Friday newspaper round-up: Post office, local bus services, British vehicle production

(Sharecast News) - The police criminal inquiry into the Post Office Horizon IT scandal is investigating more than 45 individuals, with seven formally identified as main suspects. The investigation, which the police described as unprecedented in size and scale, is the first to examine potential offences of perjury and perverting the course of justice by those who made "key decisions" on Post Office investigations and supporting prosecutions of branch-owner operators. - Guardian Local bus services in England have continued to decline despite attempts by successive governments to bolster investment in services, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report. The spending watchdog found that efforts to revive routes and attract more passengers had so far failed, with a 15% fall in the total miles operated by buses outside London since 2019 and passenger numbers still 9% below pre-Covid levels. - Guardian

Donald Trump has extracted tax breaks for US companies after threatening to impose a "revenge" levy on foreign businesses that moved money out of the US. G7 countries are to abandon plans to make US companies pay a minimum level of corporation tax in return for Mr Trump dropping the threat of "revenge tax". Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, said that he has asked both houses of the US Congress to remove a Trump's tax proposal, known as Section 899, from the budget bill after an agreement with the other G7 countries. - Telegraph

British vehicle production fell by almost a third last month to its lowest level for May since 1949, as President Trump's tariffs on American imports deepened the challenges besetting the industry. Fewer than 50,000 cars, vans and lorries rolled off UK assembly lines and output fell for the fifth consecutive month, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the industry body. - The Times