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Europe
BBC Business

How you can save money on your energy bill as debts rise

Image source, Getty ImagesByKevin PeacheyCost of living correspondentPublished27 May 2026Updated 54 minutes agoThe amount of money owed to energy suppliers by customers has risen again to a new record high of £4.79bn. Regulator Ofgem said that total debt and arrears in England, Wales and Scotland had risen by 15% in a year. The data, external is updated every three months, with the newly-published figures covering the period from January to the end of March. They relate to energy customers who have been in debt for more than three months. Average arrears for those without a repayment plan hit £1,876 for electricity and £1,623 for gas – more than twice the amount as those who have a repayment agreement. Energy prices will rise for millions of households in July – driven by the increase in the cost of gas. Experts say there are options to cut bills, even though people may feel they have already made every saving possible. Suppliers say they may write off some of that debt, provide payment plans, or help with the cost of white goods, such as fridges and washing machines - but only if you tell them you're in trouble. You can check what your supplier offers through various support measures, external. Some 22 million people - about 40% of billpayers - have the certainty of fixed tariffs. In these deals, the cost per unit does not change for the term of the tariff, which is usually a year. The total bill still depends on the amount of energy used. Options on the market are cheaper than the price cap level. However, if international events do change and prices fall sharply, savings might not be so clear-cut. Receiving your bill every quarter, rather paying a monthly direct debit, is typically about £140 a year more expensive, says regulator Ofgem.

How you can save money on your energy bill as debts rise
North America
CNBC Economy

Trump claims Iran deal is 'unconditional surrender,' says his power has 'no limits': Axios

U.S. President Donald Trump asserted that he has unlimited power and insisted the deal reached with Iran amounts to "unconditional surrender" by Tehran, in an interview with Axios. The U.S. and Iran signed the agreement on Thursday, after three and a half months of conflict that shut the Strait of Hormuz and rattled global energy markets. Trump said he negotiated the agreement to prevent the conflict from triggering a global economic depression, speaking in the interview Thursday evening stateside. The memorandum of understanding includes a 60-day negotiating period to reach a final deal, a reopening of the critical Strait of Hormuz and a framework for nuclear negotiations. Several key details remain unresolved and will be addressed in subsequent negotiations. Asked what he had learned from the war about the limits to his power, Trump said that "I haven't learned that lesson yet. I know there are, but there are no limits." Shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz began picking up as the agreement took effect, with cargo ships and oil tankers resuming transit through the narrow artery. At least 18 transits were recorded during the June 17-18 period, the highest count for any comparable timeframe since the conflict started, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward. U.S. Central Command said Thursday that American forces had lifted all blockade enforcement on maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian coastal areas. "All U.S. military blockade enforcement efforts have ceased," CENTCOM said in a social media post, adding that U.S. naval forces would remain in the general area to ensure all aspects of the agreement are followed. A White House spokesperson said U.S. Vice President JD Vance canceled a planned trip to Switzerland on Friday, where he had been expected to begin the 60-day negotiations with Iranian officials, citing logistical reasons. "The plans for the upcoming technical talks have not been finalized, and the U.S. delegation has been prepared to depart at the first available opportunity. But the logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable," the spokesperson said. The deal has drawn criticism from lawmakers who argue Trump was not tough enough on Iran, with terms of the interim agreement falling short of what the president set out to achieve at the start of the war. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters that Trump did a "very poor job of negotiating" and said the U.S. was worse off than before the war started.

