US stock markets dip for fourth straight week over US-Israel war on Iran

US stock markets dropped again on Friday, capping off a fourth week of market turbulence as investors worried about the US-Israel war on Iran and its widespread impact on global oil prices.The Dow lost over 400 points on Friday, with the S&P 500 slipping 1.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 2%.The biggest losses of the week were seen in the Russell 2000, which tracks the performance of small-cap companies. The Russell 2000 entered correction territory on Friday after dipping 2

Lowering speed limits among contingency plans to curb UK oil demand

Lowering speed limits to minimise fuel consumption is among potential contingency plans being drawn up by the UK government as the crisis in the Middle East threatens global oil supplies.Sources stressed that there is no shortage of fuel in the UK, but said that officials in the Department for Transport were working with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) on an analysis of what measures could be taken to curb oil demand.The world’s energy watchdog has advised its government member states, including the UK, to consider lowering road speeds and limiting when cars can drive.The International Energy Agency (IEA) recommended a raft of Covid-style emergency measures, including working from home, to cope with soaring oil prices and looming supply problems triggered by the US-Israel strikes on Iran.The agency said governments should encourage shared transport, whether public or car-pooling, and efficient driving, and tell citizens to avoid air travel where possible

Musk responsible for Twitter investors’ stock dropping when he bought company, jury rules

A California jury has ruled that Elon Musk is responsible for Twitter investors’ stock plummeting when he sought to buy the social media platform for $44bn in 2022. Jurors handed the win to a group of investors who sued the billionaire saying he publicly disparaged the company with the aim of bringing down Twitter’s stock price to get a better bargain.The trial, which began earlier this month in federal court in San Francisco, focused on whether Musk intended to move the market with his comments. During a six-month period in 2022, after his offer to buy Twitter, he posted constantly to his millions of followers that the social network was rife with bots that produced spam and created fake accounts.Musk did eventually buy Twitter for $54

Senior European journalist suspended over AI-generated quotes

The publisher of the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf and the Irish Independent has suspended one of its senior journalists after he admitted using AI to “wrongly put words into people’s mouths”.Peter Vandermeersch, the former head of the Irish operations at Mediahuis, said he “fell into the trap of hallucinations” – the term for AI-generated errors – when using the technology.Vandermeersch, a fellow of “journalism and society” at the European publishing group, has been suspended from his role.The experienced journalist said he had summarised reports using AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s NotebookLM, and not checked whether the quotes from those summaries were accurate. He subsequently published them in his Substack newsletter

Jack Draper blown away in straight sets by US star Reilly Opelka at Miami Open

Jack Draper suffered a tough defeat in his opening match at the Miami Open as he could do little to ­neutralise a dominant serving performance from Reilly Opelka, who fired down 25 aces in two sets en route to a 7-6(3), 7-6(0) win.The defeat is a difficult setback for Draper, the 25th seed, as he ­continues to navigate the early stages of his return to competition from a bone bruise injury that forced him off the tour for seven months. Miami is just the third ATP tournament of his comeback.While some big servers view the phrase as a pejorative, undermining the other qualities in his game, the 6ft 11in Opelka proudly describes himself as a servebot. This performance was a demonstration of his destructive serving and his ability to completely take his racket out of the hands of his opponents

USA’s Jordan Anthony wins 60m world gold after his blood clot ‘the size of a soccer ball’

On a night of dizzying speed and freakish drama, track and field found itself a new sprint sensation. It came in the form of Jordan Anthony, a 21-year-old American with one heck of a story, along with the first global gold medal around his neck.“The devil is always going to try, but I will never let him stop me from getting a gold medal,” he said after winning one of the great world indoor championships 60m races of all time in 6.41secs, the fourth-fastest time in history.And then it all came gushing out