3 d. ago Trump the AI salesman makes deals in the Gulf – and rich men benefit

The president sold the US model of the industry that made it: enormous power concentrated in the hands of a few menHello, and welcome to TechScape. This week in tech: Donald Trump the AI salesman visits the Middle East; 23andMe gets bought, mostly for its data; and Elon Musk’s bot hallucinates an offensively incorrect historical record – twice.Legal aid hack: data from hundreds of thousands of people accessed, says MoJHow to protect your data after a cyber-attackScattered Spider hackers in UK are ‘facilitating’ cyber-attacks, says GoogleLargest US crypto exchange says cost of recent cyber-attack could reach $400m Continue reading...

Economics

3 d. ago Reeves eyes Gulf trade pact as ‘next deal,’ Bank of England’s Pill says pace of interest rate cuts ‘too rapid’ – business live

China and Australia cut interest rates; Shell faces protests calling for clean-up in Niger DeltaHere’s our full story on Greggs.Sales at Greggs have picked up after the UK’s biggest bakery chain branched out into iced drinks, pizza boxes and a macaroni cheese that has gone viral on social media.These are important issues and we respect the right of people to express their view. But for many years the vast majority of spills in the Niger Delta have been caused by third parties acting unlawfully, such as oil thieves who drill holes in pipelines, or saboteurs.These challenges are managed by a joint venture which Shell’s former Nigerian subsidiary, SPDC, operated, cleaning up every spill from the joint venture’s facilities. Continue reading...

Economics

3 d. ago Rachel Reeves says Britain is targeting Gulf trade deal with six countries next as she claims Labour's growth push IS working

She told the BBC the agreement would be the Government's 'next deal' as it looks to continue to boost post-Brexit trade ties.

Economics

3 d. ago UK politics live: Reeves eyes trade deal with Gulf countries after striking EU Brexit reset pact

The chancellor is hoping an agreement can be secured with countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia

Politics

3 d. ago Reeves eyes Gulf trade pact as UK government’s ‘next deal’ after EU summit – business live

China’s and Australia’s central banks cut interest ratesRachel Reeves said the UK government is closing in on a trade pact with six Gulf nations, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as its next major deal.The chancellor told the BBC the agreement would be the government’s “next deal” as it looks to boost trade ties following Brexit.Britain is in a better place than any other country in the world in terms of deals with those countries.The first deal and the best deal so far with the US, we’ve got the best deal with the EU for any country outside the EU, and we’ve got the best trade agreement with India.We are not going to litigate old arguments, we are going to go forward in the spirit of what we do together, we do better.This deal will mean Britain becoming a rule-taker, accepting dynamic alignment, giving up fishing rights and paying new money to the EU. Nobody has lost more than the fishermen. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Reeves says Gulf trade pact is Government’s ‘next deal’ after EU summit

Ms Reeves suggested economic growth would be strengthened through recent trade deals with the United States, the EU and India.

Politics

6 d. ago Trump news at a glance: Gulf deals in the spotlight as experts warn receipt of overseas gifts ‘unprecedented’

Experts warn the message being sent by the White House is that American foreign policy is for sale. Key US politics stories from Saturday 17 May at a glanceWith Donald Trump’s headline-making tour of the Gulf region now over, focus has now fallen on the deals made during the trip – for US companies, and for the president himself.Former White House lawyers, diplomatic protocol officers and foreign affairs experts have told the Guardian Donald Trump’s receipt of overseas gifts and targeted investments are “unprecedented” as the White House remakes US foreign policy under a pay-for-access code that eclipses past administrations. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago US supreme court live: justices question whether limiting court power is practical in birthright citizenship case

Nancy Pelosi joins protests outside court as justices hear arguments case that could create different citizenship rules in different statesSupreme court hears birthright citizenship disputeWhat is US birthright citizenship?Here are some pictures from when Donald Trump arrived in the United Arab Emirates a short while ago, where he was greeted by the UAE president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at the Abu Dhabi airport. It’s day three of Trump’s Middle East trip aimed at drumming up investment in the US and securing lucrative economic deals with the oil-rich Gulf nations.Donald Trump said there won’t be movement on Ukraine peace talks until he and Russian president Vladimir Putin get together. Continue reading...

