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Three words told the story. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s campaign had billed this afternoons event in Philadelphia as a much-anticipated announcement. Of course, that specific phrase may have been more true than intended.

Ever since Kennedy entered the Democratic presidential primary race in the spring, observers had been anticipating that hed one day announce his honest intentions as a 2024 candidate. Given Kennedys rhetoric, his positions, and his support from conservative operatives, was he really running as a Democrat? A couple thousand peoplesupporters, journalists, campaign volunteers, people with nothing to dotrekked to Philly to find out.

The candidate was nothing if not on message. Standing in front of a backdrop that read DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENCE , Kennedy looked out at Independence Hall as he spoke of a new declaration of independence for our entire nation. He rattled off a list of everything wed soon be independent from: cynical elites, the mainstream media, wealthy donors. (Though, presumably, not the same wealthy donors who recently raised more than $2 million for him and his super PAC at a private estate in Brentwood, California, with help from his friend Eric Clapton). Onstage, Kennedy formally declared his independence from the Democratic Party and all other political partiesperhaps an unsubtle way to shoot down speculation that he might change his mind and run as a Libertarian, or even a Republican. As his wife, Cheryl Hines, said a bit cryptically before her husband took the stage: Are you really ready for Bobby Kennedy?

Kennedy, whom many came to know as a Boomer environmentalist, was the star of this mellow show with a distinct 60s campus vibe. At one table, attendees were invited to literally sketch their vision of the future on blank sheets of paper with colored pens. Throngs gathered on the grass in front of the National Constitution Center and were led in a Native American tribal dance, followed by the inoffensive piano stylings of Tim Hockenberry, who covered Jersey Girl in a Springsteen growl. Outside the entrance, enterprising vendors sold an array of Kennedy memorabilia: buttons that read RESIST INSANITY, RAGE AGAINST THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE , and FIT TO BE PRESIDENT , featuring a photo of a buff, shirtless Kennedy. One attendee waved a giant black-and-white flag with a message for their fellow Kennedy-heads: WE ARE THE CONTROL GROUP . Many people wore fedoras.

Read: Inside the mind of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

They came from all over. Michael Schroth, 69, and his wife, Luz, had taken a 4:30 a.m. bus down from Boston. Schroth told me he voted for Barack Obama twice, but also voted for the third-party candidate Ralph Nader twice, as well as Jill Stein in 2016. I look for the best candidate, and I dont care if theyre going to win or not. Its getting the idea out,” he said. Chris Devol, 56, from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, was wearing a Philadelphia Eagles hoodie and smiling ear to ear as he awaited Kennedys arrival. Devol told me he had voted for the third-party candidate Ross Perot in 1992, and that although he wasnt sure whether hed support Kennedy next November, he 100 percent supported the idea of him competing in the Democratic primary. An elderly woman named Barbara (last name withheld), a retired teacher from Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, told me she believed that President Joe Biden wasnt doing anything to address the nations drug problem. She said a bag of fentanyl was recently found on the steps of her local church, then asked me if I was familiar with the Boxer Rebellion.

Prior to Kennedys address, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, one of the opening speakers, asked for a moment of silence to honor the violence of this past weekend. Someone in the crowd yelled out Warmonger! Another screamed, Free the Palestinians! Boteach acknowledged neither individual, and said he greatly respects Kennedy, who has been accused of anti-Semitism, as a man of faith. Later, Kennedy said he had arrived at a place where he was serving only his conscience, his creator, and youthe voters.

This afternoon marked the culmination of what he described as a very painful decision. He noted his long-standing ties to the Democrats, the party of his family, which he casually referred to as a dynasty, before tearing into the tyranny of the two-party system. For weeks, Kennedy had been attacking the Democratic National Committee for rigging the primary process. (The DNC has refused to hold primary debates, as is custom when a partys incumbents are running for reelection.) Kennedy has been polling in the double digits against Biden, but his support hasnt grown meaningfully since he launched his campaign. As of last Friday, according to the FiveThirtyEight average, Kennedy was polling at 16.4 percent compared with Bidens 61.2 percent. Four of his siblingsKerry Kennedy, Rory Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy II, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsendissued a statement today denouncing their brothers newly independent candidacy, calling his decision perilous for our country. Kennedy acknowledged the challenge ahead of him. There have been independent candidates in this country before, he said. But this time its going to be different.

Kennedy is the second candidate in as many weeks to go rogue. Cornel West dropped his Green Party affiliation in favor of an independent bid, telling The New York Times, I am a jazz man in politics and the life of the mind who refuses to play only in a party band! Though neither Democrats nor Republicans seem particularly worried about the candidacies of West or Marianne Williamson, Kennedy is different. The Democrats are frightened that Im going to spoil the election for President Biden, and the Republicans are frightened that Im going to spoil the election for President Trump, Kennedy said. He waited for a strategic beat. The truth is, theyre both right.

