Happy Monday. The Great North Run went ahead yesterday with none other than Prime Minister Andy Burnham running the half marathon distance.

If you’re interested in sizing up your fitness against the UK leader, he finished in an impressive 1 hour and 57 minutes. A decent feat in itself, more impressive still if you factor running the country into your training plan.

Notable UK earnings this week: Next (NXT), Barrat Redrow (BTRW), Trustpilot (TRST), Kier Group (KIE), Wickes (WIX).

Notable US earnings this week: Lennar (LEN), Carnival (CCL), Dave & Buster’s (PLAY), Hain Celestial (HAIN).

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🏗️ Three towers approved in Vauxhall worth £2bn. Read more

🛠️ Wins for 80 firms on £350m repairs framework. Read more

Arctic trade route first from China to Teeside
A container ship has docked in the UK after a landmark voyage from China via the Arctic, as shipping companies test a shorter, and in some respects less hair-raising, alternative to the Suez Canal. The 575ft Dubai Tower (yes the boat is called this) arrived at Teesport in the North East after leaving eastern China on 15 August, carrying 1,300 containers of electric vehicles, batteries and other renewable energy kit. So yes, the future has literally arrived by boat, and it’s wearing an icebreaker.

The trip is part of a broader push to use the so-called North Sea Route, which can be significantly quicker than sailing through the Suez or all the way round the Cape of Good Hope way down in South Africa. China is keen to find cheaper routes that avoid the Red Sea, where shipping has been thrown off course by Houthi attacks in Yemen, while wider disruption in the region has only added to the global logistics mess — a proper reminder that geopolitics has a nasty habit of showing up late and ruining everyone’s delivery estimates.

The Arctic option is not exactly a neat, cosy cruise either. It depends on conditions that are, shall we say, a bit temperamental, and the route runs through Arctic waters within Russia’s exclusive economic zone. But faster-melting sea ice, linked to global warming, has made summer crossings more feasible — a grim little climate milestone, really: bad news for the planet, better news for shipping timetables. Humanity does love solving one problem by creating three more.

Job cuts at JLR and Channel 4
Jaguar Land Rover is set to shed as many as 4,000 jobs over the next two years, with the carmaker opening a voluntary redundancy programme for salaried and management staff. The cuts affect around 10% of JLR’s nearly 40,000-strong global workforce. The company says it has already briefed employees and trade unions, and is aiming to make the reductions through voluntary departures rather than a brutal game of corporate musical chairs.

Channel 4 is planning to cut 340 jobs by the end of the year, trimming its workforce by more than a quarter in a fairly brutal bout of reshaping that could make even a Tory party conference sound calm. The broadcaster said around 28% of its 1,270 staff will go after a strategic review, as it tries to slim down and sharpen up.

Less so united union unravelling
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are teaming up for an unprecedented Cardiff summit, with their pro-independence leaders set to sign a pact demanding the right to hold independence referendums. John Swinney, Rhun ap Lowerth and Michelle O’Neill will discuss self-determination, the economy, energy and Europe, while Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald joins the constitutional tea party. Andy Burnham, meanwhile, is being accused of accidentally handing them the biscuit tin.

Assisted arguments
MPs have rejected a fresh attempt to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales, voting 286–270 against Labour MP Lauren Edwards’s bill. It would have allowed terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live to seek an assisted death, subject to safeguards including approval from two doctors and an expert panel.

Supporters say the law remains cruel; opponents argue protections are inadequate and palliative care should come first. The issue has consumed Parliament for two years and, judging by the determination to have another go, has apparently booked a long-term Westminster residency.

Trump promises $5k to all US adults
In what still doesn’t feel like real life, Donald Trump has promised to hand every American adult $5,000 if Republicans keep control of the House and Senate in next month’s midterms. In short - vote for me and you might get $5k. He unveiled the idea at the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas, branding it the “Trump Dividend” and comparing it to a company paying out shareholders after a bumper year.

The trouble, of course, is that this is not Tesco Clubcard points. The plan would likely cost more than $1 trillion, need congressional approval, and pile further pressure on a US budget deficit already nudging $1.8 trillion a year, with inflation still lingering like an unwelcome party guest who won’t take the hint and leave.

Trump closed out his midterm conference by encouraging voters to “cheat like hell” if they had to. He seems keen on the idea of winning, but may have sacrificed some of the democratic norms in the process.

Anthropic report shows AI x bioweapons research
In even more sobering news, Anthropic says it has identified and shut down attempts to use its AI model for “malicious activity” that could aid the development of biological weapons. Rather grim reading, frankly — the sort of thing that reminds you frontier tech is brilliant until someone decides to be a menace with broadband.

The findings come in the company’s latest threat intelligence report, a regular fixture now as AI firms scramble to show they can spot abuse before it turns into a full-blown headache. The warnings across the industry have only intensified, with figures such as US Senator Bernie Sanders calling for a pause on advanced AI and a ban on artificial superintelligence, while Donald Trump has brushed aside the gloom, saying he’s more concerned the US could “lose” the AI race.

Revolut reveals
Revolut has admitted that fraudsters used a genuine government email domain to trick it into handing over sensitive customer data, including IDs, addresses, transaction histories and selfies. Revolut says accounts and funds remain safe but with 80m customers, and a ransom with proof of what the hackers have posted on X, it’s a useful reminder that an official-looking email can still be absolute bobbins.

Apple folds, Tesla stalls
Apple has entered the foldable-phone fray with its £2,000 iPhone Duo, opening from passport-sized pocket gadget into a 7.6-inch display with Apple Pencil support and split-screen multitasking. It launches in 6 weeks, with the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max arriving sooner. New CEO John Ternus is making the debut, while Apple argues that arriving late means letting rivals iron out the screen creases first. At that price, it had better fold laundry too.

Tesla, meanwhile, is promising to unveil its long-delayed Roadster on 1 October, nearly nine years after its first reveal and six years after promised deliveries. It may even demonstrate SpaceX-developed cold-gas thrusters that is rumoured to give instant downforce, or flight. Fashionably late? Unlikely in a 1 second 0-60 rocket. More like historically punctual.

Frozen fortunes
A Greek couple have welcomed baby Georgia using an embryo frozen for 22 years. Cristina Rapti-Tzelepi, 54, had just two and a half months to secure approval before Greece’s IVF age limit ruled her out. Their doctor says the strict age rule deserves another look, particularly as Greece’s birth rate declines. A rather extraordinary case of putting old stock to surprisingly good use.

Alaskan survivor
Fifteen-year-old Derek Parker Aghnaanga has been rescued after days clinging to a capsized fishing boat in Alaska’s freezing Bering Sea. He and two relatives had set out from St Lawrence Island to fish for their community, but the vessel overturned.

A Coast Guard aircraft eventually spotted Derek perched on the upturned skiff, after he endured two days without food or water and freezing temperatures. His mother says he was never afraid. Quite the opposite of your average teenager’s response to being told the Wi-Fi is down.