Liverpool won the English Premier League this season, and live football is the focus on many illegal streams
A lack of action by big tech firms is enabling the “industrial scale theft” of premium video services, especially live sport, a new report says.
The research by Enders Analysis accuses Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft of “ambivalence and inertia” over a problem it says costs broadcasters revenue and puts users at an increased risk of cyber-crime.
Gareth Sutcliffe and Ollie Meir, who authored the research, described the Amazon Fire Stick – which they argue is the device many people use to access illegal streams – as “a piracy enabler”.
Amazon told BBC News that it remained “vigilant in our efforts to combat piracy”. The BBC has also contacted Google, Meta and Microsoft for comment.
The piracy problem
Sports broadcasting is big business, with the total value of media rights across the world passing the $60bn (£44bn) mark last year.
The increasing cost of rights deals results in higher prices for fans at home, especially if they choose to pay for multiple services to watch their team play.
To get round this, some resort to illegal streams of big events.
Enders say there are often multiple streams of individual events – such as high profile football games – each of which can have tens of thousands of people watching them.
The Enders report says fans watching football matches, for instance, via illegal streams are typically providing information such as credit card details and email addresses, leaving them vulnerable to malware and phishing scams.
Fire Stick in the firing line
The researchers looked at the European market and focussed on Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft.
While Meta, the owner of Facebook, was criticised for being the source of adverts for illegal streams, the technology of the other three was blamed for the increase in piracy.
The Amazon Fire Stick is a major cause of the problem, according to the report.
The device plugs into TVs and gives the viewer thousands of options to watch programmes from legitimate services including the BBC iPlayer and Netflix.
They are also being used to access illegal streams, particularly of live sport.
In November last year, a Liverpool man who sold Fire Stick devices he reconfigured to allow people to illegally stream Premier League football matches was jailed.
After uploading the unauthorised services on the Amazon product, he advertised them on Facebook.
According to data for the first quarter of this year, provided to Enders by Sky, 59% of people in UK who said they had watched pirated material in the last year while using a physical device said they had used a Amazon fire product.
The Enders report says the fire stick enables “billions of dollars in piracy” overall.
A spokesperson from Amazon, who are sports rights holders themselves, told BBC News: “Pirated content violates our policies regarding intellectual property rights, and compromises the security and privacy of our customers.”
They said Amazon worked hard to protect customers from the risks associated with pirated content, and warned customers about installing or using apps from “unknown sources”.
Amazon has also made changes to its Fire devices to make it harder for people to stream pirated content, they added.
Depreciation of tech allows piracy to flourish
Getty Images
The researchers also pointed to the role played by the “continued depreciation” of Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems, particularly those from Google and Microsoft.
This technology enables high quality streaming of premium content to devices. Two of the big players are Microsoft’s PlayReady and Google’s Widevine.
The authors argue the architecture of the DRM is largely unchanged, and due to a lack of maintenance by the big tech companies, PlayReady and Widevine “are now compromised across various security levels”.
Mr Sutcliffe and Mr Meir said this has had “a seismic impact across the industry, and ultimately given piracy the upper hand by enabling theft of the highest quality content”.
They added: “Over twenty years since launch, the DRM solutions provided by Google and Microsoft are in steep decline.
“A complete overhaul of the technology architecture, licensing, and support model is needed. Lack of engagement with content owners indicates this a low priority.”
JOJO SIWA and Chris Hughes have driven fans wild with an intimate backstage moment as her mum captures sweet moment on camera.
The pop star, 22, who just performed two shows in London, gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at her pre-show routine—with Chris, 32, right by her side.
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JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes drive fans wild with intimate backstage videoCredit: Instagram
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JoJo’s mum captured sweet moment on cameraCredit: Instagram
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The pop star gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at her pre-show routineCredit: Instagram
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The clip shows JoJo warming up before being joined backstage by ChrisCredit: Instagram
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The pair were filmed hugging each other, holding hands and putting bracelets on each otherCredit: Instagram
In a post to TikTok JoJo gave fans an inside look into her pre-show routine, the former Big Brother star was seen in the video warming up and spending time with her dancers.
JoJo captioned the post: “Pre show is always my favorite hour. Just pure chaos and love and energy warming up. What a beautiful perfect 2 shows in London this week wow.”
The clip showed JoJo getting ready before being joined backstage by her new beau Chris.
The singer is shown stretching whilst the camera pans to Chris who cheekily chimes “Stretch it off then” as he walks into the room.
The pair were later filmed by mum Jessalyn hugging each other, holding hands and putting bracelets on each other.
Former Love Islander Chris also learnt her hit song Karma and is videoed singing the lyrics alongside her.
Fans rushed to the comments, gushing over the pair’s sweet on-camera moment.
One user penned: “Chris is the biggest green flag ive ever seen, u two are the cutest (red heart emoji)”
Another chimed: “The way his hand stays on her leg after she gets off his lap.”
“Sweet christopher being JoJo’s number1 fan” added a third.
Watch as JoJo Siwa makes Chris Hughes blush with cute tribute as he proudly watches her perform in London
“Chris singing your lyrics Love ittttt!” wrote a fourth.
JoJo recently sent fans wild at her London gigs this week after she told them onstage she had “never felt so special and so loved”.
She also went on to change the lyrics of Bette Davis Eyes to “Chris Hughes’ eyes” as he looked on, giddy and red-faced at a music venue in Shoreditch.
Chris could not attend the second of her two-night run there — but JoJo didn’t miss her moment to shout out to him, singing to his orange beanie which she had placed in the crowd.
It comes after Chris made the 12-hour flight from the UK to Mexico to support JoJo as she performed to fans in Mexico City.
He later posted cosy snaps of them together online.
The two were then spotted kissing while straddling a lilo at an adults-only hotel during a loved-up getaway there.
When JoJo later returned to London the pair had a emotional reunion at Heathrow airport as JoJo flew in from Los Angeles — Chris greeting her with a large bouquet of red roses.
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When JoJo returned to London for her shows this week the pair had a emotional reunion at Heathrow airportCredit: Instagram
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The two were recently spotted kissing while straddling a lilo at an adults-only hotel in Mexico
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Chris made a 12-hour flight from the UK to Mexico to support JoJo as she performed to fans in Mexico CityCredit: itsjojosiwa/Instagram
Jury found that the BBC had not acted in good faith and awarded Adams 100,000 euros ($113,000) in damages.
Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has won a libel case against the BBC over a report alleging he sanctioned the killing of an informant in the Irish republican movement.
A jury at Ireland’s High Court on Friday found that the BBC had not acted in good faith and in a “fair and reasonable” way and awarded Adams 100,000 euros ($113,000) in damages.
Adams brought the lawsuit over a claim in a 2016 documentary and online article that he sanctioned the killing of Denis Donaldson, a long-serving Sinn Fein official who acknowledged in 2005 that he had worked for British intelligence. He was shot dead at his cottage in rural Ireland four months later.
The BBC “Spotlight” investigation included an anonymous allegation that the murder was sanctioned by the political and military leadership of the Irish Republican Army and that Adams gave “the final say”.
Adams denies any involvement.
Speaking outside court, Adams, 76, said the case was “about putting manners on the British Broadcasting Corporation”. His solicitors said Adams was “very pleased with this resounding verdict”.
Adams, 76, is one of the most influential figures of Northern Ireland’s decades of conflict, and its peace process. He led Sinn Fein, the party linked to the IRA, between 1983 and 2018. He has always denied being an IRA member, but former colleagues have said he was one of its leaders.
The BBC argued that it acted in “good faith”, that its programme was “fair and reasonable” and in the public interest, and that the allegation made in the documentary was supported by five other sources.
Speaking outside Dublin High Court alongside Spotlight reporter Jennifer O’Leary, BBC Northern Ireland director Adam Smyth told reporters they were disappointed with the verdict.
“We believe we supplied extensive evidence to the court of the careful editorial process and journalistic diligence applied to this programme and accompanying online article,” Smyth said.
“Moreover, it was accepted by the court, and conceded by Gerry Adams’ legal team, that the Spotlight broadcast and publication were of the highest public interest.”
Adams brought the case in Dublin as the Spotlight programme could be watched in Ireland, where it was seen by about 16,000 people.
An online article also had about 700 hits in Ireland during a 14-month period after its publication in September 2016.
WASHINGTON — President Trump may seek to deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants who recently entered the United States under a two-year grant of parole, the Supreme Court decided Friday.
Over two dissents, the justices granted an emergency appeal and set aside rulings by judges in Boston who blocked Trump’s repeal of the parole policy adopted by the Biden administration.
That 2023 policy opened the door for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to apply for entry and a work authorization if they had a financial sponsor and could pass background checks. By the time Biden left office, 530,000 people from those countries had entered the U.S. under the program.
Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.
“The court plainly botched this,” Jackson said, adding that it should have kept the case on hold during the appeals.
It was the second time in two weeks that the justices upheld Trump’s authority to revoke a large-scale Biden administration policy that gave temporary legal status to some migrants.
The first revoked program gave temporary protected status to around 350,000 Venezuelans who were in this country and feared they could be sent home.
The parole policy allowed up to 30,000 migrants a month from the four countries to enter the country with temporary legal protection. Biden’s officials saw it as a way to reduce illegal border crossings and to provide a safe and legal pathway for carefully screened migrants.
The far-reaching policy was based on a modest-sounding provision of the immigration laws. It says the secretary of Homeland Security may “parole into United States temporarily … on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons any alien” who is seeking admission.
Upon taking office, Trump ordered an end to “all categorical parole programs.” In late March, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the parole protection would end in 30 days.
But last month, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani blocked DHS’s “categorical” termination of the parole authority. The law said the government may grant parole on a “case-by-case basis,” she said, and that suggests it must be revoked on a case-by-case basis as well.
On May 5, the 1st Circuit Court in a 3-0 decision agreed that a “categorical termination” of parole appeared to be illegal.
Three days later, Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer filed another emergency appeal at the Supreme Court arguing that a judge had overstepped her authority.
The parole authority is “purely discretionary” in the hands of the DHS secretary, he wrote, and the law bars judges from reviewing those decisions.
While the Biden administration “granted parole categorically to aliens” from four counties, he said the Boston-based judges blocked the new policy because it is “categorical.”
He accused the judges of “needlessly upending critical immigration policies that are carefully calibrated to deter illegal entry, vitiating core Executive Branch prerogatives, and undoing democratically approved policies that featured heavily in the November election.”
Immigrants rights advocates had urged the court to stand aside for now.
Granting the administration’s appeal “would cause an immense amount of needless human suffering,” they told the court.
They said the migrants “all came to the United States with the permission of the federal government after each individually applied through a U.S. financial sponsor, passed security and other checks while still abroad, and received permission to fly to an airport here at no expense to the government to request parole.”
“Some class members have been here for nearly two years; others just arrived in January,” they added.
In response, Sauer asserted the migrants had no grounds to complain. They “accepted parole with full awareness that the benefit was temporary, discretionary, and revocable at any time,” he said.
The Biden administration began offering temporary entry to Venezuelans in late 2022, then expanded the program a few months later to people from the other three countries.
In October of last year, the Biden administration announced that it would not offer renewals of parole and directed those immigrants to apply to other forms of relief, such as asylum or temporary protected status.
It’s unclear exactly how many people remained protected solely through the parole status and could now be targeted for deportation. It’s also not clear whether the administration will seek to deport many or most of these immigrants.
But parolees who recently tried to adjust their legal status have hit a roadblock.
In a Feb. 14 memo, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it was placing an administrative hold on all pending benefit requests filed by those under the parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, as well as a program for Ukrainians and another for family reunification.
The memo said USCIS needed to implement “additional vetting flags” to identify fraud, public safety or national security concerns.
“It’s going to force people into an impossible choice,” said Talia Inlender, deputy director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law. Those who stay face potential detention and deportation, she said, while those who willingly leave the U.S. would be giving up on their applications.
The DHS memo said the government could extend the parole for some of them on a case-by-case basis. But Trump’s lawyers said migrants who were here less than two years could be deported without a hearing under the “expedited removal” provisions of the immigration laws.
Inlender said the government should not be allowed to strip people of lawfully granted legal status without sufficient reason or notice. Inlender, who defended the program against a challenge from Texas in 2023, said she expects swift individual legal challenges to the Trump administration’s use of expedited removal.
“So many people’s lives are on the line,” Inlender said. “These people did everything right — they applied through a lawful program, they were vetted. And to pull the rug out from under them in this way should be, I think, offensive to our own idea of what justice is in this country.”
PUNTERS were quite rightly stunned and social media went into meltdown after a shock unseat on a horse who drifted like a barge at Wexford on Wednesday.
Philip Byrnes flopped off Redwood Queen – trained by the jockey’s old man Charles – in the opening 2m1f claiming hurdle.
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Redwood Queen looked to have 1-3 market leader Beacon Edge beaten as they approached the lastCredit: Racing TV
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Redwood Queen landed on all fours having seemingly jumped the hurdle well – only for jockey Philip Byrnes to be unseatedCredit: Racing TV
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An investigation has been launched into the incident, which came at the final flight after the horse had drifted markedly in the bettingCredit: Racing TV
Although on itself merely an extreme example of desperate riding, what angered many about this was that Redwood Queen had drifted in the betting from 7-2 to 13-2.
She clearly had the race in the bag when the jockey disappeared out the ‘side door’.
Byrnes runners, more than most other stables, appear to do best when the money is down.
My Saturday NAP
A Listed winner on comeback from ages off having previously run well in the 2000 Guineas when well fancied – everything, including the strong pace, points to a big run here. Back my tip simply by clicking the odds above.
To an outsider, the County Limerick handler runs what the majority would call a ‘gambling outfit’, for all that racing fans would have no proof of any financial transactions.
So when a Byrnes runner drifts like a barge, is clear at the last and then the jockey falls off, naturally many will cry foul play.
Only time will tell if that was the case – as the IHRB launch their full investigation.
But the chances are the case will eventually be dropped.
Only money trails could really prove guilt, and with so much punting action now on the Black Market, if anyone was trying to do something untoward they would have to be very thick indeed to leave any trace.
I did ask one top class jumps rider what they thought of the fall, and their response was interesting.
“Terrible bit of riding really,” they said.
“The horse came out of his hands and he was unbalanced but who knows whether that was enough to fall off?”
They added: “Personally I don’t think he’s that good a stunt rider. I think if they wanted to throw themselves off it would have looked more obvious.
“It’s really hard to throw yourself off a horse. I just don’t think he’s that good.”
Social media is always fascinating on these occasions. People like me – journalists and presenters on TV – tend to come in for a barrage of abuse.
The general gist is that we ‘don’t tell it as it is’.
As well as that, we should ‘have an opinion’ and we won’t talk out against the ‘racing family’.
What those on social media are actually saying is that if we don’t agree with what they suggest we are on the so-called ‘gravy train’.
In this case, what those on social media wanted me to say was a jockey had deliberately fallen off a horse who had taken a walk in the betting because connections did not want it to win.
They would also like me to add the whole game is corrupt.
To say the above is fine for most, although technically there would always be a chance of action being taken against them if the authorities found there was no case to answer.
But if a TV presenter was to say such things – or someone in writing – they would be in court or before lawyers before you could count to ten.
I know this as a fact.
In my early days of broadcasting I was laid off for a month for two instances which I stand by to today, but which could not be proven.
Did one of those mouthing off on social media offer to help pay my bills because I had publicly stood up for the punters? No they did not.
Being a keyboard warrior is, naturally, a very different world to broadcasting or writing in a newspaper.
Social media has given the people an opening to express themselves like they have never had before.
But just because the rules of the land appear to matter little online, everyone should remember that for broadcasters and journalists it’s a different world.
The Wexford incident looked awful. But was it deliberate? I have absolutely no idea.
And at this stage none of you reading this have any concrete proof either. Such is life.
It’s the calm before the Derby and Royal Ascot this weekend, but one race I’m excited to watch is Saturday’s Group 3 Betfred John Of Gaunt Stakes at Haydock and live on ITV.
Old favourites Audience and Kinross are in the line-up, but it’s Alyanaabi who interests me.
He was once fancied for last year’s 2000 Guineas, and eventually finished fifth behind Notable Speech.
He carried on at about a mile for Owen Burrows, but his stamina has always been open to question and he returned over course and distance when scoring on May 10.
I was impressed then and everything looks right here for another bold run with a strong pace assured. Come on, Alyanaabi!
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Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Chris Taylor looks weird in an Angels uniform.
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Here we are, a little over a third of the way through the season, so let’s take a look at how the Dodgers stack up in various categories.
