Video shows moment anti-ICE protester is shot in face with projectile
A protester who was shot in the face with a non-lethal round has been blinded in one eye and suffered skull fractures.
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West Midlands crime commissioner resists calls for immediate sacking of chief constable – UK politics live
Simon Foster says he will give report into force’s handling of Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban ‘careful consideration’ in deciding Craig Guildford’s fateHere are extracts from three interesting comment articles about the digital ID U-turn.Ailbhe Rea in the New Statesman in the New Statesmans says there were high hopes for the policy when it was first announced.I remember a leisurely lunch over the summer when a supporter of digital IDs told me how they thought Keir Starmer would reset his premiership. Alongside a reorganisation of his team in Number 10, and maybe a junior ministerial reshuffle, they predicted he would announce in his speech at party conference that his government would be embracing digital IDs. “It will allow him to show he’s willing to do whatever it takes to tackle illegal immigration,” was their rationale.Sure enough, Starmer announced “phase two” of his government, reshuffled his top team and, on the Friday before Labour party conference, he duly announced his government would make digital IDs mandatory for workers. “We need to know who is in our country,” he said, arguing that the IDs would prevent migrants who “come here, slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally”.In policy terms, I don’t think you particularly gain anything by making the government’s planned new digital ID compulsory.One example of that: Kemi Badenoch has both criticised the government’s plans to introduce compulsory ID, while at the same time committing to creating a “British ICE” that would go around deporting large numbers of people living in the UK. In a country with that kind of target and approach, people would be forced to carry their IDs around with them in any case! The Online Safety Act, passed into law by the last Conservative government with cross-party support and implemented by Labour, presupposes some form of ID to work properly.Here is the political challenge for Downing Street: the climbdowns, dilutions, U- turns, about turns, call them what you will, are mounting up.In just the last couple of weeks, there has been the issue of business rates on pubs in England and inheritance tax on farmers.We welcome Starmer’s reported U-turn on making intrusive, expensive and unnecessary digital IDs mandatory. This is a huge success for Big Brother Watch and the millions of Brits who signed petitions to make this happen.The case for the government now dropping digital IDs entirely is overwhelming. Taxpayers should not be footing a £1.8bn bill for a digital ID scheme that is frankly pointless. Continue reading...
Ian McKellen to star as LS Lowry in documentary revealing trove of unheard tapes
Exclusive: Tapes reveal artist reminiscing about his life in interviews recorded at home in last four years of his lifeFifteen years ago, Sir Ian McKellen was among the leading arts figures who criticised the Tate for not showing its collection of paintings by LS Lowry in its London galleries and questioned whether the “matchstick men painter” had been sidelined as too northern and provincial.Now, 50 years after Lowry’s death, McKellen is to star in a BBC documentary that will reveal a trove of previously unheard audio tapes recorded with Lowry in the 1970s during his final four years of life. Continue reading...
Greenlanders worry over Trump’s threats as they welcome back the sun
Many in Greenland say they're unsure what this new year will bring as US President Donald Trump threatens to take over.
Trump in fresh Greenland outburst as ministers’ talks with Vance last less than an hour – Europe live
President claims only US can protect territory and says ‘two dogsleds won’t do it’ as Danish and Greenlandic ministers hold talks with vice-presidentPeople in Greenland: share your views on Trump’s recent commentsUS president Donald Trump has doubled down on his rhetoric on getting control of Greenland, insisting that the US “needs Greenland for the purpose of national security.”In a social media post, Trump claimed that “Nato should be leading the way for us to get it,” and “if we don’t, Russia or China will, and that is not going to happen!”“Militarily, without the vast power of the United States, much of which I built during my first term, and am now bringing to a new and even higher level, Nato would not be an effective force or deterrent - not even close! They know that, and so do I.” Continue reading...
Iran Plans to Execute Erfan Soltani as Trump Threatens ‘Strong Action’
Rights groups and relatives said Iran planned to put an antigovernment protester to death for the first time during the latest wave of unrest in the country.
Musk denies knowledge of Grok producing sexualised images of minors
In the US, Democratic lawmakers have called on Apple and Google to remove X from their respective app stores.
US concludes talks with Denmark and Greenland on Trump’s takeover demands
Danish embassy due to brief journalists on results of negotiations involving JD Vance and Marco RubioEurope live – latest updatesClosely-watched talks on Donald Trump’s demands to take over Greenland have ended in Washington after nearly an hour.The vice-president, JD Vance, and secretary of state, Marco Rubio, hosted the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland on Wednesday in what observers worried could be an ambush meant to pressure the Danes into ceding the territory under US economic and military pressure. Continue reading...
FBI searches home of Washington Post reporter in classified documents probe
Attorney General Bondi accused the journalist of reporting classified information allegedly leaked by a federal contractor, who she said has been arrested.
Republican panel chair moves to hold both Hillary and Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress – live
James Comer, chair of House oversight committee, says he has scheduled session to hold Clintons in contempt after they refuse to testify in Epstein investigationDonald Trump repeated his threat to withhold federal funding to sanctuary cities on Truth Social today.“ALL THEY DO IS BREED CRIME AND VIOLENCE! If States want them, they will have to pay for them!,” the president wrote in a post. Continue reading...