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Italian authorities have seized €20m (£17.3m) of assets in Tuscany, including property, vineyards, and olive groves, allegedly bought with money embezzled from the actor Ursula Andress.Andress, 90, had filed a complaint in her native Switzerland alleging a “progressive and significant depletion of her assets” by individuals charged with managing her finances, Italy’s financial crimes police said in a statement on Thursday.Prosecutors in the Swiss canton of Vaud built a picture of a “systematic misappropriation of financial resources” worth about 18m Swiss francs carried out through multiple, opaque transactions, the police said. The money was traced to Italy, where prosecutors in Florence took up the case and police began following the paper trail.They tracked it to San Casciano in Val di Pesa, near Florence, and a real-estate complex consisting of 11 units and 14 plots of land used as vineyards and olive groves, as well as works of art and other assets, the statement said. The judge for preliminary investigations of the court of Florence ordered the seizure of the entire illicit profit, up to the amount of CHF 18,000,000, to be enforced against the identified assets.No suspects were identified in the statement. Andress surged to fame thanks to a scene in the 1962 James Bond movie Dr No, in which she emerged from the sea on to a Caribbean beach in a white bikini, knife at her hip and a seashell in each hand.

In 2025, England's rivers and seas were hit by 291,492 instances of raw sewage discharge from storm overflows, a 35% reduction from the previous year. The discharges lasted for 1.8 million hours, a significant decrease from almost 4 million hours in 2024. The Environment Agency (EA) reported that some water companies achieved reductions of over 60% and 70% compared to the previous year. However, campaigners argue that the discharges, which are only supposed to occur in extreme weather conditions, are still too frequent and harmful to the environment. Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, stated, 'When sewage is pouring out even in a dry year, you really know the system is broken.' He emphasized that rivers, lakes, and seas should not be used as pressure valves for pollution. The water industry acknowledged that dry conditions contributed to the reduction in discharges but also cited record levels of investment in the system. Water UK stated that the industry aims to halve spills over the next five years by building bigger storm tanks and expanding capacity at sewage treatment works. Michelle Walker, technical director for the Rivers Trust, highlighted that many discharges occur on dry days and are therefore illegal. She warned that the impact of these discharges will be more concentrated and damaging in already stressed ecosystems. The government and water companies face criticism for the ongoing pollution. Water minister Emma Hardy said there is still an unacceptable amount of sewage entering waterways and a long way to go in cleaning up rivers, lakes, and seas.

The Co-op Group has announced that its chief executive, Shirine Khoury-Haq, will step down this weekend after a challenging year that included a cyber-attack and recent claims of a “toxic” culture at the business.Khoury-Haq will depart on 29 March, and Kate Allum, a board member and former boss of the dairy group First Milk, will step in as interim boss while a permanent replacement is sought.The company, which owns more than 800 funeral parlours and an insurance and legal advisory business, as well as operating more than 2,000 convenience stores, reported an underlying loss of £125m. This is a significant drop from a £45m profit the year before, largely due to a £107m profits hit from the damaging IT hack.Khoury-Haq denied that her resignation was linked to the allegations of a toxic culture, stating that her decision to leave was a personal one. She expressed her desire to “go and do something else”.Sales at Co-op fell 2.3% to £11bn in the year to 3 January, following the mutual’s shops being left with gaps on shelves after the cyber-attack, which knocked £285m off sales.The group cited a “contracting convenience market” and “layered cost headwinds” of about £150m during the year, due to increases in employers’ national insurance, pay and packaging taxes.Khoury-Haq’s departure comes a month after reports of concerns about the culture at the top of the group. In February, the Co-op defended the behaviour of its bosses after reports said senior managers had complained of a “toxic” environment at the retailer.

A recent report backed by the United Nations has found that social media use is linked to a decline in happiness among young people in Western countries. The World Happiness Report, which covers 15 Western countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, reveals a significant decline in youth wellbeing over the past two decades.The report suggests that heavy social media use is a contributing factor to this decline, particularly in countries where social media use is prevalent. However, it's noted that outside of the English-speaking world and Western Europe, the links between social media use and wellbeing are more positive and vary between platforms.Western countries dominate the overall happiness rankings across age groups, with Finland ranking as the world's happiest nation for the ninth consecutive year. In contrast, Middle Eastern and African countries had the lowest happiness scores, with Afghanistan reporting the lowest life satisfaction.The report, published by the University of Oxford's Wellbeing Research Centre in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, cites concerns over social media's impact on mental health, including bullying, sexual exploitation, and worsening mental health. In response, countries like Australia have introduced social media bans for under 16s, with similar restrictions planned in Indonesia, France, and Greece.

The Iran war is threatening to disrupt shipping of crucial parts manufactured in the Gulf, potentially delaying large offshore wind projects in Europe. Industry sources are concerned that components ordered from suppliers in the United Arab Emirates could become trapped if shipping remains effectively blocked through the strait of Hormuz.These projects include two giant offshore windfarms planned for UK waters, as well as a series of projects that will supply offshore wind power to Germany and the Netherlands. The UK windfarms, which will lie off the coast of Norfolk, were each awarded a 20-year support contract from the British government just a month before Iran effectively closed the strait of Hormuz.The developer behind the plans, the German renewables group RWE, has contracted a Dubai-based company to deliver more than 180 components from its UAE fabrication yard while the windfarms are constructed. The windfarms are expected to supply the equivalent of about 4m UK homes before the end of the decade, meaning they would play an important part in supporting Britain’s aim to quadruple offshore wind capacity by 2030.A spokesperson for RWE said it had begun liaising closely with its supply chain partners amid the Middle East conflict, which has included airstrikes against key infrastructure. “Our primary focus is the safety of those working in the area,” they said. “To date there has only been a limited effect on our supply chain partners’ activities, but we are monitoring the situation closely and putting mitigation plans in place should the situation continue for a prolonged period.”The shutdown of the strait may also have an impact on a large project by the transmission operator TenneT that will link offshore wind projects in the German North Sea to mainland Germany. The company has contracted a UAE fabrication yard to deliver structural steel components, including a 5,461-tonne jacket foundation built for the BorWin6 high-voltage transmission project.