OPS+ A league average OPS+ is 100. Anything above that is good, anything below, not as good. And the higher of lower your OPS+, the better or worse you are. OPS is on-base% plus slugging%:
Freddie Freeman, 194 (Freeman is 94% better than the league average hitter) Shohei Ohtani, 191 Will Smith, 178 Teoscar Hernández, 151 Hyeseong Kim, 144 Andy Pages, 116 Mookie Betts, 111 Kiké Hernández, 108 Tommy Edman, 100 Max Muncy, 94 Michael Conforto, 73 Dalton Rushing, 68 James Outman, 67 Miguel Rojas, 66 Austin Barnes, 47 Chris Taylor, 29
ERA+ Same as OPS+, only for pitching. Minimum 10 innings
Rotation Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 198 (Yamamoto is 98% better than the league average hitter) Dustin May, 93 Tyler Glasnow, 88 Tony Gonsolin, 84 Roki Sasaki, 83 Clayton Kershaw, 82 Landon Knack, 75
Bullpen Ben Casparius, 140 Jack Dreyer, 130 Matt Sauer, 130 Alex Vesia, 117 Luis García, 103 Antony Banda, 98 Kirby Yates, 91 Tanner Scott, 85
Inherited runners who scored % League average is 32.4%
Ben Casparius, 0% (0 of 5 inherited runners have scored) Evan Phillips, 0% (0 of 3) Matt Sauer, 0% (0 of 3) Lou Trivino, 0% (0 of 3) Tanner Scott, 0% (0 of 2) Jack Dreyer, 20% (1 of 5) Luis García, 25% (3 of 12) Alex Vesia, 45.6% (5 of 11) Kirby Yates, 33.3% (1 of 3) Anthony Banda, 37.5% (3 of 8) Team, 23.6% (13 of 55)
Where the Dodgers rank as a team in various stats (numbers, except winning percentage, are through Wednesday)
Yes, I know, that’s a lot of numbers I’ve thrown at you. But before we can analyze any team weaknesses, there needs to be proof of what we are talking about.
And look at those pitching numbers. Not ideal. In the bottom half of most categories. But let me draw your attention to two key stats: The Dodgers are next to last in the majors in innings pitched by their starting rotation. And they are first in innings pitched by their bullpen. The offense has been carrying the team. And if the bullpen continues to pitch this many innings, they will be burned out by the time October gets here.
There is no fix. We can only wait for the pitchers on the IL to get healthy, especially Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell. And for Evan Phillips and Blake Treinen, among others, to return to the bullpen. We are 56 games into the season, and the Dodgers have already used 27 pitchers. They’ve had to use guys such as Ryan Loutos, Noah Davis and J.P. Feyereisen to pitch for them. This does not seem sustainable over a full season. Of course, there’s still 106 games to go.
Muncy and Conforto
The two players still drawing the most negative attention on the team are Max Muncy and Michael Conforto. They both have had lengthy, lengthy, lengthy slumps. But they are both showing signs of coming out of it.
Since May 4, Muncy is hitting .250/.365/.426. That’s solid. Since May 10, Conforto is hitting .267/.389/.444. Also good.
Some Dodger fans would like the team to trade some prospects for a replacement for Muncy or Conforto, or both. But as we can see in the previous item, the offense isn’t the problem. And with the Dodgers’ luck, if they traded for a pitcher, he’d get hurt in his first appearance.
Or, as the great coach Norman Daleonce said, “I would hope you would support who we are. Not who we are not.”
The Yankees are coming
The Yankees come to town this weekend for a three-game series. A rematch of last year’s World Series.
And as good as Shohei Ohtani is as a hitter, Aaron Judge is every bit as good. He’s hitting only .391/.488/.739 this season, with 14 doubles, 18 homers and 47 RBIs.
Some Yankees were upset during the offseason, feeling the Dodgers took too much glee and rubbed it in about the Yankees’ metdown in the fifth inning of Game 5.
Yankees closer Luke Weaver told Times reporter Bill Shaikin recently: “The way I personally look at it is, when you go out and you are on the right side of the victory, you’ve got a leg to stand on. When you lose, you ain’t got much to say. They said what they said. That’s what they felt. I don’t take it too personally. In a perfect world, yeah, you don’t want to hear that type of stuff. We know what happened. We know we had to do a better job. We just didn’t quite do what we wanted to do. With that being said, it is what it is.”
It should be a fun series to watch. And if the Yankees win two of three or sweep, don’t believe it when a sportswriter or broadcaster tells you “The Yankees avenged last year’s World Series.” No, they didn’t. One of the first lessons I learned as a sports reporter: Winning a regular season series the following season does not avenge a postseason loss. People writing that are relying on a tired cliche.
The Tanner Scott problem
Tanner Scott has three blown saves in his last five appearances. costing the Dodgers against Arizona, the Mets and Cleveland.
“I’m not putting [guys] away,” Scott told Jack Harris before the blown save against Cleveland. “I’m not getting the swing-and-miss, and I’m keeping the ball in the zone too much.”
The Dodgers don’t have much of a choice but to keep sending Scott out there (he does have 10 saves), as Harris noted:
“Fellow high-leverage relievers Evan Phillips (forearm discomfort), Blake Treinen (forearm sprain), Kirby Yates (hamstring strain) and Michael Kopech (shoulder impingement) are all out injured. And while Kopech is on a minor-league rehab assignment, and Yates and Treinen are both beginning throwing programs, Phillips’ absence is starting to become “concerning,” Dave Roberts acknowledged this weekend, with the team’s former ninth-inning fixture now going on three weeks without throwing because of an injury initially expected to keep him out for only the minimum 15 days.”
Every closer goes through rough patches. In previous seasons, the Dodgers had so much pitching depth that when a key reliever started to struggle a bit, they could let him pitch in low-leverage situations for a while until he regained his form. This season, they don’t have that luxury. Treinen, Phillips, Yates, Kopech are hurt. The odds are that Scott will rebound.
Chris Taylor update
Chris Taylor, released by the Dodgers last week, signed with the Angels, so he will be staying in the area.
“I’m excited to stay home — I get to live at home,” Taylor said before his first game. “The Angels have been playing really good baseball, so I’m excited to join the team and hopefully get on the field. That was one thing with the Dodgers this year, just my role, I wasn’t getting on the field that much. So I’m really just looking forward to, like, getting consistent at-bats and playing time.
“First and foremost, I want to perform on the field. I want to help this team win ballgames. I feel like I have a lot to prove to myself. I haven’t performed to how I feel I’m capable of playing the last couple seasons, and I kind of want to turn that around.”
On the Dodgers releasing him: “It was emotional. I’ve been on the Dodgers for nine years, but I do believe it was time for me. It was my time to kind of start fresh, hopefully turn the page, start a new chapter. I’m excited to do that here.”
Taylor is one for nine with five strikeouts with the Angels.
All-time leaders
The Dodgers’ all-time leaders in home runs:
Franchise 1. Duke Snider, 389 2. Gil Hodges, 361 3. Eric Karros, 270 4. Roy Campanella, 242 5. Ron Cey, 228 6. Steve Garvey, 211 7. Matt Kemp, 203 8. Max Muncy, 194 9. Carl Furillo, 192 10. Mike Piazza, 177
Los Angeles only 1. Eric Karros, 270 2. Ron Cey, 228 3. Steve Garvey, 211 4. Matt Kemp, 203 5. Max Muncy, 194 6. Mike Piazza, 177 7. Pedro Guerrero, 171 8. Raúl Mondesi, 163 9. Andre Ethier, 162 9. Shawn Green, 162 11. Justin Turner, 156 12. Willie Davis, 154 13. Cody Bellinger, 152 14. Adrian Beltré, 147 15. Dusty Baker, 144 16. Mookie Betts, 140 17. Mike Marshall, 137 18. Joc Pederson, 130 19. Gary Sheffield, 129 20. Frank Howard, 123
Up next
Friday: N.Y. Yankees (*Max Fried, 7-0, 1.29 ERA) at Dodgers (Tony Gonsolin, 2-1, 4.68 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Apple TV+, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
May 30 (UPI) — April personal consumption expenditure inflation was up just 0.1% for an annual rate of 2.1%, according to a Friday Bureau of Economic Analysis report.
“From the same month one year ago, the PCE price index for April increased 2.1%,” the BEA report said. “Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 2.5% from one year ago.”
For the month, PCE inflation met the Dow Jones consensus forecast, but the annual rate was 0.1% lower than expected.
“From the preceding month, the PCE price index for April increased 0.1%. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index also increased 0.1%.,” the BEA said.
Spending on housing and utilities services was up 24.7% in April, heath care services spendingincresed by 20.3%.
Gasoline spending was up 8.1%.
Spending on food and beverages, vehicles, recreational goods, financial services, insurance, clothing, footwear and motor vehicle parts all declined.
The BEA also reported personal income in the United States was up 0.8% in April.
“Disposable personal income (DPI)-personal income less personal current taxes-increased $189.4 billion (0.8%) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $47.8 billion (0.2%),” the BEA said in a statement.
The income increase reflected both compensation increases and higher government social benefits to individuals, according to the BEA.
In April there was a $47.8 billion increase in current-dollar PCE – comprised of a $55.8 billion rise in spending on services partially offset by an $8 billion decrease in spending for goods.
