Trump is on a mission to eliminate birthright citizenship, a right long thought to be guaranteed by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. But how will the Supreme Court respond? The legal journalist Cristian Farias shares his insights.
Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in February.
The BBC knew about a police investigation into DJ Scott Mills in 2017, the corporation has confirmed.
But the Radio 2 presenter was sacked after "new information" about his conduct came to light in recent weeks, the BBC said.
Mills was previously questioned by police over historical allegations of serious sexual offences, but no charges were brought after prosecutors decided in 2019 there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the case.
Mills has not yet responded to repeated requests for comment.
BBC News understands that the director general at the time of the police investigation, Tony Hall, did not know about the allegations.
The BBC's statement on Wednesday came after mounting pressure on the broadcaster to explain what led to the Radio 2 DJ's sudden departure.
In a statement, a BBC spokesperson said: "Scott Mills had a long career across the BBC, he was hugely popular and we know the news this week has come as a shock and surprise to many.
"We also recognise there's been much speculation in the media and online since Monday. We hope people understand that there is a limit to what we can say because we have to be mindful of the rights of those involved.
"What we can confirm is that in recent weeks, we obtained new information relating to Scott and we spoke directly with him. As a result, the BBC acted decisively in line with our culture and values and terminated his contracts on Friday 27 March."
The spokesperson added: "Separately, we can confirm the BBC was made aware in 2017 of the existence of an ongoing police investigation, which was subsequently closed in 2019 with no arrest or charge being made. We are doing more work to understand the detail of what was known by the BBC at this time."
The statement concluded that the BBC has made "a significant commitment to improve its culture, processes and standards".
"Last year, following an independent culture review, we set out the behavioural expectations for everyone who works with or for the BBC and we were clear action would be taken if these were not met."
On Monday, it was announced that the former Radio 1 presenter had been sacked by the BBC over allegations related to his personal conduct.
The allegations, first published on Monday by the Mirror, relate to the period between 1997 and 2000, police said, when Mills would have been in his mid-twenties.
On Tuesday, the BBC apologised for not looking into a separate allegation of "inappropriate communications" involving Mills, first reported in the Telegraph, raised by a freelance journalist last year.
The UK will pursue closer economic ties with the European Union in light of the war in Iran, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The prime minister told a news conference he would use a summit with the EU later this year to seek more cooperation with the bloc on the economy and security.
It comes as relations between the US and the UK have been increasingly strained by the PM's refusal to be drawn further into the war with Iran.
In his speech, Sir Keir warned the conflict would impact the UK but sought to reassure the public the government was taking action to ease the cost of living.
The PM is facing calls from opposition parties to set out now how the government plans to protect people from rising energy costs.
The Liberal Democrats are also calling for the increase not to go ahead, while the Greens say the government should commit billions of pounds now to subsidise energy bills from July, when the price cap is recalculated.
Plaid Cymru said the government should set out now what support would be available if energy bills rise, while the SNP argues Holyrood should control energy policy.
Sir Keir said: "No matter how fierce this storm we are well-placed to weather it and we have a long-term plan to emerge from it a stronger and more secure nation."
He highlighted a number of measures coming into force from this month aimed at easing the cost of living, including removing some green levies from energy bills and increasing the national living wage.
The PM insisted the government had been "ahead of the game" in its focus on the cost-of-living.
Asked if he would reassure motorists that the increase in fuel duty would not go ahead, Sir Keir said the rate remained set until September.
He added that support for households would be kept under review but "a lot will depend on how long the conflict goes on" and how quickly the Strait of Hormuz can be reopened.
Meanwhile, the foreign secretary is hosting 35 nations - including European and Gulf counties - on Thursday.
The PM said the meeting would discuss possible measures to make the Strait of Hormuz "accessible and safe after the fighting has stopped".
He added that "this will not be easy" but said it was in the UK's national interest for the strait to reopen.
Iran has effectively blocked the strait - one of the world's busiest oil shipping channels - leading to soaring wholesale oil and gas prices.
A sustained rise in the price of oil is likely to lead to a jump in household energy bills in the UK, when the current cap is reset in July.
The PM and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have made a number of interventions in recent months arguing for a closer trading relationship with the EU.
However, Sir Keir argued that this was more urgent because of the impact of the US-Israel conflict with Iran.
"It is increasingly clear that as the world continues down this volatile path, our long-term national interest requires closer partnership with our allies in Europe and with the European Union," he said.
He added that Brexit "did deep damage to our economy" and "the opportunities to strengthen our security and cut the cost of living.... are simply too big to ignore".
Sir Keir said this year's summit "will not just ratify existing commitments made at last year's summit" but would be "more ambitious".
The PM was asked if the UK was heading towards rejoining the EU single market, which enables goods, service and people to move freely between member states, with countries applying many common rules and standards.
"I do think that we should strengthen our cooperation on defence, security, energy, emissions and the economy," he replied.
"I'm ambitious that we can do more in relation to the single market, because I think that's hugely in our economic interests."
However, he said Labour's election manifesto commitment that there would be no return to the single market, the customs union or freedom of movement remained.
Pressed over whether he was choosing Europe over the US, Sir Keir insisted: "I'm not going to choose because I think it's in our interest to have a strong relationship with the US and with Europe."
He argued that closer ties with Europe would strengthen the UK's relationship with the US as well, since successive US presidents had been pushing for Europe to do more on defence and security.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Sir Keir in recent weeks, following his refusal to allow the US to use UK bases for its initial offensive strikes against Iran.
The UK has since given permission for its bases to be used for defensive action against Iranian missile strikes.
Asked about the remarks, Sir Keir said the UK was "fully committed to Nato", which he described as "the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen".
