Elon Musk’s SpaceX ‘aiming for $1.5tn valuation’ in stock market flotation – business live

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.Elon Musk’s SpaceX is aiming to hold one of the biggest stock market listings of all time next year, according to reports.SpaceX, which designs and manufactures rockets and spacecraft and is pioneering the idea of reusable rockets, is aiming for a valuation over $1trn by selling shares to investors in 2026, Bloomberg and Reuters are both reporting.Bloomberg says SpaceX is seeking to raise significantly more than $30bn, and targeting a valuation of about $1.5tn for the whole company

Rachel Reeves’s test from the bond markets starts now

Good news for Rachel Reeves: the cost of government borrowing has fallen a bit relative to the US and eurozone countries. Better news: the chancellor may have something to do with it. Better still: some economists think there’s more to come.Let’s not get carried away, though. The UK is still paying a painful premium on its borrowing costs, as the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank illustrates

From ‘glacier aesthetic’ to ‘poetcore’: Pinterest predicts the visual trends of 2026 based on its search data

Next year, we’ll mostly be indulging in maximalist circus decor, working on our poetcore, hunting for the ethereal or eating cabbage in a bid for “individuality and self-preservation”, according to Pinterest.The organisation’s predictions for Australian trends in 2026 have landed, which – according to the platform used by interior decorators, fashion lovers and creatives of all stripes – includes 1980s, aliens, vampires and “forest magic”.Among the Pinterest 2026 trends report’s top 21 themes are “Afrohemian” decor (searches for the term are on the rise by baby boomers and Gen X); “glitchy glam” (asymmetric haircuts and mismatching nails); and “cool blue” (drinks, wedding dresses and makeup with a “glacier aesthetic”).Pinterest compared English-language search data from September 2024 to August 2025 with those of the year before and claims it has an 88% accuracy rate. More than 9 million Australians use Pinterest each month

UK police forces lobbied to use biased facial recognition technology

Police forces successfully lobbied to use a facial recognition system known to be biased against women, young people, and members of ethnic minority groups, after complaining that another version produced fewer potential suspects.UK forces use the police national database (PND) to conduct retrospective facial recognition searches, whereby a “probe image” of a suspect is compared to a database of more than 19 million custody photos for potential matches.The Home Office admitted last week that the technology was biased, after a review by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) found it misidentified Black and Asian people and women at significantly higher rates than white men, and said it “had acted on the findings”.Documents seen by the Guardian and Liberty Investigates reveal that the bias has been known about for more than a year – and that police forces argued to overturn an initial decision designed to address it.Police bosses were told the system was biased in September 2024, after a Home Office-commissioned review by the NPL found the system was more likely to suggest incorrect matches for probe images depicting women, Black people, and those aged 40 and under

‘Having a Bazball at Noosa’: Australian media goes to town over England’s mid-Ashes beach break

A mid-tour jaunt by the England cricket team to a Queensland beach town was covered gleefully by Australia’s tabloid newspapers, which splashed a shirtless Ben Stokes across their pages amid taunting headlines.“On back foot, England bails to the beach”, one read. “Life’s a beach, even for the sinking Poms,” added another. “Sun’s out, runs out”, offered a third, alongside a photo of Stokes’s tattooed biceps.“Having a Bazball at Noosa!”, the top of the front page of Brisbane’s Courier Mail declared, alongside coverage of Jamie Oliver’s best Christmas ham recipe and Australia’s controversial ban of under-16s from social media which comes into force on Wednesday

Pat Cummins primed for return as Australia name squad for third Ashes Test

Australian veteran Usman Khawaja remains in the frame for selection for the third Ashes Test after being included in the squad for Adelaide headlined by the return of captain Pat Cummins.Khawaja was left out of the second Test XI after struggling with a back injury during the series opener in Perth, and new opener Jake Weatherald broke through with his first half century at the Gabba.The end of the 38-year-old’s international career will have to wait however, after he was named in Australia’s 15-player squad for the third Test beginning 17 December.Travis Head has starred alongside Weatherald at the top of the order making Khawaja’s return as an opener unlikely, although his versatility could still win him a place batting down the order.Beneath Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith at Nos 3 and 4 there remains uncertainty around the makeup of Australia’s lineup, as they travel to Adelaide looking to wrap up the series