Personal savings amounted to $1.12 trillion in April while the personal saving rate was 4.9%. That rate is saving as a percentage of disposable personal income.
AI cryptocurrencies are gaining steam this month, but experts point to MIND of Pepe ($MIND) for the biggest gains.
It’s generating massive attention because it taps into two of the hottest market narratives: Pepe and AI.
The project is currently running a presale, which has raised over $11 million so far. This gives investors an opportunity to buy from the ground floor, but it’ll end soon.
Per a recent social media post, the $MIND presale will end in just 1 day. $MIND will list on decentralized exchanges on 3 June at 2PM UTC.
With a strong use case, rising presale momentum, and the exchange launch nearing, it appears that everything is in place for $MIND to explode in the weeks ahead. But what’s the project all about? Let’s take a deeper look.
AI cryptos explode – powerful analytics app MIND of Pepe is next?
The crypto market has taken a light dip today, but AI cryptocurrencies are still well ahead. Leading the top gainers is DeXe with a 12% daily gain. This project enables developers to build advanced DAO ecosystems, with a main focus on governing community-owned AI agents.
Meanwhile, Virtuals Protocol has soared by 71% this month, while AI agent aixbt has gained 42%.
But it’s not just crypto based AI outfits that are making moves. The poster child of AI technology, Nvidia, made headlines this week for beating analysts earnings expectations with a whopping $44.1 billion in sales for Q1 of 2025.
Demand for AI is the highest it’s ever been – and MIND of Pepe is bringing the technology to the meme coin world. Packaged behind Pepe-themed branding, MIND of Pepe is building an AI agent that will identify trading opportunities for its community.
The agent has a public X account where it will round up crypto news, aggregate market data, and even respond to its audience’s replies. But that’s only the start.
It has one core goal: turn followers into loyal holders. The X account isn’t where you’ll find the most powerful data; the MIND of Pepe terminal is – and you must hold $MIND to get access.
The terminal will offer trading signals, deep technical analysis, risk-to-reward ratio analysis, and curated X posts. It’s a lucrative market edge for those who have access.
The agent can even launch its own cryptos based on market data and emerging trends; and $MIND holders get insider information before it posts about them on its public X account.
Users can also earn rewards through the project’s staking mechanism, which is live during the presale and currently offers a 210% APY. However, this will decrease as the staking pool grows.
In short, those seeking to maximize their gains must hold $MIND – and that translates to potential for serious token demand.
$MIND could surge as Trump posts Pepe meme
Just as Elon Musk announced his exit from the Department of Government Efficiency, (D.O.G.E), Donald Trump has sent shockwaves through meme coin circles by posting a Pepe meme on his social media platform Truth Social this week.
Could it be that Trump is considering a landmark Pepe buy? It wouldn’t be out of character. He launched his own meme coin $TRUMP in March, and Trump-backed World Liberty Financial just invested in BUILDon meme coin this week.
But either way, Trump’s Pepe meme has come at just the right time, with MIND of Pepe only days away from launching on exchanges. Leading media outlets are writing about Pepe right now, and that’s attracting new eyeballs to Pepe coin.
Yet with a lower valuation and market-beating utility, MIND of Pepe could prove the biggest beneficiary from Trump’s latest stunt.
Although it hasn’t been listed on exchanges yet, experts are already talking about huge gains. For example, an analyst from Cryptonews just made a jaw-dropping 500x prediction.
And remember, price appreciation isn’t the only way to earn from $MIND. There’s also massive staking rewards and trading opportunities.
It’s rare for a project with this much potential to be available so early in its life cycle.
Just 1 day until $MIND exchange listing
With over $11 million raised and experts making exciting predictions, it’s clear that all eyes are on MIND of Pepe right now – and that signals that big gains could be on the horizon.
However, with just one day left until the presale ends, those who have yet to buy must act quickly.
Follow MIND of Pepe on X or join its Telegram for updates. Alternatively, visit its website to buy and stake tokens.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not provide financial advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, and the market can be unpredictable. Always perform thorough research before making any cryptocurrency-related decisions.
Tourists travelling to Belgium are literally picking apart centuries of history in the fairytale-esque city, where authorities have now pleaded with visitors to show some ‘respect’
15:54, 30 May 2025Updated 16:23, 30 May 2025
The illuminated tower of the Church Of Our Lady in Bruges at night (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Most travellers leave a European city break with a fridge magnet or maybe a cute vintage scarf, but it turns out some people are taking much more damaging keepsakes – bits of the actual street.
That’s what’s happening in Bruges, the fairy-tale-like city in Belgium that’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Officials are now begging tourists to stop stealing the city’s historic cobblestones, which date back to the Middle Ages.
Bruges, which attracts over 8 million visitors every year, is best known for its chocolate shops, charming canals, and old-world vibes. But behind the picture-perfect views, locals say the city is literally being picked apart by overbearing tourists who want to take a piece of it home.
The city is literally being picked apart by overkeen tourists who want to take a piece of it home.(Image: Getty Images)
Franky Demon, a city councillor, says Bruges is losing between 50 and 70 cobblestones every month. And while it might seem harmless to lift a loose one from the ground, replacing them costs €200 (£168) per square metre – a price that’s quickly adding up.
“We ask for nothing but respect,” he told The Brussels Times. “Walking in Bruges means treading on centuries of history. Please leave these stones where they belong.”
The lake of love – a romantic beauty spot(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
It’s not just the cost – the theft is damaging some of the city’s most iconic areas, including the Grand Place, Vismarkt, the Gruuthuse Museum and the Lake of Love known as Minnewater – a romantic beauty spot that’s sadly seeing more empty patches than ever.
While heritage plays a huge part in the city’s charm, it’s also a safety issue. With so many of Bruges’ visitors exploring the town on foot, gaps left by missing stones are becoming trip hazards, turning scenic strolls into risky ones.
The conversation has moved to reddit(Image: Getty Images)
Over on Reddit, both tourists and locals have been weighing in with suggestions to fix the problem. Some have called for fines and tougher penalties, while others say replicas should be sold in gift shops to stop people from taking the real deal.
CCTV has also been suggested, but for many users, it’s baffling as to why anyone would want to steal a cobblestone in the first place.
People have even tried to deter tourist (Image: Getty Images)
One local shared: “I once caught a tourist digging a stone out of the street. I told them horses have been s***ting on it for decades. They didn’t listen and took it anyway.”
The cobble chaos is just one example of overtourism hitting major European destinations. Bruges has already slashed cruise ship arrivals to limit footfall. Meanwhile, Venice has doubled its tourist tax and Palma has capped tour group sizes.
So next time you’re on a city break – settle for the fridge magnet, yeah?
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Things got heated between Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel last summer. Sweat was poured. Scores were settled. Justin Timberlake even got involved.
The intense showdowns occurred on a New York City padel court when the women had days off from filming their new Prime Video limited series, “The Better Sister,” now streaming. Squaring off in the increasingly popular racquet sport, the actors, along with Biel’s husband, Timberlake, and Banks’ husband, Max Handelman, “had a blast kicking each other’s asses,” Biel said.
Back on “The Better Sister” set, Banks and Biel were happy to play on the same team. There, they both served as stars and executive producers, and they praised the collaborative, ego-free environment overseen by showrunners Olivia Milch and Regina Corrado. (Though their competitive streak did continue with between-takes Bananagrams.)
“This was a group of, frankly, a lot of moms, who were like, ‘We don’t have time for nonsense. We want our crew home to have dinner with their families,’ ” Banks said. “There was a lot of mutual respect going on, but then we all demanded the best from each other.”
The eight-episode whodunit, adapted from the 2019 novel by Alafair Burke, is a twisty, Shakespearean tale: Two estranged sisters, the glamorous, successful Chloe (Biel) and the recovering addict Nicky (Banks), are thrust back together when Chloe’s husband, Adam (Corey Stoll) — who used to be Nicky’s husband — is murdered. When Nicky and Adam’s son, Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan) — who was raised by Chloe and Adam — is arrested for the crime, the sisters must untangle a web of family secrets and betrayal. Yeah, it’s complicated.
Elizabeth Banks, top, and Jessica Biel in a scene from “The Better Sister.”
(Jojo Whilden / Prime Video)
“So many shows I’ve written on are about muscular, macho men doing violent things to each other,” said Corrado, whose past work includes “Sons of Anarchy” and “Deadwood.” “But I think the scariest thing is women in this space and the intimate damage we can do to each other, particularly as sisters.”
While Biel, 43, and Banks, 51, both rose to prominence as actors, they’ve been increasingly expanding their resumes behind the camera. Over the past decade, Banks has directed films, including “Cocaine Bear,” “Pitch Perfect 2” and the 2019 “Charlie’s Angels” reboot, and produced numerous projects under her and Handelman’s Brownstone Productions banner.
