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Rishi Sunak is visiting Northern Ireland to celebrate the restoration of power-sharing at Stormont, where he will meet the country’s first nationalist first minister.

Over the weekend, an executive was finally re-established after almost two years without one in the region.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which had been holding up the process, allowed a first minister to be selected after a fresh agreement on post-Brexit bureaucracy was announced by the UK government.

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Mr Sunak will meet with the new first minister, Sinn Fein‘s Michelle O’Neill, as well as the deputy first minister, the DUP’s Emma Little-Pengelly, at Stormont on Monday.

The pair have equal responsibilities and powers, but Sinn Fein has the first minister role due to it being the single largest party in the assembly.

The Republic of Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, is also expected to be at Stormont on Monday.

More on Brexit

Mr Sunak is visiting Northern Ireland tonight, where he will meet with public service workers.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Air Ambulance Northern Ireland in Lisburn on Sunday evening, the prime minister hailed the “significant progress” made “towards a brighter future for people here” following the restoration of power-sharing.

He also faced questions about Ms O’Neill’s comments that she expects a vote on Irish unity to take place in the next decade.

He replied: “Obviously, everyone is committed to the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.

“But I think everyone also agrees that now is the time to focus on delivering on the day-to-day issues that matter to people, to families, to businesses in Northern Ireland.”

It is Mr Sunak’s seventh time in the region since he became prime minister.

There had been hopes that the Windsor Framework agreed with the EU last year would break the impasse in Belfast.

But it has taken almost a whole year for unionists to get the assurances they need to let an administration form.

Under the Good Friday Agreement, the DUP had the power to stop an executive being formed.

With the roadblocks now removed, Ms O’Neill has now become the first nationalist first minister of Northern Ireland since 1998 when the current system was introduced.

The DUP had refused to return to power-sharing over the trade border in the Irish Sea, which put checks on goods travelling to and from Northern Ireland and elsewhere in the UK.

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Impact of years without a government in Northern Ireland
Adam Boulton: Is a united Ireland within ‘touching distance’?

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‘We’re in the decade of opportunity’

The establishment of a “green lane” for goods which do not require mandatory checks was announced last year in the Windsor Framework, but it required expansion last week in order to meet the DUP’s demands.

This was done in agreement with the EU.

And the UK government also announced that EU law will no longer apply automatically to Northern Ireland.

The UK government has pledged £3.3bn to the new executive to help with the finances, as well as £600m for public sector pay.

Ministerial roles are shared between parties based on how many seats they won in the election.

The new executive is set to meet for the first time on Monday.

Speaking to Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Ms O’Neill said she expected there to be a referendum on Irish unification within the next decade.

She said: “I believe we are in a decade of opportunity and there are so many things that are changing.

“All the old norms, the nature of this estate, the fact that a nationalist/republican was never supposed to be first minister.

“This all speaks to that change.”

The UK government has said it sees “no realistic prospect of a border poll”.

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Clampdown on social media ads for Channel crossings unveiled

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Clampdown on social media ads for Channel crossings unveiled

Anyone who advertises Channel crossings or fake passports on social media could face up to five years in prison under new government plans.

Research suggests about 80% of migrants arriving to the UK by small boat used internet platforms during their journey – including to contact agents linked to smuggling gangs.

While it is already illegal to assist illegal immigration, ministers hope the creation of a new offence will give police more powers and disrupt business models.

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Small boat crammed with migrants in Channel

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is also planning to introduce a fast-track scheme to tackle the asylum backlog, meaning decisions will be made within weeks.

It comes as official figures show more than 25,000 people have arrived on small boats so far in 2025 – a record for this point in the year.

Ms Cooper said it is “immoral” for smugglers to sell false promises online, adding: “These criminals have no issue with leading migrants to life-threatening situations using brazen tactics on social media.

“We are determined to do everything we can to stop them, wherever they operate.”

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The new offence prohibiting the online promotion of Channel crossings is set to be included in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill already going through Parliament.

