News Round-Up

• “Trump says Putin faces ‘very bad’ punishment if he rejects ceasefire” – President Trump has threatened “devastating” consequences for Russia if Vladimir Putin does not agree to a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine, reports the Mail.
• “What will Trump do if Russia says no to a ceasefire?” – The ball is in Putin’s court – and Trump has several strings he can pull if Moscow does not respond positively, writes Memphis Barker in the Telegraph.
• “Why Putin could reject a ceasefire” – Good news about a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but will President Putin be interested in any sort of deal right now? wonders Michael Evans in the Spectator.
• “Why Russia should agree to a ceasefire – and five reasons Putin might not” – In the Spectator, Owen Matthews weighs up the Russian President’s options.
• “Pro-Palestinian student facing deportation by US is former British embassy worker” – The Columbia University student who faces deportation from the US over allegations that he “led activities aligned with Hamas” held a senior position at the British embassy in Beirut, reveals the Telegraph.
• “Trump is right about Hamas-supporting activists. Britain should emulate him” – The American President is correct to deport jihadi-supporting agitators, says Jake Wallis Simons in the Telegraph.
• “Britain is too complacent, cowardly and woke to win the next war” – Other European nations are taking Russia’s threat seriously, while we remain obsessed with trivialities, writes Annabel Denham in the Telegraph.
• “Britain has no friends, no money and no grasp on reality” – Neither America nor Europe has our back: we must become truly independent once again, says Alliister Heath in the Telegraph.
• “Starmer’s plea for Trump to spare Britain from 25% steel tariffs fails” – Keir Starmer is resisting pressure to retaliate after failing in his bid to persuade Donald Trump to spare Britain from brutal tariffs on steel, reports the Mail.
• “Starmer in race to secure trade deal to dodge Trump tariffs” – Britain is in a race to secure an economic deal with President Trump by the end of the month to avoid blanket tariffs, says the Times.
• “Keir Starmer defends welfare reforms as Labour backlash mounts” – Keir Starmer has launched a charm offensive to win over nervous Labour MPs to his welfare reforms, promising the most vulnerable will be protected, reports the Times.
• “Britain ‘no longer a rich country’ after living standards plunge” – Parts of the UK are now worse off than the poorest regions of Slovenia and Lithuania, according to Reuters.
• “Labour councils spurn UK defence firms to woo pro-Palestinian vote” – At least nine local authorities have voted to divest their pension funds from British defence companies in order to woo pro-Palestinian voters, reports the Telegraph.
• “‘Two-tier’ sentencing rules may be discriminatory, says watchdog” – The equalities watchdog chief has warned that special treatment for criminals from ethnic, religious and gender minorities may mean unfair justice for white males, says the Telegraph.
• “Our £2 million-a-year Sentencing Council tells us some are more equal than others” – The Sentencing Council costs taxpayers just under £2 million a year, says Dia Chakravarty in the Telegraph. But its true cost lies in its power to fundamentally alter the definition of justice under British law. 
• “In this English village, asylum seekers may soon outnumber the locals” – In the Free Press, Dominic Green reveals a silent crisis in Wethersfield, where locals fear speaking out as asylum seekers outnumber them.
• “‘No way back for Lowe after rape gangs claims’” – Nigel Farage says that there is “no way back” into Reform UK for Rupert Lowe after Mr Lowe made a series of accusations about the rape gangs scandal, according to the Mail.
• “The ‘dirty dozen’ who crossed Nigel Farage” – Nigel Farage’s fatal flaw is his inability or unwillingness to share power and lead a team, says Nigel Jones in the Spectator.
• “What Nigel Farage needs to learn from the career of Nick Faldo” – Sometimes a performer must change his technique if he is to reach new heights, writes Patrick O’Flynn on his Substack.
• “Labour’s tack to the Right leaves Reform looking moderate” – With Labour’s increased defence spending and a space in prison “available to everyone”, Farage should be on high alert for policy theft, says Tim Stanley in the Telegraph.
• “Reform is a broken, infighting mess: it’s time for the Tories to take charge” – Robert Jenrick has a real opportunity to outflank Reform from the Right as the party collapses into infighting, writes Simone Hanna in the Telegraph.
• “Tory MP was paid £75,000 to advise Mauritius ahead of Chagos deal” – Sir Geoffrey Cox MP was paid £75,000 to give legal advice to the Mauritian Government in the months leading up to the Chagos Islands deal, reveals the Times.
• “Quangos are forever” – Keir Starmer’s mission to limit the quangos is doomed to fail, says Ross Clark in the Spectator.
• “The problem is not the civil service. It’s the inadequacy of our politicians” – Ever since Harold Wilson, our elected leaders have blamed the bureaucrats for their own manifest failings, writes Philip Johnson in the Telegraph.
• “Bangladesh court seizes Tulip Siddiq’s properties and imposes travel ban” – Guido Fawkes reports that Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission has secured a travel ban and asset seizures against ousted dictator Sheikh Hasina and her family – including Labour’s Tulip Siddiq.
