‘Targeted support’ means certain banks and financial institutions can offer free extra help with investments and pensionsMany Britons are daunted by the world of investing, but new City rules mean certain banks and financial institutions can offer free extra help with investments and pensions.Last month marked the launch of “targeted support”, a new regulated service that permits companies to suggest investments and pension products to customers that might provide a better return. Continue reading...
President seemed to suggest that legislative deadline to approve war no longer applies as Democrats push backUS politics live – latest updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailDonald Trump said in a letter sent to congressional leaders on Friday that hostilities with Iran have “terminated”, suggesting that the 60-day deadline to seek approval from the legislative branch no longer applied.Friday marks 60 days since the US president notified members of Congress that the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on 28 February. Under the War Powers Act of 1973, the president can deploy troops to respond to an “imminent threat” but must receive congressional approval within 60 days to continue military operations. Continue reading...
• A Pennsylvania state court ordered election officials to draw a new congressional map by June 2026, ruling that the current Republican‑backed map unlawfully diluted the voting strength of Black and Latino communities in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
• The judge found that the existing districts concentrated minority voters into a handful of “safe” Democratic seats, limiting their influence in neighboring competitive districts and violating state constitutional protections for equal representation.
• The decision threatens Republican hopes of holding a narrow House majority in 2026 and could force the legislature into a court‑supervised redistricting process if lawmakers cannot agree on a replacement map.
State’s governor and attorney general move to postpone midterm 2026 primaries just a day after supreme court ruling guts Voting Rights ActLouisiana postpones primaries as states rush to redraw districts after supreme court rulingHere’s more of that statement from Louisiana attorney general Liz Murrill and Republican governor Jeff Landry:Yesterday’s historic Supreme Court victory for Louisiana has an immediate consequence for the State. The Supreme Court previously stayed an injunction against the State’s enforcement of the current Congressional map. By the Court’s order, however, that stay automatically terminated with yesterday’s decision. Accordingly, the State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map. We are working together with the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office to develop a path forward. Continue reading...
Accusation vessel contains grain looted from Russian-occupied territories triggers diplomatic spat between both nations Ukraine has asked Israel to seize a vessel it claims is carrying grain looted from Russian-occupied territories, triggering a rare diplomatic spat between the two countries.The dispute spilt into public view this week when president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that “another vessel” carrying grain “stolen by Russia” had arrived at a port in Israel and was preparing to unload. Continue reading...
Kremlin-controlled paramilitaries also alleged it inflicted ‘irreplaceable losses’ on insurgents avoiding civilian casualtiesRussia’s defence ministry has claimed its Africa Corps – the successor to the former Wagner mercenary group – had prevented a coup in Mali over the weekend, avoiding mass civilian casualties and inflicting “irreplaceable losses” on rebel insurgents.It said in a statement that its troops in the desert town of Kidal near the Algerian border had fought for more than 24 hours while completely surrounded and vastly outnumbered. It also alleged without providing evidence, that the militants had been trained by European mercenary instructors including Ukrainians. The casualty toll was not specified. Continue reading...
Teatro La Fenice called comments by its controversial appointee Beatrice Venezi ‘offensive and detrimental’Teatro La Fenice, the prestigious Venice opera house, has fired its incoming music director after she insinuated its hiring practices were nepotistic, with jobs “practically passed down from father to son”.After months of controversy over the appointment of Beatrice Venezi, La Fenice Foundation said on Sunday it had decided to “cancel all future collaborations” with the 36-year-old conductor and pianist. Continue reading...
Alan Johnson and David Blunkett say Tory proposal for a privileges committee inquiry is a ‘nakedly political stunt’Good morning. Kemi Badenoch is trying to get Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, to give MPs a vote on a proposal to get the Commons privileges committee to investigate allegations that Keir Starmer lied to MPs in statements he made to them about the vetting of Peter Mandelson. Other opposition parties may be backing her, but we don’t know for sure because the process is relatively secret; MPs have to write a private letter to the speaker, who then decides whether this is a serious request that should be decided by the Commons as a whole, or a frivolous complaint that should be ignored. (We do know that Karl Turner has written to the speaker about this too, but only because he was daft enough to post his letter on social media last week.) Today we are likely to find out whether or not Hoyle is agreeing to a Commons vote.Boris Johnson was referred to the privileges committee over allegations that he lied to MPs about Partygate (allegations the committee concluded were justified). Badenoch wants to make the case that Starmer is just as dishonest as Johnson. He isn’t, by any stretch, and the claims that Starmer lied to MPs about Mandelson are spurious; they relate to contest intepretations of political language of the kind that are commonplace in parliamentary debate. But the fact that this has even become a live consideration for the speaker is a big win for the Tories.The fact that Kemi Badenoch has changed the accusations she is levelling against the PM on an almost daily basis as her claims have failed to stand up to scrutiny shows what this is really about. This is a nakedly political stunt with no substance ahead of the May elections.Any comparison with Boris Johnson is absurd. When parliament referred that matter to the privileges committee, a police investigation had directly disproved his categoric statements that he knew nothing about the breach of lockdown rules.I suppose our constituents might ask [if a privileges committee goes ahead], have we got the balance right between holding the government to account and seemingly squabbling amongst ourselves when there is so much else going on that perhaps parliament ought to be focusing on as well.I have to say, a really truthful position is, why the rush at the moment? Has it got anything to do with local elections? Continue reading...
Message on private Facebook group for staff said: ‘I dumped them all in a bin. They can sack me!’Royal Mail is investigating allegations that a postal worker claimed to have “dumped” Reform UK campaign leaflets in a bin ahead of Thursday’s local elections.A post on a Facebook group for Royal Mail staff said: “My DO had reform party’s D2D today. I dumped them all in a bin. They can sack me! Idgaf!” Continue reading...
Pesident presses case for controversial $400m project following White House correspondents’ dinner shootingThe shooting at the Washington Hilton hotel gives new urgency to the project to construct a 1,000-seat ballroom at the White House, Donald Trump claimed after the incident on Saturday night.The US president pressed the case for his controversial ballroom initiative at the press conference he held at the White House on Saturday and a social media post on Sunday, after an armed attacker was arrested as he rushed towards the Hilton’s ballroom, where Trump was attending the White House Correspondents Association’s annual dinner. Continue reading...
