A Department of Homeland Security employee out walking her dog was brutally murdered in Georgia — by a man naturalized under former President Joe Biden, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Wednesday. 
Mullin said that Olaolukitan Adon Abel, the 26-year-old man suspected of killing 40-year-old DHS employee Lauren Bullis in Dekalb County was naturalized by the Biden Administration in 2022. Abel was born in the United Kingdom and has an extensive criminal history including convictions for sexual battery, battery against a police officer, obstruction, and assault with a deadly weapon, and vandalism, Mullin said. 
“He has also been arrested for the murder of an unidentified woman whom he reportedly shot outside a Checkers, before randomly shooting a homeless man multiple times outside a Kroger in Brookhaven,” Mullin <a href="https://x.com/SecMullinDHS/status/2044372949826683104">said</a>. “These acts of pure evil have devastated our Department and my prayers are with the families of the victims.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
On Monday, a DHS employee, Lauren Bullis, was brutally shot and stabbed to death by Olaolukitan Adon Abel, a 26-year-old, born in the United Kingdom, who was naturalized by the Biden Administration in 2022.
Since President Trump took office, <a href="https://twitter.com/USCIS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USCIS</a> has implemented measures to…
— Secretary Markwayne Mullin (@SecMullinDHS) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecMullinDHS/status/2044372949826683104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 15, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Abel has been charged with two counts of murder and aggravated assault, in addition to multiple gun charges. 
Police have described the attacks as random, with the first beginning at 12:52 a.m. Monday morning and the second at around 2:00 a.m. Bullis was attacked at around 6:50 a.m. and died after being stabbed and shot. 
Mullin said that the Trump administration was working to ensure that only those with good character could attain American citizenship. 
“Since President Trump took office, [U.S.] Citizenship and Immigration Services] has implemented measures to ensure individuals with criminal histories and who otherwise lack good moral character do not attain citizenship,” Mullin said. 
Bullis worked in the office of Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security.
“She was a respected colleague whose contributions and presence will be greatly missed. We extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends, as well as to the families, friends, and communities of the additional victims. We strongly condemn this act of violence,” the department <a href="https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/lauren-bullis-dekalb-shooting-spree-victim-family-statement/85-e5a5bbf9-3526-40cb-a686-ddf925961d9d">said</a>. “We will cooperate with the ongoing investigation but will not comment further on the suspect or the nature of the case.”
Her family said that she “deeply loved her family and found joy in running, reading, and traveling,&#8221; and that her “generosity touched everyone surrounding her.

MixCollage-15-Apr-2026-07-12-AM-5773

DHS Employee Murdered While Walking Dog As Biden-Era Naturalized Suspect Emerges

Crime

Georgia

Immigration

Joe Biden

United Kingdom

For years, Britain has prided itself on avoiding America’s bitter abortion wars. That pride came from a “settled” law that the public took as a “pragmatic compromise.” But a recent vote in Parliament has shattered that illusion, generating the first national debate in the United Kingdom on the issue in almost 60 years.
Since 1967, abortion has been permitted in Britain for any reason up to 24 weeks (almost 6 months) — already far later than in most of Europe — with complete allowance up to birth in cases involving serious risk to the mother’s life or health, or fetal disability.
But last week, Britain’s House of Lords backed a change that decriminalizes abortion outside the existing legal framework. In plain terms, while abortions carried out through the NHS will still operate within a regulated general 24-week limit, no laws will exist to deter women from ending their pregnancies outside that system — including at full term, for any reason whatsoever.
This isn’t hypothetical. It has already happened.
In 2010, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-19621675">Sarah Catt,</a> 35, from North Yorkshire, aborted her baby at 39 weeks — days before her due date. She didn’t carry out this abortion because of any medical crisis. She and her baby were perfectly healthy. Rather, she had the abortion because she was having an affair, and didn’t want her partner to find out.
Sarah was prosecuted under the law for killing her viable, late-term baby, but the changes pushed through by politicians means she will be fully pardoned — as if her actions were never immoral.
These cases are rare. But they matter, because they expose the very boundary the law once enforced — and what can happen when that boundary disappears.
The activism in support of the recent vote to change the law gained momentum in the past few years due to a small increase in the number of women investigated for potentially illegal abortions, following the introduction of pills-by-mail or &#8220;pills-by-post.&#8221; This Covid-era scheme enabled women under ten weeks pregnant to order abortion pills by phone, and take them with no in-person examination or medical supervision.
Following the pandemic, the government made the scheme permanent — despite evidence that it opened women’s health up to far greater risk. Around 20 women <a href="https://righttolife.org.uk/news/over-10000-women-needed-hospital-treatment-after-using-abortion-pills">per day</a> in 2020 had to be admitted to the hospital after taking the pills alone at home. Ambulance dispatches and emergency calls responding to abortion pill concerns <a href="https://www.gbnews.com/news/ambulance-dispatches-and-999-calls-responding-to-abortion-pill-concerns-have-risen-by-64-since-2019-gb-news-investigation/359311">rose by 64%</a> following the scheme’s introduction.
Without scans or examinations, ectopic pregnancies requiring urgent medical care are missed; and crucially, gestational ages are not confirmed. Relying on women to self-report how far along their pregnancy carries a minefield of risks.
The court case of Carla Foster exposed the danger of this approach. Carla, 44, obtained abortion pills after telling a provider she was less than ten weeks pregnant. In reality, she was around 34 weeks along. She took the pills at home to end the life of her fully-developed baby in utero, went into labour, and delivered a stillborn daughter, whom she later named &#8220;Lily.&#8221;
Lily was viable, healthy and pain-capable. She could have survived if simply allowed to be delivered alive. Foster later described being “haunted” by the experience. Nobody wants to see women go through this trauma; nobody wants to see developed babies, capable of survival, being killed at this late stage. The pills-by-post scheme should have been scrapped to prevent this happening again. Instead, parliamentarians removed the legal deterrents that prevent more women from following in Carla’s footsteps.
Across most of the continent, abortion on general grounds is limited to the first trimester — typically between 12 and 15 weeks. Britain’s 24-week limit is already by far one of the most permissive. Stripping away the legal enforcement of that limit is not a minor adjustment, but a radical departure.
Perhaps most striking is how out of step this is with public opinion. While most Britons support legal abortion in some circumstances, <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2183929/abortion-birth-voted-lords-legalised-infanticide">less than</a> 1% support abortion up to birth for any reason. 
In other words, this is not the result of overwhelming democratic demand. It is a top-down redefinition of moral boundaries — one that the public has barely begun to grapple with.
Even in Britain’s typically muted political landscape, alarm bells are starting to ring. Senior figures, from Reform MP Suella Braverman to Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, have broken the long-standing bipartisan reluctance to engage on this issue, warning that removing legal guardrails up to birth goes too far. In a country that has spent decades avoiding this debate, that shift alone is telling.
The British parliament has sent a signal that no abortion, no matter the reason, can ever be judged as immoral. The British public will now have to decide if they agree — or if it’s time to finally reopen the conversation, and look into how our laws can be better structured to support both mothers and their babies to thrive.
* * *
Lois McLatchie Miller (@LoisMcLatch) is a writer and commentator from Great Britain.