Trump claims Iran deal is 'unconditional surrender,' says his power has 'no limits': Axios
Europe
BBC Business

Reeves backs Burnham to become next prime minister

Rachel Reeves has backed Andy Burnham to be the next prime minister, despite reports he could demote her to a junior cabinet position if he becomes the Labour Party leader. Burnham, who was sworn in as the MP for Makerfield on Monday following his historic by-election victory, is expected to replace Reeves as chancellor if he enters No 10. Reeves told the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) annual conference on Thursday that she did not want to pre-empt his choice of chancellor and urged her potential successor to stick to her fiscal rules. But she said she was proud of her record and that there was "unfinished business in fiscal devolution" - an area she said Burnham was also committed to. Reeves added that Burnham backed her rules - ensuring day-to-day spending is funded through tax revenue by the end of the Parliament, only borrowing for capital investment and reducing debt as a proportion of GDP. "Andy has been really explicit - he backs those fiscal rules," she told the BCC conference. In an earlier interview with the BBC, Reeves said: "The last government lost control of the public finances. "It sent inflation through the roof and interest rates through the roof. So control of the public finances has a real impact on families today." While Reeves said she had improved the flexibility in the government's budget by increasing its financial headroom, she added the public must be left in no doubt about the party's commitment to fiscal discipline. "Because if you lose control of the public finances, it is ordinary working people and businesses who pay the price with higher inflation, higher taxes and indeed higher interest rates," she added. She told the BCC conference she and Burnham were also aligned on fiscal devolution - transferring financial powers like tax and spending from Westminster to local authorities - including, for example, on possible visitor levies on hotel bookings. Burnham is so far the only contender to replace Sir Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation earlier this week following a slew of senior cabinet resignations.

Reeves backs Burnham to become next prime minister
Europe
The Guardian

Alan Greenspan, longtime head of the US federal reserve, dies aged 100

Alan Greenspan in 2012. Photograph: Lucas Jackson/ReutersView image in fullscreenAlan Greenspan in 2012. Photograph: Lucas Jackson/ReutersAlan GreenspanAlan Greenspan, longtime head of the US federal reserve, dies aged 100Greenspan served under the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and George W Bush Alan Greenspan, the influential economist who ​steered US ⁠monetary policy ⁠during ​his ‌five ‌terms as chair ‌of the Federal Reserve ‌under four presidents, ​has died aged 100. The central bank said its former chair “helped establish the credibility that remains one of the Federal Reserve’s most important assets” in a statement on Monday that announced Greenspan’s death. In a separate statement that she shared with NBC News, Andrea Mitchell – Greenspan’s wife and a correspondent of the network – said he died from complications of Parkinson’s disease. “He will be remembered for his brilliance and his kindness,” Mitchell’s statement to NBC said. Greenspan chaired the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006, serving under the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and George W Bush. He was widely credited with presiding over a period of growth and prosperity in the US while helming the Fed under three Republicans and a Democrat, gaining bipartisan political support in the process. But the country’s housing market collapsed shortly after he left office, ushering in a devastating financial crisis that plunged the national economy into the worst recession since the 1930s and the Great Depression – and prompting a re-evaluation of his legacy. “More than 30 years of deregulation and reliance on self-regulation by financial institutions, championed by former Federal Reserve [chair] Alan Greenspan and others … had stripped away key safeguards, which could have helped avoid catastrophe,” concluded the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that investigated the collapse. Greenspan later acknowledged having “made a mistake” in believing US banks could effectively regulate themselves before the housing market’s collapse, which dealt a blow to his reputation as an economic “oracle” or “maestro”. But he defended himself against critics who sought to pin much of the blame for the US’s 2008 financial meltdown on him. In his 2013 book The Map and the Territory, Greenspan argued that traditional economic forecasting was no match for the irrational risk-taking that can feed catastrophic price bubbles. “Bubbles go up very slowly as euphoria builds,” Greenspan told the Associated Press in a 2013 interview. “Then fear hits, and it comes down very sharply. When I started to look at that, I was sort of intellectually shocked.” He earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in economics – all from New York University – before spending three decades running an economic consulting firm.

