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Europe
BBC Business

Trump faces growing backlash over plans to import diesel from Russia

US President Donald Trump is facing a growing backlash over plans to import diesel from Russia as the Iran war continues to impact global energy prices. Trump on Friday announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to release 300,000 tonnes of diesel immediately "to the American and global marketplace" followed by several other shipments. That is despite signing legislation to authorise fresh US sanctions and tariffs on nations that import Russian oil and gas just weeks ago. The move has been criticised by some Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who believe the deal violates US laws. As well as the initial release of 300,000 tonnes of diesel, Trump said Russia would then supply 500,000 tonnes in November and one million more after that. This would be followed by a further three million tonnes, which would be delivered "within a short period" dependent on the condition of its refineries, which have been attacked by Ukraine during the ongoing war between the two countries. "Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak confirmed these numbers to Tass, the country's state-owned news agency, saying the export volume could reach three million tonnes per month in future. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the deal a gift to Putin that amounts to "an investment in a war that must be ended". It is understood the US Treasury is suspending sanctions on Russian diesel exports until 7 April as part of the deal, but other assets like those in American banks are still frozen. A group of seven senators - four Republicans and three Democrats – on Sunday said the deal violated US laws, urging Trump to "reverse course". "The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians," the lawmakers said.

Trump faces growing backlash over plans to import diesel from Russia
Europe
BBC Business

Iran war threatens Healey's Budget plans, think tank warns

Image source, Dan Kitwood/Getty ImagesByDharshini David, Deputy economics editor and Tom Espiner, Business reporterPublished4 hours agoThe price spike caused by the US-Israel war in Iran poses a major challenge for Chancellor John Healey as he puts together his first Budget, an influential think tank has warned. Higher-than-expected inflation could eat into what the government hoped to spend on public services, meaning Healey will have to choose between spending cuts, tax rises, or a mixture of both, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said. It urged the government to ensure its spending plans are credible, as opposed to proposing unrealistic future cuts to make the Budget add up. However, speaking ahead of the annual International Monetary Fund meeting this week, Healey said: "The consequences of conflict in the Middle East and Europe are hitting countries worldwide, leading to higher prices at the pumps and more expensive mortgages at home. He said his Budget "will build on this approach with fiscal discipline helping to deliver economic resilience" and give people "breathing space". However, the government is under growing pressure to show financial markets that it has a tight grip on finances as the cost of borrowing rises. The IFS cautioned Healey about making any spending announcements in the 28 October Budget speech he has no intention of honouring. "A 'steady-as-she-goes' Budget is not an option available to the chancellor," said IFS director Helen Miller said. "Choosing to stay the course with the inherited tax and spending plans would mean allowing inflation to blow departments' spending plans off course. "Simply pencilling in implicit cuts that he has no intention of delivering would make the Budget a work of fiction," she added. The US-Israel war against Iran and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have together helped drive up energy prices around the world. These higher costs have been passed to customers via higher prices on shelves and at the pumps.

Iran war threatens Healey's Budget plans, think tank warns
Europe
BBC Business

Drop-off charges at UK airports to be reviewed after sharp increase

Image source, Getty ImagesBySimon Browning Transport reporterPublished14 October 2026Airport drop-off charges are to be reviewed by the government following sharp price increases in recent years. Prices at major UK airports have risen by a third since the summer of 2025 on average, according to one analysis, with Gatwick and Stansted drop-off charges found to be the most expensive, jumping from £7 to £10. Such charges at Edinburgh Airport have risen from £6 to £8.50, while fees at Bournemouth increased from £5 to £8, the same price as Leeds Bradford and London City. The Department for Transport confirmed it had committed to a review, saying it was "vital to ensure travel remains accessible and that passengers are treated fairly". The government added it hoped airports would "exercise restraint on rises, particularly where there are limited public transport alternatives". The RAC, which conducted the analysis in July this year, has campaigned against increases in drop-off charges. It said a review of "kiss and fly" fees would be "music to the ears to drivers". "We know airport drop-off charges are a growing source of anger and frustration," said Rod Dennis, senior policy officer at the RAC. "Four-in-five drivers we've surveyed believe they are a 'rip-off', with just one-in-10 understanding why airports charge what they do." The RAC's research found London City Airport, which only introduced charges in 2026, was the most expensive on a per-minute basis. Its £8 charge for five minutes works out at £1.60 per minute. Belfast International Airport now charges £5 for 10 minutes in the drop-off zone, up £2 on last year. None of the top 10 airports in the European Union charge for drop-offs, according to the RAC. It argues that international airports should not charge for dropping off passengers, however, the industry said the charges were a neccesary part of the business model of airports.