UK Parliament Ahead of 2025 Budget

Could Full-Term Abortion Become Reality In America? The Debate Just Shifted.

Abortion

Abortion Drug

Great Britain

Leftists

Parliament

Women

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signaled a potential seismic shift in American foreign policy, questioning why the United States continues to shoulder the burden of policing the Strait of Hormuz for nations that refuse to support its strategic objectives.
&#8220;I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Strait?’&#8221; Trump wrote. &#8220;That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!!&#8221;
<iframe class="truthsocial-embed" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/116250203405172359/embed" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><script src="https://truthsocial.com/embed.js" async="async"></script>
The president’s comments highlight a glaring disparity: while the U.S. Navy has historically secured the waterway, the primary beneficiaries are Asian and European powers. China leads the pack, importing 38% of the oil transiting the strait, followed by India (15%), Japan (90% of its total crude), and South Korea. Meanwhile, Middle Eastern exporters like Kuwait and Qatar remain entirely or heavily dependent on the passage.
Despite this reliance, several European allies have refused to assist the United States in the current regional conflict. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/16/europe-donald-trump-strait-hormuz-iran"> stated</a> definitively, &#8220;We will not do so,&#8221; while Spain has gone as far as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/02/spain-denies-united-states-permission-military-bases-iran-pedro-sanchez">blocking</a> American forces from using its bases for operations against Tehran. <a href="https://www.military.com/feature/2026/03/15/italy-says-it-will-not-join-iran-war-and-begins-pulling-back-troops.html">Italy</a> and Greece have similarly declined military participation.
French President Emmanuel Macron has been particularly defiant. After the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iranian targets in late February, Macron labeled the actions &#8220;outside the framework of international law.&#8221; On Tuesday, he <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2026/03/france-will-never-take-part-operations-unblock-hormuz-strait-amid-hostilities">doubled down</a>, declaring France is &#8220;not a party to the conflict&#8230; will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the  current context.&#8221; While Macron deployed the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the region, he insists it is for a &#8220;European-led&#8221; mission independent of Washington&#8217;s command.
Even the United Kingdom has hesitated, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/03/18/pbcq-m18.html">stating</a> the UK will not be drawn into &#8220;the wider war.&#8221; Only Poland and the Baltic states have offered firm political backing, citing Iran’s military ties to Russia.
This lack of cooperation has forced regional exporters to scramble for alternatives. Saudi Arabia has <a href="https://energynewsbeat.co/saudi-arabias-pipeline-investment-pays-off/">boosted</a> its East-West Pipeline capacity to 7 million barrels per day (bpd), though effective export capacity at the Red Sea port of Yanbu remains capped at 3–4 million bpd. The UAE’s ADCOP pipeline to Fujairah is running at a maximum of 1.8 million bpd but has faced drone threats. Iraq, which recently signed a deal to resume exports through Turkey at a modest 250,000 bpd, remains largely paralyzed.
With 20 million barrels per day typically transiting the strait, the current bypasses are woefully insufficient. Trump’s message is clear: if the nations most dependent on this oil — and the &#8220;allies&#8221; who benefit from U.S. protection — refuse to stand with America against the &#8220;Iranian Terror State,&#8221; they may soon find themselves responsible for their own security in the world’s most dangerous chokepoint.

President Donald Trump Meets With German Chancellor Friedrich Merz At The White House

