Afternoon.

It’s Friday 2nd October: diesel has crossed £2 a litre at thousands of filling stations, parents are getting a better deal when flying with children and the UK’s population growth has slowed sharply.

Kettle on.

📅 On this day: In 1925, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird successfully transmitted the first television picture with shades of light and dark. His first subject was a ventriloquist’s dummy, followed by an office worker who became the first person to have his face televised.

Diesel now costs at least £2 a litre at around a third of UK filling stations, according to AA analysis of government price data. That doesn't mean £2 is now the going rate everywhere. Of roughly 8,000 filling stations analysed, 2,577 were charging that much, with expensive motorway and major-route services helping push the numbers up. The AA says nearby garages can differ by 6p to 10p a litre.

Behind the rise is another consequence of the conflict in the Middle East. Fuel supplies have tightened, while Donald Trump has threatened to stop US diesel exports to Europe unless European countries release more of their emergency fuel reserves. The EU rejected that threat this morning.

The government says Britain isn't facing a diesel shortage. But expensive diesel doesn't only hurt drivers: lorries, farms and businesses use it too, so prolonged high prices can eventually feed into the cost of moving pretty much everything.

Airlines operating in the UK will have to seat children under 14 beside a parent or accompanying adult without charging extra, under new government rules.

Currently, families can be charged to select seats if they want to guarantee they'll sit together. The government says that can add as much as £104 to a return journey for a parent and child.

The changes, which will take effect after new aviation legislation becomes law, will also allow passengers to correct simple mistakes in names on bookings for free.

Airlines and the government are also developing a system for sharing information about persistently disruptive passengers, making it easier to identify people who have previously caused serious trouble on flights.

The UK population has reached an estimated 69.5 million, although growth has slowed sharply. It increased by around 228,000, or 0.3%, in the year to mid-2025, the slowest rate since 2020.

The biggest reason is lower net migration. Around 886,000 people moved to the UK during the year while 663,000 left, giving net international migration of 223,000. A year earlier, it was around 652,000.

There are differences around the country. England's population grew by 0.4%, Scotland and Northern Ireland saw very small increases and Wales recorded a slight fall.

Shoppers in Scotland may notice some changes to supermarket aisles after new rules on less healthy food came into force yesterday. Larger shops can no longer display certain foods high in fat, sugar or salt at prominent spots such as entrances, checkouts and aisle ends. Some multibuy offers, including buy-one-get-one-free deals, are also restricted.

Nothing is being banned, so the crisps haven't gone underground. Shops just can't give some less healthy products quite such prime real estate.

A 25-year-old British-Iranian man has been arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts as part of an investigation into activity near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

Five men were arrested near the airbase on Sunday after police received reports of suspicious vehicles in the area. They have since been released on bail.

Counter Terrorism Policing says it's investigating several possibilities, including possible involvement by a foreign state. RAF Fairford is used by the US Air Force and has recently been used by American bombers during the conflict with Iran.

Nearly 100,000 new fully electric cars were registered in the UK in September, the highest monthly total on record. Overall new-car registrations rose 12% compared with last September, reaching their highest level for the month since 2017.

September is usually particularly busy for car sales because new registration plates are released, but electric cars had an especially strong month, with registrations up 36% to just over 99,000. They accounted for more than 28% of all new cars registered.

An 11-year-old from London has become the youngest player ever to achieve the title of Woman Grandmaster in chess. Bodhana secured the record after her performance for England at the Chess Olympiad, with the International Chess Federation confirming her new title this week.

Woman Grandmaster is an elite international title awarded by chess's governing body and, like other FIDE titles, is held for life. Bodhana has been breaking age records for several years. At 11, most of us were still developing sophisticated strategies for getting out of PE.

Have a great weekend.

See you on Monday.

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