Thousands of desperate Palestinians stormed a UN World Food Programme warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, taking bags of flour after nearly three months of an Israeli blockade. The WFP said initial reports indicated that two people had died and several more were injured in the incident.
Published On 28 May 202528 May 2025
After a long fight against leukaemia, three-year-old Ali Asaf Demir is now cancer-free. Thousands of people in Istanbul heeded his father’s call on social media to gather to release balloons in celebration of his return to health.
Published On 26 May 202526 May 2025
WASHINGTON — Asylum seekers under the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy whose cases were closed — many for reasons beyond their control, including kidnappings and court rulings against the government — will now be able to come into the U.S. to pursue asylum claims, the Biden administration said Tuesday.
The administration on Wednesday will begin to allow the first of thousands with closed cases to pursue their asylum claims within the United States, the Department of Homeland Security announced. More than 30,000 migrants could potentially be eligible, according to government data.
“As part of our continued effort to restore safe, orderly, and humane processing at the Southwest Border, DHS will expand the pool” of asylum seekers eligible for processing, the department said in a statement, including those “who had their cases terminated or were ordered removed in absentia.”
Facing a policy riddled with administrative errors and questions of illegality, immigration judges across the United States ruled against the Trump administration, closing thousands of cases the government had brought against asylum seekers sent to Mexico to await U.S. hearings.
But when President Biden took office and began winding down the policy that he sharply criticized, his administration allowed only asylum seekers under Remain in Mexico — formally known as Migrant Protection Protocols — whose immigration cases remained open to enter the United States.
Since February, the Biden administration has permitted entry to some 12,000 asylum seekers with pending Migrant Protection Protocols cases, according to the United Nations refugee agency, the primary organization processing them. At the same time, Biden officials have urged patience from those whose cases were closed, promising a second phase.
Advocates and experts welcomed the move to begin admitting those asylum seekers, but criticized the administration’s slowness on restoring access.
“A delay of that kind would have to be driven by political considerations, not legal or purely administrative ones,” said Austin Kocher, an assistant professor at Syracuse University. “It flags a larger question: Is the Biden administration serious about following its national and international obligations to asylum law?”
For many asylum seekers, it is too late. From January 2019, when the Trump administration first implemented the policy in Southern California, to when Biden froze the program on his first day in office, roughly 70,000 migrants were sent by U.S. officials to wait in some of the world’s most dangerous cities just south of the border.
More than 1,500 of them suffered rape, kidnapping and assault, according to Human Rights First. And those numbers have continued to rise during Biden’s presidency, through a combination of policies that have left tens of thousands stuck on the southern side of the border.
An untold number missed their hearings while abducted, several were killed, and hundreds more made the wrenching decision to send their children across the border alone, believing they’d have a better chance of being allowed to stay under U.S. policies to protect unaccompanied minors. Thousands have given up, according to estimates from officials and advocates.
“Why it’s taken so long is obviously of concern, because those people who are still in Mexico are still suffering and in dangerous situations,” said Judy Rabinovitz of the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued then-President Trump over the policy.
Biden administration officials have acknowledged this grim toll, even as they continue to send asylum seekers — some with Migrant Protection Protocols cases — to Mexico again, invoking a Trump-era coronavirus policy. Citing Title 42, an obscure 1944 public health law, border officials have summarily expelled more than 850,000 migrants, including asylum seekers, this time without a court date or due process.
“Having Title 42 still in place at the same time that the administration is claiming to try and fix cases in Remain in Mexico presents the administration with a fundamental contradiction between what they claim to be doing and the way that border control is actually working on the ground,” said Kocher.
Biden froze Migrant Protection Protocols on his first day in office, though it had already largely been supplanted by Trump’s coronavirus expulsions policy. But the Biden administration did not formally end Remain in Mexico until June 1.
In the memo ending the policy, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said it had further strained department resources and added to a record backlog in immigration court proceedings.
More than 25% of those subjected to the policy were apprehended by border officials when they attempted to enter again, Mayorkas said, and roughly 44% of cases were completed by judges’ orders to remove asylum seekers who missed their hearings.
