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‘Down to the wire’: inside the UK’s crunch talks with the US as it bids to avoid Trump tariffs
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Ministers seek carve-out from import taxes before 2 April deadline – but critics believe they may have offered too many concessions UK ministers and senior officials at every level are holding talks with US counterparts this weekend in a last-ditch effort to secure a carve-out from swingeing import taxes. Government sources said ministers were raising Donald Trump’s looming tariffs as the “No 1” issue in every conversation with the US. Continue reading...
Chief finance officer of under-fire Thames Water quits £1.3m-a-year role
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Alastair Cochran’s successor to be appointed ‘in due course’ at critical time for cash-strapped company Thames Water’s chief financial officer has quit his £1.3m-a-year job, the cash-strapped water company has announced. Alastair Cochran, who had also recently served as interim chief executive at Thames, will leave his role within days. His departure comes at a critical time for the UK’s largest water company amid close scrutiny of its fragile finances. Continue reading...
Chelsea FC owner in talks over bid for the Daily Telegraph
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Todd Boehly is understood to be talking to David Montgomery, the executive chair of National World The Chelsea FC owner and chair Todd Boehly is in talks over a bid for the Daily Telegraph, in a plan that has seen him team up with the Fleet Street veteran David Montgomery. Boehly is understood to be talking to Montgomery, the executive chair of National World and former boss of the parent of the Mirror, about mounting a bid, in an attempt to bring an end to two years of uncertainty over the newspaper’s fate. Continue reading...
Canadian company in negotiations with Trump to mine seabed
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Environmentalists call bid to skirt UN treaty ‘reckless’ amid fears that mining will cause irreversible loss of biodiversity A Canadian deep-sea mining firm has revealed it has been negotiating with the Trump administration to bypass a UN treaty and potentially gain authorisation from the US to mine in international waters. The revelation has stunned environmentalists, who condemned the move as “reckless” and a “slap in the face for multilateralism”. Continue reading...
Dark Laboratory: groundbreaking book argues climate crisis was sparked by colonisation
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Tao Leigh Goffe argues climate breakdown is the mutant offspring of European scientific racism and colonialism We all think we know what is causing the breakdown of the planet’s climate: burning fossil fuels that release carbon dioxide, change the chemistry of the air and trap more heat from the sun, leading to rising temperatures. But Tao Leigh Goffe, an associate professor of Africana, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at the City University of New York, wants us to visualise a far more specific cause: the shunting of a ship’s prow on to the sandbank of a paradise island in 1492. Continue reading...
Santander eases mortgage rules so it can lend up to £35,000 more
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Bank cuts its stress testing rate for home buyers after FCA urged lenders not to be ‘unduly restricting’ Business live – latest updates One of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders has relaxed its rules and will offer some borrowers up to £35,000 more to fund their home purchases. Santander said it had adjusted the way it calculated affordability, meaning many customers applying for a mortgage would be able to borrow between £10,000 and £35,000 more from Friday. Continue reading...
Ofgem to crack down on energy suppliers that botch smart meter installations
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Millions of devices have been left to go into ‘dumb’ mode, where they stop automatically transmitting readings The energy regulator for Great Britain plans to crack down on suppliers that bungle smart meter installations after millions of the devices have been left to go into “dumb” mode, where they stop automatically transmitting readings. Ofgem said households that request a smart meter should have one fitted within six weeks, and if the installation failed they should automatically receive £40 compensation if it was not fixed within 90 days. Continue reading...
Calvin Klein jeans for free! Branded clothes dumped in the desert snapped up on anti-fast fashion website
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Items taken from a mountain of discarded garments in the Atacama desert were sold for the price of shipping in a fightback against the ‘racist and colonialist’ dumping of unwanted clothing Every week, Bastián Barria ventures into the Atacama desert in northern Chile looking for items of discarded clothing in the sand. About half of the hundreds of garments he finds are in perfect condition. He collects what he can and adds them to the two-tonne pile of clothes he has stored at a friend’s house. On 17 March, 300 of those items, including Nike and Adidas shorts, Calvin Klein jeans and a leather skirt, were listed for sale online for the first time. The price? Zero. Customers had only to pay shipping costs. The first batch sold out in five hours, bought by customers from countries including Brazil, China, France, the US and the UK. Continue reading...
