‘Britain is paying the price for a crisis it did not cause – this time in the Middle East – while a privileged few cash in’

Each global shock has become another excuse to squeeze the public

Britain is once again paying the price for a crisis it did not cause, while a privileged few cash in.

As war tensions grip the Middle East, energy giants are enjoying a grotesque windfall, their paper fortunes swelling by tens of millions. Meanwhile, ordinary families face soaring fuel, food and energy bills.

Drivers are being rinsed at the pumps. Households are bracing for yet another brutal hike. And all the while, those at the top shrug and call it “inescapable”.

It isn’t. It is a choice – a system that allows profiteering in the shadow of conflict. We’ve been here before. Each global shock becomes another excuse to squeeze the public while shareholders celebrate.

Ministers cannot sit on their hands. Windfall taxes must be tightened, loopholes closed, and excess profits clawed back. Because when war creates winners who are already wealthy, something has gone very wrong indeed.

Reform would drag Britain back to the bad old days

Business Secretary Peter Kyle is right, Reform UK would happily drag Britain back to the bad old days.

Their nostalgia for a supposed golden age ignores the grim reality: low pay, no protections and workers left on their own. That’s exactly what these new laws are designed to end.

From day-one sick pay to stronger parental rights, the Employment Rights Act is a long-overdue reset that puts fairness ahead of exploitation.

And plans to scrap zero-hours contracts and ban fire and rehire cannot come soon enough. Predictably, Reform and its allies are kicking up a fuss.

But progress always unsettles those who benefit from the status quo. The choice couldn’t be clearer: a modern, fair economy – or a backward slide to a Britain that failed working people.

World Cup ticket prices are pushing aside hard working supporters

FIFA isn’t just out of touch; it is exploiting fans’ devotion. Charging £8,333 for a World Cup final ticket is daylight robbery. Hardworking supporters are priced out and pushed aside.

This isn’t football’s global celebration anymore; it’s a corporate racket, lining pockets, and FIFA is killing the beautiful game.

The incident occurred around 1.40pm, resulting in the road being temporarily closed by police.

Police stated the crash resulted in no serious injuries but the cyclist was taken to hospital.

A GMP spokesperson said: “At around 1.40pm today, officers responded to reports of a collision between a car and a cyclist on Chorley New Road, Bolton.

“The cyclist was subsequently taken to hospital with non life-threatening or changing injuries.”

The incident occurred at the eastern tip of Chorley New Road, near the junction with Chorley Old Road.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed that the driver has been reported for ‘driving without due care’.

The cyclist was taken to hospital as a precaution and it is understood the expectation is that the injuries sustained are not serious.

The road has since fully reopened to drivers and pedestrians, and no delays are to be expected.

Race Across the World has returned for its sixth series

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Race Across the World has made its highly anticipated return to BBC One for its sixth series. Five new teams have set off on the gruelling challenge of racing one another more than 12,000km across Europe and Asia.

Each pair must cover the vast distance on a tight budget, with the prospect of winning £20,000 driving them forward. Despite it being only the opening episode, one contestant swiftly captured viewers’ attention.

A host of fans taking to social media to voice their concerns abouthypnotherapist Margo, 59, from Liverpool. She is competing alongside her brother-in-law Mark, a 66 year old retired architect from London, reports the Mirror.

Taking to X, viewers at home were quick to share their feelings, with one posting: “Margo already getting on my nerves….she’s been everywhere!!” A third remarked: “Margo is driving me mad already and it’s only been on for 10 mins.”

A third speculated about her teammate: “I’m sure Mark is rushing as fast as he can so can escape Margo. Might end up a week earlier than every other team.”

Nevertheless, she won over a number of viewers within moments of her first appearance on the show, with one person observing: “Margo is such a vibe already I love her.”

Another viewer remarked: “Love all the couples in #RaceAcrossTheWorld but have a soft spot for Margo. She is an absolute ray of sunshine.”

Margo and Mark were inspired to take part in the programme following the care they provided for her sister, his wife, before her death. The five competing pairs must travel from Palermo, on the island of Sicily, all the way to the remote village of Hatgal, situated on the shores of Lake Hövsgöl in northern Mongolia.

Among the contestants are childhood friends Jo and Kush, both 19, a college student and a gap-year student respectively, hailing from Liverpool, who are the youngest pairing in the race. Also in the running are Manchester-based siblings Katie, 21, and Harrison, 23, an account manager and finance assistant, who revealed they grew up across 14 different homes throughout their childhood.

