Gold rises as markets await US tariffs; Heathrow airport was warned about power supply in days before closure – as it happened

The sell-off in European stock markets has gathered pace, and pharmaceutical stocks are among the biggest fallers ahead of Donald Trump’s tariff announcement later today.The Stoxx 600 healthcare index fell as much as 2.5% to its lowest level since December.Analysts said US tariffs this time round could focus on the pharmaceutical sector.Germany’s Bayer and France’s Sanofi dropped by 4

Ex-Barclays boss ‘took a chance’ in lying about his links to Jeffrey Epstein, court hears

The former chief executive of Barclays Jes Staley took a “chance” in lying to the UK regulator about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, amid fears that being truthful could end his career and fuel potential lawsuits by victims of the jailed paedophile, a court has heard.The allegations were made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) during closing statements for the high-profile case at the upper tribunal in London on Wednesday.The case is part of Staley’s efforts to overturn a lifetime ban from the UK’s financial sector, prompted by the FCA’s claims that he lied about the depth of his ties to the now-deceased sex offender in 2019.The FCA’s lawyer, Leigh-Ann Mulcahy, told the court on Wednesday that Staley had a “clear motive to mislead” the regulator about the relationship, which he “had been mischaracterising since 2015”. This was, in part, to protect his career, she said

Italian police increase security at Tesla dealerships after 17 cars destroyed in Rome fire

Italy’s interior ministry has written to police forces across the country to increase security at Tesla dealerships after 17 of the electric cars made by Elon Musk’s company were destroyed in a fire in Rome.Italy’s state police anti-terrorism unit, Digos, is investigating whether the fire at the Tesla dealership in Torre Angela, a suburb in the east of the capital, was started by anarchists.Firefighters worked for hours to put out the blaze in the early hours of Monday. Drone images showed a row of the burnt-out remains of the vehicles in a parking area of the dealership. Using his social media platform, X, Musk referred to it as “terrorism”

Roblox gives parents more power over children’s activity on gaming platform

Parents can now block their children from communicating with specific friends or playing certain games on Roblox, an online gaming platform popular with children.The changes form part of a suite of safety updates intended to give parents more control over their child’s experience on the platform.From Wednesday, parents and caregivers who identify themselves with an ID or credit card will have access to three new tools. The friend management tool means they can block anyone on their child’s friends list, preventing their child from exchanging direct messages with that account, and report people they believe are violating Roblox policies.They can also review and change the content maturity level for their child’s account, determining which games their child can access, and obtain detailed screen-time insights

Grand National gets taps turned on to ensure safe ground after long dry spell

Jon Pullin, the acting clerk of the course at Aintree, said on Wednesday that he will do whatever it takes to ensure that the Grand National meeting opens on good-to-soft ground on Thursday, despite unusually low levels of rainfall in the weeks running up to one of jump racing’s showpiece events.March 2025 was one of the sunniest on record across much of the UK and watering of the track, which started at Aintree in the middle of the month, is likely to continue overnight once racing is underway to ensure that the going is as safe as possible for horses that will be taking off and landing at least eight times in every race.“We’ve been watering since the week beginning 17th March, and we’re now up to an average of 60-65mm across the track, with some areas having had more and some a little less,” Pullin said.“We’re watering again today, and it’s a warm and breezy afternoon with a similar forecast, if not a degree or two warmer, for tomorrow. So we’re hoping to certainly start with good-to-soft as the lead description and then we’ll reassess after racing as to what we may or may not need to do going forward

Pérez in talks with teams about F1 return as Lawson reflects on demotion

The former Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez says he is in talks with Formula One teams about a return to the grid after having his contract ended two years early. The 35-year-old Mexican, who won six races during his 14 years in F1, was replaced at Red Bull this season by Liam Lawson, who also struggled and was quickly demoted after two races. “Especially last year, I didn’t get to show what I’m able to do as a driver,” Pérez told the F1 website. “Now, all of a sudden, people realise how difficult the car is to drive.”Pérez said he had been “approached by a few teams since Abu Dhabi”, a reference to his final race last December as teammate to the eventual champion, Max Verstappen