US President Donald Trump’s advisers have defended sweeping tariffs on imports and vowed to stay the course, despite market turmoil and calls to avoid a trade war.

In a series of television interviews, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent played down recent stock market falls and Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, insisted reciprocal tariffs would be implemented as planned.

Bessent said there was “no reason” to expect a recession as a result of the turmoil. “This is an adjustment process,” he said.

Meanwhile, another top adviser, Kevin Hassett, said more than 50 countries have contacted Trump to try to negotiate a deal.

All three major stock indexes in the US plunged more than 5% on Friday, while the S&P 500 dropped almost 6% in the worst week for the US stock market since 2020.

In a sign of continued market fragility this week, Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange – which trades on Sundays – ended nearly 7% lower, its biggest daily loss since the pandemic, state-owned media said.

US banking giant JP Morgan has predicted a 60% chance of a US and global recession following Trump’s tariffs announcement.

Challenged about the turmoil, Lutnick told CBS News on Sunday that the 10% “baseline” tariff on all imports, which came into effect a day earlier, will definitely “stay in place for days and weeks”.

Lutnick went on say the steeper reciprocal tariffs were still on track.

Higher custom tariffs on roughly 60 countries, dubbed the “worst offenders”, are due to come into effect on Wednesday 9 April.

When asked about these tariffs, Lutnick said they were coming. “[Trump] announced it and he wasn’t kidding,” he said.

Lutnick also defended tariffs imposed on two tiny Antarctic islands populated only by penguins, saying it was to close “loopholes” for countries such as China to “ship through”.

Bessent used an interview with Meet the Press on NBC to argue Trump had “created maximum leverage for himself, and more than 50 countries have approached the administration about lowering their non-tariff trade barriers, lowering their tariffs, stopping currency manipulation”.

Kevin Hassett, another top economic adviser to Trump, also repeated the claim that more than 50 countries had expressed a desire to begin negotiations. Neither Hassett nor Bessent gave further details of which countries had been in touch.

Elsewhere, Indonesia and Taiwan have said over the weekend that they will not impose retaliatory tariffs after the US announced a 32% levy on imports from both countries.

Vietnam’s leader, To Lam, has asked Trump to delay a 46% duty on Vietnamese exports to the US by “at least 45 days”, according to a letter seen by news agency AFP and the New York Times.

However, China announced on Friday that it will impose a 34% tariff on all US imports, beginning on Thursday 10 April.

• Are Trump’s Asia tariffs a ‘full-frontal assault’ on China?
• Anthony Zurcher: Trump’s agenda grapples with political and economic reality

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned on Saturday that “the world as we knew it has gone”.

Starmer said the UK government will keep pushing for an economic deal with the US that avoids some of the tariffs.

A Downing Street spokesman added Starmer and new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed in a phone call that “an all-out trade war is in no-one’s interest”.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump for trade talks in Washington DC.

Netanyahu, speaking to reporters as he boarded a plane-bound for the US, said he is “the first international leader that is meeting with Trump” since the new tariffs were introduced.

He says this shows their “personal connection and the connection between our countries that is so essential in this time”.

Anti-Trump protests were held in cities across the US over the weekend, in the largest nationwide show of opposition since the president took office in January.

Hundreds of thousands of people turned out in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington DC, among other cities, with protesters citing grievances with Trump’s agenda ranging from social to economic issues.

Trump has urged the US to “hang tough” after the market turmoil but it remains to be seen how the Asian markets will react when they open on Monday.

France’s far-right National Rally (RN) leader Marine Le Pen has called a court ruling banning her from running for office for five years a “witch hunt”.

“I won’t give up,” she told thousands of flag-waving supporters in Place Vauban, close to the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Sunday.

She was on Monday found guilty of helping to embezzle €2.9m (£2.5m) of EU funds between 2004 and 2016 for use by her party. Le Pen has appealed.

At the rally on Sunday she claimed the ruling was a “political decision”, adding: “We are not asking to be above the law, but to not be below the law.”

Bardella, the president of the RN party, told the rally on Sunday that the court ruling was “a direct attack on democracy and a wound to millions of patriotic French people”.

He said he did not want to “discredit all judges” but claimed that the judgement against Le Pen was aimed at “eliminating her from the presidential race” in 2027.

In reply on Sunday Gabriel Attal, the head of French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party, responded by saying “you steal, you pay”.

Attal also denounced “unprecedented interference” in France’s affairs, pointing to support for Le Pen from several right-wing leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban.

US President Donald Trump called her conviction a “very big deal”.

A poll by BFMTV after Monday’s ruling showed that many people in France believe that justice was service in the Le Pen case without bias – 57% according to the poll.

The Paris Court of Appeal said on Tuesday it should be able to provide a decision on the case by the summer of 2026 – several months before the 2027 presidential election.

Le Pen was gearing up to run for the presidency for a fourth time and had a good chance of winning.

On top of the ban on running for public office, Le Pen was also handed a €100,000 (£82,635) fine and four-year prison sentence, of which two years will be suspended.

This will not apply until the appeals process is exhausted, which could take several years.

RN spokesperson Laurent Jacobelli said that although the party would fight to have Le Pen as candidate, its 29-year-old president, Bardella, was “the most naturally legitimate” alternative.

Bardella has steered clear of being drawn into the discussion at this stage, refusing to say whether he was National Rally’s “plan B” and saying after the ruling that the French should be “outraged” by the sentence.

However, a poll published a day before Le Pen was sentenced showed that around 60% of RN voters would back Bardella over Le Pen at the presidential election if he were to run.

France’s President Macron is not entitled to stand for another term at the next presidential election.

This month the government in England will launch a consultation for its men’s health strategy. The move is long overdue, experts say, with men much more likely to die prematurely than women. But why are they in such poor health – and what can be done about it?

Andrew Harrison was running a men’s health clinic from a youth centre in Bradford when he heard a knock. He turned to the door, but no-one was there. Then he heard his name being called. He looked around to see a young man at the window asking for condoms.

“I was on the first floor,” he says, recounting the story from a few years ago. “The lad had shimmied up a drainpipe on the outside of the building because he didn’t want to go through the reception and ask.”

The anecdote, in many ways, encapsulates the challenges over men’s health – a combination of risk-taking behaviour and a lack of confidence and skills to engage with health services.

In the UK men are more likely to smoke, drink alcohol, use drugs and have high cholesterol and blood pressure.

These are major contributors to the fact men have a lower life expectancy than women – by four years – and are nearly 60% more likely to die prematurely before the age of 75 with heart disease, lung cancer, liver disease and in accidents.

Prof Alan White, who co-founded the Men’s Health Forum charity and set up a dedicated men’s health centre at Leeds Beckett University, says the issue needs to be taken more seriously.

He cites the pandemic as an example, pointing out that 19,000 more men than women died from Covid. “Where was the outrage? Where was the attention?”

He says it is too easy to blame men’s poor health on their lifestyles, arguing “it’s much more complex than that.”

He says there are biological reasons – the male immune system is less able to fight off infection. But, as the story of the young man seeking condoms above demonstrates, they can also lack the skills to access health services.

Prof White says: “Men are less health-literate, that is to say they don’t develop the skills to talk about their health and recognise and act on the signs. Men’s health is very static from their teenage years right through into their 40s generally – many go years without seeing a health professional.

“It is different for women. Getting contraception, having cervical screening and then childbirth means many women have regular contact with health services in a way men do not.”

Machismo is also a factor, says Mark Brooks, the policy adviser for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Men’s and Boy’s Issues, which has played a key role in influencing the government to draw up a men’s health strategy.

“In society we have different expectations in regards to men. They are expected to man up and get on with things, to be strong and resilient.”

But he says when it comes to men’s health it is important to pay particular attention to the impact of deprivation. Life expectancy in the poorest 10% of areas is 10 years less than in the wealthiest – a larger gap than is seen for women – and in the most deprived areas a man is 3.5 times more likely to die before the age of 75.

“You cannot ignore the stark differences when it comes to left-behind communities and those working in blue-collar jobs like construction and manufacturing,” he says. “The way health services are designed isn’t working for men.”

NHS health checks, which are offered every five years to those aged 40 to 74, are considered a crucial intervention when it comes to many of the diseases which are claiming the lives of men early. But fewer than four in 10 men take up the offer.

“Someone working in construction or on an industrial estate will find it very difficult to take time off whether that’s for a health check or to go and see their GP.”

Mr Brooks says he would like to see employees given a right to two hours’ paid time off to go for health checks as well as seeing them delivered in places where blue-collar workers are employed, such as industrial estates.

But he says this is also an issue about employment – with some men in these roles scared to face up to health problems that develop in their 40s and 50s – ignoring early warning signs or hiding illnesses from bosses altogether because of what it may mean for their work.

He adds that job worries and financial concerns, along with relationship problems, are a big driver in the high suicide rates seen among men. Three-quarters of people who take their own lives are men.

Despite this, just a third of people sent for talking therapies are men, which may suggest that services are not doing enough to consider men’s needs.

“How services are set up to recognise signs of depression and anxiety is not how men express them – they are more likely to display signs of anger, abuse alcohol or become withdrawn and push people away,” says Prof White.

Ethnic differences are also important to recognise, he says. For example, black men in England are twice as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, while men from Indian or Bangladeshi backgrounds are at particularly high risk of diabetes.

But none of this means men are not interested in their own health, says Prof Paul Galdas, a men’s health expert at York University. “Men will open up and want to be engaged, but to do that you have to base it around actions and activities.”

He has helped develop a six-week mental fitness programme in partnership with the Movember men’s health movement that has been trialled on NHS front-line workers following Covid. Now it is being used by Leeds United football club for its youth players.

Men are provided with support to understand how behaviour affects moods, they are encouraged to track their habits and set goals for healthy activities.

“It can be about going for a walk, seeing friends, playing golf and developing problem-solving skills to protect mental health. Good mental health leads to good physical health.”

Similar activity-based initiatives can be found in a number of local areas where charities, councils and local men’s groups have worked together to set up schemes.

The Men’s Sheds movement is perhaps the most well-known where men are encouraged to come together and bond and support each other while doing practical projects.

Prof White says now is the time to build on these foundations – something a national men’s health strategy is vital for. He says it will help “shine a spotlight” on the issue in a similar way to the women’s health strategy did back in 2022 – that led to the creation of a network of women’s health hubs and women’s health champions at the heart of government.

But he also wants it to act as a “wake-up call” for men themselves. He says there are some simple steps every man should consider.

“Look at your waist size – if you are carrying weight, if your tummy is too big try to do something. Get moving, get out and about and talk to people.

“Take every opportunity to get a health check or screened. And, if you notice changes to body or the way you are managing problems, seek help.”

Israel’s army has admitted its soldiers made mistakes over the killing of 15 emergency workers in southern Gaza on 23 March.

The convoy of Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulances, a UN car and a fire truck from Gaza’s Civil Defence came under fire near Rafah.

Israel originally claimed troops opened fire because the convoy approached “suspiciously” in darkness without headlights or flashing lights. It said movement of the vehicles had not been previously co-ordinated or agreed with the army.

Mobile phone footage, filmed by one of the paramedics who was killed, showed the vehicles did have lights on as they answered a call to help wounded people.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) insists at least six of the medics were linked to Hamas – but has so far provided no evidence. It admits they were unarmed when the soldiers opened fire.

The mobile video, originally shared by the New York Times, shows the vehicles pulling up on the road when, without warning, shooting begins just before dawn.

The footage continues for more than five minutes, with the paramedic, named as Refat Radwan, heard saying his last prayers before the voices of Israeli soldiers are heard approaching the vehicles.

An IDF official briefed journalists on Saturday evening, saying the soldiers had earlier fired on a car containing three Hamas members.

When the ambulances responded and approached the area, aerial surveillance monitors informed the soldiers on the ground of the convoy “advancing suspiciously”.

When the ambulances stopped beside the Hamas car, the soldiers assumed they were under threat and opened fire, the official said, despite no evidence any of the emergency team was armed.

Israel has admitted its earlier account claiming the vehicles approached without lights was inaccurate, attributing the report to the troops involved.

The video footage shows the vehicles were clearly marked and the paramedics wore reflective hi-vis uniform.

The soldiers buried the bodies of the 15 dead workers in sand to protect them from wild animals, the official said, claiming the vehicles were moved and buried the following day to clear the road.

They were not uncovered until a week after the incident because international agencies, including the UN, could not organise safe passage to the area or locate the spot.

When an aid team found the bodies they also discovered Refat Radwan’s mobile phone containing footage of the incident.

The Israeli military official denied any of the medics were handcuffed before they died and said they were not executed at close range, as some reports had suggested.

Earlier this week, a surviving paramedic told the BBC the ambulances had their lights on and denied his colleagues were linked with any militant group.

The IDF promised a “thorough examination” of the incident, saying it would “understand the sequence of events and the handling of the situation”.

The Red Crescent and many other international organisations are calling for an independent investigation.

