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The new home secretary has vowed to stop small boats crossing the Channel and to find a way to “make the Rwanda scheme work”.

Suella Braverman, in her first speech in the job, received a standing ovation at the Conservative Party conference after promising to stop the illegal migrant crossings.

“We have got to stop the boats crossing the Channel. This has gone on for too long. But I have to be straight with you, there are no quick fixes,” she said.

“The problem is chronic. Organised criminal gangs are selling a lie to thousands of people. Many are drowning in the Channel.

“Many are leaving a safe country like France and abusing our asylum system.”

Ms Braverman told the Birmingham conference said she will work closely with France “to get more out of our partnership” both on the French coastline and “further upstream” against the criminal gangs smuggling people over.

This announcement was met with a standing ovation from the audience and prompted her to say she had not finished yet.

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The home secretary added that in order to prevent illegal migration “we need to find a way to make the Rwanda scheme work”.

She hit out at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) overriding the UK Supreme Court so the government’s first deportation flight to Rwanda was unable to take off.

Her predecessor, Priti Patel, launched the scheme to send migrants, who came into the UK via small boats in the Channel, to Rwanda in a partnership with the African country.

But no flights have yet left the UK due to the ECHR’s decisions, with Ms Braverman saying: “We need to take back control.”

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Modern slavery

She also said the largest group of migrants in small boats are currently coming from Albania, which she said is “a safe country”.

Ms Braverman said many of them claim to have been trafficked as modern slaves “despite them having paid thousands of pounds to come here, or having willingly taken a dangerous journey across the Channel”.

She said many are not modern slaves and their claims of being trafficked “are lies”.

Dover’s Tory MP Natalie Elphicke told Sky News she welcomed the measures and added that the British people will “absolutely help people in need of asylum” but the situation is abused daily in the town.

Ms Braverman also said there are “egregious examples of convicted paedophiles and rapists” making last-minute claims of modern slavery to block their deportation.

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Demonstrators outside the Royal Courts of Justice, central London, protesting against the Government's plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda, while a High Court hearing over the policy is ongoing. Picture date: Monday September 5, 2022.
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The Rwanda flights have yet to take off due to legal challenges

Not racist to want to control borders

In her wide-ranging speech, the home secretary said legal migration needs to be controlled so those who emigrate to the UK assimilate.

“It’s not racist for anyone, ethnic minority or otherwise, to want to control our borders,” said Ms Braverman, whose parents came from Kenya and Mauritius in the 1960s.

“It’s not bigoted to say that we have too many asylum seekers who are abusing the system.

“It’s not xenophobic to say that mass and rapid migration places pressure on housing, public services and community relations.

“I reject the Left’s argument that it is hypocritical for someone from an ethnic minority to tell these truths.”

Police officers detain one of the Extinction Rebellion activists who protested at the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain September 2, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls
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Ms Braverman took aim at Extinction Rebellion protesters

Police should not take the knee

She also promised to back the police and to ensure they investigate every neighbourhood crime.

Members applauded when she said officers must have powers to “stop protesters who use guerrilla tactics” and warned activists from environmental groups Just Stop Oil, Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion that they will be jailed for breaking the law during protests.

She also said it was wrong for police to take the knee, join in political demonstrations and for male officers to strip search female suspects.

“More PCs, less PC,” she said to a roar of applause.

The home secretary also pledged to ensure the Prevent terrorism referral scheme is “fit for purpose”.

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Donald Trump confirms Mexico and Canada tariffs – prompting a stock sell-off

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Donald Trump confirms Mexico and Canada tariffs - prompting a stock sell-off

Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada have come into effect, as has an additional 10% on Chinese products, bringing the total import tax to 20%.

The US president confirmed the tariffs in a speech at the White House – and his announcement sent US and European stocks down sharply.

The tariffs will be felt heavily by US companies which have factories in Canada and Mexico, such as carmakers.

Mr Trump said: “They’re going to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs.”

There’s “no room left” for a deal that would see the tariffs shelved if fentanyl flowing into the US is curbed by its neighbours, he added.

Mexico and Canada face tariffs of 25%, with 10% for Canadian energy, the Trump administration confirmed.

And tariffs on Chinese imports have doubled, raising them from 10% to 20%.

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Canada announced it would retaliate immediately, imposing 25% tariffs on US imports worth C$30bn (£16.3bn). It added the tariffs would be extended in 21 days to cover more US goods entering the country if the US did not lift its sanctions against Canada.

China also vowed to retaliate and reiterated its stance that the Trump administration was trying to “shift the blame” and
“bully” Beijing over fentanyl flows.

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Mr Trump’s speech stoked fears of a trade war in North America, prompting a financial market sell-off.

Stock market indexes the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.48% and 2.64% respectively on Monday.

