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National Audit Office highlights benefits of state rescue for jobs and orders but warns of continuing high costThe cost of keeping the UK's last remaining blast furnaces going at British Steel's Scunthorpe plant could exceed 1.5bn by 2028 if it continues at its current rate, according to the government's spending watchdog.Ministers took the plant into public control in April last year, after its Chinese owner - industrial firm Jingye - threatened to shut down the loss-making site. Continue reading...

Bibby Boys photo exhibition documents experiences of the men who lived on the former asylum seeker vessel in Dorset and the local community that rallied around themThe Bibby Stockholm barge, which was moored off Portland, Dorset, to accommodate asylum seekers, attracted many negative headlines - from evacuation after the discovery of legionella bacteria, to the suicide of Albanian asylum seeker Leonard Farruku and angry far-right protests.But an exhibition launching this week reveals a less reported side of life on the barge, where enduring connections between asylum seekers and members of the local community were forged and continue long after the last group of asylum seekers left the vessel in November 2024. Continue reading...

US president says it is only appropriate' for Europe to help, and warns failure to do so would be very bad' for Nato. Plus, meet the Americans withholding their federal income taxGood morning.Donald Trump has ratcheted up the pressure on European allies to help protect the strait of Hormuz, warning that Nato faces a very bad" future if its members fail to come to Washington's aid.What did Trump say? The US president told the Financial Times in an interview: It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there. If there's no response or if it's a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato."Who else won? Here's all the winners at the 98th Academy Awards.Who was remembered this year? This year's Academy Awards featured an extended in memoriam section to honour the considerable number of Hollywood legends who have died over the past year. Diane Keaton, Robert Redford and Rob Reiner were remembered in standalone speeches, while Claudia Cardinale and Catherine O'Hara also had extended moments. James Van Der Beek and Brigitte Bardot were among stars who were snubbed from the tribute. Continue reading...

Advocates say 24/7 coverage of US attacks will not last for ever - and spotlight will return to Epstein and his crimesAs the US woke to news that Donald Trump had bombed Iran, domestic discord was fast simmering.There was unrelenting outrage over ICE raids. There was frustration with the rising cost of living. There was fear over rocketing healthcare prices, mounting household debt, not to mention many Americans' nagging sense of desperation in a country, some warned, where democracy itself was under threat. Continue reading...

Ex-French president, who was jailed last year for criminal conspiracy, to be tried at Paris appeal court on four countsNicolas Sarkozy is due to appear at the Paris court of appeal to face a fresh trial over allegations he conspired to receive illegal election campaign funding from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.The former rightwing French president, who was in office between 2007 and 2012, denies any wrongdoing. Continue reading...

Milan-based bank plans to up its near-30% stake in German lender to trigger formal talks despite strong opposition from BerlinTwo European banking powerhouses have become embroiled in a 35bn (30bn) takeover battle after Italy's UniCredit stepped up its long-running pursuit of German lender Commerzbank, despite strong opposition from the German government.UniCredit first took a stake of 9% in Commerzbank in September 2024 and has since built up its holding to just under 30%. It said on Monday it was pushing to increase that holding further and push the rival lender into formal merger talks. Continue reading...

Activists fear the families of players have been placed under pressure by the Tehran regime to make them change their minds

Poll of students of all faiths and none found almost a quarter had seen Jews targeted for their religion or ethnicityOne in five students would be reluctant to, or would never, houseshare with a Jewish student, according to a survey by the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) that says antisemitism has become normalised" on UK campuses.A UJS poll of 1,000 students of all faiths and none" found almost a quarter (23%) have seen behaviour that targets Jewish students for their religion or ethnicity and nearly half (47%) have witnessed justification of the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Continue reading...

Latest effort involves paying off fines worth hundreds of millions of pounds as part of bid to stave off financial collapse

Pat McFadden says UK relations with US remain strong despite Donald Trump's threats to Nato allies

US president says it is only appropriate' for Europe to help, and warns failure to do so would be very bad' for Nato

US-based Zubeyda Muzeyyen, AKA DJ Haram, claimed a Zio-Australian-Epstein empire' was responsible for silencing dissenters

NRMA says record-high fuel may be here to stay in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane after prices soared early in the Middle East conflict

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Health service in England has saved more than 14bn hiring from overseas, report says, as doubt is cast on aim to reduce international recruitment to 10%Ministers' plans to cut the international workforce within NHS England appear overambitious, MPs have said, as a report reveals the health service saved more than 14bn by recruiting doctors, nurses and midwives from overseas.Many of the countries recruited from were struggling with staff shortages, and the UK had a moral duty to offer support, rather than simply extracting what it needed, the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on global health and security found. Continue reading...

