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King Charles will become Britain's first monarch in modern times to reveal his personal tax bill. His tax payments will be shared on Thursday as a new element in the annual royal financial accounts, with the decision said by Palace sources to have been a personal one by the King. Buckingham Palace says the move is part of a modernising drive for greater transparency and to "encourage wider understanding of our accountability". It also follows calls for more openness with regard to royal finances following scandals surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The move will make public the King's tax payments for the previous year - 2024-25 - and will include tax on his income such as profits from the Duchy of Lancaster, any personal investments and earnings from the King's private estates, such as Sandringham and Balmoral. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said this was part of a wider drive to be more open with the public. "To put it simply, we continue to modernise and evolve," they said, with a commitment to an annual publication of the King's taxes. When he was Prince of Wales, Charles also revealed how much tax he was paying. Monarchs are not obliged to pay income tax, inheritance tax on what they receive from a previous monarch or capital gains tax - but the King voluntarily pays income tax and capital gains tax on any sale of private assets. And the total amount paid will be revealed for the first time - including tax on the Duchy of Lancaster's profits, which were about £24m last year. That property business, including estates in the north of England and property in central London, provides much of the monarch's personal income. The decision to shift in the direction of more transparency seems to have tuned in to the public mood. In the wake of the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor scandals, MPs were among those demanding more openness about the financial dealings of the royals. Next week's financial report should see a broader account of the royal finances. "Our aim is to explain all elements of royal finances in a way that further enhances clarity and accessibility," said a Palace spokesman. The King's tax bill will be published alongside details of the Sovereign Grant, which is the annual public funding for the Royal Household, and covers costs such as staff, the upkeep of buildings and travel on official engagements. The Sovereign Grant has risen to a record £137.9m, with a temporary increase used to pay for renovations to Buckingham Palace. Since it was introduced in 2012, the grant has never gone down, but a first reduction is expected to be announced soon as part of a review being carried out by the Treasury, Downing Street and the Royal Household. MPs will have a chance to debate the Sovereign Grant when legislation comes before Parliament. Also increasing the scrutiny on royal finances this year will be the Public Accounts Committee, which is going to hold an inquiry into royal property and leases from the Crown Estate. An initial report from the National Audit Office revealed the daughters of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who are not working royals, had properties in St James's Palace and Kensington Palace. The rent for their accommodation was paid by the King from his private income. The Palace says there is already Parliamentary oversight of the Sovereign Grant, but adding personal tax information can "enhance this transparency still further" and in a way "in keeping with our public service priorities". Sign up here to get the latest royal stories and analysis every week with our Royal Watch newsletter. Those outside the UK can sign up here .

World Cup hydration breaks are being treated as tactical timeouts by teams, and a money-making machine by some broadcasters Four minutes and 20 seconds per match. Or seven hours, 30 minutes and 40 seconds across the tournament. That's how much extra TV advertising some football fans around the world are watching during mandatory hydration breaks at the World Cup. While viewers in the UK watching on BBC and ITV are seeing players refuel and hearing extra tactical insight from pundits, spectators elsewhere are taken away from the football to see companies selling their products. The ads are allowed to begin 20 seconds after the referee blows the whistle for the three-minute pause midway through each half, and must end 30 seconds before the action starts again. That works out as a potential eight extra 30-second ad slots per match for each broadcaster in each country - 832 between the start and end of the competition. Experts have told BBC Sport that an average 30-second World Cup ad slot on Fox Sports costs between $200,000 (£152,000) and $300,000 (£227,000), rising to $750,000 (£567,000) during USA matches and the final stages. That means advertising during hydration breaks is likely to generate more than $250m (£189m) in the USA alone. The breaks have disrupted the momentum of matches, brought heavy criticism from managers and players, and drawn loud jeers from supporters at almost every venue. But, in which countries are the ads being shown, how do they work, and what could it mean for the future of football? This video can not be played Why hydration breaks are big business Fifa has insisted that hydration breaks have been introduced to benefit player welfare in the North American heat, and that sporting integrity means they must be used equally in every single match, even when temperatures are low in roofed, air-conditioned stadiums. Fans in the UK have been protected from ads during hydration breaks because the BBC does not use advertising, and ITV's ability to show ads during play is restricted by Ofcom regulations governing how many adverts can be used in a 60-minute period. If ITV used slots during mid-match breaks, they would have fewer available at half-time, for example. But elsewhere broadcasters have the ability to choose how to use the breaks, and most have used them as an opportunity to bring in extra money from advertising, whether by cutting away to a full commercial break or showing ads in split screen. Fox Sports, the US broadcaster, has been using the maximum amount of advertising time it can during the pauses and displaying them full screen. It has also been introducing the ad break itself as "sponsored by" a brand, and with Fifa sponsor Coca Cola providing branded drinks for players, the advertising US viewers are faced with during hydration breaks is effectively three-fold. This video can not be played Who won the battle of the World Cup adverts? "Amercians have been used to in-play ads for 40, 50 years, so culturally this fits right in," says Rob di Gisi, lecturer in sport management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. "There is very little pushback here. Any changes which make games more Americanised will be embraced without people noticing." Fellow US broadcaster Telemundo, which shows matches in Spanish and is aimed at Latino Americans, is one of the few broadcasters which has decided not to show ads during the breaks. During Canada's opening match last week, its commentator said: "We prefer the old school way. We should be able to see what the players do. "We show fans, people enjoying themselves, not the corporate direction of football." BBC Sport has contacted Fox Sports and Telemundo for comment. In other big markets around the world ads are being used too, including in Mexico, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, Japan, India, Australia, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. The broadcasters in those territories will not be able to charge prices as high as Fox Sports, and not all are running them for the maximum duration allowed, but the total amount accrued will be huge. "When you start scaling that up over all the rest of the countries, it's probably a billion dollars (£756m) from hydration break ads across the globe," Di Gisi adds. Having eyeballs on products during in-game breaks doesn't necessarily guarantee success, however. "Will advertisers in the hydration break be met with enough discontent that it negates the value of the advertising?" says T. Bettina Cornwell, head of marketing at the University of Oregon. "It is the case that when brands violate the expected experience, in this case the flow of the game, fans can react negatively." Fox Sports missed the restart after the second hydration break at the opening match between Mexico and South Africa because its ads overran The broadcasters in each territory act independently when they sell advertising slots, meaning Fifa does not directly gain financially. But the extra income makes purchasing rights to show the World Cup more valuable to broadcasters, meaning Fifa can theoretically charge higher prices when negotiating over future tournaments. Fifa has not yet confirmed whether hydration breaks will be used in future editions of the World Cup, but given the financial benefit to the organisation and its broadcast partners - and the fact that the 2030 World Cup in Morocco, Spain and Portugal will be held in climates with very hot summers - it is highly likely that they will remain a long-term feature. "The rights for this World Cup, Fox Sports got for only $485m (£367m)," says Dennis Deninger, author of Live Sports Media: The What, How and Why of Sports Broadcasting. "If they're making $250m (£189m) just on the hydration breaks, that rights fee is a real bargain. "When Fifa goes into rights negotiations next time, they can say their product is worth more, because broadcasters can sell sponsorship in these hydration breaks, have more advertising, and there is the increased amount of matches, so they can charge every broadcaster in every country more money. "There is never any going back – when there is an opportunity to make more money, nobody ever says 'let's make less money'." USA manager Mauricio Pochettino (right) called the hydration breaks "unnecessary" except in cases of extreme heat The more casual football fan demographic the World Cup attracts has made introducing the ads easier. "I think this is here to last, especially in Fifa-organised tournaments," says Thomas Peeters, professor of strategy economics at the Erasmus School of Economics. "The World Cup is an event that attracts non-traditionalists, people tuning in who don't watch every game. A very general audience. "There is a trend for those people to watch clips rather than entire games, so in that sense you can build in breaks yourself [and show ads to them without them caring]. "It breaks the game into shorter bits which, as we see with other forms of entertainment, helps with younger audiences who typically consume content in smaller portions." But whether other major football competitions would take on hydration breaks for the economic benefit is doubtful. The Premier League would be restricted in the UK by Ofcom rules and likely face a huge backlash from fans, while Uefa has sought to create clear distance between itself and Fifa on policy matters in recent months, including pledging not to use dynamic ticket pricing at Euro 2028. "When a game is watched by diehard fans of both sides, they don't want a break after 25 minutes," Peeters adds. "For Uefa and the Premier League this idea is less of a concern because they are in very mature markets compared to Fifa." In a statement, Uefa told BBC Sport: "Uefa has no plans to change [hydration break] regulations for upcoming competitions, including for the Champions League and Euro 2028."

The world's longest commercial long-haul flight has been announced, a non-stop trek from Sydney to London that can take up to 22 hours. Australian airline Qantas announced the direct flight route will start from October 2027, billing passengers approximately 20% more for the long-haul journey compared with a traditional layover. The BBC's Harry Sekulich asks the public what they think, and if they would voluntarily pay more for the ultra long-haul? Her comments came after Trump said that his once-close ally had "begged" for a photograph with him at a G7 summit. The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Caroline Hawley analyses what will come out of the deal signed on Wednesday. The 14-point Memorandum of Understanding was signed at a post-G7 dinner in France. The BBC's Gary O'Donoghue breaks down the 14-paragraph memorandum of understanding between both two countries. The BBC's Tom Bateman looks at the US president's reaction to what he called "vicious" strikes. The BBC's Gary O'Donoghue looks at the contrasting approaches of the two presidents as Trump touts a new peace deal. The BBC's Celestine Karoney spoke to jubilant fans after the game in Atlanta, where the African team made its tournament debut. BBC's Sebastian Usher on the deal announced by the US and Iran on Sunday. The World Cup officially kicked off this week - but alongside the football, there are questions around heat, cost, the environmental impact and travel restrictions. Bosnia-Herzegovina fans attending the team's game in Toronto, Canada spoke to the BBC about how costly their trip and seats were. Changeable and challenging weather conditions are expected throughout the Fifa World Cup 2026. The president also revealed that the US is 'taking out' millions of barrels of oil from Iran, saying Tehran didn't know 'until right now'. The crew, who are all men, are scheduled to blast off in 2027 to test systems ahead of a planned Moon landing. For the first time since the start of a precarious ceasefire two months ago, Israel and Iran have traded missile strikes. President Trump denies having promised 'no new wars'. BBC Verify has found multiple examples of him saying this during the 2024 US election campaign. The players and staff will have to fly in and out of the US for each of their games in the group stage. Some wore matching suits and others carried identical green bags as they landed, just days before the tournament kicks off. Four people have been arrested and charged with trafficking more than $45 million in cocaine, according to federal officials. Will Grant spoke to a 70-year-old widow who says the inability to use her building's elevator during a power outage trapped her and her husband when he needed medical care. BBC's Brandon Livesay toured the Columbia Park Training Facility in Morris Township, New Jersey that will host the team in the coming weeks.

Home buyers and sellers can expect an end to "gazumping" in a major shake-up aimed at speeding up housing sales. Legally binding sales agreements will be introduced earlier to stop buyers or sellers walking away at a late stage in the process without a legitimate reason. In England and Wales, buyers can currently be outbid at a late stage of the sale and chains can fall apart months into the process, causing huge frustration for buyers as well as being expensive. Previous attempts to improve the system have had limited success and few of the latest proposed changes will happen immediately. The planned reforms, first announced in October last year , will be introduced at the end of this Parliament in 2029. The changes include home buyers receiving more information about properties listed for sale. Sellers and estate agents will be required to share important information about the property including its condition and status in a chain through so-called sales packs. The government estimates buyers will save about £650 on average. The reforms will make the system "faster, fairer and more secure," says Housing Secretary Steve Reed. The move has some echoes of Home Information Packs introduced by a Labour government 20 years ago, which were swiftly dropped by the coalition government. The plans have been widely welcomed by the housing sector, although some have raised concerns about unintended consequences - such as properties taking longer to get onto the market as paperwork is prepared. The timetable suggests a new code of practice for property agents will be introduced this year. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the current home buying system leaves "people in limbo" and puts the prospect of home ownership out of reach for some. "We're turning the page. Our reforms will bring this outdated process into the modern age, saving people time and money, and giving them the certainty they deserve," he said. At the moment in England and Wales, a buyer and seller may agree on a sale, only for the seller to pull out weeks or months into the process because someone has offered them a higher price. For the gazumped buyer, there is currently no legal recourse. In other countries, however, there are penalties for pulling out of a sale once both parties have agreed to the transaction. In Scotland, formally accepted offers are already legally binding, and sellers must provide home surveys to prospective buyers. Once the buyer's and seller's solicitors have exchanged letters, known as missives, if a party withdraws from the sale they are liable for financial losses to the other party. Under the government's proposal, binding conditional contracts would make a transaction legally binding much earlier in the process, potentially once an offer is accepted. The government says that if a party broke that agreement by withdrawing without a valid reason or not meeting their obligations, they would face a financial penalty. The government says binding contracts would not come into force until the sales packs were also active, ensuring buyers had key information about the property before committing to a purchase. President of the Law Society of England and Wales, Mark Evans, said it was important for buyers to have "consistent high standards of upfront information" before binding contracts could be introduced. "Alongside this, consistent regulation across all parts of the property process – including estate agents – is essential to build trust and confidence for consumers," he said. Henry Jordan, Nationwide's group director of mortgages, said purchasing was often a "slow, complex and stressful process" and welcomed the proposed changes. "Speeding up homebuying isn't just about convenience - it's about helping more people complete their purchases with less frustration and fewer surprises along the way," he said. According to property listing portal Rightmove, it takes on average nearly six months (170 days) to complete a property sale across the UK. Rightmove's chief executive Johan Svanstrom said their data shows more than one in five sales will initially fall through. "This is an encouraging step towards a faster and more efficient property market, addressing some of the biggest frustrations that home-movers and industry participants face," he said. "By making more information available upfront, there is a clear opportunity to reduce fall-throughs and increase transparency." Lesley Horton, the UK's Chief Property Ombudsman, said: "If implemented carefully and supported by clear guidance and appropriate training, these reforms can create a home buying and selling system that is faster, fairer and better equipped to meet the needs of consumers in the years ahead."

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has extended his contract to 2032, in a deal featuring a bonus scheme that could earn him more than €150m (£130m). Since becoming chief executive in 1994, Ryanair has grown from a relatively small regional airline into Europe's largest low-cost carrier. If O'Leary remains at the Ryanair group until April 2032, he would be granted the option of buying 10 million shares at €26.70 per share if annual profit reached €4 billion or if the share price exceeds €42 for 28 successive days. "Achievement of these very ambitious targets would create substantial additional value for all Ryanair shareholders," Ryanair said in a statement. Ryanair group chairman Stan McCarthy said that in spring, the company's board had "commenced discussions" with O'Leary on his contract. "I am pleased to report that this process, which included extensive engagement with Ryanair's largest shareholders, has successfully concluded with Michael agreeing to extend his leadership of the Ryanair Group for the next six years to April 2032, for the benefit of all shareholders," he added. Last year, it was reported that O'Leary was on track to pocket bonuses worth more than €100m. This was after shares in the budget airline closed above €21 (£17.65) for a 28th consecutive day in May 2025, meeting a key performance target.

The UK borrowed £23.3bn in May, according to official figures, up almost a third on the same month last year. May's borrowing figure — the difference between spending and income from taxes — was £5.6bn higher than forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the independent fiscal watchdog. "The big picture is that the public finances are fragile," said Capital Economics deputy chief UK economist Ruth Gregory. She said this would constrain whoever is Prime Minister. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham was elected MP for Makerfield in a by-election, paving the way for him to launch a leadership challenge against the Prime Minister. "Spending on debt interest, public services, investment and benefits all increased in May 2026, compared with last May," ONS statistician Tom Davies said. This outweighed higher tax receipts, he added. The OBR forecast was made in March, at which point the impact of the war in the Middle East had not yet become clear. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said interest payable on government debt jumped to £11.7bn – the highest ever recorded in any May. Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said that much of the jump in borrowing costs was the result of higher inflation. Inflation jumped when the Iran conflict broke out and is expected to rise further due to the knock-on effects of higher oil prices. Hewson said: "Long-term borrowing costs have been creeping up and will be monitored closely if the anticipated Labour leadership contest gets under way. "Burnham has drafted in economic heavyweights to help shore up his credentials and has pledged to follow the existing fiscal rules, which includes not borrowing to fund day-to-day spending." Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said investors seem to have priced in the likelihood of a Labour leadership challenge. "For now, that may be because Andy Burnham has promised to be more cautious about spending by largely sticking to fiscal rules. "His pledge to bring down huge welfare costs, partly to fund higher defence spending , is a signal that he is positioning himself closer to the political centre, which may be providing some reassurance." On Thursday, the Bank of England opted to hold interest rates , in an attempt to balance a sluggish jobs market and widespread expectations that inflation will rise further in the coming months. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby said: "The war in the Middle East has clearly had an impact on economies around the world. "We have the right economic plan to deal with these challenges — protecting families and businesses from rising costs, while cutting borrowing at a faster rate than any other G7 economy." Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said: "Borrowing is out of control." "The Conservatives are the only party with a plan to balance the books by getting spending under control, especially the welfare bill." Separate official figures showed that retail spending rose by 1.2% in May, helped by unseasonably good weather. Retailers said sales of outdoor furniture and fans were higher for the month due to the weather conditions and promotions.

