UK government borrowing costs hit 5% as Iran war fuels bond market sell-off

UK government borrowing costs have risen above 5% amid an intensifying global bond market sell-off fuelled by the Iran war.The yield – or interest rate – on 10-year debt hit its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, rising 13 basis points to 5.081%, as investors acted on concerns about the economic fallout from the conflict.Borrowing costs also rose for the US and eurozone governments, underscoring growing turbulence in the global financial system after Donald Trump’s extension of a deadline for a peace deal failed to soothe jittery investors.Financial markets worldwide slumped on Friday, extending falls seen since the outbreak of the war, with losses in London and across major US and EU trading hubs

Italy investigates beauty brands over concerns about young girls’ mental health

Italian regulators are investigating Sephora and Benefit Cosmetics over the apparent use of “covert marketing strategies” to sell beauty products to young girls that might be fuelling an unhealthy skincare obsession known as “cosmeticorexia”.The Italian Competition Authority said it was looking into promotions for skincare products such as face masks, serums and anti-ageing creams that in some cases appeared to target girls under 10.“These practices are linked to the broader issue of ‘cosmeticorexia’ – an obsession with skincare among minors,” the authority said.The cosmetics brands, which are both owned by the French luxury group LVMH, appeared to have adopted a “particularly insidious marketing strategy”, it said. This involved using “very young micro-influencers who encourage the compulsive purchase of cosmetics among young people, a particularly vulnerable group”

Number of AI chatbots ignoring human instructions increasing, study says

AI models that lie and cheat appear to be growing in number with reports of deceptive scheming surging in the last six months, a study into the technology has found.AI chatbots and agents disregarded direct instructions, evaded safeguards and deceived humans and other AI, according to research funded by the UK government-funded AI Security Institute (AISI). The study, shared with the Guardian, identified nearly 700 real-world cases of AI scheming and charted a five-fold rise in misbehaviour between October and March, with some AI models destroying emails and other files without permission.The snapshot of scheming by AI agents “in the wild”, as opposed to in laboratory conditions, has sparked fresh calls for international monitoring of the increasingly capable models and come as Silicon Valley companies aggressively promote the technology as a economically transformative. Last week the UK chancellor also launched a drive to get millions more Britons using AI

‘Accountability has arrived’: dual US court losses show shifting tide against Meta and co

In the span of just two days, the most powerful social media company in the world faced a more severe public reckoning than it has in years.Jurors in California and New Mexico gave back-to-back verdicts this week that for the first time ever found Meta liable for products that inflict harm on young people. For years, lawmakers, parents and advocates have raised red flags over how social media can hurt children, but now the tech firms are being held to account via court rulings that could set long-lasting precedents.A jury in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $375m in damages on Tuesday over claims that its products led to child sexual exploitation, among other harms. The following day, a jury in California ordered Meta and YouTube to pay $6m over claims that both companies deliberately designed addictive products to hook young users

Billy Loughnane’s bid to become champion jockey hit by 21-day ban

Billy Loughnane, who will be Britain’s youngest champion jockey on the Flat since Frank Wootton in 1909 if he takes the title this season, has lodged an appeal against a 21-day ban imposed by the stewards at Southwell for riding a horse back to the unsaddling enclosure after it had been scratched from a race on vets’ orders.Loughnane’s mount, Beelzebub, was kicked at the start before the final race on Thursday evening and deemed to be lame following a veterinary examination. Loughnane, who was suspended for improper riding, has appealed against both the finding of the stewards’ inquiry and the penalty.If his appeal is unsuccessful, Loughnane will be on the sidelines from 9 April to 30 April, ruling him out of both the three-day Craven meeting at Newmarket, which includes several Classic trials, and the Greenham Stakes meeting at Newbury.He will return in time for the start of the championship race on 2 May, but a three-week “holiday” in the early weeks of the turf campaign will still be a source of considerable frustration for the 20-year-old, who has made no secret of his ambition to win the title

Mary Rand, first British woman to win Olympic athletics gold, dies aged 86

Rand won gold, silver and bronze medals at Tokyo 1964Mary Peters pays tribute to ‘most gifted athlete ever’Mary Rand, the British track and field athlete who blazed a trail for women by winning three Olympic medals at the Tokyo Games in 1964, has died at the age of 86.Rand was one of the giants of her sport: the epitome of speed, power and grace. Her long jump victory in Tokyo made her Britain’s first female Olympic gold medallist in athletics, and she followed it up with a silver in the pentathlon and a bronze in the 4x100m relay.That supreme talent was also fused with 60s style. She was famously called “Marilyn Monroe on spikes” by one journalist, because of her blonde highlights, while Mick Jagger declared her to be his dream date