Michael Becker Courtesy of Apple
World
British prison reform will release convicts after serving 40% of term to combat overcrowding: reports
The United Kingdom’s new Labour government announced that prisoners who have served 40% of their sentence could be released as a way to combat overcrowding in facilities across the country.
“The guilty men in the last government left our prisons on the brink of collapse,” British Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood wrote on social media platform X. “They put their political interests before the country, & left us facing a total breakdown of law and order.”
“Today, I set out emergency measures that will grip the prisons crisis,” she insisted.
Mahmoud laid out in a press release that “only hundreds of places” remain in adult male prisons and that U.K. prisons have operated at “over 99% capacity since the start of 2023,” with space expected to be fully occupied within weeks.
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To combat the problem, Mahmoud has authorized a change to early release measures, reducing custodial sentences served in prison from 50% to 40% but stressing that the policy would include “important safeguards and exemptions” to keep the public safe.
HMP Wandsworth prison in London, England. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
The policy will go into effect in September and will include “regular publications of releases under the changes to standard determinate sentences.”
The U.K. will often release criminals for certain types of offenses “on license” – the equivalent of releasing a prisoner on probation – with conditions that include regular contact with a supervising officer, reporting all addresses and movements to the court, receive approval for any jobs and a ban on travel outside of the United Kingdom.
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The Ministry of Justice in the press release claimed that the new policy would lead to over 10,000 offenders being released early, which would be around 11% of all beds: The New York Times cited a figure of just under 89,000 total population before the U.K. prisons hit their maximum “operational capacity.”
ABC News reported that the total prison population under old policies could hit around 99,000 by the end of next year without changes. Mahmood has warned that overflow would force local police stations to use their prison cells, leading to a ripple effect that she claims would cause collapse of the justice system.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood during a visit to HMP Bedford in Harpur, Bedfordshire, as she announces plans to address prison overcrowding amid fears that jails will run out of space within weeks. (Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)
The new policy will not apply to any convicts of sex offenses or domestic abuse-connected crimes, including stalking offenses, controlling or coercive behaviors in an intimate or family relationship, non-fatal strangulation and suffocation and any convicts who have breached restraining orders and abuse protection orders.
Previous policy has held that anyone given a life sentence and released on license must remain on those parole conditions for the remainder of their lives.
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Families of victims have already expressed outrage at the plan and raised concerns that if the already-existing prisons can’t handle such a population, then the external supervision structures likewise will be overwhelmed with an influx of new parolees to handle.
“If the system cannot deal with those people being released into the community, then those people are not going to be supervised adequately,” Farah Naz, aunt of murder victim Zara Aleena, told BBC Breakfast, citing issues with underfunding in the probation service.
Ms Mahmood is expected to set emergency measures that could include reducing the time before some prisoners are automatically released. (Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)
“When people, perpetrators, even thieves are not supervised adequately, crime can escalate. It doesn’t always escalate, but it can,” Naz added.
The murderer of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in 2022 was a man who had been released from prison on license, according to the Independent.
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Anyone convicted of murder automatically receives a life sentence but for license purposes will have a determinate sentence of on average 20 years for manslaughter, for example, according to Sentencing Council. However, the new scheme would look to extend those terms, thus making it harder for violent crime offenders to achieve release on license.
Anyone released through the new scheme will be monitored through measures that can include electronic tagging and curfews, indicating an effort to take tougher measures on those who do qualify for early release.
The former H Block Maze prison at Long Kesh near Lisburn, Northern Ireland. Picture date: Monday June 24, 2024. The potential of the former Maze prison site must be matched by political action to kick-start its full redevelopment, the First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said. (Niall Carson/PA Images via Getty Images)
“There is now only one way to avert disaster,” Mahmoud argued. “I do not choose to do this because I want to . . . but we are taking every protection that is available to us . . . let me be clear, this is an emergency measure.”
Mahmoud added that the policy is temporary and underscored her “unapologetic” belief that “criminals must be punished.”
The Ministry of Justice will look to add 1,000 additional trainee probation officers by March 2025 and has committed to greater transparency with the public on sentencing issues.
The new prisons secretary James Timpson, CEO of key cutters and shoe repair service Timpsons, has urged for prison reform, which would aim to reduce imprisonment and refocus development on rehabilitation programs that include training, education or therapy, the BBC reported.
World
‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4 Sets Summer Release, Reveals More First-Look Photos as Jason Sudeikis Returns to Richmond
Jason Sudeikis‘ long-awaited return to AFC Richmond now has a date.
Apple TV has announced that that the fourth season of “Ted Lasso” will debut globally this summer, while the streamer has also sharing new stills and plot details.
Currently in production, the show will see the return of Sudeikis, who exec produces, plus Emmy winner Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Emmy winner Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt and Jeremy Swift. New signings include Tanya Reynolds, Jude Mack, Faye Marsey, Rex Hayes, Aisling Sharkey, Abbie Hern and Grant Feely.
In season four, Ted returns to Richmond, taking on his biggest challenge yet: coaching a second division women’s football team. As per the synopsis: “Throughout the course of the season, Ted and the team learn to leap before they look, taking chances they never thought they would.”
“Ted Lasso” season four also adds Emmy winner Jack Burditt (“Nobody Wants This,” “Modern Family,” “30 Rock”) as executive producer under a new overall deal with Apple TV. Sudeikis stars and executive produces alongside Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, Jane Becker, Jamie Lee, and Bill Wrubel. Goldstein serves as writer and executive producer alongside Leanne Bowen. Sarah Walker and Phoebe Walsh will serve as writers and producers for season four, and Sasha Garron co-produces. Julia Lindon will write for season four, and Dylan Marron will serve as story editor.
