14 m. ago Brussels takes action against Google and Apple under Digital Markets Act – as it happened

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsIstanbul mayor arrested days before likely presidential nominationIs Trump driving the US into a recession? – in chartsSuperdrug is to open 25 new stores this year in a move that will create around 600 jobs, as the health and beauty retailer said it intends to invest more in beauty treatments and luxury fragrances.The company, which said that investing in larger stores drives its bricks and mortar strategy, currently has 780 shops in the UK and Ireland.“We want everyone who enters Superdrug to feel an elevated customer experience.”Bexhill-on-Sea (East Sussex)Billericay (Essex)Dover (Kent)Droitwich (Worcestershire)Dunstable (Beds)East Grinstead (West Sussex)Holyhead (Isle of Anglesey)Ilkley (West Yorkshire)Larne (Antrim, NI)Maldon (Essex)Morley (West Yorkshire)North Walsham (Norfolk)Redcar (North Yorkshire)Saffron Walden (Essex)St Annes on Sea (Lancashire)Turriff (Aberdeenshire)Uckfield (East Sussex)Urmston (Great Manchester) ...

Politics

14 m. ago Judge grudgingly extends deadline for Trump administration to give details on deportation flights – live

US government has until noon ET Friday to either provide details of the flights or to invoke a doctrine shielding information on national security groundsDemocratic congressman Glenn Ivey told constituents at a town hall meeting in his Maryland district that Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s Democratic minority leader, should step down from his position after a bitter intraparty fight over government funding last week, HuffPost reports.Ivey is the first member of Congress to say Schumer should leave his leadership position, after the leader supplied enough votes to pass a Republican-backed government funding bill through the Senate. House Democrats had near-unanimously rejected the measure, and many in the party believe Schumer, who argued the bill was better than allowing a shutdown that could be exploited by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, gave up leverage he could have used against the administration. Continue reading...

Events

17 m. ago Starmer must drop ‘cruel’ Pip proposals or face ‘mother of all rebellions’, Labour MP says – UK politics live

Richard Burgon says PM’s failure to defend new Pip eligibility rules at PMQs shows why ‘cruel’ plans should be droppedLast night, to back up its analysis of the disability cuts, the Institute for Fiscal Studies published two charts illustrating aspects of the changes.This one shows how the £5bn cuts announced yesterday compare in scale to previous benefit cuts, listed here in order of how big they were, in current prices. Continue reading...

Politics

24 m. ago Heartbreaking moment loyal dog jumps into its dead master's open casket for one last cuddle during funeral

Footage taken at a funeral in Mexico shows the poor pooch looking anxious as he stands by the the base of his owner's open casket.

Events

24 m. ago ‘A miracle’: man rescued after seven hours buried by avalanche in Norway

Search continues for missing woman after three tourists were caught by rushing snow in Lyngen municipalityA tourist buried by an avalanche in northern Norway has been pulled out alive in a “miracle” rescue after spending seven hours trapped beneath the snow, local media reported.The man, described as being in his 40s or 50s, was found conscious under about 1.5 metres (5ft) of snow shortly after midnight in the municipality of Lyngen. Continue reading...

Events

31 m. ago How would I survive the apocalypse? By stocking up on the key item most preppers forget | Emma Brockes

With France about to advise its citizens on how to survive an ‘imminent threat’, it’s time to wise up to what the real essentials areIt’s a fairly strong indication that your US presidency is not going well when, within three months of you taking office, one of your closest allies feels the need to issue its entire population with a manual on how to survive an “imminent threat”. According to French media reports, that is what the French government is planning in the form of a 20-page booklet to go out to its citizens this summer. And while it’s intended for use against natural disaster or medical threat, we all know what we’re really talking about here. The French government would like to remind its people that, in the event of a nuclear attack, they must remember to close the doors and windows.My dad recalls Buckinghamshire county council issuing a similar pamphlet in the 1980s, for when Russia dropped an atomic bomb on Aylesbury. My family didn’t need the advice, as it happened; i...

