The energy price cap is the amount suppliers can charge for each unit of energy on the standard tariff, plus the standing charge. For the average household, using the typical amount of gas and electricity, the cap equals £1,277 a year. The cap is reviewed every six months – and at 11:00 GMT, the regulator Ofgem is expected to announce an increase of anything up to 50%.
That would mean an increase of more than £600 for the average family using the typical amount. And analysts say the pain won’t end there – there could be another increase of £400 when the cap is reviewed again next winter.
The increase is being driven by the global rise in wholesale gas prices – read our full explainer here. So can the government do anything to soften the blow? It is expected to announce loans for energy companies, which could allow them to reduce customers’ bills by around £200. But it has already said the planned increase in National Insurance for workers and employers in all sectors will go ahead in April.

Prosecutors in Serbia say there is no evidence that Novak Djokovic submitted falsified Covid test certificates to Australian authorities. A BBC report last week cast doubt over the tests, suggesting the serial numbers were out of sequence. The tests were provided to exempt him from rules barring unvaccinated people. His visa application was ultimately rejected and he was unable to play in the Australian Open after being deported - but this was not on the grounds that documents were falsified. The Belgrade public prosecutor's office has now said the health ministry has confirmed the documents as authentic.

New Zealand has announced a phased reopening of its borders, as the country starts to ease some of the world's toughest Covid restrictions. Vaccinated citizens in Australia can go home from 27 February, while jabbed citizens elsewhere will be allowed in from 13 March. They will still have to self-isolate for 10 days but the mandatory state quarantine programme will be scrapped. There has been growing criticism of New Zealand's controversial closed-border policy to keep out Covid-19.
.

The expected increase in the energy price cap leads most of Thursday’s papers. The Daily Mirror warns bills could rise by £53 a month, while the Daily Mail headlines a similar increase - £650 a year. The Times says the government will soften the blow by announcing council tax rebates – but only for those with houses in bands A to C. See all the front pages here.

A boy from Boise, Idaho, snuck his own 81-page, handwritten book into his local library. The book has since taken the city by storm - and there is a 56-person waiting list to borrow it.
Meanwhile in France, a 1st Century Roman statue has been returned to the museum it was stolen from almost 50 years ago. "Fifty years after a theft it's unheard of that something comes back - normally it's been destroyed," said art detective Arthur Brand, who helped return the statue.

From elsewhere