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Extended naval blockade is admission US military escalation poses even greater risk

Donald Trump’s decision to extend the naval blockade of Iran indefinitely may do nothing to reduce world oil prices – but it could amount to a recognition that further US military escalation in breach of the nominal ceasefire comes with greater risk against a regime disinclined to surrender. In theory, Trump’s military options are increasing. A third US carrier strike group, the George HW Bush, is due to arrive in the Middle East within days after rounding South Africa. A second taskforce of 2,500 US marines is sailing from the Pacific and is due to arrive by the end of April. The extra forces may only be available for a short period, creating an extra pressure for their deployment. It is not clear how much longer the USS Gerald R Ford, now in the Red Sea, can remain given the aircraft carrier has been at sea for more than 300 days. A possibility is that the US tries to seize Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal, where 90% of the country’s oil exports are loaded, with the 2,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, who have been in the Middle East since the beginning of the month, or with US marines not engaged in enforcing the blockade. But nothing additional would be gained by seizing Kharg, or indeed any other smaller island in the strait of Hormuz relative to the established US blockade. Capturing Kharg may be relatively straightforward given the overwhelming US military might but holding it, and keeping troops supplied and out of danger for months, is more complex. “I suspect they would rather threaten an airborne assault or amphibious assault than actually conduct one,” says Matthew Savill from the Royal United Services Institute. “The US has the capabilities and firepower to do it. But would it be worth it?” The 38 days of bombing by the US and Israel of Iran were one-sided in simple military terms, with Iran’s most effective retaliation against Gulf states. The US carried out 13,000 strikes on Iran, losing one F-15 fighter over the country and two transport aircraft in the ensuing rescue. Israel’s air force dropped 18,000 bombs in 1,000 waves. Even so, Iran’s military capability is not exhausted according to leaked US intelligence assessments. Half of Iran’s missiles and launchers remain intact on one estimate, a similar proportion of its Shahed attack drones, and on Wednesday Iran was able to attack and seize two commercial vessels in the strait. More than 3,000 Iranians have been killed, including the supreme leader Ali Khamenei, but the number of casualties is not overwhelming. Iran’s regime remains intact and regards itself as undefeated; the Revolutionary Guards, now in the driving seat, are in no mood for compromise. It is not obvious how a resumption of US-Israeli bombing can alter the political dynamic, at least for now. Earlier in the month Trump tried to bully Tehran by threatening to attack power plants, bridges and desalination facilities, an extreme threat that was widely condemned and viewed by many legal experts as a war crime. Widespread devastation of Iran’s basic infrastructure would be enduring, but it is not obvious it would produce a willingness to accept US peace terms. Further strikes on Iranian leaders deemed more hardline could easily be counterproductive, adding to the political stasis rather than resolving it. Nor will return to bombing encourage protesters to return to the streets either. Iran’s modern history is defined by an anti-imperialist struggle with the US and beyond trying to inflict economic costs in the strait of Hormuz and the Gulf, Tehran has few good options other than to simply trying to outlast Trump’s attention span. Brian Carter, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, says: “This Iranian regime is so incredibly ideological. The actors that are in power are very committed to ‘wining the war’ and appear willing to suffer extreme economic damage to do so.” There is no prospect of a broader ground invasion either: the US may have more than 50,000 troops in the region but the number is trivial given Iran’s 92m population. Its army, the Artesh, has a total size of 350,000 (including 220,000 conscripts); the Revolutionary Guards a further 150,000 according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Recent studies also indicate that US capabilities are not limitless. This week the US Center for Strategic and International Studies published estimates of US munitions inventories in the wake of Operation Epic Fury, the bombing of Iran. It estimated the US fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles, at $2.6m a time, out of 3,100 and over 1,000 JASSM air-to-ground missiles (also costing $2.6m each) out of 4,400. Air defence systems are particularly affected. Somewhere between 190 and 290 Thaad ballistic missile interceptors were used out of 360, at a cost of $15.5m each, and about half of the Pac-3 Patriot missiles, which cost $3.9m and are in high demand globally. High sophistication missiles can take four to five years to replace, and the US has commitments to Taiwan and in east Asia that it wants to retain munitions for. Military logic suggests that the battle of the blockades will go on for some time yet as both the US and Iran try to assert control of the strait of Hormuz, and to see which country recoils first from the economic costs inflicted. But in a tense situation, escalation can easily occur: on Thursday an irascible Trump threatened to blow up any small Iranian boats caught laying mines.

