Tony Blair’s oil lobbying is a misleading rehash of fossil fuel industry spin

Ex-PM’s thinktank urges more drilling and fewer renewables, ignoring evidence that clean energy is cheaper and better for billsA thinktank with close ties to Saudi Arabia and substantial funding from a Donald Trump ally needs to present a particularly robust analysis to earn the right to be listened to on the climate crisis. On that measure, Tony Blair’s latest report fails on almost every point.The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) received money from the Saudi government, has advised the United Arab Emirates petrostate, and counts as a main donor Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, friend of Trump and advocate of AI.The latest TBI report calls for an expansion of oil and gas production in the North Sea, despite the additional greenhouse gas emissions this would generate, and abandoning the UK government’s target to largely decarbonise the electricity sector by 2030, arguing that doing so is necessary to power AI datacentres.The report claims renewable energy is too expensive

UK economy grows by only 0.1% amid falling business investment

The UK economy expanded by only 0.1% in the final three months of last year, according to official data, as falling business investment and weak consumer spending led to little momentum going into 2026.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the economy grew at the same rate of 0.1% as the previous three months. This was less than a 0

How to deal with the “Claude crash”: Relx should keep buying back shares, then buy more | Nils Pratley

As the FTSE 100 index bobs along close to all-time highs, it is easy to miss the quiet share price crash in one corner of the market. It’s got a name – the “Claude crash”, referencing the plug-in legal products added by the AI firm Anthropic to its Claude Cowork office assistant.This launch, or so you would think from the panicked stock market reaction in the past few weeks, marks the moment when the AI revolution rips chunks out of some of the UK’s biggest public companies – those in the dull but successful “data” game, including Relx, the London Stock Exchange Group, Experian, Sage and Informa.Relx, the former Reed Elsevier, whose brands include the Lancet and LexisNexis, is the most intriguing in that list. The company’s description of itself contains at least five words to provoke a yawn – “a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers” – but the pre-Claude share price was a thing of wonder

Share values of property services firms tumble over fears of AI disruption

Shares in commercial property services companies have tumbled, in the latest sell-off driven by fears over disruption from artificial intelligence.After steep declines on Wall Street, European stocks in the sector were hit on Thursday.The estate agent Savills’ shares fell 7.5% in London, while the serviced office provider International Workplace Group, which owns the Regus brand, lost 9%.The UK’s two biggest property developers, British Land and Landsec, dropped 2

Ice in his veins: Australian skier Cooper Woods embraces pressure to realise Winter Olympic dream

From the turquoise waters of a sleepy NSW beach town to the summit of his sport atop an alpine mountain in Italy, it has been by Cooper Woods’s own admission “an absolute journey”.Australia celebrated its latest Olympic champion on Friday after the freestyle skier stunned the rest of the field in the final, including moguls greats Mikael Kingsbury and Ikuma Horishima, to become his country’s seventh Winter Olympics gold winner – and first medallist of these Milano Cortina games.Few observers would have seen it coming. Woods has only reached the World Cup podium once – a silver medal at Waterville Valley in 2024 – since he joined the tour in 2017 and had endured a difficult 2025-26 season leading into the Games.He arrived in northern Italy ranked 20th in the world and told reporters he “didn’t have any expectations”

York shock champions Hull KR to seal first Super League win on opening night

The most incredible result in Super League’s 30-year history? There are certainly plenty of contenders but as North Yorkshire erupted in joy on the night rugby league’s big show rolled into town for the first time, it was hard to think of anything that measured up to this.Super League’s decision to expand to 14 teams over the winter has drawn criticism, not least over concerns that the two extra sides may not have brought the sufficient quality to compete at the highest level. Yet York managed not only to get off the mark but to stun the defending, all-conquering treble winners of 2025.Hull KR lost only five games in all competitions last season. Here, they have fallen at the first hurdle, having asked Super League for a softer opening game in anticipation of next week’s World Club Challenge against NRL champions Brisbane Broncos