Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson and Robert Jenrick, among others, have sung the praises of the JCB PotHole Pro

Reform UK’s leading figures have repeatedly promoted a new pothole-fixing machine by the construction company JCB, while the party received £200,000 from the British digger maker, the Guardian can reveal.

Several Reform politicians including Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson, Robert Jenrick, Zia Yusuf and Richard Tice have sung the praises of the JCB PotHole Pro machine.

PM says there are instances in which he would support bans but organisers say this would ‘strike at root of free speech’

Organisers of pro-Palestine marches have said Keir Starmer’s threat to ban some demonstrations opposing Israel’s actions in the Middle East will “strike at the root of free assembly and free speech” in the UK.

On Saturday morning, the prime minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “there are instances” in which he would support stopping some pro-Palestine protests altogether.

Tory leader says she did not sign off on video attacking Labour’s Troubles legacy proposals

Kemi Badenoch has apologised after footage from Bloody Sunday was used in social media posts criticising a bill on legacy issues in Northern Ireland.

The Conservative leader said on Saturday that she did not sign off on the use of a clip from the massacre, in which British soldiers opened fire on unarmed civil rights demonstrators in Derry, and that it was distributed by “very young people”.

Anthony Marsh appears to be in commanding position in significant boost to opposition leader Jess Wilson

The Liberals have claimed victory in a key Victorian byelection seen as a preview of what to expect when the rest of the state hits the polls in November.

As counting continued in the Mornington peninsula seat of Nepean, the Liberal candidate, Anthony Marsh, appeared to be in a commanding position in a significant boost to opposition leader Jess Wilson.

GB News owner’s son, who wants Channel to be mined to stop migrants, is latest to have a go at transatlantic rightwing commentary

On a Los Angeles stage in 2011 Winston Marshall, then the banjo player for the folk rock band Mumford & Sons, could scarcely believe what was happening. Not only was he playing at the Grammys, he was playing alongside Bob Dylan, legendary composer of social justice anthems and one of his heroes.

About 15 years later, Marshall once again found himself stateside, this time on a very different stage. Appearing on Fox News in his new guise as a conservative YouTuber, Marshall advocated what he admitted was an “outlandish idea” to stop small boat crossings in the Channel.

From Virginia to New York, the bugs drain vines, cut yields and leave growers resorting to one simple fix: squash them

Around grape harvest time about three years ago, an employee at Zephaniah Farm Vineyard in Leesburg, Virginia, noticed bugs, about 1in long with gray and black wings and a bright red underwing, atop some trees.

While the insects were pretty, they were there for the grapevines and not welcome guests at the vineyard, which sits atop a farm that the Zephaniah family has run since 1949.

Actors Richard E Grant, Michael Sheen and Bella Ramsey among star-studded cast hoping for victory as BBC’s hit spin-off series returns to screens

Considering the Traitors is a game of murderous treachery played out in a castle, the Shakespearean actors in the cast of the new celebrity spin-off series should be well set.

Oscar-winner Richard E Grant, acclaimed actor Michael Sheen and The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey will be among the thespians vying for victory this year, all of who have the Bard on their CV.

Calf was transported by water-filled barge in operation deemed ‘inadvisable’ because of low chance of survival

Rescuers have released a young humpback whale that became a national sensation after it was beached in shallow waters off the coast in Germany, although marine experts have said its chances of survival are low.

The whale, variously nicknamed Timmy or Hope, was released into the North Sea off Denmark after being transported there in a water-filled barge by rescuers.

German defence minister responds to US president’s announcement that 5,000 US troops will leave bases in Germany

• Full report: Nato seeks to ‘understand the details’ after US decision to withdraw troops from Germany

• ‘We love our Americans’: the German town rocked by Trump’s plan to withdraw US troops

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said suspicious activity had been reported 84 nautical miles southwest of the port of Mukalla in Yemen.

A bulk carrier reported that a small boat and a fishing vessel came within 500m of it, according to UKMTO.

Figures for England and Wales prompt calls for more rigorous police investigations of cases

Only 3% of suicides related to domestic abuse in England and Wales in the past five years have resulted in any sort of prosecution, figures show.

Between 2020 and 2025, 553 people took their own lives after suspected abuse in an intimate relationship, but only 17 posthumous charges were brought.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Government blocks RightsCon 2026 conference saying it did not ‘align with national values’

The world’s largest conference on human rights and technology has been cancelled just days before it was due to start after the Zambian government told organisers it did not align with “national values”.

Zambia’s government had originally welcomed the RightsCon 2026 summit on “human rights in the digital age”, due to be held in the capital, Lusaka, on 5-8 May, but Thabo Kawana, permanent secretary for the Ministry of Information & Media, said last week that the conference would not go ahead to allow time to ensure the gathering “aligns with Zambia’s national values, policy priorities, and broader public interest considerations”.

US president says ‘we took over the cargo, took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business’

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Donald Trump has said the US navy acted “like pirates” as he described an operation seizing a ship amid the tit-for-tat American blockade of Iranian ports.

“We … land on top of it and we took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” said Trump at a rally in Florida on Friday.