Ofgem boss calls for truce in row over electricity market overhaul

The head of Britain’s energy regulator has called for an industry truce in the deepening row over plans to overhaul the electricity market.A decision on whether to replace the country’s single electricity market with several market zones, each with their own price, is expected within weeks.It could mean that homes in areas where there is an abundance of electricity generation will pay lower prices than those in areas of high demand and low generation capacity.But as the decision – to be taken by the energy secretary, Ed Miliband – approaches, energy organisations have ratcheted up their opposing campaigns in what sources have described as one of the energy industry’s “ugliest” drives in years to pile pressure on the government.The campaigns have included contradictory paid-for research by third-party consultants, opinion surveys and coordinated open letters to government departments in the hopes of swaying the debate

British food and drink industry call on EU to ‘reset’ trade ties

More than a dozen of Britain’s biggest retailers and food producers, including Marks & Spencer, J Sainsbury and Asda, have called on the EU to reduce checks on food and drink crossing the Channel and Irish Sea, which they say are costing billions of pounds.Ahead of a summit on 19 May that is hoped to “reset” trade ties five years on from Brexit, they are urging politicians to hammer out a deal on sanitary and phytosanitary checks. They hope this would include a veterinary agreement and would harmonise food safety rules or recognise them as equivalent.In a letter to Maroš Šefčovič, the EU commissioner for trade and economic security, the 13 companies said “unnecessary red tape” since Brexit had added £2bn to costs. Signatories of the letter, seen by the Guardian, include Morrisons, Lidl, Ocado, the sandwich makers Greencore and Samworth Brothers, as well as the meat processors Cranswick and 2 Sisters

From Sidemen to MrBeast: how YouTube and its creator economy took over TV

From MrBeast creating the world’s most expensive reality TV show and Jake Paul’s record-breaking clash with Mike Tyson to the British supergroup Sidemen’s Netflix deal, YouTube’s superstar creators are taking over mainstream television.Last month Netflix launched the second series of Inside, the Sidemen’s reality show that was a hit when the first run of episodes premiered on YouTube.The deep-pocketed streamer has such confidence in the format from the septet – whose members include the content creator, rapper and some-time boxer KSI – that it has already commissioned a US version, which is to be broadcast later this year.The TV breakthrough comes just weeks after the Sidemen, who have more than 150 million YouTube subscribers, sold out the 90,000-seat Wembley stadium for a charity football match against a YouTube Allstars team.Attenders and players at the 18-goal extravaganza included Paul, whose Netflix boxing match against Tyson in November made history as the most-streamed sporting event ever

Italian opposition file complaint over far-right deputy PM party’s use of ‘racist’ AI images

Opposition parties in Italy have complained to the communications watchdog about a series of AI-generated images published on social media by deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini’s far-right party, calling them “racist, Islamophobic and xenophobic”, the Guardian has learned.The centre-left Democratic party (PD), with the Greens and Left Alliance, filed a complaint on Thursday with Agcom, the Italian communications regulatory authority, alleging the fake images used by the League contained “almost all categories of hate speech”.Over the past month, dozens of apparently AI‑generated photos have appeared on the League’s social channels, including on Facebook, Instagram and X. The images frequently depict men of colour, often armed with knives, attacking women or police officers.Antonio Nicita, a PD senator, said: “In the images published by Salvini’s party and generated by AI there are almost all categories of hate speech, from racism and xenophobia to Islamophobia

County cricket day one: Sussex v Surrey, Hampshire v Somerset, and more – live

Well played Cameron Green, 84 and counting on debut and some nice glue for Gloucestershire’s middle order. I didn’t know, before I read it here, that Green has a kidney condition that he has to control through diet. His parents were warned that he might not live to become a teenager. But here he is at Bristol, all strapping six foot six of him.And Leicestershire’s players trudge the 200m back across the soggy OT grass to their digs at the Hilton

200-1 winner Heavenly Heather kicks off Easter racing with major shock

The Easter racing programme saw a major shock at Newcastle on Good Friday as Heavenly Heather, a 200-1 chance ridden by the 3lb claimer Amie Waugh, became the longest-priced winner of the year so far with a half-length success in the seven-furlong Fillies’ and Mares’ Championships Handicap.Waugh’s mount had failed to win any of her previous five starts and was 19lb “wrong” at the weights, meaning that Heavenly Heather raced from an effective handicap mark of 79 rather than her official rating of 60.Her rider took full advantage of her draw on the stands’ side, however, and got a fine response from Heavenly Heather when she asked her to quicken against the rail a furlong from home.The winner was the 12th horse to win at 200-1 in Britain since the turn of the century, and the first at those odds since November 2024. The UK’s record price for a winner is 250-1, set by Equinoctial at Kelso in November 1990