NS&I preparing to repay hundreds of millions of pounds over missing savings

Firm’s sales up 54% this month and Good Energy reports doubling of interest in solar after latest oil price shockSolar panel sales have risen sharply since the start of the Iran war, according to Octopus Energy, and households are opting for bigger arrays of roof panels.Sales were up 54% so far this month compared with the same period last month, the company said on Thursday. Continue reading...

Iran’s foreign minister has said Tehran has ‘no intention of negotiating for now’. Plus, the AI users whose lives were wrecked by delusionGood morning.Iran dismissed a US ceasefire proposal on Wednesday and responded with its own negotiation plan as intermediaries sought to keep diplomatic channels between the warring countries open.What is the toll? The US-Israel war on Iran has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, more than 1,500 in Iran and 16 in Israel, according to each country’s authorities. More than a dozen deaths have been reported in the West Bank and Gulf Arab states. Experts warn there has been a collapse in healthcare access.This is a developing story. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.What did the Los Angeles plaintiff allege? The 20-year-old woman testified that she became addicted to YouTube at age six and Instagram at nine, which she said harmed her wellbeing. She blamed the platforms for her experience of body dysmorphic disorder and social phobia in her adolescence.How much will the companies pay the plaintiff? The jury awarded the plaintiff in the case damages of $6m, with Meta to pay 70% and YouTube the remainder. Continue reading...

Negotiations to end funding standoff sparked by Trump administration’s immigration crackdown fail to find a breakthroughSign up for the Breaking News US emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.There was no breakthrough in talk to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday as the shutdown extends to almost six weeks with no end in sight.The acting head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said on Wednesday that airports across the country are experiencing the “highest wait times in TSA history”, as the partial shutdown of the DHS enters its sixth week. At a House homeland security committee hearing, Ha Nguyen McNeill said her agency has been shut down for 50% of the fiscal year so far – a stretch that includes last year’s record-breaking 43‑day lapse in federal funding. She told lawmakers that by Friday, TSA employees will have missed $1bn in paychecks as a result of the closures. More here.The US has launched another strike on a vessel in the Caribbean, killing four people, the US Southern Command said. The command, which oversees combatant operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, announced on X that it had conducted a “lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations”. More here.Progressive lawmakers have unveiled a new policy to place a moratorium on the construction of AI datacenters. The policy, announced by Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democratic representative, aims to ensure the AI boom protects the environment and communities, and benefits workers instead of harming them. More here.The Trump administration’s federal housing director Bill Pulte is asking prosecutors to investigate New York attorney general Letitia James for insurance fraud, according to criminal referrals reported by MS Now and CBS News. The referrals to prosecutors in Florida and Illinois allege that James may have committed mortgage insurance fraud. The allegations center on applications made to Universal Property Insurance company, which is based in Florida, and Allstate in Illinois. More here. Continue reading...

Documents obtained by Guardian show company increased different fees to ‘offset revenue loss’ from FTC rule changeFollowing a wave of regulations banning the surprise fees that appear at the end of a transaction, Ticketmaster stopped charging the extra few dollars it added to each order at checkout. Typically shared with the venue, the order processing fee was a boon to a global platform that sells hundreds of millions of tickets a year.But documents obtained by the Guardian show that while Ticketmaster eliminated this fee to comply with the rules, the company simply raised the cost of different fees in a number of its venues to ensure it didn’t lose money. Continue reading...

Clear Secure has seen jump in new sign-ups amid the partial government shutdown as TSA workers go unpaidSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxAs travelers continue to face sprawling security lines across the US, one company is thriving amid the ongoing chaos.Clear Secure, a biometric firm that allows travelers to bypass Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lines at more than 60 airports in the US, has reportedly seen a jump in new sign-ups this month amid the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown. Continue reading...

Company reported loss of £125m after cyber-security attack hit sales and claims of ‘toxic’ culture Business live – latest updatesThe Co-op Group has announced that its boss will step down this weekend after a difficult year that included a cyber-attack and recent claims of a “toxic” culture at the business.Shirine Khoury-Haq will step down as chief executive on 29 March, with Kate Allum, a board member and former boss of dairy group First Milk, stepping in as interim boss while a permanent replacement is found. Continue reading...

One struck a market in North Darfur and the other hit a truck carrying civilians in North Kordofan as the country’s civil war approaches its fourth yearAt least 28 civilians have been killed in two separate drone strikes in Sudan, according to health workers, as the country’s brutal civil war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces approaches its fourth year.A strike hit a market in the town of Saraf Omra in North Darfur state on Wednesday, killing “22 people, including an infant, and injuring 17 more”, a health worker at the local clinic told AFP. Continue reading...

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development says UK economy will grow by just 0.7% this yearThe conflict in the Middle East will damage the UK’s economy more than any other industrialised nation, according to analysis by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which warned over rising inflation.In the first major assessment by a leading international thinktank of the economic impact from the attack on Iran, the OECD said the UK economy would grow by just 0.7% this year, compared with its last forecast, made in December, of 1.2% for 2026. Continue reading...

OECD says the Middle East war will test the world’s resilience with Australia expected to suffer from higher rates and inflationGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe world economy is on the brink of a major inflationary spike as soaring fuel prices threaten growth in European and Asian nations, the OECD has warned, and local economists are slashing Australia’s growth prospects for this year and the next amid the ongoing US-Israel attack on Iran.The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s latest interim outlook said the US-Israel war on Iran will “test the resilience of the global economy”, and warned of the “significant downside risk” to their forecasts should the oil supply disruptions prove more persistent and push energy prices even higher. Continue reading...

PM tells Jo Boydell of concerns about her lack of availability to discuss how staff gave man access to victim’s room• UK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has written to the chief executive of Travelodge to press the hotel chain to “seriously engage” with MPs raising concerns about its protocols after a woman was sexually assaulted by a man who was given her room number and a key card by staff.MPs who had sought an urgent meeting with Jo Boydell said the case of Kyran Smith, 29, who was jailed for seven and a half years last month, raised “deeply concerning” questions. He attacked the woman after a party in December 2022. Continue reading...

Teesside site mothballed in September given £100m in government investment to restart production for at least three monthsA shuttered carbon dioxide plant is to reopen on Teesside with £100m of government investment in response to fears the war in Iran could trigger shortages of the gas that multiple industries rely on.The business secretary, Peter Kyle, has approved the reopening of the Ensus plant to help bolster production of CO2, which has uses ranging from carbonating drinks and keeping food fresh to medical procedures and the sedating of animals for slaughter. Continue reading...