Israel renewed its aerial bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza on 18 March after the first phase of a ceasefire deal came to an end and negotiations on a second phase stalled.

More than 1,200 people have since been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

More than 50,600 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Two Labour MPs say they are “astounded” to have been denied entry to Israel while on a trip to visit the occupied West Bank.

Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang said it was “vital” parliamentarians were able to witness the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory first-hand.

They were refused entry because they intended to “spread hate speech” against Israel, the nation’s population and immigration authority said.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy criticised Israeli authorities, describing the move as “unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning”.

But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Israel had a right to “control its borders”, adding it was “significant” there were Labour MPs other countries did not want to let in.

Yang, the MP for Earley and Woodley, and Mohamed, the MP for Sheffield Central, flew to Israel from London Luton Airport with two aides on Saturday afternoon.

The Israeli immigration authority said Interior Minister Moshe Arbel denied entry to all four passengers after they were questioned. It accused them of travelling to “document the security forces”.

The Israeli embassy in London said in a statement on Saturday that the country “will not allow the entry of individuals or entities that act against the state and its citizens”.

It said Mohamed and Yang had “accused Israel of false claims” and were “actively involved in promoting sanctions against Israeli ministers”.

It also said they had supported campaigns aimed at boycotting the country “at a time when Israel is at war and under attack on seven fronts”.

The UK Foreign Office said the group was part of a parliamentary delegation. However, Israel’s immigration authority said the delegation had not been acknowledged by an Israeli official.

The Israeli embassy said the MPs “were offered hotel accommodation, which they declined” and the cost of their return flight to the UK was covered.

Israel’s Interior Ministry said the MPs left the country early on Sunday.

Mohamed and Yang said their trip had been organised with UK charities that had “over a decade of experience in taking parliamentary delegations”.

“We are two, out of scores of MPs, who have spoken out in Parliament in recent months on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the importance of complying with international humanitarian law,” the MPs said in a joint statement.

“Parliamentarians should feel free to speak truthful in the House of Commons, without fear of being targeted.”

Lammy said the Foreign Office had been in touch with both MPs to offer support, adding: “I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians.”

The Council for Arab-British Understanding and Medical Aid for Palestinians – the latter of which is a registered UK charity – said in a joint statement that they had organised the trip.

“This visit was part of that long-standing programme,” they said.

“When questioned, the group was clear, open and transparent about the aims and objectives of the visit, which included visiting a range of projects run by humanitarian and development organisations operating in the West Bank.

“The group had informed the UK consul general in Jerusalem of their visit and was planning to meet with them as part of the itinerary.”

Both Yang and Mohamed – who were first elected in 2024 – have made several interventions on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Parliament.

In February, Mohamed initiated a cross-party letter, signed by 61 MPs and lords, calling for a ban on goods from Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory, citing an opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

She has also criticised Israel for withholding humanitarian aid from Gaza, telling the House of Commons in October that international law “prohibits the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare”, and has mentioned humanitarian organisations’ claims of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza.

In January, Yang spoke in favour of bringing sanctions against Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, after they suggested building Israeli settlements in northern Gaza to encourage Palestinians to leave.

She has also highlighted the dangerous conditions journalists and medical professionals face while in the Palestinian territory.

When asked about Israel’s decision, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that countries “should be able to control their borders”.

“What I think is shocking is that we have MPs in Labour [who] other countries won’t allow through,” Badenoch said. “I think that’s very significant.”

Her comments were rebuffed by Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs select committee, who described Yang and Mohamed as “highly respected parliamentarians” and “potential leaders”.

“Israel is badly advised to try and alienate them, to humiliate them and to treat them in this way,” she told the programme.

“I think that it’s an insult to Britain and I think it’s an insult to Parliament.”

Sir Ed Davey accused Badenoch of “yet another complete shocker”.

The Liberal Democrat leader said she “has once again shown unbelievably poor judgement by failing to back two British MPs denied entry to Israel”.

Lammy called Badenoch’s comments “disgraceful”, asking her: “Do you say the same about Tory MPs banned from China?”

During the war in Gaza, there have been protests, violent incidents and raids by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Hundreds of deaths have been reported there.

Israeli troops have been engaged in an extended operation in the occupied Palestinian territory, where two Palestinians were killed on Friday.

The current war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.

Since then, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 50,000 people have been killed. It said 1,309 people have died since a ceasefire ended on 18 March.

Lammy said: “The UK government’s focus remains securing a return to the ceasefire and negotiations to stop the bloodshed, free the hostages and end the conflict in Gaza.”

A second child has died from measles as an outbreak of the the highly contagious virus continues to grow in western Texas.

The school-aged child was not vaccinated, had no underlying health conditions and was in hospital suffering complications from measles, Aaron Davis, the vice president of UMC Health System, told the BBC.

Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has faced a backlash over his handling of the outbreak, will reportedly head to Texas this week in the wake of the death.

The state reported more than 480 cases of measles this year as of Friday, a jump from 420 earlier in the week. The outbreak has extended to neighbouring states.

“This unfortunate event underscores the importance of vaccination,” Mr Davis said in a statement. “Measles is a highly contagious disease that can lead to serious complications, particularly for those who are unvaccinated.”

The child – an eight-year-old girl – died early on Thursday of “measles pulmonary failure”, according to the New York Times, which was the first to report after obtaining hospital records.

The BBC has contacted the state health department and the US Department of Health and Human Services for confirmation. Both agencies did not list the death in their case counts on Friday.

In February, an unvaccinated six-year-old girl in the local Mennonite community was the first child to die of measles in the US in a decade. In March, an unvaccinated man died in New Mexico after contracting the virus, though his cause of death is still under investigation.

The US has recorded more than 600 cases of measles this year, many related to the outbreak that began in western Texas. Cases in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas are likely linked to the original outbreak, public health experts say.

Nearly all the cases are in unvaccinated people.

The virus – which can cause a fever, red rash, cough and other symptoms – is associated with a host of complications, including pneumonia, brain swelling and death.

The US declared measles eliminated from the country in 2000. But outbreaks have grown since then with a rise in anti-vaccine sentiment.

Two shots of the immunization – proven safe – are 97% effective at preventing the virus and reduce severe infections. To achieve herd immunity – when enough of a group is immune to a disease, limiting its spread and protecting the unvaccinated – around 95% of the population must have the shots.

The outbreak originated in a religious community that strongly rejects vaccines. Local health officials in western Texas have told the BBC they have seen limited progress in attempts to improve vaccination rates.

Meanwhile, Kennedy’s response to the worsening outbreaks has been muted.

At first, as cases began to spiral, he described the situation as “not unusual”. He changed his tune after the first child measles death, but stopped short of recommending that parents vaccinate their children. He instead encouraged them to talk to their doctors about the shot, language public health experts have criticized.

The vaccine sceptic has also at times promoted Vitamin A as a treatment for measles, which doctors say should only be provided in certain cases under the guidance of a physician.

In Lubbock, Covenant Children’s Hospital has treated several children for Vitamin A toxicity after they were sent to the hospital for measles complications.

India’s longest and most holy river, the Ganges, is home to thousands of dolphins. But their survival is under threat.

But these aren’t like the ones found in oceans. They don’t leap out of the water in spectacular arcs; surface for long intervals or swim in an upright position. Instead, they swim sideways, spend much of their time underwater, have long snouts and are almost completely blind.

These are Gangetic dolphins, a species of river dolphin – and India’s national aquatic animal – that’s found largely in the Ganges-Brahmaputra river system in the northern part of the country.

A new survey finds India’s rivers host around 6,327 river dolphins – 6,324 Gangetic and just three Indus dolphins. A majority of the Indus dolphins are found in Pakistan as the river flows through both the South Asian countries.

Both these dolphin species are classified as “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India surveyed 58 rivers across 10 states between 2021 and 2023 to produce the first comprehensive count of India’s river dolphins.

The origins of river dolphins are as fascinating as the creatures themselves. Often called “living fossils”, they evolved from marine ancestors millions of years ago, say scientists.

When the sea once flooded low-lying areas of South Asia, these dolphins moved inland – and when the waters receded, they stayed. Over time, they adapted to murky, shallow rivers, developing traits that set them apart from their ocean-dwelling cousins.

Experts say the new survey is crucial for tracking river dolphin populations. Since 1980, at least 500 dolphins have died – many accidentally caught in fishing nets or killed deliberately – highlighting the ongoing threat to the species.

Conservationist Ravindra Kumar Sinha says that up until the early 2000s, there was very little awareness about river dolphins.

In 2009, the Gangetic river dolphin was declared India’s national aquatic animal to boost conservation. Steps like a 2020 action plan and a dedicated research centre in 2024 have since helped revive its numbers.

However, conservationists say there’s still a long way to go.

Dolphins continue to be poached for their flesh and blubber, from which oil is extracted to use as fishing bait. Other times, they collide with boats or get caught in fishing lines and die.

Nachiket Kelkar of the Wildlife Conservation Trust told Sanctuary Asia magazine that many fishermen often didn’t report accidental deaths of dolphins fearing legal trouble.

Under Indian wildlife laws, accidental or targeted dolphin killings are treated as “hunting” and carry strict penalties. As a result, many poor fishermen quietly dispose of the carcasses to avoid fines.

River cruise tourism, which has picked up in India in the past decade, has further threatened their habitat. Dozens of cruise trips operate on both the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers.

“There’s no doubt that disturbances from cruises will gravely impact the dolphins, which are sensitive to noise,” conservationist Ravindra Kumar Sinha told The Guardian newspaper.

Mr Sinha believes that increased vessel traffic could push Gangetic dolphins towards extinction, much like it did to Baiji dolphins in China’s Yangtze river.

River dolphins face threats partly due to their own evolution. Nearly blind, they rely on echolocation – high-pitched sound pulses that bounce off objects and return as echoes – to navigate murky waters. While this trait suits their habitat, it also makes them vulnerable to modern threats.

Their poor eyesight and slow swimming speed make river dolphins especially prone to collisions with boats and other obstacles. Adding to their vulnerability is their slow reproductive cycle – they mature between six and 10 years of age and females typically give birth to just one calf every two to three years.

But Mr Sinha is hopeful about the future of river dolphins in India. “Government initiatives have played a big role in saving the dolphins. A lot has been done but a lot more remains to be done too,” he says.

A Minecraft Movie has proven to be a box office success, bringing in an estimated $300m (£233m) globally during its opening weekend.

The film, based on the wildly popular video game, was heavily delayed but finally hit the big screen on Friday.

It boasts a star-studded cast including Jason Momoa, Jack Black and Jennifer Coolidge.

The estimates place the film’s earnings well above its reported production budget of $150m.

Around half of the film’s global takings came from North America, according to EntTelligence.

The box office numbers come despite reviews for the film being mostly underwhelming.

The Telegraph awarded it two stars, saying the charm of the video game was “nowhere to be found”, while the Guardian gave it just one star, saying it has “a cobbled-together feel”.

It does not appear to have stopped families showing up in force to see it.

“It has definitely overperformed all industry projections,” said Steve Buck, chief strategy officer at EntTelligence, which said the film had enjoyed a late ticket surge.

He said the film “hit with all audiences”, with around a quarter of those going to see it being under the age of 13, and more than half being male.

“When dads like a family film, that’s a good thing,” he told BBC News.

“It’s the largest domestic opening of 2025, and the largest for Warner Bros since 2023,” he added.

Minecraft is one of the world’s best selling video games (more than 300 million copies and counting, according to Statista).

The film tells the story of four misfits who are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld – the place where all players start in Minecraft.

There has been a long history of game-to-film flops. But others, such as Sonic and The Super Mario Bros Movie, were massive hits.

In press notes circulated ahead of the film’s release, Black, 55, acknowledged there was a lot of pressure to deliver for fans of the blocky world.

“This game has been loved by millions and millions all over the world for years now, and I think this movie is a big deal for a lot of people, because now it’s generational,” he said.

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Jaguar Land Rover has announced it will “pause” all shipments to the US as it works to “address the new trading terms” after tariffs were imposed earlier this week.

A 25% levy on car imports came into force on Thursday, one of several measures announced by US President Donald Trump which have sent shockwaves through global supply chains.

The US is the second largest export market for the UK’s car industry, after the European Union.

In a statement, a Jaguar Land Rover spokesperson said the company was “taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid to longer-term plans”.

The Coventry-based car manufacturer – which also has sites in Solihull and Wolverhampton – said the US is an “important market for JLR’s luxury brands”.

More cars are exported to the US from the UK than any other goods. In a 12-month period up to the end of the third quarter of 2024, the trade was worth £8.3bn, according to the UK trade department.

An initial wave of tariffs on cars came into effect from 3 April, with import taxes on auto parts due to follow next month.

Car maker Nissan is thinking about moving some of its production of US-bound vehicles from Japan to the US as early as this summer, financial newspaper Nikkei has reported.

Earlier this week Nissan said it would keep two production shifts at its plant in Tennessee, after announcing plans to scale back operations there in January.

