Reform-run Kent council accused of fabricating £40m net zero savings 07. February 2026 (11:43) Disclosures show figures cited by authority’s leader rested on unfunded ideas listed briefly in budget papersReform UK’s flagship council has been accused of telling a “blatant lie” after its claim of nearly £40m in savings on net zero were found to be based on hypothetical projects for which there was no documentation.Kent county council, which has a £2.5bn annual budget, is one of 10 where Nigel Farage’s party has outright control and is seen as a test case for whether the insurgent party can govern competently. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Victims urge tougher action on deepfake abuse as new law comes into force 07. February 2026 (11:00) Campaigners welcome criminalisation of non-consensual AI-generated explicit images but say law does not go far enoughVictims of deepfake image abuse have called for stronger protection against AI-generated explicit images, as the law criminalising the creation of non-consensual intimate images comes into effect.Campaigners from Stop Image-Based Abuse delivered a petition to Downing Street with more than 73,000 signatures, urging the government to introduce civil routes to justice such as takedown orders for abusive imagery on platforms and devices. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
NHS doctor struck off over botched circumcision still performing operation 07. February 2026 (10:00) ‘Catastrophic failure of safeguarding’ highlighted by fact Zuber Bux’s lay practice is legal, campaigners sayA doctor who was struck off over a “reckless” circumcision that risked killing a toddler is still performing the procedure as a layperson, the Guardian can reveal.Campaigners say Zuber Bux’s private circumcision business highlights a “catastrophic failure of safeguarding”, as alarm grows about the absence of regulation of the procedure. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Rembrandt lion drawing raises $18m for big cat conservation at US auction 07. February 2026 (10:00) Chalk artwork sold for record price at a New York Sotheby’s auction with proceeds going to the Panthera charityA tiny chalk drawing of a lion by Rembrandt recently sold for the record-setting price of $18m in New York City to benefit the conservation of big cats.After selling at a Sotheby’s auction Wednesday, Young Lion Resting shattered the previous mark for the most expensive drawing by the 17th-century Dutch painter ever auctioned: the $3.7m Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
AI analysis casts doubt on Van Eyck paintings in Italian and US museums 07. February 2026 (09:00) Tests on both versions of Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata were unable to detect brushstrokes of 15th-century masterAn analysis of two paintings in museums in the US and Italy by the 15th-century Flemish artist Jan van Eyck has raised a profound question: what if neither were by Van Eyck?Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, the name given to near-identical unsigned paintings hanging in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Royal Museums of Turin, represent two of the small number of surviving works by one of western art’s greatest masters, revered for his naturalistic portraits and religious subjects. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK threatens to seize Russia-linked shadow fleet tanker in escalatory move 07. February 2026 (08:00) Capture of rogue ship could open a new front against Moscow at a time when Russia’s oil revenues are tumblingThe UK is threatening to seize a Russia-linked shadow fleet tanker in an escalatory move that could lead to the opening up of a new front against Moscow at a time when the country’s oil revenues are tumbling.British defence sources confirmed that military options to capture a rogue ship had been identified in discussions involving Nato allies – though a month has gone by since the US-led seizure of a Russian tanker in the Atlantic. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Wealthy use loophole to conceal value of £300m in Scottish land sales 07. February 2026 (08:00) Prices paid for large estates not being disclosed on official register, land reform advocates sayLand reform campaigners are alarmed at the increasing use of a legal loophole that allows landowners to conceal the price paid for Highland estates from the public register.Andy Wightman, a land reform analyst, said the loophole meant the prices paid in more than £300m-worth of Highland property transactions were not disclosed on the register. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Plainly wrong’: London flat dwellers fight shock £200,000 heating bill 07. February 2026 (08:00) Almost 1m UK households are hooked up to heat networks. None had protection from poor service or price hikes … until last month‘If I could move, I would – to a place without a heat network. But I can’t while this debt is hanging over me,” says Anja Georgiou.The mother lives with her family in a rented flat in the River Gardens development in Greenwich in south-east London where, three years ago, residents were shocked to be presented with a surprise £200,000 bill for heating and hot water. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Storm-battered Portugal heads to polls as rivals unite to keep out far right 07. February 2026 (07:00) Socialist António José Seguro on course for victory but gains by André Ventura’s Chega could herald watershedPortuguese voters will return to the polls on Sunday for the final round of a presidential election that has been marked by a push to keep the far-right candidate at bay and overshadowed by deadly storms that have lashed the country in recent days.The moderate leftwing candidate António José Seguro won the first round of the election, which was held on 18 January, taking 31.1% of the vote. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
BBC Persian journalists say Iran monitoring them and targeting their families 07. February 2026 (07:00) Reporters say relatives in Iran have been questioned and persecuted in an effort to curb coverage of unrestExiled Iranian journalists working for the BBC have been warned their movements are being closely monitored by the state, as they said their families in Iran were being interrogated and persecuted for their reporting.Journalists said family members had been threatened with arrest and the seizure of their assets unless their loved ones stopped reporting on Iranian unrest. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
