For Elizabeth Cardner, a mother of two girls in Houston, Texas, Meta’s new limits on how teenagers can use its platforms are a welcome sign that more people are aware of social media’s potential dangers.

But, she tells the BBC, they probably won’t help much in the long-term.

“It will save a few arguments at home, but it doesn’t go far enough,” she says.

This week, Meta announced new restrictions on its platforms – which include Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp – as part of an $18bn (£13.25bn) settlement with US states in a lawsuit on social media’s effects on children.

The company said it would set a daily two-hour time limit, hide the number of likes that a post receives, remove autoplay on videos, mute push notifications during school hours, and ban extreme make-up filters.

It also announced changes to its age-verification process and parental controls as well as agreeing to appoint an independent auditor to check the measures are implemented and maintained.

Many parents across the US see the restrictions as helpful, but are still sceptical. Those who spoke to the BBC described feeling stuck – where they feel they can’t cut their children off from social media but also can’t protect them from the harms they believe it causes – and they are waiting to see how much of a difference these new rules will make.

Cardner’s 14-year-old, Paige, believes the restrictions will lead to “more real-life scenarios” and less “fake content”, which she says dominates social media. She and her sister both approve of hiding the numbers of likes and restricting filters.

But Paige sees those gains as short-lived, “since AI is evolving”.

“People will find new ways to have fake filters, and correct certain parts of their videos or pictures,” she says. “So I think it’ll help until people use other resources to try and find new ways to do that.”

Cardner says banning her daughters entirely from social media would only result in them being left out by their peers.

“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” she says. “I don’t think there’s any winning on it.”

Group which makes radar equipment and submarine parts said it would hand more cash back to shareholders

Profits have more than doubled at defence supplier Goodwin, buoyed by a surge in military spending across the globe.

The Stoke-on-Trent-based firm, which manufactures radar equipment and submarine components, announced on Friday that it would return more money to shareholders on the back of the strong performance.

The group also signalled that shareholders could stand to benefit further should it press ahead with the potential disposal of elements of its mechanical engineering division.

The company, which comprises several subsidiary businesses, posted trading profits up 118% to £77.5 million for the year to April, compared with the previous year.

The result was underpinned by revenues rising 27% to £280 million over the same period.

Turnover received a significant boost from an improved showing by its mechanical engineering arm, driven by robust demand for products supplied to UK and US naval and submarine programmes.

Founded in 1883, Goodwin is majority-owned and run by the Goodwin family, with its shares listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The group continues to evaluate the potential sale of parts of its mechanical engineering division, which provides components to major defence and nuclear programmes.

The firm described the sale process as “progressing well”, with talks currently under way with a number of prospective buyers.

Goodwin sought to reassure customers, suppliers and employees that business operations would continue uninterrupted throughout the process. “The disposal process is being actively pursued in accordance with the board’s approved plan, which targets completion within the next twelve months, and shareholders will be kept informed of material developments as appropriate,” the company said.

The firm announced plans to raise the group’s annual dividend by 18% to 330p for the year.

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SEOUL — Shin Jinseo, one of South Korea’s top-ranked Go players, has donated part of the prize money he earned for defeating the artificial intelligence program KataGo to a children’s hospital, extending a run of quiet philanthropy that predates his latest victory.

Shin, a 9-dan professional, visited Severance Children’s Hospital in Seoul on Wednesday and personally handed over a donation of 30 million won, or roughly $22,000, to hospital director Cheon Geun-a. The gift draws on winnings from a July match in which Shin, playing with a two-stone handicap, took on KataGo, widely regarded as one of the strongest Go-playing AI systems in the world.

Shin won that contest 2-1, earning appearance fees and victory bonuses that together totaled 250 million won, or about $180,000. Wednesday’s donation represents a portion of that total.

Shin said he decided to donate because the July match was played on behalf of humanity as a whole, drawing more support from fans than his matches typically receive, and that giving back felt like the right way to repay that encouragement. He added that he hoped the funds would offer even a small measure of help to children and teenagers fighting illness as they work to recover their health.

The gesture continues a pattern of giving that stretches back several years. Shin has previously contributed to relief funds during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, supported scholarships for young Go players and students from his home region, and donated to child welfare organizations. Some of his charitable activity has gone unpublicized, according to people familiar with his giving.

July’s match unfolded against a backdrop of rapid advances in Go-playing artificial intelligence, which have steadily outpaced human players’ capabilities in recent years. Observers in the Go community said Shin’s win carried particular weight given his standing as one of the top-ranked players in the world, even under handicap conditions designed to offset the AI’s advantage.

Figures in the Go world described Shin’s decision to direct part of his winnings toward the hospital as adding a dimension beyond competitive results, framing the episode as pairing a high-profile win over advanced technology with attention to vulnerable members of society. Some suggested his approach could serve as a model for younger athletes across sports.

