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Amanda Smith was reunited with her mother, Michele Hundley Smith, on Thursday after decades-long searchSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA North Carolina woman whose mother was missing without a word for 24 years before authorities managed to locate her – alive and well – has reunited with her and says she forgives her.“I know everything is not black and white – there’s a whole gray area,” Amanda Smith said of her mother, 62-year-old Michele Hundley Smith, after they embraced in front of a courthouse on Thursday. “And so I mean, look – life’s too short for me to hold a grudge against her because she’s my mom.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Findings cast doubt on claims new drilling would help cut bills and boost energy security, researchers sayHundreds of licences granted for new oil and gas projects in the North Sea under the Conservatives have so far produced only 36 days’ worth of gas, according to analysis.Research by the energy consultancy Voar and the campaign group Uplift found that between 2010 and 2024, the government handed out hundreds of new North Sea oil and gas licences in seven licensing rounds. Continue reading...

GB Energy chief Jürgen Maier says boost could bring economic benefits amid energy cost crisis and actually help transition from fossil fuelsThe head of the UK’s national green energy champion has joined other high-profile renewable energy leaders in making the case for more North Sea oil and gas production as the government braces for an energy cost crisis.GB Energy boss Jürgen Maier used a social media post on LinkedIn to reject the claim that more North Sea oil and gas could help to bring down energy costs which have soared as the war in Iran has escalated. Continue reading...

Ed Miliband insists only clean power will provide ‘energy sovereignty’ amid opposition calls for oil and gas expansionUK politics live – latest updatesMinisters have said expanding North Sea drilling would put the UK at further risk of volatile fossil fuel markets, amid calls from the Conservatives and some Labour MPs to breach the manifesto pledge of no new oil and gas licences.The energy minister, Michael Shanks, said the UK was “learning the right lessons from this conflict so that we’re not exposed to fossil fuels in the same way again, because this isn’t the first time that households across the country have paid the price of our exposure to gas”. Continue reading...

• North Carolina lawmakers introduced bills to scale back hospitals' property tax and sales tax exemptions, potentially shifting millions to state and local governments amid soaring medical costs. • The Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services heard arguments on March 10, with a vote expected in April before advancing to full House and Senate. • Hospital groups like the North Carolina Healthcare Association warn of strained resources, especially for rural facilities operating on small margins, threatening patient access.

Government emphasises need to ‘get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets’ in response to Offshore Energies UKThe UK government has dismissed a warning from an energy trade body that failing to produce more homegrown North Sea oil and gas will leave the UK increasingly reliant on imports at a time of rising global instability.The industry group, Offshore Energies UK, has said the UK “urgently” needs a greater supply of domestically produced energy or consumers will be left “more exposed to global volatility and higher emissions”. Continue reading...

Police say four ambulances from Jewish community ambulance service were damaged in a suspected arson attack in Golders GreenFour ambulances belonging to the Jewish community ambulance service were set on fire in Golders Green early on Monday, with police saying they were treating the incident as an “antisemitic hate crime”.Officers were called to Highfield Road, Golders Green, around 1.45am on Monday after receiving reports of a fire. Continue reading...