Families hardest hit by energy crisis could be given funds dispensed by councils in England

Families hardest hit by the looming energy crisis caused by the Iran war could be given funds dispensed by local councils, under plans being considered by UK ministers keen to keep a lid on costs.As concerns increase about the impact of rising fuel and energy costs in response to a drawn-out conflict in the Middle East, a government official said several options for extending support were being debated inside Whitehall.Under one plan, extra cash could be injected into the crisis and resilience fund (CRF), a £1bn a year council-run scheme in England that takes effect from Wednesday “to provide preventative support to communities, as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis”.It is understood that the fund could be topped up to help cushion households identified by councils as facing particular hardship from higher energy bills.The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is examining plans to support households with energy bills forecast to hit nearly £2,000 a year from July

Brent crude rises after Trump says he wants to ‘take the oil’ in Iran and Yemeni Houthis launch second attack on Israel – as it happened

Brent crude is on course for a record monthly rise of nearly 60%, exceeding gains it made during the 1990 Gulf War.The global oil benchmark is currently trading 3.5% higher at $116.051 a barrel – up 59% so far in March – while New York light crude rose 2% to $101.6 a barrel

Apple subsidiary fined by UK government over Moscow sanctions breach

The UK government has fined a subsidiary of Apple £390,000 for breaching sanctions against Moscow over payments it made to a Russian streaming platform.Apple Distribution International (ADI), based in the Republic of Ireland, instructed an unnamed UK-based bank to make two payments to a company owned by a sanctioned Russian entity.The payments, worth more than £635,000 in total, were made to the streaming service Okko from an ADI bank account based in Britain. ADI is responsible for selling Apple products in Europe and the Middle East, including from the iPhone maker’s app store.The fine was imposed by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), the UK’s sanctions watchdog and part of the Treasury

How Meta’s victim-blaming failed to sway jurors in landmark social media addiction trial

When Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, sought to defend itself in the landmark social media addiction lawsuit alleging its products caused personal injury to a young user, it went on the offensive. The mental health problems that the 20-year-old known as KGM suffered since she was a child were not the result of exposure to harm on Instagram, Meta’s lawyers and public relations team argued, but instead linked to her mother’s parenting and her offline social problems.In a bench memo filed before the trial began, lawyers for Meta quoted excerpts from KGM’s teenage text messages, personal writings and social media posts complaining about her mother. They combed through therapy notes and called on doctors to testify to examples of personal conflict. Throughout the proceedings, Meta’s communications team sent reporters repeated updates from the trial and quotes from testimony that highlighted her familial issues

Cheltenham pulls plug on rest of season to fix home-straight drainage problems

If you were planning a day at Cheltenham before the end of the jumps campaign, think again. The home of National Hunt racing said on Monday it will not stage another fixture until autumn, having taken the unprecedented decision to cancel its three remaining meetings in order to start major drainage works on the home straight over the summer months.The two-day meeting scheduled for 15-16 April and the track’s traditional season finale, a hunter-chase fixture and concert on 1 May, attracted a combined total of nearly 25k spectators in 2025. That is a long way short of the 56k daily average at the festival this month, but will still represent a significant loss in ticket sales and race-day revenue from food, drinks and betting.Potential drainage problems were highlighted in January when the final race of the Trials meeting, the last fixture at the course before the festival, was delayed for 29 minutes by the appearance of a hole in the home straight

UConn’s thrilling win over Duke proved that blue-blood clashes are alive and well

College basketball has transformed almost beyond recognition over the las decade. But Sunday’s game provided welcome nostalgiaUConn’s shock win over No 1 seed Duke on Sunday night to advance to the Final Four connected two disparate eras of college basketball. Not only did the game produce one of the greatest endings in NCAA Tournament history, it was also a reminder of college basketball’s enduring appeal despite the huge changes that have transformed the sport over the past decade.Freshman Braylon Mullins’s three-point heave from well beyond the arc – after he had moments earlier stolen the ball from Duke guard Cayden Boozer – sealed the 73-72 victory. It was a shot that will forever torment Duke fans: the Blue Devils had led by 19 points in the first-half, and No 1 seeds had been 134-0 when leading by 15 or more points in NCAA Tournament history