In the matter of a few clicks and keystrokes, anyone can find themselves deep in conversation with “Psychologist,” a chatbot character that describes itself as an expert in “empathy” and “active listening.”

It responds to messages of anxiety and sadness with reassurance. It asks questions and offers advice; it even responds with italicized nonverbal cues: “The psychologist’s expression softens with compassion.” In smaller font, a disclaimer reads: “This is A.I. and not a real person. Treat everything it says as fiction.”

As more people turn to chatbots for mental health help and advice — including by some estimates one in eight teens and young adults — legislators are in a race to keep up with the quickly developing technology. Among the latest efforts is a bill that would add restrictions around the use of chatbot companions and other artificial intelligence-powered tools that people use to support mental healthcare or in lieu of professional help.

Sen. Steve Padilla, a San Diego Democrat and the bill’s author, said the intent is to draw a line: AI can be used for administrative purposes and to support clinicians, but it cannot practice psychotherapy.

“We’re dealing with a new impactful technology that is unfolding and is deployed in our world at light speed, and so it is both extremely powerful and consequential,” Padilla said.

The debate has taken on new urgency amid wrongful death lawsuits — some playing out in California federal courts — that accuse AI chatbot makers of contributing to users’ suicides.

Senate Bill 903 would ban companies from advertising chatbots as therapy. It would prohibit AI from making therapeutic decisions without the review of a licensed professional and require health providers to disclose and get a patient’s permission before using AI tools to record therapy sessions or to triage mental healthcare.

Consumer protections vs. innovation

The bill is backed by professional associations that represent psychologists, therapists and counselors. Also behind the bill is the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which has been leading a push against unchecked use of artificial intelligence and digital tools in mental healthcare. Most recently, the union filed a complaint with state regulators against Kaiser Permanente for its alleged use of an automated algorithm in mental health triaging.

Padilla and supporters argue that the legislation is needed to protect consumers from AI in both formal and informal spaces, but also to protect licensed professionals from being displaced by AI.

Le Ondra Clark Harvey, chief executive officer at the California Behavioral Health Association, told lawmakers that without clear safeguards, chatbots can provide inaccurate information or mishandle crisis situations. “The difference between a licensed clinician and an automated response is not technical. It can be life altering,” Harvey said.

Opposition to the bill has largely focused around the restrictions of AI use in formal clinical spaces. TechNet, which represents tech-sector companies, argues the legislation could restrict beneficial uses of AI in healthcare and stifle innovation. Robert Boykin, TechNet’s executive director for California, said the bill could limit the use of tools that help expand access to mental healthcare.

“At a time when every county in California faces a shortage of behavioral healthcare workers, SB 903 still puts a clinician bottleneck in front of the intake and screening tools that help patients reach care faster,” Boykin said in an emailed statement.

The bill currently awaits its next vote in the Assembly’s fiscal committee.

Popular chatbot ‘therapy’

Every day millions of people turn to AI chatbots through programs such as ChatGPT and Character.ai to help with research, work tasks and troubleshooting. But the top use of chatbots over the last two years has been companionship and “therapy,” research shows.

Experts say that’s in part because of a tremendous amount of loneliness, especially among young people. It is often hard or costly to get timely mental healthcare at the same time there is a spike in mental health diagnoses.

People turn to chatbots “because they have unmet needs,” said Dr. Jodi Halpern, professor of bioethics and medical humanities at UC Berkeley. But once people start using chatbots in this informal way, she said companies rely on a business model built around maximizing engagement “including by manipulative tactics,” such as praise and agreement.

General chatbots are largely free, available 24/7, and involve no hassle with insurance, making them appealing to many. But they function with no oversight from licensed professionals. In addition to general chatbots, there has also been a rapid uptick in AI-powered mental health apps — often requiring paid subscriptions and advertised as “pocket therapists” or “AI coaches.”

Groups like the American Psychological Association, warn that chatbots are not a safe or effective replacement for true therapy. Trained clinicians look for cues like tone of voice, eye contact and body language and can detect more serious conditions; AI is not equipped to manage urgent symptoms, such as suicidal ideation, even though people increasingly share such thoughts with chatbots.

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, revealed in a report last fall that about 1.2 million users a week share thoughts of suicide on the platform. OpenAI said that in such cases, it recommends people speak to a professional and directs them to resources like the 988 hotline. Families who have filed wrongful death lawsuits against OpenAI and other companies claim chatbots assisted their loved ones through their suicide plans.

