🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧 Westminster 'must prepare for a post-UK future,' John Swinney says

THE momentum for constitutional change is “undeniable” and Westminster “must prepare for a post-UK future”, John Swinney has said ahead of meetings with the first ministers of Wales and Northern Ireland.

Scotland’s First Minister will speak to Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill in Cardiff on Monday, as well as a series of engagements with the Welsh Government.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Swinney said there could be “no clearer sign that the status quo is not sustainable” and that Westminster “must prepare for a post-UK future”.

He said: “Every nation across these islands is standing at a moment of incredible constitutional opportunity.

“There is a growing consensus that the Westminster system simply is not fit for purpose and does not work for ordinary people. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has accepted that himself – and the people of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have made it clear at the ballot box.

“For the first time ever, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are led by a pro-independence First Ministers.

“There could be no clearer sign that the status quo is not sustainable – and that Westminster must prepare for a post-UK future.

“And crucially, for the first time since 2014, there is a British Prime Minister who has publicly accepted the democratic principle of self-determination.

“The momentum behind serious constitutional change is undeniable. Andy Burnham must now be facing up to the idea that he will go down in history as the final Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.”

🔗 https://www.thenational.scot/news/26545086.westminster-must-prepare-post-uk-future--john-swinney-says/

🇾🇪⚔️🇾🇪 Houthi tribal mobilization shows long lines of armed Toyota technicals in the desert, the classic Yemen war image.

Bani Hashish tribes pledge readiness to march on Marib, the last major government stronghold in the north.

Toyota pickups with mounted guns remain the backbone of Houthi ground power.

🔗 Clash Report (@clashreport)

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 Ukraine's PR counterattacks earlier this year resulted in the weakening of the defenses in the Orekhov sector which are now crumbling under sustained Russian attacks.

the Ukrainian XVII Corps defending the city of Orekhov and the surrounding towns and villages is under attack from the east and southeast by subunits of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division and the 38th Motorized Rifle Brigade. The Russians are aiming to completely isolate two large fortification systems: south of Malaya Tokmachka, encompassing the area of Hill 128, and north of that village on the right bank of the Konka River, encompassing the areas of Hill 136 and Hill 138. Meanwhile, units of the Russian 35th Army from the "East" grouping of forces are attempting to isolate the entire Orekhov stronghold area through DRG operations, infiltrating the area north of Novopavlovka and thereby cutting off the last remaining Ukrainian logistical route to Orekhov.

Last week, visual confirmation was obtained of the full control by the Russian 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment over the center of Malaya Tokmachka. At the same time, its leading assault groups are reaching the western outskirts of that village. On September 2, DRG units of the 71st Motorized Rifle Regiment, near the eastern outskirts of Orekhov, crossed to the northern bank of the Konka River and established a small bridgehead encompassing the easternmost buildings of Preobrazhenka. This action is intended to support the operations of the 38th Motorized Rifle Brigade advancing on Preobrazhenka from the direction of Chervonaya Krinitsa. At the same time, DRG units of the 1198th Motorized Rifle Regiment, infiltrating along the bottom of the Orekhov Ravine, cut the Omelnyk-Orekhov road and penetrated the area of Hill 123. The next Russian objective is to cut the Tavricheskoe - Orekhov road.

🔗 Thorkill

🇺🇸🕊🇮🇷 President Trump says the war with Iran will be over after the Midterms. He also says Iran "wants to make a deal badly" and that "they are calling constantly".

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸🇬🇧 Q: What do you make of what the British PM said about your comments on a united Ireland?

TRUMP: I don't know what he said

Q: He said there will be no referendum until the majority of people in Northern Ireland--

TRUMP: Everybody says that, and then things happen. One thing he's going to do is he's going to be stopping the stupid windmills

🔗 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)

🇺🇸❌🇺🇦 President Trump is upset with Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelensky, for sending drones after Russia's oil refineries which caused the country to stop exporting diesel fuel creating a global diesel crunch

Trump also claims the diesel crunch "has nothing to do with the Middle East".

Trump: "Zelenskyy has to do one thing -- he has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia. He's causing a shortage of diesel fuel. This isn't done by the Middle East, this is done by what's happening with Russia and Ukraine."

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸⛽️ Trump: "The country is booming. Iran will end right after the midterms. Gasoline is gonna drop like a rock."

@CIG_telegram

🤖 Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Sam Altman Call For A Slowdown In Frontier AI

Dario Amodei has spent five years arguing that Anthropic could build frontier AI carefully and still win commercially. On Saturday he added a condition to that thesis: the whole industry has to ease off the accelerator.

In a roughly 3,900-word essay titled “We Must Pace the Frontier,” the Anthropic co-founder and CEO wrote that “we must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models.” He was explicit that pacing does not mean halting training or technical progress. It means building in enough time for alignment work, third-party verification and operational rigor to keep up with what the models can do.

Within hours, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on X that “I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier,” adding that OpenAI would match Anthropic’s first commitment. Elon Musk’s reaction ran three words: “Dario is right.”

Amodei has been skeptical of slowdown calls before. In the essay he dismisses the 2023 “pause” letter as premature, because the models of that era could not act as coherent agents and there was little to study. He says two developments since the summer convinced him that the calculus has flipped.

📝: The only reason all the big AI CEOs are calling for a "slow down" in AI development are physical constraints in data center construction and the maintenance of LLMs which need an ever increasing number of MWh to keep operating.

While they may cite cybersecurity as a reason, that hasn't stopped the development of LLMs until building data centers became impossible due to the price of raw materials (lack thereof) or opposition from the communities which were going to have to share local resources with the data centers.

Dario Amodei and Sam Altman's calls for the slow down of AI development "coincide" with China restricting the export of rare earth metals necessary in data center construction, memory chip shortages, and a lack of energy production.

Already 5% of the U.S' energy output is used to power existing data centers. The data center construction frenzy may lead to as much as 25% the U.S' energy production being used to power data centers LLMs rely on.

With the price of diesel skyrocketing and the looming threat of shortages of other petrochemical products which are used in the construction of data centers and computer chips, the resources to maintain the AI boom just aren't available anymore so the AI companies need an excuse to scale back and the excuse they've decided on is the "AI doomsday" shtick to show how "responsible" Amodei and Altman are with their toys.

🔗 https://www.forbes.com/sites/gabrielalinzainescu/2026/09/13/anthropic-ceo-dario-amodei-calls-for-a-slowdown-in-frontier-ai/