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”.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has been criticised by senior politicians across the political spectrum after she backed Israel’s decision to deny two UK Labour MPs entry to the country.

Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang say were on a trip to visit the occupied West Bank to “witness, first-hand, the situation” and were “astounded” after being stopped at the airport.

Badenoch told the BBC that Israel had a right to “control its borders”, adding it was “very significant” there were Labour MPs other countries did not want to let in.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said her comments were “disgraceful” while Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said she had shown “unbelievably poor judgement”.

Senior Tory MP Richard Fuller told Times Radio he thought MPs on officials trips should be “welcomed in any country”, adding “we should all be very worried” about democracy.

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”.

Badenoch first made her comments when asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show whether Israel was entitled to refuse entry to the MPs.

“Countries should be able to control their borders,” she said. “What I think is shocking is that we have MPs in Labour who other countries will not allow through, I think that’s very significant…

“I believe that the people who represent us in Parliament should be people who should be able to go anywhere in the world and people not be worried about what they’re going to do when they go into those countries.”

Badenoch said the reason given by the Israelis was that “they don’t believe that they’re going to comply with their laws” and “there are many people that we don’t allow into our country and I don’t think we should be setting precedents in a different way”.

Tagging a video of the Conservative leader’s comments on X, Lammy posted: “It’s disgraceful you are cheerleading another country for detaining and deporting two British MPs.

“Do you say the same about Tory MPs banned from China?

“This government will continue to stand up for the rights of our MPs to speak their mind, whatever their party.”

Reposting the criticism, Badenoch said: “Unlike China, Israel is our ally and a democracy. A good Foreign Sec would be able to make that distinction.

“Perhaps Labour MPs could put UK national interest first and do their jobs instead of campaigning for airports in Kashmir or promoting Hamas propaganda in parliament.”

Further criticism came from Davey on X, who posted: “Kemi Badenoch has once again shown unbelievably poor judgement by failing to back two British MPs denied entry to Israel.

“Yet another complete shocker.”

Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Dame Emily Thornberry told Sky News she was “completely gobsmacked” by Badenoch’s comments.

“This is nonsense,” the Labour MP said. “You have to stand up for what’s right, Kemi Badenoch, and you should stand in solidarity with other parliamentarians who were just going to Israel and the West Bank to find out what was going on.”

Badenoch was also contradicted by Tory MP Fuller, who told LBC that Conservative MPs had experienced similar issues in China and he wanted to support the right to travel to other countries.

“I want to support my colleagues,” said Fuller. “This isn’t a partisan thing, as a parliamentarian, we live in a difficult world at the moment.

“Democracies are under threat, we should support them in those circumstances, whether China, Israel, or anywhere…

“On this, my personal view is, parliamentarians should be allowed free passage to other countries, to our allies. We should look at that in a poor light. We should be supporting them.”

Fuller spoke about his boss again on Times Radio, saying he thought MPs on official trips are “going there to be better informed about the situation and then report back to their parliamentary colleagues about what they have found”.

“Democracy isn’t a guarantee in life,” he said. “Freedom isn’t guaranteed.”

Officers hunting for an XL Bully which escaped when police marksmen opened fire on the animal say they have contacted all veterinary practices in Sheffield in a bid to trace it.

Armed police tried to shoot the dog after it became “aggressive” while officers were investigating reports of a gun being fired at a property in Daniel Hill Street, in Hillfoot, on Thursday.

A police spokesperson said it was believed the animal had been injured before fleeing the scene.

The force has urged people not to approach the dog but to call 999 immediately, saying it has “the ability to show aggression and cause harm”.

A police spokesperson said: “Shooting a dog is never a decision taken lightly by our armed officers.

“During what was already a challenging incident, and the risk posed, the decision was made to shoot the dog to progress finding a suspect and weapon and protecting our communities.

“We now believe the dog to have suffered injuries and are urging the public to be vigilant for a loose XL Bully, but also one that may have succumbed to its injuries or been taken somewhere for treatment.

“We have contacted all veterinary practices as part of our enquiries but continue to ask anyone who has received a dog into their care [which] they believe could be this dog to come forward.

“If you see the dog, we continue to urge you not to approach it, as we believe it has the ability to show aggression and cause harm.”

