UK banks keep £100 limit for contactless card payments despite FCA scrapping it

• Iran hit Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City energy hub with missiles on March 18, 2026, causing extensive damage to QatarEnergy facilities. • Tehran also fired four ballistic missiles at Riyadh and attempted a drone attack on a Saudi gas facility, both intercepted by Saudi defenses. • The attacks mark a major escalation in the US-Israel-Iran war, driving oil prices higher and disrupting global supplies.

• Iranian state media reported US and Israeli attacks on the world's largest natural gas field at South Pars and other energy facilities on March 18, 2026. • The strikes coincide with US deployment of 5,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz to reopen oil routes. • Escalation threatens global energy supplies, with oil prices surging and political pressure mounting on President Trump.

• President Trump stated the US should rethink NATO membership after allies refused to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israel-Iran war. • Multiple American partners balked at Trump's requests for naval assistance in protecting oil tanker traffic through the vital waterway. • A senior UAE official indicated openness to helping, contrasting with broader allied reluctance that risks one-fifth of global oil flows.

• The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence convenes an open hearing on the 2026 Annual Worldwide Threats Assessment on March 19 at 8:30 AM. • Session addresses global risks including ongoing Middle East conflicts and other geopolitical challenges. • Timing aligns with US-Iran war escalations and fresh intelligence on threats like China-Taiwan dynamics.

• Senior Trump-appointed US intelligence official Joe Kent abruptly resigned on March 17, 2026, citing concerns about the administration’s ongoing war with Iran. • President Trump dismissed the resignation as a 'good thing,' calling Kent 'very weak on security' amid escalating military actions. • The move highlights internal divisions within the US government as the conflict enters its 19th day, potentially impacting intelligence coordination.

• US military conducted attacks today on Iranian missile installations near the Strait of Hormuz to neutralize threats to transiting ships. • The strikes target sites from which Iran could launch attacks on commercial and military vessels in the critical waterway. • The operation escalates US involvement in the Iran conflict, aiming to secure global oil shipping routes amid heightened tensions.

• Israel conducted an overnight airstrike in Tehran, killing Iran's intelligence minister amid escalating US-Israel operations against Iran since February 28. • Iran's Ministry of Health reports at least 1,444 killed and nearly 19,000 injured in ongoing US-Israeli attacks, with a Red Crescent worker assisting victims. • Senior Israeli officials warned US diplomats that Iranian protesters against their government would 'get slaughtered,' despite Israel's promotion of anti-regime demonstrations.

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsUK wage growth slows sharply as unemployment holds steadyFed holds interest rates steady as Iran war drives up oil prices and inflation fearsMiddle East crisis live: Trump threatens to ‘blow up’ entire South Pars gasfield if Iran strikes QatarUK wage growth has slowed to a five-year low, in a worrying sign for workers as the Middle East crisis pushes up energy costs.Average pay (excluding bonuses) rose by 3.8% in the three months to January, down from 4.1% in October-December 2025, the Office for National Statistics reports.“With unemployment staying steady at 5.2% and a rare gain in payrolls employment, this report paints a mildly more positive picture of the labour market. And with wage growth softer again, in normal times this would have been a relatively reassuring report for the Bank of England.But the report feels stale in light of the Iran conflict, and the inflation risks stemming from the large spike in energy prices. So while today’s Bank of England meeting had once looked like the likely point of the next rate cut, instead policy is set to be kept on hold today as policymakers give themselves more time to see how the conflict plays out. Continue reading...

Residents of Coen and surrounding towns in far north Queensland spent Thursday sandbagging, stockpiling food and preparing for power outages ahead of possible category 5 stormCyclone Narelle path tracker mapGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIn some ways, it seemed a pleasant, wet season morning in the remote Aboriginal community of Coen in tropical far north Queensland on Thursday – and Sara Watkins was preparing for a sausage sizzle.“It’s a day that you’d spend going fishing,” she said. Continue reading...

ONS data for three months to January is unlikely to convince Bank of England to cut interest ratesBusiness live – latest updatesWage growth slowed sharply in the three months to January according to the latest snapshot of the jobs market from the Office for National Statistics.Average earnings fell to 3.8% in the three months to January, from 4.2%, which was a larger fall than forecast by City economists. It was the slowest rate of wage growth in more than five years. Continue reading...

Ireland’s former taoiseach warns of conservative Russian influence and says US is now ‘off the pitch’ under TrumpLGBTQ+ rights in Europe are caught in a “chill wind” from east and west as Vladimir Putin’s Russia exports its conservative agenda and the “Americans are off the pitch” under Donald Trump, Ireland’s former taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.Varadkar, who in 2017 became Ireland’s first out gay prime minister, said Europe needed to “step up” to avoid the continent becoming further squeezed by global forces seeking to chip away at recent progress. Continue reading...

Move will put national security and lives overseas at risk, critics say, as overall UK aid budget is slashed to 0.3% of gross national incomeClimate aid to developing countries from the UK will be cut by about 14% to roughly £2bn a year under government plans, in a move critics said would put national security and lives overseas at risk.The move follows bitter rows with the Treasury, which wanted deeper cuts owing to pressure on spending resulting from the war in Iran. Continue reading...