Events

32 m. ago Sam Thompson 'was already back on dating apps and looking for love days BEFORE being "blindsided" by Zara McDermott's shock romance with Louis Tomlinson'

The former Made In Chelsea star, 32, split from the Love Island star, 28, in December after five years together and she has now moved on with the One Direction star, 33.

Events

36 m. ago Scotland could see two 'severe' weather events due to 'never before seen' wind changes

Scotland has been battered by chaotic weather since the start of the new year and the Met Office predicts more

Politics

36 m. ago Criticism of PPE contract system ‘wholly naive’, Hancock tells Covid inquiry

Former health secretary Matt Hancock gave evidence to the probe’s fifth module, which is exploring pandemic procurement.

Politics

38 m. ago EU accuses Google and Apple of breaking its rules, risking Trump clash

Tech companies could be fined billions if EU finds they have breached the Digital Markets ActBusiness live – latest updatesThe European Commission has accused the US tech companies Google and Apple of breaking its digital rules, in a landmark action that could escalate transatlantic tension with Donald Trump.The US president has sought to exert pressure on the EU to back away from tougher regulation of American technology groups, warning that he could retaliate by imposing tariffs on foreign companies. Continue reading...

Politics

44 m. ago The Alto Knights review – double De Niro makes for a laborious true

The actor plays Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, two warring mob bosses in 1950s New York, in a caper that lacks the richness of its writer’s earlier Goodfellas‘They’re the same – he’s marrying himself!” The speaker is an aghast Bobbie Costello, played by Debra Messing, addressing her shruggingly detached mob boss husband, Frank Costello, played by Robert De Niro. They are guests at the wedding of mercurial club owner Anna (Kathrine Narducci) to Frank’s hot-tempered mafia associate Vito Genovese. And Vito is played by Robert De Niro.This film is a laborious true-crime account of Frank and Vito’s homicidal falling out in 1950s New York, directed by Barry Levinson and written by Nicholas Pileggi, though with little of the perspective, light and shade and narrative richness of Pileggi’s earlier scripts. As Vito, De Niro is gloweringly resentful, taciturn, bad-tempered and wears glasses and a hat. As Frank, De Niro is gloweringly resentful, taciturn, slightly less bad-tempered and does...

Politics

44 m. ago Generous numbers of Coldplay 2025 UK tour tickets still available for these locations

Coldplay's UK Stadium Tour has mostly sold out for 2025, but there are a few places you can still get tickets if you know where.

Society

45 m. ago Psychologists in touch with Antarctic base after assault allegation, South Africa confirms

Ministers also investigating sexual harassment claim at country’s isolated Sanae IV research stationPsychologists are in “constant” contact with a South African science team isolated for months at a base in Antarctica after physical assault and sexual harassment allegations were made, a government minister has said.The environment minister, Dion George, whose department manages the country’s Antarctic programme, confirmed to the Guardian that psychologists and other experts were in “direct and constant” communication with the nine-member research team. Continue reading...

Events

57 m. ago ‘I’ve had seals nibble my toes!’ How sunkissed Cornwall became a 422

Surfing? It’s as Cornish as piracy and pasties. As a thrilling exhibition opens in ‘Britain’s California’, we enter a heady world of coffinboards, hotdogging Aussies – and bans dished out to gangs fighting on the beach‘I had no friends,” says Charlotte Banfield, “and no interests. I was very depressed. It was all going to end very badly indeed for me.” Banfield – who has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and autism, and was being bullied at school – thought of taking her life. But then, aged 13, she was enrolled by her mum in a six-week surfing course run by the Wave Project, which helps to improve children’s confidence and ease their anxiety through riding breakers. It was a pivotal moment, not least because Banfield was about to be excluded from school.Her first surf class was a disaster, though. “I had a phobia of water. I couldn’t stand it on my skin. I ran away and locked myself in the car.” But something – perhaps the sense that there was “no pressure” – brought her back. “When I went ...

