Ottawa wants to modernize a region in the north that’s about six times the size of Texas, ‘just like in the 1800s’

Picture an Arctic territory, marginalized by its own country, almost entirely lacking roads, ports and power sources, but rich in mining potential and suddenly feeling vulnerable to outside threats.

It’s not Greenland ; it’s the Canadian Arctic.

Pardoned by Trump after violating US banking law, Ben Delo provides funding, networking, and podcasting space for a range of groups, including those with hardline views on migration and abortion

A British billionaire convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate money-laundering controls on his cryptocurrency business is funding a political base in the heart of Westminster used by “anti-woke” and rightwing activists.

Ben Delo, 42, who was pardoned by Donald Trump last year, has given support in kind to Rupert Lowe, the anti-migration MP challenging Nigel Farage from the right – while also connecting with mainstream figures including the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and former cabinet minister Michael Gove.

Tasteless political merch is nothing new to Donald Trump, but it’s a particularly bad look if you’re married to Bill Clinton

We live in a golden age of tasteless political merchandise. This is largely thanks to Donald Trump: over the years the president’s official store has flogged everything from hoodies with Joe Biden falling downstairs on them to a T-shirt with a version of the mugshot from his 2023 booking on felony charges (Trump denied wrongdoing).

Trump isn’t the only one. Back in 2019, Senator Mitch McConnell, then Senate majority leader, sold more than 2,000 T-shirts referencing “ Cocaine Mitch ”. This had nothing to do with his hobbies; it was in response to a nickname given to McConnell by a political rival off the back of a baseless allegation. “One of the things we learned with this whole ‘Cocaine Mitch’ phenomenon is that people are really engaged,” one of the staffers involved in the T-shirt sales said at the time. “They want merchandise.”

Sociology faculty are refusing to alter syllabi, even as state targets how race, gender and inequality are taught

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Across Florida universities, some sociology professors are quietly choosing not to alter their courses in response to new state guidelines restricting how topics like race , gender and sexuality can be discussed. Rather than rewriting syllabi or removing foundational material, as the new demands would call for, they say they are continuing to teach their classes as designed. The professors view the preservation of their curricula not as an act of defiance, but as a professional responsibility to provide students with a full and rigorous education.

In late January, Florida’s department of education introduced what many professors are calling a censored sociology textbook for use in the state’s public colleges and universities, along with a list of proposed guidelines at state schools, restricting various discussions related to systemic discrimination, gender and sexual identity, race-conscious remedies, and the structural causes of inequality. Faculty members say this move reflects a broader effort to narrow academic freedom in higher education and follows several years of legislation aimed at reshaping public university curricula under the banner of combating “woke ideology”.

We would like to hear about the ways people have helped each other feel less isolated

Was someone there for you when you were feeling lonely? As part of the Guardian’s Well Actually series , we would like to hear about the ways people have helped each other feel less isolated. You can tell us your story below.

If you’re having trouble using the form click here . Read terms of service here and privacy policy here .

The evidence against him and two fellow gang members didn’t stack up. But the police and prosecutors pressed on. How did the US justice system get it so wrong?

Off Duty: The Crime – episode one

On the evening of 29 December 2011, off‑duty Chicago police officer Clifton Lewis sat behind the counter of the M&M Quick Foods convenience store, working a second job as a security guard. He’d proposed to his girlfriend on Christmas Day and the extra income from M&M would help pay for the wedding.

His fiance, Latrice Tucker, chafed at all his side jobs, which also included a security gig at Walmart. She had scheduled an appointment to tour a potential wedding venue that afternoon, but Lewis kissed her on the cheek and told her he was running late for work. They’d reschedule.

On the evening of 29 December 2011, Officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot Lewis several times, then took off with his gun and police star. A week later, police had their suspects: four men affiliated with a gang called the Spanish Cobras. For hours, under intense police questioning, they all said they didn’t do it. But that didn’t seem to matter.

This is episode one of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

UK mortgage rates have climbed again today, as lender pull their cheaper deals from the market.

Data provider Moneyfacts reports that the average 2-year fixed residential mortgage rate today is 5.30%, up from 5.28% on Tuesday.

Average 2-year fix has risen from 4.83% at the start of March to 5.30% today. It’s highest since February 2025.

Average 5-year fix has risen from 4.95% at the start of March to 5.35% today. It’s highest since August 2024.

“The rapid disappearance of sub-4% mortgage deals shows just how quickly market sentiment has shifted. Nine days ago (9 March), well-positioned borrowers could choose from hundreds of fixed rate deals priced below 4%, but that has now dwindled to just two.

“The financial effects of ‘Trumpflation’ are already hitting home as the conflict in Iran is driving inflation concerns. That has forced markets to rethink the outlook for rate cuts, pushing borrowing costs higher and prompting lenders to pull and reprice deals at speed. For borrowers, it means the window for ultra-competitive sub-4% rates has been slammed shut, at least for now.”

Iranian crude exports through the corridor accounts for nearly three-quarters of the 27.2 million barrels that have left the Persian Gulf since March 1, data from intelligence firm Kpler Ltd. show. That amounts to about 1.2 million barrels a day of crude for Tehran, compared to a pre-war daily level of 1.5 million barrels.

By contrast, nearly three weeks into the war, cargoes from others in the region added up to just 400,000 barrels a day, versus an average 14 million barrels per day in peace time.

Nick Thomas-Symonds says he does not accept former deputy PM’s comments around immigration plans

Nick Thomas-Symonds , the Cabinet Office minister, argued in interviews this morning that people in government agreed with Angela Rayner about wanting to deliver change quickly. (See 8.52am .)

But he would not accept her criticisms of Shabana Mahmood’s plan to make most immigrants wait much longer until they can apply for indefinite leave to remain. Rayner said this was “un-British”, because the new rules will apply to people already in the UK, which she argued did not amount to fair play. Thomas-Symonds said he disagreed.

No I don’t think that the changes Shabana Mahmood has announced are un-British.

I think what they are doing is trying to strike fairness and a balance between, in the first instance, control of our borders, and also people who are here still having the opportunity then to gain a settled status, but also being fair to everybody.

Angela Rayner joined a call with City investors in which the bookies’ favourite to replace Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister offered reassurance that Labour would not lurch to the left.

Investors on the call, hosted by French bank BNP Paribas this month, said the former deputy prime minister pledged the party would stick to its manifesto and not resort to a borrowing blitz to fund greater spending.