Monday newspaper round-up: Barclays, Middle East, fuel prices, oil exploration, tax havens

A 20-year-old children’s charity that shut down after an error by Barclays led to its account being closed was offered only £250 in compensation by the bank. JusB, which worked with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, initially was offered the sum along with an apology for a mistake that resulted in the charity being cut off from its finances for nearly a month last year. This offer was increased later to £525, which Sir Robert Neill, the charity’s constituency MP, called “trivial” and said “bears no relation to the harm done”. - The Times

Motorists are braced for a rise in fuel costs as the escalating crisis in the Middle East threatens to send oil prices close to $100 a barrel. The RAC warned that petrol prices could hit £1.50 a litre for the first time in five months if Iran’s attack on Israel drives up the price of crude. Oil prices are already trading at six month highs but analysts said they are expected to rise on Monday after Iran sent a swarm of missiles and drones to Israel on Saturday night. - Telegraph

Oil and gas companies will have to pay more to drill on public lands and satisfy stronger requirements to clean up old or abandoned wells, according to a final rule issued on Friday by the Biden administration. The interior department’s rule raises royalty rates for oil drilling by one-third, to 16.67%, in accordance with the sweeping 2002 climate law approved by Congress. - Guardian

Tax havens are making “glacially slow” progress in implementing transparency measures designed to tackle economic crime, according to a new report. UK overseas territories and crown dependencies had been expected to create public registers of beneficial owners of companies by 2023, but Gibraltar is the only jurisdiction to have one that is fully operational and open to the public. Research by the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition and Tax Justice UK campaign groups found that the majority remained “some way off” implementing a public register. - The Times

More than 40 Planet Fitness locations across the country have received bomb threats after a conservative movement against the gym’s trans-inclusive locker room policy went viral online. In the weeks since the backlash against the gym chain started in March, at least 43 locations in Connecticut, Florida, Alabama and other states have received bomb threats, according to progressive media watchdog group Media Matters. - Guardian