Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
Trade war tensions are on the rise again, as relations between China and the US deteriorate.
“The U.S. government has unilaterally and repeatedly provoked new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating uncertainty and instability in bilateral economic and trade relations.”
Trial of Victorian woman, 50, who has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch, enters sixth week. Follow live
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has said she expects “very good cooperation” to continue between the EU and Poland under the presidency of newly elected Karol Nawrocki.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, she said:
I’m confident that the EU will continue its very good cooperation with Poland. We are all stronger together in our community of peace, democracy, and values. So let us work to ensure the security and prosperity of our common home.
I congratulate Karol Nawrocki on his election as Polish President. I believe that under his leadership, Poland will continue to develop its democratic and pro-western orientation and that our countries will continue mutually beneficial cooperation.
With tuition from West End pros, this week-long singing break in southern Spain hits all the right notes
‘Do you prefer alto or soprano?” asks Steve Moss, poised at his electric piano. My mind goes blank. I’m usually more of a pinot grigio girl, but that’s not the answer the former musical director of Les Misérables is looking for. Although I struggle to carry a tune in a bucket, I’m an enthusiastic karaoke singer, a big musical theatre fan and a shameless show-off, so Sing the Greatest Showman, a residential singing retreat in Spain, is right up my street.
Founded by Zane Rambaran, a veteran concert promoter with his roots in musical theatre, Sing Eat Retreat offers a choice of breaks here throughout the year (from Sing Les Mis to Sing Mamma Mia), with 30 hours of tuition by West End professionals. (In October, Sing The Sound of Music will be held in Salzburg too, with guests recording tracks in a studio and performing in the actual movie locations. I’ve already packed my dirndl.)
Sadiq Khan seeking ‘urgent review’ of decision to ban adverts from British Pregnancy Advisory Service
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has stepped in to reverse a ban on adverts on the London transport network calling for abortion to be decriminalised.
It is understood that the mayor is seeking an “urgent review” of a Transport for London (TfL) decision to ban the adverts from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) charity on the grounds they may bring the Metropolitan police into disrepute.
You can read it from either end, and go round again, as memoir collides with invention in a brilliant interrogation of art, faith and relationships
From her debut, Nobody Is Ever Missing, to 2023’s Biography of X, Catherine Lacey’s work has tested the forms and fabric of the novel with brilliant unease. In The Möbius Book, her experiment crosses the blurred border of fiction into something else. Life writing, autofiction, memoir? Whatever you call it, The Möbius Book is deeply serious and engrossingly playful, and it lavishly rewards serious, playful attention.
A Möbius strip is a length of any material joined into a loop with a half twist. It’s an uncanny shape, common and obvious, easily created and yet awkward to describe geometrically. For literary purposes, a Möbius is interesting because there’s intricate structure and constraint but no ending. It goes around again, mirrored with a twist. Lacey’s book takes this literally, the text printed from both ends, with memoir and fiction joined in the middle. Twin stories experiment with plotlessness and irresolution, while remaining aware of the way fiction attaches itself to linear plot and reverts to romance and quest. Characters find and lose love, find and lose meaning.
Chloé Aïcha Boro’s watchful documentary charts the disharmony and legal wrangling caused by a dispute in her family over sacred burial land
Economic and financial woes cast a dark shadow over family bonds in Chloé Aïcha Boro’s contemplative, searching documentary. Returning to her Burkina Faso village after decades of living in France, Boro experiences an emotional paradox intimately known by all immigrants. Once-familiar places turn foreign, since the migrator has undergone huge internal changes of their own. And with the recent passing of her uncle Ousmane Coulibaly, the head of her extended Muslim family, Boro’s homecoming is marred by disharmony. Between Coulibaly’s brothers and his 19 children, warring interests over inherited land rage on.
The film returns time and again to a sacred courtyard where, for centuries, the umbilical cords of Coulibaly newborns have been buried to ensure their ascendence to heaven in the afterlife. More than a ritual, the tradition concretises the lineage of generations. But while religious rules automatically transfer Coulibaly’s claim to this land to his sons, some of the elders turn to secular laws for their bid. As the courts of Burkina Faso are based on the French colonial system, this clash is more than just a family squabble; it represents a disconnect between the past and the present of a nation.
