Police arrest three people outside insurer of Israeli arms maker Elbit, including Thunberg for holding placard.
British police have arrested Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and two other people at a pro-Palestine protest in central London, according to campaign group Defend Our Juries.
The group said Thunberg was arrested on Tuesday at the Prisoners for Palestine protest held in the heart of London’s Square Mile financial district outside the offices of Aspen Insurance, which provides coverage for Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems.
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The group said Thunberg had arrived after the protest began, and it shared video footage of the activist holding a sign reading, “I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide.” Thunberg has called Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide and has twice joined flotilla campaigns to try to break Israel’s siege of Gaza.
The City of London Police, which polices the financial district, confirmed that a 22-year-old woman, a description corresponding to Thunberg, was arrested for displaying a placard “in support of a proscribed organisation (in this case Palestine Action) contrary to Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000”.
This is the latest protest in solidarity with activists from the Palestine Action group, six of whom are currently on hunger strike in British prisons with two now hospitalised. The direct action group has been proscribed as a “terrorist organisation” by the United Kingdom’s government.
Defend Our Juries said Tuesday’s protest was held to draw attention to Aspen Insurance’s “complicity in genocide” and to express solidarity with prisoners affiliated with Palestine Action.
Thunberg is seen after her arrest for holding a placard expressing support for Palestinian Action prisoners and condemnation of Israel’s genocide [Handout/Defend Our Juries]
Two others, a man and a woman, were also arrested at the protest although they had “glued themselves nearby”, according to the City of London Police, which described damage with “hammers and red paint” to “a building on Fenchurch Street”, where the offices of Aspen Insurance are located.
Defend Our Juries confirmed the damage, saying in a news release that two activists “covered the front of the building with symbolic blood-red paint, using re-purposed fire extinguishers” before attaching themselves to the front of the building in the aim of “drawing attention to Aspen’s complicity in Genocide, disrupting their business, and closing down the building”.
The group said Aspen Insurance, a global insurer and reinsurer, was targeted because of its affiliation with Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, which is Israel’s largest arms producer. It describes its drones as “the backbone” of the Israeli military.
Palestine Action protesters had targeted one of the UK subsidiary’s operations in Bristol last year. Among their five key demands, the group’s hunger strikers want the manufacturer, which has several UK factories, to be shut down.
Defend Our Juries said in its news release that Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister David Lammy has “refused to speak to legal representatives of the hunger-strikers, or their families”.
A few days earlier, Thunberg had voiced solidarity with the hunger strikers on Instagram, saying: “It is up to the state to intervene, and put an end to this by meeting these reasonable demands that pave the way for the freedom of all those who choose to use their rights trying to stop a genocide, something the British state has failed to do themselves.”
A Palestine Action spokesperson said in relation to her arrest that it was not clear whether police had “made another one of their mistakes in interpreting the crazy ban on Palestine Action” or whether they had “turned anyone expressing support for prisoners locked up beyond the legal time limit for taking action to stop a genocide into alleged terrorists”.
A different type of British invasion had EDM fans in a trance at the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
Armed with turntables, social media-star-turned-professional-party-starter Fish56Octagon made his U.S. festival debut Nov. 21 and 22 at Insomniac’s Dreamstate SoCal, where he performed alongside some of the world’s most preeminent electronic artists, including Tiësto, Paul Oakenfold, Gareth Emery, Ferry Corsten and Chicane.
Fish, as he’s called, is a 46-year-old from the London suburbs who joined TikTok on a drunken whim after being introduced to the app by friends in 2021. Now boasting over a million followers across platforms, he’s seen his life flip because of that choice — quitting a full-time marketing career to become a DJ, produce music and play sets at some of the world’s biggest music festivals in the four years since he uploaded his first video.
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Though his initial post was about his watch collection, the self-described “petrol head” quickly went deep into creating content about cars and made a successful side hustle within a couple years. Crossover between auto enthusiasts and the music lovers in his audience meant the dance songs he used to soundtrack his car videos and sporadic vinyl-haul unboxings spawned passionate discussion in the comments about the classic rave songs Fish was sharing with the world.
He also benefited from an accidental, scroll-stopping visual hook repeated across videos born from his employer asking him to ensure it didn’t look like he was posting during business hours: middle-aged, thin and bald, dropping dad moves in front of his sprawling Technics decks and pumping his fists to the beat between bites of Weetabix biscuits, all while wearing a red and black dressing gown (what Americans would call a robe), gifted to Fish’s wife by his mother.
Screen shot of Fish DJing on TikTok in his bathrobe
(TikTok)
“That gown is elegant,” wrote a fan in the comments.
