Tag: united kingdom

Apple Rolls Out Age Verification to UK iPhone Users Under Online Safety Act

Apple is now starting to demand age verification from UK iPhone users, and the latest iOS 26.4 beta makes clear what’s at stake for anyone who declines.

The move is a direct consequence of the UK’s Online Safety Act, a censorship law that has also forces platforms to check the identity/age eligibility of every adult user or face fines reaching 10% of global revenue.

The law is controversial but British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says it doesn’t go far enough.

A prompt appears after installation asking users to confirm they’re over 18. Refuse, and Apple says users “will not be able to download and purchase apps or make in-app purchases.”

The verification process gives Apple several ways to build a profile of your age. It can pull from the payment method already linked to your account, use account age as a proxy, or ask you to scan a credit card. Some users may eventually be asked to scan a photo ID. Apple frames this as seamless.

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Xbox UK Age Verification Launch Locks Out Thousands of Players

Xbox’s mandatory age verification rollout in the UK was a disaster almost immediately, locking thousands of players out of games, voice chat, and apps like Discord with no clear path back in.

The failures started overnight. Players report being ejected mid-session to complete age verification checks that then took hours, stalled indefinitely, or simply refused to work regardless of what identification they submitted.

Government ID, mobile numbers, and live video age estimation; the system rejected them all for many users. Others made it through verification only to find their accounts still restricted with no explanation and no recourse beyond contacting Xbox support.

Microsoft’s support page now carries a notice confirming it is “aware of the issue and working to fix it.” That’s the extent of the official guidance.

The verification requirement exists to comply with the UK’s new censorship law, the Online Safety Act, legislation mandating that platforms facilitating online communication verify user ages. The actual system XBox built to deliver that compliance forcibly disconnected players from games in progress, stripped away chat functionality with anyone outside their friends list, and blocked access to third-party services.

Users who have held Xbox accounts for over 18 years found themselves flagged for verification anyway. The system doesn’t consider account age, history, or any contextual signal that might indicate an adult user. Everyone gets treated as potentially underage until they hand over documentation.

“The amount of times I’ve tried to do any method of the verification tonight is stupid,” wrote one user. “Can’t change privacy settings on my Xbox to allow me to see mods on games too. Can’t chat on Discord. Utterly broken.”

“Been trying to verify my ID for the past few hours,” added another. “It finally worked but I can’t access anything still. No Discord access at all.”

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NATO nations plotting to smuggle nuke into Ukraine – Russian intel

France and the UK are plotting to secretly arm Ukraine with a nuclear weapon, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said on Tuesday.

According to the agency, British and French officials are considering the “covert transfer of relevant European-made components, equipment, and technologies to Ukraine,” and are laying the groundwork for an information campaign that would misrepresent the nuclear capacity as domestically developed.

The SVR claimed that another option under consideration is to provide Ukraine with a French TN 75 warhead, used in the nation’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles. It added that Ukraine could also be encouraged to build a ‘dirty bomb’ – a conventional explosive device laden with radioactive materials designed to cause prolonged contamination of a territory.

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Former British Ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, Arrested Over His Epstein Ties, Suspected of Committing ‘Misconduct in Public Office’

The fallout over the revelations contained in the US DOJ-released ‘Epstein files’ continues to rock Britain.

Labour peer, former British Ambassador to the US, Lord Peter Mandelson, has been arrested on suspicion of committing misconduct in public office.

The Telegraph reported:

“The former Labour minister was pictured being led from his London home by plain clothes police officers.

Scotland Yard has been investigating allegations that he passed sensitive government and market information to Jeffrey Epstein when he was business secretary.

The claims surfaced after emails between the pair were made public in the latest release of documents known as the Epstein Files.”

The Daily Mail reported:

“A spokesperson for Scotland Yard said: ‘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, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview’.

This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.

It came after police raided his homes in London and Wiltshire a fortnight ago.”

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Historic London Church BURNS To The Ground Amid SILENCE From Government

A massive fire ravaged the historic Kings Hall Methodist Church in Southall, West London, late Sunday night, reducing much of the over 100-year-old building to ashes. 

Dozens of firefighters and ten engines battled the inferno for hours, but the damage was extensive, erasing a piece of Britain’s Christian heritage in a matter of moments.

Footage from the scene shows flames bursting through windows and thick smoke billowing into the night sky, as crowds gathered to watch the destruction unfold. 

The church, a community staple since the early 1900s, survived world wars and countless storms—only to succumb to this suspicious blaze. Local reports confirm the fire started around 9:30 p.m., with emergency services flooding the area after multiple 911 calls.

Witnesses and online commentators wasted no time pointing out the eerie pattern: churches across the UK and beyond keep going up in flames, with little outcry from authorities or mainstream outlets. 

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UK trace found in assassination attempt on Russian general – FSB chief

Britain’s secret services were involved in the attempted assassination of Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, Aleksandr Bortnikov, the Director of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), has stated.

Alekseyev, first deputy chief of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), was shot several times in the back earlier this month as he waited by an elevator in his apartment block in western Moscow. He survived the attack.

The Russian authorities have since detained three suspects in connection with the assassination attempt, including the alleged gunman – identified as 65-year-old Ukrainian-born Russian citizen Lyubomir Korba – who was extradited to Russia with the assistance of the United Arab Emirates.

In an interview with Vesti TV channel on Sunday, Bortnikov reiterated that the assassination attempt was orchestrated by Kiev’s intelligence services. However, they had been acting with the support of “third countries,” Bortnikov said.