Biel has likewise segued into producing with her company, Iron Ocean, which backed the psychological thriller series “Cruel Summer,” “The Sinner” and “Candy,” the latter two in which she also starred. (Biel is also in early development on a reboot of “7th Heaven,” the ‘90s series on which she got her start as the rebellious Mary Camden, though she won’t reprise her role.)
For Biel, those recent thriller projects, along with “The Better Sister,” speak to what she finds “endlessly interesting.” “Why do humans do the things that they do?” she said. “When you’re pressed up against the wall and you’re fighting for your life or to keep your kids safe, what would you do? How far would you go?”
In a joint video interview, Banks and Biel discussed making “The Better Sister” and their decades of experience that led them here. These are edited excerpts from the conversation, which includes a few spoilers.
What initially attracted you to “The Better Sister” and your specific roles?
Biel: I first read for the Nicky part, and I was definitely interested in it. Then, a couple days later, I got the call saying, “They want you for Chloe.” When I heard that Elizabeth was talking to them about Nicky, I was like, oh, yes. This makes more sense to me now. I’ve also heard for a million years that we look like sisters.
Banks: I had never heard a bad word about Jessica Biel in the industry. She was known as kind, generous, talented, a great collaborator, easy to be around. And I thought, well, that sounds easy and fun. Craig Gillespie, who directed our pilot, got on with me and said, “I want you to be a mess, Banks. It needs more humor, and you’ll be funny.” He sold me on this messy Nicky, in contrast to Jessica, and I thought that sounded like a great idea all across the board.
“I love that I got to reset my career, and I’ve been able to do it multiple times,” said Elizabeth Banks, who has starred in comedies and dramas onscreen.
(Annie Noelker / For The Times)
Elizabeth, as an actor, you’ve received the most recognition for your comedic roles, but you’ve been focused lately on quieter, dramatic parts. Is that a direction you’d always hoped to go in?
Banks: It’s interesting. I started my career in a lot of dramas. Man, I remember making “Seabiscuit.” It was nominated for seven Academy Awards. It was very serious fare, and I was put in that [dramatic] box early on. It honestly took making “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” to even clue people in that I was funny. Like, I knew I was. I thought I was going to come in and do rom-coms, but when I started making films, it wasn’t a skill that was asked of me. I love that I got to reset my career, and I’ve been able to do it multiple times.
The very title of this series, “The Better Sister,” pits these two women against each other. How have you seen that comparison game play out in your own experiences in this industry?
Biel: You’re constantly compared. At least back in the day, it felt like people were trying to keep women away from each other. You’d sit in an audition room, and there would be this energy because your agents and managers would have made you feel like these women are your competition. There really was a feeling of ”you are against everybody, and everybody is against you.” I feel like that’s changed so much, but this industry is cutthroat. I have a lot of real experience in feeling less than, feeling judged, feeling like the industry has been putting their thumb on top of you, and you have to fight, fight, fight for every opportunity.
Banks: I had a similar experience coming up as an ingénue. There’s a scarcity mentality, like there’s only so many roles. Now we have all of this incredible data, like what the Geena Davis Institute has collected, about women’s roles in Hollywood. At some point, I just looked around and thought, the numbers are against me. The very first film I ever made [“Wet Hot American Summer”] was with Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper, and they went on to play superheroes. I’m never going to get that, especially once I got over a certain age. You start to understand that it’s systemic, and it is a numbers game. You can keep playing that game, or you can do what so many incredible women have done before me, which is create your own opportunities.
I know that we are encouraging the next generation because I made a movie with them called “Bottoms.” Emma Seligman, Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri, they’re doing it now. They’re going to make their own stuff, and it’s incredible. I think the industry has changed because women changed it. I just want to make sure that we have actually learned the lessons, and we are creating the opportunities.
Biel: I really do hope it is different and better and more fair and more loving because, man, it was hard.
One of the big themes in this show is trust. This idea of, can we trust our family? Can we trust our partners? Can we trust the police? Can we trust our memories? Did working on this show make you question anything about your own realities?
Banks: My father served in Vietnam, and we never talked about it when I was a kid. Vietnam vets suffered when they came back. America was not interested in them. What does that do to people’s psyches that had served their country and now they’re being spit at? This brought up a lot of those notions for me about how little you actually know your parents when you’re a child and how the layers come out the older you get.
I was the older sister, and I was able to protect my younger sister from the version of my father that I knew. He didn’t give that version to her because he and my mom had learned a lesson about what was going on with him. I’m 11 years older than my brother. He did not get the same version of my parents that I did.
“Where I parallel a little bit in Chloe’s world is this weird, naive trust of police,” Jessica Biel said about her character. “It’s interesting watching Elizabeth in the scenes where she’s expressing Nicky’s feelings about, ‘Don’t trust these people. Don’t give them anything.’ ”
(Annie Noelker / For The Times)
Biel: Where I parallel a little bit in Chloe’s world is this weird, naive trust of police. It’s interesting watching Elizabeth in the scenes where she’s expressing Nicky’s feelings about, “Don’t trust these people. Don’t give them anything.” I was wondering if I have those same thoughts that Chloe does, where I would just offer up information that I shouldn’t because I trust that they’re here to protect me. Would I be in a situation where I would not be taking care of myself or my family members because I felt obligated to almost please this police department who is supposed to help me?
So, [I was] trying to understand that system a little bit better, alongside all the questions you have about your parents and what version you got as a child. My brother and I are three years apart, but I was working when I was really young, and he wasn’t. He was at home. I basically abandoned him. But I was so self-absorbed, I didn’t think about it in that way. I just was doing what was my passion. I know he had a very different experience in our family than I did. I feel nervous to talk to him about it sometimes because I have guilt around that. He was in my shadow, and I left him.
Spoilers for the final episodes — we ultimately learn that Nicky killed Adam, and that reveal puts everything we’ve seen her do thus far in a different light. Elizabeth, what went into playing a character who’s keeping a huge secret from everyone, including the audience, for so long?
Banks: Look, I literally say right after he gets arrested, “Tell them it was me. I’ll say I did it.” But nobody’s going to believe her. I was actually always thinking about “Presumed Innocent,” the original [film], where she knows all along that she can make him free. Ethan’s not going to jail. Nicky was willing and ready every minute of this entire series to offer herself up and say, “I’m going to jail for this. I did it.” I think she almost expects that it’s where her life is supposed to go — but she also can’t let Adam win. So, there is a lot of strategy going on for Nicky. She’s playing chess, and she’s playing the long game, and poor Chloe is not in on any of it.
Chloe then ends up framing Adam’s boss for the murder in the finale. Jessica, how did you feel about that decision and the motivations around it?
Biel: It felt to me that it was what had to happen. Because once it’s revealed that Adam set Nicky up and pushed those drugs on her, and she’s not this horrific mom, her son was not in danger — that realization for Chloe is just like — oh, my God — everything that she has done has been in vain. She ruined her sister’s life. She’s taken over being the mother of this child. For what? It’s all a lie. So, when all of that comes out, that is the moment where she is 100% loyal to Nicky. They are officially in it together. Now she has to protect Nicky in order to protect Ethan, and to do that, we need somebody to take the blame for this because we are all culpable. Everybody is playing their part, and nobody is innocent.
Elizabeth Banks and Maxwell Acee Donovan, who plays her son Ethan in the series.
(Jojo Whilden / Prime Video)
There’s a line in the show to the effect of, “Nothing ever really disappears,” whether that’s because of the stories that people tell about us or the permanence of the internet. Is there a story or project that’s followed you around that you wish would go away?
Biel: I’m sure you could dig up some stuff about me, and I would probably be like, “Oh, yeah, that wasn’t the best choice.” But you have to fall on your face, look like an idiot, sound like an idiot and get back up and go, “All right, won’t do that again.” I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t stumble around a little bit. I don’t want to be stumbling around too much anymore at this age.
On the flip side, what past chapter of your life are you the most proud of?
Banks: I really am proud that I was able to use the opportunity that came during “The Hunger Games,” where I had this guaranteed work with these big movies. I started my family then, and I started my directing career then, and it was because I wasn’t out there shaking it trying to make a living. It was a real gift to have some security for a hot minute because it allowed me to look around and go, is this what I really want? What are my priorities? What opportunities can I pursue while I have this security? I’m proud that I took advantage of it.
Biel: I think back in my early 20s, taking the opportunity to start my little [production] company [with co-founder Michelle Purple], which was dumb and small and lame for like 10 years. We didn’t make anything, and it was a disaster. But we hustled, I took control and said I’m going to start making headway to make things for me. I’m not going to just sit and wait for a phone call from my agents, which is what I had been told to do. I started procuring material and working with writers and learning how to develop them. Now, my little company is making some stuff, which is cool.
