Prisons are being prepared to cope with a sudden influx of offenders in case there is a repeat of last summer’s riots, the justice minister, James Timpson, has told the Guardian. Hundreds of extra makeshift cells and newly refurbished cells will be in use by the end of this year, officials have disclosed, as the … Read more
The UK recorded the warmest day of the year twice this weekend, with temperatures reaching almost 20C in parts of the country, the Met Office said. A high of 19.7C was reached in Crosby, Merseyside on Sunday, beating Saturday’s peak of 19.1C in Cumbria. The unseasonably high temperatures meant parts of the UK have been … Read more
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Welcome Good morning everyone – this is Cait Kelly, I will be with you until the afternoon. It’s a big morning, so let me catch you up on the headlines quickly. Major flooding has isolated 1,800 people as evacuation routes have … Read more
Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday announced new leadership at the agency tasked with immigration enforcement as she also pledged to step up lie detector tests on employees to identify those who may be leaking information about operations to the media. Noem confirmed, in addition, that the government will expand immigration detention operations further … Read more
A prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University’s student encampment movement was arrested on Saturday night by federal immigration authorities who claimed they were acting on a state department order to revoke his green card, according to his attorney. Mahmoud Khalil was at his university-owned apartment, blocks from the private Ivy League university’s main … Read more
There are only two buyers left in the race to buy retailer WH Smith’s ailing high street division, according to a report. The retail group confirmed in January it was seeking a buyer for its 500 UK high street shops, in a shake-up that would leave it free to focus on its more successful travel … Read more
Romania’s central election authority has barred far-right pro-Russia candidate Cǎlin Georgescu from running in May’s presidential election re-run. The rejection of his candidacy, which was announced on Sunday evening and was condemned by far-right party leaders as undemocratic, can be challenged at the constitutional court. Dozens of supporters of the populist Georgescu gathered outside the … Read more
Children as young as 11 to 13 are being targeted by sextortion criminals for the first time, according to data. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said the “worrying” trend showed that criminals behind extortion attempts were casting their nets wider in an attempt to trap victims. Sextortion is a form of blackmail where teenagers – … Read more
Israel is to cut off any remaining electricity supplies to Gaza in an apparent attempt to ramp up pressure on Hamas amid increasingly chaotic multi-track negotiations over the fragile ceasefire in the territory. The potential consequences of the Israeli decision for the 2.3 million residents of the devastated Palestinian territory are unclear, as most rely … Read more
The next James Bond should be British, Pierce Brosnan has said, as a leaked memo reportedly confirmed the character will remain a man. The Irish actor, who played the spy from 1995 to 2002, also said it was the “right decision” for creative control of the franchise to be handed to Amazon-MGM, in an interview … Read more