Reform UK backs candidates who promoted online conspiracy theories

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Party stands by members set to contest key seats who have claimed climate crisis does not exist and Islamophobia is ‘made up’

Reform UK has chosen to stand by candidates who have promoted conspiracy theories online, called the climate emergency “make-believe” and expressed vaccine-sceptic views.

Those fringe views, and more, were put forward by a group of seven candidates selected to stand for the rightwing populist party at the next general election – including several who will contest seats that some analyses consider to be their top targets.

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SNP defeats Labour confidence motion and sets out plan for choosing new leader

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Spokesperson confirms ‘informal meeting’ has taken place between leadership frontrunners John Swinney and Kate Forbes

The SNP government has headed off Labour’s attempt to force an early Holyrood election, as the frontrunners to succeed Humza Yousaf met for informal talks in an attempt to avoid another divisive leadership contest.

Anas Sarwar’s motion of no confidence in Yousaf’s administration – which would have forced all government ministers to resign – was defeated by 70 votes to 58 on Wednesday afternoon after the Greens voted with the SNP.

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Labour’s ‘new deal for workers’ will not fully ban zero-hours contracts

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Exclusive: Revised proposals will allow employees to choose a zero-hour option, prompting fears of undue pressure from employers

Labour is facing criticism over plans for a loophole that would allow employees to work under zero-hours contracts, despite the party having pledged to ban them entirely.

Keir Starmer’s party is preparing to announce details of its promise to overhaul workers’ rights if it gets into power – a centrepiece of its early plans for government, but subject to fierce lobbying from businesses.

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Kenya floods: tourists evacuated from Maasai Mara after river bursts banks

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Kenya Red Cross rescues more than 90 people from hotels and lodges as heavy rainfall continues

Scores of tourists have been evacuated by air from Kenya’s Maasai Mara national reserve after more than a dozen hotels, lodges and camps were flooded as heavy rains battered the country.

Tourist accommodation facilities were submerged after a river in the Maasai Mara broke its banks on Wednesday morning. The reserve, in south-west Kenya, is a popular tourist destination because it features the annual wildebeest migration from the Serengeti in Tanzania.

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Lone children at risk of deportation to Rwanda after being classified as adults, says charity

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Refugee Council sounds warning after children wrongly issued with notices of intent by Home Office

Lone child asylum seekers are at risk of being sent to Rwanda because the Home Office has wrongly classified some as adults, it has been claimed.

The Refugee Council, which works with these children, has warned of the risk after more than a dozen of the children it works with were wrongly issued with notices of intent for Rwanda.

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Far-right minister: Hostage deal throws war goals in trash to save only 22-33 hostages – The Times of Israel

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  1. Far-right minister: Hostage deal throws war goals in trash to save only 22-33 hostages  The Times of Israel
  2. Far-right Israeli ministers urge Netanyahu not to accept ceasefire proposal  CNN
  3. Smotrich Must Pay the Price for His Repeated Calls for Genocide of Palestinians - Haaretz Editorial  Haaretz
  4. Leaked Gaza ceasefire plans trigger backlash in Israel  The Telegraph
  5. Israeli Finance Minister Denounced for Calling for 'Total Annihilation' of Gaza  Common Dreams
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Sadiq Khan calls Tories unpatriotic for ‘trying to do London down’

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Exclusive: Mayor says Conservative government has put obstacles in his way each day of his eight years in office

Sadiq Khan has called the Conservatives’ treatment of London “unpatriotic” as he accused the government of putting obstacles in his way every day of his eight years running the capital.

The London mayor accused the Tories of “trying to do us down” at every opportunity for political reasons in long-running battles over police funding, cuts to London’s transport budget and in planning decisions.

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A surprise arrest and a corruption scandal hint at splits in Putin’s inner circle – NBC News

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  1. A surprise arrest and a corruption scandal hint at splits in Putin's inner circle  NBC News
  2. Russian deputy defense minister dismissed after arrest on corruption charges  CNN
  3. The Kremlin promised career growth in exchange for work in occupied Ukraine. That didn’t happen — and officials are catching on.  Meduza
  4. UK Defence Intelligence on interrogation of senior deputy of Russia's Defence Minister  Ukrainska Pravda
  5. A surprise arrest and a corruption scandal hint at splits in Putin's inner circle  Yahoo! Voices
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Smelling weakness, Russia presses advantage in Donetsk Oblast – Kyiv Independent

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  1. Smelling weakness, Russia presses advantage in Donetsk Oblast  Kyiv Independent
  2. Russia is capturing its biggest swath of territory since July 2022, as Kyiv desperately awaits US weaponry  CNN
  3. Russia seizes more ground in Ukraine’s east as Kyiv’s forces await supplies  Al Jazeera English
  4. Ukrainian defense forces repel 89 enemy attacks in six sectors in past 24 hours  Ukrinform
  5. Russia says it has captured another Donetsk village after Ukraine pulls back forces in the east  CNBC
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Arizona Democrats to make final push to repeal near-total abortion ban

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Democrats pick up support of two Republicans to repeal 1864 law reinstated three weeks ago as governor is expected to ratify repeal

Arizona lawmakers are poised to repeal the state’s 160-year-old statue banning nearly all abortions.

The 1864 law, which was reinstated by the state’s supreme court three weeks ago, made abortion a central focus in the battleground state and galvanized Democrats seeking to enshrine abortion rights.

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Israel under pressure to let more aid into Gaza as hostage talks continue

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Antony Blinken holds two-hour meeting with Netanyahu while Hamas considers ceasefire proposal

Israel’s leaders were under renewed pressure to allow more aid into Gaza on Wednesday after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told Benjamin Netanyahu to “accelerate and sustain improvements” during recent days in the amount of humanitarian assistance reaching the territory.

Humanitarian agencies say that though the number of lorries entering Gaza after being vetted by Israel has increased significantly, these still deliver only a fraction of what is needed.

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Rishi Sunak rules out asylum seeker returns from Ireland – BBC.com

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  1. Rishi Sunak rules out asylum seeker returns from Ireland  BBC.com
  2. Ireland to redesignate UK as 'safe country' for asylum seekers  BBC.com
  3. Ireland to send police to the border as migrant row with UK grows  The Telegraph
  4. British and Irish officials meet as tensions rise over what to do with asylum seekers  The Associated Press
  5. Wednesday briefing: How Britain and Ireland came to a diplomatic deadlock over Rwanda  The Guardian
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‘This is cleansing’: Dublin sends in police and buses to dismantle tent city

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Shocked people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria herded on to coaches as 200 tents removed and streets cleaned

The convoy arrived just after sunrise: a stream of police vehicles, council trucks, mounted cranes and coaches, ready to dismantle a tent city of migrants and refugees in the heart of Dublin that had become too big, too visible, too political.

They fenced off streets and herded shocked, sleepy men from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries on to buses and began to extirpate about 200 tents, gradually extinguishing all traces of the camp, but no amount of sweeping and hosing could remove the whiff of elections and diplomacy gone wrong.

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UK begins detaining migrants set to be deported to Rwanda – Reuters UK

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  1. UK begins detaining migrants set to be deported to Rwanda  Reuters UK
  2. U.K. Detains Asylum-Seekers for Deportation to Rwanda  Foreign Policy
  3. MP fears detained asylum seeker may be sent to Rwanda  BBC.com
  4. U.K. government shares video of first migrant detentions under controversial Rwanda plan, calls it a milestone  CBS News
  5. UK detaining asylum-seekers for deportation to Rwanda  Voice of America - VOA News
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