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This Friday marks World Press Freedom Day. Around the world, the press is being gagged, taken over by the state, or shut down entirely. If you’re able to, please support the Guardian’s independent, open journalism.

Business Today
Business live
Oil prices head for steepest weekly drop in three months; markets brace for US jobs report
Live  
Oil prices head for steepest weekly drop in three months; markets brace for US jobs report
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
Headlines
Energy  
Sunak to allow oil and gas exploration at sites intended for offshore wind
Sunak to allow oil and gas exploration at sites intended for offshore wind
Media  
Sony and Apollo reportedly make $26bn offer for Paramount
Apple  
Company reports slumping iPhone sales as global demand weakens
Pollution  
Northumbrian Water told to publish raw sewage discharge data it tried to hide
Boeing  
Second whistleblower dies after short illness
Turkey  
Country stops all trade with Israel over ‘humanitarian tragedy’ in Gaza
Energy  
Gazprom slumps to first annual loss in 22 years as trade with Europe hit
Amazon  
CEO broke US law with anti-union comments, judge rules
‘We’re in a new era’  
The 21st-century space race takes off
Manchester  
Angry fans seek compensation from Co-op Live after third opening show axed
IT scandal  
Post Office investigators saw Horizon victims as ‘enemies’, inquiry told
Goldman Sachs  
Bank to scrap cap on bonuses for hundreds of UK staff
‘Shallowfake’  
Fraudsters editing vehicle photos to add fake damage in UK insurance scam
Cool solution  
How ice-cream saved drought-hit farmers in India
Fantasy house hunt  
Remote coastal homes for sale in Great Britain
Today's agenda
The oil price is on track for its biggest weekly losses in three months, bringing relief to consumers and central bankers alike.

Crude oil prices have fallen by more than 6% so far this week, helped by easing tensions in the Middle East and uncertainty about demand for energy. That would be its worst week since the start of February.

After hefty losses earlier this week, Brent crude is trading at about its weakest level since mid-March, at below $84 a barrel, having ended last week near $90 a barrel.

Hopes for a deal to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza, and free the remaining hostages held there since the 7 October attacks, have risen this week. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told Israel and Hamas that “the time is now” for a deal, during his seventh visit to the Middle East since last October.

The oil price also weakened after US stocks of crude oil climbed unexpectedly this week. The US Energy Information Administration reported that energy firms added a surprise 7.3m barrels of crude into stockpiles during the week to 26 April.

The EIA also reported a surprise 0.3m barrel build in gasoline inventories; analysts had expected gasoline stocks would decline by 1.1m barrels.

Financial markets are bracing for the latest US non-farm payroll – the monthly health check on the US jobs market, due at 1.30pm UK time.

Economists expect a slowdown in job creation; the NFP is expected to rise by 238,000, down on the 303,000 gain in March. The jobless rate is tipped to remain at 3.8%.

Attention will also focus on wage growth, which is expected to slow slightly to 4%, from 4.1% in March.

The agenda
• 9am BST: Norges bank interest rate decision
• 9.30am BST: UK services PMI report for April
• 1.30pm BST: US non-farm payroll for April
• 3pm BST: US services PMI report for April

We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ...
Opinion
Analysis  
OECD forecasts will be blow to Sunak’s claims UK economy is improving
OECD forecasts will be blow to Sunak’s claims UK economy is improving
Media
‘I decided to not let anybody silence my voice’  
The journalists in exile but still at risk
The journalists in exile but still at risk
BBC  
Tribunal excludes equal pay from female presenters’ claim against broadcaster
Spotlight
The UK peer facing choppy waters over Gaza protests at Columbia
Minouche Shafik  
The UK peer facing choppy waters over Gaza protests at Columbia
Ex-central banker Lady Shafik, the university’s president, now faces calls to resign due to her handling of campus unrest
Popular on business
Fraudsters editing vehicle photos to add fake damage in UK insurance scam
Fraudsters editing vehicle photos to add fake damage in UK insurance scam
More than 10,000 London black-cab drivers launch £250m Uber lawsuit
UK will be worst performer in G7 next year, OECD forecasts
Peloton CEO steps down as beleaguered company cuts 15% of workforce
Hundreds could die if Boeing fails to handle quality issues, whistleblower says
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com
 

Jonathan Watts

Global environment writer

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Conflict in Gaza, war in Ukraine, a battle over the global environment – the world is becoming an increasingly hostile place, particularly for frontline journalists.

The Guardian is marking World Press Freedom Day with a series of articles about the threats posed to all types of reporters.

We want to use our platform to highlight the work they are doing, often in incredibly dangerous circumstances. Without the courage of correspondents working in conflict areas, press organisations warn the world will start to see “zones of silence” where important stories go unreported.

The risks may be growing, and the space to operate may be increasingly constrained, but we are more determined than ever to tell the stories of our age so that you, the readers, have the information to act as voters, citizens, consumers and participants in the web of life on Earth.

If you’re able to, please support the Guardian’s independent, open journalism on a monthly basis today from as a little as £4.

 
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