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Technology minister tells Commons ‘de-identified’ information from UK Biobank advertised for sale on AlibabaUK politics live – latest updatesThe confidential health records of half a million British volunteers have been offered for sale on Chinese website Alibaba, the UK government has confirmed.The data, belonging to participants in the UK Biobank project, was found for sale on three separate listings last week. The records have now been removed and it is not believed any sales were made. Continue reading...

• The United Nations reported that renewed fighting in South Sudan has displaced over 500,000 people in the past month, creating a humanitarian emergency affecting food security across the region. • The World Food Programme warned that without immediate intervention, famine conditions could emerge within 60 days, affecting approximately 8 million people across South Sudan and neighboring countries. • The US has committed an additional $150 million in humanitarian assistance, but aid organizations stress that security challenges continue to impede delivery of food and medical supplies to affected populations.

American Lung Association report comes amid Trump EPA’s expansive rollback of environmental protections Nearly half of children in the United States are breathing dangerous levels of air pollution, according to a new report, as experts warned Donald Trump’s expansive rollback of protections will make the situation worse.The 27th annual air quality report from the American Lung Association (ALA) released on Wednesday evaluates pollution across the country by grading levels of ground-level ozone – also known as smog – as well as year-round and short-term spikes in particle pollution, commonly referred to as soot. The report analyzed quality-assured data collected between 2022 and 2024. Continue reading...

‘Stone age’ system of booking cross-border rail tickets holding back climate action by consumers, says thinktankEurope’s “stone age” system of booking train tickets makes it needlessly difficult for travellers to avoid polluting flights, a report has found.Booking equivalent train tickets is “difficult or impossible” on almost half of the EU’s busiest international air routes, analysis from the Transport & Environment (T&E) thinktank shows. Continue reading...

Winning robot records faster time than Jacob Kiplimo’s world record More than 100 robots run in parallel tracks to avoid collisions with humansDozens of Chinese-made humanoid robots showed off their fast-improving athleticism as they whizzed past human runners in a half-marathon race in Beijing on Sunday, having lagged far behind a year earlier.The race’s inaugural edition last year was riddled with mishaps, as many robots struggled to get off the starting line, and most were unable to finish. Continue reading...

But Labour’s ‘halfway house’ approach risks losing support from progressives and ‘red wall’ voters, experts sayUK politics live – latest updatesSupport for rejoining the EU rather than simply rejoining the single market is growing among British voters, with more than 80% of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green party supporters favouring this option, research mapping voter attitudes 10 years after the Brexit referendum shows.But Labour’s “muted” approach means it now risks losing support among progressive voters and in “red wall” constituencies, experts have said as part of a research by Best for Britain. Continue reading...

Warmer weather has benefited some species in Britain, but others that rely on specific plants or habitats have struggled“Insectageddon” has not occurred, but there has been a loss of butterfly diversity over the past half a century, according to the world’s largest insect monitoring scheme.More than 44m butterfly sightings scientifically collected in Britain since 1976 show that of the 58 native species recorded, 33 species have declined and 25 have increased in number. Continue reading...

Landmark ruling finds Wright Prospecting successfully made out its contractual claim to 50% of past and future royalties from Hope Downs iron ore projectGina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has lost its bid to retain royalties from the mammoth Hope Downs iron ore project and will be forced to pay Wright Prospecting half of its earnings from the project, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.In a landmark ruling in the Western Auestralia supreme court on Wednesday, justice Jennifer Smith said that Wright Prospecting had successfully made out its contractual claim to 50% of past and future royalties paid from the project. Continue reading...

• The COVID-19 variant BA.3.2, nicknamed 'Cicada,' has spread to half the US states and at least 23 countries worldwide. • Health monitors track its emergence amid ongoing circulation of respiratory pathogens. • While specific severity data is pending, it adds to concerns over variant evolution and vaccine effectiveness.

Marist poll shows that 48% of city residents approve of Mamdani’s performance while 55% view him favorablySign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxAs New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, approaches his first 100 days in office, a new survey shows that roughly half of city residents approve of his performance so far.The poll, conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion and released on Wednesday morning, found that 48% of residents say they approve of the job Mamdani, 34, is doing, while 30% disapprove and 23% remain unsure. Continue reading...

Poll of 10,000 teachers also finds ‘overwhelming’ exam anxiety and rising absenteeism linked to poor mental healthAlmost half of primary school teachers are seeing pupils with eating disorders “at least occasionally”, rising to four in five at secondary level, according to a survey by the UK’s largest education union.The findings emerged in a poll of 10,000 teachers in English state schools about pupils’ mental health, which also revealed “overwhelming” exam anxiety in secondaries and dwindling numbers of counsellors to support students. Continue reading...

