30 m. ago Bank of England expected to leave interest rates on hold as Middle East conflict pushes up oil price – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as Switzerland and Philippines cut interest ratesNewsflash: We have a third interest rate cut this morning!Norway’s central bank has surprised analysts by cutting its policy rate by a quarter of one percentage point, to 4.25%. The rate had been set at 4.5% since December 2023.“Inflation has declined since the monetary policy meeting in March, and the inflation outlook for the coming year indicates lower inflation than previously expected.A cautious normalisation of the policy rate will pave the way for inflation to return to target without restricting the economy more than necessary.”“The uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook is now greater than normal. If the economy takes a different path than currently envisaged, the policy rate path may be adjusted. But our objectives stand firm. We will finish the job and ensure that inflation is brought all the way back to 2 percent.”The Monetary Board also noted indications of...

Economics

37 m. ago Ruth Jones' horrendous guilt over affair with older TV producer as he 'moves on'

Gavin and Stacey star Ruth Jones met her husband David Peet when he was married to someone else and admitted she was later haunted by the 'overlap'. Last night Ruth revealed that she and David are splitting after 26 years of marriage

Politics

55 m. ago Ruth Jones confirms split from husband of 26 years – as he moves on with lookalike new partner in Canada

The couple, who married in 1999, announced that they had separated and were living in different countries

Politics

60 m. ago ‘I came to the UK to follow my dream career. Now I’m jobless due to Home Office errors’

Brazilian student Júlia Couto has been waiting for seven months to find out if she can stay in the UK

Society

84 m. ago London PhD student exposed as serial rapist faces possible life sentence for drugging and raping women on camera

Zhenhao Zou, who was studying at UCL, faces years in prison for drugging and raping women

Events

2 h. ago ‘He just told me lies to have sex with a teenage girl’: Natalie Fleet MP on grooming, statutory rape and fighting back

At 15, she began seeing an older man and conceived her beloved daughter. It was years before she properly understood it as abuse. Now she is working tirelessly in parliament for other survivorsNatalie Fleet is nervous about this interview. Her assistant has warned me and Fleet tells me several times, before and during. “I just feel sick,” she says. “I don’t know if it’s because it’s about me or because of the subject. It just doesn’t seem to get any easier.”The subject is rape – specifically Fleet’s experience of being groomed by an older man when she was 15, becoming pregnant and having the baby. That daughter, “the love of her life”, is now 24. Since entering parliament last summer as the Labour MP for Bolsover, Fleet has spoken a good deal about rape, her life story and the lack of support for mothers whose children were conceived this way – and each time it upsets her. “My husband said: ‘I don’t want you to be the “rapey MP”,’ and I don’t want that either,” says Fleet. “But it’s...

Events

3 h. ago Easy regime change in Tehran is a nice idea. But look to history: it’s a near

No one doubts the malignity of the Iranian government, but if we forget the tragedies of interventions past, we’ll make the same mistakesOn the eve of the 1991 Gulf war, a TV reporter asked the US commander Norman Schwarzkopf if he would topple Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. Stormin’ Norman replied with a memorable succinctness: “Easy say. Hard do.”Schwarzkopf knew what he was talking about. The general was a lifelong student of the Middle East region – he spent some of his childhood years in Tehran – and of military history. Indeed his successful ground-war strategy for Saddam’s defeat in Kuwait was consciously modelled on the flanking tactics used to such devastating effect by the Carthaginian commander Hannibal to defeat the Romans at Cannae in 216BC.Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago TODAY'S TV WITH SARA WALLIS: 'Outrageous' new period drama with Bridgerton and Sex Education stars is your next binge, and it starts tonight

Based on a real life family of six sisters, who caused quite the scandal in the 1930s, Outrageous on U&Drama is an addictive period drama

Events

4 h. ago Europe must stand without the US – but the latest war in the Middle East shows it has no idea how | Nathalie Tocci

If Europe was not so in hock to Washington, it would sanction Israel over Gaza and condemn its unilateral attack on IranThe rupture in the transatlantic relationship has left European leaders struggling to know how to think, let alone act, with any autonomy. Europe most urgently needs a mind of its own on the Middle East.Tragically, EU governments were just beginning to turn the page after a year and a half of complicity with the Israeli government’s war crimes in Gaza. Donald Trump’s obscene plans for a Gaza “riviera” and “humanitarian” initiatives that breach humanitarian principles were creating distance with the US, and European governments were starting to craft their own course.Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago Photos of candlelight vigil honoring slain Minnesota lawmaker and her husband

Hundreds gathered outside Minnesota’s Capitol for a candlelight vigil honoring former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were fatally shot at their home. Governor Tim Walz, visibly moved, comforted mourners as the couple’s son, Colin, placed a photo of his parents at a growing memorial filled with flowers, flags and heartfelt messages.

Culture

5 h. ago Fashion guru Stella McCartney hits back at 'false' objections to £5m Highland hideaway

The daughter of Beatle Paul and her husband Alasdhair Willis have been accused of threatening wildlife with their designs for a new home on the remote Moidart peninsula in Lochaber.

Economics

5 h. ago Dear Coleen: My husband's level of immaturity is making my pregnancy stressful

'While I’m happy about the baby, all my husband seems concerned about is how stupid we were to let it happen.'

Politics

6 h. ago Hundreds gather to remember prominent Minnesota lawmaker and husband slain in their home

Hundreds have gathered outside Minnesota’s Capitol for a vigil to remember a prominent state lawmaker and her husband gunned down at their home

Society

7 h. ago Predator who drugged and raped 10 women facing ‘very long’ jail term

Engineering student Zhenhao Zou, 28, may have targeted dozens more victims in harrowing attacks that he filmed, police fear.

Events

7 h. ago The towns still living in fear of grooming gangs: Parents in areas preyed on by abusers are terrified their children will be targeted next as map reveals shocking scale of scandal

EXCLUSIVE: Rotherham and Telford were both epicentres of the scandal, which saw gangs exploit vulnerable youngsters with impunity before the crisis was finally exposed.

Events

8 h. ago Teacher, 26, whose Cane Corso bit a baby is fined and ordered to muzzle dog

The child was left with several puncture wounds to the back and right arm, which are expected to leave permanent scars after the attack in Longton.

Politics

8 h. ago JENNI MURRAY: Those paid to protect children must stop being scared of racism accusations and tell us what they know

When I encounter horror stories about the grooming gang scandal - and how the young rape victims were accused by police of being prostitutes - my blood boils.

Events

8 h. ago Now it's Labour's turn to face the music when global events turn sour: ALEX BRUMMER

Yesterday's claim by Chancellor Rachel Reeves that Labour's number one mission is to 'put more money in the pockets of working people' does not stand up to scrutiny.

Politics

8 h. ago Jenny Saville at the National Portrait Gallery: 'mythic art of the flesh'

Jenny Saville’s huge new show at the National Portrait Gallery shows her as a student of the Old Masters and 20th Century abstract artists, but with a visceral magic all of her own that feels utterly timely

Politics

10 h. ago The Latest: US says foreign students seeking visas must unlock social media accounts

The U.S. State Department says it is restarting the process for foreigners to apply for student visas but says all applicants must have their social media accounts set to ‘public’ to allow review by officials

Economics