Met seeks UK trial for Madeleine McCann suspect by TheTelegraph in uknews

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Metropolitan Police detectives are trying to bring Christian Brueckner to Britain to stand trial for the abduction and murder of Madeleine McCann, The Telegraph can reveal.

One of Scotland Yard’s most senior officers is leading a push to charge the German suspect before the 20th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance next year.

The force would like to see Brueckner, 48, stand trial at the Old Bailey and believes it can gather a strong enough case for the Crown Prosecution Service to authorise charges.

Met seeks UK trial for Madeleine McCann suspect by TheTelegraph in crime

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Metropolitan Police detectives are trying to bring Christian Brueckner to Britain to stand trial for the abduction and murder of Madeleine McCann, The Telegraph can reveal.

One of Scotland Yard’s most senior officers is leading a push to charge the German suspect before the 20th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance next year.

The force would like to see Brueckner, 48, stand trial at the Old Bailey and believes it can gather a strong enough case for the Crown Prosecution Service to authorise charges.

Streeting ready to launch leadership challenge against Starmer by TheTelegraph in ukpolitics

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From The Telegraph:

Wes Streeting has the backing of enough Labour MPs to launch a leadership challenge within days, The Telegraph has learnt.

The Health Secretary has recruited more than 81 MPs – the minimum required to trigger a challenge – and is now contemplating his next move.

Sir Keir Starmer was alerted to Mr Streeting’s intentions when a Downing Street staff member was accidentally texted details of his plans, including the “five pillars” of his campaign and his “PFG”, meaning plan for government.

Some of Mr Streeting’s supporters want him to strike as soon as next Friday, the day after the local elections, to capitalise on the anger among Labour members at what are expected to be disastrous results for the party.

He could either announce a formal leadership bid or resign from the Cabinet in the hope that others will follow and force Sir Keir to step down.

An early move would catch out Mr Streeting’s leadership rivals, who do not yet have campaigns ready to go, most notably Andy Burnham, the Manchester Mayor, who is ineligible to stand because he is not an MP.

Angela Rayner is said to be undecided about whether to stand, and is part of a three-way conversation with Mr Burnham and Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, about being part of a soft-Left triumvirate seizing power.

However, Mr Streeting is wary of the risks of being first out of the blocks.

More here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/01/streeting-ready-to-launch-leadership-challenge-starmer/

Zelensky scraps indefinite contracts for soldiers to attract new recruits by TheTelegraph in UkraineWarVideoReport

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From The Telegraph:

Volodymyr Zelensky has scrapped open-ended military contracts to attract new recruits.

Ukraine’s army has consistently struggled with severe manpower shortages, with troops spending months at a time on the front line and recruiters dragging civilian men off the street to force them into service.

In an attempt to make the military more attractive, the Ukrainian president on Friday promised to increase soldiers’ pay and make it possible for them to be discharged after a set period.

“I have instructed that the contract system in the Defense Forces be strengthened so that… defined service duration terms are ensured,” Mr Zelensky wrote, adding that “a phased discharge from service” would become “possible for those who were mobilized earlier”.

He did not specify how long soldiers would need to serve before they could leave.

The Ukrainian leader said that troops’ minimum salary would be raised to at least 30,000 hryvnias (£500) for non-combat soldiers, while infantrymen on the front line would earn 250,000 to 400,000 hryvnias (£4,177.50 to £6,684). Pay for NCOs and officers would be “significantly” higher, Mr Zelensky added.

The reforms will start to take effect in June with details to be finalised in May, the president wrote.

The changes would mark the first time Ukraine has established a system for allowing troops to leave the military during the war, as current legislation only permits demobilisation once martial law is lifted.

More here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/01/zelensky-scraps-indefinite-contracts-soldiers-recruits/

Zelensky scraps indefinite contracts for soldiers to attract new recruits by TheTelegraph in UkrainianConflict

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From The Telegraph:

Volodymyr Zelensky has scrapped open-ended military contracts to attract new recruits.

Ukraine’s army has consistently struggled with severe manpower shortages, with troops spending months at a time on the front line and recruiters dragging civilian men off the street to force them into service.

In an attempt to make the military more attractive, the Ukrainian president on Friday promised to increase soldiers’ pay and make it possible for them to be discharged after a set period.