South Yorkshire Police were called to Daniel Hill Street on Thursday night after shots were fired at a house and the windows of a car were smashed.

A few hours later, in the early hours of Friday, officers attended a crash involving a motorbike and a silver VW Golf in Liberty Drive, Stannington, after receiving reports shots had been fired at a man.

The force said 39-year-old Marcus Ned, from Sheffield, had since been charged in connection with the incidents and was due to appear at the city’s magistrates’ court on Monday.

He faces two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition without a certificate and attempt to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

A 39-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm and a 36-year-old man arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle have been released on bail.

Meanwhile, police said a 35-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of affray and released on police bail.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said the era of globalisation has “ended” following Donald Trump’s new tariffs.

It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer suggested in a Sunday Telegraph article he was about to announce state intervention to protect UK firms from the US president’s move. The UK was among nations hit with a 10% “baseline” import duty, and negotiations on a trade deal to reduce tariffs are continuing.

“Globalisation as we’ve known it for the last couple of decades has come to an end,” Jones added, in a BBC interview.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch disagreed that globalisation was over and pointed to “great” trading relationships with other countries.

There are fears of a global recession following President Trump’s “Liberation Day”, when he announced sweeping import taxes, sparking retaliatory action from countries including China and Canada.

The prime minister has said the government “will do everything necessary to protect Britain’s national interest” and is “ready to use industrial policy” to help shelter businesses, because “the world as we know it has gone”.

Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, Jones was asked whether globalisation – which has resulted in a boom in imports of cheap fashion, electrical goods and other products – was over.

“Yeah it’s ended, the prime minister said that himself this morning,” he said.

The change meant the UK had to “build out” relationships with allies around the world but also invest in the UK’s own economy, Jones said, denying ministers were “scrabbling” for solutions.

He insisted the government was “trying to get ahead of these challenges” , which he said were “why we have to invest in the domestic economy, both for UK businesses, but also our public services… which is why our plan for change is investing in the NHS and skills as well as industrial policy.”

Amid reports both elements of the spending review and the industrial strategy could now be brought forward from their expected June publication date, he said Labour had been working on the industrial strategy since it was in opposition.

Pressed on whether they would be brought forward, Jones deferred to Sir Keir’s announcement expected in the coming days and laughed when Laura Kuenssberg said “that sounds almost like a yes but you’re not allowed to say it to us this morning”.

The UK government is continuing its policy of not responding with counter-tariffs, as other countries have done, preferring a “calm” approach focused on a UK-US trade deal.

“We’re hoping to do a deal,” Jones said, adding on tariffs that “we have a better outcome than other comparable countries as a consequence of our diplomacy”.

The Liberal Democrats have called for MPs to be allowed to vote on any deal struck with Trump due to concerns about the possibility of changes to regulations around farming, online content and the digital services tax on US social media giants.

The party’s deputy leader Daisy Cooper said it would be “deeply undemocratic” to sideline Parliament on these “critical” issues.

She said: “Both Conservative and Labour MPs should commit now to voting down any Trump deal that sells out British farmers and their high food standards or waters down our online safety rules.”

Asked to rule out watering down the Online Safety Act, Labour’s Jone said protections for children are “non-negotiable” and committed to ensuring that social media platforms are “designed in a way that protects children from harm”.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed has previously said “we won’t undercut British farmers on welfare or environmental standards” in order to secure a US trade deal.

However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has previously suggested the UK could change its taxes on big tech firms as part of a deal to overturn US tariffs, despite the digital services tax bringing in about £800m per year since its introduction in 2020.

Speaking on the Kuenssberg show, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch agreed that retaliatory tariffs were not a solution because they would only harm UK consumers.

However, she told Kuenssberg she did not agree globalisation was over, insisting what was happening was only “fragmentation” and that “we still have a great trading relationship with many other countries”.

Badenoch added the Labour government should pick up the deal former Prime Minister Boris Johnson had tried to negotiate with Trump during his previous presidency, which ended in 2020.

Kuenssberg asked whether the deal was “oven-ready”, as she had claimed several times, and Badenoch suggested the government “should “pick up where we left off”, following former president Joe Biden’s decision to dump the deal.

“We had six rounds of negotiations where there were some decisions that were concluded and they can pick that up and take it,” she said.

