OBR a backseat driver with out-of-date maps, thinktanks tell Rachel Reeves

Rachel Reeves must reform the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to open the way to more public investment, an alliance of thinktanks has argued ahead of the chancellor’s spring forecast on Tuesday.With Keir Starmer’s government under intense pressure after Labour’s defeat by the Greens in Thursday’s Gorton and Denton byelection, the thinktanks called on Reeves to review the watchdog’s remit.The coalition includes the Labour group Progress, usually considered on the right of the party, the leftwing thinktanks the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and Common Wealth, and the feminist Women’s Budget Group.They said: “It has become increasingly clear that our current framework is contributing to instability, short-termist underinvestment and a lack of focus on long-term risks and opportunities.”Reeves is expected to focus in the spring forecast on Labour’s progress in restoring fiscal stability and point to evidence of a nascent economic recovery

Waiting on a tariff refund after Trump’s duties were struck down? Don’t bother | Gene Marks

Now that the supreme court has found that the Donald Trump exceeded his authority to levy tariffs, the big question for many businesses – particularly small businesses who were so hard hit by these tariffs – is are they able to get their money back?Don’t hold your breath. When it comes to tariffs, Trump still has many more tricks up his sleeve.He can use section 223 of the Trade Expansion Action Act of 1962 (along with section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974) to levy tariffs on specific industries and sectors, like Joe Biden did on Chinese steel, semiconductors, electric vehicles and other products during his term. Or – as he’s recently threatened – he can use another section of the 1974 trade act to increase tariffs to 15% for 150 days which gives him “balance-of-payments authority”.Although both tactics are limited and reviews, public comment and – in some cases – congressional approval are required, they can be pushed to their limits and there’s little doubt that the president will do just that

OpenAI to work with Pentagon after Anthropic dropped by Trump over company’s ethics concerns

OpenAI said it had struck a deal with the Pentagon to supply AI to classified US military networks, hours after Donald Trump ordered the government to stop using the services of one of the company’s main competitors.Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, announced the move on Friday night. It came after an agreement between Anthropic, a rival AI company that runs the Claude system, and the Trump administration broke down after Anthropic sought assurances its technology would not be used for mass surveillance – nor for autonomous weapons systems that can kill people without human input.Announcing the deal, Altman insisted that OpenAI’s agreement with the government included assurances that it would not be used to those ends.“Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems,” Altman wrote on X

Suicide forum found to be in breach of Online Safety Act after failing to block UK users

A suicide forum linked to deaths in Britain has been ruled provisionally in breach of the Online Safety Act after it failed to properly block access to UK users when ordered to do so last year.Ofcom, the online regulator, said it could now apply to the courts to demand internet service providers block access to the site in the UK. This will depend on how the site, which also faces fines, responds over the next 10 days.Coroners had been raising concerns about the links between the forum and suicides in the UK since at least 2019, campaigners said. The family of 17-year-old Vlad Nikolin-Caisley, from Southampton, said he took his own life in 2024 after using the site, which Ofcom is not naming

Formula One’s Australian Grand Prix hit by travel chaos amid Middle East crisis

As many as one thousand members of the Formula One circus have been forced into last-minute travel changes to get to Melbourne’s opening round in the wake of the escalating crisis in the Middle East, and some are set to miss the start of the season entirely.However, a larger logistical headache has been narrowly avoided, after the cars and supporting equipment were already shipped from last month’s testing in Bahrain – one of the countries drawn into the conflict – prior to this week’s widespread aviation disruptions.Travis Auld, chief executive of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, told Channel Nine on Monday the vehicles were already sitting on the main straight at Albert Park in containers, ready to be put into the garages ahead of the Formula One race weekend, which begins with practice on Friday.He added, however, that many staff have had to make new travel arrangements to avoid international airport hubs in places such as Qatar and the UAE which have been hit by Iranian missiles.“You’re talking about teams, drivers, Formula One personnel, I’m guessing there’d be close to a thousand people that would have already booked their flights and would be landing somewhere between today, tomorrow, Wednesday – they had to all be changed

Strongman Samson takes India past West Indies to set up England semi-final

For the third time in three T20 World Cups, England will meet India in the semi-finals, after the co‑hosts beat West Indies in what was in effect a quarter-final on Sunday night to seal their place in the final four and eliminate their opponents.Sanju Samson, who lost his place in the side on the eve of the tournament but who was recalled after India’s humbling Super 8s defeat by South Africa, dramatically rediscovered his touch, batting through the innings to finish unbeaten on 97. Chasing 196, the co-hosts looked in control with the 31-year-old at the crease and fittingly it was Samson who struck the winning runs, lifting his 50th delivery over mid-on to seal victory by five wickets, with four balls remaining.After West Indies were put in to bat Roston Chase, opening for the first time in Twenty20 internationals, powered the start of their innings in partnerships of 68 off 53 with Shai Hope, and 34 off 16 with Shimron Hetmyer – the latter pairing ended when Jasprit Bumrah dismissed both in a single over – while Jason Holder and Rovman Powell added 76 off the last 35 balls. But they were undermined by Hope’s pedestrian innings of 32 off 33 and by a series of fielding errors, including three dropped catches