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The British-based betting firm Ladbrokes says Marine Le Pen is attracting 90 percent of the bets on the eve of the French presidential election, as people gamble that France is in line for an upset. The betting firm said Saturday despite the polls favoring her centrist rival, Emmanuel Macron, gamblers are putting money on the idea that France may be in line for a political shock similar to Britain’s decision to leave the European Union or Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.

Security services have identified 350 Islamic State militants who have returned to Britain from Syria and who pose a potential terror threat. This is in addition to the 3,000 violent Islamist extremists that MI5 has confirmed are already in the country, Whitehall sources have told The Times. MI5 has said 850 people have traveled from the UK to Islamic State-controlled parts of Syria. Whilst some that have returned are designated as ‘disillusioned with extremism’ and allegedly pose no danger, a large number subscribe to Islamist ideology and are trained to handle firearms and explosives. At the end of 2016, the...

The Conservatives have made the biggest gains by a governing party in a local election for more than 40 years. With five weeks to go to the general election, they gained more than 500 seats and seized 11 extra councils. The gains mainly came at the expense of Labour, which came third in Scotland, and UKIP, which lost all of its seats. The Lib Dems failed to make headway. Polling expert John Curtice puts the Tories' national vote share at 38%, Labour 27%, Lib Dems 18% and UKIP 5%. Local elections: Latest updates Laura Kuenssberg: What results mean for Theresa...

The Conservatives harnessed opposition to Scottish independence to score dramatic gains in Scotland’s local elections on Friday, eclipsing Labour and strengthening their claim that they represent the strongest opposition to the nationalists. High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our T&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. https://www.ft.com/content/0df99c34-3195-11e7-9555-23ef563ecf9a Voting on Thursday confirmed the constitutional issue as the main faultline in Scottish politics, after a renewed push by the Scottish National party for a second referendum on leaving...

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has told a conference in Italy on the EU that "English is losing importance in Europe". Amid tensions with the UK over looming Brexit negotiations, he said he was delivering his speech in French. "Slowly but surely English is losing importance in Europe and also because France has an election," he said, explaining his choice of language..... Top EU officials say they want liberal independent Emmnanuel Macron to beat his nationalist rival, Marine Le Pen......

Stilted, awkward, tense. Reports of last week’s dinner between Theresa May and Jean Claude Juncker were revealing. It doesn’t surprise me that the Brexit talks have started on an awkward footing. The Conservatives, after all, are imperiously conducting a general election as if it were no more than a coronation: hardly an atmosphere conducive to the subtlety, realism and humility necessary to persuade the rest of the EU to give us a good deal. The leaked reports suggest that No 10 is treating the 27 EU states it will be negotiating with much like it treats officials in the Home...

Prince Philip took a lighthearted view on his retirement today as he joked: 'Well I can't stand up for much longer'. The Duke of Edinburgh made himself and a crowd of guests roar with laughter while with the Queen at an Order of Merit service at St James's Palace just an hour after announcing he will stop all public royal duties at the age of 95. Mathematician Sir Michael Atiyah was left in hysterics after stopping him to say: ‘I’m sorry to hear you’re standing down’, to which the Duke replied: ‘Well I can’t stand up much longer'. His well-earned...

Spain is planning to use its Brexit veto over Gibraltar to tell the Rock how to run its economy, leaked documents have revealed. Madrid wants to end what it describes as the Rock’s “unjustified privileges”, according to reports of a leaked Spanish foreign ministry document. Spanish officials said Gibraltar’s low-tax status effectively means it enjoys “unfair competition” and has vowed to crack down on the “tax haven”. They will also demand a “new accord” over flights into Gibraltar’s international airport. Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s chief minister, accused Spain of holding “neo-colonial ambitions” over the territory. …

Replacing half of the meat eaten worldwide with crickets and mealworms would cut farmland use by a third, substantially reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, researchers say. While consumers' reluctance to eat insects may limit their consumption, even a small increase would bring benefits, the team says. This could potentially be achieved by using insects as ingredients in some pre-packaged foods. Researchers say that replacing meat with crickets and mealworms could help tackle climate change. Using data collected primarily by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, scientists compared the environmental impacts of conventional meat production with those of alternative sources of...

