Investors are expecting Donald Trump to back down in the war with Iran – but what if he doesn’t?

Investors over the past year have learned that Donald Trump has a boundless capacity to quickly reverse course in the face of acute political or market pressures.But a week since the United States and Israel launched missile strikes on Iran, there are fears the war could morph into a protracted conflict.In purely economic terms, the war has brought about what has long been considered a worst-case scenario from a conflict in the Middle East: the closure of the strait of Hormuz, through which travels a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies.Since the start of the hostilities, the global benchmark oil price has jumped by 17% to more than US$85 a barrel, triggering shock waves through financial markets.The Australian sharemarket has been relatively shielded from the worst of the fallout, but still suffered a steep 3

Ian Arnot obituary

My friend and former colleague Ian Arnot, who has died of cancer aged 45, was an LGBTQ+ activist, charity leader and fellow of the Chartered Institute of PR (CIPR). He was also a longstanding non-executive director in the charitable sector in Edinburgh, and served as BT’s head of corporate communications from 2020 to 2025.Ian became well known in media and political circles in Scotland and London during his 24-year career with BT Group. He was appointed a chartered fellow of CIPR in 2023, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the institute and the profession, and was elected vice-chair of CIPR Scotland in 2025. He was about to start a new role with the IHG hotel group at the time of his terminal diagnosis, which he bore with typical resilience, courage and hope

UK arts must not be sacrificed for speculative AI gains, peers say

The UK’s creative industries must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of speculative gains in AI technology, a House of Lords committee has warned, as the government prepares to reveal the economic cost of proposals to change copyright rules.A report by peers has urged ministers to develop a licensing regime for the use of creative works in AI products and abandon proposals to let tech firms use the work of novelists, artists, writers and journalists without permission.The call from the House of Lords communications and digital committee comes as the government prepares to release an economic impact assessment of proposed changes to copyright law, as well as a progress update on a consultation about the legal overhaul, by a deadline of 18 March.Barbara Keeley, a Labour peer and committee chair, said the UK’s creative industries faced a “clear and present danger” from AI firms using their work without credit or payment.“AI may contribute to our future economic growth, but the UK creative industries create jobs and economic value now,” she said

Mark Zuckerberg says criminal behavior on Facebook inevitable

Harms to children, such as sexual exploitation and detriments to mental health, are inevitable on Meta’s platforms, the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram leader Adam Mosseri said in taped depositions played at a trial in New Mexico on Tuesday and Wednesday.“I just think if you’re serving billions of people, the unfortunate reality is that some very small percent of them are going to be criminals, and we should work as hard as we can to stop that activity from happening,” said Zuckerberg. “I don’t think that the standard for our platforms would be that you should assume that it will ever be perfect.”Meta’s apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, are among the most popular in the world, each with 3 billion monthly active users.The trial has set the social media giant against New Mexico’s attorney general, who alleges that Meta’s platforms put profits and user engagement over child safety

Rory McIlroy to defend Players title despite withdrawal from Invitational

Rory McIlroy is confident of defending his Players Championship title from Thursday despite withdrawing from the Arnold Palmer Invitational 35 minutes before his third round. McIlroy suffered back spasms, with the Northern Irishman unwilling to potentially put appearances at the Players and next month’s Masters at risk by taking to the course at Bay Hill. McIlroy will also be defending the crown at Augusta National.“While warming up in the gym this morning, I felt a small twinge in my back,” McIlroy said. “As I started hitting balls on the range before the round, it worsened and developed into muscle spasms in my lower back

Italy v England: Six Nations 2026 – as it happened

I’m still slack-jawed. I said at the start that I wouldn’t be shocked if Italy won, but that’s clearly not the case.History made. What a night for Italian rugby. A new low for England and Steve Borthwick who must be wondering if he’ll still have a job in two weeks