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Friday briefing: What does the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor mean?

Good morning. Some days there isn’t an immediately obvious theme for what tomorrow’s newsletter should be about. Yesterday was not one of those days. As Thames Valley police confirmed early on Thursday that a “man in his 60s from Norfolk” had been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, it quickly became clear who the 1,000th First Edition would feature. The man taken into custody was Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor – formerly Prince Andrew, Duke of York – arrested at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate, on his 66th birthday. He is the first senior royal in modern history to be arrested. By the evening, Andrew was seen leaving Aylsham police station, slouched in the back of a vehicle, having been released under investigation. For today’s newsletter, I spoke to the Guardian’s home affairs editor, Rajeev Syal, to unpack what we know of yesterday’s events, what being suspected of misconduct in public office actually means and what could happen next. But first, the headlines. Five big stories Civil service | Keir Starmer has appointed Antonia Romeo as cabinet secretary, the UK’s most senior civil servant, the first woman to hold the post in its 110-year history. Iran | Donald Trump changed his mind on supporting the Chagos Islands deal because the UK will not permit its airbases to be used for a pre-emptive US strike on Iran, the Guardian has been told. Palestine | Almost 60 Palestinian journalists detained in Israeli prisons since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack have been beaten, starved and subjected to sexual violence, including rape, a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) alleges. Iran | A British couple have been sentenced to 10 years in jail by an Iranian court on charges of espionage – an outcome foreign secretary Yvette Cooper called “completely appalling and totally unjustifiable”. Education | Children in England with special needs will receive individual support and therapy directly from their schools as part of the government’s overhaul of England’s special education provision. In depth: ‘All we knew during the day was that Andrew was in a police station somewhere’ Yesterday’s arrest marks the most dramatic development yet in the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor saga, which has spanned decades, as this timeline from his birth in 1960 to him being stripped of his titles last year shows. Rajeev tells me it is “significant that he has been arrested at all”, adding that such a move might have been less likely while Andrew remained a working royal. Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing. *** A lifetime of privilege and scandal Once second in line to the throne, Andrew might have hoped to be remembered chiefly as a Falklands veteran and, later, the UK’s special representative for international trade and investment. But his long association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has steadily eclipsed all else in his life – even his 1980s tabloid reputation as “Randy Andy” and “His Royal Heart-throb”. He stepped back from public duties after that disastrous BBC Newsnight interview in 2019, in which he claimed he could not have exploited Virginia Giuffre as she had alleged because he was at Pizza Express in Woking, he was medically unable to sweat, and that he had “no recollection” of meeting her. He later settled Giuffre’s civil claim in the US for a reported £12m, without admission of liability, while expressing regret for his association with Epstein. Virginia Giuffre took her own life in 2025, after writing a harrowing memoir detailing her alleged abuse, having been trafficked by Epstein. In 2022 and 2025 he was progressively stripped of military roles, patronages and, ultimately, his titles. Buckingham Palace eventually confirmed he would be known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and by late 2025 he had left Royal Lodge and withdrawn from public life. The monarchy sought distance, but the story did not fade away. *** What is misconduct in public office? Suspicion of misconduct in public office, Rajeev tells me, is a charge “usually used against police officers and prison officers, but it has occasionally been wheeled out against other public figures, including politicians”. In theory it can lead to life imprisonment but, Rajeev says, “in reality, if there is a successful prosecution, sentences tend to be much shorter.” As I wrote in a recent First Edition looking at how the fallout from the Epstein files led to the disgrace of Peter Mandelson, misconduct in public office is a common-law offence that applies when a public official is alleged to have acted in their position in a way that seriously abuses the public’s trust. But it is also a law that has been heavily criticised and is in the process of reform. “The Law Commission found it wasn’t being applied effectively to people who committed serious offences. So even as it stands, it’s rarely used successfully in serious cases involving corruption or abuse of position,” Rajeev explains. “The replacement legislation is now before parliament and has reached committee stage, but it is still months away from completion.” *** The Epstein files connection The immediate trigger for the police investigation appears to be the latest tranche of documents released by the US Department of Justice relating