Anti-Islam influencer Valentina Gomez has been blocked from entering the UK by the Home Secretary.

She was due to speak at the Unite the Kingdom rally next month organised by Tommy Robinson, and had been given permission to enter via a UK electronic travel authorisation (ETA), according to her X account.

But after a backlash from MPs and campaign groups, the Government has intervened because her presence would not be conducive to the public good, it is understood.

Shabana Mahmood used the same justification for blocking rapper Kanye West from entering earlier this month.

The Gold Digger rapper, now known as Ye, has used Nazi imagery and faced accusations of antisemitism.

Ms Gomez was excluded from the UK on the grounds that the democratic right to expression does not extend to promoting hatred and extremism, it understood.

The Home Secretary has the power to cancel a person’s permission to enter or stay in the UK.

US-based Ms Gomez reportedly gained notoriety through a series of anti-Islam stunts including burning a copy of the Koran and vowing to rid Texas of the religion if she was in power.

Last week, Homelessness charity Centrepoint said it had cut ties with Sharon Osbourne after she expressed support for the Unite the Kingdom rally on May 16.

Its previous protest in September, which Ms Gomez is said to have spoken at, was attended by between 110,000 and 150,000 people.

A neo-Nazi teenager was snared by MI5 as he attempted to buy a gun for a terrorist attack, a court has heard.

Alfie Coleman was aged 19 when armed police swooped to arrest him outside a Morrisons supermarket in Stratford, east London, on September 29 2023.

Lunchtime shoppers bore witness to the “shocking scene” when three men pointed stun guns as Coleman as he walked across the car park carrying a bag, jurors heard on Wednesday.

Nicholas De La Poer KC said the bag contained what appeared to be a handgun and around 200 rounds of ammunition.

Counter-terrorism officers knew what he was carrying because “they had sold them to him”, the prosecutor said.

The arrest was the culmination of “persistent” efforts by Coleman to get hold of a gun, including contacting people online, the Old Bailey was told.

Mr De La Poer told jurors: “Unbeknownst to him, Mr Coleman had been talking to several undercover operatives over the previous months, as he sought to purchase a firearm via encrypted messaging platforms.

“This had culminated in MI5 undercover operatives agreeing to sell a firearm and the bullets to Mr Coleman. The arrangement made was for the supply of a Makarov pistol, five magazines and 200 rounds of ammunition.

“Mr Coleman was told these items would be in a Land Rover Discovery parked in the Morrisons car park. He left £3,500 in cash in the front passenger seat footwell and collected the bag containing the items from the boot.

“Before he had gone 30 yards, Mr Coleman was confronted by armed officers and he was arrested.”

The prosecutor said Coleman harboured an extreme right-wing ideology and was planning to use the gun in a terrorist attack.

He “idolised” the likes of Thomas Mair, who murdered MP Jo Cox, and believed in white supremacy and neo-Nazism, the court was told.

He collected a number of terrorist documents, carried out online research and wrote a manifesto, it was alleged.

Mr De La Poer said: “The prosecution’s case is that Mr Coleman engaged in conversation on encrypted social media platforms such as Wire and Telegram with people whom he thought were sympathetic to his views.

“And it was through such people that Mr Coleman sought to buy a firearm. A mission which led him to the Morrisons car park in Stratford on the morning of September 29.”

The court was told of an alleged earlier first attempt at writing down an attack plan dating back to June 2022, a week before he turned 18.

In it, Coleman allegedly identified his target as the “Mayor of London house” and included the postcode for the Lord Mayor’s residence, jurors heard.

In a section headed “weapons I can get easy”, he allegedly listed “knives” and “crossbows”, the court heard.

In September 2022, Coleman allegedly wrote a list on his phone with offensive language next to a number of vehicle number plates.

Jurors were told Coleman was working at Tesco at the time and however he presented himself at work was “seething with hatred on the inside”.

Mr De La Poer said the phrase “race traitor” was written beside some of the number plates, including that of a white female co-worker.

