Category: 3. Business

A toy car, a dog bowl and a traffic cone – these are just some of the strangest and unexpected items South West Water’s teams came across while inspecting the region’s sewers in 2025.

Also among the discoveries were a trolley wheel that had clearly gone the wrong way, a hand brush which had taken an unexpected detour, a football that missed its goal, and even a tyre that made its way underground – a collection of bizarre finds that raised more than a few eyebrows.

Spotted during routine inspections by South West Water’s teams, with many highlighted using new AI-assisted analysis of CCTV footage, these unusual items left teams wondering how such an unusual mix of objects ended up making their way beneath our streets.

While operators are used to dealing with everyday culprits such as wet wipes, fats, oils and greases blocking the sewers, these discoveries were a little harder to explain!

Throughout 2025, South West Water piloted advanced AI technology to improve sewer inspections across its network, helping teams review footage more efficiently and flag unusual items more quickly.

Traditionally, teams use specialised CCTV cameras lowered into pipes to record thousands of hours of footage, which technicians and office staff then manually reviewed to locate faults, structural issues, and blockages.

In 2025, this process was enhanced by AI systems trained to automatically label and highlight objects and anomalies in the footage, reducing manual effort and helping teams identify unusual finds and potential problems sooner.

Training the AI involves processing tens of thousands of images from the network. These images teach the system what typical sewer conditions look like, as well as the many variations of faults an operator might encounter.

A serious message

Behind these strange discoveries is a serious message.

Blockages caused by inappropriate items in the sewer can lead to wastewater backing up into homes and gardens, damage to infrastructure, and environmental pollution to local watercourses and seas. It can cause flooding in streets, roads, and other public spaces, especially during wet weather.

In the last year, South West Water has cleared around 7,000 avoidable blockages from its net-work, working 24 hours a day to keep our sewers flowing.

However, all of these blockages could be prevented with a little more care about what goes down the loo or sink and especially down the drains.

Andy Pettifer, Wastewater Operations Manager at South West Water, said: “Finding a toy car or a football in a sewer might raise a few eyebrows, but it’s a serious issue that our teams are facing each year.

“Our sewers are designed for wastewater only, and anything else can cause blockages that affect homes, businesses, and the environment. So please, only flush the three P’s and if it’s not pee, poo or paper, please put it in the bin or dispose of your waste responsibility.”

To do so, CHANGE-seq-BE starts with a whole genome, but instead of immediately sequencing it, scientists split the genome into tiny circles of DNA. They then take those circles and expose them to the base editor being tested. Afterward, they treat the DNA with a special enzyme that detects if base editing occurred, opening those — and only those — DNA circles with evidence of base editing into linear strands. The linear strands of DNA are then selectively sequenced, requiring far fewer resources than competing techniques. They optimized it for both major types of base editors (adenine and cytosine base editors). After developing the method, the scientists wanted to know if it truly was both more comprehensive and resource-efficient than conventional approaches, so they tested them head-to-head.

“When we directly compared it to other methods, CHANGE-seq-BE found almost all sites nominated by those methods, as well as many that it was exclusively able to detect,” Tsai said. “We showed that this unbiased approach was more sensitive while using only about 5% of the sequencing reads.”

Given the technique’s sensitivity, ease of use and efficient resource utilization, others have already begun adopting it. Full experimental protocols and software to enable CHANGE-seq-BE are described in the study, enabling this adoption. For example, in addition to the clinical application reported in the paper, clinical trials at St. Jude and beyond have integrated the technique into their planning, using it as a safety and efficiency evaluation tool. CHANGE-seq-BE was also recently used to characterize the first patient-specific in vivo genome editing treatment. Fundamental research labs investigating base editing have also begun using it to test for off-targets early in their process, better identifying the most promising approaches to pursue than existing screens. These early adopters show the technique’s appeal to researchers and clinicians alike, and its promise to push forward the future of base editing.

“We’ve enabled those developing these therapies to quickly understand and find the base editors with the highest potential activity and specificity,” Tsai said. “We hope that methods like CHANGE-seq-BE will open the door toward more genome editing therapies being developed for and reaching the patients who need them.”

Authors and funding

The study’s co-first authors are Cicera Lazzarotto, formerly of St. Jude; and Varun Katta, St. Jude. The study’s other authors are Yichao Li, Garret Manquen, Rachael Wood, Jacqueline Chyr and Azusa Matsubara, St. Jude; Elizabeth Urbina and GaHyun Lee, formerly of St. Jude; Xiaolin Wu, Frederick National Laboratory of Cancer Research; and Suk See De Ravin, National Institutes of Health.

