General news

• Ofcom orders BT 'separation' from Openreach network

  29-11-2016 14:58
  
  Telecoms regulator Ofcom is to order a legal separation between BT and its Openreach network but stopped short of demanding a full break-up. Ofcom said it was proceeding with the move "after BT failed to offer voluntary proposals that address our competition concerns". It said it still backed a form of separation in which Openreach remained a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT but warned that if this failed it could reconsider a full split.
  
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• RAF airbase in Cyprus hit as Cooper defends decision to allow US to use UK bases for Iran strikes – UK politics live

  02-03-2026 12:18 via theguardian.com
  Foreign secretary confirms strike on Akrotiri base but says it ‘simply not true’ the UK is being dragged into an Iraq-style conflict‘Simply not true’ UK is being dragged into Iraq-style conflict, says foreign secretaryKeir Starmer is receiving a fair amount of criticism from the left and the right over his handling of the conflict in the Middle East.Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called Starmer’s decision to allow British bases to be used in war against Iran &ld
  
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• US-Israel war on Iran live: Kuwait reports ‘several’ US warplanes crashing, as Iran’s ‘reckless’ attacks threaten regional stability, US and allied Gulf states say

  02-03-2026 12:16 via theguardian.com
  Israeli military says fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah could take ‘many’ more days; US crew bailed out safely after crash-landing, says KuwaitPodcast: The assassination of Iran’s ayatollahHave you been affected by events in the Middle East?Bahrain has said that one person was killed by shrapnel from an intercepted missile. The death of a foreign worker at Salman Industrial City, working on a boat there, marks the kingdom’s first reported fatality in the war.Bahrain, home to
  
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• Oil could be driven over $100 a barrel by Iran conflict, analysts warn, as FTSE 100 falls 1% – business live

  02-03-2026 12:13 via theguardian.com
  US-Israel war with Iran hits shares in travel companies, and the pound, although oil producers and weapons makers are rallyingOil prices rise as Iran war threatens shipping through strait of HormuzOver in New Delhi, India and Canada have agreed deals covering critical minerals and uranium supply.The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after talks between India’s prime minister Narendra Modi and Canada’s Mark Carney.“Our
  
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• Why are British estate agents so weird online? | Emma Beddington

  02-03-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Even though my algorithm knows I’m a sucker for outlandish reality TV property shows, it’s now offering me less-than-glamorous copycats trying to flog a buy-to-let in BeaconsfieldI’m not proud to admit that I love property as entertainment, especially smooth-brained “reality” shows in which peptide-plumped, pilates-honed NYC Amazons in towering Louboutins scrap over commission on Upper West Side condos. It’s a world where make-believe sums of money are bandied
  
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• There’s a lot to hate about AI. But what if there was a mindful way to use it?

  02-03-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Our new free course AI for the People will show you practical ways to work with AI –without giving up judgment, privacy or your humanitySign up for AI for the People, a six-week newsletter course, here Continue reading...
  
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• The UK has arrested high-profile figures connected to Jeffrey Epstein. Will the US?

  02-03-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  In contrast with the takedowns of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson, US consequences have been limited to resignations and apologiesWeeks after justice department officials released more than 3m investigative documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, there have not been any arrests in the US, prompting questions about whether any potential co-conspirators will be held accountable on American soil.Indeed, consequences in the US for the sex trafficker’s associates have largely been
  
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• The one change that worked: I stopped planning holidays – and found the joy in travel

  02-03-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  I used to scroll through scores of online reviews to put together a trip itinerary before I’d even left home. Now I just let my feet – and my nose – guide me wherever I go I have always been indecisive and scared of wasting money. When it came to travel, this meant I was forever desperate for someone to tell me where to go, what to see and what to eat. Before any holiday or day out, I’d already scoured the area on Google Earth, watched endless videos on social media, and
  
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• The King’s Warden review – lively Korean period drama, as 15th century deposed monarch takes refuge

  02-03-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Yoo Hae-jin’s confident performance redeems this disjointed parable about an exiled king, which awkwardly straddles satire, sentiment and social commentaryIt seems that the 15th-century Korean equivalent of a special economic zone was a court official exiled to a remote backwater, with all the attendant wealth and comforts that arrive with them. That’s the hook of this lively period piece, in which village chieftain Um Heung-do (Yoo Hae-jin) strays into a neighbouring settlement and
  
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• No one can predict how the war with Iran will unfold | Rajan Menon and Dan DePetris

  02-03-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  The war has already become regional: Iran is attacking American-aligned Arab states in the hope that they will pressure Trump to sign a ceasefireLast week, during his State of the Union address on Tuesday and again on Friday, just before launching Operation Epic Fear, Donald Trump laid out his case for attacking Iran.The US president offered a lengthy bill of indictment against Iran’s Islamic Republic, stretching back to the 1979 revolution: the takeover of the American embassy in Tehran,
  
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• I’m on the Meta Oversight Board. We need AI protections now | Suzanne Nossel