Trump Warns Allies: Help Fight Iran Or Secure The Strait of Hormuz Yourself

Donald Trump

Executive

France

Germany

Global Politics

Iran

Politics

Strait of Hormuz

When Islamists on horseback can intimidate and chase down anti-regime protesters on British streets without consequence, it raises a question no modern Briton ever expected to ask: is this still a country confident enough to protect dissent?
That is the question behind the startling <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/67f5fe6bb82cd78e3cd235719ccff719148d83a7?u=11850803">suggestion</a> from U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers to the Telegraph — Britons may soon be justified in seeking asylum in America. She was not being casually provocative for effect. She was serious — and each passing day strengthens her case.
With war now raging between the United States, Israel, and Iran, Britain is confronting a humiliating question: what does it say about our country when anti-Ayatollah Iranians can be harassed on British streets while police stand idly by? In Manchester, rival demonstrations erupted after the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and reports circulated — alongside <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/da2384697c47993ad15de8bdc876420559a23a03?u=11850803">widely shared footage</a> — that pro-regime Islamists on horseback were intimidating and chasing away Iranians near the Islamic Centre.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
UK: Pro-regime Iranian enforcers chased anti-Ayatollah Iranians near the Islamic Centre in Manchester. The police declined to intervene. <a href="https://t.co/HNkOOLH75p">pic.twitter.com/HNkOOLH75p</a>
— @amuse (@amuse) <a href="https://twitter.com/amuse/status/2030231214171255001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Source: @amuse/X.com
To the shock of bystanders, police made no arrests. The astounded man filming the giant steeds and their bearded Islamic riders pleaded with police to know why the men weren’t being “nicked” (that’s arrested, in Northern parlance). “They’ve just chased people with their ‘orses!” he shouts; his broad Manchester accent starkly at odds with the Middle Eastern politics playing out on his streets.
“What are we supposed to do?” shrugs the short, young police officer, “Pull him off his horse?”
“Yes!” exclaimed the terrified onlooker.
This is the state of affairs in Britain: if your safety, social norms, or free speech are being compromised by Islamic agitators, the police stand by. Our accidental documentary-maker behind the cell phone summed it up nicely, “If he had a Union Jack on, he’d be off the horse.” He’s right.
Over the past thirty years, the United Kingdom has <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/c4330ffdf28b092bd3a9ded3c05868fc52d57f3f?u=11850803">quietly</a> redefined the social contract that underpinned British society. But even those of us who have watched a stream of Trojan horses sneak in cultural change didn’t foresee it morphing into actual horses on our streets.
And as Rogers correctly identifies, it is all underpinned by the demise of free speech. This has fallen off a cliff: not through dramatic constitutional rupture, but via bureaucratic growth under both Left and Right-wing governments. Millions of Brits, many of whom are my viewers on GB News, are relieved that the Trump Administration has been ringing the alarm bell on our behalf.
A growing number of ordinary citizens are being swept into the criminal justice system for social media posts, venting frustration on WhatsApp groups, and even uttering <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/c2bceac0258a441bd433e922797e28875d0bf888?u=11850803">unkind</a> words at protests. There were more than 12,000 <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/62470ed4abde1015105311facb04948e43d91009?u=11850803">arrests</a> in 2023 under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 and Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988 — laws that criminalize posting messages deemed &#8220;grossly offensive,&#8221; &#8220;indecent, obscene,&#8221; or causing &#8220;annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.&#8221;
That&#8217;s roughly 33 arrests <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/a979482f8ee61bcacaa182549ce7da9ecb858cf5?u=11850803">per day</a> in a country where shoplifting is practically decriminalized, and less than 5% of home burglaries are solved.
While the laws curtailing speech were originally intended to deal with serious threats and targeted harassment, in practice, they can be applied far more broadly. Civil liberties groups <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/1cf9edb8541540b412d62c86505cf0d8ee16552f?u=11850803">argue</a> that the vagueness of what constitutes &#8220;offensive&#8221; content allows authorities to monitor or detain people for expressing controversial political opinions, satire, or clumsy humor.
Things became more extreme with the 2023 Online Safety Act, one of the most significant legal changes of the decade, granting the communications regulator (Ofcom) wide authority to compel platforms to remove content. It also creates new criminal offenses for incidents of &#8220;false and threatening communications.&#8221; But the act&#8217;s overly broad, subjective definitions and heavy penalties will lead to the censorship of lawful and harmless speech by tech firms trying to avoid multi-million dollar fines. Hundreds of people have already been <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/8bcf7660c7ddc8842b69fe45491a3fd9daa62bc6?u=11850803">charged</a> under the new regime for &#8220;illegal fake news&#8221; and &#8220;threatening communications,&#8221; with dozens convicted just months after it came into force.
Rogers is right to observe that this environment has produced something historically novel: a liberal democracy in which citizens increasingly self-censor not out of politeness, but out of fear.
Comedy writer Graham Linehan was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/irish-comedian-recounts-shocking-arrest-over-anti-trans-social-media-posts">arrested</a> last September at London&#8217;s Heathrow Airport after traveling from America, where he had <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/ed17a91d8bdab33570b575f3018e8c7d96f65a97?u=11850803">posted</a> on X about protecting women&#8217;s spaces from trans-identified males.
2023 also saw the arrival of enforcement <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/e1d16dc331f341b4db26779377550dfa0d97d162?u=11850803">against</a> &#8220;non-crime hate incidents,&#8221; a uniquely British invention that allowed police to record speech as hateful even when no law had been broken. The message is unmistakable: speech is tolerated only so long as it causes no discomfort to those empowered to define harm.
Contrast this with the American approach Rogers implicitly praises — the First Amendment as the cultural spine of American life. It protects speech precisely because it is offensive, destabilizing, or unpopular. American courts do not ask whether speech might cause emotional unease; they ask whether the state has any business interfering at all.
Critics will argue that Britain&#8217;s model is merely more &#8220;civilized&#8221; and that Americans fetishize absolutism. But balance presumes a neutral arbiter, and Britain no longer has one. When regulators, universities, employers, and police all share the same ideological assumptions, moderation becomes enforcement by another name.
What Rogers understands — and what many in Britain still resist — is that free speech is not primarily about manners: it is about power and control. Once the power to determine acceptable opinion shifts decisively to institutions, citizens become subjects in all but name. You may still speak, but only at your own risk.
This is why talk of asylum, literal or not, resonates deeply.
Asylum is sought not only when bombs fall, but when rights erode so completely that dissent becomes untenable. We are not quite there yet — but the trajectory is headed nowhere good. How could it? The British government is currently <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/93424203e35ae34cb4276d0c03f8932f0045fee0?u=11850803">proposing</a> the abolition of jury trials for all but the most heinous crimes.
America&#8217;s free-speech culture survives not because Americans are uniquely virtuous or diplomatic but because their system assumes fallibility — of governments, of majorities, of individual morality. Britain, by contrast, increasingly assumes moral consensus and builds enforcement mechanisms around it.
Sarah Rogers has done the UK a service by saying the quiet part aloud. If Britain wishes to remain a nation of free speakers rather than shy whisperers, it must relearn a lesson America never forgot: the price of liberty is not silence, but tolerance of speech we would rather not hear.
* * *
Bev Turner is a host of &#8220;The Late Show Live&#8221; for Great Britain&#8217;s GBNews, based out of Washington, D.C. Follow her on X <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/6a872d0bbc65de7ea63572b544b18a7c29887860?u=11850803">@BeverleyTurner</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Anti-migrant Hotel Protest And Counter-Protests Take Place In Newcastle