“The most important thing is removing tariffs – the tariffs are going to be disruptive for our businesses…

“That is going to make a whole mess of the tax take that [chancellor] Rachel Reeves thought she was going to be getting in her budget.

“We are in a worse place now because of the decisions that Labour has made and people out there are suffering.”

People and properties have been evacuated as a wildfire has spread over a large area of forest in Galloway, in the south west of Scotland.

Emergency services were initially called to Glen Trool at about 23:50 on Friday, with police urging people to avoid the area.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said two crews remained on the scene on Sunday morning, with helicopters continuing to water bomb the area.

Rising temperatures across the UK have led to wildfire warnings being put in place for several parts of the country.

Firefighters are also tackling another wild blaze in the west Highlands near Ullapool.

Police have closed a stretch of the A835 between the Achiltibuie junction and the junction at Badagyle.

A spokesperson for the SFRS said the fire in Galloway had now moved on to the nearby Bennan and Lamachan Hills.

Police previously warned of a risk the flames could spread to the Loch Doon area of East Ayrshire after a change in wind direction.

People living in the area, including near Loch Doon, have been asked to keep windows and doors closed.

A helicopter was dispatched to assess damage to the area from above on Sunday morning.

Stewart Gibson, team leader at Galloway Mountain Rescue, said at one point fire crews had four helicopters dropping water on the flames from above, with the fire front “two to three miles wide” at one stage.

He said five groups of walkers were located on the hills on Friday night, but were safely moved away from the area.

Team members were acting as spotters for the police overnight on Sunday, but were stood down at about 04:00.

He urged anyone heading to the hills over the next week to take care and avoid lighting camp fires or naked flames.

Mr Gibson told BBC Radio’s The Sunday Show: “It’s an exceptionally dry period of weather we have been having and I know for the next week it is going to be very dry as well.

“So anyone out with a camping stove, anything can park the fire, so we would urge anyone out to take care.

“We would advise people not to light camp fires and use naked flames.”

Police urged people to stay away from the site and urged and anyone camping nearby to leave. Areas affected include Merrick Hill, Ben Yellary and Loch Dee.

Another wildfire had been reported around the same the area on Thursday and covered some 1.5 miles (2.4km).

Scotland has seen a number of fires over the last few weeks as the weather gets warmer and drier.

The fire service issued an “extreme” warning for wildfires and the public has been urged to avoid lighting any fires outdoors until next week.

It warned that there was typically a large volume of “dead, bone-dry vegetation across large areas of countryside” at this time of year which acts as a fuel for fire.

The SFRS said hills are particularly prone to wildfires because the fire can spread far quicker uphill than on flatter ground.

BBC Scotland weather presenter, Christopher Blanchett, said the south of Scotland had only recorded about 30%-50% of its expected rainfall for March.

However, some areas close to the location of the fire at Glen Trool were drier still, with Scottish Environment Protection Agency rain gauge data showing rainfall at just 20% of expected levels.

He said: “This part of the Galloway forest hasn’t recorded any rainfall for more than a week, with the last wet weather here on 29 March.

“Overall, it’s been a dry start to April in Scotland and this followed a very dry March. There’s no rain forecast for the region for around another week too.

“In addition to the dry conditions, Friday and Saturday have been quite windy across the south west. On Friday night, the east-north-easterly winds were gusting close to gale force on the Solway coast.

He added: “All of these factors combined can help fuel wildfires and allow them to spread”.

Meanwhile an amber alert for wildfires is in place for parts of England, southern Scotland and Northern Ireland until Monday.

A huge gorse fire spanning about two miles (3.2km) in the Mourne Mountains in County Down is being tackled by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.

Police believe that fire may have been started deliberately.

The UK saw its warmest day of the year so far on Friday as temperatures reached 23C (73F) in the south of England.

Otterbourne and Gosport in Hampshire saw the highest temperatures and were warmer than Ibiza, Rhodes and Cyprus.

Cardiff was expected to see the mercury rise to 21C, while Scotland and Northern Ireland were forecast to be cooler, with around 10C in Edinburgh and 15C in Belfast predicted.

Temperatures are forecast to fall this weekend as cooler air moves down from the north. England’s south coast will be warmest on Saturday with an expected high of 21C, while Sunday will peak nearer 17C.

Before Friday, the highest temperature recorded so far this year was 21.3C in Northolt, west London, and Chertsey, Surrey, on 20 March.