Meanwhile, carmaker Stellantis has said it will temporarily shut down its assembly plant in Windsor, a Canadian city on the US border, next week due to the new tariffs.

The United Auto Workers union – which represents those working in car manufacturing in the United States and southern Ontario, Canada – has applauded the introduction of tariffs, saying the move “signals a return to policies that prioritise the workers who build this country, rather than the greed of ruthless corporations”

A separate 10% tariff will be imposed on all other UK imports, with higher rates in place for some other major economies.

Global stock markets have incurred heavy losses in recent days as firms grapple with how to adapt to the new trading environment.

The FTSE 100 – which measures the performance of the 100 leading firms listed on the London Stock Exchange – plummeted by 4.9% on Friday, its steepest fall since the start of the pandemic.

Exchanges in Germany and France also saw similar declines.

Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK will take a calm approach to the trade tariffs and has ruled out “jumping into a trade war”.

He warned “the world as we knew it has gone” but said he was prepared to use industrial policy to “shelter British business from the storm”.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Sir Keir said he will continue to seek a trade deal with the US to avoid some tariffs, but mooted state intervention to protect the national interest.

Sir Keir is holding talks with other European leaders to discuss how to respond to the White House’s trade moves.

The prime minister spoke to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, the first of several discussions planned between Sir Keir and European leaders over the weekend.

Downing Street said Sir Keir and Macron had agreed “a trade war was in nobody’s interest” but “nothing should be off the table”.

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has announced he will suspend tariffs on goods imported from the US in an attempt to build a “positive relationship” with President Donald Trump’s administration.

The move comes days after Trump imposed 18% tariffs on Zimbabwean exports to the US.

“This measure is intended to facilitate the expansion of American imports within the Zimbabwean market, while simultaneously promoting the growth of Zimbabwean exports destined for the United States,” Mnangagwa said on X.

Zimbabwe has had strained diplomatic relations with the US since it adopted a controversial land policy about 25 years ago, and because of its poor human rights record.

Trade between the two countries amounted to only $111.6m (£86.6m) in 2024, US government data shows.

Follow live: Global leaders try to soften tariffs impact

The US exported goods worth $43.8m to Zimbabwe in 2024, up 10.6% from the previous year, while imports were down 41% to $67.8m.

Zimbabwean political analyst Tendai Mbanje told AFP news agency that the decision would not result in substantial economic benefits for Zimbabwe and would would only benefit the US.

Prominent Zimbabwean journalist and government critic Hopewell Chin’ono said the president appeared to be trying to “appease” the Trump administration.

Mnangawa possibly hopes that the administration would lift sanctions imposed on him, but it was a “long shot”, he added on X.

The US first imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe’s government during the rule of Robert Mugabe after he introduced a land reform programme in 2000 that led to the seizure of white-owned farms, and because of repressive measures taken against the opposition.

The Biden administration in the US scrapped the sanctions in 2024, replacing them with targeted sanctions on 11 individuals – including Mnangagwa – for “democratic backsliding, human rights abuses, and government corruption”.

Mnangagwa has previously denied the allegations, describing the sanctions as “illegal and unjustified”.

Announcing his decision to waive tariffs on US imports, he said Zimbabwe’s focus was on “fostering amicable relations with all nations, and cultivating adversarial relationships with none”.

“This action underscores our commitment to a framework of equitable trade and enhanced bilateral cooperation,” he added.

Chin’ono said that Mnangagwa is currently the chairman of the regional bloc SADC, and should be trying to forge a common response to the US rather than acting unilaterally.

“When countries face global economic shifts, coordinated responses offer better leverage and stability,” he added.

Lesotho – another southern African state – was hit with 50% tariffs, the highest in the list released by Trump on Wednesday.

Its government said it would send a delegation to the US to negotiate a new deal, and it would look for new markets for its goods.

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A manhunt is under way after three bodies were found in a residential building in a village in western Germany.

The suspect fled when officers arrived at the scene in Weitefeld, Westerwald, and is on the run, a police spokesperson told the German Press Agency.

The victims were a family, police said, and include a 47-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman and a 16-year-old boy.

Police advised residents in the surrounding area to stay at home, and warned people not to pick up hitchhikers, local media reported.

German outlet Bild reported that a special task force was on site and a police helicopter is being used.

Weitefeld, which has a population of about 2,200, was cordoned off and vehicles entering and leaving are being checked.

The search will continue until the suspect is apprehended, including through the night, police said.

A police spokesperson told Bild that an emergency call came at 3:45am local time (2.45am BST).

Weitefeld’s mayor Karl-Heinz Kessler said he could never “have imagined such an act” in his small community.

“You know the people here in the village,” he told Der Spiegel.

He added that the victims and the suspect were long-standing residents.

Adrien Brody, Cate Blanchett and Idris Elba were among the stars walking the red carpet ahead of Sunday’s Olivier Awards.

The event is the biggest night in UK theatre, celebrating the best stage productions of the last 12 months.

• Watch Oliviers red carpet highlights on iPlayer

Here are a few of the stars who posed for pictures ahead of the ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall:

Sam was lying in bed one morning when her tenant in a house she owned in Margate sent her a photo of a piece of graffiti that had appeared on the wall outside.

Astonishingly, it looked like a Banksy. It would turn out to be perhaps the graffiti artist’s most interesting new artwork of recent years, Valentine’s Day Mascara (pictured above), which was revealed in Margate on Valentine’s Day, 2023.

Bamboozled, Sam googled: what do you do when you wake up with a Banksy on your wall?

“What did Google say about that?” I asked her.

“Nothing! And I was like, I need to contact the council, I need to find an art gallery who can advise me.”

Sam called Julian Usher at Red Eight Gallery. Julian’s team, conscious that new Banksys are under immediate threat from street cleaners, the weather, rival graffiti artists and other art dealers, promised he’d be in Margate within the hour: “We knew we had to get the piece covered,” say Julian.

And there was another reason Julian got to Margate double-quick: if Banksy chooses your wall for one of his drawings, you could be seriously in the money.

For the second season of my BBC Radio 4 podcast The Banksy Story, which is called When Banksy Comes To Town, I’ve been following the very different fates of two sets of homeowners who wake up one day to find a Banksy on their wall. The season shows just how important his graffiti becomes for a local community – and why people disagree so vehemently about what should happen after it’s discovered.

Sam became the custodian of Valentine’s Day Mascara, which speaks to the theme of domestic violence, incidents of which usually spike each Valentine’s Day. It’s a complicated bit of work. A peppy 50s housewife with a black eye has bludgeoned her partner. A real pan with flecks of red is at her feet, and his painted legs are upended into the real fridge-freezer that Banksy left by the wall. A broken plastic chair testifies to the fight they have had.

Later on the day it appeared, refuse collectors arrived to spirit away the fridge-freezer. This precipitated a free-for-all, with the public helping themselves to the remnants. It was mayhem.

A media scrum, a wrong-footed local council, millions of global onlookers. Exactly, one suspects, what Banksy wanted.

And this time, just for laughs, he left behind oil painter Peter Brown, commissioned to capture the scenes he would miss. I spoke to Pete “The Street” Brown for my series. “The whole reason I was employed was because Banksy was questioning what was the art about,” Pete explained. “Is it about the graffiti? Or is it about the reaction afterwards, and what happens to it?”

As luck would have it, Pete was captured on video just as Banksy’s team were putting the finishing touches to Valentine’s Day Mascara – a video that The Banksy Story managed to obtain. In it we can see that one of Banksy’s team let a local kid play with their drone.

“They’re in the process of putting a large piece on a wall and yet they’re taking the time to teach a kid how to fly a drone,” says Steph Warren, who used to work with Banksy and who appeared in my first series – about the artist’s rise and rise. “Very sweet!”

Alongside Sam, I’ve been following the story of Gert and Gary. They, like Sam, did not want me to use their last name. A 30ft-high seagull appeared one morning on the wall of their buy-to-let in Lowestoft in Suffolk. The bird needed to be massive for Banksy’s ambitious visual gag to work. The artist had shoved large yellow insulation strips into a skip that now looked like a fast-food container that the seagull divebombed to steal chips.

Banksy had chosen his wall well. Visitors arriving by train were treated to this witty meditation on the scourge of Britain’s seaside towns, equal parts warning and celebration. The Lowestoft Seagull was part of Banksy’s Great British Staycation, his post-Covid lockdown campaign to cheer us all up at the prospect of a summer holiday spent in the UK.

But Gert was not cheered-up at all. “It’s not a seagull, it’s an albatross!” she quipped when I went to interview her.

“How did you know it was a Banksy?” I asked.

“There was scaffolding erected on the side of the house. I tried to find out if it was a particular scaffolding firm, but there was no phone number,” Gert replied. “On the Monday morning the letting agency informed me that I could possibly have a Banksy. By then the scaffolding had gone and this seagull appeared.”

This fits with what we know of Banksy’s modus operandi. He claims hiding in plain sight is the best way to remain invisible. “If questioned about your legitimacy,” he wrote in his book Wall & Piece, “simply complain about the hourly rate.”

It’s a good gag. But how fun is it for the folk on the other end of his spray can?

I found that with good hustling skills a Banksied homeowner might see their bank balance expanded, but it’s not an easy process.

As Gert explains, exasperated, “Lowestoft people commented that it belongs to Lowestoft… But nobody’s turned up to say, ‘we’ll help you protect it’. It doesn’t belong to the person filming it, or the person taking pictures with their children. The problem is mine!”

Gert had to contend with people putting their children into the skip for photo opportunities, the council trying to charge her for Perspex screens, and the threat of a Preservation Order which might have cost her £40,000 a year.

And the two stories I’ve been following have ended up having entirely different outcomes.

Both artworks have been taken off the houses they were painted on – a complex, expensive operation that uses specialist equipment – so they can be sold. But while the Banksy in Margate is now on the verge of selling for well over £1m, with a sizeable chunk set to go to a domestic violence charity, and with the piece remaining in the town for the foreseeable future, the Banksy up the coast in Lowestoft languishes in a climate-controlled warehouse, costing its owners £3,000 per month.

It has cost Gert and her partner Gary around £450,000 so far to preserve the piece and although there are buyers sniffing around, nobody has bought it yet. Speaking about the situation, Gary told me: “I’m so angry at what’s going on.”

Not everyone approves of people trying to sell Banksy’s street art.

Steph Warren – who starred in the first series of The Banksy Story as the only person ever to work for Banksy without signing his non-disclosure agreement – suggests that worried homeowners should simply “get busy with five litres of white emulsion and paint it out”.

Owner of street-art gallery Stelladore in St Leonards, Warren is a purist, who feels that art made for the street should remain there, no matter its value. “With Banksy, where he puts the art is fundamental,” she says. “Remove the work from the precise place on the streets that he put it, and the work instantly loses its power. Context is everything.”

But Banksy has elevated graffiti into a new art form, now monetised – street art. Banksy’s signed prints can sell for six-figure sums. Graffiti, or street art, has not just come of age, it is now an asset class. Given this, how can any homeowner feel okay about scrubbing away a Banksy without feeling as if they have smashed a Ming vase?

One thing I know for sure: if you wake up with a Banksy on your wall, you’ll have to make a series of clever decisions to come out of it unscathed. As Sam says, after two years of dealing with the Banksy circus, “going back to normal life now is going to be terribly boring”.

A pair of critically endangered giant tortoises aged about 100 years old have become first-time parents at Philadelphia Zoo.

The zoo said this week it was “overjoyed” at the arrival of four hatchlings from Abrazzo and Mommy, a pair Western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoises.

The births were a “first” in the zoo’s 150-plus-year history, it said, and Mommy – who arrived in 1932 – was the oldest known first-time mother of her species.

Western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoises are critically endangered in the wild, and there are fewer than 50 kept in US zoos.

The first of Abrazzo and Mommy’s eggs hatched on 27 February, and others quickly followed. The zoo’s animal care team is monitoring others that could still hatch in the coming weeks.

The four hatchlings weigh between 70 and 80 grams.

They are being kept behind-the-scenes, inside Philadelphia Zoo’s Reptile and Amphibian House, and are “eating and growing appropriately”, the zoo said.

It is planning a public debut of the quartet on Wednesday 23 April, which is “the 93rd anniversary of Mommy’s arrival at the zoo”.

The hatchlings are part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ breeding programme, aimed at the survival of species and genetic diversity.

“This is a significant milestone in the history of Philadelphia Zoo, and we couldn’t be more excited to share this news with our city, region and the world,” the zoo’s president and CEO Jo-Elle Mogerman said in a statement.

“Mommy arrived at the zoo in 1932, meaning anyone that has visited the zoo for the last 92 years has likely seen her,” Ms Mogerman said.

Abrazzo is a newer arrival, having moved to Philadelphia in 2020 after previously living at the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in South Carolina.

“Philadelphia Zoo’s vision is that those hatchlings will be a part of a thriving population of Galapagos tortoises on our healthy planet 100 years from now,” she added.

India is a cricket-crazy nation, and it seems the AI chatbot ChatGPT hasn’t missed that fact.

