April Fool's Day 2018: We round up all the deliberate 'fake news' from around the world

From Brexit emojis and an EU trade yacht to chocolate mayonnaise and Victorian memes, these are this year's best joke stories

What is April Fool's Day and what are its origins?

In an era of fake news, we should probably all be reading things with a more sceptical eye.

That is especially true on 1 April, when newspapers, companies and social media comics try to trick us all with jokes and pranks.

Here are some of the best prank stories that we spotted throughout the morning.

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[1 April 2018 10:46 · Chris Baynes]

Condiment doyens Heinz also bring us news of a supposed new product, just in time for Easter.

Their new "chocolate mayonnaise" would be ideal spread on toast, added to cake batter, or paired with roast lamb, apparently.

In related news, I feel a little queasy. 

[1 April 2018 11:04 · Chris Baynes]

The EU is planning to field a team at this summer’s World Cup in shock show of solidarity against Russia, the Huffington Post tells us.

Belgium, the home of the EU, offered to sacrifice its place in the tournament to make room for the elite squad of players selected from member states, the website reports.

Tottenham-supporting Brexiteers will be no doubt be particularly alarmed to read that Harry Kane could line up for the EU against England... 

[1 April 2018 11:25 · Chris Baynes]

Scandinavian homeware retailer Clas Ohlson brings another product launch announcement - bottles of fresh "Swedish air".

Featuring a "classically Swedish design" and bottled in the area surrounding Insjön, Clas Ohlson’s founding town, the product will apparently allow British customers to "breathe like a Swede".

It will be on sale for £1.04, of course.

[1 April 2018 11:34 · Chris Baynes]

West Yorkshire Police have deployed a tough new crime-fighting recruit this Easter Sunday. 

[1 April 2018 11:51 · Chris Baynes]

Following the very silly furore about plans for the UK's blue passports to be manufactured in France, the Daily Express brings further troubling news for irate Brexiteers. 

It seems our friends across the Channel have now also got their hands on another national icon, Big Ben, which the newspaper reports is to repaired by a Parisian bell-making company during the refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster.

[1 April 2018 12:09 · Chris Baynes]

The world's first meme has been discovered during during excavation work at the Royal Albert Hall, according to the venue.

A remarkable collection of artifacts buried by Queen Victoria in 1867 was apparently found in a time capsule.

The "treasure trove" included a penny, an empty jar of Bovril and a picture of two contemporary gentleman printed with the word "WHENCE?"

The artwork "has been verified by the British Library as the world’s first ever meme", claims the Hall.

Archivist Liz Harper said: "This kind of shareable, framed content shows a side of the Victorians frequently neglected by historians, and reveals just how much we have in common with our ancestors. They had their own gifs and Instagram stories, it’s just that theirs didn’t move and could only be shown to one person at a time.

“The ‘Whence meme’ would have served much the same purpose as ‘new phone, who dis?’ and ‘white guy blinking’ do for nerds nowadays.”

The venue adds that a Dire Straits VHS also discovered during the work is "believed to have been added to the capsule at a later date".

[1 April 2018 12:37 · Chris Baynes]

MPs are calling for April Fool's Day to be banned, reports The Overtake, The website has gone meta with some cautionary tales about the dangers of this annual celebration of fake news.

A hunter who who fell to his death while looking for polar bears reportedly spotted in Scotland is among the tragic supposed victims of misinformation, while a fake advert for Polo mints without the hole apparently set in motion a train of events that ultimately led to the "most destructive and self-owning prank" - Brexit.

[1 April 2018 12:41 · Chris Baynes]

That's enough fake news for this year - we're wrapping up this blog.

We leave with you The Independent's own April Fool story, which reported that Twitter-loving US president Donald Trump had sensationally quit the social media platform. Did we catch you out?