US spending on first week of Iran war raises stark questions about priorities

$11.3bn more than enough to fund EPA or National Cancer Institute, where administration sought to slash budgets

The US spent $11.3bn on just the first week of its military assault on Iran. This huge expenditure dwarves the annual budgets of many of the public health and scientific agencies the Trump administration has sought to cut, raising stark questions about the country’s priorities.

In the six days that followed the US and Israel’s joint attack on Iran on 28 February, $11.3bn was spent on American taxpayer-funded bombs that hit the country and caused hundreds of deaths, the Pentagon has told lawmakers. This figure does not capture the full cost of the conflict, such as deployment of forces, and will now be far higher given the ongoing nature of the war.

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Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at prime minister’s questions – UK politics live

PM to face opposition leader and MPs in the House of Commons

Polanski says the government should be doing more to improve home insulation, and on the drive towards renewable energy.

And he says the government should commit to ensuring energy bills do not rise above the April-June price cap.

The government should guarantee right now that it will not allow energy bills to rise beyond the April-June price cap – instead setting aside approximately £8.4bn to prevent a rise of up to £300 per household that could be coming down the track.

No, it’s not cheap. But the alternative is unacceptable: if the price cap rises, we will see interest rate rises. Mortgage rates up. Bond yields up. And inflation up – and we will be back into the doom loop that has done untold damage to our economy and caused misery for households across the UK for years now.

There are ways to pay. Instead of scrapping the windfall tax on energy companies, as this government is planning to do, we should be strengthening it instead. We need a real, loophole-free windfall tax with no exemptions for reinvesting in fossil fuels. A robust tax that claws back every single pound of reckless profiteering from this crisis and repurposes it immediately to protect every home in the country. And while taxing extreme wealth in the ways we need to will take time to implement, there are levers the government could pull right now – like equalising capital gains tax with income tax and reforming the base, to raise £12bn.

It’s time for the government to act decisively, eliminate the uncertainty that is plaguing people and the markets and insulate us from some of the worst economic effects of Trump’s war.

This was not a war of self-defence, there was no imminent threat. Negotiations were ongoing. It was, as the BBC’s international editor said, a war of choice.

People across the Middle East are terrified of what Trump and Netanyanhu’s war will mean for them and their loved ones. And the repercussions are echoing across the world as instability spreads and oil prices spike.

People are already struggling so hard just to make ends meet. People feel like they’re running every day just to stay in the same place. The idea that yet again – for the second time in just a few years – that we are going to have to deal with another enormous spike in the cost of the basics is unacceptable.

It’s unacceptable because we didn’t need to be here. It’s unforgivable that just four years after we last saw an energy price shock, that one triggered by Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, far too little has been done to protect this country, its people, and its economy – from the impact of yet another energy price shock.

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Afghans search for loved ones at Kabul rehab centre hit by Pakistani airstrike

Afghan Taliban government says more than 400 people killed and 265 injured, as Pakistan disputes target of strike

Families and friends of people who were being treated at a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul have continued to search for their loved ones two days after it was bombed by Pakistan, in the deadliest attack so far in the months-long conflict between the two countries.

The Afghan Taliban government has said more than 400 people were killed and 265 others wounded in the airstrike, which took place on Monday night as people and staff at the centre were praying days before the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

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Mamdani administration moves to drop Eric Adams in assault suit

City lawyers say former mayor is not entitled to public-funded defense over alleged 1993 sexual assault

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration wants to stop representing Eric Adams in a lawsuit that alleges the former mayor sexually assaulted a woman more than three decades ago, according to a court filing on Tuesday.

The move comes just a few months after Mamdani took office, following a bitter campaign season last year that had the two Democrats taking turns bashing each other in often caustic and personal terms.

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Florida professors quietly defy restrictions on race and gender: ‘This is how authoritarianism works’

Sociology faculty are refusing to alter syllabi, even as state targets how race, gender and inequality are taught

Across Florida universities, some sociology professors are quietly choosing not to alter their courses in response to new state guidelines restricting how topics like race, gender and sexuality can be discussed. Rather than rewriting syllabi or removing foundational material, as the new demands would call for, they say they are continuing to teach their classes as designed. The professors view the preservation of their curricula not as an act of defiance, but as a professional responsibility to provide students with a full and rigorous education.

In late January, Florida’s department of education introduced what many professors are calling a censored sociology textbook for use in the state’s public colleges and universities, along with a list of proposed guidelines at state schools, restricting various discussions related to systemic discrimination, gender and sexual identity, race-conscious remedies, and the structural causes of inequality. Faculty members say this move reflects a broader effort to narrow academic freedom in higher education and follows several years of legislation aimed at reshaping public university curricula under the banner of combating “woke ideology”.

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HelloFresh hit by sales slump as people lose appetite for meal kits

German food delivery firm’s share price has plummeted by 93% since 2021 boom during Covid lockdowns

HelloFresh has reported a sharp decline in sales as the struggling food delivery company battles falling demand after the pandemic-era meal kit boom.

The German company was forced to make 900 UK job cuts last year with the closure of a delivery site in Nuneaton, and the demand for meal kits tumbled as revenue fell by more than 11% during 2025.

