Business secretary announces new steel safeguards' during visit to Tata's Port Talbot plantThe UK is to double tariffs on Chinese and other foreign steel in a bid to save its remaining plants from collapse.The new steel safeguards" came weeks after bosses at Tata Steel in south Wales warned the government they had just two months to be saved. Continue reading...

CenTax warns bill under debate in parliament has easily exploitable' loopholes and will not prevent foreign interferencePolitical donations by companies should be banned to protect UK elections from foreign interference, a thinktank has warned.In the first big overhaul of election funding in 26 years, ministers have pledged to keep British democracy safe" by closing a loophole that allows individuals not eligible to vote in Britain to donate to political parties through UK-registered companies. Continue reading...

Five-day cessation announced as mass funeral held for some of hundreds of victims of airstrike on rehab centrePakistan has announced a five-day pause in strikes against neighbouring Afghanistan, as a mass funeral was held for some of the hundreds of victims killed in Monday's attack on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul.The Afghan Taliban government has said more than 400 people were killed in and 265 others wounded in that attack, which took place as people and staff at the centre were praying days before the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Continue reading...

Nick Timothy said an event attended by the mayor of London that included prayers was an act of domination'Polanski says the government should be doing more to improve home insulation, and on the drive towards renewable energy.And he says the government should commit to ensuring energy bills do not rise above the April-June price cap.The government should guarantee right now that it will not allow energy bills to rise beyond the April-June price cap - instead setting aside approximately 8.4bn to prevent a rise of up to 300 per household that could be coming down the track.No, it's not cheap. But the alternative is unacceptable: if the price cap rises, we will see interest rate rises. Mortgage rates up. Bond yields up. And inflation up - and we will be back into the doom loop that has done untold damage to our economy and caused misery for households across the UK for years now.There are ways to pay. Instead of scrapping the windfall tax on energy companies, as this government is planning to do, we should be strengthening it instead. We need a real, loophole-free windfall tax with no exemptions for reinvesting in fossil fuels. A robust tax that claws back every single pound of reckless profiteering from this crisis and repurposes it immediately to protect every home in the country. And while taxing extreme wealth in the ways we need to will take time to implement, there are levers the government could pull right now - like equalising capital gains tax with income tax and reforming the base, to raise 12bn.It's time for the government to act decisively, eliminate the uncertainty that is plaguing people and the markets and insulate us from some of the worst economic effects of Trump's war.This was not a war of self-defence, there was no imminent threat. Negotiations were ongoing. It was, as the BBC's international editor said, a war of choice.People across the Middle East are terrified of what Trump and Netanyanhu's war will mean for them and their loved ones. And the repercussions are echoing across the world as instability spreads and oil prices spike.People are already struggling so hard just to make ends meet. People feel like they're running every day just to stay in the same place. The idea that yet again - for the second time in just a few years - that we are going to have to deal with another enormous spike in the cost of the basics is unacceptable.It's unacceptable because we didn't need to be here. It's unforgivable that just four years after we last saw an energy price shock, that one triggered by Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, far too little has been done to protect this country, its people, and its economy - from the impact of yet another energy price shock. Continue reading...

As Deep As the Grave, the true story of 1920s archeologists, will bring late actor back with support from his estateVal Kilmer is set to be the latest Hollywood star to be resurrected by AI. The acting legend, who died last year at age 65, will star in the drama As Deep As the Grave.Kilmer was attached to the project prior to his death from throat cancer. Continue reading...

Reform UK leader was paid to make remarks about imprisoned rapper and ex-Honduran president in Cameo videos

Offer to reform taxes, tackle rip-off Britain' and overhaul fiscal rules could tempt exasperated Labour supporters

The bloc's foremost troublemaker could lose April's election, but the headaches he's caused will not necessarily disappear with him Don't get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereHow do you solve a problem like Viktor Orban? By crossing your fingers and hoping it disappears in just over three weeks' time. But even if the European Union's disruptor-in-chief is ousted in elections next month (which is far from certain), Europe's Hungary problem is unlikely to vanish overnight.EU leaders will gather in Brussels on Thursday and Friday for yet another summit that will be at least partly hijacked by Orban, Hungary's illiberal prime minister. Continue reading...

