UK watchdog to look at Paramount’s $110bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery
Posted on Tuesday June 09, 2026

Deal to create a streaming and sports powerhouse will be scrutinised by Competition and Markets Authority

The UK competition watchdog has opened an investigation into Paramount Skydance’s $110bn (£82bn) takeover of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).

The deal will create a media powerhouse controlling assets including the Paramount and HBO Max streaming services, Channel 5 and TNT Sports, which broadcasts Champions League, Premier League and the Olympics, the Hollywood studios behind franchises including Superman, Batman and Top Gun, as well as HBO, home to shows including Game of Thrones, The White Lotus and Succession.

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UK’s biggest retailers urge government to act on youth unemployment
Posted on Tuesday June 09, 2026

Bosses of M&S, Sainsbury’s and Tesco among those writing to Starmer that the ‘ladder of opportunity’ is wobbling

• We would like to hear from young people in the UK about their job-hunting experiences

Some of the UK’s biggest retailers are planning to write to the prime minister urging him to tackle the youth unemployment crisis, with signatories expected to include the bosses of Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

Lobby group the British Retail Consortium said it had drafted a letter to Keir Starmer calling for action, and is circulating it among its 200 members, which include all the main UK retailers (with the exception of Games Workshop) as well as smaller shops. The letter is expected to be published on Wednesday.

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Car finance payouts could be delayed by years over legal challenges, says FCA
Posted on Tuesday June 09, 2026

Complaints-led approach could pile £6bn of extra costs on to lenders, says City watchdog

• Business live – latest updates

The City watchdog has warned that a wave of legal challenges to the compensation scheme for victims of the motor finance scandal could leave drivers waiting three more years for payouts, while piling £6bn of extra costs on to lenders.

Bosses at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who have consistently hit out at lenders and a consumer claims group for challenging its scheme, told MPs the scandal could affect lenders for years, and have “consequences” by stretching its resources.

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Bank of England warns of AI scams as deepfakes of Farage-Bailey fight spread
Posted on Tuesday June 09, 2026

Governor urges people to report videos on X that falsely show the men clashing in the Question Time studio

The Bank of England has warned the public against falling for AI-generated scams after deepfake videos of Nigel Farage fighting its governor spread online.

Andrew Bailey, the head of the BoE, said AI-generated content related to central banks was spreading and urged people to be “vigilant”.

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Palantir to sue Sadiq Khan over blocked £50m Met police contract
Posted on Tuesday June 09, 2026

US spy-tech company to challenge London mayor’s intervention after he raised concerns over breach of procurement rules

Palantir intends to sue the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, after he blocked a contract between the US spy-tech firm and the Metropolitan police.

The Met had planned to use Palantir’s software to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations, until Khan intervened in late May, sparking a row between the UK’s largest police force and the mayor’s office.

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Spyware firm targeted WhatsApp users in defiance of US court order, Meta says
Posted on Tuesday June 09, 2026

Tech company says it ‘caught and disrupted’ NSO Group’s attempts to access accounts in Jordan and Lebanon

A spyware firm has been targeting WhatsApp users with malicious links in contravention of a US court order forbidding it from doing so, Meta has said.

In a post, Meta said WhatsApp had “caught and disrupted spear phishing attempts” by NSO Group, which a spokesperson said targeted a handful of users in Jordan and Lebanon. It had also caught the group creating “test accounts and groups” on WhatsApp.

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Stokes shouldn’t lose his job for breaking curfew when the ECB’s failings run so much deeper
Posted on Tuesday June 09, 2026

Midnight bedtime was entirely a public relations exercise to reconnect with fans – the same fans the ECB invites to one long piss-up at Lord’s

The laws of cricket run to 200-and-some pages. The International Cricket Council’s Test playing regulations fill another 125, the anti-doping code packs another 66, the code of conduct is 44 more, illegal bowling actions 37, kit and equipment 36. You’d be hard pressed to find one single rule anywhere among them as silly as the one we know Ben Stokes has just broken, which stipulates that players can’t stay out past midnight. And yes, that does include ICC clothing regulation 19.45, which says that the maximum size of the manufacturer’s label permitted on ankle of players’ socks is two square inches.

So far as we know, the only thing Stokes has done wrong is break this self-imposed curfew. That may change. The investigation may reveal more details about his alleged involvement in an altercation involving a rugby player. But if there was one very clear lesson from the last time Stokes was involved in a situation like this, at Embargo nightclub in 2017, it’s that it’s worth waiting for the facts. But the drums have already started thumping. Dread phrases like “hanging by a thread” and “hard to see how he can continue” were all over the press.

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World Cup 2026 news: Iran ticket row; Platini files complaint against Infantino; England latest – live
Posted on Tuesday June 09, 2026

• Latest news as World Cup countdown continues

• Player guide | Bracketology | Wallchart | Mail John

Away from the World Cup, the latest allegations against the now former West Ham chairman have alerted the new regulator, as PA Media reports:

The football regulator is in contact with West Ham after allegations were made against. the co-owner David Sullivan that he had pressured aspiring models for sex.

The 77-year-old recently quit as chairman of the east London football club to fight what he claimed were “false allegations” about his conduct.

According to the reporting, the claims about Mr Sullivan involve him pressuring young or aspiring models in their late teens or early 20s.

The Times said it was a two-year investigation, which involved its reporters interviewing dozens of former models and other industry sources.

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