‘A foot out in the cold’: leaders huddle at IMF as icy economic winds blow

“The security blanket is covering us, but maybe we have a foot out in the cold.” That was the typically colourful warning from the International Monetary Fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, this week to its gathering of finance ministers in Washington.At its spring meetings in April, the IMF said the erratic trade policies emanating from the White House, half a mile away from its glass and steel HQ, amounted to a “major negative shock” for the global economy.Since then, experts’ worst fears have not materialised – global growth has held up; frantic negotiations, agile manufacturers and new trading links have prevented supply chains collapsing.But the US economy has been cushioned against the full effects of the trade shift by the AI mega-boom – and the IMF issued a clear warning this week that it may not last

What could a Trump deal on critical minerals mean for Australia – and could Maga be a sticking point?

Australia’s rich deposits of minerals used for green energy technologies and military hardware are increasingly prized, especially because of rising anxiety about China’s stranglehold on the global supply chain.That anxiety escalated after Beijing imposed new restrictions on rare earths exports, prompting a furious rebuke from Donald Trump and a warning from his treasury secretary that western allies would need to “decouple” from China if it proved an unreliable supplier.The timing of the latest US-China trade conflict could be good for Anthony Albanese, who will arrive at next week’s White House meeting armed with a valuable bargaining chip to negotiate with the deal-making president.The Australian government is expected to offer the US access to a proposed critical minerals stockpile, amid wider attempts to shield the country from the worst of Trump’s trade strikes and secure the Aukus submarine deal.But one expert thinks the critical minerals fight puts Australia in a “really compromised position”, caught between the competing priorities of its strongest strategic ally and its biggest trading partner

Olivia Williams says actors need ‘nudity rider’-type controls for AI body scans

Actors should have as much control over the data harvested from scans of their body as they do over nudity scenes, the actor Olivia Williams has said, amid heightened concern over artificial intelligence’s impact on performers.The star of Dune: Prophecy and The Crown said she and other actors were regularly pressed to have their bodies scanned by banks of cameras while on set, with few guarantees about how the data would be used or where it would end up.“A reasonable request would be to follow the precedent of the ‘nudity rider’,” she said. “This footage can only be used in the action of that scene. It cannot be used in any other context at all, and when the scene has been edited it must be deleted on all formats

‘Legacies condensed to AI slop’: OpenAI Sora videos of the dead raise alarm with legal experts

Last night I was flicking through a dating app. One guy stood out: “Henry VIII, 34, King of England, nonmonogamy”. Next thing I know, I am at a candlelit bar sharing a martini with the biggest serial dater of the 16th century.But the night is not over. Next, I am DJing back-to-back with Diana, Princess of Wales

Premier League team news: predicted lineups for the weekend action

Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue City GroundReferee Chris Kavanagh This season G6 Y20 R0 3.33 cards/gameSubs from Gunn, Victor, Murillo, Boly, Zinchenko, Sangaré, Douglas Luiz, McAtee, Domínguez, Awoniyi, Kalimuendo, Hudson-Odoi, Bakwa, Hutchinson, Igor JesusDoubtful Wood (knee)Injured Aina (hamstring, Dec)Suspended NoneForm DLLDLL Leading scorer Wood 2Subs from Slonina, Jörgensen, James, Hato, Acheampong, Santos, Buonanotte, Fofana, Guiu, Estêvão, George, Mheuka, Gittens, WalshDoubtful Neto (knock), Fernández (knee)Injured Palmer (groin, Dec), Badiashile (muscle, Dec), Delap (hamstring, Dec), Essugo (thigh, unknown), Colwill (knee, unknown)Suspended Mudryk (indefinite)Form WWDLLW Leading scorer Caicedo, Fernández 3Saturday 3pm Venue Amex StadiumReferee Craig Pawson This season G4 Y9 R1 2.5 cards/gameSubs from Steele, McGill, Veltman, Coppola, Boscagli, De Cuyper, Milner, Watson, Rutter, Tzimas, KostoulasDoubtful Gómez (thigh), Mitoma (knock), Veltman (calf)Injured March (knee, Dec), Gruda (knee, unknown), Hinshelwood (ankle, unknown), Webster (knee, unknown)Suspended NoneForm LWLDWD Leading scorer Welbeck 2Subs from Ramsdale, Schär, Lascelles, Krafth, Willock, Ramsey, Miley, Osula, MurphyDoubtful Joelinton (groin), Osula (ankle)Injured Hall (hamstring, Nov), Wissa (knee, Nov), Livramento (Knee, Dec)Suspended NoneForm LDWDLW Leading scorer Woltemade 3Saturday 3pm Venue Turf MoorReferee Tim Robinson This season (Championship) G2 Y11 R0 5.5 cards/gameSubs from Hladky, Weiss, Sonne, Roberts, Delcroix, Ekdal, Worrall, Humphreys, Pires, Ugochukwu, Mejbri, Bruun Larsen, Edwards, Trésor, Broja, Barnes, Banel, Flemming, AgyeiDoubtful Anthony (thigh), Foster (dead leg)Injured Beyer (hamstring, unknown), Roberts (achilles, unknown), Amdouni (ACL, unknown)Suspended NoneForm WLLDLL Leading scorer Anthony 4Subs from Perri, Meslier, Bijol, Bornauw, Justin, Tanaka, Gruev, Harrison, James, Piroe, NmechaDoubtful Perri (thigh), James (ankle), Okafor (adductor)Injured Gnonto (groin, Nov), Gray (hip, Nov)Suspended NoneForm LDLWDL Leading scorer Okafor 2Saturday 3pm Venue Selhurst ParkReferee Jarred Gillett This season G5 Y15 R1 3

‘Illusion of democracy’: Ben Sulayem’s last rival exits FIA presidential race

The FIA has been accused of presenting an “illusion of democracy” in an uncompromising broadside from the last remaining challenger to Mohammed Ben Sulayem as he formally announced his attempt to succeed the organisation’s incumbent president was over. Tim Mayer, a former FIA senior steward, also condemned Formula One’s governing body for lacking transparency and threatening the sport’s future.The 59-year-old American, who was sacked from his FIA role last year, had been standing as a candidate against Ben Sulayem but on Friday in Austin acknowledged the incumbent would run unopposed because of the way FIA electoral regulations are composed.“There will be only one candidate, the incumbent,” Mayer said. “That’s not democracy – that’s the illusion of democracy