Last month was the sunniest March in England since records began in 1910, according to the Met Office. It was also very dry, with the UK’s rainfall total just 43% of the usual amount.

Whereas, the highest April temperature ever recorded in the UK was 29.4C on 16 April 1949.

Friday will be warm across most of the country. Temperatures will be lower near North Sea coasts, where the wind is blowing from the sea and temperatures are around 13C.

Wild temperature swings are not unusual at this time of year.

Parts of southern England already hit highs of 20.7C on Thursday and 20.1C in the Scottish Highlands.

Scotland had its warmest day of the year on Thursday but temperatures both there and in Northern Ireland will be a little lower on Friday.

Temperatures are forecast to fall at the weekend as cooler air moves down from the north.

The south coast of England will be warmest on Saturday, reaching 21C, while the highest temperature in the UK on Sunday will be nearer 17C – still well above the seasonal norm.

Northern Ireland will be cooler this weekend but is set to turn warmer again next week with temperatures of up to 18C expected.

Heading into next week, the risk of overnight frost will return for the beginning of the week but it is expected to warm up again, with temperatures forecast to be back up to 21C in Scotland.

Throughout this time it is still looking dry, and those conditions are ideal for wildfires starting and spreading.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said on Wednesday that there was a “very high to extreme risk” of fires spreading while Cumbria Fire and Rescue service urged the public to act responsibly to cut the risk of wildfires.

The fire service has tackled blazes this week near Bonhill in West Dunbartonshire and in the Kilpatrick Hills near Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire.

Elsewhere, more than 126 acres (51 hectares) were left charred after a fire at Upton Heath in Poole shortly before midnight on Wednesday, and a second fire broke out at nearby Canford Heath on Thursday morning.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fires were both “down to human intervention”.

In England there were 185.8 hours of sunshine in March, according to the Met Office, the country recorded its sixth driest March and Wales its fourth driest since records began in 1836.

The story goes that 60 years ago, Tunnock’s teacakes were banned from RAF flights after a cockpit marshmallow explosion.

The chocolate-covered treats were apparently all the rage, eaten by nuclear bomber crewmen on training sorties at the height of the Cold War.

But in the summer of 1965, a captain and student pilot forgot they had placed unwrapped teacakes above their instrument panels.

When the captain pulled an emergency depressurising switch the iconic Scottish treat erupted – leaving a sticky mess over the airmen, the instruments and cockpit canopy.

Now the RAF Centre of Aerospace Medicine has now given them the all-clear to fly again, after tests in an altitude chamber found the teacakes did not explode.

The experiments were covered by the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) at the centre based at RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire.

First the teacakes were put into an altitude chamber – normally used in the training of new fast jet pilots – and were lifted to 8,000ft, climbing at 4,000ft per minute,

They were then rapidly decompressed to 25,000ft in three seconds to see if they would blow up.

As air pressure in the chamber decreased, the air inside the teacakes expanded until the chocolate cracked and the mallow filling puffed out.

BFBS reporter Hannah King, who witnessed the tests, said while the mallow escaped from the chocolate casing, they “did not appear to explode and cause a risk to in-flight safety”.

It was also discovered that when they were frozen before being placed in the chamber, their hardened shells were more resilient to cracking at altitude.

Pilots have been allowed to take them back in the cockpit but have been offered some advice by Dr Oliver Bird, an instructor at the RAF Centre of Aerospace Medicine, who carried out the tests.

“The best advice is that the snacks are kept frozen and in their foil wrappings until pilots are ready to consume them,” he said.

Tunnock’s, based in Uddingston, near Glasgow, has been approached for comment.

A growing confrontation between Israel and Turkey over influence in Syria is posing a serious challenge for Syria’s fragile new government.

On Wednesday night, Israel bombed several military targets in Syria, including two airports – Hama military airport and the T4 base near Homs.

Syria’s foreign ministry said the bombardment virtually destroyed the Hama base. A prominent Syrian human rights group said four defence ministry employees were killed, and a dozen other people injured.

The air strikes hit Syria, but their real target was Turkey.

Shortly afterwards, Israel’s foreign minister accused Turkey of playing a “negative role” in Syria, and Israel’s defence minister warned Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, that he would “pay a very heavy price” if he allowed “hostile forces” to enter his country.

