Healey signals welfare reform push and new apprenticeships scheme
Posted on Monday September 28, 2026

Chancellor sets out measures to support jobs and growth in conference speech but vows fiscal discipline in budget

• Analysis: Healey offers upbeat vision but little light on how to pay for it

• Average price of diesel on UK forecourts reaches all-time high

John Healey has signalled Labour will stage a fresh attempt at welfare reform as he pledged to put fiscal discipline at the core of next month’s budget, alongside measures to inject hope into Britain’s economy.

In his first speech as chancellor to the Labour conference, Healey warned that next month’s highly anticipated tax-and-spending event would need to take into account a challenging global backdrop.

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Nvidia unveils security platform to rein in AI agents and $150bn stock buyback
Posted on Monday September 28, 2026

Chipmaker says new system was designed to prevent AI agents from going rogue amid incidents at top companies

Nvidia on Monday unveiled a new security platform that the chipmaker said can stop artificial intelligence agents from going rogue.

The company announced a $150bn stock buyback the same day, the largest in US corporate history.

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Andy Burnham announces new homes scheme for first-time buyers
Posted on Saturday September 26, 2026

Exclusive: Policy initiative for England will help more young people on to property ladder, prime minister tells Guardian

A new help-to-buy scheme aimed at giving first-time buyers who cannot rely on the “bank of mum and dad” is to be introduced in a big policy announcement by Andy Burnham.

The programme, called “Your first home”, is intended to help buyers in England who have a regular income but have been unable to save for a large deposit or don’t have financial support from their family.

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Price of diesel on UK forecourts reaches all-time high
Posted on Monday September 28, 2026

Fallout from Iran conflict continues to drive up bill for motorists with record average cost now at 199.18p a litre

• Business live – latest updates

• Share your experience of high diesel prices in Shetland and the Outer Hebrides

The price of diesel on UK forecourts has hit an all-time high average of 199.18p a litre, as the conflict in the Middle East continues to drive the cost of fuel to record levels.

The price, which previously peaked at 199.09p in June 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, could soon top the £2 mark after Donald Trump rejected Iran’s proposal for a seven-day peace deal to reopen the critical oil and gas shipping route through the strait of Hormuz.

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AI godfathers warn of runaway ‘intelligence explosion’
Posted on Monday September 28, 2026

OpenAI chief scientist also among authors of report on prospect of ‘most consequential technological development in history’

Two of the “godfathers” of modern AI and senior executives at OpenAI and Anthropic have warned governments to prepare for an AI “intelligence explosion”, which they say could be the most consequential technological development in history.

A report co-authored by the Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton and the Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, considered godfathers of modern AI for their work in the field, urges politicians to act now before there is runaway progress in the technology.

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Teachers at Euan Blair firm report ‘horrendous stress’ after AI used to rate their work
Posted on Monday September 28, 2026

Exclusive: Instructors at tech training company Multiverse hit out at ‘remorseless’ and ‘unnerving’ monitoring system

Teachers at Euan Blair’s £1.6bn tech training company, Multiverse, have blown the whistle about “horrendous stress” and feeling constantly watched after bosses started using AI models to surveil and rate their teaching.

Staff delivering apprenticeship training in computer and AI skills to thousands of UK public and private sector workers now have transcripts of online classroom sessions analysed and scored by an AI programmed to alert human managers when they are suspected of doing things wrong.

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Manchester City chief maintains club’s innocence as rivals push for verdict to be published
Posted on Monday September 28, 2026

• Ferran Soriano tells European clubs City will fight verdict

• Premier League clubs complain of ‘void’ over timeline

A number of Premier League clubs are pushing for the Manchester City verdict to be published as soon as possible, with the club digging in for a long battle to clear their name.

City’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, told a meeting of the European Football Clubs board on Monday that they will fight to prove their innocence after being found guilty by an independent commission of the vast majority of the Premier League’s 115 charges of breaching financial rules.

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Gianni Infantino ready to accept demands for larger payouts from $6bn reserves
Posted on Monday September 28, 2026

• Fifa president says: ‘The ambition is welcome’

• Infantino mounts fresh defence of failed FFE scheme

The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, is poised to bow to demands from Uefa and Concacaf to distribute more money from its $6bn cash reserves to member associations.

In a letter sent on Monday to all six confederation presidents and copied to members of the Fifa council, Infantino indicated his willingness to “support the greatest level of additional funding”, without committing to the $10m-per-member that has been proposed.

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