to Epstein’s crimes. British police have set up a new national group to deal with allegations involving Epstein and his associates. The allegation under investigation is not sexual assault – allegations Andrew has always denied – but whether, while holding a public office as trade envoy, he improperly shared sensitive information. “The documents highlighted so far include material relating to Afghanistan – for example, information about mineral deposits, gold and oil that had been identified as commercially valuable – which was allegedly shared with Epstein,” Rajeev says. “There were also details about the Treasury’s view of the Icelandic financial crash that were said to have been forwarded on to a banker friend of Andrew’s,” he adds. “Those are the sorts of documents that have been pointed to as potentially relevant and could be examined by the police in considering whether to bring a charge. Whether that is what the police are actually focusing on, we don’t yet know.” “All we knew during the day was that Andrew was in a police station somewhere. He will have been questioned. He is entitled to legal representation”. Thames Valley police later confirmed: “The arrested man has now been released under investigation. We can also confirm that our searches in Norfolk have now concluded.” *** Why can this be reported? Police have not formally named the arrested man, in line with national guidance. But the media can identify a suspect where there is clear, independently verifiable information and overwhelming public interest – and where reporting does not prejudice active proceedings. Oliver Wright, one of the Thames Valley’s assistant chief constables, said after the arrest: “It is important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work with our partners to investigate this alleged offence. We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.” King Charles, Andrew’s older brother, also acknowledged the arrest in a public statement, saying: “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”. “The police have been careful in their statement to stress that the case is active and that care must be taken in reporting allegations,” Rajeev says. There is also a potential blurring of lines which could complicate matters. Andrew, Rajeev says, might “attempt to argue that, as a private citizen now, he shouldn’t be exposed in the same way he would have been as a senior royal.” However, Rajeev reminds me, “the alleged conduct relates to when he was a public figure and a member of the royal family acting in an official capacity”. *** What could happen now? Several paths are possible. Police have released him without charge while inquiries continue. They could take no further action or at some point submit a file to the Crown Prosecution Service for charging consideration. Given the profile of the suspect and the complexity of the allegations, this process may take months. Rajeev notes says that the arrest itself may spark new lines of inquiry. “Once someone has been arrested, the police have access to much more material. They can examine files, computer records, phones. That potentially broadens the scope of what they are able to look at. Who knows where that might lead?” For King Charles, who has already stripped his brother of titles and patronages, the legal process now unfolds beyond palace control. , yesterday’s arrest will be seen as a further step in a long campaign for accountability. In a statement on Thursday, Giuffre’s family said their “broken hearts have been lifted with the news that no one is above the law – not even royalty …. He was never a prince. For survivors everywhere, Virginia did this for you.” “In theory, it could go to a jury trial. Whether it would, depends on the seriousness of the allegations and any eventual charge. But that’s a long way down the road,” Rajeev says. “We know the law itself has been criticised as weak,” he says. “The fact the government has acknowledged the offence is difficult to use successfully against public figures does indicate there are legal hurdles in prosecuting this kind of case. You can draw your own conclusions as to whether, in this case, it’s going to be successfully applied.” What else we’ve been reading I loved today’s picture essay on Sardinia’s ancient masked rite of mamuthones and issohadores. Poppy Noor, newsletters team In Japan’s top football league the concept of the draw is being banished and replaced with penalty shoot-outs, in a move which will give football traditionalists the heebie-jeebies. Martin I was tickled at Marta’s belief she can keep her scent ‘unique’ by using store-bought bottled perfume – and felt sorry for her friend Elsa who she seems to be terrorising over it, in you be the judge. Poppy Those of a certain age may get a huge frisson of nostalgia reading this piece by Ryan Loftus about London’s oldest Scalextric club. Martin I also thoroughly enjoyed our top ten Baftas moments -- after being sucked in by the astonishing mid-motion photo we used of John Hurt for the main image. Poppy Thank you I mentioned earlier in the newsletter that today marks the 1,000th First Edition. I wanted to give a shout out to all the unsung heroes behind the scenes who work on the production and making sure it reaches your inbox every day, and all of the front-of-house writers we’ve had over the last four years – especially Archie, Nimo, Aamna, Karen, Phoebe, Esther and Rupert. Most of all, I’d like to thank you, the readers, for sticking with us. If you want to support First Edition