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Department of foreign affairs alerts travellers to extremely volatile' situation

Roger Cook condemned dog whistling under the guise of immigration policy' after police lay charges against alleged member of white supremacist group

Likelihood of winning to decrease after NS&I cut the proportion of the total invested amount paid out in prizesThere was some bad news this week for Britain's 22 million-strong army of premium bond holders: the odds of winning a prize are to get worse.National Savings and Investments (NS&I) says it is cutting the proportion of the total invested amount paid out in prizes from 3.6% to 3.3% a year with effect from April's draw. Continue reading...

Case brought by 29 workers and backed by UVW union seen as test case that could lead to changes at other restaurantsHarrods is facing legal action over its addition of a 1-a-head cover charge to diners' bills that does not go to workers, in a test case that could lead to changes at a string of upmarket restaurants.Legislation, which came into force in October 2024, requires business owners to hand over all tips and service charges to staff. Some restaurants, including those at Harrods, add a mandatory cover charge as well as an optional service charge and only pass on the latter to their workers. Continue reading...

PM criticises sectarian politics' in byelection but party may fear Greens' nascent leftwing political machineThe Green party's success at winning Muslim votes in Gorton and Denton has sent tremors through Westminster, prompting recriminations and accusations from opposition parties, who sense another major realignment in British politics.Experts say Hannah Spencer's unexpectedly wide margin of victory was delivered in part by a significant shift of Muslim voters from Labour to the Greens. Continue reading...

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the last seven days Continue reading...

Event's first venture outside London aims to recognise geographical diversity of UK's music talentVisitors to Manchester this week have been visibly amused to be arriving into Olivia Deansgate station, with many posing for selfies in front of the temporary sign. The tribute to the chart-busting musician is just one indication of how Manchester is embracing the arrival of the Brit awards on Saturday, the event's first venture outside London in its five-decade history.Stacey Tang, theBrit awards chair, said the move to the Co-op Live arena was about recognising the geographical diversity of the country's music talent. Creativity doesn't happen in one postcode in the UK ... so the idea that the biggest night in music should always be in London, I think, is ageing out," she said. Continue reading...

US threats to seize Greenland have created new international fault lines' that can be used to spread disinformation, Danish intelligence agencies sayDenmark's intelligence services have warned that a foreign power may try to sway the general election on 24 March, saying the main threat was from Russia over support for Ukraine but also citing the chaos caused by US efforts to seize Greenland.The PET police intelligence service and FE military intelligence said in a joint statement the election campaign could be marked by disinformation and cyberattacks to sow division, influence the public debate or to target candidates, parties or specific political programmes". Continue reading...

Syaban Shadikillah told to get new driver's licence after being issued one using photo of him with colander on his head

The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is widely regarded as one of the Democratic party's leading contenders for the 2028 presidential election. He has also published a new book, Young Man in a Hurry, reflecting on his childhood and his path to the governor's mansion.This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Newsom about why he believes the Democrats suffered such heavy losses in 2024, why the party needs to be less judgmental, and whether he intends to run for president in 2028 Continue reading...

Critics claim the operations are geared at social media, but police say they have enabled real arrestsPolice officers from Bangkok's metropolitan bureau had less than 24 hours to prepare for their latest undercover operation. They would be starring as performers of a lion dance at a temple fair held for the lunar new year. Their mission: track down and arrest a suspected thief who had a history of evading officers.The dance was spontaneous. We just did what we did," said the police captain Lertvarit Lertvorapreecha, adding that nobody had time to practise. In his haste, he accidentally picked up his colleague's male mask, which he wore with a red silk dress, trousers and tactical shoes. Continue reading...

Taliban offer to resolve dispute via dialogue after Pakistan bombed cities in Afghanistan in latest escalation with its neighbourWashington endorsed Pakistan's right to defend itself" after it bombed major cities across Afghanistan amid heightened tensions between the two hostile neighbours.The Taliban government in Kabul stressed it was ready to negotiate on Friday as violence intensified between the two countries. Continue reading...

Riot police use teargas to disperse people gathering around wreckage of plane loaded with money from central bankAt least 15 people have died after a military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed on Friday near Bolivia's capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on a highway and scattering bills on the ground, an official has said.Fire chief Pavel Tovar did not specify if those killed were in the plane or on the highway near the airport in La Paz. He said people had been injured. Continue reading...

