Jimmy Kimmel on Trump: ‘His list of threats is now longer than Kash Patel’s bar tab’
Late-night hosts discussed the Trump administration’s confusing messaging about the war in Iran and why fruit-flavoured vapes have suddenly become a Republican priority,On Jimmy Kimmel Live! the host spoke about the conflict in Iran and how the strait of Hormuz is still to be reopened,While Trump claims that the US is close to a deal, Kimmel said it was “still very much in flux, as in what the flux are we doing over there?”Trump has been issuing more threats this week, which led Kimmel to joke that “his list of threats is now longer than Kash Patel’s bar tab”,It’s meant that gas prices are still sky high, with California experiencing the highest in the country,This week will also see Marco Rubio being sent to “make nice” with the pope including asking him “why God didn’t answer his prayers for smaller ears”.
Kimmel also said “he’s hoping to get the pope down to five commandments”.He then spoke about a pre-Mother’s Day event, where Melania Trump made comments about her husband’s empathy that led to both of them laughing at the same time.“I really feel like I brought those two back together,” he said.This week Trump has also been in a “reported beef” with Marty Makary, the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The president has been “angrily bullying” him over the approval of fruit-flavoured vapes, which is important for “young Maga”.
Kimmel called it “as noble a cause as there is”.On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert spoke about the US “closing in on an end to the war” although reports suggested this week that an Iranian official called the terms an “American wishlist and not a reality”.At a press briefing this week, Marco Rubio claimed that Operation Epic Fury is over and now it’s being transitioned to Project Freedom, yet that was then halted after one day.Colbert said it was all “living up to the Trump family motto: when the going gets tough, bye, bitch”.He then spoke about the $1bn that will allegedly be going towards Trump’s ballroom from taxpayers.
Colbert called it all “bullshit” as despite Trump having “one unwavering promise” that the money would come from donors, this is now not the case.“To lie that blatantly takes a lot of balls and he still hasn’t built the room to store them,” he joked.This week has also seen RFK Jr try to change FDA rules to allow minors to use tanning beds.Colbert said it “comes as no surprise from someone who looks so hickory smoked”.He also spoke about the push to approve fruit-flavoured vapes for adults and, like many, claimed that this would ultimately be used more by children.
“Those kids need something to take the edge off after a couple of hours in the tanning booth,” he said.On Late Night, Seth Meyers called the situation with Iran “confusing and unclear” and also spoke about the problems with Trump and his cronies using the word “war”.They have been “desperate to avoid” using the word as it would make the invasion illegal as it was not officially approved by Congress.While Trump has often used the word “war”, he’s also been using “other dumber euphemisms”, such as “excursion” and “skirmish”.But “sometimes he gets tripped up on his own bullshit” and goes back to saying “war” or “mini-war”, to which Meyers said there is “no such thing”.
The attempt to rebrand it as Project Freedom had Meyers joke that “they’re treating the war like it’s HBO”.He also looked at Trump’s confusing social media posts this year and asked: “How can you expect to get an outcome when no one knows what outcome you want?”Meyers said that “Trump can’t hold one position for even a day” and is “still trying to bullshit his way out of it”.
Google announces raft of free upgrades for Android phones
Google has announced a range of features coming to Android phones this year, including a new Gemini Intelligence AI system and a tool to help users avoid distracting apps.Revealed in a livestreamed “Android Show” event, the free upgrades are scheduled to arrive in waves over the next year for high-end new and old phones alike, including Samsung and Pixel devices. Google also revealed that a new lineup of laptops will arrive in the autumn.Gemini Intelligence will combine the company’s top AI tools into one system aimed at being more proactively useful.It will be able to automate tasks by directly interacting with the apps already on a phone
Head of Microsoft’s Israel branch to step down after inquiry into dealings with Israeli military
The head of Microsoft’s Israeli subsidiary will step down in the wake of an inquiry that has scrutinised its business dealings with the Israeli military.Microsoft ordered the inquiry last year in response to a Guardian investigation revealing the military had used the company’s technology to operate a powerful surveillance system that collected Palestinian civilian phone calls on a mass scale.The joint investigation with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call found the military’s elite spy agency, Unit 8200, had used Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to store a vast trove of intercepted calls from Gaza and the West Bank.The inquiry commissioned by Microsoft is understood to have recently concluded. Its findings are unclear; however, sources familiar with the situation said they prompted an announcement last week that Microsoft Israel’s general manager, Alon Haimovich, would leave the company
GameStop’s $55.5bn bid for eBay rejected as ‘neither credible nor attractive’
The board of eBay has rejected the US video games retailer GameStop’s surprise $55.5bn bid (£41bn) for the online marketplace, describing the proposal as “neither credible nor attractive”.Earlier this month, GameStop made an unsolicited bid for eBay, publishing a letter on its website outlining a half-cash, half-stock proposal.This was despite the US games company – which became a global household name during the meme stock craze of 2021 – being worth far less than its takeover target. GameStop had a market valuation of roughly $12bn before its bid, almost a quarter of eBay’s $46bn valuation
Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian.Donald Trump is headed to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, would join Trump
Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech while emulating Xi Jinping on AI
Donald Trump is heading to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, would join the US president. Other guests from the tech sphere include Meta’s recently appointed president, Dina Powell McCormick; Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of computer memory maker Micron; Chuck Robbins, CEO of longtime telecom giant Cisco; and Cristiano Amon, CEO of semiconductor maker Qualcomm, according to a White House official.Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO – who is close to Trump but criticized the US’s limitations on chip sales to China in an April interview, saying that he didn’t want a “loser mentality” to cost the US its edge in AI – will not be joining the president
Molière Ex Machina: AI used to create ‘new work’ by beloved French playwright
Molière is to the French what Shakespeare is to the English: the last word in historical literature, drama, wit and satire.Now, more than 350 years after his death, the 17th-century dramatist has been revived after scholars at the Sorbonne University in Paris used artificial intelligence to help write an experimental play in his style.L’Astrologue ou les Faux Présages (The Astrologer, or False Omens), a three-act comedy, made its debut at the Royal Opera at the Château de Versailles last week.The two-hour play tells the story of a wealthy bourgeois Parisian who, under the instruction of a charlatan astrologer called Pseudoramus, insists his daughter Lucile marry a debt-ridden and elderly wigmaker.While the theme could well have been dreamed up by Molière, the dialogue, music, costumes and scenery were all created with the help of a French AI tool called Le Chat (The Cat)
‘I’m unique’: Dyson Daniels on his NBA niche, missing three-pointers… and investing tips
The Spin | ‘We have a hoot on the field’: Oswestry CC boasts 10 mother-daughter pairs
How will the liberal Masai Ujiri handle leading the ultraconservative Dallas Mavericks?
World’s No 1 disabled golfer Kipp Popert: ‘The best need to play for a living. The sport has stopped’
Racing need not fear Green party ‘conversation’ but must continue efforts on horse welfare
From the Pocket: Voss coached the way he played and his brutal football failed Carlton