Families of victims appalled as Boeing seems likely to avoid prosecution over 737 Max crashes

Boeing is set to avoid prosecution in a fraud case sparked by two fatal crashes of its bestselling 737 Max jet that killed 346 people, according to sources familiar with the matter.The US Department of Justice is considering a non-prosecution agreement, relatives of the victims were told on Friday, through which the US aerospace giant would not be required to plead guilty.Representatives of the crash victims’ families expressed outrage, describing the proposal as “morally repugnant” after a tense call with senior justice department officials.Boeing declined to comment. The justice department did not immediately respond to a request for comment

US consumer sentiment falls as tariffs drive up inflation fears; Number of UK billionaires drops – as it happened

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.The number of British billionaires has fallen, as the super-rich are hit by stock market turbulence and the end of tax breaks for non-doms.The Sunday Times’s annual totting-up of Britain’s richest people, just published shows that the number of billionaires slid to 156 this year from 165 in 2024. That’s the sharpest decline in the Rich List’s 37-year-history.The Sunday Times reports that “falling fortunes” have led many to drop off the list, while others are no longer eligible, having “fled Britain after Labour’s non-dom crackdown”

Elon Musk’s AI firm blames unauthorised change for chatbot’s rant about ‘white genocide’

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company has blamed an “unauthorised modification” for a glitch in its Grok chatbot that resulted in the tool ranting about “white genocide” in South Africa.In a post on Musk’s X platform, xAI said new measures would be brought in to ensure its employees cannot modify the bot’s behaviour without extra oversight.The Grok bot repeatedly referred to a white genocide in South Africa – a discredited claim promoted by Donald Trump among other US populist figures – this week in responses to unrelated queries.One user of Musk’s X platform, which also hosts Grok, asked the bot to identify the location of a photo of a walking path, triggering a non sequitur swerve into “South Africa’s farm attack debate”.xAI, the Musk-owned company that developed the chatbot, said in a post on X that the bot’s erratic behaviour was due to an unauthorised change made to the Grok bot’s system prompt, which guides a chatbot’s responses and actions

Lords examine new amendment to data bill to require AI firms declare use of copyrighted content

A new amendment to the data bill that would require artificial intelligence companies to disclose their use of copyright-protected content has been tabled, after MPs voted to remove an earlier version on Wednesday.The amendment by the cross-bench peer and former film director Beeban Kidron will be a fresh challenge to plans to let artificial intelligence firms use copyright-protected work without permission.It circumvents the financial privilege grounds – meaning there is no budget available for the regulation – on which its predecessor was rejected..The new wording states the government “may” make enforcement provisions rather than “must”, and gives no detail about how the government could enforce them

Will Steve Borthwick give untested England youth a chance in Argentina? | Gerard Meagher

When Warren Gatland named his British & Irish Lions squad to tour New Zealand in 2017 he included 16 England players. Stalwarts such as Dylan Hartley, Chris Robshaw, Joe Launchbury and George Ford were still notable absentees but England had won the previous two Six Nations titles, 17 of Eddie Jones’s first 18 matches and, accordingly, their contingent was substantial.The very next day Jones named his England squad for a tour of Argentina. He refused to engage in the merits of the selected Lions touring party but at the time you sensed Jones did not particularly like Gatland hogging the spotlight. England might have lost their most recent match, against Ireland in Dublin, denying them another grand slam, but the Australian was still basking in an extended honeymoon period and all eyes were on his old adversary

Rampant Knicks blow out Celtics to advance to first East finals since 2000

It didn’t take long for the New York Knicks to turn their biggest game in a quarter-century into a complete laugher on Friday night.Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby scored 23 points apiece as the Knicks eliminated the defending champion Boston Celtics with a 119-81 beatdown in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semi-final series, propelling New York into the last four of the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2000.The Knicks advance to meet the Indiana Pacers, the same team they faced in each of their previous three trips to the East finals in 1994, 1999 and 2000. Game 1 is Wednesday night in Manhattan.New York overcame a sloppy opening quarter to lead by as many as 41 points during a non-competitive second half in front of a rollicking, celebrity-flecked crowd that included Timothée Chalamet, Ben Stiller, Bad Bunny and Lenny Kravitz