Jaguar boss defends new ad and rebrand amid ‘vile hatred’ online

The boss of Jaguar has defended the company’s move away from “traditional automotive stereotypes” after a clip of its new advert was met with a barrage of “vile hatred and intolerance” online.This week, Jaguar Land Rover, the luxury UK carmaker owned by India’s Tata Motors, posted a 30-second clip on X featuring models in brightly coloured clothing set against equally vibrant backdrops, without a car or the company’s traditional cat logo.“If we play in the same way that everybody else does, we’ll just get drowned out. So we shouldn’t turn up like an auto brand,” Jaguar’s managing director, Rawdon Glover told the Financial Times of the company’s “copy nothing” campaign.The new ad and rebrand prompted a backlash online, including on X where the platform’s chief executive, Elon Musk, posted: “Do you sell cars?”In response, Glover said, “Yes

Energy bills, mortgages, food: will cost of living surge again under Labour?

Labour swept to power in the wake of a cost of living crisis that hit households hard, with the price of food and energy rocketing alongside the impact of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget on mortgage rates.At 2.3%, inflation is nowhere the 10% peak after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it is creeping up, and could hit 3% in 2025, say forecasters.Here are some of the pressures households are likely to face in the coming months at a time when the government claims to be “fixing the foundations” of the economy.Ofgem announced its latest price cap on Friday morning, with average energy bills to increase by 1

‘We live in a climate of fear’: graphic novelist’s Elon Musk book can’t find UK or US publisher

A biography by a British graphic novelist of Elon Musk is struggling to find an English-language publisher due to feared “legal consequences”.Elon Musk: Investigation into a New Master of the World is the latest graphic novel by Darryl Cunningham, from West Yorkshire. Cunningham, 64, has written and illustrated seven nonfiction books on topics ranging from the 2008 global economic meltdown (Supercrash), to Russian leader Vladimir Putin (subtitled The Rise of a Dictator).His first book, Psychiatric Tales, which drew on his time working on an acute psychiatric ward, was called an “unsettling but rewarding experience” in an Observer review in 2010.Although his previous books have all found publishers in the UK and America, there has been silence on the Elon Musk project, despite the fact that it has already been translated into French and published in France to positive reviews

Jeff Jarvis: ‘Elon Musk’s investment in Twitter seemed insane, but it gave him this power’

Jeff Jarvis was born in 1954 and studied journalism at Illinois’s Northwestern University. He worked as a TV critic and created the magazine Entertainment Weekly, later leading the online arm of US media company Advance Publications. Since 2001, he has been blogging at Buzzmachine.com and in 2005 he became an associate professor at City University of New York’s graduate school of journalism, directing its new media programme before retiring last year. Jarvis, who lives in New York, is the co-host of the podcasts This Week in Google and AI Inside

Max Verstappen hits jackpot by winning fourth F1 world title in Las Vegas

Max Verstappen claimed his fourth consecutive Formula One world championship with a solid fifth place for Red Bull at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which was won in dominant fashion and with consummate control from the front of the grid by Mercedes’ George Russell.Verstappen delivered strongly to do exactly what was needed in beating his title rival McLaren’s Lando Norris, who came in sixth. Lewis Hamilton gave a superb comeback drive to claim second place from 10th on the grid. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were in third and fourth.The Dutch driver now stands alongside an elite group of drivers, matching the world championship tally of Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel

England ready to hand Pope gloves after Cox’s New Zealand tour ended by injury

Jordan Cox landed in New Zealand seemingly assured of a Test debut only for his tour to be cruelly ended by a fractured thumb. The injury now sees England scrambling to fly out a replacement wicketkeeper, with Ollie Pope likely to deputise initially when the series begins in Christchurch on Thursday.The incident occurred before the second and final day of England’s warm-up match in Queenstown when Cox was receiving throwdowns from assistant coach Jeetan Patel in the nets. Scans at the local hospital confirmed the severity of the break, with the 24-year-old left understandably crestfallen afterwards.“I’m gutted for Jordan,” said Brendon McCullum, the head coach