Trump wants to again rename North America's tallest peakA source close to Rachel Reeves has strongly denied reports that the government is about to exempt farmers aged 80 and over from the family farm tax in a bid to end a revolt in rural England. The prime minister and the chancellor are under growing pressure to provide some relief for farmers amid growing anger over the decision to extend inheritance tax to include family farms. The changes mean that farms valued at £1 million or more would be liable for 20 per cent inheritance tax. The Treasury claim that in reality with tax allowances it would mean only farms worth £3 million would be affected covering just 28 per cent of family farms. But Defra figures appear to suggest as many as 66 per cent could be hit. Thousands of farmers brought Westminster to a standstill on Tuesday when they descended on the capital to voice their opposition to the changes. Earlier on Thursday the Independent revealed the 81 Labour seats most at risk as a result of the backlash, and it has since been reported that the concession was being considered to give the farming sector longer to plan. According to The Guardian officials are now looking at options including an exemption for over-80s. It came as Downing Street denied that the prime minister and chancellor had an emergency meeting today on the issue. But when the report was put to Ms Reeves’s office asking if the report was true, a source close to the chancellor replied: “No”. However, even if the move was being planned, farmers’ representatives and supporters made it clear that the concession would not nearly be enough. Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), said: “The average age of death in the UK is around 80, so they should bring it down to 73 to allow them to use the seven-year gifting rule. “If they are looking at how they create an exemption for the elderly members of the industry then the exemption should come in seven years before the average age of death. I would prefer an exemption before April 2026, when the rules come in, so you can make the transfer and don’t have to survive the seven years, but we have far better options on the table if they come out for consultation. We could come up with a policy that would answer the questions but be far better for the industry.” Mo Metcalf-Fisher, external affairs director for the Countryside Alliance, added: “If true, while it’s reassuring to see the government may finally acknowledge that the family farm tax is a flawed policy, it still has to make the right calls about mitigating the impact on family farms. “It is vital that this time ministers listen to the farming industry and reach a solution that will not see family farms bearing the brunt of this change. There is still a long way to go to heal Labour’s relationship with the countryside.” The reports came after environment secretary Steve Reed received a mooted response when he spoke at the Country Land and Business Association (CLA). Opening the CLA's rural business conference, the organisation's president Victoria Vyvyan warned: "Farmers, landowners and businesses in the rural economy are facing a very bleak future, if we have one at all." Mr Reed told delegates at the conference in central London that farming leaders and individual farmers he spoke to during Tuesday's protest had told him the Budget was the "final straw" after decades of issues, as he pledged to work with rural communities to support them. He was challenged in the conference over the issue of elderly farmers thinking the only way through the changes to inheritance tax was to take their lives before the measures came in in April 2026. In response, he said he wanted to listen to understand how the government could make the changes easier to bear. But he also warned the country "can't go on the way that it was" and Budget decisions on tax and spending were made to restore economic stability, and to support public services such as the NHS the elderly relied on. "The prize is for the long term, and an economy that works for the future, for every single person in every single part of the country, including our rural communities," he said.Starmer’s obsession with the EU alongside his incompetence will send Britain backwards and betray Brexit
Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug use
By MICHELLE L. PRICE WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump’s supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump’s movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump’s Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer , a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer’s comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks , whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar.” Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with finding ways to cut the federal government , weighed in, defending the tech industry’s need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump’s world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift, and his presidential transition team did not respond to a message seeking comment. Musk, the world’s richest man who has grown remarkably close to the president-elect , was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump’s movement but his stance on the tech industry’s hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry’s need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Related Articles National Politics | Should the U.S. increase immigration levels for highly skilled workers? National Politics | Trump threat to immigrant health care tempered by economic hopes National Politics | In states that ban abortion, social safety net programs often fail families National Politics | Court rules Georgia lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to her Trump case National Politics | New 2025 laws hit hot topics from AI in movies to rapid-fire guns Trump’s own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the U.S. illegally but he has also sought curbs on legal immigration , including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order , which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Trump’s businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club , and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the the H-1B program for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country” and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump told a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country,” he told the “All-In” podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump’s budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes.
