Wednesday newspaper round-up: OpenAI, tariffs, Thames Water, Land Securities
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Wednesday 19 Aug 2026
(Sharecast News) - The UK is vulnerable to food price shocks because of its dependence on imports of fruit and vegetable from countries even more exposed to the climate crisis, researchers say. Much of Britain has sweltered under a record five heatwaves this year and endured drought and wildfires, with the hot, dry conditions damaging crops and reducing yields of domestic produce. However, the UK relies on countries under even greater climate pressure for supplies of some of its most popular fresh foods, according to a report from the Food Foundation charity published on Wednesday. - Guardian
OpenAI on Tuesday said it had slowed down the pace of its AI development while it overhauled its research and training systems. The company's researchers were caught unaware last month when an AI agent under testing hacked another AI firm, Hugging Face. The AI research lab behind ChatGPT said its new measures included pausing its model testing for two weeks and investing more in adding other AI systems to monitor the activities of AI agents in testing. Some of the company's largest planned training runs remain on hold, the company said. - Guardian
Donald Trump has paused the US plan to impose 50 per cent tariffs on Canada after claiming the two countries had reached a deal. The US president on Tuesday night said he would freeze the tariffs, which were due to come into force on Wednesday, for three days after the two sides struck an agreement over the Keystone XL Pipeline. - Telegraph
Thames Water has told customers to take shorter showers after warning that reservoir levels are lower than usual amid the drought. The utility, which has 16 million customers, said its London reservoirs were 74pc full at the end of last month. That is below the average 87pc level where it usually sits at this time of year. Its Farmoor Reservoir in Oxfordshire was 92pc full, though this too was below average and the company said the water level there was declining. Between 1989 and 2019, Farmoor was typically 96.4pc full at the end of July. - Telegraph
Land Securities might have to go cap in hand to shareholders for the first time in 17 years to fund its rumoured acquisition of one of Europe's biggest shopping centres, analysts have speculated. Reports in recent weeks have suggested that the FTSE 100 property group is close to agreeing a deal to buy the Metrocentre in Gateshead, having fended off competition from the likes of Mike Ashley's Frasers Group and Hammerson, a rival landlord. - The Times
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