Former Ontario Hockey League (OHL) player Jacob Winterton, the older brother of Seattle Kraken center Ryan Winterton, has died after his battle with cancer, the league confirmed in a statement Wednesday. He was 25.
“The OHL is saddened by news of the passing of former Flint Firebirds and Oshawa Generals forward Jacob Winterton, taken far too soon following a battle with cancer at the age of 25,” the OHL’s statement said.
Jacob Winterton of the Oshawa Generals skates against the Mississauga Steelheads during a game at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Oct. 25, 2019.(Graig Abel/Getty Images)
“The OHL sends thoughts and condolences to the Winterton family, as well as Jacob’s friends during this difficult time.”
Winterton, who celebrated a birthday in January, played two seasons in the OHL, including time with the Firebirds during the 2018-19 season and with the Generals during the 2019-20 season. He registered 18 goals, 19 assists and 37 points in 125 games before moving on to play four seasons at the University of Guelph.
“The Oshawa Generals are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of former General Jacob Winterton. Our condolences go out to his family, friends and the greater hockey community,” the team said in a statement posted on X.
“Jacob and his family are in our thoughts today. Condolences from the Firebirds as we lose one of our own far too young,” the team said in a separate post.
Jacob Winterton of the Oshawa Generals skates with the puck during an OHL game against the Guelph Storm at the Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa, Ontario, Dec. 15, 2019.(Chris Tanouye/Getty Images)
Ryan Winterton, who followed his brother into the OHL before making his NHL appearance, took a temporary leave of absence to “attend to a family matter,” the team announced Monday.
On Tuesday, Ryan Winterton shared a heartbreaking farewell message to his older brother.
“Today I lost my best friend. You weren’t just someone I loved, you were someone I looked up to, someone who guided me, believed in me, and helped shape the person I am today. Watching you fight so hard and still having to say goodbye is a pain that never really fades.
Ryan Winterton of the Seattle Kraken skates during warmups before a game against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Jan. 14, 2026.(Rich Graessle/NHLI/Getty Images)
“I’ll miss your voice, your advice, and the way you made everything feel a little less heavy. Some days will be harder than others, but I’ll hold on to the love, the lessons, and the memories you left me with. You’ll always be a part of me, in everything I do. Forever loved, forever missed. Until we meet again Cobs.”
Sarah Mullally waves as she leaves after the Enthronement Ceremony installing her as archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury, England, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, the first woman ever to lead the Church of England. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
After not seeing her cat for seven years, a woman spotted him in the yard, but her attempt to reconnect ended in heartbreak.
Nicole Waite told Newsweek that her black cat, Sooty, had once been an affectionate companion and her older children’s first pet. Sooty struggled after her other feline was fatally struck by a car, as well as a move to a new home. He also grew jealous when Waite had a baby. This led him to start venturing to a neighbor’s house, where he played with their cat, was fed and kept inside.
“I started to see him less and less, at a distance, and eventually didn’t see him at all,” she said. “Never saw him in anyone’s garden or crossing the road at night, and we all assumed he had died.”
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Seven years went by without a sighting, until one morning she saw him “just sitting there” in the yard. She filmed Sooty and shared the clip on her TikTok account @willowtreewtich_ with tears streaming down her face. But the reunion was bittersweet. Sooty never allowed her to come closer.
Waite said she would recognize him anywhere, thanks to a distinctive ear notch and a white patch of fur. She opened the window and called his nickname, Soot Soot, which he looked up at as if he hadn’t heard it in years.
“I ran to grab some treats from my kitchen, and Sooty was still sitting there,” Waite said. “I have dogs now, but I thought the dog treat bag might tempt him over. He just looked at me. I told him I missed him and cried a lot.”
But as she opened the window wider and called again, Sooty walked off in the other direction, disappearing by the time she reached the side of the house. He hasn’t returned since.
Waite noticed that he appeared thinner and had patches of missing fur on his back legs but otherwise seemed healthy.
“My immediate neighbors haven’t seen him either,” she said. “I’ve not spoken to the house down the road, who initially fed him and had him visit, because I’m still a little hurt that they fed him in the first place.”
