Happy Monday. The unthinkable took another step closer on Saturday night, with England edging out Norway in the World Cup quarter final.

With Kier Starmer working his notice, he has hinted at a bank holiday on Monday should England win the final on Sunday evening. Next up is Argentina on Wednesday, preorder your vindaloo and watch the inevitable!

Notable UK earnings this week: BP (BP), Rio Tinto (RIO), Antofagasta (ANTO).

Notable US earnings this week: JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), Wells Fargo (WFC), Johnson & Johnson (J&J), BlackRock (BLK), Morgan Stanley (MS), Netflix (NFLX), UnitedHealth Group (UNH).

📈📉

🌊 Fugro wins Saipem pipeline work on UK offshore CCS project. Read more

🏗️ Approval confirmed for new 24 storey accommodation tower in Manchester . Read more

⚡ SSEN Distribution awards £300m work to four firms. Read more

Sky set to buy ITV media and entertainment arm for £1.6bn
ITV has agreed a £1.6bn deal with Sky, in a move that could redraw the UK television map faster than you can say “what’s on after the 10 o’clock news?”. After months of talks, the pair have landed on a deal that would bring ITVX and ITV’s free-to-air channels under the Sky umbrella, though ITV’s studio arm is staying put for now. The plan still needs shareholder and regulatory approval, naturally, because no big media deal is allowed to proceed without a proper nod from Ofcom and a bit of legal faffing.

If approved, the combined business would become the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, with a streaming and TV audience of more than 16 million viewers a month, according to Sky chief executive Dana Strong. The logic is pretty clear: British broadcasters are trying to bulk up and stop the US streaming behemoths — Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and their endlessly smug recommendation engines — from having the whole field to themselves. ITV favourites including Coronation Street, Emmerdale, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and Love Island would remain free-to-air, so the nation’s habits remain intact. Civilisation, for now, is safe.

The deal also includes a bit of corporate musical chairs: Sky-owned Love Productions, the maker of The Great British Bake Off, is being sold to ITV for £200m. Sky says the combined group will spend at least £2.1bn on content between 2028 and 2032, backing British production and creative jobs across the country.

EasyJet buyout agreed
EasyJet has agreed in principle to a £5.7bn takeover proposal from US giant Apollo Global Management, just days after backing a separate approach from rival suitor Castlelake. So, rather less “business as usual” than a Friday lunchtime at Luton, then.

The no-frills airline said Apollo’s offer represented a “superior outcome” for investors, topping Castlelake’s earlier agreed-in-principle proposal of around £5.2bn. Apollo is offering £7.15 a share, ahead of Castlelake’s £6.90, because apparently in takeover season it’s not just airlines that like to keep climbing.

Scanning season
The EU has extended “Chat Control 1.0” until 2028, allowing platforms including Discord, Instagram, Snapchat, Xbox, Gmail and iCloud to scan private messages without a warrant. Supporters say it helps tackle abuse; critics call it suspicionless mass surveillance.

The proposal actually drew more opposition than support, but too many MEPs were absent before the summer break for the rejection to pass. Democracy, apparently, also has an out-of-office setting.

Candour coming
MPs are expected to approve the long-delayed Hillsborough Law before Parliament breaks for summer. Formally called the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, it would place a legal duty on public officials to tell the truth during inquiries and investigations.

The bill had stalled over whether intelligence agencies should be allowed to opt out on national-security grounds, but ministers have now agreed an amendment removing that exemption. Campaigners say the law could fundamentally rebalance power between the public and the state, making official honesty less of a polite suggestion and more of a legal requirement.

Trump accounts go live
Wall Street got a rather theatrical welcome to the launch of Trump Accounts this week, with the opening bell rung in the Oval Office — because a normal press release would have been too pedestrian. The new scheme is designed to get American children investing early and, in theory, give more families a stake in the so-called American dream.

The accounts are now open to all US children under 18 with a valid social security number, and babies born between 2025 and 2028 can receive a $1,000 government contribution to kick things off. Parents are told they can simply download an app, because nothing says “financial future” quite like a bit of digital faff.

In substance, the accounts work a bit like a long-term investment wrapper. Families, friends and employers can contribute up to $5,000 a year per child, the money must go into a low-cost index fund, and it can be accessed at 18. The White House says the scheme will broaden stock market ownership, which it argues has historically been unequally spread, especially among younger and lower-income households.

Ticket prices drop with host nation exits
Since the United States and Mexico were knocked out both out, ticket prices took a slight tumble for the world cup. Prices for Friday’s Spain v Belgium quarter-final fell by 65%, according to secondary marketplace TickPick. A seat that was around $3,200 before the US were knocked out is now closer to $1,100. Now making it oh so affordable, I’ll take two.

Mexico’s exit after defeat to England had a similar effect, with the cheapest tickets for England’s triumph in Miami clash falling by 45% from nearly $4,000 to around $2,000. As TickPick put it, those quarter-final prices were built on the assumption that both Mexico and the US would still be in the mix — a beautiful sentiment for Brits convinced that our friends across the pond just don’t get football.

Canada’s earlier departure meant all three host nations are now gone, which is a neat little reminder that home advantage is a fine thing — until it isn’t. Restaurants and bars are now expecting to make 50% of the revenue that had done when home countries were still in the mix.

Silicon squabble
Apple has sued OpenAI, two employees and Jony Ive’s io Products, alleging a “pattern of theft” involving former Apple staff taking confidential product information. OpenAI denies any interest in rival trade secrets, but Apple claims the material helped fuel its hardware ambitions.

Around 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, including ex-iPhone design chief Tang Tan, who spent more than 25 years at the company. Apple alleges that candidates were asked during OpenAI interviews to bring in hardware that was never meant to leave the office, while another former employee exploited a software bug to retain access to confidential files and download them. A once-cosy AI partnership has gone from ChatGPT on iPhones to lawyers on speed dial.

Cable-catching cosmos
China says it has landed a reusable rocket for the first time. The Long March 10B booster returned vertically, but rather than settling neatly on a pad, its landing hooks were caught by a net strung with cables above a floating platform. Think less graceful touchdown, more colossal orbital trapeze. Reusing boosters could slash launch costs and bring China closer to challenging SpaceX and Blue Origin, a net win in the race to cheaper spaceflight.

Necks level
Palaeontologists in Thailand have identified a new dinosaur species that lived around 150 million years ago. Uragasaurus kalasinensis was a plant-eating sauropod stretching up to 20 metres - roughly a cricket pitch - with an exceptionally long neck.

A distinctive back vertebra, scanned from fossils found in Kalasin Province, revealed unusual Y-shaped supports and air cavities unlike those of any known dinosaur.

Migration measures
South Africa says it has deported or repatriated more than 53,000 foreign nationals during a five-week immigration crackdown, mostly to Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

The campaign follows anti-immigration protests blaming undocumented migrants for pressure on jobs, crime and public services. The UN has warned against scapegoating migrants, while President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned intimidation and vigilante action. Officials say enforcement will continue, but insist it must respect human rights - a difficult balancing act with tempers already doing overtime.