Pound slides after UK government borrowing jumps in August and insolvencies rise – as it happened

This morning’s UK public finances are going down badly in the City.The pound has dropped by half a cent this morning, to $1.35. That puts sterling on track for its third daily fall in a row, as it drops back from Tuesday’s two-month high.Government bonds are under pressure too, as traders react to the news that borrowing is £11bn higher than forecast so far this year

Overbaked prices? What Greggs’ sausage roll and Pret’s meal deal say about how much Britons will pay

When George Osborne came unstuck with his “pastygate” budget 13 years ago, a Greggs sausage roll cost 66p: a price from another planet for consumers in 2025.The Conservative chancellor’s plan to impose VAT on hot food – including Cornish pasties and sausage rolls – would have imposed a 20% price rise. The backlash – led in part by the Newcastle-based bakery chain – was swift: Osborne, branded posh and out of touch, was forced into an embarrassing U-turn.Since pastygate, the price of a Greggs sausage roll has almost doubled to £1.30, as consumers face a renewed rise in food price inflation

Meta announces first Ray-Ban smart glasses with in-built augmented reality display

Meta has announced three new pairs of AI smart glasses, including the first Ray-Bans with a built-in screen for augmented reality.The Meta Ray-Ban Display will be the first smart glasses with a heads-up display from a mainstream brand since the ill-fated Google Glass. They use a classic Wayfarer-like styling to avoid looking too obviously like wearable technology, while still having a camera, speakers and microphone.A small, bright and crisp colour display is projected on to the inside of the right lens, which appears to float just below the wearer’s eye line, and can show anything from text and images to live video calls. The display appears when interacting with the glasses, but isn’t visible from the outside

Google DeepMind claims ‘historic’ AI breakthrough in problem solving

Google DeepMind claims it has made a “historic” artificial intelligence breakthrough akin to the Deep Blue computer defeating Garry Kasparov at chess in 1997 and an AI beating a human Go champion in 2016.A version of the company’s Gemini 2.5 AI model solved a complex real-world problem that stumped human computer programmers to become the first AI model to win a gold medal at an international programming competition held earlier this month in Azerbaijan.In a performance that the tech company called a “profound leap in abstract problem-solving”, it took less than half an hour to work out how to weigh up an infinite number of possibilities in order to send a liquid through a network of ducts to a set of interconnected reservoirs. The goal was to distribute it as quickly as possible

World Athletics Championships 2025: Lyles and Jefferson-Wooden take 200m titles, Benjamin and Bol win 400m hurdles – live

More reaction from Britain’s Amy Hunt, following her 200m silver medal.Per PA, Hunt now trains under Marco Airale in Italy, where she lives in a “gorgeous” Padua pad and “gets the tram with all the grannies”. But even this year has not been easy. Hunt revealed she ran a couple of races “with the shingles” and on the start line on Friday thought of her late grandfather, who died this year and inspired her to silver.“This is the very beginning,” she said

Ireland v England: second men’s T20 cricket international abandoned due to rain – as it didn’t happen

Righto, that’s it from us today. Apologies for this damp squib of an OBO. Fingers crossed for better weather on the Emerald Isle for Sunday, I’ll be back for that one too. Enjoy your afternoon, goodbye!Here’s a mini-report and a bit of news from Taha at the ground:Rain ruined the second Twenty20 international between England and Ireland at Malahide, the match abandoned without a ball bowled. Prospects were low when a damp outfield delayed the scheduled 1