So many souvenirs for JD Vance to take home from Greenland: oil, gas, minerals – and that’s just the start | Marina Hyde
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The widely reviled veep and his wife may not see much of the island they’d like to annex, but the US military base will be lovely at this time of year There’s a Gerard Butler movie called Greenland, which – via a series of cataclysmic events handled incredibly Butlerishly – ends with Gerard cocooned in a remote secure bunker in Greenland. As the week has worn on, this has increasingly become the mood of today’s supposedly super-fun tourist trip to Greenland by the second lady of the United States, Usha Vance, and her husband, the vice-president, JD Vance. Who, come to think of it, does actually look like the Cabbage Patch Gerard Butler. Anyway: Greenland. Like I say, the trip has evolved this week both in style and substance. Originally, it was announced that the second lady was going to take one of her sons, immerse herself in various local events – she’s apparently simply fascinated by Greenland’s culture – and attend the famous Avannaata Qimussersua dog sled race. No more. Now, it’s her husband instead of her son, and the Vances are only going to a military facility. This is a little bit like announcing you’re travelling to Kyoto to see the blossoms, then “recalibrating” your trip so that all you’ll actually be taking in is a tour of the storage facility where they keep the most boring documents from the signing of the 1997 climate protocol. Extremely important, no doubt – and extremely, extremely boring. Or as the White House has chosen to characterise this shift in emphasis: “The Second Lady is proud to visit the Pituffik Space Base with her husband to learn more about Arctic security and the great work of the Space Base.” It is unclear at time of writing if Pituffik has spa facilities. Presumably it’s got something of a year-round après-ski vibe. Continue reading...
Export of endangered eels to Russia ends after UK government ban
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British eel trader says move will destroy traditional elvering but campaigners welcome decision Endangered eels caught in British estuaries will no longer be exported to Russia after the government banned the trade. In a decision that Britain’s last remaining eel trader said would end centuries of traditional elvering, a request to dispatch millions of glass eels – young eels that develop into elvers – to a restocking project in Kaliningrad was refused by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Continue reading...
Retail sales in Great Britain given lift as shoppers splash out
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Sales volumes rise 1% in February after City economists had predicted fall amid weak consumer confidence Retail sales in Great Britain rose last month amid a sharp increase in consumers spending at department stores, hardware shops and clothes outlets. Reflecting a stronger economic backdrop than feared, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed sales volumes rose by 1% on the month, although spending at supermarkets fell after a bumper month in January. Continue reading...
‘We live in both worlds’: how teachers of Gullah Geechee herbal medicine are cultivating tradition
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Classes on herbalism connect new generations eager to explore their roots with elders in the South Carolina community With their eyes downcast in reflection, dozens of people dressed in white crossed a bridge to pay respect to their ancestors last October. They carried flowers, herbs and photos of their loved ones to lay at the foot of an altar on a tiny strip of land in the middle of a pond. For the last few years, this ritual at the start of the annual Gullah Geechee herbal gathering on Johns Island, South Carolina, has served as a link between the living and the dead. “It gives them a sacred space to connect with the land,” the gathering’s founder, Khetnu Nefer, said about the attendees, and to “connect with our communal ancestors”. Held on Nefer’s family’s land, a stretch of 10 acres (four hectares) of flat grass surrounded by woods, the gathering educates attendees on the herbal traditions of the descendants of west Africans enslaved on the Sea Islands along the south-east US. Over the course of the three-day conference, Black and brown instructors – some of whom are Gullah Geechee – host around 20 workshops ranging from English-based creole lessons to foraging for herbs including chaney root, which is boiled into a tea to heal fatigue or arthritis. During an herbal remedy class, attendees learn which herbs can be used to treat chronic pain, including mullein, a flowering plant that is sometimes boiled into a tea to heal symptoms associated with asthma or bronchitis. Continue reading...