EU formally approves €90bn Ukraine loan and 20th sanctions package against Russia

EU leaders have welcomed the end of diplomatic deadlock over a long-awaited €90bn (£78bn) loan for Ukraine, after the bloc completed the agreement along with a 20th sanctions package against Russia. After weeks of delay, the EU signed off on the loan on Thursday, in time for a summit in Cyprus that began in the evening and will include talks over a dinner with the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ursula von der Leyen wrote on social media: “We are on our way to Cyprus with good news.” The European Commission president welcomed both agreements, finalised after Hungary lifted its veto. Von der Leyen said: “While Russia doubles down on its aggression, we are doubling down on our support to the brave Ukrainian nation, enabling Ukraine to defend itself and putting pressure on Russia’s war economy.” Speaking later, von der Leyen said she thought it would be possible to disburse the first tranche of the €45bn funding planned for 2026 in this quarter, meaning by the end of June. The first payment, she indicated, would fund Ukraine’s domestic drone production – “drones from Ukraine for Ukraine”. The loan, funded by EU borrowing with the intention that Russian reparations will fund repayments, is expected to provide two-thirds of Ukraine’s financial needs in 2026 and 2027. The latest EU sanctions against Russia – the 20th round since the invasion – blacklist Russian banks and energy companies, as well as entities in the United Arab Emirates, Thailand and China, including Hong Kong, for helping Moscow evade western restrictions. In the first case of its kind, the EU is also imposing a ban on the export of hi-tech machine tools and telecoms equipment to Kyrgyzstan, which is accused of “systematic and persistent” failure to prevent their re-export to Russia, where they are used to make missiles and drones. The former Soviet Republic has previously said it is working to comply with western sanctions. Hungary lifted its vetoes over the long-delayed loan and sanctions after a dispute over a damaged oil pipeline that traverses Ukraine came to an end. Russian oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia resumed on Thursday, the Hungarian energy group MOL reported, after both countries – heavily dependent on Russian crude – dropped their objections to EU support for Ukraine. Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister who was defeated by his Conservative rival, Péter Magyar, earlier this month, will not take part in what would have been his final EU summit. Zelenskyy joined the other leaders in the Cypriot resort of Ayia Napa for talks over dinner. “It matters that Ukraine is securing this level of financial certainty,” he wrote on social media highlighting spending priorities that included arms production, “the procurement of necessary weapons from partners that do not yet produce in Ukraine”, and preparing the energy sector for next winter – a response to Russia’s devastating attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in recent months. He told reporters that he wished the incoming Hungarian government all the best, while questioning Orbán’s approach to Ukraine. “Our people need to have strong, warm, good relations,” he said referring to the two countries. “You are neighbours. You have to live in peace.” His team was already in touch with its Hungarian counterparts, he added. Welcoming the agreements, the European Council’s president, António Costa, said “the next step is to open the first cluster of negotiations for the Ukrainian accession to the European Union”. Hungary has also been blocking the opening of “clusters” of negotiating topics that will allow Ukraine to make progress on its application to join the EU. While other member states support the start of talks, many are also wary of any fast-track procedure for Kyiv, which filed its application for EU membership a few days after the full-scale Russian invasion. EU leaders will also discuss how to respond to surging energy prices and the wider ramifications of war in the Middle East, amid uncertainty over a definitive end to the conflict. Regional leaders including the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun; the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi; the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa; and the Jordanian crown prince, Hussein bin Abdullah, are expected to take part in discussions on Friday. Speaking earlier this week, before Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran, an EU official said the discussion was dependent on “very volatile and fast-paced events” in the Middle East, adding “we certainly hope the ceasefire is kept and maintained”. EU leaders are also expected to discuss ideas to respond to a rise in energy prices, including a proposed cut to electricity taxes and incentives to accelerate the shift to green energy. Despite a boost to wind and solar power since the energy crisis of 2022, the EU has been slower to scale down the use of oil and gas in other parts of the economy, such as transport and housing. The European Commission warned on Wednesday of the EU’s “dangerous dependency on fossil fuels” as it said that the bloc had paid an additional €24bn in oil and gas imports since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict in February. Meanwhile, the president of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, has called for a discussion on how to “give substance” to the EU’s mutual assistance clause. Article 42.7 of the EU treaty obliges member states to provide “aid and assistance by all the means in their power” to a fellow member that is a victim of armed aggression on its territory. Cyprus, which is not a member of Nato, wants the EU to take that clause more seriously, after a drone hit a British base on the island in March. The clause has only been activated once, by France after the Paris terrorist attacks of 2015, but many officials are unsure how it works in practice. Other member states want to ensure talks about the pact do not undermine Nato’s mutual defence clause, article 5, at a time when Trump complains frequently about the value of the transatlantic alliance. Gitanas Nausėda, president of Lithuania, a Nato member, said: “For me it is an absolutely crucial thing that article 5 is absolutely key to our defence and security and it will remain so.”