Representing Northern Ireland are junior doctor Molly, 23, and her father Andrew, a 54-year-old geography teacher, who are joining forces to take on the challenge.

Rounding out the field are London-based cousins Puja, 31, a doctor, and Roshni, a 32-year-old software engineer, who are both firmly set on taking the winning title.

Four people have died after a plane smashed into a restaurant and went up in a ball of flames in Brazil.

Firefighters have confirmed the pilot is among the victims along with three other people travelling on the light aircraft, including a couple.

The dramatic accident happened just after 10.30am local time this morning as the Piper Malibu descended on approach to Capao da Canoa Airport in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The restaurant in a built-up residential area was still closed at the time of the crash, limiting the number of people hit on the ground.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties on the ground, although the astonishing footage of the crash showed a man on foot appearing to run for his life as he saw the plane come down and another couple sprinting away from the scene as they too came close to being hit.

Footage from the scene showed flames leaping from the top of the building the plane hit and a black plume of smoke rising high into the air.

Local reports said it had collided with a pole near the end of the runway before crashing. It had flown in from Sao Paulo.

Locals living in houses near the restaurant were evacuated to safety.
Rio Grande do Sul state governor Eduardo Leite said on X: ‘I have been following, since the very first moments, together with the security forces, the full mobilisation in responding to the incident involving the crash of a small aircraft in Capao da Canoa, unfortunately with confirmed fatalities.

‘The accident area has already been evacuated by Civil Defence.’

The horror plane crash occurred less than 24 hours after four people died when a light aircraft smashed nose-first into a field near an industrial estate close to the city of Puebla in central Mexico.

The spokesperson for the Civil Defence service, Sabrina Rimas, said: ‘We managed to immediately evacuate the people from the properties next door, so all the residents left without injuries.

‘This aircraft crashed into a restaurant that was closed, and next to it we have a shop that was also closed.

‘Firefighters were mobilised immediately and the first teams arrived shortly afterwards to tackle the blaze.

‘The Military Brigade also arrived soon after and secured the area for the safety of passers-by.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Nuchi Nashoba grew up looking at a photograph of her great-grandfather Ben Carterby inside her grandmother’s Oklahoma home. But, she didn’t know much about the man in the frame other than that he was a World War I veteran.

It wasn’t until 1989 — when Nashoba was in her late 20s — that she learned a deep secret about her ancestor.

Carterby was one of the Choctaw code talkers — a group of 19 Native American soldiers who used their language to transmit encrypted messages to the Allies during campaigns in northern France. The soldiers were sworn to secrecy and hid details of their service from families for decades.

Over the past 20 years, Nashoba has led advocacy efforts to spotlight the group’s hidden legacy as president of the Choctaw Code Talkers Association. Now, the soldiers’ contributions are recognized in Fort Worth through a new plaque at the city’s Veterans Memorial Park.

The Choctaw Code Talker Historical Marker was unveiled during an April 1 ceremony hosted by the Oklahoma tribe, the Texas Historical Commission and the city’s parks and recreation department. Several descendants of the Native soldiers attended.

“Seeing the marker really brings me a lot of joy,” Nashoba said. “This is what preserves the history for generations to come.”

Choctaw code talkers’ ties to Fort Worth

Members of the Choctaw code talkers were men who volunteered to fight for the U.S. in World War I at a time when Native Americans were not recognized as citizens. Indigenous communities wouldn’t receive citizenship until 1924.

While in the battlefields in France, some of these men were overheard speaking their Choctaw language and were trained to use their words as “code.” They were placed on front lines and command posts so that messages could be transmitted to headquarters.

The soldiers shared words like “tanampo chito” for artillery and “tvshka” for warriors, according to the historical marker. The Germans famously failed to decipher these Choctaw transmissions within 24 hours throughout the war.

The Choctaw group is widely considered to be the first Native American code talkers to serve in the U.S. military. Their work paved the way for the Navajo code talkers during World War II.

“Their story is a testament to the resilience and patriotism of the Choctaw Nation,” Col. Brent Kemp, commander of the 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the National Guard, said at the unveiling. “Their ingenuity and bravery reminds us of the power of cultural heritage and the importance of preserving Indigenous languages.”

The Native American soldiers were in the 36th Infantry Division at Camp Bowie, a westside training site for more than 100,000 soldiers during World War I.

Council member Macy Hill, who represents Camp Bowie, said it was only fitting for Fort Worth to honor the legacy of the code talkers since they walked on the site’s grounds.

“This is where the Choctaw code talkers were initially trained and where they will forever be remembered,” she said.

