We have put together a round-up of all the latest news, weather and travel information for Thursday, March 3, that will get you caught up and ready for the day.
A war crimes investigation has begun after Boris Johnson accused Vladimir Putin of committing atrocities by bombarding cities in his invasion of Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) opened an investigation on Wednesday night after Britain and 37 allies referred Russia over what the Prime Minister described as "abhorrent" attacks.
The move came as Ukraine's capital Kyiv braced for a siege, its second-largest city Kharkiv reeled from further strikes and the control of port city Kherson was contested by the Russian military.
Kherson is the first major city to be taken by Russia, after heavy fighting, since it invaded a week ago. Its mayor, Igor Kolykhaev, said Russian troops had forced their way into the city council building and imposed a curfew on residents.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said work would begin "immediately", with his team already collecting evidence, after the co-ordinated referral freed him to get to work without the need for judicial approval.
Mr Johnson warned the Russian president he "cannot commit these horrific acts with impunity". The Prime Minister had spoken to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, promising further support and weapons for the forces resisting Russia's military and sharing his "disgust" at the Kremlin's attacks.
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford visited Brussels on Wednesday to meet with diplomats amid mounting concerns over Russia's invasion of the Ukraine. The Welsh Government said he would be meeting "key international partners" to reaffirm Wales’ relationships with European nations and regions.
Mr Drakeford is expected to discuss the actions taken in Wales in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with assessments underway on how prepared the Welsh authorities are to accept Ukrainian citizens escaping the war.
On Thursday morning, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's official website appeared to be offline just moments after the Ukraine President had issued a rallying cry. Mr Zelenskyy told Vladimir Putin in no uncertain terms that his country would not be overtaken. You can follow developments throughout the day here.
Wales news headlines
How violence against women and girls soared during Covid
Violence against women and girls soared to such levels during the Covid pandemic that it is being referred to as “the shadow pandemic”.
On the anniversary of the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police Officer “safety feels far away for many women and girls”, said Welsh Women’s Aid.
Violence and threat of violence towards women in Wales and elsewhere has escalated, often behind the closed doors of lockdown.
Contact to WWA’s Live Fear Free helpline rose by up to 49% during the first year of Covid.
From January 2021 to December 2021 WWA saw a 29% increase in the number of survivors reporting stalking, and a 94% increase in the number of callers whose lives had been threatened.
Those who called WWA came from different backgrounds and circumstances.
Despite widespread media coverage and awareness campaigns in the wake of Sarah Everard’s killing, the reality of violence against women and girls is often misunderstood, cautioned WWA.
Attention is drawn to cases of young women attacked or killed by strangers while walking alone, but the reality is that women of all ages are subject to violence and often by people know to them in their own homes. Read the full account here.
Cardiff Capital Region group of councils buys Aberthaw Power Station
A body representing 10 councils in south-east Wales has announced it is to buy the disused Aberthaw coal-fired power station in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Cardiff Capital Region, which was s et up as part of the £1.2bn City Deal part funded by the UK and Welsh governments and the councils themselves in 2017, has set aside £8m to buy the site from German energy firm RWE and £36.4m to demolish the power station, remediate it and re-develop it.
The region says it wants to use the 489-acre site overlooking the Bristol Channel as a green energy hub - envisioning a cluster of green energy businesses, and a hydrogen plant linked to a renewable energy project. Today's announcement follows reports last year that a new commission would be set up to look again into building a barrage across the estuary.
In their press release announcing the purchase, the Cardiff Capital Region listed the following aims for the purchase of the site.
-
Support the production of renewable and green energy projects
-
Provide an accompanying battery storage facility to support the green energy projects
-
Produce a zero-carbon manufacturing cluster which will include green hydrogen production facilities
-
Provide a green energy innovation centre to promote innovation, growth, knowledge and community interaction with the zero-carbon future of Wales
-
Be responsible for the development and maintenance of a bio-diverse ecology park which will include a visitor centre, providing amenities to the local community
-
Create the correct conditions to support industrial de-carbonisation and future giga-plant facilities
This raises several questions including how dependent the plans are on the future construction of a barrage across the Bristol Channel. If a barrage or lagoon does not go ahead what would the site be used for and is the 'zero-carbon manufacturing cluster' also entirely dependent on a barrage being able to support a hydrogen plant?
