Police arresting 1,000 paedophile suspects a month across UK 17. February 2026 (20:33) National Crime Agency says rise in child sexual abuse being driven by technology and online forumsChild sexual abuse in the UK is soaring, police have said, with 1,000 paedophile suspects being arrested each month and the number of children being rescued from harm rising by 50% in the last five years.The National Crime Agency said the growth in offending across the UK was driven by technology and linked to the radicalisation of offenders in online forums, encouraging people to view images of child sexual abuse by reassuring them it was normal. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
DNA from glove in Nancy Guthrie abduction investigation yields no leads 17. February 2026 (20:33) No database match for sample found two miles from home offers as search for TV host’s mother enters third weekDNA found on a glove about two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s house did not result in any leads on the case, officials confirmed on Tuesday.Unknown male DNA was found on a glove that resembled one worn by Guthrie’s abductor in the surveillance video from the night of the 84-year-old’s disappearance, the FBI said on Sunday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton among those to condemn Berlinale’s ‘silence’ on Gaza 17. February 2026 (20:30) At least 80 film-makers and stars sign open letter after German festival jury president Wim Wenders says they should keep out of politicsMore than 80 current and former participants of the Berlinale, including Javier Bardem, Tilda Swinton and Adam McKay have signed an open letter condemning the festival’s “silence” on Gaza.It comes after the film festival was swept up in what it called a “media storm” over the alleged sidelining of political discourse at the event. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Jesse Jackson was the living bridge between King and Obama 17. February 2026 (20:20) Jackson’s two presidential runs brought the civil rights movement into the heart of the Democratic party and opened doors for others to walk throughShare your tributes and memories of Jesse JacksonHe witnessed the assassination of Martin Luther King at the Lorraine motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Forty years later, he joined the jubilant crowd in Chicago’s Grant Park to greet Barack Obama’s election victory and had tears streaming down his face.Jesse Jackson, who died on Tuesday at the age of 84, was hailed by Martin Luther King III and his wife Andrea King as “a living bridge between generations”. He was the most influential African American political voice between King and Obama. His two runs for the Democratic nomination created the imaginative space for a Black president. He was the architect of a “rainbow coalition” that shapes the Democratic party today. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Four Chagossians return to islands in attempt to stop British transfer to Mauritius 17. February 2026 (20:19) Group says they intend to establish permanent settlement but Mauritius attorney general calls their move a ‘publicity stunt’Four Chagos Islanders have landed on one of the archipelago’s atolls to establish what they say will be a permanent settlement, in an attempt to complicate a British plan to transfer the territory to Mauritius.The Mauritius attorney general said the move was a publicity stunt designed to create conflict over a 2025 agreement with Britain on handing over sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory, which is opposed by some Chagossians who accuse Mauritius of decades of neglect. Mauritius has denied the accusations. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘It’s soul-crushing’: young people battle to find any work in bleak jobs market 17. February 2026 (20:17) Chair of UK government review says dramatic changes in labour market risks putting ‘a generation on the scrapheap’ On any given day, Poppy Blackman is engaged in the “soul-crushing” process of applying for a new job, and rarely ever hearing anything back.The 22-year-old has been unemployed since January 2025 and says she applies to an average of 50 roles a month, using one of four different CVs she has written for different types of jobs and sectors. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Brother of No Other Land co-director injured as Israeli settlers again attack family home 17. February 2026 (20:10) Hamdan Ballal says violence on West Bank as bad as ever, nearly a year after his Oscar-winning film shocked the world The co-director of the Oscar-winning No Other Land has said his home and family have come under renewed attack, almost a year after the documentary on Israeli settler and army violence in the West Bank received an Academy Award.Hamdan Ballal said a group of settlers who had conducted a long-running campaign of harassment against Palestinian villagers came on Sunday to his home in Susya, in the Masafer Yatta area on the southern edge of the West Bank. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Keir Starmer buys personalised silver cufflinks given by Trump on state visit 17. February 2026 (19:34) Official rules say government should keep gifts worth more than £140 unless ministers pay the value over that limitKeir Starmer has bought a pair of personalised silver cufflinks which were given to him by Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, according to the latest transparency records.The cufflinks, which were worth more than £140, were an official gift from the Trumps during the US president’s second state visit last September. They were the second gift from Trump that Starmer has chosen to buy, having paid for a personalised necklace last year. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Rhode Island ice rink shooting may have been tied to ‘family dispute’, officials say 17. February 2026 (19:34) Shooting at hockey game in Pawtucket that left three dead and three injured may have also been a ‘targeted event’The shooting at a Rhode Island high school hockey game that left three dead and three injured may have been a “targeted event” stemming from a “family dispute,” officials have said, with local media reporting that one of the victims was the suspect’s son.The Pawtucket police chief, Tina Goncalves, confirmed the suspect was also among the three people who died. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
ICE reliance on Microsoft technology surged amid immigration crackdown, documents show 17. February 2026 (19:06) Exclusive: ICE more than tripled the amount of data stored in Microsoft’s cloud at the same time that its arsenal of surveillance technology balloonedImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deepened its reliance on Microsoft’s cloud technology last year as the agency ramped up arrest and deportation operations, leaked documents reveal.ICE more than tripled the amount of data it stored in Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform in the six months leading up to January 2026, a period in which the agency’s budget swelled and its workforce rapidly expanded, according to the files. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