Descendants carry the torch

As Ta’Na Alexander — the great-great-granddaughter of Carterby — watched the marker’s unveiling in Fort Worth, she couldn’t help but feel proud that her family’s history is slowly spreading across the U.S.

“It’s pretty monumental to realize that more people are starting to recognize the significant part of these men who were sworn to secrecy,” said Alexander, who is Nashoba’s daughter. “This marker connects the past to the future.”

She credits her mother’s leadership for widespread education about the work of Native soldiers.

Last May, the Choctaw Code Talkers Association led the charge to place a bronze sculpture honoring the group at the Choctaw Cultural Center in southern Oklahoma. The artwork depicts three soldiers in the middle of battle.

The organization also advocated for 23 Oklahoma bridges to be renamed after the code talkers and other Native veterans.

The Fort Worth marker was the group’s first venture into Texas, Nashoba said. The group is exploring other statewide recognitions, she added.

For now, Alexander invites Fort Worth residents to stroll through the memorial park to learn that her ancestors’ stories aren’t just about being Native. They’re about what it means to be American, she said.

“You might not be Native or Choctaw, but what we do share in common is that we have the right to vote,” she said. “We have a voice. We have a freedom that exists here that doesn’t exist anywhere else.”

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The Fort Worth Report’s arts and culture coverage is supported in part by the Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation and the Virginia Hobbs Charitable Trust. At the Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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This story was originally published by Fort Worth Report and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

BBC Verify has confirmed a video showing a plane accompanied by two helicopters flying over southern Iran as a search and rescue operation is carried out for the crew of an American jet.

We have confirmed the video was filmed in Khuzestan province, near a bridge over the Karun river, at this location: 31.591393, 50.275430.

The footage appears to show US military aircraft that are used in combat search and rescue, according to former senior military officer Mikey Kay, who hosts the BBC’s Security Brief programme.

The video has been checked for recency and for signs of AI manipulation.

Read more here.

Microdosing GLP-1 drugs for weight loss is growing in popularity among Americans looking to save a little money or reduce gastrointestinal side effects.

Some 12 percent of American adults are using GLP-1s, which started out as diabetes drugs before the weight-loss market took off in 2021. One in seven people using GLP-1s are microdosing the medications, a 2025 survey from health tracking app Evidant found.

Microdosing has been promoted by some telehealth companies like Noom, with actress Rebel Wilson acting as spokesperson for the brand. “I felt amazing, I looked amazing,” Wilson told USA Today last September about Noom’s microdose GLP-1.

Other famous faces jumping on the microdosing trend include Bravo host Andy Cohen and reality TV star Brooks Nader, both who have spoken publicly about it. “It was enough for me. It kickstarted something,” Cohen told “TODAY with Jenna & Friends” last year. He did not say what GLP-1 he had taken.

But a recent warning from Novant Health, a hospital group that serves 6 million patients, warned that smaller GLP-1 doses carry risks for users. Novant also says that microdosing isn’t even that effective.

‘A random unknown drug’

Doctors typically prescribe U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved GLP-1 drugs for patients to use once a week. Patients often start with small doses of a quarter of a milligram but doctors can prescribe a range of doses, depending on weight loss needs.

Drugmakers are currently testing doses of up to 20 milligrams of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, to take weekly.

But several telehealth companies, including Noom, say microdosing can help patients who want to spend less money than paying out of pocket for larger doses and still lose weight.

Microdoses of GLP-1s – created by taking FDA-approved drugs and splitting them into smaller doses – are dubbed “compounded drugs.” These are custom-made by licensed pharmacists who sell them over the counter and for telehealth companies online.

The FDA is taking action to limit the use of compounded GLP-1s. Companies marketing the microdoses are only allowed to make the compounded versions when there is a shortage of FDA-approved GLP-1s, the agency said Wednesday. There is no shortage right now.

Noom, arguably the most prominent telehealth company selling microdoses of GLP-1, uses semaglutide as its active ingredient. The Independent has contacted Noom for comment.

What’s more, compounded versions aren’t approved by the FDA, meaning there may not be a process of verifying safety, effectiveness or quality before medications are marketed to consumers. Noom says it partners with an FDA-regulated facility to produce its drugs and that the facility is sterile.

Drugs not produced in a sterile environment can lead to bacterial infections. Measurement errors are possible when splitting doses, and may lead to an accidental overdose. Brown Health says there was a nearly 1,500 percent increase in calls related to accidentally overdosing on injected weight loss drugs in 2023.

