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Home secretary indicates Whitehall talks about returns programme, a move that would shock humanitarian groupsShabana Mahmood has refused to rule out sending rejected Afghan asylum seekers back to the Taliban-controlled country.The home secretary said she is “monitoring very closely” talks between Kabul and EU countries about a returns programme for refused claimants. She also indicated that “additional conversations” about Afghan returns were happening inside Whitehall. Continue reading...

Philip Rycroft says promises on issues from economics to immigration have not lived up to expectationsBritain should start talking about rejoining the EU, according to a former senior civil servant who ran the Brexit department.Philip Rycroft, who was permanent secretary of the Department for Exiting the EU, said the “argument was there to be won” about going back into Europe, adding that a “clear-headed appraisal of what is in the country’s best interests” was needed. However, he said rejoining the bloc could be a “long and windy” road. Continue reading...

Removal site in Dunkirk will hold people of 10 nationalities trying to reach UK in small boats under new deal with FrenchUK politics live – latest updatesThe UK will pay for 200 French officers to detain and deport people seeking asylum from some of the world’s most oppressive and war-ravaged regimes under a new UK-France deal to try to reduce Channel crossings.In what is being billed as the first time the French government has agreed to target those heading to the UK in small boats, a removal site in Dunkirk will be used to hold people from 10 countries: Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Syria, Vietnam and Yemen. The Home Office said they were the top 10 nationalities who crossed the Channel by small boat last year. Continue reading...

US special envoy Zampolli hopes for Italy involvementDoubts remain over Iran’s participationAn envoy to the US President Donald Trump has asked Fifa to replace Iran with Italy in the upcoming World Cup, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.The plan is an effort to repair ties between Trump and Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni after the two fell out amid the American president’s attacks against Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war, the FT reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Continue reading...

Experts say Muslims and other minorities have been disproportionately deleted from the electoral roll ahead of the West Bengal elections this weekMillions of people in the Indian state of West Bengal have been stripped of their vote ahead of a critical state election this week, after a controversial electoral revision described by critics as a “bloodless political genocide” and mass disenfranchisement of minorities.In West Bengal, a total of 9.1 million names have been deleted from the register, more than 10% of the electorate. While many were dead or duplicates, about 2.7 million people have challenged their expulsions, but still been removed. Continue reading...

Islamabad has seized chance to act as mediator in Iran war and hopes to reap diplomatic and economic benefitsMiddle East crisis – live updatesAs Pakistan works frantically to narrow differences between Iran and the US in its newfound role as global peacemaker, it is also seeking to recast its diplomatic standing and attract business.Pakistani officials, mediating between an unpredictable US president and hardliners in Tehran, were on Monday trying to coax both sides to put the conditions in place for a second round of talks in Islamabad this week, including easing the standoff in the strait of Hormuz. Pakistan was optimistic that the meeting would happen, viewing objections voiced by the Iranian side and Donald Trump’s threats as posturing for domestic audiences. Continue reading...

Agreements would aim to shield British industry from new steel tariffs and stricter rules on electric vehicles due in 2027Downing Street hopes to secure deals on steel and electric cars with the EU as it seeks to upgrade the post-Brexit economic relationship.Amid economic uncertainty caused by the conflict in the Middle East and strains in relations with the US, Keir Starmer is seeking closer economic ties with the EU. Continue reading...