Iran war and high living costs fuelling last-minute holiday bookings, Tui says
Posted on Wednesday August 12, 2026

Middle East conflict has cost Europe’s largest travel firm €60m so far, and timing of decisions over trips has shifted

Holidaymakers are waiting until the last minute to book their trips because of the continuing uncertainty caused by the war in Iran and the cost of living crisis, according to Tui, Europe’s largest travel company, which said the war had cost it €60m (£51m) so far.

In the weeks after the outbreak of the war at the end of February, Tui recorded a temporary drop-off in customers wanting to travel to Cyprus or Turkey, in what the company called a “volatile market”.

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US inflation cooled slightly to 3.4% in July but prices still elevated
Posted on Wednesday August 12, 2026

Energy is cheaper than at its peak in late April, but gas is still nearly $1 a gallon more expensive than before the Iran war

US consumer prices cooled slightly in July as the annualized inflation rate dipped down to 3.4%, though prices still remain higher than levels seen before the war with Iran.

Though inflation decreased 0.7% in June during a brief ceasefire between the US and Iran that brought energy prices down, consumer prices have remained elevated. Price increases hit a three-year high in May, with annual inflation reaching 4.2%.

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Panama canal fees soar due to Iran war and El Niño as ship ‘pays $4m to jump queue’
Posted on Wednesday August 12, 2026

Falling water levels linked to weather system are expected to limit number of slots to transit shipping lane

Commercial ships travelling through the Panama canal are facing a rise in costs amid disruption triggered by the Iran war and falling water levels linked to this year’s intense El Niño weather system.

Highlighting the fragility of global trade, a container ship reportedly paid about $4m (£3m) to jump a queue of vessels waiting to pass through the vital maritime choke point.

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Great Britain braced to pay millions for backup electricity during solar eclipse
Posted on Wednesday August 12, 2026

Event expected to curtail solar power just as summer’s fifth heatwave increases use of air conditioning and fans

Great Britain is braced to pay millions for backup electricity supplies to prevent a shortfall on Wednesday evening as the near-total solar eclipse is expected to wipe out solar power generation.

The government’s electricity grid operator is expected to make multimillion-pound payments to secure electricity at short notice before the moon blocks up to 95% of the sun over parts of the country, the most dramatic solar eclipse visible in Great Britain since 1999.

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AI agents aren’t legally responsible for any harm that they cause, experts say. So who is?
Posted on Wednesday August 12, 2026

Following Australia’s first reported automated hacking accident, experts warn deployers – and possibly developers – of AI agents could be held liable for the actions of their bots

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The law is clear, says Prof Jeannie Paterson. “If I deploy an AI agent and it causes harm to someone else, I am responsible for that harm.

“Even if I didn’t intend for that to happen, it was foreseeable, and I should be taking responsibility.”

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AI was supposed to destroy jobs. Where’s the carnage?
Posted on Wednesday August 12, 2026

The AI jobs apocalypse never showed up. Still, jobs are changing and economists expect more to come.

The prediction was stark: artificial intelligence advancements would wipe out jobs en masse. “Half” of all entry-level white collar jobs would vanish, Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, said in May 2025. A month later, OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, went further, foreseeing the end of “certain job categories”. Companies began citing AI in their layoffs. Workers organized. And students reconsidered their future careers.

But a year later, the mass carnage hasn’t shown up.

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‘Be adults’: Joe Root gets rid of England Test team’s midnight curfew
Posted on Wednesday August 12, 2026

• ‘I don’t think they work,’ says returning Test captain

• Root takes charge for three-match Pakistan series

Joe Root has abolished the midnight curfew for his England Test side, telling his players to “be adults” after a string of late-night incidents.

A curfew was imposed on the England men’s teams after their Ashes defeat in the winter, when the on-field action was overshadowed by players’ behaviour off it. Most notably there was Harry Brook’s altercation with a nightclub bouncer on the eve of a one-day international in Wellington, with the batter admitting he was fortunate to keep his position as white-ball captain.

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Premier League 2026-27 preview No 6: Chelsea
Posted on Wednesday August 12, 2026

After a period of underachievement and upheaval for the Blues, the arrival of Xabi Alonso could signal a change in fortunes

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 3rd (NB: this is not necessarily Billy Munday’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 10th

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