He added: "Whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise, I'm going to act in the British national interest in the decisions that I make.
"That's why I've been absolutely clear that this is not our war and we're not going to get dragged into it."
Apollo Go is Baidu's robotaxi service operating in China
A mass robotaxi outage in the Chinese city of Wuhan caused at least a hundred self-driving cars to stop mid-traffic, sparking renewed debate around the safety of driverless vehicles.
Local police said initial findings suggested a "system malfunction" caused multiple vehicles to stop in the middle of the road on Tuesday.
Videos on social media have documented the outage, with one appearing to show it resulting in a highway collision, although police said no injuries had been reported and passengers exited their vehicles safely.
Baidu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the police statement, posted on social media site Weibo, the cause of the incident is still under further investigation.
Baidu operates its Apollo Go driverless taxi service in dozens of cities across the world, mostly in China.
In December 2025, ride-sharing apps Uber and Lyft announced partnerships with the Chinese technology giant to test its Apollo Go cars on UK roads, aiming to start trials in 2026.
However, both still need approval from regulators before they can begin the pilot programmes.
Reuters
Social media users posted photos and videos of Apollo Go cars stranded in the middle of the roads due to the outage
While driverless tech may be safer on average than human drivers, this incident showed it could "still go wrong in completely new ways," said Jack Stilgoe, professor of science and technology policy at University College London.
"If we're going to make good choices about this technology, we need to understand entirely new types of risk," he told BBC News.
The outage is not the first time self-driving cars have faced technical difficulties.
Pio Esposito missed the first penalty in Italy's shootout defeat in Bosnia
Leaning against a wall near a news-stand in central Rome, Tommaso Silvestri, 65, scans the morning's front pages, their headlines swinging between "apocalypse," "scandal" and "disaster" after Italy's latest footballing collapse.
"We've made a real mess of it," he says, shaking his head. "We had players who couldn't even find the target."
"The golden days of Italian football are well and truly gone."
On Tuesday night in Zenica, four-time World Cup winners Italy failed to qualify for the tournament for a third consecutive time, losing 4-1 on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina after being reduced to 10 men before halftime.
Since winning the World Cup in 2006, the Azzurri have largely disappointed in international tournaments - with the exception of their surprise victory at the Euros in 2021 against England at Wembley.
"We are what our results say we are," Silvestri said. "When you shoot and can't even hit the goal, you're not going to go far. When it comes to taking the game home, Italy just doesn't get there anymore."
Last night's defeat drew swift and emotional reactions across Italian politics and society.
"Everything has a limit," lamented Ignazio La Russa, president of the Senate and a senior figure in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party.
In a post on X, he wrote: "We're not going to the World Cup. We supported them, we hoped, we even railed against a couple of questionable refereeing decisions... but deep down we feared it. In fact, we knew it."
Gomorrah author and anti-mafia writer Roberto Saviano also weighed in, pointing to deeper structural failures in Italian football, from governance to youth development.
"Clubs are corrupt and at the mercy of criminal organisations. True laundering vaults. No investment in young players, no care for second-generation talent. It's easier to buy foreign players than to develop new athletes," he said in a post on Instagram.
Getty Images
Italy won the Euros at Wembley in 2021
Across Italy, a legendary football nation with a rich history of producing world-class talent, many are wondering what went wrong. Giovanni Colli, 71, rolling his eyes while sipping an espresso at a café near the Pantheon, says he feels "betrayed."
"Not going to the World Cup three times in a row, how on earth did it happen? What a huge disappointment. Everyone should resign. Give the young players a chance," he says.
Italy's World Cup heartbreak was crystallised in the tear-streaked face of coach Rino Gattuso, who struggled to hold back his emotions after the national team's defeat.
"We don't deserve this, it's not fair. I'm sorry I couldn't make it happen," Gattuso said, eyes glistening, before retreating to the dressing room.
The legendary 2006 World Cup-winning midfielder was only given the job of coach last June.
Despite the disappointment, Gattuso expressed pride in his players: "I'm proud of my boys and what they gave on the pitch."
The match, decided on penalties after Italy were reduced to 10 men following Alessandro Bastoni's early red card, gave a brief moment of hope to Italians with Moise Kean's goal, only for it to end in dismay.
Getty Images
"I'm sorry I couldn't make it happen," coach Gattuso said after Tuesday's defeat
Gattuso admitted the team's shortcomings: "When you have chances and don't take them, football punishes you."
Reflecting on their elimination, he added: "This hurts. We gave everything we could. It's a real shock."
Sport journalist Elisabetta Esposito of La Gazzetta dello Sport told the BBC that Italian football was facing a difficult period - one that would take time to overcome, during which loyalty to individual clubs was outweighing support for the national team.
"The risk is that this third consecutive failure to qualify will deepen young people's disengagement from the Azzurri," she said.
"The disappointment is profound, but the country is not only disappointed but almost disillusioned. It's as if a new generation no longer knows what it means to cheer for their country."
Reflecting on Tuesday's match, Esposito added: "From a technical standpoint, everything went wrong. The team hasn't worked together enough. Rebuilding will require a long-term strategy, chasing immediate wins with rushed decisions won't succeed."
On a busy street in central Rome, 56-year-old Teresa is walking her dog among tourists and commuters rushing to work.
"Oh, we are not going to the World Cup?" she asks. "I don't know much about football, but that's a bit of disaster, isn't it?"
A cable car has been linking Morro da Urca and Sugarloaf Mountain since 1912. The zipwire was planned to run parallel to it.
A judge in Brazil has blocked a project to build a zipline connecting the famous Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro to a nearby hill, Morro da Urca.