She suspects the collar he was wearing came from the neighbors who originally housed him, and he has either been there or living outdoors.
Though she couldn’t reach him, Waite believes the brief sighting was a goodbye from Sooty, now likely 14 years old—one last interaction to leave a lasting memory.
Tips for Reuniting With a Lost Cat
Every year, millions of pets go missing in the United States, and only about 52 percent of lost cats are reunited with their families, an article from Psychology Today states. Permanent identification, such as microchipping with up-to-date owner contact information, significantly increases the chance of animals being returned safely.
Using a GPS tracker, such as Fi Collars or AirTag collars, can also help locate a roaming cat in real time, but these items could fall off or disconnect. Owners who lost their pets are encouraged to post photos at local animal shelters, vet clinics and community groups, and leave out familiar scents, including their favorite blanket or bedding, to help a hesitant cat return home.
Viewer Reactions
The March 10 TikTok video left people sobbing, and as of Wednesday, it had more than 484,800 views, 39,400 likes and 477 comments.
“The way he kept looking back like I should have stayed with you, but I have to go back now,” wrote one user.
Another pointed out: “He looks so healthy for his age, though gorgeous boy.”
A few people suggested she leave treats out for him, which she said she has been doing, or a cat house. She’s hopeful she’ll be able to gain his trust again.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
In a polarized era, the center is dismissed as bland. At Newsweek, ours is different: The Courageous Center—it’s not “both sides,” it’s sharp, challenging and alive with ideas. We follow facts, not factions. If that sounds like the kind of journalism you want to see thrive, we need you.
The Trump administration will temporarily lift summer gasoline regulations as prices at the pump near $4 a gallon amid the Iran war.
The emergency fuel waiver allows refiners and retailers to sell E15 gasoline, which is blended with 15% ethanol, over the summer, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Wednesday.
Restrictions on selling E10 gasoline, which contains 10% ethanol, will also be temporarily lifted, according to the agency. Normally, federal rules require a switch to more costly summer blends from June 1 through Sept. 15 because gas with higher ethanol content can evaporate more easily in hot weather, contributing to air pollution.
The waivers take effect on May 1 and will be in place through May 20.
“EPA is working with our federal partners to reduce unnecessary costs and uncertainty and ensure that gas prices remain affordable for all Americans through the summer,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement. “This emergency action will provide American families with relief by increasing fuel supply and consumer choice.”
The waiver marks the White House’s latest effort to curb rising gas prices stemming from the war in Iran, which has effectively closed the critical Strait of Hormuz and cut off global oil supplies, driving up energy prices.
The Trump administration has taken other steps to try to tame prices by boosting supply, including ordering the release of 173 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, waiving the Jones Act to allow foreign ships to move fuel between U.S. ports, lifting Russian oil sanctions and other measures.
Last week, the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization, called on governments, businesses and consumers to reduce their energy consumption by driving less and taking other steps to ease demand.
The EPA said it will monitor fuel supplies and is prepared to extend the emergency fuel waivers “as long as the fuel supply circumstances warrant such action.”
Now, even though every year a player at either Real Madrid or Barcelona will act like they’ve been smited by God because they didn’t finish first in Ballon d’Or voting, it’s a little more fun to try to figure that out. The world’s best player isn’t obvious, and it changes every year, if not every month.
But there will be plenty of time to debate this, especially because it’s a World Cup year. As always, we will do whatever we can to convince ourselves of two contradictory truths: (1) that soccer is a complex, dynamic game driven by the interplay of the various skill sets of a given team’s 11 players, and (2) that the team that wins the World Cup must have the best soccer player in the world.
For now, though, I want to ask a different question: Who is the best player in the world — at every age?
To give this analysis a little more longevity and coherence, I’ve grouped everyone together by their birth year. So, from the players born in 2009 through those born in 1987, which player is the top of each group?
Not only is 16-year-old Max Dowman the youngest goal scorer in Premier League history but he did it by scoring that goal for the best team in England and perhaps the best team in the world. He went coast-to-coast against a team that just beat Chelsea 3-0, and he has the same wispy mustache that I had when my dad joked, “Did you just drink grape soda?” and thus condemned me to years of therapy.
