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Resignation announced of Jai Patel, whose liquidated crypto firm was relaunched as Stack BTC this yearThe chief executive of a bitcoin company promoted by Nigel Farage has left his role as the venture attempts to convince investors that it is going to deliver “long-term value” for shareholders.Stack BTC was launched to much fanfare in March this year, with Farage and former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng becoming some of its first shareholders. The company says its founder is Paul Withers, a friend of the Reform UK leader who owns a gold bullion company that Farage has also promoted, Direct Bullion. Continue reading......

Energy crisis unfolding in Middle East has added political urgency, and more funding, to transform South Korea's solar industryIn Guyang-ri, a farming village of 70 households about 90 minutes south-east of Seoul, people gather for communal free lunches six days a week. The meals are funded by the village's one-megawatt solar installation, which generates roughly 10m won ($6,800) in net profit each month.“Residents eat lunch together every day, so we see each other's faces, talk together,” says Jeon Joo-young, the village chief. “Bonds and solidarity between residents become much stronger. Life becomes more enjoyable.” Continue reading......

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsRachel Reeves has announced an expansion of support for the most energy-intensive UK businesses, as they face soaring bills as a result of the Middle East conflict.The chancellor said the long-promised British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) would be expanded to cover 10,000 companies, up from the 7,000 originally announced.With the economy stagnating to start the year, we expect a rebound in February. We don't discount an upward revision to January GDP either. Our nowcast models point to both a potential upward revision to January and some further upward momentum in February.What do we see for February GDP? We see GDP expanding by 0.2% m-o-m, lifted by broad-based momentum across the services, production and construction sectors. Continue reading......

Rebrand as NewBird AI sent shares up 582% in bizarre and rapid turnaround for firm that had fallen on hard timesAllbirds, the maker of minimalist wool sneakers beloved by Silicon Valley, announced on Wednesday that it is leaving shoes behind and pivoting to artificial intelligence. The new focus and rebrand as “NewBird AI” sent the company's stock up 582% as of mid-day during a flurry of trading.The surging stock price and new direction is a bizarre, rapid turnaround for a company that had fallen into disrepair in recent years. Once valued at $4bn, Allbirds' shares had lost 99% of their worth since 2021 and earlier this month the company announced plans for a $39m sale to brand management firm American Exchange Company. Continue reading......

More landlords having to cut prices to secure tenants, Rightmove data showsAverage private rents have stopped rising in Great Britain after almost a decade of increases, as more landlords cut their prices to secure a tenant, data shows.The typical advertised private rent outside London for properties coming on to the market remained flat at £1,370 a calendar month in the first three months of 2026, according to the property website Rightmove. Continue reading......

Verdict in states' case says concert giant stifled competition in ticketing industry, raising pressure for changesConcert giant Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had a harmful monopoly over big concert venues, a Manhattan federal jury has found, dealing the company a loss in a lawsuit over claims brought by dozens of US states.The jury deliberated for four days before reaching its decision on Wednesday in the closely watched case, which helped peel back the curtain on a business that dominates live entertainment across much of the world. Continue reading......

Company has received about £8.7bn in renewable energy subsidies since 2012, despite claims wood pellets are not sourced sustainablyThe owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire received record subsidies of almost £1bn for burning trees to generate electricity in 2025, a climate thinktank has calculated.The company was paid £999m last year for generating about 4.5% of Great Britain's electricity from its biomass plant, costing each household £13 a year, according to analysts at Ember. Continue reading......

Scheme cutting bills by up to 25% expanded to cover 10,000 firms, but they will not be paid until next yearRachel Reeves has announced an expansion of support for the most energy-intensive UK businesses, as they face soaring bills as a result of the Middle East conflict.The chancellor said the long-promised British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) would be expanded to cover 10,000 companies, up from the 7,000 originally announced. Continue reading......

Keir Starmer can't be blamed for the crisis in the Middle East, but he has to reassure people that he is prepared for its long-term consequencesPublic reassurance is one of the first duties of the government in difficult times. The early months of the Covid pandemic offer a case study in how to get this wrong. Boris Johnson was paralysed by indecision and denial of the severity of what was unfolding. Panic-buying cleared supermarket shelves of essential goods.Sir Keir Starmer is unlike Mr Johnson in temperament and work ethic, but he too is struggling to get ahead of events in a global crisis. It isn't easy when the origin of turbulence is a superpower gone rogue. Donald Trump's impulsive actions can't be anticipated with epidemiological precision like a virus. Continue reading......