The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health Somatic Cell Genome Editing Consortium Program through National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U01AI176470 and U01AI176471), National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (U01HL163983), St. Jude Collaborative Research Consortium on Novel Gene Therapies for Sickle Cell Disease, St. Jude PARADIGM Blue Sky Project, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (2020154) and the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC), the fundraising and awareness organization of St. Jude.

In yesterday’s preview of 2026, one of my four predictions was that the Euro zone will resume its drift back towards deflation. The main reason for this is that the currency union is stuck in the same kind of paralysis that has reigned since the sovereign debt crisis in 2011/12. That crisis was papered over by the ECB, which has morphed into a fiscal bailout vehicle for high-debt countries, while nothing was ever actually done to bring down debt overhangs in Italy and Spain. As a result, neither country has fiscal space, which means every shock descends into wrangling over joint EU debt issuance. That’s an inherently deflationary equilibrium. Speed and magnitude of policy stimulus will always be too small. This dysfunction compounds into chronic underperformance and deflation over time.

There’s one big difference from the sovereign debt crisis in 2011/12 however. At the time, Germany was chalking up solid growth rates, while it’s really struggling at the moment. This means that deflationary pressure is radiating out from Germany now, while the opposite was true after the sovereign debt crisis. In today’s post, I take a look at economic slack across the world’s major economies. Germany is the only country where economic slack is now bigger than after 2008.

Before I get into the weeds, an important caveat: no one has any clue how to estimate economic slack. People often calculate output gaps as the difference between GDP and “potential,” which is usually some kind of time-series moving average. The issue is that time-series averages follow actual GDP much too closely, so when a country goes into a prolonged downturn, output gap estimates are small because potential GDP follows actual GDP down. To avoid this issue, I calculate a linear trend for GDP based on the average quarterly growth rate in the five years before COVID and do the same thing for the five years before the 2008 crisis. Of course, my linear trends can hardly be thought of as potential either. But they’re a better approximation of slack – in my view – than some kind of moving average.

As the panel of charts above shows, Germany’s GDP as of Q3 ‘25 was nine percent below its pre-COVID trend, a bigger gap than after the global financial crisis on a comparable time scale. In Q3 ‘13, this gap was seven percent. Germany is the only place where the gap is currently bigger than it was then. Deflationary pressure will be radiating out from Germany to the rest of the Euro zone.

It’s also worth noting that essentially no country has GDP currently above its pre-COVID trend, while many countries have GDP substantially below, including China, France and the UK. The global equilibrium we’re slipping into is a deflationary one, much like in the decade after the global financial crisis.

The FTSE 100 tracks the performance of the the 100 largest companies on the London Stock Exchange. That includes mining firms Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Peers Endeavour which have been boosted by surging metals prices.

Defence firms also performed strongly, with Bae Systems, Babcock and Rolls-Royce all saw their value increase, as did large banks, including Lloyds, Barclays, Standard Chartered and HSBC.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: “This is a historic moment and already makes 2026 one of the most significant years for the blue-chip index since its launch in 1984.”

He said crossing the 10,000-point threshold was “the best New Year’s present Chancellor Rachel Reeves could want”.

“The FTSE 100’s achievements just go to show what’s possible when buying UK shares.

“It also proves to cynics that the UK market is not stuck in the mud, and that the US stock market is not the only place to make money.

02 January 2026

Components of the broad monetary aggregate M3

The annual growth rate of the broad monetary aggregate M3 increased to 3.0% in November 2025 from 2.8% in October, averaging 2.9% in the three months up to November. The components of M3 showed the following developments. The annual growth rate of the narrower aggregate M1, which comprises currency in circulation and overnight deposits, decreased to 5.0% in November from 5.2% in October. The annual growth rate of short-term deposits other than overnight deposits (M2-M1) was ‑0.8% in November, compared with -1.8% in October. The annual growth rate of marketable instruments (M3-M2) increased to 1.6% in November from 1.4% in October.

Data for monetary aggregates

Looking at the components’ contributions to the annual growth rate of M3, the narrower aggregate M1 contributed 3.2 percentage points (down from 3.3 percentage points in October), short-term deposits other than overnight deposits (M2-M1) contributed -0.3 percentage points (up from -0.5 percentage points) and marketable instruments (M3-M2) contributed 0.1 percentage points (as in the previous month).

Among the holding sectors of deposits in M3, the annual growth rate of deposits placed by households increased to 3.3% in November from 3.0% in October, while the annual growth rate of deposits placed by non-financial corporations stood at 3.4% in November, unchanged from the previous month. Finally, the annual growth rate of deposits placed by investment funds other than money market funds decreased to 0.5% in November from 2.7% in October.