and the rest of the Guardian’s journalism, do please consider donating here. Here’s to 1,000 more newsletters to come. Sport Winter Olympics | Britain’s men’s curling team secured a place in Saturday’s final against Canada after beating the undefeated Swiss team 8-5. Football | For Nottingham Forest, an evening in Istanbul they will not forget in a hurry: a 3-0 victory over Fenerbahce in the Europa League. Celtic, though, crashed to a damaging 4-1 defeat at home to Stuttgart in the same competition. Rugby union | Gregor Townsend expects Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe to be fuelled by “huge determination” against Wales after they were restored to Scotland’s starting XV for Saturday’s Six Nations meeting in Cardiff. Something for the weekend Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now Film Queen at Sea | ★★★★★ Recently divorced academic Amanda (Juliette Binoche) has taken a sabbatical to be closer to her elderly mother, Leslie (Anna Calder-Marshall) – who has dementia – and her stepfather, Martin (Tom Courtenay). One morning, she catches the pair having sex, a mask of incomprehension on her mother’s face. She accuses Martin of rape – the GP has already advised that Leslie can no longer give meaningful consent. Yet Martin has done his own research on the internet and claims that marital sex can comfort dementia patients. This lacerating movie from US film-maker Lance Hammer moves from one agonisingly difficult and ambiguous situation to the next, with angry, complex, brilliant late-career performances from Courtenay and Calder-Marshall. Peter Bradshaw TV Gisèle Pelicot: The Newsnight Interview | ★★★★☆ Interviewer Victoria Derbyshire has a steely warmth that meshes well with the innate dignity of Gisèle Pelicot, while they walk unflinchingly through her story. On 2 November 2020, the police called Pelicot and her husband, Dominique, to the station. They had found on his laptop thousands of videos and photographs of his wife unconscious and being raped by strangers. Sitting in the interview, perfectly calm, effortlessly poised, even when occasionally moved to tears, Mme Pelicot cuts an extraordinary figure. You can only gaze in admiration at her strength and grace. But questions lurk. How many people out there are reading or watching or listening not in abject horror but in thrall? How many men are thinking: “I wish, I wish …”? Lucy Mangan Music Mitski: Nothing’s About to Happen to Me | ★★★★★ On her thought-provoking, lol-inducing eighth album, the US musician is never far from expressing a longing to disappear. On opener In a Lake, she extols moving to the city from a small town, not in search of excitement, but obscurity. On Rules, she’ll “get a new haircut … be somebody else”. All this is set to beautifully crafted music that splits the difference between alt-rock, country-infused acoustic lamentation and grander ambition. One thing the world isn’t suffering from in 2026 is a drought of self-examining millennial singer-songwriters, publicly picking at their neuroses. But Mitski is better at this stuff than her peers: stronger with melodies and more skilled at creating atmospheres that seep out of the headphones and into your bones. Alexis Petridis Theatre Dreamscape, Omnibus theatre, London | ★★★★★ Tyisha Miller was 19 when she was shot dead by police officers while she lay unconscious in her car in California, in 1998, joining the long, appalling, litany of Black victims of police violence. In writer-director Rickerby Hinds’ award-winning production, she is named Myeisha Mills, still dead after an officer shoots 12 bullets into her body, but simultaneously alive or rising from the dreamscape of the title to tell us about herself. The two-hander is told entirely through beatboxing, spoken word, hip-hop and dance, and Jada Evelyn Ramsey gives an extraordinary performance filled with beauty as Myeisha. Josiah Alpher is just as charismatic as he beatboxes, raps and narrates the parts of other characters. It is a dazzling, disturbing experience. Arifa Akbar The front pages “King says ‘law must take its course’ after Andrew arrest” is the lead of this morning’s Guardian. The Times has “the arrest of Andrew”, the Telegraph has “Andrew arrested”. “King: my brother must face the law” leads the i paper, while the Mirror has “King: Law must take its course”. “Now he’s sweating” is the splash of the Sun. “Taxi for Andy” leads the Star, while the Mail goes with “downfall”. The FT, meanwhile, leads on “Trump sets 10-day window to decide on Iran strikes as US builds up forces”. Today in Focus ‘They’re not listening!’: the government’s gamble on special education reform Political correspondent Alexandra Topping and special educational needs student Jake with his mum, Laura, explore the government’s controversial plans for reform Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad At just 18, Cesar Vasquez is protecting his California farm community from federal immigration raids. In Santa Maria – where more than 80% of farmworkers are undocumented – he scans for unmarked ICE SUVs before dawn and shares warnings to keep families safe. He often visits families after arrests. “There have been so many occasions where I walked through the door, and a kid was expecting their father or mother,” he said. “And it was just me.” “It’s common for children of immigrants to fill out legal forms,” he added. “But in fourth grade, I had to learn what a warrant looked like and what rights I had.” Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

