“Utilities have announced plans to retire more than 55,000 megawatts of coal-fired generation over the next five years. Reversing these retirement decisions could help offset the need to build new, more expensive electricity sources and prevent the loss of reliability attributes, ‌such as fuel security, that the coal fleet provides,” said America’s Power President and CEO Michelle Bloodworth.

Candidates traded blows in lively and feisty debate

It’s one of the most high-profile and hotly contested by-elections in recent memory. So it’s perhaps not surprising that when the main candidates bidding to become Gorton and Denton’s next MP met at today’s Manchester Evening News hustings things got a little feisty.

The tone was set from the off when Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin entered the room and shook hands with his rivals. “Welcome to Manchester,” he was pointedly told by Labour’s Angeliki Stogia.

Green candidate Hannah Spencer, a plumber and councillor in Trafford, was also quick to get her blows in when, in her opening statement, she described the election as a ‘straight-up race between the hardworking, local Mancunian who’s lived here all her life and the Reform candidate, who’s an academic bussed in from south, spreading that party’s message of division’.

Mr Goodwin had his own consistent attack lines as well, repeatedly accusing Labour of neglecting the constituency and criticising Gereen Party proposals to legalise all drugs, an idea the Reform man said ‘would be a nightmare for Gorton and Denton‘.

You can watch the full hustings here…

Seventeen-year-old Choi Ga-on denied American great Chloe Kim snowboarding history as she brushed off an early fall to win Winter Olympic halfpipe gold.

Kim had been hoping to become the first snowboarder – male or female – to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals.

But as heavy snow fell in Livigno, South Korean Choi usurped Kim at the top of the standings with 90.25 points from her final run, a score the 25-year-old could not better on her last attempt.

It showed remarkable resilience from Choi, after she had earlier taken a brutal fall in which she hit the icy lip of the pipe and flipped into its centre, lying motionless for some time.

But she eventually brushed herself down and stunned the onlooking crowd with her spellbinding third run, her coach bursting into tears at the realisation of what Choi had achieved.

For Kim, the build-up to the Games had been far from ideal.

With just one competition under her belt this season, she dislocated her shoulder and sustained a torn labrum in what she described as the “silliest fall” in training in Switzerland last month.

But despite having her shoulder in a brace, she showed little sign of it affecting her as she scored 90.25 in qualification on Wednesday.

Watched on by Team USA ‘honorary coach’ Snoop Dogg and snowboarding legend Shaun White in Thursday’s final, eight-time X Games champion Kim had looked set for gold after her opening run scored 88.00, with few coming close.

But Choi’s score – met by both cheers and gasps of shock from the onlooking crowd – piled the pressure on Kim, only for a fall to ensure she would leave an Olympics with silver for the very first time.

Japan’s Mitsuki Ono took bronze with a score of 85.00.

The Summit contestants are being put through their paces in the high-stakes ITV reality series.

The Summit contestant Afton McKeith has revealed her co-star “fainted” in an unseen moment on the programme.

The TV star, who is the daughter of controversial I’m A Celebrity star Gillian McKeith, is being put through her paces in the new ITV competition, which is hosted by This Morning’s Ben Shephard.

It follows 14 competitors attempting to scale a mountain peak in New Zealand’s South Island Alps in a bid to win £200,000.

After just the opening episodes, one star was brutally axed, and two more tearfully quit, including Patrick, who had to medically withdraw.

The content creator had been attempting to scale a mountain on a ladder, the first of the group to do so. He thought he’d be strong enough to carry the weight of his supplies on his back, but was struggling within minutes and forced to call it quits.

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Afton has now revealed Patrick actually fainted during the brutal task, replying to a comment on X.

One viewer had reacted to Afton’s tears as she expressed her fears on the show, recalling her mum fainting on I’m A Celebrity.

They wrote: “Afton ffs. Just like her mum. She’ll start fainting come tomorrow.”

