War, inflation and Trump’s tariffs have shaken the US. Why does the stock market keep going up?

Human rights experts make rare public appeal as US deportees describe being held in ‘prison-like’ conditionsHuman rights experts at the United Nations issued a rare public appeal to Equatorial Guinea, urging the West African country to halt its plans to return US deportees to their home countries where they face political violence, torture and death.The statement, cosigned by a representative of the African Commission on Human and People’s rights, adds diplomatic pressure on Equatorial Guinea, one of the world’s most repressive regimes, to comply with international human rights standards and avoid refoulement, or the expulsion of people to countries where they face persecution. Continue reading...

Source claims Streeting has enough support to challenge Keir Starmer but he is still hoping PM will resignUK politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting is locked in a standoff with Number 10 as allies claimed he had the numbers to launch a challenge but still hoped the prime minister would resign.The health secretary had been widely expected to launch a leadership challenge on Thursday and has told supporters he has got the 81 MPs required to launch a formal contest. A source close to Streeting said he had the numbers but “things are shifting”. Continue reading...

Role marks a major return for the actor after falling off the stage in 2024 and is a coup for the forward-thinking theatreIan McKellen is to play King Lear in his first major theatrical role since falling from the stage into the first row of the audience in 2024.The accident, which left him with “agonising pains”, happened during a performance of Player Kings in the West End and led McKellen to withdraw from the production. He will now return as Shakespeare’s Lear – a character he played to great acclaim in 2007 and 2017 – in the opening season of the redeveloped Yard theatre in east London, known for its DIY spirit and adventurous experimental work with emerging artists. Continue reading...

Merged insistutions, whose name has not yet been formally decided, will be second largest mainstream university in UKKing’s College London has signed an agreement to merge with Cranfield University, creating a new UK “super-university” that would rival many of its international competitors in size and research output.The merger would result in KCL taking on another 5,000 mainly postgraduate students and become the second largest mainstream university in the UK, with about 47,000 students, overtaking the University of Manchester and behind only University College London. Continue reading...

Burnham’s backers understood to be lobbying Labour’s NEC who warn against Wes Streeting ‘coronation’UK politics live – latest updatesThe rules governing Labour party leadership contests should “not be tweaked” to allow Andy Burnham to run, a member of the party’s National Executive Committee has said.With the health secretary preparing to launch a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer on Thursday, if he can secure the support of enough MPs to trigger a contest, allies of Burnham have warned against a “coronation” for Wes Streeting as the next prime minister. Continue reading...

Environmentalists hail decline but warn weakened laws could reverse gainsBrazil’s Atlantic forest, the country’s most threatened biome, last year recorded its lowest level of deforestation since monitoring began 40 years ago, a new report shows.The forest is Brazil’s most populous biome, and home to 80% of the population and major cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In 2025 it recorded 8,658 hectares of deforestation, marking the first time it has fallen below 10,000 hectares since 1985. Continue reading...

American zeal for ‘the Hamptons of England’ has rubbed off on sales with luxury British fashion house back to a full-year profitThe luxury fashion brand Burberry has said a new £2,000 handbag named after the Cotswolds has boosted sales, as the English region becomes increasingly popular with wealthy Americans.Joshua Schulman, the boss of the British brand, said its tote bags – which mix leather and the signature Burberry check – had helped drive the company’s best performance in bag sales since 2023. Continue reading...

Eleven ambulances as well as two helicopters attended the scene, where one person was trapped under a busAt least seven people are seriously injured after a coach rolled on one of Australia’s most dangerous roads, leaving one person trapped beneath the vehicle.Emergency services were called to the intersection of the Bruce Highway and Rangemore Road at Gumlu in the Whitsundays region at about 4pm on Thursday after reports of a crash involving a bus with 29 people on board. Continue reading...

Designer suggests decision to stage show in Los Angeles is part of strategy to deepen label’s cinema presenceLike Christian Dior, the founder of the house he now leads, fashion designer Jonathan Anderson’s ambition is to be not just a Parisian couturier but a Hollywood power player. “We think of Dior as this romantic character, but he was also a very savvy businessman,” said Anderson before a blockbuster catwalk show in Los Angeles. Stage Fright, the Hitchcock caper-noir for which Dior dressed Marlene Dietrich, was the show’s origin story. “There is all this amazing correspondence between Dior, Dietrich and Hitchcock, which shows how he navigated the money that it cost to make that film. I think we underestimate how much negotiation Dior did with studio executives. He was very smart in that way.”Anderson, 41, who was born in Northern Ireland but since being appointed to Dior splits his time between London and Paris, has his own Hollywood side hustle as the costume designer for Luca Guadagnino’s films, and is set on reinvigorating Dior’s relationship with the film industry. Continue reading...

A Kitt lookalike was filmed speeding in Brooklyn but the fine was sent to a museum where a replica is on displayA replica of the talking car Kitt from the 1980s US television action series Knight Rider for years has been parked in a museum about an hour’s drive north of Chicago, so how did it get a speeding ticket in New York City?That is the question the Volo Museum is asking after it says it was recently mailed a $50 fine by New York City for a violation caught by traffic camera, alleging that its Knight Industries Two Thousand – Kitt for short and a black Pontiac Trans Am– got busted going 9mph over the speed limit in a 25mph zone on 22 April. Continue reading...

Whoever wins the Labour leadership tussle, the chancellor’s prospects for staying inpost have risen given the surprise GDP boostBusiness live – latest updatesUK economy records surprise 0.3% growth despite Iran warThe message from Rachel Reeves is clear. After Britain’s economy defied the predictions for a slump in March, despite the fallout from the Iran war, why put things at risk with a roll of the dice in domestic politics?Responding to bumper growth of 0.3% in March – much stronger than City economists’ forecasts for a 0.2% contraction – the chancellor said the figures showed she had the right economic plan, in a comment laced with subtext. Continue reading...