Given that Dowman is two full World Cup cycles away from the beginning of his prime — he will be 24 in 2034 — there can’t be anyone in his age group close to where he is … right?
Well, there’s a 16-year-old in Germany named Kennet Eichhorn who has already played 20 times as many first-team minutes as Dowman and is doing it at a much more demanding position.
One reason we tend to see so many of the youngest players break out as attackers is because mistakes don’t matter as much higher up the field. But a mistake at, say, center midfield, could immediately lead to a counter-attack for the other team. Even though attackers are the most valuable players in the sport, the barriers to a coach’s trust are simply much higher the closer you get to your own goal.
Eichhorn, though, has played 800-plus minutes at defensive midfield for Hertha Berlin this season — and he has been injured since January. Maybe if Dowman were playing for a second-division team, he’d be playing way more minutes than he has played for Arsenal. Maybe if Einchorn came through the academy at a Champions League club, he’d still be getting more minutes than Dowman.
There’s no way to know, and it doesn’t really matter beyond the purposes of this specific exercise. But if there’s one manager who obsesses over the risks his attackers pose, it’s Mikel Arteta, and he’s still giving Dowman minutes. So, we’re giving Dowman the slight nod.
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Mikel Arteta calls for calm around ‘incredible’ Max Dowman
Mikel Arteta speaks about Max Downman after his performance for Arsenal against Everton in the Premier League.
2008: Lennart Karl, attacking midfield, Bayern Munich
This one is way more straightforward. Bayern Munich might be the best team in the world, and Karl has started 20 games across the Bundesliga and Champions League. Karl, who turned 18 last month, scored eight goals and assisted seven more.
We don’t really need advanced data here; playing that many minutes at that age for Bayern is the most powerful indicator of future success. But Karl is averaging 0.79 non-penalty expected goals plus assists per 90 minutes — a world-class rate for an attacking midfielder.
The 2006-born players show just how volatile young-player projection can be. There are so many different factors that go into how any individual person develops, and we can see it in a bunch of the guys born 20 years ago.
Remember when Endrick was going to be the next Pele? And then none of the Real Madrid managers wanted him? And then he went on loan to Lyon and immediately started scoring and assisting goals again?
Or how about Myles Lewis-Skelly? He was starting for Arsenal and England at this time last year, then Arsenal signed a couple more gigantic fullbacks over the offseason, the Premier League became obsessed with being big and fast and scoring on set pieces almost overnight, and now MLS has started one Premier League game and is very unlikely to even make Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup roster.
In the other direction, we’ve got Yan Diomande, who was playing high school in Florida four years ago and now might be the most in-demand player in his age group on planet Earth. In his first year with RB Leipzig, Diomande is doing the thing that everybody wants: scorching defenders off the dribble on the wing and then turning it into actual goals and assists. In a vacuum, he’d probably command the biggest salary on the open market of anyone born in 2006.
But given everything we’ve just mentioned, I prefer to be a little more conservative when I do any kind of player projection and evaluation, so we’re going with the 20-year-old who is second on the list of most career minutes played in the Europe’s Big Five top leagues among everyone in the world who is currently 20 or younger:
Playing for PSG in Ligue 1 isn’t the same thing as playing for Real Madrid or Manchester City, thanks to the general lack of competitiveness in the French league. But WZE — is this a thing? This should be a thing. Anyway, WZE broke into the PSG rotation three years ago, and he’s played more minutes with each successive season. Maybe, sometimes, development actually is linear.
I came really close to not choosing the guy who had two goals and an assist in last season’s Champions League final.
Doué, who will turn 21 this summer, played only 900-ish minutes in Ligue 1 this season and he’s started just four more games in the Champions League. His longer track-record of production hasn’t quite matched what we saw against Inter last year, but he’s steadily been stacking really good minutes for four seasons now and we already know he’s good enough to start for a truly elite team.
I’m not quite sure the same is true about Arda Güler because I’m still not quite sure how good Real Madrid have actually been at any point this campaign, but he’s having a breakout season and is already one of the best passers in the world. Passing is generally an old-man skill, and the players who move the ball well at his age tend to go on to have really good careers.
