At least 432 ebike fires and 147 e-scooter fires recorded in 2025, up 38% and 20% respectively on previous year Ebike and e-scooter fires in the UK reached a record high last year, an investigation has found, renewing concerns over the use of lithium batteries and unregulated marketplaces. Fire brigade figures obtained by the Press Association show there were at least 432 ebike fires recorded across the UK in 2025, up 38% from 313 the previous year and more than five times higher than the 84 recorded in 2021. Continue reading...

Education department will no longer enforce schools from California to Delaware to comply with US civil rights law The US education department said on Monday it has terminated agreements that previous administrations reached with five school districts and a college aimed at upholding rights and protections for transgender students. The decision means the department will no longer play a role in enforcing those agreements, which called for schools to take steps to comply with federal civil rights law. The districts affected are Cape Henlopen school district in Delaware, Fife school district in Washington; Delaware Valley school district in Pennsylvania; and La Mesa-Spring Valley school district, Sacramento City Unified and Taft College in California. Continue reading...

Three-time runner-up is determined to put last year’s dramatic playoff defeat behind him and prove he still has the quality to win at Augusta Squint and you will see Justin Rose’s name twice on the tournament record boards at Augusta National. It’s there on the big bronze winner’s list at the water fountain by the entrance, beneath the entries marking Sergio García’s victory in 2017 and Rory McIlroy’s eight years later, both, as it says in the small print underneath, won in a playoff that Rose lost. Only one other player in Masters history lost two playoffs, and that was Ben Hogan, who had the consolation of winning it twice outright, in 1951 and 1953, in between finishing second in 1942, 1946, 1954 and 1955. Throw in Rose’s second-place finish behind Jordan Spieth in 2015, when he finished four shots back, and he has come just about as close as any man can to the greatest prize in the game. The only player who finished second more often without actually winning the thing was Tom Weiskopf, who was runner-up four times in the space of seven years. “I will win this tournament one day,” Weiskopf said after he missed a birdie putt on 18 to force a playoff against Jack Nicklaus in 1975. He was 33 and it turned out to be the last best chance he ever had. Continue reading...

AI experts say we’re living in an experiment that may fundamentally change the model of work Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Hundreds of thousands of tech workers are facing a harsh reality. Their well-paying jobs are no longer safe. Now that artificial intelligence (AI) is here, their futures don’t look as bright as they did a decade ago. As US tech companies have ramped up investments in AI, they’ve slashed a staggering number of jobs. Microsoft cut 15,000 workers last year. Amazon laid off 30,000 employees in the last six months. Financial-services company Block eliminated more than 4,000 people, or 40% of its workforce, in February. Meta laid off more than 1,000 in the last six months, and, according to a Reuters report, may cut 20% of all employees in the near future. Just this week, the software giant Oracle laid off thousands of workers. Smaller players like Pinterest and Atlassian also made recent cuts, culling about 15% and 10% of their workforces, respectively. Estimates put the total number of tech layoffs in the past year at more than 165,000, according to the tracker Layoffs.fyi. Continue reading...

Home Office will use mapping technology and crime data to identify up to 250 schools in areas of greatest risk Schools across England are to receive dedicated support to prevent knife crime incidents in a hyper-targeted Home Office programme that uses mapping technology to identify areas of risk down to the level of specific groups of streets. Under the £1.2m scheme – part of a series of initiatives launched under a government pledge to halve knife crime within a decade – a maximum of 250 schools will receive help. Continue reading...

Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets emerged from eggs on Easter weekend in Big Bear Valley as watched by thousands online Over Easter weekend, thousands of people tuned in to celebrate something spectacular unfolding 145 feet up a pine tree in southern California’s San Bernardino national forest – the hatchings of two bald eagle chicks. Two eaglets were born to Jackie and Shadow, the southern California pair that have become avian celebrities thanks to the webcam that has livestreamed their activities since 2018. Continue reading...

Performer is being extended ‘forgiveness’ over antisemitic remarks, says managing director of festival’s promoter Kanye West is still due to perform at the Wireless festival, one of its organisers has said, despite calls to cancel his appearance. The musician, legally known as Ye, has been criticised for making antisemitic remarks including voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler. Last year he released a song called Heil Hitler, a few months after advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website. Continue reading...

