We have put together a round-up of all the latest news, weather and travel information for Tuesday, March 8, that will get you caught up and ready for the day.
The Kremlin has threatened to cut off gas supplies to Europe and warned that the price of oil could rocket to $300 a barrel if the West went ahead with its threats and banned Russian oil.
As European leaders prepare to meet at Versailles on Thursday to discuss weaning the continent off Russian gas and oil, Moscow warned that any such move could be a catastrophe for the global market.
Deputy Russian Prime Minister Alexander Novak said such a move would lead to "catastophic consquences" for global supply and lead to the oil price doubling to $300 a barrel, reports Reuters.
"It is absolutely clear that a rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market," he said.
"The surge in prices would be unpredictable. It would be $300 per barrel if not more.
"European politicians need to honestly warn their citizens and consumers what to expect," Novak said.
"If you want to reject energy supplies from Russia, go ahead. We are ready for it. We know where we could redirect the volumes to."
Novak said Russia, which supplies 40% of Europe's gas, was fulfilling its obligations in full but that it would be entirely within its rights to retaliate against the European Union after Germany last month froze the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
The US has been exploring a potential ban with allies as a way of punishing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. But Germany and the Netherlands rejected the plan on Monday.
The EU gets about 40% of its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia, and has no easy substitutes if supplies are disrupted.
Wales news headlines
'Disgraceful' stop and search statistics for Welsh police forces released
New data showing that people of certain races in Wales are far more likely to be targeted by the police using stop and search powers have been branded as “bleak” and “disgraceful”.
The data, gathered by Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre (WGC), covers all four Welsh police forces in 2020/21 and found people who are Black are disproportionately targeted compared to those who are white.
Of every 1,000 white people living in Wales, eight were stopped and searched. This compares to a rate of 56 per 1,000 Black people, 16 per 1,000 Asian people, and 28 per 1,000 people who identify as being from a mixed ethnic background (the ethnicity categories are based on self-identification).
The gap in the stop and search rate between white and Black people was slightly wider in Wales (eight to 56) than it was in England (seven to 51).
Dr Robert Jones obtained the data and said the findings reinforce previous WGC research which demonstrated high levels of racial disproportionality in imprisonment, arrest and custodial sentences.
Dr Jones said: “These latest data add to the evidence we have already uncovered about the fact that non-white people are more likely to come into contact with the criminal justice system in Wales. This includes evidence that individuals from non-white backgrounds are more likely to be stopped and searched by police, sentenced to imprisonment and receive longer prison terms, than white people in Wales.
“We have previously used our research to call for a Senedd committee inquiry into racial injustice in the Welsh criminal justice system, these latest data further underline the need for such an inquiry and for the Welsh Government to give far greater attention to racial discrimination and criminal justice in Wales.”
Full details on the report can be found here.
Singing Cardiff pensioner Neville Howard has died age 94
Singing pensioner Neville Howard, who was a familiar sight and sound around Cardiff, bursting into passionate song in the most unexpected places, has died.
His family have paid tribute to him as a "people person", who got "great joy interacting with others", both through his singing and philosophy on life.
Mr Howard died at 4am on Saturday, March 5, after spending three weeks in hospital. He was 94.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1928, Mr Howard was one of eleven children. After his mother died, he left the country when he was 18 as a stowaway on the HMS Almanzora.
He arrived in Southampton in 1948, and moved to Wales in 1951, where he remained for the rest of his life.
A self-described "jack of all trades", throughout his working life Mr Howard worked on ships, and as a painter and welder in the steelworks in Cardiff. He remained a painter and decorator for Cardiff council for many years.
He had been singing for most of his life - and had even had the same singing teacher as Shirley Bassey, according to his family - but, apart from auditioning for Britain's Got Talent in his 80s, it had never taken off for him as a career.
Instead, he serenaded the city - particularly Roath Park, St Mellons, supermarkets, the city centre, Splott Market and Cardiff Market - with his renditions of classic songs, like Old Man River and Fly Me To The Moon, and often surprised unsuspecting shoppers with his deep bass notes.
Read the full tribute to one of Cardiff's best known characters here.
Today's forecast
Wales will be rather windy with scattered showers spreading east today, according to the Met Office forecast.
Today: "After some early sunshine, becoming mostly cloudy. Bright spells continuing in eastern areas, but showery rain edging in across the west during the afternoon. Increasingly windy and feeling rather chilly. Late sunshine returning in some western areas. Maximum temperature 11°C."
Tonight: "Any remaining showers in the east fading away to leave a dry night with clear periods. Winds easing for a time before freshening in the west later. Minimum temperature 2°C."
Here is how the roads and rail are affected at 7am:
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Flood damage following recent storms has closed the line between Shrewsbury and Newtown. Buses are replacing trains between Shrewsbury and Newtown, calling at Welshpool, until further notice. A bus timetable is available here.
National news headlines
Ukraine president Zelensky to address the Commons
MPs will hear from Volodymyr Zelensky about the Ukrainian plight as Boris Johnson continues his diplomatic offensive to encourage Western leaders to punish Russia for the invasion.
Mr Zelensky will address the House of Commons at 5pm today (Tuesday) by video link after Speaker Lindsay Hoyle approved a request for a “historic address” from the Ukrainian president who, according to reports, is at risk of assassination by pro-Russian groups in Kyiv.
He gave an address to the European parliament last week and imparted a virtual message to the US Senate on Saturday, with the embattled leader expected today to renew messages from those speeches to MPs, including pushing for the West to install a no-fly zone over Ukraine and for more arms to be delivered.