I don’t know if he’ll ever match his first season in Madrid. In fact, I don’t think he ever will. Despite playing as a de facto midfielder, he scored or assisted a goal every 90 minutes, as Madrid won LaLiga and their 15th Champions League title.
In other words, we’ve seen Jude Bellingham be the best player on the best soccer team in the world. There’s a very small group of people we can say that about, and an even smaller group we can say who did it when they were only 20 years old. Bellingham is now 22 though, so he still has plenty of time to try again.
Bayern have entered the PSG zone: they’re so much better than everyone else in their league that we need to be skeptical of the performance of all of their players in the Bundesliga until we see it translate to dominance in Europe.
PSG exited this zone last season — in large part due to the arrival of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who himself is a 2001. But Bayern are still there, in part because they got dominated earlier in the season by Arsenal, who are led by Bukayo Saka, another member of the class of 2001.
So, why is 24-year-old Olise ahead of both of them? Well, averaging more than a goal-plus-assist per 90 minutes immediately puts you into the Messi-Ronaldo realm. Olise did that last year, and he’s doing it again this year, at a higher rate: from 1.04, up to 1.28. The latter is tops in Europe at the moment.
Those stats, of course, are heavily boosted by Bayern’s Bundesliga dominance, but guess what happened the last time we saw Olise playing in a different league? He averaged 1.06 goals+assists per 90 minutes — for Crystal Palace, in the Premier League. That was across only about 1,200 minutes, but the last two seasons are showing that it wasn’t a fluke.
A simpler answer for why I’m slotting in Olise: There’s a chance that he’s the best soccer player in the world right now, and I wouldn’t say the same about Kvara or Saka.
Something is clearly wrong with 25-year-old Haaland. His career has been a near-robotic, march of efficient goal-scoring — undeterred by the talent of his teammates, the difficulty of his competition, or anything other than his own body temporarily failing him.
But he’s scored only five goals since the start of 2026, and the easiest explanation — and the most likely explanation — is that he has an injury.
Even with a slight slowdown in output, though, he’s still lapping the field:
This might’ve been a fun conversation if Alexander Isak hadn’t broken his leg, but this is the easiest choice since Lamine Yamal. No other midfielder is this good at every aspect of playing midfield, let alone any other 27-year-old:
On top of that, he’s also one of the most physically dominant players at his position, too.
Gradient tracks an “Athleticism” score — a combination of speed, stamina, and explosiveness, modified by position and size — and Rice comes in at a 90.6 out of 100.
OK, fine. I love Federico Valverde as much as anyone outside of his nuclear family, but this one was easier than Declan Rice. At 27 years old, Mbappe has been one of the best players in the world since he was a teenager.
I keep picking France to win the World Cup whenever someone asks me. An easy way to sum it up: Michael Olise, Kylian Mbappe, and Ousmane Dembélé are French. Dembélé, 28, is the reigning Ballon d’Or winner and you could make a pretty good argument that he’s the worst of those three players.
Now, I wouldn’t make that argument. When he’s healthy, he’s the best player in the world — an argument I made last year. He’s elite with both feet, his off-ball movement, dribbling, passing, and finishing are world-class, and he’s willing to press like a maniac. He’s, of course, just almost never healthy.
This really depends on where you think Rodri is at right now. Let’s compare his Gradient numbers from this season …
… to his Ballon d’Or-winning season:
That’s about what you’d expect, right? The passing is still there, but all of the more physical aspects of his game haven’t recovered.
Raphinha, meanwhile, is still a 98th percentile athlete according to Gradient’s physical metrics, and he’s scoring and assisting goals at the same rate as last season, when he finished fifth in Ballon d’Or voting.
What I love about 29-year-old Raphinha is that he can fit into pretty much any team in the world: he can be your primary scorer and creator, he can be the weakside winger who makes runs off the ball, and he’s one of the best pressers in the world, so you don’t have to make any systematic changes to your structure to fit him into the team.
There’s a pretty big drop-off from 1996 to 1995. That’s perhaps because we’re now talking exclusively about players who are in their 30s, which is right about when everyone officially enters the downslopes of their career. But it’s also just random; sometimes the highest-end talent clusters in a few different years.
