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The Academy CEO on his decidedly non-Hollywood beginnings, bonding with Robert Redford – and a formative watch of All That JazzIt's a boiling day in downtown Los Angeles; crowds are milling about outside the Dolby theatre where Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony is to be held, selfie-ing the giant Oscar statuettes. And this is where the man with whom the buck stops is looking at the set, going through the top-secret opening number and busy with a thousand admin details. Academy CEO, Bill Kramer, increasingly renowned as one of the most important people in Hollywood, meets me for a pre-ceremony chat in a suite in the next-door Hollywood Loews Hotel. “It's so nice that we're not on camera!” he says. “Yeah, so happy. Let myself relax!” He is approachable and diplomatic, revered for his fundraising wizardry at the Academy museum, where he was managing director of external development in 2012 before ascending to his current job at the Academy 10 years later. Kramer has a business degree and cam...

Remedy for partnership's post-Covid woes was the old-fashioned one of basic shopkeeping and cutting costsIt turns out, the remedy for the John Lewis partnership's post-Covid woes of a few years ago did not lie in seeking outside capital or building 10,000 buy-to-rent flats. Rather, the solution was the old-fashioned one of cutting costs and concentrating on basic shopkeeping.As it happens, the wild idea of seeking external investors was virtually dead the moment it was loosely aired, such was the uproar among customers and staff about the threat to the 100%-employee owned model. But the home-building adventure did get going until it was ditched by the newish chair Jason Tarry a couple of weeks ago. He accepted, in effect, a point that should have been obvious at the outset: if the building assumptions relied on interest rates remaining at near-zero for years, the project would not survive contact with events. Continue reading......

Competition and Markets Authority will closely monitor pump prices to stop profits being ramped up amid crisisThe UK competition watchdog has warned fuel retailers it is stepping up its monitoring of pump prices amid concern over profiteering as the US war with Iran drives up wholesale costs.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said firms responsible for thousands of filling stations across the country had been “put on notice” amid a wider government crackdown to stop bosses ramping up profits at the expense of consumers. Continue reading......

Vast release of emergency crude reserves fails to quell mounting fears about supply crunch, rattling marketsMiddle East crisis – live updatesOil markets are now facing the “largest supply disruption in history” as the war in Iran continues to block tankers from producing and shipping millions of barrels of crude each day, the world energy watchdog has warned.The International Energy Agency (IEA) said the supply shock ignited by Iran's effective blockade of the strait of Hormuz meant the world faced a deeper crisis than after the Yom Kippur war of 1973 and the 2022 outbreak of war in Ukraine. Continue reading......

Figures from thinktank show Russia received extra €672m in revenues from oil, gas and coal during March so farBusiness live – latest updatesMiddle East crisis – live updatesRussia has received €6bn (£5bn) from selling its fossil fuels in the fortnight since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, data suggests.The revenues imply Russia made an extra €672m in oil, gas and coal sales during March, as combined average daily prices have surged by 14% from February. Continue reading......

Tech company filed amicus brief in support of Anthropic's effort to overturn an aggressive Pentagon designationMicrosoft has thrown its weight behind Anthropic's legal challenge against the US Pentagon, filing a court brief in support of the AI company's effort to overturn an aggressive designation that effectively bars it from government work.In an amicus brief submitted to a federal court in San Francisco this week, Microsoft, which integrates Anthropic's AI tools into systems it provides to the US military, argued that a temporary restraining order was necessary to prevent serious disruption to suppliers whose products rely on the AI company's technology. Google, Amazon, Apple and OpenAI have also signed on to a brief in support of Anthropic. Continue reading......

Hacker group Handala claimed responsibility for attack that caused 'global disruption' to Stryker Corporation's systemsAn Iran-linked group said it hacked a US medical company, causing “global disruption” to its systems, in retaliation for the bombing of the Minab school in Iran, in an attack seen as widening the Middle East into the cyber realm.Handala, a hacker group, claimed responsibility for the attack on Wednesday on the Stryker Corporation, which makes medical devices and is based in Michigan. It affected thousands of employees using the company's Microsoft systems. Continue reading......

The Gillingham owner, Brad Galinson, issues warning and wants to find a fix as costs spiral amid 'the Wrexham effect'Brad Galinson has a warning for anyone looking to invest in English football's lower leagues. “Almost every single club in the EFL is about seven days away from suffering the same fate as Sheffield Wednesday,” the Gillingham owner says. “Everyone is chasing dreams.”Many have blamed the “Wrexham effect” for spiralling costs as investors from all over the world have flocked to buy clubs down the pyramid. Only two in League One have a playing budget of less than £3.5m this season compared with 13 two years ago, and several are thought to be operating on more than £10m. Continue reading......

Exclusive: Lab tests discover 'new form of insider risk' with artificial intelligence agents engaging in autonomous, even 'aggressive' behavioursRobert Booth UK technology editorRogue artificial intelligence agents have worked together to smuggle sensitive information out of supposedly secure systems, in the latest sign cyber-defences may be overwhelmed by unforeseen scheming by AIs.With companies increasingly asking AI agents to carry out complex tasks in internal systems, the behaviour has sparked concerns that supposedly helpful technology could pose a serious inside threat. Continue reading......

