Oil price jumps and markets slide after Trump warning to Iran

Oil prices have soared after Donald Trump vowed in a televised speech to hit Iran “extremely hard” over the coming weeks, knocking hopes of a near-term end to the conflict in the Middle East.Brent crude prices jumped by as much as 8% on Thursday to $109.74 a barrel, reversing Wednesday’s drop when hopes of a de-escalation in the Iran war pushed the international benchmark below the $100-a-barrel mark at one point.The cost of oil produced in the US also jumped, with a barrel of West Texas Intermediate – crude that is drilled and processed in the US – rising by 11% to $111.60 a barrel, over the $110 mark for the first time since 9 March

US crude oil hits $110 a barrel and markets drop as Trump dashes Iran de-escalation hopes – as it happened

US crude has surged over $110 a barrel today, for the first time in over three weeks.The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate has jumped by 10% today, after US President Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” for the next few weeks, dashing hopes of de-escalation and an early end to the conflict.US crude is trading at $111 a barrel, the highest level since 9 March.This puts a barrel of WTI above the international benchmark, Brent crude, which has jumped more than 8% to $109.32 a barrel

Goodbye mrbrightside416: Google allows users to alter quirky Gmail addresses

Did your McLovin!1976!@gmail.com email address seem funny at the time but less so now you are applying for dozens of jobs?Google has said it is giving US users a chance to appear more professional by letting them change their Google account username – whatever appears before @gmail.com in an email address – without losing access to their account.However, the tech company will limit the name changes to one per 12 months. In an example shared online by Google, the email address sk8tergrl123

Pupils in England are losing their thinking skills because of AI, survey suggests

Pupils using artificial intelligence are losing their capacity for critical thinking, according to a survey of secondary school teachers in England.Two-thirds said they had observed the decline among children who they also said no longer felt the need to spell because of voice-to-text technology.“Students are losing core skills – thinking, creativity, writing, even how to have a conversation,” one teacher told the National Education Union poll.“AI is destroying what ‘learning’ – problem-solving, critical thinking and collaborative effort – is,” said another. A third anonymous contributor added: “Children no longer feel the need to spell as voice-to-text replaces knowledge

Bodycam footage shows Tiger Woods’s shock after crash: ‘I’m being arrested?’

Bodycam footage of Tiger Woods’s arrest for DUI shows the golfer looking surprised when he was handcuffed by police officers at the scene of a vehicle crash last week.“I do believe your normal faculties are impaired, and you’re under an unknown substance, so at this time you’re under arrest for DUI,” Martin County Sheriff’s deputy Tatiana Levenar told Woods after officers conducted a series of field sobriety exercises on the 50-year-old.“I’m being arrested?” Woods asked Levenar. She responded: “Yes, sir.”The footage, obtained Thursday by the Guardian, also shows the moment officers found pills in Woods’s pocket

England interest rekindled and injury substitutes arrive as county cricket returns

With more of a sparkle in its eye than for years, the County Championship shimmies into life on Good Friday, coat done up, gloves fastened.After years of wrangling, the schedule has been settled (for now), and the three-year Kookaburra ball trial, which had seam bowlers weeping into their Weetabix, dumped, but there is still place for a regulatory tweak, and it’s a substantial one. This year, the England and Wales Cricket Board is trialling substitutes, allowing a player to be replaced by a fully playing sub, rather than just a covering fielder. And the terms of reference have broadened too: the system will cover sickness and significant life events – such as the birth of a child or a family illness – as well as injury.“Most seasons we get three or four questions about a player being replaced to witness the birth of a child,” said Alan Fordham, the ECB’s head of cricket operations, “and the answer has been no