US president accuses Tehran of failing to negotiate in good faith' over its nuclear programme

As tensions between two countries reach new highs, US president says regime is talking with us'Donald Trump has suggested the US could carry out a friendly takeover" of Cuba as tensions between Washington and Havana reach a new high after the capture of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro.As he left the White House for a campaigning event in Texas on Friday, Trump said: The Cuban government is talking with us. They're in a big deal of trouble." Continue reading...

Sherry Xue Li ripped off millions from foreign investors and funnelled some stolen money into US political campaignsA New York businesswoman was sentenced Friday to nine years in federal prison over a financial scheme that ripped off more than $30m from foreign investors and funnelled some of the stolen money into US political campaigns, including a Donald Trump fundraiser during his first presidency.Sherry Xue Li was also ordered to forfeit $31.5m, as well as property at three locations, and to make restitution to her victims. Continue reading...

Musician died after being rushed to hospital in Los Angeles on Friday, with his family remembering him as a true rock and roll legend' and inspiration to millions'Neil Sedaka, the singer-songwriter behind Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, Oh! Carol, Calendar Girl and Bad Blood as well as many hits performed by other artists including Stupid Cupid and Love Will Keep Us Together, has died aged 86.A representative confirmed his death to Variety on Friday, hours after he was reportedly rushed to hospital in Los Angeles. No cause of death was given. Continue reading...

Opposition leader Jess Wilson is under pressure to reveal her position on a deal with Pauline Hanson's party as the state election approaches

Home secretary will defy plain wrong' calls from unions and leftwing MPs that she is alienating Muslim votersShabana Mahmood will press on with hardline immigration policies despite calls for a reversal from unions and left-leaning Labour MPs after the Green party's byelection victory.Senior Labour sources insisted that the home secretary would continue to roll out changes to asylum policy, dismissing as plain wrong" claims that it would further alienate Muslim voters. Continue reading...

Law demanding IDs must match sex at birth' invalidated the driver's licenses of about 1,700 trans people in the state

Mary Walsh, leaving after 46 years, says staffers told to aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum'A veteran CBS News producer who is leaving the network after 46 years has suggested that political bias is at play at the network in a farewell memo sent to colleagues on Friday afternoon.We've been reading a lot of goodbyes lately and here I am headed out the door. It's too soon, even after 46 years," Mary Walsh wrote in the memo, which was obtained by the Guardian. But maybe it's for the best. We've been told to aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum. Honestly, I don't know how to do that." Continue reading...

Attorney general says $111bn deal will be investigated amid concerns over monopoly power and job losses

Former Boy Scouts cave to Pete Hegseth as he laments move from focus on God as the ruler of the universe'

Tehran's ICBMs cannot currently reach the US, experts say, and White House has claimed its nuclear programme has been destroyed

Ofcom says that after provisional ruling it could apply to courts to demand internet providers stop access to siteA suicide forum linked to deaths in Britain has been ruled provisionally in breach of the Online Safety Act after it failed to properly block access to UK users when ordered to do so last year.Ofcom, the online regulator, said it could now apply to the courts to demand internet service providers block access to the site in the UK. This will depend on how the site, which also faces fines, responds over the next 10 days. Continue reading...

Attorney general Pam Bondi says 39 people now charged over January protest and warns more to come'Federal authorities have arrested more people on Friday for their alleged involvement in a protest at a church in Minnesota in January, following earlier arrests of organizers and journalists that were demonstrating amid sweeping, and often violent, immigration enforcement efforts in the state.Attorney general Pam Bondi said the justice department unsealed an indictment that charged 30 more people for the demonstration. Of those charged, federal agents have already arrested 25 of them, Bondi said, with more to come". The latest arrests bring the total number of people charged to 39. Continue reading...

Investigation under way after vehicle ploughs into buildingA tram derailed and crashed into a building in Milan on Friday, killing two people and injuring 38 others.One of the dead was hit by the tram as it derailed while the second victim was a passenger, the city's mayor, Giuseppe Sala, told reporters at the scene. Continue reading...