Team will not panic in wake of City and Southampton defeats Raya set to return in goal for Tuesday’s first leg at Sporting Mikel Arteta has insisted that Arsenal will not panic after losing successive games for the first time this season but admitted that they must rediscover their identity to get their campaign back on track. The Premier League leaders face Sporting in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final in Lisbon on Tuesday after seeing their hopes of an unprecedented quadruple crumble with defeats by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and the Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup. Bukayo Saka and Jurriën Timber have been ruled out as they continue to struggle with injuries, although there was better news for Arteta with Gabriel Magalhães, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard all expected to feature against the Portuguese champions. Continue reading...

An expletive-ridden post on social media shamed the office of the US president. Its substantive message, if acted on, would be a war crime Article 52 of the first additional protocol to the Geneva conventions prohibits attacks on civilian targets. It is on those grounds that the international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for Russian military officers and officials responsible for attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Such assaults, and the missiles rained on Ukrainian cities and towns in order to terrify and demoralise, constitute war crimes. Exactly the same would apply to the United States, should Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Iran back to the “stone age” this week be carried out. Such basic tenets of international law bear repeating at a time when Mr Trump and his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, appear to speak as if from within a bloodthirsty fever dream. Glorying repulsively in his capacity to order death and destruction from the Pentagon, Mr Hegseth, an Evangelical Christian, has presented Operation Epic Fury as a 21st-century crusade “to break the teeth of the ungodly”. On social media at the weekend, Mr Trump topped that by unleashing a stream of expletive-ridden abuse, ranting that unless Iran reopens the strait of Hormuz to shipping, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day … Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell”. Continue reading...

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s dark dramedy is a stylish acting showcase, but does it do justice to its weighty themes? Ever since its first trailer dropped – and, on certain corners of Reddit, even before that – the internet has been abuzz with speculation over just what goes down in The Drama. The auteur production powerhouse A24 somewhat ingeniously pitched writer-director Kristoffer Borgli’s pitch-black film as a tart romantic comedy, with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as a seemingly happy couple derailed by a disturbing revelation a week before their wedding. The actors, among a cohort of vanishingly few young movie stars, appeared as their characters in a fake wedding announcement in the Boston Globe; Zendaya’s rumored marriage to actor Tom Holland became a meta discussion point on a press tour that saw her method dressing in “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”, her wardrobe slowly darkening in a nod to something gone horribly awry. The Norwegian film-maker’s second English-language film depicts what we could loosely call premarital jitters as a psychological unraveling with a surrealist touch. The Drama is lustrously filmed, virtuosically acted and crisply edited – but, inevitably, attention will focus on its very combustible, deliberately provocative premise, one somewhat spoiled by a pre-embargo TMZ headline citing a recent American tragedy. There’s no way to talk about this movie without talking about “the twist” – which plays out less as a dramatic turn of events than as an unsettling divulgence that, depending on your view, the film may or may not justify. Obviously, spoilers ahead, so tread carefully and, presuming you’ve seen it … let’s discuss. Continue reading...

Philanthropy increases the gap dividing highly selective, elite higher education from the rest. Ministers need a plan for the sector overall About 2% of UK universities’ income came from donations and endowments in 2024-25 – slightly less than the previous year. At a time when charitable giving overall is down, the announcement last week of a record £190m donation to the University of Cambridge deserves to be welcomed. Higher education funding should not depend on the choices of rich individuals. But education is a social good and philanthropy has a role to play. The donor is Chris Rokos, a British billionaire hedge fund manager who describes himself as a socially liberal centrist and has previously given money to the Conservative party. The money will fund a postgraduate school of government that is intended to rival the one at Oxford, which was controversially funded by, and named after, the Ukrainian-born billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik. Continue reading...

Reedie also served as president of World Anti-Doping Agency Sebastian Coe hails ‘mentor, wise counsel and passionate advisor’ Sir Craig Reedie, a giant of the Olympic movement, who served as chair of the British Olympic Association for more than a decade and was instrumental in bringing the Games to London in 2012, has died at the age of 84. Tributes have poured in for the Scots-born Reedie, who was also president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) when Russia was found guilty of state-sponsored doping across “a vast majority” of winter and summer sports, including at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. During this tumultuous period, Reedie and Wada recommended that Russia be banned from the 2016 Rio Games – a call that was ultimately rejected by the International Olympic Committee. Continue reading...