Saying The Quiet Part Out Loud About Britain’s Free Speech Crisis

Free Speech

Manchester

Opinion

When President Trump addresses the nation tonight, Jimmy Lai’s daughter, Claire Lai, will sit in the chamber as a reminder that the Chinese Communist Party is still punishing dissidents who dared to believe in freedom. Earlier this month, we learned of the <a href="http://google.com/search?q=jimmy+lai+sentence&amp;sca_esv=190a96a9d156750b&amp;rlz=1CAGZLV_enUS889&amp;tbm=nws&amp;sxsrf=ANbL-n4Gq5fmGsUjNbcnkqRKkx3Ey-n_Pw:1771015882615&amp;ei=yo6PafujJYSlqtsPu-XyiQc&amp;start=10&amp;sa=N&amp;ved=2ahUKEwj7sMykrNeSAxWEkmoFHbuyPHEQ8NMDegQIBhAW&amp;biw=1536&amp;bih=695&amp;dpr=1.25">near-life sentence</a> handed down to the Hong Kong democracy advocate. But Lai is not merely a symbol of Beijing’s repression. He is a British citizen. And if it takes an American president to elevate his cause before the world, it raises an uncomfortable question for Prime Minister Keir Starmer: what, exactly, is British citizenship worth?
Jimmy Lai’s life reads like a true rags-to-riches story. Born in mainland China, a 12-year-old Lai traveled by boat to what at the time was British Hong Kong with no money to his name. Finding work in the garment industry, Lai climbed his way up from the factory floor to achieve billionaire status. He could have rested on his laurels and gone quietly into retirement, but that is not who Jimmy Lai is.
Lai recognizes that his rise is thanks to the rights and freedoms Hong Kongers grew accustomed to, thanks to years as a British colony. Promising decades of autonomy and freedom under the handover, the CCP gradually whittled down the freedoms enjoyed in the city. Jimmy Lai refused to take these encroachments lying down, engaging in memorials of the Tiananmen Square Massacre and publishing pro-democracy content in the Apple Daily, the newspaper he founded. Therefore, it was no shock that Lai incurred the wrath of the CCP in the form of the National Security Law (NSL), under which he was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/10/hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai-arrested-over-alleged-foreign-collusion#:~:text=%E2%80%9CToday%27s%20police%20action%20upends%20those,in%20protest%20against%20his%20arrest." target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> in 2020 for allegedly colluding with foreign forces.
Enter Keir Starmer, the British prime minister. While Starmer’s government has voiced opposition to Lai’s imprisonment, it has thus far been unsuccessful in securing Lai&#8217;s release. So why is the conviction of a Chinese citizen the business of Starmer or Great Britain in general? After all, a spokesman for the Chinese government <a href="https://www.bastillepost.com/global/article/5598459-jimmy-lai-should-be-severely-punished-by-law-spokesman">denounced</a> criticism of Lai’s conviction as interference in an internal affair. However, there are several reasons why this issue matters to the British Government.
First, Hong Kong is not just a former British colony — it is a city in which Britain has treaty obligations. As a signatory to the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the UK is responsible for ensuring that China fulfills its promise to allow autonomy in Hong Kong. For Jimmy Lai specifically, he is a British passport holder and therefore a British citizen. Keir Starmer is as responsible for Jimmy Lai’s safety as he is for any other British citizen unjustly detained abroad.
Jimmy Lai is not the only British citizen being held in a foreign prison. Estimates are that there are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/nov/24/its-about-political-will-is-the-foreign-office-failing-britons-detained-abroad">thousands of Brits</a> detained or arrested in foreign countries. Jagtar Singh Johal has been imprisoned in India since 2017 after he confessed to involvement in a murder after police tortured a confession out of him. Every day that Jimmy Lai, Jagtar Singh Johal, and many others sit in prison is a day that Starmer is failing his citizenry.
What can Starmer do to help people like Jimmy Lai? For starters, he can stop treating the Chinese government like a friendly nation. The Jimmy Lai conviction is one of many examples where Starmer has been soft on China. His recent visit to Beijing <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2j04lk83zo">focused</a> on trade and tourism, but Starmer claims that he <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15543421/Keir-Starmer-accused-monumental-diplomatic-failure-China-jails.html">raised</a> the issue of Lai’s release when he was in China. This casual approach isn’t going to cut it. Unjust imprisonment is not some tertiary issue in diplomacy. What good are reduced tariffs on whiskey if British citizens aren’t safe when they travel to China?
If Keir Starmer wants to free Jimmy Lai and the other dissidents in Hong Kong, he needs to get tough on the Chinese government. First, trade negotiations need to stop until Lai is released from prison. The UK is failing its obligations to Hong Kong; now is the time to change course. Second, Starmer needs to shut down the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/world/europe/chinese-embassy-london-starmer.html">Chinese mega-embassy</a> project in London. Not only does the mega-embassy put critical communication cables at risk, but its construction will also allow the CCP to expand the transnational repression of other Hong Kong democracy advocates living in London. If Britain can’t protect its citizens abroad, the very least it can do is protect them on British territory.
Keir Starmer’s tenure at 10 Downing Street has been a disaster for a <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-epstein-files-threaten-to-topple-keir-starmers-labour-government/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">variety of reasons</a>, but his handling of the Jimmy Lai arrest only adds fuel to the fire. While Starmer’s days as PM might be limited, he can right this wrong if he acts quickly. By securing Jimmy Lai&#8217;s freedom, Keir Starmer will establish Britain’s diplomatic influence and potentially serve as a deterrent to other regimes hoping to illegally detain British citizens.
* * *
<a href="https://www.joinyv.org/talent/matthew-cookson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matt Cookson</a> is an alumnus of the Young Voices Contributor Program and was a Middle East History and Policy Fellow with Young Voices. He also works in the supply chain for a U.S. Defense Contractor. His commentary has appeared in the Mises Institute, Real Clear Politics, the National Interest, Providence Magazine, China Source, and the Idaho Freedom Foundation. You can follow him on X @<a href="https://x.com/MattCookson95" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MattCookson95</a> and Substack @<a href="https://substack.com/@thewaythecookiecrumbles?utm_source=user-menu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thewaythecookiecrumbles</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Activists In L.A. Rally Outside Chinese Consulate For Imprisoned Hong Kong Media Entrepreneur Jimmy Lai

