68 h. ago Listen closely to the Kneecap furore. You’ll hear hypocrisy from all sides | Dorian Lynskey

The band’s rightwing critics are now cancel culture advocates, while defenders demand limitless free speechDorian Lynskey is the author of 33 Revolutions Per MinuteEarlier this year, the Northern Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap appeared to be entering their respectable phase. Their self-titled film, a raucous semi-fictionalised biopic directed by Rich Peppiatt, won a Bafta for outstanding British debut, while Kemi Badenoch’s attempt to block a grant awarded by the British Phonographic Industry was overturned in court. As the film illustrates, Kneecap were accustomed to being denounced by unionist MPs but both sides reaped useful publicity. “We have a very dysfunctional, symbiotic relationship,” admitted rapper Naoise Ó Cairealláin.This process was dramatically derailed last week when Kneecap touched the third rail of Gaza and accused Israel of genocide on stage at Coachella festival in California. Cue fury from Fox News, calls for their visas to be revoked and, according to their manager...

Politics

4 d. ago Trump hails Bezos for scrapping plan to show Amazon shoppers tariff price hikes on products

Online retail giant claims that policy angry president attacked showing tariff price hikes on products was ‘never approved and is not going to happen’

Economics

5 d. ago Did ‘Vatican diplomacy’ change Trump’s mind on Ukraine? I’m sceptical for three reasons | Orysia Lutsevych

Zelenskyy, Starmer, Macron they all had his ear at Pope Francis’s funeral. But he is just as easily swayed by the elevator doormanThe most recent diplomatic effort to find a way to stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine took place at the most unlikely of events: the funeral of Pope Francis. The image of Presidents Zelenskyy and Trump leaning toward each other, under Carlo Maratta’s late-17th-century painting, The Baptism of Christ, rekindled hopes that the US might, at last, hear Kyiv out. Would this unexpected setting make Trump’s compassion, so frequently expressed for the loss of human life, real? And could it lead to a better strategy for ending this criminal and brutal war?The goal of Kyiv and the coalition of the willing – a group of 31 nations that back Ukraine in its fight against Russia – is to distance Trump from what has become a dangerous rapprochement between the Washington and Moscow. But this will be an uphill battle – Europe and Kyiv are trying to fight their way to Trump...

Politics

9 d. ago Trump calls for Rupert Murdoch to fire staff at Fox News and the Wall Street Journal in furious Truth Social post: ‘It sucks!’

Trump asked Murdoch to ‘start making changes’ at the Wall Street Journal and get rid of a pollster at Fox News

Politics

2 w. ago Gavin Newsom’s California becomes the first state to sue Trump over his tariff plan

The suit argues that as a ‘global leader in trade,’ the Golden State will bear an ‘inordinate share’ of the costs resulting from the sweeping levies

Politics

2 w. ago US tariffs explained: what they are, how they work and who they affect

President Trump’s tariff plan, which included a 10% charge on imports from the UK, has shaken the world’s financial markets

Economics

2 w. ago Majority believes the wealthy and large corporations will benefit the most from Trump’s tariff plan

Americans’ view of tariff outcomes mirror opinion of 2017 Republican tax cuts set to be extended by Congress this year

Politics

3 w. ago Inside Trump’s Oval Office as he called senators during Fox News breaks and world leaders begged to end his tariff plan

The president said he was acting ‘instinctively’ after announcing the surprise 180 on Wednesday. However multiple sources said that the build up to the decision was drawn out over a number of days

Politics

3 w. ago Was King Charles' old friend the man who finally changed Donald Trump's mind? TOM LEONARD writes

TOM LEONARD: The imposition of penalties on exporters to America appeared to be the one policy that Donald Trump would never be prepared to reverse.

Politics

3 w. ago Trump has slowed his global tariff plan. Here’s what happens next and the impact on your wallet

The president caught the world – and most of his administration – off guard with his sudden announcement that he was pausing tariffs

Politics

3 w. ago Inside the Oval Office where phone calls during Fox News commercials and desperate world leaders changed Trump’s mind on tariff plan

The president said he was acting ‘instinctively’ after announcing the surprise 180 on Wednesday. However multiple sources said that the build up to the decision was drawn out over a number of days

Politics

3 w. ago Stock markets tumble day after Trump’s tariff pause erasing most of the record gains seen Wednesday

After a day of historic gains, the markets tumbled as uncertainty reigns following Trump’s tariff plan pause

Economics

3 w. ago Fund managers quietly fear Trump doesn’t have a tariff plan and that he ‘might be insane’

Some fund managers concerned ‘that the White House is not acting rationally, but rather on ideology. And some even fear that this may not even be ideology’

Politics

3 w. ago Stock markets soar to record gains after Trump announces pause on most of his tariff plan

The president announced this decision in a Truth Social post on Wednesday afternoon

Economics

3 w. ago It falls to Congress to unravel Trump’s reckless tariff plan

If Republicans are serious, they should join with Democrats to pass a resolution to fix this crisis

Politics

3 w. ago Musk made direct appeal to Trump to reverse sweeping tariffs, report claims

Billionaire Elon Musk made personal appeals to the Donald Trump to reverse his aggressive plan to make sweeping tariff increases, a new report has claimed.

Politics

3 w. ago Economist White House cited to justify tariff plan says Trump has ‘got it very wrong’

The renowned economist said the tariffs should be scrapped entirely, but barring that it should drastically reduce the miscalculated rates

Politics

3 w. ago How ‘liberation day’ rout compares with other notorious stock market crises

A swift loss of £4tn from global stock markets has led some to liken Trump’s trade war to 1929 Wall Street crashBusiness live – latest updatesDonald Trump’s escalating trade war has plunged global financial markets into the steepest rout since the spread of the Covid pandemic five years ago.Drawing parallels with the 1929 Wall Street crash and the ensuing 1930s Great Depression, the US president’s “liberation day” tariff plan has led to warnings of a global recession from leading economists. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Chinese plan to BAN Hollywood movies as they respond to Trump tariff 'blackmail': Huge blow could cost films such as Jurassic World: Rebirth and new Mission Impossible sequel half a BILLION dollars

It will put more tariffs on US agricultural products, prevent all US poultry from entering China and ban the import of US movies into the country, a Chinese journalist linked to the Communist party said.

Economics

3 w. ago Trump news at a glance: Wild swings on global markets as Trump threatens further China tariffs

Extreme volatility has plagued global stock markets, with Donald Trump defying stark warnings about economic damage – key US politics stories from 7 April Global stock markets fell catastrophically on Monday following President Trump’s tariff rollout.Despite the economic turmoil, the US president doubled down on his plan, threatening to impose an additional 50% tariff on imports from China on Wednesday, unless the country rescinds its retaliatory tariffs on the United States by Tuesday. Continue reading...

Politics