Few topics divide opinion quite like who should pay on a first date. Ask a group of friends and you'll likely get a dozen different answers. Some insist the bill should always be split equally, others believe the person who sets up the date should pay and despite changing attitudes towards gender roles, many still see a man picking up the bill as a romantic gesture rather than an outdated tradition. With cocktails regularly topping £15, restaurant bills climbing and many keeping a close eye on their budgets, even a casual evening out can quickly become expensive. Adults across the UK spend more than £111 per month on dates and dating apps, equating to more than £1,300 per year, according to research from Barclays in 2025 , For under 30s in particular, cost is a great barrier as over half of Gen Z adults feel the expense impacts their ability to go on dates. Jennifer Read-Dominguez, a digital editor who is currently single, believes whoever asks for a first date should be prepared to pay for it. She says women "can absolutely foot the bill themselves but that's not the point". "Sometimes it's nice to take a step back from always being the one making decisions and simply enjoy feeling feminine and being looked after." For her, a man paying on a first date is not about dependence or inequality but "effort and keeping some traditional gestures alive in modern dating". Jennifer says the amount spent matters far less than the thought behind it and she'd be just as happy being taken to a fast-food restaurant as a high-end one, but it's important that it's "within their means." She went on one date where a man took her to an expensive restaurant, complained about the cost and suggested they split the bill. When his card failed, Jennifer ended up paying for the entire meal. "He said he'd pay me back, but he never did. I could afford it, but that's not the point." The experience left her feeling taken advantage of. "I think he assumed I'd simply absorb the cost and I did but I felt used." Yasmin El-Saie is a content creator from London who says she would be "put off if a man expected us to split the bill on a first date". "When a man pays, he's showing he wants his date to feel comfortable and looked after," she says. "Maybe it's a double standard and down to my upbringing, but I still find it attractive." That doesn't mean she expects men to pay for everything - if a date continues elsewhere, she is happy to contribute. "If he pays for dinner and we go for drinks afterwards, I'd happily get the drinks. I wouldn't want anyone to feel used." One memorable date involved a recent divorcee who was determined to keep finances separate. The pair went to a buffet restaurant where diners were charged according to the number of food sticks they accumulated throughout the meal. "He spent the whole evening holding onto his sticks to make sure they didn't get mixed up with mine," she says. On another date, Yasmin says: "A man picked me up in his Porsche and I assumed we were going for drinks before dinner. Instead, he rushed us straight to the restaurant so he could get the early-bird deal and I saw him hide the à la carte menu when we arrived." Jamie Rutter, 32, who works in finance, says clear communication is more important than sticking to a rigid rule. "As a queer person it can get confusing because you don't have those traditional expectations around who should pay," he says. "My view is that if I ask someone out, I expect to pay. If they ask me out, I'd go in expecting to pay my half." Jamie says having become more conscious about his finances in recent years, he's very upfront on a date about what he can and cannot afford. "If someone suggested somewhere expensive and it was outside my budget, I'd just be honest and suggest a different place." He prefers a coffee and a walk for a first date "where you can actually get to know someone" rather than dinner which "can feel a bit like an interrogation". One of his most memorable dates involved a man taking him on a picnic and "he'd arranged for a restaurant to prepare a three-course meal in a hamper and paid for everything in advance so there wasn't really even a bill to discuss." Not every expensive date has been such a success and Jamie recalls a cocktail bar date where he spent a "ridiculous amount of money", only for there to be no connection. "It wasn't a bad date, it just didn't lead anywhere. But I'd suggested it, so I went in expecting to pay." Whatever the circumstances, Jamie says he will always offer to split the bill "regardless of whether I want to see them again".

The outbreak of the US-Israel war with Iran in February caused shockwaves across the global economy. The region plays a major role in global oil and gas supplies, and the closure of the key Strait of Hormuz shipping corridor has driven up prices on a wide range of things from energy bills to air fares. On 18 June, Iran and the US signed a deal aimed at bringing an end to the war, with the Strait set to reopen. But negotiations on some of the thorniest issues - including Iran's nuclear programme - will be deferred for 60 days, raising questions about how long this agreement will last. Here are five ways the deal might affect your day-to-day life. The war caused an immediate rise in motor fuel prices, as production and transport of oil in the Middle East slowed or stopped entirely. Prices at the pump have started to drift lower in recent weeks on rising hopes for a peace deal. But they are still far above where they were before the conflict began. As of Thursday in the UK, petrol cost an average of 154.72p per litre, while diesel was an average 174.30p per litre, according to RAC Fuel Watch data. Nearly four months ago, petrol was 132.05p a litre and diesel was 141.6p. In the US, prices have also started to fall away since the average gasoline price topped $4.50 last month. The latest data shows the average gas price stands at $3.97 (£3) per gallon , up from $2.98 per gallon before the war started, while diesel has risen from $3.76 to $5.09 over the same period. Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, said the recent fall in global oil and wholesale petrol prices if sustained - will "in time lead to much lower prices at the pumps". But he said: "The big question is how fast will this happen, and whether the fall in pump prices happens as swiftly as the rise drivers had to endure through March and April did." UK gas prices almost doubled at the beginning of the conflict, sparking fears of higher energy bills across the country. Gas is used directly in millions of homes for heating and hot water; it was also used to generate about 27% of our electricity last year. The benchmark UK gas price was below 80p a therm before the Iran war began but was trading at around 157p by 19 March. Now it's back down at 98p per therm. However, the consultancy Cornwall Insight says it would be "overly optimistic" to assume prices will quickly return to pre-conflict levels. Firstly, the UK energy regulator Ofgem has already set its next price cap on household energy bills for July and it can't be changed. The average household bill is set to rise by 13% - or £221 – per year from next month. The cap covers 33 million households in England, Wales and Scotland. The Gulf is where Europe gets around half of its jet fuel from. In the weeks following the start of the war, jet fuel prices soared from about $784 per tonne to $1,838, raising fears of shortages and higher flight prices. Some airlines announced fare hikes , particularly for long-haul flights, but there was also evidence of European airlines cutting fares to try to overcome customer "hesitancy". In recent weeks, jet fuel prices have fallen sharply to around $967 a tonne, but the aviation industry is not out of the woods yet, says Amaar Khan, a jet fuel specialist at Argus Media. He says European airlines should have all the fuel they need to meet demand this summer and beyond. But he also expects jet fuel prices to remain above pre-war levels for much of this year. Inflation, which measures the rate at which prices rise, had been falling in the UK and globally prior to the war. But the conflict has disrupted that overall downward trend, largely because of the rise in global energy prices. In February, UK inflation fell to 3% and the Bank of England said before the current conflict it believed inflation could reach its 2% target by as soon as April. In March, however, it climbed to 3.3% before settling at 2.8% in April and May . Charlotte O'Leary, associate economist at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, says there is expected to be a "sizeable" upward impact on inflation when Ofgem increases its energy price cap in July. Over in the US, inflation rose from 2.4% in February to 4.2% in May , with the war seen as a major contributing factor, while in the European Union it went from 2.1% to 3.3% over the same period. Interest rates are the primary tool used to control inflation; they also influence the cost of borrowing as well as the interest paid to savers. But uncertainty over the impact of the Iran war on energy prices has prompted central banks around the world to keep interest rates on hold. The Bank of England held rates at 3.75% for a fourth consecutive meeting this week. Its governor Andrew Bailey said that recent drops in oil prices were "encouraging" but high energy prices during the war had still left "inflationary pressure in the pipeline". Interest rates are widely expected to remain on hold for the rest of this year, with some analysts predicting cuts next year. This week the US Federal Reserve also held interest rates at between 3.5% and 3.75%, citing "elevated uncertainty" owing in part to the conflict in the Middle East . Last week, the European Central Bank opted to increase its interest rate to 2.25%, the first rise for almost three years, noting that the conflict was "generating inflation pressures". Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.

Uncertainty over the impact of high energy prices has led policymakers at the Bank of England to hold interest rates at 3.75%. It is the fourth meeting in a row that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to leave rates unchanged. Bank governor Andrew Bailey said recent drops in oil prices were "encouraging" but high energy prices during the war had still left "inflationary pressure in the pipeline". The base rate is the primary tool used to control inflation and influences the cost of borrowing as well as the interest paid to savers. The latest hold comes as the situation in the Middle East continues to be watched closely. Policymakers said that oil prices remained higher than before the conflict and had "continued to be volatile". However, they said inflation expectations by the end of the year were now lower than the Bank had thought in April. Interest rate policy, to maintain low inflation, would depend on the "scale and duration" of the energy price shock and how much that filtered through to the wider economy through prices and wage demands, they said. "Oil prices have fallen in recent days, and that's encouraging," Bailey said. "Whatever happens in the future, the higher energy prices of the past four months mean there's already some inflationary pressure in the pipeline. "The Bank's job is to make sure that doesn't turn into sustained inflation above our 2% target." At the last meeting in April, the committee members voted 8-1 for a hold, with Huw Pill, the Bank's chief economist, the only one to vote for a rate rise. This time, the vote was 7-2, with Megan Greene voting alongside Pill for an increase in the rate to 4%. She highlighted the uncertainty over the impact on households and businesses of higher energy prices. The MPC met just before the US-Iran peace deal was signed and will meet again at the end of July, when its success and longevity should be clearer. Speaking later, Bailey said he was "encouraged" by recent developments in the Middle East. "Energy prices have come down quite a lot, but they're still above where they were before this conflict started. Inflation is higher than we expected it to be," he said. "I think holding is the right position to be in at the moment for that, so I think it's a sensible decision in the light of the news." The peace deal, which was signed on Wednesday, could lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Should oil start to flow freely again through the vital waterway - which normally carries a fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies - then concerns over a pick-up in inflation would be eased. Price rises are still expected to accelerate in the UK, given the delayed impact of higher wholesale energy prices on domestic gas and electricity prices. Millions of UK households' energy bills are governed by regulator Ofgem's price cap, which will increase by 13% in July. However, the committee has lowered its overall inflation expectations since its last meeting in April, with an expectation that the rate will hit 3.25% in the final three months of the year. This is below even its most benign scenario outlined by the Bank earlier in the year, but still above the 2% target. Official figures published on Wednesday showed that inflation remained at 2.8% in the year to May , as the pace of food price rises slowed to a 17-month low. Over the year to May, transport costs rose by the fastest rate, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, while the rate of price increases in meat, dairy, and vegetables eased. Meanwhile, ONS data released earlier on Thursday showed that firms were more cautious about taking on new staff, with the number of job vacancies at the lowest level for five years. Last week, the European Central Bank opted to increase its interest rate for the first time in almost three years, noting that the conflict was "generating inflation pressures". The Federal Reserve, the US central bank, held rates on Wednesday , although Fed governors were split on whether to keep rates steady or raise them to tame inflation. Some analysts predict no further rises in the Bank of England's benchmark rate for the rest of the year, although the situation remains highly uncertain. The Bank's base rate is what it charges other banks and building societies to borrow money, which influences what they charge their own customers for mortgages as well as the interest rate they pay on savings. As of now, the average rate on a new two-year fixed mortgage deal is 5.59%, up from 4.83% at the start of March when the Iran war began, according to the financial information service Moneyfacts. For those looking for a five-year deal, the average rate is 5.57%, up from 4.95% over the same period.

The Foreign Office has dropped its advice against travelling to Dubai, but warned British citizens that "the situation remains unpredictable" in the region. The announcement makes it easier for people planning to visit the popular holiday destination, after the US and Iran reached an agreement to stop the war. However, the foreign travel advice page for the United Arab Emirates said that despite the peace deal, "attacks could resume at short notice". Thousands of Britons were left stranded in the Middle East when the conflict broke out, and many airlines have suspended flights to the major travel hubs in the region. More than 1.4 million Brits visited Dubai last year and it has become a major holiday and business destination. Lifting the "do not travel" advice means that people travelling to the UAE will no longer risk invalidating their travel insurance. Despite this, there were early signs that some carriers could be slow to restart their services. Virgin Atlantic suspended flights until winter 2027 after the war started, and a spokesperson said on Thursday that this "remains the case". British Airways said earlier in June that it would not resume flights to the UAE until October 2026. Emirates, which is owned by the state, has still been operating flights to the region during the conflict. Mark Tanzer, the chief executive of Abta, an industry group for travel agents, said he expected to see a "positive impact" on travel to the region. "This is the most important development for tourism to and through the Middle East in some time, we know the government won't have taken this decision lightly," he said. "We know from our research that people have been delaying booking their summer holiday because they wanted to see what happened with the conflict in the Middle East, and that the government travel advice is an important factor in confidence to travel. "While we're not out of the woods yet, hopefully this change will open up the market more broadly – there are some very competitively priced holidays for this summer, so if you're still to book, now is the time to do it." The Foreign Office advice said: "The US and Iran have announced a memorandum of understanding in relation to the conflict in the Middle East. "The situation remains unpredictable and attacks could resume at short notice." It continued: "Before the 8 April ceasefire, the Iranian regime had stated its intention to target locations in the Gulf associated with the United States and Israel. "This included US or Israeli-linked organisations, businesses, facilities and institutions. "Iran has previously targeted civilian infrastructure across the region such as ports, hotels, roads, bridges, energy facilities, oil production sites, water systems, and airports." The government has also dropped its warnings against travelling to Qatar and most parts of Saudi Arabia. Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.

The number of job vacancies has fallen to its lowest level for five years as businesses cut back on recruitment, according to the latest official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that while the labour market remained "broadly stable", some areas showed signs of weakening. The number of job vacancies in the March to May period fell to 707,000, the ONS said, the lowest level since February to April 2021. Liz McKeown, the ONS's director of economic statistics, said the further drop in job vacancies suggested that "firms are becoming more cautious about taking on new staff". The professional services sector saw the largest fall in vacancies, but retail and hospitality also saw significant drops. Data from HMRC shows that the number of new recruits was at a five-year low, with the number of 'inflows', or new hires, just under 540,000 in April - the lowest monthly figure since March 2021. McKeown said that there were "some signs of workers moving into self employment" against a backdrop of falling vacancies. The unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.9% in the three months to April, from 5% in the three months to March. Regular pay — which excludes bonuses — grew at an annual rate of 3.4% in the three months to April. That was unchanged from the three months to March and means that average earnings are still rising slightly faster than prices. However, McKeown said regular wage growth in the private sector was rising at its lowest rate in five and a half years. Jamie Younger, who opened The Victory pub in south London last month, said rises to the minimum wage and national insurance contributions had "made life very difficult " He said many pubs and restaurants were now only hiring people with several years' experience, "rather than trying to support a younger generation and get them into their first job". Cutting VAT, a measure called for by hospitality groups, would help ease the pressure and "give us the opportunity to train young people", he added. "There is a benefit of employing someone in their first job because you get to train them… and mould that person," he said. "But with the financial restrictions it's becoming harder and harder every day." Sasha Swann, a student working in the pub's kitchen over the summer, said she had been thrown in "at the deep end… but it's made me learn so much". She said she was "extremely fearful" about entering the world of work after university. "It's all up in the air whether we are going to get those jobs." Shazia Ejaz, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation's (REC) director of campaigns, said: "Global pressures and domestic political uncertainty are making employers hesitant to commit to hiring although latest REC data shows temp hiring is faring better than permanent. "With the Gulf crisis resolution on the table, the government has an opportunity to kick off a new phase in hiring." The latest jobs figures came ahead of the Bank of England's decision to hold interest rates at 3.75% . Bank governor Andrew Bailey said it was "encouraging" that oil prices had fallen following a peace deal between the US and Iran . But he noted that there is still "inflationary pressure in the pipeline". Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, said the labour market was not proving a major contributor to inflation, with private sector wage growth easing. "Against a weak economic backdrop, workers are increasingly reluctant to push for higher pay, reducing the likelihood of second-round effects feeding through from the labour market into wider cost pressures." "We expect pay growth to continue to slow over the coming months," she said. The quality of ONS statistics has been criticised in recent years, with a review last year finding "deep seated" issues with the body. The Labour Force Survey, which it uses to report payroll and employment figures, has suffered from low response rates.

Apple plans to raise the prices of its products as the cost of the memory chips it uses has surged, the technology giant's boss has said. Tim Cook, Apple's outgoing chief executive, told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that price increases were "unavoidable" as the situation around memory chips had become "unsustainable". He did not say when prices would rise or which products would be affected. It is also unclear whether the price hikes will affect the iPhone 18, which is expected to be launched in September. Memory chips are essential components in smart devices like mobile phones, but the boom in artificial intelligence (AI) has driven up their prices in recent months. Later, US President Donald Trump said that Apple had agreed to work with chipmaker Intel to make its chips in the US. "I decided to help Intel because we need to design and build our Chips right here in America," he wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. The BBC has contacted Apple and Intel for comment. In August last year, the Trump administration announced that the federal government would take a 10% stake in Intel . Intel's shares rose more than 10% when US stock markets opened on Thursday. Speaking to the WSJ, Apple boss Cook said: "We're doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we've been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable. "There's less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases," said Cook, who is due to be replaced by John Ternus as Apple's CEO in September after 15 years in the role. "We definitely need memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products. That's the bottom line." The price of Ram - typically one of the cheapest computer components - has more than doubled since October 2025 . In addition to rising AI demand, the war in Iran has also disrupted the global supply of helium, a gas crucial in making semiconductors, adding to the cost of computer chips. The average selling price of smartphones globally is expected to rise by around 20% in 2026 to an all-time high, according to research firm Omdia. Apple's new phones are likely to cost up to $150 more than the iPhone 17s, as the firm is expected to upgrade their specifications to support new AI features, Omdia's smartphone market analyst Chiew Le Xuan told the BBC. Most smartphone brands have already raised prices, pulled back on promotions or cut specifications to protect their profit margins in response to rising costs, he added. "This is the new pricing reality, not a temporary spike. " Other technology giants have also highlighted pressure in the chipmaking industry. In an exclusive interview with the BBC this month , Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) would not rule out price increases as inflation pushed up its costs. TSMC makes the most advanced chips designed by companies such as Apple, Nvidia and AMD. Earlier this year, Samsung said that it expects memory chip supply shortages to make electronic devices more expensive. In April, Sony raised the price of its PlayStation 5 consoles by £90 in the UK and $100 in the US as a result of "continued pressures in the global economic landscape". Nintendo later said it would increase the price of its Switch 2 from September due to "changes in market conditions". The iPhone 17 has been popular since the lineup was launched last September. Sales of Apple devices grew by 17% in the first three months of 2026 compared with the same period a year ago, helped by strong demand in China. Apple removed the entry-level option of its Mac Mini compact computers, raising its starting price by about $200 (£150) earlier this year.