The court heard Coleman had pleaded guilty to possession of 10 documents useful to terrorists, attempting to possess both a firearm – which had been deactivated – and ammunition.

Coleman, now aged 21, of Great Notley in Essex, has denied preparing acts of terrorism.

The Old Bailey trial continues.

Counter-terrorism police are investigating an online claim by a suspected terror group taking responsibility for the attack on four Jewish community ambulances.

A Telegram post from Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia in which it claims to be behind the arson has circulated online and was shown to the Press Association by a member of the Jewish community at the scene in Golders Green, north-west London.

An unverified video posted at 6.13am on Monday on its Telegram channel showed street view Google Maps images of the ambulances and footage of explosions.

At the start of the video posted on Telegram, a message in English said the group’s primary target was the Machzike Hadath Synagogue due to its links to Israel.

The post also cited Conservative former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s visit to the synagogue during the election campaign in June 2024 to express “his country’s unwavering support for Israel”.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, which translates to the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, is a new terrorism group with suspected links to pro-Iranian networks, according to Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism.

The group previously claimed responsibility for several attacks on Jewish sites in Belgium and the Netherlands between March 9 and March 14, according to the Israeli ministry.

They included an explosive attack at a synagogue in Liege, Belgium, an arson attack on a Rotterdam synagogue and an explosive device set off at a Jewish school in Amsterdam.

The group’s Telegram channel, which was apparently only created on Saturday, also includes a video of an attack in Amsterdam targeting an American bank.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin was also suspected to be linked to an attack at a Jewish site in Greece, according to the Israeli diaspora ministry.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on X on March 15 that “a jihadi group tied to an Iranian proxy” was responsible for the attacks.

It said “the IRGC continues to sponsor and export terror across the globe”.

Earlier in March, the Israeli diaspora ministry released a report which said the attacks appear to be part of intimidation and psychological warfare against Jewish communities in Europe.

Diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism minister Amichai Chikli was quoted by The Times of Israel and others as saying: “The recent events in Europe are not isolated incidents but part of a disturbing pattern of action: Terrorist networks affiliated with the Iranian axis are trying to expand their arena of operation into the cities and Jewish communities of Europe.”

The report also said that the group operates through local cells or individuals who are directed from abroad.

It highlighted that the organisation’s name is similar to one used by the Iraqi militia Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, which was described as a terrorist organisation by the US State Department.

The group’s logo also closely resembles the symbols used by Iranian-aligned militant groups, according to The Times of Israel.

Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams said: “We are aware of an online claim from a group taking responsibility for this attack.

“Establishing the authenticity and accuracy of this claim will be a priority for the investigation team but it is not something we can confirm at this point.”

A Conservative government would tackle the rise of “separatism” in the UK by uniting people “around a common culture and a common identity”, Kemi Badenoch has announced.

In a speech laying out a series of planned commissions focused on integration, the leader of the Opposition said Britain has become “too tolerant of those weaponising identity politics for their own gain”.

She defined separatism as “a way of living that keeps a group apart from the wider society” which leads to sectarianism and “the politics that follows when people are taught to think in blocks”.

Mrs Badenoch claimed separatism was “most visible in some Muslim communities, with extremism its most violent expression,” but said the issue was also emerging elsewhere.

Concerns have been raised about people forcing family members to vote in a certain way in the recent Gorton and Denton by-election, with Nigel Farage claiming it was a victory for “sectarian voting and cheating” after Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer won the seat.

Mrs Badenoch said she did not believe women were “marched into the voting booth to stop them from voting Reform”, but claimed something “much deeper and disturbing” was happening.

She added the by-election featured campaigning “designed to mobilise voters on ethnicity and religion, not domestic priorities”.

“People were voting not based on who would increase their wages or fix their schools, but on who would protect the interests of their identity groups and punish those who they disagree with. This is not healthy and it is not British,” she said.

Mrs Badenoch added her party’s approach would be “bold” and “brave” but strike the “right tone” to avoid fermenting division.