So, when its founder Sam Altman fed it the prompt: “Sam Altman as a cricket player in anime style”, the bot seems to have immediately generated an image of Altman wielding a bat in a bright blue India jersey.

Altman shared his anime cricketer avatar on X on Thursday, sending Indian social media users into a tizzy.

Though the tech billionaire had shared AI-generated images before – joining last week’s viral Studio Ghibli trend – it was the India jersey that got people talking.

While some Indian users said they were delighted to see Altman sporting their team’s colours, many were quick to speculate about his motives behind sharing the image.

“Sam trying hard to attract Indian customers,” one user said.

“Now awaiting your India announcement. How much are you allocating out of that $40bn to India,” another user asked, alluding to the record funding recently secured by Altman for his firm, OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT.

Yet another user put into words a pattern he seemed to have spotted in Altman’s recent social media posts – and a question that seems to be on many Indian users’ minds.

“Over the past few days, you’ve been praising India and Indian customers a lot. How did this sudden love for India come about? It feels like there’s some deep strategy going on behind the scenes,” he wrote on X.

While the comment may sound a bit conspiratorial, there’s some truth to at least part of it.

Just hours before Altman shared his image in the cricket jersey, he’d shared a post on X praising India’s adoption of AI technology. He said it was “amazing to watch” and that it was “outpacing the world”.

This post too went viral in India, while the media wrote numerous stories documenting users’ reactions to it.

Someone even started a Reddit thread which quite comically aired the Redditor’s curiosity, and perhaps, confusion.

“Can someone tell me what Sam Altman is talking about here in his tweet?” the person posted on Reddit sharing Altman’s post.

A few days earlier, Altman had retweeted Studio Ghibli-style images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which were shared by the federal government’s citizen engagement platform.

All these posts of Altman have generated a fair amount of comments questioning his motives.

The scepticism around Altman’s perceived courting of India could be because of his past views on the country’s AI capabilities.

During a visit in 2023, he had sounded almost dismissive of small Indian start-ups making AI tools that could compete with OpenAI’s creations.

Asked at a event how a small, smart team with a low budget of about $10m could build substantial AI foundational models, he answered that it would be “totally hopeless” to attempt this but that entrepreneurs should try anyway.

But when Altman visited India again this year, he had changed his tune.

In a meeting with federal minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in February, Altman expressed an eagerness to collaborate with India on making low-cost AI models.

He also praised India for its swift pace of adopting AI technologies and revealed that the country was OpenAI’s second-largest market, with users tripling over the past year.

The praise comes even as his company is locked in a legal battle with some of India’s biggest news media companies over the alleged unauthorised use of their content.

Experts say that Altman’s seemingly newfound affinity for India might have to do with the country’s profitability as a market.

According to the International Trade Administration, the AI market in India is projected to reach $8bn by 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 40% from 2020 to 2025.

Nikhil Pahwa, founder-editor of MediaNama.com, a technology policy website, says that when it comes to founders of AI companies making “grand statements” about India, it has much to do with the country’s massive user base. He adds that Altman isn’t the only CEO wooing India.

In January, Aravind Srinivas, founder of Perplexity, an AI search engine, also expressed an eagerness to work with Indian AI start-ups.

Mr Srinivas said in a post on X that he was ready to invest $1m and five hours of his time per week to “make India great again in the context of AI”.

Technology writer Prasanto K Roy believes that the Ghibli-trend revealed India’s massive userbase for ChatGPT and, potentially, other AI platforms as well. And with competitor AI models like Gemini and Grok quickly gaining Indian users, Altman may be keen to retain existing users of his firm’s services and also acquire new ones, he says.

“India is a very large client base for all global AI foundational models and with ChatGPT being challenged by the much cheaper DeepSeek AI, Altman is likely eager to acquire more Indian customers and keep Indian developers positively aligned towards building on top of OpenAI’s services,” Mr Pahwa says.

“So when it comes to these grand overtures towards India, there’s no real love; it’s just business,” he adds.

India’s longest and most holy river, the Ganges, is home to thousands of dolphins. But their survival is under threat.

But these aren’t like the ones found in oceans. They don’t leap out of the water in spectacular arcs; surface for long intervals or swim in an upright position. Instead, they swim sideways, spend much of their time underwater, have long snouts and are almost completely blind.

These are Gangetic dolphins, a species of river dolphin – and India’s national aquatic animal – that’s found largely in the Ganges-Brahmaputra river system in the northern part of the country.

A new survey finds India’s rivers host around 6,327 river dolphins – 6,324 Gangetic and just three Indus dolphins. A majority of the Indus dolphins are found in Pakistan as the river flows through both the South Asian countries.

Both these dolphin species are classified as “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India surveyed 58 rivers across 10 states between 2021 and 2023 to produce the first comprehensive count of India’s river dolphins.

The origins of river dolphins are as fascinating as the creatures themselves. Often called “living fossils”, they evolved from marine ancestors millions of years ago, say scientists.

When the sea once flooded low-lying areas of South Asia, these dolphins moved inland – and when the waters receded, they stayed. Over time, they adapted to murky, shallow rivers, developing traits that set them apart from their ocean-dwelling cousins.

Experts say the new survey is crucial for tracking river dolphin populations. Since 1980, at least 500 dolphins have died – many accidentally caught in fishing nets or killed deliberately – highlighting the ongoing threat to the species.

Conservationist Ravindra Kumar Sinha says that up until the early 2000s, there was very little awareness about river dolphins.

In 2009, the Gangetic river dolphin was declared India’s national aquatic animal to boost conservation. Steps like a 2020 action plan and a dedicated research centre in 2024 have since helped revive its numbers.

However, conservationists say there’s still a long way to go.

Dolphins continue to be poached for their flesh and blubber, from which oil is extracted to use as fishing bait. Other times, they collide with boats or get caught in fishing lines and die.

Nachiket Kelkar of the Wildlife Conservation Trust told Sanctuary Asia magazine that many fishermen often didn’t report accidental deaths of dolphins fearing legal trouble.

Under Indian wildlife laws, accidental or targeted dolphin killings are treated as “hunting” and carry strict penalties. As a result, many poor fishermen quietly dispose of the carcasses to avoid fines.

River cruise tourism, which has picked up in India in the past decade, has further threatened their habitat. Dozens of cruise trips operate on both the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers.

“There’s no doubt that disturbances from cruises will gravely impact the dolphins, which are sensitive to noise,” conservationist Ravindra Kumar Sinha told The Guardian newspaper.

Mr Sinha believes that increased vessel traffic could push Gangetic dolphins towards extinction, much like it did to Baiji dolphins in China’s Yangtze river.

River dolphins face threats partly due to their own evolution. Nearly blind, they rely on echolocation – high-pitched sound pulses that bounce off objects and return as echoes – to navigate murky waters. While this trait suits their habitat, it also makes them vulnerable to modern threats.

Their poor eyesight and slow swimming speed make river dolphins especially prone to collisions with boats and other obstacles. Adding to their vulnerability is their slow reproductive cycle – they mature between six and 10 years of age and females typically give birth to just one calf every two to three years.

But Mr Sinha is hopeful about the future of river dolphins in India. “Government initiatives have played a big role in saving the dolphins. A lot has been done but a lot more remains to be done too,” he says.

Long, flowing wigs and weave extensions have dominated the catwalks of Ivory Coast’s massively popular beauty pageants for years.

Contestants in the West African nation often spend a huge amount of money on their appearance, from outfits to hairdos – with very few choosing the natural look.

In more than six decades, there have only been two notable exceptions, the most recent was Marlène-Kany Kouassi, who took the Miss Ivory Coast title in 2022 – looking resplendent with her short natural hair, the crown becoming her only adornment.

Her victory was not only unusual in Ivory Coast but across the world, where Western beauty standards are often the desired look both for those entering contests and for the judges.

Changes are slowly creeping in – last December Angélique Angarni-Filopon, from the French Caribbean island of Martinique, made headlines when she was crowned Miss France, mainly because of her age – she is 34 – and she also sported short Afro hair.

But this year the organisers of the Ivorian competition are shaking things up right from the start.

Wigs, weaves and hair extensions have been banned from the preliminary stages of the competition, which are held in 13 cities across the country (as well as two abroad for those in the diaspora).

“We want the candidates to be natural – whether with braids or straightened hair, it should be their own. Beauty must be raw,” Victor Yapobi, president of the Miss Ivory Coast organising committee, told the BBC.

Ivory Coast is the only African country enforcing the ban for a national competition.

Mr Yapobi said the organisers in Ivory Coast had long been trying to promote a more natural look – for example cosmetic surgery is a no-no and skin lightening is frowned upon.

“We decided this year to truly showcase the natural beauty of these young women,” he said.

Other changes have also been implemented, like allowing slightly shorter women to compete – the minimum is now 1.67m (5.4ft), increasing the age by three years to 28 and – crucially – lowering the entrance fee by more than $30 (£25) to $50.

“This change in criteria is because we observed these young women were putting up a lot of money to participate, and it was becoming a bit of a budget drain.”

When the BBC joined the first preliminary pageant in Daloa, the main city in the western region of Haut-Sassandra, one contestant was overjoyed by the new rules – feeling it gave her a better chance of success as she prefers not to wear wigs.

“I would see other girls with long, artificial hair, and they looked so beautiful,” 21-year-old Emmanuella Dali, a real estate agent, told the BBC.

“This rule gives me more pride as a woman – as an African woman.”

The move aimed at celebrating natural African beauty has sparked a lively debate across the country, where wigs and extensions are popular.

As a fashion choice, many women love the creativity that wigs and weaves allow them. They also serve as what is called “protective style”, which means minimising the daily pulling and tugging on hair that can cause breakages.

This was reflected by some contestants in Daloa who felt the rule removed an element of personal expression.

“I’m a wigs fan. I love wigs,” said contestant and make-up artist Astrid Menekou. The 24-year-old told the BBC she was initially shocked by the no-wig, no-extensions stipulation.

“I didn’t expect this rule! But now? I like my hair, and that’s OK.”

The new rule has made the competitors think more about concepts of beauty – and changed some opinions, like those of Laetitia Mouroufie.

“Last year, I had extensions because I thought that’s what beauty meant,” the 25-year-old student told the BBC.

“This year, I feel more confident being myself.”

Should the competition influence attitudes beyond the pageant world, it could have huge economic implications.

Wigs from human hair, which can last for years if cared for properly, can range in price from an estimated $200 to $4,000, while synthetic ones cost around $10 to $300.

Ivory Coast’s hair industry is worth more than $300m a year, with wigs and weaves making up a significant share of that market.

“This rule is not good for us,” Ange Sea, a 30-year-old hairdresser in Daloa, told the BBC.

“Many women love wigs. This will hurt our business and we make more money when working with wigs and weaves.”

At her salon, glue will be used to carefully attach wigs to make them look more natural and women will spend hours having weaves and extensions put in.

It shows how deeply engrained wig culture is in West Africa, despite a natural hair movement that has been gaining momentum among black women around the world over the last decade.

Natural hair products have become much more readily available and natural hair influencers proliferate on social media worldwide with advice on how to manage and style natural hair, which can be time-consuming.

It used to be considered unprofessional to wear one’s hair naturally and it would have been extraordinary to see black female TV stars on screen or CEOs in the boardroom with natural hair.

According to Florence Edwige Nanga, a hair and scalp specialist in the main Ivorian city of Abidjan, this is often still the case in Ivory Coast.

“Turn on the TV [here], and you’ll see almost every journalist wearing a wig,” the trichologist told the BBC.

“These beauty enhancements are fashionable, but they can also cause problems – like alopecia or scalp infections,” she warned.

With the preliminary rounds under way, arguments over whether pageants should be setting beauty rules or women should decide such things for themselves continues.

The outcome may be that there is more of an acceptance of both in Ivory Coast, allowing women to switch styles up – between natural hair and wigs and weaves.

Mr Yapobi said the feedback he had received over the new rules was “extraordinary” and clearly showed it was having an impact.

“Everyone congratulates us. Everyone, even from abroad. I receive emails and WhatsApp messages from everywhere congratulating us for wanting to return to our roots.”

He said no decision had been taken about whether the wig ban would apply to the 15 contestants who make it to the final of Miss Ivory Coast 2025.

This extravaganza will take place at a hotel in Abidjan at the end of June and will be broadcast on national TV.

“If it works, we’ll continue and carry on this initiative in the years to come,” Mr Yapobi said.

For Doria Koré, who went on to be named Miss Haut-Sassandra, her crown holds even more significance: “Winning with natural hair shows the true beauty of African women.”

Ms Dali said she was walking away with something even more valuable – self-confidence: “I didn’t win, but I feel proud. This is who I am.”

President Donald Trump has built another wall, and he thinks everyone else is going to pay for it. But his decision to impose sweeping tariffs of at least 10% on almost every product that enters the US is essentially a wall designed to keep work and jobs within it, rather than immigrants out.

