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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......

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......