That raised questions about whether the program provided them “adequate opportunity” to appear, he said, “and whether conditions faced by some MPP enrollees in Mexico, including the lack of stable access to housing, income, and safety, resulted in the abandonment of potentially meritorious protection claims.”
Still, the current chaos at the border — with thousands of migrants remaining stuck in northern Mexico and monthly border-crossing numbers still among their highest in years — stems in part from confusion over the administration’s continued pledges to undo Trump’s policies, while its promised asylum overhaul has yet to materialize.
Advocates argue that migrants subjected to Migrant Protection Protocols who received final decisions from immigration judges denying their asylum claims also deserve to be given another opportunity to seek asylum in accordance with U.S. law.
On Tuesday, the Homeland Security Department statement reiterated that others who may be eligible to enter in the future “should stay where they are currently located and register online” through a system administered by the United Nations.
Trump administration officials explicitly stated that the goal of the policy was to make it as difficult as possible to seek asylum and as a deterrent to others.
“This is what they wanted, and this is what they got: People couldn’t get asylum,” Rabinovitz said of Trump administration officials. Now with Biden in the White House, she continued, “we’re saying no — in order to unwind it, you need to give people a new opportunity to apply for asylum, free of that taint.”
U.S. border officials frequently committed errors while administering the Remain in Mexico policy, The Times found. That included serving asylum seekers paperwork in languages they did not speak, or writing the phrase “domicilio conocido” — “known address” — or simply “Tijuana” — a Mexican border city of some 2 million people — on their paperwork, instead of a legally required address. That made it nearly impossible for applicants to be notified of changes to their cases or court dates.
These missteps by U.S. border officials also fueled federal judges’ rulings against the policy.
In one ruling, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge said Homeland Security’s procedures for implementing the policy were “so ill-suited to achieving that stated goal as to render them arbitrary and capricious.”
But the Supreme Court never ultimately ruled on the legality of Migrant Protection Protocols. In early February, the Biden administration asked the nation’s highest court to cancel arguments on the policy. Opponents in several states sued, arguing that the Biden administration cannot end it.
On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected that effort, ordering: “The motion to intervene is dismissed as moot.”
MINNEAPOLIS — Police reform and civil rights activists joined thousands of other people Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s murder at religious services, concerts and vigils nationwide and decry the Trump administration for setting their efforts back decades.
The Rev. Al Sharpton said at a Houston graveside service that Floyd represented all of those “who are defenseless against people who thought they could put their knee on our neck.”
He compared Floyd’s killing to that of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy who was abducted and lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman.
“What Emmett Till was in his time, George Floyd has been for this time in history,” Sharpton said.
In a park about 2 miles away from Floyd’s grave site, a memorial service was set to take place, followed by five hours of music, preaching, poetry readings and a balloon release.
Events started Friday in Minneapolis with concerts, a street festival and a “self-care fair,” and were to culminate with a worship service, gospel music concert and candlelight vigil on Sunday.
The remembrances come at a fraught moment for activists, who had hoped the worldwide protests that followed Floyd’s murder by police on May 25, 2020, would lead to lasting police reform across the U.S. and a continued focus on racial justice issues.
Events in Minneapolis center around George Floyd Square, the intersection where Police Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin Floyd’s neck to the pavement for about 9½ minutes, even as the 46-year-old Black man’s cried, “I can’t breathe.” Even with Minneapolis officials’ promises to remake the Police Department, some activists contend that the progress has come at a glacial pace.
“We understand that change takes time,” Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, said in a statement last week. “However, the progress being claimed by the city is not being felt in the streets.”
The Trump administration moved Wednesday to cancel settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville that called for an overhaul of their police departments following Floyd’s murder and the police killing of Breonna Taylor. Under former President Biden, the U.S. Justice Department had pushed for oversight of local police it had accused of widespread abuses.
President Trump has also declared an end to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government, and his administration is using federal funds as leverage to force local governments, universities and public school districts to do the same. Republican-led states also have accelerated their efforts to stamp out DEI initiatives.
Vancleave and Lafleur write for the Associated Press and reported from Minneapolis and Houston, respectively.