Ankara is currently negotiating a joint defence pact with Sharaa’s new government, and there have been widespread reports that Turkey is moving to station aircraft and air defence systems at Syria’s T4 and Aleppo airbases.

Some analysts compared Israel’s intense air strikes on Hama airport this week with the much lighter bombing on the edge of the T4 base, suggesting that Turkey may have already moved some equipment there and that Israel was calibrating its attack to avoid a full-blown escalation.

Relations between Israel and Turkey have nose-dived since the Gaza war began in October 2023, with Ankara introducing trade restrictions and accusing Israel of genocide.

That regional tension is now playing out on new ground in Syria.

After the air strikes on Wednesday, Turkey’s foreign ministry accused Israel of destabilising the region by “both causing chaos and feeding terrorism” and said it was now the greatest threat to the security of the region.

But foreign minister Hakan Fidan told Reuters news agency that his country was not seeking confrontation with Israel, and that Syria could set its own policies with its southern neighbour.

Syria’s new leader has repeatedly signalled that he was not looking for confrontation with Israel. Soon after sweeping President Bashar al-Assad from power last December, he told the BBC that Syria would not pose a threat to any country.

He has even left the door open to normalising diplomatic relations with Israel in the future, telling the Economist last month that Syria wanted peace with all parties, but that it was too early to discuss such a sensitive issue.

His top priority since taking power has been to unite a bitterly divided Syria, and pacify external relations with its neighbours, while he cements his power and control.

But Israel has not made that easy. Its military interventions in Syria are fuelling conflict with both external powers like Turkey, and with internal groups like jihadists in the country’s south.

Once an implacable enemy of Syria’s former president and his Iranian ally, Israel is also suspicious of Sharaa, a man who once led the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda and whose new government is backed by Turkey.

Since he took power, Israel’s military has repeatedly pounded Syrian weapons stores, airfields and other military sites left by the former regime, to avoid them falling into enemy hands, it says.

It has also occupied a demilitarised buffer zone, set up after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, and has sent forces onto the Syrian side of a nearby mountain, setting up nine bases across the area.

Israeli troops are also making regular incursions into Syria’s south-western provinces, vowing to prevent the presence of any armed groups or government forces there.

Earlier this week, the local government in the southern city of Deraa said nine civilians were killed in an Israeli bombardment, during the deepest incursion there yet by Israeli forces.

Another four people were killed in Israeli shelling near the village of Koya late last month, after local gunmen tried to stop the advance of Israeli forces there.

Since then, mosques in both Deraa and Damascus have reportedly called for jihad against Israeli forces.

Charles Lister, head of the Syria Programme at the US-based Middle East Institute, which studies the region, has counted more than 70 ground incursions into south-west Syria since February, describing this as “an extraordinarily dangerous moment – and an unnecessary one”.

Since the fall of Assad four months ago, he says, not one attack has targeted Israel from Syria, the country’s security forces have intercepted “at least 18 weapons shipments destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon, and dismantled at least eight formerly Iranian-linked rocket launch sites”.

Many Syrians are disappointed by Israel’s response to their new government. They watched for years as Israel targeted the Assad regime, and believed that Assad’s fall would bring the chance for a less confrontational relationship with Israel.

Some say that view is now changing.

“We used to believe that the Israeli army was only targeting Assad’s regime forces,” said Ismail, a restaurant owner in the west of the country. “But its continued, incomprehensible bombings are sadly making us think that Israel is an enemy of the Syrian people.”

Syria is vulnerable because its internal divisions are easily inflamed by regional and global interventions. The roots of sectarian conflict run deep here, nourished by decades of repressive rule by the Assad family, members of Syria’s Alawite minority.

Ahmed al-Sharaa’s attempts to reassure the country’s minorities were interrupted in early March by an explosion of violence in Syria’s coastal region – a stronghold of the former regime.

At least 1,000 Alawite civilians or disarmed fighters were massacred by pro-government forces, after government units were ambushed in a co-ordinated attack led by remnants of Syria’s former armed forces.

Those former armed forces were once backed by Iran. Some analysts believe their remnants may still be receiving some support from Tehran.

Syrians celebrated the fall of Bashar al-Assad as an end to their civil war, and a chance to unite.

