Ministers urged to help students trapped in Gaza with places at UK universities

Forty people who have been offered scholarships unable to travel without biometric data they have no way of getting

Pressure is mounting on ministers to intervene on behalf of 40 students in Gaza who have been offered full scholarships to study at UK universities, but are unable to take up their places this September because of government red tape.

A high-level meeting is understood to have taken place at the Home Office on Tuesday after MPs and campaigners highlighted the students’ plight, calling on ministers to take action to help secure their safe passage to the UK. Some students are reported to have been killed while waiting, while others are said to be in constant danger.

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Dover asylum protests pose danger to small boat arrivals, charities say

Home Office orders diversion from usual landing place to Ramsgate to avoid clashes with far right

Charities have warned of the increasing danger to asylum seekers posed by far-right protesters after small boat arrivals were moved from their usual landing place in Dover to further along the coast to avoid clashes.

The Guardian understands that Home Office officials received intelligence that some of those participating in what was billed the Great British National Protest in Dover on Saturday afternoon could have been planning to target Kent Intake Unit, where small boat arrivals are initially processed after being escorted to shore in Dover by the Border Force.

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Eurostar calls for ‘credible’ Channel rail strategy as monopoly decision looms

Operator says if rivals are allowed to squeeze into existing facilities it could jeopardise its investment

Eurostar has urged the UK government to choose a “credible long-term strategy” for international rail or risk “falling behind” the rest of Europe, before a crucial decision by the regulator that could end its cross-Channel monopoly.

The high-speed train operator warned that a “premature” ruling from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to allow competitors to squeeze trains into existing facilities could jeopardise its planned investment and expansion.

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Zelenskyy defends bill stripping anti-corruption bodies’ independence amid protests

Move by Ukrainian president widely opposed and may prove a setback to hopes of country one day joining the EU

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has defended his approval of a contentious bill that weakens Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies as its passage into law triggered the first serious protests against his government.

The move on Tuesday has put the president on a collision course with civil society activists and some of Ukraine’s veterans, and is likely to dismay Ukraine’s European partners.

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Officials in Iran Suspect Sabotage in Wave of Fires and Explosions – The New York Times

  1. Officials in Iran Suspect Sabotage in Wave of Fires and Explosions  The New York Times
  2. Iranians fear Israel's Mossad is responsible for Iran fires  The Jerusalem Post
  3. NYT: Iranian officials suspect Israel to blame for mysterious blasts across country  The Times of Israel
  4. Mysterious wave of explosions, sudden IRGC death disrupt post-ceasefire calm in Iran  Long War Journal
  5. Iran suspects Israeli role in recent fires and explosions  Middle East Eye
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Chinese officials warn women comedians that men are no laughing matter

The warning comes after a string of shows by women comedians joking about men went viral

Chinese provincial officials have warned comedians against stirring up discord between the genders, instructing them to criticise constructively rather than “for the sake of being funny”.

The warning came from authorities in eastern Zhejiang province on WeChat over the weekend after a comedian referred to her allegedly abusive marriage in a performance that went viral on Chinese social media.

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China ‘clearly’ trying to interfere in Taiwan’s democracy, Taipei says before recall vote – Reuters

  1. China 'clearly' trying to interfere in Taiwan's democracy, Taipei says before recall vote  Reuters
  2. Total recall? Campaigners employ quirk of Taiwan’s political system to turn on ‘pro-China’ candidates  The Guardian
  3. Taiwan’s once-dominant KMT falls ‘out of step’ with the electorate  Financial Times
  4. Populist overreach in Taiwan is a growing risk for regional security  Nikkei Asia
  5. China rallies for opposition as Taiwan gears up for mass parliamentary recall  Yahoo Home
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Merz and Macron vowed to restart the Franco-German engine. It’s already sputtering. – politico.eu

  1. Merz and Macron vowed to restart the Franco-German engine. It’s already sputtering.  politico.eu
  2. Franco-German engine hums as Merz and Macron meet in Berlin  Financial Times
  3. Tariffs and conflicts loom large over Merz and Macron's working dinner  Reuters
  4. Defence and tariffs top the agenda at Merz and Macron working dinner  Euronews.com
  5. Merz, Macron present united front amid EU-US trade row  DW
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The most powerful passports of 2025: The US and the UK fall, while India rises – CNBC

  1. The most powerful passports of 2025: The US and the UK fall, while India rises  CNBC
  2. US slips again in passport power rankings  CNN
  3. Which 59 Countries Can Indian Passport Holders Travel Visa-Free To In 2025?  NDTV
  4. Asian Nations Dominate Passport Power Ranking as US and UK Continue to Decline  Henley & Partners
  5. U.S. Passport Drops 2 Places To No. 10 In World’s Most Powerful List  Forbes
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Protests in Ukraine as Zelensky signs bill targeting anti-corruption bodies – BBC

  1. Protests in Ukraine as Zelensky signs bill targeting anti-corruption bodies  BBC
  2. Zelenskyy defends bill stripping anti-corruption bodies’ independence amid protests  The Guardian
  3. Outrage in Ukraine as the government attacks anti-corruption watchdogs  The Economist
  4. Zelenskiy Weakens Anti-Graft Agencies, Sparking Ukraine Protests  Bloomberg
  5. Zelensky Targeted in Wartime Protests in Ukraine for the First Time  The New York Times
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Videos reveal harsh conditions inside Ice’s New York City confinement center

Footage shows people sleeping on floor next to toilets in facility that agency says is not a detention site

Two videos have surfaced shedding light on what is happening behind closed doors at a New York federal building where people are being confined after being seized by officers on their way out of immigration court on the 12th floor, with the footage offering a rare look inside a controversial and closely guarded space that is part of Donald Trump’s anti-immigration crackdown.

The filming, shared by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), captures one of several rooms at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, on the building’s 10th floor, where accounts have emerged of people being detained in wholly unsuitable conditions with few basic provisions, but there had been no public access to direct evidence.

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Ukraine war briefing: Mirage fighter jet crashes after pilot ejects due to technical fault – The Guardian

  1. Ukraine war briefing: Mirage fighter jet crashes after pilot ejects due to technical fault  The Guardian
  2. French Mirage fighter jet crashes in Ukraine  The Telegraph
  3. Ukraine Russia war latest: Ukrainian military loses first French Mirage fighter jet in crash ahead of peace talks  The Independent
  4. Ukraine suffered its first loss of a French fighter jet after equipment failure forced its pilot to eject  Business Insider
  5. Technical Issue Causes Ukrainian Mirage-2000 Pilot to Eject Mid-Flight  united24media.com
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US Olympics officials quietly bar trans women from competing in women’s sports

Olympic and Paralympic committee tells federations it has ‘obligation to comply’ with executive order issued by Trump

The US Olympic and Paralympic committee has in effect barred transgender women from competing in women’s sports, telling the federations overseeing swimming, athletics and other sports it has an “obligation to comply” with an executive order issued by Donald Trump.

The new policy, announced on Monday with a quiet change on the USOPC’s website and confirmed in a letter sent to national sport governing bodies, follows a similar step taken by the NCAA earlier this year.

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Trump announces Japan trade deal as doubt cast over future of PM Ishiba

Tokyo’s failure to secure a US deal sooner had caused political unease and economic uncertainty in Japan

Donald Trump has announced a trade deal with Japan, potentially resolving weeks of fraught negotiations between the two allies which had caused economic uncertainty in Tokyo and mounting speculation about the future of the prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba.

“We just completed a massive deal with Japan,” the US president announced in a post online, adding: “Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 billion dollars into the United States.”

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