Ireland could lose pharma tax to US after Trump accusations, experts warn

US pharmaceutical companies based in Ireland are more likely to shift profits back to the US than close manufacturing plants after Donald Trump accused Ireland of stealing American tax and jobs, experts say.Aidan Regan, a professor of political economy at the University College Dublin, said the US president was right to call out the trade imbalance created by US pharmaceutical companies in Ireland, arguing the warning signs have been there for years.“Trump is right. And it was refreshingly honest what he said. I imagine the Irish government would feel the same way if it was Irish companies all over the globe making all their sales in Ireland but shipping their profits offshore,” he said

John Lewis profits triple to £126m but hopes for staff bonus dashed again

The owner of John Lewis and Waitrose has tripled its annual profits but workers at the staff-owned retail group have missed out on a bonus for a third year in a row.The John Lewis Partnership said group sales rose 3% to £12.8bn in the 12 months to 25 January 2025, as underlying profit rose from £42m to £126m and sales growth picked up through December and January.However, the company said it was prioritising investment over the bonus with plans to spend £600m on new Waitrose stores, more technology, revamping beauty halls in its Solihull, Bluewater and Liverpool department stores and improvements in its supply network.Jason Tarry, the chair of the John Lewis Partnership, said: “These are solid results, which show that our customers are responding well to our investments in quality products, value and service

Apple to appeal against UK government data demand at secret high court hearing

Apple’s appeal against a UK government demand to access its customers’ highly encrypted data will be the subject of a secret high court hearing, the Guardian understands.The appeal on Friday will be considered by the investigatory powers tribunal, an independent court that has the power to investigate claims that the UK intelligence services have acted unlawfully.It is against an order served by the Home Office in February under the Investigatory Powers Act, which compels companies to provide information to law enforcement agencies.The Home Office asked for the right to see users’ encrypted data in the event of a national security risk. Currently, not even Apple can access data and documents protected by its advanced data protection (ADP) programme

ChatGPT firm reveals AI model that is ‘good at creative writing’

The company behind ChatGPT has revealed it has developed an artificial intelligence model that is “good at creative writing”, as the tech sector continues its tussle with the creative industries over copyright.The chief executive of OpenAI, Sam Altman, said the unnamed model, which has not been released publicly, was the first time he had been “really struck” by the written output of one of the startup’s products.In a post on the social media platform X, Altman wrote: “We trained a new model that is good at creative writing (not sure yet how/when it will get released). This is the first time i have been really struck by something written by AI.”AI systems such as ChatGPT are the subject of a running legal battle between AI companies and the creative industries because their underlying models are “trained” on reams of publicly available data, including copyright-protected material such as novels and journalism

Mark Wood expected to miss England’s Tests against India after knee surgery

Mark Wood is likely to miss the entirety of England’s Test series with India this summer after undergoing surgery on his left knee.The quick has been ruled out for four months and is aiming to be fully fit by the end of July. England’s fifth and final Test against India begins on 31 July at the Oval, rounding off their red-ball commitments before the winter Ashes tour of Australia.Wood was in visible discomfort when bowling against Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy in February, battling to get through eight overs as England fell to an eight-run defeat and were knocked out of the tournament. A statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board said Wood “has been managing an ongoing issue with his knee for over a year”

Galopin Des Champs will deserve ‘great’ tag if winning third Gold Cup

The Irish wrote an anthem for Cottage Rake, the first horse from Ireland to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup three times, while the second, Arkle, transcended the sport to become an Irish cultural icon. And when Best Mate, trained in Wantage by the endearingly odd couple of Henrietta Knight and Terry Biddlecombe, completed his Gold Cup hat-trick nearly 40 years later, he too broke out of the back pages and into the mainstream of sporting celebrity.Twenty-one years on from the tearful scenes that accompanied Best Mate’s third Gold Cup, however, it feels as though there is rather less of a fanfare, in Britain at least, for Galopin Des Champs, who will attempt to become only the fifth horse ever to win three Gold Cups at Cheltenham on Friday afternoon. Perhaps it is a sign of British insularity, or even a smidge of pique after a decade when Irish jumpers have carried all before them at Cheltenham. The increasingly fractured media landscape, with a dwindling number of events that can unite an audience in a shared experience, is probably a factor too