Oil price increase likely to add 5p to petrol and diesel over the next couple of months, expert says
Britons are braced for higher prices at the pumps, after a rise in oil prices caused by the conflict between Israel and Iran in recent days.
Oil prices climbed again on Monday, as traders worried about the risks of a broader regional military conflict, which could disrupt supplies. Iran is a big oil producer, and accounts for about 3% of global supplies.
Continue reading...Shares in parent company Tata Motors fall as JLR says it will reallocate vehicles to ‘accessible markets’
The British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has warned of a hit to profits from Donald Trump’s tariffs, after the company temporarily paused deliveries to the US.
The carmaker, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, halted shipments to America in April after the US president imposed a 25% duty on all foreign-made vehicles, before resuming them last month. The country accounts for more than a quarter of JLR’s sales.
Continue reading...Concerns raised that section 899 could backfire and also undermine dollar’s safe haven status
Foreign investment into the US could be threatened by Donald Trump’s new “revenge” taxes, analysts have warned.
A provision within the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act will allow the US to apply higher taxes on foreign individuals, businesses and investors connected to jurisdictions that impose “unfair foreign taxes” on US individuals and companies.
Continue reading...Gujarati communities in the capital gather to commemorate more than 270 victims who died in Ahmedabad air crash
As the late afternoon sun streamed into a small square behind the Indian High Commission in London on Sunday, a crowd of 200 people gathered for a vigil – one of several held around the UK this weekend to remember those who died in the Air India disaster.
Candles were placed beneath a bust of Jawaharlal Nehru and attenders listened to inter-faith leaders and members from the Gujarati community who had come to reflect on a shocking week of loss.
Continue reading...People who rely on personal independence payments tell how cuts will affect them as chancellor rules out U-turn
Ministers are facing a backlash over planned disability welfare changes, but Rachel Reeves on Thursday resisted calls to abandon the cuts.
After ruling out a U-turn, pressure is building on the UK chancellor to tweak qualification rules to protect many disabled people from being stripped of their benefits. On Thursday, she said the government was “reviewing the criteria”, but ministers are yet to release details.
Continue reading...CSRI finds China and Russia may be coordinating ‘grey zone’ tactics against vulnerable western infrastructure
China and Russia are stepping up sabotage operations targeting undersea cables and the UK is unprepared to meet the mounting threat, according to new analysis.
A report by the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI) analysed 12 incidents in which national authorities had investigated alleged undersea cable sabotage between January 2021 and April 2025. Of the 10 cases in which a suspect vessel was identified, eight were directly linked to China or Russia through flag-state registration or company ownership.
Continue reading...Singer says attitude of officials ‘stinks’ after documents show concern about crowds and intoxication
Liam Gallagher has criticised Edinburgh council bosses after Oasis fans attending three sellout concerts at Murrayfield Stadium were described as mainly “rowdy” “middle-aged men” who “take up more room” and would drink to “medium to high intoxication”.
The Scottish Sun said it had obtained safety briefing documents through freedom of information requests, before the reunion gigs on 8, 9 and 12 August.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Restrictions to be reviewed as embassy official says ‘UK-China relations are showing a positive momentum’
China is considering lifting the sanctions it imposed on UK parliamentarians in 2021 in the latest sign of warming relations between London and Beijing.
The Chinese government is reviewing the sanctions, which it introduced four years ago, in response to what it called “lies and disinformation” about human rights abuses in Xinjiang, according to two UK government sources familiar with the conversations.
Continue reading...People came to ‘say goodbye to their homes’ before the two-year process of dismantling the building begins
Grenfell residents gathered in London to “say goodbye to their homes” on what is likely to be the last anniversary of the tragedy before the tower is dismantled.
The 72 people who died in the tower block fire in west London in June 2017 were commemorated with a silent walk through the streets of north Kensington on Saturday evening – just months before the two-year process of dismantling what remains of the building is expected to begin.
Continue reading...Emergencies services were called to an incident at Dunkeswell aerodrome at 1pm on Friday
Two skydivers have died after an incident at an airfield in Devon, police have said.
Emergency services were called to the scene at Dunkeswell aerodrome, near Honiton, at 1pm on Friday “following concerns for the welfare of two people”, Devon and Cornwall police said.
Continue reading...PM says new statutory inquiry was ‘right thing to do’ after findings of review submitted by Louise Casey
Keir Starmer will launch a national inquiry into grooming gangs after receiving the recommendations of an independent report on the scandal.