‘Al-Aqsa is a detonator’: six-decade agreement on prayer at Jerusalem holy site collapses

A six-decade agreement governing Muslim and Jewish prayer at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site has “collapsed” under pressure from Jewish extremists backed by the Israeli government, experts have warned. A series of arrests of Muslim caretaker staff, bans on access for hundreds of Muslims, and escalating incursions by radical Jewish groups culminated this week in the arrest of the imam of al-Aqsa mosque and an Israeli police raid during evening prayers on the first night of Ramadan. The actions by the Jerusalem police and the Shin Bet internal security force, both now under far-right leadership, represent a rupture in the status quo agreement dating back to the aftermath of the 1967 war, which stipulates that only Muslims are permitted to pray in the sacred compound around the mosque, known as the al-Haram al-Sharif to Muslims, which also encompasses the seventh-century Dome of the Rock shrine. To Jews it is the Temple Mount, the site of the 10th-century BCE first temple and second temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Changes in the status quo have historically shown the potential to ignite unrest and conflict in Jerusalem and the Palestinian occupied territories with repercussions across the world. A visit by the then Israeli opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, in 2000 ignited the second Palestinian intifada, which lasted five years, and Hamas gave the name al-Aqsa Flood to its attack on Israel in October 2023 which killed 1200 Israelis and triggered the Gaza war, claiming it was provoked by Israeli violations at the Jerusalem mosque. “Al-Aqsa is a detonator,” said Daniel Seidemann, a Jerusalem lawyer who has regularly advised Israeli, Palestinian and foreign governments on legal and historical issues in the city. “It’s usually around the same thing – a real or perceived threat to the integrity of sacred space. And that’s what we’re witnessing. There have been provocations frequently during Ramadan, but things are exponentially more sensitive now. The West Bank is a tinderbox.” Tensions have escalated steadily around al-Aqsa mosque as far-right Israelis have taken up key security positions. The national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir – who had eight criminal convictions before taking office, for supporting a terrorist organisation and incitement to racism, among other charges – has said he wanted to raise the Israeli flag at the compound and build a synagogue there. Ben-Gvir has made inflammatory visits to the al-Aqsa site over the past year, and backed a series of unilateral changes to the status quo, allowing Jews to pray and sing in the compound. In January, he installed an ideological ally, Maj Gen Avshalom Peled, as the Jerusalem police chief, and with the reported backing of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, allowed Jews to take printed prayer sheets on to the site, in ever-more clearcut violations. “The status quo has collapsed because there are prayers on a daily basis,” Seidemann said. “In the past, the police were very strict about preventing any kind of provocation … but these measures are displays of ‘we’re in control here, get used to it or get out of the way’.” In the run-up to Ramadan this year, the Jerusalem Waqf, the Jordanian-appointed foundation charged with managing the al-Aqsa site as part of the status quo agreement, has come under increasing pressure. Waqf sources said as many as 17 of its staff had been put in administrative detention (detention without charge) this week by the Shin Bet, and at least 42 staff members had been banned from entering the site. They said six Waqf offices had been ransacked in recent weeks and the staff prevented from rehanging doors or doing other repairs. The Waqf has been prevented from installing sun and rain shelters or temporary clinics for worshippers. Officials allege they have even been prevented from bringing toilet paper on to the site. The cumulative effect, the officials said, had been to strain the Waqf’s ability to cater to the 10,000 Muslims expected to come to pray at al-Aqsa mosque over the month of Ramadan. The Palestinian-run Jerusalem governorate provided different figures: 25 Waqf staff members banned, and four detained. Neither the Jerusalem police nor the Shin Bet responded to requests for comments on the allegations. In the first week of Ramadan the police extended the morning visiting hours for Jews and tourists from three to five, in another unilateral change to the status quo. On Monday, the al-Aqsa imam, Sheikh Mohammed al-Abbasi, was detained inside the mosque courtyard, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, and social media posts showed the police raiding the compound again on Tuesday evening during the first night prayers of Ramadan. “There are so many ingredients that make this Ramadan especially dangerous,” said Amjad Iraqi, a senior Israel/Palestine analyst at the International Crisis Group. “Last year was relatively smooth, but this year there are a confluence of so many factors on the Israeli and Palestinian sides that may incentivise the Temple Mount activists to try and create new alterations.” “If in the past the Israeli government felt compelled to engage with regional powers, today they care much less about what they have to say and think,” Iraqi added. “There has been a diffusion of impunity … Israelis have been able to accomplish a lot outside of the constraints they thought existed politically, militarily and diplomatically, in Gaza and the West Bank. So why would they feel bound by international opinion?”

