Month: March 2025

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is expected to call the federal election on Friday for a polling day in early May, according to Labor sources. Speculation had been rife in Canberra that Albanese could visit the governor general on either Friday or Sunday to capitalise on momentum from Tuesday’s federal budget and draw attention away […]

Emmanuel Macron has warned that Russia still shows a “desire for war” despite efforts towards a ceasefire as European leaders including Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in Paris on Thursday to discuss how Europe might offer Kyiv security guarantees in the event of a lasting truce. Macron said Russia had tried to impose “new conditions” and not […]

Pizza parties and iPads are being offered to pupils as incentives to improve school attendance, according to a new report which says sanctions alone are less likely to work. While some schools in England are using fines, detentions and letters home to crack down on absence, others prefer a rewards-based approach, with prize draws for […]

Up to 2.9 million more children and adults will die from HIV-related causes before 2030 because of aid cuts by countries including the US and Britain, a new study has found. A resulting resurgence of the HIV epidemic would have “devastating consequences” globally, researchers warned, after estimating between 4.4m and 10.8m extra new infections in […]

A Yale professor who studies fascism is leaving the US to work at a Canadian university because of the current US political climate, which he worries is putting the US at risk of becoming a “fascist dictatorship”. Jason Stanley, who wrote the 2018 book How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, has accepted […]

Donald Trump announced plans to impose sweeping 25% tariffs on cars from overseas on Wednesday, days before the president is expected to announce wide-ranging levies on other goods from around the world. “What we’re going to be doing is a 25% tariff for all cars that are not made in the United States,” Trump said […]

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are set to reprise their X-Men roles in Avengers: Doomsday. Marvel kicked off a live stream today to announce the long list of actors who will star in the first Avengers film in six years. The pair will join the Black Panther actors Letitia Wright, Winston Duke and Tenoch Huerta […]

Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature A great interview here with Mariona Caldentey: Share Arsenal’s Leah Williamson has said: “It’s the biggest month we’ve had in terms of knockout competitions. This game is no different. I think the work that we’ve done, you can see the direction […]

Profits at the UK housebuilder Vistry Group have slumped by more than a third in what it described as a “disappointing year” but it is pinning hopes of a turnaround on the government’s promise this week to inject £2bn into affordable homes. After three profit warnings last year, Vistry suspended dividend payouts to shareholders on […]

Hands off our cash Isas! Don’t punish savers for choosing safety! Don’t force everyone into stocks and shares! Think of the havoc you’ll cause for first-time buyers if you deprive banks and building societies of their stickiest source of deposits! Don’t fall for the self-interested lobbying of City fund managers! The cries were loud and […]