Markets rise as investors welcome Iraq’s deal to resume oil exports via Turkey – business live

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.The conflict in the Middle East continues to grip the markets, as ship traffic through the strait of Hormuz continues to be slowed by the crisis.But this morning, oil has dropped after Iraq reportedly struck a deal with Turkey to resume oil exports through their territory, having agreed with Kurdistan to pump oil through a pipeline in its region.According to Reuters, crude exports from Iraq’s Kirkuk fields by pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port have resumed, giving an alternative route rather than braving the strait.But, the rerouting of some Iraqi oil through Turkey will only partially relieve supply concerns, Bloomberg reports, adding that Iraq’s oil production has fallen to about 1

HelloFresh hit by sales slump as people lose appetite for meal kits

HelloFresh has reported a sharp decline in sales as the struggling food delivery company battles falling demand after the pandemic-era meal kit boom.The German company was forced to make 900 UK job cuts last year with the closure of a delivery site in Nuneaton, and the demand for meal kits tumbled as revenue fell by more than 11% during 2025.Sales slumped “against various uncertainties in the macroeconomic environment and a deliberate effort to target a smaller yet more profitable number of customers”, it said.HelloFresh and competitors such as Gousto and Mindful Chef experienced rapid growth during the Covid lockdowns when people were told to stay at home, and at one point it was projecting revenues of €10bn (£8.6bn) by 2025

Instagram to remove end-to-end encryption for private messages in May

Instagram will stop encrypting private messages between users from May, after enduring years of criticism from law enforcement and child safety groups over the feature.Meta quietly announced this month on its help page for Instagram and in an updated 2022 news post that end-to-end encryption would no longer be available on direct messages between users on Instagram from 8 May 2026.It means Meta will be able to see the contents of messages between all users – which so far it only could for those who did not enable encryption.The feature already appeared deactivated for Australian users, when Guardian Australia tested on Wednesday.A spokesperson for Meta said the decision to abandon encryption was due to low uptake

Subnautica 2 publisher’s CEO used ChatGPT in failed bid to avoid paying US$250m bonus to own studio head, court hears

A South Korean gaming publisher who hatched a plan using ChatGPT to remove the heads of one of its own game studios in a bid to avoid paying US$250m has been ordered by a US court to reverse the removal.The dispute stems from South Korean game developer Krafton’s acquisition of Unknown Worlds Entertainment, makers of the Subnautica video game, for $500m in 2021.Krafton agreed the studio would remain independent and that its leadership would retain operational control and could only be fired for cause, according to the ruling by vice-chancellor Lori Will of the court of chancery in Delaware.If Unknown Worlds met certain targets, Krafton would pay the studio what is known as an earnout worth up to $250m.As the studio was last year ramping up to release Subnautica 2, internal projections showed it would trigger the earnout, according to the ruling

The Spin | ‘It was a crazy time’: why big auction paychecks don’t always equal superstardom

“Some people do recognise me occasionally and it’s always nice to have a chat about cricket.” Graham Napier has a few minutes between appointments. As a fire safety officer in Suffolk the 46-year-old former Essex all-rounder “goes everywhere, schools, cafes, barbershops, churches …” to install and service fire extinguishers. It’s not lost on him that as a player he was often the one responsible for pyrotechnics.On a June evening in 2008 Napier blasted 152 not out off 58 balls for Essex in a televised T20 Blast match against Sussex

Are unbeaten superteams like the UConn Huskies bad for basketball?

Fans love watching an underdog cause an upset. The problem is that unbeaten teams are unbeaten for a reasonA classic narrative, dating back to the classic matchup of David v Goliath, is the underdog v the favorite.The only problem is that the underdog is an underdog for the reason. Sure, everyone loves it when a David wins, but Goliath usually swats him away with predictable ease and then pounds him into the dirt. Which leads to a problem: who, other than devoted fans of the team in question, roots for the perennial champions? Isn’t that a bit like watching Hoosiers and rooting for the big kids to beat Gene Hackman’s scrappy underdogs? Or watching Rocky IV and rooting for Drago?In women’s college basketball, 12 Division I teams have finished the regular season and conference tournaments undefeated since 2009