“It was legit my mum’s but she found it too hot,” Fish responded.
“You the same build as your mum” another person wrote back, punctuating the comment with a sweating smiley face emoji.
Fish also began to livestream on TikTok late into the night, playing his own mixes for the first time in 20 years.
“I remember seeing people commenting on the Live going, ‘Mate, we were watching you before we went out. We’ve just gone on a whole night out in our city, come back and you’re still here playing,’” Fish said. “I just love it. Sharing and being able to get out those obscure records. Sometimes it’s the big anthems everyone knows and sometimes it’s a tune that was an anthem to me.”
He’s had a decades-long education in electronic music. Fish was introduced to the genre on the cusp of his teen years through an episode of the British detective show “Inspector Morse.” One episode took place in the illegal rave scene and he thought it looked like fun to party in an old warehouse.
Fish’s taste quickly developed by listening to pirate radio and vinyl. He pieced together his first setup with two hi-fi record players his dad had in the attic. Only one had pitch control. He learned to beatmatch by plugging a player into each side of his amplifier and using the balance knob to fade between them. He was given Soundlab DLP-1 belt-driven turntables for his birthday and his obsession accelerated over the next several years.
Fish56Octagon performing at the Dreamstate music festival in Long Beach.
(Niyaz Pirani)
“By then I was just spending every penny that I had on vinyl building my record collection up. It was all rave music, early old school, hardcore jungle, and then happy hardcore, drum and bass around that sort of time, early to mid-’90s,” he said. “I played quite a few house parties.”
He became a de-facto resident DJ in college, spinning vinyl in the student union, and dabbled in music production at the same time. He eventually sold his analog kit and synthesizers when he switched to Ableton. He downsized his record collection as he converted them to MP3s.
The demands of his post-college marketing career meant the DJ dream disappeared for many years. That was until his TikTok Live sets gave him a second chance as club promoters reached out in the hope of booking him. Fish admits a lack of confidence caused him to stay on the sidelines. It was an offer in February 2024 to play a solo show at Hidden in Manchester — about the same time he switched his channel over entirely to music — that got him out of his house and onto a stage.
“Even if I wasn’t sure that people would come, I knew that anyone that did come would be coming to see me,” he said. “ … I ended up putting a night on where I played for five hours straight, just me from the start to the end. When the tickets went on sale, it sold out a good couple of months before the event.”
Fish wondered if it was a one-off event or the beginning of a life-changing run. Then the offers came in from other big U.K. cities — FishTales in Newcastle; acid techno at Beaverworks in Leeds; raves in Liverpool and Birmingham. He hired an agent. Dropped some merch.
“Not sure how this happened! But I’m here for it and hope you are too,” he wrote online.
A 20-date summer tour featured three different sets at the famed Glastonbury Festival, and appearances at Reading and Creamfields. He also traveled to Ireland, Scotland and Malta, marking his first time playing professionally outside of England.
He quit his day job in August 2024 to DJ and focus on music production full time with the support of his wife, children and parents.
“They support me even though it comes at a cost that I can’t always spend as much time with them, but they understand that I’m following my dream, following my passion, and doing something positive,” he said.
He’s gained an appreciation as a historian of the genre. Fish’s followers have grown to include Skrillex, David Guetta, Disclosure, Bicep and more of the artists he has admired and now counts among his peers.
“For about the first year, I often would wake up in the morning — I’m gonna get a little bit emotional just talking about this — but I’d wake up in the morning and just think, ‘Wow, that was all a dream, wasn’t it?” he said. “Then I look at my phone. I can see that actually it was real.”
Fish attributes his success to social media, though he said it’s a mistake to think just having social media followers guarantees bookings and the upward trajectory of one’s career.
“They’re actually a function of each other. It’s because I was making content that proved to be popular about music that I managed to build up a following and have those opportunities come my way,” he said. “I’ve now played, getting on for, 200 professional gigs at various clubs, festivals, events, raves, all around the world.”
Fish waited until November 2025 to make his first trek to North America with an 11-date run featuring his first U.S. festival booking. He chose Dreamstate because he’s always had a special place in his heart for trance and the emotional connection people have with the music.
“I love all dance music, but trance is the one that can kind of tug at your heartstrings a bit with those melodies, and the chord progression, and the way that the beats can be so crisp when they come in, and the way the bass hits,” he said.
Fish performed Friday night on “The Vision.” It’s the same stage played by legends Chicane and Paul Oakenfold this year and Darude last. He also co-headlined an hour-long B2B with Night 1 Dreamstate headliner Gareth Emery early Sunday morning, as the top-billed act for the festival’s afterparty in the Grand Salon of the iconic Queen Mary.
