Kevin Warsh: Trump’s ideal choice to push Fed to cut interest rates

On the face of it, Kevin Warsh looks like an ideal candidate to chair the Federal Reserve, the world’s most important central bank. The 56-year-old Ivy League economist, former Wall Street banker and presidential adviser ticks all the boxes. Unfortunately for Warsh, as he faces what could be a fraught nomination hearing, his biggest backer is also his biggest liability.In his second term, Donald Trump has attacked the Fed in a manner both unprecedented and unseemly. He has called current chair Jerome Powell – whom he also appointed – a “jerk”, “a stubborn MORON”, and repeatedly threatened to fire him

Primark to split from food business despite warning of Iran war impact

Primark is to break free from its sister food company, which owns Twinings, Kingsmill and Patak’s, next year despite warning that the conflict in the Middle East is likely to hit consumer spending.The fashion chain’s owner, Associated British Foods (ABF), confirmed the plan to split off Primark from the rest of the food group, first mooted last year. The fashion group operates 486 stores in 19 countries.The announcement came as the company reported that group sales fell 2% to £9.46bn in the six months to 28 February and pre-tax profits were down 9% to £632m

Fifteen years after Steve Jobs, Tim Cook leaves a dramatically different Apple

After 15 years, Tim Cook is stepping down as Apple’s top executive. At age 65, he leaves behind a hardware juggernaut that, under his leadership, brought about a global smartphone revolution and transformed Apple into one of the most profitable publicly traded companies in history.With a reputation for logistical management, Cook first joined Apple in 1998, overseeing its worldwide sales and operations. In 2009, he temporarily began running day-to-day operations when the company’s legendary co-founder, Steve Jobs, took medical leave due to complications from pancreatic cancer. In 2011, just a few months before Jobs’ death, Cook took over as CEO

Tim Cook to step down as Apple chief as John Ternus named replacement

Apple announced on Monday that it had named a replacement for Tim Cook as CEO after nearly 15 years, with head of hardware engineering John Ternus succeeding him on 1 September. Cook will stay at the company in the role of executive chair.“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company. I love Apple with all of my being,” Cook said in a press release.Cook, 65, who succeeded Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, has been CEO since 2011

Vibrating crotches, anal beads and suspicious minds: the long, strange history of chess cheats | Sean Ingle

There really is, it turns out, a true story involving cheating in chess and a vibrating crotch. Only this one is a whodunnit that dates back more than 30 years and was only solved last week.Imagine the scene at the World Open in Philadelphia in 1993 when a mysterious unrated player with fake dreadlocks and headphones, and with a bulge that vibrates in his trousers, shows up. Now multiply it 100-fold when this unknown amateur, who calls himself John von Neumann after the founder of game theory, draws with a grandmaster, Helgi Ólafsson, in round two.“I was sure I was playing a complete patzer,” Ólafsson said afterwards

‘I’m not the boss’: Lando Norris is articulate, open and intelligent – when he’s allowed to be

F1’s latest world champion speaks with deep candour about overcoming his insecurities but questions about Max Verstappen and regulations? Off limitsThere are always complications and difficulties in Formula One, as there are in life and even in this interview. On a beautiful evening at a lavish golf club in Surrey, Lando Norris and I are tucked away in an anonymous yet brightly lit room crammed with a television crew and representatives from his management team and Laureus, the global organisation driven by a belief that “sport has the power to change the world”.At first Norris talks thoughtfully and honestly about his struggles with profound insecurity before becoming world champion last year. But we reach a low point when a young man from his management company feels sufficiently empowered to answer questions on the 26-year-old’s behalf, as a way of controlling our interview.The racing driver has just been filmed in this room as he makes a short acceptance speech to accept the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year – an award previously given to Rafael Nadal, Lewis Hamilton, Andy Murray, Rory McIlroy, Jude Bellingham and Lamine Yamal