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First he came for Berlin's film festival. Now it's books. Wolfram Weimer seems to be on a mission to curb progressive thinkingThere is a particular kind of danger that smells like paper and dust. You find it in independent bookshops. Those with uneven wooden floors and handwritten staff recommendations, where someone has shelved Audre Lorde next to Karl Marx and a debut novelist from Neukölln. Places where no algorithm is trying to guess who you are before you have the chance to change your mind.I walk in for a novel and walk out with a theory of the state, a pamphlet on housing struggles, a Palestinian poet I had never heard of. No “for you” page in an online store would have suggested it. The bookseller did. Independent bookshops are dangerous because they interrupt us. They do not optimise our curiosity. They derail it. Is that the reason why Germany's culture commissioner, Wolfram Weimer, is now consulting the domestic intelligence agency before approving funds to bookshops?Fatma Aydemir is a ...

Exclusive: Report suggests only 1% of annual spend on food and drink adverts will be affected after industry lobbyingThe junk food ad ban intended to curb childhood obesity will only affect 1% of the £2.4bn spent annually on advertising food and drink, and may prove a “paper tiger”, ministers have been told.The government has hailed the ban on advertising foods high in fat, salt and sugar, which came into force on 5 January, as a decisive and world-leading move that will remove 7.2bn calories from UK children's diets every year. Continue reading......

From energy to food, all of life's essentials are about to get even more expensive. But just knowing that won't pay the billsAs soon as the attacks on Iran started, the warnings commenced: “Get ready for price shocks. Get ready for the oil price to spike. Oh, no need to get ready – it's already hit $100 a barrel. Get ready for Russia to claw some circuitous but massive advantage from the fact that everything is on fire, get ready for energy bills to go up.” By about day five, experts were explaining how to lock in your current tariff except, whoops, given the global instability, those tariffs were no longer available. If it felt mercenary to worry about your unit price as people were dying, that's because it was; but considerations of human decency and proportionality aren't going to arrest the trajectory of life getting more expensive.Get ready for everything to feed into everything else: rising petrol prices to lead to food inflation, food inflation to lead to stuff inflation. Get ready for w...

The FCA should bring in new rules to protect investment trusts from overaggressive activist investors trying to take controlA year ago, the sometimes sleepy world of UK investment trusts – companies that invest in other companies – had a moment of genuine drama. A loud New York raider, Boaz Weinstein of hedge fund Saba Capital, bought significant stakes in seven trusts and lobbed insults at their boards, generally about poor investment performance or a failure to close the gap between the value of the assets and the share price.For all the fireworks, the campaign was a flop. Saba filed a variety of shake-'em-up motions at what it called the “Miserable Seven” and lost the lot. A 7-0 defeat, you'd think, would prompt Weinstein to slink away in embarrassment but, as quickly became clear, that's not his style. Continue reading......

Reform leader's Derbyshire petrol station stunt grinds to halt when questions on Iran leave him short-temperedLet's try to look on the bright side. At least Nigel Farage wasn't personally out of pocket. There again, he seldom is. The whole point of being Nige is to never pay for anything if you can help it. Unless you fancy buying a few shares in Kwasi Kwarteng's 'Get Rich Quick' crypto scheme. Ordinary punters would be well advised to think twice before doing the same.But Nige can't escape the humiliation. The dawning realisation that he's not quite as important as he thought he was. That the novelty has worn off and people are not so quick to be taken in. On Thursday, Farage had boasted to anyone who would listen that he was off to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend to have some me time with Donald Trump. To do his patriotic duty of keeping the US president up to speed on the British response to the war in Iran. And how he would have done so much better. Continue reading......

Government economic watchdog believes pressure on energy prices could push rate close to 3% by end of 2026UK inflation could end the year higher than previously expected at 3% because of the US-Israel war in Iran, the government's economics watchdog has warned.David Miles, a senior figure at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), said inflation could end the year close to 3% – a percentage point higher than expected before the war – because of the energy price shock triggered by the crisis in the Middle East. The UK's official inflation target is 2%. Continue reading......

Prospect of Trump easing US sanctions on Russian oil is a nightmare for the bloc as nations work out how to respond Middle East crisis – live updatesThe Iran war has thrown global oil and gas flows into chaos and the prospect of Donald Trump easing US sanctions on Russian oil to fill the gap is causing a nightmare for the EU.The European Council president, António Costa, who represents the EU's leaders, said on Tuesday the only winner from the ongoing conflict would be Vladimir Putin, who could step into the gap created by the throttling of Gulf supplies. Continue reading......

Ministers understood to be considering ways to mitigate rising energy bills as oil prices surpass $100 a barrelMiddle East crisis – live updatesUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has said that a long-term US-Iran war would affect the “lives and households of everybody”, as the head of the AA advised motorists against making “non-essential” journeys.On Monday, oil prices surged past $100 (£75) a barrel for the first time since 2022, which will feed through to higher costs at petrol stations, and consumers will also be hit if energy costs push up inflation. Continue reading......

Got a keyboard, something heavy and a desire to put your feet up during office hours? This could be the scam for you. But beware – employers are fighting backName: Keyboard jamming.Age: Being workshy isn't new. Diogenes the Cynic was famous not only for living in a barrel, but also for his rejection of ambition and employment. Continue reading......