Afton replied: “Patrick actually did during the climb! After watching tonight I can see it wasn’t shown though.”

She also said: “Patrick sadly got injured and was told that his injury is too severe to continue. There was no choice unfortunately.”

She went on to recall her own turn climbing the ladder, saying: “The ladder steps were so far apart! It was hard to reach since I’m not that tall and it was all about upper body strength. It was unexpectedly more exhausting than it looked. And such a twist with the mountain keeper showing up to intimidate me!”

Taking to Instagram after he was forced to quit, Patrick expressed his devastation at leaving the challenge after tearing his bicep.

“I did not see that coming, having to be carried out by a chopper, you know, it’s really sad. That’s the worst way I could have possibly gone,” he said in a social media video.

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He went on: “What surprised me most about myself doing this experience is my mental strength. I didn’t know I had it in me.”

He added: “The one piece of advice I would give to myself is to expect the unexpected, go easy on yourself, don’t over-exert yourself and stay hydrated.”

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website

Afton was among those sharing her support, commenting: “Love you Patrick. I was devastated to see you go.” Another fan added: “So gutted he has gone.”

The Summit continues on Tuesday at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

He allegedly had quantities of potassium permanganate, sulphur, black powder, 100 blank cartridges, ball bearings and other component parts of improvised devices

A man accused of storing explosives in his south Belfast home is not ideologically driven or linked to terrorism, the High Court heard on Thursday.

Dangerous chemicals and an improvised grenade were discovered during a major security alert at Radoslaw Kuc’s terraced house on Empire Street last year, prosecutors said. But a judge was told psychiatric assessments have confirmed the 51-year-old suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.

“There is no evidence that he’s involved with any terrorist-type organisation,” Madam Justice McBride accepted.

“It doesn’t look as if he is part of a wider network, it doesn’t look as if it was ideologically driven.”

Kuc faces a charge of possessing explosives in suspicious circumstances in connection with seizures made on January 29, 2025. He allegedly had quantities of potassium permanganate, sulphur, black powder, 100 blank cartridges, ball bearings and other component parts of improvised devices.

Crown counsel Mark O’Connor told the court that a number of laptops and mobile phones were also confiscated from the defendant’s home.

“In the property he had a diagram which he claimed was for a laser for a drone,” the barrister added.

Other residents in the Empire Street area had to be evacuated from their homes for nearly 12 hours during the search operation at Kuc’s house.

Police later confirmed that an improvised grenade was removed and made safe.

Opposing the defendant’s bid to be released on bail, Mr O’Connor cited potential hostility towards Kuc from others in the area who know he is a foreign national.

He also submitted: “There are concerns that an alcoholic paranoid schizophrenic with access to dangerous chemicals causes a risk of re-offending.”

With the Empire Street address regarded as unsafe for Kuc to return to, his lawyers indicated there are currently no friends or family he could stay with.

Barrister Turlough Madden argued the psychiatric assessments have shown his mental health is currently stable. Adjourning the application, Madam Justice McBride stressed that alternative accommodation must be found outside the area.

“My concern is that alcohol with paranoid schizophrenia is a very dangerous mix,” she said.

“The alleged offending causes some concern, (and) living in that community where he feels maybe there are people opposed to him.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced an end Thursday to credits to automakers who install automatic start-stop ignition systems in their vehicles, a device intended to reduce emissions that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said “everyone hates.”

In remarks with President Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House, Zeldin called start-stop technology the “Obama switch” and said it makes vehicles “die” at every red light and stop sign. He said the credits, which also applied to options like improved air conditioning systems, are now “over, done, finished.”

Zeldin repeated the generally-debunked claims that start-stop systems — which are mostly useful for city driving — are harmful to vehicles, asserting Thursday that “it kills the battery of your car without any significant benefit to the environment.”

