Cutting

• Apple announced at WWDC on June 8, 2026, that its major Siri AI overhaul will be blocked from EU iPhones and iPads at the launch of iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 this autumn. • The decision follows a regulatory deadlock with the European Commission, which rejected all of Apple's Digital Markets Act (DMA) compliance proposals, including the Trusted System Agent privacy framework. • This restriction affects approximately 450 million users, denying them the most significant update to the virtual assistant in its 15-year history.

HMRC confirms it will fight London tax tribunal’s finding that it has been overcharging for years under the lawEV charging shake-up looks to help UK households solve off-street parking problemThe UK’s tax authorities have decided to fight against a ruling that would cut VAT across all public electric car chargers, despite a judge finding they have been overcharging for years under the law.Charge My Street, a not-for-profit charging company, last month argued successfully that VAT should have been charged at 5%, rather than 20%, in a case at a London tax tribunal that could have a significant impact on electric car drivers’ costs. HM Revenue and Customs on Tuesday confirmed it will appeal against the ruling. Continue reading...

• Scientists at INRS have identified a family of enzymes known as Ssn that can make targeted cuts in single-stranded DNA, a capability never before achieved. • This discovery fills a major gap in biotechnology by providing new tools for DNA manipulation and genetic engineering applications. • The breakthrough has significant implications for advancing biotechnology research and developing new therapeutic approaches.

Australia and Singapore will ‘make maximum efforts to meet each other’s energy security needs’ in refined fuels and LNG, according to new agreementGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s largest petrol source has pledged not to cut supplies, with Singapore’s prime minister telling Anthony Albanese that fuel will keep flowing despite the international crisis.Albanese’s whistle-stop visit with his Singaporean counterpart, Lawrence Wong, culminated in a new agreement that the two countries would keep sending one another fuel and liquefied natural gas, amid the “acute energy crisis” caused by the war in the Middle East. Australia and Singapore will also add a legally binding addendum to their free trade agreement on essential supplies like energy. Continue reading...

Injecting $1.5bn via petrol subsidies into an inflated economy may change things for the Reserve Bank board at its next meetingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastEconomists will say that what millions of motorists gain in cheaper fuel through the prime minister’s three-month fuel excise cut, they will lose in more expensive mortgages.It may be good politics, but injecting $1.5bn via petrol subsidies into an economy that is already struggling with a resurgent inflationary problem is not going to make the Reserve Bank of Australia’s job any easier. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Health secretary’s pledges in doubt as analysis shows health service will not deliver key improvementsThe NHS is set to miss key targets to shorten waiting times for help at A&E, cancer care and planned hospital treatment, leaving millions of patients facing persistently long delays.The health service in England will not deliver a series of milestone improvements in its performance that ministers demanded it achieve by the time the fiscal year ends on Tuesday, a Guardian analysis of the NHS’s most recent data has found. Continue reading...

Fuel tax cuts also risk adding to inflation by enabling some households with enough income to spend moreFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFuel excise cuts would be a “political band-aid” that could worsen petrol shortages and add to inflation, economists have warned.The mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, Tasmania’s state premier and Liberal opposition leaders in New South Wales and Victoria have called for the Albanese government to cut the excise on petrol and diesel. Continue reading...

• A new KFF survey from February-March 2026 shows 23 million ACA marketplace enrollees facing higher premiums after failed bipartisan subsidy extensions, forcing cuts to necessities. • Orlando resident Priscilla Brown, 48, rations Type 2 diabetes insulin to half or third doses or skips it entirely to manage costs despite insurance. • 75% worry about affording emergency care or hospitalization; 70% blame insurers 'a lot,' over half fault Republicans, Trump, and pharma companies.