But outside powers helped fuel that civil war for more than a decade, and its neighbours are now eyeing the vacuum left by Assad. The risk is growing that Syria will again fall victim to the conflicts of outside powers, played out on Syrian soil.

Russell Brand has been charged with rape, indecent assault and sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.

The charges relate to four separate women.

Brand has been interviewed multiple times by police since an investigation by the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches in September 2023 revealed multiple serious allegations against him.

The 49-year-old has previously denied the allegations, calling them “very, very hurtful”, and saying his relationships have been “always consensual”.

In a short statement, the Metropolitan Police said it had written to Brand to inform him that he was being charged with one allegation of rape, one allegation of indecent assault, one of oral rape and two further counts of sexual assault.

The force said it is alleged that:

• In 1999 a woman was raped in the Bournemouth area.
• In 2001 a woman was indecently assaulted in the Westminster area of London.
• In 2004 a woman was orally raped and sexually assaulted in the Westminster area of London.
• Between 2004 and 2005, a woman was sexually assaulted in the Westminster area of London.

Brand has been told to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 2 May, but he is believed to be in the United States.

In these situations, where a suspect may be overseas, prosecutors seek to agree the defendant’s return. If there is no co-operation from a suspect, authorities then consider seeking extradition.

Jaswant Narwal of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “We have today authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Russell Brand with a number of sexual offences.

“We carefully reviewed the evidence after a police investigation into allegations made following the broadcast of a Channel 4 documentary in September 2023.

“We have concluded that Russell Brand should be charged with offences including rape, sexual assault and indecent assault. These relate to reported non-recent offences between 1999 and 2005, involving four women.

“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendant has the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”

The Metropolitan Police’s detective superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.

“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police. A dedicated team of investigators is available via email at CIT@met.police.uk.

“Support is also available by contacting the independent charity, Rape Crisis at 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line.”

Brand, who was born in Essex, rose to fame in as a stand-up comedian, performing at the Hackney Empire in 2000 and later the Edinburgh Fringe.

He later moved into broadcasting, hosting national television and radio programmes.

The turning point in his career came in the mid-2000s, when he hosted Big Brother’s Big Mouth, a companion show to the hugely popular reality series Big Brother.

It provided the springboard he was looking for and led to him becoming one of the most sought-after presenters in the UK.

Brand went on to host the NME, MTV and Brit awards ceremonies, was gifted his own debate series by E4, and fronted the UK leg of charity concert Live Earth.

But he was never far away from controversy, particularly at awards ceremonies – which provided the kind of live, anything-can-happen chaos where he was most at home.

His career included hosting radio shows on the BBC, in particular for 6 Music and Radio 2, between 2006 and 2008.

But inappropriate phone calls he made to the Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs during a show in 2008 prompted a huge scandal – and ultimately led to his dismissal.

He rebounded with a Hollywood career, starring in films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek.

Recent years have seen him take a new direction – particularly since the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020.

Brand grew his following on YouTube as he discussed scepticism surrounding the disease.

He has developed a cult following for his views on politics and society, through videos which challenge the mainstream reporting of a range of subjects and often amplify conspiracy theories. He has also established himself as a wellness guru.

The list of would-be buyers for TikTok in the US – both rumoured and confirmed – has grown longer as the deadline for deciding its future looms.

The social media giant faces being shut down in the US unless it sells to an American company by 5 April.

The runners and riders range from US tech giants to the British entrepreneur dubbed “the king of homemade porn”.

However, TikTok and its Chinese owner, ByteDance have still not confirmed they are willing to do a deal.

They also continue to reject the reason for the sale – that the US considers their ties to the Chinese government a national security threat.

It is also not clear what exactly would be sold, in particular what would happen to TikTok’s algorithim, which decides what content to expose users to, and is considered a big reason for its success.

“TikTok without its algorithm is like Harry Potter without his wand – it’s simply not as powerful,” said Kelsey Chickering, principal analyst at Forrester Research.

Despite all this uncertainty, Ms Chickering said it was unlikely the app would go offline in the US as it briefly did in January.

“It is highly unlikely that TikTok will go dark again. All signs point to a deal or another extension.”

Vice President JD Vance told Fox News on Thursday that the Trump administration was set to announce a deal ahead of the Saturday deadline.

