UK tackles electricity price link to world gas amid Mideast war

The world's biggest car show opens Friday in Beijing, with hundreds of thousands of auto fans expected to descend on the Chinese capital to size up the latest sleek, teched-out models on the market.

Legacy overseas brands such as Volkswagen, Toyota and BMW once dominated in China, but have lost market share in past years to domestic firms that beat them to the electric vehicle revolution and undercut them on price.

Chinese manufacturers including BYD, Xiaomi and Xpeng are now also at the forefront of integrating AI software and autonomous driving technology into their EVs.

The Auto China exhibition, hosted at two side-by-side venues in the capital, will span 380,000 square metres (four million square feet), according to organisers -- sprawling more than 50 football pitches.

More than 1,400 vehicles from hundreds of foreign and domestic companies will be on show from Friday, when the show opens to industry professionals and the media, and later to the public from April 28 until May 3.

Domestic brands are expected to fight to out-wow competition with upgrades in autonomous driving, battery charging and futuristic transportation.

Xpeng -- founded just over a decade ago -- said it plans to showcase "the latest progress in robotics and flying cars", as well as a new smart driving system.

Foreign automakers, meanwhile, are increasingly collaborating with local companies to keep pace with technological advances.

BMW has partnered with Chinese battery maker CATL, while Audi is using Huawei's driving assistance systems and Volkswagen is developing EVs together with Guangzhou-based Xpeng.

- Fierce competition -

This year, companies will also jostle to sell space, analysts say, with roomy SUVs' new growth area targeting customers prioritising seating and comfort.

China "has become a customer retention and replacement/upgrade-driven market, and these big SUVs address that need," independent analyst Lei Xing wrote in a blog this week.

Firms have flooded the domestic market in recent years with trade-in schemes, offering huge discounts to customers to give up their old auto for a new one.

The fierce price war led Chinese officials last year to call for tighter price monitoring and improving long-term regulation of competition.

But newcomers appear unfazed, Lei wrote, naming at least eight EV brands from Chinese automakers that have cropped up over the last two years.

Electric cars, which China dominates, are also getting a boost as spiralling oil prices from the Middle East war nudge drivers away from fossil-fuel powered models.

Companies are vying to outlast the competition on range.

Xiaomi's CEO Lei Jun recently completed a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) road trip from Beijing to Shanghai in the new SU7 Pro electric sedan -- stopping just once to charge during the 15-hour drive.

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Second-ranked Nelly Korda fired a bogey-free seven-under par 65 to seize a two-stroke lead after Thursday's opening round of the LPGA Chevron Championship, the year's first major women's event.

The 27-year-old American, seeking her second Chevron title in three seasons and her second victory of the year, birdied two of her last three holes at Houston's Memorial Park.

"The wind was picking up here and there," Korda said. "Through the trees it was definitely gusting so I had to lock in on a couple of yardages here and there.

"Overall, I just felt really good, though, out there."

Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit and South Korea's Lee So-mi shared second on 67.

China's Liu Yan, Japan's Yuri Yoshida, France's Pauline Roussin-Bouchard and 20-year-old American amateur Farah O'Keefe shared fourth on 68.

Korda, the 2024 Chevron champion, won the season-opening Tournament of Champions and has three runner-up LPGA finishes since.

After firing her second-lowest opening round in a major since the 2022 Evian Championship, Korda said she had learned a key lesson about the course, a first-time host of the event.

"I would say miss in the correct spots," Korda said. "It's all about the second shot in on this golf course. The rough isn't too high so if you don't hit your driver too great, it's OK, but it's still about placement going into the greens."

After birdies at the 12th and par-five 16th on her front nine, Korda birdied the first three holes after the turn, hitting a five-foot putt at one, a 6-iron to six feet and made putt at the par-three second then sinking an eight-foot putt at the 12th to grab a share of the lead.

A six-foot birdie putt at the par-three seventh lifted Korda into the solo lead and she sank a five-foot birdie putt at the par-five eighth to stretch her lead before a closing par.