A new report by the British Parliament’s upper chamber declared President Donald Trump unfit to lead the West’s foreign policy in the Middle East, and called upon the UK to lead the way in recognizing Palestine as an independent, sovereign state. The report was produced by the House of Lords’ International Relations Committee after six months of study, and reflects the anxiety some European leaders have felt towards President Trump’s campaign pledge to alter Washington’s approach to the NATO alliance, the United Nations, the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and other hot-button issues. The committee’s findings call for the UK to...

Full title: Queen calls her ENTIRE household to 'highly unusual' emergency meeting at Buckingham Palace today - but aides say there is 'no cause for concern' A top secret emergency meeting called by Buckingham Palace has caused fevered speculation First thought to be a royal death....Prince Philip . Palace says both Queen and Prince are in good health ....??????

Watching BBC now. HRH The Duke of Edinburgh is retiring from royal duties at the age of 95.

THE internet has gone into meltdown amid speculation something has happened to Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip, despite no confirmation from Buckingham Palace. The Queen summoned her entire royal staff from across the UK to a “highly unusual” meeting at Buckingham Palace in the early hours of Thursday, London time. The only official confirmation from the Royal Family has been that a meeting has been called but that has not stopped wild speculation about the health of both the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen herself.

THOUSANDS of new £1 coins carry major production flaws in a huge embarrassment for the Royal Mint. Some of the coins — supposedly the world’s most secure — appear cracked, warped or have the middle missing. Officials admitted faults had crept into the minting process.

Mr Macron has been dubbed “chou-chou” (teacher’s pet) by French media because of his unusual relationship. The 39-year-old is married to Brigitte Trogneux, a glamorous blonde who as well as being 24 years older than him, was also his high school drama teacher. They first met when he was 15 years old and she was a 40-year-old married mother-of-three. “He wasn’t like the others,” Brigitte told a French documentary last year, “he wasn’t a teenager. He had a relationship of equals with other adults.” Related articles French election 2017: What will the result mean for Brexit? French election 2017 date:...

From the "It's come to this" and the "What will they think of next?" department: The National Union of Students warned audience members at its conference that they must not clap or cheer during speeches because clapping and cheering make deaf people feel excluded. According to an article in The Telegraph, attendees at last week’s conference were warned that clapping and cheering could have a “serious impact” on deaf participants, and they were instructed to use “jazz hands” to show their support instead. “No whooping, it does have a serious impact on some delegates’ ability to access [the] conference,”...

John McDonnell tried to weaken our cash-strapped military by allowing taxpayers to 'opt out' of helping to fund them, it has been revealed. Records from the House of Commons show that in 2014 the Shadow Chancellor proposed a motion to allow voters direct the portion of their income tax that goes towards defence into a 'non-military security fund'. In 1999 the longtime Corbyn ally tried to change the law so taxpayers could divert the money spent on defence into foreign aid. Armed Forces minister Mike Penning told the Sun: 'Security would be at risk with John McDonnell holding the purse...

Most counterterrorism operations take place below the radar. Across the western world, terror cells are busted up and networks disrupted as raids lead to arrests. They are rarely publicized beyond terse statements to the media giving the bare bones outline of the operation. But on Friday, British counterterrorism units broke up two terrorist plots on the same day, highlighting the constant struggle of officials to keep their citizens safe. And one UK official made the extraordinary statement that raids were being conducted "almost daily" and that authorities believed there were between 6-10,000 potential terrorists in the country. Breitbart: "I...

LONDON — In 2015, Britain’s Labour Party tacked to the left, repudiating the middle-way philosophy that had won it three elections under Tony Blair. Voters responded by handing the party its worst defeat in three decades. Rather than scramble back toward the center, Labour lurched further left. The party elected as its leader Jeremy Corbyn, a white-bearded baby boomer from the back benches who, like Bernie Sanders in the United States, ignited an improbable movement among young activists with his attacks on the rigged capitalist system and unquestioned fidelity to socialist ideals. Now, with less than six weeks to go...

The bill for Britain’s Brexit divorce settlement is growing ever longer, with leaders in Brussels now saying that Britain should continue to pick up a portion of the tab for migrants living in Turkey beyond accession. Initial demands that Britain should pay into the European Union’s seven-year Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) until it expires at the end of 2020 – a year after Brexit – have since expanded to include references to “issues resulting from” the budget, as well as those related to the European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Development Fund (EDF). German representatives are now suggesting that “issues”...