Records shed light on how Scott Brown - then Trump's New Zealand ambassador, now running for Senate - responded to Kennedy's 2019 Samoa trip ahead of measles outbreakWhen Robert F Kennedy Jr ran for president as a Democrat in 2023, he found an unexpected ally in Scott Brown. A former Republican senator, Brown had begun a tradition of hosting Republican presidential candidates for barbecues in his New Hampshire back yard, where they could stump for votes and get attention ahead of the state's crucial primary.Kennedy became Brown's first Democratic invitee. His appearance in September 2023 drew hundreds of people, Brown's biggest crowd ever. Kennedy held Brown in such high regard that after he decided to run instead as an independent, he reportedly reached out to Brown as a possible vice-presidential running mate, though Brown declined. Continue reading...

Pardoned by Trump after violating US banking law, Ben Delo provides funding, networking, and podcasting space for a range of groups, including those with hardline views on migration and abortionA British billionaire convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate money-laundering controls on his cryptocurrency business is funding a political base in the heart of Westminster used by anti-woke" and rightwing activists.Ben Delo, 42, who was pardoned by Donald Trump last year, has given support in kind to Rupert Lowe, the anti-migration MP challenging Nigel Farage from the right - while also connecting with mainstream figures including the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and former cabinet minister Michael Gove. Continue reading...

Ottawa wants to modernize a region in the north that's about six times the size of Texas, just like in the 1800s'Picture an Arctic territory, marginalized by its own country, almost entirely lacking roads, ports and power sources, but rich in mining potential and suddenly feeling vulnerable to outside threats.It's not Greenland; it's the Canadian Arctic. Continue reading...

Sociology faculty are refusing to alter syllabi, even as state targets how race, gender and inequality are taught

Thousands of students to be offered vaccines in response to quickest-growing outbreak experts have seenThe number of meningitis infections linked to Kent continues to grow, with five confirmed new cases on Wednesday, in what experts have described as the quickest-growing outbreak of the disease they have seen.The UK Health Security Agency said that as of 5pm on Tuesday there were 20 cases of invasive meningococcal disease, up from 15. Nine have been confirmed in the laboratory, while a further 11 are under investigation. Six are confirmed to be the meningitis B strain, also known as MenB, which is the most common form of invasive meningococcal disease. Continue reading...

Prime minister Jonas Gahr Store says connections have been proved between those in trusted and central positions' and late sex offenderThe Norwegian parliament has voted unanimously to appoint an independent investigative commission to look into connections between its foreign office and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Speaking before the vote on Tuesday, the prime minister, Jonas Gahr Store, paid tribute to Epstein's victims and said that the files released by the US Department of Justice had clearly shown it is possible to buy and abuse influence if you are rich enough". Continue reading...

Chancellor says Brexit may have cost 8% of UK GDP in wide-ranging Mais lecture at Bayes Business School in London which also called for AI pushThe number of people in England and Wales falling into insolvency has jumped.There were 11,609 individual insolvencies registered in England and Wales in February, the Insolvency Service has reported this morning. This was 18% higher than in February 2025 and 6% higher than in January 2026.The individual insolvencies consisted of 768 bankruptcies, 4,210 debt relief orders (DROs) and 6,631 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs). The number of DROs in February 2026 was a record high in the monthly time series going back to their introduction in 2009, exceeding the previous high of 4,185 in August 2025.The number of IVAs was higher than both January 2026 and the 2025 monthly average. Bankruptcies were 25% higher than in February 2025, although numbers were affected by the clearing of a backlog following the Insolvency Service moving to a new case management system.Average 2-year fix has risen from 4.83% at the start of March to 5.28% today. It's highest since April 2025.Average 5-year fix has risen from 4.95% at the start of March to 5.32% today. It's highest since February 2025.War in the Middle East has added almost 800 to a typical annual mortgage bill in just two weeks, which will be unwelcome news for anyone currently seeking a fixed rate deal.The average two-year fixed rate has jumped from 4.83% at the start of March to 5.28% today - its highest level since April 2025. The average five-year fix has risen from 4.95% to 5.32%, now at its highest since February 2025. For a borrower with a 250,000 mortgage over 25 years, that equates to paying 788 more per year on a two-year fix, or 651 more on a five-year deal compared to just a fortnight ago. Continue reading...