Train operator CrossCountry has been told to raise its performance, after receiving the worst score in a passenger survey. In three months to the end of March, 72% of Birmingham-based CrossCountry's stops at stations were made within three minutes of the schedule, while 7% of services were cancelled, said Transport Focus. The watchdog added that of those surveyed, 79% were satisfied with the Arriva Group-owned operator, 77% reported being satisfied with their journey's punctuality and reliability, and 46% said they were satisfied with how the company dealt with delays. The operator said despite slight improvements in some areas, it knew it "must do more to deliver the service our customers rightly deserve". Transport Focus has asked CrossCountry to improve the passenger experience, reduce delays, provide better information during disruption and cut overcrowding on services. Hull Trains achieved the best overall satisfaction score at 94%, followed by LNER with 93%. 87% of passengers overall said they were satisfied with their journey and disabled passengers reported lower satisfaction than non-disabled passengers, at 85%. More than 100,000 passengers were questioned in the six months to the end of March. CrossCountry, the Arriva Group-owned operator, runs long-distance trains serving cities such as Cambridge, Cardiff and Manchester. Mark Anderson, CrossCountry's customer and commercial director, said that looking forward, its refurbished trains were "transforming" journeys and its new timetable was "delivering better regional connectivity across the country". "We're always working to improve onboard experience – from cleaning to catering, better wi-fi and clearer information during disruption. "In particular, we know that crowding is a challenge and we're working with industry partners to explore all possible options to ease this." Transport Focus chief executive Alex Robertson said: "This is the first report of its kind. "I'm optimistic the railway understands the importance of using it to create a more customer focused culture and we'll be holding them to account to make sure they do." The chief executive also stated more than nine in 10 people would report a positive experience if a delay was "handled well – a remarkably high figure given their train is late – but this falls to one in four when it isn't". Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds , Facebook , X and Instagram .

In the dimly lit cellars of London's oldest wine merchant, Texas is not the first thing that springs to mind. But nearly 200 years ago, Berry Bros & Rudd was home to the Embassy of the Republic of Texas. If you look closely, you can see a remaining "Texan Legation" plaque on the wall outside the St James's Street store. After Texas joined the US in 1845, the embassy closed - and the Texan diplomats headed home, apparently leaving behind an unpaid rent bill. Now, two centuries later, the State of Texas has opened a dedicated new office just up the road to "grow international trade and tourism and support activities that are key to the economy". Trade between Texas and the UK is already worth about $17bn a year , and the state wants even closer business ties. "One of the things that was very compelling to me is the opportunity to look at dual listings between the London Stock Exchange and the Texas Stock Exchange," says Senator Tan Parker of Texas North and Republican leader of the Texas State Senate. He adds he hopes it will create jobs and opportunities for small and large businesses - both in Texas aiming to enter the UK market, and British companies that want to enter the Texas market. It comes as the state's capital Austin raises the profile of its own stock exchange as a challenger to New York, known as "Y'all Street". "Austin 25 years ago was becoming a big international city and we are doing a lot to mature our way into that international role," the city's mayor, Kirk Watson, tells BBC London. "Austin has become a focal point in a global economy." He adds: "Looking to places like London will help us with that. "I also think places like London get something out of these relationships because we talk about things like Austin energy - our municipally-owned utility - renewables, and climate." He also stressed the importance of cities working together to address the growth of artificial intelligence and data centres, and how to implement them in dense urban settings. Watson stressed the importance of subnational diplomacy and "city-to-city relationships" amid "confusion and chaos on the world scene". But while he adds that London is seen as a "leader" on the international business stage, this move may seem contrary to the recent exodus of firms from the London Stock Exchange with some well-known and highly regarded UK companies now selling their shares on foreign markets. Economist Alexander Harvey from Oxford Economics says the move follows "a period of mixed economic fortunes for London". "While employment growth in the capital has been stronger than in the rest of the UK, productivity has broadly stagnated since the global financial crisis," he says. "Attracting investment in productivity-enhancing technologies, such as artificial intelligence, will be essential if London is to raise its trend growth rate and strengthen its position as a world-leading city." As such, it is no surprise that the opening has been welcomed by the City of London Corporation. The City's mayor, Dame Susan Langley, marked her enthusiasm by travelling to Dallas in February, posting on X: "With the launch of the Texas Stock Exchange, new dual-listing opportunities could connect British and Texan firms to fresh capital". Policy chairman Chris Hayward describes it as a "huge boost of confidence" that "highlights its role" as a gateway to capital markets around the world. "This new trade office is just the start and we're confident in building closer relations with Texas which is the eighth largest economy in the world," he says. "London and Texas shouldn't be viewed as competitors, rather our capital markets can complement each other for our mutual benefit." Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook , X and Instagram . Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk

The Federal Reserve held US interest rates between 3.5% and 3.75% after Kevin Warsh's first meeting in charge of the central bank. Fed governors were split on whether to keep rates steady or increase them in a bid to tame inflation, which has been pushed up by the US-Israel war in Iran. US President Donald Trump pushed Warsh's predecessor , Jerome Powell, to cut interest rates, and made clear he expected Warsh to fulfil his demand for cuts. But, with inflation running at an above-target 3.8%, and uncertainty surrounding Trump's deal to end the war with Iran, the Fed's rate-setting committee unanimously decided to kept rates steady. In a statement backed by its 12 members, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said: "Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East. Productivity growth and capital investment are strong. "Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little." The Fed's statement on Wednesday represented a marked change in the central bank's communication style, one of Warsh's key promises for his tenure. He was a sharp critic of how the Fed has communicated its decisions in the past, arguing it should say less while getting on with the job. Its last statement, released in April, was almost 350 words, while Wednesday's update was just 132. "The Committee will deliver price stability," it concluded. The Fed's update also removed a statement hinting that it was leaning towards lowering interest rates in the future. And nine of the 18 central bankers who participated in the FOMC's rate-setting process predicted an interest rate hike this year, while just one said they expected a cut. The remaining eight predicted rates will stay the same, according to the closely watched "dot-plot" grid of central bankers' expectations released alongside the decision. Warsh did not offer a projection of his own for the "dot-plot", which he opposes, but said he encouraged his colleagues to go ahead with it. Samuel Tombs, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the "big news" from Wednesday was the "dot-plot" pointing to potential interest rate hikes before the end of the year. Commenting on the Fed's decision, Trump said: "It's alright… whatever." When asked about potential interest rate hikes, he replied: "It could happen… it's hard to believe," adding "it just keeps the country down, it is so unusual". But he heaped praise on Warsh, whom he nominated to replace Powell. "We have a very good guy over there now, so I'm guided by what he wanted," he said. In a press conference after the decision, Warsh said the change in Fed leadership was "a natural and timely opportunity to reaffirm its mission, to review current practices". He said forward-looking guidance from the Fed was unhelpful to discussions about interest rate and other monetary policy decisions. And Warsh said his new, slimmed-down statement "just gives you the facts as best we can judge it". Warsh also indicated he will move quickly to reshape the central bank and how it sets policy. He launched task forces to examine five areas of how the Fed works: how it communicates, the size of its balance sheet, its use of economic data, the link between productivity and jobs, and its framework for managing inflation. Inflation, the rate at which prices are increasing year over year, hit 3.8% in April. Trump's decision to launch strikes on Iran, which resulted in it retaliating by shutting the key Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, has been largely blamed for the increase. It led to a spike in energy costs, which the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has said is a key driver of the price rises. But, asked earlier this month about the rising cost of living, Trump said : "I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation." When inflation is high, central banks can raise interest rates to restrict the supply of money in the economy and bring further price rises under control. Interest rate cuts, which Trump called for, are believed to spur on the economy by lowering borrowing costs and encouraging spending.

The driving test backlog won't be reduced to the target of seven weeks until autumn next year, the Transport Secretary has said. Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) figures show the average waiting time to book a test last month was nearly 22 weeks. Last November, Heidi Alexander announced changes aimed at cutting long waits and preventing test slots getting booked up - including by bots - and resold at inflated prices. Changes which have already come into effect including only allowing learners themselves to book their test slot. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the wait time was about five weeks. The DVSA initially had a target of reducing the average waiting time to seven weeks by the end of 2025. Alexander pushed this back to summer 2026, but admitted last November even that would not be possible. She told a Committee of MPs on Wednesday that she understood people's frustrations and insisted the government has done a lot to tackle the issue. However she added that "demand is still very high" and acknowledged there was still a lot of work to do. The BBC has repeatedly heard from learner drivers frustrated by the difficulty of booking tests when, and where, they need them. Some have ended up buying slots from resellers who charge many times the official cost of taking a driving test. A BBC investigation in December found some driving instructors were being offered kickbacks of up to £250 a month to sell their login details to touts. In the past few months, a number of changes to the test booking system have been introduced as part of efforts to combat the problem. At the end of March, a new rule was brought in that only two changes could be made to a booked slot, for example the date or test centre location. Since 12 May, only pupils have been able to book their driving test instead of anyone else, including instructors. From 9 June, if you want to move your test, you can only move it to the three test centres closest to where your test is booked. This is meant to stop learners booking the soonest slot available, wherever it is, then swapping it to a location closer to home. The Transport Secretary told MPs it was too early to draw conclusions, but that there was already evidence of less speculative booking since the latest changes were brought in. For example, she said the volume of test swaps had gone down by 70%. "My aspiration is to get us back down to a point where when someone is booking a test, they're not having to wait months on end to get one, which is the situation for some people in some locations at the moment," she said. One issues which has previously been highlighted is the issue of recruiting and retaining enough driving examiners. Alexander said there had been a net increase in examiners of 147 in the 12 months to May. She also said the figures on average wait times published so far "have not been particularly helpful" so there will be a change to routinely published statistics "broken down by driving test centre as well".

Inflation remained at 2.8% in the year to May as the pace of food price rises slowed to a 17-month low, according to new figures. Over the year to May, transport costs rose by the fastest rate, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, while the rate of price increases in meat, dairy and vegetables eased. Experts had expected inflation — the rate at which the cost of goods and services is rising — to rise to 3% in May, and were widely expecting it to steadily increasing over the coming months due to the ongoing impact of the war in the Middle East. But the peace deal agreed between the US and Iran means further increases could be smaller, according to analysts. Grant Fitzner, the ONS's chief economist, said that airfares, vehicle taxes and petrol prices all pushed up inflation. Motor fuels were 24.6% higher in May than the same last year, according to ONS figures. Overall transport inflation was 6.8%, the highest annual rate since December 2022. But that was "offset by lower food prices, with decreases in inflation seen across a range of meat, dairy and vegetable items compared to last month", Fitzner said. Food inflation fell from 3% in the year to April to 2.2% in the year to May, the slowest rate of food inflation since December 2024. The price of meat is particularly high, but the rate of increase is slowing: beef and veal went up by 9.4% in the year to May, compared to 13.2% in the year to April and 18.8% in the year to March. Responding to the figures, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said easing food inflation showed that the British supermarket sector was highly competitive, but food inflation was likely to rise in the coming months. Similarly, the Food and Drink Federation said prices "prices still don't reflect the inflation caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz". Its chief executive Karen Betts explained: "It generally takes several months for the increased costs paid by farmers, processors and manufacturers to filter into raised prices at the tills. This is partly because of "the widespread use of long-term contracts for energy and ingredients". Domestic heating oil — which does not have a price cap like energy bills — also fell after rising sharply due to the war. Charlotte O'Leary, associate economist at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said there is expected to be a "sizeable" upward impact on inflation when Ofgem sets its energy price cap in July. "The lagged effects of higher oil prices are still feeding through," she said. She also cautioned that "should the [US-Iran] deal collapse, oil may rebound and reinstate upward pressure on inflation". Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government was "protecting families and businesses from rising costs, with cuts in energy bills and freezes in fuel duty and rail fares". "While the war in the Middle East pushes prices up globally, we have got the right economic plan and inflation has held steady." Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said "prices are still rising too fast". "Thanks to Labour's choices the UK went into the latest energy crisis with the highest inflation in the G7," he said. The inflation figures come ahead of the Bank of England's next interest rate decision on Thursday. Economists widely expect the Bank to hold the core interest rate at its current level of 3.75%. Many economists had predicted inflation would peak at between 3.5% and 4% in the second half of 2026, as the effects of the conflict in the Middle East filter down to household costs.The Bank's target for inflation is 2%. The good news of slower food inflation has already been "somewhat surpassed" by the prospect of price rises slowing even further due to a US-Iran peace deal, according to Suren Thiru, chief economist at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. But "even with hostilities seemingly over, the UK faces a painful hangover from the Iran conflict, with energy and other supply chains likely to take months to normalise, delaying any meaningful easing in inflation until late 2026", she said. Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, said the new figures "strengthen the case" for a hold on interest rates by the Bank of England on Thursday. "Underlying inflationary pressures have yet to show clear signs of strengthening, which is likely to underpin a majority decision within the Monetary Policy Committee to hold interest rates at Thursday's meeting," she said.

The boss of Cadbury chocolate-maker Mondelez has defended its decision to continue doing business in Russia but admitted he is "not pleased" the firm's taxes are funding the war with Ukraine. Chief executive Dirk Van de Put said it was the "right decision" to stay after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, saying pulling out would risk thousands of jobs and leave Mondelez vulnerable to the Kremlin taking control of its local operations. Many Western companies such as McDonald's exited Russia after it launched a full-scale assault on its neighbour. Others remained but Mondelez said it had discontinued new investment in its Russian business and suspended spending on advertising. In an in-depth discussion as part of the BBC's Big Boss Interview series, Van de Put said: "I think over time you try to be neutral in the whole conflict. We're not trying to take any side. "I think we did the right thing for our people in Russia. Can we be criticised for that? Yeah, of course. We pay taxes in Russia that helps the war. I'm not pleased about that." Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the country has generated sales of between $1bn (£745m) and $1.4bn a year for Mondelez. Last year, more than 70 MPs signed a letter from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ukraine to Van de Put calling for Mondelez to sever its business ties with Russia. Alex Sobel, chair of the parliamentary group, wrote: "Continuing to operate in a nation responsible for the deaths of countless Ukrainian civilians and the abduction of thousands of children cannot be justified under any definition of 'business as usual'." Van de Put told the BBC he believed if Mondelez pulled out of Russia: "They would have confiscated our plant. It would have probably given them a much bigger source of income, keep on selling our products to fund the war. "So I feel that in the end it is not the most popular decision, but I think it was the right decision." Mondelez, which also produces Philadelphia cream cheese, Ritz crackers and triangular chocolate Toblerone, continues to operate in Ukraine although the conflict is never far away. On the morning he spoke to the BBC, Van de Put said an office building there had been hit. "Everybody's safe," he said. "But yes, it's the reality of the situation." Mondelez operates two manufacturing plants in Ukraine - one in Trostyanets, near the Russian border and one in Vyshhorod, close to the capital Kyiv. "One plant got hit twice, we've rebuilt it twice, " said Van de Put, adding that it costs tens of millions to do so. "We've agreed that we will rebuild every single time there so we keep on investing in the country. We doubled everybody's salary when the conflict started, and we have not fired anybody. "We're committed there but for the people that work there every day there's danger," he added.