The UK government has taken a significant step in its ongoing efforts to counter Russia's attempts to evade Western sanctions. Armed forces have been authorized to board Russian oil tankers in British waters, a move aimed at disrupting Moscow's 'shadow fleet' of vessels.This fleet, comprising over 600 vessels targeted by sanctions from the EU, UK, and US, uses tactics such as false national flags and opaque ownership structures to export Russian crude oil while avoiding Western sanctions. The new rules apply specifically to vessels sanctioned by the UK.The Royal Navy has previously collaborated with allies to take action against these vessels. For instance, last week it helped track a sanctioned Russian oil tanker in the Mediterranean, which was subsequently boarded by the French navy.The UK's move is part of a broader strategy to hamper Russia's economy and, consequently, its war efforts in Ukraine. Prime Minister Starmer emphasized that the goal is to 'starve Putin's war machine of the dirty profits that fund his barbaric campaign in Ukraine.'However, Russia has warned that direct action against shadow fleet vessels could lead to direct conflict. A senior Russian official, Nikolai Patrushev, suggested that Moscow could deploy its navy to protect Russian-linked vessels from potential European seizures.The UK's defense secretary, John Healey, previously suggested using 'military options' against sanctioned vessels, with any seized oil potentially being sold and the proceeds sent to Ukraine.Before any ship is boarded, its situation will be examined by law enforcement, military, and energy market specialists, with a recommendation made to ministers. Seizure could be followed by criminal proceedings against the owners, operators, and crew for breaches of UK sanctions legislation.

Rob Petit's documentary Underland, inspired by Robert Macfarlane's bestselling book, delves into the mysterious world beneath the Earth's surface. The film features Mexican archaeologist Fátima Tec Pool exploring cenotes on the Yucatan peninsula, theoretical physicist Mariangela Lisanti studying dark matter in an ultra-clean facility in Canada, and urban explorer Bradley Garrett navigating storm-drain tunnels in Las Vegas.The documentary intertwines these experiences with Sandra Hüller reading poetic prose about the 'nether' in a faintly Americanised accent. While the film raises intriguing ideas, it sometimes struggles to reconcile natural underground spaces with human-made ones. The most striking scenes showcase Lisanti's work searching for dark matter, highlighting the vastness of deep time and the potentially fruitless pursuit of scientific discovery.The film is set to release in UK and Irish cinemas on 27 March, offering viewers a chance to explore the hidden world beneath their feet.

According to a report by IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring firm, Pakistan was the world's smoggiest country in 2025 with concentrations of hazardous fine particles known as PM2.5 up to 13 times higher than the World Health Organization's (WHO's) recommended level.The report, which sourced data from 9,446 cities in 143 countries, regions and territories, found that only 13 countries and territories managed to keep their average fine particulate levels below the WHO guideline, an increase from seven in 2024.Pakistan's PM2.5 level was 67.3 microgrammes per cubic metre, significantly exceeding the WHO standard of 5 microgrammes per cubic metre. In comparison, Pakistan's average PM2.5 concentration in 2024 was 73.7 microgrammes.Prolonged exposure to PM2.5 has been linked to higher likelihoods of neurodegenerative conditions, including dementia, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.Bangladesh and Tajikistan ranked second and third on IQAir's list of the most polluted countries while Chad, statistically the smoggiest country in 2024, was in fourth place in 2025.The report also noted that Loni, a city in northern India, was identified as the world's most polluted city in 2025 with average PM2.5 levels of 112.5 microgrammes per cubic metre.Globally, only 14 percent of cities met the WHO air quality standard in 2025, down from 17 percent a year earlier. The report highlighted that wildfires, driven by climate change, were a key factor behind worsening global air quality in 2025 as record levels of biomass burning in Europe and Canada released about 1,380 megatonnes of carbon.

Amazon's cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), has confirmed that its region in Bahrain was disrupted due to drone activity. This incident marks the second time in a month that the company's operations have been affected by the war in the Middle East.An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the disruption, stating that the company is helping customers migrate to alternate AWS regions while it recovers from the incident. However, the company did not provide additional details on the extent of the damage or the expected duration of the disruption.The disruption comes after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to attack 'economic centres and banks' related to US and Israeli entities in the region. The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency released a list of offices and infrastructure run by top US companies with Israeli links, including Google, Microsoft, and Oracle, which have branches in multiple Israeli cities and Gulf countries.AWS is critical for the operation of many well-known websites and government operations and is Amazon's main driver of profits. Earlier this month, AWS reported that facilities in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates had lost power, and the company was working to transfer computing workloads to other regions.These attacks come after Iran claimed it is targeting US assets across the Gulf Arab states in retaliation for the joint attack on Iran by the US and Israel that began on February 28. Gulf states have accused Tehran of targeting civilian infrastructure, such as airports and energy facilities.