William Hill owner Evoke considers sale or break-up after budget tax hikes – business live

Just in: UK gambling company Evoke is considering breaking itself up, following the tax rises announced in last month’s budget.Evoke, the firm behind William Hill, 888, and Mr Green, has told the City it has decided to review its strategic options.This will include “the consideration of a range of potential alternatives to maximise shareholder value, including, but not limited to a potential sale of the Group, or some of the Company’s assets and/or business units,” it explains.Evoke says the move is “further to the Company’s announcement on 26 November 2026”, in which Evoke predicted that the rise in gambling duties announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves – including almost doubling the UK’s Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40% – would cost it £135m.Before the budget, the company claimed it could close up to 200 betting shops if Reeves raises taxes on the gambling sector

Rachel Reeves’s test from the bond markets starts now

Good news for Rachel Reeves: the cost of government borrowing has fallen a bit relative to the US and eurozone countries. Better news: the chancellor may have something to do with it. Better still: some economists think there’s more to come.Let’s not get carried away, though. The UK is still paying a painful premium on its borrowing costs, as the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank illustrates

Trump clears way for Nvidia to sell powerful AI chips to China

Donald Trump has cleared the way for Nvidia to begin selling its powerful AI computer chips to China, marking a win for the chip maker and its CEO, Jensen Huang, who has spent months lobbying the White House to open up sales in the country.Before Monday’s announcement, the US had prohibited sales of Nvidia’s most advanced chips to China over national security concerns.Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday: “I have informed President Xi, of China, that the United States will allow NVIDIA to ship its H200 products to approved customers in China, and other Countries, under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security. President Xi responded positively!”Trump said the Department of Commerce was finalising the details and that he was planning to make the same offer to other chip companies, including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel. Nvidia’s H200 chips are the company’s second most powerful, and far more advanced than the H20, which was originally designed as a lower-powered model for the Chinese market that would not breach restrictions, but which the US banned anyway in April

AI researchers are to blame for serving up slop | Letter

I’m not surprised to read that the field of artificial intelligence research is being overwhelmed by the very slop that it has pioneered (Artificial intelligence research has a slop problem, academics say: ‘It’s a mess’, 6 December). But this is a bit like bears getting indignant about all the shit in the woods.It serves AI researchers right for the irresponsible innovations that they’ve unleashed on the world, without ever bothering to ask the rest of us whether we wanted it.But what about the rest of us? The problem is not restricted to AI research – their slop generators have flooded other disciplines that bear no blame for this revolution. As a peer reviewer for top ethics journals, I’ve had to point out that submissions are AI-generated slop

Pat Cummins primed for return as Australia name squad for third Ashes Test

Australian veteran Usman Khawaja remains in the frame for selection for the third Ashes Test after being included in the squad for Adelaide headlined by the return of captain Pat Cummins.Khawaja was left out of the second Test XI after struggling with a back injury during the series opener in Perth, and new opener Jake Weatherald broke through with his first half century at the Gabba.The end of the 38-year-old’s international career will have to wait however, after he was named in Australia’s 15-player squad for the third Test beginning 17 December.Travis Head has starred alongside Weatherald at the top of the order making Khawaja’s return as an opener unlikely, although his versatility could still win him a place batting down the order.Beneath Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith at Nos 3 and 4 there remains uncertainty around the makeup of Australia’s lineup, as they travel to Adelaide looking to wrap up the series

20-year-old charged with attempted murder over shooting of Jets’ Kris Boyd

A Bronx man has been charged with attempted murder in the shooting of New York Jets player Kris Boyd, police announced Tuesday.The New York police department said Frederick Green, 20, was charged late Monday night. Police had revealed Monday that a “person of interest” was in custody but didn’t name them. It was not immediately clear if Green has an attorney. He also faces additional charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon, police said