Iran war drives oil prices above $100 a barrel for first time since 2022

Global oil prices surged past $100 (£74, AU$142) a barrel for the first time since 2022 as fallout from the US-Israel war with Iran continues to wipe 20m barrels of oil from the market each day.A weekend of escalating violence in the Middle East intensified concerns around a sustained supply crunch, propelling oil prices to their highest level in four years and triggering a deep stock market sell-off.At least five energy sites in and around Tehran were hit by strikes, prompting accounts of “apocalyptic” scenes in the Iranian capital. Kuwait’s national oil company also announced a precautionary production cut amid retaliatory attacks by Iran.The strait of Hormuz – one of the world’s most important trade arteries, through which about a fifth of global oil and seaborne gas tankers typically pass – has been in effect closed for a week

Britain’s job market ‘floundering’ as companies remain cautious about hiring

Britain’s jobs market is “floundering” amid weak hiring demand, with only limited signs of recovery, data has revealed.Companies remain cautious about hiring staff amid cost pressures and economic uncertainty, according to two reports released on Monday. They show the labour market continues to be in a fragile position.A monthly employment index from BDO, an accountancy and consultancy firm, is running at its weakest level in nearly 15 years. It has had its worst reading since March 2011, when the jobs market was still recovering from the financial crash

AI allows hackers to identify anonymous social media accounts, study finds

AI has made it vastly easier for malicious hackers to identify anonymous social media accounts, a new study has warned.In most test scenarios, large language models (LLMs) – the technology behind platforms such as ChatGPT – successfully matched anonymous online users with their actual identities on other platforms, based on the information they posted.The AI researchers Simon Lermen and Daniel Paleka said LLMs make it cost effective to perform sophisticated privacy attacks, forcing a “fundamental reassessment of what can be considered private online”.In their experiment, the researchers fed anonymous accounts into an AI, and got it to scrape all the information it could. They gave a hypothetical example of a user talking about struggling at school, and walking their dog Biscuit through a “Dolores park”

ChatGPT driving rise in reports of ‘satanic’ organised ritual abuse, UK experts say

ChatGPT is driving a rise in reports of organised ritual abuse, UK experts have said, as survivors of “satanic” sexual violence use the AI tool for therapy.Police say organised ritual abuse and “witchcraft, spirit possession and spiritual abuse” (WSPRA) against children is under-reported in the UK. There is no modern-day charge that covers it specifically, but such offending is typified by sexual abuse, violence and neglect involving ritualistic elements – sometimes inspired by satanism, fascism or esoteric religious beliefs – to control victims.Perpetrators include abusive families and networks, human traffickers, online gangs and paedophile rings.There have been 14 UK criminal cases since 1982 in which ritualistic practices in sexual abuse were acknowledged

Lewis Hamilton confident Ferrari ‘in the fight’ with Mercedes for 2026 F1 championship

Lewis Hamilton has declared he is fired-up and optimistic in his belief that Ferrari will be in the world championship fight with Mercedes after the new Formula One season opened in Australia on Sunday.The race in Melbourne was won by Mercedes’ George Russell, with his teammate Kimi Antonelli in second but Ferrari claimed third and fourth for Charles Leclerc and Hamilton. Both drivers executed superb starts to make up places to first and third respectively and for the opening 12 laps were very much in the fight with Russell at the front of the field.Ultimately they were not in the mix for the win after Mercedes took advantage of a virtual safety car to take a cheap pitstop while Ferrari chose not to do so. Nonetheless the Ferrari did show impressive pace and a reinvigorated Hamilton maintained he felt the they could yet catch the leaders

Collingwood’s cool heads rise to big AFL occasion and make point to naysayers | Jonathan Horn

St Kilda spent the summer talking up Sunday night’s opening round game, and Collingwood spent the summer being talked down. It was St Kilda’s occasion, but it was Collingwood’s game. The Saints had the hope, the hyper-inflated recruits, the best paid player in the sport and the largest home-and-away crowd they’d ever played in front of. But Collingwood had cool heads, manic pressure, a wily old fox in his 426th game and two brothers who had 77 touches between them.The Pies didn’t have the greatest of summers