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Andy Burnham says Labour would ‘do well to listen’ to Angela Rayner

Greater Manchester mayor adds to Rayner’s criticism of planned immigration changes, which she has called ‘un-British’

Andy Burnham has backed stark criticism of the direction of Keir Starmer’s government by Angela Rayner after she said the very survival of the Labour party was at stake.

Rayner, the former deputy prime minister and an influential backbencher, used a speech on Tuesday night to warn that the prime minister “cannot go through the motions” in the face of declining support.

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Live Updates: Israel kills 2 senior Iran leaders as allies reject Trump’s call for Strait of Hormuz help – CBS News

  1. Live Updates: Israel kills 2 senior Iran leaders as allies reject Trump's call for Strait of Hormuz help  CBS News
  2. Live updates: Iran war news: Iran vows revenge after top security chief killed in Israeli strike  CNN
  3. Israel says it killed another Iranian leader, but that doesn't mean it's winning the war  NBC News
  4. The killing of Ali Larijani weakens Iran—but at a cost  The Economist
  5. Iran Vows Revenge for Larijani as Trump Says War May End Soon  Bloomberg.com
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Is this the world’s first quantum battery? Australian scientists say so

Researchers say their prototype is a big step towards fully functioning batteries with rapid charging times

Australian scientists have developed what they say is the world’s first proof-of-concept quantum battery.

Quantum batteries, first proposed as a theoretical concept in 2013, use the principles of quantum mechanics to store energy, and have the potential to be more efficient than conventional batteries.

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DiDi raises prices in Australia to cover soaring petrol costs amid conflict in the Middle East

Other delivery and transport companies such as Uber, DoorDash and Australia Post are weighing whether to charge more

Rideshare giant DiDi has raised its prices to cover soaring petrol costs, becoming one of the first major companies after the airlines to charge Australian consumers more as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.

Uber, DoorDash and Australia Post were among the delivery and transport companies weighing whether to add charges, as small businesses hike fees.

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Australia’s high court orders ankle bracelets be removed and curfews end for 43 former immigration detainees

Labor’s preventative detention regime suffers blow as court finds tough laws for NZYQ group are unconstitutional

Dozens of former immigration detainees who have already served prison sentences will have ankle bracelets removed and curfews scrapped, with the high court again striking down laws targeting the group.

On Wednesday, the Albanese government’s preventative detention regime suffered another blow as the court ruled the tough laws to deal with the NZYQ cohort were unconstitutional.

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March 17, 2026 – Letters from an American | Heather Cox Richardson | Substack

  1. March 17, 2026  Letters from an American | Heather Cox Richardson | Substack
  2. 5 things to know for March 17: Travel disruptions in Middle East, Iran war, Gas prices, Cuba blackouts, Meatpacking workers  CNN
  3. What we know on the 17th day of the US and Israel’s war with Iran  MSN
  4. The Daily Brief - Mar. 17, 2026  The Preamble | Sharon McMahon
  5. While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 18, 2026  The Straits Times
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Takaichi Says Trump Visit to Be ‘Extremely Difficult’ After Warship Spat – Bloomberg.com

  1. Takaichi Says Trump Visit to Be ‘Extremely Difficult’ After Warship Spat  Bloomberg.com
  2. Trump’s Friendship With Japan’s Leader Faces Test Over Iran  The New York Times
  3. Iran conflict looms large over Takaichi's upcoming summit with Trump, experts say  CNBC
  4. Sanae Takaichi set for high-stakes meeting with Donald Trump over Iran  Financial Times
  5. Japan's leader faces high-wire act in Washington over Trump's Iran demands  Reuters
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China ignores Trump’s Hormuz request as the Iran war deepens and his Beijing trip slips – AP News

  1. China ignores Trump’s Hormuz request as the Iran war deepens and his Beijing trip slips  AP News
  2. Trump Says U.S. Doesn’t Need Allies to Reopen Strait of Hormuz  The New York Times
  3. Donald Trump’s new tantrum: We don’t need anyone’s help in Iran war  The Independent
  4. European Union rejects Trump's calls for military deployments to reopen Strait of Hormuz  CBS News
  5. Trump says that he's asked 'about 7' countries to join coalition to police Iran's Strait of Hormuz  AP News
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Oil falls after Iraq resumes oil exports via Turkey’s Ceyhan port – Reuters

  1. Oil falls after Iraq resumes oil exports via Turkey's Ceyhan port  Reuters
  2. Iraq resumes Kirkuk crude exports via Ceyhan after Baghdad-KRG deal  Reuters
  3. Oil price falls after Iraq ‘signs deal’ to resume exports via Turkey – business live  The Guardian
  4. Crude Oil Holds Advance as Iran Confirms Death of Security Chief  Bloomberg.com
  5. Oil Prices Drop as Vital Iraq Export Deal Shows Way Around Iran Hormuz Pain  Barron's
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How you walk reveals to others how you are feeling, researchers say

Study highlights the movements in people’s gait that give away most about their emotional state

A long face is not the only sign that someone is down in the dumps. How people walk is revealing too, particularly the swing of the arms and legs, researchers say.

Scientists asked volunteers to guess people’s emotions from video clips of them walking and found that bigger swings portrayed more aggression while smaller swings implied fear and sadness.

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