Kalshi calls Arizona's case paper-thin' and says the platform should not be overseen by inconsistent state laws'

Pakistani strike on Afghan capital kills 400 people, who burned in their beds or were crushed by collapsing wallsWitnesses and survivors have described the horrific scenes of a Pakistani air raid that hit a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, killing more than 400 people, who burned in their beds or were crushed by the collapsing building.Afghan rescue crews were still digging bodies out of the rubble on Tuesday after the strike, the deadliest single attack so far in a three-week war between the two countries. Continue reading...

Refund systems for individual train operators to be merged into single service under nationalised rail bodyRail passengers will be able to claim compensation for delayed trains directly from the website where they bought their ticket, the government has said, as part of a shake-up to make rail travel simpler.Passengers who use third-party retailers such as Trainline to buy tickets currently, have to submit applications for refunds to the relevant train operator for processing. Continue reading...

David Pocock's comments come as new photos show scale of damage and government official says its quite possible' bodies disturbed

Exclusive: Racial discrimination alleged after police withdrew indecent act charge a year after officer was recorded talking about fucking Indians'

Brand enlists JW Anderson to help brew up 17-piece range of luxury fashionwear, from beer towel' shorts to branded trousers and topsYou too can look like a pub carpet - and for the bargain price of 1,295. Such sartorial elegance - perhaps an option for anyone stepping out to celebrate St Patrick's Day this week - is the aesthetic love-child of a partnership between Guinness and the luxury clothing brand JW Anderson.The tie-up, launched earlier this month, allows fashionistas to get their hands on a range of Guinness wear that exploits the continuing metamorphosis of the black stuff" from unfashionable pub staple to social media status symbol. Continue reading...

Energy secretary says government looking at any options' to get crucial shipping lanes reopened

Accusations were false and primary cause of major meat supplier panicking' and cancelling contract, Victorian judge finds on balance of probabilities

Witness statements by Laimonas Jaktys were clearly prepared by others', insolvency judge rulesA claimant was being fed answers through his smart glasses while giving evidence in the high court in London, a judge has found.Laimonas Jaktys was untruthful in denying his use of the smart glasses" and his witness statements were clearly prepared by others", the insolvency judge Raquel Agnello KC ruled. Continue reading...

Djidji Ayokwe was handed to Ivorian officials in Paris earlier this monthA sacred artefact looted by French colonial authorities more than a century ago has been returned to Cote d'Ivoire in one of the most significant cultural restitutions to a former French colony in years.The Djidji Ayokwe, a talking drum confiscated in 1916 by French administrators, landed at 8.45am on Friday at the airport in Port Bouet on the outskirts of the economic capital, Abidjan. It was handed over to Ivorian officials in Paris earlier this month after being removed from the Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac Museum. Continue reading...

US also sees active few days of severe convective storms, while record breaking heat recorded in parts of South AfricaOn Monday 9 March, severe thunderstorms affected parts of southern France, with several departments including Herault, Var, and the Alpes-Maritimes put under yellow alert for heavy rain.Some of the heaviest rainfall totals came from a cell that passed over the Var department. Examples of high rainfall totals taken from some private weather stations come from the towns of Carqueiranne and Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer, where 104.4mm was recorded in seven and a half hours, and 92.7mm in three hours respectively. However, as these are private weather stations, they may contain measurement errors. Continue reading...

Calls for Alexandra Cpitnescu's Choke Me to be banned as campaigners say lyrics are dangerous' and reckless'Romania's Eurovision entry Choke Me has been labelled dangerous" and reckless" for appearing to glamorise sexual strangulation, an unsafe practice that can lead to brain injury and death.Campaigners against sexual violence said the entry, in which the words choke me" are repeated 30 times during the three-minute song, was playing fast and loose with young women's lives". Continue reading...