Flawed Home Office travel records identified thousands of parents suspected of claiming while living abroadThe UK's public spending watchdog has launched an investigation into a controversial government anti-fraud scheme that resulted in thousands of families being wrongly stripped of their child benefit payments.The National Audit Office (NAO) will examine how HM Revenue and Customs designed and implemented a scheme that used flawed Home Office travel records to identify parents suspected of living abroad while still claiming child benefit. Continue reading...

Letter sent to Starmer claims small number of peers have been using procedural tactics' to stymie its progressMore than 100 Labour MPs have called on Keir Starmer to stop the House of Lords from blocking the assisted dying bill and give it more time to return to the Commons, with the legislation now certain to fall owing to lack of time.The private member's bill, sponsored by Labour's Kim Leadbeater, will fall when the parliamentary session comes to an end in May because peers have used multiple amendments and lengthy debates to prevent it from being put to a vote. Continue reading...

Average arrears for housing, utilities and council tax for low-income households all rose last yearHigh levels of debt on essential bills have become the new normal" for many low-income households, the charity StepChange said on Monday, with average arrears for housing, utilities and council tax all going up last year.People's budgets have been stretched in recent years as they have faced higher prices for many goods and services, and the crisis in the Middle East has led to concerns over a new wave of increases. Continue reading...

Charities Aid Foundation says giving no longer a deeply embedded cultural norm' amid rising cost of livingBritain is rapidly losing the charity habit, with public donations to good causes plummeting by more than 1.4bn last year and millions of people saying they can no longer afford - or do not want - to give, according to an analysis.The Charities Aid Foundation (Caf) said in its annual report that, while the British remained generous at heart, society was witnessing a big transformation in attitudes towards charitable giving. Just half of people gave to charity in 2025, down from 61% a decade earlier. Continue reading...

US supreme court has ransacked' the country, president argues, in wake of its ruling against his trade agendaDonald Trump has claimed he has the absolute right" to impose new tariffs after the US supreme court ruled many of the import duties he imposed last year were illegal.The president attacked the court in a late night broadside on Sunday, accusing it of having unnecessarily RANSACKED" the US - and failing to show him sufficient loyalty. Continue reading...

NSW police allege child was sitting on lap of 45-year-old man who was experiencing significant fatigue' but was operating pedals while boy steered

As One Battle After Another swept the Academy Awards, Paul Thomas Anderson, Javier Bardem and Conan O'Brien gave a welcome reality check to the glitzy ceremony

Australian Community Media says employee wellbeing' top priority amid shock and deep concern' over 59-year-old's chargesAustralian Community Media will hold a staff meeting on Monday afternoon to share the regional media group's response to the arrest of its part-owner Antony Catalano who is facing charges of assault of a woman.On Sunday the board and executive leadership team of ACM distanced itself from the 59-year-old newspaper mogul, saying they were shocked and deeply concerned" about the charges. Continue reading...

Kiis FM could face cancellation of radio station licence if ban breached, regulator saysAny Kiis FM radio program hosted by Kyle Sandilands and or Jackie O" Henderson must not air strong sexual content for the next five years or ARN Media could face penalties as serious as the cancellation of the radio station's licence.However, the penalty from broadcasting authorities has come two weeks after the Kyle & Jackie O Show was taken off the air and Henderson's contract with ARN was terminated. Continue reading...

Class action settles after retailers argued state government should pay them for economic loss resulting from pandemic lockdownBusinesses affected by one of the world's longest Covid-19 lockdowns will receive $125m from taxpayers after a state government agreed to settle the matter.A class action was brought in the supreme court on behalf of businesses affected financially by Victoria's 2020 lockdowns. Continue reading...

This blog is closedIraq's football team will travel to Mexico for a 2026 World Cup playoff match despite calls for it to be postponed due to the Middle East war, the country's football association has announced.The national team will depart at the end of the week to Mexico via a private plane," said Iraq football association president Adnan Dirjal in a statement, adding they had contacted Fifa to help facilitate the trip during the conflict in the region that has hampered flights. Continue reading...