She added: “It is about bringing people together around a common culture and a common identity.

“There is a vacuum of competence on this issue right now and that is why Conservatives have to lead. No-one else will do this properly. We have to.”

Mrs Badenoch said: “British culture exists. We live it. We benefit from it and we have a duty to defend it and pass it on.

“The answer to this is integration, but for integration to work people have to know they are integrating into a culture which is strong and self-confident.

“It does not work if Britain is a mess of competing cultures and it cannot work if we are not brave enough to say who we are and what we expect.”

She said her party would launch a commission to recommend an integration and cohesion plan that “sets out the culture that we want people to assimilate into, what we expect and what we will enforce”.

She added: “But first we must do away with what has failed. Integration being treated as an administrative process has not worked. That era is over.

“We will act on a simple doctrine. We will end identity politics in the state full stop. No racial preferences, protected characteristics will not be used as criteria for hiring, promotion, admissions or procurement.”

Mrs Badenoch promised to establish “universalism”, described as “one set of rules for everyone, enforced fairly”.

Expanding on the concept, she added: “Universalism will run through every aspect of government policy, from education to policing, welfare to immigration.

“We will review every single code of practice to ensure standardisation across public bodies and prevent them from doing their own thing.

“We will replace the promotion of multiculturalism in schools with a national story, one that is inclusive of the many people who have come to Britain, but without the grievance or the guilt which is corroding our cultural confidence.

“We will not teach our children that all cultures are equal. Instead we will teach them why Britain’s civic culture matters.”

She also said her party would “end institutional self-censorship that stops people from doing the right thing”.

Lord Toby Young has been asked to lead a review on this element of the plans.

A commission will be established to assess how to overhaul the Equality Act “so it prioritises meritocracy and strengthens integration”, Mr Badenoch said.

A 13-year-old boy is accused of stabbing a pupil in the neck with a kitchen knife in front of numerous children in a north-west London classroom, a court has heard.

The child sustained three stab wounds, a spinal fracture and injuries to the neck and hands that required surgery, Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told on Thursday.

The former pupil is accused of stabbing another child in the playground and spraying ant spray in the face of a third, during the incident at Kingsbury High School, Brent, on Tuesday.

Less than a minute passed between the first and second knife attacks, the court heard.

The defendant filmed the entire attack on his mobile phone but there is no suggestion it was uploaded to social media, the hearing was told.

The teenager, who has not been named because of his age, appeared in court on Thursday wearing a grey prison-issue tracksuit.

Two family members sat on the seats in front of the dock and the defendant spoke softly to confirm his name and date of birth.

He is accused of the attempted murder of two boys aged 12 and 13, and unlawfully and maliciously administering a noxious thing to a third child.

The boy has also been charged with possession of a knife on school premises without good reason or lawful authority.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring remanded him into a youth detention facility to appear at the Old Bailey on February 27.

Prosecutor Kathryn Selby told the hearing that at just gone midday, the boy arrived at the classroom door carrying ant spray and the knife.

He allegedly sprayed the ant spray in a child’s face before stabbing the other boy, the prosecution said.

Numerous children and a teacher were present, the court heard.

Ms Selby said he then walked downstairs and stabbed another child in the neck in a playground area, leaving a 3cm wound.

The conditions of two alleged stab victims are not thought to be life-threatening but whether they are life-changing is uncertain, the prosecution said.

The defendant was at large for around three hours before being arrested near a mosque.

Temporary Commander Helen Flanagan, from Counter Terrorism Policing London, said: “These are extremely serious charges against a young boy and we continue to support the victims and their families, as well as the wider school community, following this shocking incident.

“While we have now charged the boy with these offences, our investigation is ongoing and detectives will continue to carry out inquiries in the local area.

“We are working closely with local policing colleagues in the Brent area and I would also like to thank the school and the wider local community for their support in recent days.”

A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring this case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.

“We have worked closely with the police as they have carried out their investigation.