Trump says he will order the release of Pentagon files on aliens and UFOs

Donald Trump has announced he is directing the defense department and other agencies to release whatever files they have on the search for alien life. In a post on his social media platform, Trump said that he will ask the defense secretary and others “to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).” Comments from Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, went viral last weekend after podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen asked the former president if aliens are “real.” “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them,” Obama responded. “And they’re not being kept in, what is it? Area 51. There’s no underground facility, unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.” On Thursday, Trump accused Obama of disclosing “classified information”. The president told reporters aboard Air Force One, “I don’t know if they’re real or not,” and said of Obama, “I may get him out of trouble by declassifying.” Obama clarified earlier this week that he had not seen evidence that aliens “have made contact with us,” but said, “statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there.” Trump told reporters Thursday that when it came to the prospect of extraterrestrial visitors: “I don’t have an opinion on it. I never talk about it. A lot of people do. A lot of people believe it.” Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump suggested this week that he was ready to speak about it, however, when she said on a podcast that the president had a speech prepared to deliver on aliens that he would give at the “right time.” That was news to the White House. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded with a laugh when she was asked about it Wednesday and told reporters, “A speech on aliens would be news to me.” Public interest in UFOs and the possibility of the government hiding secrets of extraterrestrial life re-emerged after a group of former Pentagon and government officials leaked Navy videos of unknown objects to US media in 2017. The renewed scrutiny prompted Congress to hold the first hearings on UFOs in 50 years in May 2022, though officials said that the objects, which appeared to be green triangles floating above a Navy ship, were likely drones. Since then the Pentagon has promised more transparency on the topic. The information that has been made public shows that the vast majority of UFO reports made by the military go unsolved but the ones that are identified are largely benign in nature. With the Associated Press

Ukraine war briefing: EU eager for membership talks with Kyiv to begin ‘as soon as possible’

