Artificial intelligence (AI) and “deeper” ties with Europe are the best ways to get the economy growing, the chancellor will say on Tuesday.

Rachel Reeves will argue that the UK cannot afford to “bury our heads in the sand”, and allow other countries to lead the development of AI, in the annual Mais lecture.

While she will also say that closer ties with the European Union (EU), as well as regional growth, are key to kickstarting the economy.

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Ms Reeves will commit £500m to back the most promising AI companies in the UK.

She will also say that quantum computers, which can work on multiple potential answers at once, vastly reducing the time it takes to get a solution, are the next great leap in technology that the UK needs to be ahead of the game in.

Ms Reeves will announce £1bn investment to buy commercial-scale quantum computers.

Her lecture comes following anaemic growth figures. The economy didn’t grow at all in January, and only grew by 0.2% in the three months to January.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) downgraded its growth forecast for 2026 a fortnight ago – although it is forecast to grow slightly quicker than previously expected in 2027 and 2028.

Ministers are also grappling with the economic consequences of the Iran war, which threatens to push up energy prices and inflation if the conflict continues for much longer.

Ms Reeves met with Ireland’s finance minister, Simon Harris, on Monday, and discussed deepening economic ties with the EU.

UK must ‘chart our own course’ on AI

Ms Reeves will tell an audience from the City of London: “In this changing world, Britain is not powerless. We can shape our own future. Our method is stability, investment and reform – through an active and strategic state.

“Today, I am making three big choices on the greatest growth opportunities for Britain in the decade to come: growth in every part of Britain, AI and innovation, and a deeper relationship with the EU.”

The chancellor will say the UK must “chart our own course” on AI.

“AI is the defining technology of our era,” Ms Reeves will say. “The choice is this: we can bury our heads in the sand and leave it to other countries – whose values may differ from ours – to shape and own this technology.

“We can leave it to the market alone, and let the balance of risk and reward be determined by a super-wealthy few. Or we can chart our own course,” she is expected to say.

She wants the UK to achieve the fastest adoption of AI in the G7 group of wealthy nations.

The annual Mais lecture is the City of London’s foremost banking and finance event, hosted by City St George’s University.

Ms Reeves previously gave the lecture while shadow chancellor in 2024, while other recent speakers have included Rishi Sunak, George Osbourne, Mark Carney, and Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Darius Slay, a six-time Pro Bowl cornerback, announced his retirement from the NFL after 13 seasons on Monday. 

Slay made the announcement on his Instagram page, where he shared some career highlights as well as a message to the game of football. 

“Dear football, I wanna thank you for all you’ve done for me,” his Instagram caption read. ‘I’ve been blessed to play the game I loved since I was 5yrs old for an amazing 13yrs at the highest level. Football was my peace, my joy, my everything. This game put me in a position to help take care of my family and loved ones and I’m forever grateful.”

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Slay, a second-round pick out of Mississippi State by the Detroit Lions, racked up a career 28 interceptions, including a league-leading eight in 2017, and 163 passes defended, which also led the league that year. 

He became one of the best players at his position in the league over his seven years with the Lions before transitioning to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2020 when he was traded to the East Coast. 

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It was there Slay continued to make Pro Bowls, but he captured his one and only Super Bowl ring during the 2024 season after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans in Super Bowl LIX. 

Slay spent a year with the Pittsburgh Steelers last year in his final season, playing 10 games with three passes defended. 

“It’s hard to say goodbye, but God has a new chapter for me and I’m ready to turn the page and start appreciate the love and support y’all have given to me. I couldn’t have done it without you. Just a kid from Brunswick, GA with BIG dreams…” he wrote.

Slay earned the nickname “Big Play Slay” for his ability to come up clutch at a position that is one of the hardest to play in the NFL. 

But after the Steelers released him following 10 games, he was claimed off waivers by the Buffalo Bills. However, he never played for them, saying he didn’t “feel like packing up and moving again.”

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It was a decision that ultimately led Slay to call it quits for his career, one that he should be happy with considering the accolades he racked up, both personally and as a team, considering he will always be known as a Super Bowl champion. 

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A Russian natural gas tanker adrift in the Mediterranean Sea represents an “imminent and serious” ecological threat, several European nations have warned.

