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The UK government could remove the group that led the Syrian rebellion from its list of banned terror organisations, a senior minister has told Sky News.

Pat McFadden told Sky News’ Breakfast with Kay Burley a decision would be made “quickly” about whether to take Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) off the proscribed terror list.

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Asked if the government planned to do so, Mr McFadden said ministers will “consider” it.

“I think it will partly depend on what happens in terms of how that group behaves now.

“I think countries around the world who proscribe HTS – it’s not just the UK, the United States, European countries as well – I think probably will look at that now, and see what’s going to happen in the future.

“It won’t take that long. I think we need to do it quickly.”

HTS led the offensive by rebel groups in Syria over the past week that saw the capital, Damascus, taken over and the Assad regime overthrown after years of civil war.

Bashar al Assad, who took over from his father to rule Syria for 24 years, has fled to Russia and is reportedly now in Moscow.

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What happened to Bashar al Assad?

HTS used to be a wing of al Qaeda known as the Nusra Front and has long been designated a terrorist group by the US, UK and Russia.

The group comes under al Qaeda on the UK’s proscribed list, with the British government saying it should be treated as an alternative name for al Qaeda.

Its founder, Abu Muhammed al Jolani, cut ties with al Qaeda in 2016 in an effort to appear moderate and in 2021 he said he had no desire to wage war against Western countries.

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Syrian rebels have overthrown the Assad regime

Former head of the British Army’s chemical weapons unit, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, told Sky News HTS “seemed to be a different organisation” when he was in Syria in 2020, compared to the last time he was there seven years before.

“Even in those days, they were trying to convince the medical networks we were helping that they were a political, moderate entity,” he said.

“What they’re saying now is, is the same. Syria was always a secular and moderate country, and it’s key that all the various factions are bought into this.

“And if it requires somebody like their leader, Abu Mohammed Alka Jilani, to do that, then so be it. But I think we need to give them a chance. They’re saying the right things.

“The people of Syria are absolutely delighted and want to make things work, but it’s going to be a challenge.”

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Remains of British man who vanished more than two years ago found in Georgia woods

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Remains of British man who vanished more than two years ago found in Georgia woods

The remains of a British man who went missing on a trip to Florida nearly two-and-a-half years ago have been found, the FBI has said.

Alex Hodgson Doughty was on holiday in Jacksonville in September 2022 when he was reported missing by his mother after she was unable to contact him.

His remains were found 35 miles north of there in a wooded area on private land near Kingsland, Georgia, the FBI said on Friday.

Overseas missing persons charity LBT Global said on a web page dedicated to Mr Doughty that he was last seen on 11 September 2022.

He was at a Jacksonville bar and grill at around 3.30pm and then got into a taxi which dropped him off in Kingsland around an hour later.

A Facebook page, Help Find Alex, said he continued to make video calls and send text messages up until 6.51pm when his phone went offline.

Federal, state, local, and international agencies were involved in the investigation and search for Mr Doughty, who was 30 when he went missing.

His remains were found on 4 February, the FBI said, adding a medical examiner had confirmed Mr Doughty’s identity.

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“While we had hoped to bring Mr Doughty’s family better news, we are thankful to be able to provide them with some closure,” said special agent Kristin Rehler.

“This discovery is the direct result of our partnerships and special agents from FBI Jacksonville’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team (CAST), who were relentless in their efforts to narrow down potential search locations.”

No criminal charges are expected, the FBI said.

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Yvette Cooper calls for new Runcorn MP after Amesbury jailed – but will keep his £91,000 salary

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Yvette Cooper calls for new Runcorn MP after Amesbury jailed - but will keep his £91,000 salary

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said Runcorn needs a new Labour MP after Mike Amesbury was jailed for beating up a constituent – and will keep his £91,000 MPs salary in prison.

She told Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast: “Whether it is resigning or through recall, everyone’s clear – the people of Runcorn deserve better representation, and that would come by having a newly elected MP.”

Amesbury, who has been an MP since 2017, remains as the MP for Runcorn and Helsby after being jailed for 10 weeks on Monday.

He had at an earlier hearing pleaded guilty to assaulting Paul Fellows, 45 by punching him to the ground and hitting him five more times in Frodsham, Cheshire, after a night out last October.

He has not resigned, despite calls for him to do so.