Japan's competition watchdog has raided some of the country's biggest ice cream makers for allegedly forming a cartel to raise the price of their products. Some of the firms, including Meiji and Pocky maker Ezaki Glico, said this week that they have been subject to an "on-site inspection" by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) over suspicions that they fixed the prices of frozen desserts. The JFTC said it is not releasing a statement regarding the investigation. The companies are suspected of inflating ice cream prices beyond increases in the cost of raw materials, even as the country faces a hot summer with record high temperatures. The six firms that were raided on Tuesday were Meiji, Morinaga Milk Industry, Lotte, Morinaga, Ezaki Glico and Akagi Nyugyo. The BBC has contacted the companies for comment. The firms improperly raised prices of popular desserts "several times by 5-10% over the years", according to Japanese broadcaster NHK, citing anonymous sources. The brands distribute their products wholesale to supermarkets and convenience stores across Japan. Morinaga Milk, Glico and Meiji said in separate statements that they would co-operate with the authorities' investigation. "As reported by some media outlets today, our company has been subject to an on-site inspection by the Fair Trade Commission on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Act in connection with the setting of sales prices for ice cream and other products," Meiji said. "We take this inspection very seriously and will cooperate fully with the Fair Trade Commission's investigation," the Hello Panda snack maker wrote. Glico said: "We will respond in good faith to the Fair Trade Commission's investigation and cooperate fully." Earlier this year, Japan unveiled a new name for days that reach 40C (104F) or above, after the country experienced its hottest summer on record in 2025. The term - kokushobi - has been translated as "cruelly hot", "brutally hot" or "severely hot" day by Japanese and international media. Additional reporting by Chika Nakayama in Tokyo

When you enter The Middle Ale, it may look like a regular pub, but the reality is far from that. Owned by the supermarket chain Lidl, this public house is a 'world first' for the brand . With the walls painted in bright primary colours and the shelves stacked with produce, the venture may look like a gimmick, but underneath that shine the brand is making a stark statement about Northern Ireland's licensing laws. The journey from inception to opening day was a long one involving courts , hurdles, and a creative solution to an old problem. In Northern Ireland, supermarkets must overcome two hurdles before they can start to sell alcohol. They first must buy a licence which has been "surrendered" by another business, such as a pub which is closing. This "surrender principle" acts as a strict cap on the number of premises which can sell alcohol. Secondly, the supermarket must pass the "inadequacy" test in which it has to show the number of existing licensed premises in an area is inadequate to meet the needs of the public. Lidl could not pass the inadequacy test for a standard off-licence but was able to pass the test for a pub as two bars close to the supermarket have closed in recent years. BBC News NI was given exclusive access to the site ahead of opening day. Named The Middle Ale in a play on the chain's famous middle aisle, the company is adamant this is not a stunt. "The challenges surrounding the liquor licensing laws in Northern Ireland, they're well known and long documented," Gordon Cruikshanks, regional managing director for Lidl Northern Ireland said, adding that it's been "a long wait". When asked if the licensing laws should be updated, he said it was "for others to continue to discuss". The company spent £500,000 creating the pub and adjoining off-licence, hiring eight additional staff members. "In the Dundonald area, there's been a significant increase in the population, and whenever we saw the opportunity to open a pub, we thought that was the best option to be able to provide the community in Dundonald with our full range of products so they can do a full shop with us," Cruikshanks continued. "This is certainly a unique scenario for us, but we don't have any plans currently to open any more pubs." Charlie Steele told BBC News NI that the pub is "absolutely fantastic" and "just what the area needs". "We've lost a couple of pubs in the last three or four years and I think it's the first one in Europe… we're really looking forward to it," he said. He said it doesn't bother him that a multinational company is behind it rather than a local independent business owner. "It will bring new beers, German beers, Belgian beers, and stuff like that. It'll be something new." Everal Thompson agrees that a new pub in the area is a good thing. "There's nothing up here now, so there's nowhere for anyone to go, I think it's needed," Thompson said. When asked what her thoughts are on it being a multinational company behind the pub rather than an independent and local owner, she said: "Well, there was nobody that was going to open one, so I think it's handy." Although she said she "probably" won't visit the pub. Ray Johnston said it's "exciting". "There's another pub down the road, so it wouldn't be anything new having a pub in Dundonald, it's just something different having a pub that's also a supermarket." Alliance Party councillor Martin Gregg said people were really excited by the novelty aspect when it was first announced. "That was a long time ago, so it will be interesting to see how the concept plays out locally," he said. DUP councillor Sharon Skillen said the pub "could provide a valuable new meeting place and create local jobs. "It must ensure it respects nearby residents and local infrastructure."

Yum! Brands is selling its struggling Pizza Hut chain in a deal worth $2.7bn (£2bn), the company has announced. Private equity firm LongRange Capital will acquire the brand outside of mainland China for $1.5bn, while Yum China Holdings will buy the mainland China operations for $1.2bn. "Under LongRange and Yum China, Pizza Hut will be well positioned for future growth with ownership that brings deep expertise in the restaurant industry," said Yum! Brands chief executive Chris Turner. The decision comes after a prolonged period of difficulty for Pizza Hut - a name synonymous with casual dining in America. Yum! Brands first revealed it was exploring a potential sale in November 2025, following several quarters of declining US same-stores. The American market is highly critical for the chain, as it makes up 40% of its total international sales . The drop in performance has been driven by intensifying competition from revival chains like Domino's, Papa John's, and Little Caesars. At a time when inflation remains sticky , these rivals have aggressively discounted their offerings to win over price-sensitive consumers. Moreover, mid-sized regional chains have also chipped away at the market. These smaller, more nimble fast-food competitors have adapted faster to changing consumer habits in the so-called "pizza wars". At the same time, the rapid rise of third-party delivery apps has flooded the market with alternative options, diluting Pizza Hut's historic dominance. Pizza Hut was founded in 1958, the brainchild of two brothers in Wichita, Kansas. It was bought by PepsiCo in 1977 and then spun off into what became Yum! Brands in 1997. "Pizza Hut is one of the most iconic restaurant brands in the world, and we are proud of the important role it has played in Yum!'s history," said Turner. Yum! bought Pizza Hut's UK operations in October last year after DC London Pie, the firm running the dine-in restaurants, fell into administration. While the financial collapse shut 68 restaurants and put more than 1,200 jobs at risk, about 64 restaurants were saved as part of a rescue deal. By divesting Pizza Hut, Yum! intends to streamline its corporate focus and resources on its remaining core brands, which include KFC and Taco Bell. The transactions with LongRange Capital and Yum China are both expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has overtaken Amazon to become the world's fifth most valuable company after a surge in its share price. Days after joining New York's tech-focused Nasdaq stock exchange in the biggest public listing ever, its share price has risen by more than 50%. It leaves Musk's rocket company worth about $2.78tn (£2.1tn), while Jeff Bezos's sprawling online retail and media empire is currently worth about $2.66tn. The boom in SpaceX's value came as it announced it was buying AI coding start-up Cursor for $60bn. SpaceX said it would take over Anysphere, Cursor's parent company, which makes the artificial intelligence coding agent. SpaceX has garnered huge enthusiasm among investors for its vision of sending AI data centres to space and even helping humans to colonise Mars. Its listing raised $85.7bn and minted Musk as the world's first trillionaire. Since first selling shares to the public at $135 each on Friday, they have risen to $209. But analysts have questioned the sustainability of its high share price given the huge amount of uncertainty over its future earnings. While Amazon is a household name, with its brand difficult to avoid being encountered on an almost daily basis, SpaceX is less embedded in the lives of the general public. Despite SpaceX's stock market value overtaking Amazon, the revenues and profits made by the companies are vastly different. Amazon made $30.3bn of profit in the first quarter of 2026, while Musk's future-focused SpaceX lost $4.3bn. In 2025, Jeff Bezos's firm accrued some $716.9bn in sales, while SpaceX recorded $18.67bn. But investors appear to be betting on what they think SpaceX can acheive. While its biggest focus is the manufacture and launch of rockets with reusable parts, the company also manufactures and launches Starlink internet satellites, and is ramping up its presence in the AI race. Venture capitalist Eileen Burbidge told the BBC that many traders seem to be buying into a "well-marketed opportunity" to invest in Musk and his vision instead of doing so based on SpaceX's financial fundamentals. Some analysts have also highlighted that despite huge demand for SpaceX stock only around 4% of the shares are currently available to trade freely on the public market. Smaller shareholders may "end up paying a premium for stock now that gets diluted later" if institutional investors eventually sell their shares, Dan Sheehan from Telos Wealth Advisors said. SpaceX and Cursor have been partners since April, when Musk's firm announced it had the right to either buy it for $60bn, or pay $10bn for the work they have done together. Like OpenAI and Anthropic, Cursor's technology uses AI to automate the process of writing code, one of the most prominent current uses for artificial intelligence. The tie-up comes as SpaceX tries to catch up with rivals by growing its AI business, xAI, which is behind the controversial Grok chatbot. Announcing the partnership in April, SpaceX said: "The combination of Cursor's leading product and distribution to expert software engineers with SpaceX's million H100 equivalent Colossus training supercomputer will allow us to build the world's most useful models." Cursor is used by major companies including Stripe, Adobe and Nvidia, whose boss Jensen Huang has described it as his "favourite enterprise AI service". SpaceX said the deal would be completed by the end of September, with Cursor's shareholders paid with $60bn worth of SpaceX shares.

The government has objected to a proposed rescue deal for Thames Water, in a move which takes the UK's largest water company a step closer to a form of nationalisation. Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds wrote to the industry regulator on Monday to raise concerns over the £10bn package put forward by the firm's lenders. Fears the company could collapse first emerged three years ago. Reynolds said the deal does not do enough for consumers or the environment, but Thames's creditors said its plan was "the fastest route" to improving the firm's performance. If the company does go bust, households will still have drinking water and sewerage services. Thames Water, which serves the most customers — some 16 million — in the UK, has faced heavy criticism in recent years over its performance, sewage discharges, and pipe leaks. The company, which supplies water and wastewater services mostly across London and parts of southern England, was handed a £122.7m fine in May last year, the biggest ever issued by the industry regulator Ofwat, for breaching rules on sewage spills and shareholder payouts. A group of its existing lenders has offered to write off £9.4bn of its near £20bn debt pile and inject billions in new money, but want leniency from future pollution fines in return. London & Valley Water (L&VW), a consortium of large financial institutions and investors, said some £3.35bn of cash would be put into the company along with a new £6.55bn debt facility. It would be part of a £10bn business plan until 2030. Reynolds said on Tuesday that she did not want a scenario where Thames Water customers had to "pick up the bill for the company's failures". She told reporters that the government "stands ready for all eventualities", including temporary nationalisation. Speaking in the House of Commons, Reynolds said she had "three particular concerns about the proposal: the unfair cost to customers, delays to vital infrastructure investments, and delays to environmental improvements". "There is an expectation in the proposal for customers to fund and therefore bear an undue cost for investment in the company," she said. "In addition, I'm not convinced about the proposal's request to reduce performance standards and about the significant delay to vital infrastructure investments needed." She added she was "concerned that the long-term resilience of the water and wastewater systems may not be adequately protected". However, a spokesperson for L&VW said the group was "confident that our plan is by far the fastest route to improve outcomes for customers and the environment, without any government funding or any cost to taxpayers". The proposed deal was a "long-term solution that recognises the full extent of Thames Water's problems". "All other routes offer significantly worse outcomes for customers and the environment. Our proposals do not anticipate any increase in customer bills beyond those set out by Ofwat," they added. "Creating further delay and transferring risk to the taxpayer with special administration is not the right answer. It will only delay the process of fixing Thames Water." Ofwat has been reviewing the proposal and a decision is expected this summer. The regulator said it would review the letter from Reynolds and consider her views on the current proposal. "Ofwat's board has not made a decision on the proposal," a spokesperson said. "We continue to engage with London & Valley Water and are reviewing their plans carefully to assess whether they deliver a turnaround in the company's operational performance and strengthen its financial resilience to the benefit of customers and the environment." Without a rescue deal agreed, Thames Water is set to run out cash within a matter of months and could collapse. Thames Water reiterated on Tuesday that it believed a market-led solution was the best option for customers and the environment. A spokesperson for the company said: "It is positive that the Secretary of State has provided feedback to Ofwat in relation to the London & Valley Water plan. "We will continue working with all parties to reach an agreement that supports long-term financial stability." The government has previously said it would prefer "a market-based solution", but would step in "if that were to become necessary". The form of temporary nationalisation on the table is known as a special administration regime (SAR), which ensures vital companies such as water, are kept running by government appointed managers. Proponents of the SAR solution say that it would give Thames something of a fresh start, allowing it to write off some of its losses and be sold without such a large debt pile. In July last year, the boss of Thames Water, Chris Weston, said the company was "extremely stressed" and that it would take "at least a decade to turn around". Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.

EasyJet has rejected a takeover offer worth £4.74bn from US investment firm Castlelake, describing the bid approach as "highly opportunistic". Castlelake said it had made three approaches to EasyJet this month, all of which had been rejected, but it had now made details of its latest offer public to allow shareholders to assess the proposal. The US fund, which already owns a stake of about 2.14% in EasyJet through the funds it manages, has until this Friday to make a firm offer or walk away. Under Castlelake's latest offer, the airline's shareholders would receive 625p per share, a 24% premium to last Friday's closing price. "Following the rejection of three proposals by the EasyJet Board, and given its unwillingness to engage meaningfully, Castlelake is announcing this Third Proposal to enable EasyJet shareholders to consider its merits," Castlelake wrote. It said its latest bid "offers compelling value" to EasyJet's shareholders. "Castlelake's ambition is to support EasyJet as a stronger, more resilient European airline under European control, respecting EasyJet's valuable airline assets and continuing to sustain its network," the US firm said. European Union regulations stipulate that EasyJet must be majority-owned by EU citizens. Castlelake said it had proposed an ownership structure which was a "deliverable solution to ensure compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements."

Nobody thinks they will become the victim of a scam, until they are. A record four million cases of fraudsters stealing money were registered last year, according to UK Finance, a banking trade body - with plenty more going unreported. Sam Little, a 35-year-old former contestant of BBC show The Traitors, revealed last week he had lost £40,000 in life savings to a phishing scam. "I like to think I'm savvy, but it can catch anyone," he said. Here are three of the most popular tricks used by fraudsters and how to avoid them. The scam : "Hi Mum, I've got a new phone" or messages about missed deliveries. Fraudsters send out mass messages suggesting that the recipient needs to update their details. It is just a way of harvesting vital banking details in order to steal money. In the case of the "Hi Mum" text, the message is usually followed by an urgent request to send money. Banks reported a surge in "Hi Dad" scams in the run-up to Father's Day. Messages about missed deliveries usually include a link which, when clicked on, take the recipient to an official-looking website. It is run by fraudsters and gathers banking information which is then used in so-called remote-purchase fraud - when criminals buy things from stolen card details. Some £423m was lost this way last year, according to UK Finance. How to avoid it : Type, don't tap. Experts urge people to avoid tapping on links. If a message claims to be from, for example, Royal Mail, then type out the genuine Royal Mail website. Card details can be stolen in many different ways, such as through data breaches. But fraudsters often need a One-Time Passcode (OTP) to complete a theft. These should be treated as carefully as bank details and never given to someone who calls pretending to authorise a transaction. It may seem obvious, but fraudsters are skilled in keeping you on the phone for ages to trick you into giving the number. The scam : "I love you, can you send money so I can visit you." The victim joins a dating website, chats to someone with whom they build a relationship over time, until eventually there is a request for money. On average victims of romance scams, which are at a record high, send 10 payments to the fraudster. Some never accept their loved one isn't real. The fraudster uses fake pictures, often taken from the profiles of people innocently posting on social media. After being groomed, victims are told of an accident, or the supposed partner needing help to pay for a ticket to meet up. How to avoid it : It isn't very romantic, but when meeting someone on a dating website put their picture in a reverse image search. Most search engines have that as an option, and it might show whether they are telling the truth about who they are. Experts also urge people never to send money to someone they haven't met, and to be open with family and friends over questions they may have about the "relationship". The scam : "This investment opportunity won't last for long," says a celeb, promising rapid and generous returns. But the celeb is AI generated by fraudsters. In some cases, criminals have even used the technology to mimic the voice of family and friends. Investment fraud losses are also at record levels. How to avoid it : Fraudsters always inject a sense of urgency, but taking time over any decision is crucial. A genuine financial firm should be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), so visit the regulator's firm checker tool . Contact details, such as the website, listed on the checker should be used rather than any links seen on social media which could lead you to a spoof site. There are more tips on how to protect yourself on the Take Five to Stop Fraud website. Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.

Disney's Toy Story 5 racked up the animated franchise's best ever opening weekend, with ticket sales of more than $300m (£227m) globally. Released on 19 June, the fifth installment of the Toy Story saga follows Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear as they face their toughest rival yet - a tablet computer . Its strong box office performance is a return to form for Disney and Pixar after a series of challenges in recent years. It is estimated to be this year's second-biggest opening weekend globally, after The Super Mario Galaxy Movie . That film is currently the highest grossing film of the year, taking in more than $1bn. Toy Story 5 grossed over $160m in North America and more than $150m internationally in its first weekend in cinemas With an estimated production budget of $250m, it will need to make at least twice that amount to cover the additional costs of marketing and other expenses. Disney's Pixar films have historically recouped their budgets - often comfortably - with many titles bringing in three times as much as they cost to make and promote. A handful of its films - especially sequels like The Incredibles 2 and Inside Out 2 - have crossed the $1bn mark. But some of the storied studio's more recent titles, like the alien adventure Elio and Toy Story spin-off Lightyear , have bombed at the box office. The Mandalorian and Grogu , Disney's latest big-budget Star Wars spin-off, has yet to double its $165m cost. Overall box office revenues have declined since the Covid-19 pandemic, as studios struggled to draw people back to cinemas as the industry has seen a shift towards streaming services like Netflix and Disney+. Big-budget blockbusters in particular have suffered, with many films underperforming at the box office. Still, the Toy Story series is one of Pixar's most lucrative franchises, having raked in more than $3bn at the global box office since audiences were introduced to Woody and Buzz in 1995. The original movie, set in a world where toys come to life, revolutionised the use of computer-generated graphics and propelled Pixar into the ranks of leading animation studios. The series' third and fourth instalments each made more than $1bn at the box office.

