‘It’s all fear and headlines’: energy traders race to keep pace with volatile oil markets

On the weekend that US-Israeli drones first began to rain down on Tehran, energy traders across the world’s major financial centres began to redraw their strategies.When they returned to their trading desks on that March Monday morning, they found oil and gas prices spiking amid a market nightmare made real: the unprecedented shutdown of the vital trade route through the strait of Hormuz.“I had been telling our oil trader for weeks to be ready for a war with Iran,” said one trading analyst at a major European energy company.“But he didn’t see it. The market was oversupplied, and prices were already looking higher than they should, so he shorted the market

Trussonomics still haunts parties’ economic promises in run-up to UK local elections | Phillip Inman

As local and regional elections across the UK loom into view, it is clear the spectre of Trussonomics lives on. The Greens, Reform UK, Your Party, Restore Britain, the Conservatives and even the Liberal Democrats cannot help making extravagant spending promises, often paid for by cutting something or borrowing more that, they argue, will have no negative economic consequences.Or if they do, the costs will be borne by people and businesses they do not care about.Only Keir Starmer and his cabinet colleagues seem to be immune to the hysterical demands for the UK government to somehow reconfigure the way the economy operates without any spillovers, unintended consequences or extra costs that nullify the supposed gains derived from the original policy.Liz Truss promised huge tax cuts worth £45bn paid for with extra borrowing and welfare “efficiencies”

UK’s leading AI research institute told to make ‘significant’ changes

The UK’s leading AI research institute has been told to make “significant” changes by its main source of taxpayer funding.The Guardian revealed last week that the board of the Alan Turing Institute was reminded of its legal duties by the charity watchdog after a whistleblower complaint.The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) body, which awarded the ATI a five-year, £100m funding package in 2024 and is its largest single source of funds, said it had conducted a review of the institute and found it underperforming in terms of strategy and delivering value for money.“The review concluded that overall strategic alignment and value for money are not yet satisfactory,” the UKRI said.Last summer, the government made clear that it expected a strategic overhaul at the nominally independent organisation and indicated the need for management changes, adding that its funding could be reviewed

Google to tap into gas plant for AI datacenter in sharp turn from climate goals

Google’s plan for a partnership with a natural gas power plant that could provide energy for one of its datacenters in Texas was unearthed by new research and confirmed by the company. The move is part of an ongoing about-face for the tech giant, which once pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030 and has long been seen as a pioneer in clean energy.The gas power plant is slated to be built in Armstrong county, a sparsely populated area in the Texas panhandle. According to a report by the research organization Cleanview, the project is being led by Crusoe Energy, which partnered with Google to develop the datacenter campus known as “Goodnight”, named after a nearby town.Crusoe filed for a permit in January to build the 933-megawatt power plant on the site of the Goodnight campus, which showed the facility would operate off the grid and provide energy to at least two buildings on the campus, according to Cleanview

The Boat Races 2026: Cambridge men cruise to victory, Oxford women end losing streak – as it happened

With Luke McLaughlin’s report in, that’s all from me. Thanks for tuning in.Jamie Laing offers his commiserations to Cambridge’s men before realising his mistake. The crew get up on the platform and Noam Mouelle – now a four-time winner of the race – leads the celebrations.Time for the presentation: Oxford’s women are up on the stage

Oxford women and Cambridge men seal Boat Race triumphs in choppy waters

Oxford’s women ended eight years of Cambridge dominance in their Boat Race with a sensational performance led by the Olympic medallist Heidi Long, while Cambridge overpowered their dark-blue rivals in the men’s race for a fourth consecutive win.On a windy and largely overcast day in London, Oxford’s women forged a lead as soon as the first race of the day sped away from Putney and led by about six seconds at Hammersmith Bridge. Tens of thousands of fans cheered the boats on from the riverside, lining the 6.8km course all the way.The water was exceptionally rough in the later part of the course and Matt Moran, the Cambridge cox, steered into calmer waters at the Surrey bend, taking the inside line and forcing Oxford to respond