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Sir Simon McDonald says Olly Robbins was ‘thrown under a bus’ by the prime minister and the decision feels ‘wrong’The Peter Mandelson security vetting scandal is the biggest crisis for the diplomatic service in decades, a former Foreign Office chief has said.Sir Simon McDonald, who was the permanent under-secretary of the government department until 2020, has spoken out in defence of Sir Oliver Robbins, saying the civil servant was “thrown under a bus” by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, when he was dismissed from his role on Thursday. Continue reading...

Announcement comes before Matt Brittin replaces Tim Davie as director general next monthBusiness live – latest updatesThe BBC is to cut as many as 2,000 jobs in the biggest down-sizing of the public service broadcaster in 15 years.Staff are set to be informed of the cuts, which will affect about 10% of the BBC’s 21,500 staff, at an all-staff meeting on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Experts say ‘cautious consumption’ shows households bracing for return to extended period of financial pressure experienced during pandemic yearsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralians are choosing chicken schnitzel over more expensive rib-eye steak, avoiding entrees and sticking with tap water rather than a glass of wine amid ongoing uncertainty surrounding the fuel crisis and war in Iran.As soon as the numbers on the petrol bowser started climbing last month as the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, the customer response was swift. Continue reading...

Pakistani officials defy the skeptics to lead a breakthrough in negotiations and help avert catastrophe in Iran Middle East crisis – live updatesPakistan’s leaders had almost lost hope. After more than two weeks of frantic negotiations, phonecalls and diplomatic summits to try to end the US-Israeli war with Iran, it looked like the conflict might instead be escalating into Islamabad’s worst nightmare.In a cabinet meeting held around 5pm on Tuesday, Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif was morose. “We should brace ourselves for the impact of the war,” he told his cabinet ministers. “The situation has really become very bleak. The chance of peace has become dim.” Continue reading...

Record high set on Monday and raised on Tuesday, with 14.4GW of electricity generated in sunny spring weatherBritain’s sunny spring weather powered the grid to new solar energy records on two consecutive days this week.Solar farms in England, Wales and Scotland generated 14.1 GW of low-carbon electricity at lunchtime on Monday, surpassing the previous high of 14GW in July last year. Continue reading...

As Iran and US agree fragile ceasefire, Israel’s conflict has turned out to be a bust and, say opponents, ‘a political disaster’Middle East crisis – live updatesIn a war where there have been no winners, Israel’s prime minister looks set to be the biggest loser entering a fragile and vague ceasefire with Iran.After years of Benjamin Netanyahu’s threats against Iran, his stunts at the UN’s general assembly, the dodgy dossiers endlessly wafted under the noses of the world’s media, and diplomatic pressure on successive US presidents to agree to a war against Iran, Israel’s conflict has turned out to be a bust. Continue reading...

Elon Musk’s aerospace to AI company will host summer event to try to convince buyers it is worth $2 trillionBusiness live – latest updatesSpaceX will kick off the marketing for its highly anticipated stock exchange debut by hosting an event in June for 1,500 retail investors, as executives set out to convince buyers that the aerospace-to-artificial-intelligence group should be valued at $2 trillion.In an unusual move, the company has earmarked a large portion of its shares – potentially up to 30% – for non-professional, non-institutional investors, banking on the popularity of its chief executive, Elon Musk, to help it raise $75bn (about £56bn) in what is expected to be the largest public offering in history. Continue reading...

Nearly a quarter of voters site the Reform leader’s support for the US president as the primary reason for not voting for his partyBy day 31 of the war in the Middle East, Nigel Farage had become somewhat less vocal about the closeness of his relationship with Donald Trump.“Trying to read what’s really in the minds of people in the White House right at the moment is a mug’s game,” said the MP, as he unveiled his party’s latest “pledge” to cut the cost of living on Tuesday. Continue reading...

More than 100 charities, campaign groups and trade unions marched in a show of unity against far right politicsTogether Alliance march – live updatesTens of thousands of people have gathered in London to march against the far right in the biggest multicultural demonstration in UK history.Organisers claimed half a million people have travelled to the capital for the Together Alliance march. Police estimated the turnout closer to 50,000, although they admitted it was difficult to judge due to how spread out the crowd was. Continue reading...

Dow closed 450 points down and S&P dipped 1.7% while Nasdaq fell 2.3% into correction territorySign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxUS markets saw their biggest slump since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran on Thursday as Donald Trump said the conflict’s impact on oil prices had not been as bad as he expected.The Dow closed 450 points down, while the S&P 500 dipped 1.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 2.3%, plunging into correction territory, which happens when an index falls at least 10% below its most recent peak. Continue reading...

Rationing is not under consideration yet as hundreds of retailers report being without one or more types of fuelGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPetrol stations are reporting a surge in demand of up to 25% in the last fortnight alone on top of already major spikes earlier in the Iran war as Anthony Albanese comes under pressure to devise a national plan to cushion Australia against the “biggest energy crisis in history”.The Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association has revealed the scale of the demand on retailers, which has left hundreds of stations across the country without one or more types of fuel. Continue reading...

PM Sanae Takaichi says about 80m barrels of stockpiled oil to be provided to refiners – equivalent to 45 days of domestic demand • Middle East crisis – live updatesJapan will begin the biggest-ever release of oil from its strategic reserves this week, the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has said, as the country braces for possible shortages caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.The government last week approved the release of 15 days’ worth of private-sector reserves, amid concern that the conflict in the Middle East will continue to hinder the flow of tanker traffic along the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Carriers warn they cannot hold off passing on costs for long and some airlines plan to increase flights via AsiaBusiness live – latest updatesEurope’s biggest airlines have said that that the spike in fuel prices caused by the war in the Middle East will drive up fares and are advising passengers to book early.While carriers have partly hedged the price of jet fuel, bosses said they could not avoid passing on additional costs to passengers for long. Continue reading...

National Rally leader urges voters to back party’s ‘common sense’ campaign in final round as it eyes taking another cityJordan Bardella, the head of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) and a potential candidate in next year’s presidential race, has called on voters to back what he called his party’s “common sense and order” campaign in the final round of municipal elections next week.As the first-round municipal election results trickled in on Sunday night, the anti-immigration RN held on to the biggest city it runs: Perpignan. Louis Aliot was re-elected in the first round as mayor of the city, which has a population of 121,000 and is close to the Spanish border. Continue reading...

The errors that quantum computers make are holding the technology back. But recent progress in quantum error correction has excited many researchers

The speed at which artificial intelligence is gaining in mathematical ability has taken many by surprise. It is rewriting what it means to be a mathematician

The end-Permian extinction 252 million years ago wiped out over 80 per cent of marine species, but many ecosystems still had complex food webs despite the losses