It’s not possible to predict horrific acts, writes Stephen Smith while Bill Nightingale and Sarah James draw attention to the underfunding of mental health services and other public services

Gaby Hinsliff ( Axel Rudakubana walked a long path to murder. At what point could he have been stopped?, 24 January ) and your editorial (23 January) ask the question that arises when somebody commits an act that causes us deep distress: “What can we do to prevent this from happening again?” The realistic answer, sadly, is “nothing”, because such obscene acts are not manageable by social care, policing or state intervention. There are very dark places lurking in some human beings, and there are no policies or interventions that will eradicate them. Fortunately, such acts are extremely rare.

The law cannot permit “preventive detention”, or punishment before the crime. A large number of people are walking around with sociopathic, psychopathic and disturbing personality characteristics. Until they commit a crime, they cannot have their liberties curtailed. An inquiry might help, though there is a risk that, as ever in moral panics, socially harmful increases in the power of state agencies will penalise significant numbers of people who would do no harm.

A number of companies have been able to make these low-energy nuclear reactions work reliably, write Brian Josephson , David J Nagel , Alan Smith , Dr Jean-Paul Biberian and Yasuhiro Iwamura

Luca Garzotti observes ( Letters, 22 January ) that serious challenges face the production of energy from processes based on thermonuclear fusion, but failed to mention a crucially important alternative, low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR), commonly known as cold fusion.

Readers of the Guardian’s 2012 obituary of Martin Fleischmann will know that the situation regarding cold fusion is more complicated than that commonly assumed: that the claims of Fleischmann and Stanley Pons for the process were discredited. The reality is that subsequent research showed that it was the critics who were wrong, something not widely known because editors of the main journals, under the impression that the claims were false, blocked the publication of papers suggesting otherwise.

• PRA calls off planned boycott due to start on Saturday
• ‘We believe this is in the best interests of the sport’

Plans to boycott television interviews by trainers at Sandown on Saturday have been abandoned “in the best interests of the sport”, the Professional Racing Association announced on Tuesday.

The PRA, which was founded in 2024 and headed by the former British Horseracing Board chair Peter Savill, claims to have around 170 trainers among its members and had said only on Monday that they would be instructed to decline interviews with both ITV Racing and Racing TV at this weekend’s feature meeting in Britain unless Racecourse Media Group, which owns the media rights for Sandown and several more of the country’s most high-profile tracks, agreed to a demand for an annual payment of £500,000 for interviews at RMG courses.

Italy caused controversy over release of Osama Najim, who is wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes

Giorgia Meloni has said she is under investigation in connection with Italy’s unexpected release and repatriation last week of a Libyan general who is wanted for war crimes by the international criminal court.

The Italian prime minister said in a video message posted on social media that she is suspected of aiding and abetting a crime and embezzlement in connection with the case of Libya’s chief of judicial police, Osama Najim – also called Almasri.

Investors’ surprise over Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek echoes the belief in first-mover advantage of the dotcom bubble

Sam Altman’s assessment of the new Chinese AI chatbot spoke volumes – “impressive, particularly around what they’re able to deliver for the price”. The OpenAI chief executive remembered to add his firm would be launching “better models” soon, but his praise for DeepSeek’s R1 version would seem to clear up one question for AI luddites: Is the Chinese product as good as the pundits are saying ? Answer: if Altman is saying so, yes, it probably is.

Other mysteries remain, of course. Has DeepSeek really developed the thing on the comical shoestring budget of $6m? Or is the model running on Nvidia chips, just using fewer of them and of the older variety? If so, could it be good news for Nvidia in the long run that the AI game has new entrants? But does a chunk of spending by others on computing power for the AI arms race already represent wasted money?

Welsh opera singer’s announcement follows apology for ‘inappropriate and unacceptable’ remark at tour launch

The Welsh opera singer Wynne Evans has said he will “take some time out” from his radio show and the Strictly Come Dancing live tour.

It comes after he apologised for an “inappropriate and unacceptable” remark made during the tour launch earlier this month.

Exclusive: Keir Starmer suspended the seven in July after they voted against two-child benefit cap

The first of the seven Labour MPs who were suspended for voting against the two-child benefit cap are set to have the whip restored within days if they agree to avoid further rebellions in future, the Guardian understands.

However, several of the MPs, including John McDonnell, who was shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, are not expected to have the whip restored at the same time as whips believe they have continued to be “troublemakers”.

• Bournemouth, West Ham and Tottenham keen on striker
• Dortmund, Juventus and Porto keen on Chukwuemeka

Bayer Leverkusen have joined the race to sign Evan Ferguson but face competition for the Brighton striker from Bournemouth, Everton, Tottenham and West Ham.

Ferguson, who is recovering from an ankle injury, has fallen down the pecking order at the Amex stadium this season and Brighton are deliberating over whether to let the Republic of Ireland international leave on loan. Interested clubs are under the impression that a permanent deal is not on the table.

Atomic scientists push clock to 89 seconds before midnight, citing nuclear risk, AI and climate crisis as a ‘warning’

A panel of international scientists has moved their symbolic “Doomsday Clock” closer to midnight than ever before, citing Russian nuclear threats amid its invasion of Ukraine, tensions in other world hot spots, military applications of artificial intelligence and the climate crisis as factors underlying the risks of global catastrophe.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the clock to 89 seconds before midnight – the theoretical point of annihilation. That is one second closer than it was set last year. The Chicago-based nonprofit created the clock in 1947 during the cold war tensions that followed the second world war to warn the public about how close humankind was to destroying the world.