  02-03-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  AI is transforming our world. Accepting independent oversight is the least companies can do to protect our rightsThe speed with which AI is transforming our lives is head-spinning. Unlike previous technological revolutions – radio, nuclear fission or the internet – governments are not leading the way. We know that AI can be dangerous; chatbots advise teens on suicide and may soon be capable of instructing on how to create biological weapons. Yet there is no equivalent to the Federal
  
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• As measles spreads in South Carolina, RFK Jr’s allies work to gut vaccine laws

  02-03-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Activists who dispute safety of vaccines are pushing to limit immunization requirements in schoolsAs South Carolina grapples with a measles outbreak that has infected nearly 1,000 people, groups with ties to the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, are pushing to eliminate immunization requirements that protect children.Activists are targeting vaccine mandates in states trying to tamp down measles as communities across the country struggle to stop the worst spread of the illness since the e
  
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• Weather tracker: February temperature records broken in France and Spain

  02-03-2026 11:51 via theguardian.com
  Warmth was result of high pressure developing across central Europe, which brought southerly windsThe end of winter brought unseasonably high temperatures across much of Europe but particularly so in northern Spain and south-west France as numerous February temperatures records were broken.Cities across Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the Basque Country, including Bordeaux, Bilbao and San Sebastián, matched or exceeded their long-term February records, with temperatures of 27.1C and 27.6C recorded
  
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• Israel strikes Lebanon after Iran ally Hezbollah fires missiles over border

  02-03-2026 11:44 via theguardian.com
  Conflict spreads as militant group targets Israel over Ali Khamenei killing and IDF responds with Beirut strikesUS-Israel war on Iran – live updatesIsrael has carried out heavy airstrikes on the Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut after the Iran-backed Lebanese group launched missiles and drones towards Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.Residents of Beirut were woken by the sounds of about a dozen blasts at 3am as Israel struck th
  
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• Arne Slot admits he does not enjoy watching most Premier League matches

  02-03-2026 11:33 via theguardian.com
  He points to narrowing gap and reliance on set playsLiverpool head coach will not change his team’s styleArne Slot has admitted he does not enjoy watching most Premier League matches but says he will not change Liverpool’s philosophy. The head coach feels the narrower quality gap between top and bottom and a growing reliance on set plays have reduced the entertainment.“Most of the games I see in the Premier League are not for me a joy to watch,” Slot said, “but it&r
  
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• Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan goes on trial in Paris accused of raping three women

  02-03-2026 11:30 via theguardian.com
  Former Oxford University professor and UK government adviser faces up to 20 years in prison if convictedThe prominent Swiss academic and Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan will go trial in Paris on Monday on charges of raping three women in France between 2009 and 2016.Ramadan, who advised previous British governments on Islam and society, denies all the charges in a case that has been seen as one of the biggest repercussions of the #MeToo movement in France. Continue reading...
  
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• Worried about freedom of speech? Then what’s happening at the Open University should terrify you | Owen Jones

  02-03-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  The OU has capitulated to a pro-Israel lobby group about the use of the term ‘ancient Palestine’. The wider context is impossible to ignoreThe west is in the midst of the most serious assault on free speech and academic freedom since the heyday of McCarthyism seven decades ago. For years, we were told the danger came from the left: oversensitive students, censorious activists, no-platforming zealots. Yet the most aggressive and successful campaign to police speech in our public insti
  
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• UK house prices rise in February as chancellor avoids ‘negative speculation’

  02-03-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Rachel Reeves’ upcoming spring forecast has not led to slowdown, as property tax rumours did in NovemberBusiness live – latest updatesUK politics live – latest updatesHouse prices in the UK increased in February as Rachel Reeves avoided a repeat of the pre-budget “negative speculation” that depressed the market, as she prepares to present the spring forecast on Tuesday.The average price of a home rose to £273,176 last month, up by 0.3% from the month before, N
  
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• The pet I’ll never forget: Harvey, the most human of cats who helped me through grief and illness

  02-03-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  He could use door handles and steal catnip from the kitchen cupboards. And, when I became very unwell, he would pace around me like a doctor on call Harvey came into our lives during a year of loss. It was 2004, and my grandmother had just died, quickly followed by our beloved cat Skeet (Manx English for “nosy”). With the family thrown into mourning, the house became eerily quiet and still, and my mother was grieving.I was only 11, and did not know how to take care of her, but I did
  
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• Missing Florida man found over a week later trapped in shoulder-deep mud

  02-03-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Local crews rescued Andrew Giddens, 36, near a borrow pit after he faced freezing weather without food or waterA Florida man who had been missing since Valentine’s Day was found over a week later trapped in mud up to his shoulders, authorities said.Andrew Giddens, 36, had reportedly gone several days without food or water by then, and officials ultimately rescued him in dramatic fashion to end his nightmarish ordeal. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘I watched it endlessly as a teen’: why Mrs Doubtfire is my feelgood movie

  02-03-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  The latest in our series of writers singling out their go-to comfort watches is a look back at a complicated comedy showcase for Robin WilliamsI can’t think of another film that pulls at my heartstrings while making me chuckle as reliably as Mrs Doubtfire does. It has that rare tonal elasticity: genuine sadness, even grief, followed almost immediately by absurdity and welcome comic relief. You might feel your throat tighten one minute, only to find yourself laughing out loud the next. Few
  