The controversial California city backed by tech elite has a new plan: boats
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California Forever is back with a proposal that has some on board: using the land it owns to create a shipbuilding hub In 2023, a group called California Forever, funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, introduced a splashy proposal to build a new city on tens of thousands acres of farmland it had acquired north-east of San Francisco. Residents and officials of Solano county, where the city would sit, were frustrated by what they saw as a lack of local input and concerned about wealthy outsiders with big plans to reshape their region. After months of extensive news coverage and efforts to woo over local leaders, California Forever changed track: withdrawing a ballot measure that would have fast-tracked the plans and instead seeking approval through standard county processes. Continue reading...
Global anti-Elon Musk protests planned at nearly 200 Tesla showroom locations
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Tesla Takedown’s Global Day of Action will be the largest in a series of demonstrations that began after Trump term 2.0 Hundreds of protests at Tesla showrooms are planned across the US and internationally on Saturday. Organizers have dubbed it Tesla Takedown’s Global Day of Action, the latest and largest in a series of demonstrations that began shortly after Donald Trump was inaugurated. Organizers say the rallies will take place in front of more than 200 Tesla locations worldwide, including nearly 50 in California alone. The protesters’ goal is to send a message to the Trump administration that they’re against what the Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, is doing with the US federal government – laying off thousands of workers, cutting department budgets, giving fascist salutes and getting rid of entire agencies. Continue reading...
I was an independent observer in the Greenpeace trial. What I saw was shocking | Steven Donziger
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Greenpeace lost – not because it did something wrong but because it was denied a fair trial The stunning $667m verdict against Greenpeace last week is a direct attack on the climate movement, Indigenous peoples and the first amendment. The North Dakota case is so deeply flawed – at its core, the trial was really about crushing dissent – that I believe there is a good chance it will be reversed on appeal and ultimately backfire against the Energy Transfer pipeline company. Continue reading...
Fired corporate regulator sounds ‘blinking red alarm’ over apparent rise of billionaire power under Trump
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Alvaro Bedoya, who was involved in cases against firms such as Amazon, warns of apparent ‘quid pro quo’ deals The US is in the midst of an extraordinary battle between “the rule of law versus the rule of billionaires”, a top Democratic government official and attorney has warned, after his unprecedented firing by Donald Trump. Alvaro Bedoya, abruptly terminated as a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week, sounded a “blinking red alarm” over backroom “quid pro quo” dealmaking he said appears to be taking place inside the Trump administration. Continue reading...
Heathrow boss: better power supply to avoid outage repeat could cost £1bn
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Airlines could face higher charges to help fund new system at airport, which was shut down by substation fire The chief executive of Heathrow has said it could cost about £1bn to install a more resilient power supply system to prevent a repeat of the outage that shut Europe’s busiest airport last week, and that airlines could pay higher charges to help fund it. Thomas Woldbye, who has been criticised for going to bed on the night of the crisis so he could be “better rested” to handle the fallout the following day, has said he was frustrated the incident occurred and would like to have handled it better. Continue reading...
WH Smith brand to disappear as £76m sale of stores to Modella agreed
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Under terms of deal with Hobbycraft owner, 233-year-old brand will become TGJones Business live – latest updates WH Smith is to sell its 480 retail stores to the Hobbycraft owner, Modella Capital, in a deal worth £76m, and has confirmed that the 233-year-old brand will disappear from the high street after a “short transitional period”. Under the terms of the deal, the high street business, which employs 5,000 staff, will be rebranded as TGJones, while WH Smith is retaining its brand for its travel shops. Continue reading...
China’s Xi urges global CEOs to protect trade supply chains; WH Smith sells high street stores – business live
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Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news We also have confirmation this morning that Britain avoided recession last year. The Office for National Statistics has confirmed that UK GDP rose by 0.1% in October-December, matching the earlier estimate, following no growth in July-September. “Today’s updated GDP estimates indicate that the economy grew slightly more strongly in the first half of last year than previously estimated but continues to show little growth since last summer. “The household saving ratio increased again this quarter, with the contribution of non-pension saving at the highest rate on record outside the period affected by the pandemic. Continue reading...
UK bill payers still vulnerable to another energy crisis, watchdog warns
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PAC says country still lacks safeguards to shield households facing ‘worryingly high’ energy debts British bill payers remain exposed to another energy crisis while facing “worryingly high” energy debts and some of the highest electricity costs in the world, parliament’s spending watchdog has warned. The public accounts committee (PAC) said ministers had not put in place sufficient safeguards to shield households against another energy crisis or taken steps to permanently reduce Britain’s energy prices. Continue reading...