Do sharks have best pals? Can cute-seeming animals be vicious? And does ancestry matter any more? The answers lie in this week’s finest listens
“Who really gives a shit about roots any more,” asks Dashon (Caleb McLaughlin), a Detroit teenager who, in this audio drama, is begrudgingly in Zimbabwe with his family. He is indifferent towards their African ancestry, leading to uncomfortable conversations about race, colonialism and privilege. That could be a provocative enough story, but the supernatural twists that follow really elevate this production. Hannah J Davies Audible, all episodes out now
Starmer claims to want integration. Yet denying people safety, belonging and the right to vote for a decade amounts to the exact opposite
There are many lies told by politicians when it comes to immigration in the UK, but none is bigger than the claim that it’s all too easy. Too easy to enter Britain; too easy to be given handouts; too easy to acquire citizenship. The UK is presented as an inert country, passively receiving future Britons that it does not charge, test or, indeed, invite. The government’s latest raft of policies to deal with the “failed experiment” of “open borders” is heavily influenced by this lie, as it is intended to make things harder for immigrants. One of those policies went broadly under the radar, a small technicality amid Keir Starmer’s unsettlingrhetoric, but it will have serious consequences.
That policy is extending the period you’re required to be settled in Britain before you can get permanent residency, and then citizenship, from five years to 10 years. As someone who became naturalised under the five-year route, my stomach sank when I saw the news.
An article from the Blue Labour campaign group, titled What is to be Done, calls for the government to legislate against diversity, equity and inclusion, echoing the rightwing backlash from Donald Trump and Nigel Farage.
May the sauce be with you for these two fusion dishes: one spicy and savoury, the other creamy, tangy and sweet
Anyone who’s spent time in Japan will know the hold that Kewpie roasted sesame dressing has on local palates. Creamy, slightly tangy, savoury, full of roasted flavours and a little sweet, it’s the ideal dressing for absolutely anything. It comes in squeezy bottles and is now widely available in larger supermarkets, but I’ve created my own version here in case you can’t find it. These lettuce cups make a fresh and crunchy snack that serves as a vessel for tender chicken and whatever herbs you have in the fridge. But first, a Japanified rendition of the Chinese dish mapo tofu, only more savoury and salty, and with a slightly thicker sauce. It’s a strong contender for weekly dinner rotations, depending on what you have in your fridge, of course.
They made music like sonic warfare, using steamhammers for drums and annoying anyone they could. As the band return, they relive the mayhem years – and their soundtrack spinoffs, from Attenborough to Chernobyl
Fifty years ago, Cabaret Voltaire shocked the people of Sheffield into revolt. A promoter screamed for the band to get off stage, while an audience baying for blood had to be held back with a clarinet being swung around for protection. All of which was taking place over the deafening recording of a looped steamhammer being used in place of a drummer, as a cacophony of strange, furious noises drove the crowd into a frenzy. “We turned up, made a complete racket, and then got attacked,” recalls Stephen Mallinder. “Yes, there was a bit of a riot, and I ended up in hospital, but it was great. That gig was the start of something because nothing like that had taken place in Sheffield before. It was ground zero.”
Mallinder and his Cabaret Voltaire co-founder Chris Watson are sitting together again in Sheffield, looking back on that lift-off moment ahead of a handful of shows to commemorate the milestone. “It is astonishing,” says Watson. “Half a century. It really makes you stop, think and realise the significance.” The death in 2021 of third founding member Richard H Kirk was a trigger for thinking about ending things with finality. “It’ll be nice if we can use these shows to remind people what we did,” says Mallinder. “To acknowledge the music, as well as get closure.”
During the decade-long conflicts, the major powers dithered as Serb militias carried out their brutal campaigns of ethnic cleansing. Guardian reporters became more passionate and more outspoken in their condemnation, attracting praise and criticism
At 22, the singer and reality TV star has lived most of her life in the limelight. What’s it like to be managed by your mother, run a billion-dollar business in your teens and be dismissed as ‘the lesbian’ by a Hollywood legend?
A week before JoJo Siwa entered the Celebrity Big Brother house, she had a presentiment about it. “Something feels different,” she told her mother (and manager) Jessalynn. “I don’t think I’m gonna win, but I think I’m gonna change.” Siwa’s initial hunch was that the transformation would be in her career, she says. “Little did I know it was going to change my personal life so much. By a landslide, it is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Siwa may be only 22, but it’s still quite the statement. As the breakout talent of the American reality TV series Dance Moms, she was arguably the biggest child star of the 2010s, at 11 years old instantly memorable for her larger-than-life personality and equally outsized hair bow. By the time she turned 15, in 2018, Siwa was a cross-platform tween sensation, with 5 million YouTube subscribers (now 12 million), a Nickelodeon deal, a burgeoning pop career and a staggeringly successful hair accessory business.