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Warsaw to show support for the opposing candidates in next weekend’s tightly contested Polish presidential run-off, which the government views as crucial to its efforts for pro-European democratic reform.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk hopes to galvanise support for his candidate, liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, to replace outgoing Andrzej Duda, a nationalist who has vetoed many of Tusk’s efforts to reform the judiciary.
“All of Poland is looking at us. All of Europe is looking at us. The whole world is looking at us,” Trzaskowski told supporters who waved Polish and European Union flags on Sunday.
Tusk swept to power in 2023 with a broad alliance of leftist and centrist parties on a promise to undo changes made by the nationalist Law and Justice government that the EU said had undermined democracy and women’s and minority rights.
Trzaskowski beat nationalist opponent Karol Nawrocki by 2 percentage points in the first round of the election on May 18 but is struggling to sustain his lead, according to opinion polls.
The two candidates are locked in a tight contest before the June 1 run-off with the latest polls projecting a tie of 47 percent of the vote each.
Nawrocki’s voters – some wearing hats with the words “Poland is the most important,” a nod to United States President Donald Trump’s America First policies – gathered in a different part of the capital to show support for his drive to align Poland more closely with Trump and the region’s populists.
“I am the voice of all those whose cries do not reach Donald Tusk today. The voice of all those who do not want Polish schools to be places of ideology, our Polish agriculture to be destroyed or our freedom taken away,” Nawrocki told the crowd.
Some of his supporters carried banners with slogans such as “Stop Migration Pact” and “This is Poland” or displayed images of Trump.
“He is the best candidate, the most patriotic, one who can guarantee that Poland is independent and sovereign,” Jan Sulanowski, 42, said.
An estimated 50,000 people attended the gathering of Nawrocki’s supporters while about 140,000 people participated in the march supporting Trzaskowski, the Polish Press Agency reported, citing unofficial preliminary estimates from city authorities.
Jakub Kaszycki, 21, joined the pro-Trzaskowski march, saying it could determine Poland’s future direction. “I very much favour … the West’s way to Europe, not to Russia,” he said.
At Trzaskowski’s march, newly elected Romanian President Nicusor Dan pledged to work closely with Tusk and Trzaskowski “to ensure Poland and the European Union remain strong”.
Dan’s unexpected victory in a vote on May 18 over a hard-right Trump supporter was greeted with relief in Brussels and other parts of Europe because many were concerned that his rival George Simion would have complicated EU efforts to tackle Russia’s war in Ukraine.
THOUSANDS of struggling households are eligible for free cash worth £100 to cover the cost of living.
The help comes via the Household Support Fund, a £742million pot of money that has been shared between English councils.
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Local authorities then have to decide how to distribute their share of the fund before March 31, 2026.
Hartlepool Borough Council has been given £1.75million to share between hard-up households.
The local authority is giving £40,000 to Hartlepool Food Bank to distribute food parcels across the borough and £90,000 to Citizens Advice to help residents struggling with their energy bills.
But, it is also distributing £100 food vouchers to all children eligible for free school meals aged between two and 19.
Meanwhile, £100 bank payments or food vouchers will be shared between pensioners on council tax support.
Details on how either of the £100 payments will be distributed are yet to be revealed.
However, if you meet the criteria, you will likely be contacted by Hartlepool Council about when to expect them or any next steps.
We have also contacted Hartlepool Council to find out when families with children on free school meals and eligible pensioners will receive the payments and will update this story when we have heard back.
Councillor Brenda Harrison, leader of Hartlepool Borough Council, said: “We know that a lot of households across the borough are struggling financially, and we hope that these measures will help to bring them some much-needed relief and ease the pressure they are currently under.
“This demonstrates the Council’s on-going commitment and determination to tackle financial hardship and to improve the lives of Hartlepool residents.”
Put simply, yes. However, it will depend on your circumstances and where you live.
The Household Support Fund was set up to help households cover essentials such as energy or water bills and food costs.
But, each council can set its own eligibility criteria meaning whether you qualify for help is a postcode lottery.
That said, funding is aimed at anyone who’s vulnerable or struggling to pay for essentials.
So, if you are financially hard-up or on benefits, it is likely you will be able to get help.