‘Hairdryer or lighter?’: French police look at claim of sensor tampering to win weather bets

French police are investigating alleged tampering with national weather forecasting service equipment after a series of unusual temperature readings coincided with suspicious winning bets made on Polymarket. Data from a Météo-France weather station at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport was used to settle bets between online gamblers on what the temperature would be in Paris for March and the first weeks of April. On a few of the days, there was more than $500,000 (£371,000) in play on these bets. Several traders appear to have made significant profits – three separate wallets made more than $280,000 by betting that the temperature in Paris would reach 19C on 15 April – with the reading unexpectedly jumping by 5C that evening. The timing of some of these bets has prompted widespread speculation that enterprising gamblers had tampered with the station. At least one wager appears to have been laid just before a temperature spike, resulting in a $21,000 profit for an anonymous user who also has money on the weather in Seoul and Toronto. On Polymarket Discord channels, anonymous gamblers shared an AI-generated picture of a man with a hairdryer aimed at a weather station next to an airport runway. “What did you do to the temperature sensor at Paris airport yesterday? Was your weapon of choice a hairdryer or a lighter?” one bettor asked another. French police confirmed they had received a complaint from Météo-France and the cybercrime division was investigating. The forecasting service told the Financial Times that “physical findings on one of our instruments and the analysis of sensor data” led it to file the complaint. Polymarket has stopped using the sensor at Charles de Gaulle as a metric and now relies on one at Paris-Le Bourget airport, but did not cancel the contracts or refund the bets. The expansion of Polymarket, an online betting platform which has investors including a venture capital firm owned by Donald Trump Jr, is stoking concerns that reality – or truth as it is reported – may become increasingly subject to the whims of a nihilistic and growing community of online gamblers. Bettors threatened an Israeli journalist after he reported a missile hit near Jerusalem, because of the nearly $1m staked on whether Iran would strike Israel on that day. Gamblers have discussed contacting an independent US thinktank, the Institute for the Study of War, which produces maps that will determine dozens of active bets on the flux of war on Ukraine’s frontlines – for example, if Russia may take or lose a village or region. Neither the Institute for the Study of War, the journalist, nor Météo-France have a say in whether their reports become the determining factor for these bets. Traders and institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs, are starting to use Polymarket data to inform their trades. Because markets on Polymarket are thin, this has led to concerns that small groups of people may be able to manipulate larger markets by laying bets that skew Polymarket’s odds for certain events. Polymarket was approached for comment.

‘Our duty is to bring people together’: interfaith St George’s Day events seek to counter hatred