Austrian officials took action after airline ignored court order to pay 890 to unnamed womenBailiffs have boarded a Ryanair aircraft after the airline refused to pay compensation to a passenger whose flight was delayed.Austrian officials took action after the airline ignored a court order to pay the unnamed woman 890 (742) in legal costs and compensation for a delayed flight two years ago. Continue reading...

Ministers face accusations of carrying out irresponsible deregulation' as they push through clean energy' proposalsEd Miliband has unveiled plans to cut regulations, costs and bureaucracy by the end of next year to speed up the development of nuclear power generation.The UK government said the changes, to be carried out this year, would deliver a win-win for building critical infrastructure while protecting nature and the environment". Continue reading...

More than 20% of weekend availability lost in England since 2022, forcing some to turn to A&E, says national associationPeople who need to obtain medication at the weekend are having to undertake long trips because more pharmacies are cutting their opening hours on Saturdays and Sundays.One in six pharmacies in England have reduced their hours at weekends since 2022, with some shutting altogether, as a result of unsustainable" pressures on their budgets. Continue reading...

Rudeness, social media posts and AI-generated complaints among issues harming staff wellbeing, union survey findsTeachers are used to outbreaks of rudeness and defiance from their pupils, but are now saying parents are some of the worst offenders and affecting staff mental health, according to a headteachers' union.More than 90% of headteachers and other senior leaders said they had been on the receiving end of challenging behaviour" from parents including rude or disrespectful responses, while 60% have had verbal abuse and threats within the past 12 months, according to the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL). Continue reading...

Blake Miguez, 44, not criminally charged over allegation reported to local police but never disclosed to publicA Louisiana congressional candidate endorsed by Donald Trump was the subject of a 2007 rape accusation that was reported to local law enforcement the same day of the alleged assault - but never disclosed to the public or, reportedly, the president's team as he became one of the rising stars in the state's Republican party.That has raised concerns within the White House that Blake Miguez either wasn't fully vetted or wasn't forthcoming about discoverable documents from his past" before securing Trump's backing, the Atlantic reported on Wednesday, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the endorsement process. Continue reading...

Teenage boy and girl riding ebike were declared dead at scene in Greenbank on Thursday night, Queensland police say

Attack on residential part of M23-controlled city of Goma blamed by rebel group on governmentAt least three people, including a French humanitarian worker for the UN children's agency, were killed in a drone attack in Goma early on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the M23 rebel group has said.The attack happened at about 4am in a residential neighbourhood in the city, which has been under M23 occupation since January 2025. Continue reading...

Danish researchers whose work on effects of vaccines has been called into question are at center of US vaccine policyNew details are leading experts to fear that an unethical" vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau is the prototype" for studies under Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US department of health and human services (HHS) and longtime vaccine critic.At the center of US vaccine policy is an unlikely set of Danish researchers whose work on the health effects of vaccines has been called into question. The study in Guinea-Bissau would have looked at the overall health effects of giving hepatitis B vaccines by only vaccinating half of the newborns in the study at birth despite an 18% prevalence rate in adults of the illness, which can lead to serious and sometimes fatal health consequences. Continue reading...

Leak of memo comes after a third of Labour Senedd members raise alarm devolution is being rolled back

Documents filed at Companies House over 2022 deal could complicate row with UK over how money will be usedJersey authorities may be investigating whether cash raised by Roman Abramovich's 2022 sale of Chelsea FC amounts to the proceeds of crime, according to documents filed at Companies House on Wednesday, potentially complicating a row with the UK government over how the money will be used.Accounts for Fordstam Ltd, the company through which the billionaire Russian oligarch owned Chelsea, show that the proceeds of the sale - currently frozen and gathering interest in a Barclays Bank account - have risen to 2.4bn. Continue reading...

Veoza, also known as fezolinetant, will be offered to women for whom HRT is unsuitableMore than 500,000 women in England are to be offered a drug on the NHS that prevents hot flushes.The green light for Veoza, also known as fezolinetant, comes after the medicines watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, on Wednesday authorised it for use. Continue reading...

