Oil rises and global stocks wobble amid worries over ‘fragile’ ceasefire deal in Middle East – as it happened

Time to wrap up…The boss of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company has warned that the strait of Hormuz is “not open” despite the US-Iran ceasefire agreed earlier this week, as uncertainty over the truce pushed the price of US oil over $100 a barrel on Thursday.Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose by over 4% on Thursday to almost $99 a barrel, while New York light crude climbed by 5.8% to as high as $100.29 a barrel. On Wednesday, Brent had tumbled 13

Strait of Hormuz not open, Abu Dhabi’s oil chief says as crude prices rise

The boss of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company has said the strait of Hormuz is “not open” despite the US-Iran ceasefire agreed earlier this week, as uncertainty over the truce pushed the price of Brent crude towards $100 a barrel on Thursday.Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive officer of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), said passage through the crucial waterway was subject to “permission, conditions and political leverage” by Iran. He said energy security and global economic stability depended on the strait being opened “fully, unconditionally and without restriction”.Al Jaber wrote on LinkedIn: “The weaponisation of this vital waterway, in any form, cannot stand. This would set a dangerous precedent for the world – undermining the principle of freedom of navigation that underpins global trade and, ultimately, the stability of the global economy

OpenAI shelves landmark £31bn UK investment package

OpenAI has put on hold plans for a landmark project to strengthen the UK’s AI capabilities, citing high energy costs and regulation.Stargate UK was a part of the landmark UK-US AI deal announced last September, in which US companies appeared to commit £31bn to the UK’s tech sector, part of a larger series of investments intended to “mainline AI” into the British economy.A Guardian investigation last month revealed many of these were “phantom investments” and a supercomputer scheduled to go live in 2026 was this March still a scaffolding yard in Essex. That supercomputer was to be built by Nscale, a UK firm that had never built a datacentre before but said it was aiming to deliver the project in 2027. Nscale was also to build key datacentres for Stargate UK

British computer scientist denies he is bitcoin developer Satoshi Nakamoto

A British computer scientist has insisted he is not the elusive developer of bitcoin, after a report claimed to unmask him as its creator.A story in the New York Times details a years-long effort to unmask Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious author of the bitcoin white paper which laid the theoretical foundations for modern digital currencies.It names Adam Back, a London-born computer scientist and entrepreneur. In a thread on X, Back promptly denied being the mysterious – and presumably ultra-wealthy – technologist.“I also don’t know who satoshi is, and i think it is good for bitcoin that this is the case, as it helps bitcoin be viewed [as] a new asset class, the mathematically scarce digital commodity,” he wrote

The Masters 2026: McIlroy begins title defence, strong starts for Fleetwood and Reed – live

Another birdie for Kurt Kitayama, who snatches the lead for himself! He batters his drive downhill at the par-four 10th, then arrows his second back uphill from 187 yards to six feet! An outrageously good approach, and it gets the reward it deserves. Meanwhile … remember what we were saying about the conditions, and how they could help some of the shorter hitters? Well, here’s the shortest hitter on the PGA Tour last year, Brian Campbell, with birdies at 1 and 2. It’ll be within reach for one and all this week.-4: Kitayama (10) -3: Reed (7), Fleetwood (7) -2: Olazabal (13), Burns (9), Campbell (2)Bryson DeChambeau tugs his tee shot at 6 into the gallery down the left. It hits some poor patron slap bang in the special section of his trousers: the shot felt ‘round the world

England absences mount for Six Nations opener after pregnancies and injuries

England are in danger of losing a ninth World Cup winner for the Women’s Six Nations after the prop Hannah Botterman was ruled out of the team’s opener against Ireland with an ankle injury amid doubts over whether she will play any part in the tournament.The Red Roses head coach, John Mitchell, said they will have confirmation on Botterman’s return timeline next week; Kelsey Clifford has been selected to start on the loosehead at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium. England are already contending with injuries, two retirements, and four pregnancies; Rosie Galligan, whose partner is her England teammate Marlie Packer, the latest to announce she is expecting earlier this week.“Hannah had her ankle mended in the pre-season, at the moment mechanically it is not quite right,” Mitchell said after announcing the XV to play Ireland. “We are getting it checked