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A major IT glitch is still affecting Barclays customers, with some locked out of their accounts throughout the night and almost 24 hours on from the bank’s initial outage. The bank has apologised to customers, saying they are facing “ongoing technical issues that are impacting our customers’ accounts”. They warned some people may see an outdated balance, and payments made or received may not show. “We will ensure that no […]

Hamas has handed over the American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel to the Red Cross – the third hostage to be released on Saturday as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel. Mr Siegel, 65, walked onto a stage set up by the sea in Gaza City before militants handed him over to waiting Red Cross officials. Earlier, the militants released Yarden Bibas, 35, and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon, 54, to the Red […]

Holders Real Madrid stand in the way of Manchester City’s hopes of a second taste of Champions League glory after the sides were drawn to face each other in the play-offs. Also, Manchester United forward Alejandro Garnacho appears to have grabbed his second chance at Old Trafford, while out-of-favour team-mate Marcus Rashford has emerged as a target for Aston Villa, who have been boosted by the news that Ollie Watkins […]

Campaigners have won a case against a station car park expansion in Constable Country, in what they say is an “important victory” for protected landscapes. The Dedham Vale Society and Campaign for National Parks brought a judicial review over the decision to approve a car park extension, lighting and fencing at the rail station at Manningtree, Essex, without observing a new legal duty to conserve and enhance national parks and […]

The Scottish Greens have called on the UK Government to remove the block on Scotland’s gender reforms. The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed at Holyrood in 2022, with MSPs backing the plans to make it easier for trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate by removing the need for a medical diagnosis. The controversial legislation caused a political firestorm in Scotland, with opponents claiming it could endanger […]

Sir Keir Starmer has faced accusations of “fudging the facts” about his education, from the founder of a social mobility charity. Sutton Trust founder Sir Peter Lampl, who went to the same school as the Prime Minister, Reigate Grammar, made the claim as he attacked the Government’s plans to charge VAT on private school fees. The school was funded by the local council when the Prime Minister joined, but became […]

Nigel Farage has compared Reform UK’s rise in the polls with Donald Trump’s presidential victory in the US, as the party squared up to the Tories with a rally in Kemi Badenoch’s constituency. The North West Essex rally, which heard speeches from four of Reform’s five MPs, follows a spat between Conservative Party leader Mrs Badenoch and Mr Farage over party membership figures during the Christmas period. Mr Farage told […]

US President Donald Trump will put in place 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on goods from China effective on Saturday, the White House said. But it provided no word on whether there would be any exemptions to the measures that could result in swift price increases to US consumers. Mr Trump had been threatening the tariffs to ensure greater co-operation from the countries on […]

AstraZeneca has cancelled a planned £450 million investment in a vaccine manufacturing plant in Merseyside, saying Labour failed to match the previous government’s offer of support. The decision reverses an announcement made by then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt at last year’s March budget that would have seen the pharmaceutical company expand its existing facility in Speke. At the time, the Conservative government said the investment would both boost the UK’s life sciences […]