WASHINGTON (ANP/BLOOMBERG) - De regering-Trump is bezig met het uitkeren van meer dan 35,5 miljard dollar aan importeurs die met succes een verzoek hebben ingediend om terugbetaling van invoerheffingen. Dat gebeurt nadat het Amerikaanse Hooggerechtshof dit economische beleid van de president onwettig had verklaard.

In totaal dreigt de Amerikaanse overheid 166 miljard dollar aan tariefbetalingen te moeten terugbetalen aan ongeveer 330.000 importeurs. Inmiddels zijn al bijna 87.000 aanvragen voor terugbetaling goedgekeurd. Daarmee kan het ministerie van Financiën nu beginnen met het uitbetalen aan importeurs.

Het proces rond de terugbetalingen begon direct nadat het Hooggerechtshof in februari had geoordeeld dat Trump een bepaalde wet onrechtmatig had gebruikt om importheffingen op te leggen.

Kelvin Evans pleads guilty to stealing hard drives and laptops from a car before singer’s Atlanta tour dates in 2025

A man arrested for stealing hard drives containing unreleased Beyoncé music has pleaded guilty in an Atlanta court on Tuesday.

Kelvin Evans was arrested by the Atlanta police department in September in connection to a July 2025 car robbery where two suitcases containing Beyoncé music and tour plans were stolen from a rental car.

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Each ploy required to shore up the prime minister’s position exposes how fragile his authority has become

It was said of John Major, the Tory prime minister fatally damaged by party infighting, that he was “in office but not in power”. Sir Keir Starmer finds himself in a similar spot. His government is planning a king’s speech that contains ambitious proposals. But after Wednesday’s pomp and circumstance will come the real test: six days of Commons debate, then a vote that governments almost never lose. Almost. The last prime minister defeated on such an occasion was the Conservative Stanley Baldwin in 1924. He and his party were forced from office.

With ministers resigning and roughly 90 Labour MPs openly questioning Sir Keir’s leadership, this is no longer parliamentary theatre. There is now an open question as to whether he can command authority once the applause fades. Every amendment and rebellion will be scrutinised. A prime minister unable to command backbench loyalty struggles to define the political agenda. It is hard to see how Sir Keir intends to discipline factions psychologically when many MPs think he is electorally toxic.

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New research showing that a rich cultural life brings brings similar benefits to exercise shows human creativity in a new light

Is it really news that the arts are good for you? On one level, the findings of a new study about the health benefits of engaging with music, dance and other artistic endeavours confirm what many of us feel instinctively that we already know. Creativity enhances life. That’s why people admire and cherish it, in others and – if they have the confidence – in themselves.

But the results of one of the first attempts by researchers to quantify this benefit are fascinating all the same. The study, from a group of scientists at University College London, working with blood samples and survey data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, showed that people who participated regularly in the arts aged more slowly than those who did not.

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Defeat for the champions at Motherwell and a win for the leaders at home to Falkirk will secure them a first league title time since 1960

It is a sign of shifting attitudes that the fact Hearts could claim the Scottish Premiership title on Wednesday was somewhat lost in analysis of the weekend’s events. Given Celtic’s form such a scenario is an unlikely one, but that it exists at all is remarkable: a Hearts win at home to Falkirk, coupled with defeat for Celtic at Motherwell, means the Edinburgh club will become champions for the first time since 1960.

“It’s nice to be able to hear ‘Hearts could win the league at Tynecastle,’” says their manager, Derek McInnes. “I don’t know how many people have been able to say that in their lifetime. The likelihood is we are going to have to win two games or certainly pick up four points.” In a quirk of history, both of Hearts’ title triumphs in the 20th century were secured at St Mirren’s former Love Street ground.

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New Zealand back turned TV presenter believes France can end the Red Roses’ 37-game winning streak in Bordeaux

Thousands will descend on Bordeaux’s Stade Atlantique on Sunday to watch the Women’s Six Nations grand slam decider between France and England, among them the New Zealand legend Ruby Tui. The World Cup winner and Olympic gold medallist, who has been working for the BBC as a pundit, says she would love to see the French come out on top in Le Crunch to end England’s seven-year trophy hold.

Tui attended her first Six Nations match in round one of this year’s competition at Twickenham, as England took on Ireland. The match felt like an extension of the World Cup party for the 34-year‑old, who witnessed last year’s groundbreaking event through her media duties. The Red Roses will want to deliver the same outcome as that final last September and if they did so they would extend their Six Nations winning run to 39 games in a row and become the first team to win the tournament after claiming the World Cup. But Tui is backing the women in blue.

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De druk op de Britse premier om op te stappen vanwege het grote verlies van zijn partij bij de lokale en regionale verkiezingen neemt toe. Binnen Labour trekken steeds meer fractieleden hun steun voor Starmer in, maar ze zijn het oneens over hoe het verder moet.