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

Spain’s floods force some UK sellers to buy oranges from southern hemisphere

Some British retailers and wholesalers have been forced to switch to sourcing oranges from South Africa and South America early after last month’s “catastrophic” floods in eastern Spain left farmers struggling to harvest and ship their crops.Companies in the UK have moved to buying fruit from the southern hemisphere several weeks earlier than in a typical year to prevent gaps emerging on supermarket shelves and amid fears over the quality of Spanish produce.Persimmons, also known as sharon or kaki fruit, have been affected even worse than oranges by the flooding as they are more delicate than citrus, analysts and industry insiders said.The Valencian branch of Asaja, Spain’s biggest farming association, has estimated that the floods have resulted in losses of more than €1bn for the region’s agricultural sector.“The damage is catastrophic in terms of output, cultivated fields, agrarian infrastructure, agricultural machinery and vehicles, livestock farms and nurseries – and in terms of the lands lost as entire fields have disappeared,” it said

Wire cutters: how the world’s vital undersea data cables are being targeted

The lead-clad telegraphic cable seemed to weigh tons, according to Lt Cameron Winslow of the US navy, and the weather wasn’t helping their attempts to lift it up from the seabed and sever it. “The rough water knocked the heavy boats together, breaking and almost crushing in their planking,” he wrote.Eventually, Winslow’s men managed to cut the cable with hacksaws and disrupt the enemy’s communications by slicing off a 46-metre (150ft) section.This was in 1898 off the cost of Cuba during the Spanish-American war. More than a century later, subsea communications cables remain a target during times of geopolitical tension

Tesla’s path in China clears as Musk courts both Trump and Xi

Billionaire CEO is well connected in the US and China, something that could smooth the road ahead for the electric vehicle maker amid a looming tariff warIf it pays to have friends in high places, few among us can claim to be better placed than Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and one of the only people to have cosy relationships with both Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. His commercial and political connections to both may prove pivotal as the feud between the US and China plays out over the next four years, particularly as Trump promises steep tariffs.Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, once supported Joe Biden. But his relationship with the current US president soured over the past four years as, among other insults, Musk felt that the White House gave Telsa, his car and green energy company, “the cold shoulder”. Trump, meanwhile, has described Tesla as “incredible” even while pledging to do away with subsidies for electric vehicles

Australia v India: first men’s Test, day two – live

33rd over: India 93-0 (Jaiswal 46, Rahul 38) Cummins goes around the wicket to the right handed Rahul. Four dots and then a swivel pull for a single out to the deep. Jaiswal stands tall and drives down the ground for a couple.32nd over: India 90-0 (Jaiswal 44, Rahul 37) Lyon wheels in with a slip and short leg in place. Rahul sits deep in his crease and glides away for a single

Eddie Jones will be at Twickenham ‘with bells on’ despite suffering illness

Japan have expressed confidence Eddie Jones will take his place in the coaching box against England on Sunday in what will be his first return to Twickenham as an international coach after he on Friday night pulled out of his pre-match press conference due to illness.Jones, who was sacked after seven years as England head coach in December 2022, is said to be “unwell but nothing too serious”. He has come under considerable scrutiny of late after comments made by Danny Care in his autobiography that the Australian oversaw a toxic environment, ran a “dictatorship” and acted like a “despot who disappeared people” by bullying staff members and players.Shortly after Care’s accusations were made public, Jones claimed to have no knowledge of them, saying: “I haven’t read the book, I haven’t read the comments, so I have no idea what you’re talking about. Apologies