Weatherwatch: warmer water drives higher-than-expected rise in sea level
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Nasa data for 2024 shows reversal of dynamic in which melting ice usually accounts for majority of increase Normally, two-thirds of sea level rise is due to melting ice from mountain glaciers and Greenland and Antarctic ice caps, and one-third from the thermal expansion of the oceans. Last year, the hottest year on record, this was reversed, with warmer water accounting for two-thirds of the sea level rise of 0.59cm (0.23in) – considerably more than the 0.43cm scientists were expecting. Nasa, the US agency that produces the figures from its satellite data, believes that the mixing of hotter surface waters with cooler sea at depth during an El Niño year may have caused this unexpected blip, although more violent winds could also have been a contributing factor. Continue reading...
Why the weasel testicles? Cambridge show explains medieval medicine
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Exhibition aims to help visitors get inside the minds that thought mercury and roasted apples would cure lice Medieval treatments might make you question the sanity of the doctors of the day, but a new exhibition is set to take visitors inside the minds of such medics and reveal the method behind what can seem like madness. Curious Cures, opening on Saturday at Cambridge University Library, is the culmination of a project to digitise and catalogue more than 180 manuscripts, mostly dating from the 14th or 15th centuries, that contain recipes for medical treatments, from compendiums of cures to alchemical texts and guides to healthy living. Continue reading...
‘The heat you need at a reasonable price’: how district heating can speed the switch to clean energy
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In Sweden, most residential heating and hot water comes from heating networks – helping to pool resources and innovation District heating is sometimes talked about like some kind of unattainable utopia, but in the Swedish capital these low-carbon heating networks are not special. In fact, district heat is so run-of-the-mill that many Stockholmers do not know that they have it, said Fredrik Persson, as he showed the Guardian around Stockholm Exergi’s pioneering power station in Norra Djurgårdsstaden, a former port and industrial area. Continue reading...
Which UK carmakers will be hit hardest by Trump’s latest import tariffs?
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Eight in 10 cars produced in Britain are exported, with high-end manufacturers much more reliant on the US market The UK’s automotive sector describes itself as “the engine room of Britain’s international trade”, boasting how it generates “£1 in every £8 the UK earns from exporting goods”. But the UK’s carmakers – including Jaguar and Land Rover owner JLR, the BMW-owned Rolls-Royce and Mini, and Aston Martin – are weighing up the potential impact of Donald Trump’s planned 25% tariffs on cars imported into the US. The new levies on cars and light trucks are due to take effect on 3 April. Continue reading...
End of an era for Canada-US ties, says PM Carney – video
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Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has said the era of deep ties with the US 'is over', as governments — from Tokyo to Berlin and Paris — sharply criticise Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on car imports. 'We will respond forcefully,' Carney said. 'Nothing is off the table to defend our workers and our country.' End of an era for Canada-US ties, says Carney, as allies worldwide decry Trump’s car tariffs Continue reading...
Musk defends Doge and cuts on Fox News: ‘Almost no one has gotten fired’
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Doge members, including Airbnb co-founder, aired their vision for federal government to be ‘Apple Store-like’ Elon Musk and seven members of his so-called “department of government efficiency” sat down for a rare interview on Thursday evening on Fox News, defending their efforts amid public backlash and concern over cuts to key government agencies. Over the course of an hour-long sit down with host Bret Baier, Musk and team members repeatedly attempted to assuage fears over Doge’s targeting of agencies such as the Social Security Administration. Musk also downplayed the number of government employees his initiative has targeted in cuts, saying it was a small percentage of the overall government workforce and others left voluntarily. Continue reading...
Fossil fuel companies get direct email line to Trump for exemption requests
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EPA sets up email address where ‘regulated community’ can request exemption to evade air pollution rules Donald Trump’s administration has offered fossil fuel companies an extraordinary opportunity to evade air pollution rules by simply emailing the US president to ask him to exempt them. Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set up a new email address where what it calls the “regulated community” can request a presidential exemption from their requirements under the Clean Air Act, which is used to regulate dangerous toxins emitted from polluting sources. Continue reading...
