Airlines urge action after UK flights delayed and cancelled again
Posted on Monday September 21, 2026

Nats says fault at Prestwick has been ‘fixed’ after airports in Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland are hit

Airlines have called for “action and accountability” over the UK’s air traffic control services after a technical issue led to flights being disrupted for the second time in a fortnight.

Dozens were cancelled and others severely delayed after a fault on Monday morning at National Air Traffic Services (Nats), this time at its second control centre at Prestwick in South Ayrshire.

Read more...

Paramount settles lawsuits with 12 US states, clearing way for Warner merger
Posted on Monday September 21, 2026

States including California and New York sued over concerns of ‘extinguishing competition’ with $81bn merger

Paramount has reached a settlement with California and several other states that sued over a proposed $81bn merger with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), the California attorney general announced Monday, clearing the way to consolidate some of Hollywood’s most recognizable TV networks and studios under one owner.

Though the merger was approved by the justice department in June, a coalition of 12 states, led by California, had sued over concerns that combining two of the five last legacy studios in Hollywood would “extinguish competition” and lead to fewer movies in theaters and on streaming platforms.

Read more...

UK urged to strengthen financial muscle of national wealth fund to aid economy
Posted on Monday September 21, 2026

Unions, thinktanks and others say overhaul could provide investment Britain needs

Unions, thinktanks, environmental groups and charities have come together to call on ministers to boost the financial firepower of the national wealth fund to empower it to invest more in Britain and rebalance the country’s economy.

Lower energy bills, the revitalisation of the UK’s industrial heartlands and the provision of more high-quality jobs could all be unlocked by scaling up the NWF, according to a statement from organisations including the TUC, Greenpeace, WWF and the New Economics Foundation.

Turbocharging the retrofitting of homes and buildings.

Giving the public a bigger stake in critical infrastructure through taking part-ownership stakes in key projects.

Launching a targeted investment programme to bring new green industries to communities hit hardest by deindustrialisation.

Supporting a network of regional banks to funnel money into the small businesses that hold up local economies.

Read more...

‘Half my day’s pay goes to filling up my car now’: diesel crisis ripples across Britain
Posted on Monday September 21, 2026

Small traders and drivers bear the brunt of a refining shortage taking forecourt prices towards £2 a litre as wars wipe out about a fifth of global supplies

The smoke rising from the Kapotnya oil refinery to the south-east of Moscow marks one of Ukraine’s biggest air raids on the Russian capital since the start of the war, and the latest salvo in an energy crisis that threatens to affect households and businesses across the globe.

More than 1,500 miles away, British motorists are braced for the ripple effect from that conflict, and the US-Israel war on Iran. Average UK diesel prices are expected to reach record highs within days – while across Europe and the US, pump prices have already surpassed all-time highs.

Read more...

Nvidia boss says there is ‘0% chance’ AI destroys the world by 2030
Posted on Monday September 21, 2026

Jensen Huang dismisses warnings from former Anthropic researcher and others as ‘doomsday narratives’

The boss of the chipmaker Nvidia has said AI will not develop to a point that will lead to the extinction of the human race within a few years, rejecting such assertions as overblown “doomsday narratives”.

Jensen Huang, the co-founder and chief executive of the $5tn AI chipmaker, said the claims made on social media by the former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon that AI could become “superhuman” and kill off humanity within the decade were “irresponsible”.

Read more...

Google fined more than €400m by Irish regulator over its use of location data
Posted on Monday September 21, 2026

Watchdog says users may have been unaware their information was used to target adverts or infer their interests

Google has been fined more than €400m (£345m) over the way it processed users’ location data, following claims that the tech giant had manipulated users into agreeing to be constantly tracked on their mobile phones.

The fine, imposed by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), comes after complaints from multiple European consumer organisations that Google was following every step users took.

Read more...

Come back soon Premier League, the endlessly moreish mega-product | Barney Ronay
Posted on Monday September 21, 2026

Brighton have impressed in a goal-laden start to the season, in a league that remains a brutally strong attraction

Get ready for the dopamine crash. And this one really is a proper autumn nosedive. The past 17 days up to and including Sunday’s cut-off gave us 30 Premier League games and 79 goals. Which, if you take Spurs out of it – and this is fair because Spurs are now post‑goal, an entertainment concept unrelated to goals or even football itself – is really quite a lot.

Are your pathways stimulated? Are the neural connectors flickering? Well get ready for cold turkey, for 19 blank days of shivers and shakes until the Premier League show resumes in October. Maybe it really is time to buy one of those powders off the internet.

Read more...

Ten lessons from Jakob Ingebrigtsen, one of the world’s most beguiling athletes
Posted on Monday September 21, 2026

Norwegian is meticulous in his training regime – ‘if there’s anything that’s out of my control, then I’ve not done my job properly’

On a snowy Norwegian morning in January, Jakob Ingebrigtsen was on his treadmill, shooting the breeze about his running philosophy before our more formal interview. I should write something on this, I told him. Sure, came the reply.

In recent weeks, the 26‑year‑old has added to his legacy with a European 5,000m gold, the World Ultimate 5,000m title and a world road silver medal despite achilles surgery in February and a flu that lingered through May and June. So now seems as good a time as any.

Read more...