The cases have helped raise the stakes for lawmakers around the country. Last year, Illinois became the first state to pass a law prohibiting the use of AI in therapy services. A handful of other states have since followed with similar restrictions.

AI use in health spaces

One gray area in the discussion is exactly which tools this bill applies to.

NUHW’s complaint against Kaiser targets its e-visit screening tool, which evaluates patients who think they may be experiencing anxiety or depression. According to the complaint, patients answer a multiple choice questionnaire and the tool “automatically and instantaneously generates care recommendations and referral pathways based on the responses provided.”

The union argues that because care recommendations are generated so quickly, it is unlikely that a licensed professional is reviewing patients’ answers — which it says puts patients at risk and violates state law.

It’s not clear whether SB 903 would apply to Kaiser’s e-visit tool.

“That tool is in a black box. Kaiser is not sharing with us or others about exactly how it works and exactly what it does,” said Benjamin Eichert, NUHW’s director of public policy.

In response to the complaint, Kaiser told CalMatters its e-visit tool “does not use AI to diagnose patients, make clinical decisions, or determine medical necessity.”

Eichert said many other behavioral health provider groups are already advertising using AI during triage — a practice he said would fall under SB 903’s requirements.

“That intake process, that triage and screening process, is where implementation (of AI) has happened fastest,” Eichert said. “That’s why those provisions were proposed because it’s an area where this technology is already being used without guardrails.”

For NUHW, the bill and the complaint against Kaiser represent two tracks toward the same goal: reasserting the place of practitioners in spaces increasingly taken over by algorithms. State regulators are investigating the union’s complaint.

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Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

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This story was originally published by CalMatters and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

The 15 budding public artists worked alongside professional artists and staff from Hamilton Universal Connections to design and create the murals, reflecting the identity, history and aspirations of the Woodhead and Fairhill communities.

A group of creative youngsters are celebrating after turning underpasses in their area into works of art.

The 15 budding public artists worked alongside professional artists and staff from Hamilton Universal Connections to design and create the murals, reflecting the identity, history and aspirations of the Woodhead and Fairhill communities.

The work is just Phase 1 of UC Re:Create’s community-led public art project supported by the council’s Youth, Family and Community Learning Service (YFCL) with financial support coming from South Lanarkshire Council and the council administered Renewable Energy Fund (REF).

The project demonstrates the incredible impact that can be achieved when young people are empowered to lead positive change within their own communities.

Kevin Carr, the council’s executive director of enterprise resources, said: “UC Re:Create is an excellent example of what community learning and development can achieve when young people are trusted to lead meaningful change within their communities.

“The creativity, commitment and dedication shown by the young people involved has been truly inspiring, and the transformation of these public spaces reflects the pride they have in their local area.”

To ensure the artwork truly represents the people who use these spaces every day, there was extensive engagement with more than 120 pupils from St Peter’s, Neilsland, Woodhead and St Mark’s primary schools contributing ideas through creative workshops.

Involving 10 local community groups and carrying out more than 200 face-to-face interviews with local people also ensured a diverse range of voices helped shape the artwork.

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Lianne Grieve, YFCL service manager, said: “What makes this project particularly special is that it has been shaped by the community at every stage to create something lasting and meaningful.

“I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the project, particularly our young people, whose vision and hard work have left a legacy that will be enjoyed by the Woodhead and Fairhill communities for many years to come.”

Throughout the eight days of painting, local community members stopped to speak with the young people, learn about the project, and watch the artwork develop.

The murals have also received overwhelming praise from the local community both in person and across social media.

Following the success of the murals, final artistic enhancements will now be added to the remaining external wing walls, completing the overall transformation and creating an even greater visual impact.

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Greater Manchester Police said the discovery was made by road workers shortly after 11pm on Monday (August 3), near a bridge between junctions 3 and 4, as the workers carried out routine maintenance work.

The M67, which connects Tameside to the start of the Peak District, was closed throughout Tuesday (August 4) while investigations were carried out.

Now, police have said the remains belong to a man and have shared some details that have been established.

A Home Office post-mortem has taken place and it is now known that the body belongs to a man aged between 20 and 28 years old.

The body is approximately 5ft5 to 5ft9 tall and of medium build, while the ethnicity is yet to be established at this stage.

Police are continuing to work with specialist teams to understand the full circumstances behind how the man’s body ended up by the bridge.

It is currently not known how he died, and police are looking to locate the man’s next-of-kin to establish an identity.

A spokesperson for Heathrow Airport said: “Earlier our teams responded to a small grass fire adjacent to the Southern Runway. The fire has been extinguished, both runways are operational and flights continue to arrive and depart from the airport.