It’s worth bearing in mind, any help you receive via the Household Support Fund won’t affect your benefit payments.
The type of help on offer varies from supermarket vouchers to direct cash payments into your bank account.
Some councils are allocating their share of the fund to community groups and charities who you have to get in touch with.
Sun Savers Editor Lana Clements explains what you need to know about the Household Support Fund.
If you’re battling to afford energy and water bills, food or other essential items and services, the Household Support Fund can act as a vital lifeline.
The financial support is a little-known way for struggling families to get extra help with the cost of living.
Every council in England has been given a share of £742million cash by the government to distribute to local low income households.
Each local authority chooses how to pass on the support. Some offer vouchers whereas others give direct cash payments.
In many instances, the value of support is worth hundreds of pounds to individual families.
Just as the support varies between councils, so does the criteria for qualifying.
Many councils offer the help to households on selected benefits or they may base help on the level of household income.
The key is to get in touch with your local authority to see exactly what support is on offer.
The current round runs until the end of March 2026.
If you’re on benefits, have limited savings, or are struggling to cover food and energy bills, it’s worth seeing if you’re eligible for help.
Contact your local council and see if you have to apply or whether support is being distributed automatically.
You can find what council area you fall under by using the government’s council locator tool – www.gov.uk/find-local-council.
It’s not just the Household Support Fund you can lean on if you’re struggling to cover the cost of essentials like energy bills or food.
You might be able to get free money covering the cost of food if you’re on benefits through the Healthy Start scheme.
The scheme is open to pregnant women and families with young children on low incomes.
You get a prepaid card which you top up and can use to buy healthy foods for your kids at the supermarket.
You can get £8.50 per week for newborns up to one-year-olds – worth £442 a year. Find out more via healthystart.nhs.uk.
Meanwhile, several energy firms offer grants to households who are struggling to pay their energy bills worth up to £2,000.
This includes British Gas, Octopus Energy and EDF.
It’s also worth checking if you’re eligible for benefits if you haven’t already – billions of pounds worth is going unclaimed, according to Policy in Practice.
You can use one of the below calculators to find out if you could be eligible for help:
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories
President Jose Raul Mulino, whose changes to social security laws prompted the protest, called the strike ‘illegal’ and said the company has ‘just cause’ for the layoffs.
Banana producer Chiquita has announced mass layoffs in Panama amid an ongoing strike.
The United States-owned banana giant said on Friday it was letting “all” daily labourers go for the “unjustified abandonment of work at our plantations”.
Workers have been on strike for more than a month, as part of nation-wide industrial action protesting new social security laws lowering pensions. The government has branded the strikes “illegal” and said the sackings are the result of workers’ “intransigence”.
Chiquita said in a statement that the strike had caused “irreversible damage ..[and] at least $75 million in losses”, adding that those affected by the layoffs are required to collect severance payments.
The company did not elaborate on the number of people affected by the decision. However, the Reuters news agency reported that about 5,000 workers out of 6,500 have lost their jobs, referring to an unnamed source.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino defended Chiquita’s actions at a news conference on Thursday.
“The company will have to act accordingly, dismissing those necessary to save its operation in Bocas [a Caribbean province in Panama]. Believe me, it hurts me, but this intransigence is not good,” he said.
“The strike is illegal,” Mulino added. “The next step according to the Labour Code is dismissal with just cause because this is a de facto strike, not a legitimate strike.”
However, Francisco Smith, secretary-general of the Banana Industry Workers Union (Sitraibana), told the Panamanian television channel Telemetro on Thursday that the strike was legal because the “deputies who approved bill 462 harmed the banana sector”.
Passed in March, Bill 462 introduced changes to the Social Security Fund that could lead to a possible reduction in pensions.
The introduction of the law led to significant anger, with unions, including banana workers, joining a national strike on April 23.
The government and Sitraibana held a preliminary meeting on Thursday to discuss amendments to the bill, which would include protections for banana farmers.
Still, Smith said, “the strike continues, we continue fighting in the streets… The strike is indefinite.”
Panama’s banana industry is a significant part of the country’s economy.
According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, in 2023, Panama exported $273m worth of bananas, making it the 13th largest exporter in the world.