Claims explosives found near pipeline come before election in which PM Viktor Orbán is trailing in most polls Hungary has placed the gas pipeline that straddles the Serbian border under military protection, its prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said, as accusations of a false-flag operation continued to swirl before a crunch election at the weekend and an official visit on Tuesday from the US vice-president, JD Vance. Orbán travelled to Hungary’s southern border with Serbia on Monday, one day after Serbia said it had found “explosives of devastating power” near a pipeline that carries Russian natural gas to Hungary and beyond. Continue reading...

Jonathan Jackson of Illinois calls Cuba ‘most sanctioned part of Earth’ amid US oil blockade causing vast disruptions Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Two Democratic US lawmakers on Monday called for a permanent solution to crises confronting Cuba after they visited the island to witness the effects of an American energy blockade. US House members Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Jonathan Jackson of Illinois met with Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel and foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez as well as members of Cuba’s parliament during a five-day trip ending on Sunday. “I denounced the criminal damage caused by the blockade, particularly the consequences of the energy siege decreed by the current US government and its threats of even more aggressive actions,” Díaz-Canel wrote on X. Continue reading...

Kyriakos Mitsotakis calls alleged scamming of EU agricultural funds ‘a turning point’ The Greek prime minister has vowed to tackle what he has called a “deep state” he says is plaguing the country, as he sought to address a burgeoning political crisis over a farm fraud scandal that has forced the resignation of multiple government ministers. In a speech, aired on national TV, Kyriakos Mitsotakis attempted to limit the damage, describing the revelations as “a turning point” that had turbo-charged his commitment to rooting out entrenched corruption. Continue reading...

Mary Evans, Aidan Walker and Ruth Baker on Simon Jenkins’ suggestion for how to deal with the US president Phoebe Merrick and John Spencer on religion and war, Rev Canon John Longuet-Higgins on Trump’s expletive-laden threat to Iran, and Diana Francis on US bases in Britain Simon Jenkins is perhaps a little overoptimistic in arguing for what is essentially a waiting game about the politics of Donald Trump and his administration (To a world at a loss as to how to handle Trump, I say this: the only answer may be to wait him out, 2 April). Trump and those alongside him have effectively diminished or abolished central tenets of the legal and civic structure of the US. Not least to have disappeared in this bonfire is that political cliche about the checks and balances over political power. That basic tenet of every political handbook about the US has proved to be a vain hope. Waiting for the downfall of one individual surely suggests that we should ask two questions. First, will others, perhaps less personally flawed but nevertheless of the same politics, simply take his place? Second, if the country (and a lot of the rest of the world) wishes to go in another direction, when can we see the plan? Continue reading...

Alisdair McNicol recalls proposals in the 1970s for secure sites with proper accommodation for drivers, which were sadly dropped before the plans took off Your long read (35,000 pints of stolen Guinness, 950 wheels of pilfered cheese: can the UK’s cargo theft crisis be stopped?, 31 March), which discusses the work of Mike Dawber, the UK’s leading detective in cargo crime, and Michael Yarwood, managing director for loss prevention at the global cargo insurer TT Club, refers to “a shared dream: a truck stop with perimeter fencing, full CCTV coverage, 24-hour guards”. This particular dream was actually proposed to be fulfilled in the early 1970s, when the government published a design specification that had all of the features referred to, plus a good deal more besides, with a view to establishing a nationwide chain of such facilities. Continue reading...

This bold step would provide a practical route for restoring the UK to its rightful place within the EU, says Prof Philip Murphy The prime minister’s comments about seeking closer relations with the EU are to be welcomed as a step in the right direction (Starmer calls for ‘ambitious’ new UK-EU ties as Trump threatens to quit Nato, 1 April). Yet a piecemeal approach to repairing the damage done by Brexit is unlikely to succeed. A genuinely “ambitious” plan would be for Labour to announce a referendum on whether the UK should open negotiations on re-entry to the EU, promising a general election to secure a mandate to implement the proposal should the British public vote in favour. It would allow the government to seize the initiative, providing it with an issue around which to rally a broad base of electoral support. Continue reading...