After 31-year-old Kimmich, these are the five highest-value 1995 players according to Transfermarkt: David Raya, Ollie Watkins, Frank Anguissa, Jack Grealish, and Mike Maignan. Kimmich is still one of the best passers in the world, and per Gradient, only four other midfielders have covered more ground per game in the Champions League so far this season.
1994: Bruno Fernandes, attacking midfielder, Manchester United
He’s been the best player in the Premier League this season, and although he’ll turn 32 in September, he hasn’t really shown any signs of slowing down. Of course, players who are multiple years into their 20s suddenly and abruptly slow down all of the time.
This is the part of the exercise where I start to feel really old because all of these guys feel like weathered, wizened old veterans whose bodies could fall apart at any moment. They’ve seen some stuff. And these people are all five years younger than me.
Anyway, the answer is obviously Harry Kane.
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Harry Kane curls in a beauty for Bayern
Harry Kane curls in a beauty for Bayern Munich.
I wrote an article in 2019 about how Kane’s world-class ability to get shots had declined, how he’d put so many minutes on his body, and how it might be time to worry, given how he’d entered the latter half of his peak years and given how many other great young English attackers seemed to peak early.
In response, one Spurs fan sent me an email, vaguely threatening my health by signing off with the message: “Don’t forget. We’re always watching.” I hope he — it’s always a “he” — is handling Tottenham’s current season with an equal level of equanimity.
Kane, of course, offset the decline in shots by becoming a world-class playmaker and extending his stay among the game’s elite. Few players have had both his peak and his longevity. The 32-year-old England captain has scored 21 non-penalty goals in the Bundesliga this season — two more than anyone else in Europe’s Big Five leagues.
I can make a decent case for 33-year-old Mohamed Salah‘s season not being as bad as you think. He looks terrible — that is undeniable. He frequently looked terrible against Galatasaray last week, and yet he ended the match with a fantastic goal, a beautiful assist, and more shots on target and touches inside the penalty area than anyone else on the field. Domestically, he has more goals+assists than Saka, and among players with at least 1,500 minutes played, he ranks seventh in the Premier League in expected goals+assists per 90 minutes.
That said, Salah is being paid like he’s the best player in the league — not just a pretty good winger.
Courtois, meanwhile, also 33, is probably still the best goalkeeper in the world. If we were battling aliens for the future of Earth or whatever, if your life depended on one guy saving a shot, etc., we’d all pick Courtois.
In a strange way, this season is making me appreciate just how good Van Dijk used to be. There have been a bunch of little moments where his positioning has been slightly off, he hasn’t recovered quickly enough, or a difficult touch goes slightly awry that it makes you realize: (1) how much Liverpool have needed him to be perfect for the defense to work, and (2) how easy he made being perfect look.
With a little more protection, 34-year-old Van Dijk can still play at a really high level for a few more years. And what, you want me to pick Kevin De Bruyne or Antoine Griezmann over him?
Welbeck played 2,000-plus minutes for Manchester United in 2011-12. He is a forward, always has been. This is his 19th Premier League season. He has 42 England caps and made his debut for his country in 2011.
Guess what his career best for non-penalty goals in a season is? It’s 11. And guess when he did it? He’s doing it this year at age 35.
Both 1990 and 1989 are how it should be: everyone is just hanging on for dear life. None of these guys are starting for Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. It’s all players who used to start for those teams and are now providing valuable minutes to the likes of Girona or PSV.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was the other option here — he’s still playing for Inter Milan, who have a six-point lead atop Serie A — but I went with his former Borussia Dortmund teammate instead. Aubameyang has more goals+assists than anyone on Marseille’s biggest rivals PSG. And unlike earlier in his career, the 36-year-old is providing a good deal of value beyond just the shots he gets.
And here’s the guy Aubameyang replaced at Dortmund. This is the worst year of 37-year-old Lewandowski’s career … and he’s averaging 0.83 non-penalty goals+assists per 90 minutes. That’s still good enough for fourth-best in LaLiga, just slightly behind Mbappe.
1987: Lionel Messi, attacking midfielder, Inter Miami
Stats Perform has MLS data going all the way back to the 2012 season. That’s 14 full seasons, plus about a month of matches for the current campaign. Over that stretch, 38-year-old Messi ranks 29th in total non-penalty goals+assists. He has played 66 total games, and he joined the league when he was 36.
