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The price of oil has jumped to $105 a barrel amid signs the conflict in the Middle East will not be resolved quickly, fuelling fears that inflation could accelerate. With the conflict between the US and Iran in the Gulf intensifying in recent days, the cost of both crude oil and gas has been rising sharply. Brent crude went back above $100 a barrel on Wednesday and has continued to climb.The war has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, preventing supplies of oil and gas from the Gulf from reaching global markets.Worries over higher inflation have…

Catie, 30, and Phil, 34, were sat on a British Airways flight to Ljubljana on Tuesday that never took off. If a flight is cancelled, airlines must get customers to their destination as quickly as possible at no extra cost, even if it is with a rival carrier.Alternatively, passengers can take a refund, which should also be offered for flight delays of more than five hours.In Catie and Phil’s case, the alternative flight offered would not have arrived until Saturday morning – four days into their week-long holiday. So they took the refund. That was not easy. The chatbot only…

Primark has said it plans to launch a home delivery service in Britain, four years after it made its first foray into e-commerce.The retailer said it had bought a fulfilment facility in Sheffield to enable it to ship products to homes.Primark did not sell goods online until 2022, when it launched a click-and-collect service which meant shoppers still had to travel to pick up their purchases. The company said there was “opportunity for profitable growth” through home deliveries, which could help boost trade after Primark reported subdued sales following the recent hot weather.Associated British Foods (ABF), which owns Primark, said…

The Overnight Visitor Levy, which was outlined in the King’s Speech in May, has not been brought forward in Parliament yet.Prime Minister Andy Burnham has framed the policy as part of his wider devolution agenda with mayors able to set out plans for how new revenues will be invested by March 2028.He was mayor of Greater Manchester when the city introduced the City Visitor Charge in April 2023 – a £1 per room, per night fee – to pay for measures aimed at attracting more visitors.Regional mayors say the levy is needed to raise more income to invest in local…

A “social supermarket” offering low cost groceries and budgeting advice says it has had 600 sign-ups in its first year.The Dartford Larder in Kent opened in July 2025 and operates a subscription model, where members pay £4.50 to visit each week for essential items including unlimited fruit and vegetables.The facility, on Copperfields Walk, is run by Crossways Community Church, the Healthy Living Centre and Dartford Borough Council.The church’s pastor, Stephen Brindley, said organisers had “achieved what we intended to with the project, which was giving people back dignity”.He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that users had welcomed the subscription…

About 1.5 million UK households use heating oil, typically in rural areas. This includes more than 40% of homes in some parts of Lincolnshire, including Wainfleet All Saints, Wragby, Roughton and Ludford, according to Census data.Unlike gas and electricity customers, they are not covered by the energy price cap, leaving them more exposed to sudden increases. They also have to pay a lump sum in advance for their fuel, with domestic tanks typically holding between 1,000 and 2,000 litres.On Wednesday, the average price was 97.05p per litre, according to the comparison website boilerjuice.com, external, which measures the cost for purchases of 1,000…

For years, researchers concerned about existential AI risks have argued that powerful systems could eventually act in ways that conflict with human interests. Critics often refer to them as “AI doomers”.But as details of the OpenAI incident have emerged, those concerns have grown, including among some researchers working in AI labs.The Silicon Valley giant’s chief scientist, Jakub Pachocki, said the risks associated with AI are “unfortunately going to grow from here” as he and others are building what he calls “an alien intellect exceeding our own”.In a lengthy blog post, he admitted that the outbreaks at OpenAI showed that his…

Flying taxis, also known as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, could be coming to a city near you. Archer Aviation (ACHR -5.66%) and Joby Aviation (JOBY -6.14%) are two companies ushering in a new mode of travel that could reshape urban transportation as we know it. These companies’ visions extend far beyond passenger transport. Both Archer and Joby are strategically diversifying their portfolios by expanding into defense and aerospace to capitalize on different growth opportunities. The eVTOL industry could be a massive opportunity. JPMorgan Chase estimates the eVTOL industry could grow into a $1 trillion market by 2040.…

Apple is trying to get consumers to accept, and even welcome, a new reality: Your tech is always listening. At Wednesday’s “Surprise and Shine” iPhone event, where the company introduced its new hardware lineup, the real surprise turned out not to be the foldable iPhone, but how the famously privacy-sensitive tech giant has decided its watches will now be able to process live audio and transcribe what was said. Does this mean you’re always being recorded if the person you’re interacting with is wearing an Apple Watch? Not exactly — though it may make some people uncomfortable regardless. It also…

Bitcoin (BTC) struggled below $80,000 on Wednesday as attention refocused on the Japanese yen.Key points:Bitcoin saw further macro headwinds as US-Iran strikes pushed Brent crude oil above $100 per barrel.The Japanese yen continued to trade around 153 per dollar, its highest levels since February as yen shorts stayed near record highs.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted at further interventions in yen currency markets to come.Bitcoin lacks momentum as Iran strikes sour risk-asset moodData from TradingView showed the local upside in the BTC/USD pair reversing as it attempted to revisit the $80,000 mark. BTC is currently down by around 0.4% on…