• “Business Secretary forced to correct record after claiming to be solicitor” – Jonathan Reynolds has finally corrected the official record in Parliament after incorrectly describing himself as a solicitor more than a decade ago, reports GB News.
• “Wes Streeting’s aide accused of exposing himself to a 13 year-old girl” – A senior aide to Wes Streeting exposed himself to a 13 year-old girl and then chased after her, says the Mail.
• “Smart meters forced on customers by British Gas” – Households are being forced to fit smart meters by Britain’s biggest energy companies in a drive to meet Net Zero targets, reports the Express.
• “Ed Miliband’s heat pump was a farce. Why should the rest of us be forced to get one?” – The Energy Secretary is not some dippy but essentially innocuous dope, he’s a raving zealot – and could well prove to be this country’s ruin, warns Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
• “‘In bad faith’” – A DC court has sanctioned climate scientist Michael Mann and his lawyers for misconduct “extraordinary in its scope, extent and intent”, reports Roger Pielke Jr. on his Substack.
• “Lockdown fuelled near-doubling of ADHD drug prescriptions” – Prescriptions for drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have increased 18% each year since the Covid pandemic, according to BBC News.
• “‘I received a £10,000 Covid fine – one jokey snowball fight has ruined my life’” – In the Telegraph, Mattie Brignal reports on a university student who was hit with a £10,000 fine for organising a snowball fight during the 2021 lockdown.
• “Angela Merkel ‘covered up report blaming China for Covid’” – Germany covered up an explosive intelligence report that found a strong probability that the Covid pandemic was caused by a laboratory accident in China, says the Daily Wire.
• “St Thomas’, where patients come second to politics” – In TCW, Niall McCrae blasts St Thomas’ as a hospital where identity politics trumps patient care.
• “Why isn’t Streeting cracking down on puberty blockers?” – If a government’s first duty is to protect its citizens, then Wes Streeting must step up to defend some of society’s most vulnerable, says Debbie Hayton in the Spectator.
• “Dyslexia likely does not exist” – Who is going to break it to Jamie Oliver that dyslexia likely does not exist? wonders Peter Hitchens in the Mail.
• “Sturgeon to step down at Holyrood election” – In the Spectator, Steerpike reflects on the sorry political career of Nicola Sturgeon.
• “On the manifold fractal screwups of Chancellor hopeful Friedrich Merz” – On Substack, Eugyppius catalogues all the ways that CDU Chancellor Friedrich Merz is screwing up.
• “Is Canada doing enough to stop the US trade war?” – In the Spectator, Jane Stannus argues that Canada’s trade war with the US is really a self-inflicted diplomatic mess.
• “Why tariffs are good” – The claim that tariffs are inherently misguided and inevitably harmful does not stand up to scrutiny, especially when it comes to US trade with China, says Michael Lind in Tablet.
• “Trump provokes regime change in Greenland – but not in the way he wanted” – Greenlanders have rejected Trump’s advances by electing the pro-Danish Demokraatit party, reports James Crisp in the Telegraph.
• “More universities are choosing to stay neutral on the biggest issues” – As political pressure mounts, more US schools are opting to stay silent on today’s hot-button debates, notes Vimal Patel in the NY Times.
• “China builds ‘equivalent of Royal Navy’ in just four years” – China has built the equivalent of the entire Royal Navy in just four years as Beijing races to become a global maritime power, reports the Telegraph.
• “DEI activist shares answers to air traffic control entry exam” – A top ‘DEI’ activist has been caught on voicemail offering minority US air traffic controller candidates the chance to cheat in a make-or-break entry exam, says the Mail.
• “Snow White remake is so woke its premiere is being held in secret” – The premiere for the Snow White remake has been relocated to a remote castle in Spain after Disney was forced to “scale back” the promo amid furore over its woke content, reports the Mail. 
• “Young conservative women build an alternative to the manosphere” – In Semafor, Max Tani highlights a rising wave of young conservative women redefining Right-wing media with “trad” values.
• “How to navigate transgender issues in the Trump era” – It’s possible to both condemn the bigotry of the Right and reject the excesses of activists, writes Cathy Young on the Persuasion Substack.
• “Is Christianity no longer in decline?” – There are still many headwinds facing American Christianity, but for now, they seem to have died down, says Ryan P. Purge in First Things.
• “‘People ‘hate-watching’ Meghan Markle’s Netflix show’” – Comedian Katherine Ryan has become the latest Netflix star to criticise the Duchess of Sussex, reports the Mail.
• “Michelle Obama hints at marriage strife in new podcast with brother” – Michelle Obama has spoken of her trying years in the White House on her new podcast, according to the Mail.
• “Meeting Margot: memories of a Marxist monster” – In History Reclaimed, former British Ambassador to Chile Jon Benjamin recounts his meetings with Margot Honecker, the unrepentant architect of East Germany’s education system and widow of GDR leader Erich Honecker.
• “In honour of Douglas Murray” – To celebrate Douglas Murray’s libel victory against the Guardian Group – and because they’ve been sadly missed on X since their departure – @Basil_TGMD has taken a stroll down memory lane to revisit some of the Guardian’s very worst.

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