Strait of Hormuz not open, Abu Dhabi’s oil chief says as crude prices rise
Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

Uncertainty over US-Iran ceasefire pushes price of Brent crude towards $100 a barrel

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The boss of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company has said the strait of Hormuz is “not open” despite the US-Iran ceasefire agreed earlier this week, as uncertainty over the truce pushed the price of Brent crude towards $100 a barrel on Thursday.

Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive officer of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), said passage through the crucial waterway was subject to “permission, conditions and political leverage” by Iran. He said energy security and global economic stability depended on the strait being opened “fully, unconditionally and without restriction”.

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Head of IMF says Iran war will permanently scar global economy even if peace is reached
Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

Kristalina Georgieva says even ‘most hopeful scenario’ will lead to growth downgrade and cause permanent hit to living standards

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The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that the Iran war will permanently scar the global economy even if a durable peace deal in the Middle East can be reached.

In a speech delivered as the ceasefire in the conflict threatened to unravel, Kristalina Georgieva said the “scarring effects” caused by the war to date would mean slower global growth this year than first anticipated.

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Gentleman’s Relish is toast after its maker axes the pungent anchovy spread
Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

Falling sales end production of condiment created in 1828 – but London restaurant Simpson’s keeps it on the menu

Fans of traditional British cuisine were heartbroken by news that Gentleman’s Relish was being discontinued by its manufacturer.

But Jeremy King, who last month reopened Simpson’s in the Strand, has instructed his chef to create a version of the pungent anchovy-based condiment almost identical to the real thing for the 198-year-old London restaurant.

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Lidl to open 50 UK stores in year ahead – and its first pub
Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

Almost 2,000 jobs will be created, with retailer vying to overtake Morrisons as Britain’s fifth largest supermarket

Lidl is to open 50 new UK stores in the year ahead – as well as its first pub – as it aims to overtake Morrisons as the country’s fifth largest supermarket chain.

The German-owned retailer has begun building a pub in east Belfast in response to strict local licensing laws that cap the number of premises that can sell alcohol.

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OpenAI shelves Stargate UK in blow to Britain’s AI ambitions
Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

Artificial intelligence company cites high energy costs and regulation for putting landmark project on hold

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OpenAI has put on hold plans for a landmark UK investment citing high energy costs and regulation, in a blow to the government which has put AI at the centre of its growth strategy.

Stargate UK was a part of the UK-US AI deal announced last September, in which US companies appeared to commit £31bn to the UK’s tech sector, part of a larger series of investments intended to “mainline AI” into the British economy.

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Anthropic keeps latest AI tool out of public’s hands for fear of enabling widespread hacking
Posted on Wednesday April 08, 2026

AI company says purpose of its Claude Mythos model is to bolster defenses against hacking in common applications

Anthropic on Tuesday said its yet-to-be-released artificial intelligence model called Claude Mythos has proven keenly adept at exposing software weaknesses.

Mythos has laid bare thousands of vulnerabilities in commonly used applications for which no patch or fix exists, prompting the San Francisco-based AI startup to form an alliance with cybersecurity specialists to bolster defenses against hacking and withhold wide distribution.

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The Masters 2026: Rory McIlroy begins title defence on day one at Augusta National – live
Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

️ Latest news from the first round at Augusta National
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While we’re on the subject of blowouts, spare a thought for poor Carlos Ortiz. The 34-year-old Mexican is making just his second start at the Masters, and his first since 2021. A tie for fourth at last year’s US Open at Oakmont shows the man has proper major-championship game, but Augusta National is capable of besting any man, and Ortiz has suffered a nightmare start. A drive into the creek down the left of 2. A fluffed splash out of a fairway bunker at 5. He’s started 5-7-5-4-6, a run of three bogeys and two doubles. At +7 through 5, he’ll already be wishing he was back in the clubhouse, and a par at 6 to snap that disastrous run won’t do much to help his mood.

It’s also the 30th anniversary of this. Oh Greg.

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Noa-Lynn van Leuven banned from women-only darts events by PDC transgender ruling
Posted on Thursday April 09, 2026

• Van Leuven can no longer play in PDC Women’s Series

• DRA report determines darts is ‘gender-affected sport’

Noa-Lynn van Leuven will be banned from competing in any of the Professional Darts Corporation’s women-only events with immediate effect after a ruling from the sport’s regulatory body stated only biological females can now compete in women’s tournaments.

The Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) has ruled that transgender women will no longer be permitted to compete in women’s events. Van Leuven can therefore no longer participate in the PDC Women’s Series, where she has won six titles, and will be prevented from also competing in the Women’s World Matchplay, which she was on course to qualify for this summer.

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