City trader jailed for Libor rigging says he was convicted in a ‘morality trial’
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Tom Hayes tells supreme court hearing that the jury in 2015 was guided by a ‘judge who had made his mind up about me’ The City trader jailed for Libor rigging in 2015 has said he believes he was convicted during a “morality trial” of bankers’ conduct, as he concluded his fight to clear his name at the UK’s highest court. Speaking after a three-day hearing at the supreme court in London on Thursday, Tom Hayes said his original conviction a decade ago was a reaction to the 2008 financial crisis and a jury guided by a “judge who had made his mind up about me”. Continue reading...
Reeves may have to find further cuts and tax hikes amid economic gloom
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Rising costs and global uncertainty may force chancellor to turn to pensioners and wealthier taxpayers Ministers may have to target pensioners and wealthier taxpayers at the autumn budget, as senior government figures voiced fears brutal welfare reforms would still not go far enough to tackle rising costs. The Institute for Fiscal Studies warned the chancellor may be forced to consider a freeze on tax thresholds, hikes to capital gains and potentially pension taxes. Continue reading...
Why Trump’s 25% tariffs on autos could backfire | Steven Greenhouse
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Nearly half of the cars sold in the US are imported and Trump’s 25% tariff will add at least $6,000 to the sticker price of the average car, industry experts say After two months of flip-flopping on tariffs, imposing them one day and often suspending them the next, Donald Trump gunned the accelerator of his trade war on Wednesday by announcing a 25% tariff on autos and auto parts imported into the United States. That’s a very big deal, and while the president insists this hefty import tax on cars is going to be good for “anybody who has plants in the United States”, his move – like a car in desperate need of a tune-up – could easily backfire. Nearly half of the cars sold in the US are imported, and Trump’s 25% tariff will add at least $6,000 to the sticker price of the average car, industry experts say. Domestic auto producers will be able to jack up their sticker prices because the new tariffs will make US automakers face considerably less price competition from imported cars. This expected sticker shock could anger America’s inflation-weary consumers and voters, especially since candidate Trump had pledged to battle to bring down prices. These higher car prices could cause a quick drop in auto sales in the US, and that could translate into a downturn in auto production, too. Steven Greenhouse is a labor reporter. Continue reading...
Clean energy superpower – and now defence superpower. Can the UK really be both? | Nils Pratley
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The government’s plan to ramp up defence spending means relying on carbon-intensive industries – and those won’t be the only policy compromises they have to make The UK will become a “defence industrial superpower”, said the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in Wednesday’s spring statement, an ambition that will involve using much more steel, one assumes. Now comes news that the Chinese owner of the UK’s second largest steel plant may close its two blast furnaces as early as June, which would further erode the UK’s already-thin steel-making capabilities. Indeed, closure of Scunthorpe would also mean an end to domestic steel-making from scratch using traditional carbon-intensive blast furnaces – the other two, at Tata’s Port Talbot site, closed last year. Continue reading...
Gloucestershire company wins prize for inventing way to produce clean water on moon
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Naicker Scientific wins £150,000 for device that produces drinking water from icy lunar soil A £150,000 prize for a device that can produce clean water from icy lunar soil has been won by a pair of inventors whose solution involves a microwave oven, a motorised device for feeding woodchips into a barbecue and sound waves. The £1.2m Aqualunar Challenge, funded by the UK Space Agency’s international bilateral fund and split between Canadian-led and UK-led teams, is designed to encourage innovative solutions to the problem of producing drinking water from ice-rich regolith – rocks and dust – around the moon’s south pole. Continue reading...
Chelsea must submit bid for Earl’s Court or risk missing out on stadium chance
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Club look at Earl’s Court as possible site for new ground Counter-proposal by developers does not include stadium Chelsea risk missing out on the chance to move to Earl’s Court if they fail to submit a bid for the site quickly enough. Increasing Stamford Bridge’s 40,343 capacity has been a key issue since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital takeover in 2022 but the difficulty of redeveloping the ground has led the board to look for a new home. It is understood Chelsea have held talks in recent months with various figures who will have a say over the future of the Earl’s Court site. Continue reading...