When 84-year-old Maggie Dodd discovered that the last remaining bank in her town was closing, she began to panic. "I was distraught," she says. "I mean I couldn't sleep that first night when I realised. I thought what am I going to do?" Maggie has been a customer at the Bank of Scotland in Lochgilphead since 1976. Now her nearest branch is in Oban, almost an hour's drive away (or 37.2 miles away if you prefer) and she's worried about banking online. "I'm frightened," she says. "There's so much of this scamming business, and I'm always worried that I'll hit something and press the wrong thing." That's why she has 'buddied up' with her 83-year-old friend Ina Callander to try banking at the local post office. "I've been using the post office for years," Ina says. "Maggie was really upset and I thought, why not help her? Because that's what friends are for." Lloyds Banking Group, which owns the Bank of Scotland, say the branch at Lochgilphead is no longer viable as most of their customers prefer to bank online. But BBC Your Voice was approached by residents in the town who are worried about the impact the closure will have on elderly and vulnerable people, as well as local businesses. Karen McCurry, who runs the wellbeing centre Snowdrop Argyll, set up the buddy scheme used by Maggie and Ina. She says: "I had people approaching me, telling me they weren't sleeping at night because the bank was going to close - and that's massive. "We always try to think of solutions and how to make things easier for somebody. "We can't change what's happening outside a lot of the time, but we can help somebody feel a bit better about it, a bit more confident." Adriano Pia, who runs the Argyll Café, says banks are needed because bank cards and cash machines aren't always reliable. "Even today we had two people whose cards aren't working," he says. "I've had times where I've had to tell people just to take it, so they don't go hungry because they're stuck," he says. A few doors along at the Community Shop, manager Scott McBride is worried about the impact the closure will have on the charity's insurance if they are not able to deposit their takings at the bank every day. "We either extend our insurance, and that comes at a cost, which ultimately comes with a risk as well, because we're then potentially holding more cash on-site," he says. Lochgilphead isn't the only place in Scotland affected by bank closures. Figures from the consumer watchdog Which? reveal 742 bank branches have closed across the country since 2015. The Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency has seen the most closures, with 30 banks shutting their doors in a decade. In Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber, 25 bank branches have closed. Argyll and Bute Council said their bid for a Banking Hub in Lochgilphead, where banks share facilities to provide to face-to-face services, was rejected. Link, the body which assesses cash access, said the area was already well served with free-to-use ATMs and the local post office. But Anna Dudziak, the sub-postmaster in Lochgilphead, says she can't offer as many transactions as a bank. "The problem is they're telling people to go to the post office, saying 'they can do it for you'," she says. "But at the same time, they set up limits for cash withdrawals, for cash deposits, for cheque deposits that we can't do for people. "Most people understand, but every day we have people really, really angry and they blame the post office." Dougie Philand, the Provost of Argyll, said he hopes Link will reconsider its decision on cash machines. "We, myself and the community council, will keep an eye on the difficulties that people are experiencing and at least we can give the evidence and be able to say 'look, we do need a banking hub here'," he says. The Lochgilphead bank is one of 28 Bank of Scotland branches closing this year. A spokeswoman for Lloyds Banking Group said it offers more ways to manage money than ever before. "In addition to our app, or over the phone, customers can use their local Post Office to manage their money alongside PayPoint locations to deposit cash," she said. "We're giving our customers the flexibility to bank wherever and whenever they need us." The UK government is carrying out a review into access to face-to-face banking, which is due to report in October.

Discount website Wowcher has apologised after a marketing email appeared to reference a crocodile attack on a toddler at a zoo. A three-year-old boy is understood to have been attacked by at least one crocodile after ending up in their enclosure during a family trip to Johnsons of Old Hurst near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, on Thursday. An email sent to Wowcher customers on Saturday featured a list of getaways and activities under the subject line: "Snap up these deals quicker than a croc can catch a kid!" Screenshots were shared across social media prompting outrage, with Wowcher later saying in a statement that it was extremely sorry for the "unacceptable" wording. The firm added: "It should never have been written, it was never approved for use. The responsibility sits with us and we are urgently reviewing how our processes failed. "We recognise the hurt and distress it has caused, particularly for the young child's family at this unimaginably difficult time." The little boy was pulled from the crocodile enclosure by zoo staff and is now in a critical but stable condition at Addenbrooke's Hospital. Following the incident, a 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and subsequently bailed because he was "unfit for interview". Police were called to the zoo at 13.24 BST on Thursday by the ambulance service and said the boy, who was not known to the man, had suffered serious injuries "while in the enclosure". Reacting to the email, one customer said they had "now unsubscribed" from Wowcher's emails, while another person condemned the message as "disgusting", adding: "If that's real someone needs to be fired." The screenshot was posted to a Facebook group under the caption: "Why do wowcher think its ok to use this as a heading on their emails??" The Wowcher spokesperson added: "We are reviewing all scheduled marketing content while we urgently strengthen our creative, approval and sign-off safeguards. "There is no excuse for this. We apologise unreservedly and will take the necessary steps to make sure this does not happen again." Do you have a story suggestion for Cambridgeshire? Contact us below. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds , Facebook , Instagram and X . Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.

They have a word for it in German – kohleausstieg, which means "coal phase out". Germany is the biggest user of coal for power generation in Europe, and the fourth largest in the world after China, India and the US. But it has pledged to stop using it altogether by 2038. For lignite, the low-quality soft coal that is the most polluting, Germany has even brought the phase out forward to 2030. Currently some 20% of German power generation comes from coal, but it wishes to end this as it focuses on growing wind and solar. In fact, Germany already gets more than half of its electricity from renewables, 59% last year. As back-up to wind and solar, especially for the winter months, it wants to replace coal with more natural gas power stations. These generally release half as much carbon dioxide as coal, and gas currently accounts for 13% of German electricity generation. However, the recent jump in global gas prices following the US-Israel conflict with Iran, has encouraged a number of countries to reconsider coal as an energy source. Japan has loosened rules to allow for the increased use of coal-fired power plants, Italy is delaying the closure of its remaining stations until 2038, and India has postponed maintenance shutdowns. But what about Germany? Back in March, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said: "We must supply this country with electricity. I am not prepared to jeopardise the core of our industry simply because we have adopted phase-out plans that have become unrealistic." Was this the start of a phase-out of the phase-out? Is Germany going to keep coal power after all? The problem for the German government regarding what the country burns to make electricity is a two-fold one of supply and price. Germany has an abundance of readily available, cheap lignite. It has the largest reserves in Europe and the third biggest globally. It is entirely self-sufficient in the fuel. By contrast, it has to import 95% of its natural gas supplies. So when the global cost of gas shoots up, switching back to the much cheaper lignite is financially very appealing. And Germany doesn't have to worry about supply shortages. Meanwhile, nuclear is not an option, as Germany closed the last of its nuclear power stations in 2023. Perhaps unsurprisingly, German energy firm LEAG, which is the country's second biggest miner of lignite, is upbeat at the suggestion that coal-powered energy power could get a reprieve. "We very much welcome the fact that the German federal government is placing not only medium, but also long-term, security of supply at the heart of its energy policy considerations," it said in a statement. It also highlighted that it increased supplies of lignite to compensate for the halting of Russian gas imports after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. "We already demonstrated our ability to quickly draw on reserves to return to the market when the situation demands it." By contrast, Hauke Hermann, a senior researcher with the Öko environmental research institute insists that more coal is not the answer. Instead, he wants to see a further increase in the use of renewables. For some in German industry, they just want a decision regarding gas or coal. "Our industry needs reliable energy," says Wolfgang Große Entrup, director general of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI). "Renewable energy alone cannot yet guarantee this… Companies will only invest billions if they can trust that energy will remain reliably available at competitive prices in the future." While practically no-one outside of the far-right AfD party is calling to scrap the coal phase-out altogether, some loosening of the phase-out is another matter. One possible compromise being put forward concerns six coal power stations that use imported hard coal, which is less polluting than the domestic German lignite. These are currently only used as back-up, to top up the national grid as and when required, such as during a cold winter. The owner of some of these power plants, Steag Iqony Group, says they should be allowed to operate all the time. "If they were temporarily allowed to resume regular production, they could deliver electricity to several million homes," says a spokesman for the company. "We think these plants should be used in order to strengthen security and affordability of supply." A parliamentary committee set up in March is studying this possibility. The difficulty for the German government is that it is a grand coalition comprising the centre-right CDU/CSU parties and the left-wing SPD. The former are more favourable to extending the use of coal, while the latter is against. The SPD's energy spokeswoman Nina Scheer warns that relaxing the rules for coal would be "counterproductive for the energy transition and mean new fossil lock-in effects". By contrast, the deputy leader of the CDU, and Minister-President of the German region of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, says: "Germany, as a major industrial nation, must do everything in its power to ensure that energy remains affordable." He adds: "The energy transition must be completely recalculated. It should not be a matter of cost, but rather a matter of realistically considering security of supply and affordability." The government must decide this year whether the 2030 deadline for lignite phase-out must be respected, or whether some capacity may be maintained for a limited period as a strategic reserve. And in August, the government will publish a statutory review of the coal phase-out which will include the impact it is having on energy supply, security and prices. The original purpose was to see if the Kohleausstieg could be accelerated. It is now quite possible that it will be used to slow it down.

Staff at Softstar Shoes in Oregon have discovered a newfound enthusiasm for eking out resources and growing profits. It started in January when the shoemaker became owned by its 30-strong workforce. Former sole owner and chief executive Tricia Salcido had decided to sell the business to the employees, because at age 56 she is starting to plan for her future retirement. Salcido, who for next few years is staying on as chief financial officer, says that colleagues are now offering lots of suggestions for how to best run aspects of the business. "I'm getting personal emails from employees saying, 'well, have you thought about this idea?'," she says. These are business insights that weren't forthcoming before!" Salcido is among a small but growing number of business owners in the US said to be choosing to entrust their ventures to employees, rather than sell to an outside buyer. One 2025 study said that up to 600 US firms are now being sold to their workers per year, with investment funds available to help finance the deals rising 78% to $865m last year from $500m in 2024, an indication of more businesses making the transfer. As well as motivating staff – who share in the risks and rewards of ownership – research shows that employee-owned companies can be more productive, less likely to make staff redundant, and that they pay higher wages. For Salcido, it was a way to preserve local jobs and prevent her firm's artisan shoemaking from being taken out of the US – which she was convinced would happen under a cost-cutting corporate buyer. "It's something you put your life's work into… most small business owners really care," she says. A huge number of other US entrepreneurs are in the same boat as Salcido – they are approaching retirement age, and therefore having to decide what to do with their businesses. The "baby boomer" owners of about six million American small and medium-sized companies will retire between now and 2035, says a report this year from business consulting firm McKinsey. Some commentators have dubbed this a "silver tsunami". McKinsey adds that this mass retirement will result in "a once-in-a-generation wave of ownership transitions". Ethan Rouen, associate professor at Harvard Business School, says: "I don't think a week goes by where I don't talk to an owner who is looking to sell their business." Their grown-up children often aren't interested in taking on the family venture, he adds. Rouen and his Harvard colleagues believe a switch to employee ownership could help many firms survive, and that such a move often appeals to owners who care deeply about their employees, and worry about what would happen following a sale to a larger company or private equity firm. That was the case for William Stockwell, who wanted to protect the future of Stockwell Elastomerics, the Philadelphia-based manufacturer of industrial components that his great-grandfather started in 1919. Stockwell made the decision to sell to his employees after seeing what happened to other firms that had been bought out. "The new [outside] ownership might move the business, they might shut it down, or drastically change it in other ways, and the people remaining are stuck," he says. There are a number of different schemes available in the US by which a workforce can buy their company. At Softstar Shoes they used an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). Under an EOT a trust is set up, which takes ownership of the business on behalf of the staff, removing the need for them to buy the business out of their own pockets. The trust then pays the former owner the agreed sale price of the business in instalments as a share of future profits. This means that Salcido has committed herself to a waiting game before she gets her money, with an element of risk on top – she needs the business to continue to be successful. "I carry the risk, in that if anything happens, I don't get paid," she says. But she has faith in her team to deliver. They also get a share of annual profits. Stockwell, who now works part-time for Stockwell Elastomerics, opted for a slightly different method of transferring ownership to the staff – an Employee Stock Ownership Plan or ESOP. This also sees the business placed under trust ownership, but instead of staff sharing the annual profits, they get shares which they can only cash in when they leave the company. Meanwhile, the retiring owner also must wait for his or her money. "I'm accepting payments over 10 years," says Stockwell, who acknowledges he is making a "short-term financial sacrifice". ESOPs are the most common method by which firms are handed over to their workers in the US. In 2023, the most recent year for which data is available, there were 6,609 companies under such ownership structure. These employed 10.9 million people, and held combined assets of more than $2tn (£1.5tn). A third method of staff taking ownership is through the creation of a worker co-operative, whereby workers purchase a share of the business. Harvard's Rouen says employee ownership doesn't just appeal to older founders looking to preserve what they have built over many years. Younger workers, "disillusioned" by traditional, unequal corporate structures, are also attracted to the model. "The only way to truly create wealth in this country is through ownership of capital. And this is a way to democratise that," he says. However, EOT and ESOP schemes are undoubtedly more complex to set up than a simple, traditional sale of the business, which may put off some owners. As does the longer wait for their money, and the increased risk. Adoption is also hampered by a lack of awareness that the schemes even exist. "No one's heard of them," says Salcido at Softstar Shoes. In central Pennsylvania, Paul Silvis is in the process of selling his manufacturing business SilkoTek Corporation to his employees. He says he is confident that he has made the right decision. "I'm getting ready to ride off into the sunset at some point," says the 71-year-old. Stockwell cautions that retiring business owners who want their staff to take over ownership need to start planning early for a process that could take years. "It's not something you want to begin the year you want to retire," he says. Rouen says that, thankfully, there is now political will in Washington to simplify the process of employee ownership, as the US government has started to encourage it. The Department of Labour has a new Employee Ownership Initiative, which aims to both promote the practice and offer advice. He adds that there is also bipartisan support in Congress "to figure out ways to make [selling up to staff] an easier and more realistic option for business owners." As a result, "my hunch is that we will see more successful employee ownership conversions in the next few years."

A desert plant changed the life of Masapalli Venkatesh. His 10-acre farm in Kandukur is on the Deccan Plateau, which covers a large part of southern and central India. There he grows tomatoes, peanuts and corn. But in 2010 he was approached by traders looking for a very different crop - the cactus agave americana. For him and his fellow farmers the agave cactus was just a "stubborn, valueless weed" - planted as fencing to keep wild animals off their crops. But it is also part of the family of agave plants that feed the $15bn (£11bn) global market for tequila and mezcal. In Mexico, blue agave is farmed to supply the tequila industry. Only plants from select areas, mainly in the state of Jalisco, can be used to make tequila. Unlike in Mexico, where vast plantations dominate the landscape, nobody grows agave commercially in India - at least not yet. Instead, Indian farmers and entrepreneurs collect and process agave that grows wild. For some, like Venkatesh, it's a welcome source of extra income - earning it the name "blue gold". These days Venkatesh ranges across an area of 100km (60 miles), co-ordinating villagers and farmers. "By combining the yields of multiple farms, I ensure a steady, high-volume supply that distilleries are willing to pay a premium for," he says. Harvesting agave plants is a skilled job. The most important part of the plant is the heart, known as the piña because it resembles a giant pineapple. Skilled workers reveal the heart by chopping off the spiky leaves. But getting the timing of the harvest right is crucial. Once the plant decides to bloom, it channels its entire reserve of accumulated sugar upward into the stalk in a matter of days. If the flower blooms, the sugar is completely depleted, making the piña useless for alcohol production. "Gatherers must accurately identify the exact pre-blooming window to harvest the plant at its absolute peak sugar capacity, making the timing of the harvest incredibly narrow," says Rakshay Dhariwal, founder and managing director of the distiller Maya Pistola Agavepura. Once harvested, the clock starts ticking. The piñas must get to a pressure cooker within 24 hours, where the sugars can be extracted. "Any transport delay can risk ruining the batch. If it takes longer than 24 hours, the internal sugars begin to rot and ferment unpredictably, destroying the delicate flavour profile needed for premium spirits," says Dhariwal. And transportation is not straightforward, as agave suppliers are scattered across vast distances in states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh. "Brands like us cannot simply order from a centralized farming cooperative. We rely on networks of local aggregators to scout, negotiate for, and harvest individual patches of semi-wild agave growing on marginal lands or rural property boundaries," he says. It's all helping to meet a rising demand for agave spirits. According to Dhariwal, the Indian market for agave spirits is growing at a rate of 31%. "It's only been a few years now, that India's finally caught the tequila bug," says Vikram Achanta, co-founder of 30 Best Bars India. "Producers are beginning to experiment with it seriously, and there's a consumer base today that is far more open to exploring new spirits than before," he says. Agave drinks are unlikely to replace whisky, India's favourite spirit, he says, but they could carve out a market. "New brands are interesting examples of early experimentation, especially in how they're working with wild agave from the Deccan Plateau and beginning to shape what an Indian agave identity could look like. It's still early days, but they're helping move the category from curiosity to something more credible," he adds. Desmond Nazareth is a pioneer in the Indian agave spirit industry. His company, Agave India, launched India's first homegrown agave spirit in 2011. "What started as kitchen experiments eventually became India's first craft agave distillery after nearly 12 years of research and experimentation," he says. "We were making Indian agave spirit long before the market was ready for it. It was a craft business way ahead of its time." Now he's taking a scientific approach to developing the industry. "We have taken satellite images of areas where agave already grows successfully, then matched those environmental patterns with nearby regions to identify more suitable land. That's important because agave grows for 9–13 years. If you plant in the wrong area, you lose a decade," he says. With growing demand is there a danger that India's wild supplies of agave will become depleted? Not for at least five years, and probably longer says agricultural expert, Miguel Braganza. He points out that India's domestic industry is still tiny, with just one plant for processing agave hearts, which belongs to Nazareth's Agave India. Also, the wild agave plant is very good at propagating itself. "When you look at a wild agave, you aren't just looking at a single plant. Beneath the soil, the mother agave is incredibly busy. Throughout her 10-to-20-year life, she secretly sends out long root-runners into the earth," says Braganza, And those roots are the source of future plants. "Every few feet, a mini-clone of herself pops out. Those baby plants grow their own roots and become independent plants, slowly forming large agave colonies over time. So one plant can naturally turn into dozens of plants across an area without any human help," India's wild supply of agave plants is far from ideal, points out Indian entrepreneur Sree Harsha Vadlamudi. Unlike farmed plants the wild plants are "geneticially inconsistent" he says. "That means sugar yields fluctuate... and that means alcohol output changes. So standardizing production becomes difficult. Mexico solved this over decades through selective breeding. India hasn't yet," he says. Vadlamudi co-founded tequila brand Loca Loka. It uses Mexican blue agave from the tequila heartland of Jalisco. "We wanted to leverage the rich, iron-heavy red soil left behind by ancient volcanic eruptions in Jalisco, Mexico. This unique terroir imparts a distinct flavour profile to the agave that cannot be replicated by growing the same seeds in Indian soil," Vadlamudi says. Mexico's large, organised agave farms are a sharp contrast to India's informal system. Those big, rich farms can afford hi-tech farming techniques. Some combine drones and AI systems to monitor their crops. "Drones scan thousands of hectares to accurately count individual crops, assess plant health, spot early signs of disease, and monitor the growth of the piña to predict the absolute perfect window for harvesting," Vadlamudi says. Such investment is still a long way off for Indian producers. Nazareth accepts that building a significant agave spirit industry will take time. But he's confident. "India could absolutely become a major agave economy. The Deccan Plateau alone has millions of acres suitable for cultivation. We could theoretically rival Mexico if there's long-term vision and patience."