It was Korda's first bogey-free round since the second round of the 2024 Women's British Open.

Patty, a 26-year-old from Bangkok, won her first LPGA title and only major triumph at this event in 2021 when it was known as the ANA Inspiration and played in California.

Her bogey-free start included birdies at the par-five first, third and eighth holes as well as the par-three 15th and par-four 17th.

"I feel like I was just out there enjoying the moment," Patty said. "It wasn't perfect. I wish I would have hit my driver a little bit better.

"I was able to scramble around and save some good pars. It's still not like where I want it to be. At the same time I'm not out there to chase perfection. My job is to get the ball inside the hole as fast as I can and I feel like did that really well."

Lee, seeking her first major triumph, began her round on the back nine and made birdies at the 10th, 13th and par-five 14th, first, third and eighth before ending with her lone bogey at the ninth.

"Recently I've been having problems with my shots. I think the problem is I was trying to hit it so perfectly," Lee said through a translator.

"One part I improved was my mental game, and also before the round I practiced my putter more than usual. I think that helped a lot."

Thailand's top-ranked Jeeno Thitikul, seeking her first major title, opened with a 74.

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The Las Vegas Raiders took quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the number one pick in the NFL draft on Thursday, hoping the Heisman Trophy winner can help revive a franchise that has missed the playoffs for the past four seasons.

Cuban-American Mendoza was widely expected to go first overall after leading Indiana to the United States college football crown and bagging the Heisman as college football's top player.

He led the Hoosiers to an unbeaten campaign and their first national title, completing 273 of 379 passes for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns with only six interceptions.

The 22-year-old also ran 90 times for 276 yards and seven touchdowns.

The 91st edition of the annual allocation of unclaimed talent was held in Pittsburgh, at the Steelers' Acrisure Stadium.

Mendoza opted to not to attend, instead watching the proceedings with family and friends at home in Miami, in part because the travel would have been difficult for his mother, Elsa, who has multiple sclerosis.

But broadcaster ESPN was on the scene in Florida, where Mendoza's selection sparked laughter and hugs.

"I'm just looking forward to getting to work, prove it at the next level," a beaming Mendoza, a Raiders cap perched on his head, told ESPN. "College was fantastic. I'm so blessed to have that career.

"But now I step into a great game, the NFL. (I) look forward to proving and earning it every single day."

It remains to be seen how soon Mendoza might step into a starting role. But the Raiders are in need of a top quarterback after going 3-14 last year.

They haven't won a post-season game since they won the 2003 Super Bowl.

Mendoza's selection by the Raiders was widely expected, but things were less clear for other teams.

The New York Jets were slated to select second, followed by the Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, New York Giants and Cleveland Browns.

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Lebanon's leaders accused Israel on Thursday of committing a war crime, after an airstrike killed a Lebanese journalist in the country's south, with the Israeli army saying it was reviewing the incident.

Rescuers and the reporter's employer on Wednesday confirmed the death of Amal Khalil, a 42-year-old journalist who worked for the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar.

The civil defence agency said she was killed in a strike on a house in the village of Al-Tiri.

"Israel deliberately targets journalists in order to conceal the truth about its crimes against Lebanon," President Joseph Aoun said in a statement denouncing "war crimes".

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam wrote on X that "targeting journalists and obstructing access for rescue teams constitutes a war crime", adding that his government would take the case to international bodies.

When contacted by AFP on Thursday, an Israeli army spokesperson said "the incident is still under review".

A 10-day ceasefire has been in effect in Lebanon since Friday, pausing the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that has left more than 2,400 people dead in Lebanon.

Khalil and another journalist had taken refuge in a house in Al-Tiri after an Israeli airstrike targeted a car in front of them, according to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA).

It said the two occupants of the vehicle, the mayor of the nearby Israeli-occupied town of Bint Jbeil and a man with him, were killed.

An Israeli strike then targeted the house where the two journalists had taken refuge.