This latest Trump administration move to cut automotive industry efforts to clean up their cars and reduce transportation-driven emissions came as Zeldin and Trump also announced a broader repeal of the scientific finding known as endangerment that has been the central basis for regulating U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Start-stop is a technology that automatically shuts down a vehicle’s engine when a driver comes to a complete stop, and then automatically restarts the engine when the driver takes their foot off the brake pedal. Developed in response to the 1970s oil crisis, the feature was intended to cut vehicle idling, fuel consumption and emissions.

About two-thirds of vehicles now have it, providing drivers with anywhere from 7% to 26% in fuel economy savings, according to the Society of Automotive Engineers. Start-stop also causes a split-second lag in acceleration, a point of irritation for some consumers and automotive enthusiasts.

Burning gasoline and diesel fuel for transportation is a major contributor to planet-warming gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and more, according to the EPA. By implementing the systems, automakers could earn credits toward meeting federal emissions reduction rules.

“Countless Americans passionately despise the start/stop feature in cars,” Zeldin wrote in a post on X on Tuesday teasing the announcement. “So many have spoken out against this absurd start-stop-start-stop-start-stop concept.”

The announcement made good on Zeldin’s promises last year to “fix” the feature. Start-stop is “where your car dies at every red light so companies get a climate participation trophy,” Zeldin said in a post on X last May. “EPA approved it, and everyone hates it, so we’re fixing it,” he wrote at the time.

Zeldin’s announcement aligns with the administration’s broader attacks on cleaner-vehicle efforts. Trump eliminated the Biden administration’s target for half of all new vehicle sales in the U.S. to be electric by 2030, and signed Congress’ tax and spending bill that ended federal tax credits for new and used electric vehicle purchases.

The administration is also weakening rules for how far new vehicles must travel on average on a gallon of gasoline as it undermines the climate regulation at the core of auto tailpipe emissions.

Jeep-maker Stellantis welcomes the deregulatory effort, a spokesperson’s statement said: “We remain supportive of a rational, achievable approach on fuel economy standards that preserves our customers’ freedom of choice.”

A Ford Motor Co. statement said: “We appreciate the work of President Trump and Administrator Zeldin to address the imbalance between current emissions standards and customer choice.”

General Motors deferred comment to the auto industry group Alliance for Automotive Innovation.

“I’ve said it before: Automotive emissions regulations finalized in the previous administration are extremely challenging for automakers to achieve given the current marketplace demand for EVs,” said John Bozzella, president of the alliance. “The auto industry in America remains focused on preserving vehicle choice for consumers, keeping the industry competitive, and staying on a long-term path of emissions reductions and cleaner vehicles.”

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Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

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Read more of AP’s climate coverage.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The FBI document behind an unprecedented raid of an elections office in Georgia, sparked by an election denier close to Donald Trump, echoes allegations about the 2020 presidential election that have circulated for years and faced thorough investigations.

Those investigations did not uncover any evidence of widespread fraud to change the outcome of a race that Trump lost, and the affidavit itself provides no additional evidence to support a claim of fraud, even noting that “many allegations” have already been “disproven.”

“After more than five years, dozens of court cases, and over a year in total control of the federal government, this is all they’ve got?” said elections law expert David Becker, director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research.

“If taken at its word, this entire affidavit at most alleges human error after a late night during a global pandemic, all of which had no impact on the outcome of the race,” he said.

Here is what’s inside the document.

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Election deniers lead investigation

The criminal investigation into allegations of fraud and the destruction of records was prompted by former Trump campaign attorney Kurt Olsen with support from witnesses who have promoted debunked conspiracy theories about election administration and the outcome of the 2020 race.

While the search warrant was executed in Georgia, the federal prosecutor whose name is on the document is Thomas Albus, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Albus, a Trump appointee who was tapped by Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate elections, is among a fleet of newly hired government lawyers who boosted false claims about the 2020 election or were directly involved with litigation to overturn the results.

The affidavit then notes that the criminal probe “originated from a referral sent by Kurt Olsen, Presidentially appointed Director of Election Security and Integrity.”

