ECB president Christine Lagarde says she’s ‘determined’ to complete her term, after speculation of early exit to run WEF – as it happened

Christine Lagarde is then asked whether she has spoken to the World Economic Forum about becoming chair of WEF, and leaving her position at the European Central Bank early.[The Financial Times reported last week that WEF founder Klaus Schwab had claimed that “practical arrangements” — such as an apartment in Switzerland — had been made for Lagarde to take over the organisation before her tenure at the ECB ends in 2027.]Damn, Lagarde hit with a WEF question straight off the bat!Lagarde replies that her own future is “far less important” than the future of the eurozone economy and monetary policy.She tells reporters in Frankfurt:I can very firmly tell you that I have always been, and am, fully determined to deliver on my mission.And I’m determined to complete my term

ECB cuts interest rates to 2% in effort to bolster flagging eurozone growth

The European Central Bank has cut interest rates to 2% in an effort to boost flagging economic growth across the eurozone.The ECB, making its eighth quarter-point cut in a year, said the 20-member currency bloc needed a reduction in the cost of borrowing as it reeled from the damage caused by Donald Trump’s trade wars.Economic growth has slowed across the eurozone and especially in France, Germany and Italy, while the outlook for next year is weak, according to forecasts by the EU.The move cuts the cost of borrowing to less than half the level in the UK, where the Bank of England last month cut interest rates to 4.25%, and the level set in the US by the Federal Reserve of between 4

Amazon ‘testing humanoid robots to deliver packages’

Amazon is reportedly developing software for humanoid robots that could perform the role of delivery workers and “spring out” of its vans.The $2tn (£1.47tn) technology company is building a “humanoid park” in the US to test the robots, said the tech news site the Information, citing a person who had been involved in the project.The Information reported that the robots could eventually take the jobs of delivery workers. It is developing the artificial intelligence software that would power the robots but will use hardware developed by other companies

English-speaking countries more nervous about rise of AI, polls suggest

People in English-speaking countries including the UK, US, Australia and Canada are more nervous about the rise of artificial intelligence than those in the largest EU economies, where excitement over its spread is higher, new research suggests.A global split over what has been dubbed “the wonder and worry” of AI appears to correlate with widely divergent levels of trust in governments to regulate the fast-developing technology.The polling of 23,000 adults in 30 countries, shared exclusively with the Guardian by Ipsos Mori, also showed a quarter of people globally still do not have a good understanding of what AI is, despite it being widely described as the most transformative technology in decades.On Wednesday, Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus revealed he was writing a musical with the assistance of AI, describing it as “like having another songwriter in the room with a huge reference frame”.Britons appear to be among the world’s most worried people about the rise of AI, with two-thirds of people in Great Britain saying they are nervous about the technology being deployed in products and services, and less than half trusting the UK government to regulate AI responsibly

Lizzie Deignan’s farewell tour off to tricky start on Yorkshire home roads

There was personal celebration but professional frustration for Lizzie Deignan on the opening day of her final Tour of Britain when her Lidl-Trek team failed to stop the Mauritian national champion, Kim Le Court, taking the first stage win and overall race lead in Redcar.Deignan’s valedictory race on British roads began with a fast 85.6km opening stage, from Dalby Forest to the beachfront in Redcar, and took in some of her longstanding training roads within an hour or so of her home in Otley, West Yorkshire.But although her team had strength in depth in the 20-rider pursuit of the day’s breakaway, they proved unable to close down Le Court and Kristen Faulkner, the Olympic champion, who stayed clear to contest the seaside finish.“We had a clear plan and executed it exactly as we wanted,” said Le Court, riding for the AG Insurance-Soudal team

French Open semi-finals: Sabalenka dethrones Swiatek, Gauff routs Boisson – as it happened

And here’s Tumaini’s take on today’s action. A bientot!C’est tout! Many thanks for your company today, Daniel will be back tomorrow with coverage of Jannik Sinner v Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz v Lorenzo Musetti.That was a business-like performance from Gauff, who silenced any doubts after her unconvincing quarter-final win over Madison Keys, and well and truly silenced the crowd with the calmest and most mature performance you could see from a 21-year-old playing against 15,000 fans. She didn’t give them – or Boisson – anything to get into. I hope the disappointment doesn’t last too long for Boisson