17 h. ago The life and death of a ‘laundered’ cow in the Amazon rainforest

Cattle moved between ranches, allowing meat from farms linked to deforestation to end up on supermarket shelvesRevealed: world’s largest meat company may break Amazon deforestation pledges againBibles, bullets and beef: Amazon cowboy culture at odds with Brazil’s climate goalsBrazil is the biggest exporter of beef in the world, and more than 40% of its vast 240m-cattle herd is raised in the Amazon region. As a result, swathes of the nature-rich rainforest are being cleared and burned to create pasture.This is pushing Amazon destruction close to a point of no return, prompting environmentalists and consumer groups to demand deforestation-free meat products. Governments, meat suppliers and retailers have promised to clean up their act, but one of the biggest hurdles is a complex and obscure supply chain that can hide the origins of meat products. Continue reading...

Events

23 h. ago America used to fire the world’s imagination – but now the cultural conversation is being silenced | Van Badham

Not only are TV-watching, book-reading, show-going, music-listening travellers declining to visit the US, we have started to cease to imagine itThis week, fresh data revealed the United States has seen its biggest drop in Australian tourists since Covid. It’s hardly surprising. Innocent people are being snatched by authorities from American streets. Citizens of foreign countries are being stopped, shackled and detained. The EU is now sending its emissaries with burner phones, lest personal social media posts critical of President Trump be discovered by border agents and who knows what happens next? Forcible relocation to a Salvadorian supermax prison, seemingly without chance of release, is suddenly not out of the question.It all seems like something from Hollywood dystopia; the V series, maybe. Or Escape from New York. It’s pretty much the plot line of the first season of Andor – which I strongly recommend that everyone watch before the Trump regime clocks what that show is advisin...

Events

38 h. ago The cost of gaming is soaring – but for many fans, a game is ‘worth’ more than its price tag

As tariffs raise the price of consoles, is it time for gamers to reevaluate our relationship with new releases?Now is not a good time to buy a new games console.The shock waves from Donald Trump’s will-he-won’t-he approach to trade tariffs were always going to hit video games, an industry that relies on incredibly complex global supply chains. On Monday, Nikkei Asia reported on analysis from a major electronics supplier suggesting that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be subject to Trump’s 145% tariff on goods imported to the US from China, despite his apparent decision to exempt smartphones and computers. Continue reading...

Sport

63 h. ago Trump’s tech tariffs are total chaos – and everyone’s paying the price

From iPhone airlifts to Nintendo delays, Trump’s trade war has thrown the tech world into confusionHello, and welcome to TechScape. Today’s news: Donald Trump’s tariffs spread confusion like a germ, tech takes two kinds of environmental tolls, Meta faces an antitrust trial, and I’ve been watching two excellent pieces of serialized fiction on Instagram and TikTok.OpenAI countersues Elon Musk over ‘unlawful harassment’ of companyFederal workers fear Musk’s ‘efficiency’ agency is using AI to spy on them: ‘They are omnipresent’ Continue reading...

Economics

6 d. ago Trump was playing chicken with tariffs. Then he chickened out | Steven Greenhouse

In a second term of fiat, flubbing and flip–flopping, Trump pursued his desire to wield a club over everyone and everythingBy imposing punitively high tariffs, Donald Trump was playing a high-stakes game of chicken with America’s trading partners – but it was Trump who chickened out and suspended his tariffs just hours after they took effect. The president couldn’t ignore the worldwide economic havoc that he had caused singled-handedly – stock markets were plunging, business executives were panicking and consumers were seething.Eager to persuade manufacturers to build new plants in the US, Trump said on Monday that many of his tariffs would be permanent. But for Trump, permanent evidently meant two days. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago The big lesson for Europe? Trump backed down under pressure | Alexander Hurst

The EU neither ‘kissed ass’ nor unleashed its most powerful trade weapon. Now it must provide the world with an alternative to US chaosMy condolences to everyone who spent days trying to play 5D chess with Donald Trump’s market-exploding tariff mess. Where Trump is involved, there is a cloud of malevolent chaos, and there is grift amid the chaos. What grandmasters there are to be found are almost certainly grandmasters of grift.When markets dump $10tn in three days and then gain trillions back in a single afternoon on the erratic decisions of one deeply corrupt person, you can be sure that a small number of people have made immense sums of money out of that volatility. Were the people responsible for abnormal spikes buying into the markets (including call options on various indexes and exchange-traded funds) on Wednesday morning – and again, 20 minutes before the tariff announcement went public – extraordinarily lucky? Were they in the right Signal group? Or were they just simply fo...

Politics

7 d. ago Donald Trump claims he could clinch global trade deals 'all in one day' as world holds its breath

President Donald Trump leaves everyone guessing as he backtracks over 'reciprocal' tariffs on most of the world, but insists 'more great days coming', while the world holds its breath

Politics

7 d. ago Judge allows requirement that everyone in the US illegally must register to move forward

A federal judge is allowing the Trump administration to move forward with a requirement that everyone in the U.S. illegally must register with the federal government

Events

7 d. ago Trump's tariff war affects us all – this is how much your iPhone will cost now

Trump’s tariff war means everyone’s iPhone prices will skyrocket by hundreds of pounds as most of the devices are made in China - which has been hit by soaring tariffs

Politics

7 d. ago How Trump just made EVERYONE'S iPhone more expensive. The truth about how much more it could cost. And can the most complex supply chain in history really be relocated to America?

It is near-ubiquitous on Britain's high streets. But experts say Donald Trump's new trade tariffs on China - which is the world's greatest producer of the iPhone - could send its cost soaring.

Politics

8 d. ago Why Trump just made EVERYONE's iPhone more expensive. The truth about how much more it could cost. And can the most complex supply chain in history really be relocated to America?

It is near-ubiquitous on Britain's high streets. But experts say Donald Trump's new trade tariffs on China - which is the world's greatest producer of the iPhone - could send its cost soaring.

Politics

2 w. ago Chelsea learn Jadon Sancho truth Man Utd and Man City both know as cost of 'mess' emerges

Chelsea have soon found out why Manchester United and Manchester City before them were glad to be rid of Jadon Sancho, but he's an ongoing problem for Ruben Amorim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe

Politics

3 w. ago Why is The White Lotus generating so much chatter about teeth? | Arwa Mahdawi

Aimee Lou Wood’s natural smile stands out amid Hollwood’s dazzling veneers. But let’s not get carried away Straight, expensive, blindingly white. No, I’m not talking about Donald Trump’s vision for America; I’m talking about teeth. Namely the sort of teeth you see on American TV shows – and, since many US politicians seem to love cosmetic surgery – the evening news. Everyone from Z-list influencers to Taylor Swift to Trump himself seems to have perfect teeth.Americans have always been invested in their smiles, but an increasing number of British people are also shelling out for veneers. You need sunglasses to watch the telly these days, everyone’s smile is so bright. Continue reading...

Events