Read: The 2024 U.S. presidential race: a cheat sheet

All year long, mainstream Democrats have tried to pretend that Kennedy simply doesnt exist, with mixed results. Both the Biden campaign and the DNC declined to comment today on Kennedys switch. The RNC, for its part, blasted out a list of 23 Reasons to Oppose RFK Jr., and reports have been circulating that Trump’s allies are preparing to pummel Kennedy with opposition research. Last week, the election analyst Nate Silver argued that Kennedys independent run wont necessarily hurt Biden, and it might even help him. David Axelrod, the chief strategist of Barack Obamas campaigns, took a different view. I think anything that lowers the threshold for winning helps Trump, who has a high floor and low ceiling [of support], Axelrod told me.

Kennedy tantalized the crowd with nuggets that purport to make the case for his electability: I have seen the polls that they wont show you. He pointed out that 63 percent of Americans want an independent to run for president. Though he didnt cite the origin of this statistic, it aligns with recent Gallup polling, which also showed that 58 percent of Republicans endorse a third U.S. political party, up from 45 percent last year.

Kennedy has built his candidacy, and his career as a lawyer and writer more broadly, on the idea that there are lots of things they wont show you. As I wrote in a profile of Kennedy this summer, he has promoted a theory that Wi-Fi radiation causes cancer and leaky brain, saying it opens your blood-brain barrier. He has suggested that antidepressants might have contributed to the rise in mass shootings. He told me he believes that Ukraine is engaged in a proxy war and that Russias invasion, although illegal, would not have taken place if the United States didnt want it to.

Hes drawing from many of those Trump votersthe two-time Obama, onetime Trumpthat are still disaffected, want change, and maybe havent found a permanent home in the Trump movement, Steve Bannon told me as I was reporting the profile. Populist left, populist right, and where that Venn diagram overlapshes talking to those people.

The reality is that Kennedy will have an extremely hrd time even getting his name on the ballot. The GOP dirty trickster Roger Stone, who earlier this year was accused of being among those propping up Kennedys candidacy (something he has repeatedly denied), told me in a text message that Kennedy faces a Herculean task with 50 different state laws written by Republicans and Democrats working together to make ballot access as difficult as possible. Even if Kennedy is right and voters are looking for a true alternative to Trump and Biden, mathematically, Kennedys path to 270 electoral votes is almost incomprehensible.

Nevertheless, he said he believes that he is at the start of a new American moment. Something is stirring in us that says, It doesnt have to be this way, Kennedy said onstage. He nodded to Martin Luther King Jr.s Ive Been to the Mountaintop speech from the eve of his assassination and quoted Abraham Lincoln quoting Jesus Christ: A house divided cannot stand. He said that the left and the right had become all mixed up. He said that he was proud to count those on both sides of the abortion debate among his supporters, in addition to climate activists and climate skeptics, and, of course, the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Perhaps saying the quiet part out loud, Kennedy said it would be very hard for people to tell whether my administration is left or right. He had no shortage of curious metaphors. He promised not just to take the wheel, but to reboot the GPS. The nations two-party system? A two-headed monster that leads us over a cliff. And, in case it wasnt clear: At the bottom of that cliff is the destruction of our country.

When I interviewed Kennedy for the profile, I asked him what he thought would be more dangerous for the country: four more years of Biden, or another Trump term. I cant answer that, he said.

Around that time, I asked his campaign manager, Dennis Kucinich, if Kennedy was committed to running solely as a Democratic candidate.

Hes running in the Democratic primary, Kucinich responded.

So, no chance of a third party?

Hes running in the Democratic primary.

Gotcha. And nothing could change that?

Hes running in the Democratic primary.

Today, after Kennedy finished speaking, Kucinich briefly seized the mic and led the crowd in a building, dramatic chant:

I declare my independence!

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Business

A pub a day to close this year, industry body warns as it calls for cut to tax burden

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A pub a day to close this year, industry body warns as it calls for cut to tax burden

An industry body has warned that the equivalent of more than one pub a day is set to close across Great Britain this year.

According to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), an estimated 378 venues will shut down across England, Wales and Scotland.

This would amount to more than 5,600 direct job losses, the industry body warns. It has called for a reduction in the cumulative tax and regulatory burden for the hospitality sector – including cutting business rates and beer duty.

The body – representing members that brew 90% of British beer and own more than 20,000 pubs – said such measures would slow the rate at which bars are closing.

BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin said that while pubs are trading well, “most of the money that goes into the till goes straight back out in bills and taxes”.

“For many, it’s impossible to make a profit, which all too often leads to pubs turning off the lights for the last time,” she said.

“When a pub closes, it puts people out of a job, deprives communities of their heart and soul, and hurts the local economy.”

She urged the government to “proceed with meaningful business rates reform, mitigate these eye-watering new employment and EPR (extended producer responsibility) costs, and cut beer duty”.

