US president accuses UK of thinking it can ‘make an easy buck’ from US tech companies, weeks after warning that UK–US trade deal can be changed Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the UK if it does not drop its digital services tax on US social media firms. The digital services tax, introduced in 2020, imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech companies. Continue reading...

US report warns it could take six months to clear strait of mines as Trump declares ‘total control’ over key waterway – key US politics stories from Thursday 23 April at a glance Donald Trump has again said that the US has “total control over the strait of Hormuz”, adding that Iran’s leadership was so hobbled by infighting that it was unclear who was in charge. But the US president’s claim seemed questionable in the face of the seizure of two container ships by Iranian commandos and a US report warning it could take six months to clear the strait of mines. Continue reading...

Foreign ministry says remarks of conservative podcast host Michael Savage that were shared by US president were ‘obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste’ India on Thursday criticised as inappropriate a post by Donald Trump in which he shared comments that called the South Asian country a “hellhole”. The inflammatory post on Truth Social comes ahead of a planned visit next month to India by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who is seeking to ease recent tensions between the normally friendly powers. Continue reading...

Duke of Sussex says US must ‘honour obligations’ as it persuaded Ukraine to give up nuclear weapons; US president retorts that Harry doesn’t speak for Britain. What we know on day 1,521 Donald Trump has said the Duke of Sussex “is not speaking for the UK” after Prince Harry told the US to honour its obligations in the Ukrainian conflict. “I think I am speaking for the UK more than Prince Harry … But I appreciate his advice very much,” said Trump, responding to the duke’s lengthy, impassioned speech at the Kyiv Security Forum on Thursday. Harry, an ex-serviceman, did not claim to be speaking for the UK. He said he was “not here as a politician” but as “a soldier who understands service” and a “humanitarian”. Harry said: “The United States has a singular role in this story. Not only because of its power, but because when Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons, America was part of the assurance that Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders would be respected. This is a moment for American leadership, a moment for America, to show that it can honour its international treaty obligations – not out of charity but out of its own enduring role in global security and strategic stability.” A Ukrainian MP has told how he flew a drone intercepter from thousands of kilometres away, throwing a spotlight on the effectiveness of Ukraine’s technology. Marian Zablotskiy said that in a “historic experiment … I piloted an FPV interceptor drone first from my office, then from right in front of the state border, and then from somewhere about 2,000km away from the drone itself – from abroad. I consider this breakthrough a decisive factor in finally stopping the Russian offensive.” Ukrainian drone manufacturer Wild Hornets confirmed Zablotskiy’s involvement to Agence France-Presse and said it wanted the remote control system to “become the primary method of drone control”. Mykhailo Fedorov, the defence minister in Kyiv, said: “Ukraine is the first in the world to systematically scale up remote control of interceptor drones. Today, we have confirmed results – the downing of targets at distances of hundreds and thousands of kilometres.” Continue reading...

Mendoza is a lock at No 1. What will happen next? Staff predictions: stars, needs and lower-round gems Mail david.lengel@theguardian.com with your thoughts Draft order I’m just drop this right here. Is that OK? Continue reading...

Spurs face must-win game at Wolves, Arsenal fight to keep title hopes alive and Chelsea step into a post-Rosenior world Maybe it is a case of fourth time lucky for Nottingham Forest. Certainly Vítor Pereira – manager No 4 in the most chaotic of seasons – is doing something right. The Europa League semi-finalists are unbeaten in their last five Premier League games and will arrive at the Stadium of Light knowing victory would move them within touching distance of safety. Their visit should provide an interesting tactical challenge for Sunderland. Régis Le Bris’ side often excel on the counterattack but Forest are likely to sit deep and invite their hosts to unpick their packed defence while hoping to hurt them on the break. Le Bris will surely need Nordi Mukiele to advance with typical verve from right-back, while, in midfield, Noah Sadiki and Enzo Le Fée will be required to demonstrate precisely why they are being watched by several leading clubs. This Sunderland team often plays with real and refreshing personality. Can Forest subdue it? Louise Taylor Sunderland v Nottingham Forest, Premier League, Friday 8pm (all times BST) Fulham v Aston Villa, Premier League, Saturday 12.30pm West Ham v Everton, Premier League, Saturday 3pm Wolves v Tottenham, Premier League, Saturday 3pm Continue reading...