“We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against this defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.

“It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”

A man who scrawled “kill jews” on a cell wall with crayons after he was arrested for stuffing Korans down a hospital toilet has been found guilty of hate crimes, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.

Ibhraim Iqbal, 36, from Leeds, was found guilty of two counts of religiously aggravated criminal damage and another count of criminal damage at Leeds District Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, the CPS confirmed.

The CPS said the conviction comes as prosecutors deal with a record number of hate crime referrals.

A spokesman said Iqbal smashed a framed Islamic scripture before defacing multiple Korans in a multi-faith room at St James’s Hospital in Leeds, in November last year.

He tore out pages, setting them alight and using them to block the sink and toilet.

Iqbal then returned to the hospital two weeks later and deliberately stuffed items down the drains to cause a blockage, the spokesman said.

He was detained by hospital security staff when he returned the following day and attempted to access the multi-faith room again but found it locked due to the earlier damage.

After he was arrested, he asked for crayons and used them to write the “kill Jews” on his cell wall, the spokesman said.

Iqbal will be sentenced at the same court on February 16.

Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside Luke Hopkinson said: “Ibhraim Iqbal carried out a deliberate and sustained campaign of hatred, targeting both Muslim and Jewish communities with his actions.

“This comes at a time where our prosecutors are working on the highest ever number of hate crime cases referred to us by police.

“I hope today’s conviction demonstrates the CPS’s commitment to tackling religiously aggravated hate crime, and reiterate how we will always seek to prosecute those who target others because of their faith where their conduct strays into criminality.”

The CPS said data for July to September 2025 showed it received 4,358 cases from police which have been flagged as having a hate crime element, which is a 14.7% increase on the previous quarter, and 2.8% up on the same period in 2024.

Saudi Arabia has quietly expanded access to its only store that sells alcohol, allowing wealthy foreign residents to buy such drinks in the latest step in the once-ultraconservative kingdom’s experiment in liberalisation.

There has been no official announcement of the decision, but word has got out, and long lines of cars and people can now be seen at the discreet, unmarked store in the Diplomatic Quarter of the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The store opened in January 2024 for non-Muslim diplomats.

The new rules allow non-Muslim foreigners who hold Premium Residency to buy.

The residency permit goes to foreigners with specialised skills, investors and entrepreneurs.

Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, has banned alcohol since the early 1950s.

The store is widely seen as a way to cautiously test the controlled sale of alcohol.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and his father, King Salman, have pursued a dramatic liberalisation policy in the kingdom, aiming to attract tourism, boost international business and reduce economic dependence on crude oil.

The kingdom, which adheres to Islamic Sharia law, has opened cinemas, allowed women to drive and hosted major music festivals.

But political speech and dissent remain strictly criminalised, potentially at the penalty of death.

Alcohol remains banned for the general public.

The unmarked store resembles a duty-free shop.

Its ownership remains officially undisclosed.

Security is strict.

Every visitor is subject to eligibility checks and frisking before entry.

Phones and cameras are banned inside, and staff even inspect eyewear for smart glasses.

The Associated Press spoke to several customers leaving the store.

Prices are sharply elevated, they said.

Diplomats are exempt from taxes on their purchases, but Premium Residency holders are not.

The customers described the store as relatively well-stocked, though some said the selection of beer and wine was limited.

The Premium Residency permit was created as part of the kingdom’s drive to attract global expertise.

Unlike other residencies, it does not require a Saudi sponsor, and it offers benefits including the right to own property, start a business and sponsor family.

It requires high incomes or large investments to qualify.

Saudis and other residents who want a drink often travel to the neighbouring island of Bahrain, where alcohol is legally available to Muslims and non-Muslims.

On weekends and holidays, the island sees an influx of visitors from Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf, making it a popular getaway.

The more expensive option is to go to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Others resort to smuggled alcohol, which can be extremely expensive, or to bootleg booze – often homemade and risky, using unsafe materials.