Maurice Ostro, founder patron of the Faiths Forum for London, has been engaged in interfaith work for decades. For much of that time, he said, he was teased by good-natured people who insisted there was little need for it in the UK. “People used to laugh at me for doing this work,” he said, but now, amid record-breaking incidents of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred, the jokes have stopped. Ostro was speaking before an interfaith walk in Regent’s Park that brought together about 50 people – including faith leaders and other members of the community – to celebrate St George’s Day. The group gathered at St John’s Wood church in Regent’s Park on a sunny Thursday afternoon, where they were welcomed by the Rev Anders Bergquist, before walking to a nearby synagogue. The event ended at London Central mosque, tracing a route that reflected the city’s religious diversity. “You are all very welcome,” said Bergquist, pointing to two St George’s flags flying above the church. He reminded the group that St George is also the flag of the Church of England, which has pushed back at the surge in Christian nationalism in recent months. Attenders set off waving St George’s flags and holding St George placards with the slogan “Faiths United” and “England United” as they began the walk. The group first stopped at the Liberal Jewish synagogue, before continuing on to London Central mosque. At the mosque, Imam Sheikh Khalefa Ezzat spoke about the “value of unity, peace, and courage”. “Our duty is to bring peace and bring people together … not to divide them,” he said. It was one of nearly a dozen events taking place across the country over the week. These included Muslim and Jewish women coming together to make Doves of Peace in London on Tuesday; 100 local people of all backgrounds in Birmingham walking to a Muslim centre targeted in a racist graffiti attack on Wednesday; and a St George’s Day parade in Gravesend, Kent, where schools and community groups sang the national anthem. For Ostro, interfaith work is not just about having tea and samosas. He is the child of a Holocaust survivor. Most of his family was “wiped out because of this needless hatred”, he said. “But one person, my father, was saved by Christians. I’m alive, my children are alive, my grandchildren are alive only because people stood next to each other and helped one another when they saw things were going wrong.” The focus on St George’s Day is intentional. Julie Siddiqi, founder of Together We Thrive and co-chair of British Muslim Network, said: “It shouldn’t be used as a day to divide people further. We should be celebrating and coming around the flag, and not shying away from that.” Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, said research showed there was a broad public consensus on who could be English, which was not defined by ethnicity. The research suggested white English people were often most confident about that, while the idea could feel more contested among minorities, some of whom may still experience anxiety about whether they truly belong. Katwala said interfaith events like this could be an answer to that anxiety. “I live in Dartford, and there’s been a St George’s Day parade for years. It’s organised around cohesion charities with schoolchildren. It’s very multi-ethnic, very diverse. It allows people to be proud of being English while showing that everyone is invited,” Katwala said. “When people see that, they feel reassured.” Though Siddiqi said she understood why people might feel vulnerable and question whether they belonged at such events, she called on more minority communities to take part. “It’s very easy right now, as a Muslim, as a woman who wears a headscarf, to feel backed into a corner; to feel negative, to fall into a victim mentality. I’m not doing that. I refuse,” she said. “We have to come out even more, flying our flag, literally, as I will be today.” Phil Rosenberg, director of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said concerns of rising hate crimes must be taken with the utmost seriousness, but he worried about a risk of having a distorted view of the country. “That’s partly related to social media and the way algorithms promote hate and extreme rhetoric over and above what moderate, mainstream people think and feel – and that’s kind of by design,” he said. “It’s also weaponised by hostile foreign states – Russia, China, Iran – who take arguments, whether Brexit, trans issues, or the Israel-Palestine conflict, and polarise them even more, putting bots on to the most extreme ends and turning neighbours into enemies.” One of the joys of participating in the walk, he added, was getting off the internet. “We’re seeing real people in all their complexity, and in most cases, the fact that most people are good people who want to get on with each other. We’re rediscovering that there isn’t an ‘us versus them’ in the way it can feel online.” Ostro said that, a few years ago, not much would have been made about hosting an interfaith celebration on St George’s Day. “This is a relatively recent phenomenon, where those who wish to divide us have thought: ‘This is clever – the flag of St George, let’s make this, rather than what he actually was, which is somebody who resonated in a positive way with Jews, Muslims and Christians, let’s make him a divisive figure,’” he said. While in Birmingham for one of the interfaith events this week, Ostro said he had met a hijab-wearing Muslim volunteer who pointed out English flags on lamp-posts. For her, he said, they did not signal belonging, but exclusion. “And that’s something we can’t stand quietly by,” he said. “The flag of St George is a national symbol. It’s not a nationalist symbol or a racist symbol, and it mustn’t be allowed to go that way, because that would start a very dangerous downward spiral.”

What is the UK Biobank project and what are the privacy concerns around it?