Severance Children’s Hospital said the donated funds would go toward improving treatment conditions for young patients battling serious illness. Hospital officials were said to have expressed gratitude for Shin’s continued support.

Shin, born in 2002, rose through South Korea’s competitive Go ranks as a teenager and has since become one of the sport’s most recognizable figures both domestically and internationally. In addition to his 2026 match against KataGo, he has taken part in several high-profile exhibition matches against AI systems in recent years, appearances that have drawn broader public attention to competitive Go.

The Go community has said the growing sophistication of AI systems is reshaping how professional players train and how the sport is presented to the public. Many top players now use AI tools to sharpen their own game even as exhibition matches pitting humans against machines have become more frequent. Against that backdrop, Shin’s win over KataGo — and the donation that followed — drew wider attention than a typical tournament result.

People close to Shin said he intends to continue his charitable work independent of his competitive schedule. His latest donation, observers said, illustrates less about the size of the gift than about a broader approach to sharing the results of competition with the wider community.

Northern Ireland’s largest provider of natural gas, SSE Airtricity, is to increase its prices by almost 19% from 1 October for its 200,000 domestic and small business customers.

It means the annual gas bill of a typical household in the greater Belfast and west gas network areas will increase by almost £172.

The company said “unprecedented levels of volatility in global energy markets and higher wholesale gas prices” had led to the price rise.

Wholesale gas prices in the UK have effectively doubled since the US and Israel began their attack on Iran.

Colin Broomfield from the Utility Regulator said the increase would be “difficult news for many households and small businesses, particularly at a time when wider cost pressures remain a concern”.

“The main reason for the increase is the sustained rise in the wholesale cost of gas, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

“The Iranian conflict has continued to impact energy prices globally for the past six months.

“In recent weeks, we have seen the wholesale price of gas reaching 169 pence per therm. This is twice as high as pre-conflict prices.”

The Middle East conflict sent global oil prices soaring as it effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz – one of the world’s key water transport routes for oil, liquid natural gas and other essential commodities – limiting global supplies.

About 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes through the waterway.

The UK is heavily reliant on oil and gas imports, with the majority coming from the US and Norway.

The price of oil on the global market determines how much the UK pays for it.

Although the UK does get some oil from the North Sea, most of that is exported for refining elsewhere.

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After an impressive IPO, SpaceX shares are beginning to face the same challenges Tesla once did.

In the first weeks after its listing, SpaceX stock climbed to $225, significantly exceeding the IPO price of $135. Since then, however, the shares have fallen below $110. This has served as the first signal to investors that cutting-edge technology and Elon Musk’s name alone may not be enough to sustain such a high valuation over the long term.

The parallels with Tesla are striking. After going public in 2010, Tesla stock also experienced a sharp post-IPO decline before rebounding a year later as investors embraced a compelling growth narrative. The launch of the Model S helped convince the market that the company’s business could scale successfully. The big question now is whether SpaceX can follow a similar path.

The company has several arguments in its favor. The Starship program is gradually approaching commercial operation, with the recent 13th test flight marking the most successful in the program’s history. The vehicle completed its main tasks, successfully restarted its engine in space, and executed the softest landing to date. Even more notably, the spacecraft maintained the integrity of its hull so well that it remained afloat for several days after splashdown, prompting SpaceX to organize a dedicated recovery mission. Rather than highlighting technical shortcomings, the episode underscored the program’s growing maturity.

Starship is expected to become a key driver of the company’s long-term growth. The rocket will significantly reduce the cost of launching cargo into orbit while accelerating the deployment of the Starlink satellite constellation, which is already SpaceX’s largest source of revenue. The sooner the company can switch to regular commercial operations, the more convincing its long-term financial outlook will become.

However, investors remain primarily concerned about the company’s financial fundamentals. Aside from Starlink, many of SpaceX’s business lines are still unprofitable. Revenue growth has also begun to fall short of what investors expect from a company valued at roughly $1.4 trillion, while large-scale investments in AI continue to weigh on expenses. Intensifying competition across both the space industry and related business sectors is adding further pressure.

The situation is also complicated by SpaceX’s close relationship with Tesla. Recently, the market was stirred by reports that — to facilitate a potential merger between the two companies — Tesla might have to divest its largest Chinese manufacturing facility in Shanghai. Elon Musk quickly dismissed the claims, calling them completely fictional. Nevertheless, the very existence of such speculation shows that investors continue to view SpaceX and Tesla as elements of a single ecosystem. Meanwhile, the Shanghai factory remains one of Tesla’s key assets; the facility can produce more than 950,000 vehicles annually, supplies several international markets at once, and sources over 95% of its components locally.