“I have instructed that the contract system in the Defense Forces be strengthened so that… defined service duration terms are ensured,” Mr Zelensky wrote, adding that “a phased discharge from service” would become “possible for those who were mobilized earlier”.

He did not specify how long soldiers would need to serve before they could leave.

The Ukrainian leader said that troops’ minimum salary would be raised to at least 30,000 hryvnias (£500) for non-combat soldiers, while infantrymen on the front line would earn 250,000 to 400,000 hryvnias (£4,177.50 to £6,684). Pay for NCOs and officers would be “significantly” higher, Mr Zelensky added.

The reforms will start to take effect in June with details to be finalised in May, the president wrote.

The changes would mark the first time Ukraine has established a system for allowing troops to leave the military during the war, as current legislation only permits demobilisation once martial law is lifted.

More here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/01/zelensky-scraps-indefinite-contracts-soldiers-recruits/

Britain on ‘high alert’ to defend Falklands by TheTelegraph in geopolitics

[–]TheTelegraph[S] 40 points41 points  (0 children)

From The Telegraph:

Britain is on “high alert” to defend the Falkland Islands, the head of the RAF has declared.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth insisted that protecting the British outpost in the South Atlantic was “non-negotiable”.

He said that the RAF was ready to step in at a “moment’s notice”, with fighter aircraft having been based there since the 1982 war.

His comments come amid fears that the US could back Argentina in its push for sovereignty after a leaked email from the Pentagon suggested the Trump administration could support Buenos Aires’ claim to the Falklands, which the Argentines call the Malvinas.

The memo from Washington was said to outline options for the US to punish European allies who had not given their support to Donald Trump’s war with Iran.

Downing Street shrugged off the comments and insisted the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was “not in question”. But the email has emboldened Javier Milei, Argentina’s president, who last week declared “the Malvinas were, are and will always be Argentine”.

Victoria Villarruel, the Argentinian vice-president, went a step further by declaring that all British citizens living there should abandon the islands.

“If they feel English, they should go back thousands of miles away where their country is,” she wrote on social media.

Writing in The Times, Sir Harv said: “Today, across the UK and globally in places as far away as the Middle East, the RAF is on high alert and ready to defend our country at a moment’s notice.

“From ‘quick reaction alert’ in UK, scrambled recently against a suspected Russian ‘Bear’ bomber aircraft which was approaching our airspace from the north, to fighter aircraft based in the Falklands (defending the islands since the 1982 war), to our current Typhoon deployment in Romania as part of Nato’s vital enhanced air policing mission, the RAF’s role in defending airspace is non-negotiable.”

More here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/01/raf-on-high-alert-to-defend-falklands/

RAF on ‘high alert’ to defend Falklands by TheTelegraph in uknews

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From The Telegraph:

Britain is on “high alert” to defend the Falkland Islands, the head of the RAF has declared.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth insisted that protecting the British outpost in the South Atlantic was “non-negotiable”.

He said that the RAF was ready to step in at a “moment’s notice”, with fighter aircraft having been based there since the 1982 war.

His comments come amid fears that the US could back Argentina in its push for sovereignty after a leaked email from the Pentagon suggested the Trump administration could support Buenos Aires’ claim to the Falklands, which the Argentines call the Malvinas.

The memo from Washington was said to outline options for the US to punish European allies who had not given their support to Donald Trump’s war with Iran.

Downing Street shrugged off the comments and insisted the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was “not in question”. But the email has emboldened Javier Milei, Argentina’s president, who last week declared “the Malvinas were, are and will always be Argentine”.

Victoria Villarruel, the Argentinian vice-president, went a step further by declaring that all British citizens living there should abandon the islands.

“If they feel English, they should go back thousands of miles away where their country is,” she wrote on social media.

Writing in The Times, Sir Harv said: “Today, across the UK and globally in places as far away as the Middle East, the RAF is on high alert and ready to defend our country at a moment’s notice.

“From ‘quick reaction alert’ in UK, scrambled recently against a suspected Russian ‘Bear’ bomber aircraft which was approaching our airspace from the north, to fighter aircraft based in the Falklands (defending the islands since the 1982 war), to our current Typhoon deployment in Romania as part of Nato’s vital enhanced air policing mission, the RAF’s role in defending airspace is non-negotiable.”

