Shein’s life in Paris department store may be short lived www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

It didn't take long for the French to move in on Shein, which audaciously launched inside a Paris department store today . www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

China issues veiled warning to the EU over chip supply www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Gaza doctor, who managed to get out in 2024 to Cairo, gets study place in Palestine friendly Ireland. She wants to further qualify and then return to Gaza. Bur Ireland rejects visa application. www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...

China v EU. "China confirmed that the suspension of the October export controls applies to the EU. Both sides reaffirmed commitment to continue engagement on improving the implementation of export control policies," Maros Sefcovic said in a post on X. April export controls still apply of course.

ICYMI This is an interesting reminder of the lengths women had to go to fight against Catholic Ireland in 1972. Mary McGee, the heroine who fought to end Ireland's ban on contraception. (it took more than 10 yrs more for "unmarried couples") www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Is Home Office using airline passenger booking data for benefit fraud crackdown? Today I report on woman who booked flight to Oslo for wedding, wedding cancelled. She didn't check in or travel but child beneft stopped as she had "emigrated". Are there GDPR issues? www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

EU car industry "days away" from production line stoppages on back of chip shortage caused by China ban. Eu "no longer collateral damage" in US v China war, it's a target in itself - experts say www.theguardian.com/business/202...

“China is repeatedly taking steps that bring EU industry and other industries around the world to the point of choking them off, "It is no longer that Europe is collateral damage, it is China targeting Europe" - Andrew Small of German Marshall fund www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Home Office child benefit mess - woman had child benefit suspended for work trip she made before she was even pregnant. Why? HO didn't have record of her return. How did new system, implemented by HMRC, even get the green light? HMRC has stopped stopping payments www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

HMRC have now said the number of people who have been contacted and had their child benefit suspended is closer to 23,500 than up to 35,000 as previously stated. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

One of the 34,500 who have had child benefit suspended has sent an invoice to HMRC for "wasting my time" for the three hours it took him putting together the bank, GP, and school records to prove he was not a fraudster. His crime: holiday to Spain 3years ago. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Exclusive: UK stops child benefit for 34,500 families after launching internal HMRC crackdown passed on airport and ferry tickets. But they have netted ordinary travellers in their fraud crackdown including holiday makers, bereaved and sports participants www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Did you get a letter from HMRC saying your child benefit is being stopped after going on short trip abroad? If you are in NI, England, Wales, Scotland I'm interested if your benefit has been wrongly stopped. May be other benefits have also been stopped. [email protected]

Looks like this also affecting parents in Britain who have flown out of one airport and back to another. Please get in touch if you have had letter from HMRC saying your child benefit stopped as they have no record of you coming home. 100s of NI parents already hit [email protected]

Do you know anyone who has received notice of benefits stopping because you have flown out of country but are now back? Email me at [email protected]. NI parents mistakenly hit in crackdown but there may be others www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Exc: one family flew out of Belfast and came back thru Dublin. Another went to England and back via Dublin. Using UK flight data HMRC thinks these Northern Ireland parents have emigrated, so stopped their child benefit in a new govt crackdown on benefit fraud www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Wrongly-released migrant 'tried to return to prison 4 or 5 times', witness says. "He knew he was getting deported, but he didn't know where he was going or how he should get there." after guards kept telling him to just get on train to london. news.sky.com/story/witnes...

President elect Catherine Connolly's first speech: "I will be an inclusive president" . "For those who didn't vote for me and those who spoiled their votes, let me tell you, I will be an inclusive president to listen to all of you. I will be making no distinction on the basis of votes. "

Catherine Connolly has just arrived at Dublin Castle to be confirmed as new president of Ireland. Leaders of the left - Sinn Fein, Labour, Soc Dems (Mary Lou McDonald, Ivan Bacik, Holly Cairns) all gathered round to project their hopes of a left wing "movement" as several have called it emerging

Who is Catherine Connolly, Ireland's new left wing president? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Mary Lou McDonald, SF leader, on Catherine Connolly's victory "Thiis a landslide for hope, for optimism, for positivity, for Ireland as a neutral [country] for equality and fairness, for people with disabilities and for our young people" - RTE + "combined opposition came together in a cohesive way"

Also important to note, particularly in UK and US: Catherine Connolly was not the Sinn Fein candidate. Labour backed her first and SF backed her after Mary Lou McDonald decided not to run. Centre left parties, Fine Gael, lost their original candidate while Fianna Fail's candidate dropped out

Irish president has few powers, but this election, which also involving failed candidates running populist and anti-migrant campaigns, has shaped a hot narrative around the future role. Naomi O'Leary of Irish Times did fascinating piece on subject a few weeks back www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

Left wing independent candidate Catherine Connolly elected president of Ireland Role largely ceremonial but comes a year after Sinn Fein, Labour, Soc Dems criticised by voters on the left for not forming an electoral alliance in last November's election. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

The 79 year old has been cheerfully telling me in great detail for several hours about how he was inspired by Michael Gove to use snails to cheat local councils out of tens of millions of pounds in taxes. Read on. @jim.londoncentric.media www.londoncentric.media/p/terry-ball...