A human rights review of EU-Israel ties is under way. The results will be significant for both the war and Europe’s reputation
After many months of inaction and complicity in the face of Israel’s destruction of Gaza, Europe is finally beginning to stir. Tens of thousands of people killed and attacks on schools and hospitals had apparently not been enough. But, along with the blocking of humanitarian aid and open calls for ethnic cleansing, Israel’s actions finally became too severe to ignore, deny or justify. In recent weeks, a cascade of unusually strong statements, diplomatic rebukes and threats of sanctions has emerged from European capitals – each move amplifying the next, as if a long-dormant herd has suddenly jolted into motion.
Among these developments, the most significant may be the possible suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement, which grants Israel preferential access to the world’s largest single market. Last month, the Dutch foreign minister, Caspar Veldkamp, broke the EU’s silence with a letter demanding a formal review of Israel’s compliance with article 2 of the agreement, which requires it to “respect human rights”.
Martin Konečný runs the European Middle East Project (EuMEP), a Brussels-based NGO
Moira Donegan on the different groups of people who want the US population to produce more babies
Why is pro-natalism – the idea that society should focus on producing children – a growing movement in the US?
The Guardian US columnist Moira Donegan tells Helen Pidd: “This is not something that average people in the US are crying out for. People are having the number of children that they desire and think that they can support, right?
Spain’s recent blackout and AI datacentres’ energy needs are leading politicians to reach for the restart button
When millions of people across the Iberian peninsula were left without power last month the political fallout ignited debate over Europe’s renewable energy agenda, and fuelled the rising interest in nuclear power.
Europe’s largest power blackout in decades, still largely unexplained, has raised questions about whether renewable energy can be relied on to provide a stable source of clean energy. It has also fuelled a renewed interest in the global nuclear power renaissance already under way.
From luxury pet-friendly accommodation to chartering a private plane for your pooch, the indulgences of late-stage capitalism are extreme
A delightfully fluffy expenses controversy emerged in Queensland in the past week. The ABC reported that the chair of a Queensland government-owned company “faced questions” after billing the taxpayer for a hotel stay with a luxury accommodation package for his dog.
The energy company chair, his “fur-baby Vito” and his wife (unnamed) allegedly enjoyed a $500-a-night stay at the Ovolo hotel in Fortitude Valley when a board meeting obliged his attendance in Brisbane, 100km away from his Sunshine Coast home. The “luxury pet-friendly accommodation” offered at the five-star Ovolo includes a “super comfy” dog bed, treats, premium dog food, mealtime mat and water bowl, as well as a take-home dog toy “because who doesn’t love a present?”
Gukesh defeats Carlsen in classical for first time ever
Carlsen punches table, storms out after late blunder
World champion rises to third in Norway Chess table
World champion Gukesh Dommaraju earned his first classical victory over Magnus Carlsen on Sunday at the Norway Chess tournament, toppling the longtime world No 1 in dramatic fashion and prompting the Norwegian to punch the table in frustration before storming out of the venue.
The win in round six of the double round-robin event marked a milestone moment in Gukesh’s young career, not for its stakes but for who it came against. Under pressure for much of the contest, the 19-year-old Indian grandmaster turned the tables in the final phase, capitalizing on a rare Carlsen blunder in time trouble to steal the point and shake up the standings in Stavanger.
Victory for Nawrocki would be a blow to government led by Donald Tusk, with right-wing candidate narrowly leading liberal Rafał Trzaskowski
Overnight projections from Poland’s crucial presidential run-off showed a narrow lead for the right-wing candidate Karol Nawrocki, as votes continued to be counted.
A set of preliminary results combining exit polls and counted ballots, published at 1am local time on Monday morning (midnight BST), gave Nawrocki a 51-49% lead over liberal contender Rafał Trzaskowski, an ally of the ruling government led by Donald Tusk.
Maja Stark has won tournaments around the world, but a professional victory in the United States eluded her. Now she is a US Women’s Open champion.
