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No phones or other devices, strict reporting rules, bombed-out buildings, and a drone threat – Beth Rigby shares what it’s like to join the prime minister Sir Keir Starmer in Ukraine.

Sky News’s political editor said “the whole experience was absolutely fascinating” on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, but added the nature of Sir Keir‘s visit to the war-ravaged country meant the government “had to keep it very tight”.

“If it became known more widely than a very, very tight group of people that he was going to make the trip, the trip gets pulled for security reasons.”

Reporting from Ukraine, Sky News joined the prime minister as he signed a 100-year “friendship” deal to guarantee Britain’s support for Kyiv.

👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈

Sky cameras filmed Sir Keir laying a wreath with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after a Russian drone was shot down over the presidential palace while they held meetings.

In an interview, the prime minister told Ms Rigby that the UK would play its “full part” in peacekeeping in Ukraine and that the drone threat was “a reminder of what Ukraine is facing every day”.

More on Ukraine

The prime minister’s first stop while in Ukraine was at a hospital, where he and reporters saw a major burns unit up close.

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Watch Beth Rigby’s full interview with the PM here

Ms Rigby said: “There was an ICU you could go in… There were two gentlemen, two guys, and they were having physio treatment, and they were very happy to be filmed, and they… talked to the prime minister about their experiences and… their skin was just covered in burns, scars.

“After, I did the pool clip with him [Sir Keir], and I was like, ‘how was it?’ He just said, ‘it’s really hard to see this.’

“It really hammers home what it is, and I think he kept referring to the hospital throughout every visit of the day.”

Sir Keir Starmer meets with a Ukrainian man who suffered burns

Speaking to Labour peer Harriet Harman and former Scottish Conservatives leader Baroness Davidson on the podcast, Ms Rigby said that in order to make the trip, “we had to give in all our devices” as “for security reasons, you can’t take your devices into Ukraine”.

While riding trains across the country, she said “you get some basic food, and you get a little bunk”. Strict reporting rules also apply, so Sky could not report on Sir Keir’s whereabouts “until after he’s left”.

“We went to a hospital, and I can’t tell you what hospital it was, but we weren’t allowed to report that until the prime minister left the location,” she said.

“So, it just gives you a sense of the amount of security around these visits.”

Beth Rigby interviewing Sir Keir Starmer in Kyiv

During a visit to a drone manufacturer, Ms Rigby added that Ukrainians “brought the drones from where they’re actually manufactured” but did not allow cameras into the site.

“They placed them in a hall, which they made to look like an underground car park, right? You weren’t allowed to film outside. You couldn’t film the steps,” she said.

“You couldn’t film anything that might allow anyone to understand where the location might have been… This is the extent to which they try and disguise the movement and what they’re doing.”

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Ms Rigby then said she and others were taken on “a little tour where 100 yards or so down from where Zelenskyy’s offices in the centre of Ukraine is a bombed-out car and a building that has been bombed, and the top floor is destroyed”.

“That happened on 1 January,” she said. “And the reason that they are showing him that is to reiterate to all of us that… Russia is not completely destroying the centre of Kyiv, but the threat is ever-present.”

The prime minister is now in Poland, where he will kickstart talks on a new security pact to protect the UK’s national security.

During his visit, Sir Keir will also meet Polish businesses, including the firm InPost which has announced it will invest a further £600m into the UK in the next five years to grow its operations.

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UK health officials push back on US president’s claim paracetamol is linked to autism

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UK health officials push back on US president's claim paracetamol is linked to autism

UK health experts and officials have pushed back on Donald Trump’s claim that paracetamol is linked to autism, saying there is “no evidence” for it.

The US president said on Monday that there had been a “meteoric rise” in cases of autism and suggested that the use of Tylenol – an American-branded version of paracetamol – during pregnancy is a potential cause.

His claims have been widely corrected by officials, including Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who said that “I trust doctors over President Trump, frankly, on this”.

Read more: What is autism?

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Trump links autism with paracetamol

Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, Mr Streeting said: “I’ve just got to be really clear about this: there is no evidence to link the use of paracetamol by pregnant women to autism in their children. None.”

The health secretary then referenced a major study in Sweden last year that involved 2.4 million children, adding it “did not uphold those claims”.

He added: “I would just say to people watching, don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine.

“In fact, don’t take even take my word for it, as a politician – listen to British doctors, British scientists, the NHS.”

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Trump’s ‘not so careful’ autism claims

WHO says links ‘inconsistent’

Patient safety minister Dr Zubir Ahmed MP echoed this on social media, saying: “For the avoidance of any doubt, Paracetamol remains the safest painkiller to take during pregnancy.”

Dr Alison Cave, chief safety officer at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, also said that “there is no evidence that taking paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children”.

She added that paracetamol “remains the recommended pain relief option for pregnant women when used as directed,” and that the MHRA’s advice “is based on rigorous assessment of the best available scientific evidence”.

The British officials were supported by the European Medicines Agency, which said there was no new evidence that would mean its recommendations for the use of paracetamol during pregnancy would change.

Tarik Jasarevic, a World Health Organisation spokesperson, added at a press briefing that the links between the use of the drug and autism “remains inconsistent”.

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Paracetamol & autism: Evidence examined

Trump: Tylenol ‘not good’ for pregnant women

During a press conference with US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, Mr Trump urged pregnant women to stop taking Tylenol.

After saying that Mr Kennedy Jr “wants to be very careful with what he says,” the US president added: “Taking Tylenol is not good. All right. I’ll say it. It’s not good.

“For this reason, they are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary. That’s, for instance, in cases of extremely high fever, that you feel you can’t tough it out. You can’t do it. I guess there’s that.”

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Mr Trump then said key vaccinations for newborn babies should be delayed, that combined measles, mumps and rubella jabs should be given separately, and suggested that they are linked to autism.

“They pump so much stuff into those beautiful little babies, it’s a disgrace,” he added. “I don’t see it. I think it’s very bad.”

Mr Jasarevic pushed strongly back on that claim, saying: “We know that vaccines do not cause autism. Vaccines, as I
said, save countless lives.

“So this is something that science has proven, and these things should not be really questioned.”

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Kazakhstan launches Evo stablecoin with Solana and Mastercard

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Kazakhstan launches Evo stablecoin with Solana and Mastercard

Kazakhstan launches Evo stablecoin with Solana and Mastercard

The new Solana-based Evo stablecoin pegged to Kazakhstan’s national currency, the tenge, aims to bridge the crypto market with traditional finance.

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JPMorgan CEO: Fed cuts not assured, stablecoins no threat to banks

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JPMorgan CEO: Fed cuts not assured, stablecoins no threat to banks

JPMorgan CEO: Fed cuts not assured, stablecoins no threat to banks

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says the Federal Reserve won’t cut rates until inflation cools, and adds he is “not particularly worried” about stablecoins.

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