French couple leave Iran after more than three years in jail
Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris are on their way home after being allowed to leave the country, the French president says.
Antonia Romeo given powerful mandate to deliver No 10’s priorities
PM’s most senior civil servant now has task of rewriting civil service code and ‘making it recognised for improved productivity’
Antonia Romeo, Keir Starmer’s most senior civil servant, has been given a powerful new mandate to deliver his priorities, while Darren Jones, the No 10 chief secretary, has shifted to a role more focused on wider Whitehall reforms.
Romeo, who was promoted last month, took over the job of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service after an unsuccessful year in charge by her predecessor, Chris Wormald, who was not considered effective enough by No 10.
Continue reading...HMS Dragon docks in eastern Mediterranean after problems with water systems
Royal Navy type 45 destroyer deployed to reinforce security around RAF base in Cyprus to undergo short maintenance stop, says MoD
HMS Dragon has docked in the eastern Mediterranean after suffering technical problems with its water systems.
The UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, announced on 3 March that the type 45 destroyer would be deployed to reinforce security around RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, two days after the base was struck by a Shahed 136 drone.
Continue reading...Stork warning: woman gives birth midair on Jamaica-to-New York flight
Baby was delivered during Caribbean Airlines flight from Kingston to the US; nationality of child to be determined
A routine passenger flight from Jamaica landed at New York’s John F Kennedy international airport with one more person than it took off with after a woman gave birth in midair, potentially setting up a tricky situation over the newborn’s citizenship.
The “medical event” occurred on a Caribbean Airlines flight from Kingston on Saturday, according to a news release from the carrier.
Continue reading...JD Vance backs Orbán’s re-election bid in Budapest visit and hits out at EU
US Vice-President JD Vance intervenes in the campaign to give Orbán a ringing endorsement in Budapest.
Charity cleared after false claims online over migrant welcome project
Watchdog finds allegations against City of Sanctuary UK were misleading after complaint from Tory MP
A refugee charity subjected to vicious social media attacks over a migrant welcome project in schools has been cleared of wrongdoing after watchdogs found allegations it encouraged pupils to send Valentine’s Day cards to asylum seekers were misleading and false.
City of Sanctuary UK came under fire last year after rumours spread online that under its schools programme, children were being “forced” to write heart-shaped welcome cards to adult migrants, including cards addressed to “my fiance”.
Continue reading...Iran calls on young people to form human chains around power plants as Trump deadline looms – The Guardian
- Iran calls on young people to form human chains around power plants as Trump deadline looms The Guardian
- Iranians form human chains at bridges and power plants BBC
- Iran Calls for Human Chains to Protect Power Plants as Trump's Deadline Nears Military.com
- Iranian refugee fears regime wants to create a human shield ahead of Trump’s deadline NewsNation
- Iran calls for human chains around power plants as Trump’s deadline for deal nears MS NOW
US journalist Shelly Kittleson to be released after kidnap in Iraq, militia says
Kataib Hezbollah says the release comes on condition that she leave Iraq immediately.
Trump stumps for Viktor Orbán in phone call during Vance’s rally – Politico
- Trump stumps for Viktor Orbán in phone call during Vance’s rally Politico
- JD Vance backs Orbán's re-election bid in Budapest visit and hits out at EU BBC
- ‘I Love Viktor’: Trump and Vance Cheer on Orban in Hungarian Race The New York Times
- Vance makes time to visit Hungary to support Orbán amid Iran negotiations CNN
- MAGA's global model faces existential test in Hungary Axios
Tracking recent US-Israeli strikes on Iranian infrastructure
Attacks have targeted bridges, steel plants and pharmaceutical facilities, verified videos show.
First Nation asks court to block Alberta referendum on seceding from Canada
Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation has asked a court to halt the separatist push, arguing it would violate their treaty rights
A First Nation in Alberta has said that a separatist push for the province to secede from Canada is “consummately irresponsible and dishonourable” and should be shut down, arguing in court that a proposed referendum would violate their treaty rights.
A minority of residents of the oil-rich province have long argued that the province’s woes are due to the structure of payments to the federal government and a perceived inability to get their vast fossil fuel reserves to market.
Continue reading...3 times Trump has given Iran deadlines and then delayed them – pbs.org
- 3 times Trump has given Iran deadlines and then delayed them pbs.org
- Trump pauses Iran strikes for two weeks to negotiate 10-point peace deal Fox News
- Iran’s 10-Point Proposal Demands an End to Attacks and Sanctions The New York Times
- Iran mediators make last-ditch push for 45-day ceasefire Axios
- What’s Iran’s 10-point peace plan that Trump says is ‘not good enough’? Al Jazeera
Farage says Trump’s Iranian ‘civilisation will die’ threats went ‘way too far’– UK politics live
The Reform UK leader says he is ‘shocked’ by the remarks which were ‘over the top in every single way’
The Green party is backing resident doctors who are on strike. This morning the party issued a statement on the dispute from its co-deputy leader, Mothin Ali, saying:
Rather than shifting goalposts or arm twisting resident doctors with threats over training places, Wes Streeting needs to get serious about resolving resident doctors long term concerns over pay, training and working conditions. The government’s 10-year plan for the NHS will go nowhere if the workforce feels unappreciated, devalued and demotivated.
I think I’m going to stay out of the selection of music by different bands. We live in a free country; people are going to say things. Let’s just let people listen to the music they want to.
People should choose their music and they don’t really they need advice from John Swinney unless they want to listen to The Jam or Amy McDonald.
Well, the government should go on and take their decisions within their powers, but I’m not going to give a running commentary on music taste.
Continue reading...UK government caps student loan interest rates at 6% from September
Minister says change for plan 2 and 3 loans in England and Wales will ‘protect borrowers’ from impact of global conflict
Millions of graduates will have the interest on their student loans capped at 6% from September as a temporary measure to protect them from the risk of rising inflation driven by war in the Middle East.
Ministers acted after months of criticism over the loans becoming a “debt trap” that often leave graduates in England and Wales paying tens of thousands more than the original loan amount.
Continue reading...Rapper Offset in hospital after being shot in Florida
The rapper is in a "stable" condition, with two people detained in connection with the incident.
Has Artemis II shown we can land on the Moon again?
The Artemis II mission has been near flawless to date, but has the test flight shown Nasa is ready to send humans to the lunar surface?
Has Artemis II shown we can land on the Moon again?
The Artemis II mission has been near flawless to date, but has the test flight shown Nasa is ready to send humans to the lunar surface?
ICE arrested more than 800 people after tips from TSA, investigation shows
Reuters uncovers that the TSA shared more than 31,000 traveler records with ICE for immigration enforcement
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested more than 800 people following tips shared by federal airport security officials from the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency through February 2026, according to internal agency data reviewed by Reuters – a figure far above what was previously publicly known.
The leads came from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which supplied ICE with records on more than 31,000 travelers for possible immigration enforcement, the data showed.
Continue reading...Bahamas police search for US woman who reportedly fell off boat
Her husband told authorities she fell out of their dinghy on Saturday night and was swept out to sea.
Oil slick from bombed Iranian ship threatens protected wetland
Shahid Bagheri leaking fuel towards Hara mangrove forest, home to migrating birds and endangered turtles
An oil slick from a stricken Iranian ship threatens to contaminate one of the Middle East’s most important wetlands, satellite image analysis suggests, making it one of a number of spills posing a risk to the livelihoods of coastal communities in the Gulf.
The Shahid Bagheri, a drone carrier, began leaking heavy fuel oil in Iranian territorial waters near the strait of Hormuz after it was hit by a US warplane in the first few days of the US-Israel attack on Iran.
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