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Liu Jia-yen had been living in Taiwan for more than two decades when she received notice that she was suddenly at risk of being deported.
In April, the National Immigration Agency told Liu, a 51-year-old Chinese immigrant, she had three months to provide evidence that she gave up her household registration — an official record of residence that grants benefits such as healthcare and education — in Guangxi, China. If she couldn’t find the right documents, she’d have to leave.
Liu thought she’d submitted the files long ago and called her 26-year-old daughter, Ariel Ko, in tears.
Ko, who was born and raised in Taiwan, called the immigration agency dozens of times over the next few days, unable to reach an operator. Meanwhile in China, Liu’s 80-year-old grandfather began visiting his local police station in search of old records, and her brother scoured his government contacts for anyone who could help.
Taiwanese military cadets holding Taiwan flags pose for selfies after attending the New Year’s Day flag-raising ceremony outside the Presidential Palace in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 1. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has warned that no one can prevent China’s reunification with Taiwan.
(Daniel Ceng / Anadolu via Getty Images)
There are tens of thousands of Chinese-born people in Taiwan, which has been increasing scrutiny of them over the past year, citing concerns about infiltration and espionage. The immigration agency says the vast majority of Chinese living in Taiwan have filed the appropriate paperwork showing that they have canceled household registration in China, but about 12,000 people are facing a scramble — similar to Liu’s — for documents.
“I understand that the government has its policies, and we can respect that,” Ko said. “But what makes us upset is that we’re just ordinary citizens. If you’re going to ask us to do something this difficult, have you considered things from our perspective?”
China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and has threatened to take it by force, stepping up simulated attacks in recent years. Beijing has taken a particularly harsh stance against President Lai Ching-te, whom Chinese officials have called a “dangerous separatist” because he has promoted Taiwanese independence.
Concerns about spying in Taiwan and China date back to the Chinese civil war, after which the defeated Chinese Nationalist Party, or the Kuomintang, fled to Taiwan in 1949. Eventually, tensions began to ease as the two governments slowly resumed dialogue and cooperation over the next several decades. But in recent years, both China and Taiwan have been taking unprecedented actions in the name of national security.
Last year, China said it would ratchet up the punishment for advocates of Taiwanese independence, including imposing the death penalty. Lai, who took office a year ago and has called China a “foreign hostile force,” has proposed reinstating military trials for some espionage cases, criminalizing expressions of loyalty to China within the armed forces and tightening oversight of people traveling between China and Taiwan.
In March, three members of the Taiwanese presidential security team were convicted of spying for China. Taiwan also deported three Chinese immigrants for voicing their support online for unification through military action. Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency said this is the first time that spouses of Taiwanese citizens have had their residency revoked for such reasons. More than 140,000 Chinese immigrants hold residency in Taiwan because they are married to Taiwanese citizens.
Chinese influencer YAYA (Liu Zhenya) with a white hat and members of a NGO assisting her case hold a news conference, as she complies with Taiwan’s order to leave Taiwan after her residency was revoked for posting videos advocating “One China” and “Unification with China by Force” at Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 25, 2025.
(Daniel Ceng / Anadolu via Getty Images)
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said the records requirement has existed since 2004, and the recent notices were sent to ensure that those who want to stay in Taiwan can do so. But critics say that the sudden enforcement is unfair.
“It’s like our government has been asleep, like Sleeping Beauty, for 21 years. And now, all of a sudden, it wakes up and demands that Chinese spouses who’ve been living in Taiwan for so many years provide an important document from two decades ago,” said Chang Chi-kai, an opposition party legislator who is urging the administration to give Chinese spouses and their children more time.
After the public backlash, Taiwan announced additional exemptions for individuals with extenuating circumstances such as financial hardship, medical needs or safety concerns about traveling to China to search for records.
In Taiwan, people born in China are subject to different immigration laws than other nationalities. Milo Hsieh, founder of the consulting firm Safe Spaces in Taipei, says that distinction makes them more susceptible to discriminatory legal treatment, particularly in times of extreme political polarization.