The height of this wall needs to be put in historical context. It takes the US back a century in terms of protectionism. It catapults the US way above the G7 and G20 nations into levels of customs revenue, associated with Senegal, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan.

What occurred this week was not just the US starting a global trade war, or sparking a rout in stock markets. It was the world’s hyper power firmly turning its back on the globalisation process it had championed, and from which it handsomely profited in recent decades.

And in so doing, using the equation that underpinned his grand tariff reveal on the Rose Garden’s lawns, the White House also turned its back on some fundamentals of both conventional economics and diplomacy.

Trump talked a lot about 1913 in his announcement. This was a turning point when the US both created federal income tax and significantly lowered its tariffs.

Before this point, from its inception, the US government was funded mainly by tariffs, and was unapologetically protectionist, based on the strategy of its first Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton.

The basic lesson the White House has taken from this is that high tariffs made America, made it “great” the first time, and also meant that there was no need for a federal income tax.

On this side of the Atlantic, underpinning globalisation and free trade are the theories of 19th-Century British economist David Ricardo. In particular, the 1817 Theory of Comparative Advantage.

There are equations, but the basics are pretty easy to understand: Individual countries are good at making different things, based on their own natural resources and the ingenuity of their populations.

Broadly speaking, the whole world, and the countries within it, are better off, if everyone specialises in what they are best at, and then trades freely.

Here in Britain this remains a cornerstone of the junction between politics and economics. Most of the world still believes in comparative advantage. It is the intellectual core of globalisation.

But the US was never a full convert at the time. The underlying reluctance of the US never disappeared. And this week’s manifestation of that was the imaginative equation created by the US Trade Representative to generate the numbers on Trump’s big board.

It is worth unpacking the rationale for these so-called “reciprocal” tariffs. The numbers bear little resemblance to the published tariff rates in those countries.

The White House said adjustments had been made to account for red tape and currency manipulation. A closer look at the, at-first, complicated looking equation revealed it was simply a measure of the size of that country’s goods trade surplus with the US. They took the size of the trade deficit and divided it by the imports.

In the hour before the press conference a senior White House official explained it quite openly. “These tariffs are customised to each country, calculated by the Council of Economic Advisers… The model they use is based on the concept the trade deficit that we have is the sum of all the unfair trade practices, the sum of all cheating.”

This is really important. According to the White House, the act of selling more goods to the US than the US sells to you, is by definition “cheating” and is deserving of a tariff that is calculated to correct that imbalance.

This is why the surreal stories about the US tariffing rarely visited islands only inhabited by penguins matter. It reveals the actual method.

The long-term aim, and the target of the policy, is to get the US $1.2 trillion trade deficit and the largest country deficits within that down to zero. The equation was simplistically designed to target those countries with surpluses, not those with recognisable quantifiable trade barriers. It targeted poor countries, emerging economies and tiny irrelevant islets based on that data.

While these two different factors overlap, they are not the same thing.

There are many reasons why some countries have surpluses, and some have deficits. There is no inherent reason why these numbers should be zero. Different countries are better at making different products, and have different natural and human resources. This is the very basis of trade.

The US appears no longer to believe in this. Indeed if the same argument was applied solely to trade in services, the US has a $280bn (£216bn) surplus in areas such as financial services and social media tech.

Yet services trade was excluded from all the White House calculations.

There is something bigger here. As the US Vice President JD Vance said in a speech last month, globalisation has failed in the eyes of this administration because the idea was that “rich countries would move further up the value chain, while the poor countries made the simpler things”.

That has not panned out, especially in the case of China, so the US is moving decisively away from this world.

For the US, it is not David Ricardo who matters, it is David Autor, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) economist and the coiner of the term “China shock”.

In 2001, as the world was distracted by the aftermath of 9/11, China joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO), having relatively free access to US markets, and so transforming the global economy.

Living standards, growth, profits and stock markets boomed in the US as China’s workforce migrated from the rural fields to the coastal factories to produce exports more cheaply for US consumers. It was a classic example of the functioning of “comparative advantage”. China generated trillions of dollars, much of which was reinvested in the US, in the form of its government bonds, helping keep interest rates down.

Everyone was a winner. Well, not quite. Essentially US consumers en masse got richer with cheaper goods, but the quid pro quo was a profound loss of manufacturing to East Asia.

Autor’s calculation was that by 2011, this “China shock” saw the loss of one million US manufacturing jobs, and 2.4 million jobs overall. These hits were geographically concentrated in the Rust Belt and the south.

The trade shock impact on lost jobs and wages was remarkably persistent.

Autor further updated his analysis last year and found that while the Trump administration’s first term dabble with tariff protection had little net economic impact, it did loosen Democrat support in affected areas, and boosted support for Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

Fast forward to this week, and the array of union car workers and oil and gas workers celebrating the tariffs in the White House.

So the promise is that these jobs will return, not just to the Rust Belt, but across the US. This is indeed likely to some degree. The president’s clear message to foreign companies is to avoid the tariffs by moving your factories. The carrots offered by Biden followed by the stick from Trump could well lead to material progress on this.

But the president’s characterisation of the past half century of freer trade as having “raped and pillaged” the US obviously doesn’t reflect the overall picture, even if it has not worked for specific regions, sectors or demographics.

The US service sector thrived, dominating the world from Wall Street and Silicon Valley. US consumer brands used hyper-efficient supply chains stretching into China and East Asia to make incredible profits selling their aspirational American products everywhere.

The US economy did very well indeed. The problem, simply, was that it was not evenly distributed among sectors. And what the US lacked was levels of redistribution and adaptation to spread that wealth across the country. This reflects America’s political choices.

Now, as the US chooses to reshore its manufacturing with a sudden jolt of protectionism, other countries also have choices as to whether to support the flows of capital and trade that have made the US rich.

The world’s consumers have choices.

It is little wonder major blue chip American companies, which have built cash machines on hyper-efficient East Asian supply chains producing cheaply and then selling to the whole world based on their attractive aspirational brands, have a big problem.

Their share prices are particularly badly affected because the president has both decimated their supply chain strategies, and also risks greatly impairing their brand image amongst global consumers.

Ultimately, this is the first social media trade war. The experience of Tesla’s sale slump and Canada’s backlash against US goods may prove contagious. That would be as powerful as any counter-tariff.

These countries that bet on being the workshops for US consumers have choices over trade too. New alliances will form and intensify that seek to cut out an erratic US.

The president’s sensitivity to this was apparent when he threatened to increase tariffs if the EU and Canada joined forces over retaliation. This would be the nightmare scenario.

In the game theory of trade wars, credibility does matter. The US has unrivalled military and technological might, which helps. But to transform the global trading system using an arbitrary formula, that throws up transparent absurdities, even without the penguins, is likely to encourage the other side to resist.

This is especially the case when the rest of the world thinks that the loaded gun that the president is holding is being aimed at his own foot. The stock market fell most in the US. Inflation will go up most in the US. It is Wall Street now calculating a more-than-evens chance of a recession in the US.

Perhaps there is some substance to the theory that the real objective here is to weaken the dollar and lower US borrowing costs.

For now, the US is checking out of the global trade system it created. It can continue without it. But the transition is going to be very messy indeed.

Like many parents, Carys Harding spends a lot of time cleaning up after her kids.

But unlike most, the 27-year-old mum-of-three is watched by thousands online as she scrubs, dusts and declutters her home, as part of a popular social media trend known as a “reset”.

With more than 100k followers across TikTok and Instagram, Carys has become one of many full-time influencers who monetise their daily lives.

“I never thought for one minute that the routines and structure that I have in my life would be something people would be interested in,” said Carys, from Swansea.

It was after having her second child in 2022 that Carys said she realised she needed to be “another level of organised”, and began building an “evening reset” into her routine.

She said each reset involves spending 20 minutes “whipping around” the house, cleaning the surfaces, putting stuff away and getting ready for the next day after her children have gone to bed.

She films herself along the way before editing the videos into short reels which she shares on her social media platforms.

“I just love sharing things that are helping me, because being a mum is difficult,” said Carys.

“You’ve got a lot on your plate, you’ve got a lot to think about.”

Carys said being relatable was important to her, adding that her intention was never to make others feel “like less of a person”.

“I never want it to come across that I want to keep my house clean for any other reason than it makes my life easier,” she said.

“Yes, take inspiration. Yes, use it to motivate you. But please don’t look at [my content] and think less of yourself, because if that’s happening, then I would suggest you turn away.”

Fellow influencer Emily Jones, from Ammanford, said she tried to be “100% transparent” when sharing time-saving cleaning tips with her more than 13k Instagram followers.

“It tends to be this daily thing of resetting the house, and cleaning and tidying,” said the 32-year-old mum-of-two.

“I try and do stuff where if I’ve got half an hour or I’ve got an hour where the baby’s napping, I’m like ‘right, I’m just going to do half an hour’ because to me that’s what keeps it real and that’s what’s realistic.

“You can’t clean all day. It’s just impossible.

“I’m a mum. I’m trying to work at the same time. I’ve got two young kids. I’ve got all the things everybody else has going on in their lives.”

There are more than 11m posts on Instagram under the hashtag #cleaning and more than 2.6m for #reset.

With almost 2m followers across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, 30-year-old Roo Day, from Hertfordshire, is one of the most high-profile cleaning influencers in the UK.

Roo shares videos of what she calls “one hour speed cleans”, where she sets herself a 60-minute timer and attempts to get as much cleaning done as possible.

“Genuinely to my core I would rather be spending the least amount of time cleaning possible, and I feel like people do also feel that way as well,” said Roo.

Roo said the majority of cleaning social media content was created by women, but that a growing number of male influencers were getting involved too.

“I don’t think it’s mega empowering that I am doing all of this cleaning,” she said.

“[But] it just so happens that the split in my household means that I do a little bit more of the cleaning, because I’m not out at a 9 to 5 job all day.

“If we’re going to be talking about gender, it shouldn’t just be women who are doing it.

“And there’s so many male creators now that I watch. In fact, if I see a male and they’re like ‘reset with me’, I’m locked in.

“I love the fact that it is still predominantly female, but a lot of men are getting into it now as well.”

Dr Stephanie Alice Baker, an associate professor in sociology at City St George’s University of London, said cleaning was a role that women had “typically” occupied.

She said creating social media content based upon cleaning therefore offered “a sense of control”.

“They can monetise something they’d traditionally have completed as unpaid labour.”

Dr Baker said that while lifestyle content was increasing in popularity, audience interest was not new.

“This type of content existed before social media, it’s just that social media makes it a lot more accessible,” she said.

“The mediums and the audiences have changed but the concerns around self-improvement have existed over generations.”

Dr Ceri Bradshaw, a psychologist at Swansea University, said there was a risk that people could be “easily tricked” by snappy, 60-second cleaning videos that in reality take hours of physical work.

“I think we’re also easily tricked into thinking that we should be more like the people that we watch,” she added.

But Dr Bradshaw said she understood the appeal of watching cleaning content.

“With the cleaning, you’re effectively sort of fixing something that needs fixing and it’s happening very, very quickly.

“It’s quite soothing to the brain.”

Pope Francis has made a surprise appearance at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican following his discharge from hospital after five weeks of treatment.

The Pope briefly appeared on stage in a wheelchair, with an oxygen tube under his nose.

“Hello to everybody,” he said, waving to cheering crowds. “Happy Sunday to all of you, thank you very much.”

The Pope, 88, was discharged from hospital in Rome on 23 March and appeared at his window then to offer a blessing.

Doctors said at the time he would need at least two months of rest at his residence. On Friday, the Vatican said his health was improving and he was “in good spirits” as he continued his work activities.

The Pope was admitted to hospital on 14 February for an infection that resulted in double pneumonia. One of his doctors said he had two critical episodes during his treatment where his “life was in danger”.

As of Friday, the Pope had improved slightly in breathing, movement and speaking, the Vatican said. Recent blood tests also showed a slight improvement in his lung infection.

The Pope is requiring less supplemental oxygen, but continues to receive it during the day. At night, he receives a high-flow of oxygen through his nose as needed.

He has suffered a number of health issues throughout his life, including having part of one of his lungs removed at age 21, making him more prone to infections.

Pope Francis, who is from Argentina, has been Pope for 12 years.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that the US is immediately revoking visas issued to all South Sudanese passport holders due to the African nation refusing to accept its citizens who have been removed from the US.

Rubio, in a statement on Saturday, added that the US will also block any arriving citizens of South Sudan, the world’s newest country, at US ports of entry.

He blamed “the failure of South Sudan’s transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated citizens in a timely manner”.

A cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy is removing unlawful migrants from the US, with the promise of “mass deportations”.

“It is time for the Transitional Government of South Sudan to stop taking advantage of the United States,” said Rubio.

“Every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the United States, seeks to remove them,” he added.

It comes as fears grow that South Sudan may again descend into civil war.

On 8 March, the US ordered all its non-emergency staff in South Sudan to leave as regional fighting broke out, threatening a fragile peace deal agreed in 2018.

