41 h. ago Used EV price crash: Some lost a quarter of their value in 2025

Electric car owners saw even more value fall out of their vehicles last year as used prices continued to plummet due to sizable new model discounts, increased supply and limited demand.

Events

3 d. ago Spanish police break up gang that used swimmers to hide cocaine on ships

Almost 2.5 tonnes of narcotic seized and 30 people arrested after 15-month investigation into drug-smuggling network Falling price of cocaine forces drug traffickers to reuse narco-submarines, say Spanish policeSpanish police have arrested 30 people and seized almost 2.5 tonnes of cocaine after breaking up a criminal network that used teams of young swimmers to hide the drugs on moving, Europe-bound ships which were then attacked and relieved of their unwitting cargo before reaching port.The 15-month investigation began in October 2024 when Policía Nacional officers found 88kg of cocaine in a vehicle in the southern Spanish town of Mijas. The drugs led them to three gangs, including a Balkan cartel, who were working together to bring huge quantities of cocaine into Spain from Colombia. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Hope for first time buyers as Nationwide and HSBC push through mortgage rate cuts

New mortgage price war follows a period of falling gilt yields at the start of the year

Economics

4 d. ago London's house price crash: The homes that have fallen the most

London's house price crash: The homes that have fallen the most  This is Money

Events

5 d. ago Drugs and gangs exist in Venezuela, but don’t be fooled. Trump arrested Nicolás Maduro to plunder our wealth | Andrés Antillano

The US president invokes the usual suspects – drugs, organised crime, illegal migration – but this is simply a grab for resources and powerIn the early hours of 3 January, Caracas and other cities in Venezuela were bombed and the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, was kidnapped along with his wife by US military personnel. In addition to the 100 deaths recorded so far as a result of the attack, approximately 100 more were caused by US attacks on small boats in the previous months, under the pretext of combatting drug trafficking. Although it seems clear that the real intention of Donald Trump’s administration was to seize Venezuela’s wealth, the initial argument to justify the military deployment in the Caribbean was that it was to fight the illegal drugs trade and stop the flow of migrants that the Venezuelan government was allegedly causing by emptying prisons of criminals and sending them to the US.As a criminology professor who has studied Venezuelan drug trafficking for 20 y...

Events

6 d. ago Trump’s other Latin American feud: why Colombia’s Petro is not Maduro

Leftwing leader rallies his supporters as US president accuses him of drug trafficking and threatens military actionA leftwing South American firebrand calls for his followers to rally in public squares nationwide to defend his country’s sovereignty and decry verbal attacks from Donald Trump. The US president accuses the leader of personally flooding American streets with illegal drugs and imposes sanctions against him and his wife. Threats of military action are followed by a phone conversation between the two leaders.One might imagine that this is a description of the buildup of tensions that led to the 3 January special forces raid on Caracas to capture the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, to face several criminal charges in New York. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Footballer turned drug dealer who earned six times his wage says 'I'm not Pablo Escobar'

A former Spanish footballer starred for his boyhood club and became an icon in Greece, but his life was derailed when he was arrested for drug trafficking in 2019

Economics

7 d. ago Double discount on 'stunning' Dunelm mirror sees price fall below £4

There's a way shoppers can pick up the popular Dunelm mirror for significantly less

Economics

8 d. ago Venezuelan soldiers 'bled and collapsed' after US deployed powerful sonic weapon during dramatic Maduro capture, according to eyewitness account

The United States launched a strike on Venezuela on January 3, capturing President Nicolas Maduro on drug trafficking charges.

Events

8 d. ago America used a powerful sonic weapon that left Venezuelan soldiers vomiting blood: Harrowing 'new account of Maduro raid'

The United States launched a strike on Venezuela on January 3, capturing President Nicolas Maduro on drug trafficking charges.

Events

9 d. ago Vivek Ramaswamy's family bodyguard arrested on drug trafficking charges

Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has expressed alarm that a man who worked as his family’s bodyguard is facing federal drug trafficking charges

Events

9 d. ago From Caracas to Minneapolis, the threat is the same – an American president ruling like a global emperor | Jonathan Freedland

Trump’s admission that he recognises no constraint outside his own morality was a horrifying moment of truth. It should galvanise all those who oppose himFor a serial liar, Donald Trump can be bracingly honest. We’ve known about the mendacity for years – consider the 30,573 documented falsehoods from the president’s first term, culminating in the big lie, his claim to have won the 2020 election – but the examples of bracing candour are fresher. This week both began and ended with the US president speaking the shocking truth.At a press conference to celebrate his capture of the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, Trump announced that from now on the US would “run” that country, before moving in the very next breath to Venezuela’s oil. There was no pious talk of democracy, scant mention even of the drug trafficking that earlier served as a pretext for military action. Instead, Trump said out loud what had once been a slogan on leftist placards in protest at past US interventions, admi...

