• The United States naval operations in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz have caused Iran nearly $4.8 billion in lost oil revenue, according to Pentagon estimates reported by Axios.
• Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, citing Press Secretary Joel Valdez, states the blockade enforces sanctions and curbs Iran's maritime oil trade to weaken funding for militant activities.
• The Strait of Hormuz remains central to tensions as a vital global oil chokepoint, risking escalation in energy markets and regional stability.
• Benchmark Nifty 50 index fell 180.10 points or 0.74% to close at 23,997.55, while Sensex dropped 582.86 points to 76,913.50.
• Nifty Bank index declined 0.98% to 54,863.35, dragged by profit booking after early gains on Q4 earnings.
• Sectors like metals, PSU banks, and realty saw sharp declines amid surging oil prices and foreign outflows.
Staff warned news operations face 15% cut, above BBC-wide 10% target, as corporation pushes through £600m savings planThe BBC’s news operation is to cut costs by a steeper-than-expected 15%, with staff told to expect heavy redundancies.The division, home to about a quarter of all BBC staff, is being saddled with one of the highest cost-cutting targets as the corporation attempts to cut as many as 2,000 jobs in the biggest downsizing of the public service broadcaster in 15 years. Continue reading...
Leadership options in focus amid fears over election losses, with allies of Greater Manchester mayor stepping up preparations for a comebackAndy Burnham has plan to return to Westminster ‘within weeks’, allies sayWhen the eyes of Westminster were on the committee rooms and voting lobbies of parliament this week, Keir Starmer’s political future was being decided elsewhere.Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner were buttering up Labour MPs in the Strangers’ Bar in parliament as colleagues spoke of their “existential” fear about the crucial elections next week. Continue reading...
Electoral Commission reviewing whether Reform UK leader should have declared billionaire’s gift before entering parliamentAnalysis: Farage’s bid to get ahead of story only raises more questionsFarage referred to standards watchdog over undisclosed £5m giftThe UK elections watchdog is considering whether to investigate an undisclosed £5m donation received by Nigel Farage before he announced his candidacy at the last general election.The move comes after the Guardian revealed this week that the Reform UK leader was given the money by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. Continue reading...
Coroner says none of the five civilians killed in incident in Belfast during Troubles should have been shotBritish army soldiers “lost control” and used force that was “not reasonable” in the killing of five civilians in Northern Ireland in 1972, an inquest judge has ruled.Four of the victims – two teenagers, a father of six and a Catholic priest – posed no risk when they were shot in the Springhill and Westrock areas of west Belfast on 9 July 1972, Mr Justice Scoffield said on Thursday. Continue reading...
In 2022, Aneil Karia won an Academy Award for his short starring Riz Ahmed. Now, he’s skewering Reform-style parliamentary candidates with the help of Jack Lowden and an unlikely online platformSome film-makers have unrealistic expectations for their work; Aneil Karia is not one of them. “I’m not deluded enough to think that it’s going to bring down the government,” he says of his new film, Vote Gavin Lyle – but you never know, it just might. A funny, clever, superbly acted, small-but-perfectly-formed satire, Vote Gavin Lyle stars Jack Lowden as a wannabe Reform-style parliamentary candidate for the fictional middle-England constituency of Fletcham and Wold. At just 16 minutes long, it absolutely skewers the far-right mindset; not the minority-bashing, flag-hoisting street thugs, but the cannier, well-spoken Farageists who dominate the tendency’s leadership.Without wanting to give away the film’s final flourish, it’s fair to say that there’s an element of empathy, even sympathy for its central character. Karia says: “I don’t think it’s interesting or useful to look at these people – far-right politicians, councillors, prospective candidates, whoever – and just say what nasty bastards they are. I think what strikes me about them is they’re just as vulnerable and scared as the rest of us. Continue reading...
Amber Davidson-Orozco said the family had lost Dodger, their cat, during their move out of CaliforniaA family cat who got lost amid a move from California across the US is said to be settling back into his old ways with his humans at their new home in Georgia after experiencing an unlikely – but long hoped for – reunion more than seven years in the making.As owner Amber Davidson-Orozco put in an interview Wednesday, her cat Dodger still responds to his name and allows her sons to flip him playfully over their shoulders despite an absence from them that to the cat lasted the equivalent of roughly 24 years. Continue reading...
Whitbread to call time on restaurants in UK and Ireland blaming higher costs and taxes for latest strategic resetPremier Inn owner Whitbread is to cut about 3,800 jobs in the UK and Ireland and shut its remaining Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants as it resets its five-year business strategy, amid tax rises and pressure from a US activist investor.The cuts will affect about 12% of Whitbread’s 30,000-strong workforce in the UK and Ireland working in its Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants, which are usually located next to, or inside, Premier Inn hotels. The company said consultations with affected employees would begin immediately. Continue reading...
Robert Hayward predicts Reform will be big winner, taking seats from both Labour and the ConservativesGood morning. We are now into the final week of campaigning for the Scottish parliament, Welsh Senedd and English local elections. Keir Starmer had been planning a big speech today, but he, and other political leaders, are today focusing on their response to the Golders Green stabbing and the antisemitism threat facing Britain’s Jewish community – described as a “national security emergency” by Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s independent reviewer of terror legislation. Here is our overnight story. And here is our live blog by Taz Ali.Taz will be covering most of the political reaction to that story, and so that won’t be something I will be covering here. (And because criminal proceedings are active, comments relating to the attack won’t be allowed below the line, I’m afraid.) Continue reading...
