The Trump administration has successfully tracked down the ayatollah’s “money man,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed to FOX Business on Tuesday, detailing plans to publicly expose more than $100 million in properties linked to Iran’s supreme leader around the world.

“We have found the money man for the ayatollah. We are tracking the ayatollah’s properties around the world,” Bessent told “Mornings With Maria.”

“We hope to soon be able to print his $100 million-plus properties and show the addresses, and we’re preserving this money for the American people.”

MAJOR DISPUTE TO THREATEN TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL OVER BILLIONS IN FROZEN TEHRAN FUNDS: EXPERT

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrives to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on June 4 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Trump Treasury chief said the effort is part of the administration’s broader “Economic Fury” campaign against Iran, a “one-two punch” combined with the military “Epic Fury” campaign that rattled the region.

“Economic Fury,” he said, aims to dismantle the regime’s financial network by tracking overseas assets, freezing accounts and ratcheting up economic pressure following recent military operations.

Bessent said officials are pursuing Iranian assets across the globe while working to choke off the regime’s access to funding, arguing the pressure campaign has already helped drive Iran’s currency to record lows against the U.S. dollar and fueled soaring inflation inside the country.

TRUMP’S 60-DAY IRAN DEAL REACHES HALFWAY MARK AS CEASEFIRE COLLAPSES INTO ESCALATING WAR

An Iranian flag amid rubble and debris in Tehran. (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images)

“[Their currency] is at an all-time low versus the dollar. It’s in freefall, and we think the inflation rate is upwards of 180% in Iran,” he said.

“So, the government is causing the people to suffer, and we’re going to keep pressing, but we’re also going to marshal the resources and save the resources that we recover for the Iranian people when we get on the other side of this.”

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Bessent added that Treasury is also targeting Iran’s oil revenues, pointing to sanctions on Chinese “teapot” refineries and what he described as a roughly 40% decline in China’s purchases of Iranian crude in recent months, which he said has intensified financial pressure on the regime.

Around 75% of the world’s population is online and – in many ways – this makes all our lives better. But faced with a barrage of ads, misinformation, AI slop, toxicity and doom-scrolling, it can feel like the internet is kind of… broken.

What happened? And where are we headed next?

Featuring interviews with: Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Hatelab director Matthew Williams, author and activist Cory Doctorow and author and co-founder of Logging Off Club Adele Zeynep Walton. Big thanks to students at the University of Cardiff.

Film by Daniel Nils Roberts

💡Watch more videos at BBC Ideas

Lindt has partially U-turned on its decision to hike prices after Easter chocolate sales dropped.

The Swiss chocolate maker said a “necessary groupwide” price surge of 11.8% was one of the reasons revenue shrank in the first half of this year, particularly in the UK, Germany, and Switzerland.

It also blamed weaker Easter demand and a drop in tourism from Asia and the Middle East “due to geopolitical uncertainties”. In response, it said it has adjusted prices and boosted marketing in certain regions for the second half of the year.

Around Easter, Lindt is known for its chocolate rabbits wrapped in gold-coloured foil and decorated with a red ribbon and bell on their necks.

Overall, the company’s sales dipped 0.9%, with European sales down by 2.1%. It added that “performance was impacted by more price-sensitive and mature markets such as Germany, Switzerland and the UK”.

By volume, meaning the amount of chocolate sold rather than the money it made, overall sales sank 7.5%. Pre-tax profit fell 1.5%.

Meanwhile, sales of Lindt chocolate in airports decreased “due to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, and therefore declining passenger traffic”.

Lindt said its sales picked up in North America, Australia, China, and Japan, though these countries account for a much smaller slice of its sales than Europe, where it makes over half its revenue.

Lindt chief executive Adalbert Lechner said: “The actions we have initiated focus on volume recovery in the second half of 2026 and lay the foundation to regain volume growth momentum in 2027.”

Lindt is not the only chocolate firm which has been putting prices up.

Experts say climate change has led to extreme rainfall and droughts which have decreased cocoa farmers’ crops.

This pushes up costs of making chocolate, and companies have chosen different ways to react to this, with some reducing chocolate content or sizes rather than raising prices.

According to the latest official data, the annual rate of chocolate and sweet price rises is 7.9%, external – much higher than the general rate of UK inflation at 2.8%, external.

‘The next chapter of devolution must be about a new relationship between national government and Northern leaders’

The Great North has urged new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s Government to build a new partnership with Northern leaders which places devolution at the centre of national renewal.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, Northern mayors and leaders came together to call for a devolution-first approach that gives Northern leaders the powers, investment and freedoms needed to drive growth, strengthen communities and deliver greater prosperity across the country.

They argue that devolution has already transformed local leadership across the North. However, they say that a more fundamental shift in the relationship between central government and England’s largest economic region must now be established.

Mr Burnham, a founding member of The Great North when Mayor of Greater Manchester, has made devolution the focal part of his agenda for Government, including establishing a ‘Number 10 North’ to rebalance power and prosperity across the country.

The Great North says the North should be recognised as a strategic partner in the governance of the UK, alongside the devolved nations, with a stronger collective voice in national decision-making that reflects its scale, economic weight and democratic leadership.

Chair of The Great North and North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said: “The North is mighty. We power Britain’s industries, produce world-leading innovation, create culture that is recognised around the world and are home to millions of talented people with huge ambition.

