Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Daesh bride Shamima Begum 'says she is a rape victim'

A London school girl who travelled to Syria to join Daesh (Islamic State) now wants to return home to argue she was a victim of statutory rape, it was reported on Tuesday (22).

Shamima Begum, who left the UK when she was 15, could claim she was subjected to statutory rape by her Daesh fighter husband Yago Riedijk, her lawyer has claimed. Begum hopes to testify at a hearing on whether her British citizenship could be restored.


Tasnime Akunjee, Begum's lawyer, told the Daily Mirror that the teen was married in an Daesh ceremony within two weeks of reaching Syria to a 23-year-old fighter.

Her context is as a rape victim or a statutory rape victim.

Today, a specialist court that hears challenges to decisions to remove someone's British citizenship will begin a four-day preliminary hearing in London.

Meanwhile, a counter terror expert has said that Begum's show of remorse was only to return to the UK.

Chris Phillips told Good Morning Britain: She's not 15 now, she's 19.

She had full and frank knowledge of what she was doing. She was fully committed in the murders or the group who carried out the murders.

She is only showing remorse as she wants to come back. She won't be sentenced as there's no evidence that she was involved so she won't face trial.

She's 15 and lived in the east end of London she knew what she was doing.

The Home Office revoked Begum's British citizenship in February this year. At the time it was speculated that she was eligible for Bangladeshi citizenship through her parentage. But Bangladesh's minister of state for foreign affairs has denied this.

Just last month, home secretary Priti Patel told The Sun that Begum would not be allowed to return to the UK.

Patel told the paper: Our job is to keep our country safe.

We don't need people who have done harm and left our country to be part of a death cult and to perpetrate that ideology.

We cannot have people who would do us harm allowed to enter our country - and that includes this woman.

'Everything I see in terms of security and intelligence, I am simply not willing to allow anybody who has been an active supporter or campaigner for IS in this country.

More For You

Rajnath Singh

The council that approved the initiation of procurement for arms and equipment is headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. (Photo: Reuters)

Reuters

India starts process to procure arms worth $12.31 billion

INDIA’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved the initiation of procurement for arms and equipment worth $12.31 billion (£9.05 billion), the defence ministry said on Thursday.

The council is headed by India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Keep ReadingShow less
uk weather

Forecasts indicate that the weekend will be unsettled

Getty Images

Cooler conditions bring relief as UK heatwave ends

Key points

  • UK's second heatwave of 2025 ends with cooler temperatures setting in.
  • Tuesday recorded the year’s highest temperature at 34.7°C in London.
  • No return to heatwave conditions forecast for early July.
  • Showers expected in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, with drier weather ahead.

UK heatwave fades as cooler weather returns

Following a stretch of record-breaking heat, the UK has now entered a cooler phase, with no heatwave conditions forecast for the first half of July. This change comes after Tuesday became the hottest day of the year so far, with 34.7°C recorded in London’s St James’s Park.

However, the high temperatures that marked the start of July have now given way to more comfortable conditions. In many parts of the country, temperatures have dropped by more than 10°C, bringing relief from the extreme heat.

Keep ReadingShow less
Families slam Hancock's 'insulting' care home defence at Covid inquiry

Matt Hancock arrives ahead of his latest appearance before the Covid-19 Inquiry on July 02, 2025 in London, England.(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Families slam Hancock's 'insulting' care home defence at Covid inquiry

BEREAVED families have condemned former health secretary Matt Hancock as "insulting" and "full of excuses" after he defended the controversial policy of moving untested hospital patients into care homes during the early days of the Covid pandemic.

Speaking at the Covid-19 inquiry on Wednesday (2), Hancock described the decision to discharge patients into care homes as "the least-worst decision" available at the time, despite the devastating death toll that followed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer-Getty

Starmer has said the NHS must 'reform or die' and promised changes that would control the rising costs of caring for an ageing population without increasing taxes. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Starmer outlines 10-year NHS reform strategy

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer will on Thursday launch a 10-year strategy aimed at fixing the National Health Service (NHS), which he said was in crisis. The plan seeks to ease the pressure on overstretched hospitals and shift care closer to people’s homes.

The NHS, which is publicly funded and state-run, has faced difficulties recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. It continues to experience annual winter pressures, repeated waves of industrial action, and a long backlog for elective treatments.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer-Reeves-Getty

Starmer and Reeves during a visit to Horiba Mira in Nuneaton, to mark the launch of the Government's Industrial Strategy on June 23, 2025 in Nuneaton. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Reeves ‘going nowhere’, says Starmer after tears in parliament

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer on Wednesday said that Chancellor Rachel Reeves would remain in her role for “a very long time to come”, after she appeared visibly upset in parliament as questions were raised about her future.

Reeves was seen with tears rolling down her face during Prime Minister’s Questions, after Starmer did not confirm whether she would remain chancellor until the next general election, expected in 2029.

Keep ReadingShow less