There is also the consideration that, while not as expensive as nuclear, coal plants are pricey to decommision. It is not clear from the announcement whether there is any provision in the deal to recoup remediation costs from RWE power if there are unexpected liabilities. Full analysis of all of the questions raised by the decision to buy the power station can be found here.
Today's forecast
Rain moving east with skies brightening in the west later, according to the Met Office forecast for Wales.
Today: "Occasional rain, heavy in places, edging eastwards across Wales this morning. Drier conditions developing in the west this afternoon, perhaps with some late sunshine in Pembrokeshire. Light to moderate winds. Maximum temperature 11 °C."
Tonight: "Any remaining drizzle and rain becoming confined to northeast Wales overnight, with most areas turning dry with clear periods. A few showers may drift into western coastal areas later. Minimum temperature 3 °C."
Here is how the roads and rail are affected at 7am:
-
No major issues to report on Wales main roads
-
Buses run instead of trains on Transport for Wales between Shrewsbury and Newtown, Powys, because of flooding.
National news headlines
Warning that average UK energy bills could soar to £3,000 a year as oil and gas prices rise to record levels
British householders have been warned that average energy bills could hit £3,000 per year as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to send oil and gas prices soaring. UK wholesale gas price rose as high as £4.50 per therm on Wednesday – up from Tuesday morning's £2.50 per therm – before settling at £4 per therm.
A year ago the price of a therm was around 35p, according to the Daily Mail. Britain imports around four per cent of its gas from Russia but the Government's ban on Russian ships from UK ports could affect the 33 shipments that arrive from Russia each year.
The energy price cap is due to increase by £693 to £1,970 on April 1 but analysts from Cornwall Insight told the Mail that the autumn price cap could reach £2,497 a year - a further rise of £500 in October. That was before Wednesday's record rises, which could drive household gas bills to in excess of £280-a-month or over £3,000-a-year.
Joe Malinowski, founder of TheEnergyShop, said in the Daily Mail: “Depending upon how the situation unfolds, gas prices could literally go anywhere. We are not as reliant on Russia for security of gas supply as Europe, but the price we pay is linked to gas prices on the continent.
“The best we can hope for is that wholesale gas prices don't go up much more. All other scenarios are varying degrees of bad.”
With the cost of a barrel of oil briefly hitting $113 a barrel on Wednesday – a price which could drive the cost of petrol and diesel up - RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams warned: “The sudden 10 US dollars (£7.50) jump in the oil price on Tuesday to 113 US dollars (£85) a barrel is likely to take the average price of petrol towards 155p a litre and diesel to 160p, particularly as it's looking like this price isn't just a market blip caused by the US and allies deciding to dip into the strategic oil reserve.
“If oil does stay at this level, the journey to an average unleaded price of 155p may be far too quick.” Read more here.
One million people have fled Ukraine since invasion, says UN refugee agency
The UN refugee agency says one million people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, in the swiftest exodus of refugees this century. The tally from UNHCR amounts to more than 2% of Ukraine’s population of 44 million on the move in under a week.
The announcement comes as Russian forces lay siege to two strategic Ukrainian ports and press their bombardment of the country’s second-biggest city, while the huge armoured column threatening Kyiv appears to be stalled outside the capital. Moscow’s isolation has deepened, though, with most of the world lined up against it at the United Nations to demand withdrawal from Ukraine.
UNHCR has predicted up to four million people could eventually leave Ukraine but cautioned even that projection could be revised upward. In an email, UNHCR spokesperson Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams wrote: “Our data indicates we passed the 1M mark” as of midnight in central Europe (11pm London), based on counts collected by national authorities.
Russia has reported its military casualties for the first time since the invasion began, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine did not disclose its own military losses but said more than 2,000 civilians have died, a claim that could not be independently verified.
Boris Johnson has said the UK could take in 200,000 or more Ukrainian refugees as the government extends its help to more people fleeing the war.
The scheme allowing close relatives of Ukrainian people settled in the UK to come over will be widened to include adult parents, grandparents, children over 18 and siblings.
UK firms will also be able to sponsor a Ukrainian entering the country.
Coronavirus headlines
More than 7,000 people have now died after testing positive for covid in Wales
More than 7,000 people have now died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, according to latest figures from Public Health Wales.
