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Meta glasses banned from courts in England and Wales

11 August 2026 at 11:29

Exclusive: Court service says anyone trying to enter buildings with glasses will have them confiscated and returned when they leave

Courts in England and Wales have joined a number of restaurants, theatres and pubs in banning Meta glasses, amid a mounting backlash against what has been described as “spyware”.

Last month courts in New York announced a ban on the controversial glasses, which can record video footage while being worn.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Tuesday briefing: To drill or not to drill – Burnham’s first big climate test

11 August 2026 at 06:46

In today’s newsletter: As we enter our fifth summer heatwave, Andy Burnham’s government is looking at what the UK should do with its remaining North Sea oil and gas

Good morning. What a difference a new job can make. “To have a shot at staying within 1.5C global warming, we can’t have any new oil or gasfields … It’s irresponsible and shortsighted to be funding new #fossilfuels when we need to be getting to #NetZero.”

This was the 2022 message from Miatta Fahnbulleh, now the secretary of state for energy security and net zero. It’s a testament to her remarkable rise that Fahnbulleh wasn’t even an MP when she posted it four years ago. Today, she is in the cabinet, facing (or is the face of, at least) one of the most challenging, and potentially controversial questions looming for the new government: to drill or not to drill, baby?

Two sites are the focus of fierce debate. Yesterday, a public consultation on whether to greenlight extraction at one of them – Jackdaw – closed. Next Monday, it’ll be the same for the other, Rosebank. Andy Burnham has been silent about the climate crisis since taking office. As we enter yet another heatwave, what his government does next will be a defining signal of intent on the issue.

Colombia | More than 100 people have died after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia, collapsing and severely damaging scores of buildings in major cities including Cali and Pereira.

UK weather | Almost three-quarters of England is now in drought, with four more regions officially declared, and as much of Europe braces for its fifth climate crisis-driven heatwave this summer.

Crime | Police are investigating whether Joshua Kerry, the man charged with the murder of the former Reform UK and Conservative politician Ann Widdecombe, had any role in an attempted burglary last year at the then London home of Nigel Farage.

China | More than a million people were moved to safety across eastern China by Sunday evening as powerful Typhoon Dolphin made landfall amid fears torrential rain would cause flooding and landslides.

Ukraine | Russia has banned voting against the war in September’s elections, after the supreme court upheld a suit brought by a small pro-Kremlin nationalist party, and stripped voters of their last option on the ballot: Yabloko, the country’s only remaining anti-war party.

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© Photograph: Martin Langer/Alamy

© Photograph: Martin Langer/Alamy

© Photograph: Martin Langer/Alamy

Octopus Energy urges millions of households to use less electricity during solar eclipse

Firm urges customers to avoid running washing machines and dishwashers between 6pm and 8pm on Wednesday

Great Britain’s biggest household energy supplier is calling on its customers to use less electricity this week during the deepest solar eclipse in almost 30 years.

Octopus Energy has urged customers to avoid running washing machines and dishwashers between 6pm and 8pm this Wednesday as the moon is expected to block up to 95% of the sun over parts of Britain.

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© Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

© Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

© Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Harry Potter fans force relocation of £430m undersea cable to avoid Dobby’s ‘grave’

10 August 2026 at 08:46

Power cable linking UK and Ireland now passes near Bronze Age human burial remains instead of fictional grave on Welsh beach

Harry Potter fans have forced a new multimillion-pound power cable between the UK and Ireland to be relocated after complaining it would desecrate the “grave” of Dobby, a fictional elf.

The character was laid to rest on Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Fans of the wizard series come to leave stones reading “Here Lies Dobby” despite being asked not to by the land owner, the National Trust, because the beach is an ecologically sensitive site.

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© Photograph: REUTERS

© Photograph: REUTERS

© Photograph: REUTERS

UK manufacturers face rising hacking risk as survey shows 30% were hit last year

10 August 2026 at 06:00

Big companies describe being under constant threat but only half have a plan in place to respond to an attack

Nearly a third of British manufacturers have been hit by a cyber-attack on them or a company in their supply chain, according to a survey that highlighted the growing hacking risk to companies.

The findings come almost a year after Britain’s largest automotive employer, JLR, was hit by an attack that forced it to halt production for weeks.

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© Photograph: solarseven/Getty

© Photograph: solarseven/Getty

© Photograph: solarseven/Getty

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