As Jimmy Lai’s Daughter Attends Trump’s Address, Britain Faces An Uncomfortable Question

China

England

Hong Kong

Jimmy Lai

Keir Starmer

Prison

State of the Union

A judge for the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) has resigned after a man with Tourette’s syndrome shouted the n-word during Sunday night’s televised ceremony, sparking backlash over how the incident was handled.
Jonte Richardson resigned from BAFTA&#8217;s emerging talent judging panel, calling the organization&#8217;s handling of the situation “utterly unforgivable,” Variety <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/bafta-jury-member-steps-down-over-n-word-incident-1236671070/">reported</a>.
The controversy began when Tourette&#8217;s advocate John Davidson shouted the slur while actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the award for Best Visual Effects. Both presenters are black, and the moment drew particular criticism given the word&#8217;s history and the setting.
Davidson has said Tourette&#8217;s syndrome includes <a href="https://tourette.org/resource/understanding-coprolalia/">coprolalia</a>, a vocal tic that can involve &#8220;involuntary outburst of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks.&#8221; He and advocacy groups said the symptom was responsible for the slur shouted during the presentation. 
“I cannot and will not contribute my time, energy, and expertise to an organization that has repeatedly failed to safeguard the dignity of its black guests, members, and the black creative community,” Richardson <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/bafta-jury-member-quits-jonte-richardson-tourettes-awards-1236513461/#:~:text=Jonte%20Richardson%20posted%20on%20social,By%20Lily%20Ford">said</a> in a statement.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/friendly-fire?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_content=20260224_sotu_aa_desktop&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=banner" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Watch the State of the Union with The Daily Wire! Live coverage from the nation’s capital begins at 7:45 ET.</a>
BAFTA and the BBC, which broadcast the remarks, are facing backlash for initially airing the ceremony without editing out the slur. 
Following the incident, the event host, BAFTA, and Davidson each issued apologies. Davidson said he was “deeply mortified” by what occurred. 
“You may have noticed some strong language in the background. This can be part of how Tourette’s syndrome shows up for some people as the film explores that experience. Thanks for your understanding and helping create a respectful space for everyone,&#8221; host Alan Cumming said immediately afterward.
“I can only add that I am and always have been deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning,” Davidson said in a <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/tourettes-campaigner-john-davidson-statement-apology-bafta-1236512771/">statement</a> to The Hollywood Reporter. 
Davidson said he appreciated that the audience had been warned in advance that his tics are involuntary and not reflective of his beliefs, adding that he was &#8220;heartened&#8221; by applause that followed. He said he later chose to leave the ceremony early because he was &#8220;aware of the distress&#8221; the incident had caused.  
Davidson also said he has &#8220;spent my life trying to support and empower the Tourette&#8217;s community&#8221; and remains committed to promoting empathy and understanding.
In its own statement, BAFTA acknowledged that guests &#8220;heard very offensive language that carries incomparable trauma and pain for so many” and apologized for the &#8220;harm this has caused&#8221; while thanking Davidson for &#8220;his dignity and consideration.&#8221;
The U.K.-based charity Tourette’s Action also issued a statement stressing that Davidson&#8217;s remarks were involuntary.
In a statement <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DVGnQbrjh2d/">posted</a> to Instagram, Tourette&#8217;s Action said it was &#8220;deeply sorry to the black community for the harm caused&#8221; while emphasizing that tics are &#8220;not a reflection of a person’s beliefs, intentions, or character.”
The organization added that people with Tourette&#8217;s might say words they do not mean or endorse because the symptoms are neurological, not intentional, and said media backlash over the incident &#8220;has been extremely saddening.&#8221;

Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo

Live Awards Show Racial Slur Ignites Firestorm And Debate Over Tourette’s

Entertainment

Hollywood

World

The following is an edited transcript excerpt from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1917-assassin-storms-mar-a-lago-to-try-to-kill-president-trump">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
* * *
One of the most common talking points you hear from the Left — and you’re going to hear it a lot heading into the midterms — is that America has terrible health care. We’re told that every civilized country in the world has universal, socialized medicine, and that we’re backward, retrograde, clinging to some barbaric capitalist system while enlightened Europeans enjoy cradle-to-grave care.
You hear it constantly: America is a disgrace. We need socialized medicine.
Now, before we go any further, let’s acknowledge something the Left rarely does: we already have a substantial amount of socialized medicine in this country. We have it for illegal aliens. We have it for the very poor. We have it for the elderly through Medicare. We have a massive social safety net.
But here’s the part they leave out: the only reason any of that works at all is because it’s sitting on top of a heavily capitalist health care system that funds the entire apparatus. The “free” part only functions because something productive underneath it is paying the bills.
Still, we’re told we should scrap the whole thing and go full European.
How about we take a little look at some of the socialist health care systems around the world? Let&#8217;s start with Europe.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1917-assassin-storms-mar-a-lago-to-try-to-kill-president-trump">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show on DailyWire+</a></h3>
A horrifying story recently came out of the United Kingdom. According to <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15582277/Woman-dead-floor-home-told-wait-ten-days-ambulance.html?ns_mchannel=rss&amp;ns_campaign=1490&amp;ito=social-twitter_mailonline">The Daily Mail</a>, a 97-year-old woman, Babette Burge, was found nearly dead on the floor of her home after being told she would have to wait ten days — ten days — for an ambulance. Not ten days for surgery. Ten days just to be transported to a hospital.
<blockquote>Just five days earlier, a paramedic from a local GP surgery had attended Ms Burge&#8217;s home to assess her condition and found that her leg was &#8216;shortened and rotated&#8217; &#8211; a sign of a fractured hip.</blockquote>
She was nearly 100 years old, lying on the floor with a broken hip, and was told she’d need to wait ten days for an ambulance.
She was later discovered barely breathing. Then she died.
This is what we’re supposed to envy? “Everybody gets health care” in the UK — assuming you can get to the hospital. The catch is that no one comes to get you. Universal coverage is lovely in theory. In practice, however, if you can’t secure transportation, it doesn’t matter how free the surgery is.
Meanwhile, in Canada, a prominent Canadian writer — very much on the Left, by her own description — recently admitted something chilling. She said she was offered medical assistance in dying (MAID) instead of care.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I’m about as far left as you can get… but we do have problems with MAiD in Canada.
How do I know? It was “offered” to me in lieu of care.
I’m disabled, I was alone, my conditions expensive.
Yes I was allowed to say “No”, but no alternative care was offered.
That’s coercion. <a href="https://t.co/LvCWd55esk">https://t.co/LvCWd55esk</a>
— Kelly (@broadwaybabyto) <a href="https://twitter.com/broadwaybabyto/status/2025364112348188828?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @broadwaybabyto/X.com
That’s not compassion. That’s coercion.
And this isn’t an isolated anecdote. Canada has dramatically expanded medical assistance in dying, or MAID. In parts of Europe — particularly in countries like the Netherlands — similar policies are spreading. Elderly people, disabled people, chronically ill people, and even young people struggling with “seasonal depression” are increasingly being told that death is a “treatment option.”
Think about that.
In a system where the government is paying the bills, patients are not just patients — they’re line items. They’re costs. And when waitlists grow long and budgets grow tight, the incentives get dark very quickly. The cheapest patient is the one who isn’t there anymore.
On the one hand, American leftists insist we’re the only country in the civilized world without socialized medicine. On the other hand, you look at some of these “civilized” systems and see 97-year-olds waiting ten days for an ambulance and disabled citizens being nudged toward suicide because their care is expensive.
That’s not health care. That’s the opposite of health care.
Now, is the American system perfect? Of course not. It’s expensive. It’s complicated. It’s frustrating. But it is also the system that produces the vast majority of the world’s pharmaceutical innovation. It is the system that subsidizes global research and development. It is the system that people from all over the world come to when they need cutting-edge treatment.
It is not, however, a system where the government routinely suggests that you kill yourself because you’re inconvenient. There’s a reason that countries with fully socialized medicine struggle with wait times and rationing.
So before we swallow the talking point that America is uniquely cruel because we don’t have cradle-to-grave government medicine, it’s worth looking at what that actually looks like in practice. A nearly 100-year-old woman dying on the floor because no ambulance is available. A disabled Canadian writer being offered euthanasia in lieu of care.
Beware the supposedly greener grass on the other side of the fence. Especially when that fence is our northern border, separating us from the snow Mexicans.

Motion blur ambulance United States

Waiting 10 Days For An Ambulance — The Dark Side Of ‘Free’ Health Care

Waiting 10 Days For An Ambulance — The Dark Side Of 'Free' Health Care

Assisted Suicide

Canada

Death

Europe

Health Care

Hospitals

Michael Knowles

Mexican special forces take out Jalisco Cartel leader “El Mencho,” sparking violence across 20 Mexican states. President Donald Trump will deliver the annual State of the Union address on Tuesday night, and another high-profile name has been arrested in the U.K. over their connection to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
It’s Tuesday, February 24, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/violence-engulfs-mexico-britains-epstein-reckoning-2-24-26/id1576594336?i=1000751166888" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Mexico Takes Out Kingpin ‘El Mencho’</h2>
With help from the United States, Mexican special forces on Sunday <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mexican-drug-lord-el-mencho-killed-in-military-operation-says-government-source">killed</a> longtime Jalisco Cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes. 
Oseguera, with a U.S. bounty of $15 million, was regarded as one of the most notorious drug traffickers in the world. He was perhaps the most powerful drug lord in the world. This was a major step by Mexico and a big win for the United States. American authorities say groups like the Jalisco Cartel are responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans a year through the drug trade.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/friendly-fire?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_content=20260224_sotu_aa_desktop&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=banner" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Watch the State of the Union with The Daily Wire! Live coverage from the nation&#8217;s capital begins at 7:45 ET.</a>
Violence has exploded across the country in the aftermath. There are many Americans stranded in Mexico right now because the violence has closed down roads and airports. At least a couple of dozen Mexican National Guardsmen have been killed so far in the fighting.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">SOTU Preview</h2>
President Trump will deliver his annual State of the Union address tonight — a high-stakes moment for outlining his administration’s priorities and shaping the message Republicans will take into the 2026 midterm elections.
It’s expected to be a consequential evening, with Trump highlighting what he frames as major accomplishments in the first year of his second term and stressing policy directions he hopes will resonate with Republican voters.
Expect him to spotlight what he describes as historic gains at the southern border, touting a dramatic crackdown on illegal immigration and stepped-up deportations. He is also likely to point to diplomatic and security developments in the Middle East, including the continued tension between the United States, Israel, and Iran, as talks over Iran&#8217;s nuclear program continue in Geneva and officials caution that the risk of conflict remains high.
On trade, Trump is pressing forward. After the Supreme Court limited his earlier tariff framework, the administration implemented a 10% global tariff under separate authority, with the president saying he would prefer to raise it to 15%. The current rate remains at 10%, but Trump is expected to make the case that tougher trade measures are key to protecting American workers and reducing the trade deficit.
The president is also likely to highlight efforts to make American cities safer, reinforcing law-and-order themes that are central to his broader political narrative.
All told, tonight’s address is set to be part accomplishments report, part policy outline, and part strategic messaging designed to shape the national debate — and Republican positioning — as voters head into the midterms later this year.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Ex-Ambassador Mandelson Arrested</h2>
Former U.K. ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-british-ambassador-arrested-over-epstein-file-revelations?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Former+British+Ambassador+Arrested+Over+Epstein+File+Revelations">arrested</a> Monday over “suspicion of misconduct” in office. The charges stem from newly released Jeffrey Epstein files. 
Mandelson served under Prime Minister Keir Starmer before Starmer removed him in September 2025. The scandal erupting around Mandelson has threatened to tear apart Starmer’s government, as well as further validating concerns about Mandelson prior to his appointment, based on information in the Epstein files. The arrest comes just days after British police <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-prince-andrew-arrested-over-epstein-files-faces-life-in-prison">arrested</a> former Prince Andrew in connection with his ties to Epstein. 
Morning Wire spoke with GB News host Bev Turner about the latest fallout from the Epstein files. According to Turner, Mandelson could be in major trouble: “It genuinely carries a risk of life imprisonment. If you are found guilty of misconduct in public office, it&#8217;s an incredibly serious charge.”

