Millions of households will see their energy bills rise to a typical £1,971 a year after regulator Ofgem increased its price cap by 54%. The increase, which will on average see bills for 22 million customers on variable gas and electricity tariffs rise by £693, will take effect in April and follows a 12% rise
Month: February 2022
The films in the running for this year’s BAFTA awards have been announced. Dune, West Side Story, James Bond’s No Time To Die, Belfast and The Power Of The Dog are among the movies up for prizes in 2022, while Lady Gaga, Leonardo DiCaprio and Will Smith are among the acting nominees. You can read
Rihanna has shared a photo of her baby bump after announcing she and rapper boyfriend A$AP Rocky are expecting their first child together. The singer and businesswoman, 33, showed off her growing bump to her 120 million Instagram followers as she stood in a white-tiled bathroom lifting her sports jersey. “How the gang pulled up
Dune has bagged the most nominations at this year’s BAFTA film awards with 11, followed by Netflix western The Power Of The Dog and Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical Belfast. All three go up in the best film category, along with Adam McKay’s climate-comedy Don’t Look Up and Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1970s drama Licorice Pizza. Dune, which
Analysis by Jon Craig, political correspondent It’s being called D-day for the cost-of-living crisis. And Rishi Sunak is determined to be centre stage and show the public and Tory MPs that he has the right measures to tackle it. On a day of good news and bad news, on which the bad threatens to outweigh
Boris Johnson was a prime minister who won the 2019 election on his promise to “Get Brexit Done”. Victory secured, the way he planned to secure those gains in the old Labour heartlands was to make it his “mission” to level up the country and make sure that opportunity was brought to those parts of
Intelligence experts believe around 1,000 US diplomats and intelligence officers hit by a mysterious illness known as Havana Syndrome could have been targeted by electromagnetic energy pulses. “Pulse electromagnetic energy, particularly in the radio frequency range, plausibly explains” the ear pain, vertigo, and other symptoms some of those suffering the mysterious ailments first reported by
Boris Johnson must encourage the EU and Joe Biden to provide aid for Afghanistan to prevent a “needless loss of lives”, Gordon Brown has said. The former prime minister was speaking after viewing a Sky News report from the Taliban-run country, showing “malnourished, horribly weak” children and a toddler who had frozen to death. Multiple
Scientists have developed insect-sized robots that can flap their wings to fly. Inspired by bees and other flying insects, the technology means conventional motors and gears are no longer needed to fly the devices. It could lead to smaller, lighter and more effective micro flying robots, which could be used for environmental measuring, search and
Four men have been arrested and charged in relation to the death of The Wire actor Michael K Williams. Williams, 54, was found dead by family members at his penthouse apartment in Brooklyn, New York, last September. New York City’s medical examiner ruled he had died of acute drug intoxication. US Attorney Damian Williams and
A ransomware attack targeting KP Snacks may lead to a shortage of several popular crisp and nuts brands. Popular snacks from the British company, including Skips, Nik Naks, Hula Hoops, McCoy’s crisps and KP Nuts themselves, are a staple in British grocery stores, but their presence on shelves may be in question. According to messages
Northern Ireland’s agriculture minister says he has issued an order to halt Brexit agri-food checks at the nation’s ports, citing legal advice. The checks are required under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Edwin Poots says he will seek an agreement from the power-sharing government on a way forward in the near future. Speaking
The energy regulator will reveal this morning the extent of the additional financial pain households face through its revision to the price cap. Ofgem is expected to confirm a rise from 1 April of up to 50% – about £700 – taking a typical annual bill for gas and electricity up towards the £2000 mark.
Italian actress Monica Vitti has died at the age of 90 after reportedly suffering from dementia. Born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli in Rome in 1931, she made two English-language films, including a spy spoof, Modesty Blaise, with Terence Stamp and Dirk Bogarde in 1966. Before turning to comedies in the 1970s, Vitti starred in a series
Fraudsters selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have made millions of pounds from artificially inflating the price of their token through wash trading, according to a new report. NFTs have surged in popularity over the past year, with many people flocking to invest in what is marketed as a valuable and unique digital asset. However, the value
President Joe Biden has approved the deployment of thousands more US troops to Poland and Germany in the coming days amid fears Russia will invade Ukraine, an administration official says. Some 2,000 troops will be sent to Poland and Germany, while the US will also reposition part of a 1,000-strong infantry squadron currently in Germany