The attraction's developer said it would allow visitors to descend from Sugarloaf Mountain at speeds of almost 100km/h (62mph) via four ziplines covering a distance of 755m (0.47 miles).
The project - which started four years ago - had triggered protests from locals and environmentalists, who argued that the construction work was causing irreparable damage to the Unesco World Heritage Site.
The developer is expected to appeal against the decision.
CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images
Locals and environmentalists organised protests against the project
Gricel Osorio Hor-Meyll, one of the activists who had led the campaign against the zipline told AFP news agency that the ruling was "a huge victory".
Those opposed to the attraction argued that in order to build the platforms needed to access the zipline, the rock on top of Sugarloaf Mountain would have to be excavated.
The company which manages the site said that excavation would be kept to a minimum by using areas with existing construction.
The project had the approval of both Rio City Council and the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN).
As part of Tuesday's ruling, the judge ordered that IPHAN and the project's developer pay 30m reals ($5.77m, £4.35m) in damages, stressing the "inestimable value of Sugarloaf Mountain, not only for Brazilians but for people worldwide".
The project has been at the centre of a legal battle for years and construction had been halted on a number of occasions as the company argued its case in court.
In January, construction work restarted after the high court had ruled that stopping would cause more damage than finishing the project at this late stage.
It added that the project was 95% completed.
That decision has now been overturned by Tuesday's ruling.
However, the legal saga is likely to continue with the company behind the project expected to lodge an appeal.
Threatening to pull out of NATO, President Trump portrayed the alliance as a “paper tiger” and said Europe was on its own in trying to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Strikes on the Lebanese capital of Beirut have continued this week
Israel has intensified its attacks on Lebanon this week, hitting areas outside of Hezbollah's control on Tuesday.
Strikes without warning hit a vehicle north of Beirut and the Jnah neighbourhood in the heart of the capital.
Attacks also continued in the city's southern suburbs and the country's south, both where Hezbollah has a strong presence.
A building was destroyed on the road to Beirut's airport after an evacuation order, and in the south, a strike hit a health facility, killing a paramedic, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
Israel's military said it had hit Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut and killed a senior commander and another senior figure from the Iran-backed armed group.
Hezbollah joined the ongoing regional war on 2 March, sending missiles towards Israel, after the US and Israel attacked the armed group's ally Iran on 28 February.
Israeli attacks have kept bombarding Lebanon as its troops have moved into the country's south.
On Tuesday, a vehicle was targeted in the Mansourieh area, a predominantly Christian residential neighbourhood north of Beirut.
Meanwhile, the Jnah neighbourhood in the heart of the capital was attacked after midnight. The Lebanese health ministry said the Al-Zahraa Hospital had received and treated "a number of those injured in the air strike".
Hassan Jalwan, who lives near Jnah, told AFP he heard several "big explosions" overnight.
"Nobody knows what's happening," he said, adding that "displaced people have been sleeping in the open" in the area.
The Dahieh neighbourhood to the south of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, continues to be a target. A building was destroyed on Tuesday in Ghobeiry on the road to the airport following an evacuation order.
Also on Tuesday, Lebanon's health ministry said at least seven people had been killed by Israeli strikes in the country's south, including the paramedic.
The number of health workers who have been killed since the start of the war has now reached 53.
Earlier, the Lebanese army cleared its last positions in the south, pulling out from Ain Ibel and Rmeish villages a day after an army checkpoint was hit and a soldier was killed by an Israeli air strike, according to the Lebanese Armed Forces. The Israeli military has not appeared to have commented yet on the reported death.
However, some residents of the villages refuse to leave.
In the predominantly Christian village of Rmeish, Father Najib Al Amil appeared in a video on social media, where he said: "There is grass and soil. We rely on God and will stay in our village. We either all die together and lose our land or live and our villages will live with us."
KAWNAT HAJU / AFP via Getty Images
A photograph shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the area of Aamriyeh, south of Tyre in southern Lebanon
Israel has announced its decision to control large swathes of land in southern Lebanon - up to the Litani River, about 30km from the border with Israel - to create a buffer security zone.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would keep security control over the territory even after the end of the current war against Hezbollah. The plan has drawn criticism from the UN.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave the south, but there are still tens of thousands who have refused to go.
Supply lines to the south have been cut by Israel targeting bridges and infrastructure, making villages in the south uninhabitable.
Katz said more than 600,000 displaced Lebanese residents would be "completely prohibited" from returning to that area until the safety of residents of northern Israel was guaranteed.
The Israeli defence minister also said all houses in villages near the border in Lebanon will be destroyed "according to the model of Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza".
In total, 1,268 people in Lebanon have been killed since the beginning of the attacks, the country's health ministry said on Tuesday.
More than one million people have been displaced, the UN reported.
This is critical time for Lebanon and the residents of the south. Many see Israel's strategy in the south mimicking that of Gaza - destruction, depopulation and occupation.
The government said earlier that this constitutes a violation of the country's sovereignty.
South Lebanon previously lived under Israeli occupation for nearly 18 years, between 1982 and 2000.
Some Lebanese have lived the displacement and loss of land generation after generation.
Many in Lebanon believe that Israel is more powerful than Hezbollah and capable of destroying the south with its advanced missiles and drones. At the same time, if Israel is to stay in the south, Hezbollah is more powerful on the ground and can engage in a guerrilla war to wear out the Israelis and prevent them from staying put.
In short, for the hundreds of thousands who have been forced out of their homes, this war is not ending anytime soon.
The An-26 is a Soviet-era aircraft designed primarily for military use (file photo)
A Russian military plane has crashed in the occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, killing 29 people on board, the Russian defence ministry has said.