New data published on Wednesday, March 2, and covering a 24-hour period up to 9am on Tuesday, February 28, shows eight new Covid deaths to bring the total since the pandemic began to 7,001.
There were also 808 new positive cases reported in Wales bringing the overall number of cases to 816,017.
The latest infection rate based on PCR tests for the seven days up to February 25 now stands at 169.4 cases for every 100,000 people – a rise from the 158.8 cases recorded on Tuesday.
The infection rate based on PCR tests is only a guide to the spread of Covid in Wales as it does not include lateral flow test results, which are reported weekly in Wales. People with no symptoms who test positive on an LFT no longer need a confirmatory PCR test.
The latest data on lateral flow tests, published on Thursday for the week to February 20, show there have been a further 11,350 positive test results reported. That's down from 13,700 the previous week. Positivity also increased slightly from 8.07% to 8.23%. The highest incidence rate was in the Hywel Dda University Health Board area with 431.3 positive tests for every 100,000 people.
Australia fully open to vaccinated travellers
Australia is fully open to vaccinated travelers after Western Australia on Thursday became the last state to lift border restrictions.
Western Australia, which covers one third of the nation's land area, closed its borders to most international and interstate travelers in 2020 to slow the spread of Covid-19.
But the state lifted restrictions on Thursday four months after Sydney began its staged reopening of quarantine-free travel and more than a week after all vaccinated tourists became eligible for visas.
Perth's airport was the scene of emotional reunions as the first of a scheduled 22 domestic flights and five international flights began arriving on Thursday.
Western Australia had successfully stopped the local spread of the coronavirus throughout the pandemic by contract tracing and isolating carriers until the highly contagious omicron variant arrived this year.
The state now reports more than 1,000 new infections every day.
"Australia is now finally back together," Qantas Airways chief executive Alan Joyce said. "This day has been a long time coming."
Sport headlines
George North's Six Nations hopes shattered
Wales star George North is unlikely to play a part in this year's Six Nations.
It had been hoped and expected the giant winger would feature for the Ospreys this weekend against Zebre, with a Wales call likely to follow soon after.
But it's now been decided he's not quite ready to return to action, all but ending hopes of a Six Nations return.
The Ospreys' next match is on March 25 in South Africa, and North has been adamant he needs game time before re-entering the international arena.
Wales finish their Six Nations campaign with matches against France and Italy on March 11 and 19.
"He's not quite there, to be honest," Booth said.
"He's been out there a few times and we just need to be a little bit more calm. He hasn't really got the training we want under his belt.
"After being out for so long, it's important that we do the right thing for George and for the team.
"He's probably going to miss out this weekend.
"We need to get more training under his belt before we put him in because once he's out there, we can't control it.
"We have to make sure he's had enough volume so as not to expose himself to further injury."
But Booth remained upbeat that a return was not too far away.
Asked about a time frame, he said: "The next game, I would have thought.
"He's very close. He's been out training with us in team sessions, so it's just about backing up a complete week, maybe two complete weeks.
"In an ideal world, when you've been long term injured, you really need at least a couple of full weeks to understand exactly where you are.
"He's not ticked that box yet. Especially with the position he plays with high speed efforts.
"With that explosive stuff, it's really important to make sure you can back that up."
Vincent Tan confident about summer rebuild
Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan believes Steve Morison is the perfect man to oversee the squad's overhaul this summer.
There is an air of uncertainty hanging over the Bluebirds at the minute, with three lawsuits worth in excess of £40m hanging over their heads and set to be concluded in the coming months ( You can read more about that here ).
The outcome of the above will have a huge impact on the transfer and playing budgets which will be available to Morison in the off-season.
Morison spoke this week about how Tan is aligned with his own vision of the direction in which the club should go and that working relationship they have will, Cardiff hope, continue this summer.
Speaking about Morison's new contract, Tan said: “I’ve been very pleased with the way Steve has improved our style of play and has helped get the best out of our younger and more established players.
“Steve deserves this opportunity following the hard work that he has put into driving the players forward on and off the field.
“I am confident that he is the right person to build a competitive squad over the summer months and I look forward to our continued, honest and positive working relationship.”
Get stories like this straight to your inbox with our newsletters.
