeboats lowered, and the ship went down stern first.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Last Updated:February 16, 2026, 20:12 IST

Mohammed Shami Bowling J&K vs Bengal Ranji Trophy Semi Final: On the second day of the second semi-final of Ranji Trophy being played between Jammu and Kashmir and Bengal, Team India’s fast bowler Mohammed Shami performed brilliantly and took three wickets. However, the match remained tied at the end of the day, because in reply to 328 runs, Jammu team scored 198 runs at the loss of 5 wickets. The contest is going to be exciting on the third day.

Shami took three wickets.

Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir UAE has suddenly visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The timing of his visit is considered very important because recently the UAE has announced its support to Saudi Arabia. Pakistan Was asked to return the loan money. Pakistan’s entire economy is dependent on debt and in such a situation, angering UAE has become a big problem for Pakistan. Recently Pakistan had received assistance of 1.2 billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Asim Munir ran away to UAE

According to the report of Pakistani newspaper Dawn, Asim Munir met Abu Dhabi’s Deputy Ruler and National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. According to Pakistan Army’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Asim Munir said that the security and stability of the UAE is an integral part of Pakistan’s own security. Ways to further strengthen bilateral relations in the fields of economic cooperation, investment and security were discussed between the two.

Ishaq Dar requested UAE

According to ISPR, Army Chief Asim Munir said that such support reflects the deep historical ties between the two friendly countries. He praised the role of UAE leadership in advancing economic and social development in Pakistan. Ishaq Dar had requested UAE last week, after which UAE gave only 60 days extension on the loan of 2 billion dollars given to Pakistan.

Asim Munir busy in convincing UAE

After supporting Saudi Arabia, tension in the relations between Pakistan and UAE has increased. To reduce this distance, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif last week had a phone conversation with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Zayed bin Al Nahyan to persuade him and started touting relations with Pakistan. After him, Asim Munir has now come to persuade the UAE High Command.