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Starmer to convene major energy industry and insurance figures to draw up emergency plans amid continued blockade of strait of Hormuz
Rachel Reeves will warn G7 nations they must move faster on clean energy to insulate economies against global price shocks from oil and gas as she and the energy secretary Ed Miliband meet G7 finance and energy ministers on Monday.
Keir Starmer will also gather major energy industry and insurance figures to thrash out what emergency measures might be needed to contain the continuing crisis from the blockade of the strait of Hormuz.
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As the clocks go forward and the UK enters British summer time, the Guardian photographer Sarah Lee has been trying to distract herself from gloomy world news by focusing on the miracles of springtime and coming of longer days
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In today’s newsletter: Nearly a year after disposable vapes were outlawed, new figures suggest the policy has delivered only modest gains while creating new challenges
Good morning. They seemed to come from nowhere: millions of multicoloured plastic contraptions, each producing a plume of sweet-smelling steam. Love them or loathe them, vapes are now an inescapable part of life in the UK – 5.4 million adults are now vaping daily or occasionally in Great Britain, according to ONS figures.
To advocates, vapes and e-cigarettes contribute a massive public health benefit by helping people to avoid the toxins and tar that come with tobacco smoking, a major cause of cancer and other health conditions. But detractors caution that they can be equally as addictive, with long-term health outcomes still being studied. Vapes have also been an environmental mess – with millions of single-use devices made from plastic and cheap lithium-ion batteries thrown into landfill.
Middle East| Iran has warned the US that it is prepared to confront any ground assault, accusing Washington of secretly planning a land attack while publicly seeking talks.
Politics| Keir Starmer will launch Labour’s local elections campaign by saying that a vote for Reform UK will put at risk progress his government is making on the cost of living, arguing that Britain’s values are being tested in a volatile world.
UK news| A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a car struck several pedestrians on one of Derby’s busiest streets.
Religion| Pope Leo has said God ignores the prayers of leaders who wage war and have “hands full of blood”, in an apparent rebuke to the Trump administration.
UK news| The NHS is set to miss key targets to shorten waiting times for help at A&E, cancer care and planned hospital treatment, leaving millions of patients facing persistently long delays.
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Abnormally strong jet stream triggers deluge in Middle East, while north Africa braces for 60-80mph gusts
An unusual weather pattern unleashed severe thunderstorms across parts of the Middle East last week, battering countries including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The Arabian peninsula – typically dominated by arid desert climates – received up to 150mm of rain in just a few days.
The deluge was caused by an abnormally strong jet stream, which helped a deep area of low pressure to develop north of Saudi Arabia. This, in turn, drew moist tropical air from the Indian Ocean and triggered intense storms.
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Waterrow, Somerset:On World Water Day, I witness an act of devotion to a river that, like so many others, is in need of a little love
There’s something afoot in the woods today. Bubble-headed humanoid figures bump clumsily through the trees, making their way down to the water’s edge accompanied by flute and drum. Here comes Frog, with bulgy red eyes, followed by stripe-faced Badger and a slim figure with a massive salmon on her head. I wanted to be Otter, but Otter is taken, so I end up as Barn Owl.
All around us, wild garlic bursts through the leaf litter, like clean green licks of paint, and every passing bootprint sends a pungent plume into the air. Blackbird song and the glockenspiel gurgle of the playful young River Tone provide the soundtrack to this morning’s ceremonials, and behind our papier-mache masks we’re all a little overexcited.
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Exclusive: critics warn Reform UK use of trade policy would increase food costs amid cost-of-living crisis
Nigel Farage’s farming adviser has called for a doubling of wheat prices by using trade policy, which critics have said would hike food costs during a cost-of-living crisis.
Arable farmer and campaigner Clive Bailye has been appointed as a farming and land use adviser for Reform UK. Bailye owns the website The Farming Forum, a social network for farmers, and helped organise the large-scale protestsagainst the Labour government’s introduction of inheritance tax for farmed land.
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Weak and sick mammal has become stuck in shallow bays and experts say prognosis ‘doesn’t look good’
The fate of a humpback whale stuck in shallow bays off Germany’s Baltic coast hangs in the balance after it became stranded for a third time.
The roughly 10-metre-long (33ft) mammal appeared weakened and sick on Sunday and was struggling to find a route back to the Atlantic when it ran into fresh difficulty.
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Fossil-fuel burning at Ohio facility could burn longer, leaving Middletown residents to face environmental risks
It was just a few months after moving from Louisville to Middletown, Ohio, four years ago that Vivian Adams’s six-year-old daughter’s asthma problem worsened.
“My daughter was born prematurely so she already had lung issues,” she says, “[but] it’s gotten worse. She stays sick and coughing and can’t breathe. She’s had to go on everyday medication for her asthma, plus she has a rescue inhaler.”
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Two kona low storms dumped up to 50in of rain on Oahu, flooding fields and submerging equipment
Eddie Oroyan’s farm was thriving when the storms hit. He and his wife had started LewaTerra Farm last year on a gorgeous stretch of land on the north shore of Oahu. They were delivering vegetables to customers in the community, selling at farmer’s markets and to local restaurants.
Then, on the week of 10 March, a first kona low storm hit the island, bringing copious amounts of water, flooding their land and wiping out crops. Nearly all their papayas were gone. And the tomatoes didn’t survive. But the couple quickly began cleaning, replanting and tying down crops, confident that they would get back on their feet shortly.
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Many say they have not received support to rebuild their homes months after the storm caused unprecedented destruction
“Before Hurricane Melissa I could have navigated life, figured things out. But since its passage, everything has just been turned upside down,” said Kerry-Ann Vickers.
Vickers was three months pregnant when Hurricane Melissa demolished parts of her home in the coastal town of Black River, in St Elizabeth, west Jamaica, last October. Nearly six months on, Vickers, 25, is still struggling to get support to rebuild her house and is distraught that her baby will arrive in a home without a secure roof.
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