Olsen worked closely with Trump’s campaign in 2020 to challenge election results as part of a “Stop the Steal” movement that was largely rejected by courts across the country.

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He was later sanctioned by a federal judge for “false, misleading and unsupported factual assertions” in support of Republican Kari Lake’s unsuccessful attempt to overturn her loss in the 2020 race for Arizona governor.

Olsen also spoke with Trump on January 6 as a mob of the president’s supporters stormed the Capitol and breached the halls of Congress.

Deputy FBI director Andrew Bailey, the former attorney general of Missouri who publicly endorsed the president’s false narrative that the election was stolen, joined agents during the Georgia raid.

The FBI also called on Clay Parikh, who had joined Lake’s failed effort to reverse her loss in the Arizona governor’s race.

He is now a special government employee in the Trump administration, and the FBI relied on his analysis of Fulton County’s results to pursue the investigation, according to the affidavit.

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The affidavit also lists several witnesses whose names are redacted, though descriptions of their allegations and activities match those from State Election Board members and other figures who denied the results of the 2020 election and promoted conspiracy theories about the vote count.

FBI alleges ‘deficiencies or defects’ that were previously debunked

The document states that the investigation involves two statutes — one concerning the destruction of election records and another that makes it a crime to “knowingly and willfully deprive” residents of a “fair and impartially conducted election process.”

Election law experts say the rest of the document provides no evidence to support a claim of fraud; Georgia’s ballots were counted three times, three different ways, following the election and challenges withstood scrutiny each time.

The FBI is instead investigating five alleged “deficiencies or defects” from those recounts, according to the affidavit.

Those allegations include missing images of ballots, ballots that were scanned multiple times, inconsistent vote counts from a hand recount, ballots that could have been improperly added, and changing vote totals during a machine recount.

Only one of those allegations — that ballots may have been scanned twice during a Trump-requested recount — had previously been “partially substantiated” by law enforcement officials, who have repeatedly affirmed Trump’s loss in the state.

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One allegation alleges “inconsistent” ballot tallies during a Risk Limiting Audit, which Georgia’s secretary of state addressed in 2022. In its report, the office noted that the audit is designed to confirm a winner, not deliver a precise count of more than 5 million ballots, which “is impossible.”

“Human counting will always produce errors,” the report said. “These differences are well within the expected variances in a computer count vs. a hand count and further support the overall conclusion of the hand audit — that the initial reported result in the presidential contest in Georgia was correct.”

The FBI also notes that there were ballots “that had never been creased or folded,” which could happen for a number of reasons, including damaged ballots that cannot be read electronically and must be duplicated, or certain overseas and military ballots that cannot fit into scanners.

In 2023, the secretary of state’s office determined that “investigators could not substantiate the allegations of ‘pristine’ ballots being counted during the risk-limiting audit.”

“This affidavit was much weaker than I suspected — no allegations of intent, no allegations of election theft, no allegations of foreign interference, and no allegations that the statute of limitations doesn’t apply,” according to Becker, the elections law expert.

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What about the statute of limitations?

One of the crimes cited by the affidavit requires election officials to keep records for 22 months after an election, so the statute of limitations would expire five years after that.

The 2020 election falls well outside of that five-year window, and the affidavit concerns activities that happened in the immediate aftermath of that contest, not in the two years that followed.

And while it is technically possible that election officials could have disposed of those records within that time, the affidavit does not provide any allegations that they did.

“That raises serious questions about probable cause for the investigation and why such an intrusive action is being taken more than five years after the election was certified,” according to Michael McNulty, policy director with Issue One.

“This raid fits a growing pattern by the administration to exert executive control over elections, despite the Constitution’s clear assignment of election administration to the states and Congress,” he added. “Targeting election officials and records years later risks undermining confidence in the process for future elections. If allowed to stand, this could set a troubling precedent that would chill election administration nationwide and invite more executive interference.”

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the men’s skeleton heats on day six of the Winter Olympics where all eyes are on Vladyslav Heraskevych.