Labour billed it as two-horse race' with Reform UK, but Greens' media campaign, and Hannah Spencer's authenticity, won the dayFrom the outset of the Gorton and Denton byelection, Labour strategists were desperate to say the party was on course to win, but the party's trouncing at the hands of the Greens has made this look laughable in hindsight.Hollie Ridley, Labour's general secretary, sent a note to No 10 at the end of January saying it was clearly a two-horse race" with Reform UK, and only 3% of voters saying they would stick with the Greens. Continue reading...

Military reckoned good' Afghan insurgents were separate from bad' Pakistani insurgents but distinction has blurredDays after the Taliban swept to power in 2021, Pakistan's then spymaster appeared in Kabul on what looked to many like a victory lap. Sipping tea in the lobby of the Afghan capital's fanciest hotel, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed told reporters: Don't worry, everything will be OK."This week it became clear just how badly Pakistan had miscalculated how it could rely on the Taliban, as Islamabad unleashed airstrikes in Afghanistan and troops from both countries fought each other on the border. Continue reading...

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Scale of defeat to Greens has plunged party into fresh despair and again raised prospect of leadership challengeKeir Starmer is facing an ultimatum from his own party to change direction or risk a leadership challenge within months after the Greens humiliated Labour with a historic byelection victory in Gorton and Denton.Overturning a 13,000 Labour majority from the general election, Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green councillor, became the party's fifth MP on Friday. Reform UK's Matt Goodwin was second, just ahead of the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia. Continue reading...

Countdown to May has begun and dejected Labour MPs want to see in that time that PM is capable of changeWhen Labour's Scottish leader, Anas Sarwar, urged Keir Starmer to stand down two weeks ago, Starmer's closest advisers presented him a choice: fight, flight or hand over his destiny to his party by calling a leadership contest.The prime minister chose the first option and his Downing Street team sprung into action to contain the threat. At the moment of greatest peril for Starmer, MPs peered over the precipice and didn't like what they saw. Continue reading...

Reports of African men being attracted to Russia by promises of jobs and ending up on Ukraine's frontlines have become more frequentAt least 55 Ghanaians have been killed in Russia's war with Ukraine after being lured into battle", Ghana's foreign minister has said after a visit to Kyiv in which officials raised the issue of Russian recruitment of African people.Reports of African men being attracted to Russia by promises of jobs and ending up on Ukraine's frontlines have become more frequent in recent months, creating tensions between Moscow and some of the countries involved. Continue reading...

In a stunning setback for Labour, the Green party has decisively won the Gorton and Denton byelection, with Reform UK finishing second. Does this result signal the end of Labour's safe seats? And could it mark the beginning of the end for Keir Starmer? John Harris, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey unpack the fallout - and explore what might happen next Continue reading...

This live blog is now closedTrade between the EU and two South American countries may start within two months under a provision application of the Mercosur deal.The law allows the provisional application of the deal can happen two months after notification has been exchanged between both sides in the form of a note verbale' that the deal will enter into provision application."The president reached out to member states and to MEPS, that's what it means. She reached out to member states and MEPs, and I remind you that the member states as the European Council, endorsed and approved the EU Mercosur agreement and empowered the European Commission to move forward with provisional application." Continue reading...

Newly elected Gorton and Denton MP taps into colour meme of the moment with statement waistcoat

Parents opposing plans told they can home school their children if they object to sending them to state schoolsThe court of appeal has rejected the latest challenge to the addition of VAT to private school fees, telling parents they have the option to home school their children if they object to sending them to state schools.The appeal was launched by families and leaders of four independent Christian faith schools, aiming to overturn a high court ruling last year by arguing that the decision to add 20% to fees would make small faith schools unviable" and unaffordable, depriving children of their rights to an equivalent education. Continue reading...

Popped collar worn by Duchess of Sussex and Rama Duwaji is rising in popularity, with sales at John Lewis up 1,000%Shoppers are avidly searching for jackets that cover half your face - so much sales are up 1,000% year on year at John Lewis.The funnel-neck jacket is boxy, generously cut and comes with a permanently popped collar, between 9cm and 14cm high running from clavicle to nose; high enough to cover your mouth, low enough to see out - just. Continue reading...

Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Mercury, Neptune and Uranus will all be visible at same time in curved line across skySix planets are set to parade across the sky this weekend in a rare celestial spectacle, experts have said.For the next few days, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Mercury, Neptune and Uranus will all be visible at the same time in the night sky - although binoculars or a telescope will be needed to spot the latter two planets. Continue reading...