“We apologise for any disruption caused as a result or while emergency services completed their safety checks, but this was essential to ensure the safety of our passengers and colleagues, which is paramount.”

Accell UK and Ireland, part of the Netherlands-based Accell Group, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators as the wider group kick-started insolvency proceedings.

The company bought Raleigh in 2012 for around 100 million US dollars (£74 million), adding to its roster of bike brands throughout Europe including Haibike, Winora and Ghost.

The 139-year-old British bikemaker was founded in Nottingham in 1887 and became well-known for its Chopper model, which featured extended handlebars and is now part of its “retro” range.

Raleigh was bought by the Netherlands-based Accell Group in 2012. (Image: PA)

Chief executive of Accell Group, Jonas Nilsson, said: “This is a deeply sad and frustrating situation given all the hard work and everything we have achieved, with the support of shareholders and lenders, to restructure Accell’s operations and finances.

“It is an especially difficult moment for our employees, creditors, customers, suppliers, and partners.”

Although Raleigh no longer manufactures bicycles in Nottingham, its head office is now based in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire.

Under Accell’s ownership, the brand shifted focus to electric bikes.

Raleigh owner Accell Group files for administration

Earlier this year, Accell restructured, secured additional funding, and reduced debt.

But the group said it had now “explored every possible avenue” for the business’s future, including discussions with potential buyers.

Having failed to secure a viable solution, the company has now begun insolvency proceedings in the Netherlands.

Mr Nilsson said: “Every realistic option for the future of the business has been tirelessly explored, and none have resulted in a solution to continue the Group in its current form.

“Our immediate focus is to support an orderly process, provide clarity wherever possible, and work with the relevant court-appointed administrators to preserve viable activities and employment where circumstances allow.”

Other major UK companies that have closed or entered administration/liquidation in 2026

It has been a tough year for the UK high street, with several other retailers entering administration or liquidation and others announcing widespread store closures.

Major high street brands LK Bennett, Claire’s, and Quiz have been forced to close all their remaining stores after falling into administration.

UK fashion retailer Leading Labels is also set to close its remaining 15 stores after falling into liquidation.

Whitbread recently confirmed it will be closing all its UK restaurants in September:

• Brewers Fayre (89 locations) – September 7
• Beefeater (106) – September 10
• Bar + Block – September 3
• Table Table – September 3
• Cookhouse + Pub – September 3

TG Jones and the British Heart Foundation will also both be closing around 150 stores across the UK.

Other retailers have been forced to close stores this year, including:

Several UK travel companies have also ceased trading or entered administration in 2026:

Meanwhile, four UK airlines have fallen into administration or liquidation:

UK delivery company Yodel is set to be phased out after being acquired by InPost.

It’s also been reported that Morrisons is looking to sell some of its in-store pharmacies as it continues to cut costs.

It hasn’t all been bad news for the UK high street, with several major brands announcing new store openings for 2026, including Aldi, M&S, and Superdrug.

Meanwhile, brands including Evans and Bodycare have returned to the UK high street this year after previously closing all their stores.

Have you ever owned a Raleigh bike? Let us know in the poll above or in the comments below.

Members of the council’s strategic planning committee deferred the outline application for land at Weeland Road in May, describing the proposal for ten per cent affordable housing as “absolutely abysmal”.

However, councillors are again being recommended to approve the scheme —despite no increase in the affordable housing provision.

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The Banks Group, which is behind the plans, has maintained that the proposed level of affordable housing is the maximum the scheme can support while remaining financially viable.

A report prepared for the meeting on Tuesday said: “Members expressed concern that the proposed provision of ten per cent affordable housing was not commensurate with the scale of development and queried whether a higher percentage should be secured.

“In response to the committee’s resolution, the applicant has submitted further information. These documents reiterate the applicant’s position that the proposed ten per cent affordable housing provision remains policy-compliant and supported by the most recent viability evidence.”

A revised viability assessment has been independently reviewed on behalf of North Yorkshire Council and officers continue to conclude that requiring additional affordable homes would make the development unviable.

The application seeks outline permission for a major mixed-use development comprising up to 1,500 homes, together with a primary school, local centre, employment land, public open space, sports pitches and associated infrastructure.

The committee report states that the independent review supports the developer’s position and that the proposed Section 106 agreement would continue to secure the ten per cent affordable housing provision alongside contributions towards education, highways, healthcare, open space and other local infrastructure.

