National News

Scarlett Johansson says being pregnant with her second child was a “wonderful distraction” from her high-profile legal battle with Disney in 2021. The Hollywood actress, known for her role of Natasha Romanoff in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), said she had been made “sad and disappointed” by the company’s response to her lawsuit. Johansson launched legal action against Walt Disney Studios in July 2021 over the streaming release of superhero movie Black Widow.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will not be taking any enforcement action against Lancashire Police over its disclosure of missing mother Nicola Bulley’s personal information, the force has said. In an update issued on Tuesday, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) also said its investigation into an officer’s contact with Ms Bulley prior to her disappearance identified two areas of learning. The force came under heavy criticism after the

Energy bills are expected to drop significantly from the start of July, according to new analysis released on Tuesday. Energy industry consultancy Cornwall Insight said it thinks the price cap on energy bills will fall by more than £1,200 for the average household when it is next updated. However, because the Government bill support, which has artificially lowered bills, will fall away, households will only be around £437 better off

A jury in New York City is set to begin its deliberations in a civil trial over advice columnist E Jean Carroll’s claims that Donald Trump raped her in a luxury Manhattan department store in 1996. US District Judge Lewis A Kaplan will read instructions on the law to the nine-person jury for about an hour before jurors begin discussing the civil claims of battery and defamation. If they believe

Sophia Floersch has set her sights on competing in Formula One “in the next three to five years” after recovering from a spinal fracture. The 22-year-old currently drives for PHM Racing by Charouz in Formula Three, and has also taken part in endurance events such as Le Mans. Floersch’s F1 aspirations are all the more remarkable given she broke her spine in a horrific crash at the 2018 Macau Grand

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was given a clean bill of health when he provided an “extremely fit” blood pressure reading during a visit to a pharmacist to promote his plan to expand primary health care. Pharmacist Peter Baillie asked the Conservative leader to roll up his sleeves for the test during a visit to Weston Lane Surgery in Weston, Southampton – the Hampshire city where the Prime Minister was brought up by

Eurovision boss Martin Osterdahl has said the contest returning to the UK for the first time in 25 years could encourage the country to “fall in love with it again”. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) executive supervisor for the event said it had changed in the intervening years and was now capable of producing a new kind of global music star. In recent

Commuters were “very angry” after a slow march by Just Stop Oil activists held up traffic in North London. Activists from the climate action group walked slowly in front of traffic in Camden, holding up banners reading “Just Stop Oil”, on Tuesday morning. Police observed the protesters on their walk from Delancey Street to Chalk Farm via Camden Town but did not intervene. Some members of the public showed their support for the march by clapping

Russian President Vladimir Putin has addressed a Victory Day parade in Moscow’s Red Square, claiming that “a real war” has been unleashed against the country – a reference to the war in Ukraine that the Kremlin portrays as being a proxy conflict with the West. “Today civilisation is once again at a decisive turning point,” Mr Putin said. “A real war has been unleashed against our Motherland.” He welcomed soldiers