Remains of Shiri Bibas and young sons Kfir and Ariel, whose deaths had not been confirmed, to be returned on ThursdayHamas has said it will release six hostages from Gaza this week and hand over the bodies of four others, including the remains of two young children from the same family whose deaths had not previously been confirmed.Khalil al-Hayya, a Hamas negotiator, said the four bodies to be handed over on Thursday would include those of 32-year-old Shiri Bibas and her sons, Kfir and Ariel, who were nine months old and four years old when Hamas abducted them from the Nir Oz kibbutz during the 7 October 2023 attack that ignited the Gaza war. Continue reading...
Welcome to the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference, a fatuous echo chamber of self-congratulationFighting the culture wars doesn't come cheap these days. Tickets for the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference at the Excel Centre in London cost a discounted 450. A bargain said the organisers, as the original price was 1500. Maybe they had a point. All 4,000 tickets were sold long before the event began. Even access to a livestream set you back 150. A meta-event where only the global elite are welcome to watch a global elite take on the global elite.This was alt-right heaven. A gathering of some of the biggest names on the circuit. Douglas Murray. Jordan Peterson. Nigel Farage. Niall Ferguson. An echo chamber of self-referential congratulation. A place where people come to have their ideas confirmed, not challenged. Continue reading...
Janice Nix, 66, charged with manslaughter over death of Andrea Bernard, who died after being assaulted in south LondonJanice Nix, 66, has been charged with manslaughter over the death of five-year-old Andrea Bernard, who died after being assaulted in south London in June 1978, the Metropolitan police have said.More details soon ... Continue reading...
by Martin Belam (now) and Aneesa Ahmed (earlier) on (#6VBQ9)
Leader of Reform UK criticises Conservatives and declinist' Labour government in new attacksGood morning, defence secretary John Healey has finished speaking, so I can take a quick pause and actually welcome you to our rolling coverage of UK politics for Tuesday. Here are the headlines ...Defence secretary John Healey has announced what he described as the most significant defence reform for 50 years, in which reporting lines and budgets will be simplified, and a new quad" of four senior leaders reporting directly to the minister appointedHealy said there were extraordinary people in the UK's defence forces, but too often they were hampered by process, and there was a lack of direct accountability. He suggested his changes might bring about up to 10bn in savings to the taxpayer over the next decadeTransport secretary Heidi Alexander has said the UK should not rule out sending troops to Ukraine as part of any future peacekeeping forceThe rate of UK unemployment remained unchanged at 4.4% in the three months to December. Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said Since July, wages have continued to grow at pace ... but these figures also show that too many people are being locked out of work"London mayor Sadiq Khan is reportedly set to tell EU diplomats Brexit was a mistake"Successive governments' overreliance on prison sentences and desire to seem tough on crime" have driven the justice system in England and Wales to the brink of collapse, an official review has foundNigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has spoken at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference in London. Yesterday Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch told the same event that western civilisation will be lost" if the Tory party fails Continue reading...
Couple accused of entering country under guise of tourists' had been monitored by security agenciesCraig and Lindsay Foreman, the British couple detained in Iran, have been charged with espionage, according to an Iranian judiciary spokesperson quoted by news agency Mizan.According to Mizan, a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary said the Foremans had been monitored by security agencies and were arrested on charges of espionage". Continue reading...
by Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent on (#6VBS0)
Households face greater than expected rise in Ofgem price cap after Europe's gas storage levels slump, analysts sayMillions of households face a greater than expected increase to their energy bills of 85 a year from April after Europe's gas storage levels slumped, according to analysts.The average gas and electricity bill for households across England, Scotland and Wales is expected to rise by nearly 5% from April to 1,823 a year for a typical household under the energy regulator's price cap. Continue reading...
Ice's pursuit of low-hanging fruit' by allegedly tricking people complying with rules could be counterproductivePeople attending recent mandatory immigration check-ins or court appearances have been escorted out in federal custody after the Trump administration allegedly tricked, lied to, or otherwise deceived them as part of its mass deportation campaign.Amid a blitz of immigration-related policy changes over the last few weeks, Donald Trump and his subordinates have greenlit the ability of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) to conduct potential civil enforcement operations at courthouses, including in immigration courts. Continue reading...