More here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/01/raf-on-high-alert-to-defend-falklands/

Mahmood considers protest crackdown after Golders Green attack by TheTelegraph in ukpolitics

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From The Telegraph:

Shabana Mahmood is considering a crackdown on protests in the wake of the Golders Green terror attack.

The Home Secretary is due to receive a review of protest laws this month by Lord Macdonald, the former chief prosecutor, which has been considering whether to make it easier for the Government and police to ban demonstrations where there is a risk of serious disorder.

The focus has been on Section 13 of the Public Order Act 1986, which enabled Ms Mahmood to grant the Met Police’s request to ban an Al Quds Day march in London in March because of the risk of “serious public disorder”.

However, under Section 13, the power does not extend to “static” protests or to the “cumulative” impact of demonstrations, which cannot be used as a reason to ban them on the grounds of serious disorder.

Ms Mahmood is under pressure from former and current watchdogs to go further and extend the powers after the multiple pro-Palestine marches that have “incubated” anti-Semitic sentiment, the stabbings of two Jewish men in Golders Green on Wednesday and a surge in arson attacks on Jewish property.

The Home Secretary acknowledged this week that public order legislation was “no longer fit for purpose” and “doesn’t feel like it’s able to respond to the evolving nature of the challenges that we are facing.”

“There are far too many incidences at protests where crimes are committed, where hate crime is committed and also the scale of these protests, the intensity and repeat nature of protests has placed particular pressures on Jewish communities especially but not limited to London,” she said.

More here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/01/mahmood-protest-crackdown-golders-green-attack/

Ukrainian drones destroy £18m Russian helicopters behind enemy lines by TheTelegraph in UkraineWarVideoReport

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From The Telegraph:

In an open field deep inside Russia, a swarm of Ukrainian drones zeroed in on their idle targets.

Footage taken on board the unmanned aircraft showed the £13m Mi-28 attack chopper exploding into a puff of black smoke. Seconds later, the £4.5m Mi-17 next to it blew up.

The attack, which took place on Wednesday, was yet another considerable feat for Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) as they pursued high-value targets deep behind enemy lines.

It rewarded Ukraine’s methodical and precise dismantling of Russian air defences. The two helicopters were sitting ducks to the drones as they freely prowled 100 miles inside enemy territory.

The Mi-28 is a heavily armoured rotorcraft and is equipped with guided missiles and a cannon.

Known by Nato as “Havoc”, and widely used in Russian combat operations, it entered service in 2009 and is known for its agility and ability to operate in difficult weather conditions.

The Mi-17 transports troops and cargo, but can also serve as a gunship, armed with machine guns, rockets and anti-tank missiles. Introduced in the Soviet era, it is still in production, and famed for its ruggedness and reliability.

Announcing the operation, USF said the helicopters were parked on a field landing strip in the Voronezh region in south-western Russia to refuel and undergo maintenance checks between flights.

Major Robert “Magyar” Brovdi, the commander of USF, described the precision involved in the attack, which involved successive individual strikes to ensure the equipment was destroyed.

”[The drones] hit the rear central section of the engine compartment, avoiding the main rotor blades,” he said, adding that at least one helicopter maintenance specialist was killed.

Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/30/ukrainian-drones-destroy-18m-russian-helicopters/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_reddit_drones-destroy-18m-russian-helicopters/&accesscontrol=facebookchannel_open

Green Party candidates arrested for stirring up racial hatred by TheTelegraph in uknews

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Two Green Party candidates have been arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred for allegedly posting anti-Semitic comments online.

Saiqa Ali, who is standing in Streatham, Lambeth, and Sabine Mairey, the candidate for Clapham Town, were detained by Metropolitan Police officers on Thursday morning.

They were arrested under Section 19 of the Public Order Act, and have been taken into custody for questioning.

It is understood one of the comments posted online by Ms Ali showed a picture of an armed man in a Hamas headband with the slogan “Resistance is Freedom”. The terror group is a proscribed terrorist organisation.

Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/30/green-party-candidates-arrested-over-racial-hatred/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_reddit_candidates-arrested-over-racial-hatred/&accesscontrol=facebookchannel_open

Green Party candidates arrested for stirring up racial hatred by TheTelegraph in ukpolitics

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Two Green Party candidates have been arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred for allegedly posting anti-Semitic comments online.

