Spain and Portugal power outage: what caused it, and was there a cyber-attack?
Spain, Portugal and some of south-west France suffered a massive power cut on Monday, with major cities including Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon among those affected.Houses, offices, trains, traffic lights and even the Madrid Open tennis tournament were all hit, causing chaos for millions of people and prompting a scramble by the Spanish and Portuguese governments and network operators to understand the problem and race to fix it.Red Eléctrica de España (REE), Spain’s electric network, said Spain and Portugal were hit by “el cero” – the zero. Its Portuguese counterpart, Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), said the outage started at 11.33am western European summer time
HSBC sets aside more cash for bad loans amid Trump tariff war
HSBC has sounded the alarm about the impact of higher trade tariffs on economic growth, unemployment and inflation around the world, as it set aside more money to cover bad debts and reported lower profits.The UK-based bank reported a $200m (£149m) rise in expected credit losses to $900m in the first quarter, as it increased allowances to “reflect heightened uncertainty and deterioration in the forward economic outlook due to geopolitical tensions and higher trade tariffs”.HSBC said: “A further escalation of tariffs and trade tensions could lead to lower trade volumes, investment, consumer spending and, ultimately, weaker global GDP growth.“Supply chains could also come under renewed pressure from a fragmented trade landscape, which could cause inflation to rise again.”However, Georges Elhedery, the chief executive, said: “Ourselves and our customers as a whole are hopeful that we can see progress in the trade negotiations between the US and a number of parties, including China
Primark owner’s shares drop as sales fall amid Trump tariff fears
Shares in the owner of Primark fell after the budget clothing chain posted a sharp drop in UK sales and lost market share, as the company warned that consumer confidence was likely to worsen further amid Donald Trump’s trade wars.Associated British Foods (ABF), which also owns a sugar business and food brands such as Ryvita and Kingsmill, said several countries could slide into recession as a result of US trade policy.“Sentiment is unlikely to improve as markets continue to face uncertainty and instability following recent tariff announcements by the US, retaliatory actions by China and the risk of further tariff trade wars,” ABF said. “Consumer confidence could deteriorate further as a number of countries, including the US, face the risk of recession that could increase individuals’ debt problems.”The company made the warning as Primark posted a 6% decline in comparable sales in the UK and Ireland in the 24 weeks to 1 March, despite strong sales growth over the Christmas period
Adidas warns Trump tariffs will put up US shoe prices
Adidas has said the price of its popular trainers, including the Samba and Campus models, is likely to rise as a result of Donald Trump’s tariffs.The German group said the uncertainty around US import tariffs had prevented it from raising its outlook for sales and profit this year despite reporting strong first-quarter results.“Since we currently cannot produce almost any of our products in the US, these higher tariffs will eventually cause higher costs for all our products for the US market,” said Adidas’s chief executive, Bjørn Gulden. “Given the uncertainty around the negotiations between the US and the different exporting countries, we do not know what the final tariffs will be.”Fashion brands, and especially sports shoe producers such as Adidas, will be hit by the introduction of tariffs as the bulk of their products are made in countries including Vietnam, Indonesia and China
Macquarie ‘very proud’ of Thames Water ownership despite loading it with debt
The investment bank that sold Thames Water in 2017 after loading the company with debt has said that it is “very proud” of its record, even as the water utility teeters on the verge of collapse.Australia-headquartered Macquarie led a consortium that owned Thames Water from 2006 until 2017. Macquarie has been criticised by some politicians and analysts for its control of the business, accusing the bank of setting it on course for financial collapse.Thames Water supplies water and sewerage services to 16 million customers in London and south-east England. However, it has reached the edge of collapse after debts rose to near £20bn, and it last month won court approval for £3bn in emergency funding
Drugmaker AstraZeneca shifts more production to US amid Trump tariffs
AstraZeneca said it was shifting the production of some medicines sold in the US from Europe to the US, to counter the impact of Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.Speaking as the company reported higher sales and profits for the first quarter, the FTSE 100 pharma company reiterated that the UK, and the rest of Europe, risked losing out to the US and China unless they ramped up spending on new medicines. Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s chief executive, warned that well-paid advanced manufacturing and research jobs could move to the US in the long run.While the industry is holding its breath in case of threatened US tariffs on the pharma sector, which has been largely exempt from duties under a 1995 World Trade Organization agreement aimed at keeping medicines affordable, Soriot said the impact on AstraZeneca would be limited.If tariffs were imposed in the range announced against imports from other industries from Europe to the US, the drugmaker would still be able to achieve its targets this year, as it has built up inventories in the US, he said
What are ‘nudification’ apps and how would a ban in the UK work?
