Oil and gas prices rise again after Iran attacks production facilities

Oil and gas prices rose again on Tuesday after Iran carried out attacks on production facilities for the first time since the start of the war with the US and Israel.Brent crude, the international benchmark oil price, climbed 2.3% to almost $103 (£77) a barrel and was up nearly 50% from levels before the war began on 28 February. Wholesale gas prices rose nearly 3% to €52 (£45) a megawatt hour, compared with about €30 before the war.For the first time, Iran successfully targeted oil and gas production facilities rather than just refineries, terminals and storage

Rachel Reeves reveals push for fiscal devolution to English regions, says Brexit caused damage, and admits student loan system is ‘broken’ – as it happened

Time to wrap up…Rachel Reeves has announced that the Treasury will draw up proposals to hand England’s mayors a share of national tax revenues as part of a radical plan to rebalance the economy.The chancellor promised “a genuine break with the past” that would shift spending power away from Westminster, as she promised to create investment-led growth, across the UK.Reeves was delivering the Mais lecture – the second time she has given the high-profile annual address at Bayes Business School in London.It is no coincidence that the UK is “the most politically centralised of advanced democracies, and one of the most geographically unequal”, Reeves said.Treasury officials will bring forward a plan at the autumn budget to allow regional leaders to receive a share of national taxes, starting with income tax, she added

UK must learn lessons from AI race and retain its quantum computing talent, says minister

The UK will not let quantum computing talent slip through its fingers and must learn lessons from US dominance of the AI race, the technology secretary has said, as the government announced a £1bn quantum funding pledge.Liz Kendall said the government hoped to retain homegrown quantum startups, engineers and researchers rather than lose them to competing countries, with the US stealing a march on its western rivals in AI.“I do look at what’s happened on AI,” said Kendall. “I do think we need to learn the lessons and make sure we give our brilliant scientists, spinouts and startups the ability to stay here and make it happen. And that requires a government that is bold and ambitious and confident in these technologies of the future

Child abuse material ‘systemic’ on Elon Musk’s X amid Grok scandal, Australian online safety regulator warned

The Australian online safety regulator warned Elon Musk’s X amid the Grok sexualised image generation scandal that it found child abuse material was “particularly systemic” on X and more accessible than on “any other mainstream service”, correspondence obtained by Guardian Australia reveals.The eSafety commissioner wrote to X in January after its chatbot, Grok, was used to generate sexualised images of women and children online, which the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, described as “abhorrent”.In the letter, obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws, eSafety’s general manager of regulatory operations, Heidi Snell, pointed to Musk’s promise when taking over the platform in 2022 that “removing child exploitation is priority #1”, but said “the availability of CSEM [child sexual exploitation material] continues to appear particularly systemic on X”.“eSafety has not identified CSEM to be as readily accessible on any other mainstream service,” Snell said.eSafety had found that while action by X to tackle bot accounts in October 2025 had reduced use of some previously commonly used hashtags and terms to advertise CSEM, eSafety found hashtags to advertise the material still prevalent

Sale warn England ‘superhuman’ Tom Curry needs time off to prolong career

Alex Sanderson has warned that Tom Curry’s physical playing style will shorten his career and has suggested England should give him the summer off with the World Cup next year in mind.The back-rower sustained a calf injury in the warmup for England’s Six Nations defeat by Italy in Rome. Sanderson, the Sale director of rugby, said on Tuesday that Curry has a grade-three calf tear and “he’ll be back this season” – but when remains unclear. “With Tom being superhuman the usual layoff times tend to be diminished because of his character and physique,” Sanderson said.The 27-year-old Curry had surgery on a persistent wrist injury after the British & Irish Lions tour last summer, sidelining him until November, and also has a chronic hip condition

Joy of chess keeps dark times in check | Brief letters

Flicking through the paper, I remarked that it was all bad news and upsetting items. Then I came across the centrefold photograph taken in Erzurum, Turkey and found myself close to tears. Young and old chess players together in a coffee house. What a great picture.Carol TaylorDarley Dale, Derbyshire Regarding unusual measurements (Letters, 15 March) my Scottish mother used to send me to the local Co-op to purchase a forpit of potatoes: a fourth part of a stone, ie three and a half pounds