The Arctic Metagaz has been drifting in waters between Malta and Italy, European Union (EU) states, including France and Italy, said in a letter to the European Commission.

Earlier this month, Russia‘s Transport Ministry said the vessel, which was carrying liquefied natural gas from the Arctic port of Murmansk, was attacked by Ukrainian naval drones, which it claimed had been launched from the Libyan coast.

On 4 March, Libya’s maritime agency reported that the vessel had sunk in waters between Libya and Malta after catching fire a day before.

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

The letter to the European Commission said the state of the Arctic Metagaz poses the “dual challenge” of upholding maritime safety and preventing an ecological disaster while maintaining EU sanctions imposed on Russia.

“The precarious condition of the vessel, combined with the nature of its specialised cargo, gives rise to an imminent and serious ​risk of a major ecological disaster in the heart of ⁠the Union’s maritime space,” the letter said.

The EU said the vessel was part of Russia’s “shadow fleet”, which is intended to bypass sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The letter said action to resolve the situation, including surveillance, monitoring and other technical support, risked “undermining the integrity, effectiveness and the deterrent value of the EU sanctions ‌regime”.

Russia’s foreign ministry acknowledged the vessel was adrift in the Mediterranean, and said Russia’s further involvement in the situation would depend on “concrete circumstances”.

Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Moscow was in touch with the vessel’s owner, and foreign “competent bodies”.

The ship, which has no crew, was carrying 700 metric tons of different types of fuel, and “a substantial amount of natural gas”.

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“The international legal norms applicable ​to the current situation imply the responsibility of coastal countries… ​for resolving the situation with the drifting vessel and preventing an environmental ​disaster,” Ms Zakharova said in a statement on the ministry’s website.

“Further involvement by the shipowner and Russia as the flag state ⁠will depend on the specific circumstances.”

As the war with Iran dominates the region’s attention, Hamas is quietly reasserting control inside Gaza, according to videos and photos circulating on social media. An Israeli analyst and a Gazan political commentator say the developments raise fresh doubts about whether postwar plans for the enclave can move forward anytime soon.

Michael Milshtein, a senior analyst at the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, said Hamas has used the past two and a half weeks not only to rehabilitate militarily but to project visible control in public life.

“They are really making good use of them to establish their power in the public sphere, not just for military rehabilitation,” Milshtein said, describing what he said were new recruits, police deployments and even parades in central Gaza. “Hamas is here to stay.”

TRUMP LAUNCHES PHASE 2 OF GAZA PEACE PLAN — BUT HAMAS DISARMAMENT REMAINS THE REAL TEST

He said Gazans have reported that Hamas is also rebuilding the machinery of governance. “Their police are everywhere,” he said. “They are also improving their taxation system.” During Ramadan, he added, Hamas personnel were checking markets and mosques and “starting to build education systems.”

Mukhaimer Abu Saada, a Gazan political analyst, agrees momentum around postwar Gaza planning has largely stalled since the Iran war escalated.

“Everything with regard to Gaza has been put on hold,” Abu Saada told Fox News Digital. Before the regional war erupted, he said, developments had been “moving in the right direction,” including work around the Board of Peace, the Gaza Technical Committee and discussions tied to a possible international stabilization force.

“Yes, Hamas has taken advantage of the current situation,” Abu Saada said. “They are not under the pressure that they were before.”

Both analysts pointed to the same broad dynamic: as attention shifted to Iran, pressure on Hamas eased.

Abu Saada said that before the war, there had been what he described as serious discussions about disarmament, the deployment of an international force and Gaza’s political future. But “the enthusiasm that preceded the war has come down,” he said, adding that Gaza has been pushed to the “back burner.”

“When I talk to Palestinians, they tell me, ‘Listen, we are actually already waiting for the day after the war,’” Milshtein said. He said some expect Netanyahu to become “very indebted to Trump because of the war in Iran, and he will have to accept whatever dictates he has regarding Gaza.”

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At the center of that conversation is the prospect of an international stabilization force entering Gaza. But both men suggested Hamas may not see such a force as a threat.

Abu Saada said Hamas had “welcomed the deployment” of such a force and appears to view it as “restraining the Israeli army” rather than coming in “to disarm” the group. He said the possibility of troops from countries such as Indonesia may make such a deployment appear less threatening to Hamas, which could see it as a buffer against continued Israeli military operations.