Ken Martin decries Republican party's anti-union actions and pledges to fight on behalf of American working peopleThe newly elected chair of the Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin, has warned his party that the Republicans are now seen as the party of the working class and vowed to win back the trust of American workers as the Democrats seek to rebuild after their losses in the 2024 presidential election.In his first memo in the role, seen by the Guardian, Martin said, after the election, for the first time in modern history, Americans now see the Republicans as the party of the working class and Democrats as the party of the elites". Continue reading...
Firms want review of decision to remove architecture from shortage occupation list and raise salary thresholdArchitecture firms are calling on the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, to urgently review the post-Brexit visa salary rules, claiming they are choking an industry that is trying to help meet Labour's housing targets.They say there were hit by a double recruitment whammy when the rules changed last April, with architecture removed from the shortage occupation list and the minimum salary to get a visa increased from just over 26,000 to 45,900. Continue reading...
Elizabeth Ann Macgregor says Tony Burke has questions to answer after Khaled Sabsabi's offer was rescinded but the arts minister has denied involvement
How anti-immigration politics across the EU clashes with demographic realityThe rise of the far-right could speed up the population decline of Europe, projections show, creating economic shocks including slower growth and soaring costs from pensions and elderly care.Anti-immigration politics is on the rise across the EU, as shown by the gains made by far-right parties in the 2024 elections. Meanwhile, the anti-immigration Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) is polling second in the run-up to the German federal election this month. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: As the US and Russia go ahead with talks in Saudi Arabia, Keir Starmer and other European leaders are grappling with their next moveGood morning. Yesterday, European leaders attended an emergency meeting in Paris to discuss how best to respond to the shift in Ukraine policy from the US under Donald Trump. Today, US and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia for preliminary peace talks. And while Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that there can be no agreements about us without us", events of the last week have made it clear that the second of these summits is likely to be more consequential than the first.As shocking as interventions from the US vice-president, JD Vance, and the secretary of defence, Pete Hegseth, were last week, part of their argument was emanating from Washington even before Trump's first term: the demand that European nations take more responsibility for their own security as the US seeks to shift its focus towards Asia.Prisons | Successive governments' overreliance on longer prison sentences and desire to seem tough on crime" have driven the justice system to the brink of collapse, an official review has found. The prison population in England and Wales was more than 85,000 at the end of last year, having increased by more than 40,000 since 1993.UK news | A woman shot dead at a Kent pub on Valentine's Day has been named as Lisa Smith. The 43-year-old from Slough was killed in Knockholt near the Three Horseshoes pub shortly after 7pm on Friday, Kent police said.Conservatives | Kemi Badenoch has said our country and all of western civilisation will be lost" if efforts to renew the Conservative party and drive forward rightwing ideas globally fail. In a speech at a right-wing conference attended by Jordan Peterson and Nigel Farage, Baedenoch said that pronouns, diversity policies and climate activism" are a poison".Canada | A plane carrying 80 people crash landed at Toronto Pearson airport on Monday, flipping upside down and leaving at least 18 people injured. Video from the scene showed a Delta Air Lines plane belly-up on snow-covered tarmac and people walking away.Religion | Pope Francis will remain in hospital for as long as required after tests in recent days showed a complex clinical picture", the Vatican has said. The pontiff, 88, was admitted to Gemelli hospital in Rome on Friday with worsening bronchitis and was diagnosed and treated for a respiratory tract infection.If current trends in the decline of European defence capabilities are not halted and reversed, future US political leaders - those for whom the cold war was not the formative experience that it was for me - may not consider the return on America's investment in Nato worth the cost." Continue reading...
Exclusive: More than 200 civil society groups say governments have failed to prevent planes from being used to violate international lawMore than 200 organisations worldwide have called on nations involved in producing F-35 fighter jets to immediately halt all arms transfers to Israel" amid fears they have failed to prevent the planes from being used to violate international law.The letter, signed by 232 civil society organisations, was sent on Monday to government ministers in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the US and the UK as the war in Gaza reached 500 days. Continue reading...
by Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent on (#6VBM7)
UK records 47% annual drop as governments aim to replace fossil fuels but also spend billions on new LNG terminalsEuropean imports of seaborne gas shipments fell by a fifth last year to their lowest level since the pandemic, according to a new report, while the UK's plunged by nearly a half, but governments are continuing to spend billions on new import terminals.The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found that Europe's imports of liquefied natural gas, known as LNG, fell by 19% last year to lows not seen since 2021 as governments worked to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. Continue reading...