Stocks closed higher on Wall Street at the start of a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% Monday. Several big technology companies helped support the gains, including chip companies Nvidia and Broadcom. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1%. Honda’s U.S.-listed shares rose sharply after the company said it was in talks about a combination with Nissan in a deal that could also include Mitsubishi Motors. Eli Lilly rose after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Treasury yields rose in the bond market. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Welcome to F1 Hangover , a new series where I take you inside the events, parties, panels and pop-ups happening off-track over the race weekend. I’ll give you the inside line behind-the-scenes and share some insight into how celebrities spend their time when the track is cold, what the drivers get up to when they aren’t in the paddock, and everything in between. My Las Vegas Grand Prix got off to a particularly chaotic start when I moved my flight to 6am the Sunday before the race in preparation for a last-minute shoot with Liam Lawson and his partner Hannah St. John. The pair (very kindly!) allowed me to join them for the last leg of their Los Angeles to Las Vegas road trip in a Ford F-150 Raptor. We talked about the "Cars" movie (obviously), his brief emo songwriting career and his future in F1 — but I won’t share too much because the full video of our chat is dropping later this week. Oscar Piastri, Bianca Bustamante, McLaren, Abercrombie Photo by: McLaren On Tuesday , McLaren hosted a takeover at Abercrombie & Fitch, inviting fans to meet Oscar Piastri and F1 Academy driver Bianca Bustamante while shopping new merch. I was told that fans started lining up outside the store at 9am for a 5pm photo op with the 23-year-old Aussie, though he was in-and-out within a strict 30 minute window. During a race week, the drivers’ time is scheduled — quite literally — down to the minute, and it never ceases to amaze me how many brand events and Q&As they can cram in between sessions on-track. This is especially true for the McLaren crew given how many sponsors the final boss of marketing, Zak Brown , has brought onto the team. They’ve cast a wide net across multiple sectors, attracting everyone from Goldman Sachs to Gopuff, which seems to have resulted in them finding some of the best merch partners of any team on the grid (I’m talking style, quality, and price point). Abercrombie has undergone a pretty stunning image rehab in recent years, and as someone who never had a strong affinity for the brand (I grew up in Australia), the McLaren partnership has really endeared me to them. Anecdotally, I’ve heard a lot of people had similar experiences with the brand, which seems to indicate that the once-surprising partnership is proving fruitful for all parties! Wednesday — I made a quick pit stop in the paddock to speak with Franco Colapinto . We discussed his newfound fame, why he deleted Twitter and his love for engineering — he seems very down-to-earth and well-liked by the team, so I’m curious to see what his future holds in 2025 and beyond. I then headed back to the Strip for dinner at Caesars Palace’s Stanton Social Prime, hosted by WhatsApp, Mercedes and George Russell ’s partner, Carmen Montero Mundt. I overwhelmingly find myself in rooms surrounded by men (often of the older, British variety), so it was extremely refreshing to walk into a space full of diverse young women. There were a few female drivers in attendance, but most of the guests were content creators who have attracted millions of views across multiple social media platforms. Carmen Montero Mundt, Toni Breidinger Photo by: Jojo Korsh-BFA.com I’m very aware that some long-term fans can be dismissive of F1 influencers and content creators, but I’m here to say their power shouldn’t be underestimated. I spent some time with Lissie Mackintosh, who I’ve gotten to know over the past few years, and you would think I was standing next to Lewis Hamilton based on the reaction she garnered from strangers on the street. I lost count of the number of people who thanked her for getting them into F1 — several people said she was the sole reason they discovered the sport, and decided to fly to Vegas for the race. Lissie Mackintosh Photo by: Jojo Korsh-BFA.com But back to the dinner itself! WhatsApp is such a great partner for an F1 team because a LOT of motorsport business gets done via the messaging app. In fact, I don’t think there’s a single person in the F1 paddock who doesn’t use WhatsApp (including us!). I also really enjoyed the ‘short film’ they released during the US Grand Prix starring Hamilton, and I think there’s still a lot they could do to highlight how essential WhatsApp is to Mercedes’ day-to-day functioning. Mundt told me it meant a lot to partner with the two brands “to celebrate the incredible female fandom of Formula 1 — which is an often under-appreciated but absolutely vital part of this community.” She continued, “What I love about WhatsApp is how they spotlight and unite diverse communities, and in this case, the women within F1. Each person at this dinner has played a key role in elevating F1's global influence and expanding its reach. I’m truly proud to be surrounded by such strong, empowered change-makers. These women, in my opinion, are the unsung heroes who have been pivotal in driving the sport forward.” Emily Ratajkowski Photo by: Jojo Korsh-BFA.com Speaking of women in F1, the Female Quotient partnered with F1 Academy to host a series of panels featuring the likes of Susie Wolff and Tommy Hilfiger. It was a very inspiring morning by all accounts, and I’m excited to ramp up coverage of F1 Academy next season. Another event I wasn’t able to attend due to scheduling conflicts was the PUMA Speedcat celebration, attended by Emily Ratajkowski