News

PM will face Kemi Badenoch and other MPs at final PMQs of the current parliamentary sessionPeers backed down last night in a deadlock over the government’s proposed pension reforms after ministerial concessions, the Press Association reports. PA says:The upper chamber had repeatedly refused to let the government take on powers to tell pension funds how they should invest a certain amount of savers’ money, with the aim of encouraging economic growth in the UK.Following ministerial amendments on Tuesday intended to assuage peers’ concerns, the House of Lords has accepted a final draft of the pension schemes bill. Continue reading...

US president said UK monarch agreed Tehran should not be allowed nuclear weaponsHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Britain’s King Charles will use a trip to New York today to showcase cultural and economic ties between the UK and the US at a time when the so-called “special relationship” is under strain.We’re doing a little Middle East work right now … and we’re doing very well. We have militarily defeated that particular opponent, and we’re never going to let that opponent ever, Charles agrees with me even more than I do, we’re never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon.They know that, and they’ve known it right now, very powerfully.The king is naturally mindful of his government’s longstanding and well-known position on the prevention of nuclear proliferation.Todd Blanche, the former defense lawyer for Donald Trump now serving as acting US attorney general, announced two charges against James Comey, the former FBI director and deputy attorney general for allegedly “knowing and willfully making a threat to kill” the president of the United States in a social media post.Patrick Fitzgerald, a former US attorney for the northern district of Illinois who now represents James Comey, said that his client, “vigorously denies the charges” filed against him.US defense secretary Pete Hegseth will face tough questions from lawmakers about the Iran war on Wednesday during his first testimony to Congress since the start of the conflict.President Trump will welcomes the Artemis II astronauts to the White House later today. The capsule returned to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, almost a month after blasting off on humanity’s first lunar trip in more than a half century.The supreme court will hear arguments Wednesday over the Trump administration’s push to end legal protections for migrants fleeing war and natural disaster, one in a series of immigration cases the high court is considering against the backdrop of the president’s far-reaching immigration crackdown.The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday after a key policy meeting, likely the last chaired by central bank chief Jerome Powell. Policymakers will weigh the risks of surging energy prices and snarled supply chains due to the US-Israel war on Iran, with analysts widely expecting a third pause in a row. Continue reading...

Commission says tech company does not have effective measures to keep under-13s off Facebook and InstagramThe tech company Meta has been found to be in breach of EU law for failing to prevent children under 13 from using its Facebook and Instagram platforms.Issuing the preliminary findings of a nearly two-year investigation, the European Commission said on Wednesday that Meta did not have effective measures in place to stop under-13s accessing its services. Continue reading...

Ursula von der Leyen later due to meet new Hungarian leader who is seeking to unlock EU funds in return for reformsAFP is reporting that so far, officials in Brussels are hopeful that Péter Magyar – who once served under Viktor Orbán, before turning on his former boss – will genuinely launch a new chapter in ties.But wary of celebrating too soon, they insist they need to see concrete moves and not just kind words.“A huge mandate, a strong mandate, a great responsibility!We know our task: we will bring home the EU funds that Hungarians are entitled to. More soon.” Continue reading...

Bank expects its base case for GDP growth to be 0.5% this year, lower than IMF’s 0.8% prediction for BritainBusiness live – latest updatesLloyds has warned that the economic fallout from the Middle East conflict could cost it £151m amid rising unemployment and inflation and a slowdown in the housing market.The FTSE 100 group, whose brands include Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, issued a downbeat economic forecast that it said reflects the stagflationary consequences – the double hit of rising inflation at the same time as slower economic growth – for the UK and global economies. Continue reading...

Case looks at whether Trump administration has authority to strip hundreds of thousands of immigrants of TPSThe supreme court will hear oral arguments on Wednesday over whether the Trump administration can strip the temporary protected status (TPS) of hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Haitians, under a program that has protected them from deportation due to safety concerns in their home countries.People with TPS are given the permission to live and work in the US because the government has deemed their home countries to be unsafe due to war, political instability or natural disasters. In the past year, the Trump administration has attempted to cut the program for various countries, opening the door to the removal of hundreds of thousands of protected immigrants in the US. Continue reading...

The justices are set to hear Hikma v. Amarin, a battle over drug patents that could raise costs for patients and change the way generic companies do business.

