Global bond sell-off intensifies as US-Iran tensions stoke inflation fears
Posted on Wednesday September 02, 2026

UK borrowing costs driven up, adding to challenges facing John Healey as he prepares for first budget

The global government bond sell-off resumed on Wednesday, driving up the UK’s borrowing costs and exacerbating the challenges facing John Healey as he prepares his first budget.

The yield – effectively the interest rate – on 10-year UK government bonds, or gilts, jumped to just below 5.3% in early trading: its highest level since mid-2008.

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Uber to cut 3,300 corporate jobs in management overhaul
Posted on Wednesday September 02, 2026

Company says it is slashing 10% of its workforce to make operations ‘simpler and faster’

• Uber drivers launch European class action over ‘soulless’ and ‘scary’ AI algorithm

Uber plans to cut its global workforce by about 10% as part of a major restructuring, slashing about 3,300 corporate jobs.

The boss of the US-based ride-hailing app, Dara Khosrowshahi, told staff Wednesday that the changes would create a “simpler and faster” business by cutting layers of management and merging teams. Uber also plans to ask more employees to work in the office.

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BP seeks to end years of boardroom turmoil with appointment of new chair
Posted on Wednesday September 02, 2026

Ian Tyler, already in role on an interim basis, is tasked with shifting strategy to refocus on fossil fuel extraction

BP has appointed a new chair after a months-long search triggered by the controversial ousting of Albert Manifold, seeking to draw a line under years of boardroom turmoil at the UK oil and gas company.

Ian Tyler, who has served as the interim chair and has sat on the BP board as a non-executive director since April 2025, will assume the role on a permanent basis immediately.

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Taxing the banks: what Europe’s windfall levies brought in as Burnham eyes his next move
Posted on Wednesday September 02, 2026

Ahead of a crucial budget, four countries’ experiments offer a mixed verdict on how to tax bumper profits

The countdown is on. Two months out from Andy Burnham’s inaugural autumn budget, bank executives are wringing their hands over whether the government will target their bumper profits with fresh taxes.

The chancellor, John Healey, is reportedly considering a windfall tax on both banks and oil companies in the late October Westminster setpiece.

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‘Not perfectly aligned’ with human values: Anthropic admits security failures behind AI hacking incidents
Posted on Tuesday September 01, 2026

US owner of Claude chatbot previously said its models had hacked three organisations during testing

The US startup behind the Claude chatbot has admitted a series of hacking incidents involving its models reflected a “failure of operational security” and said it has tightened its testing procedures.

Anthropic revealed in July that its models had accessed the open internet three times and gained unauthorised access to the systems of three organisations.

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Freelancers are getting buried with ‘soulless’ AI slop cleanup: ‘It’s a shame we need to do it’
Posted on Wednesday September 02, 2026

As more companies turn to AI, they’re hiring freelancers to clean up its mistakes rather than create original work

Lisa, a freelance graphic designer based in Spain, noticed a shift in her work after the release of ChatGPT in 2022. She went from receiving slow one-off jobs creating logos and packaging to an onslaught of requests asking her to fix versions that were generated by artificial intelligence – from sharpening fuzzy images for printing to turning flawed designs into usable files.

By 2025, Lisa, who asked not to be fully named to avoid solicitations, said 90% of her incoming logo and packaging design requests required cleaning up AI-generated content, work that accounted for 60% to 70% of her annual income. But the grind was exhausting. Clients lowballed her;' some AI-generated designs were so flawed that she had to recreate them from scratch and she worried about being complicit in AI-driven copyright infringement. By the end of the year, she began turning those jobs down.

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US Open tennis 2026: Sabalenka, Tiafoe and Shelton advance on day four – as it happened
Posted on Thursday September 03, 2026

Sabalenka made quick work of Iatcenko in the second round, while Tiafoe, Tsitsipas, Pegula and Muchova were among the other notable winners

And Nakashima breaks too – he’s hitting it hard off both wings and I wonder if he’s in the process of finding a new level. The first few times I watched him, I thought he had a bit of something and, real talk, I thought he’d be better by now than he is. But I really like what I’m seeing from him and, as we know, progress isn’t always linear.

It’s a good start for Medvedev, Gorzy – who saved five match points in round one – tamely ceding serve to 15.

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Premier League money has lost all meaning amid chaotic spectacle of excess | Barney Ronay
Posted on Wednesday September 02, 2026

The transfer window has broken all rational rules and limits, leaving us to marvel and, ultimately, pick up the bill

There was a research study a few years back into a key period in the life of the TV show Location, Location, Location. You know the one. Half an hour of mid-morning drift. Hosted by two people whose common quality is they both look as if the minced essence of Wellington boots, the Volvo XC40 and the phrase “picky bits” has been reconstituted into human shapes, then sent out to judge people for buying houses.

The big reveal was always the bit where they came back a year later and saw how much the value had shifted. Because all conversations about houses are, in the end, an excuse to talk about money. Oh wow, it’s gone up by £20,000. You are good. Oh no, you’re now bankrupt and your flat looks like a hostage cell with fairy lights. Unlucky. You are bad.

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