He made his way to LAX after stepping off stage at 3 a.m. to fly to New York and play the last three hours of a 24-hour rave.
Chicane and Fish56Octagon run into each other in the lobby of the Long Beach Hilton after playing the same stage Night 1 of Dreamstate.
(Niyaz Pirani)
Fish has tour dates in New Zealand and Australia toward the end of the year, plus the largest show of his career March 28 at London’s O2 Academy Brixton. He’s also releasing music for himself and others under his record label Octagon Discs.
As his audience multiplies, Fish’s earliest followers remain enthralled by his seemingly infinite rise.
“How did the dude who recommends second-hand cars get to this. So happy for you dude,” one fan wrote in the comments of his Dreamstate recap video post.
“Music was my number 1 passion but i thought I was too old. Thanks for the support bro,” Fish replied.
“Amazing,” another chimed in. “But I would not recognize u in the wild without the bathrobe.”
Otherwise Costa Rica (15 per cent), Nashville (13 per cent) and Antigua (8 per cent) are on the up too.
The most popular search destinations are some of the more well-known destinations, set to remain big in 2026:
New York
Orlando
Dubai
Maldives
Barbados
Las Vegas
Cancun
St Lucia
Dominican Republic
Antigua
Along with destinations, they also looked at some of the trend when it comes to what kinds of holidays people are booking.
This includes Stream Parks (theme parks combining physical attractions with AR) and Neurosurfing (more wellness based holidays).
Andrew Flintham, Managing Director of British Airways Holidays, said: “I always look forward to what our annual Travel Trends Report will reveal.
Crete was the only European destination that has jumped massively in searchesCredit: Alamy
“It’s clear the prevailing interest in wellness culture is continuing to impact the way we holiday, with many of our trends leaning into this overarching movement.
“I wasn’t too surprised to learn of The Valueverse, and the ever-increasing demand for new ways to collect and spend points. We’re excited to make these trends a reality for our customers.”
Globetrender founder Jenny Southan added: “In a world shaped by economic pressure, digital saturation and rising social fragmentation, holidays are becoming spaces of transformation – opportunities for people to test new identities, restore mental balance and discover forms of joy that everyday routines suppress.
“This shift marks a profound redefinition of what a holiday is for: not just escape, but expansion.
“The findings in this report show a British traveller who is more experimental.”
Epstein took dozens more flights to the UK than were previously known
Almost 90 flights linked to Jeffrey Epstein arrived at and departed from UK airports, some with British women on board who say they were abused by the billionaire, a BBC investigation has found.
We have established that three British women who were allegedly trafficked appear in Epstein’s records of flights in and out of the UK and other documents related to the convicted sex offender.
US lawyers representing hundreds of Epstein victims told the BBC it was “shocking” that there has never been a “full-scale UK investigation” into his activities on the other side of the Atlantic.
The UK was one of the “centrepieces” of Epstein’s operations, one said.
Testimony from one of these British victims helped convict Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell of child sex-trafficking in the US in 2021. But the victim has never been contacted by UK police, her Florida-based lawyer Brad Edwards told the BBC.
The woman, given the name Kate in the trial, was listed as having been on more than 10 flights paid for by Epstein in and out of the UK between 1999 and 2006.
The BBC is not publishing further details about the women in the documents because of the risk this might identify them.
US lawyer Sigrid McCawley said the British authorities have “not taken a closer look at those flights, at where he was at, who he was seeing at those moments, and who was with him on those planes, and conducted a full investigation”.
US Attorney’s Office SDNY
More information has emerged about Epstein, pictured here with Maxwell, and his UK links
Under the Jeffrey Epstein Transparency Act, the deadline to release all US government files on the sex-offender financier is Friday.
But the flight logs were among thousands of documents from court cases and Epstein’s estate which have been already made public over the past year, revealing more about his time in the UK, such as trips to royal residences.
The BBC examined these documents as part of an investigation trying to piece together Epstein’s activities in the UK.
It revealed that:
The incomplete flight logs and manifests record 87 flights linked to Epstein – dozens more than were previously known – arriving or departing from UK airports between the early 1990s and 2018
Unidentified “females” were listed among the passengers travelling into and out of the UK in the logs
Fifteen of the UK flights took place after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a minor, which should have raised questions from immigration officials
Although Epstein died in jail in 2019, before his trial on charges of trafficking minors for sex, legal experts have told the BBC a UK investigation could reveal whether British-based people enabled his crimes.
Two months ago the BBC sent the Metropolitan Police, which has previously examined allegations about Epstein’s activities in Britain, publicly available information about the UK flights with suspected trafficking victims on board.
