News 21/10/25

Britain has deployed a senior military commander and a small group of troops to Israel, following a request from the United States, to help monitor a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.

Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed the move, less than a week after Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK had “no plans” to send soldiers. The British officer will serve as deputy to a US commander overseeing a new civil-military coordination centre, which is expected to include personnel from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

The ceasefire agreement, brokered by US President Donald Trump, between Hamas and Israel, has been described by Mr Healey as an “opportunity for a long-term peace.”

The government’s national inquiry into grooming gangs has been accused of “descending into chaos,” after three survivors resigned from its liaison panel and a leading candidate to chair the inquiry pulled out.

Home Office minister Jess Phillips has been called a “liar” by some critics, after rejecting claims that the inquiry is being watered down. Two high-profile survivors, Fiona Goddard and Ellie Reynolds, resigned over what they described as a lack of transparency and proper engagement.

A third survivor, known only as Elizabeth, stepped down this afternoon, citing similar concerns about how the inquiry is being handled.

The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings as heavy rain and winds of up to 75 miles an hour prepare to hit much of the UK.

The warnings cover southern England, the East Midlands, Wales and parts of Yorkshire, and remain in force until 9pm on Thursday. A powerful jet stream is driving a deep low-pressure system across the country, bringing torrential rain and the risk of flooding.

Forecasters say some areas could see as much as 50 millimetres of rain by Thursday morning.

The jewels stolen from the Louvre in Paris are worth around €88 million — that’s about £76 million — according to prosecutors.

Around 100 investigators are working to track down the thieves and recover the gems, taken in a daring daylight raid on Sunday. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the thieves would struggle to profit if they tried to dismantle the jewels, warning they could destroy priceless works of art in the process.

A current senior member of the King’s household was head of royal protection when Prince Andrew allegedly asked a police officer to dig up information on Virginia Giuffre, it’s been reported.

Lord Peter Rosslyn, now Lord Steward and Personal Secretary to the King and Queen, led Royalty and Diplomatic Protection between 2003 and 2014. It is unclear whether he was aware at the time, but the alleged request reportedly came in 2011, with claims Andrew shared his accuser’s date of birth and confidential social security number with a member of his close protection team.

A man who ran a teeth-whitening salon has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for a series of rapes and sexual assaults spanning more than a decade.

Ricky Stubberfield, 31, was convicted of 23 offences against seven women between 2013 and 2024. The Crown Prosecution Service said several attacks occurred at the Essex Smiles salon in Plymouth, Devon, where Stubberfield was co-owner and manager. Some victims were approached via Instagram and offered free treatments in exchange for promoting the business.

A government minister has said Prince Andrew should give evidence to US authorities as pressure mounts over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.

It follows fresh anger after reports revealed the prince had been paying a “peppercorn rent” on his Royal Lodge home for nearly two decades. On Friday, Andrew announced he was relinquishing his royal titles, including Duke of York, following new allegations in the memoir of Virginia Giuffre — who has accused him of sexual assault, claims he has always strenuously denied.

Downing Street says the situation has caused “serious public concern” and that full cooperation with investigators would be the right course of action.

Evidence presented to the COVID inquiry has revealed Boris Johnson’s frustration with his own education team during the summer of 2020.

The hearing was shown WhatsApp messages between the former prime minister and his then-adviser Dominic Cummings. In one exchange, Johnson wrote that he was “back in Chequers and in a thoroughly homicidal mood,” adding that the Department for Education needed new leadership and “an agenda of reform.”

The inquiry continues this week with more evidence from senior officials who worked in Number 10 during the pandemic.

Two more men have been arrested over the death of convicted paedophile and former Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins.

The 48-year-old, serving a 29-year sentence for child sex offences, was stabbed inside HMP Wakefield earlier this month. Police say two inmates, aged 23 and 39, are now being held on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.

Watkins, jailed in 2013, was treated in hospital following the attack.

Japan has chosen its first ever female prime minister.

Sanae Takaichi secured 237 votes in the country’s lower house of parliament and is expected to win approval in the upper house later today before being formally sworn in. The vote follows a new coalition deal between her Liberal Democratic Party and the right-wing Japan Innovation Party.

That agreement came after the Liberal Democrats lost their long-time centrist partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito.

The government is coming under growing pressure to formally strip Prince Andrew of his dukedom.

Although the Duke of York voluntarily gave up his titles last week, he technically retains them unless Parliament passes an Act to remove them. Independent MP for York Central, Rachael Maskell, says 88 percent of her constituents don’t want him associated with the city’s name.

She’s calling for a change in the law to allow titles to be removed in situations like this.

A preliminary report into last month’s deadly funicular crash in Lisbon has blamed a faulty steel cable and poor maintenance.

Sixteen people were killed and several more injured when one of the Gloria funicular’s carriages derailed during the evening rush hour. Among the victims were three Britons, including couple Kayleigh Smith and William Nelson.

The tragedy is being described as one of the worst in the Portuguese capital’s recent history.

The Conservatives say more than 2,000 prisoners convicted of serious offences including rape, stalking and grooming could have their jail terms cut under the government’s new sentencing plan.

The opposition has tabled an amendment to the sentencing bill, which is back before MPs on Tuesday, to keep the most dangerous criminals behind bars for longer. Shadow justice minister Kieran Mullan described the plan as “a betrayal of victims”, while Labour accused the Conservatives of “rank hypocrisy”, saying they’ve left prisons at breaking point.

The review recommends that some prisoners could be released earlier if they’ve shown good behaviour.