“It resembles what I’m observing in the U.S. right now in Trump’s immigration crackdown, particularly on international students,” said Hsieh, referring to the hundreds of student protesters who have had their visas revoked. “They are deliberately targeting this class of individuals that are associated with a national security threat.”
Some frustrated residents say the bureaucratic bind is emblematic of long-standing discrimination.
Ko, who was born and raised in Taiwan, still remembers how her classmates used to tease her for having a mother from China, and would tell her to go back to the mainland. On social media, some were sympathetic to her mother’s struggle, while others told her to “save your fake tears,” or “if you want to be Taiwanese then follow our rules.”
Taiwan’s government has said that, according to its own polls conducted in March, more than 70% of respondents in Taiwan want officials to more thoroughly investigate whether Chinese immigrants here still hold residency or household registration in China, especially those who work in the military or public sector.
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office in July 2022, Tsai Ing-wen, president at the time, is seen through glass on board a ship during military exercises.
(Shioro Lee / Associated Press)
“If China decides to start a war, then Taiwan needs to determine what to do in that situation,” said Fan Hsin-yu, an associate professor at National Taiwan University who specializes in immigration law. “First, it has to clarify who belongs to which side, who is the enemy, and who is one of us. That’s why this process is something they feel must be finalized soon.”
Fan said legal experts are divided on whether the government is justified in its recent documentation demands. She added that the measures may even be counterproductive, since China could simply issue certification to its spies or collaborators, while those who support Taiwanese sovereignty could put themselves at risk by going to China, or otherwise be forced to leave.
“The issue is not about legality, it’s about whether this is a smart move,” she said.
Chang and his family in China
(Courtesy of Chang Chih-yuan)
Chang Chih-yuan moved to Taichung, a city in central Taiwan, at age 4 and served in Taiwan’s military. He needs to secure documents to remain here but said he feels uneasy about providing all of his personal information — including his household registration history, physical ID card and travel permit — to the police station in Guangdong, China, where his family once lived.
Ultimately, he decided that he didn’t have much choice. His Chinese mother had received the immigration notice in April, and after many sleepless nights, she decided to take a month off from her cleaning job to obtain the certificate. When Chang, 34, inquired about his own paperwork, the immigration agency told him he would probably get a similar notice later this year.
“It just made me feel like I’m still not considered a real Taiwanese person,” he said.
A man walks past a hoisted Taiwanese flag at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei on Oct. 15, 2024. The day before, China insisted it would never renounce the “use of force” to take control of Taiwan, after ending a day of military drills around the island.
(I-Hwa Cheng / AFP via Getty Images)
Another resident who immigrated from China as a child said he has been considering emigrating to Singapore since he received his notice. His father traveled to China’s Fujian province to seek household documentation on his behalf, but he still worries that his mainland roots could put his status at risk again in the future.
“The situation now feels like they assume if you were born in China, you’re an ally of the Chinese Communist Party and you have to prove your innocence,” the 33-year-old said, requesting anonymity for fear that speaking publicly could affect his case. “I feel like I’ve been completely betrayed by my country.”
Times staff writer Yang and special correspondent Wu reported from Taipei, Taiwan.
THOUSANDS of households on Universal Credit will continue getting a huge pay rise in the coming days.
Benefit payment rates rose by 1.7% on April 7, in line with the consumer price index (CPI) level of inflation for September 2024.
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It’s important to note that, although the new rates are now in effect, most people won’t see an increase in their payments until later this month or in June.
This is because those on Universal Credit have to wait a bit longer to receive the uprating because of how the benefit is assessed.
It means that the date you’ll receive the pay boost will depend on when your last assessment period was.
Universal Credit is paid monthly and is based on your circumstances each month.
This is called your “assessment period”, and it starts the day you make your claim.
The new Universal Credit rates will not come into effect until after the first full one-month assessment period, which starts on or after April 7.
Those whose assessment periods started after April 7 saw their benefits rise as early as May 13.
However, those whose assessment periods started before this date could be waiting until June 12 to receive the payment boost.
Here’s how your previous assessment period affects when you’ll get the payment boost:
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator works out what you could get.
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
Here’s a full list of the new benefit rates for 2025-26 so you can check how much extra you might get.
