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Extension of three-year lifespan for bronze coincides with 25th anniversary rerelease of original romcomA record 149 days have now passed without alcohol, cigarettes or ice-cream for Bridget Jones's statue in Leicester Square in London - and her fast is set to be extended indefinitely.Originally conceived to be in situ for three years, the bronze statue, which was unveiled in November, has now been granted permanent residence opposite the Empire Casino and adjacent to the toilets, where she joins the likes of Harry Potter, Mary Poppins and Batman as part of Westminster council's Scenes in the Square initiative. Continue reading...

UK official receiver understood to prefer Blastr as buyer for SSUK's electric arc furnace in Rotherham and site in Stocksbridge

Landmark ruling finds Wright Prospecting successfully made out its contractual claim to 50% of past and future royalties from Hope Downs iron ore project

Former US Fed chair says lowering rates to reduce debt service cost can lead to inflation getting out of control

Beijing may be reaping some diplomatic benefit but Trump's war holds risks for its energy security and economyTwo months ago, China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, promised it would be a big year" for China-US relations. He was right, but perhaps not in the way he expected.Wang was speaking before a planned visit by Donald Trump to Beijing in March, which would have been Trump's first trip to China since 2017. But the trip, and a meeting with China's president, Xi Jinping, was kicked back by several weeks after Trump decided to launch strikes with Israel against Iran, starting a war in the Middle East that has caused a global energy crisis and roiled diplomatic relations across the board. Continue reading...

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Warmer weather has benefited some species in Britain, but others that rely on specific plants or habitats have struggledInsectageddon" has not occurred, but there has been a loss of butterfly diversity over the past half a century, according to the world's largest insect monitoring scheme.More than 44m butterfly sightings scientifically collected in Britain since 1976 show that of the 58 native species recorded, 33 species have declined and 25 have increased in number. Continue reading...

UK motoring group fined 4.2m for not showing full price of lessons at time of bookingThe AA has been fined 4.2m and ordered to make payments to more than 80,000 learner drivers for not showing the full price of lessons at the time of booking, an illegal practice known as drip pricing".The UK competition watchdog, which launched an investigation into the practices employed by the AA Driving School and BSM Driving School last year, said that the AA-owned businesses must repay more than 760,000 as a result. Continue reading...

Food delivery services say the proposed laws will affect their workers, while shared e-vehicle schemes claim the laws could make them uninsurable

Second day of faux-royal' tour sees Duke of Sussex speak candidly about challenges of new fatherhood as amused football fans watch onIt was an unusual sight. As a group of children were rocking out to the Wiggles, Prince Harry kicked a football on Whitten Oval in Melbourne, home of Australian rules team the Western Bulldogs.Just a regular Wednesday," a member of the crowd, dressed mainly in suits and from the advocacy and academic fields, said. Continue reading...

Section of state's electoral act that introduced caps on political donations but created loophole for Labor and Coalition scrapped

Former Treasury secretary says the tax rate is socially optimal' in submission to a new parliamentary inquiry

Struggle for justice symbolises limitations of Truth and Reconciliation Commission, whose hearings began 30 years agoDarkness had fallen on 27 June 1985 when Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli and Sparrow Mkonto set off on the 150-mile drive back from a meeting of anti-apartheid activists in the South African city of Port Elizabeth, now known as Gqeberha. They never made it home.About an hour into their journey, as the road wound north from the coast towards their home town of Cradock (now called Nxuba), the four men were pulled over by three white security police officers. They were handcuffed and driven back towards Gqeberha. Continue reading...

Pub near the Cadia goldmine south of Orange leant one way and then came back' as windows and wine glasses rattled

Conference president expresses complete faith' in Chris Bowen to lead tough negotiations

Passengers can book a four-hour session in the bunk beds from May for Auckland-New York flights but airline cautions against smuggling in childrenEconomy passengers on Air New Zealand's ultra-long-haul flight between Auckland and New York can book a spot in the airline's bunk-bed style sleeping pods from May, which will take to skies in late 2026.In what the airline says is a world first, six full-length, lie-flat sleeping pods, are squeezed into the aisle of the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The pods, known as Skynest", will include fresh bedding, a privacy curtain, ambient lighting and kit with eye-masks, skincare, earplugs and socks. Continue reading...

