What happened
A divided New York appeals court has struck down the nearly half-billion-dollar financial penalty against Donald Trump in the state's high-profile fraud case, while leaving intact the finding that he inflated property values to secure more favourable loans.

Who said what
Justice Peter Moulton wrote that Trump's conduct "was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half-billion-dollar award", calling the penalty an "excessive fine". Trump celebrated the decision online, praising the judges for having "the courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful decision".

This is a "remarkable turn" in the battle between the president and New York Attorney General Letitia James – one of his "fiercest foes", said The New York Times. And while it "eliminates an enormous financial burden" weighing on him, it also fundamentally "preserves the fraud case against him".

What next?
The case now heads to New York's highest court, offering the US president another chance to overturn the fraud ruling. Meanwhile, non-financial sanctions remain, including restrictions on Trump and his sons running New York companies.

What happened
WH Smith shares slumped 41.7% yesterday following a blunder that led the retailer to overstate its North American profits by £30 million. The company has cut its profit forecast in the region from £55 million to just £25 million and lowered its outlook for annual pre-tax profits to about £110 million – and has also ordered a review by auditors.

Who said what
WH Smith said the mistake was due to an issue in how it calculated the amount of supplier income it received, causing it to be logged too early. Its share price slump was likely "its worst single-day decline on record", according to the BBC.

AJ Bell investment analyst Dan Coatsworth called the incident "nothing short of a disaster". This "loose thread of an accounting error in this part of the group" will spark wider concerns. "Investors will be sobbing into their cornflakes on the news."

What next?
The company has asked Deloitte to conduct a review into the error and promised an update with its full-year results. But analysts said the blunder was an "embarrassment" for WH Smith, which is relying on growth in the North American market.

"It might still be taboo in polite society, but online, porn is ubiquitous," said The Free Press.

A 2020 study found that 91% of men and 60% of women in the US reported consuming porn, while PornHub, the world's most popular adult content site, received 11.4 billion visits from mobile devices in one month last year, according to Statista.

Yet while the digital wellness industry is projected to hit $1.5 trillion by 2030, it "has long tiptoed around one of the most stubborn and stigmatised issues of our time", said LA Weekly: "compulsive consumption of adult content." Until now.

Founded by British teenager Alex Slater and his American business partner Connor McLaren last year, porn abstinence app Quittr has already passed a million downloads from more than 120 countries and has about 100,000 paid users, according to McLaren.

Every day subscribers renew their pledge not to watch porn, instead choosing goals such as stronger relationships, more energy or a better sex life. The core offering is a "panic button" that shames users who are about to relapse. The app also offers AI chatbots and exercises that rewire the brain, and access to a huge support network.

"This is Gen Zers trying to say, 'I'm fed up with being played, and my life feels out of my control'," said psychologist Zac Seidler, the global head of research for men’s health charity Movember. "And I think it ties in and overlaps extensively with the notion of purpose and meaning, and self-development and growth, which is really flourishing among young guys."