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UK official receiver understood to prefer Blastr as buyer for SSUK's electric arc furnace in Rotherham and site in StocksbridgeBusiness live – latest updatesUK officials have entered exclusive talks with a Norwegian startup to buy the former Liberty Steel works in South Yorkshire, in a significant step towards its rescue.Norwegian-owned Blastr is understood to be the bidder preferred by the government's official receiver to take on ownership of the UK's largest existing electric arc furnace in Rotherham and other works in Stocksbridge, both in South Yorkshire. Continue reading......

Migrant labor fuels much of Vermont's dairy industry, but workers are exempt from minimum wage rules, overtime protections and the right to unionizeHilario's work shift on a Vermont dairy farm began at 10.30pm when he lifted a red fleece blanket and rose from a makeshift bed next to the kitchen sink.The 65-year-old pushed aside a lace curtain that covered his apartment door, dividing his room from the dairy's sour-smelling milking parlor. In the barn, a horseshoe-shaped milking platform hummed awake. Super-producer black-and-white Holstein cows, twice Hilario's size, peered out from vinyl curtains. Continue reading......

Exclusive: Climate action blockers including Saudi Arabia, Russia and major fossil fuel firms set to make extra $234bn by end of 2026Middle East crisis – live updatesBusiness live – latest updatesThe world's top 100 oil and gas companies banked more than $30m every hour in unearned profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran, according to exclusive analysis for the Guardian. Saudi Aramco, Gazprom and ExxonMobil are among the biggest beneficiaries of the bonanza, meaning key opponents of climate action continue to prosper.The conflict pushed the price of oil to an average of $100 (£74) a barrel in March, leading to estimated windfall war profits for the month of $23bn for the companies. Oil and gas supplies will take months to return to pre-war levels and the companies will make $234bn by the end of the year if the oil price continues to average $100. The analysis uses data from leading intelligence provider Rystad Energy, analysed by Global Witness. Continue reading......

Barratt Redrow blames effects of Iran war, and likely impact on mortgage rates and costs, for further reductionBusiness live – latest updatesBritain's largest housebuilder is planning to dramatically cut back on buying new land, blaming the impact of the conflict in the Middle East and putting Labour's ambitious housebuilding target under more pressure.Barratt Redrow said that it intends to approve between 7,000 and 9,000 plots of land for purchase in its current financial year, far lower than previous guidance of between 10,000 and 12,000. Continue reading......

Former US Fed chair says lowering rates to reduce debt service cost can lead to inflation getting out of controlBusiness live – latest updatesThe former US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen has attacked Donald Trump's push for lower interest rates, comparing it to the actions of a “banana republic”.The US president has repeatedly urged the central bank to slash interest rates, in the hope of cutting the government's borrowing costs on its $39tn (£29tn) debt. Continue reading......

There is no justification for a regressive system in which the super-rich contribute less than the rest of usToday, we have more income and wealth inequality than ever before. New York City's average household income is $131,000. Without extreme inequality, residents could live reasonably well. Instead, a few people at the top of the income ladder capture enormous wealth, while millions of others struggle just to get by. Some simply can't make it. For them, New York has become fundamentally unaffordable.This outsized level of inequality has enormous economic, political and social consequences. It undermines social and political cohesion, erodes trust in institutions and leads people to conclude, correctly, that the system is rigged. Continue reading......

The Nigerian megacity's dynamic growth is outstripping its rental supply, and wages are not keeping up with rising costsEvery weekday before dawn, Oluwatobi Ogundipe leaves his small flat in Sango Ota, an industrial town in Ogun state, for a four hour commute to the glass towers of Lagos Island.Despite working in one of Nigeria's growing technology sectors, the 32-year-old product manager cannot afford to live any closer to his office. Continue reading......

To rebuild relations with Europe in a dangerous world, the prime minister needs to win big arguments, not hide behind outdated red linesIn opposition, Keir Starmer pushed Brexit to the margin of debate. In government, he has learned that Europe is central to Britain's interests whether you talk about it or not. The avoidance of painful arguments from the past turns out to be a handicap when making plans for the future.This was predictable. Labour's 2024 general election manifesto pretended that Brexit was a historical event. It was something Boris Johnson got “done” in 2020, in fulfilment of his winning campaign pledge from the previous year. The terms could be tweaked, but Starmer promised to preserve the substance. That was an indulgence of public fatigue with the whole issue, made electorally expedient by fear of offending former Labour supporters who had voted leave in the referendum.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnistGuardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink?On Thursday 30 April, j...

Deal will create pensions and savings group with 16m customers and £480bn of assets, while Aegon focuses on USThe Dutch financial services group Aegon has struck a £2bn deal to sell off its almost 200-year-old UK arm to Standard Life, as part of a US push in which the group will be rebranded as Transamerica.Standard Life, previously known as Phoenix Group, said the deal to buy Aegon UK will create a pensions and savings group with 16 million customers and £480bn of assets under administration. Continue reading......