The prime minister said a new statutory inquiry was “the right thing to do” based on the findings submitted by Louise Casey, who has carried out a months-long inquiry into the abuse of young girls.
Continue reading...Military assets to provide ‘contingency support’ as PM repeats call for de-escalation after Iran’s retaliatory strikes
The UK is moving jets and other military assets to the Middle East, Keir Starmer has said, refusing to rule out defending Israel from Iranian strikes despite Tehran’s threat that such an action could lead to British bases in the region being targeted.
Speaking to reporters on the plane to the G7 summit, Starmer reiterated his call for de-escalation, saying he had held a series of calls with other world leaders in the hours after Israel’s attack on Iran, including the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Donald Trump.
Continue reading...Telecoms group says it strongly refutes claim by 62 franchisees that it ‘unjustly enriched’ itself at their expense
Vodafone has terminated the contracts of 12 franchisees who have continued running the brand’s high street stores while also being part of a £120m high court claim against the telecoms group.
The legal case was launched in December, when 62 franchisees claimed Vodafone had “unjustly enriched” itself at the expense of scores of vulnerable small business owners by slashing commissions to franchisees operating the mobile phone company’s retail outlets.
Continue reading...Vasili Mitrokhin defected in 1992 after spending years copying top-secret documents on Soviet spies and operations
One of the most consequential Russian defectors in history was turned away several times by the US before he was eventually accepted by Britain and exfiltrated with his family from Russia, according to revelations in a new book.
Vasili Mitrokhin, a KGB archivist who spent years copying top-secret documents on some of the most sensitive Soviet spies and operations, was brought out of Russia in 1992 by MI6. His archive of copied documents was exfiltrated separately. But London got hold of his trove only after Mitrokhin gave up trying to get the US to take him seriously.
Continue reading...Peter Kyle calls on employees and businesses to act now to get to grips with technology amid forecasts of job losses
Workers in the UK should turn their trepidation over AI into “exhilaration” by giving it a try or they risk being left behind by those who have, the technology secretary has said.
Peter Kyle called on employees and businesses to “act now” on getting to grips with the tech, with the generational gap in usage needing only two and a half hours of training to bridge.
Continue reading...Sheffield band were last at the top with This Is Hardcore, while Sabrina Carpenter is at No 1 in the singles chart and breaks an album chart record
Pulp have topped the UK album chart for the first time since 1998, with the release of their new album More.
The Sheffield band, fronted by Jarvis Cocker, were last at the top with 1998’s This Is Hardcore, the follow-up to the similarly chart-topping Different Class in 1995.
Continue reading...James Sheen given four-year term and Michael Jones 27 months after theft of toilet during exhibition in Oxfordshire
Two men have been jailed for their roles in the “bold and brazen” theft of a £4.75m gold toilet from an art exhibition at Blenheim Palace.
James Sheen, 40, and Michael Jones, 39, were sentenced at Oxford crown court for their roles as part of a gang who planned and carried out the burglary at the Oxfordshire stately home, receiving a four-year prison sentence and a 27-month prison sentence respectively.
Continue reading...Craig Williams and 14 others appear in court over allegations of cheating by betting on 2024 election date
A former Conservative MP and 14 other people facing allegations of cheating by gambling on the date of last year’s general election are to go on trial.
Craig Williams, who was the MP for Montgomeryshire and a senior aide to the then prime minister, Rishi Sunak, appeared in the dock at Westminster magistrates court on Friday after charges were brought by the Gambling Commission.
Continue reading...Anonymous messages questioned judgment of senior managers in dealing with Greensill, says Swiss regulator
Bosses at Credit Suisse were warned against dealing with the Australian financier Lex Greensill’s eponymous company three years before the collapse of his Greensill Capital, which once employed the former UK prime minister David Cameron as an adviser.
The “character judgment” of senior Credit Suisse managers was challenged in anonymous messages they received as early as 2018, which raised concerns over the Swiss bank’s dealings with Greensill, according to a report by the Swiss regulator Finma, released under a London court order after a request by the Guardian and other media.
Continue reading...Government announces £9m funding to make specialist blood machines more widely available across NHS
People living with sickle cell disease in England are to benefit from quicker and more accessible treatment due to a £9m investment, the government has announced.
Apheresis services, which are a type of treatment that removes harmful components from a patient’s blood, are to improve across England through the funding of more specialist treatment centres. The funding will ensure the wider availability of machines that remove a patient’s sickled red blood cells and replace them with healthy donor cells.
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