South Sudanese in the US were previously granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allows them to remain in the US for a set period of time.

TPS for South Sudanese in the US had been due to expire by 3 May.

South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, gained independence in 2011 after seceding from Sudan.

But just two years later, following a rift between President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar, the tensions erupted into a civil war, in which more than 400,000 people were killed.

A 2018 power-sharing agreement between the two stopped the fighting, but key elements of the deal have not been implemented – including a new constitution, an election and the reunification of armed groups into a single army.

Sporadic violence between ethnic and local groups has continued in parts of the country.

Since returning to office, the Trump administration has clashed with international governments over deportations of their nationals from the US.

In January, Colombian President Gustavo Petro barred two US military flights carrying deported migrants from landing in his South American country.

Petro relented after Trump promised to place crippling tariffs and sanctions on Colombia.

An artist whose official portrait of Donald Trump was publicly lambasted by the president said his comments are “directly and negatively impacting” her business, threatening its future.

British-born artist Sarah A Boardman painted Trump’s official portrait for the Denver State Capitol Gallery of Presidents, where it hung for six years.

In January Trump described Ms Boardman’s picture as “truly the worst” in a post on Truth Social, adding that it had been distorted and the artist had lost her talent as she aged. It was later removed.

In a statement Ms Boardman said her business was now in “danger of not recovering”.

• Trump bemoans a portrait of him – but gets a new one from Putin

“President Trump is entitled to comment freely, as we all are, but the additional allegations that I ‘purposefully distorted’ the portrait, and that I ‘must have lost my talent as I got older’ are now directly and negatively impacting my business of over 41 years which now is in danger of not recovering,” she said.

Ms Boardman was commissioned by the Colorado State Capitol Advisory Committee in Denver.

She said that for the six years the portrait hung in the Colorado State Capitol Building Rotunda, she had received “overwhelmingly positive reviews and feedback”.

“Since President Trump’s comments, that has changed for the worst,” she added.

“I completed the portrait accurately, without ‘purposeful distortion’, political bias, or any attempt to caricature the subject, actual or implied. I fulfilled the task per my contract.”

The US president has paid close attention to cultivating his image, and made headlines in January by unveiling an official portrait that was variously described by critics as serious or ominous.

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed receipt of a new work from Moscow, saying he had been asked to transport it back to Washington. Witkoff described the picture as a “beautiful portrait” by a “leading Russian artist.”

A 9-year-old boy in Kentucky was swept away by flood waters on Friday, one of at least 16 people to die in a series of dramatic storms that continue to pummel the US.

High winds and heavy rain continued to batter states including Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky on Saturday, delaying recovery efforts.

Forecasters at the National Weather Service said to expect “potentially historic” rainfall and wide temperature swings from the central US to the East Coast into Sunday.

The boy was reportedly walking to his school bus stop on Friday morning when he was overtaken by flooding. The Frankfort Police Department, in Frankfort, Kentucky, confirmed it recovered his body about two hours later.

“We are deeply saddened at this horrific tragedy that claimed the life of one of our students,” Franklin County Schools Superintendent Mark Kopp said at a news conference on Friday.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear called the boy’s death an “unimaginable loss”. He also confirmed another death – that of an adult – in Kentucky on Saturday.

“We need everyone to understand that all water poses a risk right now. Let’s do everything possible to keep our loved ones safe,” he said in a statement.

National Weather Service forecasters said severe thunderstorms and flash flooding were expected across a wide band of the central US that extended from Arkansas and Louisiana to Western Pennsylvania into Sunday before the system would weaken and move to the East Coast.

As of Saturday afternoon, more than 162,000 people were already without power in Arkansas, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky had already declared states of emergency earlier in the week.

Forecasters said the storms Saturday had “the makings of a catastrophic, potentially historic heavy rainfall and flash flood event, with some locations potentially seeing rainfall amounts as high as 10-20 (inches) when all is said and done”.

Even when the rain stops, swollen rivers will continue to pose a danger, forecasters said. Changes in pressure and high winds also puts the area from eastern Texas to western Tennessee at enhanced risk for tornados.

It has been a punishing week of weather for the region. Dozens of tornados have been reported and hundreds of counties have spent days under storm warnings since Wednesday.

Tennessee has seen 10 deaths, according to CBS, the BBC’s American news partner. Other deaths have included a man and his teenaged daughter in Tennessee and a 68-year-old man in Missouri who reportedly stopped to help a stranded driver.

The same region was hit by tornadoes, wildfires and dust storms that killed 40 and left “staggering” damage in March.

US President Donald Trump’s advisers have defended sweeping tariffs on imports and vowed to stay the course, despite market turmoil and calls to avoid a trade war.

In a series of television interviews, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent played down recent stock market falls and Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, insisted reciprocal tariffs would be implemented as planned.

Bessent said there was “no reason” to expect a recession as a result of the turmoil. “This is an adjustment process,” he said.

Meanwhile, another top adviser, Kevin Hassett, said more than 50 countries have contacted Trump to try to negotiate a deal.

All three major stock indexes in the US plunged more than 5% on Friday, while the S&P 500 dropped almost 6% in the worst week for the US stock market since 2020.

In a sign of continued market fragility this week, Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange – which trades on Sundays – ended nearly 7% lower, its biggest daily loss since the pandemic, state-owned media said.

US banking giant JP Morgan has predicted a 60% chance of a US and global recession following Trump’s tariffs announcement.

Challenged about the turmoil, Lutnick told CBS News on Sunday that the 10% “baseline” tariff on all imports, which came into effect a day earlier, will definitely “stay in place for days and weeks”.

Lutnick went on say the steeper reciprocal tariffs were still on track.

Higher custom tariffs on roughly 60 countries, dubbed the “worst offenders”, are due to come into effect on Wednesday 9 April.

When asked about these tariffs, Lutnick said they were coming. “[Trump] announced it and he wasn’t kidding,” he said.

Lutnick also defended tariffs imposed on two tiny Antarctic islands populated only by penguins, saying it was to close “loopholes” for countries such as China to “ship through”.

Bessent used an interview with Meet the Press on NBC to argue Trump had “created maximum leverage for himself, and more than 50 countries have approached the administration about lowering their non-tariff trade barriers, lowering their tariffs, stopping currency manipulation”.

Kevin Hassett, another top economic adviser to Trump, also repeated the claim that more than 50 countries had expressed a desire to begin negotiations. Neither Hassett nor Bessent gave further details of which countries had been in touch.

Elsewhere, Indonesia and Taiwan have said over the weekend that they will not impose retaliatory tariffs after the US announced a 32% levy on imports from both countries.

Vietnam’s leader, To Lam, has asked Trump to delay a 46% duty on Vietnamese exports to the US by “at least 45 days”, according to a letter seen by news agency AFP and the New York Times.

However, China announced on Friday that it will impose a 34% tariff on all US imports, beginning on Thursday 10 April.

• Are Trump’s Asia tariffs a ‘full-frontal assault’ on China?
• Anthony Zurcher: Trump’s agenda grapples with political and economic reality

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned on Saturday that “the world as we knew it has gone”.

Starmer said the UK government will keep pushing for an economic deal with the US that avoids some of the tariffs.

A Downing Street spokesman added Starmer and new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed in a phone call that “an all-out trade war is in no-one’s interest”.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump for trade talks in Washington DC.

Netanyahu, speaking to reporters as he boarded a plane-bound for the US, said he is “the first international leader that is meeting with Trump” since the new tariffs were introduced.

He says this shows their “personal connection and the connection between our countries that is so essential in this time”.

Anti-Trump protests were held in cities across the US over the weekend, in the largest nationwide show of opposition since the president took office in January.

Hundreds of thousands of people turned out in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington DC, among other cities, with protesters citing grievances with Trump’s agenda ranging from social to economic issues.

Trump has urged the US to “hang tough” after the market turmoil but it remains to be seen how the Asian markets will react when they open on Monday.

On a bustling weekday in Toronto, Shauna Daniels was out “hunting for stripes”.

It’s a term she uses for shopping for the iconic – and increasingly rare – coloured stripes that are emblematic of Canada’s oldest corporation, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC).

Sales of HBC’s striped merchandise – from handcrafted wool blankets to patio umbrellas – have skyrocketed since the company announced it would be liquidating all of its department stores nationwide.

On eBay, the blankets, which normally retailed for about C$300, were being sold for over C$1,000 ($710; £540).

The stripes have become “a symbol and an emblem of a tremendous chapter for the country”, Ms Daniels told the BBC while browsing on her lunch break.

“It’s emotional,” she added, as she recalled going ice skating in the city centre as a child with her parents, and passing by the department store’s window displays.

This HBC stripes fever has arrived amid a growing movement to “buy Canadian” in the face of tariffs from the United States, and a surge of national pride in response.

Sales of the merchandise have increased so much since news of the impending closures was announced that the company was able to make good on some of its debts – it owes almost almost one billion dollars to creditors – and keep six stores from liquidating.

Still, 80 Hudson’s Bay stores, as well as a handful of Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th stores in Canada have gone into liquidation sales.

It’s a sorry fate for one of Canada’s most recognisable brands.

Founded in 1670, HBC was granted a royal charter to control trade in parts of Canada. The company began trading woolen “point” blankets – made overseas in the Oxfordshire town of Witney – with local indigenous communities.

The blankets themselves were often striped with rich colours – indigo, red, canary yellow and emerald green, said to be popular during Queen Anne’s reign, from 1702-1714.

That history – of colonialism and imperialism – has led some to critique the company’s place in Canadiana. But the blanket’s stripes endured, becoming a symbol of not just the the Hudson’s Bay Company, but Canada’s rugged past.

By the time the former British colony had become its own nation, HBC had pivoted from the no-longer booming fur trade, and had opened its first retail store in Winnipeg in 1881.

The company began manufacturing the blankets for mass retail in 1929, and soon the HBC stripes were appearing on a wide range of home décor. Toronto-based interior designer Kate Thornley-Hall has repurposed blankets into her own designs, from pillow cushions to ottomans.

“It’s an enduring reminder of the pivotal role that the Hudson’s Bay played in the development of our country,” she told the BBC.

With branches in every major city, a Hudson’s Bay department store became a major attraction. Filigreed stone facades made these stores not just a place to pick up necessities, but a destination for tourists and locals alike.

In 2008, private equity firm NRDC purchased the company, turning this quintessentially Canadian retailer American. But the company’s fortunes soon took a downturn, as department stores began to lose ground to online shopping.

Retail analyst Bruce Winder told the BBC that the pandemic only accelerated this shift in consumer habits, leaving legacy retailers like Sears, HBC and the American mall struggling to retain shoppers.

“Canadians, if they want to save, they go to places like Amazon or Walmart or Dollarama,” he said.

If they want to buy higher-end goods, they are more likely to go to a boutique or directly to a brand’s website.

NRDC, which owns Saks Fifth Avenue, also diverted its attention elsewhere, acquiring Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman in 2024.

Soon, Hudson’s Bay was struggling to pay its landlords and suppliers. Trump’s looming tariffs also caused its creditors to be concerned about the company’s ability to pay them back, Mr Winder said.

Some shoppers hope that the resurgence in demand for the blankets and other stripes merchandise will give the brand a second life.

“I hope that people will again be drawn to shopping and luxury, rather than online fast fashion,” Ms Thornley-Hall said.

Analyst Mr Winder thinks that, while the return of the department store is unlikely, there could be space for the company to license its iconic stripes to another company, or open up small, HBC-branded boutiques.

“I think it tells us that the brand has some affinity in Canada, albeit probably with select items, based on their heritage,” he said.

A second child has died from measles as an outbreak of the the highly contagious virus continues to grow in western Texas.

The school-aged child was not vaccinated, had no underlying health conditions and was in hospital suffering complications from measles, Aaron Davis, the vice president of UMC Health System, told the BBC.

Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has faced a backlash over his handling of the outbreak, will reportedly head to Texas this week in the wake of the death.

The state reported more than 480 cases of measles this year as of Friday, a jump from 420 earlier in the week. The outbreak has extended to neighbouring states.

“This unfortunate event underscores the importance of vaccination,” Mr Davis said in a statement. “Measles is a highly contagious disease that can lead to serious complications, particularly for those who are unvaccinated.”

The child – an eight-year-old girl – died early on Thursday of “measles pulmonary failure”, according to the New York Times, which was the first to report after obtaining hospital records.

The BBC has contacted the state health department and the US Department of Health and Human Services for confirmation. Both agencies did not list the death in their case counts on Friday.

In February, an unvaccinated six-year-old girl in the local Mennonite community was the first child to die of measles in the US in a decade. In March, an unvaccinated man died in New Mexico after contracting the virus, though his cause of death is still under investigation.

The US has recorded more than 600 cases of measles this year, many related to the outbreak that began in western Texas. Cases in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas are likely linked to the original outbreak, public health experts say.

Nearly all the cases are in unvaccinated people.

The virus – which can cause a fever, red rash, cough and other symptoms – is associated with a host of complications, including pneumonia, brain swelling and death.