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More migrants arrive in Dover

Officials from the National Crime Agency already work with tech giants to remove such posts – with more than 8,000 taken offline last year.

A Preston-based smuggler who was jailed for 17 years had posted videos of migrants thanking him for his help.

Meanwhile, Albanian smugglers have created promotions for £12,000 “package deals” which claim to offer accommodation and a job in the UK on arrival.

The Conservatives have described the measures as “too little, too late” – and say automatic deportations are the only way to tackle small boat crossings.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “Labour still has no clear plan to deter illegal entry, no effective enforcement and no strategy to speed up removals. This is a panicked attempt to look tough after months of doing nothing.”

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Waves and kisses from asylum hotel window

It comes as protests outside hotels believed to be housing asylum seekers continue in towns and cities across the UK.

Several demonstrators were detained – with police breaking up brief clashes – outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in north London yesterday.

The government is legally required to provide accommodation and subsistence to destitute asylum seekers while their claims are being decided, most of whom are prohibited from working.

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China’s crypto liquidation plans reveal its grand strategy

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China’s crypto liquidation plans reveal its grand strategy

China’s crypto liquidation plans reveal its grand strategy

China’s plan to liquidate confiscated crypto through Hong Kong exchanges isn’t simply a policy — it’s to control global digital asset markets and outmaneuver the US.

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Make ‘significant adjustments’ to Online Safety Act, X urges govt

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X criticises Online Safety Act - and warns it's putting free speech in the UK at risk

The Online Safety Act is putting free speech at risk and needs significant adjustments, Elon Musk’s social network X has warned.

New rules that came into force last week require platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X – as well as sites hosting pornography – to bring in measures to prove that someone using them is over the age of 18.

The Online Safety Act requires sites to protect children and to remove illegal content, but critics have said that the rules have been implemented too broadly, resulting in the censorship of legal content.

X has warned the act’s laudable intentions were “at risk of being overshadowed by the breadth of its regulatory reach”.

It said: “When lawmakers approved these measures, they made a conscientious decision to increase censorship in the name of ‘online safety’.

“It is fair to ask if UK citizens were equally aware of the trade-off being made.”

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What are the new online rules?

X claims the timetable for platforms to meet mandatory measures had been unnecessarily tight – and despite complying, sites still faced threats of enforcement and fines, “encouraging over-censorship”.

More on Online Safety Bill

“A balanced approach is the only way to protect individual liberties, encourage innovation and safeguard children. It’s safe to say that significant changes must take place to achieve these objectives in the UK,” it said.

A UK government spokesperson said it is “demonstrably false” that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech.

“As well as legal duties to keep children safe, the very same law places clear and unequivocal duties on platforms to protect freedom of expression,” they added.

Users have complained about age checks that require personal data to be uploaded to access sites that show pornography, and 468,000 people have already signed a petition asking for the new law to be repealed.

In response to the petition, the government said it had “no plans” to reverse the Online Safety Act.

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Why do people want to repeal the Online Safety Act?

Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage likened the new rules to “state suppression of genuine free speech” and said his party would ditch the regulations.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said on Tuesday that those who wanted to overturn the act were “on the side of predators” – to which Mr Farage demanded an apology, calling Mr Kyle’s comments “absolutely disgusting”.

Regulator Ofcom said on Thursday it had launched an investigation into how four companies – that collectively run 34 pornography sites – are complying with new age-check requirements.

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These companies – 8579 LLC, AVS Group Ltd, Kick Online Entertainment S.A. and Trendio Ltd – run dozens of sites, and collectively have more than nine million unique monthly UK visitors, the internet watchdog said.

The regulator said it prioritised the companies based on the risk of harm posed by the services they operated and their user numbers.

It adds to the 11 investigations already in progress into 4chan, as well as an unnamed online suicide forum, seven file-sharing services, and two adult websites.

Ofcom said it expects to make further enforcement announcements in the coming months.

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