The European Union is eager to begin Ukraine’s EU membership talks “as soon as possible”, European Council president António Costa has said, although he stopped short of setting a date. The US plan for an end to the war in Ukraine calls for Kyiv’s EU accession by January 2027, though experts generally consider that date highly unrealistic. “I cannot say if it’s in 2027 or even in 2026 or later, but what is important is we cannot lose the momentum,” Costa told reporters during a visit to Oslo. The Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in south-eastern Ukraine is operating on its sole remaining outside power line after losing a backup line more than a week ago, the UN’s nuclear watchdog said on Thursday. In a statement, Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the Ferrosplavna-1 electric line went down on 10 February “reportedly as a result of military activity”. The plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors, was now operating with outside power only from the Dniprovska power line, he said. More than 1,000 Kenyans have been lured to fight for Russia in its war with Ukraine, according to an intelligence report to the Kenyan parliament that highlights the scale of a Russian operation taking African men to the frontline. The majority leader of Kenya’s national assembly, Kimani Ichung’wah, said “rogue recruitment agencies and individuals in Kenya” were continuing to send Kenyan nationals to fight in the conflict. The figure of more than 1,000 individuals is a significant increase on the number given in a statement by Kenya’s foreign affairs ministry in November, which said that more than 200 Kenyans had travelled to fight in the war. Poland’s defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has told the AFP news agency that European allies – especially Italy, France and Spain – need to invest more in their defence spending. “The more Europe invests, the more seriously and respectfully America will treat us in these areas,” he said. Poland, which borders Russia and its close ally Belarus, has heavily ramped up its defence spending since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Sweden has announced 12.9bn kronor ($1.4bn) in military aid for Ukraine, focused primarily on air defence capabilities. Defence minister Pal Jonson said that the military aid package was “the third largest so far that Sweden has delivered to Ukraine.” Belarus, a close ally of Russia rarely invited to international gatherings, has said it had intended to attend the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, but failed to receive the necessary visas. Belarus has long been subject to western sanctions over its human rights record and measures were intensified after president Alexander Lukashenko allowed his country’s territory to be used for Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Foreign minister Maxim Ryzhenkov had been due to attend the meeting in Washington, his ministry said, adding “what kind of peace and what kind of sequence of steps are we talking about if the organisers cannot even complete basic formalities for us to take part?”

New Zealand bug of the year: moth named Avatar after mining threat crowned winner

A tiny critically endangered moth, named after the Avatar films because of the proposed mining activity threatening its primary habitat, has been crowned New Zealand’s bug of the year. The Avatar moth won by a wide margin, earning 5,192 of the more than 11,000 total votes cast. It won 2,269 more votes than the runner-up, the mahoenui giant wētā, one of the world’s largest insects. Other contenders included the wonderfully spiky hellraiser mite, the country’s heaviest spider – the black tunnelweb – and a giant earthworm that glows in the dark. The Arctesthes avatar moth is from the Geometridae family and is endemic to New Zealand. It is a day-flying moth with brindled brown and marigold wings and lives only in the Denniston Plateau and nearby Mount Rochfort, on the South Island’s west coast. The moth was discovered in 2012 by the entomologist Brian Patrick during a “bioblitz” – an intense scientific survey to identify species within a specific area – run by the conservation group Forest & Bird. The organisation then ran a competition to name the moth, with the winner – Avatar – picked to highlight the moth’s plight. In the fictional world of James Cameron’s Avatar films, a unique ecosystem faces destruction from a mining company. In New Zealand, the ecologically significant Denniston Plateau is subject to a mining expansion proposal that, if approved, would lead to a significant area being dug up for a large open-cast coalmine. The proposal is making its way through a new regulatory regime that could result in divisive mining and infrastructure projects being fast-tracked for approval. “It is a species named Avatar – which was created to warn us about mining – now facing real-world extinction through fast-track approvals on public conservation land,” said Nicola Toki, who is Forest & Bird’s chief executive and backed the moth to win the country’s annual bug of the year competition. Alongside Forest & Bird, which has hundreds of thousands of online followers, groups and individuals took to social media to discuss the moth and highlight its precarious existence. “This is a special type of creature, no less important than a kākāpō or panda, and we can’t just afford to write it off,” Toki said. “I think there is a point where New Zealanders feel very uncomfortable about planned extinctions.” The mining company Bathurst Resources, which is behind the proposal to mine the Denniston Plateau, says it would limit its impact on the landscapes and ecosystems, and would look to relocate species or “offset” biodiversity impacts. The resources minister, Shane Jones, has previously told the Guardian that opening up New Zealand to more mining projects was necessary to boost the economy and boost employment, even if it resulted in environmental trade-offs. The Entomological Society of New Zealand launched the bug of the year competition in 2023, inspired by Forest & Bird’s wildly popular bird of the year competition. Toki said it was “delightful” other groups wanted to amplify New Zealand’s species. The popularity of the bug award is growing, with this year’s competition generating the highest number of votes so far. Each contender has “a champion” – volunteers including enthusiasts, museums or environmental groups, who promote their favoured bug. The winner’s champion gets to decide how public donations generated through the competition are spent. Dr Jenny Jandt, a senior zoology lecturer at the University of Otago who helps to coordinate the competition, said it brought communities together while highlighting New Zealand’s species. “We have such unique fauna here in New Zealand,” she said. “We really wanted to draw the attention to some of these things, and say … the insect world is bigger than the sand flies that bite you and the bumblebees that pollinate your garden.”