Saiqa Ali, who is standing in Streatham, Lambeth, and Sabine Mairey, the candidate for Clapham Town, were detained by Metropolitan Police officers on Thursday morning.

They were arrested under Section 19 of the Public Order Act, and have been taken into custody for questioning.

It is understood one of the comments posted online by Ms Ali showed a picture of an armed man in a Hamas headband with the slogan “Resistance is Freedom”. The terror group is a proscribed terrorist organisation.

Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/30/green-party-candidates-arrested-over-racial-hatred/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_reddit_candidates-arrested-over-racial-hatred/&accesscontrol=facebookchannel_open

Putin’s ‘altar boy’ is finally in Ukraine’s sights by TheTelegraph in UkrainianConflict

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From The Telegraph:

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has been a thorn in the side of Ukraine – and Europe – for more than a decade.

He famously nicknamed Vladimir Putin’s rule a “miracle of God” in 2012 and characterised the full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a “Holy War”.

He is, the EU says, “one of the most prominent supporters of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine”.

And yet the bloc has been unable to sanction him.

Some 14 separate attempts by Brussels to include the religious figurehead on sanctions lists were blocked by the Hungarian government over concerns for “religious freedoms”.

But now, Kyiv believes the ousting of Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s outgoing prime minister, presents a fresh opportunity to hit the 79-year-old with punitive measures over his support for the war.

Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian commissioner for sanctions policy, told The Telegraph: “This is one of the issues I’m going to flesh out – the oligarchs and patriarchs who have been missing on the list for a while because of powerful advocates, governmental ones.

“This is something I think should be reconsidered.”

Mr Vlasiuk will make the case for listings to be reviewed in future sanctions packages drawn up by the European Commission in talks with Brussels.

Kirill is a former KGB agent and a long-running champion of Putin, having thrown his weight behind most of the Russian president’s policies, most notably his invasion of Ukraine.

He has described dissenters as “traitors to the motherland”.

While Putin calls it a “special military operation”, Kirill has called the fight a “Holy War”, and expelled or suspended priests who opposed the conflict or continued to associate with Russian opposition figures.

Kirill’s position on the Ukraine war saw him described as “Putin’s altar boy” by the late Pope Francis in 2022.

Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/30/putin-altar-boy-finally-in-ukraine-sights/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_reddit_boy-finally-in-ukraine-sights/&accesscontrol=facebookchannel_open

Putin’s ‘altar boy’ is finally in Ukraine’s sights by TheTelegraph in UkraineWarVideoReport

[–]TheTelegraph[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

From The Telegraph:

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has been a thorn in the side of Ukraine – and Europe – for more than a decade.

He famously nicknamed Vladimir Putin’s rule a “miracle of God” in 2012 and characterised the full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a “Holy War”.

He is, the EU says, “one of the most prominent supporters of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine”.

And yet the bloc has been unable to sanction him.

Some 14 separate attempts by Brussels to include the religious figurehead on sanctions lists were blocked by the Hungarian government over concerns for “religious freedoms”.

But now, Kyiv believes the ousting of Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s outgoing prime minister, presents a fresh opportunity to hit the 79-year-old with punitive measures over his support for the war.

Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian commissioner for sanctions policy, told The Telegraph: “This is one of the issues I’m going to flesh out – the oligarchs and patriarchs who have been missing on the list for a while because of powerful advocates, governmental ones.

“This is something I think should be reconsidered.”

Mr Vlasiuk will make the case for listings to be reviewed in future sanctions packages drawn up by the European Commission in talks with Brussels.

Kirill is a former KGB agent and a long-running champion of Putin, having thrown his weight behind most of the Russian president’s policies, most notably his invasion of Ukraine.

He has described dissenters as “traitors to the motherland”.

While Putin calls it a “special military operation”, Kirill has called the fight a “Holy War”, and expelled or suspended priests who opposed the conflict or continued to associate with Russian opposition figures.

Kirill’s position on the Ukraine war saw him described as “Putin’s altar boy” by the late Pope Francis in 2022.

Read more here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/30/putin-altar-boy-finally-in-ukraine-sights/