MW_260224_V1

Morning Brief: Trump’s High-Stakes Address To Americans & Tourists Trapped In Cartel Crossfire

Drug Cartels

Mexico

Morning Wire

Police in London arrested former British ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson on Monday over accusations that he shared confidential information with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mandelson, who was Prime Minister Keir Starmer&#8217;s ambassador to the United States before he was fired in September 2025, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. 
“Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, February 23 and has been taken to a London police station for interview,” a London police spokesman said. “This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.”
The arrest comes just days after British police <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-prince-andrew-arrested-over-epstein-files-faces-life-in-prison">arrested</a> former Prince Andrew in connection with his ties to Epstein. The disgraced ex-royal was also arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, a crime that could be punished with life in prison. He was accused of sharing confidential trade secrets with Epstein. 
Mandelson has said he regrets his relationship with Epstein, but denies any wrongdoing.
The arrests follow the release of emails by the Justice Department that shed further light on Epstein&#8217;s relationships with the powerful British political figures.
Previous documents <a href="https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2025/09/Request-No.-1.pdf">released</a> by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee appeared to document a close relationship between Mandelson and Epstein. The documents include a note where Mandelson referred to Epstein as his “best pal” and included a photo of him wearing a bathroom and talking with Epstein. 
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1048381" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-23-at-12.21.58-PM.png" alt="" width="945" height="619" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-23-at-12.21.58-PM.png 945w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-23-at-12.21.58-PM-300x197.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-23-at-12.21.58-PM-879x576.png 879w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-23-at-12.21.58-PM-768x503.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 945px) 100vw, 945px" /></div>
Mandelson also told Epstein, after his 2008 convictions for solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of a minor, that he stood with him. 
“I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened,” Mandelson said. “I can still barely understand it. It just could not happen in Britain.”
The fallout from Mandelson’s ties to Epstein has rocked the British political world. Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chief-of-staff-falls-on-sword-as-party-turns-on-u-k-s-starmer-over-epstein-linked-appointee">resigned</a> after the release of the Epstein files by the Justice Department. McSweeney took responsibility for Starmer’s decision to install Mandelson as the U.K. Ambassador to the United States. 
Starmer has also faced calls to resign amid questions about his knowledge of the link between Mandelson and Epstein.

Mandelson

Former British Ambassador Arrested Over Epstein File Revelations

Former British Official Arrested Amid Epstein File Revelations

Department of Justice

Epstein Files

Jeffrey Epstein

Prince Andrew

President Donald Trump makes new threats to Iran amid growing United States military presence, former Prince Andrew is arrested over his connection to Jeffrey Epstein, and the search for Nancy Guthrie seems to hinge on DNA evidence.
It’s Friday, February 20, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumps-iranian-ultimatum-former-prince-andrew-arrested/id1576594336?i=1000750637458" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Tells Iran That Time Is Ticking Short</h2>
As the United States military buildup in the Middle East continues, President Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-iranian-protests-intensify-as-citizens-demand-end-to-ayatollah-rule?author=Daily+Wire&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=LIVE+UPDATES%3A+Trump+Puts+Iran+On+Notice+With+A+Specific+Timeframe">offered</a> new threats to Iran on Thursday as the world holds its breath. 
Nuclear talks, both formal and informal, have continued to stall this week, with the Trump administration reportedly furious over Iran’s refusal to give in on a number of key points — mainly the dismantling of their uranium enrichment facilities. On Tuesday, the regime asked for two weeks to come up with a new proposal, but the growing sense in Washington is that they’re simply stalling, trying to buy time for a potential nuclear breakthrough, and preparing for an armed conflict if it comes to that. While the president has said he’s still open to diplomacy, his actions say the time for negotiating may be over. 
Over the last 24 hours, the historic military buildup in the Middle East continued, with a steady stream of tankers, warships, and fighter jets arriving by the hour.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Prince Andrew Arrested</h2>
British police <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-prince-andrew-arrested-over-epstein-files-faces-life-in-prison?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Former+Prince+Andrew+Arrested+Over+Epstein+Files%2C+Faces+Life+In+Prison">arrested former Prince</a> Andrew on Thursday in connection with his contact with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – and Andrew’s brother, King Charles, has responded. 
Hilary Fordwich, media host and former head of Global Bd, joined Morning Wire to discuss the controversy. Thames Valley Police arrested former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, on his 66th birthday at 8 a.m. on Thursday. He has since been released, though it is unknown on what terms he was let go. 
“Ironically, obviously there&#8217;s all the debauchery from the photographs we&#8217;ve seen – he&#8217;s always claimed his innocence – but this is due to the misuse in public office of information, misuse of information as a trade envoy, passing secrets and trade private issues onto Jeffrey Epstein,” said Fordwich. “So, he betrayed his mother, his entire family, the Royal Family, and his nation.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">DNA Evidence In Guthrie Case</h2>
It’s day 20 in the search for Nancy Guthrie, and it seems the case is now hanging in the balance on DNA evidence. 
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-search-continues-for-nancy-guthrie-as-deadline-for-ransom-note-passes">insisted</a> that the case has not grown cold. One of the main leads law enforcement currently has is DNA found on a black glove believed to belong to the suspect. After testing, the DNA was not found to match anyone in CODIS, a database of DNA profiles. 
Meanwhile, the bounty for information in the case drew a significant donor. Michael Hupy, president of Milwaukee Crime Stoppers, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/high-stakes-money-move-enters-nancy-guthrie-kidnapping-mystery">sent</a> a $100,000 check through Crime Stoppers to 88-Crime in Tucson in hopes of generating new leads.