Trump changed mind on Chagos deal ‘after UK blocked use of Diego Garcia for Iran strikes’

Donald Trump changed his mind on supporting the Chagos Islands deal because the UK will not permit its airbases to be used for a pre-emptive US strike on Iran, the Guardian has been told. In his latest change of heart on the deal, the US president said on social media that Keir Starmer was “making a big mistake” by handing sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius in exchange for continued use by the UK and US of their airbase on one of the islands, Diego Garcia. While Trump had previously criticised the plan, which is backed by the US state department, earlier in February he had described it as the “best” deal Starmer could make in the circumstances. But in Trump’s post on his own Truth Social site he linked the deal with US military strikes against Iran in connection with Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, which are believed to be imminent. He wrote: “Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime.” A pre-emptive strike on Iran would be unlikely to be in line with the UK’s interpretation of international law. US bases in the UK, like Fairford in Gloucestershire, the home for US B-2 bombers in Europe, are only used for military operations if the UK government agrees and they are considered legal. UK government sources said this was viewed as the reason for Trump to again turn against the Chagos plan. On Tuesday night, Starmer and Trump spoke in a conversation that covered the situation in Iran, although the Downing Street readout of the call made no mention of the Chagos plan. The hope in No 10 is that Trump will again change his mind. The bill setting out the Chagos agreement is due to return to the House of Lords soon. There has been speculation that the bill, which is nearing its final stages but was delayed last month amid continued uncertainty about the US position, might have returned to the Lords next week. However, it is now not expected for several weeks. Under parliamentary rules, if it is not passed before the end of the current parliamentary session in May, the bill would have to be presented again. One former government official who worked closely on the deal said he was concerned it might be scuppered. Ben Judah, who was until recently a special adviser to David Lammy, the former foreign secretary, told a Sun podcast: “It’s looking tricky for the government to get this deal through in the weeks and month ahead.” The Conservatives are continuing to push the Trump administration to block the plan, which Downing Street has said can only go ahead with US buy-in. The shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, is giving a speech in Washington DC next week, and is expected to hold talks with US officials about the Chagos plan. In a statement, Patel said the deal was “now dead in the water”, adding: “It’s impossible for the deal to proceed without the support of our American allies, and Labour will soon run out of time to put anything before parliament.” A government spokesperson said: “As routine, we do not comment on operational matters. There is a political process ongoing between the US and Iran, which the UK supports. Iran must never be able to develop a nuclear weapon, and our priority is security in the region.”