“We’re not asking for special treatment, we just want the sector’s rich potential unleashed,” she added.

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The government has said it plans to reform the current business rates system, saying in March that an interim report on the measure would be published this summer.

From April, relief on property tax – that came in following the COVID-19 pandemic – was cut from 75% to 40%, leading to higher bills for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses.

The rate of employer National Insurance Contributions also rose from 13.8% to 15% that month, and the wage threshold was lowered from £9,100 to £5,000, under measures announced by Rachel Reeves in the October budget.

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US

Gaza permanent ceasefire ‘questionable’, says senior Israeli official

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Gaza permanent ceasefire 'questionable', says senior Israeli official

A senior Israeli official has issued a less-than-optimistic assessment of the permanency of any ceasefire in Gaza.

Speaking in Washington on condition of anonymity, the senior official said that a 60-day ceasefire “might” be possible within “a week, two weeks – not a day”.

But on the chances of the ceasefire lasting beyond 60 days, the official said: “We will begin negotiations on a permanent settlement.

“But we achieve it? It’s questionable, but Hamas will not be there.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to conclude a four-day visit to Washington later today.

There had been hope that a ceasefire could be announced during the trip. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that it’s close.

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Netanyahu arrives in US for ceasefire talks

Speaking at a briefing for a number of reporters, the Israeli official would not be drawn on any of the details of the negotiations over concerns that public disclosure could jeopardise their chances of success.

The major sticking point in the talks between Hamas and Israel is the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

The latest Israeli proposal, passed to Hamas last week, included a map showing the proposed IDF presence inside Gaza during the ceasefire.

Read more: What is the possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal?

Israeli military vehicles stand near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

This was rejected by Hamas and by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who reportedly told the Israelis that the redeployment map “looks like a Smotrich plan”, a reference to the extreme-right Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

The official repeated Israel’s central stated war aims of getting the hostages back and eliminating Hamas. But in a hint of how hard it will be to reconcile the differences, the official was clear that no permanent ceasefire would be possible without the complete removal of Hamas.

“We will offer them a permanent ceasefire,” he told Sky News. “If they agree. Fine. It’s over.

“They lay down their arms, and we proceed [with the ceasefire]. If they don’t, we’ll proceed [with the war].”

On the status of the Israeli military inside Gaza, the official said: “We would want IDF in every square meter of Gaza, and then hand it over to someone…”

He added: “[We] don’t want to govern Gaza… don’t want to govern, but the first thing is, you have to defeat Hamas…”

Smoke rises in Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

The official said the Israeli government had “no territorial designs for Gaza”.

“But [we] don’t want Hamas there,” he continued. “You have to finish the job… victory over Hamas. You cannot have victory if you don’t clear out all the fighting forces.

“You have to go into every square inch unless you are not serious about victory. I am. We are going to defeat them. Those who do not disarm will die. Those who disarm will have a life.”

On the future of Gaza, the official ruled out the possibility of a two-state solution “for the foreseeable future”.

“They are not going to have a state in the foreseeable future as long as they cling to that idea of destroying our state. It doesn’t make a difference if they are the Palestinian Authority or Hamas, it’s just a difference of tactics.”

Read more:
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On the most controversial aspect of the Gaza conflict – the movement of the population – the official predicted that 60% of Palestinians would “choose to leave”.

But he claimed that Israel would allow them to return once Hamas had been eliminated, adding: “It’s not forcible eviction, it’s not permanent eviction.”

Critics of Israel’s war in Gaza say that any removal of Palestinians from Gaza, even if given the appearance of being “voluntary,” is in fact anything but, because the strip has been so comprehensively flattened.

Reacting to Israeli Defence Minister Katz’s recent statement revealing a plan to move Palestinians into a “humanitarian city” in southern Gaza, and not let them out of that area, the official wouldn’t be drawn, except to say: “As a permanent arrangement? Of course not.”

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UK

‘A constant game of cat and mouse’: Inside the police crackdown on illegal moped delivery drivers

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'A constant game of cat and mouse': Inside the police crackdown on illegal moped delivery drivers

The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.

“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.

“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”

Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.

Police chase suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery drivers

The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.

“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.

“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”

Murad Mohammed from Immigration Enforcement
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Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue

Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.

He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.

He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.

A man inspects the Just Eat food delivery bag of a suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver

We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.

Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.

This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.

Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’s retail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.

Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum
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Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News

She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.

“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.

“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”

A suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver being arrested

There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.

Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.

But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.

“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.

Read more:
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Ex-Tory chairman defects to Reform
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The gig economy – so prevalent in every city – creates another incentive for those wanting to risk their lives coming to the UK illegally.

More than 20,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel to the UK in 2025 – a record number at this point of the year.

A suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver holds his helmet

For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.

There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.

As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.

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