The health ministry said the attack wounded journalist Zeinab Faraj -- who was taken to hospital -- and left Khalil trapped.

A Lebanese Red Cross official told AFP they had "managed to rescue Zeinab Faraj" but were unable to reach Khalil and withdrew "because of a warning strike".

Lebanese authorities had to contact UN peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon, and it took several hours before rescue workers could regain access to the area to recover the journalist's body from the rubble.

The health ministry accused Israel on Thursday of "obstructing rescue operations" and "targeting an ambulance clearly bearing the Red Cross symbol".

The Israeli military said in a statement on Wednesday it had "identified two vehicles in southern Lebanon that had departed from a military structure used by Hezbollah".

The air force then struck a vehicle carrying "terrorists", it said, who had crossed what Israel calls the "forward defence line" in southern Lebanon and approached its troops.

- 'Accountability' -

Israel says it has established a "yellow line" deep into southern Lebanon where its troops have been posted, stopping residents from returning.

Its army denied preventing rescue teams from "accessing the area".

Dozens of journalists attended Khalil's funeral in her southern hometown of Baysariyeh on Thursday. Her coffin was draped in the Lebanese flag and covered in flowers, her helmet and press vest placed on top. 

Rights groups have condemned Israel's repeated killing of press workers.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said that "targeting civilians and obstructing aid are violations of international humanitarian law".

UN chief Antonio Guterres "reiterates that journalists must be able to perform their essential duties without fears of interference, harassment or worse", he added. 

Jonathan Dagher, head of the Middle East desk at Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said the sequence of strikes on Wednesday "would indicate targeting and obstruction of aid constituting war crimes".

Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch, said "Israel's killing of journalist Amal Khalil should be credibly investigated".

"Intentionally targeting civilians is a war crime."

On March 28, three journalists were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the south, and UN experts called for an international investigation.

They joined several other Lebanese journalists who have been killed by Israel since the previous conflict with Hezbollah started in 2023.

From a protest in Beirut commemorating Khalil, journalist Inas Sherri told AFP "accountability is the most important thing".

"If we were holding people accountable, Israel would not have continued killing journalists one after another."

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Shares in Intel soared on Thursday after it smashed quarterly earnings expectations in what could be a sign that the US chip maker is on a path to recovery.

Intel reported revenue of $13.6 billion in a 7 percent increase from the same quarter a year earlier, but logged a $3.7 billion loss that was less than the market had anticipated.

It forecast revenue in the current quarter would range from $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion.

Shares soared more than 19 percent in after-market trades.

"The next wave of AI will bring intelligence closer to the end user, moving from foundational models to inference to agentic," Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in the earnings release.

"This shift is significantly increasing the need for Intel's CPUs and wafer and advanced packaging offerings."

A hot AI trend of digital "agents" specializing in handling computer tasks independently means more work for networks using the kinds of processing units made by Intel local networks rather than cutting edge GPUs in datacenters, according to Tan.

Shares in Intel took off late last year after AI giant Nvidia announced it would invest $5 billion in its lagging rival.

"Intel delivered the kind of report that the bulls needed to justify a stock that's soared over the past year, with data center momentum and foundry progress both pointing in the right direction," Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne said of the earnings.

"These results make Intel's turnaround look less like a hope-fueled blip and more like a steadier longer-term trajectory."

- Intel allies -

Nvidia joined Japanese investment giant SoftBank and the US government in backing the once-dominant chipmaker, which has fallen behind in recent years after missing key technology shifts.

President Donald Trump's administration surprised the tech industry last year by taking a 10 percent equity stake in Intel, recognizing the strategic importance of the company that powered the PC and internet revolution with its processors.

Intel largely missed the smartphone boom and failed to develop competitive hardware for the AI era, allowing Asian manufacturers TSMC and Samsung to dominate the custom semiconductor market.

Most notably, Intel was blindsided by Nvidia's rise as the world's leading AI chip provider.

Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs), originally designed for gaming consoles, have become the essential building blocks of artificial intelligence systems, with tech giants scrambling to secure them for their data servers and AI projects.

Tan, who took over as Intel CEO a year ago amid layoffs and market challenges, has acknowledged the difficulty of turning the company around, particularly as US-China trade tensions complicate the semiconductor landscape.

"A year ago, the conversation about Intel was about whether we could survive," Tan said.

"Today is about how quickly we can add manufacturing capacity and scale our supply to meet enormous demand for our products."

Tan noted a recent announcement that Intel has joined Elon Musk's companies in a project to make chips for AI, robotics and data centers in space.

Terafab, a manufacturing facility based near Austin, Texas, will aim to produce one terawatt of computing power per year, Musk said last month.

That is slightly less than the total power generation capacity of the United States, according to an industry group.

Musk said the project would be run jointly by his electric-vehicle firm Tesla and his rocket company SpaceX.

An "advanced technology fab" in Austin will have the facilities to design, manufacture, test and improve each chip, Musk said.

Musk did not give a timeline for the Terafab's output, and has previously promised grand results from other projects on compressed time scales.

"Elon and I share a strong conviction that global semiconductor supply is not keeping pace with a rapid acceleration in demand," Tan said on the call.

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In the heart of the US capital, a fence stands adorned with 20,000 teddy bears to represent the Ukrainian children who, according to Kyiv, have been abducted by invading Russia, as war rages on.

Activists held a gathering of US lawmakers on Thursday at the somber display located a stone's throw from the Capitol, with a simple plea: "Bring Them Home."

"When you see the scale... you then start to understand how terrifying this is, and that all this time, while we are waiting for some kind of negotiations, there is children's life at stake," said Mariia Hlyten, a 24-year-old Ukrainian activist. 

"They have to be returned immediately, as soon as possible."

Congressmen Richard Blumenthal, Jamie Raskin and Michael McCaul took turns speaking about the plight of Ukraine's missing children at Thursday's event, coordinated by Razom for Ukraine in partnership with the American Coalition for Ukraine.

"What Vladimir Putin is doing here is not trying to take territory alone. He's not trying to defeat a nation alone," Blumenthal, a Senate Democrat, said. 

The Russian leader is "trying to destroy the people, that is the purpose of abducting children, changing their names, re-education. Killing their identity, if not the children themselves -- making sure that they never grow up speaking their own language, knowing their own religion and culture," Blumenthal added.

Democrat Jamie Raskin called Putin's actions "a blatant violation" of human rights, international humanitarian law and the laws of war. 

"It's a war crime and if it's done intentionally... it is part of the proof of genocide," Raskin said.

Hlyten's relative, fellow Ukrainian Arkady Dolina, stood nearby with a large blue and yellow flag draped over his shoulders at the event.

"Absolutely horrible," the 28-year-old exclaimed, referring to what he said was a vast number of kidnappings from occupied territories by Russia since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.  

Moscow denies the claims.

"This is the continuation of a centuries long Russian policy to abduct, indoctrinate kids and then send them as their cannon fodder to fight their stupid, useless, brutal wars," Dolina said.

In February, President Volodymyr Zelensky said 2,000 Ukrainian children had been brought back from Russia and Russian-occupied territories, but that thousands more remained "captive."

In March, the United States announced the creation of a $25 million fund to aid in the return of Ukrainian children, a cause that First Lady Melania Trump has also spoken out on.

The International Criminal Court in 2023 issued an arrest warrant for Putin and his children's rights commissioner "for the war crime of unlawful deportation" of children.

Kyiv says Russia has indoctrinated them, forced many to adopt Russian citizenship and tried to scrub them of their Ukrainian identity -- accusations supported by testimony from Ukrainians who managed to leave Russian occupation. 