Throughout practice, Heraskevych has worn a specially designed ‘helmet of memory’ which depicts the faces of 24 Ukrainian athletes killed since Russia’s invasion of the country in 2022.

The 27-year-old has vowed to continuing wearing the helmet in the first round of competition proper this morning, something which the International Olympic Committee say would contravene their rules forbidding political statements.

The IOC has offered Heraskevych the chance to display the helmet before and after his skeleton run, but they regard the field of play as sacrosanct.

When asked directly if they would disqualify Heraskevych or bar him from competing, the IOC said they would follow their rules.

Of course, it would be a considerable political and diplomatic own goal by the IOC were they to disqualify a Ukrainian athlete but on the other hand, allowing the rules to slide could open the floodgates to more political statements of various stripes.

It puts the organisers in something of a bind then, and it promises to be a tense moment when Heraskevych walks out to compete.

As Jeremy Wilson reports, the IOC held urgent talks on Wednesday with Heraskevych and begged him to stand down.

“I will not betray these athletes,” Heraskevych said. “These athletes sacrificed their lives, and because of this sacrifice, I am able to be here, so I will not betray them.

“An Olympic medal would be huge. Since my childhood, it’s my big dream. But in this time, in time of full-scale war, some things are really more important than medals. At this point, I would say that a medal is worthless in comparison to people’s lives, and I believe in comparison to memory of these athletes.”

Several inches of snow could settle across the UK this weekend as weather maps reveal a blizzard will bury several major cities including London, Birmingham and Manchester

Shocking new weather maps suggest as much as 95 per cent of the UK could see snow settled on the ground following a blizzard starting on Valentine’s Day this weekend.

The GFS weather model shows the south-west of England, parts of Wales, western parts of Scotland and all of Northern Ireland will see snow at around 9pm on Saturday, as a storm moves in from the Atlantic.

At around midnight on Valentine’s Day, snow is seen falling across the entire length of the UK – roughly 600 miles – from the south coast of England to the far north of Scotland. Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff can all expect flurries around this time.

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The storm will then continue eastward, the maps suggest, consuming almost all of central England and parts of the south by 3am. London could face snow from around this time too, although the most intense flurries are expected in Scotland.

At 6am on Sunday, maps show East Anglia and the south-east will face more heavy snow, with wintry showers still impacting London. The Pennines and the north-east appear to be in the firing line as well.

Snow coverage maps show roughly 95 per cent of the UK shaded in purple by 9am on Sunday – showing snow settled on the ground – with only the far south-west of England missing out.

Snow depth charts reveal the greatest accumulations will be in the Scottish mountains, where 24cm (nine inches) is on the cards. Parts of northern England could see 6cm (two inches), with 4cm (1.5 inches) coming in Wales and 2cm (0.7 inches) in the Midlands.

BBC Weather suggests snow could fall in places on both Saturday and Sunday too. Its forecast states: “A crisp, bright day on Saturday, excluding some lingering wintry showers on east coasts in the morning.

“Turning cloudier in the west later in the afternoon and evening. Overnight and into Sunday morning, turning windy as a band of rain moves in from the west, falling as snow initially. Sunday afternoon and Monday will see a mix of sunny spells and showers.”

BBC Weather also expects some snow tomorrow. The forecast adds: “Tomorrow, rain across the south of England and Wales with a chance for snow over the hills. Cold in Scotland and North England with sunny spells and snow showers. Dry and bright for Northern Ireland.”

The Met Office expects snow around the coasts on Friday. It says: “Rain continues to move southwards with Northern Ireland and Scotland seeing some sunshine. Snow showers around the coasts. Staying cloudy and wet across the south but eventually clearing later.”

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The national weather agency says “widespread” snow could come on Sunday. Its forecast states: “Bright skies with sunny spells on Saturday but feeling much colder than in recent days. Turing wetter on Sunday with widespread snow likely across the north. Unsettled into next week.”