UK government pledges further £590m for delayed Lower Thames Crossing

The government has pledged a further £590m towards Britain’s biggest road-building project, the controversial and long-delayed Lower Thames Crossing.In March, the transport secretary gave formal approval to the new road tunnel under the Thames joining Essex and Kent. The £9.2bn project will comprise more than 14 miles of roads including the 2.6-mile crossing near Thurrock, Essex

Thames Water must be held to account | Letters

So creditors wishing to take over Thames Water want the company and its senior management to be granted clemency from rules on sewage spills and environmental protection (Bidders demand Thames Water granted immunity over environmental crimes, 7 June). The rights of investors, it would seem, should prevail over the rights of communities to a clean environment.It is the failure of rigorously enforced regulation that led to the mismanagement of Thames Water, with loans being used to increase shareholder dividends and bloated bonuses for incompetent managers. In many countries the law can now be used to confiscate private assets gained from immoral activities, such as drug-running and prostitution. There is no reason why those who accrue wealth through the degradation of the natural environment should be treated any differently

Hey AI! Can ChatGPT help you to manage your money?

Artificial intelligence seems to have touched every part of our lives. But can it help us manage our money? We put some common personal finance questions to the free version of ChatGPT, one of the most well-known AI chatbots, and asked for its help.Then we gave the answers to some – human – experts and asked them what they thought.We asked: I am 35 years old and want to ensure I have a comfortable retirement. I earn about £35,000 a year and have a workplace pension, in which I have saved £20,000

Workers in UK need to embrace AI or risk being left behind, minister says

Workers in the UK should turn their trepidation over AI into “exhilaration” by giving it a try or they risk being left behind by those who have, the technology secretary has said.Peter Kyle called on employees and businesses to “act now” on getting to grips with the tech, with the generational gap in usage needing only two and a half hours of training to bridge.Breakthroughs such as the emergence of ChatGPT have sparked an investment boom in the technology, but also led to forecasts that a host of jobs in sectors ranging from law to financial services will be affected.However, Kyle said: “I think most people are approaching this with trepidation. Once they start [using AI], it turns to exhilaration, because it is a lot more straightforward than people realise, and it is far more rewarding than people expect

US Open golf: JJ Spaun holes long-range putt on 18 for victory – as it happened

Here is Ewan Murray’s report of the dramatic final day and JJ Spaun’s breakthrough victory at Oakmont:Anyway, it’s been a long and dramatic final round, so that’s your lot. Congratulations to JJ Spaun, commiserations to Bob MacIntyre, and thanks to you for reading this live blog. Hope to see you again for the final major of the season at Portrush next month.-1: JJ Spaun +1: Robert MacIntyre +2: Viktor Hovland +3: Cameron Young, Tyrrell Hatton, Carlos Ortiz +4: Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns +5: Ben Griffin, Russell HenleyJJ Spaun talks to NBC. “I don’t think I did keep my composure … I was trying to dig deep … honestly the weather delay we had changed the whole vibe for the day … a similar thing happened to me at the Players … I leaned on that experience … I kept pushing … bounced back … fought really hard on the back nine … it was nice to get a little teach from Viktor … when I hit it I thought it was a little short but right on the line … eight feet out it was looking really good … it was just one of those moments in major championships when that’s what happens to seal the deal and fortunately it was my time … I never thought I would be here holding this trophy … I never knew what my ceiling was … I’m just proud I’ve been resilient … I’ve tried to be the best golfer I could be

McLaren play it cool after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collide

McLaren attempted to play down any acrimony between its drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after they collided at the Canadian GP, which saw the Briton crash out, as George Russell claimed a decisive victory for Mercedes after starting on pole.Norris’s failure to finish, crashing out from fifth place with three laps left, means that the Australian, who finished fourth, increases his championship lead over his teammate to 22 points. Russell now sits in fourth in the standings, 62 points off Piastri.Sign up to The RecapThe best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s actionafter newsletter promotionNorris was quick to hold up his hands over the crash on the team radio: “All my bad, all my fault, stupid from me,” he said straight after the incident. Later he added: “There’s no one to blame but myself, so I apologise to the whole team and to Oscar for attempting something probably a bit too silly