“I don’t recommend using compounded versions of these medications because they’re untested – both in their effectiveness and their safety,” Dr. W. Scott Butsch, the Director of Obesity Medicine in the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, said.

The drugs may also come with undisclosed or even dangerous additives that can interact with other medications or health conditions, obesity medicine doctor Dr. John Cleek, of Novant Health General Surgery & Bariatrics – Mount Pleasant, said last month. GLP-1s at any dosage can change how some blood thinners and hormonal birth control affect the body.

“Most people usually aren’t okay with injecting themselves with a random unknown drug,” Cleek said. “But that’s essentially what you’re doing if you use a compounded GLP-1 drug.”

‘Lifestyle first’

The wider problem with microdosing is that weight-loss benefits don’t outweigh the risks, doctors say.

That’s especially true for people trying to lose less than 5 percent of their body weight, Dr. Katy Williams, a bariatric medicine specialist at University of Missouri Health Care, said in a statement.

“Work on your lifestyle first,” she said. “Your doctor or a weight loss specialist will absolutely be able to find places where you can make meaningful lifestyle changes that can result in five to 10 pounds of weight loss.”

Microdosing to reduce side effects, like nausea and vomiting, is also ineffective, said Butsch. These symptoms typically improve over time but doctors can recommend changes in diet or anti-nausea medication.

“If you take a reduced dose, you run the risk of the drug disappearing from your system faster than intended,” he said. “And when you take it again, you’re going to have that side effect again because there hasn’t been a steady amount of the medication in your system.”

As reported by The Press earlier today, the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for strong winds from 5pm tomorrow (Saturday, April 4) through to Sunday, April 5.

It warns that Storm Dave will bring a spell of very strong winds – of 50-60mph in the York area – which may could impact the electricity network across the region.

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A Northern Powergrid spokesman said: “Northern Powergrid is ready and prepared in the event of any disruption to power supplies as a result of Storm Dave.

“We are getting in touch with our customers on how to be prepared and what to do if they experience a power cut.

“Our teams are on standby to be deployed to any affected areas and are prepared to help restore power as quickly as possible.”

“If you spot any fallen trees on our power lines or poles or damaged cables due to the strong winds, stay well clear and call 105 immediately.”

People are being encouraged to report power cuts at northernpowergrid.com or by calling 105; they are also advised to ensure their phones are charged, turn off electrical appliances at the socket, keep a light switched on to know when power is restored, keep a torch handy, and check on elderly relatives. 

Customer support vehicles and welfare partners are also prepared to provide on-the-ground assistance where needed.

Tech giant Oracle announced this week that up to 30,000 employees would lose their jobs, and official documents have put a finer point on just who is being let go in the sweeping lay-offs.

Oracle sent lay-off notices via email at 6 a.m. local time Tuesday to employees in Canada, India, Mexico, and the U.S, citing “broader organizational change” as the reason, according to Business Insider. The company made the cuts to free up $8 billion to $10 billion to fund AI projects, according to The Next Web.

Some 491 employees who work remotely, or at two Oracle locations in Seattle, Washington, will be laid off in June, according to a WARN Notice filed with the state’s Employment Security Department late last month.

Companies are obligated to file WARN Notices if they have at least 100 full-time employees and plan to lay off at least 50 people at a single location, according to the Department of Labor.

Among the 491 Washington employees who were laid off were 270 software developers; 46 software development managers, directors and vice presidents; 40 program managers and 30 product managers.

Oracle, which provides database management and cloud computing solutions, also plans to let 539 employees go at its Kansas City, Missouri, campus from May 26 to June 1, according to a WARN notice filed with the state’s Office of Workforce Development March 31. Positions include:

The company laid off around 12,000 employees in India, including positions in engineering and cloud infrastructure, global news network NDTV reported Thursday.

Oracle employees expressed their shock across social media following the lay-offs.

“It’s hard to put into words how heavy this feels,” Oracle customer success manager Eugenia Zanolli Andrade wrote Tuesday on her LinkedIn page. “Work is way more than just your source of income, it’s also a space where we grow, contribute, and build a sense of purpose.”

Oracle’s sweeping cuts are another red flag to white-collar workers over the shift to AI at major companies. The reported $8billion and $10 billion savings will fund AI-related projects such as building data centers, according to The Next Web, citing data from investment bank TD Cowen.

Oracle declined to comment to The Independent.

The Oracle lay-offs follow similar decisions by other tech firms in recent months. Amazon announced 16,000 lay-offs in January, largely in white-collar positions, according to CNBC. Block, a fintech company headed by former Twitter boss Jack Dorsey, let around 4,000 employees go in February.

