The Body Shop is closing a further 75 shops, after the skincare and cosmetics chain announced it was going into administration earlier this month. A total of 489 jobs will be lost as a result of the closures, which will take place over the next four to six weeks. more

Taking an unauthorised family holiday is about to get more expensive, with the government announcing that fines for children in England missing school are to rise by 33%.more

France and Juventus Turin player Paul Pogba, the 2018 world champion, was banned for four years due to a doping case earlier this season. The almost 31-year-old midfielder has been temporarily suspended since September 2023.more

Thousands of people came today to the area around the Orthodox church in Moscow where the funeral of opposition politician Alexei Navalny is taking place. Those gathered chanted his name. There are communication problems at the site. Representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Russia attended the ceremony.more

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has warned police chiefs that "mob rule is replacing democratic rule" and officers must therefore protect politicians and democratic processes more robustly.more

Athletic Bilbao players defeated Atletico Madrid 3-0 at their home stadium in the semi-final rematch and advanced to the Spanish Cup final for the 40th time. They will play for the trophy on April 6 in Seville against RCD Mallorca.more

The use of nuclear weapons by Russia in Ukraine or elsewhere is highly unlikely, the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed in a recent report, referring to Vladimir Putin's address to the nation yesterday.more

Threats to the West are nothing new, but Vladimir Putin's speech yesterday indicates his increasing confidence that the war in Ukraine is starting to go his way, British media comment.more

One in three Poles is worried about whether they will be able to pay their bills, and one in two will not be able to handle an unexpected expense, according to Deloitte's "Consumer Signals" survey. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they would not have enough money at the end of the month - a 3 percentage point increase from December 2023.more

Seeded three, Hubert Hurkacz lost to the French Ugo Humbert 6:3, 6:7 (8-10), 3:6 and was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 tennis tournament on hard courts in Dubai. The Pole wasted three match points in the second set. This is his second defeat against this rival in three weeks.more

The first modern British home using mud has been built as part of a project to construct more energy efficient housing.more

The extension of child benefit payments for all children under the age of 19 has been passed by the Dáil, with the planned extension being brought four months from September to May 1. Currently parents only get child benefit for each child up until their 18th birthday, but under plans announced in the Budget this was to be extended to every dependent child up to the age of 19 in September.more

The German government is preparing more and more specifically for a possible attack by Russia on Germany or one of the NATO countries. The 13-page document for the Bundestag presents an analysis of the threats leading to the outbreak of war, reports the Bild daily.more

Red Bull's Dutchman Max Verstappen, the 2021-2023 Formula One world champion, is the favourite for the season starting on Saturday in Bahrain. There are a record 24 races on the calendar. The last is scheduled for 8 December in Abu Dhabi.more

Eighty-three routes, including four new ones - to Dubrovnik, Faro, Olbia and Trieste - will be operated from Krakow in the upcoming summer schedule by Ryanair. The carrier will add two aircraft to its base at Krakow Airport, making it the largest base in Central and Eastern Europe.more

A couple in south London have been ridiculed for trying to recruit a live-in babysitter who would have to pay them £400 for the privilege. London renters were stunned to see a property listed at such an affordable price in Clapham South - but they soon realised there was a massive catch.more

Sadiq Khan has hailed his Night Time Enterprise Zones programme as having “dramatically” boosted high street spending in three London neighbourhoods. more

Immigration restrictions imposed on international students threaten to damage the UK economy, according to university leaders, with the number enrolling from overseas falling by a third.more

Millions of supermarket chickens show skin burns from living in their own waste, a BBC investigation has found. "Hock burn" is caused by ammonia from excrement. A sign of poorer welfare on farms, it can be seen on a third of birds in some supermarkets, data shows.more

Famous Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo of Al-Nassr has been suspended for one match for making a gesture widely considered indecent after his team's league game against Al Shabab (3:2). The decision was taken by the Saudi Football Federation's Discipline and Ethics Committee.more

A passenger who lost his dispute with Ryanair after being charged £165 to check in at the airport has said he does not regret taking on the airline. "I was so mad at the time, I had to try something. It ruined a couple of days of my holiday," dad-of-two Damian Lloyd, from Neath, told the BBC.more

The British Home Office yesterday announced the allocation of an additional £31 million to strengthen the security of MPs in the wake of increasingly frequent threats of physical aggression, which have intensified since the outbreak of the conflict in the Gaza Strip.more

Southampton, featuring Jan Bednark, lost 0:3 away to Liverpool in the 1/8 finals of the FA Cup. The teams of Chelsea London, Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers also won promotion to the quarter-finals.more

Vladimir Putin today warned of the danger of nuclear conflict if NATO troops were introduced into Ukraine. He spoke about it in his annual address to the nation.more

Several thousand people came to Cardiff yesterday to protest against the Welsh government's new rules for granting agricultural subsidies. Wales is the only part of the UK where farmers' protests similar to those in mainland Europe are ongoing.more