A New Hampshire Republican. A German Holocaust denier. A suspicious bottle of baby oil. An NPR investigation reveals how the alarming rise of antisemitic conspiracy theories reached a state capitol.

The four-year war continues to rage with US-led efforts to end the war on hold

Digital platforms had been pressured to strike deals with news publishers to pay for journalism

President Donald Trump issues fresh social media threat with mocked up picture taking aim at Tehran

Trump claims on Truth Social that Iran has informed Washington it is in a ‘state of collapse’

About 15-20% of the Shaheds sent by Russia are powered by jet engines

Judge describes woman’s crimes as ‘cruel’, ‘manipulative’ and a carefully planned ‘attention-seeking device’

A pilot and a passenger were among those killed, according to a report

The California city of Oakland has driven homicides to historic lows by offering services including life coaches to people most likely to get pulled into gang-related shootings

Timmy the whale has been stranded for around a month in a case that has gripped national attention in Germany

In January 2025, the Biden administration implemented extensive regulations that effectively prohibit Chinese automakers from selling passenger vehicles in the U.S.

Worries about visas, academic freedom and safety are making foreign schools, like Sciences Po in Paris, more attractive to some students than the Ivy League.

Steven Rattner argues that Trump’s effort to bail out the ailing carrier makes no sense.

European Union regulators said the company did not have effective controls to check a user’s self-declared date of birth, in violation of an online safety law.

From Salt Lake City to New York City, parents are demanding more sway over the digital tools that schools give children.

Josh D’Amaro, who took the helm in February, will have to lead Disney through surprising new scrutiny from the president.

The exit of the United Arab Emirates is the most significant in a series of departures from the oil cartel in recent years.

Google and Meta are enjoying a digital ad boom, as artificial intelligence automates marketing and drives record sales.

A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to explain whether it intends to contest President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the I.R.S. over the disclosure of his tax returns.

The U.S. central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at what is scheduled to be Jerome H. Powell’s final meeting as chair.

Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci and the director David Frankel on “The Devil Wears Prada,” the sequel and who’s mean in real life.

Body camera footage reveals a disturbing pattern of state and federal officials using minor traffic stops to target Black and brown drivers.

Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy, is among a slate of Democrats seeking to replace Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York.

The Trump administration wants to terminate humanitarian protections known as Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Haiti and Syria.

Rom Reddy has pushed to protect his beachfront mansion in South Carolina from what he calls “government overreach.” The fight, he said, inspired his political awakening.

Jeffrey Epstein’s messages cast light on an unusual building on his private island and show how his connections helped him secure tapestries from Mecca for it.

Scientists shared transcripts with The Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces.

Worries about visas, academic freedom and safety are making foreign schools, like Sciences Po in Paris, more attractive to some students than the Ivy League.

European Union regulators said the company did not have effective controls to check a user’s self-declared date of birth, in violation of an online safety law.

The exit of the United Arab Emirates is the most significant in a series of departures from the oil cartel in recent years.

Beijing is trying to unravel an unlikely long-distance relationship that has endured for decades. Could Paraguay be tempted to stray?

Jeffrey Epstein’s messages cast light on an unusual building on his private island and show how his connections helped him secure tapestries from Mecca for it.

The British actress left the hit show due to creative differences shortly after filming began.

The mountain bongo is a rare antelope endemic to Kenyan highland forests, with less than 100 in the wild.

Chelsea captain Millie Bright announces she has retired from football with immediate effect because of injury.

Officers from Cheshire Police and neighbouring forces target three properties in Crewe.

AstraZeneca and GSK, the U.K.'s second and ninth most valuable companies, both saw first-quarter profits beat expectations early Wednesday.

The latest move higher comes amid reports that the U.S. will look to extend its blockade of Iranian ports.

Oil prices continued to rise on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to threaten Iran in a TruthSocial post.

Strategists at banking giant HSBC said they are "max bullish" on stocks, which can look past "temporary setbacks"

Children can create Instagram and Facebook accounts simply by inputting a false birth date, a preliminary EU investigation found.

Hungary and Slovakia are still buying Russian oil. Seeing weakness in Brussels, Kyiv means to stop that trade.

3-year-old rescued after falling into 18-metre-deep well in Syria