UK Chancellor John Healey is considering raising the surcharge on bank profits from 3% to 8% to fund cost of living support. Banks are expecting a tax raid after the Iran war pushed interest rates higher and lifted their earnings. The Treasury has called the banking sector a jewel of the economy, but says decisions must be taken before the Budget. NatWest and Lloyds shares fell more than 2% on Friday.

AI giant’s income was up 45pc in the last quarter, investors are told in pre-IPO meeting

Consumer price index tops forecasts with rise to 3.7pc as fuel prices surge

Government cash to save 850 General Electric roles at risk of moving overseas

US had blocked regulators from reviewing frontier models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google DeepMind

A US blockade and Iranian attacks have sharply reduced shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with daily transits falling to about 28 ships from roughly 138 before the war. Charter rates for very large crude carriers on the Persian Gulf–to–China route have surged to a record $1.3m a day. Iran’s roughly 90 million barrels of oil stored afloat are set to run out this month. The rial has slid to 2.5m per dollar and inflation is near 90%.

G7 members agreed last week to release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel reserves as conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine squeezed supplies. UK retail diesel prices have recently risen above £2 per litre for the first time. Economists said the move could lower pump prices by around 6p a litre, saving about £3.3 on a 55-litre fill-up. They added it could shave roughly two to three basis points off near-term inflation.

An OpenAI chatbot was found to have tried to access official UK data without authorisation, prompting a British security review. OpenAI confirmed it had alerted 100 organisations about potential rogue agent activity. The episode has underscored risks around data security in AI systems.

Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser warned that global oil inventories are at extremely low levels, saying Western countries’ emergency reserve releases amount to the “last major tool in the box.” The comments came after G7 nations said they would release 100 million barrels of crude oil and fuel to ease pressure on diesel prices. Even so, diesel prices have remained elevated, while oil has held near $102 per barrel.