Society

8 d. ago Supreme court live: justices hear arguments on birthright citizenship dispute

US president rails against rule as justices will hear case that could create different citizenship rules in different states while legal challenges continueWhat is US birthright citizenship and why is it being disputed at the supreme court?Here are some pictures from when Donald Trump arrived in the United Arab Emirates a short while ago, where he was greeted by the UAE president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at the Abu Dhabi airport. It’s day three of Trump’s Middle East trip aimed at drumming up investment in the US and securing lucrative economic deals with the oil-rich Gulf nations.Donald Trump said there won’t be movement on Ukraine peace talks until he and Russian president Vladimir Putin get together. Continue reading...

Society

8 d. ago Supreme court hears arguments on birthright citizenship dispute – US politics live

US president rails against rule as justices will hear case that could create different citizenship rules in different states while legal challenges continueWhat is US birthright citizenship and why is it being disputed at the supreme court?Here are some pictures from when Donald Trump arrived in the United Arab Emirates a short while ago, where he was greeted by the UAE president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at the Abu Dhabi airport. It’s day three of Trump’s Middle East trip aimed at drumming up investment in the US and securing lucrative economic deals with the oil-rich Gulf nations.Donald Trump said there won’t be movement on Ukraine peace talks until he and Russian president Vladimir Putin get together. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Trump’s Middle East tour tells us he has forgotten about Gaza, much to Netanyahu’s delight | Yossi Mekelberg

As thousands of IDF soldiers prepare to occupy the strip, the president is silent. Israel’s ultra-right could want nothing moreAs Donald Trump hops from one Gulf capital to another, signs some eye-catching deals, meets the new Syrian president and even supposedly makes progress on the Iran nuclear issue, it looks like the war in Gaza has been pushed on to the sidelines of US diplomacy. While there were negotiations involving the Americans this week in Qatar over the release of hostages, Israel also saw fit to conduct a devastating assassination attempt on Hamas’s leader, Mohammed Sinwar, followed by intensive airstrikes across the strip. While Sinwar’s fate has not yet been confirmed, it is telling that this all took place while the US president was in the region: it reveals how unserious the Israeli government is about ending the war.The truth is that if the war is resumed in earnest, it will be unsurprising because, earlier this month, the Israeli security cabinet unanimously appr...

Politics

8 d. ago Trump weighs in ahead supreme court hearing on birthright citizenship dispute – US politics live

US president rails against rule as justices will hear case that could create different citizenship rules in different states while legal challenges continueWhat is US birthright citizenship and why is it being disputed at the supreme court?Here are some pictures from when Donald Trump arrived in the United Arab Emirates a short while ago, where he was greeted by the UAE president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at the Abu Dhabi airport. It’s day three of Trump’s Middle East trip aimed at drumming up investment in the US and securing lucrative economic deals with the oil-rich Gulf nations.Donald Trump said there won’t be movement on Ukraine peace talks until he and Russian president Vladimir Putin get together. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago US and Saudi Arabia sign $142bn arms deal as Trump to meet Syrian leader

White House touts deal made on first stop of US president’s four-day diplomatic tour to Gulf statesUS politics live – latest updatesThe United States and Saudi Arabia have signed a $142bn arms deal touted by the White House as the “largest defence sales agreement in history” in the first stop of Donald Trump’s four-day diplomatic tour to the Gulf states aimed at securing big deals and spotlighting the benefits of Trump’s transactional foreign policy.During the trip, the White House also confirmed that Trump would meet with Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former rebel commander whose forces helped overthrow Bashar al-Assad in 2024. The informal meeting will be the first face-to-face meeting between a US president and a Syrian leader since 2000, when Bill Clinton met with the late leader Hafez al-Assad in Geneva. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Iran proposes partnership with UAE and Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium

A consortium would help Tehran deal with US objections and tie in Gulf states to its enrichment programmeIran has floated the idea of a consortium of Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to enrich uranium as a way of overcoming some US objections to Iran continuing to have its own enrichment programme.The proposal would be one way of locking the Gulf states into supporting the Iranian position that it must be continued to be allowed to enrich. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Donald Trump arrives in Saudi Arabia as he looks to seal huge deals for the US during Gulf tour

The trip marks the US president's first major visit abroad of his second term, with the White House saying he looked forward to a 'historic return' to the region.

Politics