“I think that we’re in a good place. We’re going to keep on working at it,” he said.

As with everything else to do with the app’s future, who exactly is attempting to buy it is cloaked in uncertainty.

According to the New York Times, Amazon recently sent a letter to the US Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick expressing interest.

Amazon declined to comment when approached by BBC News.

Another late-stage bid reportedly came from an app marketing and analytics company called AppLovin.

They have remained similarly tight-lipped on the speculation, though – at least in public.

A third last-minute bidder includes the man once called “the king of homemade porn” by the Sunday Times – British OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely.

His proposed bid – and all the media attention which comes with it – happens to coincide with the relaunch of a company he co-founded in 2022.

One confirmed bidder is Perplexity, an AI search startup which counts Amazon’s Jeff Bezos among its backers.

The company recently published its “vision” for what its version of TikTok would look like for America.

Another potential investor is Frank McCourt, who founded the Project Liberty organisation in 2021, which aims to give more power to internet users.

He says he would scrap the current algorithm in favour of a far more open version where users have more control over what they see on the platform.

Also part of this bid are Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary.

According to the Financial Times, a consortium of American businesses is close to getting US government endorsement for a bid – though of course it is up to ByteDance, not the White House, whether they sell or not.

The group includes Trump loyalist Marc Andreessen and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

Oracle already handles the data for TikTok in the US.There are a number of other potential bids which have been mentioned by Donald Trump when he has been asked.

He has said, in responses to questions from reporters, that Elon Musk may be interested in getting hold of TikTok, and has also mentioned Microsoft in the past.

Microsoft had a bid rejected in 2020 when the previous Tump administration explored a TikTok ban which never happened.

YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, or MrBeast to his millions of fans, has also said he’s been contacted by a number of different groups trying to get him to be the face of a new bid.

But whoever ends up being picked by the White House to go forward with a bid will still have to get over the same huge hurdle: how do you buy a company that’s not for sale?

Global stock markets fell on Thursday as investors reacted to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping announcements on tariffs.

The UK’s FTSE 100 share index fell 1.5% and other European markets were also lower, echoing falls seen earlier in Asia.

While stocks fell, the price of gold, which is seen as a safer asset in times of turbulence, touched a record high.

Traders are concerned about the global economic impact of Trump’s tariffs, which they fear could stoke inflation and stall growth.

Markets across Asia had fallen sharply after Trump’s announcement, with the Nikkei in Japan closing down nearly 3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index 1.5% lower.

Shares in Europe followed the downward trend, with Germany’s Dax index down 1.9% and France’s Cac 40 dropping 2.6%.

The price of gold hit a record high of $3,167.57 an ounce at one point on Thursday, before falling back to $3,090.

Futures markets also suggest US shares will open lower when trading begins later. The S&P 500 is indicated to fall by 3.2% and the Nasdaq – which is dominated by tech stocks – set to drop 3.7%.

The dollar also weakened against many other currencies. The pound rose by more than 1% against the US currency to touch $1.32 at one point before slipping back.

The decision by the US government to impose a combination of a 10% baseline levy and higher duties on a number of other trading partners reverses decades of liberalisation that shaped the global trade order.

“This is the worst-case scenario,” said Jay Hatfield, chief executive at Infrastructure Capital Advisors.

“Enough to potentially send the US into a recession,” he added, echoing nervous market sentiment.

George Saravelos, head of FX at Deutsche Bank Research, said the new US trade tariffs were a “highly mechanical” reaction to trade deficits, rather than the “sophisticated assessment” the White House had promised.

Mr Saravelos warned the move “risks lowering the policy credibility of the [Trump] administration”.

“The market may question the extent to which a sufficiently structured planning process for major economic decisions is taking place. After all, this is the biggest trade policy shift from the US in a century,” he said.

Shares in sportswear firm Adidas fell more than 10%, while stocks in rival Puma tumbled more than 9% as key countries where their goods are made were hit with steep levies.

The new taxes include a 54% tariff on US imports from China and 46% on goods from Vietnam.

Among luxury goods firms, jewellery maker Pandora fell more than 12%, and LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) dropped 5% after tariffs were imposed on the European Union and Switzerland.

There are worries that the tariffs could affect US consumer spending which is a massive part of the global economy – between 10% and 15%, according to some economists’ estimates.