The US declared measles eliminated from the country in 2000. But outbreaks have grown since then with a rise in anti-vaccine sentiment.

Two shots of the immunization – proven safe – are 97% effective at preventing the virus and reduce severe infections. To achieve herd immunity – when enough of a group is immune to a disease, limiting its spread and protecting the unvaccinated – around 95% of the population must have the shots.

The outbreak originated in a religious community that strongly rejects vaccines. Local health officials in western Texas have told the BBC they have seen limited progress in attempts to improve vaccination rates.

Meanwhile, Kennedy’s response to the worsening outbreaks has been muted.

At first, as cases began to spiral, he described the situation as “not unusual”. He changed his tune after the first child measles death, but stopped short of recommending that parents vaccinate their children. He instead encouraged them to talk to their doctors about the shot, language public health experts have criticized.

The vaccine sceptic has also at times promoted Vitamin A as a treatment for measles, which doctors say should only be provided in certain cases under the guidance of a physician.

In Lubbock, Covenant Children’s Hospital has treated several children for Vitamin A toxicity after they were sent to the hospital for measles complications.

Israel’s army has admitted its soldiers made mistakes over the killing of 15 emergency workers in southern Gaza on 23 March.

The convoy of Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulances, a UN car and a fire truck from Gaza’s Civil Defence came under fire near Rafah.

Israel originally claimed troops opened fire because the convoy approached “suspiciously” in darkness without headlights or flashing lights. It said movement of the vehicles had not been previously co-ordinated or agreed with the army.

Mobile phone footage, filmed by one of the paramedics who was killed, showed the vehicles did have lights on as they answered a call to help wounded people.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) insists at least six of the medics were linked to Hamas – but has so far provided no evidence. It admits they were unarmed when the soldiers opened fire.

The mobile video, originally shared by the New York Times, shows the vehicles pulling up on the road when, without warning, shooting begins just before dawn.

The footage continues for more than five minutes, with the paramedic, named as Refat Radwan, heard saying his last prayers before the voices of Israeli soldiers are heard approaching the vehicles.

An IDF official briefed journalists on Saturday evening, saying the soldiers had earlier fired on a car containing three Hamas members.

When the ambulances responded and approached the area, aerial surveillance monitors informed the soldiers on the ground of the convoy “advancing suspiciously”.

When the ambulances stopped beside the Hamas car, the soldiers assumed they were under threat and opened fire, the official said, despite no evidence any of the emergency team was armed.

Israel has admitted its earlier account claiming the vehicles approached without lights was inaccurate, attributing the report to the troops involved.

The video footage shows the vehicles were clearly marked and the paramedics wore reflective hi-vis uniform.

The soldiers buried the bodies of the 15 dead workers in sand to protect them from wild animals, the official said, claiming the vehicles were moved and buried the following day to clear the road.

They were not uncovered until a week after the incident because international agencies, including the UN, could not organise safe passage to the area or locate the spot.

When an aid team found the bodies they also discovered Refat Radwan’s mobile phone containing footage of the incident.

The Israeli military official denied any of the medics were handcuffed before they died and said they were not executed at close range, as some reports had suggested.

Earlier this week, a surviving paramedic told the BBC the ambulances had their lights on and denied his colleagues were linked with any militant group.

The IDF promised a “thorough examination” of the incident, saying it would “understand the sequence of events and the handling of the situation”.

The Red Crescent and many other international organisations are calling for an independent investigation.

Israel renewed its aerial bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza on 18 March after the first phase of a ceasefire deal came to an end and negotiations on a second phase stalled.

More than 1,200 people have since been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

More than 50,600 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Sam was lying in bed one morning when her tenant in a house she owned in Margate sent her a photo of a piece of graffiti that had appeared on the wall outside.

Astonishingly, it looked like a Banksy. It would turn out to be perhaps the graffiti artist’s most interesting new artwork of recent years, Valentine’s Day Mascara (pictured above), which was revealed in Margate on Valentine’s Day, 2023.

Bamboozled, Sam googled: what do you do when you wake up with a Banksy on your wall?

“What did Google say about that?” I asked her.

“Nothing! And I was like, I need to contact the council, I need to find an art gallery who can advise me.”

Sam called Julian Usher at Red Eight Gallery. Julian’s team, conscious that new Banksys are under immediate threat from street cleaners, the weather, rival graffiti artists and other art dealers, promised he’d be in Margate within the hour: “We knew we had to get the piece covered,” say Julian.

And there was another reason Julian got to Margate double-quick: if Banksy chooses your wall for one of his drawings, you could be seriously in the money.

For the second season of my BBC Radio 4 podcast The Banksy Story, which is called When Banksy Comes To Town, I’ve been following the very different fates of two sets of homeowners who wake up one day to find a Banksy on their wall. The season shows just how important his graffiti becomes for a local community – and why people disagree so vehemently about what should happen after it’s discovered.

Sam became the custodian of Valentine’s Day Mascara, which speaks to the theme of domestic violence, incidents of which usually spike each Valentine’s Day. It’s a complicated bit of work. A peppy 50s housewife with a black eye has bludgeoned her partner. A real pan with flecks of red is at her feet, and his painted legs are upended into the real fridge-freezer that Banksy left by the wall. A broken plastic chair testifies to the fight they have had.

Later on the day it appeared, refuse collectors arrived to spirit away the fridge-freezer. This precipitated a free-for-all, with the public helping themselves to the remnants. It was mayhem.

A media scrum, a wrong-footed local council, millions of global onlookers. Exactly, one suspects, what Banksy wanted.

And this time, just for laughs, he left behind oil painter Peter Brown, commissioned to capture the scenes he would miss. I spoke to Pete “The Street” Brown for my series. “The whole reason I was employed was because Banksy was questioning what was the art about,” Pete explained. “Is it about the graffiti? Or is it about the reaction afterwards, and what happens to it?”

As luck would have it, Pete was captured on video just as Banksy’s team were putting the finishing touches to Valentine’s Day Mascara – a video that The Banksy Story managed to obtain. In it we can see that one of Banksy’s team let a local kid play with their drone.

“They’re in the process of putting a large piece on a wall and yet they’re taking the time to teach a kid how to fly a drone,” says Steph Warren, who used to work with Banksy and who appeared in my first series – about the artist’s rise and rise. “Very sweet!”

Alongside Sam, I’ve been following the story of Gert and Gary. They, like Sam, did not want me to use their last name. A 30ft-high seagull appeared one morning on the wall of their buy-to-let in Lowestoft in Suffolk. The bird needed to be massive for Banksy’s ambitious visual gag to work. The artist had shoved large yellow insulation strips into a skip that now looked like a fast-food container that the seagull divebombed to steal chips.

Banksy had chosen his wall well. Visitors arriving by train were treated to this witty meditation on the scourge of Britain’s seaside towns, equal parts warning and celebration. The Lowestoft Seagull was part of Banksy’s Great British Staycation, his post-Covid lockdown campaign to cheer us all up at the prospect of a summer holiday spent in the UK.

But Gert was not cheered-up at all. “It’s not a seagull, it’s an albatross!” she quipped when I went to interview her.

“How did you know it was a Banksy?” I asked.

“There was scaffolding erected on the side of the house. I tried to find out if it was a particular scaffolding firm, but there was no phone number,” Gert replied. “On the Monday morning the letting agency informed me that I could possibly have a Banksy. By then the scaffolding had gone and this seagull appeared.”

This fits with what we know of Banksy’s modus operandi. He claims hiding in plain sight is the best way to remain invisible. “If questioned about your legitimacy,” he wrote in his book Wall & Piece, “simply complain about the hourly rate.”

It’s a good gag. But how fun is it for the folk on the other end of his spray can?

I found that with good hustling skills a Banksied homeowner might see their bank balance expanded, but it’s not an easy process.

As Gert explains, exasperated, “Lowestoft people commented that it belongs to Lowestoft… But nobody’s turned up to say, ‘we’ll help you protect it’. It doesn’t belong to the person filming it, or the person taking pictures with their children. The problem is mine!”

Gert had to contend with people putting their children into the skip for photo opportunities, the council trying to charge her for Perspex screens, and the threat of a Preservation Order which might have cost her £40,000 a year.

And the two stories I’ve been following have ended up having entirely different outcomes.

Both artworks have been taken off the houses they were painted on – a complex, expensive operation that uses specialist equipment – so they can be sold. But while the Banksy in Margate is now on the verge of selling for well over £1m, with a sizeable chunk set to go to a domestic violence charity, and with the piece remaining in the town for the foreseeable future, the Banksy up the coast in Lowestoft languishes in a climate-controlled warehouse, costing its owners £3,000 per month.

It has cost Gert and her partner Gary around £450,000 so far to preserve the piece and although there are buyers sniffing around, nobody has bought it yet. Speaking about the situation, Gary told me: “I’m so angry at what’s going on.”

Not everyone approves of people trying to sell Banksy’s street art.

Steph Warren – who starred in the first series of The Banksy Story as the only person ever to work for Banksy without signing his non-disclosure agreement – suggests that worried homeowners should simply “get busy with five litres of white emulsion and paint it out”.

Owner of street-art gallery Stelladore in St Leonards, Warren is a purist, who feels that art made for the street should remain there, no matter its value. “With Banksy, where he puts the art is fundamental,” she says. “Remove the work from the precise place on the streets that he put it, and the work instantly loses its power. Context is everything.”

But Banksy has elevated graffiti into a new art form, now monetised – street art. Banksy’s signed prints can sell for six-figure sums. Graffiti, or street art, has not just come of age, it is now an asset class. Given this, how can any homeowner feel okay about scrubbing away a Banksy without feeling as if they have smashed a Ming vase?

One thing I know for sure: if you wake up with a Banksy on your wall, you’ll have to make a series of clever decisions to come out of it unscathed. As Sam says, after two years of dealing with the Banksy circus, “going back to normal life now is going to be terribly boring”.

European Union firms will try to export goods via Northern Ireland in an attempt to get a reduced tariff rate when exporting to the US, a Nobel prize winning economist has suggested.

US President Donald Trump has imposed a 10% tariff on UK goods but a 20% tariff on EU goods.

Northern Ireland is part of UK customs territory but also has an open trade border with the Republic of Ireland, which is in the EU.

Paul Krugman made the comments in conversation with the journalist Ezra Klein.

“Probably a lot of EU goods trans-ship through Northern Ireland to get the lower tariff rate,” he said.

Typically goods cannot just be exported via a lower tariff country to get a lower tariff.

Instead they need to undergo “substantial transformation” in the lower tariff country which usually means some form of processing, although the rules differ from product to product.

Mr Krugman won the Nobel prize for economics in 2008 for his work on on international trade theory and economic geography.

Crowds of protesters gathered in cities across the US on Saturday to denounce President Trump, in the largest nationwide show of opposition since the president took office in January.

The “Hands Off” protest planners aimed to hold rallies in 1,200 locations, including in all 50 US states. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington DC, among other cities.

Protesters cited grievances with Trump’s agenda ranging from social to economic issues.

Coming days after Trump’s announcement that the US would impose import tariffs on most countries around the world, gatherings were also held outside the US, including in London, Paris and Berlin.

In Boston, some protesters said they were motivated by immigration raids on US university students that have led to arrests and deportation proceedings.

Law student Katie Smith told BBC News that she was motivated by Turkish international student Rumeysa Ozturk, whose arrest near Boston-area Tufts University by masked US agents was caught on camera last month.

“You can stand up today or you can be taken later,” she said, adding: “I’m not usually a protest girlie.”

In London, protesters held signs reading, “WTAF America?”, “Stop hurting people” and “He’s an idiot”.

They chanted “hands off Canada”, “hands off Greenland” and “hands off Ukraine”, referencing Trump’s changes to US foreign policy. Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in annexing Canada and Greenland. He also got into a public dispute with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and has struggled to negotiate a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.

In Washington DC, thousands of protesters gathered to watch speeches by Democratic lawmakers. Many remarks focused on the role played in Trump’s administration by wealthy donors – most notably Elon Musk, who has served as an advisor to the president and spearheaded an effort to dramatically cut spending and the federal workforce.

Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost denounced the “billionaire takeover of our government”.

“When you steal from the people, expect the people to rise up. At the ballot box and in the streets,” he shouted.

The protests come after a bruising week for the president and his allies. Republicans won a closely watched special Florida congressional election on Tuesday, but with slimmer margins than they had hoped. Wisconsin voters elected a Democratic judge to serve on the state supreme court, roundly rejecting a Musk-backed Republican candidate by almost 10 percentage points.

In both states, Democrats sought to tap into voter anger towards the Trump administration’s policies and Elon Musk’s influence.

Some polls show approval ratings for President Trump to be slipping slightly.

One Reuters/Ipsos poll released earlier this week found that his approval rating had dropped to 43%, its lowest point since Trump began his second term in January. When he was inaugurated on 20 January, his approval rating was 47%.

