Stock markets shrug off tariff letters after Trump says August 1 tariff deadline ‘not 100% firm’ – business live

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.The TACO trade is back! Many Asia-Pacific stock markets are rising today, despite Donald Trump’s decision to ramp up his trade war by announcing new tariffs on 14 US trading partners.There’s relief that Trump has announced a new pause before these new levies kick in – a new three-week reprieve kicks the can down the road to 1 August, rather than tomorrow.This delay will give countries to negotiate trade deals with the US.Asked if 1 August deadline was firm, Trump indicated it wasn’t exactly concrete, saying last night:“I would say firm, but not 100% firm

Yorkshire Water announces hosepipe ban after driest spring in 132 years

Yorkshire Water has introduced hosepipe restrictions after the region recorded its driest spring in 132 years.Yorkshire received just 15cm of rainfall between February and June, less than half of what is expected in an average year, pushing the region to an official drought status.Its reservoirs are 55.8% full, which is 26.1 percentage points lower than what they would normally be at this time of year

Amazon asks corporate workers to ‘volunteer’ help with grocery deliveries as Prime Day frenzy approaches

Corporate employees of Amazon were asked on Monday to volunteer their time to the company’s warehouses to assist with grocery delivery as it heads into its annual discount spree known as Prime Day.In a Slack message reviewed by the Guardian that went to thousands of white-collar workers in the New York City area from engineers to marketers, an Amazon area manager called for corporate “volunteers to help us out with Prime Day to deliver to customers on our biggest days yet”. It is not clear how many took up the offer.The ask came the day before Prime Day kicks off. The manager said volunteers are “needed” to work Tuesday through Friday this week, in two-hour shifts between 10am and 6pm in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, where the company operates a warehouse as part of its grocery delivery service, Amazon Fresh

Tesla shares dive as investors fear new Elon Musk political party will damage brand

Shares in Tesla fell 6.8% by the close of US trading on Monday, wiping $79bn (£60bn) off the company’s value, amid investor concern that Elon Musk’s launch of a new political party will present further problems for the electric carmaker.Tesla’s market capitalisation fell from just over $1tn to about $921bn after stock markets closed on Wall Street, with the value of his stake in the company reduced by nearly $15bn, lowering it to below $120bn.The Tesla and Space X boss remains comfortably the world’s richest person, with a wealth of about $400bn, according to Forbes.Tesla shares have come under pressure owing to the Tesla CEO’s relationship with Donald Trump

Grieving Cameron Munster to make late dash to Maroons camp ahead of Origin decider

A “pretty upset” Maroons captain Cameron Munster will return to camp barely 24 hours before this year’s State of Origin decider following the death of his father over the weekend, as he continues to deal with the emotional toll.Munster left his teammates on Sunday to return to Rockhampton to spend time with his mother and sister after his father Steven suddenly passed away, and 18th man Reece Walsh deputised for the five-eighth in one of the Maroons’ most important pre-match training sessions.Munster – who was named player of the match in his first game as Queensland captain in Game 2 – will return for the Maroons’ final training on Tuesday afternoon, although coach Billy Slater revealed he may not take part.“He’s been pretty upset over the last couple of days, but the last couple of days he’s been where he’s needed to be,” he said.Despite the tragic circumstances, Slater said he hadn’t considered a contingency in case his captain could not play, but warned there was “not a switch” for Munster to flip in order to focus on the match

Player faith in technology shaken by storm around AI line-calling at Wimbledon

When the Wimbledon organisers announced last year that electronic line-calling would replace line judges for the first time at the Championships this year, plenty of criticism could have been anticipated. Some people would take issue with the more sterile landscape on court and the lack of human touch, while the cull of around 300 linesmen and women would also surely be a sore point. It is difficult, however, to imagine they were prepared for the firestorm that has followed its long-awaited implementation at this tournament.Electronic line-calling, or ELC, which uses automated ball-tracking technology has, after all, long been used in professional tennis tournaments, starting with the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2018. It has been four years since the Australian Open became the first grand slam to utilise the technology and this year, for the first time, the men’s tour, the ATP, is using ELC at all of its events