With US consumer confidence at historic lows, it's a tough time for retailers across the country. But in and around New York City one niche sector is expanding – candy stores. Mitchell Cohen, the third-generation owner of Economy Candy, on Manhattan's Lower East Side, has a theory – people will still buy candy (or sweets, as they are called in British English) – when economic times are difficult. "The dollar isn't going as far these days," he says. "Inflation, uncertainty, all that, but there's always candy." The business, the oldest sweet shop in New York, first opened its doors in 1937, towards the end of the Great Depression. Initially it was a hat and shoe repair store, with candies sold from a cart out front as an extra earning stream. But people couldn't afford to get things repaired, Cohen says. So his grandfather entirely pivoted to what was still selling – the affordable sweet treats. Eighty-nine years later, Economy Candy is still going strong. While the most recent official data shows that US retail sales are still growing, up 4.9% in April from the same month last year, US consumer sentiment hit a new all-time low in May, according to one closely-watched report. Echoing the thoughts of Mitchell Cohen, Kate Bolger says that as candy has a low price point "everyone can partake" despite people feeling the economic pinch. Next month she is due to open The Village Confectionery, a candy store in Sleepy Hollow, the Hudson Valley town 28 miles north of New York City that is best known as being the setting of the 19th Century horror short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Bolger, who previously worked as a movie producer, says that while consumers may be putting off making big, expensive purchases, they can still treat themselves to a piece of candy. It is an extension of the so-called "lipstick effect" economic theory that was popularised in the early 2000s, whereby people who couldn't afford to buy something really expensive would buy a little luxury item instead. Back in New York City, an upmarket candy store company called BonBon now has five shops across Manhattan and Brooklyn, and another in the Hamptons on Long Island that opened last summer. The business, founded in 2018 by three Swedish expats, imports its product range from Sweden. Swedish confectionery, which has strict rules regarding the use of all natural ingredients, has in recent years seen a big rise in global popularity thanks to social media. BonBon co-founder Leo Schaltz says that a key company rule for its shops is to avoid main avenues. "You wouldn't want to be on Broadway," he says. Instead the firm goes for side streets, where the rents are lower, and takes over small units. "You don't want to overpay for rent, and it's easier to make a space feel cozy when it's smaller," he says. Schaltz adds that BonBon also focuses on "little, quirky details", such the staff wearing uniforms inspired by a Stockholm restaurant. This summer it is due to open a branch in Greenwich, Connecticut. Meanwhile, Swedish sweet shop chain Candy King, opened its first US outlet in Manhattan last December. In Brooklyn, Cat Cirino launched her sweet shop, Candor Candy's, in the Fort Greene neighbourhood in March. To boost revenues she also sells pantry items such as granola, rice, soft drinks and beef jerky, all from independent producers. But when it comes to her core product, selling candy has a number of benefits, such as it having a long shelf life, and being able to sit at room temperature. And if the shop follows the pick-and-mix model then the customer does a lot of the work on his or her own. But as Cohen points out, it is not all plain sailing. With many confectionary supplies coming from overseas, he says that his wholesale prices have risen. The increases come due to President Trump's numerous import tariffs on other countries, and higher global transport costs as a result of fuel prices rising due to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Cohen notes that a Hershey chocolate bar that cost his shop about 62 cents pre-pandemic now comes to more than a dollar. For while Hershey's is a famous American brand, the cocoa beans it is made from come from overseas. He adds that one of his UK suppliers simply stopped shipping to the US after losing too much money in customs. Despite these issues, Cohen says he has absorbed most of the cost increases, and that his sales are up. In these tough economic times, he says "a little candy goes a long way".

I've come to an industrial space in a tech-heavy area of San Francisco expecting to see a menacing humanoid robot solider doing something combat-like: the future of land-based warfare, perhaps. Instead, the black shiny faceless Phantom robot is engaged in "free play", manipulating a bunch of coloured kids blocks. "We need data from it just interacting with its environment…[and] this is today's menu," explains Sankaet Pathak, co-founder and CEO of two-year-old start-up Foundation Robotics, which is developing Phantom for military and civilian applications. Later he pushes its 80kg steel-covered body around the room to demonstrate its stability and shows me how it walks. While many companies are building autonomous humanoid robots for factories, homes or companions, Foundation claims it is the only US firm developing them specifically for a broad range of defence applications. That includes support roles like supply pickup, reconnaissance, recovery of equipment or casualties, and hazard inspection. But also, more controversially, warfighting to engage and neutralise threats – which Pathak calls "frontline weaponisation". Arming robots could keep human soldiers out of harm's way, he argues. They could enter and search buildings, where chokepoints can be lethal. They could also reduce collateral damage. Land-based autonomy can be more precise than striking targets autonomously from the air, he says. That is all well in the future for Foundation's Phantom. The company's first-generation model, Phantom MK-1, which I am shown, doesn't have a battery, isn't dust or waterproof and can't get back up if it falls. Its hands – still a major robotics challenge – lack strength and dexterity, and it has no proper wrists yet. A second-generation model is being built in another off-limits part of the facility. Not only will Phantom MK-2 be element proof, says Pathak, but a large battery will provide about six hours of runtime, and it will be able to recover if it falls and withstand more force. Better hands are crucial. The robot's next set will move in far more ways, with wrists that help it to fire weapons, Pathak says. Foundation's goal, Pathak adds, is to produce at least 40,000 units a year by end of 2027 with costs in the long term less than $20,000 (£15,000) each. Pathak argues that China is pursuing the technology and the West needs to keep up. He envisions hundreds of thousands of AI-driven humanoid robots forming a ground force, matching the growing use of autonomous drones in the skies. A fleet of humanoid robot soldiers could be a major deterrent to conflict, he says. Foundation has $24m (£18m) in research contracts to pilot its technology with the US military as well as two units currently being tested by the Ukrainian military. The US military pilot is limited to handling rather than firing weapons, Pathak says, though weaponisation is part of the testing in Ukraine. The company attracted attention earlier this year after Eric Trump, the US Presidents' son, became an investor and advisor . Foundation is also an opportunity for Pathak to prove himself - Synapse, the financial services firm he co-founded and led, filed for bankruptcy in 2024 . But are humanoid soldier robots what the military needs, how hard are they to build and what ethical issues do they raise? The military is clearly interested, says Dean Fankhauser at Robozaps, a humanoid robotics advisory firm that runs a marketplace for commercial systems. He points to a current US Army contest for humanoids that could eventually support soldiers across a wide range of tasks. It is "completely inevitable" says Fankhauser that a company would see a business opportunity in weaponising the technology. There are plenty of simpler robots – namely drones and even some ground robot systems – used to carry explosives, missiles and other payloads, with battlefield use especially visible in Ukraine. Some firms have also been working to weaponise dog-like quadruped robots, though we haven't seen them too much in active warfare yet notes Fankhauser. But other legged robot companies have drawn a line opposing weaponisation , citing risks of harm and ethical issues. Pathak disagrees with that, arguing it is dangerous that more firms aren't following Foundation's lead. Humanoid robot soldiers make sense, he argues, because the world is built for humans. From screwdrivers to weapons, there is no need to reinvent existing tools. Humans should be "in the loop", approving any use of lethal force before the system can act, Pathak says, though he makes exceptions where firing autonomously might be necessary to avoid a catastrophic outcome and sees scenarios where human authorisation is less critical. Perhaps the biggest challenge, and one faced by all companies building humanoid robots, is developing artificial intelligence that can operate in the real world and cope with unpredictable and complicated situations. Phantom is directed by an AI system called Cortex, and a new version is also in development. The idea is that Phantom is given a goal – such as moving supplies or mapping the inside of a building – based on a task it has been trained specifically to carry out through demonstrations using videos, images and text. It then navigates its environment using cameras in its helmet that provide 360-degree vision, allowing its AI system to assess the surroundings and adapt its movements. In Cortex, says Patak, two types of AI models work together. A "reasoning model" trained on task-specific examples interprets the goal and formulates Phantom's action plan. A broader "world model", trained on internet videos as well as data gathered from the robot interacting with the physical world – including its "free play" with blocks – predicts how the environment will respond, helping Phantom move safely and execute actions. Yet not everyone is convinced the humanoid form factor is the most effective. Other robots, such as quadrupeds, can navigate terrain more quickly and efficiently, says Fankhauser of Robozaps. He also notes, based on what he has seen in the commercial space, humanoid technology still has a long way to go. Today's commercial humanoid robots can barely handle warehouse packing let alone open a door, says Fankhauser. "If there was a war in Taiwan today, the likelihood that China is going to militarise these humanoids and fight effectively is fanciful," he adds. While Chinese robots have produced some impressive displays , they have taken place in highly controlled or structured environments – the antithesis of real-world warfare. Though Fankhauser adds things might be different in another five or 10 years. Robert Griffin works on humanoid robots at the non-profit Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, whose activities include military-funded humanoid projects focused on non-combat applications. One of its spin-out companies was later acquired by Foundation for part of its core technology. Griffin sees value in humanoids in reducing risk to human soldiers, but also says unpredictable environments remain a major hurdle. Getting a robot to jump through a window of unknown height, land on uneven ground, and immediately navigate an unfamiliar interior is hard. "You get an impression of human-level capability by seeing the human form… but [these autonomous systems] don't know how to handle open-ended uncertainty yet," says Griffin. Human soldiers have easily foiled AI systems by doing what is "out of the ordinary", like somersaulting or putting cardboard boxes over their heads , he adds. The practical issues also aren't easily solved. Runtime is a problem "plaguing every humanoid company" Griffin says – locomotion and moving joints are power consuming. Six hours would be "very impressive". Whether Foundation can build hands capable of manipulating a weapon designed for a person remains open. "[The company is] setting extremely hard challenges for their engineering team to either meet or fail at," he says. Meanwhile, ethical concerns loom large. Lethal autonomous weapons, whatever their form, lower the barrier to warfare, dehumanise conflict and blur accountability, says Nicole van Rooijen, the executive director of Stop Killer Robots, a global coalition of non-governmental organisations. But she also finds the humanoid form "extra worrying". Human-like machines may appear familiar and trustworthy as their civilian use grows, increasing the risk people misread danger. The answer to the current technological arms race, she argues, is international rules to de-escalate it.

Former US Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan has died aged 100, his wife has said. NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell said in a statement reported by her employer that her husband had died from complications of Parkinson's Disease. Mitchell's statement said Greenspan was "a giant of a man who helped shape the US economy for decades under presidents of both parties, but was always honest in acknowledging his mistakes". For nearly 20 years, Alan Greenspan was charged with safeguarding the US economy and keeping the dollar sound. As chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987-2006, a post described as the second most important after the presidency, he presided over the longest sustained period of US economic growth in a generation. Described as the "God in the machine" of American finance, Greenspan declined all requests for interviews during his time at the Fed. But the media and the money markets hung on his few public statements, and a sign in his office said simply, "the buck starts here". But critics argue that an over-reliance on easy credit fuelled the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and caused the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2008. The Fed said Greenspan's policies and economic thinking "left a lasting mark on this institution, on the broader field of economics, and on the country". In a statement on Monday, the central bank said: "He brought rigorous analytical discipline to monetary policymaking and helped establish the credibility that remains one of the Federal Reserve's most important assets." The Fed said his legacy lives on at the institution through the economist he mentored and inspired as chairman. Alan Greenspan was born in New York City on 6 March 1926. His mother, who worked in a furniture store, brought him up single-handed. Far from being a budding economist, the young Greenspan was a talented musician, who studied the clarinet at New York's renowned Julliard School of Music. He played in a band with Stan Getz, the legendary jazz saxophonist, before touring the country with the Henry Jerome Band. This peripatetic lifestyle gave him a valuable practical insight into the workings of US business. And while his fellow musicians spent their evenings smoking marijuana, Alan Greenspan busied himself by swotting up on economics and doing the band's accounts. At the age of 19, he enrolled as an economics student at New York University, where he became an apostle of the free market, and eventually found employment as an economic consultant and, later, as a member of the board at JP Morgan. In 1952, Greenspan met the right-wing novelist and social philosopher Ayn Rand, whose views were to have a profound influence on him. She called him "the undertaker" because of his liking for dark, sombre suits. But the young economist came to support her belief that society functions most efficiently when people actively pursue their own self-interests, to the exclusion of the interests of society as a whole. In an article he wrote in 1966, he declared "the welfare state" as "nothing more than a mechanism by which governments confiscate the wealth of the productive members of a society". Having successfully predicted the Eisenhower recession, Greenspan advised Richard Nixon during his successful presidential election campaign in 1968. He went on to become head of the Council of Economic Advisers. Greenspan later wrote that he found the president to be "sadly paranoid, misanthropic and cynical", but the economist's success at curbing inflation impressed Nixon's successors. Gerald Ford asked Greenspan to continue at the Council of Economic Advisers and - in the early 1980s - Ronald Reagan chose him to lead an inquiry into the reform of the America's state pension system. In August 1987, Reagan promoted him to chairman of the US Federal Reserve, and - for the next two decades - he became one of the most powerful men in the world. He was thrown in at the deep end. His astute handling of the October 1987 stock market crash, which saw more than 30% wiped off share prices, earned Greenspan many plaudits. His statement of confidence in the underlying economy calmed frayed nerves, and his facilitation of cheap credit helped keep the banks afloat. It was an approach used again and again, whenever the markets had a crisis. Later dubbed "quantitative easing", such upheavals included the 1980s savings and loan crisis, the first Gulf War, the Mexican peso crisis and - shortly after he had retired - the global credit crisis in 2008. Greenspan was renominated as chairman of the Federal Reserve by George H.W. Bush, although the president later complained that a sluggish economic recovery had put paid to his chances of re-election. Surprisingly, Bill Clinton - a Democratic Party president - also asked the driest of monetarists to stay on in post. But his decision was rewarded as, under Greenspan's direction, there followed a golden era of growth in the late 1990s. Greenspan later praised Clinton in his memoir for the president's "consistent, disciplined focus on long-term economic growth" - while complaining that some Republican administrations simply lost control of public spending. Away from work, the rather grey-looking banker was a skilled and enthusiastic tennis player. An early marriage to a Canadian artist lasted less than a year, and Greenspan dated TV star Barbara Walters, before marrying NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell in 1997. The same year, the spectacular fall of the South East Asian "tiger economies" tested him again. By cutting US interest rates, he indicated his belief that the situation would recover and, in doing so, aided the world economy. Much the same happened when many dot-com companies, overpriced by investors, failed to live up to their hype and folded in March 2000. The market, said Greenspan, had exhibited "irrational exuberance". The Federal Reserve raised interest rates and then cut them rapidly after consumers vastly reduced their expenditure. But Greenspan was blamed for the low interest rate culture that had allowed the dot-com bubble to grow in the first place. The Nobel laureate Paul Krugman was one critic. "He didn't raise interest rates to curb the market's enthusiasm," Krugman complained, "he waited until the bubble burst... then tried to clean up the mess afterwards." After the 9/11 attacks on America, he slashed interest rates to help prop up the US economy and urged George W. Bush to remove Saddam Hussein, in case the Iraqi dictator caused chaos on the global energy markets. In 2006, Greenspan stood down as chairman of the Federal Reserve after an unprecedented five terms in office. A year later came a downturn in the US housing market that the Federal Reserve had failed to predict. The sub-prime mortgage crisis went on to bring down banks and trigger the worst global economic downturn since the Great Depression. Critics said Greenspan's policy of low interest rates after 9/11 had fuelled a sharp rise in house prices and over-enthusiastic selling of mortgages by banks. It was also said that his aversion to the regulation of banks - and their practice of using complicated financial instruments like derivatives to insure their lending - made the problem worse. In October 2008, Greenspan admitted that he had put too much faith in the free-market and had given insufficient attention to the dangers of sub-prime lending. He said he'd believed that the financial industry could be relied upon to "self-regulate" because it would always be in its best interests to do so. In testimony to Congress, the former Federal Reserve chairman confessed that the banks had proved his free-market, anti-regulation views wrong. "I have found a flaw. I don't know how significant or permanent it is. But I have been very distressed by that fact." Alan Greenspan will be remembered as the man who - more than anyone else - shaped the modern US economy. For twenty years, a series of presidents and many ordinary Americans viewed him as a financial guru, and a talisman against bad times. In the course of his extraordinary career, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington and an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II. He remained a sought after economic adviser and media pundit into his late 90s. He was no fan of President Trump's first administration, describing his populist approach as a "shout of pain" that would do little to raise living standards. He also criticised Britain's decision to leave the European Union, calling Brexit the "worst outcome". Fast approaching the age of 100, he popped up on television warning that the Biden administration was raising interest rates too fast in 2023. He celebrated his centenary in March 2026. With his air of Olympian detachment, Greenspan will be remembered for his long stewardship of the US economy, during which GDP contracted only once. Although, for his critics, his reputation was dented by his philosophical antipathy to regulation, and two great market crashes.