If approved, the development would become one of the largest housing schemes in North Yorkshire and would be built over a number of phases.

Council officers continue to recommend that the application is approved

Holidaymakers have said that the Mediterranean Sea is so hot they can’t even go for a dip to cool off. 

Tourists visiting Mallorca have reported that the sea is offering little respite from the heat that is enveloping Europe. 

One German tourist told Mallorca Magazin: ‘The sea is so incredibly warm! This isn’t normal!

‘I even swam out further, but the water just didn’t get any cooler.’

Temperatures in the seas around Mallorca in August sit, on average, around 26C. 

But AEMET, Spain‘s national meteorological agency, said this morning that the sea surface temperatures just off the coast of Mallorca reached a sweltering 33.02C on Wednesday. 

If confirmed, this would beat the previous temperature record set in the Mediterranean, 31.96C, which was set in 2024 off the coast of the Egyptian city of El-Arish. 

The record before that was set in 2023, when the mercury hit 28.71C in July of that year.

Tourists apply sunscreen at Palma’s Beach in Palma de Mallorca in 2025

Tourists gather on Palma’s Beach in Palma de Mallorca last year

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It comes as a blistering heatwave engulfed Europe, fuelling wildfires and disrupting life across the continent.  

The extreme weather has pushed temperatures above 40C in several countries, prompting health warnings for millions of people.

Across Europe, authorities are grappling with the consequences of extreme heat: health alerts for millions in Italy, record temperatures in Austria, drought-related disruptions to energy and shipping in Central Europe, and wildfires stretching from France to the Balkans.

Scientists and officials warn that such events are becoming more frequent and intense as the climate warms.

From the Mediterranean to Central Europe, prolonged heat, drought and wildfire conditions are increasingly becoming defining features of summer. 

The current heatwave has exposed vulnerabilities in public health systems, power generation, transportation networks and tourism infrastructure, forcing governments and businesses to adapt to more frequent periods of extreme weather.

Italy’s Health Ministry placed all 27 cities monitored under its national heat surveillance system on red alert on Thursday. 

The alerts stretch from Trieste in the northeast to Palermo in Sicily and signal a health risk for the entire population, not only vulnerable groups such as older adults and people with chronic illnesses.

Authorities urged residents and tourists to avoid direct sunlight during the hottest hours of the day, remain indoors where possible and drink plenty of water as temperatures in some areas approached 40C. 

AEMET said on Thursday that the sea surface temperatures just off the coast of Mallorca reached a sweltering 33.02C on Wednesday

A tourist cools down using a misting fan at the Colosseum in Rome on August 3, 2026 

A dog cools off in the fountain of Piazza De Ferrari in the city centre of Genoa, Italy, August 6 2026

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Tourists at the Rome Colosseum are sprayed with cooling mist on August 6, 2026 

The heat has also forced adjustments at major tourist attractions. The ministries of tourism and culture extended evening opening hours at landmarks including Rome’s Colosseum and Pantheon.

Cooling mist fans have been installed at the Colosseum’s entrances and additional medical stations have been made available.

The most intense temperatures were recorded in Austria, where the mercury reached 41.2C on Wednesday in the village of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg near the Slovak border. It was the highest temperature ever recorded in the country.

Austria is also facing severe drought. Rainfall from January 1 through June 30 was 27 per cent below the long-term average nationwide, while some eastern regions received only half their normal precipitation.

Climatologist Alexander Orlik said some parts of the country had not experienced such dry conditions since 1885.

In Hungary, prolonged drought and record-low water levels on the Danube River have severely affected the country’s only nuclear power plant, which relies on river water to cool its reactors.

Plant operators have reduced output to about 10 per cent of normal production, prompting the government to introduce emergency conservation measures as a record-breaking heatwave grips the country.

The heatwave has shattered temperature records across the country. On Wednesday night, Budapest recorded its warmest overnight low temperature on record, with temperatures falling only to 28C, underscoring the persistence of the extreme heat.

A so-called ‘Hungerstein’ (hunger stone), a hydrological landmark, from 1857, is visible in the Rhine River during low water levels in Worms, Germany, August 6 2026

A passenger ship passes the Castle Pfalzgrafenstein on the Rhine River in Kaub, Germany, August 6, 2026

Tourists wait to fill up their water bottles at a drinking fountain in Rome in the scorching heat on August 6, 2026 

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Germany faced growing concerns over the impact of drought on transportation and industry as water levels on the Rhine and other rivers continued to fall.