Union opposed to London Underground pushing ahead with four-day week despite members' oppositionTube drivers in London are to strike across 12 days in the spring in a row over a four-day working week, the RMT has announced.The union said that London Underground bosses were pushing ahead with plans to condense the number of working days in the week, despite their members rejecting the proposals. Continue reading......

Saudi Arabian state oil firm calls crisis by far the biggest the region has seen but firm can reroute 70% of exports and tap crude held in storageBusiness live – latest updatesHow the Iran conflict could affect energy prices – video explainerSaudi Arabia's state oil company has warned of “catastrophic consequences” for the world's oil markets if the US-Israeli war with Iran continues to block shipping in the strait of Hormuz.The world's biggest oil company expects to be able to export about 70% of its usual crude output despite the stranglehold on the vital trade artery, but its chief executive warned that there would still be “drastic” consequences for the world economy if the disruption continues. Continue reading......

Oil markets have had some of the steepest price rises ever recorded as conflict in the Middle East escalated over the last week. Although the world is slowly becoming greener, fossil fuels are still the lifeblood of every economy so when oil and gas prices rise, the effect ripples through almost every aspect of our financial lives. Jillian Ambrose, energy correspondent for the Guardian, explains how the conflict may affect global costs.Oil prices 'could breach $100 a barrel within days' amid supply disruption from Iran war Continue reading......

Hong Kong-based airline has business-class return listed at A$39,577, as travellers seek routes avoiding Middle EastThe Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific is selling seats from Sydney to London for more than £20,000 in April, as passengers search for scarce long-haul flights without changing in the Middle East.The tickets, listed at A$39,577 in business class for returns departing in mid-April, far outstrip the usual fares charged even in the first class cabin. Continue reading......

Car group reports 54% drop in pre-tax profits as it says Iran war could affect demand for Audi and Porsche brandsBusiness live – latest updatesEurope's largest automaker, Volkswagen, is to shed 50,000 jobs by the end of the decade, as it faces falling sales in China and North America and punitive US tariffs imposed by Donald Trump.The 10-brand group, whose luxury subsidiaries Porsche and Audi are also under pressure, said the jobs would go in Germany, affecting the entire group, as part of a restructuring drive in light of the darkening global business climate. Continue reading......

UK's GSK is leading the way in research but AstraZeneca is not involved in the area, report findsBusiness live – latest updatesThe pipeline of drugs to fight superbugs remains “worryingly thin” and has shrunk by 35% in the last five years, experts have warned, predicting the annual number of deaths linked to drug-resistant infections globally will double to 8 million by 2050.The number of projects from large pharma companies has shrunk by 35% over the past five years, from 92 to 60 medicines in development, according to a report from the Access to Medicine Foundation (AMF), a Netherlands-based non-profit group, and the Wellcome Trust. Continue reading......

Growing fears that elevated interest rates will continue, as Barclays finds worries that war will push up inflationBusiness live – latest updatesA leading British housebuilder has warned the Iran conflict could knock homebuyer sentiment, amid growing fears of a jump in inflation and a prolonged period of elevated interest rates.Persimmon said it was “monitoring the impact the conflict with Iran could have on our markets in 2026”, but noted that consumer sentiment could be sensitive amid more financial uncertainty. Continue reading......

Remember the iPod? How about the Pippin? In the half-century since it launched its first PC, Apple has given us some amazing innovations. We round up its biggest triumphs and flopsFifty years after Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded the company in Jobs' parents' garage in Los Altos, California, Apple has become a behemoth, and billions of us use its products every day. From the first successful home computers with colour screens, to the iPod, to the smartphone that set the template for the modern mobile era, the company has repeatedly reset consumer expectations.As a result, the firm occupies a central position in the tech world, initiating trends and popularising products. Here are five of its most influential products from the past half-century – alongside some unusually big misses. Continue reading......

Rachel Reeves said to be considering levy cuts for oil and gas firms, but economists say this would just fatten profitsEasing the windfall tax on the North Sea would do nothing for hard-pressed consumers, and merely fatten the profits of oil and gas companies, economists and experts have told the Guardian.Rachel Reeves, the UK chancellor, is understood to be considering reductions to the energy profits levy, or potentially scrapping it and replacing it with a lower duty. Oil prices rose to $100 a barrel on Monday, as the US-Israel offensive on Iran showed little sign of halting. Continue reading......

Regulator fined the multimillionaire £1.8m and banned him from the financial services industry last yearCrispin Odey, the multimillionaire financier fighting various lawsuits relating to allegations of sexual misconduct, is to launch a case against the financial services regulator over his exile from the City.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Odey £1.8m and banned him from the financial services industry last year. Continue reading......

Anglian, Southern, Wessex and South East allowed to raise charges more than originally allowed by watchdogBusiness live – latest updatesMillions of households in England will pay even higher water bills than previously expected, after the competition regulator gave its final verdict on industry spending plans for the coming years.Five water companies had appealed to the Competition and Markets Authority to let them raise bills higher than was initially allowed by Ofwat, the industry watchdog. On Tuesday, the CMA said it would let them raise annual bills by an extra 2.2% on average. Continue reading......