With the revelation that the confidential health records of half a million British volunteers have been put up for sale on a Chinese website, we take a look at what the UK Biobank project has achieved – and why concerns have been raised. What is the UK Biobank project? The UK Biobank was launched in 2003. Between 2006 and 2010 it recruited half a million participants aged 40 to 69. They provided genetic data, clinical measurements, health information, biological samples and lifestyle data, and undergo regular follow-ups. This means the UK Biobank has become an important resource for researchers who, since 2012, have been able to request access to anonymised data in order to examine the causes, prevalence and treatment of myriad diseases. Has it been a success? Thousands of research papers have been published based on UK Biobank data. Prof Andrew Morris, the director of HDR UK – the national institute for health data science – said that among the key discoveries was the finding that four proteins in the blood could eventually help diagnose dementia in people before symptoms develop. Last year the project celebrated having scanned the brains, hearts and other organs of 100,000 participants – an endeavour it is hoped will aid earlier detection and treatment of diseases and provide new insights into human ageing. Such scans have already led to revelations, including that consuming even small quantities of alcohol is associated with changes to the size and structure of the brain, that diabetes can affect the structure of the heart, and that Covid-19 infections appear to damage the brain’s “smell centre”. In recent months alone UK Biobank data has given rise to research that has suggested air pollution can accelerate the onset of a host of diseases, and it been used to help train an AI tool that can predict a person’s risk of more than 1,000 diseases. However, Morris said the real achievement of UK Biobank had been the assembly of biosamples and data linked at scale for hundreds of thousands of participants. “It is among the largest studies for imaging, protein biomarkers, genomics and more,” he said. “But not only that – it links all this together for investigation. The depth of research enabled by this across all disease areas is really unique and why it is heralded worldwide.” Why is the UK Biobank in the news now? On Thursday it was revealed that data belonging to UK Biobank participants was up for sale on three separate listings on the Chinese website Alibaba last week. At least one of the listings is thought to have contained data from all 500,000 volunteers. In all cases the data was “de-identified”, meaning names, addresses or precise dates of birth were not included. While the records have since been removed, and no sales are thought to have been made, it is not the first time data protection concerns have been raised. Last month the Guardian revealed numerous instances of participant health data being leaked online by researchers, which in some cases could be traced back to volunteers. Prof Luc Rocher, of the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford, said the listings on Alibaba marked the 198th known exposure of UK Biobank data since last summer. “UK Biobank data is not just available for sale, it also remains available online for anyone to download today,” they said. What has the UK Biobank said about the latest incident? Prof Rory Collins, the chief executive and principal investigator of UK Biobank, has written to participants to reassure them that their personal identifying information in UK Biobank is “safe and secure”. Collins said new security measures would be put in place, including restricting the size of files that can be exported from UK Biobank research platform by researchers in an attempt to “severely limit” their ability to export any de-identified participant data. “In addition, we will conduct a comprehensive and forensic board-led investigation of this incident,” he wrote. What have others said? Experts have welcomed the swift removal of the listings from Alibaba. Prof John Gallacher of the University of Oxford said: “As a ‘Biobanker’ I am reassured that the value of my small contribution to global health is jealously guarded.” However, some have called for an investigation. Morris said: “It is important that there is a full review.” He added that the trust of participants in how their data was handled was crucial to health research that used large de-identified datasets. “The future of healthcare is increasingly data-dependent,” he said. “We must double down on implementation of secure systems to enable essential research that is responsible, trusted and can operate at scale.”

