Trump accused of attacking UK energy policies on behalf of fossil fuel industry

Climate campaigners have accused Donald Trump of attacking Britain’s energy policies on behalf of the fossil fuel industry, which made record donations to his presidential campaign.The US president-elect wrote in a social media post on Friday that the British government was gravely mistaken by cracking down on North Sea oil and gas producers – and that the UK should abandon wind generation.The broadside appeared to be a clear condemnation of the Labour government’s decision to raise taxes for oil and gas producers while granting record subsidies to new wind power projects.The UK plans to double its onshore wind generation and quadruple its offshore wind capacity by the end of the decade, aiming to run a clean power system by 2030 and hit legally binding climate targets. At the same time it has ruled out granting any new oil and gas licences

Biden blocks Nippon Steel’s $15bn bid for US Steel over national security fears – as it happened

Time to wrap up…US president Joe Biden has used his final days in office to block Japanese firm Nippon Steel from taking over US Steel, amid national security concerns.The general sentiment: keep key US resources like steel under the control of US companies.The move has prompted pushback from the Japanese industry minister, who says that the decision is ‘regrettable’ and ‘difficult to comprehend’.However, this is one of the few policies that his successor, president-elect Donald Trump, has also backed. Elsewhere, Trump has been making waves after he used his Truth Social media platform to hit out at UK wind farms and windfall taxes on North Sea oil producers

Meta is killing off its own AI-powered Instagram and Facebook profiles

Meta is deleting Facebook and Instagram profiles of AI characters the company created over a year ago after users rediscovered some of the profiles and engaged them in conversations, screenshots of which went viral.The company had first introduced these AI-powered profiles in September 2023 but killed off most of them by summer 2024. However, a few characters remained and garnered new interest after the Meta executive Connor Hayes told the Financial Times late last week that the company had plans to roll out more AI character profiles.“We expect these AIs to actually, over time, exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way that accounts do,” Hayes told the FT. The automated accounts posted AI-generated pictures to Instagram and answered messages from human users on Messenger

Nick Clegg has sold almost $19m in Meta shares since joining Facebook in 2018

Nick Clegg made almost $19m from the sale of shares in Meta during his six-year term at the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, filings show.The former British deputy prime minister had sold $18.4m (£14.8m) worth of shares in the group before announcing on Thursday that he was leaving his role as its president of global affairs and communications.His total pay at Meta has not been disclosed but he still holds almost 39,000 of the company’s shares, worth about $21m at their current price

Luke Littler believes he can break Phil Taylor’s record of 16 world darts titles

Luke Littler believes he can hunt down Phil Taylor’s record of 16 world titles after becoming the youngest ever PDC world darts champion.The 17-year-old consolidated his status as the biggest star in the game by winning the PDC World Championship with a comprehensive 7-3 victory over Michael van Gerwen in Friday’s final at Alexandra Palace in London.Asked what he hoped to achieve next after securing his first world title, Littler told Sky News: “I’ve said previously, if I can win every major title in my career then I’ll be happy. I’d like to add on the world titles, and deep down, if I want to break the record of Phil Taylor, I’ve got the ability to. If I want it, I’m sure I can do it

Australia v India: fifth men’s cricket Test, day two – as it happened

Geoff Lemon’s report from a day of ‘sugar rush’ Test cricket at the SCG is now live:Fifteen wickets in the day, a half century for debutant Beau Webster, sensational Indian slip catching, four-should-have-been-five wickets for the unstoppable Scott Boland, early fireworks from Yashasvi Jaiswal and something audaciously delicious from Rishabh Pant. Throw in a mystery injury to Jasprit Bumrah, a dash to hospital in an SUV, and it was another memorable day in a memorable few weeks of cricket. With two days gone, the match, and the series, is still in the balance.Australia started the day one wicket down, and never quite hit the accelerator on their innings. Only Smith and Webster passed 23, with Prasidh Krishna, playing his first match of the series, taking the crucial wickets of Smith and Webster when both had settled and were reaching for the velvet slippers