Ministers in ‘active conversation’ with UK drug firms over potential tariffs

Ministers are having an “active conversation” with UK pharmaceutical firms about the potential impact of US tariffs, amid calls for an emergency taskforce to make sure the supply of medicines is not disrupted.The UK government has been trying to head off the threat of tariffs to the pharmaceuticals industry, which exports about £7bn of goods to the US – just behind the £8.3bn of car exports.Ministers and negotiators are fighting to keep the exemption from tariffs for British drugmakers through a possible trade deal, but one Whitehall source said it was “impossible to read the runes” about whether the Trump administration would hit them with the levies.Government sources said ministers had been talking to industry bosses about the potential impact and what could be done to help pharmaceutical exporters if tariffs were brought in

Italian coffee pot maker Bialetti to be sold to Chinese business NUO Capital

Bialetti, the Italian manufacturer of the famed stove-top moka coffee pot, has struck a deal to sell the business to an investment vehicle owned by a Chinese tycoon.Founded in 1933 by Alfonso Bialetti, an engineer who produced the first coffee pots from his workshop in Crusinallo, Piedmont, the company is being bought by Luxembourg-registered NUO Capital, which will pay €53m (£46m) for 78.6% of its shares.The deal is expected to close by the end of June before a tender for the remaining shares is launched, at a price of no less than €0.467 each, before the company is delisted from Milan’s stock exchange

Google sued for £5bn in UK over allegations of shutting out rivals

Google is being sued in the UK for up to £5bn in damages over allegations it shut out rivals in the internet search market and abused this dominance to overcharge businesses for advertisements. A class action filed at the competition appeal tribunal on Wednesday argues that the US company has taken actions that enable it to charge higher prices for the promotions that appear in search queries than it otherwise could in a fair market. It is alleged that Google, which is owned by Alphabet, contracted phone makers to pre-install the Google search app and Chrome browser on Android devices and paid Apple to make it the default search engine on iPhones, with the intention of shutting out competition. The claim is filed by a competition law expert, Or Brook, on behalf of thousands of businesses and alleges Google ensured its search engine had better functionality and more features for Google’s own advertising offering than that of its competitors.A Google spokesperson said: “This is yet another speculative and opportunistic case and we will argue against it vigorously

X’s UK profits collapsed the year after Elon Musk’s takeover

X’s revenues and profits collapsed in the UK in the year after Elon Musk took over the social media platform, the company has admitted.A decline in advertising spending amid concerns about “brand safety and/or content moderation” were cited as the reason for the fall, according to accounts filed this week to Companies House.Twitter UK Ltd also narrowly averted being struck off last month for failing to file the accounts on time, according to other recent filings to Companies House. It only filed full accounts on Monday for 2023, the year in which it was rebranded as X after Musk’s takeover.“The business continues to take corrective measures to build brand safety tools, invest in platform safety and content moderation and then educate advertisers about these initiatives,” the company said

‘Take a chill pill’: Benji Marshall’s defence of Lachlan Galvin exposes NRL circus | Jack Snape

Benji Marshall seemed to be playing another game to his opponents over his 346-game NRL career, moving in ways that didn’t make sense and then, in his advancing years, adapting to became one of the sport’s great conductors.As a coach, he has been belittled and ridiculed, questioned for what some believe is an unjustified elevation to the Wests Tigers job. He has been taunted for his team’s subsequent failures, and teased for daring to think of a life of family, of authenticity, of something bigger than rugby league.Marshall may dance to a different beat but it was hard to do anything but follow along as the sharpest minds in the NRL’s media surrounded the former five-eighth at the season’s most anticipated press conference on Thursday. A drumbeat of questions seemed to wear Marshall down

Women’s Tour of Britain gets go-ahead for northern England and Scotland

The 2025 women’s Tour of Britain will go ahead in northern England and the Scottish Borders in early June, despite speculation that this year’s event was in difficulty.Buoyed by news that the men’s and women’s Tour de France will start in Britain in 2027, this summer’s four-day women’s race will start in Yorkshire on 5 June and end in Glasgow.The opening two stages will take in Dalby Forest, the North York Moors national park and the Tees Valley, before heading to the Scottish Borders on stage three, before the final stage on a city-centre circuit in Glasgow.The Scottish rider Neah Evans said: “I started my cycling journey after a taster session at the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome so Glasgow is a special place to me for that.”Jonathan Day, managing director of British Cycling Events, said: “We have first visits for the race to Dalby Forest and the North York Moors national park, from where we will race through North Yorkshire and into the Tees Valley