Maga world figures throw weight behind Maryam Rajavi, MEK's leader, and Reza Pahlavi, the son of last Shah of IranAs a US battle group steamed to the Gulf in November 2002, competing Iraqi exiles, some championed by American insiders, jockeyed for position in the hopes of taking charge once George W Bush toppled Saddam Hussein. Bloomberg dubbed them Iraq's unruly opposition".The most notorious Iraqi exile, failed former banker Ahmad Chalabi, boasted to his neoconservative allies that his return to Baghdad would be welcomed by cheering throngs. Among his competition was a former doctor named Ayad Allawi, who was backed by Britain's MI6 and the Central Intelligence Agency in his bid for support to rule Iraq. Continue reading...

A different New Orleans judge approved the trip while the actor remains out on bond in Mardi Gras battery caseShia LaBeouf ultimately did get permission to travel to his father's baptism in Rome, days after the New Orleans courthouse handling the actor's recent battery arrest initially denied his request to make the trip.LaBeouf, 39, first sought authorization to travel to the Italian capital while out on bond at a court hearing on 26 February, during which state judge Simone Levine ordered him to enroll in substance abuse treatment. A court filing associated with the request said the trip would last from 1 to 8 March and was planned for religious purposes, including his father's baptism". Continue reading...

Carston Woodhouse, running for Wright in Adelaide's north, also claimed gender transitioning is an illusion'

Alleged offences occurred after pro-Palestinian activists gathered outside state parliament within hours of new laws taking effect

Hegseth follows Trump's suggestion war will soon be over by saying US will not stop until Iran decisively defeated'Tehran residents say the Iranian capital has endured what they described as its worst night of aerial bombardment, as the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, followed Donald Trump's suggestion on Monday the war could soon be over with a warning of more strikes to come.We are under heavy bombardment and I can hear back-to-back explosions. The place they hit has caught fire. It's not clear where it exploded, but the buildings are shaking," Niloufar, who lives in east Tehran said early on Tuesday, speaking under a pseudonym for security reasons. They are destroying Iran," they added, saying there were low-flying jets above. Continue reading...

Man was among at least six people who started shooting outside Union Station in state, which has adopted stand your ground law

Anglian, Southern, Wessex and South East allowed to raise charges more than originally permitted by watchdog

JLP, which runs department store chain and Waitrose, to report its results for year to January on ThursdayWorkers at the John Lewis Partnership are expected to find out this week whether they will receive their first annual bonus payment in four years.The retail group, which runs the John Lewis department store chain and Waitrose supermarket business, will also reveal how it has been progressing with its transformation strategy in an update on Thursday 12 March. Continue reading...

Foreign secretary hits back at former prime minister, saying Britain had to learn the lessons' of Iraq war

Stephen McCullagh also covertly recorded ex-girlfriend's counselling sessions after loss of a baby, jury hearsA man accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend in Northern Ireland beat a previous partner, a court has heard.Stephen McCullagh also covertly recorded the counselling sessions of the woman, just months before he met and allegedly killed Natalie McNally, Belfast crown court was told on Friday. Continue reading...

Three women in their 40s, 50s and 60s interviewed under caution in relation to alleged abuse by late Harrods ownerThree women have been interviewed under caution on suspicion of facilitating one of Britain's worst sexual abuse scandals, involving the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed and his alleged attacks over four decades.Scotland Yard said 154 women may have been raped or sexually assaulted by Fayed, or been subject to human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Continue reading...

Author of more than 30 novels, including Fado Alexandrino and The Inquisitors' Manual, was widely seen as one of the most important voices in modern Portuguese literatureAntonio Lobo Antunes, the Portuguese novelist whose dark, polyphonic fiction confronted the traumas of dictatorship, war and Portuguese society, has died aged 83.Widely regarded as one of the most important Portuguese writers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, he produced more than 30 novels that reshaped Portuguese writing and made him a perennial contender for the Nobel prize for literature. He received numerous honours, including the Camoes prize, the most prestigious award in the Portuguese language, and several major European literary prizes. His death was confirmed by the publisher Dom Quixote. Continue reading...