Counterparts of the broad monetary aggregate M3

The annual growth rate of M3 in November 2025, as a reflection of changes in the items on the monetary financial institution (MFI) consolidated balance sheet other than M3 (counterparts of M3), can be broken down as follows: claims on the private sector contributed 3.2 percentage points (up from 2.7 percentage points in October), net external assets contributed 1.9 percentage points (up from 1.7 percentage points), claims on general government contributed 0.3 percentage points (up from 0.2 percentage points), longer-term liabilities contributed -1.2 percentage points (down from -1.0 percentage points), and the remaining counterparts of M3 contributed -1.1 percentage points (down from -0.9 percentage points).

Data for contribution of the M3 counterparts to the annual growth rate of M3

Claims on euro area residents

The annual growth rate of total claims on euro area residents increased to 2.6% in November 2025 from 2.3% in the previous month. The annual growth rate of claims on general government stood at 0.7% in November, compared with 0.6% in October, while the annual growth rate of claims on the private sector increased to 3.4% in November from 2.9% in October.

The annual growth rate of adjusted loans to the private sector (i.e. adjusted for loan transfers and notional cash pooling) increased to 3.4% in November from 3.0% in October. Among the borrowing sectors, the annual growth rate of adjusted loans to households stood at 2.9% in November, compared with 2.8% in October, while the annual growth rate of adjusted loans to non-financial corporations increased to 3.1% in November from 2.9% in October.

Data for adjusted loans to the private sector

Notes:

• Data in this press release are adjusted for seasonal and end-of-month calendar effects, unless stated otherwise.
• “Private sector” refers to euro area non-MFIs excluding general government.
• Hyperlinks lead to data that may change with subsequent releases as a result of revisions. Figures shown in annex tables are a snapshot of the data as at the time of the current release.

Leaping out of a plane more than 4,200 metres in the air, Simon-Pierre Bouchard can’t control his excitement as he opens his parachute and wonders if everyone has gotten into place. 

“When we exit the plane, the first few seconds are in free fall, so we see the plane going away,” said Bouchard. “This is exhilarating, this is what [gets] me to fly.”

Bouchard was one of 17 Canadians who travelled to Lake Whales, Fla., on Nov. 22 to attempt to beat the world record for largest canopy formation. 

Some 104 skydivers from around the world jumped out of eight airplanes at various heights, each trying to make sure they didn’t cross parachutes with those next to them, as doing so could be deadly. 

Those jumping from the highest plane, more than 5,700 metres the air, need to breathe in from an oxygen tank to avoid the risk of hypoxia, or lack of oxygen.

The group only has about 11 minutes to dock their parachutes onto each other and get into the diamond-shaped formation.

‘It was hard to believe at first’

Bouchard has been a skydiver for more than 30 years and, as a pilot in Quebec City, spends most of his time in the sky.

But he’s never experienced anything quite like this.

“I couldn’t stop smiling,” he said. “We need to trust, individually, everyone that is in this formation, even though we don’t know them personally.”

Quebec City police officer Jean-François Denis was also one of the 104 parachutists who took part in the canopy formation.

He trained for nearly five years to qualify and underwent a strict diet and exercise to lose the 15 pounds required for him to participate.

“I didn’t get any cheat days or cheat meals,” Denis said.

He and his teammates waited for two hours for the international judges to declare that they had made it and beat the record set in 2007.

“People were giving hugs, high fives and shouting with joy,” said Denis. “It was hard to believe at first.”

The International Skydiving Commission then also needs to approve the record for largest canopy formation before it can be recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.

“We have to demonstrate … that we all have proper lines to hold and the canopies of every jumper needs to be at a certain height above them,” Denis said.

With more than 1,600 jumps under his belt, Denis hoped he and the group would manage to break their new 104-person record the following day, but it wasn’t meant to be.

“We were so close to get 111 but there were some mistakes,” said Denis, adding he still hopes to try again someday soon.

A rare art

The selection process just to participate in the record-breaking event was a rigorous one, having to qualify at one of eight selection camps around the world, including one in the province.

The act of creating a canopy formation goes against what most skydivers are taught when they first start out, Denis explained, having been an instructor himself.

“The first thing you learn is to stay away from other [parachutes] because getting entangled or wrapped in someone else’s at low altitude can be really dangerous,” he said. “It creates a bond with the people you’re jumping with.”

Parachute Montréal owner Gregory Perrimond says canopy formations have become a rare art.

While there is a tight-knit community for it in the province, he knows that just finding enough people with the experience to participate in such a large formation must have been “really complicated for the organizers.”

While the group travelled to Florida because of the weather, Perrimond says the wind remains unpredictable and that can be a challenge in events like this.

“Imagine the wind isn’t stable on such a huge formation, it takes a lot of work to keep it in place,” he said.