Alan Greenspan, longtime head of the US federal reserve, dies aged 100
Europe
BBC Business

Warning over power bank fire risk on flights as summer holidays begin

Image source, Getty ImagesByKaty AustinTransport correspondentPublished4 hours agoFlight passengers are being warned not to pack power banks or vapes in their hold luggage ahead of the busy summer holiday travel period beginning for parts of the UK. The fire risk posed by lithium batteries is now the number one safety risk to aircraft, according to the aviation regulator, as the number of devices found in hold bags has nearly doubled in a year. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says the average person now takes four different lithium powered devices on a flight. Ahead of the school summer holidays, which begin in Scotland first this week, people are being reminded to take devices in the cabin with them. The batteries can store huge amounts of energy in a small space, and are now commonly used in lots of electrical items including laptops, vapes, power banks, mobile phones and smart watches. They're incredibly useful and versatile. But if the batteries overheat or are defective, a fire can result which spreads very quickly and is hard to control. In 2024, 316 incidents of devices with lithium batteries detected in hold bags were reported to UK authorities. In 2025, that rose to 643. Reports of devices overheating or malfunctioning also nearly doubled the same year, from 123 to 206. Most of these issues occurred in the cabin where crew could deal with the situation, but the concern is that if this happens in the hold, the problem may not be discovered until it's too late to control it. Apart from the risk of fire, having to remove bags from the hold can cause delays. Planes can even be diverted. Last month an EasyJet flight had to divert to Rome because it emerged a power bank had been packed in the hold. In October, video was widely shared of flames belching from the overhead storage compartment of an Air China flight, reportedly caused by a lithium battery.

Warning over power bank fire risk on flights as summer holidays begin
Europe
BBC Business

Teens who hacked TfL were known to police years before cyber-attack

Two young men convicted over the cyber-attack that crippled Transport for London (TfL) in 2024 had long histories of cyber-offending and were both known to law enforcement bodies, the BBC has learnt. Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall, and Thalha Jubair, 20, from east London, pleaded guilty on Monday to carrying out the attack. The breach disrupted TfL services for months, affected the personal data of millions of people and left all 28,000 TfL employees needing to reset their passwords in person. The BBC has discovered the authorities made frequent attempts to curb Flowers and Jubair's offending - raising questions over the effectiveness of such interventions with young cyber-criminals. Experts have told the BBC the case also indicates that perpetrators of cyber-attacks often do not appear to understand the real world consequences of their actions. The National Crime Agency (NCA) says it highlights the need for its officers to be given additional powers. Flowers and Jubair's trial heard they were part of the cyber-crime collective, Scattered Spider. The loosely organised gang of young English-speaking cyber-criminals has been linked to dozens of other cyber-attacks including on retailers Marks and Spencer and the Co-op. But the BBC has learned Flowers initially came to the attention of police shortly after he turned 16 years old. In October 2023 he was caught carrying out low-level cyber-crime and visited by West Midland's Regional Cyber Crime Unit prevent officers. Police say that during the visit Flowers did not engage with officers and was given a cease and desist order to deter him from further offending. Police had the option to invite him to enrol in the national Cyber Choices programme, which works to steer young people away from cyber-crime.

Teens who hacked TfL were known to police years before cyber-attack
Europe
BBC Business

The abundant but expensive energy source that's under your feet

It's hard to get Democrat and Republican politicians to agree on much at the moment, but the benefits of geothermal energy is one rare area of consensus. Geothermal energy makes use of natural heat below the Earth's surface and the next generation of technology can access hotter, deeper and more varied locations than ever before. Broadly, the low greenhouse gas emissions of geothermal plants appeals to liberals, while conservatives like the additional energy independence of geothermal, plus the use of drilling technology familiar in the oil and gas industry. Some US states are trying to accelerate permits for geothermal plants and in April senators from both parties introduced the Next-Generation Geothermal, external Research and Development Act. The legislation would direct the Department of Energy to support the development and commercialisation of the next generation of geothermal energy systems. In EGS, underground rock is fractured hydraulically. That's done by pumping pressurised fluid into one well, and then collecting steam or hot water from another well. Better known as fracking, this technique has become well known and controversial (particularly in the UK) in the oil and gas industry. "It's the same techniques and up to a point it's the same industry as well," sums up Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School in New York. But "from a climate perspective, there's a huge difference," he adds. For him, the risk of seismic activity, by creating cracks underground, is outweighed by the benefits of an energy source that is renewable, always-on and large-capacity. "Based on where we are, moving much faster, much bigger in the direction of using much more geothermal, frankly, is all good news," Wagner says. Companies are developing drilling equipment that is more stable when breaking through hard rock at high temperatures. Quaise, a company with roots at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is using a technology called millimetre wave drilling. The frequency is similar to that of microwaves.

