Shipping firms question safety in strait of Hormuz despite Trump plan

The world’s shipping industry has questioned whether vessels will be able to travel safely to and from the Gulf after Donald Trump announced his latest plan to open the strait of Hormuz.Trump wrote on Monday that the US navy would “guide” stranded ships out of the waterway, writing on his social media site Truth Social that the operation, “Project Freedom”, would be a humanitarian gesture “on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran”.But within hours Iran’s Fars news agency reported a US warship intending to pass through the strait had been hit by two missiles and turned back after ignoring an Iranian warning. The US denied its ship had been hit. Brent crude rose about 2% to $110

UK food prices on track to rise by 50% since start of cost of living crisis

Food prices are on track to be 50% higher in November than at the start of the cost of living crisis in 2021, research suggests.Climate and energy shocks have driven an almost quadrupling of the pace of food price growth, according to research from the thinktank Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), with costs rising in five years at about the same rate as they had over the previous two decades.Anna Taylor, the executive director of the Food Foundation charity, said: “Food prices rising this high and this fast leaves families on the lowest incomes with nowhere left to cut except the food on their plate. When that happens, people skip meals, children go hungry, and diet-related illness rises – taking parents out of work and piling pressure on an NHS that can least afford it.”The research suggests that the cost of living crisis, which many voters blame on political elites and big business, is likely to continue to be an important political issue during 2026

AI facial recognition oversight lagging far behind technology, watchdogs warn

Britain’s biometrics watchdogs have warned that national oversight of AI-powered face scanning to catch criminals is lagging far behind the technology’s rapid growth.With the Metropolitan police almost doubling the number of faces they scan in London over the past 12 months and a rising use of the technology by retailers in the UK, Prof William Webster, the biometrics commissioner for England and Wales, said the “slow pace of legislation was trying to catch up with the real world” and “the horse had gone before the cart”.Dr Brian Plastow, who holds the same role in Scotland, warned the technology was “nowhere near as effective as the police claim it is” and said there was a “patchwork legal framework” throughout the UK. He said in England and Wales, police were “really just marking their own homework”.The watchdogs said new laws were needed to govern when and how police forces used live facial recognition technology, with a new regulator to clamp down on misuse

Guilty until proven innocent: shoppers falsely identified by facial recognition system struggle to clear their names

When Ian Clayton, a retired health and safety professional from Chester, popped into Home Bargains one February lunchtime, he was suddenly approached by a stern-looking member of staff.“Excuse me, can you please put everything down and leave the shop now?” she said. Clayton recalled how he was stunned, and it was only as he was briskly walked past the tills towards the exit that he stopped to ask what he had done.“You’ve come up on our system called Facewatch as a shoplifter,” came the reply. “There’s a poster in the window

‘Get rid of the battery’: F1 under increasing pressure to make more changes to engine rules

Formula One is under increasing pressure to consider immediate changes and the long-term future of its new engines, with the world champion Lando Norris reiterating after the Miami Grand Prix that the only answer to address the sport-wide dissatisfaction was to “get rid of the battery”.At the race in Florida, which was won by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, with Norris second, F1 and the FIA had brought in fresh regulations to address unhappiness and safety concerns prompted by the pivotal role energy management plays under the new 2026 formula.There has been widespread criticism of the formula – which employs almost a 50-50 split between the internal combustion engine (ICE) and electrical energy. And while the adjustments to mitigate the issues which came in this weekend were considered successful, the long-term distaste remains, as Norris noted.“It’s a small step in the right direction but it’s not to the level that Formula One should still be at yet,” he said

John Sterling, beloved voice of Yankees for 36 seasons, dies at 87

John Sterling, whose voice became synonymous with the New York Yankees, has died at the age of 87.Sterling, a native New Yorker, started broadcasting Yankees games on radio in 1989 and continued until he retired in April 2024. During that span, he called 5,420 regular-season games and 211 in the postseason. He rarely missed a game and worked 5,060 consecutive games between 1989 and 2019. During one memorable game in 2023, he was hit by a foul ball during a broadcast and returned to work the next day