UK watchdog threatens Ticketmaster with legal action over way Oasis tickets were sold

The UK competition watchdog has written to Ticketmaster threatening legal action over the way it sold more than 900,000 tickets for Oasis’s reunion tour, days before the start of what is expected to be the most popular, and profitable, run of gigs in British history.In March, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published concerns that Ticketmaster may have misled fans, some of whom paid more than £350 for tickets with a face value of £150, in the way it priced tickets for the band’s comeback gigs when they went on sale last August.In response, Ticketmaster said it had made changes to “some aspects” of its ticket sales process. However, the CMA said that they were not sufficient to address its concerns.The CMA told Ticketmaster the voluntary undertakings it would accept to address its concerns

A first-class service by Royal Mail again | Brief letters

Following my letter (23 June) complimenting the Royal Mail on delivering a letter from another reader to me with no house number, street or postcode, this week I received another addressed in exactly the same way from Peggy, who writes “Just checking whether Royal Mail can do it twice. Maybe first time was a fluke.” Evidently not. Perhaps it’s my fame as a beyond-“genius” Word Wheel player that’s helped locate me?Kevin WardQuorn, Leicestershire “What would British culture be like if Oasis had never existed?”, asks Dorian Lynskey (theguardian.com, 1 July)

Google undercounts its carbon emissions, report finds

In 2021, Google set a lofty goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. Yet in the years since then, the company has moved in the opposite direction as it invests in energy-intensive artificial intelligence. In its latest sustainability report, Google said its carbon emissions had increased 51% between 2019 and 2024.New research aims to debunk even that enormous figure and provide context to Google’s sustainability reports, painting a bleaker picture. A report authored by non-profit advocacy group Kairos Fellowship found that, between 2019 and 2024, Google’s carbon emissions actually went up by 65%

‘A billion people backing you’: China transfixed as Musk turns against Trump

Few break-ups have as many gossiping observers as the fallout between the once inseparable Donald Trump and Elon Musk.The ill-fated bromance between the US president and the world’s richest man, which once raised questions about American oligarchy, is now being pored over by social media users in China, many of whom are Team Musk.The latest drama comes from Musk’s pledge to found a new political party, the America party, if Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill, which Musk described as “insane” passed the Senate this week (it did). Musk had already vowed to unseat lawmakers who backed Trump’s flagship piece of legislation, which is expected to increase US national debt by $3.3tn

Raducanu revels in Centre Court joy after ‘one of the best matches I’ve played’

Emma Raducanu has described her stellar second-round victory over Marketa Vondrousova at Wimbledon as one of the best matches she has played in a long time as she set up a highly anticipated meeting with the world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka.Raducanu produced an excellent performance to reach the third round of Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the 2023 champion Vondrousova, ensuring that she has now reached the third round or better at Wimbledon on three of her four appearances.“That was one of the best matches I’ve played in a long time, which I’m very proud of,” said Raducanu. “At the same time, I didn’t feel like I was doing anything outrageous, which gives me a lot of confidence. I think I was just doing the basics very, very well

England’s Woakes laments ‘frustrating’ marginal decisions going India’s way

England started the second Test just as they had the first, by winning the toss and putting India in to bat. The plan was to make inroads before the last, vague vestige of green was burned from the surface and it so nearly came good during an opening spell from Chris Woakes that brought the wicket of KL Rahul but also two marginal umpire decisions that both favoured that batting side. “On a day like this, it is frustrating,” Woakes said. “It was a good day but it felt like a day that could have been so different.”Twice batters were saved on umpire’s call when England reviewed on-field decisions of not out – first in the seventh over, with India 14 without loss, when Yashasvi Jaiswal was reprieved, and then in the 11th, when they were 21 for one, with Karun Nair the beneficiary