“Estate agents are having to employ fewer people because they can’t afford them alongside their fees to Rightmove,” said Newman, who is also a former Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) panel member. “As a result, their services can’t be as effective.”

A new investigation by Congress detailed how China is buying sanctioned oil from rogue regimes around the world at a discount.

The House Select Committee on China released its report on how China is evading sanctions to purchase tens of millions of barrels of oil from countries like Iran, Russia and Venezuela that are the subject of U.S. sanctions, using a “shadow fleet” of tankers to transport sanctioned oil.

It found that sanctioned oil accounted for one-fifth of China’s total oil imports after the country became the buyer of last resort for those rogue regimes, which allowed it to stockpile a large strategic reserve of oil while buying at below market rates.

CHINA-RUSSIA’S COOPERATION HANDS THE US A ‘GRIEVOUS LOSS’ AS IRAN CONFLICT ESCALATES, EXPERT WARNS

Selling oil is a key component of the economies of Iran, Russia and Venezuela, and the report noted that energy exports yielded roughly $120 billion in revenue for Russia in 2024, about 30% of its total revenue.

Iran’s oil revenue is projected at more than $50 billion in 2025, which represents about 35% of its budget. Similarly, crude oil sales were Venezuela’s main source of hard currency.

China has been a key consumer of sanctioned oil from countries like Iran, Russia and Venezuela. (Reuters)

“From this sanctioned crude, China assembled a massive strategic petroleum reserve – roughly 1.2 billion barrels by early 2026, equal to approximately 109 days of seaborne import cover – at well below market cost from the very barrels Western sanctions were designed to strand,” the committee wrote.

The select committee said China relies on foreign suppliers for about 70% of its oil, much of which is delivered by sea routes that could be blockaded by U.S. and allied naval forces during a crisis, such as one stemming from a Taiwan contingency. That vulnerability prompted Chinese leaders to declare energy security an “urgent requirement in great-power competition” and build its massive reserve.

The report detailed how China uses a shadow fleet of tankers, which are generally older tankers that operate through opaque ownership structures under foreign flags with non-Western insurance that allow them to avoid complying with Western maritime laws. 

MULTIPLE CHINESE VESSELS RETREAT AT STRAIT OF HORMUZ AFTER IRAN WARNINGS IN RARE ALLY MOVE

China has built a substantial oil reserve in part through shipments conveyed by shadow fleet tankers. (Stefan Sauer/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The panel cited data from commodity data and analytics firm Kpler, which tracks vessel movements and trade patterns using satellite imagery, that found shadow fleet and sanctioned tankers moved about 10.3 million barrels of crude oil per day last year, with about one-third going to China. 

Additionally, it moved 2.2 million barrels per day of heavy refined products like fuel oil and crude residuals, with China receiving about 10.3%; while China also received about 45.8% of the shadow fleet’s chemical and biological cargo.

“China is the buyer of oil from desperate, rogue regimes through illicit, hard-to-track channels involving shell companies, Chinese refineries and a shadow fleet of oil tankers,” said Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich. 

“This investigation brings to light key information on how the Chinese Communist Party keeps the economies of Iran and Russia afloat while fueling its own authoritarian agenda.”

US WEIGHS ASKING CHINA TO CURB RUSSIAN, IRANIAN OIL PURCHASES

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have deepened the relationship between the two countries, with the energy trade a key component of their partnership. (Contributor/Getty Images)

China’s oil sources have been under pressure after U.S. action to detain Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and enforcement activities targeting Venezuelan oil, as well as the war in Iran, which has slowed the flow of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. 

Before the war, China imported 3.4 million barrels per day of oil from Gulf producers via the Strait. While Iran’s shadow fleet continues to make deliveries at near pre-war levels, shipments from other countries in the region have slowed to a halt, prompting China to ban fuel exports and raise retail prices to mitigate the impact of the oil disruption.

The committee’s investigation led to several policy recommendations for lawmakers to consider as they look to counter the flow of sanctioned oil that benefits rogue regimes.

Those suggestions include authorizing sanctions on ports, terminal operators and similar businesses that receive cargo transported by shadow fleet vessels and establishing a whistleblower reward program for reporting sanctions evasion – particularly in transshipment hubs like Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Dubai.