Lincoln up with five games to spare after 2-1 win Bolton draw with Stockport leaves Imps’ result moot Lincoln celebrated promotion to the Championship with a hard-earned 2-1 victory at the playoff chasers Reading as they returned to the second tier after 65 years. Lincoln, needing only a point, made a bright start and went ahead in the fifth minute through Ryan Oné and seemed destined for a 1-0 win, only for Reading to level in the second minute of stoppage time from a Lewis Wing free-kick. However, Jack Moylan snatched the winner four minutes later, seconds after promotion had been secured by Bolton v Stockport finishing in a 2-2 draw, meaning neither could catch the Imps. More to follow Continue reading...

Eco-aware family planning and economic degrowth are two of the wiser social paradigms trying to emerge to replace the ecocidal norms of the past, writes Barbara Williams Your article linking the decreasing birthrate with our housing crisis was infuriating to anyone familiar with the escalating global ecosystems collapse (Want to boost the UK’s birthrate? Fix the housing crisis, research suggests, 1 April). Recent research funded by Population Matters confirms that a sustainable global human population would be 2.5 billion. The Earth Overshoot website reveals that Britain is overpopulated by nearly 50 million. Growth economics, wealth inequality, patriarchy, colonialism, military supremacy, nationalism and pronatalism are all unwise behaviour patterns in global ecosystems collapse. These can all be categorised as a “fluency” response from our limbic system. Our limbic response is the reason that these unwise behaviour patterns persist; they bypass our critical thinking. Continue reading...

While authorities are under pressure to keep learning, TV audience figures suggest the public have not lost interest There will never be a year when horse welfare is not an issue in the run-up to the Grand National, and that is, in a sense, a positive for the sport. It is a sign that the National retains its status as the biggest race of the year – in terms of audience, betting turnover, name recognition and pretty much any other measure you care to choose. Nearly two centuries after the first running in 1839, it still has deep roots in British culture as an annual sporting rite of spring. Within the racing bubble too there are few subjects that raise hackles and generate debate quite like the National, not least because for many racegoers and punters it is the race that first stoked their interest in the sport. Significant changes to the fences and other conditions in recent years, with the aim of minimising the risk of serious or fatal injuries, have left some fans, at least, feeling it is no longer the same race that they fell in love with several decades ago. Continue reading...

Police say 26-year-old man died at scene outside nightclub in Peckham and two others remain in hospital Four men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was stabbed to death and two other men were injured outside a nightclub in south-east London. The Metropolitan police said officers were called at 3.54am on Monday to reports of a disturbance involving a group of people outside a nightclub in Ruby Street, Peckham. Continue reading...

Analysis of more than 500 brain scans finds LSD, psilocybin and other psychedelics increase cross-talk between brain systems Scientists have identified a hallmark signature produced by psychedelic drugs in the human brain when users experience their mind-altering effects. The “neural fingerprint” of the psychedelic trip was spotted among hundreds of brain scans of people on LSD, psilocybin, DMT, mescaline and ayahuasca, pointing to a shared impact on the brain’s behaviour. Continue reading...

Against Birmingham on Easter Monday, Kasey McAteer gave Ipswich supporters something to talk about other than Nigel Farage – namely the growing prospect of a return to the Premier League at the first attempt. In their first game since the Reform UK leader had been allowed to parade with a “Farage 10” Ipswich shirt at the stadium and linked himself with Kieran McKenna’s job, the hosts moved into the automatic promotion places. Farage’s visit on 23 March has divided the fans, even driven some of them away. The chair, Mark Ashton, has apologised “for any hurt, pain or distress that’s been caused”, while the club said they “remain apolitical and do not support any individual party”. A handful of club officials are understood to have known about Farage’s visit beforehand but Ipswich deny that he was invited. In a video posted on Reform’s X account, Farage appears to address a message “To Mark” when signing an Ipswich shirt. Supporters have been left to make up their own minds and there is a feeling among some that they are being lied to. Continue reading...

One minute you can’t get enough southern fried drumsticks or peri-peri wings, the next it all tastes foul. Here’s how a psychologist explains it Name: The chicken ick. Age: Chickens have been around since, well, eggs … Continue reading...