Reeves could tax pensions and wealth if economy worsens, says IFS
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Chancellor may have to reconsider pledge not to raise taxes in light of ‘risky and changing world’, thinktank says Pensioners and wealthy people could be the target of tax increases at Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget if the drastically worsening economic backdrop fails to improve, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said. After the chancellor’s spring statement featured deep cuts to welfare to meet her fiscal targets, the UK’s leading experts on the public finances said Reeves could be forced to come back later this year with tax rises. Continue reading...
Carmaker shares fall after Trump 25% tariff move as Reeves warns against trade war
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Chancellor says UK not planning retaliatory tariffs on US ‘at the moment’ while PM calls move ‘very concerning’ Business live – latest updates UK politics live – latest updates Europe live – latest updates Rachel Reeves has said the UK is not immediately planning retaliatory tariffs on the US after Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on all car imports, sending shares in carmakers around the world sharply lower. “We are not at the moment in a position where we want to do anything to escalate these trade wars,” the UK chancellor told Sky News when asked if Britain would impose retaliatory tariffs against the US. “Trade wars are no good for anyone.” Continue reading...
EU appears to back down on carbon levy on international shipping
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Bloc set to accept compromise that would allow companies to trade carbon credits, in blow to climate finance The long-awaited carbon levy on international shipping that was to supply vital climate finance looks set to be significantly diluted, after the EU appeared to be backing down in global talks, in a blow to vulnerable countries. The EU is set to accept a compromise that would allow companies to enter into a system of trading carbon credits instead of paying directly for their emissions, the Guardian has learned. Continue reading...
‘A symbol of hope’: environmentalists choose their favourite invertebrates
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Politicians, campaigners and charity workers make the case for their top picks, from bumblebees to blue beetles Invertebrates are hugely important for ecosystems and the general health of our planet and there is a dizzying array of beautiful examples, from fluffy bees to glow-in-the-dark woodlice. But which do you prefer? We asked the great and good on the UK conservation scene to name their favourite invertebrate: Steve Reed, UK environment secretary Between 24 March and 2 April, we will be profiling a shortlist of 10 of the invertebrates chosen by readers and selected by our wildlife writers from more than 2,500 nominations. The voting for our 2025 invertebrate of the year will run from midday on Wednesday 2 April until midday on Friday 4 April, with the winner to be announced on Monday 7. Read the other wonderful nominations here. Continue reading...
The one where everyone piles in on Rachel. Someone get her an espresso | John Crace
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It was a morning from hell for the chancellor. After the spring statement and Trump’s overnight tariffs, time for a kicking That screeching noise you can hear? It might just be the government trying to avoid making contact with reality. You know the saying. Go to sleep on it. Things will look better in the morning. Well, that didn’t quite work out for Rachel Reeves. She went to bed on Wednesday with everyone from all sides of the political spectrum giving her a hard time for the spring statement that definitely wasn’t an emergency budget. Because an emergency budget would suggest that something had gone wrong in the last six months. And Rachel was certain that everything was tickety-boo. Continue reading...
Sky to cut 2,000 jobs at customer service centres and close three sites in UK
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Owner of Sky News plans to close its Stockport, Sheffield and Leeds Central contact centres Sky has said it intends to cut 2,000 jobs at its customer service centres and close three sites in the UK, affecting 7% of its total workforce. The media and telecoms group, which was bought by the US media company Comcast for £30bn in 2018, said the planned closures would help make it “future-ready” as it shifts from dealing with customers over the phone to digital communications. Continue reading...
‘The nation is watching’: sewage dumps in Windermere must end, says activist
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Ministers urged to do more after United Utilities discharged raw sewage into Unesco site for 6,327 hours last year Celebrated by William Wordsworth, Windermere has long epitomised the natural timeless beauty of the Lake District, with millions of tourists drawn to the shores that inspired the poet. But today England’s biggest lake is, some campaigners say, a shadow of its 19th century self: its waters blighted by algae and its wildlife threatened by pollution, in a symbol of all that is wrong with the privatised water industry. This month the environment secretary, Steve Reed, vowed to break with the recent past, standing on its shores and promising that Labour would “clean up Windermere”. The lake is showing the impact of sewage pollution from United Utilities treatment plants and increased pressure from climate change-induced temperature rises. Continue reading...
