Articles about Due

Exclusive: Transdev undertook ‘coupling project’ after teen trapped between carriages in 2023. Trial restarted after second fatality, ex-employee claims, while Transdev denies ‘assessment’ ever shelvedThe company that operates Sydney’s light rail investigated safety upgrades following a fatal incident in 2023, but cancelled the project due to its cost before a second person died, a whistleblower alleges.After the first death, Transdev successfully trialled sensors that would detect a person entering the coupling area between two joined trams, according to the former employee who requested anonymity. But the project was stopped before another death in 2025, they said. Continue reading...

Delta, United and JetBlue hiked rates even as Delta announced $1bn pre-tax profit in quarter ending JuneMiddle East crisis – live updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Several major US airlines have raised their baggage fees in recent days, blaming ongoing volatility in oil markets caused by the US-Israeli war in Iran that has almost doubled jet fuel prices.On Tuesday, Delta followed the lead of United Airlines and JetBlue, which announced last week that they were hiking baggage prices because of the ongoing war. Continue reading...

• Rates of US adults skipping needed care due to unaffordable costs rose to 12.4% in 2024, up from declines seen 2019-2021. • Forgone care varies by state, insurance type, and chronic disease status, exacerbating health disparities nationwide. • Gallup polls identify healthcare costs as the top health issue, surpassing access and obesity concerns for Americans.

Pheap Rom was one of 15 people sent to prison in African kingdom last year despite completing US sentencesA Cambodian man deported by the US said he would have accepted being sent to Cambodia, but instead ended up imprisoned in Eswatini, a country he knew so little about that when he first read the name he thought it was another immigration detention centre in Louisiana.Pheap Rom, who had been convicted of attempted murder, was one of 10 deportees sent to Eswatini by the US in October 2025. They joined a group of five men, from Cambodia, Cuba, Jamaica, Vietnam and Yemen, who were deported to the small southern African country in July. All were sent to a maximum-security prison. Rom was deported from Eswatini to Cambodia in March. Continue reading...

The US vice-president and Hungary’s prime minister will hold a joint press conference later todayThe US vice-president JD Vance is en route to Budapest this morning, where he is expected to support the embattled prime minister Viktor Orbán in the final days of the campaign before this weekend’s crucial parliamentary election in Hungary.Departing from Joint Base Andrews last night, JD Vance said he was looking forward to meeting his “friend Viktor,” and said that the pair would discuss not just the state of the US-Hungarian relations, but also broader issues on Europe and Ukraine. 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...

Companies using heating oil have already begun rationing their fuel use, says Federation of Small BusinessesMiddle East crisis – live updatesThousands of independent businesses across the UK are braced for their energy bills to more than double owing to the sharp rise in heating oil costs as the war in Iran pushed Europe’s fuel market prices to fresh record highs.About 7% of all small and medium-sized companies warm their properties and provide hot water using heating oil, which in some cases has more than doubled in recent weeks. Continue reading...

• Anthropic has discontinued third-party tools like OpenClaw for Claude subscribers, citing unsustainable demand straining its infrastructure. • The move prioritizes core model stability as user growth surges, impacting developers relying on extensions for customized workflows. • It highlights operational challenges for leading AI providers balancing openness with capacity limits in a rapidly scaling market.

• Princeton forward Caden Pierce '26 announced his transfer to Purdue Boilermakers, heading to the Big Ten conference. • The move follows Princeton women's basketball head coach Carla Berube's departure, prompting a national search for her replacement with three potential candidates in consideration. • Pierce's transfer highlights shifting dynamics in college basketball rosters amid conference realignments.

FDA planned to fast-track applications for authorization, but agency reviewers raise alarm over addiction riskPopular nicotine pouch products have yet to be cleared for sale in the United States despite a fast-track Food and Drug Administration scheme, as agency scientists hesitate to authorize them due to potential risks to new users, including children, three sources told Reuters.New tobacco products like pouches, which users insert under their lip to get a nicotine buzz, must be authorised by the FDA in order to be legally sold in the US, the world’s largest market for smoking alternatives worth some $22bn. Continue reading...

Review finds no ‘meaningful impact’ five years after race action plan launched, amid calls for government to step inPromises by police chiefs to tackle racial bias failed owing to “a lack of clear national leadership”, an independent police report has found.The promises were made five years ago in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and led police bosses in England and Wales to launch a race action plan promising to tackle the “stigmatising and humiliating” experiences of Black people at the hands of officers. Continue reading...

Scientists tracked bird population in Canberra’s botanic gardens and found climate impacts starting to affect themFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA common and well-loved bird of bush and garden could go extinct within 30-40 years due to the weather impacts of climate change, researchers say.Data derived from nearly 30 years of weekly observations tracked the lives of superb fairy wrens in Canberra’s botanic gardens, noting the changing weather’s impacts on them. Continue reading...

Shift seen away from from traveling to states with legal abortion in favor of telehealth and mail-order pillsThe abortion rate is holding steady in the US despite total and partial bans in some states – largely because of travel across state lines and a significant increase in telehealth appointments, a new report says.US regulatory officials are weighing changes to the ways mifepristone, an abortion medication, may be dispensed, but they have reportedly pushed their review until after the midterm elections, given the widespread support for abortion across the US. Continue reading...