‘It’s nearly impossible’: learner drivers on the difficulty of booking a test
Goodbye, Skype. I’ll never forget you
‘I didn’t eat or sleep’: a Meta moderator on his breakdown after seeing beheadings and child abuse
Meta faces Ghana lawsuits over impact of extreme content on moderators
Microsoft says everyone will be a boss in the future – of AI employees
M&S cyber-attack linked to hacking group Scattered Spider
A major cyber-attack on Marks & Spencer has been linked to a hacking collective known as Scattered Spider, which is previously thought to have hit MGM Resorts and the US casino operator Caesars.The group, which has previously been found to include people in their 20s from the UK and the US – some of whom faced charges over attempts to steal cryptocurrency via phishing attacks in the US – are reported to have encrypted key M&S systems using ransomware, according to the technology specialist site BleepingComputer.The reports emerged as online sales at M&S – which account for an average £3.8m a day – were suspended for a fifth day.The disruption caused by the hack – and uncertainty over when it will end – has wiped more than £500m off the stock market value of M&S in the past week as experts said it had clearly suffered a cyber-attack on a huge scale
Amazon denies planning to publish tariff costs on main site, as White House blasts ‘hostile and political’ act – as it happened
Heads-up: Amazon is denying that it planned to display tariff costs on its main website, reports Jeff Stein of The Washington Post.The retailer is saying that its Amazon Haul store, which sells low-cost items had considered listing import charges on “certain products”.“Nothing has been implemented on any Amazon properties,” the company added, shortly after the White House accused it of a ‘hostile and political’ act (see earlier post).New — Amazon Spox now saying this was never under consideration for the main Amazon website. Says Amazon Haul has considered listing import price duties on certain products https://t
Elon Musk’s Doge conflicts of interest worth $2.37bn, Senate report says
Elon Musk and his companies face at least $2.37bn in legal exposure from federal investigations, litigation and regulatory oversight, according to a new report from Senate Democrats. The report attempts to put a number to Musk’s many conflicts of interest through his work with his so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), warning that he may seek to use his influence to avoid legal liability.The report, which was published on Monday by Democratic members of the Senate homeland security committee’s permanent subcommittee on investigations, looked at 65 actual or potential actions against Musk across 11 separate agencies. Investigators calculated the financial liabilities Musk and his companies, such as Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink, may face in 45 of those actions
Self-service tills: a bleeping pain or brilliant? | Letters
Thank you, Hilary Freeman, for catching and coining the central movement which is sickening us all: “the slow erosion of human contact that heralds the dehumanisation of yet another society” (Hell is not other people – it’s being stuck in the ninth circle of an automated telephone service, 22 April).We need it, we will die without it. For Freeman, it comes with the introduction of ATMs to Tuvalu; for me, it’s the self-checkout tills of the Co-op around the corner. I used to chat to Brenda. I can’t do it now, and something dies inside me
Saints’ Phil Dowson fears Premiership clubs ‘sleepwalking’ towards financial crisis
The Northampton director of rugby, Phil Dowson, fears the sport is “sleepwalking” towards another club going bust and endorsed plans for the Premiership to become a franchised league on the basis it would be more appealing to investors.Premiership and Rugby Football Union executives have drawn up plans for an “expansion” league, akin to a franchise model, that would allow for teams to be added to the current 10 top flight clubs should they meet certain criteria. The RFU chief executive, Bill Sweeney, revealed that there is the possibility of expanding for the start of next season.Relegation would be officially done away with, however. No side has been demoted since Saracens had it forced upon them for salary cap breaches in 2020 and though there was the potential for a playoff between the side who finished bottom of the Premiership and top of the Championship this summer, only Doncaster met the necessary criteria and they are out of the second tier title race
Daniel Dubois dismisses Oleksandr Usyk’s ‘mind games’ before showdown
Daniel Dubois has warned Oleksandr Usyk that none of the mind games will matter when they step into the ring for their heavyweight title unification contest and suggested the Ukrainian would simply not be able to “handle the pain” when they meet at Wembley on 19 July.On Tuesday afternoon, Dubois and Usyk presented a compelling study in contrast as, in separate conversations to officially launch the fight, the two men echoed the differences between them that had already been made plain 24 hours earlier.During a face-off on the Wembley pitch on Monday afternoon, the normally mild-mannered Dubois had shoved Usyk, who responded, after his initial surprise, by bursting into laughter. Dubois, the IBF champion, shook his head when asked if his actions had been premeditated. “No, it was just one of them things,” he said
Fears for health of Alaa Abd el-Fattah and mother as hunger strikes take toll
‘It’s an existential moment’: Greens take on Reform in fight for fed-up voters
No 10 bullish about immigration, despite Labour MPs’ concerns about rightward shift
Starmer claims voters being ‘conned’ by Tories and Reform UK as parties are planning a coalition – as it happened
Sound the alarm for a KemiKaze breakfast, then hit snooze for the Starmer roadshow | John Crace
Labour and Conservatives face a challenging electoral test | Letters