Wreckage of the An-26 aircraft was found on Tuesday after the plane lost contact with authorities during a "routine flight", according to the ministry.
It blamed a "technical failure" and reported no external damage to the aircraft, implying that missiles, drones or birds are not suspected of causing the crash.
Seven crew members and 23 passengers had been on board as it flew over the Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.
Russia's Investigative Committee confirmed the crash and said it had opened an inquiry into a flight safety violation.
News agency Tass reported that communication with the plane was lost at about 18:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, and the wreckage was found following a search and rescue effort.
Ukraine has not commented on the crash.
The An-26 is a Soviet-era aircraft mainly used in a military capacity to transport heavy cargo and smaller numbers of passengers over a short-to-medium distance. It is manufactured by the Ukrainian aerospace company Antonov.
The planes have been used since the late 1960s, and have been involved in several deadly crashes.
Fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces has been ongoing in Crimea since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion four years ago.
Ukrainian strikes have largely targeted Russian military bases in the peninsula, which borders the partly Russian-occupied Kherson region in southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly demanded Russia withdraw from Crimea as part of a ceasefire. In November, a US-backed peace plan proposed Kyiv would cede control of Crimea.
Striker Cédric Bakambu said he "can't wait" to return to the capital Kinshasa and join the celebrations
Authorities in the Democratic Republic Congo have declared Wednesday a public holiday after the national football team qualified for their first World Cup in 52 years.
The Leopards reached the finals on Tuesday when Axel Tuanzebe's extra-time goal gave them a 1-0 win over Jamaica in the play-off.
DR Congo's ministry of labour and employment said that as a result of the "historic" victory, the nation could have the day off work to "celebrate in unity, fervour and national pride".
The central African nation has only played in the World Cup once before - in 1974 when the country was named Zaire.
Videos of elated football fans celebrating in the capital, Kinshasa, have been circulating on social media. In the neighbourhood of Kingabwa, supporters took to the streets chanting "Christiano Ronaldo is next".
DR Congo's first match will be against Ronaldo's Portugal in the US city of Houston on 17 June.
They will also play Colombia and Uzbekistan in the group stages.
DR Congo are the 10th African nation to reach this year's expanded World Cup finals, hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.
Additional reporting from Emery Makumeno in Kinshasa
Before the revision, custody was typically granted to one parent after divorce - in most cases the mother
Divorced couples in Japan are now allowed to share custody of their children, after a landmark revision to Japan's Civil Code took effect on Wednesday.
Before the amendment was approved by parliament in 2024, Japan was the only G7 country that did not recognise the legal concept of joint custody.
Custody was typically granted to one parent - in most cases the mother - who had power to cut off the other parent's access to their children.
Domestic and international criticism has been mounting against the sole custody system in Japan, which critics say led many divorcees to become estranged from their children after losing custody of them.
Previously, divorcing couples in Japan were free to decide custody and visitation arrangements. But if they went to court over it, custody would only be awarded to one parent.
Under the new law, a family court can decide whether to grant sole or joint custody to divorcing couples.
Parents who divorced under the old system are also now eligible to have their custody arrangement reviewed by the family court.
The Civil Code revision also mandates child support payments after divorce, allowing the parent living with the child to claim 20,000 yen (£95; $125) from their ex-spouse every month.
Some are hopeful that the changes will help prevent cases of parental abduction, which have come into the spotlight in recent years - especially after allegations made by foreigners with Japanese ex-spouses.
In 2023, Japanese table tennis star Ai Fukuhara was accused by her Taiwanese ex-husband of abducting their son. He said she had cut off contact with him and refused to bring their son back to Taiwan. The pair later came to a settlement.
During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, a French father who was based in Japan staged a hunger strike, calling attention to what he said was the kidnapping of his children by his ex-wife.
While some see the joint custody bill as a way to solve such controversies, not everyone is supportive of the revision. Some previously told BBC that they feared joint custody would force women to maintain ties with husbands even in cases of domestic violence.
Under the new law, the court will grant sole custody to divorcing couples if it finds instances of domestic violence or abuse.
Anthony Albanese said that no government could fully shield Australians from the global pressures
Australia's Prime Minister has warned the economic shock from the war involving Iran will "be with us for months", as he delivered a rare televised address to the nation.
Speaking on Wednesday, Anthony Albanese said the conflict had driven the biggest spike in petrol and diesel prices in history, and households were already feeling the strain.
"Australia is not an active participant in this war. But all Australians are paying higher prices because of it," he added.
Addresses of this kind have been used at moments of international importance, last seen in the country during the Covid pandemic and before that the 2008 financial crisis.
Australia is among a host of nations that have seen fuel prices increase sharply since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Albanese has previously sought to reassure motorists following reports of panic-buying and petrol stations running dry.
During the address, he acknowledged that the "months ahead may not be easy", and said that no government could fully shield Australians from the global pressures.
The Australian government has announced a series of temporary measures aimed at easing immediate cost pressures, including halving fuel excise - a sales tax - and scrapping road user charges for heavy vehicles for three months.
Officials are also seeking to shore up domestic supply and increase fuel imports through regional partners as part of a newly agreed National Fuel Security Plan.
Alongside government action, Albanese urged Australians to limit unnecessary usage of fuel, including switching to public transport where possible to preserve supplies for essential industries.
"You should go about your business and your life, as normal", he said.
"Enjoy your Easter. If you're hitting the road, don't take more fuel than you need - just fill up like you normally would. Think of others in your community, in the bush and in critical industries.
"And over coming weeks, if you can switch to catching the train or bus or tram to work, do so".
The address ended on a note of unity and said the country will "deal with these global challenges, the Australian way".
