WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Nuclear investment, Marines in LA, and why Musk's satellites are 'dropping like flies'

 
today's energy story

Government approves £14bn for nuclear plant

What happened
The UK government has given the go-ahead to the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant on the Suffolk coast. According to the Treasury, the £14.2 billion project will create 10,000 direct jobs, support thousands more in the supply chain and generate enough electricity for six million homes. 

Who said what
Chancellor Rachel Reeves described the investment as a "landmark decision" aimed at boosting economic growth. But campaigners have criticised the plan, with Alison Downes, director of pressure group Stop Sizewell C, saying the government will "come to regret" the move.

Nuclear power will be "one of the key investments that Reeves will champion" at Wednesday's spending review, said The Guardian, which the chancellor "hopes will overshadow uncomfortable decisions for the government" – including the U-turn on the winter fuel payment and a row over police pay. Ed Miliband, writing for The Telegraph, said Britain had the opportunity to "lead the world in a new nuclear golden age" and that "the shift to clean, homegrown power will protect our energy security and meet the demands of the climate crisis".

What next?
As Britain pushes to decarbonise its electricity grid by 2030, nuclear plants are "seen as increasingly important electricity sources", said The Independent. The government also unveiled a plan to launch one of Europe's first small modular reactor programmes and invest £2.5 billion over five years in fusion energy research to strengthen the UK's nuclear industry.

 
 
today's international story

Trump calls in the Marines to help quell LA protests

What happened
The Trump administration is sending 700 Marines to Los Angeles to support the federal response to ongoing protests over immigration raids, said the US Northern Command yesterday. About 2,000 National Guard troops have already been mobilised, with a few hundred deployed in the city. Despite earlier clashes, yesterday's protests remained largely peaceful.

Who said what
California Governor Gavin Newsom called the Marine deployment a "provocation", arguing that it was unnecessary and politically motivated. Donald Trump labelled the demonstrators "insurrectionists", raising concerns that he might invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act to justify active-duty military involvement.

This is a "decisive action" by President Trump to try to help a "riot-racked city", said Fox News. Trump has "long mused about using the military to crush protests in blue-state cities", said Charlie Savage in The New York Times. Sending the National Guard into LA is a "significant step in that direction", but "for now it stops short of invoking the most expansive power Mr Trump could claim a right to use".

What next?
Legal challenges from California are expected. Authorities are also monitoring potential unrest in other cities and there is an increased police presence in New York.

 
 
Today's technology story

Xbox moves into handheld gaming market

What happened
Xbox is set to launch two new handheld devices this Christmas: the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X. Developed in collaboration with electronics manufacturer Asus and using a Windows 11 operating system, the devices will be available in select markets, including the UK.

The new handhelds will offer elements of PC gaming, but with a "dedicated Xbox button, contoured grips and accessibility features that are already established on Xbox consoles and Windows PC", said Variety.

Who said what
Until now, Microsoft has been "notably absent" from the handheld gaming market long dominated by Nintendo, said Forbes. But the Ally and Ally X are designed to be "as much a handheld PC as a handheld Xbox". According to the company's announcement, players can expect a "fully immersive experience" combining "the power of Xbox with the freedom you expect from Windows".

What next?
So far, Xbox has not confirmed a release date, pricing or pre-order details, but said more information would be shared later.

 
 

It's not all bad

Children aged five to 15 will travel free on buses across the West of England and North Somerset during the summer school holidays, potentially benefiting about 150,000 young people. The scheme, announced by Labour mayor Helen Godwin, aims to ease cost-of-living pressures and promote greener transport. Backed by local bus companies, it marks the first initiative of its kind in England outside London. It will run from 19 July to 5 September.

 
 
under the radar

Why Musk's satellites are 'dropping like flies'

Elon Musk has no shortage of targets for his ire: the media, "woke" progressives, the trans "agenda" and, most recently, his former best buddy Donald Trump. But one somewhat unexpected Musk adversary is more powerful than them all: the Sun.

SpaceX's vast network of Starlink internet service satellites are "dropping like flies" due to an extra-terrestrial weather phenomenon caused by the Sun, said the science news site Futurism. And it's only set to get worse.

The thousands of Starlink satellites orbiting our planet have given space scientists a "golden opportunity to study the effects" of the Sun's activity on the lifespan of these "minimalist, constellation-based spacecraft", added Futurism. And it appears that Musk's "space internet constellation" is "particularly prone to the effect of geomagnetic storms" triggered by eruptions from the Sun, said The Independent. Nasa scientists have found that these "ferocious solar storms" are causing many of Musk's low-orbit satellites to fall to Earth "faster than expected".

The impact is particularly significant at the moment because the Sun is approaching the peak of an 11-year activity cycle "known as the solar maximum" that provokes "large amounts of extreme space weather".

Unfortunately for Musk, the Sun is not an adversary he will be able to overcome easily. Solar storm forecasting "has significantly improved over the past few years", Piyush Mehta, a US professor of aerospace engineering, wrote on The Conversation in 2022, but "there is only so much shielding that can be done in the face of a powerful geomagnetic storm". The Sun is "essential for life to go on," said Mehta, but, like a child who often throws tantrums, "its ever-changing disposition makes things challenging".

 
 
on this day

10 June 2007

The last episode of HBO's ground-breaking crime drama "The Sopranos" aired, finishing with an abrupt cut to black that left the fate of Mafia boss Tony Soprano open-ended. It was only after 14 years of speculation that creator David Chase finally confirmed in a 2021 interview whether or not the scene signified that Tony had perished (look it up if you want to know – no spoilers from us).

 
 
Today's newspapers

Rachel Reeves was "fuelish" to cut winter payments to OAPs so she should "say sorry", says The Sun. It was "Umiliating" for the chancellor to U-turn on the policy, says Metro, and the chancellor and the prime minister are "deluded", adds the Daily Mail. Labour's promised to spend £14bn to build the new Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk and "get Britain off the fossil fuel rollercoaster", says The Guardian, calling it the "biggest nuclear programme in a generation". More British people are saying "for folk's sake" to traditional religion and turning instead to the "the lore's prayer", claims the Daily Star.

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Scientists play with nano violin

"If you have a complaint over your timetables or exams, Loughborough University may not be the place to air it," said the BBC. That's because physicists at the university have used nanotechnology to create "the world's smallest violin". The microscopic image of the instrument is smaller than the width of a human hair, but because the violin is actually an image rather than a playable instrument, it has "not been officially confirmed as the world's smallest violin".

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden, Sorcha Bradley, Ross Couzens and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: David Partner / Construction Photography / Avalon / Getty Images; Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP / Getty Images; Microsoft / Asus; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images.