MW_260220_V1

Morning Brief: Trump Warns Iran & Prince Andrew Arrested

Nancy Guthrie

British police arrested former Prince Andrew on Thursday in connection with his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who turned 66 on the day of his arrest, was taken into custody by the Thames Valley Police on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The disgraced former prince was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/prince-andrew-will-be-stripped-of-titles-moved-out-of-royal-residence-buckingham-palace">stripped</a> of his royal titles in October 2025 following revelations about his ties to Epstein. 
Police provided limited details about the arrest, citing British law, but said they were conducting searches at homes in Berkshire and Norfolk. According to the BBC, law enforcement said &#8220;it was assessing a complaint over the alleged sharing of confidential material&#8221; with Epstein. This confidential material <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/02/19/world-news/ex-prince-andrew-mountbatten-arrested-for-misconduct-in-public-office-over-his-links-to-jeffrey-epstein/">reportedly</a> included trade documents. One <a href="https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00751685.pdf">email</a> from the Epstein files released by the Justice Department showed Mountbatten-Windsor appearing to forward Epstein official trade reports for Hong Kong, Singapore, and Vietnam. 
“We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time,” Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said. “Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office.”
If convicted, Mountbatten-Windsor could face life in prison. 
<div id="attachment_1046207" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1046207" class="size-full wp-image-1046207" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-52107904.jpg" alt="ASCOT, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 22: Royal Ascot Race Meeting Thursday - Ladies Day. Prince Andrew, The Duke Of York and Jeffrey Epstein (far right) At Ascot. With them are Edward (far left) and Caroline Stanley (in pink), the Earl and Countess of Derby. " width="1024" height="672" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-52107904.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-52107904-300x197.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-52107904-878x576.jpg 878w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-52107904-768x504.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images.</div>
Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who died by apparent suicide last year, alleged that Mountbatten-Windsor sexually abused her when she was 17. He previously <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60667111">settled</a> a civil lawsuit brought by Giuffre in 2022 without admitting wrongdoing.
“He knows what he’s done and he can attest to that,” Giuffre said in 2019. “He knows exactly what he’s done and I hope he comes clean about it.”
Giuffre&#8217;s family welcomed the arrest.
&#8220;Today, our broken hearts have been lifted at the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty,&#8221; they said. &#8220;He was never a prince.&#8221;
&#8220;For survivors everywhere, Virginia did this for you,” they added. 
In a statement, King Charles III called for a fair investigation into Mountbatten-Windsor. 
&#8220;I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office. What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities,” he said. 
&#8220;In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation,” the king added. “Let me state clearly: the law must take its course. As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”
The Justice Department&#8217;s release of the Epstein files has rocked the United Kingdom, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer over reported ties between former U.K. ambassador to the United States Lord Peter Mandelson and Epstein.

The Funeral Of The Duchess Of Kent

Former Prince Andrew Arrested Over Epstein Files, Faces Life In Prison

King Charles III

Virginia Giuffre

Pro-democracy newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong on Monday under a national security law imposed by Beijing and widely used to crack down on critics of the Chinese Communist Party. 
Lai, a 78-year-old Chinese-born British citizen and media tycoon, was convicted in December 2025 of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and to publish seditious material. His newspaper, Apple Daily, was published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021, when authorities froze its assets and arrested top executives, forcing it to shut down.  
China governs Hong Kong as a special administrative region, but Beijing has tightened its grip in recent years, imposing the law used to prosecute and sentence Lai.
Lai was accused of supporting the massive pro-democracy protests that broke out in Hong Kong in 2019 and has been detained since his arrest in August 2020, spending more than 1800 days in solitary confinement. He was held under the 2020 National Security Law, which punishes speech or conduct that the government claims threatens its authority. 
“We welcome the court’s heavy sentence of 20 years for Jimmy Lai. It highlights his role as the mastermind and behind-the-scenes manipulator,” Hong Kong police official Steve Li after the sentencing on Monday. 
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/08/world/jimmy-lai-sentenced-hong-kong">reported</a> that Lai smiled and waved to supporters in the courtroom gallery after his sentencing. Six former Apple Daily employees were also sentenced Monday, receiving prison terms ranging from six to ten years.  
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper <a href="https://x.com/FCDOGovUK/status/2020740332262961171">said</a> Lai’s prosecution was “politically motivated” and that he was punished for expressing his viewpoints. 
&#8220;For the 78-year-old, this is tantamount to a life sentence. I remain deeply concerned for Mr Lai’s health, and I again call on the Hong Kong authorities to end his appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family,” she said. 
Claire Lai, Jimmy Lai’s daughter, called the sentence “heartbreakingly cruel.” 
“If this sentence is carried out, he will die a martyr behind bars,” she said. 
Sebastian Lai said that his father had &#8220;decided to dedicate his life to defending the freedoms of Hong Kong&#8221;.
&#8220;For that heroism, he&#8217;s being punished, he&#8217;s essentially getting a death sentence for that,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cq5yv581e9yt">told</a> the BBC. &#8220;Surely a man who has given so much for liberty, for freedom, deserves a bit of it himself.&#8221;
The State Department condemned the sentencing and called for Lai&#8217;s release. 
&#8220;The Hong Kong High Court’s decision to sentence Jimmy Lai to 20 years is an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case. It shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, casting aside the international commitments Beijing made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration,&#8221; Marco Rubio said. &#8220;After enduring a trial lasting two years, and detention in prison for more than five, Mr. Lai and his family have suffered enough.  The United States urges the authorities to grant Mr. Lai humanitarian parole.&#8221;
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), the chair of the House Select Committee on China, said that the sentencing was the “latest stain on the human rights record of the Chinese Communist Party.” 
“Lai and his Apple Daily colleagues are being punished for exposing the truth about the CCP&#8217;s attacks on the rights of Hong Kongers,” he said. “President Trump made it abundantly clear to General Secretary Xi in October that Lai should be freed and allowed to leave Hong Kong to be with his family.”

China Imposes National Security Law In Hong Kong

Hong Kong Court Sends CCP Critic, Pro-Democracy Publisher Jimmy Lai To Prison For 20 Years

Beijing-Imposed Law Sends 78-Year-Old CCP Critic, Pro-Democracy Publisher To Prison For 20 Years

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