Judge rules that Crowborough residents cannot challenge a decision before it has been formally madeA residents' group has lost its high court challenge against a Home Office decision to use an army training camp to house asylum seekers.Crowborough Shield, a group of concerned residents, launched a legal challenge after securing more than 100,000 for legal fees with crowdfunding, after a government announcement about using Crowborough army training camp as accommodation for asylum seekers. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read our full report hereBoth sides are reporting they have inflicted heavy casualties on each other, but it is difficult to know the true numbers when they are presenting sharply divergent figures.Pakistan's information minister Attaullah Tarar claims 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed, with more than 200 injured. Of its own soldiers, Tarar says that two were killed in the cross-border fighting, while three were injured.The UK is deeply concerned by the significant escalation in tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We urge both sides to take immediate steps toward deescalation, avoid further harm to civilians, and reengage in mediated dialogue. Continue reading...

Three-part docudrama makes notion of going into the sea in the UK terrifying - much as Jaws did for Americans in 1975Since I was a child I've been going to the same beach on the south coast and never given a second thought to its safety. Swimming in the US, you have the occasional panic about sharks. In South Africa I got stung by a jellyfish. But the English seaside, give or take the odd riptide and the constant threat of hypothermia, has always seemed benign in its outlook, a dull, unthreatening sea. Continue reading...

Head office job losses part of plan for more separation between supermarket and Argos businessesSainsbury's is cutting 300 head office jobs as it restructures its technology team and Argos delivery network, creating more separation between the two businesses.The London-based retail group said most of the job cuts would be in technology and data, where it was consolidating routine reporting tasks" and creating dedicated teams for Argos and the supermarket. Continue reading...

A shout of racist' could also be heard during the segment at France's version of the OscarsA tribute to Brigitte Bardot at the Cesars, France's version of the Oscars, on Thursday was greeted with boos. In a video clip posted by Paris Match, boos can clearly be heard among the applause as the tributes, and a shout of racist!" is also audible.Bardot, who died in December aged 91, became arguably the most celebrated figure in postwar French cinema for films such as And God Created Woman and Contempt, but after quitting acting in the early 1970s her later years were marred by increasing political activity on the far right, resulting in a string of convictions for inciting racial hatred. Continue reading...

Hannah Spencer elected as party's first MP in northern England as Labour sees 25.3% drop in vote compared with 2024

Met arrests man on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage after slogans including Zionist war criminal' sprayedA 38-year-old man has been arrested after the statue of Winston Churchill outside the Houses of Parliament was defaced with graffiti calling the former prime minister a Zionist war criminal".The Metropolitan police said the man was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage on Friday morning. Continue reading...

Decision by Netflix to walk away from takeover leaves workers anxious about possible merger of news networksNetflix's decision to walk away from its $83bn bid for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has left some staffers working at CBS News and CNN panicking about the future as the two top-tier news operations come under the same roof.With Paramount Skydance emerging as the winning bidder, a deal that still requires the approval of WBD shareholders and government regulators, they fear the merging of the two networks - and, with it, the potential for a significant amount of job cuts. Some CNN employees are also nervous about Paramount's Trump-friendly ownership and leadership enacting ideologically driven programming changes at the network, with particular concern about the specter of CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss possibly getting a significant role. Continue reading...

Prime minister says reports 20-year-old was allegedly going to target mosques, WA police and parliament are distressing'

Purbeck Capital Partners seals deal for business and property rights of toy with model railway makerFor almost six decades Hornby has watched Scalextric drive revenues for its hobby business but on Friday the company said it had decided to sell the famous slot car racing brand for 20m to a little known buyer.The model railway company, which also sells toy planes and cars under the Airfix and Corgi brands, has sold the Scalextric business and intellectual property rights to Purbeck Capital Partners. Continue reading...

Javier Milei's boosters say law will revive employment, but critics decry cuts to severance and longer working hoursArgentina's senate is poised to approve a sweeping overhaul of labour laws aimed at weakening trade unions and lowering labour costs for businesses.The government of the self-styled anarcho-capitalist" president, Javier Milei, says the initiative will help revive formal employment, after 290,600 registered jobs were lost between December 2023, when he took office, and November 2025. Continue reading...