South East Water (SEW) has announced a new chief executive designate after its previous boss resigned. The heavily criticised water company said that John Halsall will take over from David Hinton, pending regulatory approval. Halsall has previously worked for Thames Water, South West Water and Network Rail. The announcement comes as SEW remains under fire for repeated water supply failures in Kent and Sussex and grapples with major infrastructure issues. Halsall said that his priorities were "responding to customers' immediate concerns" and delivering on short term improvements. In the longer term, Halsall said that he would deliver the company's largest ever investment programme of £2.1bn to "improve reliability and resilience". He added: "I look forward to working with our customers, community partners, regulators and colleagues to rebuild trust in South East Water, drive the improvements the business needs to deliver and make the changes people want to see." Reacting to the appointment of Halsall, Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin said: "Bringing in leadership from outside the organisation is the right decision. fter years of managed decline, fresh leadership and ideas are urgently needed. "I hope this marks a genuine turning point for the company." Tens of thousands of SEW customers lost water supply or had low pressure in incidents in November, December, January and May. Regulator Ofwat recently proposed fining the firm £22m over issues affecting 286,000 people in Kent and Sussex between 2020 and 2023. Halsall's predecessor Hinton – who earned £400,000 and was awarded a £115,000 bonus last year – will leave SEW after a handover period. A SEW annual report shows it has £1.3bn worth of debt. SEW raised its prices by an average of 7% from April, bringing the average yearly bill to £324. Follow BBC Kent on Facebook , X , and Instagram , and listen to BBC Radio Kent on Sounds . Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.

Russian-backed authorities have suspended fuel sales to the public in the occupied region of Crimea as Ukraine continues its attacks on the peninsula. Fuel had already been rationed due to shortages caused by Ukraine's recent campaign against supply routes in Russian-occupied territories. Governor Sergey Aksyonov said individuals and businesses would be turned away from petrol stations, and fuel would only be sold to government agencies ensuring Crimea's "functioning and security". Earlier, he said four people had been killed and 28 injured by a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil depot in Kerch overnight - which President Volodymyr Zelensky called a "just response to Russia's brutal attacks". Crimea - which Russia illegally annexed in 2014 - has been experiencing logistical difficulties and shortages, but this appears to be its most significant fuel restriction so far. "Further decisions regarding the current situation in the republic's fuel market will be announced at a later date," Aksyonov said. Zelensky said Kyiv had also hit a logistics facility for oil transportation in Russia's Krasnodar region, which lies adjacent to Crimea across the Kerch Strait. Local authorities said one person had been killed on a passenger ferry. Military logistics facilities and radar systems were also struck, the president said, without specifying where. "Russia understands only strength, and our long-range strength is certainly working for peace," he said in a statement posted on X. Zelensky added at least seven people had been killed in Russian attacks over the weekend, with children among more than 30 injured. Russia's defence ministry said 239 Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight. Crimea is a strategically important location from which Moscow's forces have launched strikes towards the rest of Ukraine. It is also a popular summer holiday destination for Russians - some of whom have reported struggling to find petrol to return home . Both sides have escalated attacks in recent months as progress towards a ceasefire has stalled more than four years on from Russia's full-scale invasion. Kyiv's focus has been to choke off revenue for Moscow's war chest by hitting its fuel export. But it also wants to undermine the Russian war effort and maximise disruption for its population, in the hopes of applying pressure on President Vladimir Putin and bringing him to the negotiating table. So far, however, there is little sign he is ready to talk, having rebuked Zelensky's request for face-to-face talks in early June. In the four years since Russia's invasion began, Ukraine has developed a booming defence sector. It has rapidly developed its mid-and long-range drone capabilities and is now offering advice and expertise to allies around the world. But this success is a double-edged sword. For every strike that gets through - and embarrasses Putin - there is an inevitable reply. Specks of black oil rained down on Moscow on Thursday after Ukraine struck an oil refinery in its largest attack of the full-scale war so far. The people of Kyiv and beyond are now bracing themselves for Russia's response.

From the rooftop terrace of a hotel, Fede Fuster looks out across Benidorm, at the nearby high-rise buildings and the town's famous, sweeping beach. "With all its virtues and its defects this is a place we feel proud of," he says. "It's a place of opportunities." Fuster is the president of the local tourism association, and his family was one of the first to build a hotel in this Mediterranean city, in the 1950s. Benidorm's population is still only 77,000, but it swells to around five times that number in the height of summer, due to its status as one of Spain's prime tourism draws. Since the Covid pandemic left resorts like Benidorm virtually deserted and the Spanish tourism industry at a standstill there has been a remarkable recovery. Foreign arrival numbers into the country have broken records each year, and totalled 97 million in 2025. Currently the world's second-biggest tourist destination, just behind France, Spain is expected to consolidate its recent success in 2026. "I think this is going to be a great year," Fuster says. "I'm optimistic, we're talking about reaching 100 million tourists in Spain. If we keep growing like this we're going to be number one [in the world] very soon." Industry experts had originally expected 2026 to see more modest growth. But the outbreak of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran has made Spain an attractive alternative compared to Middle Eastern holiday destination Dubai, and countries in the eastern Mediterranean, such as Turkey and Cyprus. "In these moments of crisis, of [military] strikes or wars, the bookings always increase," says Fuster, who recalls a similar phenomenon in 2011, during the turmoil of the Arab Spring, although he insists he would prefer to compete with other countries without this advantage. "Any time that you have a crisis in the [eastern] Mediterranean or the Middle East, Spain is seen as a secure place to go," says Francisco Femenia-Serra, a lecturer in geography at Madrid's Complutense University. He explains that "part of the tourists that would normally go to Turkey or Egypt because of the [low] prices, for instance, might end up in Spain". Spain's official tourist arrival figures appear to bear this out. The country received 9.1 million international visitors in April, a new high for the month. This was 5.2% more, or 450,000 additional people, than April 2025. Meanwhile, Dubai International Airport saw its passenger numbers drop by 66% in March as flights and bookings were significantly reduced due to the Iranian situation. With tourism directly contributing 13% of Spain's GDP, the industry has been a crucial component in the country's growth of recent years, which has outstripped that of France, Germany, Italy and the UK. One cloud on the horizon is the possible impact of rising fuel costs, which could end up curtailing Europeans' foreign travel. The other major concern for the Spanish industry is more domestic - growing anger among local residents at the impact tourism is having on their home environments. "Tourism was always accepted as a positive economic sector for Spain," says Femenia-Serra. "That changed from 2016, 2017, with the label of over-tourism being put on some cities, like Barcelona. "And now, most young Spaniards under 45 have a different image of tourism. They see it as a sector that obviously has a positive impact but also some negative outcomes in their lives." Since 2024, Barcelona and many other tourist hubs, along the Mediterranean coast, in the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, have seen summer protests against perceived excessive visitor numbers. A Europe-wide YouGov poll published in September 2024 found that 28% of Spaniards had a negative view of foreign tourism, by far the highest percentage of any country. The report also found that two-thirds of Spaniards sympathised with the protests. Locals' grievances include the congestion caused by visitors in city centres, their environmental impact and, above all, the idea that they are exacerbating Spain's housing crisis. A new wave of protests at the country's soaring rentals has begun in recent weeks, with tourism often closely associated with the problem. In a bookshop in the centre of Valencia, a group of local tenants meet regularly to discuss their housing-related problems with representatives of the Sindicat de Llogateres (Tenants' Union) activist group. Many of those who attend have seen their rentals increase sharply when landlords have revised their contracts. "We have on the one hand the tourist accommodation market and on the other the residential market," says Jordi Vila, a representative of the Sindicat de Llogateres. "When it comes to renewing rental contracts, the owners of properties no longer think about setting rents according to local salaries, but rather the salaries of people visiting from abroad, which might be three or four times higher. So local people end up getting pushed out of their homes." He points to Barcelona, further up the Mediterranean coast, as the epitome of this phenomenon, describing the centre of the city as "a kind of theme park" where the proliferation of tourist accommodation has displaced locals. In the northern region of Asturias, graffiti has been daubed in recent days on holiday rental properties, with the slogan: "Your business, our ruin." While organisations such as the Sindicat de Llogateres continue to campaign, the left-wing coalition government has also identified tourist accommodation as a problem. In 2025, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned that "there are too many Airbnbs and not enough homes". In December, his government fined the holiday rental platform €65m ($75.5m; £56m) for advertising unlicensed apartments. Local governments have also announced measures both aimed at curbing the growth of holiday accommodation and managing the large numbers of tourist arrivals. Some city halls are restricting the granting of tourist-flat permits, and Barcelona has said it will revoke the licenses of all its 10,000 short-term apartments by 2028. It has also announced a doubling of the city's tourist tax to eight euros for those arriving on cruise liners for short-term stays. Local activists applaud such measures yet demand more be done. The tourism industry, however, is concerned. The Exceltur tourism association has called for "the reparation of the links between the tourism sector and local residents". The holiday apartment sector, meanwhile, has pointed to a report by PwC on the Barcelona licence-revocation plan, warning it could undermine the city's competitiveness and cause the loss of thousands of jobs. Femenia-Serra says that cities are still searching for satisfactory formulas. "We have measures that try to alleviate the impact that tourism has and that try to distribute tourists in cities in a different way," he says. "But we still haven't seen a single measure that is effective in reducing the number of tourists." In Benidorm, as he ponders what looks likely to be another record-breaking summer for Spain, Fede Fuster acknowledges the backlash against his sector. "We say we are the industry of happiness," he says. "But we also have to realise that we impact the normal life of citizens. "The way we welcome people and we care about them and our happiness, the way we live, I think that's something the tourist really appreciates – that's the key," he explains. "That's why we have to work a lot in these places, mostly in cities, where there is a feeling of not welcoming tourists. It's very important for us because if we lose that, we're dead." Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.

Vayu Hill-Maini's lab has created a new cheese, or at least something that tastes like cheese, but is actually made from food waste. The bioengineer, who runs a lab at Stanford University in California, is experimenting with fermentation using fungi. "One of the most amazing things that we found recently is that we could take waste and add a few other ingredients in a fungal fermentation and create this delicious cheese that is like a Pecorino or Parmigiano," he says. Fermentation is a biological process whereby organisms convert carbohydrates like starch or sugar into substances like alcohol, without using oxygen. Perhaps the best-known examples of fermentation are in baking and brewing, where yeast breaks down sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide. But it's not just wheat flour, or barley that can fuel fermentation, all sorts of substances are suitable - in biology those fermentation hosts are known as substrates. With the latest biotech tools, companies are taking by-products of the food industry, that are currently discarded or have little value, and using fermentation to turn them into something useful. UK-based Fermtech is transforming cocoa shells, which are normally thrown away, into a cocoa powder substitute, using fermentation. "If you were to sniff a bag of cocoa shells, you would be really struck by the intense chocolatey nature of it," says Andy Clayton, Fermtech's CEO. He says it's a shame that by-products of the food industry are composted or burnt, rather than using microorganisms to break down the hard bits of the plant and make it bioavailable for humans, while retaining the flavours. Utilising a broader palette of substrates can save money, help the environment, and expand flavour. "We're kind of like flavour miners," says Clayton says. Take peas. Protein makes up about a quarter of a pea, and pea protein has become an increasingly popular source of plant-based protein. What then to do with the other three-quarters of the pea? That makes "a perfect substrate for fermentation," according to Bosco Emparanza, the CEO of Spain's MOA Foodtech. His company gathers data on environmental conditions and available substrates, and sequences the genomes of microorganisms appropriate for the food industry. With that data, MOA has trained an AI to work out what combinations of substrates and microorganisms would achieve the best yields. Emparanza marvels at the speed of such AI-driven fermentation design. "When we started the company, we were able to develop one bioprocess in two weeks," he says, referring to the use of living cells to generate a product. "Nowadays, the platform can develop 300 bioprocesses per hour." Using that tech, MOA Foodtech discovered the best microorganisms to make use of the leftover starch and fibre in the pea protein industry. Those byproducts would normally get sold at rock-bottom prices for animal feed, for instance, or possibly even discarded. MOA Foodtech is working to put those byproducts back into the human food chain. Germany's MicroHarvest has developed a confidential process which speeds up the fermentation process. MicroHarvest uses byproducts of the sugar industry, such as molasses, which isn't typically eaten in Germany. Rather than the sugar industry turning this over to farmers to feed cows, MicroHarvest is working with sugar makers and pet food producers to convert side streams into premium pet food. Katelijne Bekers, the CEO and co-founder of MicroHarvest, describes the cat snack Vegcat as having an umami taste without the bitterness of some plant-based proteins. Singapore's Mottainai Food Tech also has a mission to use unconventional and underappreciated ingredients, which can be nutritious and widely available throughout Asia. The inspiration for the name comes from the Japanese term mottainai, which laments waste - think of the phrase "waste not, want not" and you have the sentiment. The company has produced a meat substitute called Jiro Meat based on okara, a soy pulp typically discarded after making tofu and soymilk. Mottainai also recently started a plant-based tuna project. They've experimented with different microorganisms to minimise off-flavours and maximise desirable flavour compounds such as umami or sweetness. Singapore has a supportive environment for these kinds of food experiments. "In five years' time, we hope to be able to have a wide range of ingredients" drawing on the company's fermentation platform, says Daryl Pek, a cofounder of Mottainai Food Tech. Back in Stanford, Hill-Maini's lab is working on precision fermentation. This involves genetically engineering microorganisms, such as moulds, to produce a specific material in a fermentation process. Precision fermentation can efficiently adjust the aesthetics, aroma or flavour of a food, but also its digestibility. For instance, Hill-Maini says that some waste products are rich in cellulose, which humans can't digest. But as they grow, fungi can break down the cellulose and convert it into protein. "They become kind of a bioconversion machine where they can remove some of those complicated molecules that the human gut cannot digest and convert them into more digestible substances." Hill-Maini believes that his lab's work inspires others to think differently about food waste. But he doesn't want this work to stay in the lab. They have a chef in residence and an R&D culinary innovation kitchen to ensure that their food experiments are as appealing to potential consumers as possible. Of the recently developed Pecorino-like cheese, the lab used a Neurospora mould, but would not say what waste was used as a substrate. That's secret until they publish a paper about their work. But he's excited about the new "cheese". "You can grate it, it's salty, it has a nice texture, it can be added to pasta. And it's just really cool to see… the fermentation can help it become delicious."