Transport Minister Steffen Bilger met affected organisations Thursday and warned that low water levels posed major challenges for inland waterway shipping, industry and the broader logistics chain.

Environmental group BUND urged authorities to focus not only on the economic impacts but also on making rivers more resilient to climate change by retaining more water in landscapes and reducing withdrawals during periods of drought.

In south-eastern France, firefighters maintained a large presence in the Var region after authorities said a major wildfire there was no longer spreading but remained capable of reigniting.

The blaze, which began on July 20, has burned more than 23 square miles, making it the largest recorded in the region in recent decades.

Authorities warned that strong winds and extremely dry conditions left south-eastern France at very high risk for additional wildfires.

The heatwave reached its peak across the Balkans on Thursday as temperatures neared 40C and authorities battled drought and wildfires.

In Serbia, firefighters struggled to contain several blazes after days of dry weather. One major fire burned through pine forests west of Belgrade, while another spread near the central town of Kraljevo, where difficult terrain complicated firefighting efforts.

This is lower than the corresponding figure for each year from 2018 to 2024 and is the first time the total has dropped below 50% since the survey began

Less than half of adults agree that asylum seekers should be allowed to stay in Northern Ireland, a new survey has suggested.

The results of the research from Stormont’s Executive Office suggest a hardening of attitudes towards asylum seekers and refugees in the region.

The report analyses data from the Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey, examining public attitudes to refugees and asylum seekers.

It found that in 2025, 49% of respondents agreed that asylum seekers should be allowed to stay in Northern Ireland.

This is lower than the corresponding figure for each year from 2018 to 2024 and is the first time the total has dropped below 50% since the survey began.

The research also found that just over one quarter (27%) of respondents in 2025 agreed Northern Ireland is a society that welcomes refugees escaping persecution in their home country, again a decrease from previous years.

In 2025, 57% of respondents agreed that it is “our duty to provide protection to refugees who are escaping persecution in their home country”.

It also found that just over two fifths (41%) of respondents in 2025 agreed that “refugees contribute to our society”.

The same question received support of 53% in 2023 and 50% in 2024.

In 2025, 37% of respondents agreed that they would like more opportunities to get to know asylum seekers or refugees. The total was 44% in 2023 and 47% in 2024.

There was no change in the proportion who agreed that people’s perceptions of refugees and asylum seekers were negatively affected by the media between 2024 and 2025 – 69% in both years.

Data for the 2025 NILT survey was collected between September 26 and December 14 2025 from 1,000 adults, weighted to reflect Northern Ireland’s population.

Racially motivated riots have broken out in Northern Ireland on three occasions in recent years.

In the most recent unrest there was violence in Belfast and some other areas in June after a refugee was charged with the attempted murder of a man in the city.

The survey also reveals variations in attitudes to asylum seekers based on geographical location and religious background.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Minnie Driver has been left with a sprained neck after colliding with another car in a ‘really bad’ crash during a trip to Paris.

The 56-year-old Emily in Paris star shared a video on Instagram in which she wore a neck brace and lay in bed while detailing the crash on a French country road.

Speaking from her London home, she said the collision had happened a few days ago while driving with a friend and they ‘somehow walked out of it’

Driver said: ‘Well, we didn’t walk out of it; we crawled out of it, but we did get out of it alive. To be very clear, it was not our fault.

‘We were driving on a country road in the middle of France and a car didn’t stop at an intersection and was going at speed, and we just T-boned it.

‘I’m fine. I’ve got a sprained neck, and I’m really in shock and cry all the time. But I’m going to heal and the reason that I’m not dead, honestly, is the car that we were driving.’

The Good Will Hunting star went on to describe how the 360-degree airbags in her Kia car ‘saved their lives’.

Noting she has never been in a crash before, Driver continued: ‘The fact the entire car didn’t just concertina and crush us is down to the design of that car – which is frankly astonishing.’

Joking that she was not doing an advertisement for the Kia car, she went on to sing its praises, emotionally adding: ‘We’ve got families and people who love us and I am so grateful to be alive.’

The video also included an image of the car wreckage and a photograph of Driver and her friend Ben walking out of the French hospital, having been treated.

In the caption, Driver offered a shoutout to ‘the van driver who stopped and helped us before the ambulances arrived’, but also mentioned ‘the car who slowed down, took in the scene and drove off without stopping’.

She added: ‘My brain keeps replaying the crash, which is very hard but seems to be a necessary part of processing. Weeping, too, feels good and helpful.

‘Thank you to my friends, my family, all the people at work and especially my friend Ben and his family. I love you.’