Some people in Saudi Arabia enjoy alcohol-free beverages as a substitute for the real thing or to capture the aesthetic of drinking, often snapping photos for social media.

At major events and festivals, it is not uncommon to see long lines forming at alcohol-free beer stands, especially among young Saudis and visitors looking to partake in the vibe.

King Abdulaziz, Saudi Arabia’s founding monarch, banned the sale after a 1951 incident in which one of his sons, Prince Mishari, became intoxicated and used a shotgun to kill British vice consul Cyril Ousman in Jeddah.

Read more: Two million expected as Hajj season begins in Saudi Arabia.

A Muslim convert who researched military locations and threatened to “flatten” a mosque in a terror attack has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years.

Jason Savage was found guilty in January of plotting to stab an Islamic cleric who was an outspoken critic of terrorism, after jurors were shown footage of him filming a reconnaissance “mission” near a mosque and Islamic bookstore.

The 35-year-old, of Fourth Avenue, Small Heath, Birmingham, was jailed at the city’s Crown Court on Friday after a judge said messages he had sent showed that he believed he would die while committing a terrorist attack.

Passing sentence on Savage, High Court Judge Mrs Justice Farbey said she was sure the defendant had identified the police and military as targets but that his “primary focus” was the Birmingham-based cleric.

The judge told Savage, who suffers from an emotionally unstable personality disorder: “I am sure that you were actively planning an Isis-inspired lone wolf attack, meaning that you were not a member of Isis but were motivated to carry out a violent attack by yourself.

“I am sure that you were ready and willing to carry out a deadly attack by using a knife.”

The judge said the offending in the case was so serious that a life sentence was required, adding: “I accept you may not always be able to exercise appropriate judgement in the heat of the moment, however your offending took place over a number of days and cannot be described as impulsive.”

Video footage released by West Midlands Police after Savage was convicted showed him filming reconnaissance near a mosque in Wright Street, Small Heath, Birmingham, in March last year.

On the video, Savage recorded himself saying: “That seems like the best way to get away – the police will probably come from that way.”

As well as charting different routes into the mosque, Savage, who had adapted the handle of a knife found at his home, was heard to say: “Just needs the means now.

“Ask Allah to give man the means bro.”

A three-week trial was told Savage was arrested shortly after sending online messages to someone he did not know was an undercover officer, saying he was waiting to see what “opportunities come to present itself”.

Jurors also heard that Savage had taken screenshots of the West Midlands Police headquarters, police stations in Perry Barr and Stechford and various military locations in Birmingham, and told the undercover officer he was putting his neck on a “chopping block”.

Prosecutors said Savage, who converted to Islam in 2012, carried out reconnaissance with a view to attacking a cleric, bookstore and mosque in the Small Heath area, whose approach to the Salafi movement was “entirely at odds” with his own.

The mosque, store and publishing house advocated a strand of Salafism that stresses the importance of non-involvement in social or political activism, the court heard, while the cleric was an “outspoken critic” of Islamist terrorism, arguing that it was entirely incompatible with the true essence of Islam.

At some point in early 2024, the trial heard, Savage broke the handle off a kitchen knife and replaced it with cloth, before changing his social media status to “Lone Wolf”.

Shortly before his arrest, Savage had messaged the undercover officer, referring to seeing him in “paradise” and telling him he would send him videos over the “next couple of days” which he asked be “propagated” to reach the right people.

Savage, who was convicted of a single count of engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts on or before March 14 last year, said “no problem” as he was led away to the cells.

The sentencing judge was told his criminal history started with a 2002 arson conviction, when he was aged 12, before convictions for 20 other offences, including a violent armed robbery.

Prosecutor Peter Ratliff said Savage had in the past set fire to furniture in his cell and posted social media messages saying he was delighted to hear prison staff had been “stabbed up” after what he claimed was a plot against Muslim inmates.

Savage has also been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following childhood trauma, the court was told.

Commenting on the case, Bethan David, head of the Counter Terrorism Division of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Jason Savage actively plotted to attack a cleric whose views he disagreed with, and other people.