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• Why The Secret Agent should win the best picture Oscar

  02-03-2026 10:55 via theguardian.com
  Kicking off this year’s series in which our writers advocate for one Academy Award nominee, our chief critic on why the Brazilian drama-thriller is the most audacious and fully realised film in the raceAs ever, this year’s Oscars have their half-dozen or so favourites and frontrunners, some truly outstanding movies among them. But the one that has stayed in my mind is a knight’s move away from the talking-point consensus: an amazingly sophisticated, wayward and garrulous film f
  
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• Too lazy to be a guide dog: how Marcus found his calling as a therapy animal – video

  02-03-2026 10:50 via theguardian.com
  When Marcus was a puppy, he began training with Guide Dogs NSW. But after 12 weeks of training, it quickly became apparent that the four-year-old, 32-kilo labrador was not really suited for a guide dog role because he was 'a little bit of a sloth', according to Samantha O'Keeffe, the alternate pathways manager at Guide Dogs NSW. So Marcus has found a new career – as a therapy dog, a role for which he is perfectly suited on account of being affectionate, friendly and politeCanine carer: how
  
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• UK competition watchdog investigates hotel groups over alleged data sharing

  02-03-2026 10:47 via theguardian.com
  Regulator looks into claim Hilton, InterContinental Hotels and Marriott could be sharing ‘competitively sensitive’ information via analytics tool Business live – latest updatesThe UK competition watchdog has opened an investigation into three of the world’s biggest hotel chains – Hilton, InterContinental Hotels (IHG) and Marriott – amid suspicions they could be sharing “competitively sensitive” information with each other.The Competition and Market
  
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• England keeping close eye on safety before World Cup qualifier in Turkey

  02-03-2026 10:15 via theguardian.com
  Lionesses face Ukraine in Antalya on TuesdayWiegman says ‘reassurances’ received before tripSarina Wiegman says England’s women’s team have had reassurances they are safe in Turkey but remain in close contact with the authorities about the developing conflict in the Middle East, as they prepare to face Ukraine in a Women’s World Cup qualifier.Tuesday’s match is being played in Antalya, along Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast, on neutral ground becaus
  
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• ‘You know when you’ve hit it – it’s a transformation’: Ruth E Carter on building the bold world of Sinners

  02-03-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  The two-time Oscar winner on dressing Michael B Jordan’s twin antiheroes, her start with Spike Lee and crafting the period detail of Ryan Coogler’s genre-bending epicRuth E Carter’s costumes were a crucial part of establishing the identities of the two identical twins, both played by Michael B Jordan, in multi-Oscar-nominated Sinners. Particularly the hats. One brother, Stack, wore a red fedora. The other brother, Smoke, wore a blue newsboy flat cap. Finding the hats was a crit
  
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• Photophobia review – down in the Kharkiv rail tunnels with a 12-year-old as the bloodshed rages overhead

  02-03-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Warmly observed documentary follows Nikita, confined with thousands of others to the Ukrainian city’s metro as war goes on above groundWhile war rages on, hope continues to take root underground in Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík’s moving documentary. Shot in the Kharkiv metro in Ukraine, the film follows Nikita, a spirited 12-year-old, during his daily routines in what has become a cavernous bomb shelter. Seeking refuge from the endless bombing and shelling,
  
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• Becoming George by Fiona Sampson review – the remarkable story of a cross-dressing 19th century novelist

  02-03-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  A reappraisal of one of literature’s most sensational personalities, the author of more than 70 booksIf we really are in a reading crisis – whether you blame TikTok or podcasts – it stands to reason that, of all the genres, literary biography might have particular cause to fear for its life: who wants the life story of somebody whose books no one reads?Such anxiety, justified or not, can be heard jangling away in the background amid some of the noisier claims made by Fiona
  
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• Labour council accuses minister of ‘moral bankruptcy’ over social care dispute

  02-03-2026 09:59 via theguardian.com
  Hartlepool leaders ‘furious and appalled’ after meeting with Steve Reed about growing cost of social careThe housing, communities and local government secretary has been accused by a Labour council of showing “arrogance, indifference and moral bankruptcy” towards children in social care.In an unusually forthright attack, Labour leaders of Hartlepool council said they were “furious and appalled” at Steve Reed after a meeting with him last week. A cross-party de
  
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• Flinging circus into the 21st century: how the immersive Walk My World became a Budapest must-see

  02-03-2026 09:32 via theguardian.com
  Hungarian director Bence Vága’s latest work showcases a modern style of acrobatics where performers soar above as the audience wanders from room to roomImagine an empty 6,000 sq metre warehouse intricately designed to contain 40 smaller performing spaces on multiple levels. On one side lie the fallen remains of Troy; on the other, the city of Carthage. At its dark centre is a labyrinth, and above sits the decadent realm of the gods, who are all too keen to interact with the struggli
  
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