Drop-off charges at UK airports to be reviewed after sharp increase
Europe
BBC Business

Netflix to shed 1,000 jobs in steepest cuts since 2022

Image source, Mario Tama / Getty ImagesByTom EspinerBusiness reporterPublished14 October 2026Netflix has said it will cut 1,000 jobs globally as the streaming giant faces competition from rivals. The cuts - the steepest since 2022 - will mainly affect its human resources, legal, product and technology teams and equates to around 6% of its total workforce. Last month, Netflix 's co-chief executive, Ted Sarandos, told the Bloomberg Screentime summit that the company was "not growing as fast as I want us to". The streaming industry is going through a period of consolidation following Paramount's $110bn (£83.6bn) merger with Warner Bros, the owner of HBO, while free platforms such as YouTube and TikTok continue to attract viewers. In an email to staff, Sarandos and co-chief executive Greg Peters said Netflix would "continue to invest aggressively in high-impact areas to improve our service and further drive growth and innovation". Netflix had come close to its own deal with Warner Bros but was outbid in the end by Paramount. Commenting on the "organisational changes", Sarandos and Peters said: "Our mission - to entertain the world - is ambitious, and delivering on it requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritise our people and resources." The email added that the firm was on track to meet its financial forecasts. The streaming service is due to report its latest results on 20 October. Investors have been weighing up user engagement - the amount of time customers spend on Netflix - as it competes with platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. The firm has continued to commission shows - its most popular at the moment is "Below", an underwater mystery series. It has also been attempting to expand its business, including gaming and allowing adverts to play before and during shows and films. However, "they haven't been able to find another line of major revenue," said Ross Benes, senior analyst at eMarketer.

Netflix to shed 1,000 jobs in steepest cuts since 2022
Europe
BBC Business

'I paid thousands to a company for jobs that never came'

A company has been accused of promising jobs in the healthcare sector which never materialised, leaving people thousands of pounds out of pocket. Registered in 2025, Synetal Solutions Ltd says it offers career-focused training programmes in the healthcare and IT sectors. But the BBC has spoken to a number of people who claim they were promised training and support to secure sponsored healthcare jobs that never became available to apply for. London Citizens Advice says it has seen an increase in recruitment-related scams since the government stopped overseas recruitment for care workers, external. The charity described the firm's practices as "unethical". Synetal Solutions says it "takes these concerns seriously and disputes the broad allegation that its services or candidate outcomes are fictitious". Apurv Patel, who has been in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa since 2023, said he paid Synetal Solutions £3,600 across February and March for healthcare training after he and a friend were verbally promised guaranteed sponsored jobs. Eight months later he has received no job offers, interviews or meaningful employment support, he said. "I'm frustrated. I paid money, I wasted my time. I did whatever they wanted without any result," he said. Patel said he did receive some training but described it as poor quality and ultimately "worthless". Having previously worked for two years as a healthcare assistant, he said he became concerned when a trainer was unable to answer routine questions about care work. "She didn't give us any answers and we realised she didn't have any experience of healthcare," he said. He also alleged communication with the company deteriorated after he made his second payment, with responses sometimes taking several days.

'I paid thousands to a company for jobs that never came'
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

