The US has imposed new tariffs on 60 trading partners in the latest escalation in the trade war reignited by US President Donald Trump when he returned to office last year.

Those targeted, including the UK, China and the European Union, will face a tariff of 10% to 12.5% on all goods, accounting for almost all American imports.

The tariffs, which replace an identical levy which expires on Friday, are based on claims key economic partners have failed to properly tackle forced labour.

As AI continues to evolve at breakneck speed, and developers warn of models going rogue, Elon Musk says people should simply "enjoy the ride".

OpenAI has revealed some of its most advanced AI models went rogue and hacked a start-up after it lost control of them during a security test.

The ChatGPT-maker said its agent - an AI system which can operate alone after some human instruction – was being tested in a controlled environment, but found vulnerabilities and managed to escape.

They targeted Hugging Face, one of the world's largest hubs for sharing AI models, gaining access to some internal company systems.

From the founder of Wildberries ...

"There are no words to describe all the feelings and emotions caused by the attacks on ordinary people, on our employees, on us, who are simply doing our jobs," she wrote on Telegram. "But these situations demonstrate the most important thing: we must continue to do what we do for the benefit of people."

US President Donald Trump claimed an agreement to end the war with Iran was close on Thursday, hours after cancelling a third consecutive night of strikes.

Trump had declared the US would strike Iran "very hard", but hours later said his negotiators had "just made a great settlement" with Iran.

He told reporters it was "subject to finalisation of documents, which should get done, over the next few days" and that there would "probably" be a signing ceremony in Europe.

There had always been real concerns that supporters would have difficulties getting into the United States for the 2026 World Cup.

....

Concerns remain about the potential presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at stadiums, and how fans could be affected.

With 48 hours still to go until the World Cup kicks off, does Fifa have little control about what will happen outside the stadiums?

Fifa must answer questions after allegations of "artificially inflating prices" and "misleading fans" over the sale of tickets for the 2026 World Cup.

It comes as the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey officially launched an investigation into Fifa's practices.

New Jersey attorney general Jennifer Davenport called the process a "gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity and impossibly high prices".

She added there would be a "thorough investigation of Fifa's conduct" with world football's governing body subpoenaed to provide information.

The boss of McDonald's UK and Ireland has said she "doesn't want to talk about the past" when asked about allegations of abuse at the fast-food chain.

Lauren Schultz told the BBC what had happened in recent years was "unacceptable" but said "we have drawn a line under it".

A BBC investigation in 2023 heard from more than 100 McDonald's workers in the UK claiming they faced a toxic culture of sexual assault, harassment, racism, and bullying. Last year, staff said they still faced sexual abuse and harassment.

HONG KONG/MANILA, April 15 (Reuters) - China is employing ships and a barrier to tighten control of the entrance to the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea amid roiling ​tension with the Philippines over the disputed feature, satellite imagery obtained by Reuters shows. Scarborough is one of Asia's most hotly disputed maritime sites, where ‌some diplomats and analysts fear long-running frictions and confrontations could degenerate into armed conflict.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45412028

First Lady Melania Trump has denied connections to Jeffrey Epstein, telling reporters at the White House that any claims linking the two "need to end today".

In a surprise announcement on Thursday, the first lady called for congressional hearings for survivors of Epstein's sex trafficking.

She also denied online rumours that Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump, calling them "mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation".

It is unclear what prompted the announcement.

First Lady Melania Trump has denied connections to Jeffrey Epstein, telling reporters at the White House that any claims linking the two "need to end today".

In a surprise announcement on Thursday, the first lady called for congressional hearings for survivors of Epstein's sex trafficking.

She also denied online rumours that Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump, calling them "mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation".

It is unclear what prompted the announcement.

Donald Trump has again attacked Nato for not supporting the US in the Iran war, following a private meeting with its Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.

In a post shared to Truth Social after the meeting, the US President said: "NATO WASN'T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON'T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN."

Meanwhile, Rutte has described his meeting to CNN with Trump as "very frank" and "very open", despite clear disagreements.