Primary school teacher Pavel Talankin's record of the indoctrination of his pupils to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine beats contenders

The actor and singer remembered her co-star in 1973's The Way We Were, who died in September

Much-loved actor, who died in October aged 79, remembered in emotional segment at the 98th Academy Awards

Borrowers coming off fixed deals hit hard as Savills says big spike in interest payments made up half the overall riseUK households spent a record 226bn to keep a roof over their heads last year, figures showed on Monday, with mortgage borrowers finishing fixed-rate deals particularly hard hit by rising payments.Overall housing costs have gone up by 66bn over the past five years, a rise of 41%, the property group Savills said. Continue reading...

Rain fell between 1 and 2in hourly in Maui, Molokai and the Big Island while tens of thousands are without powerRain continued falling in Hawaii on Sunday where a strong storm brought flash flooding, blizzard conditions and landslides to the islands as residents reported collapsed roads and one home washing away in rising waters.Flash flooding has been a major problem in recent days in places such as Maui, Molokai and the Big Island, where rain had been falling between 1 and 2in (2.5 and 5cm) an hour overnight, according to the Hawaii emergency management agency. Continue reading...

Having been nominated in 1986, the actor sets a new record for the longest gap between nominations before a win

Students in Canterbury given antibiotics for fast-acting and invasive meningococcal disease, says UKHSATwo people have died and 11 are reportedly seriously ill in hospital after an outbreak of a rare form of invasive meningitis at the University of Kent.The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it had provided antibiotics to students in the Canterbury area after it detected 13 cases of invasive meningococcal disease, a combination of meningitis and septicaemia. Continue reading...

Powerful storm chain to affect 200 million in US as it carries blizzard conditions, damaging winds and thunderstormsWinter's grip has yet to release as an erratic patchwork of severe weather moved across much of the US, dumping heavy snow and making roads impassable in the upper midwest while damaging high winds swept across the Plains.As portions of the mid-south readied for thunderstorms, forecasters said the storms will spread eastward and by Monday threaten a large swath of the eastern US, with mid-Atlantic states and Washington DC at greatest risk for high winds and tornadoes. Continue reading...

Prime minister expected to set out tens of millions of pounds in help for heating oil users as conflict with Iran drives up costsKeir Starmer will on Monday announce tens of millions of pounds' worth of support for Britons hit by a spike in energy prices as a result of the Iran war.The prime minister will lay out the plans during a press conference in Downing Street on Monday, during which he will also take aim at some suppliers of heating oil for price gouging. Continue reading...

Share of 16- to 24-year-old Neets who report a work-limiting condition up 70% in a decade, says thinktankThere has been a sharp rise in the number of jobless young people in the UK citing health problems as the reason they are not working, according to analysis.The share of 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training - known as Neets - who reported a work-limiting condition has surged by 70% in a decade, a charity thinktank found. Continue reading...

Government reluctant to dispatch ships amid concerns complying with Trump's demands could escalate Iran crisisMinisters are drawing up plans to send minesweeping drones to the strait of Hormuz amid concerns in Whitehall that complying with Donald Trump's demand to send ships could escalate the crisis.The government is considering dispatching aerial minesweepers to help clear the vital waterway of mines in an attempt to allow the flow of oil exports to resume. However, officials said that sending ships, as requested over the weekend by the US president, could worsen the situation given the volatile nature of the war. Continue reading...

Far-right and radical left parties likely to increase their local presence in advance of next year's presidential raceThe first-round of the French municipal elections have seen a strong showing for Marine Le Pen's far-right the National Rally (RN), as well as for Jean-Luc Melenchon's radical left, with both parties likely to increase their local presence ahead of next year's French presidential race.The French local elections, which now go to a final round runoff on 22 March, are seen as a crucial test of the political temperature before next year's presidential election. Emmanuel Macron's two terms in office come to an end in spring 2027 and there is uncertainty about who will next lead the EU's second-largest economy. Continue reading...

Patients experiencing raised bedside rails, doors and pathways blocked by furniture and physical interventionsPeople with dementia are being subjected to restraints and non-consensual sedation while in hospitals in England, according to the first study of its kind.These restrictive practices were found to be an embedded aspect of routine ward care", according to the analysis, with such examples including dementia patients having their bedside rails raised, doors and pathways blocked by furniture, experiencing verbal commands to sit down or go back to bed, and physical interventions such as non-consensual sedation. Continue reading...

