Oil prices rise and gold hits two-month high after Trump makes new deal demands on Iran – business live
Posted on Tuesday August 11, 2026

US president demands compensation for damage incurred by US, complicating standoff with Tehran

Bellway, one of Britain’s biggest housebuilders, has ⁠warned that the ⁠near-term outlook remains ​uncertain amid weaker demand and rising costs, and forecast full-year profit at the bottom end of its previous prediction.

Bellway shares fell 1%, after it said it now expects underlying operating profit of £320m for the year to the end of July, compared with its previous range of £320m to £330m, and last year’s profit of £303.5m. It will publish its full-year results in October.

While any beat ​is positive, the scale may not be enough for investors to really get excited about.

We call on the government to act now to improve ​access to housing across all ​tenures, both by helping first-time buyers onto ​the property ladder and supporting the delivery of affordable and social housing for ​those who need ‌it most.

Read more...

Heathrow says need for expansion ‘clear’ as it loses title of Europe’s busiest airport
Posted on Tuesday August 11, 2026

West London airport reports 7.86 million passengers in July, compared with 8.15 million for Istanbul

• Business live – latest updates

Heathrow airport has argued “the case for expansion has never been clearer” after it lost its position as Europe’s busiest airport to Istanbul.

Figures published on Tuesday showed 7.86 million passengers passed through Heathrow’s four terminals in July,whereas its Turkish counterpart recorded 8.15 million passengers over the same period.

Read more...

Nvidia links with Wall Street firms for $500bn AI financing deal
Posted on Tuesday August 11, 2026

Apollo, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and KKR among those working with chipmaker to fund infrastructure

• Business live – latest updates

Nvidia ⁠has struck a deal with six large Wall Street firms to raise ⁠more than $500bn (£370bn) to fund the datacentres, chip factories and power stations needed to fuel the artificial intelligence boom.

The Nvidia chief executive, Jensen Huang, said on X that it marked “a major milestone for Nvidia and the AI industry”, as he posted a photo of himself smiling and giving a thumbs up alongside finance bosses involved in the deal, including the head of Goldman Sachs, David Solomon.

Read more...

Consumer confidence at near two-year high as World Cup and UK holidaying lift summer spending
Posted on Tuesday August 11, 2026

Barclays says survey shows people feel more secure in jobs and have more leeway to spend on non-essentials

• Business live – latest updates

Consumer confidence hit its highest level in almost two years in July, according to research that indicated the closing stages of the men’s football World Cup and more people holidaying in the UK lifted summer spending.

A truce in the Middle East conflict in June and the arrival of a new prime minister in No 10 also gave a lift to consumers after a long period of heightened uncertainty.

Read more...

AI’s potential climate benefits outweighed by role in boosting fossil fuels, study finds
Posted on Tuesday August 11, 2026

Modelling finds AI-driven productivity gains in coal, oil and gas enable more emissions than applications in renewable energy avoid

AI-driven productivity gains enable more planet-heating pollution from fossil fuels than they avoid from renewables, a study has found.

Researchers modelled the technical potential for AI to boost clean power generation along with projections for how it can help produce coal, oil and gas. Across 64 scenarios, they found net yearly carbon pollution rose by 0.47-1.8 gigatonnes, or about 1-5% of the energy sector’s annual emissions.

Read more...

Zuckerberg pushes ‘superintelligent’ AI for all as Meta drops open-source model
Posted on Monday August 10, 2026

Meta CEO presents utopian vision of AI in 6,000-word essay amid Silicon Valley debate over government regulation

Mark Zuckerberg published a lengthy essay on Monday detailing his views on artificial intelligence and announced several plans for how Meta would develop the technology in the future. The CEO’s essay went online the same day as Meta released a new, open-source AI model that seeks to rival Anthropic and OpenAI’s products called Muse Glimmer.

Over the course of more than 6,000 words in a post titled “The Future is for Everyone,” Zuckerberg addressed a range of topics related to AI that included datacenters, government regulation, cybersecurity, the creation of bioweapons, labor market disruption, surveillance powers and more. The essay presented a utopian vision of AI as a personalized “superintelligence” – using the word 60 times.

Read more...

‘Clark Kent grew up’: Audley Harrison on fighting the system, Olympic gold and life after the ring
Posted on Tuesday August 11, 2026

Former Olympic super-heavyweight champion takes satisfaction from changing British boxing for the better, but still wants to train a world champion

“I was the Olympic champion, and I was the next big thing, but the system had to win,” Audley Harrison says as he reflects on his rise and fall as a fighter who changed so much in British boxing while failing to fulfil his grandest ambitions in the ring. Harrison had once been considered a likely successor to Lennox Lewis, the undisputed world heavyweight champion, but he became a figure of ridicule mocked as “Fraudley Harrison”.

He retired in 2013 with a modest 31‑7 record and having never come close to winning the world title many thought would be his inevitable glory when he took gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. But Harrison dragged British boxing fleetingly into the mainstream and ripped up the old traditions of the fight game by managing and promoting himself.

Read more...

Premier League 2026-27 preview No 3: Bournemouth
Posted on Monday August 10, 2026

New head coach Marco Rose has a lot to live up to after last season’s sixth-placed finish while fans have a first year in Europe to look forward to

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 12th (NB: this is not necessarily Ben Fisher’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 6th

Read more...