Donald Trump has announced a fresh wave of tariffs, set to go into effect in seven days, after his initial deadline for striking trade deals passed last night. Dozens of countries were hit with steep new levies, including a 35% rate for Canada effective immediately, while recent deals with others were formalised, including a lowest rate of 10% for the UK. Heathrow airport has submitted its proposals for a £49bn expansion, which includes building a third runway, modernising existing terminals and rerouting a section of the M25 (supposedly without disrupting traffic). The expansion has the backing of Chancellor Rachel Reeves, but is expected to face legal action from London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Steven Knight, creator of The Peaky Blinders, will write the script for the next James Bond film. The British screenwriter, also known for co-creating the gameshow Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, was chosen after a meeting with director Denis Villeneuve.

We Trump critics cannot be blind to his successes

It pains me to say it, as one of Donald Trump’s many “foam-at-the-mouth critics”, says Bret Stephens in The New York Times, but his presidency is becoming more and more successful. He has strong-armed other Nato members into upping their defence spending, something his predecessors always wanted but were too polite to do anything about. He defied parts of his political base to help Israel neuter Iran’s nuclear programme, without getting drawn into another Middle East war. After his initial pressure campaign on Ukraine only emboldened Vladimir Putin, he changed course and accelerated the delivery of arms to Kyiv – a welcome demonstration that he can change his mind when the facts change.

Back home, Trump has ended America’s migration crisis (albeit going too far by targeting law-abiding illegal immigrants). The economy has – so far – shrugged off concerns about his tariff regime. The Democrats are polling at a 35-year low. Yes, there is still plenty to “fear, dislike and even despise” about what this administration does: threatening to seize allies’ territory; shaking down universities and law firms; promoting “medical quackery”. But if we Trump critics want to be effective – “and let’s face it, we haven’t been” – we have to acknowledge reality. Namely, that not everything he does is bad; that his “bad manners” and over-the-top approach sometimes achieve useful diplomatic results. I’ve repeatedly lambasted this president and this administration, and I’m sure I’ll do so again. But you have to give credit where it’s due. “For criticism to be credible, it cannot be blind.”

There has been a lot of dodgy data about how many millionaires are leaving Britain over Labour’s tax policies, says Bloomberg. An analysis of five million filings at Companies House suggests that the exodus is real: the number of business leaders disclosing an overseas move has spiked in the past 12 months or so, to 4,400, with April exits alone up 75% year-on-year. These figures reflect the experience of those in the private wealth sector: lawyers and other advisers to the ultra-rich say between 15% and two-thirds of their non-dom clients are either planning to leave or have left already.

Daniel Linssen’s Typing Challenge is a game with a “fun wrinkle”, says Matt Muir on Web Curios. You are given a grid of letters and have to “move” from wherever you are (in white) to the target (in yellow) by typing the letters in between them – all while avoiding a growing army of red blobs that make their way across the screen. “Fun and challenging.” Give it a go by clicking here.

Are Kemi Badenoch’s days numbered?

Kemi Badenoch does not seem like someone enjoying her job, says Will Lloyd in The New Statesman. The polls are worsening. Media appearances, never frequent, have become even scarcer. The Tory leader is apparently difficult to reach before 11am, has a habit of “vanishing into her AirPods and iPad”, and spends her evenings “doomscrolling”. Her hands visibly shake at PMQs; on television, “when she rouses herself to appear in the studios”, she blinks more than she used to. It’s only nine months since the former business secretary won the Tory leadership race at a canter – a “no nonsense, no compromise” candidate who reminded some Tories of Mrs Thatcher. “Where has that Kemi Badenoch gone?”

Perhaps the biggest gripe among backbenchers is her unwillingness to set out any firm policy positions. The theory was that by taking her time she would restore intellectual credibility to the Conservatives. But with Reform UK ascendant, that cautious approach has left the party looking, as one Tory puts it, like “a rabbit in the headlights”. There is also a feeling that Badenoch is stuck fighting the last war. She rose to prominence with her uncompromising views on the “woke mob” and trans rights, but now that those battles are effectively over she seems incapable of moving on. At one recent event billed as the moment she would finally unveil an economic programme, she kept steering the conversation back to abortion laws and “sterilised” transgender kids. Power, it seems, hasn’t liberated Badenoch to take risks, break taboos and set the agenda – all the things she was voted in to do. “It has become her prison.” Under the party’s rules she cannot be ousted as leader until November. Many Tories are counting down the days.

🎙️😬 Someone found a private notebook at a fancy London hotel filled with handwriting that seems to match Badenoch’s own. Under the heading “Personal Improvement”, it contains what appear to be a list of affirmations for public speaking: “Breathe, breathe, breathe”; “Don’t let people think you are easily wound up”; “Remember you are the standard bearer of the right”; “You are a serious person who does big things”.

A friend was recently checking in at the airport behind a man heading to Marseille, says Hilary Rose in The Times, and the man was giving the check-in assistant “hell about everything”. The baggage allowance, the seating configuration – everything made him cross and it was all her fault. When he eventually went on his way, my friend offered her sympathies to the girl. “Don’t worry,” she said with a shrug. “I sent his luggage to Barbados.”

The world’s best-performing major stock market in the past couple of years isn’t the US, or China, or any of the other usual suspects, says Ruchir Sharma in the FT. It’s Israel. After an initial drop in the wake of the October 7 attacks, Israeli stocks have risen a whopping 80% in dollar terms. These stock market gains echo wider confidence in the country’s $550bn economy, which is now among the largest 30 in the world and expected to grow at a healthy annual rate of 4% in the coming years. Love it or hate it, Israel is cementing its status as the Middle East’s “dominant economic force”.

It’s a painting that sold at a house clearance sale two years ago for £150, says Donna Ferguson in The Guardian, but which has now been identified as an original Salvador Dalí and valued at up to £30,000. Vecchio Sultano, made with watercolour and felt-tip in 1966, was part of the surrealist artist’s abandoned Arabian Nights project. It was snapped up in 2023 by an unnamed Cambridge-based antiques dealer, who spotted Dalí’s signature in the bottom right corner and took a punt on it being authentic. “I wasn’t sure I’d have it on the wall, to be honest,” he says. “I do like some unusual art, but you’d have to love it, wouldn’t you?”