The rising popularity of lab-grown diamonds has caused a big fall in the price of the mined gems. In the West African nation of Sierra Leone the country's biggest diamond mine has closed. Stripped to the waist, men toil in the heat of the sun. The mud in the pit is sifted and shovelled. Daniel, the foreman in this remote, informal, small-scale mine in Kono, the diamond region of Sierra Leone, shows me the gravel he's picking through with his fingers. "We put it in water and we wash it," he says. "If there is anything like a diamond or any bright stone, we can see it." Daniel and five others are searching for just tiny fragments, but pickings are thin. "I have not made a lot of money yet," he says. "Sometimes for the whole of the year you can't get anything. "It is by the grace of God that you find a diamond. We are just dreaming, really. We still have that hope." Such informal mining has increased in Kono following the closure last year of the country's biggest diamond mine Koidu Holdings. It shut with the loss of 1,000 jobs after a bitter industrial dispute over the miners' pay. Officially the company says it closed due to the cost of the dispute and security concerns, but privately, insiders also acknowledge that the weakness of the global market also played a role. In just the past four years, the retail price of polished natural diamonds has fallen some 40%. The main driver has been the rapid growth of the so-called lab-grown diamond industry. These factory-made diamonds, produced from crystalised carbon, are chemically and physically identical to mined diamonds. Manufactured mostly in India and China using two different technologies – HPHT (high pressure high temperature) and CVD (chemical vapour deposition) – they cost a fraction of the price, up to 70% less. Kono's governor, Augustine Shekho, says the big fall in the global price of natural diamonds has hit the region hard over the past five years. "Lower diamond values have reduced earnings for miners, constrained investment, and weakened local economic activity." Diamond mining has been the lifeblood of this part of West Africa since the 1930s. Thirty-five years ago it became the focus of a brutal, long-running civil war in Sierra Leone, immortalised by Leonardo Di Caprio in the 2006 Hollywood film Blood Diamonds. Kono was a target because of its diamond wealth. Shekho described multiple atrocities committed in the region, including the killing of his own mother, as armed factions traded control. "They shot at random, they killed people, burnt the entire town," he says. "All houses were mined. "It was a war of terror... She, my mother, unfortunately, was the victim of that… It was a nightmare. I would really not want to think about it." It's estimated that by the end of the 11-year conflict, more than 50,000 people had died, and hundreds of thousands more were maimed or displaced. In 2003, a United Nations-backed international diamond certification scheme, the Kimberley Process, was launched in order to prevent conflict stones from entering the mainstream diamond market. But the industry has struggled to contain the reputational damage. "To me the diamonds have failed us," says Abubakar Amara, a primary school teacher in Kono. "What have those diamonds done for our community, for Kono, for Sierra Leone? We are considered as poor in the world." The British multinational, De Beers, which specialises in the mining and marketing of diamonds, is eager to change the narrative. In Sierra Leone, it's launched a project called Gemfair, where local artisanal miners are offered equipment, training, and more transparent pricing for their finds. You might call it a kind of fairtrade scheme for diamonds. "The idea is to connect with markets so that they can be able to find a place to sell their diamonds, and also to empower them, give them training, we give them skills," says Raymond Alpha, Gemfair's local representative. But for De Beers, perhaps its most important function is reputational, allowing retailers to tell the origin story of every diamond they sell. "We are seeing a growing interest from consumers," says David Johnson, a De Beers representative. "With people increasingly wanting to know where their coffee, cotton or chocolate has come from, it's not surprising that people also want to know where their diamond – one of the most emotionally significant purchases – has come from." While this increased traceability could win mined diamonds more customers, others say that the lab-grown alternatives are only going to continue to grow in popularity. Rohit Mehta, chief executive of Forlink Ventures, a commodities house based in India's lab-grown diamond capital, Surat, says these diamonds are not just cheaper, but also more ethical and better for the environment. "People are more conscious about climate change, about extracting too much from the earth," he says. But the argument that lab-grown diamonds are "green" doesn't sit well with everyone. Unlike natural diamonds, the lab-grown variety are hugely energy-intensive, requiring vast amounts of electricity to produce a single rough carat. "These reactors run at the temperature of the sun," says Stanley Mathuram, a US-based environmental consultant who's studied the growth of the lab-grown diamond industry. "They're like data centres. That's the kind of energy that they require." However, that concern about energy consumption does not appear to be putting off buyers. The global lab-grown diamond market was valued at $29.5bn (£21.9bn) last year, and is tipped to grow to $91.9bn by 2034, according to one study. The lab-grown figure for 2025 is already above the $20bn that De Beers estimates is the total, international annual value of natural, mined diamonds used in jewellery. In the US, engagement rings with lab-grown stones now account for 61% of all sales, according to the 2026 Real Weddings Study by wedding planning website The Knot. The report said this was a more than two-fold increase since 2022, with lab-grown diamonds by far the most popular choice. It said the shift was "driven by economic pragmatism and evolving values, with 40% of couples stating it is specifically important that their stone be lab grown". Doug Meadows, co-founder of David Douglas Diamonds, a jewellery retailer in Atlanta, Georgia, says that people are going lab-grown as it means they can afford a bigger stone. "It's all about the stone. They're going for the biggest bling that they can afford. Years ago, it used to be the diamond was the expensive part. "With the advent of gold jumping up to $4,500, $5,000 an ounce, now the mounting is becoming a lot more expensive, and the diamond is becoming the cheap part." Meadows adds that he is sympathetic to the idea of promoting natural diamonds, with a story rooted in the soil, and the experience of poor miners in West Africa. But it's a hard sell. "To try to educate a consumer about the value in a natural diamond, it is a new challenge. I don't know how we do it yet, I'm hoping the industry can give us an idea." Back in the diamond belt of Sierra Leone, Daniel discards another sieve-load of gravel. "Unfortunately there is no diamond here," he says, head bowed, gazing into the blue-grey mud of the pit. "I will try my luck again," he adds as he resumes digging.

When AI engineer Malcolm was working at a data analysis firm, executives wanted to use generative AI to categorise the customer database into a range of personas. "Don't use AI," was his advice. A traditional machine learning model would have been much more appropriate, he argued, producing consistent, repeatable results. And it would have been much cheaper. "They still went ahead with Gen AI," says Malcolm (we have not used his real name). What is AI and machine learning? That meant a process that was less accurate and much more expensive, but it also allowed the organisation to say they were embracing AI. Malcolm's experience will be familiar to staff at other companies. More bosses are embracing AI and insisting their staff use it. In February, global consultancy Accenture reportedly told staff that promotions to top roles would require "regular adoption of AI tooling" and it would be tracking their usage of the AI platform it has developed. And in May, rival firm KPMG said it had developed a dashboard to track whether its US employees' meet a 75% usage target for its AI tools. The company says this is part of "a holistic effort… to help people move up the AI maturity curve." Other organisations are taking a less targeted approach to implementing AI but nevertheless expect it to transform how their workforces spend their days. Governments are also hoping to tap into some AI magic. The UK government is banking on AI to help "rewire" the state and boost efficiency across Whitehall. However, research by the civil servant union, the FDA, shows that while civil servants were open to the idea of using AI to improve productivity, there's doubt that management can handle the transformation . Less than a third of civil servants had been consulted on how the technology could be rolled out, the union found, meaning "change is being done to workers, not with them". FDA general secretary Dave Penman said the rollout was "inconsistent across departments which limits the productivity gains". If organisations are quick to highlight AI adoption, says Dan Boyles, CEO of consultancy Hello AI Collective, they're not always clear on why they're adopting it and how they expect to benefit. "I was with an oil and gas company, and I sat with the C-suite, and I just went 'what's the reason for using AI?' And none of them could agree." The firm's CEO cited the need to keep up with competitors, Boyles continues, while the head of sales said they wanted to make more money, and the marketing team wanted to stop using outside contractors. This sort of confusion at the top can mean AI investments fail to deliver on expectations. "I think the wreckage is organisations not getting the ROI [return on investment] from it that they were expecting and not getting their people engaging with it," says a senior consultant at one large consulting firm, who did not want to be named. In his firm, everyone had access to two AI tools, but could request specialist tools for specific tasks, such as coding. If their job demands it, "some of our people will have access to four or five, AI, tools". Organisations needed to consider the people side of the equation, he continues. "There are generational differences in terms of confidence levels with regards to this. There are potentially gender differences." And before anyone in his organisation can have access to a tool, he says, they must take mandatory training covering AI ethics and risks such as bias. This training also makes clear that AI tools can be sycophantic and hallucinate, he adds. The pre-existing culture in an organisation can make or break an AI rollout, not least because AI tends to accelerate things for better or worse, says Caroline Rawlinson, CEO of Culture Amp, which tracks employee experiences and feedback. The firm says that while nine out of 10 HR professionals expect to increase their use of generative AI, a third said "say no one currently owns AI strategy at their companies". "If you're putting AI technology on top of a fragmented culture or a fear-based culture, it is not going to succeed," says Rawlinson. "At best, it becomes a very slow roll out as people don't understand what they're being asked to achieve or the tools that they're being provided with. At worst, it ends up as quite a big, wasted effort." In the case of the oil and gas company Boyles was helping, the president eventually said: "I want to increase my operating earnings because I want to sell [the company] in years." That motivation was the key bit of information for Boyles. His team could then go to each department, talk through their processes and technology, identify bottlenecks, and work out where AI could actually help.

Hot pepper sauce in Caribbean cuisine is as pervasive as ketchup in the US. The fiery flavouring is a staple of dining tables regionwide, the obligatory accompaniment for everything from rice and peas, to curries and stews. And as international palates continue to heat up to the potent taste, a growing number of brands are exported to North America, Europe and Australia, appearing on the shelves of major supermarket chains, from the US's Walmart, to the UK's Tesco, and Woolworths in Australia. But a shortage of the particular chilli pepper used to create the quintessential Caribbean condiment is threatening to stifle supply, while sending costs for the region's producers soaring. A confluence of extreme weather, disease and pests is making core ingredient Scotch bonnet peppers particularly hard to source, manufacturers tell the BBC. The temperamental little, yellow fruit with its susceptibility to heavy rain and viruses can be tough to grow, while devastating hurricanes in Jamaica, a prime producer of Scotch bonnets, delivered a further blow. Last October's Hurricane Melissa – the strongest in Jamaica's history – walloped the island's agricultural sector, while it was still recovering from Hurricane Beryl the year before. "We were hugely limited, and we did have to cancel orders," says Sean Garbutt, of Associated Manufacturers, which makes Jamaica's popular Walkerswood sauces and seasonings. Walkerswood exports more than 95% of its products – two-thirds of it to the US. Last year alone, the company sent overseas the equivalent of 500 20ft (6m) long cargo containers. The primary factor hindering expansion "is always produce", Garbutt continues. "After Beryl, many farmers switched to sweet potato because it's much hardier and the price per pound is better. "Our number one pepper sauce, which unfortunately is the hardest for us to maintain and control, is our Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce, made from our Jamaican yellow peppers. "It requires fresh peppers as we don't add colouring. We crush them and within a week we need to cook them to get that vibrant colour that people like. The weather is always a challenge," Garbutt says. Heavy rains can also impact the taste. Walkerswood is known for producing some of the fieriest sauces. "We might get a call from someone who says they really enjoyed our pepper sauce, but it wasn't as hot as it normally is. We have to explain it's due to too much rain," Garbutt says. Many Jamaicans are fiercely proud of the island's Scotch bonnets, which are something of a cultural cornerstone and a central feature in its cuisine. "We joke that other countries don't know how to season their food," smiles Drew Gray, whose grandfather founded Gray's Pepper more than 50 years ago. "Hot sauce is on the table of every cook shop and every restaurant. It's almost an affront if it's not there," he says. "We definitely have a high heat tolerance, which I think makes our cuisine unique. We have a heavy hand when it comes to seasonings, especially Scotch bonnets, which we add to everything." As one of Jamaica's largest buyers of the fruit, for Gray's Pepper the shortages have been onerous. "Climate change is affecting the Caribbean the hardest," says Gray. "Back-to-back hurricanes wiped off most of the crop so product has been scarce, and farmers are increasingly hesitant to replant. "Needless to say, prices rose. Right after Melissa, Scotch bonnets went up maybe 10-fold, which was crazy. Over the last two years, there's been an overall increase of about 40-50%." One way to navigate the impact is by keeping stocks high year-round, Gray says. "Going into Beryl we had around six months of inventory, and about the same for Melissa. It's a strain on cashflow, but it allows us to weather the storms. If it's not hurricanes, it's adverse weather patterns. Scotch bonnets are very sensitive to overly wet weather as they get funguses." Around two-thirds of the family-owned company's business is exports. "Our premises were also damaged by Melissa because we were where the eye passed over. But we were able to get back up and running with orders going out within two weeks," Gray says. "My motto is, we need to produce no matter what. Because we are able to carry inventory, our exports haven't been affected. At the end of the day, the big chain stores don't care if you have a hurricane, they just want the product." The Jamaican government has been working to help farmers get back on their feet. That included supplying Scotch bonnet seeds to 650 growers. "Peppers, particularly Scotch bonnets, are facing myriad challenges right across the Caribbean," says Dwight Forrester, of Jamaica's Rural Agricultural Development Authority. "They're highly susceptible to viruses and pests like gall midges. But they are one of our flagship products and are a household name in Caribbean stores and Caribbean restaurants worldwide. We export 40% of what we produce," Forrester explains. Many of Jamaica's peppers are sold to neighbouring Caribbean islands. In Antigua, the shortage of Scotch bonnets has been felt by manufacturers including Homebrew Hot Sauce. "Sometimes we have to defer or reduce orders," explains company owner Ensly Smith. "We might tell a supplier we can only give them two of the four cases they ordered, for example. "When peppers are in abundance we stock up. When Hurricane Melissa hit, we had close to 600lbs [272kg] in storage so we were able to stay afloat." The six-year-old company, which Smith describes as a "pandemic experiment that blew up into something profitable", occasionally sees its hot sauce bought by the caseload by visiting tourists. "People are definitely warming up to it. Caribbean sauce tends to be a little thicker and I think has more flavour than those from North America. We take a lot of pride in our spices and local seasoning," he adds. Another Antiguan producer, Novella Payne, who cooks up a range of sauces, syrups and jams under her Granma Aki label, agrees. To avoid the high prices of Scotch bonnets, she also uses locally grown Moruga scorpion peppers, which are native to Trinidad. "They give it a nice flavour," she says. As the warmer months are now arriving - peak season for both Scotch bonnets and storms - hot sauce manufacturers are keeping their eyes on the weather as well as their profit margins. Some have seen success by using high-yielding, hybrid red chilli peppers which have shown resilience to disease. Walkerswood, which has created its own farm through a partnership with the Jamaican government to grow a variety of crops for its products, is also funding genetics research to create a resilient strain of classic yellow Scotch bonnets. "Lots of countries grow red chillis, but our yellow peppers are special," Garbutt adds. "I'm a purist at heart and I think our Scotch bonnets need to be properly protected."

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Motorists in the UK are already seeing cheaper fuel prices after the US and Iran agreed to end their war, with further falls expected in the coming weeks. When the conflict began on 28 February, fuel costs jumped as the war significantly disrupted the production and transportation of energy across the Middle East. However, in recent weeks they have dropped and the framework deal reached between the US and Iran has sent them to their lowest point since the first days of the war in early March. Motoring group the AA said it expects pump prices to fall further and "the timing is perfect for the start of the summer holidays". Crude oil is a key ingredient in petrol and diesel, which means that higher wholesale costs make filling up a car more expensive. Analysts say every $10 (£7.53) increase in the oil price pushes up pump prices by roughly 7p a litre. Since the war began, the price of a barrel of Brent crude – the global benchmark for wholesale oil prices – has been very volatile. Before the conflict, Brent was about $70 a barrel, but the conflict saw it peak at above $120. The price has been slipping in recent weeks and after the framework deal was signed it fell to around $76 a barrel on Thursday, before rising to just under $80 on Friday. According to the RAC, the price of petrol reached an Iran war peak of 159.53p a litre on 28 May, while diesel's highest price during the conflict was 191.54p a litre on 15 April. Since 28 May, the price of petrol has come down by 4.8p to 154.7p a litre, with diesel reducing by 10.3p to 174.3p a litre. The RAC says it now costs £85.05 to fill up a 55-litre family car with petrol – £12 more than it did on 28 February - and £95.86 for a tank of diesel – £17.56 more than at the start of the conflict. The RAC's head of policy, Simon Williams, said: "Even more positively, the rate of reduction ought to accelerate as the price of a barrel of oil has been under $80 for the last two days – something we haven't seen since the start of March. He said the price of petrol could fall below 150p a litre over the next week. Diesel is likely to fall to under 170p, he added. "If Brent crude stays at this level or reduces further, the longer-term picture at the pumps should get even better," said Williams. Despite the conflict, petrol and diesel prices remained below the levels reached in the summer of 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when petrol reached 191.5p a litre and diesel hit 199p. Because transporting oil is a slow process, price movements in the wholesale markets take about a fortnight to show at the pump. Fuel retailers have denied accusations of price gouging during the conflict. The official markets regulator said it had "not seen evidence of retailers actively changing their pricing strategies to take advantage of the crisis". A government scheme called Fuel Finder lets drivers compare the cost of fuel offered by petrol stations across the UK. Luke Bosdet, the head of policy at the AA, said the group had been surprised at the speed that prices had fallen and put it down to the scheme. On 20 May Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said a planned 5p increase in fuel duty due in September would be postponed until 31 December because of the conflict. Bosdet added that despite price falls, road fuel is "still very expensive" compared with pre-pandemic levels when petrol was about 120p. The Middle East conflict sent global oil prices soaring as it effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's key water transport routes for oil, liquid natural gas and other essential commodities - limiting global supplies. About 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes through the waterway. Analysis by BBC Verify showed that only a handful of ships have passed through the strait since the conflict began – in normal circumstances around 138 vessels make the crossing every day. However, experts warn a return to normal levels of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will take time, and the impact of the war will continue to affect the global economy for potentially months to come. The UK is heavily reliant on oil and gas imports, with the majority coming from the US and Norway. The price of oil on the global market determines how much the UK pays for it. Although the UK does get some oil from the North Sea, most of that is exported for refining elsewhere. You can also send us your questions by following this link