Later, we sent the Met a detailed list of questions about whether it would investigate evidence of possible British victims of Epstein trafficked in and out of the UK.
The Met did not respond to our questions. On Saturday, it released a broader statement saying that it had “not received any additional evidence that would support reopening the investigation” into Epstein and Maxwell’s trafficking activities in the UK.
“Should new and relevant information be brought to our attention”, including any resulting from the release of material in the US, “we will assess it”, the Met said.
Sigrid McCawley, who represents hundreds of Epstein victims, criticised the Met for declining to investigate
US lawyer Brad Edwards, who has been representing Epstein victims since 2008, told us “three or four” of his clients are British women “who were abused on British soil both by Jeffrey Epstein and others”.
Other victims were recruited in the UK, trafficked to the United States and abused there, he said.
Mr Edwards said he is also representing women of other nationalities who say they were trafficked to the UK for abuse by Epstein and others.
Our analysis shows Epstein used commercial and chartered flights, as well as his private planes, to travel to the UK and to arrange transport for others, including alleged trafficking victims.
More than 50 of the flights involved his private jets, mostly flying to and from Luton Airport, with several flights at Birmingham International Airport, and one arrival and departure each at RAF Marham in west Norfolk and at Edinburgh Airport.
Limited records of commercial and chartered flights taken by Epstein, or paid for by him, show dozens more journeys, mainly via London Heathrow, but also Stansted and Gatwick.
In a number of the logs of Epstein’s private planes, including some detailing trips to the UK, women on the flight are identified only as unnamed “females”.
“He’s absolutely choosing airports where he feels it will be easier for him to get in and out with victims that he’s trafficking,” said Ms McCawley.
Private aircraft did not have to provide passenger details to UK authorities before departure in the same way as commercial aircraft during the period covered by the documents we examined. The Home Office told us they were “not subject to the same centralised record-keeping”.
That loophole was only closed in April last year.
Kate, the British woman who testified against Maxwell, was on some of the commercial flights in the records we examined. She described in court that she had been 17 when Maxwell befriended her and introduced her to Epstein – who then sexually abused her at Maxwell’s central London home.
In the 2021 trial, she described how Maxwell gave her a schoolgirl outfit to wear and asked her to find other girls for Epstein. As well as the dozen flights to and from the UK, Kate told the court she had been flown to Epstein’s island in the US Virgin Islands, New York and Palm Beach in Florida, where she says the abuse continued into her 30s.
Reuters
Kate, pictured on the right with her face blurred, testified at Maxwell’s trial
Mr Edwards, her lawyer, told BBC News that even after that testimony, Kate has “never been asked” by any UK authorities any questions about her experience – “not even a phone call”.
He said that if British police were to launch an investigation into Epstein’s activities and his enablers, Kate would be happy to help.
Prof Bridgette Carr, a human-trafficking expert at the University of Michigan Law School, said trafficking cases usually require many people working together.
“It’s never just one bad person,” she said. “You don’t think about the accountant and the lawyer and the banker – or all the bankers – and all these people that had to implicitly, and sometimes explicitly, be OK with what was happening for it to continue.”
There are also questions about how Epstein was able to travel freely to the UK after his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for sex, which meant he had to register as a sex offender in Florida, New York and the US Virgin Islands.
Epstein was released from prison in 2009 after serving 13 months. Documents suggest Epstein took a Virgin Atlantic flight from the US to London Heathrow in September 2010, just two months after he completed his probation on house arrest.
Home Office rules at the time said foreign nationals who received a prison sentence of 12 months or more should, in most cases, have been refused entry.
But immigration lawyer Miglena Ilieva, managing partner at ILEX Law Group, told us that US citizens did not usually require a UK visa for short stays, so there was no application process where they would be asked about criminal convictions.
“It was very much at the discretion of the individual immigration officer who would receive this person at the border,” she said.
The Home Office said it does not hold immigration and visa records beyond 10 years and added “it is longstanding government policy that we do not routinely comment on individual cases”.
During the 1980s, Epstein also used a foreign passport – issued in Austria with his picture and a false name – to enter the UK as well as France, Spain and Saudi Arabia, according to US authorities.
Epstein also listed London as his place of residence in 1985, when he applied for a replacement passport, ABC News has previously reported.
Brad Edwards says his British client Kate has never been contacted by UK police
In its statement on Saturday, the Met said it had contacted “several other potential victims” when it examined 2015 allegations by Virginia Giuffre that she had been trafficked for sexual exploitation by Epstein and Maxwell.