The share prices for automobile companies including General Motors, which has significant truck production in Mexico, Automaker and Ford also fell.

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Consumers in the US could see price hikes within days, an expert has said.

Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University, New York, said “the automobile sector, in particular, is likely to see considerable negative consequences”.

This is due to supply chains that “crisscross the three countries in the manufacturing process” and ” because of the expected increase in the price of vehicles, which can dampen demand,” he added.

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The Trump administration is gearing up to bring in other tariffs in the coming weeks.

On 2 April, reciprocal tariffs will take effect on all countries that impose duties on US products.

He is also considering 25% tariffs on goods from the EU “very soon” after claiming the bloc was created to “screw the United States”.

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More than 30 killed in Bolivia bus crash – second deadly collision within days

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More than 30 killed in Bolivia bus crash - second deadly collision within days

A truck has collided with a bus in southern Bolivia, killing at least 31 people, according to police – just two days after a deadly crash claimed at least 37 lives.

Officers said the bus rolled some 500m (1,640ft) down a ravine after the collision on Monday, which took place on the highway between Oruro, in the Bolivian Altiplano, and the highland mining city of Potosi.

The driver of the truck has been arrested, while the cause of the accident is under investigation.

Police spokesperson Limbert Choque said men and women were among the dead, and 22 people suffered injuries.

** on right of picture are bodies ** First responders work at the site after a crash between a vehicle and a bus along a highway in Lenas, Potosi, southern Bolivia, March 3, 2025, in this handout image obtained from social media. Bolivia's Attorney General/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT
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Rescue teams operating at the site of the crash. Pic: Bolivia’s attorney general/Reuters

Bolivia’s President, Luis Arce, expressed condolences for the victims on social media: “This unfortunate event must be investigated to establish responsibilities,” he said in a post on Facebook.

“We send our most sincere condolences to the bereaved families, wishing them the necessary strength to face these difficult times.”

Map showing location of collision, which took place on the highway between Oruro, in the Bolivian Altiplano, and the highland mining city of Potosi.
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The crash happened between Oruro and Potosi

On Saturday morning, a crash between two buses killed more than three dozen people in the same region.

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It happened between Colchani and the city of Uyuni, a major tourist attraction and the world’s largest salt flat.

People stand near the wreckage of one of the two buses involved in the crash.
Pic: Reuters/Potosi Departmental Command
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People stand near the wreckage of one of the two buses involved in a crash on Saturday. Pic: Reuters/Potosi Departmental Command

Coincidentally, one of the buses was heading to Oruro, where one of the most important carnival celebrations in Latin America is currently taking place.

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More than 30 people were also killed after a bus crash on 17 February.

In that crash, police said the driver appeared to have lost control of the vehicle, causing it to drop more than 800m (2,600ft) off a precipice in the southwestern area of Yocalla.

Bolivia’s mountainous, undermaintained and poorly supervised roads are some of the deadliest in the world, claiming an average 1,400 fatalities every year.

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The Pope has had ‘two episodes of acute respiratory failure’, Vatican says

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The Pope has had 'two episodes of acute respiratory failure', Vatican says

The Pope has had two episodes of “acute respiratory failure”, the Vatican has said.

The 88-year-old has been in hospital since 14 February with a severe respiratory infection that triggered other complications.

The Vatican said the respiratory failures were caused by “significant accumulation” of mucus in his lungs and a “bronchospasm”, akin to an asthma attack.

Doctors were then required to perform two bronchoscopies – a test which sees medics use a long, thin, telescope with a light to look into the lungs – to evaluate the Pope’s air passages, the statement said.

“In the afternoon, non-invasive mechanical ventilation was resumed,” the Vatican continued. “The Holy Father has always remained vigilant, oriented and collaborative. The prognosis remains reserved.”

Vatican sources said the situation had been calm this morning, before becoming worse this afternoon.

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Behind the scenes at the Vatican

The respiratory issues the Pope suffered today are due to an ongoing infection rather than a new one but he is not out of danger, they added.

Asked if the Pope is in good spirits, they gave no answer. When asked if the Vatican’s apartment is getting ready to welcome Francis back, the source said it was too premature to discuss this.

His clinical picture remains complex, they said.

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Earlier on Monday, Pope Francis issued a written message after Vatican officials begged him to let his voice be heard following more than two weeks out of public view.

He thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers, before praying for peace in Ukraine and elsewhere.

“From here, war appears even more absurd,” he wrote.

Catholic faithful attend a nightly rosary prayer for the health of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
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People at a nightly rosary prayer for the Pope in St. Peter’s Square yesterday evening. Pic: AP

This has become the longest public absence of his 12-year papacy.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski presided over the evening rosary prayer in St Peter’s Square on Sunday night.

“Let us pray together with the entire church for the health of the Holy Father Francis,” he said.

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