EU to water down landmark ban on new petrol and diesel cars

The EU has confirmed it will water down its landmark 2035 ban on the sale of new petrol or diesel cars, yielding to heavy pressure from the car industry and leaders from several EU member states including Germany and Italy.Under current legislation, manufacturers were obliged to ensure that 100% of production of cars and vans had zero emissions up to 2035.The European Commission confirmed on Tuesday that this will now be reduced to 90%, enabling the continued manufacture of a portion of plug-in hybrid electric cars, or even combustion engines beyond 2035.However, in a carrot-and-stick approach, the remaining 10% of assembly line output that is not carbon neutral will need to be compensated by other green measures on the factory floor, including the use of green steel made in Europe or use of biofuels in non-electric vehicles.“This will allow for plug-in hybrids (PHEV), range extenders, mild hybrids, and internal combustion engine vehicles to still play a role beyond 2035, in addition to full electric (EVs) and hydrogen vehicles,” the commission said

Thames Water defers controversial £2.5m in bonuses to bosses

Thames Water has deferred awarding bosses retention payments totalling £2.5m, avoiding a potentially damaging pre-Christmas row as the heavily indebted utility scrambles to agree a multibillion-pound rescue deal.Sources at the UK’s biggest water company confirmed the controversial retention payment package for 21 senior executives, which had been due to go out this month, would remain on hold until the new year.The bonuses were put on pause earlier this year after the Guardian revealed the chair of the company wrongly told parliament that creditors had “insisted” on the payments.Sir Adrian Montague admitted he “may have misspoken” after he incorrectly told the environment, food and rural affairs (Efra) select committee that the lenders had insisted that “very substantial” bonuses of up to 50% of salary should be paid to executives to help retain important staff

Google AI summaries are ruining the livelihoods of recipe writers: ‘It’s an extinction event’

This past March, when Google began rolling out its AI Mode search capability, it began offering AI-generated recipes. The recipes were not all that intelligent. The AI had taken elements of similar recipes from multiple creators and Frankensteined them into something barely recognizable. In one memorable case, the Google AI failed to distinguish the satirical website the Onion from legitimate recipe sites and advised users to cook with non-toxic glue.Over the past few years, bloggers who have not secured their sites behind a paywall have seen their carefully developed and tested recipes show up, often without attribution and in a bastardized form, in ChatGPT replies

UK Treasury drawing up new rules to police cryptocurrency markets

Cryptocurrencies will be regulated in a similar way to other financial products under legislation coming into force in 2027.The Treasury is drawing up rules that will require crypto companies to meet a set of standards overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).Ministers have sought to overhaul the crypto market, which has ballooned in popularity as a way of investing money and making payments.Cryptocurrencies have not been subject to the same regulation as traditional financial products such as stocks and shares, which means that in many cases consumers do not enjoy the same level of protection.The government said the new rules would make the crypto industry more transparent, boost consumer confidence and make it easier to detect suspicious activity, impose sanctions and hold companies accountable

At Square One: inside the big barn that offers English cricket a brighter future

“Cricket is shit if you’re shit at cricket. But everyone has been shit at cricket. Even Ben Stokes. When someone threw a ball at him for the first time, he didn’t smash it six rows back. Ben Stokes was shit at cricket, and then he got good at cricket, and he got good quick enough to stay in it

Pat Cummins says Bondi terror attack ‘hit home pretty hard’ as tributes flow before third Ashes Test

Australia captain Pat Cummins has said the tragic events at Bondi beach ‘hit home pretty hard’ as they unfolded on Sunday night just down the road from his home in the neighbouring Sydney suburb of Bronte.As the cricket world prepares to pay tribute to the victims of the Bondi beach terror attack when the third Ashes Test gets under way in Adelaide on Wednesday, Cummins and England captain, Ben Stokes, revealed the profound impact the massacre had on them and their teammates.“Like most other Aussies and people in the world, I was just horrified watching on,” Cummins said. “We had just put the kids to bed and flicked on the news as that was coming through. Me and my wife were watching in disbelief