Happy Monday. As the Scotland fans move on from Boston to Miami, they leave behind yet another city besotted with the tartan army.

Safe to say Boston didn’t know what they were in for as the Scots rolled into town, and that goes for landlords too. Venues across the city were quadrupling their beer sales during their stay, with Sam Adams’ Boston taproom reporting more than 90 kegs drained in a matter of days - the beer count is higher than any of Boston’s biggest annual celebrations. Note to Miami, order more.

Notable UK earnings this week: Accsys Technologies (AXS), Team Internet Group (TIG).

Notable US earnings this week: Micron (MU), FedEx (FDX), Trip.com (TCOM).

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🌊 DeepOcean win BP decom work on UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). Read more

⚡ SSEN Transmission seeking suppliers for £7.4bn north Scotland framework. Read more

Interest rates held
The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold at 3.75 per cent after fresh inflation data came in a touch softer than expected and the peace deal between the US and Iran helped push oil prices lower. After four cuts in 2025, markets had fancied a slower glide path towards 3 per cent this year - but, as ever, geopolitics has turned up like an uninvited relative at Christmas and made the calculations rather more awkward.

The Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 to leave rates unchanged, with two members still arguing that a rise may be the safer bet if inflationary pressures return. The Bank says inflation could tick higher later this year, not least because energy prices remain twitchy and no one can pretend the Middle East has suddenly become predictable. The Bank may be “ready to act as necessary”, but it is clearly not in the mood to make a dash for it.

For households, the hold decision is already feeding hopes of cheaper mortgages ahead. Barclays is cutting a range of two- and five-year fixes from Friday, while Santander has already trimmed some deals. That’s helpful, given that June is supposed to be about strawberries and sunshine, not base-rate-induced blood pressure.

Unemployment rate drops
The UK jobless rate has edged down unexpectedly to 4.9%, according to official figures, even as the labour market continues to look a bit less manic than a July sales rack in Oxford Street. The Office for National Statistics said this despite the number of new people entering payrolled work fell to its lowest level in five years, while private-sector basic pay awards also lost momentum.

Basic wage growth held at 3.4% in the three months to April, still comfortably ahead of inflation, despite economists having pencilled in a fall to 3.2%. So, not exactly a boom-time plot twist, but not the economic equivalent of the nation’s train timetable collapsing either.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said the labour market remained broadly stable, though with “further softening” in several measures. Payroll numbers kept falling, vacancies continued to drop, and firms appear to be getting a bit more selective about hiring - a familiar British story, really: cautious, creaky and determined not to make a fuss.

Red tape runaway runway
The government has opened consultation on Heathrow’s third-runway framework, promising growth, 60,000 jobs and firm tests on carbon, air quality and noise. Plenty of thrust on paper, but still waiting for take-off clearance with no bulldozers cleared for runway yet: this is the policy runway before the actual runway, with responses due by September. Short-haul politics at its finest.

Courts and constituencies
A Scottish judge has ruled trans prisoners housed by gender identity unlawful, saying prisons must generally segregate by biological sex, though exceptional human-rights cases may remain.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Conservatives seized Aberdeen South from the SNP, their first Westminster by-election win in over 50 years. The SNP held Arbroath and Broughty Ferry. One each, then; democracy has ordered a half-and-half.

Bans and unbans
Wales is consulting on national guidance that could ban phones in schools all day. Ireland’s Dáil just voted to scrap the three-day wait for abortions. And Westminster is about to publish a draft ban on gay and trans conversion therapy. Some changes arrive quickly, others take their time, and a few will linger happily in “pending further consultation”.

Fox Sports cash in on World Cup hydration breaks
Fox is set to bank at least a quarter of a billion dollars from commercials shown during FIFA World Cup hydration breaks - because apparently even football now comes with its own sponsor-friendly pause button. While fans were expecting goals, drama and the odd VAR-related meltdown, one of the tournament’s biggest talking points has been FIFA’s insistence on mandatory three-minute hydration breaks in every half.

Normally, these stoppages are reserved for matches sweltering in extreme heat, when player welfare matters more than the usual “keep calm and carry on” attitude of top-level sport. But at this World Cup, the rule is being applied to every game, regardless of temperature, location or whether the stadium is air-conditioned to the point of feeling like a Waitrose freezer aisle.

FOX Sports, which has exclusive English-language rights in the US, has turned the drink breaks into a rather lucrative side hustle. According to reports, it is charging six-figure sums for 30-second adverts shown full screen during the pauses, with the Wall Street Journal putting early-round spots at around $200,000 and USMNT matches at roughly $750,000. Not bad for three minutes of everyone pretending they’re not desperate for a wee and a lie down.

Analysts reckon the numbers add up fast. With eight ad slots per match across the two breaks and all 104 World Cup games included, FOX could make about $250 million just from those hydration-break adverts - a tidy sum that could cover well over half of the $485 million it reportedly paid FIFA for broadcast rights. In other words, while the players are sipping water, the broadcaster is making money hand over fist. Very nice work if you can get it; almost suspiciously nice, really..

Trump unveils Qatari Air Force One gift
Donald Trump has rolled out a Boeing 747-8 destined to serve as Air Force One, after the Qatari government donated the jet last year as what officials are calling an “unconditional” gift to the United States. The aircraft, now valued at an estimated $400 million (£300 million), has been given the full once-over by the US military and is being billed, with typical Trumpish flourish, as a “flying White House” with rather more polish than your average government transport.

The Air Force says the jet has undergone major modifications to security, mission communications, logistics support and advanced technology - in other words, all the dull but essential bits that stop a presidential plane becoming a very expensive tin can at 40,000 feet. Any threats linked to the previously owned aircraft have reportedly been “neutralised”, and the plane is now heading into initial commissioning flights, essentially a final exam before it starts ferrying the president around.

Mach-speed marvels
Britain is preparing to test Invictus, an ESA-backed hypersonic space plane designed for satellite launches but potentially capable of London-to-Sydney trips in three hours. First flight could come in 2034, with Mach 5 testing by 2036 assuming the engines survive and the sonic boom doesn’t rearrange Cornwall.

Back on Earth, East of England Ambulance Service is expanding live-video CPR coaching to seven days a week after paramedics used callers’ phones to improve chest compressions and defibrillator placement. Real superhero work, no cape required.

Specs and suspensions
Snap eyes up another swing at smart glasses. Its £1,995 specs overlay info, browse the web and record video, though their four-hour battery and chunky frame may struggle to dethrone phones. They look clever on paper but suffer from a face profile that only a motherboard could love. Elsewhere, Telegram lost its challenge against India’s ban. Apps come and apps go.

Term-time tea
Zimbabwe’s lower house has backed extending presidential terms from five to seven years, potentially keeping Emmerson Mnangagwa in office until 2030. The bill would also scrap direct presidential elections and let parliament choose the leader instead. Supporters call it stability. Critics point out that democracy tends to work better when the voters are still invited to the tea party.

Boiling point
Europe is roasting under another major heatwave, with Spain facing possible highs of 44C, France putting most of its population under alerts and Britain, famously only able to handle boiling of the kettle kind, is bracing for humid “tropical nights”. France has cancelled festivals and banned alcohol at state events in red-alert areas, while storms may follow the heat. Euromaxxing the heat, Eurominning the rosé.