“We see the UK trace here, first and foremost. That’s why the investigation continues,” the FSB chief said, without providing further details. He pledged that Russia would not allow the attack to go unanswered, describing any public discussion of specific retaliatory measures as “a delicate issue.”

“We are closely monitoring everything that is happening. Of course, we will never forget, and we will never forgive,” Bortnikov added.

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Woman, 97, was found dead on the floor of her home after being told she would have to wait ten days for an ambulance for a suspected hip break, coroner hears

A 97-year-old woman died after being told she would need to wait ten days for an ambulance over a suspected hip fracture. 

Babette Burge was found on the floor of her home in Newport, Isle of Wight, by a carer on October 19, 2025. 

Just five days earlier, a paramedic from a local GP surgery had attended Ms Burge’s home to assess her condition and found that her leg was ‘shortened and rotated’ – a sign of a fractured hip. 

The pensioner was told she would need to wait 10 days for an ambulance to St Mary’s Hospital in Newport, but suffered a fall before the transfer could take place. 

She was found on the floor of her home struggling to breathe by her carer and died shortly before 1pm that day. 

An inquest at Isle of Wight Coroner’s Court has now given pneumonia as Ms Burge’s cause of death, with immobility and a left femoral fracture recorded as contributing factors.

It was also revealed that mottling was found on her skin – a sign of reduced blood flow often caused by cold temperatures or poor circulation.  

Coroner Caroline Sumeray offered her condolences to Mrs Burge’s family and set a provisional date of August 12 for a full inquest.

The delay in ambulance transfer and the care provided following the pensioner’s fall will be examined.  

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UK Denies American Use Of Diego Garcia And RAF Fairford For Iran Attacks

The United Kingdom has reportedly refused U.S. requests to utilize key military facilities—RAF Fairford in England and the joint U.S.-U.K. base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean—for any potential strikes against Iran. This decision, driven by concerns over possible breaches of international law, has sparked tensions between Washington and London.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has withheld permission for American forces to operate from these bases in support of preemptive or offensive actions against Iran. Government sources indicate that London views participation in such strikes—particularly without clear legal justification—as risking violations of international norms, which do not distinguish between direct aggressors and those providing knowing support.

The refusal comes amid heightened U.S.-Iran tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program and ballistic missile capabilities. President Donald Trump highlighted the strategic importance of these sites in a Wednesday post on Truth Social, stating: “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.” He further warned that such an attack could target not only the U.S. but also allies like the United Kingdom, according to reports from The Times and other outlets.

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Starmer Announces Yet More Censorship

Even more censorship is on the way. The Government has announced plans to force AI chatbots to comply with malicious communications laws – and to give itself Orwellian powers to bring in yet more speech restrictions without Parliamentary oversight. Toby writes about the moves in the Telegraph.

The Government intends to bring forward amendments of its own to the schools Bill that will supposedly close a loophole in the Online Safety Act to make sure AI chatbots comply with Britain’s draconian censorship laws. That will mean that if Grok says something in response to a user prompt that breaches, say, the Malicious Communications Act 1988, which was designed to protect women from obscene phone calls, Ofcom can fine its parent company £18 million or 10% of its annual global turnover. Whichever is the highest.

This will be the death knell of Britain’s burgeoning AI sector, particularly as chatbots become more autonomous. What tech entrepreneur will risk setting up an AI company in the UK, knowing that if a chatbot shares an anti-immigration meme or misgenders a trans person, it could mean a swingeing fine?

Indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised if xAI, along with OpenAI and Anthropic, decide to withdraw access to their chatbots from UK residents. At the very least, we’ll be saddled with lobotomised versions that trot out progressive bromides whenever they’re asked a political question.

In addition, the Government has said it will pass a new law to stop children sending or receiving nude images. Needless to say, that’s already a criminal offence under the Protection of Children Act 1978, so what does the Government have in mind?

It has not said, but I fear it means embedding surveillance software in every smartphone to enable the authorities to monitor users’ activity, no doubt accompanied by mandatory digital ID so no one will be able to hide. Not even the People’s Republic of China does that.

The Government unveiled some other Orwellian measures, but rather than bring them in as revisions to the schools Bill, it will put through amendments that will enable it to make further changes to Britain’s censorship regime via secondary legislation, i.e., it will grant itself sweeping Henry VIII powers.

It’s worth bearing in mind that secondary legislation cannot be amended and allows little time for debate. The Government’s excessive reliance on secondary legislation has been criticised by the House of Lords Constitution Committee and the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee.

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UK Government Plans to Use Delegated Powers to Undermine Encryption and Expand Online Surveillance

The UK government wants to scan people’s photos before they send them. Not just children’s photos. Everyone’s.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall spelled it out on BBC Breakfast, floating a proposal to “block photographs being sent that are potentially nude photographs by anybody or block children from sending those.” That second clause is the tell. Blocking “anybody” from sending potentially nude images requires scanning everybody’s messages. There’s no technical path to that outcome that doesn’t involve reading content the sender assumed was private.

Kendall said the government is conducting a consultation on “whether we should have age limits on things like live streaming” and whether there should be “age limits on what’s called stranger pairing, for example, on games online.” The consultation, she said, will look at all of these. That list now covers messaging apps, photo sharing, gaming, and live streaming. Any feature that lets you share an image with another person potentially falls inside it.

This is how the mandate grows. The government announced a push for new delegated powers on February 16, framing them around age verification for social media and VPNs.

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