Sónar, one of Europe’s leading electronic music festivals, is under threat after dozens of musicians and DJs announced a boycott over the event’s parent company KKR’s alleged links to Israel. More than 70 artists signed an open letter to the festival, which is due to take place in Barcelona from 12-14 June, stating that “we…
Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on iPhones if they are not made in the United States, as he stepped up the pressure on Apple to build its signature product in America. The US president caused a pre-trading dip in Apple shares with a post on the Truth Social platform stating that…
David Cameron is in talks to join the law firm DLA Piper as a consultant – five years after the Greensill scandal that showed he intensively lobbied officials on behalf of his failing employer. The former prime minister, who also served as foreign secretary last year, is said to be having discussions about taking on…
Which came first: the feeder or the bird? A seemingly straightforward question, but the answer might not be so simple. According to a recently published study in Global Change Biology, the use of human-made hummingbird feeders has changed the beak sizes and shapes of Anna’s hummingbirds, and spread their range from a narrow pocket of…
Sunny spring weather sent shoppers flocking to supermarkets and specialists such as butchers, bakers and alcohol outlets last month, fuelling the strongest quarterly increase in retail sales in Great Britain in almost four years. Retail sales volumes rose by 1.2% in April, well ahead of City economists’ forecasts of an increase of between 0.2% and…
The chair of Creative Australia is departing the organisation, with the arts minister, Tony Burke, announcing on Friday Robert Morgan’s intention to retire. The First Nations playwright and creative director Wesley Enoch will serve as the acting chair and is expected to replace Morgan. Morgan presided over the controversial board meeting in February that voted…
Heavy rainfall across Sydney has caused chaos on roads and railways as authorities warn of delays for those descending on the city for the opening of the Vivid lights festival. More than 200mm of rain fell in Richmond, about 90mm in Camden, more than 50mm in Katoomba and at least 75mm at Sydney airport in…
Environmental activists in Brazil have decried a dramatic rollback of environmental safeguards after the senate approved a bill that would dismantle licensing processes and increase the risk of widespread destruction. The upper house passed the so-called “devastation bill” with 54 votes to 13 late on Wednesday, paving the way for projects ranging from mining and…
The US Federal Trade Commission dropped a case that sought to block Microsoft’s $69bn purchase of the Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, saying on Thursday that pursuing the case against the long-closed deal was not in the public interest. Andrew Ferguson, the FTC chair, is seeking to use the agency’s resources for cases that…
The Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap have claimed a campaign is being mounted to prevent their performance at Glastonbury this summer, at a surprise gig staged a day after one of its members was charged with a terror offence. The group told the crowd at the 100 Club in central London on Thursday night that…