The same poll found that 37% of Americans approve of his handling of the economy, while 30% approve of his strategy to address the cost of living in the US.

Another recent poll, from Harvard Caps/Harris, found that 49% of registered voters approve of Trump’s performance in office, down from 52% last month. The same poll, however, found that 54% of voters believe he is doing a better job than Joe Biden did as president.

One protester in Washington named Theresa told the BBC that she was there because “we’re losing our democratic rights”.

“I’m very concerned about the cuts they’re making to the federal government,” she said, adding that she is also concerned about retirement and education benefits.

Asked if she thought Trump was receiving the protesters’ message, she said: “Well, let’s see. [Trump has] been golfing just about every day.”

Trump held no public events on Saturday, and spent the day golfing at a resort he owns in Florida. He was scheduled to play golf again on Sunday.

The White House released a statement defending Trump’s positions, saying he would continue to protect programs such as Medicare and pointing to Democrats as the threat.

“President Trump’s position is clear: he will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ stance is giving Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits to illegal aliens, which will bankrupt these programs and crush American seniors.”

One of Trump’s top immigration advisors, Tom Homan, told Fox News on Saturday that protesters held a rally outside of his New York home, but that he was in Washington at the time.

“They can protest a vacant house all they want,” Homan said, adding that their presence “tied up” law enforcement and prevented officials from seeing to more important tasks.

“Protests and rallies, they don’t mean anything,” Homan continued.

“So go ahead and exercise your first amendment [free speech] rights. It’s not going to change the facts of the case.”

This month the government in England will launch a consultation for its men’s health strategy. The move is long overdue, experts say, with men much more likely to die prematurely than women. But why are they in such poor health – and what can be done about it?

Andrew Harrison was running a men’s health clinic from a youth centre in Bradford when he heard a knock. He turned to the door, but no-one was there. Then he heard his name being called. He looked around to see a young man at the window asking for condoms.

“I was on the first floor,” he says, recounting the story from a few years ago. “The lad had shimmied up a drainpipe on the outside of the building because he didn’t want to go through the reception and ask.”

The anecdote, in many ways, encapsulates the challenges over men’s health – a combination of risk-taking behaviour and a lack of confidence and skills to engage with health services.

In the UK men are more likely to smoke, drink alcohol, use drugs and have high cholesterol and blood pressure.

These are major contributors to the fact men have a lower life expectancy than women – by four years – and are nearly 60% more likely to die prematurely before the age of 75 with heart disease, lung cancer, liver disease and in accidents.

Prof Alan White, who co-founded the Men’s Health Forum charity and set up a dedicated men’s health centre at Leeds Beckett University, says the issue needs to be taken more seriously.

He cites the pandemic as an example, pointing out that 19,000 more men than women died from Covid. “Where was the outrage? Where was the attention?”

He says it is too easy to blame men’s poor health on their lifestyles, arguing “it’s much more complex than that.”

He says there are biological reasons – the male immune system is less able to fight off infection. But, as the story of the young man seeking condoms above demonstrates, they can also lack the skills to access health services.

Prof White says: “Men are less health-literate, that is to say they don’t develop the skills to talk about their health and recognise and act on the signs. Men’s health is very static from their teenage years right through into their 40s generally – many go years without seeing a health professional.

“It is different for women. Getting contraception, having cervical screening and then childbirth means many women have regular contact with health services in a way men do not.”

Machismo is also a factor, says Mark Brooks, the policy adviser for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Men’s and Boy’s Issues, which has played a key role in influencing the government to draw up a men’s health strategy.

“In society we have different expectations in regards to men. They are expected to man up and get on with things, to be strong and resilient.”

But he says when it comes to men’s health it is important to pay particular attention to the impact of deprivation. Life expectancy in the poorest 10% of areas is 10 years less than in the wealthiest – a larger gap than is seen for women – and in the most deprived areas a man is 3.5 times more likely to die before the age of 75.

“You cannot ignore the stark differences when it comes to left-behind communities and those working in blue-collar jobs like construction and manufacturing,” he says. “The way health services are designed isn’t working for men.”

NHS health checks, which are offered every five years to those aged 40 to 74, are considered a crucial intervention when it comes to many of the diseases which are claiming the lives of men early. But fewer than four in 10 men take up the offer.

“Someone working in construction or on an industrial estate will find it very difficult to take time off whether that’s for a health check or to go and see their GP.”

Mr Brooks says he would like to see employees given a right to two hours’ paid time off to go for health checks as well as seeing them delivered in places where blue-collar workers are employed, such as industrial estates.

But he says this is also an issue about employment – with some men in these roles scared to face up to health problems that develop in their 40s and 50s – ignoring early warning signs or hiding illnesses from bosses altogether because of what it may mean for their work.

He adds that job worries and financial concerns, along with relationship problems, are a big driver in the high suicide rates seen among men. Three-quarters of people who take their own lives are men.

Despite this, just a third of people sent for talking therapies are men, which may suggest that services are not doing enough to consider men’s needs.

“How services are set up to recognise signs of depression and anxiety is not how men express them – they are more likely to display signs of anger, abuse alcohol or become withdrawn and push people away,” says Prof White.

Ethnic differences are also important to recognise, he says. For example, black men in England are twice as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, while men from Indian or Bangladeshi backgrounds are at particularly high risk of diabetes.

But none of this means men are not interested in their own health, says Prof Paul Galdas, a men’s health expert at York University. “Men will open up and want to be engaged, but to do that you have to base it around actions and activities.”

He has helped develop a six-week mental fitness programme in partnership with the Movember men’s health movement that has been trialled on NHS front-line workers following Covid. Now it is being used by Leeds United football club for its youth players.

Men are provided with support to understand how behaviour affects moods, they are encouraged to track their habits and set goals for healthy activities.

“It can be about going for a walk, seeing friends, playing golf and developing problem-solving skills to protect mental health. Good mental health leads to good physical health.”

Similar activity-based initiatives can be found in a number of local areas where charities, councils and local men’s groups have worked together to set up schemes.

The Men’s Sheds movement is perhaps the most well-known where men are encouraged to come together and bond and support each other while doing practical projects.

Prof White says now is the time to build on these foundations – something a national men’s health strategy is vital for. He says it will help “shine a spotlight” on the issue in a similar way to the women’s health strategy did back in 2022 – that led to the creation of a network of women’s health hubs and women’s health champions at the heart of government.

But he also wants it to act as a “wake-up call” for men themselves. He says there are some simple steps every man should consider.

“Look at your waist size – if you are carrying weight, if your tummy is too big try to do something. Get moving, get out and about and talk to people.

“Take every opportunity to get a health check or screened. And, if you notice changes to body or the way you are managing problems, seek help.”

Two Labour MPs say they are “astounded” to have been denied entry to Israel while on a trip to visit the occupied West Bank.

Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang said it was “vital” parliamentarians were able to witness the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory first-hand.

They were refused entry because they intended to “spread hate speech” against Israel, the nation’s population and immigration authority said.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy criticised Israeli authorities, describing the move as “unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning”.

But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Israel had a right to “control its borders”, adding it was “significant” there were Labour MPs other countries did not want to let in.

Yang, the MP for Earley and Woodley, and Mohamed, the MP for Sheffield Central, flew to Israel from London Luton Airport with two aides on Saturday afternoon.

The Israeli immigration authority said Interior Minister Moshe Arbel denied entry to all four passengers after they were questioned. It accused them of travelling to “document the security forces”.

The Israeli embassy in London said in a statement on Saturday that the country “will not allow the entry of individuals or entities that act against the state and its citizens”.

It said Mohamed and Yang had “accused Israel of false claims” and were “actively involved in promoting sanctions against Israeli ministers”.

It also said they had supported campaigns aimed at boycotting the country “at a time when Israel is at war and under attack on seven fronts”.

The UK Foreign Office said the group was part of a parliamentary delegation. However, Israel’s immigration authority said the delegation had not been acknowledged by an Israeli official.

The Israeli embassy said the MPs “were offered hotel accommodation, which they declined” and the cost of their return flight to the UK was covered.

Israel’s Interior Ministry said the MPs left the country early on Sunday.

Mohamed and Yang said their trip had been organised with UK charities that had “over a decade of experience in taking parliamentary delegations”.

“We are two, out of scores of MPs, who have spoken out in Parliament in recent months on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the importance of complying with international humanitarian law,” the MPs said in a joint statement.

“Parliamentarians should feel free to speak truthful in the House of Commons, without fear of being targeted.”

Lammy said the Foreign Office had been in touch with both MPs to offer support, adding: “I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians.”

The Council for Arab-British Understanding and Medical Aid for Palestinians – the latter of which is a registered UK charity – said in a joint statement that they had organised the trip.

“This visit was part of that long-standing programme,” they said.

“When questioned, the group was clear, open and transparent about the aims and objectives of the visit, which included visiting a range of projects run by humanitarian and development organisations operating in the West Bank.

“The group had informed the UK consul general in Jerusalem of their visit and was planning to meet with them as part of the itinerary.”

Both Yang and Mohamed – who were first elected in 2024 – have made several interventions on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Parliament.

In February, Mohamed initiated a cross-party letter, signed by 61 MPs and lords, calling for a ban on goods from Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory, citing an opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

She has also criticised Israel for withholding humanitarian aid from Gaza, telling the House of Commons in October that international law “prohibits the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare”, and has mentioned humanitarian organisations’ claims of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza.

In January, Yang spoke in favour of bringing sanctions against Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, after they suggested building Israeli settlements in northern Gaza to encourage Palestinians to leave.

She has also highlighted the dangerous conditions journalists and medical professionals face while in the Palestinian territory.

When asked about Israel’s decision, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that countries “should be able to control their borders”.

“What I think is shocking is that we have MPs in Labour [who] other countries won’t allow through,” Badenoch said. “I think that’s very significant.”

Her comments were rebuffed by Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs select committee, who described Yang and Mohamed as “highly respected parliamentarians” and “potential leaders”.

“Israel is badly advised to try and alienate them, to humiliate them and to treat them in this way,” she told the programme.

“I think that it’s an insult to Britain and I think it’s an insult to Parliament.”

Sir Ed Davey accused Badenoch of “yet another complete shocker”.

The Liberal Democrat leader said she “has once again shown unbelievably poor judgement by failing to back two British MPs denied entry to Israel”.

Lammy called Badenoch’s comments “disgraceful”, asking her: “Do you say the same about Tory MPs banned from China?”

During the war in Gaza, there have been protests, violent incidents and raids by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Hundreds of deaths have been reported there.

Israeli troops have been engaged in an extended operation in the occupied Palestinian territory, where two Palestinians were killed on Friday.

The current war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.

Since then, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 50,000 people have been killed. It said 1,309 people have died since a ceasefire ended on 18 March.

Lammy said: “The UK government’s focus remains securing a return to the ceasefire and negotiations to stop the bloodshed, free the hostages and end the conflict in Gaza.”

France’s far-right National Rally (RN) leader Marine Le Pen has called a court ruling banning her from running for office for five years a “witch hunt”.

“I won’t give up,” she told thousands of flag-waving supporters in Place Vauban, close to the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Sunday.

She was on Monday found guilty of helping to embezzle €2.9m (£2.5m) of EU funds between 2004 and 2016 for use by her party. Le Pen has appealed.

At the rally on Sunday she claimed the ruling was a “political decision”, adding: “We are not asking to be above the law, but to not be below the law.”

Bardella, the president of the RN party, told the rally on Sunday that the court ruling was “a direct attack on democracy and a wound to millions of patriotic French people”.

He said he did not want to “discredit all judges” but claimed that the judgement against Le Pen was aimed at “eliminating her from the presidential race” in 2027.

In reply on Sunday Gabriel Attal, the head of French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party, responded by saying “you steal, you pay”.

Attal also denounced “unprecedented interference” in France’s affairs, pointing to support for Le Pen from several right-wing leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban.

US President Donald Trump called her conviction a “very big deal”.

A poll by BFMTV after Monday’s ruling showed that many people in France believe that justice was service in the Le Pen case without bias – 57% according to the poll.

The Paris Court of Appeal said on Tuesday it should be able to provide a decision on the case by the summer of 2026 – several months before the 2027 presidential election.

Le Pen was gearing up to run for the presidency for a fourth time and had a good chance of winning.

On top of the ban on running for public office, Le Pen was also handed a €100,000 (£82,635) fine and four-year prison sentence, of which two years will be suspended.

This will not apply until the appeals process is exhausted, which could take several years.

RN spokesperson Laurent Jacobelli said that although the party would fight to have Le Pen as candidate, its 29-year-old president, Bardella, was “the most naturally legitimate” alternative.

Bardella has steered clear of being drawn into the discussion at this stage, refusing to say whether he was National Rally’s “plan B” and saying after the ruling that the French should be “outraged” by the sentence.

However, a poll published a day before Le Pen was sentenced showed that around 60% of RN voters would back Bardella over Le Pen at the presidential election if he were to run.

France’s President Macron is not entitled to stand for another term at the next presidential election.