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The 55-year-old MP will keep receiving his £91,000 salary while in prison because parliamentary rules state a recall petition, which kickstarts a by-election, can only happen once an appeal period for a custodial sentence of a year or less is exhausted.

Amesbury’s lawyer stated in court he would be appealing the 10-week sentence, of which the MP will serve four weeks in HMP Altcourse in Liverpool.

There is also no mechanism to stop pay for MPs, unless they are suspended from the House of Commons, which has not yet happened for Amesbury.

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CCTV shows Labour MP punch man

Ms Cooper added: “It’s completely unacceptable what has happened. No matter who you are. No one is above the law.”

On whether the government is considering changing the law so MPs who receive a prison sentence can no longer serve as an MP, Ms Cooper said: “I think these are matters, obviously, for the parliamentary authorities and processes that is separate from the decisions government make.

“But we are clear we need a new representation in Runcorn.”

Conservative shadow minister Victoria Atkins told Sky News the public and MPs have been “disgusted” by Amesbury keeping his job and called for the rules to be changed.

“I find it extraordinary that someone can claim their salary from their prison cell when their job is to be here in parliament, representing their constituents,” she said.

“I think the government needs to look at this and we will look at these measures very, very carefully, whatever they bring forward.

“I share the public’s disgust that a Labour MP is sitting in prison, serving a prison sentence because he beat up a constituent.”

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Mike Amesbury
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Mike Amesbury punched Paul Fellows to the ground then punched him five more times

Amesbury was suspended by Labour two days after the incident, after CCTV footage was widely distributed.

He has been sitting as an independent since then and Labour has said he will not be admitted back in.

Reform UK has also called for Amesbury “to do the honourable thing and resign immediately”.

Amesbury pleaded guilty to assault by beating in January and described the incident as “highly regrettable” and apologised to Mr Fellows and his family outside the court.

After the judge left the courtroom in Chester on Monday, following sentencing, Amesbury’s lawyer asked for him to return and requested bail while he appealed the sentence.

Judge Tan Ikram returned to the court, sat down, paused briefly and said: “Application refused.”

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NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard to step down

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NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard to step down

The head of NHS England has announced she is standing down.

Amanda Pritchard was the first woman to take on the role in 2021, having previously served as NHS England’s chief operating officer, and before that, the former head of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Her decision to step down comes weeks after MPs on the cross-party Commons public accounts and health and social care committees accused her of lacking the “drive and dynamism” to radically reform the service.

It has been a “hugely difficult decision for me to stand down”, she said in a statement on Tuesday.

“I believe now is the right time – with the NHS making continued progress in our recovery, and with the foundations firmly in place to deliver the 10 Year Health Plan.”

She said it had been “an enormous privilege to lead the NHS in England through what has undoubtedly been the most difficult period in its history”.

“The NHS is full of extraordinary people, who do extraordinary things every day for patients,” she said, adding: “I am confident they will continue to achieve incredible things for patients now, and into the future.”

Ms Pritchard giving evidence to MPs earlier this month. Pic: PA
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Ms Pritchard giving evidence to MPs in the House of Commons earlier this month. Pic: PA

MPs on the health and social care committee earlier this month said they were disappointed and frustrated by the “lengthy and diffuse answers” Ms Pritchard and other officials gave them under questioning.

Last week, she admitted “we’re not all brilliant performers at committee hearings” as she was challenged on the issue on BBC Breakfast.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Ms Pritchard could be “enormously proud” of her tenure.

He said: “Amanda can be enormously proud of the leadership she has given in the face of the biggest health emergency for our country in modern history, as well as steering NHS England during turbulent political waters and six secretaries of state in her time as chief executive.

“She has led with integrity and unwavering commitment.”

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NHS England said that having discussed everything with Mr Streeting in recent months – and now that the NHS has “turned a corner on recovery from the pandemic and the foundations are in place to make the necessary changes to the centre to best support the wider NHS” – Ms Pritchard had “decided now is the right time to stand down”.

Sir James Mackey will take over as “transition” chief executive from the first of April on a secondment basis, it said.

He is the chief executive of Newcastle Hospitals Foundation Trust and national director of elective recovery.

Ms Pritchard, who is married with three children and studied modern history at St Anne’s College, Oxford, was also deputy chief executive at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust.

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