Neither of you come from industry families. Did you feel like outsiders stepping into that world?
Banks: I still feel like an outsider.
Biel: I was going to say the same thing!
Banks: I know my worth, and I know what I’ve earned, so I don’t have impostor syndrome anymore. But I do feel like there’s a party in Hollywood that I’m not necessarily on the inside of. It keeps me scrappy, to be honest.
Biel: It also keeps you from getting lost in the sauce. You’re not paying so much attention to everybody else or what you’re not getting. It’s a good mindset to be in because you just focus on what you’re doing. When I’m outputting creatively, that’s what fuels me. The joy is in doing it.
In the spring of 1990, the chief executive’s office at British Rail received an urgent telephone call from the area manager at Newcastle upon Tyne saying there was a one-armed Scotsman wandering around the main signal box claiming to be BR’s new chairman and wanting to know how everything worked. Was it all right to tell him?
The man was Bob Reid, who had recently moved from Shell, where he was the UK chairman, and was now on the brink of a difficult five-year stint at BR that would end in a privatisation about which he had serious misgivings. His foray into the signal box, matched by an excursion into the drivers’ restroom at Waterloo, was typical of the man. Determined, impulsive and impatient to get things moving, he had a liking for human contact and an easy manner, regardless of rank.
The offer to take over BR had come in 1990. Reid, who has died aged 91, was not the first choice; rumour had it that 20 people had already turned it down. But he saw it as an opportunity to apply his skills to an inward-looking public sector organisation that had long been a concern to government and which faced major challenges with the forthcoming Channel tunnel rail link. Reid could not wait to get started, but he dismayed some of his new colleagues with a bullish joke that he was used to much bigger projects than those he faced at BR.
When he took over, the railways were improving, although the level of government subsidy remained controversial. Under his predecessor, a veteran railwayman confusingly also called Sir Robert Reid, steady improvements had been made, helped by a benign economic environment. The business had been reorganised into sectors, which proved a success, but the recession of the early 1990s now hit railway finances and Bob Reid failed to get government backing for BR’s proposed investments.
He left the running of the railway largely to his chief executive, John Welsby, and concentrated on projects such as the Channel tunnel, which the government had made a priority. BR favoured a route through south London that provided alternative options and would be linked to expensive new facilities. But the government, with Michael Heseltine promoting the regeneration of the Docklands area, opted for an east London route. Reid took the rebuff badly and some felt he might resign, but he remarked in an outburst that he immediately regretted: “When you are in the middle of a pantomime, you want to stay with it.”
When BR famously blamed “leaves on the line” and “the wrong kind of snow” for various delays, and when he failed to get his investment plans through, his lack of success began to invite questions about his competence in dealing with government. It was not helped when the transport minister, Malcolm Rifkind, described him as being “on a learning curve”.
Within the railways, Reid’s lack of appetite for detailed knowledge grated, and managers were reluctant to discuss problems for fear of receiving a diktat. But they respected his strong emphasis on safety, including his insistence that track maintenance supervisors must brief their gangs on safety every morning.
Reid’s difficulties multiplied when John Major’s new government decided to privatise the railways. That scenario had not been part of Reid’s original brief, and he was publicly critical of the detail. He forecast accurately that the complex division of the system would multiply bureaucracy, that profits would not be sufficiently reinvested, and that safety could be compromised. Some in BR hoped he would challenge the plan by resigning. But he argued that “managing large undertakings through the medium of government is a recipe for all sorts of problems. Even though I would have done it differently, getting BR into the private sector is the main thing.”
By 1995, at the end of his term, Reid could point to better financial performance (with expectations of a £400m-a-year profit for BR), an improvement in industrial relations that had seen just two days lost to strikes over his whole period in office, and improved productivity. But he had lost the strategic battles.
The son of Elizabeth (nee Paul), and William Reid, he was born in Cupar, Fife, where his life was transformed by a terrible accident when he was nine. Working in his father’s butcher’s shop one evening, he attempted to unstick a mincing machine and lost his right hand. He described the incident as “catastrophic” but insisted it only sharpened his desire to be part of the action. He learned to write with his left hand within a fortnight and became a formidable golfer with a handicap of four. “Making things happen is a state of mind,” he would say later. “The joy of leadership lies as much in overcoming setbacks as enjoying the rewards of success.”
Reid demonstrated his leadership during a career with Shell that he started in 1956 as a management trainee after studying politics, economics and history at St Andrews. He represented the university at golf and met his future wife, Joan Oram, there – they married in 1958. He also forged significant friendships with two aspiring politicians, Bob Horton, later chairman of BP and National Rail, and John MacGregor, who was appointed transport secretary while Reid was running BR.
His Shell career, largely focused on the “downstream” processing and marketing of oil, took him to Malaysia, Nigeria, Kenya and then back to Nigeria as managing director from 1970-74, before a similar job in Thailand and a posting in Australia as director of downstream oil. In 1983 he was brought back to London as coordinator for supply and marketing, becoming chairman and chief executive of Shell UK in 1985.
Reid, nicknamed “the one-armed bandit”, was admired for his energy and enthusiasm but never reached the committee of managing directors, as board level was known at Shell. His skills in dealing with people were deployed in what was largely a representational role, although it included responsibility for UK refining and the important North Sea operations. His experience of determinedly camping in the outer offices of Nigerian ministers when they refused to see him was judged to have helped him with the UK government.
Reid’s five years as chairman reinforced his reputation for energy, unstuffiness and charisma. He crusaded for proper management training (in the absence then of business schools), establishing the Foundation for Management Education and chairing the British Institute of Management (1988-90). With his sympathy for the arts (particularly music and opera) and a keen eye for public relations, he took Shell’s sponsorship in a new direction with backing for Bafta. At a time when Shell’s continuing activity in South Africa was under attack, Reid argued that the company could be part of change, and provided liberally managed employment that helped it to be seen in a different light.
He was knighted in 1990. On leaving BR he became chairman of the retail giant Sears Holdings, and later deputy governor of the Bank of Scotland. He was the first chancellor of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. Other chairmanships included London Electricity, Avis Europe and the International Petroleum Exchange.
Joan died in 2017. Reid is survived by their sons, Douglas, Paul and Michael.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s salvo against Chinese students, promising to “aggressively revoke” their visas, is the latest move in heightening tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Despite a temporary tariff truce reached between them earlier this month, divisions between Washington and Beijing remain wide, with recent ruptures over higher education, artificial intelligence (AI) chips and rare earth minerals.
Here’s all we know about how relations between China and the United States are worsening despite diplomatic efforts.
What did the US and China agree on tariffs?
A US-China trade spat escalated after Trump’s administration raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145 percent earlier this year, with cumulative US duties on some Chinese goods reaching a staggering 245 percent. China retaliated with 125 percent tariffs of its own on US goods.
Under an agreement reached on May 12 following two days of trade talks in Geneva, tariffs on both sides were dropped by 115 percentage points for 90 days, during which time negotiators hope to secure a longer-term agreement. For now, the US has maintained a 30 percent tariff on all Chinese goods while Beijing has a 10 percent levy on US products.
In the weeks since the temporary reprieve, however, Washington and Beijing appear to have had only limited discussions.
On Thursday, US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that trade talks between the US and China are “a bit stalled”, and may need to be reinvigorated by a call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
In the meantime, the Trump administration has announced new, strict visa controls on Chinese university students and told US companies to stop selling their advanced chip software used to design semiconductors to Chinese groups.
Why is the US targeting Chinese students?
On Wednesday, Rubio announced that the US will “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese students studying in the country. He also pledged to ramp up scrutiny of new visa applicants from China and Hong Kong.
The Trump administration’s decision to carry out deportations and to revoke student visas is part of wide-ranging efforts to fulfil its hardline immigration agenda.
China is the second-largest country of origin for international students in the US, behind India. Chinese students made up roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the US during the 2023-2024 academic year – more than 270,000 in total.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticised the decision to revoke visas, saying it “damaged” the rights of Chinese students. “The US has unreasonably cancelled Chinese students’ visas under the pretext of ideology and national rights,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
The Trump administration also banned Harvard University from enrolling any foreign students on May 22, accusing the institution of “coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party”. That move has since been blocked by a US federal judge.
Still, the largest portion of foreign students at Harvard – almost 1,300 – are Chinese, and many top officials, including the current leader Xi Jinping, have sent their children to the Ivy League school.
How is the US taking aim at Chinese semiconductors?