The abundant but expensive energy source that's under your feet
Europe
BBC Business

Yes, there have been rows but here's how I've made moving back home work

When 24-year-old Natasha Suman moved back into her parents' home in Bedford after university, she only expected it to be for a "few months" while she searched for her first job. But almost three years later, she's still there, saving for a deposit on her first home. The marketing coordinator pays towards bills but doesn't pay rent, so is able to put aside £1,000 a month in a Lifetime ISA - a tax-free account topped up by the government. That would have been impossible had she lived by herself, she says, given the "cost of living". However, Natasha admits she has "less freedom" than when she lived independently and generally does fewer "spontaneous things". She also argues more with her family than she used to, despite feeling very fortunate to live with them. "When I left home [for university], I was a very different person, and by the time I came back, I had essentially become an adult," she says. "Because of that, there have definitely been some clashes between me and my parents." The proportion of people in their 20s and 30s living with their parents has increased sharply over the last three decades, as rising house prices and rents have forced many to move back in to save for their first home. But while it can be a practical way to save money or deal with the loss of a job or a relationship breakdown, it often comes with frustrations, such as feeling like you've lost your independence or even regressed to childhood. For Natasha and her parents, Rita and Pawan, flashpoints have included shared use of the family car after her own vehicle broke down, disagreements over how chores are divided, and how much time to spend together - with her parents wanting to see more of her. "A lot of these disagreements stem from the fact that we are now four adults living together, all with our own routines, expectations and opinions." Her parents set "clear expectations" such as cleaning up after herself and making her own lunch.

Yes, there have been rows but here's how I've made moving back home work
Europe
BBC Business

Apple hikes some prices by nearly 20% while Xbox raises console cost

Image source, Getty ImagesByLaura Cress and Kali Hays, Technology reportersPublished25 June 2026Apple is increasing the price of MacBooks and iPads worldwide due to rising memory and storage chip costs. The iPhone maker has hiked the prices of some laptops and tablets by almost 20%, saying the electronics industry is facing an "unprecedented challenge" due to an "extraordinary surge" in demand for chips to power AI data centres. "We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly," the company said - adding it was working to find solutions. Not long after Apple's announcement, Xbox said it had decided to significantly raise the price of its popular gaming console for the second time in less than a year due to the current "components crisis". The Microsoft-owned company said on Thursday that the price of its basic console will go up by $100 (£75) to $499, while the price of a console with more memory will go up by $150, to $749. New prices will take effect from August. Xbox previously hiked the price of its consoles in October by $20-$70, meaning the price of a new console will be 30% to 40% more expensive than it was this time last year. The company said it had "hoped another price increase would not be necessary", but blamed the rising cost of console storage and memory for needing to raise prices on consumers. "The entire consumer electronics industry is struggling with the current components crisis, but the effects are particularly hard on consoles," Xbox said. The company added that while the cost of memory and storage has already more than doubled, it expects the costs to double again by 2027. Apple's and Xbox's price hikes follow a slew of firms increasing device prices to help them absorb rising hardware costs. Commenting before the Xbox price increase was publicised, tech analyst Paolo Pescatore said Apple's price rises showed the "AI boom was now affecting consumer electronics". Much of the increased prices for memory and storage components - particularly Ram, a form of computer memory - have been attributed to a proliferation of data centres needed to power the AI boom.

Apple hikes some prices by nearly 20% while Xbox raises console cost