Mornings

Government figures showed asylum seekers were not spread evenly across Britain, with poorer areas often taking in far more migrants than wealthy ones. Sky News visited Hyndburn in Lancashire, where the asylum population was almost four times higher than the national rate. Residents said the changing demographic was pushing local families away and impacting housing support charities, which said they were unable to cope with the influx. A man named Tomfahl, who had been granted asylum, was told to remove all belongings as his locks would be changed by 1pm and faced being street homeless that night.

Elon Musk suggested the US government might be behind a Starlink slowdown causing speed restrictions on Ukraine's weapons. Ukraine's president said he felt betrayed by the move in the latest sign of deteriorating relations between Washington and Kiev, and Ukraine reported issues accessing Starlink during a night of heavy Russian attacks. A presidential adviser said SpaceX had restricted the speed some of Ukraine's weapons could travel, while Musk posted that Starshield systems were owned and controlled by the US government and that limits were decided by the US military and ultimately the president. During a visit to the UK to meet the Prime Minister, Volodymyr Zelensky said he felt Ukraine was losing a strong partner in the US, and Andy Burnham reassured him of the UK's lasting support. John Healey called on nations to tighten sanctions on Russian shipping and announced UK joint funding with France and the US to repair the Chernobyl power plant, which was damaged by a Russian drone attack last year, including about £20 million of British contribution. New Ipsos polling found almost half the population would be unwilling to fight for the UK in the event of war, with 48% saying they would not take up arms under any circumstances, unchanged since April last year, while just 36% said they would be willing; more than half believed defence spending should be increased.

Sally Rooney said she could no longer sell her books in the UK because of her support for the banned protest group Palestine Action. The Irish author had said she would donate money from her works to the group, which has been banned and declared terrorists in the UK, and said her contracts with Faber could constitute a serious criminal offence; Faber said it could not pass on earnings for her work, a situation it called unconscionable, while Rooney said the decision was made with her agreement. Palestine Action is not banned in Ireland, where she lives and works, but has been banned in the UK since July 2025, a ban upheld by the Court of Appeal and being litigated in the Supreme Court. The Home Office said the proscription followed a rigorous and evidence-based process endorsed by Parliament and that the Court of Appeal found the group carried out acts of terrorism, celebrated those who took part, and promoted the use of violence. Russell Brand was back in court for the second day of his rape and sexual assault trial, where the prosecution called him a ruthless and manipulative predator who laughed at women he abused; he denies seven historical sexual assault charges involving six women. Torrential rains caused flash flooding in Istanbul, shutting some schools and workplaces and advising people to stay indoors, with cars swept away and homes, roads and underpasses flooded. An inquest was set to open into the death of 23-year-old William Chapman, a former child actor killed by a tiger after he entered its enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday; his family described him as bright and engaging but said he suffered from a significant mental illness. Britain was launching a world-first mission to clear dangerous space debris orbiting Earth using a spacecraft with a giant robotic claw to grab old satellites threatening vital space infrastructure used for GPS, weather and communications. Australia introduced legislation to force big tech to let users switch off algorithms that send recommended content, with responsibility on social media companies to make opting out easy; companies opposed the move, the US government called it censorship and said American firms should be exempt, and the Australian opposition said it could lead to political censorship, while a recent study found four out of five young people were still accessing social media despite the under-16 ban.