AI trade reversal pierces Asia’s star picks-and-shovels stocks

Investors have turned their attention to the trillions of dollars being borrowed to build AI infrastructure. A deepening sell-off in US technology stocks is exposing a new vulnerability in Asia’s artificial intelligence trade: mounting financing costs could choke off the spending needed to sustain the boom, threatening earnings across a supply chain that has powered the region’s stock-market rally. The pressure intensified last week as oil surged to US$110 a barrel for the first time since May, stoking inflation concerns, and investors turned their attention to the trillions of dollars being borrowed to build AI infrastructure. An eight-session rout in US semiconductor shares – the longest since 2008 – wiped roughly 16% off the sector’s benchmark, while the Nasdaq 100 suffered its worst week since April 2025. For Asia, where chipmakers and hardware suppliers that make printed circuit boards, precision components and manufacturing equipment have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the AI frenzy, the implications could be significant heading into the Oct 19 open. A Goldman Sachs Group basket of regional AI hardware stocks tumbled 11% last week, its steepest decline since mid-July. The sell-off showed little sign of abating despite an upbeat revenue outlook from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), underscoring how concerns over AI spending are spreading across the hardware supply chain. Nan Ya Plastics, a maker of printed circuit board materials and the best-performing stock on the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index in 2026, tumbled 12% from a record high. Rival Unimicron Technology, the index’s second-best performer, fell 14% in a week, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics, which makes an array of electronic components, plunged 23%. “Financing costs are like gravity for the AI boom,” said Jian Shi Cortesi, a fund manager at GAM Investment Management in Zurich. “Rising borrowing costs could make infrastructure projects harder to finance and delay spending. Even a delay could trigger a reset in Asian suppliers’ earnings expectations and valuations.” The concern is no longer just whether demand for AI chips will hold up. It is whether hyperscalers and neocloud operators can keep financing the infrastructure needed to deploy them – and whether the expected returns will justify the scale of investment. Bonds of neocloud provider CoreWeave sank to levels signalling distress last week as investors questioned whether AI demand and revenue could support the borrowing behind its expansion. Its shares slumped 12% on Oct 16, resulting in the stock’s worst week since November, with a 25% drop.

AI trade reversal pierces Asia’s star picks-and-shovels stocks
Europe
The Guardian

Trump’s deal with Putin will have little impact on US diesel prices, experts say

Diesel prices have risen dramatically since the US war on Iran. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenDiesel prices have risen dramatically since the US war on Iran. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty ImagesTrump administrationAnalysisTrump’s deal with Putin will have little impact on US diesel prices, experts saySimon GoodleyAnalysts say fuel will take weeks to ship and quantity is too small to affect prices, while full deal is unlikely to be met given damage to Russian refineries Donald Trump’s deal with Vladimir Putin to temporarily lift sanctions on US imports of Russian diesel will have little “meaningful” effect on motorists and businesses in the US and overseas, energy and foreign policy analysts have predicted. The US president infuriated Volodymyr Zelenskyy when he announced the deal on Friday, writing on Truth Social that the agreement with his Russia counterpart to supply millions of tonnes of diesel was essential to reduce fuel prices in the US, which have soared after his decision to go to war against Iran. The package announced by Trump involves 300,000 tonnes of diesel released immediately “to the American and global marketplace” followed by 500,000 tonnes in November and a further 1m tonnes after that. The 300,000 figure equates to about three-quarters of what the US would use in a day, according to calculations using figures from the US Energy Information Administration. However, experts suggested that the quantities involved – and the time it will take for the supplies to arrive in the US – is “too little, too late” to affect current high diesel prices, which observers have linked to challenging Republican party polling numbers before next month’s midterm elections. US prices have surged by almost 70% since the start of the Iran war, to about $6.30 a gallon, according to American Automobile Association. In the UK, the average price of diesel climbed to a record £2 a litre earlier in October, and sat just below that mark on Friday. Ashley Kelty, an energy analyst with the investment bank Panmure Liberum, said: “It is not going to have any impact on prices. The first amount [due to be shipped to the US] is so small. “They are going to have to charter vessels, load them and transport the cargo to the US. That will take about three weeks – so we are pretty much at the end of the month and about a week before the midterms.” The US Treasury secretary, Scott ⁠Bessent, said on Sunday: “This is ​good ‌for the ​American ​people … bringing these diesel prices down.” However, Kelty said the diesel shipments would also cause complications in a global supply chain, including multinational companies having to work out which of its supplies originated from Russia and therefore might breach sanctions in other jurisdictions, including Europe. The US Treasury suspended sanctions on Russian diesel exports until 7 April as part of the deal, while keeping in place other sanctions on Russian products. Zelenskyy described Trump’s deal as a “weak decision”, saying it would encourage Russia to keep attacking Ukraine, but Trump then blamed Kyiv’s strikes on Russian energy infrastructure for rising fuel prices. Trump said Ukraine neeeded “a new leader”.