"Working together - and looking after each other. As we always have".
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison (pictured) is one of the world's richest people
Tech giant Oracle made "significant" job cuts on Tuesday, according to senior employees posting online, as it makes big investments in artificial intelligence (AI).
Some 10,000 people are believed to have lost their jobs so far, one employee told the BBC, citing a drop in the number of staff active on Oracle's internal messaging system Slack.
Oracle declined to comment, but one senior staff member said online the cuts were not performance based.
Oracle has been using AI tools internally and executives have previously said they are seeing fewer employees able to do more work.
"The use of AI coding tools inside Oracle is enabling smaller engineering teams to deliver more complete solutions to our customers more quickly," Mike Silicia, Oracle's other co-chief executive, said earlier this month.
Silica noted at the time that such AI tools had helped create new ways of generating sales leads and the automatic selling of Oracle services. He said the company recently used AI to build out its new company website.
Oracle is one of the largest tech companies in the world and it offers software and cloud computing infrastructure to other companies.
Larry Ellison, one of the richest people in the world, is Oracle's co-founder, chairman, and chief technology officer.
Michael Shepard, a senior manager, was not affected by the job cuts but wrote on LinkedIn on Tuesday "senior engineers, architects, operations leaders, program managers, and technical specialists" had been let go.
Shepard said the "significant reduction in force" was not based on employee performance.
"The individuals affected were not let go because of anything they did or didn't do," he added.
His was one of dozens of such posts describing the layoffs.
Former Oracle employee Kendall Levin said on LinkedIn her role was "eliminated as part of the company's mass reduction in force".
She added that she remains "a genuine believer" in where the firm is headed.
Several others described receiving early morning emails informing them they were no longer employed and would receive one month of severance pay.
Talk inside Oracle of a significant layoff began earlier this year.
Similar claims of being able to use AI tools to do more worth with fewer employees have come from tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Jack Dorsey of Block.
Both executives have also overseen layoffs at their companies already this year.
However, such leaders in the tech industry have been conducting mass layoffs every year for the last several years. Previous rounds of cuts have not been blamed on AI.
The job cuts at Oracle come as it has invested heavily in AI, spending both on its own infrastructure and on partnerships with other companies like OpenAI.
It plans to spend at least $50bn (£37.8bn) on infrastructure this year, and it has also raised $50bn in debt in order to "meet demand" for even more AI infrastructure.
Oracle is also part of the Stargate initiative, alongside OpenAI, Softbank and MGX, an AI investment fund backed by US President Donald Trump.
Stargate is a $500bn project to build up data center capacity in the US, which backers say is needed for planned increases in AI processing and power requirements over the next several years.
"Investing in AI infrastructure is capital-intensive, but our operating model is optimized to ensure profitability," Clayton Magouyrk, Oracle's co-chief executive, said earlier this month.
"It's unprecedented to scale a capital-intensive business so quickly."
但是，直接剥离背板油漆露出内部精密零件，真的是一种很酷的极客审美，还是对工业设计的一种糟糕误解 ？本期节目，我们将穿过这场透明风波，去扒一扒 iPhone Air 玻璃背板下真正隐藏的极端工程追求 。同时，我们也将借此一窥，在 AI 开始接管物理世界的今天，科技巨头们到底在暗中筹划着一个怎样的未来 ？
One hundred years ago today, on 1 April 1926, Charles Angrand, a leading member of arts circles in Paris in the late nineteenth century and a well-known painter, died. Although his paintings have today almost lapsed into obscurity, his work is represented in many of the world’s leading collections. This article gives an all too brief summary of his career with some of the few of his paintings that remain accessible.
Angrand was born in Normandy, France, in 1854 and went on to train at the provincial academy in Rouen. He was unsuccessful in gaining admission to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, but moved to the city in 1882 to teach mathematics. At that time he was living close to the Café Guerbois and other places frequented by artists, and joined their circles.
Charles Angrand (1854–1926), Interior of the Rouen Museum in 1880 (c 1880), oil on canvas, 114 x 154 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, Rouen, France. Wikimedia Commons.
His early paintings, such as Interior of the Rouen Museum in 1880, appear to have been realist. This shows copyists at work in the Rouen Art Museum. The bored painter in the foreground is his friend Léon-Jules Lemaître (1849-1905), who later painted Angrand’s portrait in looser style.
Charles Angrand (1854–1926), Painter en plein air (1881), oil on canvas, 65 x 54 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons.
The following year, Angrand caught this Painter en plein air (1881) strangely separated from his palette and brushes in a field of green. His style steadily changed, as reflected in the brushstrokes visible in the green field. This painting is currently for sale from Leighton Fine Art Ltd. for £79,500.
In May 1884, he joined with Georges Seurat, Paul Signac, Henri Edmond Cross and others to form the Société des Artistes Indépendents, the core of the new Neo-Impressionist movement. The following year, Camille Pissarro joined them.
Charles Angrand (1854–1926), The Seine, Morning (Saint-Ouen) (1886), oil on canvas, dimensions not known, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Wikimedia Commons.
Angrand’s landscapes became more experimental. He painted this unusual view of The Seine, Morning (Saint-Ouen) in 1886, with its thin strip of bank in the distance, and most of the canvas filled by the river. Saint-Ouen is a suburb to the north of Paris.
Charles Angrand (1854–1926), The Western Railway at its Exit from Paris (1886), oil on canvas, 73 x 92 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons.
The Western Railway at its Exit from Paris, from the same year, shows the railway marshalling yards on the outskirts of the city.
Charles Angrand (1854–1926), Man and Woman in the Street (1887), oil? on canvas, 38.5 x 33.2 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Wikimedia Commons.