Sheinbaum has recently been taking a firmer stance with the US, defying pressures where other countries have cavedThe Mexican government has voiced concern about the deaths of its citizens in US custody, with Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum also pushing back against the Trump administration's decision to impose an energy blockade on Cuba.The progressive Mexican leader has walked a careful line with Trump for more than a year, addressing provocations with a measured tone and meeting US requests to crack down on cartels more so than her predecessors, in an effort to offset threats of tariffs and US military action against gangs. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed. You can read the latest on the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran hereSouth Korean president Lee Jae Myung has said rising tensions around the strait of Hormuz make it hard to be optimistic about the fallout from the Iran war, warning that high oil prices and supply-chain strains are likely to persist for some time.Lee told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday the government should treat prolonged disruption in global energy and raw materials markets as a given and reinforce its emergency response system.For the time being, difficulties in global energy and raw materials supply chains and high oil prices will continue ... I ask that we pursue the development of alternative supply chains, medium- to long-term industrial restructuring, and the transition to a post-plastic economy as top-priority national strategic projects."Lebanon and Israel have been at war in some form since the early 1980s. You're not allowed to enter Lebanon if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport. The two don't have diplomatic relations. So the fact that these talks are happening directly between the two governments is something that's really astonishing. Continue reading...

British aid to double as 19m people face acute hunger, but summit unlikely to end conflict amid Saudi-UAE tensionsThe British foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, will urge Sudan's warring parties to cease bloodshed" during a major conference on Wednesday, which analysts believe is unlikely to deliver a significant step towards peace.The talks in Berlin - held on the third anniversary of the start of Sudan's ruinous war - are expected to help address a catastrophic funding shortfall that is compounding the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Continue reading...

ASA rules ads on Instagram and Daily Mail website broke ban on promoting items high in fat, salt and sugarLidl and Iceland have become the first companies to have ads banned after the introduction of rules cracking down on the marketing of junk food in the UK.The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been policing the ban on ads featuring junk food on TV before 9pm, and in paid online advertising at any time of the day, since 5 January. Continue reading...

Analysis by IFS shows George Osborne's mortgage schemes launched in 2013 had little effect on social mobilityHigher-income households were the biggest beneficiaries of George Osborne's Help to Buy mortgage schemes, introduced in the 2010s, according to an analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) thinktank.Launched by the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government in 2013, Help to Buy involved two separate schemes aimed at making home ownership more achievable in a period of rapid house price growth. Continue reading...

Air pollution caused by wildfires is another blow to northern Thailand's tourism industry as businesses suffer amid war in IranThe Doi Suthep temple in northern Thailand is known for its spectacular views of Chiang Mai and the lush forested mountains that surround it. Over recent weeks, though, visitors can see little of the city beyond a thick cloud of grey haze.Persistent wildfires have caused intense air pollution across the north of Thailand, forcing three provinces to declare emergencies and triggering spikes in pollution-related illnesses. Continue reading...

French child, who was six years old at the time of the incident in 2019, suffered life-changing injuriesThe family of a boy thrown from the 10th-storey balcony of the Tate Modern art gallery seven years ago said it feels as though his recovery has taken a sad step backward" after surgery.The unnamed French youngster was six when he was seriously hurt in an attack by Jonty Bravery at the London attraction in August 2019. Continue reading...

James Heaps was first sentenced in 2023 but appeals court found he was denied a fair trial

Health secretary says NHS is failing women' and pledges to end gaslighting' by doctorsWes Streeting has vowed to stop women being gaslit" by doctors as he relaunches the women's health strategy for England.Speaking before the publication of the renewed strategy on Wednesday, Streeting said the NHS was failing women" and set out measures to help them access the healthcare they need. Continue reading...

Sharon Simmons, photographed delivering McDonald's to Trump on Monday, lobbied for the no tax on tips' policy in 2025

Exclusive: Fiona Hill, a former White House chief adviser, joins ex-Nato chief in criticising Starmer's leadership on defenceA co-author of Britain's strategic defence review has joined criticism of Keir Starmer's leadership on military policy, warning of a bizarre" lack of urgency in defence planning.Fiona Hill, a former chief adviser to the White House on Russia, echoed the concerns of George Robertson, her co-author with Gen Richard Barrons on the strategic defence review (SDR), over what he had called the prime minister's corrosive complacency". Continue reading...