and Paris Hilton. The brand welcomed Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc into the flagship store earlier in the week, too, with the Monegasque rocking a pair of custom sneakers paying tribute to his puppy, Leo. Paris Hilton Photo by: Jojo Korsh-BFA.com If you’ve noticed a pattern so far, it’s that just about every brand involved in the sport decided to activate in Sin City. IWC Schaffhausen, a longtime Mercedes sponsor, hosted a Q&A with Toto Wolff, which I was eager to attend as I’m intrigued by how the team plans to approach its partnerships in the post-Hamilton era. Wolff is a business man after all, and wasn’t shy about reminding the high-rollers in attendance that the Vegas GP is, at least somewhat, for them. “If a driver doesn’t like the circuit, so be it,” he candidly told the group when asked about racing on the streets of Vegas. “They’re not the client, you are.” I then darted across town to the MGM Grand where McLaren was highlighting its partnership with Mastercard via a Cirque du Soleil performance. It was certainly one of the more... unique F1 events I’ve attended, but the theatre was filled primarily with guests of Mastercard so I’m sure they enjoyed the excerpt from the spectacular KÀ show (as did I, for the record). Friday , I caught up with Gordon Ramsay: we talked about tuna, his enviable car collection and the $35,000 per person ‘Ramsay’s Garage’ experience he was hosting in the paddock. Before I wrote about F1 full time I covered pop culture, meaning I’ve spent a lot of time speaking to celebrities on red carpets and as such, have a pretty good radar for who seems like a decent person. I’m happy to report Ramsay was just as engaging in-person as he is on-camera, and seemed genuinely interested in the people around him which you don't find too often. Ramsay's Garage in the Paddock Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images Sticking to the culinary theme, I headed over to the Bellagio Fountain Club where some of the world’s most renowned chefs, including Jean-Georges Vongerichten, David Chang, Wolfgang Puck, Alain Ducasse and Mark Wahlberg, were preparing to serve up fine fare. I spoke to Mario Carbone, an A-list chef whose spicy rigatoni has garnered a cult following, about his friendship with Max Verstappen . “He comes to Carbone a bunch. I love what he does, and he likes what I do, so it's nice to feed him,” he told me. As for how the four-time word champion celebrates? “He sticks to the classics. He wants his pasta, he's here for carbs. He wants to cheat a little bit [because] it's usually after a win.” I also checked out the Shoey Bar at the Bellagio, where fans could purchase one of just 2500 specially designed, collectible Sparco boots. It's a great concept, I just can't help but wonder if the feeling in the air would be slightly different if Daniel Ricciardo hadn't lost his seat on the grid a couple of months ago. Actor Brad Pitt, with director Joseph Kosinski look onto parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, filming for the upcoming "F1" film. Photo by: Getty Images Later that night, Brad Pitt’s “F1” crew hit the streets to film some of the 2025 summer blockbuster’s final scenes. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer recently revealed the movie will premiere in Monaco at a private screening for drivers and team personnel before it becomes available in cinemas worldwide. Meanwhile, I went to an intimate Hilton Hotels event hosted by its namesake spokesperson, Paris Hilton. The party itself was pretty standard fare (cocktails, canapés and dancing) but I want to take this moment to briefly discuss “Selling Sunset” stars Jason and Brett Oppenheim, along with Mary Fitzgerald and her husband Romain Bonnet, who were dancing into the early hours of the morning. The foursome are regular fixtures at F1 races, often seen in the Alpine garage with headsets on, or posing for snaps with drivers. If I were a B-list reality star (to be clear, I say that without a hint of shade) who happened to love F1, I would absolutely be milking that fame to get the best seat in the house. You simply have to respect the hustle, and their genuine love for the sport! Sylvester Stallone waves the chequered flag Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images Ironically, race day ( Saturday ) itself is often pretty quiet until the lights go out, but the highlight of every weekend is the starting grid. Plenty of my fellow reporters have written eloquently about the magic of those 45 minutes leading up to the race start (Luke Smith’s upcoming book paints a full picture of the pre-race pomp and circumstance), but there’s nothing like rubbing shoulders with A-listers while trying to avoid ending up in the background of Martin Brundle’s grid walk. On this occasion, I spotted Nina Dobrev and Shaun White, the entire Stallone family, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Noah Lyles and multiple members of the billionaire Arnault family, whose company, LVMH, recently inked a historic deal with F1. I’m also intrigued by which celebrities manage to sneak into a race undetected. Last year, Rihanna fans didn’t even realize she was on the premises until she was spotted on the broadcast in the Ferrari garage. This time, Bradley Cooper and Adele were both pictured in the McLaren garage at points throughout the weekend, but almost nobody saw them coming in or out. The one downside of the Vegas GP is that the lights go out at 10pm, meaning you’re not making it to an after party until 3am (if you’re lucky). I ended my night at XS at the Wynn, where Swedish House Mafia were DJing in front of a very packed crowd. Typically I’d put in a few calls to find out how race winner Russell or newly-crowned champion Verstappen were celebrating, but at this point in my Vegas trip (we're now on day 7) I was all partied out. Until next year!