The Prime Minister, who speaks with Mr Zelensky on a regular basis, has consistently ruled out the UK policing Ukrainian skies, arguing it would mean shooting down Russian planes.
Yesterday evening, Mr Johnson spoke with US president Joe Biden, French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz, with the four leaders vowing to “continue to apply pressure on Russia to isolate Putin diplomatically and economically”.
A No 10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister stressed that our goal must be ensuring Putin’s failure in this act of aggression against Ukraine.”
The Foreign Secretary met with the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, on the same evening.
Today, Mr Johnson will host leaders of the Visegrad Four of central European nations – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – to discuss the conflict.
The diplomatic efforts on the international stage come as the UK Government faces domestic pressure to speed-up its efforts to grant safety to fleeing Ukrainians, with Labour criticising the process for being “painfully slow”.
The Home Office on Friday confirmed that 8,900 applications for refugees to come to the UK via the Ukraine Family Scheme had been submitted, but that only 300 visas had been issued.
Every household to be £1,000 worse off in biggest decline since 1970s
Households in Britain could be facing the sharpest decline in real incomes since the 1970s, a think-tank has warned.
Real household incomes across Britain could fall by 4% for working age people in the financial year 2022 to 2023, marking the biggest squeeze since the mid-1970s, according to estimates in the Resolution Foundation’s Living Standards Outlook for 2022.
The real incomes drop would represent a fall of £1,000 per household for non-pensioners – a scale of decline which would normally be associated with recessions – according to researchers.
The fall would have been worse without the £350 boost to incomes the UK Government’s energy rebates package will give households, the foundation said.
Inflation is predicted to hit around 8% this spring – and the think-tank’s report said “high inflation will make falling real household incomes the defining economic feature of 2022”.
The foundation said that even before the conflict in Ukraine, the outlook for living standards this coming financial year was “bleak”, with soaring energy bills this April disproportionately affecting families on low and middle incomes.
The report said: “The crisis in Ukraine has increased both the scale of price rises but also the degree of uncertainty about their levels and duration. So far, the conflict has substantially increased the price of oil and natural gas.”
The document warned: “The UK’s post-Covid economic recovery is well under way, but a deep living standards downturn is just getting going.”
Full details of the report can be found here.
Sport headlines
Gerwyn Price on verge of tears after being knocked out amid awful crowd abuse
Former PDC World Champion Gerwyn Price appeared on the verge of tears as he vowed to bounce back from his quarter-final defeat to Michael Smith at the UK Open, in a contest once more marred by abuse from the crowd.
Price was yet again on the end of an overly hostile reception as he slipped to a 10-7 defeat at the hands of the Englishman, who went on to lose to Danny Noppert in Sunday's final.
The Welshman has repeatedly suffered abuse during his time on the tour, and was again booed throughout the contest in Minehead.
Taking to social media after the defeat, Price posted a picture of himself on his Instagram story, which seemingly showed him on the verge of tearing up, alongside the caption 'That hurt. But I'll be back'.
Price then revealed that he'd had a classy message off his opponent, who clearly took issue with the behaviour of the crowd.
In a series of WhatsApp message shared by the Welshman, Smith said (sic): "Mate I'm sorry about that game then mate. That's twice crowd have been on your back last 2 games against me and I don't want to win like that.
"I wanna beat you when we're both 100%. I just wish people met the real you as you're one of the most genuine guys on tour pal and always have been."
Price replied: "Honestly mate your a great guy and a world-class player, sometimes I can handle it and players let me off.
"Just not tonight or the worlds, it's your time mate go get it."
Wales' 'grave mistake' as Tomas Francis declared fit to play
Wales have been warned they are making a grave mistake by declaring Tomas Francis fit and available to play against France after his head injury against England.
The stark statement comes from Professor John Fairclough, who used to work with the Welsh Rugby Union and is now part of the Progressive Rugby lobby group that has described the handling of his injury as a "clear and flagrant" breach of HIA protocol.
TV footage captured Francis staggering near his own try line in the 20th minute after a clash of heads with team-mate Owen Watkin, appearing to have to use the pads of the posts to hold himself up.
He initially remained on the pitch after being checked by a medic before being removed to undergo a HIA, which he duly passed before returning to the pitch around 10 minutes later.
But, under World Rugby laws, any player who shows visible signs of balance disturbance/ataxia after a head blow should be removed immediately and permanently from a match without a HIA.
Francis continued to play before being replaced by Leon Brown in the 56th minute.
Following comments by defence coach Gethin Jenkins on Monday, who insisted Wales will pick Francis because he has passed the necessary protocols, Prof Fairclough said: "Like any Welsh fan I want to see Tomas Francis in the Welsh team, because he's a terrific player and would be key against a very good French side.
"But I have carefully reviewed the footage numerous times, and in my expert view, it is beyond any doubt Tomas had suffered a brain injury.
"As someone who has taken an oath to protect life, I can't, in all good conscience, fail to highlight I think him playing the next game puts him at unnecessary risk of serious harm, whether that be now or in the future.
"The HIA protocols undertaken during the England game were shown to be not fit for purpose.
"They were unable to recognise the fact he had clearly sustained criteria one signs of on-field concussion.
"The serious features displayed by Francis should outweigh the results of any subsequent assessment indicating he is sufficiently recovered in time to return for the French game.
"Wales may claim that he has been 'passed fit'. For me that would be a grave mistake."
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