US consumer confidence hits record low as Americans fret about rising prices; jobs report beats forecasts – as it happened

Newsflash: the US economy added more jobs than expected in April.Non-farm payrolls rose by 115,000 last month, the Bureau for Labor Statistics reports, beating forecasts of a 62,000 increase.That’s still a slowdown compared with March, though – where the NFP has been revised up to 185,000 jobs, from 178,000 initially.But February’s data is even worse than previously thought – payrolls that month are now estimated to have fallen by 156,000, down from a previous estimate of a 133,000 decline.Those revisions mean employment in February and March combined is 16,000 lower than previously reported

UK borrowing costs fall and pound rises after Starmer says he will stay as PM

UK government borrowing costs fell and the pound rose on Friday as Keir Starmer vowed to remain as prime minister despite the Labour party losing hundreds of council seats across England.Investors calculated that some of the intense pressure on Starmer’s leadership had eased, as Labour appeared on track for smaller losses than election experts had predicted.The yield – effectively the interest rate – had jumped earlier this week, amid fears that the prime minister could face a leadership challenge if the results from the local elections and the devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales were particularly poor.But after Starmer insisted he would not walk away, the yield on benchmark UK 10-year gilts was down 5 basis points, or 0.05 of a percentage point, at 4

Who is Louis Mosley, the man tasked with defending Palantir against its critics?

The hall was packed with rightwing radicals when Louis Mosley heralded a coming revolution. Just as Oliver Cromwell – that “crusader for Christ and liberty” – routed King Charles I’s royalists, “a similar revolution is brewing today”, said the UK and Europe boss of Palantir. Globalism’s “twilight” was upon us, he said in a speech dotted with admiring mentions of the podcaster Joe Rogan and “Elon’s Doge”.It was not a typical peroration for a big UK government contractor with more than £600m in deals with the NHS, the Ministry of Defence and police. But Palantir, the world’s most controversial tech company, is no typical contractor

AI-powered surveillance company Palantir created a chore coat. Great, now I have no choice but to burn mine | Van Badham

It’s taken me years to find a chore coat with a cut that flatters my big tits but, now that I finally own one, I want to incinerate it.Such is the power of brand contamination; infamous data surveillance megacorp Palantir has decided to bang a logo on a chore coat to sell as corporate merch.Chore coats are the traditional short denim or twill jacket of the 19th-century French working class. Palantir, however, is a company whose public words and commercial-in-confidence activities are inspiring local calls to have its contracts cancelled and its business banned.The gentle French garment is now as cursed as whatever “Marie Amazonette” will ever wear to the Met Gala

Aryna Sabalenka shocked by Sorana Cirstea’s comeback win at Italian Open

Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, suffered her earliest defeat in more than a year as she was toppled in the third round of the Italian Open by the soaring Romanian veteran Sorana Cirstea, who brilliantly held her nerve to close out a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 win.The defeat marks a second successive surprise loss for Sabalenka, who started the clay-court season in some of the best form of her career after consecutive victories at the WTA 1000 events at Indian Wells and Miami. Until her quarter-final defeat to Hailey Baptiste at the Madrid Open last week, where Baptiste spectacularly saved six match points, Sabalenka had started the year by winning 26 of her first 27 matches.This is also the first time Sabalenka has lost before the quarter-final stage at any tournament since February 2025 and she will head to the French Open having failed to reach the semi-final in any clay-court tournament this year. Sabalenka also has fresh injury concerns to address after struggling with a lower back injury in the final stages of the match

Bobby Cox, Hall of Fame manager and Atlanta Braves icon, dies at 84

Bobby Cox, the Baseball Hall of Famer who led the Atlanta Braves to their 1995 World Series title and was a four-time Manager of the Year, has died at the age of 84.The Braves announced Cox’s death in a statement on Saturday. The team did not give a cause of death.“We are overcome with emotion on the passing of Bobby Cox, our treasured skipper,” the team said. “Bobby was the best manager to ever wear a Braves uniform