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Legally questionable confidentiality clause adopted almost word for word from demands of Microsoft and trade groupsMicrosoft and other US tech companies successfully lobbied the EU to hide the environmental toll of their datacentres, an investigation has found, with demands to block a database of green metrics from public view written almost word for word into EU rules.The secrecy provision, which the European Commission added to its proposal almost verbatim after industry lobbying in 2024, hinders scrutiny of the pollution that individual datacentres emit. It leaves researchers with just national-level summaries of their energy footprints. Continue reading......

Technology secretary plays down fears over jobs and cyber security as stake taken in British startupThe UK technology secretary has urged the country to “make AI work for Britain”, brushing off fears about its impact on jobs and cybersecurity as the government announced its first investment under a £500m sovereign AI fund. Liz Kendall said the UK had to “seize” the opportunity offered by AI despite concerns underlined this month when US startup Anthropic revealed it had developed an AI model that posed a potentially significant cyber threat. Asked how the government makes the case for embracing a technology that could disrupt jobs and now cybersecurity, Kendall said: “We have to seize this to make it work, for Britain, for our jobs, for solving the biggest challenges we face as a world.”Speaking on Thursday as the government unveiled its first investment in a UK company as part of a £500m sovereign AI fund, Kendall acknowledged “people are worried about the risks and what it means for...

The war in Iran has exposed our dependencies. Europe, including the UK, must be bold about change, so nobody can blackmail usLars Klingbeil is Germany's finance minister and vice-chancellorWars and crises are draining our economies, our sense of security and our emotional wellbeing. They are affecting our daily lives: supply chains are becoming less reliable, energy prices are soaring, and trade dependencies on fossil-fuel energy and critical minerals pose risks to national security. Tariffs, industrial overcapacities and export restrictions threaten jobs and prosperity. Taken together, all this is exposing Europe's weaknesses and vulnerabilities.At the same time, we have shown how strengthening our alliances and our economic and military capacities can increase our scope for action. Forming a united European political front is helping to safeguard the sovereignty of Greenland, for instance. And despite all the recent turmoil, Europe remains one of the most attractive places in the world to live and wor...

Spy-tech company and founder Peter Thiel should 'have their hands ripped off our NHS', say MPs MPs have queued up to demand the government scraps its £330m NHS contract with the spy-tech company Palantir, calling it “dreadful” and “shameful” in a debate on Thursday, after which the government said it was “no fan” of the US company's politics.Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs led the calls for Palantir, which also works for Donald Trump's ICE immigration crackdown and the Israeli military, to be removed as a supplier to the NHS federated data platform (FDP), with one Labour backbencher, Samantha Niblett, questioning whether it could be “trusted as a custodian of the intimate health records of tens of millions of British citizens”. Continue reading......

Exclusive: A trove of previously redacted documents was filed as part of the tech giant's anti-trust battle with the state of California. Amazon denies it engages in price-fixingHundreds of previously redacted records reveal how Amazon has put pressure on independent sellers using its platform into raising their prices on the sites of competitors such as Walmart and Target, so that Amazon can appear to have lower prices, California authorities allege.The global conglomerate became concerned even if a competitor was selling an item for as little as a penny less, according to one segment of the newly unredacted evidence. Continue reading......

Exclusive: Former UK foreign secretary says poor and rich countries alike will be hit amid humanitarian crisis sparked by Iran warCuts to overseas aid by countries including the US and the UK risk stoking global economic instability amid the humanitarian crisis resulting from the Iran war, David Miliband has said.The former British foreign secretary and head of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said the US “abandoning” of its aid programme under Donald Trump would worsen shocks to the global economy that would impact poor and wealthy countries alike. Continue reading......

Chair's decision to not seek re-election in June 'not as a result of any disagreement', company says in SEC filingReed Hastings, the Netflix chair, is leaving the streaming service he co-founded 29 years ago as the company regains its footing after it lost its $72bn deal for Warner Bros Discovery.In a letter to investors released on Thursday, Netflix said Hastings will not stand for re-election at its annual meeting in June and plans to focus on philanthropy and other pursuits. Continue reading......

Chancellor says she is 'working through a range of options' to boost the armed forces but does not want to put up taxesRachel Reeves has warned “difficult choices” are required to increase defence spending and other budgets may have to be cut, including welfare.Under pressure for a faster rise in the military budget amid the Iran conflict and Russia's war in Ukraine, the chancellor said she was “working through a range of options” but preferred not to increase taxes or add to government borrowing. Continue reading......

The $95 bus trip to Foxborough highlights a tournament unique in modern times – one that ultimately makes no secret of its disdain for the paying publicLike any journalist with an unerring nose for an offbeat feature, my interest was sharply piqued by this week's announcement of the $95 bus ride. What magnificent accoutrements might conceivably justify the £70 fare for a half-hour journey from south Boston to Foxborough? An at-seat shiatsu? A pool deck? A five-course dining experience? A brief but moving Céline Dion set in the aisles? At the very least, I felt I owed it to my profession to find out for sure.Alas upon closer investigation, the Boston Stadium Express being launched for this summer's World Cup appears to be an entirely regular bus journey on an entirely regular bus with entirely regular bus seats. Your non-refundable ticket – no child concessions – entitles you simply to be dropped off a 15-minute walk from the ground, and picked up again from the same place. There is, in short, no...