Author says he doesn't feel symbolic' and hopes to steer narrative to his books after surviving assassination attemptSalman Rushdie said he's tired of being everyone's free speech Barbie" four years after the author survived an assassination attempt that left him blinded in his right eye.It's a subject I'm anxious to change," Rushdie said Friday during a talk with the Atlantic's George Packer at Tulane University's New Orleans book festival. I don't feel symbolic. Continue reading...

Mother, father and brothers aged five and seven shot in the head as they returned from Ramadan shopping tripIsraeli police have killed two young Palestinian brothers and their parents in the occupied West Bank, shooting all four in the head and face as the family returned from a Ramadan shopping trip.Mohammed, five, Othman, seven, who was blind and had special needs, their mother, Waad Bani Odeh, 35, and father, Ali Bani Odeh, 37, were driving through their home town of Tamoun late on Saturday when Israeli forces opened fire. Continue reading...

Senator Ron Johnson pushes back, saying he's not in favor of government meddling in freedom of speechThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair, Brendan Carr, is facing pushback from a Republican lawmaker after warning on Saturday that broadcasters could lose their licenses if they run what the federal agency deems fake news" over the Iran conflict.Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said in an interview on the Sunday Briefing on Fox News that he was not in favor of the government control of private enterprise or efforts to meddle with freedom of speech protected under the constitution. Continue reading...

There is little sign of imminent regime change in Iran as its blockade of strait of Hormuz shocks global economy

Metropolitan police say they are also investigating chants led by Bobby Vylan at pro-Palestine protest next to ThamesTwelve people were arrested as hundreds joined a pro-Palestinian al-Quds Day demonstration on one side of the Thames, while hundreds more gathered on the opposite bank to back Israeli and American attacks on Iran.Al-Quds Day is an international demonstration of support for Palestinian rights. The event takes its name from the Arabic for Jerusalem and was established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after Iran's 1979 revolution. Continue reading...

Nearly month-long funding lapse has disrupted US air travel and caused long wait times amid security officers' absencesThe CEOs of major US airlines urged Congress on Sunday to move quickly to end a 29-day partial government shutdown that has forced 50,000 airport security officers to work without pay, warning it could further disrupt US air travel.Absences by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers had already disrupted travel at some major airports over the previous week, raising alarm as the busy spring break travel season continues. Continue reading...

Tehran wants ceasefire but terms not good enough yet', US president claims, as both sides launch new waves of strikes

I did it for the people,' says Farbod Mehr, of song drawing lyrics from the work of revolutionary 20th-century poet Aref QazviniA stirring song - sung, apparently, by a young woman, with lyrics expressing the hope that sacrifice will lead to a better future - has become a soundtrack for Iranians in the first part of 2026, as the country experienced the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests and then the US-Israeli air assault, now in its third week.However, the singer, called Nava, is a product of artificial intelligence, created by a London-based artist of Iranian origin, Farbod Mehr. Continue reading...

Ministers go to Brussels for talks amid tuition fees standoff, almost 10 years after Britons voted to leave EUThis week is Brexit reset" week for the British government, as ministers engage in a flurry of activity intended to highlight their determination to forge closer ties with Brussels almost 10 years after the country first voted to leave the EU.On Monday, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of negotiating the government's reset with the EU, will arrive in Brussels for a meeting of the joint EU-UK parliamentary partnership assembly. He travels mob-handed, to be joined by the Europe minister, Stephen Doughty, and the trade minister, Chris Bryant. Continue reading...

Afghan government reports zero casualties and accuses neighbouring country of wanting to fuel the fire of war'Pakistan has targeted militant hideouts in Afghanistan's Kandahar province overnight, as the fighting that erupted between the two neighbours late last month showed no signs of abating.The cross-border attacks, which have included Pakistani airstrikes in Kabul, are the deadliest yet between the countries. Islamabad has referred to the conflict as an open war", adding to concerns about regional stability as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran engulfs the Middle East and beyond. Continue reading...

Democrat says Congress doing nothing' may embolden president to attack countries such as Cuba and North KoreaDemocratic US senator Cory Booker has criticized both his own political party as well as its Republican counterpart for being feckless" in ceding congressional war powers to Donald Trump, saying that their decision could embolden the president to unilaterally attack Cuba, North Korea and other countries.I'm going to be one of those Democrats [who] say I think both parties have been feckless in allowing the growth of the power of the presidency," Booker said on Sunday on CNN's State of the Union. Continue reading...