Young people are not obsolete – but we do need to reimagine employment for the future, writes Ben Woodford, while Clare Coley says graduates are uniquely placed to work with new technologies, and Joseph P Lapinski urges us to learn fast

Your editorial rightly highlights the challenges facing today’s graduates (The Guardian view on the graduate jobs crunch: AI must not be allowed to eclipse young talent, 2 July). But while it casts artificial intelligence as a threat to young talent, it misses a deeper truth: AI isn’t just disrupting the job market, it’s reshaping it entirely.

Unfortunately, the decline in entry-level roles is not a temporary glitch. AI already outperforms most graduate hires in tasks such as summarising, analysing and content creation. As the technology evolves, it will continue to replace higher-skilled mid-level and expert roles in fields such as law, finance, marketing and journalism.

With efficient renewables, the whole world could have a western European lifestyle and still use less energy, writes Nick Eyre, while Kathleen Askew asks what happens to hugely toxic radioactive waste

Tim Gregory (Can we afford to be afraid of nuclear power? 6 July) makes a series of assertions that are incompatible with recent evidence about the transition to zero-carbon energy. Two stand out.

The first is that the world needs more energy. Poor countries certainly do. But the clean-energy transition involves shifting to much more efficient technologies, such as electric vehicles and heat pumps. Many studies, including by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, show that these can enable rich countries to halve their energy use while improving living standards. The whole world could have western European lifestyles and still use less energy.

The UK would not be an outlier if it allowed refugees to work – and doing so would bring a net benefit to the economy, writes Pete Winstanley

Rather than launching a “blitz” on asylum seekers working illegally, the government should allow them to work legally (Home Office announces ‘nationwide blitz’ on asylum seekers taking jobs, 5 July).

An investigation by the Commission on the Integration of Refugees found that providing free English classes on arrival, involving local councils and communities in resettling refugees and allowing asylum seekers to work if their claims remain undecided after six months would yield a net benefit to the economy of £1.2bn within five years (Proper jobs, English classes and a refugee minister – this is how to fix Britain’s asylum system, 20 March 2024).

An embassy in West Germany | Norman Tebbit | Penis reduction | The Salt Path

I can testify to the accuracy of John le Carré’s research, which you note with reference to a new exhibition at Oxford’s Bodleian libraries (8 July). When researching British foreign policy, I spent a day in the embassy in Bonn in 1973. It struck me as so much like its portrayal in A Small Town in Germany that I remarked that if someone came pushing the registry trolley I would not be surprised to hear it squeak, as he had described it. “It’s a pity you weren’t here two or three years ago,” came the reply, “you would have recognised several of the characters as well.”
William Wallace
Liberal Democrat, House of Lords

• I was never a fan of Norman Tebbit (Obituaries, 8 July) but an ex briefly worked security at Conservative HQ and had nothing but praise for him as the only person who said hello and goodbye to everyone by name every day.
Michelle Kimber
Plymouth

Latest threats heighten fears that the president’s erratic trade strategy risks exacerbating inflation across the US

• US politics live – latest updates

Donald Trump continued to fire off letters threatening steep US tariffs on foreign exports, targeting countries including Brunei, Liyya and Moldova.

The US president had been scheduled to hike tariffs on dozens of countries today. Earlier this week he announced a fresh three-week delay, to 1 August, but started announcing new rates that countries would face unless they strike a deal with the White House.

• Slovenian opens clear gap to rival Jonas Vingegaard

• Evenepoel takes stage win in blistering run around Caen

Tadej Pogacar struck the first blow in his rivalry with Jonas Vingegaard, taking the race lead in the 2025 Tour de France, after finishing second to Remco Evenepoel in the stage five time trial in Caen.

Pogacar’s performance exceeded expectations and will have hit home hard on Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a bike team bus, with the double Tour winner now well over a minute behind his Slovenian rival, after only five days of racing.