European stock markets fall as Trump renews tariff threats; trade war would be a ‘wrecking ball’ for UK manufacturing, union says

It looks like it will be a rocky start to the week for investors after Donald Trump threatened eight European countries with new tariffs until they support his ambition to acquire Greenland.The US president is planning to impose new trade levies of 10% on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland from 1 February, rising to 25% on 1 June.Investors in Europe are spooked: futures for the continent’s European Stoxx 50 index are down 1.51%. Futures for the UK’s FTSE 100 blue chip index are down 0

Markets fall and gold and silver hit new highs after Trump’s latest tariff threat

European stock markets fell on Monday and gold and silver prices hit record highs after Donald Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on eight European countries in an increasingly aggressive attempt to claim Greenland.Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC and Italy’s FTSE MIB were all down more than 1%, as was the pan-European STOXX 600. In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell 0.4% to 10,194.Gold rose 1

Ed Zitron on big tech, backlash, boom and bust: ‘AI has taught us that people are excited to replace human beings’

His blunt, brash scepticism has made the podcaster and writer something of a cult figure. But as concern over large language models builds, he’s no longer the outsider he once wasIf some time in an entirely possible future they come to make a movie about “how the AI bubble burst”, Ed Zitron will doubtless be a main character. He’s the perfect outsider figure: the eccentric loner who saw all this coming and screamed from the sidelines that the sky was falling, but nobody would listen. Just as Christian Bale portrayed Michael Burry, the investor who predicted the 2008 financial crash, in The Big Short, you can well imagine Robert Pattinson fighting Paul Mescal, say, to portray Zitron, the animated, colourfully obnoxious but doggedly detail-oriented Brit, who’s become one of big tech’s noisiest critics.This is not to say the AI bubble will burst, necessarily, but against a tidal wave of AI boosterism, Zitron’s blunt, brash scepticism has made him something of a cult figure

Deactivate your X account – you won’t miss it when it’s gone | Letter

As a past follower of Marie Le Conte (AKA the Young Vulgarian) on X, I read her column on leaving the platform with interest, complete empathy and self-reflection (To anybody still using X: sexual abuse content is the final straw, it’s time to leave, 12 January).I joined X – or rather, Twitter – in 2007 after reading a Guardian article on the five next hit websites. Needless to say, most of the others have been forgotten. I was bored in my uni halls and it sounded the most interesting.In those days one could sit and watch the global feed – every tweet being posted in the world – with notable seconds between posts

London Spirit use huge Hundred windfall to recruit off-field talent

The new-look London Spirit are hugely increasing salaries paid to off-field cricket staff in a bid to boost the calibre of recruits when the turbocharged Hundred launches in August. With the competition’s salary cap including only the playing squad, Spirit hope the backroom staff attracted will help the team flourish.One source described the wages offered to coaches and analysts for the first five years of the competition, when their salaries were funded by the England & Wales Cricket Board, as embarrassing. But Spirit are hoping to benefit from the combination of a massive funding boost after the sale of 49% of the team for £145m to a consortium of entrepreneurs unofficially known as the Tech Titans in last year’s team auction and the pull of life in the English capital to hire staff of sufficient calibre to transform their previously miserable fortunes. It is understood that their spending on support staff will be trebled

Djokovic continues to make Australian Open history as tour’s elder endearing statesman

Serb showed off astounding movement in 100th win in Melbourne to begin his 22nd grand slam season in style The very first point of Novak Djokovic’s 2026 season offered an instant reminder of his enduring greatness. Djokovic started his first match of his Australian Open campaign, also his opening match of the season, by working his way through a breathless 17-stroke rally and then punctuating the exchange with a perfectly timed forehand winner. He could not help but chuckle at his own genius.That blazing start set the tone for a straightforward night inside Rod Laver Arena as Djokovic began his 22nd grand slam season with an effortless 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Spain’s Pedro Martínez. It was also the Serb’s 100th win at the Australian Open, a feat he has also achieved at Wimbledon and Roland Garros