US stock markets fall further after Trump curbs chip sales to China; gold hits new record high – as it happened

Stocks on Wall Street have fallen after the opening bell, joining the global rout.The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 323 points, or 1.9%, to 16,499 while the Dow Jones fell by 190 points, or 0.5%, to 40,179 and the S&P 500 slid by 61 points to 5,335, a 1.1% decline

Tariffs more likely to bring UK price cuts than inflation, says WH Smith boss

Donald Trump’s tariff war is more likely to lead to price cuts than inflation for many retailers in the UK, according to the boss of WH Smith, as east Asian suppliers seek alternatives to the US.Many economists including those at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have suggested that increased barriers to trade could fuel inflationary pressures across the globe.But Carl Cowling, the chief executive of the retailer, said: “I don’t think there is any logic in why there would be inflation. You could argue it would be the other way around and stock will free up, and it is more likely to be that than inflationary for the UK.”He said the company had not seen any disruption to deliveries from overseas suppliers owing to the rapidly changing news on tariffs

X’s UK profits collapsed the year after Elon Musk’s takeover

X’s revenues and profits collapsed in the UK in the year after Elon Musk took over the social media platform, the company has admitted.A decline in advertising spending amid concerns about “brand safety and/or content moderation” were cited as the reason for the fall, according to accounts filed this week to Companies House.Twitter UK Ltd also narrowly averted being struck off last month for failing to file the accounts on time, according to other recent filings to Companies House. It only filed full accounts on Monday for 2023, the year in which it was rebranded as X after Musk’s takeover.“The business continues to take corrective measures to build brand safety tools, invest in platform safety and content moderation and then educate advertisers about these initiatives,” the company said

Revealed: Chinese researchers can access half a million UK GP records

Researchers from China are to be allowed access to half a million UK GP records despite western intelligence agencies’ fears about the authoritarian regime amassing health data, the Guardian can reveal.Preparations are under way to transfer the records to UK Biobank, a research hub that holds detailed medical information donated by 500,000 volunteers. One of the world’s largest troves of health data, the facility makes its information available to universities, scientific institutes and private companies. A Guardian analysis shows one in five successful applications for access come from China.For the past year, health officials had been assessing whether extra safeguards were needed for patient records when added to the genomes, tissue samples and questionnaire responses held by UK Biobank

A Boat Race ritual that would bring me joy | Brief letters

I enjoyed the picture of a jubilant Cambridge women’s crew after their tradition dunking of their cox in your print edition (Water winners, 14 April) and congratulate you on choosing to highlight the winning women’s crew rather than the men’s. However, I’d have enjoyed it even more had the image been of the dunking of the entire board of Thames Water in recognition of its outstanding contribution to the fouling of the planet.Anne JohnsDerby Eighteen people in two boats on the Thames have, for nearly 100 years, enjoyed unprecedented national broadcast coverage. In two weeks’ time in the Isles of Scilly, 130 boats with 442 international crews comprising over 2,600 people will compete in the World Pilot Gig Championships, and will barely feature on the local news. Welcome to the “classless” UK

Hampshire’s Keith Barker cleared to return in July after failed drug test

Hampshire’s Keith Barker has said he “feared for the loss of my career” during a nine-month wait to learn his punishment for a failed drug test caused by what he described as “a genuine administrative error”.Barker has been cleared to return to professional cricket on 4 July, 12 months after he was told he had tested positive for the prohibited substance indapamide, which he had been prescribed to treat high blood pressure, and provisionally suspended. The length of his ban was decided last month and announced on Wednesday, one week short of 11 months after he took the out-of-competition test.“Over the last nine months I have been part of a very tense, very gruelling process leading to the results of my hearing,” the 38-year-old said. “Having been forced to step away from my career and the sport I have loved since I was a young child due to a genuine administrative error has been mentally taxing and left me fearing for the loss of my career