Thirteen years after her celebrated debut, the author returns with a bizarre, evocative work that merges science and the surreal Romy Ash’s debut novel, Floundering, has sat on my bookshelf since the Sydney Morning Herald, where I worked as literary editor, named her as one of the best young Australian novelists in 2013 – the year she was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin literary award among others. The Australian author Cate Kennedy wrote of the neglected young brothers in Floundering: “These boys are so real you will lie awake worrying about them” – words so true that I still feel anxious for them. Continue reading...

Meta said it would cut 10% of it employees while Microsoft will offer voluntary retirement to about 7% of workers Meta and Microsoft are trimming their workforces by thousands as they make heavy investments in AI and executives claim that the technology is meeting their companies’ productivity needs. Meta told staff on Thursday that on 20 May it would cut some 10% of its personnel just under 8,000 employees– to boost efficiency, part of a layoff plan made months ago. The company is also closing about 6,000 open roles. The same day, Microsoft announced to employees, for the first time, that it would offer voluntary retirement to about 7% of its American workforce of roughly 125,000. Continue reading...

As team look to salvage season, ‘crazy decision’ to take engine building in-house looks set to pay off and steer them back to the front of the grid Driven hard, driven fast is very much the norm in Formula One, on and off track, but even by the sport’s own standards the development of Red Bull’s in-house engine project has been exceptional. As is what it has delivered. Walking through the gleaming corridors of the team’s bespoke engine manufacturing department at their Milton Keynes headquarters, it is all but impossible to conceive that only four years ago the area where the buildings stand was just empty space peppered with rubble. Continue reading...

Baton Rouge police chief says attack unfolded after argument inside food court at Mall of Louisiana Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email At least 10 people were injured and transported to the hospital Thursday when two groups exchanged gunfire inside the food court at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, according to police. Several of the people involved ran off as a large police presence responded. Continue reading...

National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report further says crash prevention system didn’t generate alert A firefighter whose truck collided with an Air Canada jet last month on a runway at New York’s LaGuardia airport, killing both pilots, heard an air traffic controller warn “stop, stop, stop” but didn’t know who it was for, federal investigators said Thursday. The National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on the 22 March collision that a crash prevention system for air traffic controllers didn’t generate an audio or visual alert, and lights on the runway that act as a stop light for crossing traffic were on until about three seconds before the collision. Continue reading...

Force says it is ‘confident there was no offence’ and condemns ‘shameful’ behaviour by protesters The investigation into reports of a rape outside a church in Epsom that led to widespread public disorder will close as police are “confident there was no offence”. Surrey police received a report on Saturday 11 April that a woman had been raped near a church in the early hours of the morning after leaving Labyrinth nightclub in Epsom. Continue reading...

Four seats are put on sale for $2,299,998.85 each Fifa doesn’t set offerings, but some go above $100,000 Governing body takes 15% from both buyer and seller Fifa’s resale site has four tickets on sale for the World Cup final for just under $2.3m each. The $2,299,998.85 seats for the 19 July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, are located behind a goal in the lower deck in block 124, row 45, seats 33-36. Continue reading...

New Wolsey theatre, Ipswich Vikki Stone’s freely adapted version of the once notorious seafaring broadcaster’s history is a terrrific premise for delivering a string of 60s hits A pirate radio station is a clever subject for a jukebox musical. And there’s none more famous than Radio Caroline, whose revolutionary broadcasts from a boat off the Essex coast launched a culture war with the British government. Writer Vikki Stone has partly fictionalised the story of that ship, with characters only tangentially based on the people – record-spinner Tony Blackburn, Irish businessman Ronan O’Rahilly – it made famous. Instead we have Robbie, a young man struggling to make his way until his love of pop lands him a DJ job, and his childhood sweetheart Caroline, supporting his dreams until she finds herself losing him to the boat of the same name. At New Wolsey theatre, Ipswich, until 2 May. Then touring until 20 June Continue reading...

Mandated release of files was marred by missed deadlines, leaked victims’ information and excessive redactions US politics live – latest updates The US Department of Justice’s office of the inspector general (OIG) announced on Thursday that it is launching an audit of the justice department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. In a news release, the deputy inspector general William M Blier, who the statement said is performing the duties of the inspector general, said that the “preliminary objective” of the internal probe “is to evaluate the [justice department’s] processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act”. Continue reading...