At least 23 countries have reported the SARS-CoV-2 BA.3.2 variant as of Feb. 11, according to a study published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The BA.3.2 variant, which the CDC has been tracking through its Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance program, has about 70 to 75 changes in the gene sequence of its spike protein, which is a structure on the surface of the COVID-19 virus that helps it enter human cells.
This strain has now been detected in nasal swabs from four U.S. travelers, clinical samples from five patients, three airplane wastewater samples, and 132 wastewater surveillance samples from 25 states, according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
At least 23 countries have reported the SARS-CoV-2 BA.3.2 variant as of Feb. 11, according to a study published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (iStock)
BA.3.2, which started rising in September 2025, was first confirmed in the U.S. in June 2025 in a person traveling to the U.S. from the Netherlands.
Weekly detections of the variant rose to about 30% of cases identified in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands from November 2025 to January 2026.
The variant has shown “immune escape characteristics,” the CDC stated, which means it has mutations that may help it partially evade existing immunity from vaccines or prior infection.
This could make infections more likely, but not necessarily more severe, according to experts.
The variant has shown “immune escape characteristics,” the CDC stated, which means it has mutations that may help it partially evade existing immunity from vaccines or prior infection.(iStock)
“BA.3.2 represents a new lineage of SARS-CoV-2, genetically distinct from the JN.1 lineages (including LP.8.1 and XFG) that have circulated in the United States since January 2024,” wrote the study authors.
The prevalence of the new variant may be even larger than the data suggests, as many countries have limited genomic detection and surveillance capacities, the researchers noted.
“Phylogenetic analyses have identified the emergence of two BA.3.2 sublineages (BA.3.2.1 and BA.3.2.2), indicating ongoing viral evolution,” they wrote.
The CDC researchers noted that ongoing genomic surveillance is needed to monitor the virus’ evolution and assess its potential impact on public health.(iStock)
Because BA.3.2 mutations in the spike protein may weaken protection from vaccination or prior infection, the CDC researchers noted that ongoing genomic surveillance is needed to monitor the virus’ evolution and assess its potential impact on public health.
Melissa Rudy is senior health editor and a member of the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].
April is just a week away, meaning the start of a new financial year and a slate of bill rises for households to prepare for.
Often dubbed “awful April” by money experts, the yearly bill rise is likely to feel particularly ill-timed for many, as conflict in the Middle East threatens to push up the UK’s cost of living in the near future.
Council tax and water bills will both be rising by more than usual in 2026, as households face an average £214 increase in essential bills in 2026/27, data from Uswitch has revealed.
Council tax and water bills will both be rising by more than usual in 2026 (PA)
In better news, most benefits, the state pension and the minimum wage will also be rising in April, helping millions of households. Meanwhile, wages continue to rise only modestly, recording the slowest growth in five years in the November to January period, according to official data.
Around 62 per cent of Brits now fear they cannot cover the rising costs on their current income, Uswitch researchers found, as household incomes struggle to keep pace with the scale of price rises.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the key household bills rising this year:
Council tax – up £109
The majority of councils in England have announced a council tax increase of 4.99 per cent – the maximum allowed without government permission. The average rise will equate to £109 per household, Uswitch analysis has found.
Seven councils in England have been allowed to raise their rate by more than this in April. Shropshire, Worcestershire, and North Somerset have been permitted the highest, each at 8.99 per cent.
Warring, Trafford, and Windsor and Maidenhead will raise theirs by 7.49 per cent, while Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council have been permitted 6.74 per cent.
Water bills – up £32.40
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Average household water bills are set to rise by £33 annually, a hike two percentage points above inflation, sparking renewed public anger over persistent sewage pollution.
Seeing the biggest increase in cash terms are customers of United Utilities, which serves the northwest, at an average £57. This is followed by Southern Water (up £55), Hafren Dyfrdwy (up £54) and Severn Trent Water (up £52).
Water UK says the increase will fund a £20bn investment between 2026/27, aimed at securing supplies and halting discharges into rivers and seas.