Israeli killing of Lebanese journalist draws international condemnation

Israel’s killing of a prominent Lebanese journalist in a double-tap strike has been greeted with international outrage as Lebanon’s prime minister described the attack as a “war crime”. Amal Khalil, 43, who worked for al-Akhbar newspaper, was buried on Thursday. She was killed in what colleagues described as a sustained attack by Israeli forces, with rescuers attempting to dig her out of the rubble of a building also targeted and prevented from providing life-saving assistance. Her death prompted renewed accusations that Israel has a policy of targeting media workers, despite its repeated denials. Khalil had previously spoken of receiving a threat via an unidentified Israeli phone number that she would be killed if she did not leave southern Lebanon, where she had long been based. Khalil’s killing was condemned by senior figures from across Lebanese politics even as they prepared for fresh talks in Washington on Thursday aimed at extending a fraught ceasefire with Israel. Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, said Israel’s “deliberate and consistent targeting of journalists” was “aimed at concealing the truth of its aggressive acts against Lebanon, in addition to constituting crimes against humanity punishable under international laws and conventions”. Echoing Aoun’s comments, the prime minister, Nawaf Salam, said the targeting of journalists amounted to war crimes. “Israel’s targeting of media workers in the south while they carry out their professional duties is no longer isolated incidents, but has become an established approach that we condemn and reject, as do all international laws and conventions,” Salam wrote on social media, emphasising that Lebanon would pursue actions in international forums in response to Israel’s conduct. Khalil was the ninth journalist killed in Lebanon this year. Last month three journalists were killed in a double-tap attack. As further details of the killing emerged on Thursday, it became clear that the group Khalil was with had come under sustained attack over several hours – and that Israeli forces had apparently been aware of their identities. Adding to the sense of horror was the fact that Khalil was trapped for hours in a house that had been bombed by Israeli forces. She died despite frantic efforts by her family, her editors and Aoun to organise a rescue. According to her employer and the Lebanese health ministry, Khalil was working near the village of al-Tiri when a vehicle she was driving behind was hit by an Israeli airstrike, killing two people and wounding her and her colleague Zeinab Faraj, a freelance photographer. Colleagues said Khalil and Faraj had been bearing protective equipment prominently marked with press signs and that Khalil had managed to call her office to say she was taking cover in a house and was under threat. The house in which they were sheltering was hit by a second Israeli airstrike. Rescue workers reached the scene and recovered Faraj but Israeli forces fired on those attempting to free Khalil. The Union of Journalists in Lebanon said that when medics attempted to rescue her, Israeli forces prevented access to the site and used stun grenades. Khalil’s body was eventually retrieved shortly before midnight, at least six hours after the strike. Israel denied that it targeted journalists or that it had prevented rescue teams from reaching the area, and said the incident was under review. Previous “reviews” have rarely if ever attached any blame to Israeli forces, who typically attempt to suggest killed journalists are members of armed groups. On Thursday, Ophir Falk, a foreign affairs adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told the BBC’s World at One that the incident was under review but struggled to explain why Israel had killed so many journalists if it was not a deliberate policy. “I can tell you one thing, we’re looking into this incident, but what I can tell you for 100% sure is that Israel never targets civilians. It never targets journalists. To the contrary, we do everything possible to minimise the risk to civilians and to journalists,” said Falk. In an earlier statement the IDF said it had identified two vehicles that had “departed from a military structure used by Hezbollah”, without providing evidence for the claim. It said one of the vehicles had approached Israeli troops in a manner that was an “immediate threat” after crossing a “forward defence line”, violating a ceasefire. In 2024, however, Khalil told local media she had received an Israeli death threat warning her to leave the south and threatening to destroy her home and decapitate her. “I have informed the relevant authorities about this, as the enemy has recently used this tactic with many others there,” she said at the time. According to Khalil, the warning – allegedly sent from an Israeli phone number – included details of her recent movements and said: “We know where you are and we will reach you when the time comes.” It was not clear who had sent the message. Reporters without Borders condemned the latest Israeli killing of a journalist. Clayton Weimer, its executive director, said the IDF had received messages from his organisation as well as from journalists, asking that it allow ambulances to get to Khalil. “The Red Cross signalled they were unable to get through because of ongoing Israeli bombardment. So that is callous disregard, on top of what appears to be a deliberate and targeted killing of a journalist,” Weimer said. The Committee to Protect Journalists also condemned the attack. “The repeated strikes on the same location, the targeting of an area where journalists were sheltering, and the obstruction of medical and humanitarian access constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law,” said its regional director, Sara Qudah. “CPJ holds Israeli forces responsible for the endangerment of Amal Khalil’s life and the injuries Zeinab Faraj sustained after the targeted strike on their location.”

Journalist detained in Kuwait acquitted of ‘spreading false information’, says press monitor

A Kuwaiti-American journalist, who had been detained in Kuwait, has been acquitted, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, who has previously worked for PBS, HuffPost, the New York Times, the BBC and Al Jazeera, was arrested on 3 March during a brief visit to Kuwait. Earlier this month, the CPJ said it understood authorities had charged him with “spreading false information, harming national security and misusing his mobile phone”. The CPJ said that his posts prior to the arrest had included a “a geolocated video, verified by CNN, showing a US fighter jet crash near a US airbase in Kuwait”. In a statement on Thursday, Jodie Ginsberg, the organisation’s chief executive, said: “We are relieved that Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been found innocent after 52 days in detention.” She added: “Ahmed’s freedom and safety remain our topmost priority and we will continue to closely monitor his case.” In a statement online, Ginsberg also added that “full details are still being ascertained but his international legal team confirms that he has been found innocent of the charges and he is expected to be released imminently”. Lawyers for Shihab-Eldin’s sisters also shared a press release on Thursday saying that he had been acquitted. “We are relieved that, after 52 days in detention, Ahmed has been found innocent on all charges,” they said. “Our focus now is upon ensuring the liberty and safety of our client, and we will provide more details once they can be confirmed.” The office of Caoilfhionn Gallagher, a lawyer representing two of the journalist’s sisters, said he was expected to be released “imminently”. Shihab-Eldin’s arrest came as Kuwait recently passed new security laws, including a measure defining terrorism as spreading terror among the people by endangering the safety of and security of society. A new law also proposes significant fines and sentences on anyone that “publishes statements or spreads false rumours in relation to military entities with the intent to weaken confidence in these entities, diminishing their prestige, casting doubt on their existence or undermining their morale”. Hundreds of people have been arrested across the Gulf for sharing images of attacks and the resulting damage. The strikes occurred almost daily from the start of the Middle East conflict on 28 February until a ceasefire came into effect on 8 April. AFP contributed to this report