Louvre bank robbery. Was it inspired by children's book, starring Fantomette, girl crime fighter, aged 12. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Eu leaders push can down road on using the capital on Russia’s frozen assets amid Belgian legal worries www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Man sent by UK to France as part of new "one in, one out" agreement, returns to Britain via small boat www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Newspaper peeps: really worth a listen to @jim.londoncentric.media being i/ved by 2 titans of media @arusbridger.bsky.social and @lionelbarber.bsky.social. Not just about Jim Waterson's hit start up Londoncentric, but thoughts on how video will eat print www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/podcasts/713...

Turns out that for the last 24 hours the main link to become a subscriber and read the full story hasn’t actually being working! I tried to fire the finance, product and customer support teams for gross negligence but it turns out they’re all me. So, er, if anyone wants another go today…

Daughter of Irish woman, with no apparent illness, tell how they learned from WhatsApp that her mother had gone to Switzerland to end her life. Questions being asked of ethics of assisted dying. By @PaulBrandITV who has unearthed other similar cases www.itv.com/news/2025-10...

Leaked video. Reform council leader in Kent www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Took day off to see Anselm Keifer in Royal Academy, but that ws completely eclipsed in impact by the other exhibition: Kerry James Marshall, chronicling the evolution of the black experience, civil rights, in the US - just stunning. Recommend!

Emergency meeting of European Broadcasting Union in November to vote on Israel's participation in Eurovision 2026 cancelled in light of Gaza peace deal, the EBU said www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Hair dryers, knitting needles, bridges. Trump’s little known tariffs in a list of 407 products outside EU or the UK deal is hitting hard. Germany’s Krone tells me how it has had to pause exports with paperwork needed on up to 18,000 parts. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Hair dryers, knitting needles, bridges. Trump’s little known tariffs in a list of 407 products outside EU or the UK deal is hitting hard. We hear a lot of about cars, drink Pharma but little about this. Germany’s Krone tells me how it has had to pause exports www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Starmer wraps up India trip with 10,600 new UK jobs, No 10 says. Includes "700 jobs in Northern Ireland as the air defence missiles and launchers due to be manufactured for the Indian Army are the same as those currently being manufactured in Belfast for Ukraine." www.gov.uk/government/n...

Powerful - the name of every child on a list compiled by health authorities been killed in Gaza, starting with 1 day old Yaqeen Yousef Sami Al-Tilawi www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

Let us not forget the journalists killed in the last two years in Gaza. International Federation of Journalists says Israel has "controlled the narrative" throughout and demands that it "lift its media ban and grant foreign reporters independent access to Gaza". www.ifj.org//media-centr...

The EU to match Donald Trump 50% steel tariffs on imports outside quota Quota will also be drastically reduced. Industry commissioner Stephane Sejourne says it had to act as EU industry threatened with "collapse" but UK exporters say it poses "existential threat" www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Yvonne Ridley, journalist on the Global Sumud Flotilla "safe and accounted for", the National in Scotland is reporting. Sources in Foreign Office in the UK told the Guardian reports she had gone missing were "inaccurate".

Flotilla detainees: "Alleged abuses include sleep and medication deprivation, beatings, having automatic rifles pointed at their heads, dogs set upon them, having to sleep on the floor, insults and being made to watch footage of 7 Oct Hamas attacks" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Must read insiders account of critical NATO meeting with European leaders by Jens Stoltenberg. So many political memoirs pull their punches. This one looks like it does not “I’m leaving this meeting. There’s no reason for me to be here any more,” Trump said www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Devastating take down of Pete Hegseth's address to army top brass yesterday from top to bottom www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‼️Lammy being pinned by Peston on whether Farage is racist saying EU citizens can stay but he’ll scrap ILR. Lordy. in all this debate is a missing real reason for this: the Withdrawal Act - WA is int law that guarantees EU /Brits rights post Brexit. Breaking that wd b HUGE +prob, end EU Trade deal

‼️Lammy being pinned by Peston on whether Farage is racist saying EU citizens can stay but he’ll scrap ILR. Lordy. in all this debate is a missing real reason for this: the Withdrawal Act - WA is int law that guarantees EU /Brits rights post Brexit. Breaking that wd b HUGE +prob, end EU Trade deal.

European industry chiefs fear Trump will keep adding to list of products (already 400+) that will be subjected to steel tariffs - tables with a bit of steel, windows, household products. etc US consultation on list closing today even though EU deal sealed in July. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Nearly all votes counted in Moldova elections. US votes not in until early morning. PAS, pro Europe party led by Maia Sandu, in the lead.

That EU US deal? Business and steel leaders tell of fear that Trump admin will just continue to expand list of products with a a bit of steel in it, will be subjected to punitive tariffs. MEP Bernd Lange says it's hard to tell workers it's a good deal. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...