Licence fee – up £5.50
From April, the TV licence fee will rise from £174.50 to £180 – an increase of £5.50. The change will add an extra 46p a month onto the licence fee, and is larger than last year’s rise of £5.
The TV licence is a legal permit that must be acquired to watch or record live programmes on any device. This can either be through purchase or given free to those receiving pension credit and 75 years or older.
Broadband and mobile – up £67.20
Most broadband and mobile providers will be increasing monthly bills from April, in some cases by as much as £4. Combined, rises will cost households an average of £67.20 extra a year, Uswitch estimates.
However, unlike many other household expenses, many households can take action now to avoid the steepest rises. An estimated 14 million people are out of contract on their mobile deal, and an estimated 7 million on their broadband. This means they won’t face a penalty for leaving their provider, or seeking a better deal with them – and in most cases it would pay to do so.
For those who are happy with their mobile device, Sim-only deals can be found for as little as £4 a month. Money expert Martin Lewis has also advised that out-of-contract broadband customers could “double the speed and halve the price” of their contracts for savings of up to £500 a year.
Money expert Martin Lewis has also advised that out-of-contract broadband customers could ‘double the speed and halve the price’ of their contracts for savings of up to £500 a year (BBC)
Energy bills – down £117 (for now)
Ofgem’s energy price cap will drop to £1,641 for 1 April to 31 June 2026 – decreasing by around 7 per cent, or £117. The reduction aligns with chancellor Rachel Reeves’ recent pledge that £150 would be cut from the average household bill.
The energy price cap is the maximum amount energy suppliers can charge those on a standard variable tariff for each unit of energy, which includes most households. It is expressed as an annual bill for an average home.
The energy regulator’s decision will come as welcome news to bill payers, marking one of the few reductions amongst a slate of bill rises. Combined with warmer spring weather, energy costs should be less of a concern in the short term.
In the longer term, the outlook is less positive.
Respected energy consultancy Cornwall Insight has predicted the July price cap will rise by a massive £332 from July, up to £1,973, as conflict in the Middle East threatens to push up costs.
This would bring the price cap to the highest rate since July 2023, which came after the record rises seen in the first year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The independent forecast has been called “highly speculative” by a spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
A jury on Wednesday found that Meta and YouTube are liablefor creating products that led to harmful and addictive behavior by young users, a landmark decision that could set a legal precedent for similar allegations brought against social media companies.
The jury voted to award $3 million in compensatory damages to the lead plaintiff in the case, a woman named Kaley — identified in court filings by her initials “KGM” — who alleged that using YouTube and Instagram from a young age led to addictive use of the platforms and contributed to her mental health problems, including depression, body dysmorphia and suicidal thoughts.
Jurors ruled that Meta and YouTube were negligent in how they designed and operated their platforms, factors that resulted in harm to the plaintiff. The jurors also found that the companies were aware that their platforms could have adverse effects on minors but failed to adequately warn users.
The jury also decided the companies acted with malice, oppression or fraud. This means they will hear new evidence shortly and head back into the deliberation room to decide on potential punitive damages against the companies.
“Oftentimes, punitive damages will be vastly larger compared to the compensatory damages, and the plaintiff gets to keep those damages,” Clay Calvert, a nonresident senior fellow of technology policy studies at the nonpartisan American Enterprise Institute (AEI), told CBS News.
The decision caps a weeks-long trial that put Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri on the stand to defend their products in a case that drew comparisons to the tobacco industry lawsuits in the 1990s. Jurors deliberated in a Los Angeles courtroom for nine days for a total of more than 40 hours, at one point telling the judge that they were struggling to reach a consensus on one of the defendants.
Although the jurors were not unanimous in their decision, a majority voted to hold both companies liable.
“We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options,” a Meta spokesperson told CBS News, noting that jurors were not unanimous in issuing the decision.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the verdict.
What “KGM” alleged
Kaley, now 20, brought the case against Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, and Google-owned YouTube in 2023. TikTok and Snapchat parent Snap were named in the original complaint, but settled before the trial began in late January.
During her testimony, Kaley describedspending all day on social media and getting an emotional “rush” from likes and notifications, keeping her glued to her phone.