“Andy Burnham knows the North and the massive potential at our disposal. He helped shape The Great North and, as Mayor, consistently argued that Westminster had to trust places like ours with more power and responsibility. Now he has the opportunity to turn those arguments into lasting change – working us to create a more prosperous future for the North of England and the United Kingdom.

“The next chapter of devolution must be about a new relationship between national Government and Northern leaders, recognised as a strategic partner in the governance of the UK, alongside the devolved nations.”

Meanwhile, the leader of the Greater Manchester business membership group has called upon new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to help unlock business investment. Emma Holt, CEO of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, penned an open letter to the new PM, congratulating him on his new role while setting out the main business issues that concern its members.

The Chamber, which has around 3,500 members and a further reach of 37,000 businesses, stressed how cities and city regions are vital in the UK’s growth story and that its data “can provide the regional pulse of business, demonstrating business challenges as reported by the businesses themselves, with suggestions on what will work on the ground as solutions for business”.

In the letter, Ms Holt says: “Since 2017, in Greater Manchester, we have enjoyed stability of leadership, delivery of policy, and strong engagement with local government which we’re sure will continue. Nationally, we look forward to seeing clearer, longer-term policy, to greater investment and focus on the North of England, and to the devolution model, proven in Greater Manchester, developed across more Mayoral authorities.

“What the country needs now is the excitement, optimism and economic growth you delivered for Greater Manchester. We encourage policy certainty for businesses, this will help unlock business investment and showcase Britain as not just open for business but the best destination for investment and job creation.

“We look forward to continuing our relationship and would welcome the opportunity to meet in the coming weeks to discuss how we can support your government’s priorities for Greater Manchester and the North. We also work closely with our Chamber network and would be happy to coordinate a regional CEOs roundtable or similar to give you a direct channel.”

Network costs are projected to increase further by 2030, adding another £48 to a typical bill, according to calculations by energy analyst Ben James.

However the government and some energy groups also argue that reducing our national reliance on volatile international gas prices via the government’s 2030 clean power policy will keep down the UK’s wholesale electricity costs and mean household bills will be lower than they would otherwise have been.

This would be by reducing the amount of time in each year that gas sets the wholesale electricity price.

A great deal though depends on future wholesale gas prices which are impossible to accurately forecast.

Some analysts, including the government’s Climate Change Committee, also say the government should go further to remove policy costs from household electricity bills and meet them through general taxation instead, in order to avoid discouraging people from using electricity rather than gas to heat their homes.

“The way you allocate those costs matters,” says Mayo.

“They may be being put on bills or they may be being paid by consumers in other ways that are less visible, such as taxes.”

Anant Raj Limited currently operates 28 MW of IT load across its campuses in Manesar and Panchkula and is expanding its data center footprint across Haryana. It aims to achieve a total capacity of 307 MW by FY32 across Manesar, Panchkula and Rai, supported by a planned capital expenditure of approximately USD 2.1 billion.

The restructuring is aimed at creating two focused businesses one in real estate and infrastructure and the other in digital infrastructure.

The restructuring has been approved by a Composite Scheme of Arrangement by its Board of Directors. The Composite Scheme, approved under Sections 230 to 232 of the Companies Act, 2013, will create two focused listed companies.

Ashok Cloud Pvt Limited will emerge as a dedicated digital infrastructure and cloud services company, providing advanced data centres, co-location services, sovereign public cloud offerings, Artificial Intelligence (AI) ready cloud infrastructure, DC & DR services including cloud migration, data backup solutions and other allied services.

Live Events

As an independent listed entity, the Company will be well positioned to capitalize on the rapidly growing demand for digital infrastructure and cloud services in India.
“Our real estate, infrastructure business and Data Centre & Cloud Services Business have evolved into two distinct platforms, each with its own growth trajectory, operational priorities, and capital needs. As both businesses enter their next phase of expansion, the proposed composite scheme is designed to provide greater strategic focus, management autonomy, and flexibility to pursue long-term value creation,” said Amit Sarin, Managing Director, Anant Raj Ltd.The proposed demerger is also expected to facilitate independent market recognition of the Data Centre Business while enabling eligible Anant Raj Ltd shareholders to participate directly in its future growth and value creation.

“By bringing together the data centre and cloud services operations currently housed across Anant Raj Ltd and Anant Raj Cloud Pvt Ltd under one roof, we are creating a more focused and scalable platform that will be well-positioned to attract investments, pursue strategic partnerships, and capitalize on emerging opportunities in the digital infrastructure sector,” Sarin said.

Upon the scheme becoming effective, eligible shareholders of Anant Raj Limited will receive one fully paid-up equity share of face value of Rs 2 each in Ashok Cloud Private Limited for every one fully paid-up equity share of face value of Rs 2 each held in Anant Raj Limited.

The scheme will not result in the cancellation of Anant Raj Limited’s existing shareholding in Ashok Cloud Private Limited, and ACPL will continue to remain a subsidiary of Anant Raj Limited.

The proposed scheme is subject to receipt of all necessary statutory, regulatory and judicial approvals, including approvals from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), SEBI, the stock exchanges, shareholders, creditors and other applicable authorities, as required.

The group remains on track to achieve an installed IT load capacity of around 117 MW by FY28 across its strategic data center locations. In June 2024, AnantRaj also partnered with Orange Business, the French IT and telecom services provider, to deliver managed cloud services in India, further strengthening its integrated digital infrastructure offerings.