UK carbon emissions fell by 4% in 2024, official figures show
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Less use of gas and coal in electricity supply and industry sectors drove reduction, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero says The UK’s carbon emissions fell by 4% last year, according to official figures. Provisional statistics published on Thursday by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) show UK territorial greenhouse gas emissions were 371m tonnes carbon equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2024, down from 385 MtCO2e in 2023. Continue reading...
Small but feisty: the clever cuttlefish that changes colour to bedazzle predators
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The flamboyant cuttlefish flashes patterns and psychedelic colours and waves its arms in a hypnotic display More fantastic invertebrate nominations here If you love a feisty rebel, look no further than the flamboyant cuttlefish, on the 10-strong shortlist for the Guardian’s invertebrate of the year 2025. It is small, smart, capable of spectacular displays and has fought against the odds to become the deadliest of its kind. This creative creature is small for its class of cephalopods, which includes octopus, squid and nautilus, at just 6-8cm. Due to the relatively reduced size of its air-filled cuttlebone, a unique internal shell used for buoyancy that lends these molluscs their unique, rather alien-spaceship way of swimming, it cannot float or hover as well as its cousins. Between 24 March and 2 April, we will be profiling a shortlist of 10 of the invertebrates chosen by readers and selected by our wildlife writers from more than 2,500 nominations. The voting for our 2025 invertebrate of the year will run from midday on Wednesday 2 April until midday on Friday 4 April, with the winner to be announced on Monday 7. Read the other wonderful nominations here. Continue reading...
At least six dead after tourist submarine sinks off Egypt coast, say reports
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About nine people also thought to have been injured in incident on 44-seater vessel at Red Sea resort Six feared dead in Red Sea sinking – latest updates At least six people have reportedly died and nine have been injured after a 44-seater tourist submarine sank off the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada. The incident, involving a recreational vessel operated by Sindbad Submarines, occurred in waters opposite Hurghada’s Marriot hotel resort. Continue reading...
OnlyFans fined £1.05m over inaccurate information on age checks
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Ofcom acts after finding flaws in how subscription platform responded to request for details of ‘challenge age’ process Ofcom has fined the subscription platform OnlyFans £1.05m for failing to provide accurate information about its age checks. In June 2022 and 2023, Ofcom asked OnlyFans’ parent company, Fenix International, for information on its age checking procedures, including how effective its facial estimation technology was. Continue reading...
First days of spring in London – in pictures
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As life starts to return to the capital’s parks and woodlands, photographer Sarah Lee has been capturing daffodils and budding plants, walkers, buskers and joggers out in the sunshine. She says: ‘Everything feels so dark right now, it’s good to know the light is coming back’ Continue reading...
These games were indie smash hits – but what happened next?
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The developers of Thank Goodness You’re Here!, Frog Detective and Consume Me discuss burnout, ‘second-album syndrome’, erotic fan art, and the other highs and lows of having a breakout success It is now more or less impossible to put a precise figure on the number of video games released each year. According to data published by the digital store Steam, almost 19,000 titles were released in 2024 – and that’s just on one platform. Hundreds more arrived on consoles and smartphones. In some ways this is the positive sign of a vibrant industry, but how on earth does a new project get noticed? When Triple A titles with multimillion dollar marketing budgets are finding it hard to gain attention (disappointing sales have been reported for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the Final Fantasy VII remakes and EA Sports FC), what chance is there for a small team to break out? And yet it does happen. Last year’s surprise hit Balatro has shifted more than 5m copies. Complex medieval strategy title Manor Lords sold 1m copies during its launch weekend. But what awaits a small developer after they achieve success? And what does success even mean in a continuously evolving industry? Continue reading...
How countries cheat their net zero carbon targets – video
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Net zero is a target that countries should be striving for to stop the climate crisis. But beyond the buzzword, it is a complex scientific concept – and if we get it wrong, the planet will keep heating. Biodiversity and environment reporter Patrick Greenfield explains how a loophole in the 2015 Paris climate agreement allows countries to cheat their net zero targets through creative accounting, and how scientists want us to fix it Continue reading...