In 1887, Angrand changed from a late Impressionist style to early Divisionism, as seen in this Man and Woman in the Street (1887). His coarse dots are almost monochrome, with just a faint hint of colour.
In 1891 he exhibited alongside Les XX in Brussels.
Charles Angrand (1854–1926), The Harvesters (1892), oil on canvas, 123.5 x 79.1 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX. Wikimedia Commons.
Angrand’s best-known painting today is The Harvesters from 1892, one of a series of rural scenes he appears to have painted in the countryside of Normandy. This is similar to those painted by Pissarro during his Divisionist period.
In the 1890s Angrand painted less and preferred using conté crayons and pastels. In 1896 he moved to Normandy, and became progressively more reclusive.
Charles Angrand (1854–1926), Thatched Cottage in an Orchard (1903), oil on canvas, 50.4 x 65.5 cm, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne, Germany. Wikimedia Commons.
He painted Thatched Cottage in an Orchard in 1903. His swirling brushstrokes are reminiscent of Vincent van Gogh’s late paintings, but his strokes here are more broken.
In his later years, Angrand appears to have painted less, and he died in Rouen on 1 April 1926. Although his work was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendents the following year, and he had a solo retrospective at Musée Tavet-Delacour in Pontoise in 2006, I’m disappointed that none appears to have been organised to mark this centenary.
“Stephen G.” is a UPenn graduate who studied East Asian Languages and Civilizations. He was also a Reischauer Scholar through SPICE, Stanford University.
“Humans will be completely freed from work in the end, which might sound good but will actually shake society to its core… you could even say the mark of success for this AI revolution is that it replaces the vast majority of human jobs.” This is the warning given by a DeepSeek spokesperson at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen 乌镇 in November 2025. He called on AI companies to alert the public regarding which jobs could be eliminated first. While the risk of job loss looms large around the world, China faces unique challenges due to domestic economic headwinds coupled with high expectations for AI.
The Chinese State Council published its ambitious “AI+” initiative in August, aiming to have AI devices, agents, and applications reach a penetration rate above 70 percent across society by 2027 and 90 percent by 2030. Beijing wants AI to serve as a new engine of economic growth and productivity increases. But how will China navigate the challenges of adopting AI while softening its impact on the job market? As China marches toward an AI-powered future, what strategies could policymakers develop to uphold the social contract between the party and the people?
China’s Labor Market
Since the pandemic, China’s youth unemployment rate has stayed high; in mid-2023, it reached a historical high point of 21.3%, nearly double the pre-pandemic rate in 2019, prompting the National Bureau of Statistics to suspend publication of the data. Reporting only resumed several months later using different metrics. However, joblessness data under the new metrics reached another record of 18.9% in August 2025 for “unemployed youth aged 16-24 who are not in school ” — and many believe the true figure to be much higher.
Besides, a vast number of low-skilled workers have lost stable sources of income and now rely on the gig economy. According to RAND, hundreds of millions of rural workers have become unemployed due to the housing-market collapse and the contraction of low-skilled manufacturing. Many of them now drive for ride-hailing or delivery apps, which offer little financial security or potential for upward mobility.
Defending Humans
While UScoverage of AI-displacement often tends toward pessimism rather than workable solutions, the Chinese government has taken action on the issue — to an extent. In a December 2025 employment arbitration case, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security 北京市人力资源和社会保障局 stated that “AI replacing the job function” is not a legally valid reason for employee termination. The case involves a tech company that eliminated an employee’s position due to AI, framing automation as “a material change in the objective circumstances since the labor contract was signed 劳动合同订立时所依据的客观情况发生重大变化”. Nonetheless, the arbitrator ruled the termination unlawful, noting that a “material change” must be unforeseeable and caused by force majeure events such as natural disasters and policy changes. In contrast, the company’s adoption of AI technology was a voluntary business decision. As a result, the company was ordered to pay ¥791,815 ($113,956) in compensation for unlawful termination.
In China, employment arbitration cases typically reference precedents set by the local high court, the labor arbitration committee, and the Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security. According to a Beijing-based lawyer, this arbitration case will serve as a reference locally and could influence arbitration decisions in other provinces, especially in northern regions.
The Beijing arbitration authority further noted that under such circumstances, employers should first consider contract modifications, retraining programs, or internal transfers to accommodate affected employees. Multiple state media outlets covered the case, describing it as “setting a new benchmark 具有标杆意义” and “giving workers peace of mind 给广大劳动者吃了一颗定心丸.” Against a backdrop of heightened public anxiety over unemployment, Beijing is signaling to private-sector employers that they cannot use AI adoption as a legal justification for layoffs. But even with restrictions on layoffs, firms often circumvent statutory protections through attrition, short-term contracts, and labor dispatch arrangements. The ruling’s practical impact therefore remains uncertain, given the historically questionable enforcement of labor laws in China.
Online commentaries also raised doubts on whether the ruling will meaningfully protect workers going forward. OnZhihu, many users argue that the case is yet another example of companies pursuing layoffs without paying severance. Since most employees would not pursue the tedious arbitration process, in part due to the fear of harming future job prospects once they have an arbitration record, employers face little risk — the worst case would be paying the severances that the employee deserves initially. Multiple follow-up comments lament the absence of more punitive measures for employers in Chinese labor law.
While their implementation may fall short, more laws and regulations on AI automation can be expected. On Jan 27th, 2026, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has announced that China will issue official documents to respond to the impact of AI on employment. The November 2025 issue of Study Times 学习时报, an official newspaper of The Central Party School 中共中央党校 (where elite CCP cadres get trained), also discussed legislation to manage job displacement. It recognizes that the trend of AI automation eliminating jobs has been accelerating, and that China’s current laws and regulations need to catch up.