Trump’s deal with Putin will have little impact on US diesel prices, experts say
Europe
The Guardian

Bank of America fined $1.2bn for money-laundering failures

The treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said Bank of America’s failings exposed ‘the entire US financial system to significant illicit finance risks’. Photograph: Arlyn McAdorey/ReutersView image in fullscreenThe treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said Bank of America’s failings exposed ‘the entire US financial system to significant illicit finance risks’. Photograph: Arlyn McAdorey/ReutersBank of AmericaBank of America fined $1.2bn for money-laundering failuresThird-largest fine in US treasury’s history, due to failure to report suspicious activity, may affect third-quarter earnings Bank of America (BAC.N), has been fined $1.21bn by US regulators for widespread failures to detect ‌potential money laundering and other illicit activity, a penalty the bank said will hurt third-quarter earnings. The US treasury department said the fine, the third-largest in department history, is due to the bank’s failure to report more than $5bn in suspicious activity to the government, including $1bn that posed national security-related and other priority illicit finance risks. “Financial institutions are on the ​front lines of protecting our economic and national security,” the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said in a statement. “When a bank of this size ​fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls, exposing the ⁠entire US financial system to significant illicit finance risks.” The treasury said the bank “prioritized its revenues” in building compliance programs, and overly relied on inquiries ​from outside parties such as law enforcement and other financial institutions instead of its own internal controls. The consent order requires Bank of America to hire an ​independent third party to review past transactions, identify suspicious activity that the bank failed to detect at the time and report those transactions to the treasury department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. “Financial crime compliance is serious, and we are responsible for getting it right,” said a Bank of America spokesperson in a statement. “We have invested billions of dollars in technology and dedicated thousands of ​employees to combat financial crime, and our team is far along with and committed to completing the work required to address the issues raised ​by our regulators.” The spokesperson added that the bank’s third-quarter results due for release on Wednesday would include a non-tax-deductible charge of $1.2bn, which will reduce quarterly net income ‌by approximately ⁠17 cents a share. Analysts have estimated adjusted earnings per share of $1.10, according to mean estimates compiled by LSEG, but that excludes one-offs like this fine. The penalty is likely to add to negative investor sentiment and raise concerns about higher expenses and whether Bank of America can maintain its roughly $6bn quarterly share buyback pace, the UBS analyst Erika Najarian said in a note. With earnings due ​on Wednesday, “we think shares likely underperforming at ​open”, she said. She noted there ⁠was no asset cap, a regulatory penalty that would limit how large the bank could grow.

Bank of America fined $1.2bn for money-laundering failures
Europe
BBC Business

Faisal Islam: What surprise praise for UK economy tells us about the Budget

Image source, Sirachai Arunrugstichai/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesImage caption, The managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, has praised the UK's approach to debt reduction. "Get your fiscal health in order," is a key message at the the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) annual meeting here in Thailand. The IMF is worried about the debts of the world's biggest economies. It is doing its job as a watchdog, looking for and warning about financial vulnerabilities. In the meantime, the finance ministers of former crisis countries are boasting about how little their borrowing costs have gone up, compared to the world's biggest economies, such as the US. On three occasions in the past 24 hours, top IMF officials have praised the UK's plans to reduce its annual levels of borrowing, bucking the trend of the rest of the G7 group of countries, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US. The IMF clearly seeing the UK in a different light to these major economies is very interesting. "The UK is actually one country where action to reduce debt and deficit has been taken decisively and we see the UK in that sense enjoying a bit of a better growth prospect," managing director Kristalina Georgieva said earlier. Her comments followed those of the IMF's chief economist Silvana Tenreyro who told me that UK borrowing reductions "stand out". The IMF's twice-yearly assessment of global countries' economic prospects showed only the UK among the G7 having a serious plan for consolidation of its annual borrowing over the next few years, worth nearly 4% of the size of the economy. The US, Germany and Japan are increasing borrowing. Canada and Italy are keeping borrowing at the same level. It appears the UK is now the IMF's model pupil - at the top of the G7 table for reducing deficits. This matters because for the past half decade the UK has been on the bond market naughty step, often having the highest borrowing rates among the G7 since the Liz Truss mini budget, as political and economic crises afflicted different governments. While this is good news for the chancellor and the Treasury, it also points to the sort of Budget we will get in a fortnight's time. To keep its plans to reduce debt on track, John Healey is likely to have limited room for extra spending. He will want to marry this with limited tax rises. There could be a modest decrease in the margin for error around meeting debt rules - so-called headroom. If so that will be tied to providing a cushion against an expected rise in energy prices due to the ongoing Middle East conflict and the impact on the cost of living overall - the so called global inflation shock.

Faisal Islam: What surprise praise for UK economy tells us about the Budget