UK chancellor tells US audience she is 'not convinced that this conflict has made the world a safer place'Middle East crisis – live updatesBusiness live – latest updatesRachel Reeves has stepped up her criticism of Donald Trump's war on Iran, describing it as a “mistake” that has destabilised the global economy and damaged living standards around the world.In a marked fraying of the transatlantic relationship, the UK chancellor said Trump breaking off from diplomatic talks with Iran and launching airstrikes had not made the world a safer place. Continue reading......

As the country's biggest housebuilder cuts land buying and the Iran war pushes up costs, setting an ambitious figure appears even more foolishThis is what the government didn't want to hear when its target to build 1.5m new homes in England during this parliament already looked out of reach. The country's biggest housebuilder is trimming its purchases of new land because the Iran war has created “a less certain backdrop”.Barratt Redrow's “disciplined approach” isn't a downing of tools, it should be said. The company had previously expected to buy between 10,000 and 12,000 plots; now it will acquire between 7,000 and 9,000. In money terms, it equates to about £100m less from a £800m-£900m budget. It is a scaling-back, as opposed to the outright halt to buying new land that London-focused Berkeley Group announced a couple of weeks ago. Continue reading......

Cuts by Snapchat's parent company come in response to a declining stock price and pressure from an activist investorSnapchat's parent company plans to lay off 16% of its employees, around 1,000 people, citing “rapid advancements in artificial intelligence”, the social media company told staff on Wednesday in an internal memo. The staff reduction is part of a wave of tech industry layoffs in the past year, with many firms blaming AI for the cuts.Snap Inc's layoffs follow demands last month from Irenic Capital Management, an activist investor whose portfolio manager wrote a letter to the Snap Inc CEO, Evan Spiegel, calling on him to reduce costs and headcount while criticizing the company's current strategy. In Spiegel's memo to staff, he claimed that the layoffs would move Snap towards profitability and suggested that artificial intelligence could fill the lack of human labor. Continue reading......

Six lenders, including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan report jump in first-quarter earningsBusiness live – latest updatesBig US banks raked in nearly $50bn (£37bn) worth of profits in the first three months of the year, as they benefited from stock market turbulence triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran.Wall Street's largest lenders have reported a jump in first-quarter earnings, reflecting the surge in demand for trading services as investors dumped risky stocks and bonds and sought safer havens for their cash. Continue reading......

The International Monetary Fund remains stuck in a situation where the biggest concern about inflation is wagesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe IMF's latest World Economic Outlook has forced it to admit that things have changed since its previous update in January when it blissfully hoped things would be OK. Now there is mostly darkness and despair.The IMF's January report was titled “Steady amid Divergent Forces”; whereas the latest outlook is headlined “Global Economy in the Shadow of War” and begins “the global outlook has abruptly darkened following the outbreak of war in the Middle East on February 28, 2026.” Continue reading......

Narwhal Labs advert depicts woman next to strapline: 'She outworks everyone. And she'll never ask for a raise'An AI company which recently secured millions of pounds of investment has been accused of running a misogynistic and sexist advertising campaign.The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has received at least seven complaints about the campaign by Narwhal Labs, which includes an advert depicting a woman next to the strapline: “She outworks everyone. And she'll never ask for a raise.” Continue reading......

Announcement comes before Matt Brittin replaces Tim Davie as director general next monthBusiness live – latest updatesThe BBC is to cut as many as 2,000 jobs in the biggest down-sizing of the public service broadcaster in 15 years.Staff are set to be informed of the cuts, which will affect about 10% of the BBC's 21,500 staff, at an all-staff meeting on Wednesday. Continue reading......

For some, the impact is already being felt but others remain in limbo over their energy security and are hostage to an unlikely de-escalationDon't get The Long Wave delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereIt remains a confusing situation, but the strait of Hormuz now appears to have been closed twice. Once by Iran, and then by the US, which this week announced a blockade of its own on the reduced number of ships using Iranian ports. Higher fuel and energy costs for ordinary people across the world are the headlines, but as the war on Iran enters its sixth week, shipping restrictions and strikes on energy facilities in Gulf countries are affecting some of the poorest and most vulnerable economies in the world in more profound ways.I spoke to Dr. Zainab Usman, senior research scholar at the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, about how the war and its blockades are affecting some African countries. Continue reading......

Airport body has asked for power to suspend EES checks requiring personal information and biometrics, say reportsBusiness live – latest updatesTravellers going through some European airports are reportedly waiting up to three hours at border checks due to the EU's new entry-exit system (EES).Passengers in airports in countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Greece are waiting several hours at border checks, the Airports Council International (ACI) body has said. Continue reading......

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......