Drax to stop burning controversial Canadian wood within next year

The owner of Drax power plant has started reducing the amount of Canadian wood pellets it burns, and will stop burning trees from British Columbia entirely within the next year.The FTSE 250 company Drax Group said its Canadian wood pellet plants, which once supplied millions of tonnes of biomass to be burnt in its North Yorkshire power plant, had cost the company almost £200m in financial impairments last year.The company said the pellet production plants, which have come under criticism from environmentalists, faced a “challenging outlook” after a decision in the second half of last year that, from 2027, the Drax power plant would burn pellets sourced only from the US.Despite the writedown, Drax shares soared to 20-year highs to give the company a market value of about £3bn after it reported better than expected full-year earnings of £947m for 2025 and raised shareholder dividends by 11.5%

UK parents fear young will be worse off for first time in a century, ex-minister warns

The number of young people in the UK not working or in education has risen closer to a million, figures show, as a government adviser warned that for the first time in a century parents do not think their children will have a better life than them.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of people aged 16 to 24 who were not in education, employment or training (Neet) rose to 957,000 in the final three months of last year, equating to 12.8% of this age group.The figure was up from 946,000 in July to September, but down by 14,000 from a year earlier. The number of young women classed as Neet rose by 13,000 while the number of young men fell by 2,000

Tell us: how will the UK’s landline switch-off affect you or your family?

UK telecoms companies are retiring traditional landline services and replacing them with internet-based home phone connections.The industry has set a deadline of January 2027 to complete this switch with roughly 3.2 million homes still to move over. While the digital switchover has been straightforward for most households, for some vulnerable customers, such as those with telecare devices, it has been very stressful.In December 2025 Virgin Media was fined £23

‘Unbelievably dangerous’: experts sound alarm after ChatGPT Health fails to recognise medical emergencies

ChatGPT Health regularly misses the need for medical urgent care and frequently fails to detect suicidal ideation, a study of the AI platform has found, which experts worry could “feasibly lead to unnecessary harm and death”.OpenAI launched the “Health” feature of ChatGPT to limited audiences in January, which it promotes as a way for users to “securely connect medical records and wellness apps” to generate health advice and responses. More than 40 million people reportedly ask ChatGPT for health-related advice every day.The first independent safety evaluation of ChatGPT Health, published in the February edition of the journal Nature Medicine, found it under-triaged more than half of the cases presented to it.The lead author of the study, Dr Ashwin Ramaswamy, said “we wanted to answer the most basic safety question; if someone is having a real medical emergency and asks ChatGPT Health what to do, will it tell them to go to the emergency department?”Ramaswamy and his colleagues created 60 realistic patient scenarios covering health conditions from mild illnesses to emergencies

Golfer Andrea Pavan ‘thankful to be alive’ after reportedly falling down lift shaft

Italian golfer Andrea Pavan is “thankful to be alive” after reportedly falling three floors down a lift shaft.The 36-year-old, a two-time European Tour winner, was scheduled to be playing in this week’s South African Open Championship at Stellenbosch Golf Club but was forced to withdraw after the incident on Wednesday.According to reports the accident, which happened in his private accommodation, occurred when the lift doors opened but there was no lift car in the shaft and Pavan fell, sustaining multiple injuries.Italian media reports say he underwent a six-hour operation to reduce several vertebral fractures and implant a plate in his shoulder and is in a serious but not life-threatening condition.Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'

‘He’s doing all he can’: England back Buttler to end miserable run of form

England have not committed to fielding their strongest side in Friday’s do-not-necessarily-have-to-win T20 World Cup encounter with New ­Zealand but Jos Buttler will be given the chance to turn around his ­miserable run of form, with the team’s coaching staff convinced that a return to familiar lofty standards is imminent.After six games at the tournament, Buttler’s top score is 26, against Nepal in England’s opener, and in their past four matches he has contributed three, three, seven and two. It is his worst run in international T20s since he followed 13 in his first ever innings with five successive single-digit scores, between February and September 2012.“I’ve played a lot against Jos, he’s one of the most dangerous white-ball batters to play the game,” said Tim Southee, England’s bowling coach. “When you’re that good and you have a bit of a blip, I guess you feel a bit more pressure