Oil price drops below $90 a barrel after Iran says strait of Hormuz is open
Posted on Friday April 17, 2026

Gas price also falls and markets rise amid hopes Donald Trump will succeed in reaching deal with Tehran

Oil and gas prices fell sharply on Friday after Iran said the strait of Hormuz was open to commercial shipping, potentially clearing the way for tankers holding millions of barrels of oil and gas to reach the global market.

Iran’s foreign minister said vessels would be free to transit the strait of Hormuz for the duration of the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, which was struck on Thursday.

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Rachel Reeves to raise windfall tax on low-carbon electricity generators
Posted on Friday April 17, 2026

Chancellor aims to curb rising household bills as she consults on reforms to weaken link between gas and electricity prices

Rachel Reeves is poised to raise the government’s windfall tax on low-carbon electricity generators to help limit UK household energy bills, the Guardian understands.

The chancellor is ready to hike the levy introduced in 2022 to target the excess profits made by the owners of older renewable energy and nuclear plants as electricity market prices soared after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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Richard Desmond loses £1.3bn damages battle over national lottery licence
Posted on Friday April 17, 2026

Media tycoon vows to appeal after dismissal of action against Gambling Commission for awarding Allwyn the franchise

The media tycoon Richard Desmond has vowed to appeal after a resounding defeat in his claim for up to £1.3bn in damages from the Gambling Commission over its decision not to award him the 10-year licence to run the national lottery.

Mrs Justice Smith dismissed Desmond’s claim on Friday, in a sometimes scathing written high court judgment that reserved particular criticism for “inexcusable” failings on the part of Desmond’s legal team.

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Questions raised over whether £3.8m government grant awarded to Wrexham AFC was lawful
Posted on Friday April 17, 2026

Exclusive: The club, owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, received the grant without a contract or final state aid assessment in place

Wrexham AFC, the football club part-owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, was given a £3.8m government grant without a contract or a finished state aid assessment in place, raising questions over whether the award was lawful.

The club has received £18m in taxpayer-funded grants – far more than any other in the UK – to help to redevelop its stadium, the Racecourse Ground (Y Cae Ras in Welsh).

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Finance leaders warn over Mythos as UK banks prepare to use powerful Anthropic AI tool
Posted on Friday April 17, 2026

Release of new Claude model, so far limited to US firms, will expand to British institutions in coming days

British banks will be given access in the next week to a powerful AI tool that was deemed too dangerous to be released to the public, as a series of senior finance figures warned over its impact.

Anthropic, which has so far limited the release of the new model to a small clutch of primarily US businesses, including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, said it would expand that to UK financial institutions.

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Liz Kendall urges UK public to embrace AI as government makes first £500m fund investment
Posted on Friday April 17, 2026

Technology secretary plays down fears over jobs and cyber security as stake taken in British startup

The UK technology secretary has urged the country to “make AI work for Britain”, brushing off fears about its impact on jobs and cybersecurity as the government announced its first investment under a £500m sovereign AI fund.

Liz Kendall said the UK had to “seize” the opportunity offered by AI despite concerns underlined this month when US startup Anthropic revealed it had developed an AI model that posed a potentially significant cyber threat.

Asked how the government makes the case for embracing a technology that could disrupt jobs and now cybersecurity, Kendall said: “We have to seize this to make it work, for Britain, for our jobs, for solving the biggest challenges we face as a world.”

Speaking on Thursday as the government unveiled its first investment in a UK company as part of a £500m sovereign AI fund, Kendall acknowledged “people are worried about the risks and what it means for their jobs”, but AI entrepreneurs also believed they can “make it work … they can create jobs”.

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Frank Lampard delight as nervy draw at Blackburn seals promotion for Coventry
Posted on Friday April 17, 2026

An emotional Frank Lampard basked in the historic achievement of leading Coventry City back to the Premier League after an absence of a quarter of a century. The Sky Blues have returned to the big time for the first time in a generation, after a turbulent period in which they changed stadiums, hit financial rock bottom and plummeted to the depths of League Two as recently as 2017-18.

Lampard was front and centre of celebrations after a 1-1 draw at Blackburn that put the seal on a famous promotion. It has been a long time coming. The former England midfielder lauded Bobby Thomas’s equalising goal as an “incredible moment” in the champagne-soaked celebrations on the Ewood Park turf. “Because of how the game had gone, you were worried,” said Lampard. “We knew we were very nearly there, but to get it over the line like this for this club after 25 years, wow.”

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‘I’ve got no plans to move’: Cole Palmer on being happy at Chelsea and his World Cup ambitions
Posted on Friday April 17, 2026

The Blues’ star talks candidly about treatment-room frustrations, transfer talk and how he’s learned to love living down south

There are two sides to Cole Palmer. There is the shy character who can fool you into thinking he has nothing much to say for himself. On the other hand there’s the artist with the ball at his feet. The player with the “Ice Cold” celebration copied by kids in playgrounds everywhere. The improviser who makes the price of a ticket worthwhile.

“I know what you’re saying,” Palmer replies as, on a sunny afternoon at Chelsea’s training ground, we talk about the contrast between his shy conversational style and his ability to make an impact on people when he steps on the pitch. “I don’t really say too much in general but when I’m on a pitch I try to. I feel like it’s two different personalities. Off the pitch it’s quiet. I find it hard to speak to new people. But when I’m on the pitch I feel it just comes freely.”

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