Surprise

• Taylor Swift revealed on April 16 the final US dates for her 'Eras Tour' kicking off June 15 in Miami, wrapping December 20 in New Orleans, via social media to 300 million followers. • Confirmed openers include Sabrina Carpenter for 12 shows and Post Malone for five stadium dates, with ticket sales starting April 18 via Ticketmaster. • The announcement sent Ticketmaster crashing briefly, with resale prices already hitting $1,200 average per Billboard reports, underscoring Swift's $2 billion tour dominance.

• Beyoncé surprise-released 'Renaissance Act III' at midnight ET on April 16, featuring 14 tracks blending country and R&B with collabs from Miley Cyrus and Shaboozey. • The album debuted with 25 million global streams in first hour, topping US iTunes charts per Parkwood Entertainment. • Critics hail it as 'a bold evolution' in Rolling Stone, positioning Beyoncé for Album of the Year Grammy contention amid her cultural renaissance trilogy.

ONS figure for February suggests economy was gaining momentum before conflict stoked inflation with soaring energy pricesThe UK economy unexpectedly expanded by 0.5% in February, before the war in the Middle East dashed hopes of an uptick in growth this year, official figures show.The unusually large increase reported by the Office for National Statistics, suggests the economy had gained momentum before the conflict began. Economists had forecast just a 0.1% expansion. Continue reading...

First lady had called for a public hearing for survivors but a group of those affected say they have ‘done their part’ and reiterate calls for Pam Bondi to be questionedSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Melania Trump has been accused of “shifting the burden” onto sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s survivors after her extraordinary statement at the White House.Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony.Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility, not justice.It also diverts attention from [former attorney general] Pam Bondi, who must answer for withheld files and the exposure of survivors’ identities.Those failures continue to put lives at risk while shielding enablers. Survivors have done their part. Now it’s time for those in power to do theirs.The push from House Democrats to pass a war powers resolution by unanimous consent failed yesterday, after the pro forma speaker, Republican Chris Smith, did not recognize Democrats. It was always a tall order, given that pushback from even a single member would require Democrats to pursue a formal vote on the resolution.While it’s largely a symbolic move, Democrats in both chambers have vowed to hold votes again when Congress returns from recess next week. On the steps of the US Capitol, lower chamber Democrats appeared confident that when Congress returns from recess next week, they will have at least a couple of House GOP members who are willing to buck their party and pass the resolution.Donald Trump told NBC News that he is “very optimistic” a peace deal with Iran was within reach as a diplomatic delegation led by his vice-president JD Vance prepared to head to Pakistan for high-stakes talks aimed at ending the war this weekend. Iran’s leaders “talk much differently when you’re at a meeting than they do to the press. They’re much more reasonable,” the president said, in line with his administration’s narrative that there’s a disconnect between what Tehran says publicly and privately. Continue reading...

• Taylor Swift revealed her 12th studio album 'Evermore Echoes' during a live stream from Nashville on April 9, featuring collaborations with Post Malone and Lana Del Rey. • The 16-track project includes bonus tracks from fan-voted sessions, priced at $13.99 on digital platforms, set for April 17 release. • This marks Swift's quickest turnaround between albums at 18 months, boosting her streaming dominance amid 1.2 billion monthly Spotify listeners.

Reporters search for answers to why first lady chose to make speech – and whether president knew it was comingMelania Trump’s surprise statement denying she had any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein sparked confusion about why she had chosen to speak out, and whether Donald Trump knew that the first lady was planning to draw attention to a subject he has called for the public to move on from.Even normally well-sourced correspondents for rightwing outlets were at a loss to explain why Melania Trump felt the need to issue the seemingly out-of-the-blue statement about her relationship with Epstein, the late sex offender who socialized with her husband for nearly two decades, or his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Continue reading...

Estée Lauder Companies claims Zara collaboration with perfumer breaches long-standing naming agreementThe British perfumer Jo Malone has said she is “surprised and very sad” after being sued for more than £200,000 in damages for using her name on fragrances she created for the fashion chain Zara.It emerged last month that New York-based multinational Estée Lauder Companies, which owns brands M.A.C, Bobbi Brown, Estée Lauder and Jo Malone London, was taking legal action claiming the fragrance entrepreneur infringed trademarks. Continue reading...