Starbucks’s retail arm gets £13.7m tax credit even as sales increase

Starbucks’s UK retail arm received a £13.7m corporation tax credit last year, even as its sales increased 6% and it added more than 90 stores.The credit, which can be used to offset future tax bills, comes after losses widened to £41.3m in the 12 months to the end of September – almost matching the £40m it paid in royalty and licence fees to its parent company.Starbucks said price increases, new loyalty schemes and the introduction of “freshly baked in-store food” had helped to increase sales to £556

European airports ‘face jet fuel shortages within three weeks’; Irish army called in over fuel protests - as it happened

Time to wrap up…European airports have warned the EU that jet fuel shortages could hit the summer holiday season if oil supplies do not start to flow through the strait of Hormuz within the next three weeks.Airports Council International (ACI) Europe reportedly wrote to EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas saying that the bloc is three weeks away from shortages. The letter was first reported by the Financial Times.The warning will raise concerns of a risk of flight or holiday cancellations if the US and Israel’s war on Iran continues. Oil prices have soared since the start of March after Iran effectively closed the strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for exports from the Gulf, in retaliation

Amazon to finally launch Leo satellite internet in ‘mid-2026’, says CEO

Amazon has said its long-awaited satellite internet rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink will finally go live in “mid-2026”.The chief executive, Andy Jassy, said in a letter to shareholders that the technology company was “on the verge of launching Amazon Leo” and had secured “revenue commitments from enterprises and governments” for the scheme.Originally conceived in 2019 as Project Kuiper before being renamed last year, Leo now has 200 low-orbit satellites in space, with Jassy promising “a few thousand more” in the years to come.While on track to make Leo the second commercial satellite presence in space, the plans would still leave it far behind SpaceX’s Starlink, which has nearly 10,000 satellites in space and aims to have as many as 42,000 operational in the future.Jassy promised Leo would incorporate the successful Amazon Web Services cloud computing software into its function, writing: “Leo will seamlessly integrate with AWS to enable enterprises and governments to move data back and forth for storage, analytics, and AI

US summons bank bosses over cyber risks from Anthropic’s latest AI model

The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, summoned major American bank chiefs to a meeting in Washington this week amid concerns over the cyber risks posed by Anthropic’s latest AI model, according to reports.Jerome Powell, chair of the Rederal Reserve, was said to have been among those gathered at the Treasury headquarters for the meeting after the release of the Claude Mythos AI model that Anthropic says poses unprecedented cybersecurity risks.A recent leak of Claude’s code prompted the startup to publish a blogpost at the beginning of the month saying that AI models had surpassed “all but the most skilled humans at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities”, adding: “The fallout – for economies, public safety, and national security – could be severe.”This week’s meeting was reportedly called while bank bosses were already in Washington for a lobby group gathering, with a guest list focused on heads of so-called systemically important banks – meaning regulators believe that a major disruption to their operations, or their potential collapse, would put financial stability at risk.Those in attendance included the Goldman Sachs chief executive, David Solomon, Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser, Morgan Stanley’s Ted Pick and the Wells Fargo boss Charlie Scharf, according to Bloomberg, which first reported details of the meeting

The Masters 2026: day two golf updates from Augusta National – live

Quite a few players grouped on the shoulder of the leading pack. Still nearly two hours until Rory turns up for work.-5: Burns, McIlroy -3: Kitayama, Day, Reed -2: Clark (14), Rose (7), Lowry, Schauffele -1: Rai (9), Hatton (8), Gotterup (7), Spieth (7), Koepka (7), Griffin (6), English (4), Li (4), Homa (3), Taylor, FleetwoodJustin Rose hadn’t made a birdie since 15 yesterday. He’s had his close shaves and frustrations today, but just about kept a lid on it, and his patience has finally paid off. He rolls in a birdie putt from downtown at 7, and returns to -2

Essex v Somerset, Surrey v Leicestershire, and more: county cricket, day one – live

James Price, Lancashire’s Easter bunny, head of marketing and communications has just appeared in the press box with a milky bar Easter Egg for everyone. Just don’t mention the SGMs…Rain has never been more welcome at Bristol, as the players are forced in with the score 348-2 after 67.2 overs. McKinney 182 not out.A cracking caught and bowled by Shoaib Bashir, sliding onto his tummy rhythm and slurping it up