Happy Monday. New record setting figures coming out of Japan this week - they now have more than 100,000 people aged more than 100 years old (107,677 to quote the official numbers exactly).

Here in old Blighty we think we’ve got about 16,600. Amongst other factors experts put the longevity down to healthy diet and active lifestyle - easy right?

Notable UK earnings this week: JD Sports (JD.), Kingfisher (KGF), Smiths Group (SMIN), Renishaw (RSW), Vistry (VTY).

Notable US earnings this week: Costco (COST), AutoZone (AZO), General Mills (GIS).

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🏗️ Hornbeck scoops decomm work in North Sea. Read more

🛠️ Green light for Sizewell C tunnel factory. Read more

BoE holds interest rates
The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold at 3.75%, but it’s made clear that more hikes are “likely” if Donald Trump’s war in Iran keeps squeezing growth and stoking inflation. In other words: the rate-setting board has left the kettle on, but it is watching the pressure gauge rather closely.

Thursday’s decision marks the sixth meeting in a row with no change, despite inflation edging higher and pressure building for a rise. The vote also came just ahead of next month’s Budget, because apparently fiscal policy and geopolitics weren’t enough drama on their own.

Inflation keeps inflating
UK inflation has edged up to 3.1% in the year to August, its highest level in five months, thanks to a rather unhelpful cocktail of pricier petrol, diesel and plane tickets. The Office for National Statistics said the rise from 2.9% was driven by motor fuel and travel costs — one guess where the oil price spike is coming from.

Filling up the car became notably more expensive in August, with petrol jumping to its highest level for nearly four years and diesel heading north in a similarly enthusiastic fashion. The ONS said average petrol prices rose by 9.1p a litre between July and August to 161.3p, the highest since November 2022.

The main culprit was higher oil prices, with crude topping $91 a barrel as the US-Israel war with Iran continued to rattle supply lines. That’s up from around $73 a barrel before the conflict began, which gives you a neat little reminder that when the Middle East sneezes, British forecourts catch a cold — and then charge you for the tissues.

Misogyny mission
The government has launched a national taskforce to tackle misogyny, bringing ministers, local leaders and experts together to examine harmful attitudes online, at work and in communities. Its first focus is young people, with later work covering workplaces and digital spaces. The aim is prevention, alongside existing efforts to reduce violence against women and girls. A rather large job for one taskforce, then.

Youth vote vacuum
The UK Youth Parliament could disappear after March 2027 if government funding ends. The 300-plus elected members, aged 11–18, have represented young people since 2000, but the scheme’s future is being reviewed after an evaluation found only a quarter of young people knew about it. Ministers say they are designing a replacement, while supporters fear the youth voice could lose its Westminster megaphone.

Influencer income
Government departments have spent at least £2.4m on social-media influencers since July 2024, using creators to promote everything from childcare and tax advice to teacher recruitment. The Education Department spent the most, over £700,000, while critics question whether taxpayers should bankroll celebrity-shaped public information. Apparently, Whitehall has discovered that reaching people involves going where the people are. Fancy that.

Khan’s new cloak
Sadiq Khan has swapped City Hall for the scarlet robes of the Lords, becoming Lord Khan of Tooting after a decade as London mayor. The former solicitor and government minister joins Labour’s upper chamber following three mayoral victories, taking his seat alongside new peer Roberto Neri. From buses to ermine: quite the commute.

Fed raises interest rates - Trump not happy
The US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the first time in three years, and Donald Trump has reacted in the sort of measured, statesmanlike way one might expect from a man who thinks caps lock is a policy platform. He wants the benchmark rate slashed to “1% or less”, insisting America has “the Best Credit in the World — BY FAR”. Subtle as a trombone, naturally.

The quarter-point rise takes the Fed’s key rate to about 3.9%, with the usual knock-on effects for mortgages, loans and credit cards. In plain English: borrowing just got dearer, which is welcome news for nobody except perhaps economists, who do enjoy a good graph and a terrible party.

It comes at a time when Americans are already feeling the strain of high grocery bills, petrol costs and housing expenses, all of which are likely to feature heavily in the coming midterm elections. The Fed’s own projections suggest another rise could be on the cards, taking the rate to 4.1%, which is hardly a warm cuppa of comfort for borrowers.

Canada’s “EU associate member” proposal"
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has warmly backed the European Union’s idea of making Canada its first ever “associate member”, pressing for tighter cooperation on defence, critical minerals and energy security. In Strasbourg, he told the European Parliament that Canada and Europe are “stronger together” as the world muddles through one geopolitical rupture after another — diplomacy, it seems, now operating with all the calm of a delayed rail replacement service.

The proposal was floated by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who said the EU should “open the door” to Canada’s associate membership, a status that does not yet exist. Donald Trump, never one to miss an opportunity to sound like the dinner guest who’s already argued with the starter, dismissed the idea as “laughable” and threatened “very serious tariffs” on Europe if he decided it was a hostile act.

Carney’s remarks landed against the backdrop of a worsening trade row between Canada and the US, with both sides slapping on tit-for-tat tariffs after bilateral talks broke down last month. For anyone keeping score at home, it’s the kind of economic handbags-at-dawn that makes the old age of free trade look positively quaint.

Molecular maths
Researchers in Ireland have built a DNA computer that performs 100-bit calculations without electricity. Using self-assembling DNA strands, the test-tube machine completed addition, subtraction, multiplication and division by letting chemical reactions do the heavy lifting. It could eventually offer energy-efficient computing or even molecular systems operating inside cells. Silicon, meanwhile, may wish to sit down.

Orbital oddities
Stars Wars is now our reality. America has publicly acknowledged that it has weapons operating in orbit, while declining to say what they are, when they were tested or precisely what they can do. Analysts suggest possibilities including jammers, spoofers or lasers, while kinetic weapons could create a rather unpleasant cloud of satellite-shredding debris. The admission comes amid growing US concern over Russian and Chinese activity in space, though one expert said the vagueness makes the warning difficult to take as a meaningful deterrent. Space, it seems, has acquired yet another awkward military secret.

Newly noticed nibbler
A spotted wild cat in Bolivia has been confirmed as a brand-new species, Leopardus tilcayo, after DNA testing revealed it was hiding in plain sight. Only one is currently known, a ten-year-old sanctuary resident nicknamed Tigrino, though scientists suspect more are prowling the forests. The discovery also suggests tiger cats may number five species rather than three. Quite the family tree.

Two-headed tortoise
Meanwhile, Cape Cod has produced a rather unusual hatchling: a diamondback terrapin with two heads, a rare condition called bicephaly. The 5.2-gram youngster is being monitored by vets at the Cape Wildlife Center, where both heads are reportedly behaving normally. With diamondback terrapins threatened in Massachusetts, researchers are keeping a particularly close eye on this tiny two-for-one turtle.

Nimble ngetich
And from four legs to two, Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich has stormed to a women-only half-marathon world record in Copenhagen, clocking 1:05:15. She shaved a second off Peres Jepchirchir’s previous mark and added another trophy to a rapidly filling cabinet. After already rewriting the 10km record books, Ngetich now has her sights set on track gold at the 2027 World Athletics Championships.