July 24 1200 UTC Brief

In trade and tariffs Donald Trump’s latest tariff move has left British firms at a disadvantage to their EU rivals, experts say. The EU’s previous near blanket 15 percent tariff has been cut to 10 percent, matching the UK’s deal from last year, but sectors outside that agreement still face a worse competitive position. Washington also announced new tariffs of up to 12.5 percent on 60 trading partners, part of an effort to keep the tariff regime in place as older legal authorities expire or run into trouble. In Britain Andy Burnham has paused his early release policy while he reviews it, after campaigners and a survivor urged him to permanently exclude rapists, paedophiles and violent offenders from any scheme. Jade Belgrove said prison overcrowding should be tackled by building or refurbishing prisons, not by releasing serious offenders early. A sensible idea, which is why it has such a difficult career ahead of it. Burnham has also been trying to steady relations with Washington ahead of a decision on North Sea oil and gas projects, including Rosebank and Jackdaw. The row has been sharpened by White House frustration and by Ed Miliband’s past criticism of Trump, with ministers due to decide after consultations end in mid-August. In the U.S. and Britain Andrew Tate says he is being held in Florida after U.S. Marshals arrested him and his brother Tristan in Miami. The brothers are preparing to fight a British extradition request linked to charges including offences relating to indecent images of a child. In tech and security A string of AI security lapses, including the OpenAI-Hugging Face breach, is raising bigger questions about whether the industry can police powerful AI systems on its own. The issue is no longer whether these companies can promise governance, but whether anyone should still take that promise at face value. In South Asia Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk has ended his 26-day hunger strike after receiving assurances that parliament will address concerns over an exam system scandal. The protest has spread into a wider youth-led movement against Narendra Modi’s government, with supporters calling a nationwide day of protest on Friday. In Ireland Irish police say they intercepted a highly significant car bomb as it was being moved towards the UK border during an operation targeting dissident republicans. Two people were arrested after the vehicle was stopped near Carrickmacross in County Monaghan, and bomb disposal teams made the device safe before forensic examination. In business Uzbekistan says its economy grew 8.5 percent in the first half of 2026, driven by services, investment and exports. Officials said investment reached €24.6 billion and exports €12.7 billion, while Moody’s upgraded the sovereign credit rating and Fitch moved the outlook to positive.