The Week 1534

What happened Le Pen convicted Marine Le Pen’s hopes of becoming France’s next president were dealt a potentially fatal blow on Monday, when the far-right leader was convicted of embezzlement and banned from running for office for five years. National Rally’s three-time presidential candidate – who had been the frontrunner to win the 2027 election – was fined €100,000 and given a four-year sentence: two years under house arrest and two years suspended. She has already appealed the verdict, which she slammed as “political”. Populist figures around the world, including Elon Musk and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, were quick to rally in support. “When the radical Left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents,” said Musk, who also warned that this would “backfire”. Le…

Millions of households faced a steep rise in their living costs this week owing to a raft of price hikes dubbed “Awful April”. On 1 April, council tax rose by 5% in most of England; water bills are going up by £123 per year on average in England and Wales; and many households will face higher energy bills too, owing to a 6.4% rise in the price cap. With the cost of broadband and mobile phone contracts also rising, the flurry of price hikes was predicted to add hundreds of pounds a year to the average household’s bills. To compound the sense of economic gloom, analysts issued dire warnings about the potential impact on British jobs of Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs (see page 6). They also noted that the…

A miniature dachshund who went missing on Kangaroo Island in South Australia 16 months ago has been spotted alive in the wild. According to owner Georgia Gardner, Valerie was only six inches tall when she went missing from a campsite, and was a “total princess” who in chilly weather wore a pink jumper to match her pink collar. Yet Valerie has somehow survived for 500 days in the bush, evading predators including black tiger snakes – and attempts to capture her. Two near-life-sized statues have been discovered by archaeologists at Pompeii. They depict a woman, who is believed to be a priestess in a cult devoted to Ceres, the goddess of fertility and agriculture, and a man who may have been her husband. The statues decorated the face of a…

Controversy of the week Trump’s “liberation day” “This is going to hurt,” said Steven Swinford in The Times. The world was braced on Wednesday for “liberation day”, when President Trump was expected to announce his long-threatened, sweeping global tariffs. As The Week went to press, Trump’s measures had not been announced. Likely scenarios ranged from reciprocal tariffs on the so-called “Dirty 15” (the top 15% of countries that have the worst trade imbalances with the US, which include the UK), to a blanket 10-20% tariff on all imports. The lead-up to liberation day was mired in the usual Trumpian chaos, said The Economist: even top White House officials seemed unsure what the boss would do. But given his existing 25% car levy, and measures against Mexico, Canada and China, it’s…

The fashion retailer H&M is creating lifelike AI “twins” of 30 leading models, which it will use in its social media and marketing imagery. The AI reproductions would only be used with permission, and the agreement allows models to book their “twins” into shoots for other brands – enabling them to be in two places at once, effectively. Model Mathilda Gvarliani described her twin as “like me, but without the jet lag”. A new trend for the wealthy to “engage with mass consumption while retaining exclusivity” has been exemplified by a clutch bag carried by Lauren Sánchez, the ex-journalist engaged to Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos. The Balenciaga bag costs £4,350 and is made of calfskin, but looks exactly like a reusable coffee cup.…

Paul Mescal, with confirmation that he has been cast as Paul McCartney in a series of four new films about The Beatles, directed by Sam Mendes. His fellow Irishman Barry Keoghan will play Ringo Starr, Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon and Joseph Quinn will star as George Harrison. Each of the films, due out in 2028, will focus on a different member of the group. Chester Zoo, which unveiled its much anticipated “Heart of Africa” facility – a sweeping, 22.5 acre expanse of grassland that will be home to 57 African species including vultures, rhino, naked mole-rats and 15,000 locusts. In one area, various species will roam together, as though in the wild. The cashless society, with news that it has had a surprising upside: a fall in the…