On May 13, just after the end of trade talks in Geneva, the US Commerce Department issued guidance warning American firms against using Huawei’s Ascend AI semiconductor chips, stating that they “were likely developed or produced in violation of US export controls”.
The move marked the latest in a series of efforts by the Trump administration to stymie China’s ability to develop cutting-edge AI chips. The tiny semiconductors, which power AI systems, have long been a source of tension between the US and China.
China’s Commerce Ministry spokesperson fired back against the guidance last week, accusing Washington of “undermining” the consensus reached in Geneva and describing the measures as “typical unilateral bullying and protectionism”.
Then, on May 28, the US government ramped up the row by ordering US companies which make software used to design semiconductors to stop selling their goods and services to Chinese groups, The Financial Times reported.
Design automation software makers, including Cadence, Synopsys and Siemens EDA, were told via letters from the US Commerce Department to stop supplying their technology to China.
Why is the US targeting Chinese semiconductors?
The US has been tightening its export controls on semiconductors for more than a decade, contending that China has used US computer chips to improve military hardware and software.
Chinese officials and industry executives deny this and contend that the US is trying to limit China’s economic and technological development.
In his first term as president, Trump banned China’s Huawei from using advanced US circuit boards.
Huawei is seen as a competitor to Nvidia, the US semiconductor giant which produces its own-brand of “Ascend” AI chips. In April, Washington restricted the export of Nvidia’s AI chips to China.
But Nvidia’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, recently warned that attempts to hamstring China’s AI technology through export controls had largely failed.
How could China be affected by US measures?
The suspension of semiconductor sales will limit supplies for aerospace equipment needed for China’s commercial aircraft, the C919, a signature project in China’s push towards economic and transport self-reliance.
Christopher Johnson, a former CIA China analyst, told The Financial Times that this week’s new export controls underscored the “innate fragility of the tariff truce reached in Geneva”.
“With both sides wanting to retain and continue demonstrating the potency of their respective chokehold capabilities, the risk the ceasefire could unravel even within the 90-day pause is omnipresent,” he added.
Will China ease restrictions on rare earth minerals exports?
US officials had expected the Geneva talks to result in China easing its export restrictions on rare earth elements. So far, there have been few signs of that, however.
Rare earth minerals are a group of precious minerals required to manufacture a wide range of goods in the defence, healthcare and technology sectors.
Rare earth metals, which include scandium and yttrium, are also key for producing components in capacitors – electrical parts which help power AI servers and smartphones.
China processes some 90 percent of the world’s rare earth minerals and instituted export controls in April to counter Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, triggering alarm among US companies.
Last week, for instance, Ford temporarily closed a factory in Chicago which makes utility vehicles after one of its suppliers ran out of a specialised rare earth magnet.
In most new cars, especially elevate vehicles (cars with robotic technology allowing them to “climb” over obstacles), these high-tech magnets are used in parts which operate brake and steering systems, and power seats and fuel injectors.
The restrictions on the supply of rare earth minerals provide Beijing with a strategic advantage in future negotiations, as it can limit supplies of crucial technologies for US industry.
When you board a plane, you’ll always step onto the aircraft from the left – and it turns out there is a very good reason for this – and it’s all to do with ships and boats
15:10, 30 May 2025Updated 15:23, 30 May 2025
People board a plane from the left [stock image](Image: Cristi Croitoru via Getty Images)
As we gear up for the summer holiday rush and prepare to soak up the sun, there’s a curious constant in our plane-boarding experience that might have escaped your notice. Whether you’re buzzing with excitement or grappling with pre-flight jitters, you’ve probably never pondered why you always board an aircraft from the left-hand side.
Despite the leaps in aviation technology, the boarding process has remained steadfastly the same, and Michael Oakley, managing editor of The Aviation Historian, has shed light on this intriguing tradition. Originally, commercial aircraft featured passenger doors on the left due to historical practices, but today it’s all about operational efficiency.
Speaking to Afar, Michael revealed: “Much of aviation terminology had its origins in maritime lore (rudder, cockpit, cabin, bulkhead, knots, etc), and similarly, the aeronautical ways of doing things owe a lot to sailing.”
He further explained: “Just as boats and ships have a port side – the side of the vessel conventionally adjacent to the dock when in port – aircraft are the same. Sensibly, people decided to continue to board on the port (or left) side.”
Boats were traditionally designed with the steering oar on the right side (starboard), leading to passengers and cargo being loaded onto the opposite side.
This practice was carried over to aircraft until United Airlines in the 1930s and 40s decided to place their doors on the right. However, as air travel became more popular, it proved more efficient for everyone to board planes from the same side using the same terminals.
“Since the pilot sits on the left, airports began to be built with gates on the left so the pilot could better judge distances as they taxied to the gate,’ explained Matthew Burchette, senior curator at the Museum of Flight in Tukwila, Washington.
He added: “As soon as more complex airports were developed, with passengers using Jetways as a means of walking directly aboard from the terminal, ground operations were a lot easier if every aircraft did the same thing in the same direction.”
This arrangement also makes life easier for airport ground staff, who can work on the right-hand side away from passengers, while passengers are kept clear of any machinery.
The French Open night sessions – which were introduced in 2021 – feature just one singles match on Court Philippe Chatrier.
A women’s singles match, played over three sets, has not been put in this primetime slot since 2023 – meaning the past 19 night-time sessions have been men’s singles matches, which are played over five sets.
Only four matches have been from the women’s draw since they were brought in four years ago.
Questions are raised every year about whether the French Open should do more to promote the women’s game.
Mauresmo says women’s matches potentially going “really fast” is the justification behind the choices.
“There is nothing new under the sun compared to the previous editions,” she said.
“We have one single match per night session. It hasn’t changed. We won’t change everything again.
“Two sets can go really fast when you have three sets minimum – that’s the lens for me.
“It’s not the level the [women] reach right now. I’m not talking about this.”
Mauresmo also said the tournament does not want to have two matches in the night session, like the Australian Open and US Open, in fear of creating late finishes.
She pointed to the full crowd at Thursday night’s match between French favourite Gael Monfils and British number one Jack Draper – played in front of a full house until it finished at 23:45 local time – as a measure of the schedule’s success.
“If we have two matches in the night sessions, it doesn’t work in terms of how late the players are going to finish,” she said.
“But if we start earlier, the stands are going to be empty in most of the first match, so we keep this one match in the evening.
“It’s not ideal. We cannot check every box because we have many, many things to think when we are doing these choices.”
During Trump’s tour of Gulf states in May, the US president was eager to talk about the deals he’d made and the investments he’d secured, but do the numbers add up and how many of the agreements touted were actually a result of his visit?
The bombings mark a sharp escalation by the armed group, which views the new government in Damascus as illegitimate.
ISIL (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for an attack on the Syrian army, representing the armed group’s first strike at government forces since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, according to analysts.
In a statement released late on Thursday, ISIL said its fighters had planted an explosive device that struck a “vehicle of the apostate regime” in southern Syria.
The bombing appears to mark an escalation by ISIL, which views the new government in Damascus as illegitimate but has so far concentrated its activities against Kurdish forces in the north.
The blast, in the al-Safa desert region of Sweida province on May 22, reportedly killed or wounded seven Syrian soldiers.
A second bomb attack, claimed by ISIL earlier this week, targeted fighters from the United States-backed Kurdish-led Free Syrian Army in a nearby area. ISIL said one fighter was killed and three injured.
There has been no official comment from the Syrian government, and the Free Syrian Army has yet to respond.
Members of the new Syrian government that replaced al-Assad after his removal in December once had ties to al-Qaeda – a rival of ISIL – but broke with the group nearly a decade ago.
However, over the past several months, ISIL has claimed responsibility only for attacks against the Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast.
The United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the convoy blast was the first ISIL-claimed operation targeting the new Syrian military.
ISIL was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019 but maintains sleeper cells, particularly in the country’s central and eastern deserts.
While the group’s capacity has been diminished, the latest attacks suggest it may be seeking to reassert itself amid shifting alliances and weakening state control.
A weekend break in Debrecen, known as Europe’s cheap pint capital, is a fine idea for those seeking a value-packed city break, as well as a thirst for a cheap pint
Debrecen’s Kalvin square is one of the city’s main attractions – other than the cheap beer(Image: Getty Images)
Europe’s most affordable city for a pint continues to offer beer at five times less than the UK average – and it’s just a short, budget-friendly flight away. Located in Hungary’s Northern Great Plain region, Debrecen isn’t merely known for its inexpensive beverages. It’s an excellent choice for a weekend escape and with careful planning, it could be the best value trip you’ve ever taken.
According to price comparison site Skyscanner, return flights from Luton Airport to the city can cost as little as £23 if you choose the right time of year. The journey is well under three hours, and Debrecen has earned its title as Europe’s cheap pint capital.
