An autistic man who was told he could no longer stack shelves at Waitrose when he asked to be paid has been offered a job by Asda.

Tom Boyd, 28, began volunteering unpaid at the branch of Waitrose in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, in 2021, supported by a care worker, to develop skills for the workplace on a further education course he was taking.

The work gave him a sense of “purpose and belonging”, his mother, Frances Boyd, told the BBC.

When she asked in July if he could be paid for a few hours every week, however, the supermarket’s head office told him he had to stop and could not return to the shop.

Ms Boyd said they felt “deeply let down” by the decision as he had taken great pride in his work, which included putting out stock and tidying the shelves.

“If I went in and saw him, he was smiling, and it gave him independence, a sense of purpose and belonging,” she said.

“He gave over 600 hours of his time purely because he wanted to belong, contribute, and make a difference…

“He deserved better. He deserved kindness, respect and the chance for all his hard work to mean something.”

Mr Boyd has now been offered two paid five-hour shifts each week by Asda.

“It’s overwhelming and they are flexible to say if at any time he is struggling they are fine,” his mother said.

“How amazing that a company could do this.”

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Welcoming the news on X, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said he hoped it would lead to more employers accepting a neurodivergent code of best practice he has launched.

An Asda spokesperson said that when the store heard about Mr Boyd’s desire to find meaningful work they knew he would be a “fantastic fit” and were delighted to offer him a role.

“We know that finding meaningful work can be especially challenging for individuals with learning disabilities or difficulties,” they said.

“Asda has a Supported Internship Programme and partnership with DFN Project SEARCH, through which we have welcomed over 30 talented new colleagues into roles across our stores. We have seen the positive impact this has for the individuals who join and for our colleagues and customers too.”

A Waitrose spokesperson said they “care deeply” about helping people into the workplace who might not otherwise be given a chance and that the chain is currently investigating what happened to Mr Boyd.

“We’d like to welcome Tom back, in paid employment, and are seeking support from his family and the charity to do so. We hope to see him back with us very soon,” they added.

US sanctions against Russia’s two largest energy companies, the state-owned Rosneft and privately held Lukoil, are perhaps the most significant economic measures imposed by the West since the invasion of Ukraine.

If fully implemented, they have the potential to significantly choke off the flow of fossil fuel revenue that funds Russia’s war machine, but their power lies not in directly denying Russia access to the tankers, ports and refineries that make the oil trade turn, but the US financial system that greases the wheels.

Ever since the invasion, the Russian government has proved masterful at evading sanctions, aided and abetted by allies of economic convenience and an oil industry with decades of experience.

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While the West, principally the EU, has largely turned off the taps and stopped buying Russian oil, China, India and Turkey became the largest consumers, with a shadow fleet of tankers ensuring exports continued to flow.

Data from the Centre for Research into Energy and Clean Air (CREA) shows that while fossil fuel revenues have fallen from more than €1bn a day before the war, they have remained above €600m since the start of 2023, only dipping towards €500m in the last month.

None of that oil has been heading for the US, but these sanctions will directly impact the ability of the Russian companies, and anyone doing business with them, to operate within America’s financial orbit.

According to the order from the US Office for Foreign Asset Control, the sanctions block all assets of the two companies, their subsidiaries and a number of named individuals, as well as preventing US citizens or financial institutions from doing business with them.

It also threatens foreign financial institutions that “facilitate transactions… involving Russia’s military-industrial base” with direct or secondary sanctions.

In practice, the measures should prevent the two companies from accessing not just dollars, but trading markets, insurance and other services with any financial connection to the US.

Taken in harness with similar steps announced by the UK earlier this month, analysts believe they can have a genuinely chilling effect on the market for Russian oil and gas.

Russia’s customers for oil in China, India and Turkey will also be affected, with the largest companies, state-owned and private, expected to be unwilling to take the risk of engaging directly with sanctioned entities.

Indian companies are already reported to be “recalibrating” their imports following the announcement, which came just a week after Donald Trump announced an additional 25% import tariff on Indian goods as punishment for the country’s reliance on Russian oil.

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That does not mean that Russian oil and gas exports will cease. There are other unsanctioned Russian energy companies that can still trade, and ever since the first barrel of oil was tapped, the industry has proved adept at evading sanctions intended to interrupt its flow from one country or another.

Any significant increase in the oil price beyond the 5% seen in the aftermath of the announcement could also put pressure on the White House, which is at least as sensitive to fuel prices at home as it is to foreign wars.

But analysts Kpler expect the sanctions to cause “an immediate, short-term hiatus in Russian crude exports, as it will take time for sellers to reorganise and rebuild their trading systems to circumvent restrictions and ease buyers’ concerns”.

And Russian gas will, for now, continue to flow into Europe, where distaste for Vladimir Putin‘s imperial ambitions has not killed the appetite for his fuel. While the EU has this week imposed sanctions on liquified natural gas (LNG), they will not be fully enforced until 2027.

Elon Musk has called major investor advice firms opposing his $1trn pay package “corporate terrorists”.

Mr Musk, the world’s richest man, is continuing to lobby for the pay award from his electric vehicle company, Tesla.

He defended the sum during a Tesla earnings call on Wednesday, and criticised opponents – in particular two firms that help large investors decide how to vote at shareholder meetings.

The billionaire took aim at Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis after the firms recommended shareholders vote against approving his new pay plan.

Mr Musk said ISS and Glass Lewis “have no freaking clue” and described them as “corporate terrorists”.

Explaining his desire for more control of the company, of which he is chief executive, he said: “I just think that there needs to be enough voting control to give a strong influence, but not so much that I can’t be fired if I go insane.”

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Next month, Tesla investors will vote on a proposal that would give Mr Musk a greater say in the company, which he founded.

Shareholders will vote on whether to increase Mr Musk’s ownership of the business from 13% to nearly 29% if the company sells 12 million vehicles, produces one million humanoid robots, and launches one million robotaxis under his tenure.

Under the proposal, he would receive no salary or bonus but instalments of company shares for hitting the ambitious targets also around increasing Tesla’s market share, revenue and company value.

It is part of an effort by Tesla to ensure Mr Musk’s attention is kept on his work for the business after his heavy involvement with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

It comes as Tesla reported record car sales as people rushed to buy an electric vehicle (EV) before a US subsidy came to an end.

Despite the highest-ever quarterly sales, Tesla’s share price sank 4% as it missed profit targets for the fourth three-month period in a row.

Tariff and research costs and a loss of US government financial support weighed on the firm.

Also potentially of concern for investors is the fact the company issued no production forecasts.

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Tesla shares have fallen drastically in the first four months of the year, dropping as much as 39% in March, as Wall Street reassessed the company’s value.

But the focus on artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and self-driving tech has helped fuel investor enthusiasm. Tesla’s up 9% so far this year.