Grand jury brings manslaughter charge over fatal 2024 operation where patient died on tableA surgeon in Florida has been indicted for manslaughter after he wrongly removed a patient's liver instead of his spleen during an August 2024 procedure.Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, was indicted by a grand jury in Tallahassee on Monday after prosecutors said he botched the surgery of 70-year-old William Bryan, of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Continue reading...

Experts say climate pattern could supercharge extreme weather events and push temperatures to record highsThere is a high likelihood that the phenomenon known as El Nino" will emerge this summer - and it could be exceptionally strong. A so-called super El Nino" could supercharge extreme weather events and push global temperatures to record heights next year if it develops, according to experts.Meteorologists are keeping a close eye on the climate patterns developing in the Pacific Ocean that will enable stronger predictions about what's to come in the year ahead. Continue reading...

Measure by Jamie Raskin follows statements by Trump about annihilating Iran and post depicting himself as Jesus

With the army's size halved since the cold war, UK ambitions to be globally deployable do not match the reality, experts say

Refugee Council criticises Labour's decision, saying military sites are unsuitable and more expensive than hotels'Hundreds of asylum seekers have been removed from government-funded hotels while others have been sent to live in army barracks, the Home Office has announced.Eleven asylum hotels" in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been closed, as first reported by the Guardian, and more will close in the coming weeks". About 350 claimants have been moved to the Crowborough military camp in east Sussex, described by a spokesperson as basic accommodation". Continue reading...

Trawler set off from Bangladesh and reportedly capsized due to heavy winds, rough seas and overcrowdingAbout 250 people are missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsized in the Andaman Sea, according to the UN's refugee and migration agencies.The agencies said the trawler carrying more than 250 men, women and children reportedly sank due to harsh weather and overcrowding. It had departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh and was bound for Malaysia. Continue reading...

Growth forecasts cut for US and global economy, while UK suffers sharpest downgrade in G7

Natasha Cochrane de la Rosa was refused boarding on flight to London because she was not aware of the rule changeA British woman has told how she fears being stranded in Spain for months after being refused boarding a on flight back home to London because she was not aware of new Home Office border rules.Natasha Cochrane de la Rosa, 26, was born in the UK to a British father and a Spanish mother, but because of archaic laws she was not entitled automatically to British citizenship because her parents were not married. Other women born to unmarried parents have called the rules an illegitimacy tax". Continue reading...

Chancellor faced with fund's forecast that impact of Iran war will leave Britain as G7's biggest loser

The family of Marie-Therese, from Brittany, fear for her health after she was cuffed and placed in a detention centreAn 86-year-old French woman who moved to the US to marry her 1950s sweetheart is being held in a crowded detention centre in Louisiana after she was arrested by immigration agents and cuffed by her hands and feet.The family of the woman, named only as Marie-Therese, said they feared for her health as French consular officials attempted to secure her release. One of her sons told the Ouest-France newspaper that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had treated his mother like a hardened criminal. Continue reading...

Results of six-week trial prompt concerns over government proposals as children reject healthier mealsA pilot to test England's new school food standards triggered a 15% decline in uptake of meals, with children rejecting healthier options in favour of a packed lunch, a caterer has revealed.The results of the six-week trial, which took place at a Brighton primary school, have prompted concerns that the government's proposals, though well-intentioned, could end up having a negative impact on children's health. Continue reading...

Push for states to assign presidential electors to winner of popular vote gains momentum in bid to reach 270 thresholdA national majority vote for president is one step closer to reality after Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger signed the National Popular Vote bill into law, joining an interstate compact with 17 other states and the District of Columbia.Under the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, states would assign their presidential electors to the winner of the popular vote, regardless of the results within the state. The compact takes effect when states representing a majority of electoral votes - 270 of 538 - pass the legislation and thus would determine the winner of the presidential contest. With Virginia, the compact now has 222 electors. Continue reading...