European headlines reflect the response to the diplomatic shockwaves sent by the US and splits among leaders on defence spending and how the war in Ukraine should end
Opposition leaders accuse prime minister of risking its relationship with New Zealand by continued secrecy around dealHundreds of protesters have marched on Cook Islands' parliament to oppose prime minister Mark Brown's recent decisions, including a failure to properly consult its closest partner New Zealand over a deal to deepen ties with China.Roughly 400 protesters - led by opposition parties - gathered outside the capital city of Avarua on Tuesday, RNZ reported, with some holding signs reading Stay connected with New Zealand". Others waved placards showing the New Zealand passport in opposition to Brown's now-abandoned controversial proposal to introduce a separate Cook Islands passport, which New Zealand warned would require holders to renounce their New Zealand one. Continue reading...
Chris Wright also tells conservative conference Australia developing shale gas would be a tremendous resource' - despite Australia already being one of the world largest producers and exporters of both LNG and uranium
Value of imports and exports is now about 32bn, with chemical sector among those hit by Brexit red tapeTrade between Great Britain and Ireland dropped more than 6bn in 2024 as post-Brexit frictions hit shipments across the Irish Sea.The value of imports and exports between the nations fell to about 32bn last year, down from 38bn in 2023, according to Ireland's Central Statistics Office.This article was amended on Tuesday 18 February 2025 to clarify that the UK remains Ireland's biggest trading partner in Europe, rather than globally. Continue reading...
Hundreds of teenagers have been given an IN10 police endorsement since 2020, says road safety charityElectric scooters have been blamed for a surge in the number of children being penalised for driving without insurance.Since the start of 2020 almost 800 children aged between 13 and 16 have been given an IN10 endorsement - the code used by the police for using a vehicle uninsured against third party risks" - according to data obtained by a road safety charity. Continue reading...
by Eleni Courea Political correspondent on (#6VBHA)
Successive governments' penal populism' has driven England and Wales justice system to brink of collapse, report findsSuccessive governments' overreliance on prison sentences and desire to seem tough on crime" have driven the justice system in England and Wales to the brink of collapse, an official review has found.A form of penal populism" where longer incarceration is seen as the only effective means of punishment has contributed to the crisis in the prison system, according to the interim findings of a review led by former justice secretary David Gauke. Continue reading...
British prime minister says force would need protections such as air cover that only US can provideKeir Starmer has urged Donald Trump to provide a US backstop" to a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, saying it is the only way to deter Russia from attacking the country again.The UK prime minister's appeal to Trump came after an emergency summit in Paris that heard widespread calls by European leaders for a large boost in defence spending. Continue reading...
UK prime minister says future of Europe and Ukraine at stake after European leaders convene at emergency summit in ParisSwedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson told Reuters that deploying Swedish troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force is absolutely a possibility."His comments build on earlier declaration from Swedish foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenegard (9:40). Continue reading...
by Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor on (#6VB7M)
Spokesperson says Keir Starmer's previously stated view that military action needs consent of MPs has not changedKeir Starmer has not ruled out holding a parliamentary vote on committing UK troops to a peacekeeping role in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, after calls from some within Labour and the Lib Dems.Downing Street hinted that a US-backed guarantee would be needed in order for the UK to send ground troops, saying it was an essential" part of any ceasefire deal with Russia. Continue reading...
President endorsed $Libra crypto token on Friday before it collapsed, leading some to call it a financial rug pull'Opposition politicians in Argentina have called for the impeachment of president Javier Milei after he touted a cryptocurrency which quickly collapsed and reportedly led to millions of dollars in losses this weekend.Milei endorsed the little-known cryptocurrency token $Libra on Friday evening, announcing on X that the project was dedicated to boosting the growth of the Argentine economy by funding small businesses and entrepreneurs". His post linked to a website where the digital coin could be bought, the domain name of which included Milei's popular catchphrase long live freedom". Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#6VBC1)
Jury hears Zhenhao Zou took drugs and watched time stop' pornographic scenesAn engineering student accused of drugging and raping women has said he took drugs and viewed pornography, with his favourite scenes involving sleeping women.Zhenhao Zou, 27, is accused of raping 10 women and filming his attacks. He denies all the charges. Continue reading...
One suspect, Mehdi Nemmouche, is serving a life sentence for a 2014 attack on a Jewish museum in BrusselsFive suspected Islamist terrorists accused of kidnapping and torturing four French journalists covering the war in Syria have gone on trial in Paris.The men include the French jihadist Mehdi Nemmouche, 39, who is serving life imprisonment for an attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels in 2014 in which four people died. Continue reading...
