Levelling up Canary Wharf a surprise beneficiary of No 11 largesse

“Levelling up” may once have conjured a vision of northern towns and cities scarred by deindustrialisation – but Jeremy Hunt’s budget suggested the government’s defi nition now stretches to the home counties , Canary Wharf and Cambridge.

It's Trump v Biden after Haley drops out of presidential race

Nikki Haley ended her presidential campaign yesterday after being soundly defeated in coast-tocoast Super Tuesday contests, in eff ect ceding the 2024 Republican nomination to Donald Trump and increasing pressure on Joe Biden to deliver a convincing performance in his state of the union address today.

'A last desperate act'

Tax at highest level since 1948, despite 2p national insurance cut | Starmer condemns budget as reflection of ‘failed’ Tory party

'You never know the future' Haaland puts Real on red alert as he casts doubt over City stay

Erling Haaland says he is really happy at Manchester City but admitted \"you never know what the future brings\".

Mbappé’s mastery sees off Sociedad as PSG cruise into last eight

Kyllian Mbappé is leaving Paris Saint-German, but his may yet be a fond farewell, and he is not going to just let go. There is still one last thing to do, and it obsesses all of them.

Kane strikes twice on night Bayern roll back the years.

The drummers in the Südkurve beat out a tribal rhythm. Out on the pitch the players of Bayern Munich were unleashing wave after wave of feral attack, the crowd at the Allianz Arena swaying and baying along with them.

Arsenal have added steel to style for three-way title race

Askey players return from injury and goals keep flying in, the Gunners suddenly look wellset to last the pace

Fractured Germany in desperate need of a clear strategy before Euro 2024

Kick-off is 100 days away but problems on and off the pitch lurk for a host country keen to recreate the magic of 2006

Stokes determined to finish on a high amid India's Himalayan peaks

England's captain insists side have not been pushovers'’ in losing effort and will not let up at spectacular Test setting

Returning Smith brings bounce’ to England, says Sinfield

Marcus Smith has been praised for bringing his trademark \"bounce\" back to the England squad and, with Fin Smith emerging as a doubt for the Six Nations match against Ireland, he appears to be in line for return to the fold on Saturday.

Greggs shares £17.6m bonus with staff after bumper year for sales

Thousands of Greggs workers will share a £17.6m bonus pot this month after the bakery chain, which is famous for its sausage rolls and steak bakes, said it had made a record annual profit and overtaken McDonald's to become the UK's most popular breakfast spot.

China sets 5% target for growth in face of structural challenges’

China has set its target for GDP growth at 5%, as analysts expect another historically modest year for the country's economy amid regional tensions and its demographic crisis.

AI will shape the future - but investors may be overconfident about its current star players

Bitcoin, gold, the US stock market, the German stock market, even the Japanese stock market after 34 long years. Is there anything not hitting an all-time high? Well, there's the tech-lite FTSE 100 index, still plodding along 500 points below its high of early last year, but it's an outlier.

Bitcoin and gold hit record highs as jittery investors rush to haven assets

The price of both bitcoin and gold hit a record high yesterday, in a surge driven by a range of factors including investor flight to haven assets.

California’s clifftop mansions at risk after record rain

Flash flooding and coastal erosion after heavy storms have left some of California’s most expensive properties perilously close to collapse after nearly 46cm (18in) of rain fell in the southern California area in the fi rst two months of the year – about 20cm above normal – with more on the way this week.

Lost history Family stories fight erasure of black Brazil

Eliana Alves Cruz and Branca Vianna grew up at a similar time in neighbourhoods of Rio de Janeiro. But the two Brazilian women had very diff erent experiences of their family history.

Philippines and China clash near military post in South China Sea

The Philippines has accused China of dangerous manoeuvres that damaged its vessels in the disputed South China Sea and left four Filipinos with minor injuries .

Row as MP says Spain's culture of long hours and late nights is madness’

Working past 10pm can pose a risk to mental health, Spain’s leftwing labour minister, Yolanda Díaz , has warned, as she fended off criticisms for describing the country’s custom of keeping restaurants open until late into the night as “madness ”.

Leader apologises as council approves swingeing set of cuts for Birmingham

Birmingham city council met yesterday to debate and vote on proposed cuts that will result in the loss of up to 600 council jobs, arts grants being scrapped, libraries closed and bin collections reduced to fortnightly.

Polanski on trial after smearing’ actor who accused him of abuse

The film director Roman Polanski has gone on trial for libel in Paris after accusing a British actor who claimed he abused her of \"a heinous lie\".

Raising women's profile, one Wiki page at atime

An academic who has completed a project creating a Wikipedia page for a woman in every country in the world is calling for more women to contribute to the world's largest encyclopedia.

Review Evergreen musical a little short on schlock

'Feed me, Se Alan Menl Howard A 1982 come many catc Chris Wiegand F eed me, Seymour!\" Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's 1982 comedy has so many catchy songs that you arrive hungry to hear them.

TV review Magnificent Moore is glorious heart of 17th-century romp

For those of us who have gazed at our children and thought, F fruit of my \"Miraculous loins, blood of my blood, bone of my bone - how can I best monetise you?\" Ladies, we have our answer. Mary Villiers, played with relish by Julianne Moore, is here to show us the way.

'All we can do is pray' Jerusalem's Old City on edge as Ramadan nears

Bab Hutta , a neighbourhood in Jerusalem’s Old City, lies right outside the gates to the most contested religious site in the world – the Temple Mount, or al-Haram al-Sharif .

Hamas says Netanyahu does not want a deal as ceasefire negotiations appear to stall

Negotiations aimed at brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war appear to have stalled, days before an unofficial deadline at the beginning of Ramadan.

Fashion A romantic day out at the beach, Chanel style

The lights dimmed, and the Chanel show opened with Pen élope Cruz and Brad Pitt on the catwalk. Cruz smoldered in a chic black polo neck and discreet diamonds, Pitt twinkly-eyed in an open-necked white shirt. They gazed into each other’s eyes, flirted a little, and then embarked on a clandestine aff air.

St Paul's opens up 'secret' library to the bookish - for £7 sleepover

Adding a whole new meaning to bedtime reading, St Paul's Cathedral is opening its hidden library for a once-in-a-lifetime overnight stay to mark World Book Day.

Tories unhappy over No 10’s plans to broaden definition of extremism

Downing Street is facing a backlash from Conservative MPs and peers over moves to create a broader definition of extremism in response to what Rishi Sunak has called the threat of mob rule”.

Single parents on benefits set up to fail’ by government work policy, study finds

Struggling single parents are being \"punished\" and set up to fail by an \"unrealistic\" government policy that forces them into near-full-time work when their children turn three, according to parents and researchers.

'I'm so disaffected' Blue wall voters pour scorn on Conservatives' record

In rain-lashed Sunbury, a picturesque commuter town strung out along the swollen river Thames, there is scant enthusiasm for the Conservatives before Jeremy Hunt's much-trailed pre-election budget - even among the party's erstwhile supporters.