Oil prices plunge as Iran says Strait of Hormuz open during ceasefire

Earlier this month, new Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a 20% cut in business rates for pubs, social clubs and music venues in England, telling them “the cavalry is coming”. Some hospitality firms welcomed the move but others in the industry, such as hotels and restaurants, questioned why the 20% cut to business rates would…

Becky MortonPolitical reporter BBC The government is looking at the possibility of cutting the rate of VAT on energy bills, Ed Miliband has suggested. The energy secretary said he would not speculate ahead of the chancellor’s Budget in November. But asked if the government would consider scrapping the 5% rate, he told the BBC the…

Starbucks will cut about 900 jobs and close its worst performing stores in the US as well as some in the UK as part of a cost-saving restructure, the coffee chain said. Most of the stores earmarked for closure are in North America and its chief executive said the revamp would reduce wait times and…

According to the RMT, EMR has been sending trains into service that are “likely to fail and require a full reset which leaves the train with no active safety systems”. The BBC has seen an operational briefing, which informs control, signalling and operations staff about undertaking an Aux Off / Aux On reset on EMR…