One can look at previous evidence to gauge how such legislative efforts may unfold. Public opinion on matters regarding labor conditions has swayed the Chinese government’s regulatory response before: In September 2020, an investigative article by Renwu 人物 sparked public outrage for the plight of delivery drivers, which prompted state media to criticize the delivery platforms. Policy response came during the summer of 2021 with two new regulations on algorithms. The first required the platforms to adopt a “moderate algorithm 算法取中” that loosens up time limits on delivery, instead of the “strictest algorithm” that had forced drivers to break traffic rules in order to be “on time”. It also emphasized that drivers’ earnings must not fall below the minimum wage. The second, issued as part of a broader regulation governing internet platforms’ recommendation algorithms, mandated that companies file detailed algorithm disclosures.
The process through which China produced regulations on AI-systems themselves — including recommendation algorithms, deepfakes, and generative AI-outputs — could also help us predict how the state might respond to AI-led job displacement. Matt Sheehan of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace reverse-engineers China’s AI regulatory development and outlines a four-layered policy process: real-world conditions; Xi Jinping and CCP ideological framing; the “world of ideas”, consisting of think tank scholars, AI scientists, and corporate lobbyists, etc.; and finally, the party and state bureaucracies. To date, much of the regulatory design has occurred within the latter two layers.
Source: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Applying this framework to workforce disruption, expect that labor-market shifts will be framed as a priority issue since they are core to Chinese social stability and common prosperity. Then the issue would command policy debate: journalists may spotlight the plight of workers displaced by automation, while corporate actors emphasize productivity gains and global competitiveness. Sheehan observes that AI-system governance currently allows relatively wide space for policy debates, in part because the field is new and competition among bureaucracies has yet to solidify.
A similar dynamic could shape regulatory responses to AI-induced displacement, allowing for more input from think tanks, media, and businesses. Although China has extensive experience managing unemployment, AI-related disruption may differ in its pace, scale, and breadth of sectors affected. This distinction may prompt policymakers to treat AI-driven job loss not merely as cyclical unemployment, but as a structural governance challenge.
Potential upcoming policy initiatives highlight the state’s plans to protect people’s livelihoods while technology rapidly advances. Study Times emphasizes that industries should adopt new technology in “human-machine coordination 人机协同” and “scientifically adjust the level of automation to materially improve employment stability 科学调节制造业自动化程度.” In the AI+ plan, the term “human-machine coordination人机协同” also appears in the first paragraph. The term has been defined as “the process of humans and intelligent systems (including algorithms, artificial intelligence and robots) completing tasks together”.
This concept has been further interpreted and is being put into practice. Cai Fang 蔡昉, a prominent Chinese economist and president of the Labor Economics Society 劳动经济学会会长, argues that AI should be guided by policies that prioritize human-machine collaboration over efficiency gains from automation alone. Some current AI applications in China reflect this awareness. For example, robots from Unitree have become “AI Physician Assistants”, making clinical rounds as part of a “human-machine-coordination multidisciplinary team (MDT) 人机协同MDT” at Fuzhou University Affiliated Provincial Hospital 福州大学附属省立医院. Unlike Silicon Valley companies bragging about being “fully AI native”, official directives in China often prominently display human involvement and show a clear intention to manage AI’s threat to the workforce.
Proposals addressing AI-driven labor concerns are abundant in China. During the 2025 Two Sessions meeting, Liu Qingfeng 刘庆峰, the CEO of iFLYTEK 科大讯飞 and an NPC (National People’s Congress, which generally rubber-stamps decisions already made at the highest levels of the CCP) deputy, suggested “AI-specific unemployment insurance AI失业保障专项保险”, a 6-12-month grace period for layoffs, and more job-oriented curriculum at universities and trade schools. For low-income communities, he emphasized that the state should provide free upskilling. He also recommended building a “‘monitor, alert and respond’ system that dynamically tracks employment status 就业监测-预警-响应”全链条监测机制”, with pilot rollouts in the Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas. The platform would require businesses with extensive AI-usage to provide data on job replacement to predict unemployment risks.
During the Two Sessions, Guoquan Lü 吕国泉, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions chief of staff, also highlighted practices in Spain, Korea, and Japan that China could adopt, such as limiting enterprises from replacing more than 30% of workers in a single position, requiring a portion of automation-driven cost savings to be allocated to employee upskilling, and levying additional taxes ranging from 0.5% to 3% to fund unemployment benefits. Chinese authorities could take similar measures in the near future, which would put more pressure on companies already navigating brutal competition, tariff wars, and domestic deflation.
Besides policy proposals, several structural conditions in China may soften the impact of AI-led displacement. First, the relatively low cost of labor reduces firms’ incentives to replace workers, particularly when the technology is immature. A Chinese manufacturer interviewed by Nikkei Asia states that his automated production line equipment is sitting idle due to the high start-up cost of operating them. Instead, he continues to rely on the experienced workers who can “make better clothes than what machines can do now.” Such dynamics create a buffer against rapid job loss that many Western economies do not share.
Some believe that SOEs could absorb both new graduates and workers displaced by technological changes. In China, “employment within the system 体制内工作“ — which includes positions in government agencies, public institutions such as schools and hospitals, and centrally or locally-affiliated SOEs — has long been considered an “iron rice bowl 铁饭碗” that offers exceptional job stability for both employees and society at large. Helen Qiao, a managing director and chief economist for Greater China at Bank of America, told Nikkei in December 2025 that Chinese graduates may face less AI-led disruption than their American counterparts since “SOEs will continue to shoulder some social responsibility, cushioning the impact.”