Bill Lawrence executive produces via his Doozer Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television, a division of NBCUniversal Content. Doozer’s Jeff Ingold and Liza Katzer also serve as executive producers. The series was developed by Sudeikis, Lawrence, Kelly and Hunt, and is based on the preexisting format and characters from NBC Sports.
Following its global debut on Apple TV, “Ted Lasso” immediately broke records, the first season becoming the most Emmy-nominated comedy series. The series went on to land back-to-back outstanding comedy series Emmys for its first two seasons on air.
See the other first-look stills from “Ted Lasso” season 4 below.
Courtesy of Apple
Courtesy of Apple
World
Ted Cruz urges US to arm Iranian protesters as militias threaten ‘total war’ against America
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Sen. Ted Cruz called for the U.S. to arm Iranian protesters Tuesday as unrest continues inside the nation and Iran-backed militias issued threats against Washington.
“We should be arming the protesters in Iran. NOW,” Cruz wrote in a post on X.
“For the Iranian people to overthrow the Ayatollah — a tyrant who routinely chants ‘death to America’ — would make America much, much safer,” the Texas Republican added.
Cruz was responding to another post from Tehran Bureau, which cited a source inside Iran detailing what was described as a rapidly deteriorating situation on the ground as security forces continued to crack down on demonstrations.
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“From trusted source in Tehran: Tell all of your friends [abroad] — everyone you know: there is absolutely nothing else we can do here inside Iran,” the post read.
“They are killing people in such ways, they’ve descended upon people so brutally, they’re attacking us in such ways… We’ve lost so many lives that no one dares go out anymore. They shoot directly with bullets. They kill outright. And even after killing, they come and behead you, and do countless other violent things to you,” it continued.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called for the armament of anti-government protesters in Iran. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“Going out into the streets is literally suicide. It’s not about bravery anymore. It’s madness. You go out and they shoot you point-blank. They don’t even ask why you came. They just kill you,” the post continued. “There is absolutely no way for us to gather unless we had weapons, unless we were armed like them. Otherwise they have weapons everywhere.”
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, activist groups estimate that more than 6,000 people have been killed in Iran, with additional cases still under review.
The protests began in late December amid widespread anger over economic hardship, political repression and corruption, according to reports.
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Iranian security forces allegedly killed detainees and burned bodies during protests, with clashes continuing in Kermanshah, Rasht and Mashhad despite government claims. (NCRI)
Cruz’s post came after armed militias aligned with Iran warned the U.S. they would retaliate against any American attack on the Islamic Republic, as the Trump administration moved forces into the region.
Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq said it was prepared for “total war” if the U.S. attacked Iran, according to The Associated Press.
Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, the group’s leader, said the “enemies” of the Islamic Republic would face “the bitterest forms of death.”
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Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq said it was prepared for “total war” should the U.S. attack Iran. (Fadel Itani/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“You will taste every form of deadly suffering, nothing of you will remain in our region, and we will strike terror in your hearts,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthis also threatened to restart attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, releasing a video Monday showing a ship engulfed in flames, captioned: “Soon,” The Associated Press reported.
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As previously reported by Fox News Digital, President Donald Trump said Iran appeared to be seeking negotiations with the U.S. amid the growing military buildup, telling Axios, “They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk.”
The USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in the Middle East on Monday as unrest inside Iran continued to escalate.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Sen. Ted Cruz for comment.
World
North Korea’s Kim to outline plans to boost nuclear arsenal
Pyongyang expected to release five-year development plan for defence and economy at upcoming congress.
Published On 28 Jan 2026
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will unveil plans to bolster the country’s nuclear forces at an upcoming governing party meeting, state media reported.
The report from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Wednesday came the day after Kim oversaw the latest in a series of missile tests that have unsettled the region. Kim has ordered the “expansion” and modernisation of the country’s missile production.
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Details, which Kim has warned will bring “excruciating mental agony” to his enemies, are expected to be released at the upcoming ninth Communist Party congress, which is due to take place in the coming weeks.
At the meeting, the first such gathering since 2021, the governing party will unveil a five-year development plan for defence and the economy.
Kim described Tuesday’s test-firing of a large-calibre multiple rocket launcher system as of “great significance in improving the effectiveness of our strategic deterrent” and said it showed the weapon system could be used for “specific attacks”, KCNA reported.
The missiles that were fired “hit a target” in waters at a distance of 358.5km (222.7 miles), the North Korean leader declared.
The missiles were fired in the direction of the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea. Two landed outside North Korea’s Exclusive Economic Zone, Japanese state news agency Jiji Press reported, citing Defence Ministry sources.
South Korea’s military reported that it detected multiple short-range ballistic missiles launched from north of Pyongyang towards the Sea of Japan.
“The result and significance of this test will be a source of excruciating mental agony and serious threat to the forces that attempt to provoke a military confrontation with us,” Kim said.
Analysts told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that the “self-steered precision guided flight system” mentioned by Kim may indicate a new navigation system employed to help the weapon defy global positioning system (GPS) jamming.
Photos showed Kim’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, accompanying him to the test, along with Kim Jong-sik, first vice department director of the party’s central committee, and Jang Chang-ha, chief of the Missile Administration, Yonhap reported.
While acknowledging that development of the rocket launcher system had “not been plain sailing”, Kim said the test was “of great significance in improving the effectiveness of our strategic deterrent”.
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