BP’s chair deserved a kick for his silly obstinacy over shareholder resolution

BP has fresh faces in the boardroom and a rigged strategy: it’s pivoting back to oil and gas and away from its low-carbon assets in an attempt to improve a weak share price. One can agree or disagree with the approach. But it was a silly act of overreach for a newish chair to try to stifle debate on such matters.That, in effect, was what Albert Manifold did when he excluded a resolution for Thursday’s annual meeting from Follow This, a Dutch investor group. The proposal itself cannot be described as explosive

Lockheed Martin CEO sees Trump’s Pentagon as ‘golden opportunity’ for growth

Lockheed Martin’s CEO has called the Trump administration a “golden opportunity” for the company as it expands its contracting work for the federal government amid the conflict in the Middle East.In an earnings call on Thursday covering the first quarter of 2026, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet told investors that the company is well positioned “based on more available resources for us”.“This is a golden opportunity right now based on who’s in government,” Taiclet said, citing “their experience, their willingness to change, the demand that they have for what we do and what our partners in our industry do”.He added that the company could move past the “burden” that came with government contracting and move it “towards a commercial contracting system”.“I’m encouraged by all of this in the evolving landscape,” Taiclet said

Microsoft and Meta announce large staff reductions as they spend big on AI

Meta and Microsoft are trimming their workforces by thousands as they make heavy investments in AI and executives claim that the technology is meeting their companies’ productivity needs.Meta told staff on Thursday that on 20 May it would cut some 10% of its personnel – just under 8,000 employees– to boost efficiency, part of a layoff plan made months ago. The company is also closing about 6,000 open roles. The same day, Microsoft announced to employees, for the first time, that it would offer voluntary retirement to about 7% of its American workforce of roughly 125,000.In an internal memo to Meta’s staff, Janelle Gale, the chief people officer, didn’t mention AI explicitly but said the cuts would allow the company to “offset the other investments we’re making”

Thousands call on UK ministers to cut ties with US tech giant Palantir

More than 200,000 people have called on ministers to break contracts with Palantir in an apparent groundswell of public concern about the US tech company’s role in the NHS, police, military and councils.Two petitions have attracted 229,000 signatures, one calling for the government to end all public contracts with the company, the software of which is used by Donald Trump’s ICE immigration enforcement programme and the Israeli military, and another urging the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to cancel its £330m patient data contract with the NHS.This week, the Guardian revealed the Metropolitan police was in talks to use the company’s AI to analyse sensitive intelligence, and Palantir published a manifesto described by one MP as the “ramblings of a supervillain”.But the tech company is pushing back against the multipronged campaign challenging its work in the UK by taking issue with claims made widely on social media by the Green party leader, Zack Polanski, and the legal campaigner Jolyon Maugham, who this week launched a podcast investigation into Palantir. The Liberal Democrats are also calling for the NHS contract to be cancelled and new contracts to be halted

NFL draft 2026: Fernando Mendoza, Jeremiyah Love and other top prospects await call – live

Fernando MendozaThe QB widely expected to be selected no1 overall by the Las Vegas Raiders, will be the first presumptive top pick to not attend the draft in person since Trevor Lawrence was selected by Jacksonville. Mendoza wants to be at home to share the moment with his mother, who has multiple sclerosis, his father, and other close family and friends. But don’t worry, ESPN TV in the US will have at least one camera inside the Mendoza home to document the moment.And speaking of Mendoza, he’s going to be off the board shortly. Stick with us!New RulesIf you’re after the whole kit and caboodle of how this thing works, you can find all the details here

Patriots back coach Vrabel’s ‘leadership’ as new photos with NFL reporter Russini emerge

The New England Patriots have given their backing to Mike Vrabel as new photos of their head coach and NFL reporter Dianna Russini emerged on Thursday.Russini resigned from her post at the Athletic last week after the New York Post published photos of her and Vrabel embracing and holding hands at an Arizona resort. The pair are married to different people and have said their relationship is platonic. On Wednesday, Vrabel said he will miss day three of the NFL draft on Saturday to undergo counseling in the fallout from the controversy. He made an appearance before Thursday’s draft where he said “my priorities are my family and this football team