As a result, SpaceX’s first year as a public company is likely to become a test of investor confidence. The market has already priced in much of the company’s long-term potential. The next phase will depend on tangible financial results and evidence that its capital-intensive projects can evolve into sustainable profit generators. If the Starship program continues to successfully move toward commercial operation and Starlink maintains its strong growth trajectory, the current weakness in the stock could ultimately resemble Tesla’s post-IPO experience. Until then, however, investors are likely to focus less on ambitious promises and more on how quickly technological breakthroughs translate into measurable financial performance.

A late invoice from an Italian customer can create an awkward tension for a UK supplier. The sales team wants to preserve a valuable relationship.

Finance wants a date it can put into the cash forecast. Management wants to know whether the delay is administrative, commercial or a sign of deeper payment risk.

Those priorities do not have to conflict. The practical response is to run two clocks at once.

The customer-resolution clock tracks what the buyer needs to approve and release payment. The internal-escalation clock sets the point at which the supplier must make a deliberate decision, even if the customer continues to offer reassurance.

This approach matters because payment timing in Italy can be longer than UK suppliers expect. The UK Government’s current Italy market guidance warns that business-to-business payments can take several weeks and, in some sectors, months. Atradius reported in its 2026 Italy survey that settlement of overdue invoices takes longer than the Western European benchmark and that customer cash-flow stress is a leading reason for delay.

Those are market signals, not conclusions about a particular customer. The file still has to tell you what is happening in this case.

Start both clocks with a verified invoice

Before chasing, confirm that the invoice could be processed. Check the exact contracting entity, billing address, tax details, currency, bank information, purchase-order reference and agreed payment terms. For goods, connect the commercial invoice to the order, shipping documents, delivery record and any acceptance evidence. For services, preserve the signed scope, milestones, timesheets or approval messages.

UK export guidance stresses that commercial-invoice information should match the related transaction and banking documents. A mismatch can create a real processing delay. Correcting it quickly is better than escalating a preventable error.

Create a one-page status with the invoice number, amount, due date, customer entity, responsible contacts and latest verified explanation. That page becomes the control record for both clocks.

Use the customer-resolution clock to find the blocker

The first conversation should seek a specific operational answer. Has the invoice been received? Is it registered in the customer’s system? Has the relevant manager approved it? Is any part disputed? Has payment been scheduled?

Ask who owns each next step and by what date it will happen. If the customer says the invoice is in process, request the scheduled payment date and reference. If documents are missing, provide them and ask the customer to confirm that the file is complete. If a dispute is raised, ask for the disputed item, amount and supporting reason in writing.

Avoid treating every delay as a cultural difference. Italian companies, like companies anywhere, have different approval structures, financial positions and payment practices. A named owner and dated action are more useful than a broad assumption about the market.

Use the internal-escalation clock to protect options

The second clock belongs to the supplier. It should not reset every time someone promises to “check with accounts.” Set an internal review date based on the amount, evidence, customer importance, length of delay and exposure from continuing to trade.

At that review, choose among four states.

Resolve: there is a specific administrative blocker with an owner and near-term completion date.

Negotiate: the customer accepts the debt but needs time. Require exact instalment amounts and dates, approval by the appropriate manager and written confirmation.

Investigate: the customer has raised a substantive dispute. Separate the disputed and undisputed amounts, assign the commercial owner and preserve the evidence.

Escalate: the claim is clear, the agreed date has passed and the customer has not provided a credible resolution path.

These states make the decision repeatable. They also allow sales and finance to discuss the same facts instead of arguing from different impressions.

Prepare the file before seeking outside help

If escalation becomes proportionate, assemble the contract, invoice, delivery evidence, statement of account, dispute history and communication chronology. Confirm the exact debtor entity and the current amount claimed. Note any part payment, credit or counterclaim.

Companies seeking to recover unpaid invoices from Italian customers can then give local counsel or a collection provider a coherent file. That improves the first assessment and reduces the risk of spending time on missing documents or the wrong entity.

For suppliers trading in several markets, understanding European debt recovery routes can also help management distinguish a repeatable cross-border process from the country-specific advice needed for each claim. The operating model can be standardised; the legal assessment should remain local.

Preserve goodwill through precision

Professional escalation is not the opposite of relationship management. A vague chase can create irritation because neither side knows what will happen next. A precise message identifies the invoice, current issue, agreed action and decision date.

The two-clock method gives the customer a fair opportunity to resolve the problem while protecting the supplier from open-ended delay. The resolution clock keeps the conversation practical. The escalation clock ensures that goodwill has a boundary.

For UK SMEs selling to Italy, that balance is the real discipline: remain constructive, verify every promise and keep the next decision on the calendar.

Author bio

Lars Holdgaard is the founder of Debitura and has 10+ years of experience across debt collection, accounts receivable, technology, and startups. Before Debitura, he co-founded and led product and technology work at startups and scaleups, building software for financial administration and receivables management. Lars studied at the IT University of Copenhagen and the Technical University of Denmark.