Politics

59 m. ago Best VPNs for Amazon Fire TV stick 2025, tried and tested by an expert

We evaluated the real-world performance of five VPN services

Events

61 m. ago Trump says call with Zelenskyy ‘very good’ and ‘we are very much on track’ as Russia and Ukraine exchange PoWs – live

Zelenskyy and US president holds talks after a night of Russian attack on UkraineOpening the press conference, Finland’s Stubb says Europe faces “one of those moments of choices between two different worlds: Yalta or Helsinki; in other words, spheres of influence or equal rights and duties for all states.”He stresses that Ukraine has “an undeniable right to defend itself on its own and supported by its partner,” a right that “cannot be restricted in any way,” dismissing Russian demands to halt help for Kyiv.The principles of international law and the European security order have not changed, and there is no need to start changing them.Independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. These are the principles of the UN Charter and the Helsinki charter. Continue reading...

Politics

67 m. ago Man who murdered mother, brother and sister in Luton jailed for at least 49 years

Nicholas Prosper, 19, shot his family as part of failed plot to kill 30 children at his former primary schoolA “truly evil” 19-year-old who murdered his mother and two younger siblings as part of a failed plot to kill 30 children and become the worst mass murderer in British history has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 49 years.Nicholas Prosper admitted murdering Juliana Falcon, 48, Kyle Falcon, 16, and Giselle Falcon, 13, last month. Their murders were part of a wider plot to storm a morning assembly at his former primary school with a shotgun and “cause the biggest massacre of the 21st century”. Continue reading...

Events

96 m. ago Outbreak of legal battle in tennis comes after years of increasing tension | Tumaini Carayol

The 163-page PTPA lawsuit contains some valid and not-so-valid criticism of the professional tours and major eventsThe Professional Tennis Players’ Association came into existence on the eve of the 2020 US Open and at the height of pandemic restrictions. After an inauspicious start, the association co-founded by Novak Djokovic has spent time building its professional structures, finances and player support while trying to gain influence in the sport. The PTPA ostensibly functions as a players’ union, but it is not legally recognised as such, since players are classed as independent contractors rather than employees.As the PTPA’s numerous attempts to gain a seat at the sport’s decision making table have been rebuffed, often vigorously, by the leading governing bodies – the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the four grand slam tournaments – it became increasingly likely that their acrimonious ...

Events

99 m. ago No green light: RFU threatens to leave Twickenham over Beyoncé spat

RFU wants license to stage more concerts and eventsSweeney moots move to Milton Keynes or BirminghamThe Rugby Football Union chief executive, Bill Sweeney, has threatened to take England away from Twickenham and move to Milton Keynes or Birmingham due to licensing restrictions after missing out on lucrative Beyoncé concerts at the stadium. Sweeney has warned that if Richmond council does not grant the RFU permission to stage more non-rugby events at Twickenham, “it would be a tough call for us” with moves away from London mooted.The RFU has previously explored buying half of Wembley and a move to a greenfield site in Birmingham, an acknowledgment that Twickenham is not fit for purpose. The RFU ultimately committed to its plans to revamp Twickenham, due to begin in 2027 and which could cost up to £663m, but needs to raise revenues by hosting more music concerts. Continue reading...

Events

1 hour ago Back to the feudal: Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the most beautiful game I’ve ever seen

This thrilling trip through Japan is the best the series has given us in yearsI have played many Assassin’s Creed games over the years, but I’ve rarely loved them. Ubisoft’s historical fiction is perennially almost-great. A lot of players would say it reached its peak in the late 2000s, with the trio of renaissance Italy games beginning with Assassin’s Creed 2, and their charismatic hero, Ezio Auditore. Since then, the series has become bloated, offering hundreds of hours of repetitive open-world exploration and assassination in ancient Greece, Egypt and even Viking Britain. Odyssey (the Greek one) was the last I played seriously; I found the setting exquisite, the gameplay somewhat irritating and the scale completely overwhelming.The Assassin’s Creed games are extraordinary works of historical fiction, fastidiously recreating lost periods of history and letting you walk around in them. They’re the closest thing to time travel. I play them for the virtual tourism, and find myself va...

Politics