Milshtein took that argument further, saying Hamas sees the model less as a peacekeeping mission than as a version of the Hezbollah-UNIFIL arrangement in Lebanon.

“Hamas says, ‘I have no problem, it will be like UNIFIL in Lebanon,’” Milshtein said. “Don’t even dream about starting to chase us, taking our weapons, and entering the tunnels. You need to protect us from Israel as well.”

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Abu Saada said the next phase depends heavily on how the Iran war ends. If the Iranian regime survives and avoids collapse, he said, Hamas will draw encouragement from that outcome.

“If Iran is not defeated, if the Iranian regime is not collapsing, that’s going to be some kind of moral support for Hamas,” he said.

According to the Meteorological Department, a western disturbance is active in the western Himalayan region and the adjacent plains, due to which there is a possibility of rain and stormy winds along with isolated hailstorm in these areas during March 18 to 20. According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data till 8:30 am on Monday, hailstorm occurred at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, northeastern states and Jharkhand in the last 24 hours.

Heavy rainfall (7-20 cm) has been recorded at isolated places over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya. Heavy rainfall (7-11 cm) occurred at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. Winds also blew at a speed of 50-65 km per hour at some places in Kolkata and Malad in Bengal.

235 people trapped in snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir rescued
The Army has safely rescued 235 people and 38 vehicles trapped in heavy snowfall on Sunday night at Sinthan Top in Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir. White Knight Corps soldiers also provided hot food, drinking water and shelter to the people. At the same time, the clue of the person missing after the landslide in Dangduru could not be found even on Monday. Rescue work is going on.

Cold knocked again in Uttarakhand
The weather has once again changed in the border districts of Uttarakhand. While there was heavy snowfall on the higher peaks on Sunday night, heavy rain accompanied by thunder in the lower areas has increased the chill. The hills of Khalia Top, Panchachuli, Hansling, Nagnidhura and Chiplakedar of Munsiyari are covered with white blanket of snow.

10 thousand tourists evacuated from Lahaul
There was snowfall in the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh and hailstorm along with rain in the lower areas. 10 thousand tourists and local people trapped in 1,500 vehicles on Manali-Leh road have been evacuated safely through Rohtang Tunnel. On Sunday, people had to stay in vehicles throughout the night amidst severe cold.

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Bert Kreischer counted his blessings after narrowly avoiding disaster.

The comedian was grateful to be safe Sunday after his bus caught on fire the night before while he was on tour in the Midwest.

Kreischer, 53, admitted his team was safe despite the blaze and noted on social media that “God works in mysterious ways.” 

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“Alright, here’s everything you need to know about the bus,” Kreischer told his fans on Monday while sharing a carousel of images featuring the burnt remains of the bus. 

HARDY DETAILS TERRIFYING MOMENT HE THOUGHT HE WAS ‘DEAD’ IN DEVASTATING TOUR BUS CRASH

About one hour after departing from a tour stop in Fargo, North Dakota, the front right tire blew and was “totally ripped” off the rim. 

“God works in mysterious ways.” 

— Bert Kreischer

“Both bus drivers said they’d never seen anything like it in their 35 years,” he said. “We waited for a couple of hours, and then we ditched the bus and got on the crew buses and drove into Cedar Rapids. That morning, our bus caught on fire on the road.”

Kreischer, who’s “Free Bert” Netflix series was picked up for another season Monday, shared images of the charred bus with his followers on Instagram.

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“Everyone is fine. The bus driver, Dewy, he got out in time,” Kreischer detailed. “He said literally the fire started and in 15 seconds, the front cabin was in flames.

“Both bus drivers said they’d never seen anything like it in their 35 years.”

— Bert Kreischer

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“Here’s the good thing to know – had we slept on that bus, we all would have been trapped in the back and be dead today. Yesterday, we would have been dead yesterday.”

He added, “So, it was a blessing that we had a blow out. It was a blessing. So today, as frustrated as you may get, realize everything is a blessing. God works in mysterious ways.” 

While no one was hurt on board, Kreischer and his crew had to buy new clothes after losing everything on the bus.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Noida International Airport. A public meeting will be organized for this, the possible date for which is 28th or 29th March. Prime Minister Narendra Modi can address the public meeting.