1 hour ago Could Marine Le Pen’s guilty verdict help fuel the far right? – podcast

The parliamentary leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, has been banned from public office for five years for embezzlement, ruining her chance of a presidential run. Angelique Chrisafis reportsIt is a sentence that has prompted anger among rightwing leaders across the world and led to accusations that democracy is being threatened. This week, Marine Le Pen, the parliamentary leader of the National Rally (RN), the largest opposition party in the French parliament, was banned for five years from public office for embezzlement. Along with more than 20 others, she was found to have used money for European parliament assistants to pay party workers.The shock sentence could end Le Pen’s hopes of running for president in 2027. She is now appealing and has hit back furiously, as have her supporters and allies. Some of her support could hurt her more than it helps, however. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said in response that “more and more European capi...

Politics

11 h. ago Walkers crisp swap and baked bean lip gloss: The best of April Fools’ Day offers and pranks

Household names including Cadbury, Walkers and Babybel participated in the fun

Politics

16 h. ago Global cost of Trump trade war ‘could reach $1.4tn’; Goldman Sachs cuts UK growth forecast over tariff spillovers – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as UK business secretary warns Britain will be hit by ‘Liberation Day’ tariffsTrump prepares to unveil reciprocal tariffs as markets brace amid trade war fearsTrump’s new tariffs could backfire if they are set too high, explains Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management:“Wednesday’s reciprocal tariffs could push the effective tariff rate another 4 percentage points higher. Anything further than that could move tariffs beyond a revenue-raising ‘sweet spot,’ in our view.Globally, the risk of high tariffs disrupting trade and economic activity would potentially offset any US federal revenue gains that the Trump administration seeks to use to further domestic policies.”“It appears tomorrow there’ll be no country in the world exempt from the initial announcements”.I tihnk that our trading relatinship is a very strong, and fair and balanced one, so I don’t think there is the need to do this. Continue ...

Economics

16 h. ago Trump tariffs and statehood comments about Canada stir loyalty debate about NHL great Wayne Gretzky

In Wayne Gretzky's hometown of Brantford, Ontario, and across Canada, the Great One's loyalty and legacy are being questioned at a time the nation's independence is being threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump

Politics

18 h. ago Global cost of Trump trade war ‘could reach $1.4tn’; tariff fears hurt UK factories – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as UK business secretary warns Britain will be hit by ‘Liberation Day’ tariffsTrump prepares to unveil reciprocal tariffs as markets brace amid trade war fearsTrump’s new tariffs could backfire if they are set too high, explains Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management:“Wednesday’s reciprocal tariffs could push the effective tariff rate another 4 percentage points higher. Anything further than that could move tariffs beyond a revenue-raising ‘sweet spot,’ in our view.Globally, the risk of high tariffs disrupting trade and economic activity would potentially offset any US federal revenue gains that the Trump administration seeks to use to further domestic policies.”“It appears tomorrow there’ll be no country in the world exempt from the initial announcements”.I tihnk that our trading relatinship is a very strong, and fair and balanced one, so I don’t think there is the need to do this. Continue ...

Economics

19 h. ago Gold at record high as markets brace for Trump tariffs ‘to affect every country’ – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as UK business secretary warns Britain will be hit by ‘Liberation Day’ tariffsTrump prepares to unveil reciprocal tariffs as markets brace amid trade war fearsTrump’s new tariffs could backfire if they are set too high, explains Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management:“Wednesday’s reciprocal tariffs could push the effective tariff rate another 4 percentage points higher. Anything further than that could move tariffs beyond a revenue-raising ‘sweet spot,’ in our view.Globally, the risk of high tariffs disrupting trade and economic activity would potentially offset any US federal revenue gains that the Trump administration seeks to use to further domestic policies.”“It appears tomorrow there’ll be no country in the world exempt from the initial announcements”.I tihnk that our trading relatinship is a very strong, and fair and balanced one, so I don’t think there is the need to do this. Continue ...

Economics

26 h. ago Who is on Celebrity Big Brother 2025? Every rumoured star including Coronation Street legend, huge Love Island star and 90s pop icon

The much-anticipated new run is set to kick off next month, with names including Love Island's Chris Hughes, Olympian Daley Thompson and Jack P Shepherd among those rumoured.