Remarks come as Italian PM suspends defence agreement with Israel amid growing domestic pressure over conflictDonald Trump lashed out at one of his closest allies on Tuesday, saying Italy's Giorgia Meloni lacked courage in light of her failure to join the US in attacking Iran.I'm shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong," the US president said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Continue reading...

Thousands face power outages and a number of schools close across region as forecasters warn of hail and flooding

Additional 1bn allocated to payments for victims and their relatives, including extra 35,000 for former Treloar pupilsCompensation payments will rise for people affected by the infected blood scandal, including an extra 35,000 each for pupils who were experimented on at school without their knowledge, the paymaster general has announced. The government has allocated 1bn for the payments.The final report of the inquiry into what has been described as the biggest treatment disaster in NHS history was published in May 2024. The compensation scheme that followed has also been blighted by controversy. Continue reading...

The policies include a Swiss-style EU deal, lower electricity prices and reduced dependence on the USA group of Labour MPs is to propose a series of new policies to defeat rightwing populism, including a Swiss-style deal with the EU, lower electricity prices, a robust defence of climate policies and a reduced dependence on Washington.Among those contributing to a new collection of essays is the former cabinet minister Anneliese Dodds, who calls for a fundamental reappraisal of the UK-US relationship, saying alliances should be based on a hardheaded assessment of which nations share our values and goals." Continue reading...

Critics warn of absolute disaster for the flying public' if two air travel giants try to combineThe CEO of United Airlines is said to have pitched a blockbuster merger with American Airlines during a meeting with Donald Trump, floating the combination of the world's two largest carriers.Scott Kirby, who leads United, raised the prospect during an encounter with the US president in late February, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed sources. Such a deal would overhaul the global air travel industry - and likely face intense competition scrutiny. Continue reading...

Ron Prosor says verbal attack on Friedrich Merz referencing Nazi regime erodes the memory of the Holocaust'Israel's envoy to Germany has criticised a far-right Israeli cabinet member who made historically charged accusations against the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, saying the attack [eroded] the memory of the Holocaust".In a rare rebuke of a top Israeli official by an active ambassador, Ron Prosor said he wished to unequivocally condemn" Bezalel Smotrich's tirade against Merz, in which he made reference to the Nazi regime and said: You will not force us into ghettos again." Continue reading...

Byelection wins and defections push Canada's Liberals into majority government under the prime ministerMark Carney has said he will govern with humility, determination and a clear understanding of what this moment demands" after his Liberals swept three byelections Monday evening, forging a parliamentary majority just more than a year after he took power.Carney has achieved only the third majority government in two decades - and has done so in a highly unusual fashion, cobbling together both ballot box wins and defections from rival parties. Continue reading...

Chancellor frustrated and angry' at the effect on UK firms and families and says US went into war without a clear exit planQ: Why are you calling for an inquiry into Nigel Farage's investment in a bitcoin firm?Davey said that, in investing in crypto, Farage, the Reform UK leader, seemed to be copying Donald Trump. He said he thought MPs should be banned from promoting financial services or products.[Farage is] now promoting this business. The question is, is he persuading people to put money into a risky business?And the conclusion I draw from this example is that we need to change the rules for MPs. MPs should not be allowed to promote specific financial services or products in the way we're seeing Nigel Farage doing.We need to get together as a country. The defence challenges for our country are so serious, with war on our continent for the first time for a long time, with Russia invading Ukraine, surely that's been the wake up call that we needed. The government hasn't gone as fast as it should have given those circumstances. Continue reading...

Party says plan for radical change' will be funded in part through higher taxes on aviation, gambling and landlords

Hui Ka Yan expresses remorse in trial proceedings after collapse of world's most indebted property developer

Ukrainian leader hopes for pragmatic' and friendly' relations with new government in contrast with hostility of previous pro-Russian regimein BerlinAt his press conference with Zelenskyy, Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz also welcomed Peter Magyar's decisive victory, saying it would have implications for our support for Ukraine".More Hungarians than ever before cast their votes. By an overwhelming majority, they voted not only to oust a government, but to oust an entire system."Volodymyr Zelenskyy and I also discussed this. The funds for military support must now be disbursed quickly. Ukraine needs them urgently." Continue reading...