Wall Street hits six-month low and Dow falls into correction as Trump ‘appears to lose his grip on markets’ – as it happened

The US stock market has dropped to its lowest level since last September, as analysts warn that president Trump may be losing his grip on the markets.The S&P 500 index has dropped by 0.8% today to 6,425 points, adding to Thursday’s 1.75% fall on the benchmark US stock market index.The tech-focused Nasdaq index is down 1%, also at a six-month low

Lloyds bank faces £66m court battle with car loan customers

Lloyds Banking Group is facing a court battle with 30,000 aggrieved car loan customers who are to abandon the City regulator’s official redress scheme amid fears it will shortchange consumers and favour lenders.The claims law firm Courmacs Legal is planning to file a £66m omnibus claim on behalf of borrowers who believe they were financially harmed by car loan contracts set up by Lloyds’ motor finance arm, Black Horse.The grievances are part of a much wider car loans commission scandal, in which drivers were overcharged for their loans due to unfair commission arrangements between lenders and car dealers.However, the omnibus case, which is expected to be filed in the coming weeks, means consumers are deciding to pre-emptively waive their rights to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) estimated £11bn compensation scheme, even before the final details are due to be set out on Monday. That is despite claims law firms such as Courmacs taking a 28% cut of any potential payout

Number of AI chatbots ignoring human instructions increasing, study says

AI models that lie and cheat appear to be growing in number with reports of deceptive scheming surging in the last six months, a study into the technology has found.AI chatbots and agents disregarded direct instructions, evaded safeguards and deceived humans and other AI, according to research funded by the UK government-funded AI Security Institute (AISI). The study, shared with the Guardian, identified nearly 700 real-world cases of AI scheming and charted a five-fold rise in misbehaviour between October and March, with some AI models destroying emails and other files without permission.The snapshot of scheming by AI agents “in the wild”, as opposed to in laboratory conditions, has sparked fresh calls for international monitoring of the increasingly capable models and come as Silicon Valley companies aggressively promote the technology as a economically transformative. Last week the UK chancellor also launched a drive to get millions more Britons using AI

‘Accountability has arrived’: dual US court losses show shifting tide against Meta and co

In the span of just two days, the most powerful social media company in the world faced a more severe public reckoning than it has in years.Jurors in California and New Mexico gave back-to-back verdicts this week that for the first time ever found Meta liable for products that inflict harm on young people. For years, lawmakers, parents and advocates have raised red flags over how social media can hurt children, but now the tech firms are being held to account via court rulings that could set long-lasting precedents.A jury in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $375m in damages on Tuesday over claims that its products led to child sexual exploitation, among other harms. The following day, a jury in California ordered Meta and YouTube to pay $6m over claims that both companies deliberately designed addictive products to hook young users

Tiger Woods released on bail hours after arrest at crash scene on suspicion of DUI

Tiger Woods was released on bail on Friday, hours after the golf star’s Land Rover clipped a truck, rolled onto its side and he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to officials.Martin County sheriff John Budensiek said Woods was driving a Land Rover that overturned after attempting to overtake a truck on a narrow two-lane road shortly before 2pm near Woods’s residence on Jupiter Island. The vehicle clipped a trailer, veered off and came to rest on its driver’s side after sliding along the roadway.The truck had been slowing to turn into a driveway when Woods approached at what the sheriff described as a “high rate of speed” on a road with a 30mph limit.Woods, who was alone in the vehicle, was able to exit through the passenger side

Australia break new ground to thump West Indies in first women’s ODI

Australia have powered to a 103-run win over the West Indies, despite Stafanie Taylor’s breakthrough one-day century.Opener Phoebe Litchfield top-scored with 77 and five other teammates reached the 40s as Australia made 341 from 49.5 overs on Saturday (AEDT) in St Kitts. It is a record women’s one-day team total in the Caribbean.After sweeping the three-game T20 series, the tourists then restricted the West Indies to 238-8 from their 50 overs in the first of three one-dayers