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They also include having financial regulators probe potential commodity market manipulation and transactions by entities involved in systematically purchasing and routing steeply discounted Russian crude by foreign refiners.

The panel also called for creating a contingency framework with major oil producers like Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq to expand supply because sustained lower prices would reduce the discount available on sanctioned crude oil from Iran and Russia.

Apple is scrapping its high-end Mac Pro desktop after two decades, signaling a shift in how the tech giant targets professional users, according to reports. 

The company has quietly removed the Mac Pro from its website, according to Bloomberg and 9to5Mac, marking the end of a product line that once served as a “halo” device for video editors and developers. The machine, known for its modularity and “cheese grater” design, carried a starting price of $6,999.

The move underscores Apple’s pivot toward more scalable devices powered by its proprietary silicon. By streamlining its lineup, Apple is prioritizing higher-margin, integrated hardware like the Mac Studio – a compact desktop that offers comparable performance to the Mac Pro at a significantly lower entry cost.

SONY TO RAISE PLAYSTATION 5 PRICES AMID SURGE IN MEMORY CHIP COSTS

A customer looks at a Mac Pro workstation at Apple’s flagship store on Nanjing Road in Shanghai, China, June 2, 2021.  (Costfoto/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

The decision comes as Apple marks its 50th anniversary, highlighting its evolution from a niche enthusiast hardware maker into a global company built on mass-market, tightly integrated ecosystems.

Apple employees help customers at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store on new product launch day on Sept. 19, 2025 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

APPLE CO-FOUNDER STEVE WOZNIAK SAYS HE’S ‘NOT A FAN’ OF AI

Apple has been selling through remaining inventory in retail stores. The company confirmed to 9to5Mac that it has no plans for future updates to the Mac Pro line, effectively ending the era of the internally expandable Apple desktop.

Apple’s new Mac Pro sits on display in the showroom during Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Jose, California on June 3, 2019. (Brittany Hosea-Small /AFP via Getty Images)

APPLE UNVEILS LOWER COST IPHONE 17E, RAISES PRICES ON MACBOOKS

The shift reflects Apple’s broader strategy to consolidate its desktop lineup around fewer, more scalable products aligned with its in-house chip roadmap.

Apple shares are up fractionally in afternoon trade and are down about 6.2% year to date.

FOX Business has reached out to Apple for further comment.

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A shift in the auto market is becoming harder to ignore as consumer demand tilts back toward larger, gas-powered vehicles, even as electric vehicles struggle to maintain momentum.

STELLANTIS TAKES MASSIVE $26B HIT AFTER MOVING AWAY FROM EVS

FOX Business correspondent Jeff Flock joined FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.” to report from the New York Auto Show, where automakers are leaning into SUVs and trucks amid changing buyer preferences.

Recent sales data underscores that pivot. Midsize SUVs and trucks are seeing notable gains, while smaller cars and electric vehicles are losing ground, highlighting a widening gap between industry ambitions and what consumers are actually buying.

According to Cox Automotive and Kelley Blue Book, midsize SUV sales are up 15%, midsize truck sales are up 14%, while compact car sales are down 8% and EVs are down 26% in February compared to the same time last year. EV momentum has become increasingly uneven. Electric vehicles reached 10.5% of U.S. new-vehicle sales in the third quarter of 2025 but fell to 5.8% in the fourth quarter as incentives faded, highlighting a sharp pullback after earlier gains.

HONDA CANCELS 3 PLANNED EV MODELS FOR US

Nissan Americas Chairman Christian Meunier pointed to another pressure shaping the market: tariffs. Automakers and suppliers have absorbed billions of dollars in added costs, limiting their ability to pass those expenses on to buyers.

A vehicle frame moves down the assembly line at the Nissan Motor Co. manufacturing facility in Tennessee. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg / Getty Images)

“It’s a lot of money, but it’s a lot less than the exposure we had a year ago when it was implemented,” Meunier said.

AMERICANS ARE PUMPING THE BRAKES ON ELECTRIC VEHICLE ADOPTION: ‘AFFORDABILITY IS A BIG ISSUE’

He added that the company has worked to reduce that burden while increasing domestic production.

“At the very beginning, we had an exposure of $4 billion. We took it down to $1.5 billion in 25, and we’re going to get it down to zero. That’s our mission to build as many cars in the U.S. as we can,” Meunier said.

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