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Iran's footballers will be welcome at this year's World Cup, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday, distancing the US government from a proposal that Italy could take their place in the tournament.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Rubio denied that Washington had asked the Iranian team not to come to the World Cup -- but warned the United States may yet bar entry to members of the Iranian delegation it judged to have ties to Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is regarded as a terrorist organization by Washington and several other governments.

No-one "from the US has told them they can't come," Rubio said of Iran's World Cup participation. 

"The problem with Iran, it would be not their athletes, it would be some of the other people (they) would want to bring with them, some of whom have ties to the IRGC. We may not be able to let them in, but not the athletes themselves," Rubio added.

Rubio was responding to a reported proposal from Italy-born US special envoy Paolo Zampolli, who told the Financial Times he had floated the idea of Italy taking Iran's World Cup place to US President Donald Trump and football's world governing body FIFA.

The proposal was dismissed out of hand by the Italian government and sports officials earlier Thursday.

Rubio said the proposal did not reflect the US government's position. 

"I don't know where that's coming from, other than speculation that Iran may decide not to come, and Italy would fill their spot," Rubio said. "But that's if they decide not to come on their own, it's because they decided not to come."

Zampolli told the Financial Times on Wednesday it would be a "dream" to see Italy at the finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada despite the fact they lost in a qualification playoff last month.

- 'Not possible' -

However, Italy's sports minister Andrea Abodi said on Thursday that a reinstatement of Italy "first, is not possible; second, is not appropriate, you qualify on the pitch", according to Italian news agencies ANSA and AGI.

That view was echoed by the president of Italy's Olympic committee, Luciano Buonfiglio.

"I would feel offended. You have to earn your place in the World Cup," he said.

The Iranian embassy to Rome responded saying that the suggestion showed US "moral bankruptcy" and that Italy did not need "political privileges" to demonstrate its football greatness.

Italy has won the World Cup four times, but it missed out on the tournament for a third successive time after losing a penalty shootout to Bosnia and Herzegovina in their qualifying playoff final.

Iran's participation at the World Cup has been thrown into doubt by the war with the US and Israel that broke out on February 28.

The Iranian football federation (FFIRI) had said in April it was "negotiating" with FIFA to relocate the country's World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico.

But FIFA President Gianni Infantino told AFP last month that Iran will be at the World Cup and that they will play "where they are supposed to be, according to the draw".

The FIFA chief reiterated that stance in Washington last week.

When contacted by AFP about Zampolli's suggestion on Thursday, FIFA referred to Infantino's recent comments.

In 2022, Zampolli made a similar suggestion, proposing to FIFA that Italy should replace Iran at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar because of the Islamic Republic's crackdown on protesters at that time. His proposal fell on deaf ears.

Zampolli is an Italian-American socialite, businessman and founder of a modelling agency, who claims to have introduced Trump to his current wife Melania Trump.

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The Los Angeles Lakers, up 2-0 on the Phoenix Suns in their first-round NBA playoff series, could have Austin Reaves back from injury in game three.

Reaves has been sidelined by an oblique muscle injury since April 4, a devastating late-season blow to a Lakers team that also saw league-leading scorer Luka Doncic sidelined with a hamstring strain.

Nevertheless, with 41-year-old LeBron James leading the charge, the Lakers won the first two games at home in their best-of-seven Western Conference series and will try to press their advantage as the series shifts to Phoenix on Friday.

Reaves, who averaged a career-high 23.3 points per game in the regular season, was upgraded to "questionable" on the Lakers' Thursday evening injury report, and Suns star Kevin Durant was downgraded to "questionable" with a sprained left ankle.

Durant, who arrived in Houston from Phoenix last July as part of a blockbuster seven-team deal, was a late scratch from game one with a bruised knee.

He returned for game two but struggled in the second half, scoring just three of his team-high 23 points after the break and finishing with nine turnovers as the Lakers double-teamed him relentlessly.

The series was billed as a renewal of the James-Durant rivalry, which stretches back to 2008 and includes three clashes in the NBA Finals.

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(The Center Square) – A federal appeals court ruling upholding a Texas law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms is setting up a potential challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court over the role of religion in public education.