Kaley’s attorney, Mark Lanier of Lanier Law Firm, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Throughout the trial, Lanier argued that Meta and YouTube were aware that their social media products harmed children, but continued to prioritize profits over safety.
Meta and YouTube faced two main allegations: negligence and failure to warn users of the potential health risks from using the platforms.
Social media companies have long deflected such accusations by taking legal refuge behind Section 230, a clause in the 1996 Communications Decency Act that protects internet companies from liability for third-party content posted on their platforms.
This case, however, centered around how the apps are designed, not the content itself.
On Tuesday, in another first-of-its-kind case, a New Mexico jury found Meta violated state child exploitation laws and ordered the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties. The decision came after just a day of deliberations.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a post on X that the company plans to appeal that decision, and that “we will continue to defend ourselves vigorously, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
New Mexico is the first state to win a case against a major tech company for harming young people.
The companies’ defense: Don’t blame social media
During the Los Angeles trial, Meta and YouTube denied that Kaley’s use of social media led to her mental health issues. The companies also argued that her family history, difficulties at home and school and learning disabilities played a more significant role in her psychological and emotional struggles.
“Not one of her therapists identified social media as the cause,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News earlier this month.
Several mental health specialists who treated Kaley testified during the trial, including Victoria Burke, a former therapist who worked with the plaintiff in 2019. During her testimony, Burke said that social media and Kaley’s sense of self “were closely related,” adding that activity on the platforms could “make or break her mood.”
Attorneys representing the technology companies also argued that Kaley turned to their platforms as a coping mechanism or a means of escaping her mental health struggles.
Key questions at trial
The driving question behind the trial was whether Meta and YouTube designed their products to be addictive. When Zuckerberg and Instagram’s Mosseri took the stand in February, they faced questions over whether the companies deliberately sought to increase the amount of time users spent on their platforms.
Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook, was also asked about Instagram’s age restrictions and whether the platform does enough to prevent underage people from accessing the app. Kaley claimed she started using Instagram at age 9 and YouTube at 6.
Instagram says it requires users to be at least 13 years old to create an account. However, Zuckerberg said during his testimony that the rule can be difficult to enforce because there are “a meaningful number of people who lie about their age to use our services.”
The plaintiff’s legal team also pressed Zuckerberg and Mosseri over Instagram’s beauty filters, which they said played an important role in Kaley’s social media use. During her testimony, Kaley said she did not experience the negative feelings associated with her body dysmorphia diagnosis before she began using social media and filters.
Opening the legal floodgate?
Legal experts said the jury’s decision could have implications for thousands of other lawsuits, including from state attorneys general, school districts and other plaintiffs, alleging harm by social media companies.
AEI’s Calvert told CBS News that the damages awarded in the trial will set a benchmark for similar cases brought against social media players, while the ruling could also encourage more families with minors to take legal action.
“It definitely could open the floodgates of litigation,” he said. “It will certainly trigger more.”
The woman accused of firing shots at Rihanna’s home earlier this month has pleaded not guilty.
Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 35, whom police say opened fire with an AR-15-style-rifle at the singer’s Los Angeles home on March 8, appeared in court Wednesday morning.
An LA judge denied her request for bail reduction, which remains set at $1,875,000.
The exterior of Rihanna’s residence is shown, March 9, 2026, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
Ortiz was arrested earlier this month and booked on attempted murder in connection with the shooting at Rihanna’s home.
The singer’s mansion was struck by gunfire while she was at home, according to the Los Angeles Police Department and sources with knowledge of the investigation at the time.
Sources told ABC News that no shots penetrated inside the home, only the exterior. Multiple rounds did hit the outside of the home, as well as a vehicle parked out front. No one was hurt in the incident, sources added.
Rihanna attends the 2025 CFDA Awards at The American Museum of Natural History on November 03, 2025 in New York City.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
A motive was not immediately clear.
In court on Wednesday, prosecutors described the incident as “extremely dangerous” and was “calculated.”
They added that Ortiz poses as a flight risk.
Additionally, the state says that the attorney general wants her prohibited from practicing as a speech-language pathologist.
The court has prohibited her from practicing her profession while the case proceeds.
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