Afternoon Update: Sam Neill dies aged 78; Jewish academic subjected to Nazi salutes; and a growing garbage mountain

Good afternoon.

Sam Neill, the versatile New Zealand actor whose career spanned Oscar winners and blockbusters such as The Piano and Jurassic Park, has died aged 78.

The actor’s death was announced on Monday in a statement shared on his Instagram account. No cause of death was given, but Neill had only recently revealed he was cancer-free after being diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, in 2022.

“It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life,” the post said.

“The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free. They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care.

“More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”

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In video

At least 27 people have died in a fire at a Bangkok pub, Thailand’s prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, said, visiting the site of the tragedy today. You can find the full report here.

What they said …

“It’s not that deep” – Josh Fawaz.

Music experts and other musicians are questioning whether the Australian producer’s hit song, a cover of Madonna’s Like a Prayer, could have been made using AI.

“I use AI as a tool,” Fawaz has previously said on Instagram, under a post criticising his work. “What I care about [is] providing my listeners with good music.”

(Director Christopher Nolan has weighed in on AI elsewhere, saying the idea it could replace human creativity is “nonsense”.)

Podcast

China’s massive AI rollout – podcast

While the spread of AI has been met perhaps with a lot of scepticism in the west, China has fully embraced the technology, explains Amy Hawkins, from millions of users talking to AI doctors, to the use of intelligent robots in factories and drones delivering food on the Great Wall of China.

Before bed read

On the outskirts of Jakarta, huge rolling peaks of rubbish stretch across more than 100 hectares, towering over nearby villages. Each day a convoy of trucks plough in and dump more garbage into Bantar Gebang, one of Asia’s largest landfills.

As Michael Neilson reports from the capital, Indonesia’s government is grappling with how to manage the mountain of waste – which supports the livelihood of as many as 10,000 waste pickers.

Daily word game

Today’s starter word is: OWED. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.

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