Villach mayor praises Alaaeddin al-Halabi, who intervened in knife attack that killed 14-year-old and injured five othersA Syrian migrant living in Austria has been hailed as a hero after he rammed his car into an attacker, bringing down a radicalised assailant who had killed one teenager and left five others injured.The stabbing, described by Austria's interior minister as having been carried out by a Syrian man who was legally living in the country and who had become radicalised by the Islamic State group, happened on Saturday in the southern Austrian city of Villach. Continue reading...
Conservative leader calls pronouns, diversity policies and climate activism' a poison' in speech at rightwing eventKemi Badenoch has said our country and all of western civilisation will be lost" if efforts to renew the Conservative party and drive forward rightwing ideas globally fail.Likening her own leadership to Donald Trump's second term, she used a gathering of fellow conservatives to attack Keir Starmer for taking the knee in a nod to Black Lives Matter and described pronouns, diversity policies and climate activism" as a poison". Continue reading...
Comments suggest Israeli PM will reject Hamas pledge to hand over control of territory to the PABenjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that he is committed" to Donald Trump's plan to take over and develop the Gaza Strip, amid uncertainty over whether Israel will send a delegation to Qatar to discuss the second stage of the fragile ceasefire in the war with Hamas.In a statement on Monday, the Israeli prime minister said: Just as I have committed to, on the day after the war in Gaza, there will be neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority. I am committed to US president Trump's plan for the creation of a different Gaza." Continue reading...
Conservative leader of the opposition speaks at right-wing conference in London. This live blog is closedKeir Starmer's announcement via the Telegraph that he was prepared to put British peacekeeping troops on the ground in Ukraine was also described by Conservative MP and shadow cabinet spokesperson Alicia Kearns as not the right priority. She told viewers of Sky News his priority should be today talking about defence spending."It was put to her that by Sky's Wilfred Frost that you're trying to criticise the state of defence spending six months into their government, when this is a long-term issue, after 14 years [of Conservatives being] in power."I've always been very clear. I was critical of my own government. But what I'm saying is, since July, a decision was made to side with the Treasury, to not give the increase in defence spending. We needed to continue to replenish stocks. Replenishing stocks should be the priority so that we are ready if we do need to provide peacekeeping services, if we do need to provide more support to Ukraine.My reaction is the prime minister is doing the right thing. But, of course, doing the right thing comes at a price. If the prime minister is serious about wanting to deploy British troops, put boots on the ground in Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force, he's got to realise that's going to come at a considerable cost.Frankly, we haven't got the numbers and we haven't got the equipment to put a large force onto the ground for an extended period of time at the present moment. We've got to have the right number of people with the right equipment and the right training, and start to fund that now.I'm quite cautious, because we're not a place in which we understand the terms or the conditions or the numbers or the way in which we've been deploying our people, and we should always make sure that we are making decisions based on as much information as possible.The reality is that Ukraine is still fighting for its freedom. Russia has taken around 600 square miles of territory over the last few months. We're not in a place as yet where I think we can be making those commitments ... things are going to change over the next few hours, let alone the next few days, weeks and months.We will always give Ukraine the support they need. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with them. We will fight for them to determine the terms of this peace.And also, it's important to note, this can't just be that we've managed to stop the shooting and murder, and therefore we've got peace. We need a peace deal that will end the threat to our European neighbours and to us, one that will make us safer from a state that is currently behaving like a terrorist. Continue reading...
by Guardian staff and agencies in Beijing on (#6VB9K)
US state department last week removed line from fact sheet saying We do not support Taiwan independence'China has called on the United States to correct its mistakes" after a statement that Washington does not support an independent Taiwan was removed from the state department website.Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory and has refused to rule out using force to unify with the self-ruled island one day. Continue reading...
Vatican statement says pontiff, 88, is being treated for a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tractPope Francis will remain in hospital for as long as required after tests undertaken in recent days showed a complex clinical picture", the Vatican has said.The pontiff, 88, was admitted to Gemelli hospital in Rome on Friday with worsening bronchitis and was diagnosed and treated for a respiratory tract infection. Continue reading...
As Minns government seeks to extend controversial laws that make it harder for young people to get bail, experts warn locking up more kids will not curb crime
World news | The Guardian