UK inflation stays at 2.8% as slowing food prices offset rising transport costs
Posted on Wednesday June 17, 2026

May’s figure confounds forecasts of an increase to 3% as Bank of England prepares to set interest rates

• Analysis: benign data signals a softer hit than feared

• Business live – latest updates

UK inflation unexpectedly remained at 2.8% in May, as rising energy costs caused by the Iran conflict were offset by slower increases in food prices.

The unchanged reading on the consumer price index measure of inflation (CPI) confounded economists’ expectations of a 3% increase as the conflict restricted global energy flows – and raised hopes that the impact of the war on prices might be more muted than feared.

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AO boss blames Labour as it shifts UK call centre roles abroad
Posted on Wednesday June 17, 2026

About 150 jobs have already been lost in Bolton as the retailer reports 145% rise in profits and hands £20m to shareholders

The online electrical goods seller AO World has revealed it is outsourcing up to 200 UK call centre roles to South Africa blaming rising labour costs, as it handed £20m to shareholders.

As the retailer reported a jump in profits, it said it was shifting the majority of call centre jobs overseas “in response to ongoing inflationary cost pressures, and particularly rising employment costs”. It expects to save about £4m a year as a result of the change.

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Jaguar Land Rover to make more hybrid cars in US sales push
Posted on Wednesday June 17, 2026

Drive to appeal to wealthy Americans is part of pivot away from previously announced all-electric strategy

Jaguar Land Rover has said it will make more hybrid cars as part of an effort to focus on growth in the US, as Britain’s largest carmaker further rowed back on the transition away from fossil fuels.

The manufacturer told investors on Wednesday it would offer petrol and hybrid versions of new models, including smaller SUVs that had previously been planned to shift to all-electric sales.

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‘Tax break tart’: hospitality tipped to exploit summer VAT cut on children’s meals
Posted on Wednesday June 17, 2026

As bosses ridicule the chancellor’s scheme, one venue is offering a £25 ‘kids’ menu of snails and anchovy butter toast

Restaurants and pubs are expected to devise “enterprising” schemes to exploit a tax break on meals for under-18s, after one venue launched a menu for “kids” featuring wild burgundy snail salad and anchovy butter toast.

Rachel Reeves last month announced a temporary cut in VAT on children’s meals from 20% to 5% between 25 June and 1 September, part of a “Great British summer savings scheme” to support struggling venues and ease pressure on families.

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France to ditch Palantir’s AI data tools in favour of domestic provider
Posted on Tuesday June 16, 2026

Move to ChapsVision is to avoid ‘strategic dependencies’, says PM amid concern about reliance on US-controlled tools

France’s domestic intelligence service is to ditch AI data tools from the US tech company Palantir in favour of a domestic provider in an effort to avoid “strategic dependency”, the prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has said.

“We must use our own AI models; we cannot accept new strategic dependencies in ‌the digital sphere,” Lecornu posted on social media. “We cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers. France must have its own tools.”

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SpaceX overtakes Amazon to become world’s fifth most valuable company
Posted on Tuesday June 16, 2026

Elon Musk’s firm briefly reached $2.97tn valuation days after its IPO following purchase of AI coding startup Cursor

SpaceX has overtaken Amazon to become the world’s fifth most valuable company days after its stock market debut.

The milestone came as Elon Musk’s company agreed to buy the startup behind the AI-powered coding app Cursor for $60bn (£44bn), in an attempt to capitalise on the technology’s success as a coding tool.

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Portugal v DR Congo: World Cup 2026 – live
Posted on Wednesday June 17, 2026

⚽️ Kick-off: 12pm local time/1pm EDT/6pm BST/3am AEST
⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail Daniel

Email! “Let’s not forget that Cristiano Ronaldo, in an alternative World Cup not driven by profit, would be serving a three-game ban now for violent behaviour,” remembers Justin Kavanagh. “But Infantino has learned to honour the time-traditions of the host country, where laws are just for little people, inapplicable to the rich.”

Yup, as the story below illustrates. I guess in the context of the competition, the decision to let Ronaldo off has been largely ignored because there’s so much worse going on, but it is a stain on the competition’s sporting integrity.

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England v New Zealand: second men’s Test, day one – live
Posted on Wednesday June 17, 2026

• Test starts 30 minutes late due to morning rain

• Mark Ramprakash on Ben Stokes | Sign up for The Spin

If the blazer fits… Joe Root tosses the coin and Tom Latham calls… incorrectly. A cheer goes up around the Oval as Root confirms he’s going to unleash his green pace attack.

“I want to make first use of this surface. I think it’s a great opportunity for our attack to get out there and carry on the great work we did last week” he says.

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