Politics

9 d. ago Rapper Fetty Wap released from prison early in drug trafficking case

Rapper Fetty Wap has been released from a federal prison to home confinement after serving just over half a six-year sentence for drug trafficking

Events

9 d. ago Fetty Wap released from prison three years early after drug trafficking conviction

Rapper, best known for hits ‘Trap Queen’ and ‘My Way,’ was sentenced to six years in prison in 2023

Events

1 week ago Oil price falls after Trump says Venezuela will send supply to US – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as Brent crude drops back to $60 a barrelVenezuela ‘turning over’ $2bn in oil to US, Trump says, in move that could cut supply to ChinaDonald Trump’s “gunboat diplomacy” in Venezuela shows that securing access to critical natural resources such as oil is now a key priority for Washington, say analysts at Unicredit.They point out, in a note to clients, that the toppling of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro marked a decisive break with the rules‑based international order, ushering in a more assertive, America‑First form of hegemony across the western hemisphere.Given that China was the main buyer of smuggled Venezuelan oil and is Caracas’s principal creditor, the move is clearly intended to send a strong signal to Beijing, which has ambitious plans in South America, particularly in resource‑rich countries such as Peru.In 2023, China and Venezuela formalised an “all‑weather strategic partnership”. Beijing also used oil trade...

Politics

1 week ago Dozens of January 6 supporters march through Washington five years after attack; brawl erupts as counter

Many of those at today’s march, including ex-Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio say that they were there to protest against the death of Ashli Babbitt, a rioter who was killed by Capitol police five years agoMy colleague Sibylla Brodzinsky has reported on the relationship between the US and Colombia, home to significant oil reserves. Here is an extract from her story:Colombia has long been a close partner of the US in the fight against drug trafficking and enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington but relations have soured dramatically since Trump came to office.Colombia’s narcotics trade is largely controlled by illegal armed groups such as the Gulf Clan, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group, the majority of whose members demobilised after a 2016 peace deal Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Rebel violence in Colombia forces more than 300 to flee amid rising tensions

The region has long been a battleground for drug traffickers and various rebel groups vying for control

Events

1 week ago Trump calls Venezuela strikes ‘amazing’ and teases meeting with oil executives after ousting Maduro – live

US president calls the Caracas operation ‘brilliant tactically’ and ‘an incredible thing’ and says deposed leader Nicolás Maduro is a ‘violent guy’From elation to frustration: Trump snub wrongfoots Venezuela’s oppositionMy colleague Sibylla Brodzinsky has reported on the relationship between the US and Colombia, home to significant oil reserves. Here is an extract from her story:Colombia has long been a close partner of the US in the fight against drug trafficking and enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington but relations have soured dramatically since Trump came to office.Colombia’s narcotics trade is largely controlled by illegal armed groups such as the Gulf Clan, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group, the majority of whose members demobilised after a 2016 peace deal Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Nicolas Maduro could face the death penalty after dramatic US capture

US special forces captured Nicolas Maduro and his wife while they were sleeping at their home in Caracas, before he was taken back to New York to face drug-trafficking charges

Events

1 week ago US raid on Venezuela ‘undermined a fundamental principle of international law’, says UN rights body – live

Spokesperson for UN high commissioner says ‘accountability for human rights violations cannot be achieved by unilateral military intervention’Deposed Maduro pleads not guilty after capture in shock US attack on VenezuelaUS foes and allies denounce Trump’s ‘crime of aggression’ in Venezuela at UN meetingMy colleague Sibylla Brodzinsky has reported on the relationship between the US and Colombia, home to significant oil reserves. Here is an extract from her story:Colombia has long been a close partner of the US in the fight against drug trafficking and enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington but relations have soured dramatically since Trump came to office.Colombia’s narcotics trade is largely controlled by illegal armed groups such as the Gulf Clan, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group, the majority of whose members demobilised after a 2016 peace deal Continue reading...

Society