Thirsty travellers can enjoy a Soproni lager for a mere 79p, with the average lager costing around 82p. This is a staggering 6.6 times cheaper than the average price of a pint in London, where a drink now costs a hefty £5.90 on average.
Even Derby – deemed the UK’s cheapest place for a pint in one study – can’t compete with these prices, with the average cost in the Midlands city being £3. But Debrecen offers more than just affordable drinks; it’s a captivating city in its own right.
The vibrant university town boasts the grand yellow Reformatus Nagytemplom cathedral, an extensive museum dedicated to Hungarian culture, a zoo, and a theme park.
Europe’s ‘cheapest city for beer’ Debrecen has 89p pints and flights from £13 (Image: debrecen.hu)
The inflationary pressures of recent years have significantly impacted the cost of alcoholic beverages in the UK. Data from the Office for National Statistics released last year revealed that the average price of a pint of draught lager in a pub rose by 12.1% between August 2022 and August 2023, from £4.12 to £4.65.
With many people’s wages failing to keep up, an evening at the local might start to feel like an indulgence.
However, there’s good news – Debrecen isn’t the only place in Europe where you can find a bargain pint, and we’ve highlighted a few other destinations here. But if you’re looking to avoid places where you’ll be charged an arm and a leg for a beer, you might want to give Iceland a miss – a pint there now costs an average of £8.33.
Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife – £1.60 a pint
A tried and true favourite, this Canary Island gem continues to offer excellent value for money. With stunning sea views, a tranquil atmosphere, and incredibly cheap pints, it’s no wonder why.
If you visit in June before the school summer holidays, you’ll find pleasant weather and great value for money on-site, all while avoiding peak season airfares and hotel rates.
Faro, Portugal – £2.18 a pint
The Algarve is known for its crystal-clear waters, sunshine, delicious cuisine, and budget-friendly drinking spots. Consider Faro for your next European getaway for wallet-friendly prices on flights, hotel stays, and in-destination expenses – beers start at just £2.
Zagreb, Croatia – £2.44 a pint
Zagreb conjures images of sun-soaked beaches during the day and lively socialising with mates at night, all made more appealing by a remarkably affordable pint price of just £2.44. To make the most of your savings, steer clear of the school holidays and plan your visit for May-June.
Glamorous farmhand Harriet Cowan has said goodbye to Jeremy Clarkson and the Diddly Squat farm after stepping in to provide much-needed cover – but she quickly became a fan favourite
Jeremy Clarkson was impressed with Harriet’s hard work(Image: Instagram/harrietcowan_x)
New farmhand Harriet Cowan, 24, has said her goodbyes to the Diddly Squat farm after stepping in to provide some help to Jeremy Clarkson in series four – and a little dash of glamour.
The TikTok star was brought in as cover for manager Kaleb Cooper, 26, whilst he went on tour with his one-man show across the country, but on his return to the Chipping Norton farm, Harriet returned to her normal day-to-day life. In the sweet moment, she said goodbye to Jeremy Clarkson, the former Top Gear presenter, and said she had been a lifesaver.
“You saved my life. So, if we get stuck again, can we give you a call?” He asked the trained nurse. However, as it stands, there are “no plans” that she will appear again in this series of Clarkson’s Farm, or any potential future ones – sources close to the show have previously revealed.
Whilst Harriet has left the show for now, the social media star quickly became a fan favourite – and boasts over 448,700 followers on her TikTok account and 159,000 on Instagram – with many calling for her to be brought back to the show.
Harriet comes from a farming family and grew up on her grandad’s livestock farm, which her dad has now taken over. Most of the content centres around life in agriculture and her unbelievably sweet brown collie dog, Sky. The Mirror takes a look at just what Harriet gets up to off-screen.
Girls’ holiday and nights out
Since finishing her time on Clarkson’s Farm, Harriet has jetted off with her friends to Spain to enjoy a break in the sunshine. She ditched the wellies, grabbed a bucket hat and a blue bikini, and spent some much-needed time away from the farm relaxing poolside – and shared a few snaps from her time away.
Harriet swapped the wellies for a bikini and enjoyed a well deserved holiday
Harriet was seen getting dolled up for a night out with the girls and shared a picture of her hard at work blowing up a pink lido so they could lounge in the pool. She’s also reported to have tried on a few accessories at a local store.
Whilst Harriet spends a lot of her time hard at work on the farm and nursing – as well as reportedly working as an advocate for the mental health of farmers – she also likes to let her hair down, and often posts snaps on her socials of glamorous nights out with her pals and partner James Booth.
Boyfriend James
Harriet has been with her boyfriend James – who is also reported to be a third-generation farmer – for “some time,” according to one of her step sisters. The Clarkson’s Farm star regularly posts pictures and sweet videos with her partner, who she seems to have met at the Young Farmers Club (YFC), writing over one video post of the couple: “The ‘butterfly effect’ is crazy because if I didn’t join young farmers we’d of never of met.”
Harriet Cowan and James Booth posing for a selfie in a lift.(Image: Instagram)
The pair obviously have a lot in common with their farming backgrounds, with Harriet writing in one joking post last year: “Your bf brings you presents to unwrap … Mine brings me bales to unwrap. We’re not the same.”
She joked in another post about lambing season, which saw her holding a seriously cute lamb “I’ve been covered head to toe in bodily fluids. But at the end of it all I expect my bf to take the bins out cause it’s gross”.
Nursing career
Whilst Harriet seems to be pretty busy helping out with the cows and sheep on the farm – she also has a full-time job as a nurse. She graduated from the University of Derby in 2023 and is now fully qualified, working for the NHS, so needless to say she has a pretty packed schedule.
In one post she joked about her packed calendar and the financial difficulties that can come with farming, writing over one video on her TikTok: “Thinking I could quit my job and farm full time… but then I remember I have a mortgage to pay.” She captioned the lighthearted post, “Suppose I would miss nursing a bit too”.
Family feud
Unfortunately, Harriet seems to be embroiled in some family tensions – with her stepsister speaking out about her publicly since her rise to fame on Clarkson’s Farm. Elina Clifford, a professional chiropodist, opened up about her feelings on her estranged step-sister Harriet, and she certainly didn’t hold back when it came to diving into the subject.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Elina dubbed her step-sister “fake” and “self-absorbed”, adding, “She loves to be the centre of attention, often at others’ expense”.
Harriet’s a full-time nurse as well as a farmer(Image: Instagram/harrietcowan_x)
She also issued a blunt warning to Clarkson’s Farm: “She is fake in the way she behaves, so Jeremy Clarkson, beware!”. According to The Express, Elina and her elder sister Maddie – a teacher – blame the origins of the “family feud” on Harriet’s behaviour towards their mother Vicky, who is in a relationship with Harriet’s dad Eddy.
The sisters claim that Harriet isn’t nice to their mother, which has caused serious tension. “We don’t have a good relationship with her. Our mum is with her dad now, and there was a lot of drama a couple of years ago. There is a family feud, and Harriet was not being very nice to mum, and it was very upsetting,” said Maddie.
The siblings went as far as to say that Harriet was only taking part in Clarkson’s Farm in an attempt to grow her already massive social media following – calling it “sad and desperate” and claiming the TV star is “obsessed with herself”.
A total of 79 people were injured after a car drove into a crowd after Liverpool Football Club’s trophy parade.
A former British marine has appeared in court accused of driving a vehicle into a crowd of people celebrating Liverpool Football Club’s Premier League title win.
Paul Doyle briefly appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning, where he read out his personal details, according to United Kingdom media reports.
Doyle, 53, is facing seven charges, including dangerous driving and causing grievous bodily harm with intent, which carry a maximum life sentence if convicted, after a dark Ford Galaxy drove into Liverpool Football Club supporters attending a parade in the city centre to celebrate the club winning the Premier League.
A total of 79 people, aged between nine and 78, were injured in the incident, and no deaths were reported.
Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims told reporters on Thursday that seven people remained in hospital.
According to local reports, Doyle lives in a suburb of Liverpool and is a businessman with three teenage children.
The charges followed what Crown Prosecution Service’s Sarah Hammond described as a “complex and ongoing investigation”.
“Prosecutors and police are continuing to work at pace to review a huge volume of evidence,” she said.
“This includes multiple pieces of video footage and numerous witness statements. It is important to ensure every victim gets the justice they deserve,” she added.
Shortly after the incident, Merseyside Police quickly ruled out possible terrorism as the reason behind the crash and revealed that the suspect was a white British man, in a move to stop the spread of misinformation online.
Last year, misinformation circulating online about an attacker who killed three girls in the Southport area led to anti-immigration and Islamophobic riots in parts of England.
