World must be more wary than ever of China’s growing economic power

China is pulling every lever at its disposal to counter Donald Trump’s economic blockade, and it’s working.Trade is recovering after the massive hit from Washington’s wide-ranging tariffs on Beijing’s exports.According to data provider Macrobond and Beijing-based consultancy Gavekal Dragonomics, exports to the US were down by about $15bn (£11bn) in May, but up by half that figure to other countries that trade with the US. Exports to African countries have also risen sharply.Meanwhile, Chinese officials are poised to strike deals to deepen economic cooperation with countries ranging from Brazil and South Africa to Australia and the UK

‘The Co-op won’t defeat me’: Brighton shop owners fight against eviction

For Louise Oliver, it is the work of Charles Dickens that best describes her current predicament. “It’s a tale of a woman who has her lovely old shop taken over by a nasty piece of work,” she said, evoking Dickens’s The Old Curiosity Shop.In this instance, the identity of this “nasty piece of work” may come as a surprise. In 1844, three years after Dickens published the tragic tale of Little Nell, the world’s first successful cooperative shop opened in Rochdale. It put power into the hands of the community, who were sick of being fleeced by the powers above

Louis Vuitton says UK customer data stolen in cyber-attack

Louis Vuitton has said the data of some UK customers has been stolen, as it became the latest retailer targeted by cyber hackers.The retailer, the leading brand of the French luxury group LVMH, said an unauthorised third party had accessed its UK operation’s systems and obtained information such as names, contact details and purchase history.The brand, which last week said its Korean operation had suffered a similar cyber-attack, told customers that no financial data such as bank details had been compromised.“While we have no evidence that your data has been misused to date, phishing attempts, fraud attempts, or unauthorised use of your information may occur,” the email said.The company said it had notified the relevant authorities, including the Information Commissioner’s Office

The CEO who never was: how Linda Yaccarino was set up to fail at Elon Musk’s X

In May 2023, when Linda Yaccarino, an NBC advertising executive, joined what was then still known as Twitter, she was given a tall order: repair the company’s relationship with advertisers after a chaotic year of being owned by Elon Musk. But just weeks after she became CEO, Musk posted an antisemitic tweet that drove away major brands such as Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Comcast, Lionsgate and Warner Bros Discovery to pause their advertising on the platform. Musk delivered an apology for the tweet later at a conference – which he called the worst post he’s ever done – but it came with a message to advertisers, specifically the Disney CEO Bob Iger: “Go fuck yourselves.” Yaccarino was in the audience of the conference.“I don’t want them to advertise,” he said

Iga Swiatek hopes critics will ‘just leave her alone now’ after Wimbledon glory

Iga Swiatek said she delivered an emphatic answer to her critics by capturing her maiden Wimbledon title, with the Pole saying she hoped they would “just leave me alone now” after her dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory over Amanda Anisimova in just 57 minutes. The American said her slam final debut was undone by nerves and a “mediocre serve” that had dogged her fortnight.The title will propel Swiatek to No 3 in the WTA rankings and signals a major breakthrough in her 2025 season. At the French Open, Swiatek – nicknamed the Queen of Clay – fell in the semi-finals to Aryna Sabalenka, marking the first time she failed to reach the final at Roland Garros since 2021.“We as athletes can’t really react to everything,” said Swiatek after winning her first title since last year’s French Open

Shubman Gill boils over at Zak Crawley but ‘it’s just part of the game’ for KL Rahul

Three days of cricket that often failed to match the red-hot temperatures it has been played in ended on Saturday with six minutes of rancour, Shubman Gill exhorting Zak Crawley to “grow some fucking balls”, and both sides accusing the other of time-wasting. The sudden outbreak of tension came in the day’s extraordinary conclusion, in which England’s openers used every tactic in their armoury to prevent India squeezing a second over into their brief spell in the field before stumps.India’s first innings ended – for 387, precisely the same score England got in theirs – 14 minutes before the day was due to conclude, and when Crawley and Ben Duckett emerged to start their second knock there were only six minutes remaining. The action that followed was punctuated by discussions between the batters, while Crawley on one occasion pulled away as Jasprit Bumrah neared the end of his run-up after spotting movement behind the bowler’s arm, and on another shook his hand in apparent agony and called for the physio after the ball bounced into his glove. “He’ll be assessed overnight and hopefully he’ll be all right to carry on tomorrow,” deadpanned Tim Southee, England’s coaching consultant