Wednesday are under a transfer fee embargo until 2027Arise hope takeover will be approved by end of seasonSheffield Wednesday's prospective new owners, Arise Capital Partners, are in talks with the EFL over a partial lifting of the club's transfer ban this summer.Wednesday are currently under a transfer fee embargo, which prohibits them paying any money for new players until January 2027, as a punishment for the multiple late payment of wages by former owner Dejphon Chansiri. Continue reading......

Promotion of 'bitcoin treasury' firm with Kwasi Kwarteng draws new attention to Reform leader's relations with industryA thumping electronic beat provides the soundtrack to the video as Nigel Farage appears in front of a bank of screens.At first glance, it could be yet another of the Reform UK leader's “second jobs” – whether promoting gold as a pension fallback or recording Cameo videos. And in a sense, it is: Farage is promoting a £2m cryptocurrency purchase by a company in which he has £215,000 invested, Stack BTC. Continue reading......

Members to hold meeting on 7 May to approve dealClub in more saleable position after £10.3m loss last yearExeter Chiefs have finalised a deal with a wealthy American backer to take control of the club, subject to the approval of their membership. An extraordinary general meeting is to be held on 7 May at which members will be urged to support the move to sell the 155-year-old Devon club and unlock significant fresh funding.Insiders are describing the impending multimillion pound investment as “meaningful” at a pivotal stage in the development of English professional club rugby. The existing 10-team Prem is to become a franchise “expansion” league from 2029-30 and the race for new funding is accelerating. Continue reading......

UK motoring group fined £4.2m for not showing full price of lessons at time of bookingThe AA has been fined £4.2m and ordered to make payments to more than 80,000 learner drivers for not showing the full price of lessons at the time of booking, an illegal practice known as “drip pricing”.The UK competition watchdog, which launched an investigation into the practices employed by the AA Driving School and BSM Driving School last year, said that the AA-owned businesses must repay more than £760,000 as a result. Continue reading......

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsMiddle East crisis live: US claims blockade has 'completely halted economic trade' into Iran, as Trump hints at return to talks in PakistanScott Bessent has also claimed the US economy could have a strong year, despite the hit from the Middle East conflict.Bessent said the underlying US economy remains strong and that growth could still exceed 3% or 3.5% this year despite the impact of the US-Israel war on Iran. Continue reading......

Plans for such a transport system have been discussed for many years and not all locals believe that service will comeIt is 1993 and a young James Lewis is going to do work experience in Leeds city council's highways department. His team, Leeds United FC, have only just relinquished the title of defending English champions. And the council is marching on with big ideas: putting the abandoned 1980s Metroline tram plan behind them, and forgetting the unloved 1991 concept of a Leeds Advanced Transit skytrain. The Supertram is the coming thing.“I remember these drawers and drawers, full of big paper plans,” says Lewis, 33 years on. Lewis is now leader of the city council, and it is all done online. Much of the city centre has been transformed, rebuilt and pedestrianised. Leeds United have never threatened to be champions again. But as Lewis stands outside Elland Road stadium, explaining how to cross the adjacent motorway, one thing has not changed. What Leeds really wants is to build a tram. Continue rea...

Air pollution caused by wildfires is another blow to northern Thailand's tourism industry as businesses suffer amid war in IranThe Doi Suthep temple in northern Thailand is known for its spectacular views of Chiang Mai and the lush forested mountains that surround it. Over recent weeks, though, visitors can see little of the city beyond a thick cloud of grey haze.Persistent wildfires have caused intense air pollution across the north of Thailand, forcing three provinces to declare emergencies and triggering spikes in pollution-related illnesses. Continue reading......

Studio and television business, ESPN, certain corporate functions and more to see workforce reduced, source saysWalt Disney's new chief executive, Josh D'Amaro, announced layoffs in an email to employees on Tuesday, as he looks to streamline the company's operations.About 1,000 positions will be eliminated, according to a person familiar with the development. Continue reading......

Report by Common Wealth argues rest of the world should pay for country's transition as reparative climate financeCuba could beat the US's crippling energy blockade for ever with just an $8bn investment in renewable energy. And the rest of the world should pay for it.Those are the bold claims of a thinktank analysis of the embattled socialist republic's energy policy, which claims that Cuba could show its Caribbean neighbours the way to a green energy future. Continue reading......

ASA rules ads on Instagram and Daily Mail website broke ban on promoting items high in fat, salt and sugarLidl and Iceland have become the first companies to have ads banned after the introduction of rules cracking down on the marketing of junk food in the UK.The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been policing the ban on ads featuring junk food on TV before 9pm, and in paid online advertising at any time of the day, since 5 January. Continue reading......

Analysis by IFS shows George Osborne's mortgage schemes launched in 2013 had little effect on social mobilityHigher-income households were the biggest beneficiaries of George Osborne's Help to Buy mortgage schemes, introduced in the 2010s, according to an analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) thinktank.Launched by the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government in 2013, Help to Buy involved two separate schemes aimed at making home ownership more achievable in a period of rapid house price growth. Continue reading......