Trump’s Federal Reserve chair pick to face lawmakers at key confirmation hearing – US politics live

Company promises to meet new delivery targets by next May after being fined last year for poor recordBusiness live – latest updatesSecond-class post will be delivered every other weekday and scrapped on Saturdays from next month as part of a £500m plan to tackle late deliveries at struggling Royal Mail.The delivery company has been testing a new letter delivery pattern in a pilot since July, and it will be rolled out nationwide in May. Continue reading...

ECJ says law passed in 2021 discriminatory and ‘contrary to the identity of the union’, in early test for incoming PMThe EU’s highest court has found Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law to be discriminatory, stigmatising and in breach of basic democratic values, setting up an early test for the incoming prime minister Péter Magyar’s government when it takes power next month.In a wide-ranging judgment, the European court of justice said the 2021 law that bans content about LGBTQ+ people from schools and primetime TV was at odds with a society based on pluralism and fundamental rights such as prohibition of discrimination and freedom of expression. Continue reading...

Health minister faces backlash from states as he announces major changes to scheme ahead of May budgetGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNational disability insurance scheme service providers will be required to undergo mandatory character checks and eligibility rules will be tightened further for children under 18, as Labor moves to curb growth in the $50bn program.But the health minister, Mark Butler, faces a backlash from state counterparts as he announces major changes on Wednesday, with Queensland accusing federal Labor of walking away from responsibilities to families dependent on long-term care. Continue reading...

Independent candidate and One Nation’s David Farley are viewed as the frontrunners in the four cornered-contest for the 9 May pollGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Liberals and Nationals will preference One Nation ahead of Michelle Milthorpe in the Farrer byelection in a potential blow to the independent’s hopes of winning the 9 May race.Milthorpe and One Nation’s David Farley are viewed as the frontrunners in the four cornered-contest, meaning the flow of preferences from the Liberals and Nationals could be crucial in deciding the final outcome in the southern New South Wales seat. Continue reading...

Growing use of AI tech comes at expense of workers’ rights, protections and pay, report warnsBillion-dollar tech platforms are aggressively pushing for deregulation of the “Uber for nursing” industry in an effort to expand gig work in the healthcare sector, according to a report published Tuesday.The report from the AI Now Institute, Uber for Nursing Part II: How Gig Nursing Companies Are Lobbying States to Deregulate Healthcare, examines the use of artificial intelligence to staff hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Continue reading...

Former Wall Street banker faces questions at confirmation hearing – but his biggest backer is also his biggest liabilityOn the face of it, Kevin Warsh looks like an ideal candidate to chair the Federal Reserve, the world’s most important central bank. The 56-year-old Ivy League economist, former Wall Street banker and presidential adviser ticks all the boxes. Unfortunately for Warsh, as he faces what could be a fraught nomination hearing, his biggest backer is also his biggest liability.In his second term, Donald Trump has attacked the Fed in a manner both unprecedented and unseemly. He has called current chair Jerome Powell – whom he also appointed – a “jerk”, “a stubborn MORON”, and repeatedly threatened to fire him. Continue reading...

Ex-civil servant testifying about Peter Mandelson says there was a ‘creep’ of senior diplomatic roles going to political figuresUK politics live – latest updatesDowning Street asked the Foreign Office to find a senior diplomatic role for Keir Starmer’s then communications chief, Matthew Doyle, the department’s former lead civil servant revealed on Tuesday.Testifying to MPs at parliament’s foreign affairs select committee, Olly Robbins said he had had several conversations with No 10 about finding a role for Doyle, who was later suspended as a Labour peer after it emerged he had campaigned for a friend charged with possessing indecent images of children. Continue reading...

Actor says his opposition to South Island development near his farm has led to personal abuseThe actor Sam Neill says he has received threats of violence from supporters of a controversial goldmine that could be opened several kilometres away from his farm in New Zealand’s Central Otago district, after he publicly objected to the New Zealand government’s plans to fast-track the mine.The Australian mining company Santana Minerals is pushing to expedite a 85-hectare (210-acre) open-cast goldmine, called Bendigo-Ophir in the Dunstan mountains, an area dubbed “outstanding natural landscape” by the Central Otago district council. Continue reading...

Washington reportedly limits satellite data after minister spoke publicly about suspected facility in North KoreaThe US has partly restricted intelligence sharing with South Korea after the country’s unification minister publicly identified a suspected North Korean nuclear site, according to reports in South Korean media.Chung Dong-young told lawmakers in March that North Korea was operating uranium enrichment facilities in Kusong, a north-western area that had not previously been officially confirmed as a nuclear site alongside the known facilities at Yongbyon and Kangson. Continue reading...

Chemicals known to affect brains of common garden birds, and to kill unborn chicks, found in most feather samplesConservationists have called for restrictions on pet flea treatments after research found songbird feathers widely contaminated with substances that can damage the birds’ brains and kill unborn chicks.Almost every feather sample tested from five common species of UK garden birds contained either permethrin, imidacloprid or fipronil – all insecticides that are banned for agricultural use but still common in pet tick and flea treatments. Continue reading...

Ashkan Thibodeaux, five years old, saved his kid brother Wyatt after he fell into ‘icy water’ of creek they were exploringSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA five-year-old Minnesota boy reportedly jumped into frigid water after his younger brother fell in on Easter Sunday to successfully rescue him – and has subsequently had to fight for his life at a hospital, a battle in which he is making steady progress, according to his family.Ashkan Thibodeaux’s story, which has captured widespread attention in corners of the internet dedicated to spotlighting remarkable displays of bravery, began with exploring a creek in Minnesota’s Itasca county alongside his kid brother, Wyatt, on 5 April, his family and their supporters say. Continue reading...