Thames Water nationalisation moves closer as government objects to rescue deal
Posted on Tuesday June 16, 2026

Environment secretary raises concerns that customers would face ‘undue burden’ from £10bn plan

• Thames Water should be nationalised, says Burnham

• Nils Pratley: the tide is turning on Thames Water

The UK environment secretary has objected to a £10bn rescue proposal for Thames Water because it would place an “undue burden” on consumers, pushing the troubled utilities firm closer towards public ownership.

Emma Reynolds wrote to Iain Coucher, who chairs the regulator Ofwat, on Monday to raise concerns about the plan for the UK’s biggest water company as she is worried that customers will lose out.

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SpaceX overtakes Amazon as world’s fifth biggest company
Posted on Tuesday June 16, 2026

Value of Elon Musk’s firm at one point rose to $2.97tn just days after its IPO following purchase of AI coding startup Cursor

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has overtaken Amazon as the world’s fifth-most valuable company days after its stock market debut.

The jump in value came as it agreed to buy the startup behind the AI-powered coding app Cursor for $60bn (£44bn), in an attempt to capitalise on the technology’s success as a coding tool.

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European parliament finally approves Trump tariff deal
Posted on Tuesday June 16, 2026

MEPs agree to implement deal almost 12 months after it was proposed and just days before deadline of US threat to raise tariffs

The European parliament has given its final approval to implement last July’s tariff agreement with Donald Trump.

Facing a threat of increased tariffs if the deal was not sanctioned by 4 July, MEPs agreed to approve the deal, with two main provisos.

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Retail giants join UK government drive to boost ‘plug-in’ balcony solar panels
Posted on Tuesday June 16, 2026

Asda, Amazon and B&Q among retailers in talks to sell devices that feed into household sockets and can cut electricity bills by 30%

• Spanish homes save €10 a month via renewables expansion

Bosses of some of Britain’s biggest retailers are discussing plans with the government to start selling plug-in solar panels as part of a drive to encourage more UK homes to generate their own electricity.

Executives from brands including Currys, B&Q and Amazon met Martin McCluskey, the minister for energy consumers, on Tuesday to discuss guidelines for selling “balcony solar panels” to the British public.

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UK ministers lobby Trump to avert backlash against social media ban
Posted on Tuesday June 16, 2026

No 10 is worried about retaliation from White House over restrictions on under-16s’ internet use

Ministers have embarked on a concerted lobbying operation to prevent a backlash from the Trump administration to the under-16s social media ban announced by Keir Starmer.

Officials said they had spent weeks trying to reassure senior Trump officials and the US president himself that the restrictions were not specifically aimed at US technology companies.

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AI could help win ‘race against extinction’ of vital plants, say botanists
Posted on Tuesday June 16, 2026

Tech is helping to identify and save new specimens and could open ‘genomic goldmine’ of fungi data

The rise of AI and digitisation could be a turning point in the “race against extinction” faced by botanists trying to identify and save vital plants before they vanish, according to a major report from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

New technology is enabling scientists to track how flowering times have shifted by weeks around the world, rapidly identify new specimens and even get crucial genetic data from 180-year-old fungus specimens, potentially opening a “genomic goldmine”. Digitisation and online access to millions of specimens that were until now only accessible in archives is also producing new insights, especially in the global south.

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France v Senegal: World Cup 2026 – live
Posted on Tuesday June 16, 2026

⚽ World Cup news: kick-off 3pm EDT/8pm BST/5am AEST
⚽ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email Daniel

You may or may not have seen the wonderful new Senegal kit, printed inside-out. What a beauty!

Yes, yes, don’t worry, it’s coming. It is of course, impossible to mention our dear departed without also mentioning this goal.

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Enjoying the World Cup? Well it’s time for England, but this is a team less weighed down by its past | Barney Ronay
Posted on Tuesday June 16, 2026

Tuchel’s multicultural squad are less burdened by narrative than previous teams and can embrace the chance to live in the moment

Nice World Cup you’ve got there. Be a shame if something … happened to it. The opening acts of this bloated, roided-up summer tournament have been surprisingly fun, light and sparky.

Surprising, that is, if you’ve absorbed much of its doom-laden buildup. Football always does this. There is a reason this sport has become humanity’s great brain-wipe distractor ray, the tool of mega-brands and jumped-up administrators with a Football Jesus fetish. You can stretch it thin, loan it out to despotic regimes. But the games will still be good. Football remains an indestructible substance.

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