RSF siege of El Fasher in Sudan has ‘hallmarks of genocide’, UN mission finds

The siege and capture of the Sudanese city of El Fasher by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group last October bore “the hallmarks of genocide”, a UN-mandated fact-finding mission has said. In a report detailing the harrowing 18-month occupation of the capital of North Darfur, investigators concluded that the RSF and allied militias deliberately inflicted conditions calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Zaghawa and Fur ethnic communities. “The scale, coordination, and public endorsement of the operation by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around El Fasher were not random excesses of war,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, the mission’s chair, who called for a thorough investigation of the perpetrators. The report was published a day after the UK, Canada and the European Union denounced possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan during the nearly three-year war. Its release coincides with the latest wave of drone strikes that have left dozens dead across Sudan’s Kordofan region, an area where the UN has consistently said that grave abuses are taking place. Unicef said at least 15 children were killed this week when a drone struck a displacement camp in West Kordofan. Local rights defenders reported that another strike on a market in nearby North Kordofan left 28 people dead. Blame for the West Kordofan attack has been directed at the Sudanese army; while the RSF has been accused of carrying out the strike in North Kordofan. Since April 2023, the RSF has been waging war against the army after a falling out between its commander, Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, and the army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, former allies who came to power after the 2019 Sudanese revolution ousted longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir. The RSF has been backed by the United Arab Emirates, a position the Gulf state denies despite evidence compiled by the UN, independent experts and reporters. The group grew out of the Janjaweed militias, notorious for atrocities committed in the early 2000s in a ruthless campaign in Darfur that killed 300,000 people and drove 2.7 million from their homes. The war, the latest crisis in Sudan’s history of violence, has forced 11 million people to flee their homes and killed tens of thousands, triggering what the UN calls one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The fact-finding report said that after the seizure of El Fasher, the RSF inflicted “three days of absolute horror” and that thousands of people, particularly from the Zaghawa ethnic group, were killed, raped or disappeared. Othman said: “The scale, coordination and public endorsement of the operation by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around El Fasher were not random excesses of war. They formed part of a planned and organised operation that bears the defining characteristics of genocide.” Investigators said RSF militiamen had acted with impunity and “with genocidal intent” and that as conflict’s focus shifts from Darfur to Kordofan, outside countries must act decisively to hold perpetrators to account “and bring an end to this senseless violence”. The mission interviewed 320 witnesses and victims from El Fasher and the surrounding areas, including in investigative visits to Chad and South Sudan. It authenticated, verified and corroborated 25 videos. The report documents widespread sexual violence against girls and women aged seven to 70, including those who were pregnant. Survivors said they were attacked in front of family members, with the assaults often involving severe physical abuse. In one incident, a 12-year-old girl was raped by three RSF fighters as her mother watched, moments after her father was killed while trying to shield her. The girl later died from her injuries. According to the findings, such assaults frequently occurred at the same locations where mass killings had taken place, including El Saudi hospital and El Fasher University. Witnesses said RSF fighters also carried out public gang rapes of at least 19 women in rooms strewn with corpses, among them the bodies of the victims’ husbands. On Thursday the US announced that it was placing sanctions on three RSF commanders over their roles in the siege and capture of El Fasher. The US Treasury said the RSF had carried out “ethnic killings, torture, starvation, and sexual violence” in the operation. Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report

Russia ‘not ready for peace’ with ‘no tangible signs’ of serious engagement, EU says - Europe live

… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today! As mentioned earlier, several European countries are attending the Board of Peace’s meeting in Washington, although only a few of them as actual member of the new body (14:50). During the event so far, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has received another high profile endorsement from the US president, Donald Trump (15:49, 17:05), while Romania’s Nicușor Dan received an unexpect invitation to address the event, offering his support for the Board’s efforts in Palestine (15:47, 15:58, 16:39, 17:15). For further coverage of the Board of Peace’s meeting, follow our US live blog here: Meanwhile, in Europe: The European Union has said there were “no tangible signs that Russia is engaging seriously” with the aim of securing peace in Ukraine, stressing that nothing can be decided about Ukraine without Europe at the negotiating table” (12:58). Trump-endorsed Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has clashed with the opposition leader, Péter Magyar, over his depiction of the opposition forces as promoting Hungary’s involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine (13:48). President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Greenland next month in a show of solidarity with Denmark and its semi-autonomous territory, the EU has announced (12:49). Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk has urged Polish citizens to immediately leave Iran, adding that “under no circumstances anyone should be travelling to that country” as he warned that the prospect of active conflict is “very, very real” (11:11). And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today. If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.