The most powerful nation in the world is now being led by a rogue president who rejects its longstanding valuesAs we reach the 13th day of the war in Iran – with death and destruction rippling throughout the Middle East – it's important to bear in mind where the real failure lies.So far, nearly 2,000 people have been killed, including 175 Iranian schoolchildren and seven US service members. At least 140 US service members have been wounded, several critically. The final tallies on both sides will almost certainly be far higher. Continue reading......

Mathias Döpfner beat the Mail to seize a British institution. But whether he will be a sobering or malign influence is not yet clearAfter fighting off one foreign takeover, staff at the paper that broke the news of the second world war might have been expected to react badly when meeting their potential new German owners on Monday. Instead, journalists at the Telegraph felt “optimistic”, “enthusiastic” and even “cautiously pleased” – one called a takeover by media conglomerate Axel Springer the “best possible outcome”.The reason for this Panglossian response is partly hope that Axel Springer and its boss, Mathias Döpfner, might genuinely be keen on journalism, and partly exhaustion at the end of a wildly convoluted three-year takeover battle. The fight says a lot about the state of the print news business – upended by technological and economic headwinds yet still seen as an attractive bauble for rich power players and important as a home for journalism. For how much longer this pers...

Lloyd's, Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers say information including national insurance numbers and recent purchases was on view Some customers of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland were able to see the bank accounts of other customers when they logged into their app on Thursday morning.Customers reported difficulties logging into their bank accounts and in some cases were able to view account details and transactions that did not belong to them. Continue reading......

Florida investors featured in Guardian investigation claimed they lost most of their life savings after a financial adviser put their money into 'alternative' assetsIn a victory for everyday investors, arbitrators have awarded $3.8m to 13 Florida seniors who claimed a financial adviser squandered their retirement money by plowing it into risky investments.The award comes after the Guardian highlighted these investors' losses as part of an investigation into dangers that so-called “mom and pop” investors face at a time when the Trump administration has thrown its support behind Wall Street's efforts to sell them more higher-risk “alternative investments”. Continue reading......

In week two of Rhik Samadder's diary, our resident AI skeptic put his reputation on the lineEvery writer I know is in despair at the prospect being replaced by AI. Many of them say they never use it on principle; I know all of them do.So this week, as part of my AI diary, I'm conducting the forbidden experiment in plain sight. I'm going toe to toe with ChatGPT as a creative writer. Can it truly match me, and might it replace me? Let's settle this. Continue reading......

Fortunes of the country's 22 billionaires doubled in last five years, reaching unprecedented collective wealth of $219bnScrunched between luxury apartment buildings and a lush gated community, the neighborhood of Santa Lucía Reacomodo in Mexico City is a working-class pocket of real estate. Electrical wires tangle above cinder-block houses, stray cats slink down narrow streets, debris piles up on the pavement.María del Socorro Corona, 79, arrived here decades ago, back when it was just a cactus-covered hillside. The two-bedroom turquoise house she built with her now-deceased husband is crammed with bags of clothes and knick-knacks she sells at a weekly market. Continue reading......

Campaigners say people unlikely to 'look favourably' on package for Wael Sawan, which rose to £13.8m in 2025The chief executive of Shell saw his pay jump more than 60% to almost £14m in 2025 despite a slump in profits at the oil company and prospects of rising pump prices related to war in the Middle East.The package for Wael Sawan, who took the top job in 2023 and has refocused the company on fossil fuels, rose from £8.6m in 2024 to £13.8m in 2025. Continue reading......

Proposed package comes after regulator finds 'serious and unacceptable breaches' in how company operatesWelsh Water is to pay a proposed £44.7m after the industry regulator found “serious and unacceptable” breaches in the supplier's sewage and network services.Ofwat said Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water failed to properly operate, maintain and upgrade its wastewater network to ensure it could cope with levels of sewage and wastewater, and did not have adequate processes in place or oversight by senior bosses. Continue reading......

Cosmetics firm takes legal action against London-born perfumer who sold brand and rights to her name in 1999Estée Lauder is taking legal action against the British perfumer Jo Malone after she used her name on a fragrance for the fashion chain Zara.Malone sold her perfume brand to Estée Lauder Companies in 1999 in a deal under which she was blocked from using her name for particular commercial reasons including the marketing of fragrance. Continue reading......

Ofgem licence means firm can replicate Texas setup of powering homes, businesses and EVsElon Musk's Tesla has won approval to supply electricity to households and businesses across Great Britain, as the tech billionaire expands his energy ambitions.The energy regulator, Ofgem, has formally granted Tesla an electricity supply licence, enabling it to provide electricity to domestic and business premises in England, Scotland and Wales. Continue reading......

Payment of 2% at employee-owned partnership follows sales increase to £13.4bnThe owner of John Lewis and Waitrose has paid an annual bonus to workers for the first time in four years after underlying profits rose by 6%.The retail group's employees – which it calls partners – will receive a 2% bonus after it recorded an increase in sales and profits. Continue reading......