‘Overheads have gone up’: Britain’s hospitality sector faces tough time this summer

On a sunny weekday in Norfolk, the lunchtime rush is getting under way at the White Horse in Brancaster Staithe. On the large terrace at the back of the pub overlooking the coast, families and groups of holidaymakers are tucking in to local lobsters, plates of crab and fish and chips.“This is our Christmas,” says James Nye, the managing director of Anglian Country Inns, the hospitality business started by his father, Cliff, 30 years ago which owns the White Horse and nine other venues across Norfolk and Hertfordshire, stressing the importance of the key summer season.“We’ve had a strong start to the year with three months of sunshine,” he says. “But I think that has masked the challenges the sector is facing

Good, mad and ugly: the US economy’s performance under Trump – in charts

According to Donald Trump’s White House, the US economy is booming, inflation is dead and jobs are surging. A blizzard of economic reports has cast a pall on such claims in recent days.This week’s data on Trump’s early economic record was mixed – good, mad and ugly – with jobs numbers so weak he reached for the catchphrase he once used to build himself into a reality TV star: you’re fired.The picture is chaotic, with robust headline growth in the world’s largest economy, wild swings in trade, and a remarkable slowdown in the labor market.For six months, Trump has staged an extraordinary campaign to overhaul the global economy and extract concessions from Washington’s allies and rivals by threatening and imposing steep tariffs on their US exports

Airbnb guest says images were altered in false £12,000 damage claim

Airbnb has apologised to a woman after an apartment host falsely claimed she had caused thousands of pounds’ worth of damage and used images she says were digitally manipulated to back up his allegations.The London-based academic was refunded almost £4,300, and an internal review of how the case was dealt with has been launched at the short-term accommodation rental company.The incident highlights how cheap and easily available artificial intelligence software is now being used to manipulate images to give false evidence of what has happened in consumer complaints, according to one security expert.The woman, who is based in London, had booked the one-bedroom apartment in New York’s Manhattan for two-and-a-half months earlier this year to stay in while she was studying, but she decided to leave early after feeling unsafe in the area.Shortly after she left, the host told Airbnb that she had caused more than £12,000 worth of damage, and submitted pictures of an apparently cracked coffee table as part of his case

Jury orders Tesla to pay more than $200m to plaintiffs in deadly 2019 Autopilot crash

A Florida jury ordered Tesla to pay more than $200m to victims of a deadly crash involving its Autopilot driver assist technology.Friday’s verdict is a hit for Elon Musk’s car company, as it opens the door to other costly lawsuits and could potentially strike a blow to Tesla’s reputation for safety at a critical time for the company.And the decision has been closely eyed by other car companies, as they work to develop cars that increasingly drive themselves.The federal jury in Miami held that Tesla bore significant responsibility for the crash because its technology failed and that not all the blame can be put on a reckless driver, even one who admitted he was distracted by his cellphone before hitting a young couple out gazing at the stars.The decision comes as Musk seeks to convince Americans his cars are safe enough to drive on their own as he plans to roll out a driverless taxi service in several cities in the coming months

Cut-throat NFL roster cull pits Australian pair against each other with millions at stake | Peter Mitchell

There is a brutal ritual involving Australian punters that takes place this time of year in Louisiana’s intense summer heat, near the bayous and swamps that are home to alligators and venomous cottonmouth snakes. It features former Australian rules footballers battling for a single US$3m NFL punting contract with the New Orleans Saints.This year’s showdown began with Matt Hayball, a former Geelong Cat and the Saints’ incumbent punter, against James Burnip, a 198cm rookie from Mount Macedon in Victoria, who just wrapped a standout punting career at the University of Alabama. The Saints complicated the battle this week by signing a third punter, American Kai Kroeger.Only one will survive final cuts on 26 August, when NFL teams must slash their training camp rosters from 90 players to 53

Zharnel Hughes dedicates British 100m title to aunt after missing her funeral to race

After a sluggish start and a thunderous, triumphant finish, Zharnel Hughes dedicated his freshly claimed British 100m title to his aunt, whose funeral he was forced to miss so that he could compete in Birmingham this weekend.Hughes, the world bronze medallist, hails from the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, where his aunt Iola was being laid to rest at the same time as he was taking on the best sprinters in Britain. The sacrifice paid off when he blitzed his way to a winning time of 9.94sec at the Alexander Stadium, before paying tribute to his family on the other side of the world.“Today is a very difficult day for me,” he said