Happy Monday. In an extraordinary new medical record, a genetically modified pig kidney kept a human patient going for a record 271 days — doing the hard graft while its owner waited for a human kidney to become available. It’s an impressive career pivot for a kidney that would likely have had rather different prospects.

The porcine stand-in was eventually failed, but meant only a short stint of dialysis was required before a human donor kidney became available, making those 271 days an astonishingly successful bridge to transplant. A remarkable bit of science, a very welcome second chance — and, we think, one pig kidney deserving of an exceptionally large thank-you card.

Notable UK earnings this week: Standard Life (SL.), Computacenter (CCC), Dunelm (DNLM), Ashmore (ASHM), Energean (ENOG).

Notable US earnings this week: Oracle (ORCL), Adobe (ADBE), Kroger (KR), Copart (CPRT), Chewy (CHWY).

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🏗️ Construction starts for UK first offshore carbon capture project. Read more

✈️ Luton airport expansion work goes to Mace and Acardis. Read more

Jackdaw gas set for North Sea nod
The government is expected to give the nod to the controversial Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen in mid-September, per the BBC, with a decision potentially landing mid-September - Jackdaw was first approved by the previous Conservative government in 2022, but the project was later knocked off course by a Scottish court ruling after climate campaigners argued the original consent failed to properly factor in the emissions from burning the fuel.

Adura, the Shell-Equinor joint venture behind both fields, says Jackdaw could deliver around 6% of UK gas output at peak production. Environmental groups say that figure is puffed up like a bad souffle, arguing it would cover only about 2% of UK use once imports are included.

Campaigners insist more drilling is both reckless and unnecessary, especially as heatwaves, wildfires and floods continue to batter countries around the world. Their case is that the UK would be better off racing towards cleaner power and greener jobs, rather than hanging about in the hydrocarbon queue like it’s 1973 and the three-day week is back.

Industry, naturally, tells a different story. Supporters say Jackdaw would bolster energy security, sustain jobs and help keep North Sea infrastructure like the Shearwater hub ticking over a bit longer — because once the pipes, platforms and terminals start ageing, they don’t exactly get younger by sheer optimism. Adura says the field is already 99% complete and could begin supplying gas to UK homes by winter if approval comes in September, which is either efficient planning or a very expensive game of etch-a-sketch diplomacy.

Poundland push for sale
Poundland’s owner is pushing to strike a sale of the discount chain within weeks, with advisers aiming to wrap up new ownership before the all-important Christmas shopping crush. Because if there’s one thing retail likes less than tight margins, it’s trying to sort a transaction while festive stock is going up and down the country like a badly packed trolley at Tesco.

Sky News understands Alvarez & Marsal, brought in by Gordon Brothers last month, wants the auction to move at pace, with the goal of securing a buyer before the end of October.

Assisted dying returns
Parliament is preparing another emotionally charged round over assisted dying. More than 100 peers want the Lords to finish scrutinising a bill allowing terminally ill adults in England and Wales, with safeguards, to seek an assisted death. MPs will vote freely on conscience rather than party lines—so expect politics with the party whip firmly parked outside.

Northern nosh for growth
Chancellor John Healey will unveil a £150m fund for fast-growing northern firms, offering £5m–£15m investments to help innovative businesses expand and attract private cash. It’s part of Labour’s “active state” pitch to spread growth beyond Britain’s biggest cities—though with borrowing costs soaring, the Treasury may want the economy to grow rather briskly, dare not say bubble or boil.

USA job market smashes expectations
US employers added 162,000 jobs in August, a decent bit of upside surprise that left economists looking slightly less smug than they’d hoped. The unemployment rate held at 4.1%, while analysts had been bracing for a far smaller gain of just 55,000 jobs and no change in the jobless rate. In other words: the labour market is still standing, if not exactly doing cartwheels.

The strongest gains came from food services, which added 59,000 roles, and public education, up by 42,000. Healthcare, long one of the economy’s more reliable workhorses, kept growing too, though at a slower clip with 13,000 new jobs. Meanwhile, white-collar employment took another knock, with the information sector shedding 23,000 positions — proof, if any were needed, that not all parts of the economy are enjoying a late-summer glow-up.

Diesel price hits record high for the US
US diesel prices have surged to a record high, climbing to $5.85 a gallon on Friday and nudging past the previous peak set in June 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine helped send Europe’s energy markets into a proper tailspin. Not exactly the sort of milestone anyone wants on the fridge, or in the lorry tank.

The latest spike comes as wars in Iran and Russia-Ukraine continue to put structural pressure on an already tight market for diesel — the rather unglamorous but utterly indispensable “workhorse fuel” that keeps freight moving, shelves stocked and supply chains from going full Jenga. From 18-wheelers hauling goods across the US to the cargo ships doing the heavy lifting at sea, diesel is the grease in the global machine. Without it, everything gets expensive, quickly.

In the US, stockpiles of distillate fuels such as diesel and gasoline are now at record lows for this time of year, with East Coast inventories also sitting at all-time lows. That is awkward timing, to put it mildly, just as the north-east heads towards the winter heating season, when demand normally rises and households begin turning up the thermostat and their patience in equal measure. The sort of thing that makes autumn feel less “cosy jumper” and more “why is my bill doing the Macarena?”.

London gets a driverless date
Britain has put self-driving taxis on ordinary London streets, with Uber and AI firm Wayve sending electric Ford Mustangs into passenger service. A safety driver remains aboard, but the cars handle the driving. It’s a small fleet, yet more than 100,000 hopeful passengers have already raised their hands. London traffic, meanwhile, remains characteristically unimpressed.

Tired of talk yet? Tesla takes the wheel away. Across the pond, Elon Musk has gone further, launching gold Tesla Cybercabs in Austin with neither steering wheels nor brake pedals. Tesla is betting Americans will trust the machine entirely. With Waymo already far ahead and regulators still poking Tesla’s autonomous systems with a rather large stick, the road to robotaxi supremacy looks bumpy.

FIFA’s Infantino Encore
Gianni Infantino will seek another term as FIFA president in 2027, despite mounting opposition over a controversial plan to sell World Cup shares to private investors. UEFA says it has lost confidence in him, with Asian and North American leaders also now opposed. No challenger has yet emerged—so, for the moment, the football throne remains firmly occupied.

Africa Gets Its Due
The UN General Assembly has backed a new world map that better reflects Africa’s true size, with 164 countries voting in favour and only the US against. The Mercator projection makes Africa look roughly the size of Greenland, despite being about 14 times larger. The vote is non-binding, but institutions worldwide are expected to rethink their cartographic habits. At last, a map with fewer geographic fibs.