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Close Philip Pullman addresses controversial Roald Dahl edits Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice A number of Agatha Christie novels have been rewritten for modern sensitivities, with racist terms removed and passages of text amended. The news comes weeks after books by Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming were similarly edited following sensitivity reviews. Christie’s Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries have undergone edits such that original passages have either been reworked or removed in new editions published by HarperCollins, as reported by The Telegraph. According to the publication, these new editions were either already released in 2020 or are set to be released. Insiders have said these editions used the services of sensitivity readers.

Presenter and comedian Paul O'Grady has died at the age of 67. He died "unexpectedly but peacefully" on Tuesday evening, his husband Andre Portasio said in a statement. O'Grady rose to fame in the 1990s with his drag queen persona Lily Savage, going on to present game show Blankety Blank and other light entertainment programmes.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into model year 2022 and 2023 Tesla Model X SUVs because there may be a problem with their front seatbelt attachments. NHTSA will launch an investigation when there’s reason to believe there may be a safety issue requiring action such as a recall. An investigation may, or may not, eventually result in a recall.

Artificial intelligence (AI) could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs, a report by investment bank Goldman Sachs says. It could replace a quarter of work tasks in the US and Europe but may also mean new jobs and a productivity boom. And it could eventually increase the total annual value of goods and services produced globally by 7%. Generative AI, able to create content indistinguishable from human work, is "a major advancement", the report says.

While flames lapped around melting tyres on Tel Aviv's main highway, doctors walked out of hospitals and Israel's main airport was shut down, Benjamin Netanyahu kept a country waiting. Unprecedented protests and strikes gripped Israel on Monday, the climax of months of dissent over the government's plans to strip power from Israel's judges. Now with a nation in crisis, all sides watched for the prime minister to act. When he finally appeared on national TV - maximising the impact with a live address at the top of the 20:00 nightly news shows - he began by likening his position to a story about King Solomon. Just as the biblical monarch had to judge which of two competing women was the real loving mother of a baby, he had made his own decision when it came to the two sides contesting his reforms.

The terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland has been raised. The move, based on a Security Service (MI5) intelligence assessment, follows a rise in dissident republican activity, including a gun attack last month on a senior police officer. It sees the threat level raised from substantial to severe, meaning the risk of attack or attacks has gone from "likely" to "highly likely". It was announced by Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris. Tuesday's announcement reverses last year's downgrade which was the first change in Northern Ireland in 12 years. How do terrorism threat levels work?

At least 20 pilgrims have been killed and 29 others injured in a bus crash in Saudi Arabia, local media report. The bus was transporting the pilgrims to the Islamic holy city of Mecca on Monday when it hit a bridge in the south-western province of Asir, overturned and caught fire. Videos posted on social media showed the vehicle engulfed in flames. Authorities are still investigating the cause, but the newspaper Okaz said there was an issue with the brakes. Saudi-owned Al Arabiya said the victims were of different nationalities but that they included several Saudis. They had reportedly been planning to undertake the lesser Muslim pilgrimage, or Umrah. It includes some of the rituals of the Hajj, but they are shortened and there are fewer of them.

Admittedly it is hard to keep track of North Korea's missile launches these days. Especially when they fire a weapon almost every other day, as we have seen over the past fortnight. The launches in isolation no longer generate the headlines they used to, but if we look at the latest tests all together there is much we can learn. North Korea says it is punishing the US and South Korea for holding their largest military drills in years. The allies have been practising how to defeat the North in the event of an attack. This is not a scenario its leader Kim Jong Un relishes. Only this is not a typical North Korean protest. In the past it has responded to such drills by firing off a mix of short, medium, and long-range missiles, and perhaps some artillery shells. What do we know about North Korea?