• A Quinnipiac poll of 1,397 US adults conducted in mid-March reveals that a majority of Americans believe AI will harm them, with concerns intensifying as tech companies invest heavily in AI infrastructure. • Seventy percent of Americans think AI advancements will reduce job opportunities—14% more than last year—while only 7% believe AI will increase jobs; nearly two-thirds worry AI will worsen education. • A slight majority of Americans oppose military use of AI to select targets, with only 36% supporting the practice, reflecting growing unease about autonomous weapons systems.

Union celebrates ‘landmark decision’ that will mean adults aged 20 or younger are no longer paid lessFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastHalf a million young Australians working in the retail, fast food and pharmacy sectors are set for a wage increase after the Fair Work Commission abolished junior pay rates for those aged 18 and over.The wage rises will be phased in over four years in a landmark change that unions compared to the introduction of equal pay for women in the 1970s. Continue reading...

Raw Farm was also linked to 2024 salmonella outbreak that sickened 165 people and deaths of two cats from bird fluA California raw milk dairy that was previously linked to a fatal outbreak of bird flu in cats has now been linked to an E coli outbreak involving cheddar cheese, affecting nine people in three states.The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in an alert that more than half of the people sickened so far are children under age five. Three people have been hospitalized after contracting a dangerous strain of E coli – O157:H7 – with one developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that can lead to kidney failure. Continue reading...

People’s payments, account details and national insurance numbers visible to other users, says Treasury committeeLloyds Banking Group exposed the personal data of nearly 500,000 customers in an IT glitch that left people’s payments, account details and national insurance numbers visible to other users, a committee of MPs has revealed.A letter from Lloyds, published by MPs on the Treasury select committee on Friday, blamed the glitch on a software defect introduced during an IT update to its Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland mobile banking apps overnight into 12 March. Continue reading...

University polling and focus groups found sharpest increase in those worried about national security was cohort aged 18 to 24Nearly half of Australians believe a foreign military will attack the country within five years, as anxiety over national security issues rises sharply, a new study suggests.The Australian National University’s National Security College report found that two-thirds of those polled in 2026, including an increasing number of teenagers and young adults, were worried about national security issues. Continue reading...

Sergey Brin gives $25m on top of $20m he’s already given to Super Pac trying to blocking state’s proposed 5% wealth taxA Google founder has more than doubled his financial contribution to the fight against a proposed wealth tax in California. New filings with the state show that former Alphabet president Sergey Brin donated $25m to a Super Pac dedicated to blocking the tax on top of $20m he had already given.Brin is not alone among Google’s top brass in upping his financial stake in the campaign against the ballot proposal. The company’s former CEO Eric Schmidt donated $1.02m, adding to a previous $2m contribution. Continue reading...

Snow, tornadoes and fierce winds disrupt flights and leave homes and businesses in multiple states in the darkSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxHalf a million US homes and businesses were without power on Tuesday morning after a potent storm system brought a mix of snow, strong winds, cold temperatures and rainfall to areas from the Midwest to the east coast.As of Tuesday morning, there were about 107,000 power outages reported in Michigan, according to poweroutage.us. In New York, there were 68,000 power outages; 65,000 were registered in Pennsylvania and 50,000 in Massachusetts. Continue reading...

Morgan Stanley issued a report on March 13, 2026, forecasting a massive AI breakthrough in H1 2026 driven by unprecedented compute scaling at U.S. labs, citing Elon Musk's view that 10x compute doubles model intelligence. OpenAI's GPT-5.4 'Thinking' model achieved 83.0% on GDPVal, matching human experts on economic tasks, with gains outpacing expectations. U.S. power shortages of 9-18 gigawatts through 2028 threaten buildout, prompting data center conversions and '15-15-15' economics. Investors must prepare for rapid intelligence gains reshaping industries.

A Colorectal Cancer Alliance survey finds only 50% of US adults know about at-home colorectal cancer screenings, contributing to it becoming the leading cancer killer for those under 50 with rising death rates. One-third of Americans, and nearly half under 45, report doctors dismissing stomach or bowel symptoms, while over 25% skip recommended screenings due to cost, fear, or lack of knowledge. More than 60% would screen if better informed of personal risk, prompting calls for awareness during National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. The nonprofit urges action to reverse trends where colorectal cancer deaths climb unlike most others.