Indeed, SOEs have helped stabilize employment to an extent. Regarding youth unemployment, many localities have issued policies encouraging SOEs to recruit more college graduates, with some regions requiring that at least half of new hires in SOEs be recent graduates.
Nonetheless, “employment within the system” is unlikely to serve as an effective employment buffer under China’s current fiscal environment. Local governments are under significant financial strain — in China’s fiscal system, they bear primary responsibility for funding government agencies, public services, and local infrastructure. Yet while a large share of China’s tax revenue flows to the central government, local governments have become significantly indebted and are under huge financial pressure. Local civil servants, whose salaries come directly from the local government budget, have seen their wage promises deteriorate from “guarantee six (months of wages annually), try for eight 保六争八” to “ guarantee three, try for six 保三争六”. Similar wage arrears have affected workers ranging from SOE employees to doctors and teachers.
The policy tools for potential AI-driven displacement may no longer be viable in 2026 due to fiscal constraints by analyzing previous reforms that supported displaced coal workers. During 2016-2020, the central government committed ¥100 billion (approximately $14 billion) to support an estimated 1.3 million displaced coal workers through benefits and compensation. In the example of Wuhai 乌海, Inner Mongolia, the central government issued funds to SOEs to provide early-retirement benefits, severance packages, delayed salary payments, and other forms of support.
Local governments were expected to contribute similar sums and also took various measures to help the former coal workers find jobs. In Wuhai, the combined efforts from the central government, the city government, and the SOEs helped prevent social instability, and no petitions were reported. Local authorities also created non-coal-mining jobs by attracting new businesses, including in chemical supply chains like coke and chlor-alkali. As a result, employment in the chemical industry surpassed that in the coal-mining industry by 2020.
Compared to the Wuhai case, the government’s capacity to address AI-driven displacement today is far more constrained. With their coffers already depleted, local governments can provide few incentives to attract industries capable of bringing in new jobs, and in a world of AI disruption, it’s not totally clear what those industries would even be. (Sectors such as manufacturing, digital media, and AI development have reportedly seen the emergence of new job categories leveraging AI, but it’s an open question which positions could provide durable employment at scale.)
Therefore, many of the ambitious proposals for managing AI-led displacement may need to incorporate self-financing mechanisms rather than relying on direct government support. As deputy Lü Guoquan 吕国泉 has suggested, one potential approach would be requiring firms to reinvest a share of automation-driven cost savings into worker upskilling.
Public discourse further reflects concerns about unemployment and the administration’s capability to address it. When I spoke by phone with Wu Hong 吴宏, an advisor to the Neuroscience and Intelligent Media Institute at the Communication University of China 中国传媒大学脑科学与智能媒体研究院顾问, he told me he thinks that “macro-level pressures, rather than isolated technological advances, are stressing the economy and employment today”.
At the implementation level, online discussions expose how labor policies unfold in practice. On Zhihu, one user wrote:
“My company has to hire hundreds of new grads every year, but the business doesn’t need these people at all. Easy peasy — after a year, most either quit on their own or are laid off, and only a small fraction stay.”
Such anecdotal observations align with empirical findings. Research by a group of economists in 2023 found that government subsidies were linked with gains in employment at the time of subsidy receipt, but that these gains reversed one year later. In Ching Kwan Lee’s seminal work on Chinese labor politics, Against the Law: Labor Protests in China’s Rustbelt and Sunbelt, she argues that the violation of labor rights is a structural problem due to the national strategy of decentralized accumulation and legal authoritarianism: While local governments are responsible for developing a pro-business local political economy, the same local officials are also expected to implement labor laws issued by the central government, who sees stability as a legitimation strategy. Such tensions could weaken local government’s effort in managing AI-led job disruption since they are simultaneously incentivized to promote business efficiency.
Human-machine-coordinated Future?
AI-driven workforce disruption carries broader implications for China’s future. The pattern of displacement may differ from that in the West. In China, low-wage workers could be the most vulnerable as robots are already serving food in restaurants, delivering room service in hotels, and guiding shoppers in malls. The country’s 200 million gig workers also face mounting threats from robotaxis and delivery drones.
In contrast, in the US and other developed economies, anxiety about automation has largely centered on white-collar professionals. Major tech firms like Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, and IBM have dominated headlines with AI-related layoffs. Meanwhile, growing numbers of young people in the US and UK are opting for skilled trades over college, citing fears of AI replacing knowledge work. Wu Hong told me he thinks that China’s long-standing advantage of having a large pool of skilled manufacturing workers could be challenged if Western economies use AI and robotics to reshore production. He also suggests that with automation, the West may be able to replicate China’s advantage of having a robust talent base of highly skilled tech workers.
These possible trajectories add more complexity to China’s AI transition. Managing workforce adjustment is central to China’s social stability and national prosperity, and China’s proactive stance on the matter may allow it to build a concerted response system to cushion the impact of job loss. Expect stopgap measures such as new legislation and financial incentives to be introduced. Nevertheless, the harsh fiscal reality could stall many initiatives, forcing policymakers to confront difficult trade-offs between employment protection and AI-led efficiency gains.
ChinaTalk is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
The former chairman of a financial group was brought to China in handcuffs, the latest high-level capture in a widening investigation into organized crime.
Login
BBC
Reuters
Reuters
Reuters
Getty Images
Getty Images
Getty Images
Emin Sansar/Anadolu via Getty Images
CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images
Getty Images
KAWNAT HAJU / AFP via Getty Images
AirTeamImages
FIFA via Getty Images
Getty Images/BBC
Getty Images
AAP via Reuters
Reuters
点击图片播放视频
本期关联播客