“The CPS will continue to work to ensure those that plan to commit violent acts in the name of ideology and extremism are prosecuted.”

Violent videos which Southport killer Axel Rudakubana watched are still online after the Government asked social media companies for them to be removed, Yvette Cooper has said.

The Home Secretary wrote to Elon Musk’s X, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, TikTok, Google and YouTube in late January calling on them to “urgently review” material accessed by Rudakubana.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Ms Cooper claimed material remains online despite her calls for it to be removed.

She told the BBC: “There has been some further contact with some of the social media companies, but our understanding is that many of those materials… that material is still available online.

“I think, frankly, that is disgraceful, because I think they have a moral responsibility to act.”

Under the UK’s Online Safety Act, from March platforms will be required to remove illegal content, including violent material.

Ms Cooper said the Government is willing to go further if social media giants do not comply.

She said: “We need to bring in the requirements to make sure we’ve got those legal powers in place and we will implement that.

“We are being clear that we are prepared to go further if the Online Safety Act measures are not working as effectively as we need them to do.”

Ms Cooper previously warned failing to remove the videos from social media could lead to further attacks like that carried out by Rudakubana.

The 18-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of 52 years after pleading guilty to murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a dance class in Southport last July.

He also admitted attempting to murder eight other children and two adults, possession of a knife, production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possessing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.

Before leaving home, he had searched online for “Mar Mari Emmanuel stabbing” – the knife attack on a bishop in Sydney, Australia, in April last year.

The graphic video was removed in Australia but is still available to view in the UK, Ms Cooper and Science Secretary Peter Kyle said in a letter to the tech bosses.

Rudakubana also had a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual, which led to him facing the charge under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

The ministers warned the killer had been able to easily obtain this document online and it “continues to remain available”.

The Charity Commission has found a Brighton mosque to be “poorly managed” and disqualified a trustee during an inquiry sparked after a former trustee was convicted of encouraging terrorism.

The regulator opened the probe into Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre, locally known as Dyke Road Mosque, in August 2022 over concerns of failures to resolve an undisclosed dispute that was found to have damaged the charity’s management.

The row came after former trustee Abubaker Deghayes was convicted for encouraging violent jihad in a speech to around 50 people including children at the mosque on November 1 2020.

At least one trustee was also present at the speech after evening prayers, the Charity Commission said, who did not intervene or attempt to minimise the impact of the content of Deghayes’s actions.

Deghayes, of Saldean, East Sussex, was jailed for four years at the Old Bailey in April 2022.

In inquiry findings published on Wednesday, it concluded the charity was “poorly managed” and there was “misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of it”.

The regulator added: “The Commission’s intervention and the appointment of the interim manager were necessary to restore proper governance and administration to the charity.

“A new board of trustees have been appointed to run the charity, which the interim manager identified after a full and thorough recruitment exercise.”

The interim manager took control of the charity’s finances, including cash donations of more than £17,000.

The inquiry also disqualified former trustee Karim Aboutayab on July 10 last year, for four years and six months after finding he had a “greater culpability” for the mismanagement discovered in the charity’s affairs.

This included using an “inflammatory” tone towards others which contributed to the dispute’s escalation, and failing to file the charity’s annual accounts on time.

The Charity Commission first assessed concerns at the charity after Deghayes was charged for encouraging terrorism in July 2021, and

later issued an official warning after deciding then-trustees knew or should have known about the risk he posed, in May 2022.

Head of inspections at the regulator Joshua Farbridge said: “Abusing a charity to encourage terrorism is a grave breach of public trust and we expect all trustees to take steps to ensure their charities cannot become safe havens for terrorist or extremist views.

“While the earlier criminal conviction was outside the scope of our inquiry, what occurred at Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre demonstrates how serious disputes within a charity can not only severely impact its running and reputation, but leave a charity unprotected from the risk of exploitation by those with malign intentions.”

Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre has been contacted for comment.