In a decision issued this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld Senate Bill 10, which mandates that public schools “shall” display the Ten Commandments in classrooms across the state. Opponents of the law said they plan to appeal the ruling to the nation’s highest court.

The case is Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District.

David Hacker, vice president of legal services and senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, told The Center Square that the decision means schools must comply with the requirement as written in the law.

Hacker noted that the Ten Commandments have educational value. 

They are “a foundational moral, literary and historical text. Their influence on Western legal traditions is widely acknowledged and needs to be part of any complete education,” Hacker told The Center Square. 

Hacker said the 5th Circuit ruling makes clear that the establishments of religion “historically involved coercion: mandatory church attendance, enforced religious taxes and legal penalties for noncompliance. 

“By contrast, simply displaying a religious text on a classroom wall bears no resemblance to these practices,” he added.

The defendants include the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

In a joint statement, the defendants said they were “extremely disappointed” in the ruling, arguing it conflicts with First Amendment protections and longstanding Supreme Court precedent. They said the decision undermines the separation of church and state and interferes with families’ rights to decide how their children receive religious instruction.

The Center Square reached out for comment to all of these organizations, but did not receive a response from any of them but the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the foundation, criticized the ruling, noting the narrow margin of the court’s decision and calling it inconsistent with established precedent.

"We take a little solace in the fact that, despite its being the most conservative appeals court, the vote was so close, 9-8. It is nevertheless shocking that an appeals court would presume to do what only the Supreme Court itself can do and overturn long-standing precedent,” Gaylor told The Center Square. 

The organizations said it plans to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court “to reverse this decision and uphold the religious-freedom rights of children and parents,” and expressed confidence the court will reaffirm its decision in Stone v. Graham, a 1980 case addressing religious displays in public schools.

The state of Texas has also discussed potential changes to how social studies is taught under the state’s Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for K-12 social studies curriculum, including references to biblical texts. 

At the federal level, the Trump administration has expressed support for expanding religious expression in schools and earlier this year issued guidance regarding prayer in public education.

Shock images of Argentine football icon Diego Maradona lying dead in bed, his stomach grotesquely swollen, rocked the negligence trial of his medical team on Thursday.

Maradona, regarded as one of the greatest football players of all times, died in November 2020 at age 60, while recovering at home from surgery for a brain clot.

The larger-than-life footballer died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema -- a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs -- two weeks after going under the knife.

The emergency room doctor, Juan Carlos Pinto, who arrived by ambulance at his home, on Thursday testified about the condition in which he found the star after his death.

"He had a lot of edema, his face was very swollen, there was edema on his limbs, and a globular abdomen, like a balloon."

The court was shown a 17-minute video shot by forensic police of Maradona on his deathbed, wearing a pair of football shorts and a black t-shirt pulled up to reveal a cavernous stomach.

Pinto said the swelling was caused by a large quantity of both fat and ascites, an abnormal buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity often linked to cirrhosis of the liver.

Maradona's daughter Gianinna, who was in court for the hearing, wept as Pinto spoke and buried her head in her hands as the video was shown.

Seven medical workers, including a neurosurgeon, a psychiatrist and a nurse, face prison terms of between eight and 25 years if convicted of homicide with possible intent -- pursuing a course of action despite knowing it could lead to death -- over the conditions of Maradona's care in his final days.

Both Pinto and a police officer testified about the lack of medical equipment in the rented residence where Maradona was recuperating.

"There was no defibrillator, no oxygen, nothing. In the room, there was nothing to suggest that the patient was in hospital at home," Pinto said.

The accused deny responsibility for Maradona's death, saying the star of the 1986 World Cup, who battled cocaine and alcohol addictions, succumbed to natural causes.

The first trial over his death was annulled last year following revelations that one of the judges took part in a clandestine documentary about the case.

A second trial, conducted by a new panel of judges, began last week. 

It is expected to last at least three months.

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