UK electric car sales up by a third in first half of 2025, preliminary data suggests

British electric car sales rose by a third in the first half of 2025 after the strongest June for overall car sales since before the Covid pandemic.The number of battery electric car sales rose 34.6% to 224,838 units in the first six months of the year, according to preliminary data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a lobby group.New car sales rose 6.8% year-on-year in June to 191,200 units, the best sales figures for the month since 2019

UK government ‘closely watching’ £120m legal claim against Vodafone

Ministers are closely watching a court case in which Vodafone is alleged to have “unjustly enriched” itself at the expense of franchise operators, and have raised the prospect of a regulatory crackdown on the sector.The small business minister, Gareth Thomas, has said he will “track very carefully” a £120m legal claim brought against Vodafone last year by a group of 62 of about 150 franchise operators.They allege that drastic cuts to commission rates on selling Vodafone products in the group’s high street stores caused many of them to run up huge personal debts. They say they fear for their livelihoods or homes, and some have reported suicidal thoughts.Their court filing claims the company “indiscriminately … operated to enrich Vodafone at the expense of its franchisees”

AI helps find formula for paint to keep buildings cooler

AI-engineered paint could reduce the sweltering urban heat island effect in cities and cut air-conditioning bills, scientists have claimed, as machine learning accelerates the creation of new materials for everything from electric motors to carbon capture.Materials experts have used artificial intelligence to formulate new coatings that can keep buildings between 5C and 20C cooler than normal paint after exposure to midday sun. They could also be applied to cars, trains, electrical equipment and other objects that will require more cooling in a world that is heating up.Using machine learning, researchers at universities in the US, China, Singapore and Sweden designed new paint formulas tuned to best reflect the sun’s rays and emit heat, according to a peer-reviewed study published in the science journal Nature.It is the latest example of AI being used to leapfrog traditional trial-and-error approaches to scientific advances

Google undercounts its carbon emissions, report finds

In 2021, Google set a lofty goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. Yet in the years since then, the company has moved in the opposite direction as it invests in energy-intensive artificial intelligence. In its latest sustainability report, Google said its carbon emissions had increased 51% between 2019 and 2024.New research aims to debunk even that enormous figure and provide context to Google’s sustainability reports, painting a bleaker picture. A report authored by non-profit advocacy group Kairos Fellowship found that, between 2019 and 2024, Google’s carbon emissions actually went up by 65%

The IOC handed Los Angeles the Olympics. Trump is weaponizing them | Jules Boykoff

When the International Olympic Committee first handed Los Angeles the 2028 Summer Olympics back in 2017, IOC president Thomas Bach called it “a golden opportunity” for all involved. Fast forward to last month when Kirsty Coventry took the reins from Bach at the IOC. So much has changed.In January, LA was hit with deadly wildfires. That same month a different sort of natural disaster took shape as Donald Trump returned to the White House

David Porecki returns to Wallabies team to face Fiji after 643-day international absence

The Wallabies have opted for experience in their front row to face Fiji this weekend, with former captain David Porecki called back into the team, 643 days since he last pulled on a gold jersey.Porecki, 32, was named on Friday in the starting XV for Sunday’s Test in Newcastle, alongside all-time cap record holder James Slipper and 80-Test tighthead Allan Alaalatoa, in a forward pack missing big guns Will Skelton and Rob Valetini, who both have calf injuries.Porecki last ran out for Australia at the ill-fated 2023 Rugby World Cup, then didn’t play at all in 2024 due to separate Achilles and calf issues, but has got the nod from coach Joe Schmidt to return to the international fold at McDonald Jones Stadium.He captained Australia to a historic loss the last time Australia met Fiji; he is one of nine players backing up from that clash at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, where Fiji posted their first victory over the Wallabies in 69 years, winning 22-15.Schmidt said Porecki’s reaction to the news was measured