Politics

35 h. ago Former GCHQ intern from Greater Manchester admits risking national security by 'taking top secret data home'

Hasaan Arshad, 25, has been told he could be jailed

Events

36 h. ago How to fight a fascist state – what I learned from a second world war briefing for secret agents | Zoe Williams

You can forget the advice on disguises, secret codes and spreading propaganda by dropping leaflets in train carriages. But there is something for us all here about the need for actionThe SOE Syllabus was a series of lectures given to prospective secret agents in Britain during the second world war. These “lessons in ungentlemanly warfare” were released from the top secret bit of the Public Record Office (now known as the National Archive) and published as a historical curio in 2001, when my esteemed colleague John Crace picked out the sillier bits in one of his Digested Read reviews. There was a whole lecture about how to craft a disguise, in which people with sticky-out ears were advised to use glue to pin them back.But now, 24 years later, I have picked up the book with a graver purpose – just on the off-chance that if we end up having to resist a fascist state, the past might have something to offer. They won’t know everything, these ungentlemanly gentlemen, being as they didn’t ...

Politics

38 h. ago GCHQ intern who threatened national security pleads guilty to downloading Britain's secrets including the names of spies onto his mobile phone

A GCHQ intern who endangered national security by downloading top secret information including the names of spies is facing jail.

Events

40 h. ago Former GCHQ intern admits top secret data breach risking national security

Hasaan Arshad took his work mobile phone into a top secret area of GCHQ and connected the device to a top secret work station, it was alleged.

Events

41 h. ago Three killed including girl, 4, in Kettering house fire named by police

Northamptonshire Police launch investigation into cause of blaze in Rushton on Friday night

Events

42 h. ago Victims of horror house fire that killed three people including girl, four, and woman, 30, in Northamptonshire village are named

Emma Conn, 30, her daughter Mayci Marion Fox, four, died in a fire along with Louie Thorn, 23, at a historic property in the village of Rushton, near Kettering on Friday.

Events

61 h. ago Britain's second home ghost towns FIGHT BACK: Locals told to secretly REPORT rich neighbours greedily buying up houses as seaside villages wage war on out

EXCLUSIVE: From April 1, more than 150 councils across the country will increase the tax on second homes to 100 per cent - meaning bills could rise as much as £10,000 for the year.

Society

63 h. ago Former SAS hero says Britain 'can't trust' the United States with top secret intelligence after 'moronic' war plan leak

Chris Ryan feared the lives of British and American spies could be at risk following the extraordinary security blunder by senior US officials - and warned similar failures would likely happen under Trump

Events

3 d. ago Inside Britain's secret gang war: How Bristol is fighting knife crime 'plague' as five teenage boys die in senseless tit for tat bloodshed

A horrifying knife crime epidemic in Bristol is tearing families apart as local gangs of schoolboys armed with zombie knives and machetes leave a trail of bloodshed behind.

Events

3 d. ago People tell me I've RUINED my daughter's life with the name I chose for her

Nail technician Emma Louise Hutton, 35, from Sheffield, says most names are 'boring' - including her own - and that she wanted to try something different after giving birth last year.

Politics

3 d. ago ‘Cabinet no longer feels safe’: Labour MPs criticise briefings against female ministers

Female MPs say they are unnerved by how women seem to be taking brunt of anger over government decisionsAs Keir Starmer’s cabinet gathered last week, a female minister spoke directly to the prime minister to complain about the leaks and briefings she saw directed against other women around the table.The women were listed by name, including the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson; the work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, and the home secretary, Yvette Cooper. Starmer was furious and said he would no longer tolerate malicious briefings, and that there would be consequences if it did not stop. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago The secrets of Britain’s connection with the world’s least known ancient civilizations

How Bronze Age British industry contributed to Mediterranean civilization 33 centuries ago

Politics

6 d. ago British and Irish Lions announce full coaching team as Welsh coaches miss out

England's Richard Wigglesworth is one of several names included in Andy Farrell's coaching line-up

Politics