Tensions around US negotiations may reflect mistake of assassinating more pragmatic and experienced figures Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump has claimed that the infighting between moderates and hardliners in Iran’s leadership is so intense that the country has “no idea who their leader is”, but many Iranian experts questioned his analysis, saying that – given the mass assassinations of senior commanders – the country has shown remarkable institutional cohesion. Trump’s allegations of “CRAZY” splits in the Iranian leadership – the second outing for this argument in three days – is remarkable since he has previously said either he has little knowledge of the new Iranian leadership or that there has already been regime change. Continue reading...

Hope Not Hate campaign identifies election hopefuls calling for a ‘white Britain’ and complaining of ‘kowtowing to the black community’ A Reform UK candidate who called for a “white Britain” and said Keir Starmer should be shot is among a number fuelling doubts about the party’s claim to have tightened up its vetting. The past comments of Linda McFarlane and other political hopefuls have been unearthed ahead of the 7 May elections, including one who complained about “constant kowtowing to the black community” and others who endorsed the far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Continue reading...

Police allegedly found images on iCloud account of singer accused of killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez A Los Angeles prosecutor said that the singer D4vd, who was charged this week in the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, was in possession of a “significant amount of child pornography”. Police allegedly found the images on the iCloud account of the 21-year-old singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke. Continue reading...

Seven-day-old Poppy Hope Lomas died after complications during home birth encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospital A mother who lost her baby a week after an “unsafe” home birth that went against medical advice was failed by the NHS, an inquest has found. Poppy Hope Lomas was seven days old when she died at University College hospital in London on 26 October 2022 after complications during a home birth that, according to her mother, was encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospital. Continue reading...

Study of fossilised beaks shows patterns of wear and suggests some ancient species were up to 19 metres long Giant “kraken-like” octopuses that used powerful beaks to crunch through bones of prey were among the most formidable predators of the Cretaceous oceans, according to research. Analysis of dozens of newly identified fossils reveals that some ancient octopus species reached up to 19 metres in length, meaning they would have rivalled – and possibly even preyed upon – apex predators such as mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. Continue reading...

More than 200,000 have signed petitions urging the government to break contracts, amid concerns about the company’s ‘supervillain’ manifesto Over 200,000 people have called on ministers to break contracts with Palantir in an apparent groundswell of public concern about the US tech company’s role in the NHS, police, military and councils. Two petitions have attracted 229,000 signatures, one calling for the government to end all public contracts with the firm, whose software is used by Donald Trump’s ICE immigration enforcement programme and the Israeli military, and another urging the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to cancel its £330 patient data contract with the NHS. Continue reading...

National broadcaster confirms it will not broadcast world’s largest live music event National broadcasters in Ireland, Spain and Slovenia will not air the Eurovision song contest this year, after they decided to boycott the event over Israel’s participation. Having already announced it would not submit a national entry, Slovenian broadcaster RTV confirmed on Thursday it would implement a broadcasting blackout of the world’s largest live music event and instead show a series of films about Palestine. Continue reading...

Forecasting service raises alarm over data from Paris airport used to settle Polymarket wagers on temperature French police are investigating alleging tampering with national weather forecasting service equipment after a series of unusual temperature readings coincided with suspicious winning bets made on Polymarket. Data from a Météo-France weather station at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport was used to settle bets between online gamblers on what the temperature would be in Paris for March and the first weeks of April. Continue reading...

WTA chief executive appointed only in June 2024 Tour needs to fine new venue for flagship event A number of top players on the WTA tour expressed their surprise at the abrupt decision by WTA chief executive, Portia Archer, to resign from her role this week after two years at the helm. “I heard literally two minutes ago, so I really don’t know why now and everything,” said Iga Swiatek after winning her first-round match 6-1, 6-2 against Daria Snigur at the Madrid Open. “We always had a good relationship. I felt like she listened to what we had to say and was really open-minded.” Continue reading...

Albert Manifold and his board refused to put a request from investor group on annual meeting agenda – leading to an investor revolt BP has fresh faces in the boardroom and a rigged strategy: it’s pivoting back to oil and gas and away from its low-carbon assets in an attempt to improve a weak share price. One can agree or disagree with the approach. But it was a silly act of overreach for a newish chair to try to stifle debate on such matters. That, in effect, was what Albert Manifold did when he excluded a resolution for Thursday’s annual meeting from Follow This, a Dutch investor group. The proposal itself cannot be described as explosive. It was pitched in investor-friendly terms and would merely have obliged BP to describe how it would protect shareholder value if demand for oil and gas falls. Nor is Follow This some two-bob outfit within the ranks of climate groups. It was claiming support from investors with $1tn under management. Continue reading...