An uncommon meteorological event unfolded on Tuesday when six named tropical cyclones were active simultaneously in the southern hemisphere, several in close proximity to one another. Three developed in the south-west Pacific. Severe Tropical Cyclone Alfred formed on 20 February in the Coral Sea to the north-east of Australia, reaching an intensity equivalent to a…

An offshore windfarm developer has asked the Albanese government to pause its application to progress its project off the Illawarra until after the coming federal election, after the Coalition campaigned against it. BlueFloat Energy was the only applicant asking for a seven-year feasibility licence to further develop its project in the deep waters of the…

Alan Robertshaw claims Europa Oil & Gas is lodging an application to undertake “fracking” operations on the outskirts of Scarborough, North Yorkshire (Letters, 23 February). This is misleading. Europa intends to perform a proppant squeeze operation to appraise the potential of the Cloughton gas field to determine if gas can be extracted at commercial rates.…

Offshore windfarms are to be painted black in an effort to reduce the number of birds that die after flying into them. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has launched a four-year trial to paint the wind turbines after officials raised concerns that the government’s plan to increase turbine numbers in the North…

The Trump administration has terminated its funding of the joint United Nations program on HIV/Aids, known as UNAids, delivering another devastating blow to the global fight against the disease. The notice that US funding of UNAids is being cut off is the latest move by the administration to end American involvement in life-saving health and…

Mike Amesbury, was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison on Monday. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA Mike Amesbury, was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison on Monday. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA Ex-Labour MP was originally jailed for 10 weeks for assaulting a man in the street The former Labour MP Mike Amesbury has had his 10-week prison sentence…

A disgraced former church minister and banking group boss who acquired the nickname Crystal Methodist has been jailed for three years by a judge in Manchester. Paul Flowers, 74, had pleaded guilty to 18 fraud charges amounting to £100,000 after abusing his position as the executor of the will and holder of power of attorney…

Ocado is to cut hundreds jobs in its technology teams as part of the loss-making online grocery specialist’s efforts to reduce costs using artificial intelligence to help with research and engineering. The company, which employs 20,000 people, said AI had helped improve the productivity of its engineering team, enabling it to cut 500 roles across…

Voters in Canada’s most populous province head to the polls on Thursday to elect a new premier who may have to face the task of preserving Ontario’s economy in the face of punishing US trade tariffs. Doug Ford, the Progressive Conservative party leader who has been the province’s premier since 2018, called the snap election…

The self-styled “misogynist influencer” Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, have left Romania on a private jet and are flying to the US after their travel ban was lifted, officials and local media have said. The pair – who were arrested in Romania three years ago and face trial on charges of rape, people trafficking…