Peaches, strawberries and grapes were almost always found to be contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’ in the analysisSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA first-of-its-kind analysis has identified Pfas pesticide residues on 37% of conventional California produce, with peaches, strawberries and grapes almost always found to be contaminated with the toxic “forever chemicals”.The analysis coincided with the introduction of California legislation that would by 2035 fully ban Pfas from being used as active ingredients in pesticides, and require warning labels and other restrictions in the meantime. Continue reading...

• Second-seeded Purdue defeated 11th-seeded Texas 79-77 in the West Region semifinal on March 26 in San Jose, California. • Trey Kaufman-Renn's tip-in of Braden Smith's miss with 0.07 seconds left secured the win for the Boilermakers. • Purdue advances to face top-seeded Arizona in the West Region final on March 28 for a Final Four spot in Indianapolis.

US president says he will host Chinese leader in a reciprocal visit later this yearDonald Trump will meet Xi Jinping in May during the US president’s first visit to China in eight years, a closely watched trip that had been postponed due to the Iran war.Trump was initially slated to travel next week, but will now visit Beijing on 14 and 15 May, he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. Trump said he would host the Chinese leader in a reciprocal visit in Washington later this year. Continue reading...

• General Services Administration proposed changes to the federal grant system on March 24, 2026, potentially affecting funding distribution. • Updates could impact afterschool, summer, and educational programs reliant on grants. • Public comments accepted through March 30, 2026, shaping 2026 policy landscape.

The former president was in prison for a coup attempt after losing the country’s last electionBrazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro has been granted permission to serve his 27-year sentence for a coup attempt at home instead of in prison because of his failing health.The decision by supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes followed Bolsonaro’s hospitalization since 13 March for pneumonia, one of several health problems the former leader has faced since he was stabbed by a man in 2018 before he was elected president. Continue reading...

Scott Peyton left the Lafayette, Louisiana, diocese after priest admitted to abusing his son and was excommunicated months laterA Louisiana man who resigned as a Roman Catholic deacon after a priest molested his son and then was excommunicated from the church entirely by his local bishop is asking global church leaders to inform him of the fate of his appeal against the prelate’s decision, something that was supposed to be resolved more than a year earlier.In a letter to the Vatican entity in charge of clerical discipline, a canon – or church – law attorney representing Scott Peyton asserts that his case is “nuanced and requires careful consideration”. “To the extent that the delay reflects such diligence, he is grateful,” said the letter to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), prepared by Dawn Eden Goldstein on 3 February and obtained recently by the Guardian. Continue reading...

UK’s bilateral aid to Africa, which funds programmes such as schools and clinics, to be cut by almost £900m by 2028-29Some of the world’s poorest countries will lose out on UK aid which funds programmes such as schools and clinics due to budget cuts set out by the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper.The UK’s bilateral aid to Africa will be cut by almost £900m by 2028-29 – a 56% cut – part of more than £6bn in cuts which must be delivered to fund an increase in defence spending. Continue reading...

• Research firm IDC significantly lowered its 2026 PC shipment forecast to an 11.3% decline, compared to the previous projection of a 2.4% drop, driven by ongoing memory shortages, rising component costs, and supply chain disruptions expected to persist into 2027. • Tablet shipments are also expected to fall 7.6% in 2026, though the overall market value is projected to increase slightly as higher component costs drive up per-unit prices for computers and devices. • IDC predicts that truly inexpensive computers will become rarer as the industry adapts to a new normal with elevated component pricing, fundamentally changing the affordable computing landscape.

The Big 12 men's basketball tournament switched courts mid-event after a Texas Tech player suffered a serious ankle injury during a game, prompting safety concerns. Officials halted play and moved to a backup court to ensure player welfare. Texas Tech coach Mark Adams said, 'Safety comes first; we're praying for our player's recovery.' The change delayed semifinals by 45 minutes but allowed games to resume without further incidents, highlighting venue preparedness issues.

Meta halted construction on a key segment of its 2Africa subsea cable project on March 13, 2026, citing security threats from the escalating US-Iran conflict disrupting Middle East routes. The $1.2 billion initiative, spanning 37,000 km to connect Africa and Europe, faces delays costing millions in potential bandwidth losses. This pause underscores geopolitical risks to global tech infrastructure investments, as Iran tensions threaten undersea cables vital for AI data flows. Meta plans rerouting assessments, with resumption eyed post-ceasefire.

Meta delayed rollout of its new AI model code-named Avocado after internal tests showed it lagging competitors in reasoning, coding, and writing, reported on March 13, 2026. The New York Times detailed the model's underperformance against benchmarks. This setback comes amid intense AI competition and highlights challenges in model development. Meta must refine the model to catch up in the race for advanced capabilities.

Meta delayed the rollout of its Avocado AI model after internal tests revealed it underperformed competitors in reasoning, coding, and writing, reported on March 13, 2026. The New York Times cited concerns over the model's benchmarks against rivals. This setback impacts Meta's AI ambitions amid intensifying competition. Analysts expect revisions before any public release.