UK borrowing to be pushed up by Iran war after dropping last year; oil and gas prices rising – business live

City economist are warning that UK government borrowing is set to be driven higher by the Iran war, following this morning’s (small) drop in the annual deficit in the last financial year:Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter, says:double quotation mark“The conflict in the Middle East has shown the UK economy remains very exposed to geopolitical shocks. However, there are some encouraging signs that rigid fiscal rules have been having the desired effect thus far, as today’s public sector finance data shows borrowing was £12.6 billion in March. This is £1.4 billion less than the same month last year, and the lowest March reading since 2022

UK undershoots annual borrowing target by £700m

The UK government budget came in below its annual borrowing target by £700m, official figures show – but the Iran war is likely to blow a hole in Rachel Reeves’s carefully calculated fiscal “headroom” over the coming months.The government borrowed a net total of £132bn for the financial year ending in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. This slightly undershot the £132.7bn that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had forecast just last month.The total was £19

Tesla reports mixed financial results as Musk pivots automaker to AI and robots

Tesla reported its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, disclosing some better-than-expected results but faltering in some key areas. The report failed to significantly buoy Tesla’s stock, which has limped along this year while its CEO, Elon Musk, has tried to sell the company’s new vision of humanoid robots and self-driving robotaxis. Its core car business has struggled in the face of competition from Chinese counterparts and backlash against his close involvement with the Trump administration.“There remains significant effort and hard work to realize our mission of Amazing Abundance,” Tesla said in its report, while claiming that demand for its vehicles was rebounding.Tesla revealed earnings of 41 cents a share on Wednesday after market close, more than the 37 cents per share that Wall Street expected

What is Mythos AI and why could it be a threat to global cybersecurity?

Anthropic has ruled out releasing its latest AI model, Mythos, to the public because of the threat it poses to global cybersecurity.However, the US tech startup behind the Claude chatbot confirmed on Wednesday it was investigating a report that a group of people had gained unauthorised access to Mythos. The alleged incident has raised concerns over the pace of development and the ability of tech companies to keep their riskiest products out of the public domain. Here, we examine Mythos and its potential impact.Mythos is an AI model – the underlying technology that powers tools such as chatbots – that, according to Anthropic, represents a serious potential threat to any organisation’s cybersecurity

Carlton coach Michael Voss accuses media of bullying after Elijah Hollands incident

Embattled Carlton coach Michael Voss has defended his staff and accused the media of bullying as the spotlight intensifies on the club for allowing Elijah Hollands to play last week during a mental health episode.Hollands behaved erratically in the match against Collingwood and is now in hospital, and speculation has focused on how Voss’s staff had allowed the young player to take the field given his struggles were obvious even from the stands.Fronting a large press pack on Thursday at Princes Park ahead of Saturday’s match against Fremantle, Voss said he wanted to respect the AFL’s investigation into the club’s actions on the night and “we accept that we need to look at process”.But he said that in a “complex situation that has history and background” his staff deserve praise.“I’m proud of my people, and the process itself will take care of itself, and we need to put our support behind that,” he said

Bournemouth 2-2 Leeds, Charlton 1-2 Ipswich: football clockwatch – as it happened

Time to sign off; I’ll leave you with Sam Cunningham’s match report from the Vitality Stadium. Thanks for joining me.Jamie Jackson watched as Manchester City won at Burnley to go top of the league …Ed Aarons was at the Valley to see Ipswich dig out a vital win:Championship table: Ipswich edge back into second place but Millwall, Southampton and Middlesbrough can all still claim automatic promotion. Oxford are not quite down after Charlton failed to take a point from their game tonight.Premier League table: Manchester City are top on goals scored, Bournemouth climb above Chelsea, and Burnley are relegated