IMF urges UK to ‘stay the course’ on borrowing amid Starmer uncertainty

Bill Bailey and Alan Titchmarsh paint gnomes for king’s garden at event in one-off to raise funds for RHS campaignGarden gnomes should make a permanent return to the Chelsea flower show, celebrities who have painted the mythical creatures for the king’s garden at this year’s event, have said.At the high-end event, which kicks off on Tuesday in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, south-west London, the “tacky” statutes been frowned upon since 1927. Speaking at the show’s press day, the comedian and musician Bill Bailey and the gardener and author Alan Titchmarsurged the Royal Horticultural Society to lift the gnome ban permanently. Continue reading...

Startup has declined to release Claude Mythos AI model publicly amid fears it could be used by hackersBusiness live – latest updatesAnthropic is to brief the global finance watchdog on the implications of its Claude Mythos AI model, whose potential threat to cyber defences has alarmed experts.The US startup will discuss Mythos with the Financial Stability Board, which is chaired by the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey. Continue reading...

US president says there ‘won’t be anything left’ of country if it does not reach agreement. Plus, how to become emotionally mature at any ageGood morning.Donald Trump has voiced impatience at the deadlock over peace talks with Iran, posting on social media: “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”What else is happening in the region? The United Arab Emirates has blamed a fire near its nuclear power plant on a drone launched by Iran or one of its proxies, describing the incident as a “dangerous escalation”.Why is Massie Trump’s nemesis? Massie has been a consistent thorn in Trump’s side, voting against his signature tax and spending cuts bill, helping to force the justice department to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, and insisting on congressional oversight over the military actions in Venezuela and Iran. Now he faces a bruising primary against his Trump-endorsed challenger, Ed Gallrein. Continue reading...

Singer says she has faced ‘years of public shaming’, as court rules tax agency made mistake over her 2011 statusA court in Madrid has ordered Spain’s tax authority to pay Shakira back more than €55m (£48m) after ruling that it had wrongly imposed huge fines on the Colombian singer and philanthropist because it had made mistakes over her tax status.In a statement released on Monday, the Audiencia Nacional said it had accepted an appeal from Shakira against the fine she was handed five years ago after the Agencia Tributaria claimed she had not paid the necessary tax in Spain in 2011. At that time, the singer was in a relationship with the FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué. Continue reading...

Participants who got single dose of psilocybin were more likely to abstain from cocaine than those who got placeboResults from a new clinical trial show that a single dose of psilocybin could be an effective treatment for cocaine addiction.The study, published in Jama Network Open this month, showed that 19 participants who received a single dose of psilocybin were more likely to abstain from cocaine than 17 participants who received a placebo of diphenhydramine, a common antihistamine. Continue reading...

GOP to target seat held by Jim Clyburn, the only Democrat among the state’s seven representatives in the HouseSign up for the Breaking News US emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.An effort to reshape South Carolina’s congressional districts will get its first full airing Monday in the state House.I live in three districts. I’ll decide which one to run in.A US Senate official on Saturday removed security funding that could be used for Donald Trump’s planned $400m White House ballroom from a massive spending package, Democratic lawmakers said, imperilling Republican efforts to devote taxpayer money to the contentious project.The Republican senator Bill Cassidy lost his primary on Saturday, as voters in Louisiana opted instead to advance two challengers to a runoff election after an extraordinary intervention by Trump to oust the incumbent.With two days to go before the next big test of Trump’s iron grip over his party, the president went head-to-head on Sunday with his nemesis, Thomas Massie the Kentucky congressman who is in a fight for his political life in Tuesday’s Republican primary.Workers renovating one of Washington DC’s most historically symbolic sites in a project ordered by Trump may be risking their safety as they race to finish on time for the US’s 250th anniversary celebrations, a union monitoring the site has warned.The FBI director, Kash Patel, is facing new scrutiny following reports that he participated in a snorkelling excursion around the USS Arizona during a trip to Hawaii last summer. Continue reading...

Singer took lead vocal on UK No 1 When You’re in Love With a Beautiful Woman, and had numerous other transatlantic hitsDennis Locorriere, the guitarist and singer with the chart-topping soft rock band Dr Hook, has died aged 76.A statement from his management company said he died on Saturday “after a long and courageous battle with kidney disease … Dennis faced his illness with remarkable strength, dignity, and resilience throughout, and remained deeply cherished by all who knew him”. Continue reading...

Proposed IRS data sharing with immigration authorities and ICE raids have made filing risky for those who are undocumentedThe Trump administration’s immigration crackdown could cause the US to potentially lose up to $479bn in lost tax revenue over the the next 10 years, with enforcement deterring undocumented workers from filing their taxes this year, according to tax experts.Tax advisers say major changes, including proposed data sharing with immigration enforcement, have made filing taxes risky for undocumented immigrants. Tax benefits for immigrant parents have also been removed, further removing incentive to file taxes at all. Continue reading...

Temperatures in France and England could rise by 15C, while hot air could to give way to snow in parts of USAfter a prolonged spell of cool conditions across much of Europe, a dramatic swing in temperatures is expected in the coming days as warmer air surges north into western and central parts of the continent.A large blocking high over the North Atlantic and slow-moving low pressure across southern Scandinavia dragged Arctic air southwards last week, sending temperatures 10-15C below the seasonal average for more than a week. Continue reading...

The historian won $50,000 for her nonfiction book Näku Dhäruk: The Bark Petitions, which judges praised as deeply researched, ‘highly original’ and ‘vividly alive’A “highly original” nonfiction by Melbourne historian Clare Wright, charting the creation of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions – a seminal moment in Australia’s history of land rights – has won book of the year at the NSW literary awards.The Petitions were landmark documents presented by Yolŋu elders to the Australian parliament in 1963 on painted bark frames, which sought government intervention after a portion of Arnhem Land Reserve was licensed to a French mining company. Though it didn’t halt mining on the land, the petitions led to the first land rights legislation in Australia, the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. Continue reading...

Trump warning over peace talks drives up crude price as UK gilts hit by uncertainty over Starmer leadershipBusiness live – latest updatesOil prices rose and global bonds wobbled on Monday, as fresh tensions in the Middle East fed inflation fears and bets that central banks will have to increase interest rates.Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, rose on Monday, after an attack on a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates. Continue reading...