The Swede shot an even-par 72 to win the second major of the year by two shots on Sunday at Erin Hills. Stark led the championship by one stroke through 54 holes and outlasted the World No 1, Nelly Korda, who got within a shot of the lead before petering out on the back nine.
The Democratic party frontrunner has drawn support from conservatives who see him as the path back to political normalcy after the chaos of Yoon Suk Yeol
The snipers positioned on Seoul rooftops scan the crowd through telescopic sights while counter-terrorism units patrol the perimeter with bomb-detection dogs. Bodyguards clutching ballistic briefcases form a protective ring.
On stage, Lee Jae-myung addresses thousands of supporters from behind bulletproof glass, protection that has become necessary after death threats and a stabbing attack against him last year.
Police alleged the man yelled ‘Free Palestine’ as he threw an incendiary device at people gathered to show support for Israeli hostages in Gaza
Six people were injured in an attack in Boulder, Colorado after a man is alleged to have thrown an incendiary device into a crowd and yelled “Free Palestine”, in what the FBI is treating as an “act of terrorism”.
The 45-year-old man, identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, is alleged to have thrown the device into a group of people who had assembled in a pedestrianised zone for a peaceful protest for Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.
International Trade Union Confederation issued report showing conditions for workers’ rights across the globe have worsened
Workers’ rights across every continent in the world are in a “freefall”, according to the 2025 Global Rights Index released by the International Trade Union Confederation, the largest trade union federation in the world.
The index noted workers’ rights and democracy around the world are often under attack by “far-right politicians and their unelected billionaire backers. Whether it’s Donald Trump and Elon Musk in the US or Javier Milei and Eduardo Eurnekian in Argentina, we see the same playbook of unfairness and authoritarianism in action around the world.”
Britain needs to be ready to fight a war in Europe or the Atlantic, a strategic defence review will conclude, though it is not expected to promise immediate increases in the size of the armed forces to deal with the threat.
The 130-page document will call for a move to “war-fighting readiness” to deter Russian aggression in Europe and increases in stockpiles of arms and support equipment, some of which may only last days in a crisis.
Russell: ‘It felt very deliberate … it felt strange’
George Russell has insisted that Max Verstappen should have faced disqualification after he crashed into the British driver at the Spanish Grand Prix, claiming he felt the world champion had done so deliberately and that he was setting a bad example for young drivers.
Verstappen, who was bullish after a race where he received a 10‑second penalty that dropped him from fifth at the flag to 10th, dismissed Russell’s comments, maintaining he had no regrets and mocking the British driver’s reactions with the comment: “Well, I’ll bring some tissues next time.”
Simon Yates reflected on a “sweet success” he had been targeting for much of his life after a spectacular and decisive coup in Saturday’s final mountain stage ensured he would ride to victory in the Giro d’Italia on Sunday.
At 32, the Lancastrian had not been tipped to add to his sole Grand Tour victory, the 2018 Tour of Spain, but in the mammoth stage over the Colle Delle Finestre, he confounded those expectations to win the sport’s second most prestigious race, after the Tour de France.
Defending champion beats Elena Rybakina 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
Carlos Alcaraz reaches last eight by beating Ben Shelton
After another sad second serve rebounded off the top of the net and floated out on a break point, Iga Swiatek turned to her support team and frantically gestured her rage. She had simply not shown up. As Elena Rybakina bulldozed through the early stages of their highly anticipated fourth-round tussle, Swiatek trailed 6-1, 2-0 and her hopes of victory were fading.
For much of this year, Swiatek has struggled to find her form when forced into difficult positions against her toughest rivals. However, she showed her resilience here with a supreme 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 statement win against the 12th seed, to return to the quarter-finals of the French Open.
Most evacuated residents are from Manitoba, which declared a state of emergency last week
More than 25,000 residents in three provinces have been evacuated as dozens of wildfires remain active and affect air quality in parts of Canada and the US, according to officials.
Most of the evacuated residents were from Manitoba, which declared a state of emergency last week. About 17,000 people there were evacuated by Saturday, along with 1,300 in Alberta. About 8,000 people in Saskatchewan had been relocated as leaders there said the number could climb.
Coach has proved his genius by turning a largely unstarry group into European champions who play as a united team
At what point did Luis Enrique know it was going to work out, that his Paris Saint‑Germain team would beat Inter at the Allianz Arena to win the club’s first Champions League title? The manager had certainly cut a cool and confident figure when he emerged on to the pitch about 90 minutes before kick-off for a quick temperature check with his coaches.