As Keir Starmer tells tech bosses to make their sites safer, ministers are weighing up what they can doStarmer tells social media firms: 'Things can't go on like this'Keir Starmer has told social media firms that “things can't go on like this” in a meeting with tech bosses in Downing Street as pressure mounts for tougher restrictions on the industry.Ministers are considering imposing an under-16 age restriction on social media as well as other options to limit app use. Continue reading......

Public Investment Fund withdraws support for rebel tour and other sports could be hit too with Newcastle United uncertainThe reverberations of an unscheduled meeting of LIV Golf executives in New York this week have been felt way beyond their swanky offices in Hudson Yards, on the west side of Manhattan.A slowdown in Saudi Arabia's lavish spending on sport, which is conservatively estimated to have cost the kingdom more than $10bn in the past five years, had been expected, but its Public Investment Fund's withdrawal of financial support for the rebel tour – which was first mooted to LIV execs on Monday – has caused shockwaves throughout the wider industry. Continue reading......

Heaven club neighbour admits offences under Licensing Act, as Met says fictitious AI-generated complaints a growing issue A businessman has pleaded guilty to making false statements in order to shut down a nightclub, which police believe were generated using AI.A Metropolitan police source said the use of AI to generate letters by complainants who do not exist is a growing issue. Continue reading......

Bics fix accepts nose-bleed energy bills are a structural problem but pretends they are an issue for a narrow section of industryIt is “bold action” to boost UK competitiveness, claimed the government. Not everybody shared that assessment of the British industrial competitiveness scheme (Bics), the long-awaited plan to cut electricity bills for UK manufacturers by up to 25% – or, at least, to cut them for a subset of firms that are aligned with the eight chosen sectors of the “modern” industrial strategy.“Gas intensive industries in the UK have been shamefully ignored by the government in this announcement – it's a total disgrace,” said Gary Smith, the general secretary of the GMB union, banging the drum for the likes of ceramics-makers and brickmakers that aren't deemed modern enough for support. Employer bodies mostly did the polite thing of welcoming government assistance of any form before using phases such as “drop in the ocean”. Continue reading......

A tenfold increase in the number of immigration detentions has compelled many workers to barely leave the farms where they work'They want to keep denying us our rights': workers in Vermont's $5.4bn dairy industry fight for basic labor protectionsLast spring, José Edilberto Molina-Aguilar was resting in his bedroom when a co-worker burst through the front door. Out his window, Molina-Aguilar, a 37-year-old dairy worker from Chiapas, Mexico, caught sight of the olive green uniforms of immigration enforcement officials who later claimed they had pursued a worker on to the farm property.A farm manager told Molina-Aguilar and five of his co-workers at Pleasant Valley Farms, Vermont's largest dairy, in Berkshire, about three miles from the Canadian border, to come outside. Continue reading......

Sustainability certification by Marine Stewardship Council may be obscuring labour abuses in seafood supply chains, say researchersThe Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which operates a “blue tick” scheme to indicate the sustainability of fish, has been accused of creating an “illusion” of ethical sourcing, after a study reported that widespread labour abuses have taken place on the fishing vessels it approves.One in five vessels where the crew reported abuses to the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) over the last five years took place on ships catching seafood certified as sustainable by the MSC, researchers found. Continue reading......

Case of businessman using AI to generate false letters of complaint against Heaven nightclub part of a growing issue, say policeA businessman has pleaded guilty to making false statements in order to shut down a nightclub, which police believe were generated using AI.A Metropolitan police source said the use of AI to generate letters by complainants who do not exist is a growing issue. Continue reading......

There will be flight cancellations 'soon' if oil supplies are not restored in coming weeks, says head of IEABusiness live – latest updatesMiddle East crisis – live updatesEurope has only six weeks of jet fuel left before shortages will hit because of the Iran war, according to the head of a global energy watchdog.Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, said there would be flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies from the Middle East were not restored within the coming weeks. Continue reading......

Democratic lawmakers urged Republican leaders to postpone the confirmation hearing of Kevin WarshSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxDemocrats have moved to stall Donald Trump's effort to exert greater control over the US Federal Reserve, condemning the president's “absurd” bid to install a new leader of the central bank while it is targeted with criminal investigations.Democratic lawmakers on the Senate banking committee urged its Republican leadership on Thursday to postpone the planned confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, the financial executive and former Fed governor Trump has nominated to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair. Continue reading......

Company says 'sustained outperformance' merited pay rise as it ups profit guidance by £8m for the year to January 2027Business live – latest updatesThe Next chief executive, Simon Wolfson, took home more than £7m last year, his highest ever pay package, and could be handed up to £9.27m this year after the retailer announced plans to increase his basic salary and bonuses.The listed company said it was increasing its pay deal for the long-term leader of the fashion and homewares retailer, which now controls a string of brands in the UK including Gap, Victoria's Secret, Cath Kidston, Reiss and FatFace, as his remuneration was 30% below the average for FTSE 100 bosses. Continue reading......

Dan Frumkin's pay deal comes after bank's near collapse and rescue by Colombian billionaireBusiness live – latest updatesMetro Bank's chief executive has been handed a £2.6m pay packet – the largest in its history – a year after slashing 1,000 jobs in response to the lender's near collapse.The figure is more than double the £1.2m that Dan Frumkin – a former RBS and Northern Rock banker – was paid in 2024. Metro pushed through the pay bump and complex bonus scheme for Frumkin at a shareholder meeting last year. Continue reading......