World’s largest crypto exchange said it had not confirmed whether funds had been pilfered

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Thursday it is investigating reports of a potential security issue as its founder said the incident “does look like a hack on Binance”. The company said cryptocurrency firms had frozen about $3bn in funds by Thursday evening.

It was not immediately clear the extent of the damage hackers might have been able to accomplish and Binance had not explicitly confirmed that funds had been pilfered, but stablecoin issuers quickly froze funds Thursday evening.

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© Photograph: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Reform UK leader ‘shocked’ by £10bn pledged to Ukraine and doubles down on cutting tax for crypto investors

• Budget 2026: key points at a glance

Nigel Farage skipped the chancellor’s first budget because he was worried he would get in a “physical altercation” with another MP in a row over seating arrangements.

The Reform UK leader was not present in the House of Commons but gave a press conference afterwards in which he said he was “shocked” by the £10bn going to support Ukraine and doubled down on his party’s policies on cutting tax for crypto investors.

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© Photograph: Zeynep Demir Aslim/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Zeynep Demir Aslim/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Zeynep Demir Aslim/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

The prime minister previously said that he wanted a debate on how Britain can establish a closer relationship

Speaking at his rough sleeping summit in Downing Street this morning, Andy Burnham expanded on the claim he made on Good Morning Britain about tackling rough sleeping being cheaper than ignoring the problem. (See 11.13am.)

He said:

We’ve also got to be conscious when we speak to the rest of the country, the taxpayers of this country, that actually to leave people sleeping rough has financial consequences. It doesn’t work for anybody and it doesn’t work for the public purse, because if you leave people in a position where they are in and out of A&E, and in and out of a hospital bed, that doesn’t make sense for anybody.

There is a rock-solid business case to do something to end homelessness, to put people on a path to recovery, so that they can contribute once again. And that should be the thinking that we take to this conversation.

Burnham is throwing another £432m at a problem he failed to solve in Greater Manchester. Under Labour, rough sleeping has hit record highs – yet their answer is always more taxpayers’ money and more empty promises.

[John] Healey must use his budget this week to cut taxes for working people, get the ballooning benefits bill under control, and stop pushing up energy prices.

John Healey is expected to confirm on Wednesday that the full state pension will rise by £489 to £13,036 – equivalent to 3.9%.

However, the rise will push about one million people on low incomes who rely on the state pension above the £12,570 personal allowance threshold, meaning they would be dragged into paying income tax.

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© Photograph: ITV

© Photograph: ITV

© Photograph: ITV

109 financial experts call proposal 'puzzling,' warn that corporations, exporters, investors, and above all the tech sector will be unable to operate under international penalties