Ms Giuffre also said she was forced to have sex with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on three occasions, including when she was 17 at Maxwell’s home in London, in 2001. The former prince has consistently denied the allegations against him.
The Met said its examination of Ms Giuffre’s claims “did not result in any allegation of criminal conduct against any UK-based nationals” and it concluded that “other international authorities were best placed to progress these allegations”.
That decision was reviewed in August 2019 and again in 2021 and 2022 with the same result, it said.
But for lawyer Sigrid McCawley, the message the Met is sending to victims is “that if you come to law enforcement and this is a powerful person you’re reporting on… it will not get investigated.”
A British backpacker who struck and killed a man while riding an e-scooter drunk has been jailed for four years in Australia.
Alicia Kemp, 25 – from Redditch, Worcestershire – was driving at speeds of 20 to 25km/h (12 to 15mph) when she hit 51-year-old Thanh Phan from behind on a Perth sidewalk in May.
She had been drinking with a friend all afternoon, the court heard, and had an alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.
Phan, a father-of-two, hit his head on the pavement and died in hospital from a brain bleed two days later.
A friend of Kemp, who was a passenger on the scooter, was also hurt in the crash – sustaining a fractured skull and broken nose – but her injuries were not life-threatening.
Kemp, who was in Australia on a working holiday visa, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in the Perth Magistrates Court in August.
Her sentence will be backdated to 1 June, and she’ll be eligible for parole after serving two years of her sentence. Her driver’s licence was also disqualified for two years.
British Ice Skating announced the move which follows the lead of national federations in Canada and Finland.
Canada was the first country to allow same-sex pairs to compete in 2022.
British pairs will not be able to compete internationally, however, as International Skating Union (ISU) rules stipulate pair and dance teams must comprise one man and one woman.
“This change reflects our ongoing commitment to making ice skating inclusive and accessible for all,” British Ice Skating said.
Retired female Olympic ice dance champions Madison Hubbell of the United States and Gabriella Papadakis of France have skated together in exhibitions.
A member of the UK armed forces who died in Ukraine has been named as Lance Corporal George Hooley of the Parachute Regiment.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence said the 28-year-old was killed in a “tragic accident” while observing Ukrainian forces test “a new defensive capability, away from the front lines”.
Paying tribute to the paratrooper in the Commons on Wednesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “His life was full of courage and determination.
“He served our country with honour and distinction around the world in the cause of freedom and democracy, including as part of the small number of British personnel in Ukraine.”
Sir Keir said he had placed L/Cpl Hooley’s name on record in the Commons “to express our gratitude and respect, and to affirm that his service will never be forgotten”.
Defence Secretary John Healey shared his condolences with L/Cpl Hooley’s family and colleagues.
He wrote on X: “He served our country with distinction. His tragic death reminds us of the courage and commitment with which our outstanding armed forces serve every day.”
The BBC understands the incident is not thought to have been caused by hostile fire.
A military source told the BBC two Ukrainian personnel were believed to have died in the incident, and several more were injured.
The weapons system being tested was said to be an armed interceptor drone, according to unconfirmed reports.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence has been approached for comment.
It is not known what L/Cpl Hooley’s role wasin the country. This is the first time the presence of paratroopers in Ukraine has been confirmed.
The UK government has never disclosed the number of service people in Ukraine, but has previously acknowledged a small number is there to support Ukrainian armed forces and provide security to diplomatic personnel.
The Parachute Regiment is an airborne infantry regiment of the British Army.
It has not been confirmed in which battalion L/Cpl Hooley served.The first battalion is under the direction of special forces, while others are part of the Army’s rapid response formation.
It is the first death of a UK service member in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The Parachute Regiment said it was mourning the death of the 28-year-old, who joined the British Army in November 2015.
He joined the Regiment in June 2016 after completing his training at the Infantry Training Centre Catterick in North Yorkshire, it said in a statement on social media.
Sir Keir told the Commons he had met Ukraine’s President Zelensky in Downing Street on Monday, alongside France’s President Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as efforts to negotiate an end to the war intensify.
“We must redouble our efforts,” he told the House.
“The UK, Europe and our allies will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine, stand up to Putin’s aggression and work to deliver a just and lasting peace.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, also speaking in the Commons, said: “The thoughts of the whole House will rightly be with family of Lance Corporal Hooley, who tragically died supporting Ukraine in her fight for freedom.”
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who welcomed Healey to Washington DC for defence talks on Wednesday, also paid tribute to L/Cpl Hooley, saying: “It is a reflection of the sacrifice and commitment that so many make around the world.”
A series of meetings to bring the war to an end have taken place in recent weeks, following interventions from US President Donald Trump and a range of European leaders.