The PSG ultras were already behind one of the goals, bobbing up and down en masse. They would be a forceful presence throughout. Luis Enrique was aware that an omen was on his side. Every time Munich had hosted a final in Europe’s elite competition, a new champion had emerged. Nottingham Forest, 1979. Marseille, 1993. Borussia Dortmund, 1997. And Chelsea, 2012. Inter had arrived as three-time winners.
Keacy Carty hits 103; Root replies with 166 not out
England spent much of this game digging themselves into not so much a hole as a full-blown trench, a toxic combination of regular errors and occasional misfortune leaving them in a truly desperate situation, apparently destined for convincing and deserved defeat. Enter Joe Root, and an innings for the ages.
Root produced a display of ethereal stroke-making on his way to a stunning, unbeaten 166, a batting performance of such beauty that the ugliness of much that came before will be forgotten. It was his highest score in one-day internationals, propelling him past Eoin Morgan to become England’s leading run-scorer in this format, and the first Englishman to score more than 7,000. It ended with a straight drive that brought his 23rd boundary, victory by three wickets, and a series secured with a game to spare. Typically, the match-winner sought afterwards to deflect credit rather than to bask in it.
Move that seeks political control of doctors’ and scientists’ published research fits a pattern of censorship by the Trump administration, veterans advocates say
Senior officials at the US Department of Veterans Affairs have ordered that VA physicians and scientists not publish in medical journals or speak with the public without first seeking clearance from political appointees of Donald Trump, the Guardian has learned.
The edict, laid down in emails on Friday by Curt Cashour, the VA’s assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs, and John Bartrum, a senior adviser to VA secretary Doug Collins, came hours after the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine published a perspective co-authored by two pulmonologists who work for the VA in Texas.
Republicans say they want more babies, but seek to strip away healthcare and food support, undermine migrant families and remove labour protections for the young
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children,” Nelson Mandela observed 30 years ago. Though the ugly heart of the Trump administration has hardly been hidden, there is an especially grotesque contrast between its vaunted family values and its treatment of the young.
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump declared: “I want a baby boom.” JD Vance, his vice-president, says he wants “more happy children in our country”. Maga pro-natalists are pushing incentives for families to have more children.
AB Hernandez, 16, ties for first place in two events as Trump administration threatens to withhold federal funding
A teenage transgender athlete in California, who has been at the center of widespread political attacks by rightwing pundits and the Trump administration, won in two track events over the weekend. The 16-year-old athlete, AB Hernandez, tied for first place alongside two other athletes in the high jump, and tied for first place in the triple jump.
This comes as the Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funding from California for allowing trans athletes to compete in girls’ sports.
Milla Magee, the reigning Miss England, left over claims she had been used as window dressing
Their mantra is “beauty with a purpose”. But the organisers of the Miss World pageant have been accused of something altogether uglier: being “vindictive and very bitter” towards a contestant who left over claims she had been used as window dressing.
The reigning Miss England, Milla Magee, said she agreed to take part in the 2025 Miss World pageant because she believed it would be a platform to promote her campaign to have CPR included in the school curriculum. But she said the reality was very different.
I was only 13 and he was young too, but he somehow knew not to make it a big deal. If he hadn’t helped, it probably would have destroyed my entire holiday
It wasn’t my first period but it was within the first year of getting my period. I was only 13 years old and, when you first start menstruating, you never know when your next period is going to arrive.
I was away on holiday with my family, playing in the hotel pool with some new friends I’d just met. There was definitely a boy there I fancied. At one point I hopped out of the pool and suddenly this lifeguard, who must have only been 15 or 16 himself, walked straight up, put a towel around me and said really quietly in my ear, “You need to go to the bathroom.” I looked down and realised why: my period had started.
The Chinese Daoist text prompts us to reflect on the shallow attitudes of those who want to draw attention to what some people lack, rather than what they might have
Making sense of it is a column about spirituality and how it can be used to navigate everyday life
The Zhuangzi, an ancient Chinese Daoist text written by the philosopher known by the same name, has a lot to say about people who are considered “disabled”. This is interesting in itself, as parts of it were written around the 4th century BCE, when only the privileged could read and write.
Why would the authors of this text, men of privilege, be interested in people who were considered at the time to be “less than normal”?
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