AI’s impacts on white-collar jobs goes beyond the tech industry – Goldman Sachs recently estimated that 6-7 percent of U.S. workers could lose their jobs amid wider AI rollouts.

In October, Ford CEO Jim Farley said he expects AI to replace “literally half” of all white-collar positions, Yahoo Finance reported.

AI firm Anthropic said in a March 2026 report that computer programmers are most susceptible to AI-related job cuts. Customer service representatives, data entry, medical record specialists, market research specialists and marketing specialists are also easily replaced by AI, Anthropic stated.

H.P. Newquist, a consultant and analyst at AI tracking firm The Relayer Group, said the recent Oracle layoffs were related to AI in a more indirect way.

“The Oracle layoffs are only related to AI in that the money saved by slashing the workforce will be applied to building AI infrastructure,” Newquist said in an email to The Independent. “The layoffs have little or nothing to do with the applied use of AI to replace employees.”

Beyond AI, the Oracle layoffs should give prospective job-hunters food for thought, said Jessica Kriegel, chief strategy officer at business consultancy Culture Partners.

“The reason people should take note of the Oracle layoffs is because this represents a behavioral shift for the company. They’ve historically done incremental, surgical layoffs, not sweeping ones,” Kriegel told The Independent in an email.

“The move to large-scale cuts signals a change in how leadership is thinking about the future of work.”

She added: “This is the part people are getting wrong: AI isn’t directly replacing jobs at scale yet. But AI spending is forcing companies to make tradeoffs, and labor is where those tradeoffs are showing up.”

IN THE dim and distant past, on a day out to a town or city, you would park your car in a designated car park. On the way in, you would pass a little hut or kiosk, wherein sat a man who would hand over a ticket stamped with your arrival time.

Later, after a hopefully pleasant day out, you would return to your car and drive out, passing the little hut or kiosk, where you would hand back your ticket and pay the fee. This was usually in cash, because in those days we weren’t talking three-figure sums.

Now, even the idea of visiting somewhere that could potentially involve the use of official car parks fills me with dread. This is all down to automatic car parking machines. These things scare the life out of me. On the occasions when I have been forced to use them – when there has been no alternative within a three-mile radius – I have generally had to enlist the help of others. On occasion, I have simply given up and driven off.

The last time I attempted to use one, in the North Yorkshire town of Northallerton, I couldn’t get the machine to accept my money, and, along with two other drivers, became even more flustered when a passer-by said the car park would start charging after ten minutes, having captured our vehicles on camera at the entrance. We sped out of there faster than F1 Ferraris.

I was reminded of this while reading about a woman fined for spending 11 minutes in a car park in Stratford-upon-Avon, after, she alleges, finding the car park machine broken. Her initial £100 fine rocketed to £270 after she refused to pay.

A similar thing happened to me in a small car park in Grasmere in the Lake District. Not too long ago only large car parks in popular towns like Ambleside and Keswick had car parking machines. On our last visit to the Lakes, in early 2020, they seemed to be everywhere, even on tiny roadside patches of soil, which this was.

The machine took my money but I couldn’t get it to register my number plate – it was stuck on the previous one. As suggested by another motorist I took pictures of the meter. We left immediately and I contacted the company in question, who noted what had happened. I didn’t get a fine, but it affected our day out – we ended up driving back to our hotel and walking nearby.

Things are getting worse not better. Now many car parks have removed pay-and-display machines and are changing to remote app-only payments to reduce maintenance costs. I don’t want dozens of parking apps for different companies cluttering up my phone, and chances are I would struggle to use them anyway. I recently came across a man in York standing beside his car fretting as his phone was stuck on the pay screen, the little white circle whirling endlessly around. Not everywhere has great internet reception.

Also, I am loathe to tap my bank details into a car park machine, or indeed pass them to a car parking firm I know nothing about.

This sort of thing unnerves me so much that we now tend to go most places by bus or train. Of course this has its advantages environmentally, but it definitely restricts where we go and how often.

It’s yet another example of a world that doesn’t care about people who are not comfortable with modern technology. Some older people don’t even have mobile phones and others may not own a smartphone. Having to download an app to pay for parking, when short-stay amounts can be as little as £1, seems to me ludicrous.

I still have a bag of coins in my car – a throwback from the man-in-hut days – for use in parking meters. In my experience few people like parking apps. I live in hope that, one day, we technophobes will rise up, and the tide will turn.