Tens of thousands of red-clad protesters have marched through The Hague to call on the Netherlands government to do more to halt Israel’s onslaught in Gaza.
Organisers said it was the country’s biggest demonstration in two decades as rally participants pressed the Dutch government on Sunday to take action against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The crowd that gathered outside the government seat was estimated to number more than 100,000 people, according to the organisers. Police did not give an estimate.
“Sometimes I’m ashamed of the government because it doesn’t want to set any limits,” said 59-year-old teacher Jolanda Nio.
“We are calling on the Dutch government: stop political, economic and military support to Israel as long as it blocks access to aid supplies and while it is guilty of genocide, war crimes and structural human rights violations in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories,” said Marjon Rozema of Amnesty International.
Israel’s army announced “extensive ground operations” on Sunday as part of its newly expanded campaign in the Gaza Strip. Rescuers reported dozens killed in a wave of Israeli attacks.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 53,339 people and wounded 121,034, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
The enclave’s Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, and about 250 were taken captive.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague is hearing a case brought by South Africa, arguing that the Gaza war breached the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, an accusation Israel has strongly denied.
May 17 (UPI) — A federal appeals court reversed a lower court decision, allowing President Donald Trump to move ahead with a directive to end collective bargaining rights for thousands of federal workers.
“The Government is likely to prevail in its appeal of the district court’s preliminary injunction. To obtain a preliminary injunction, a plaintiff must demonstrate that it will suffer irreparable harm while the case is pending. The National Treasury Employees Union failed to establish irreparable harm,” the U.S. Court of Appeals For The District of Columbia wrote in its 2-1 ruling this week.
Trump in March issued an executive order directing several federal departments and agencies to cease collective bargaining.
Later that month, the National Treasury Employees Union filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing the government’s move to direct its 150,000 employees to “cease participating in grievance procedures” was unlawful.
“The Union says it will suffer two irreparable harms. Neither qualifies,” Judges Karen Henderson and Justin Walker wrote in the court’s majority opinion.
Henderson was appointed by former president George H.W. Bush, while Walker was appointed by Trump during his first term.
The court rejected the National Treasury Employees Union’s argument that it would lose bargaining power “and suffer reputational harm that will deter present and future membership,” arguing the government put off any decertification until after all litigation is settled.
“The Union claims that a stay will ‘nullify the collective-bargaining rights of over one-hundred thousand NTEU-represented federal workers.’ But that ignores the Government’s self-imposed restrictions, so it misses the mark,” the court wrote.
“Second, the Union says it will suffer an irreparable financial injury from the loss of automatically withheld union dues. But such ‘financial injuries are rarely irreparable because they are presumptively remediable through monetary damages,'” the court wrote, pointing to the union’s ability to recover any potentially lost dues in future Federal Labor Relations Authority proceedings.
Trump’s executive order applies to more than 12 agencies, exempting them from any requirements to engage in collective bargaining with employees and unions.
The Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Treasury, Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services are all covered by the order.
“How can the Government argue that the district court injunction will cause irreparable injury when the Government itself voluntarily imposed that same constraint?” Judge Michelle Childs, who was appointed by former president Joe Biden, wrote in the dissenting opinion.
California invented the motel. More specifically: As automobile ownership skyrocketed in the 1920s and entrepreneurs rushed to open tourist camps and motor courts to house traveling families, a Pasadena architect named Arthur Heineman came up with the word motel — motor plus hotel, right? — and put up a mission-style lodging in San Luis Obispo, midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. He did this in late 1925.
From these facts, The Times hatched a project to help California travelers plan their next road trip and recognize the motel centennial as an anniversary that resounds throughout pop culture.
After driving 2,500 miles and checking out dozens of places, I’ve come up with 34 lodgings to recommend at various price points. (These days, many prefer to call themselves inns or boutique hotels. Still, if their guest room doors open to the great outdoors and there’s a highway handy, I count them as part of the extended motel family.)
We’re also hoping to help all readers appreciate the up-and-down story of motels — how they soared in the midcentury years, then seeped into pop culture as hotbeds of sex and crime, slumped in the late 20th century and lately have entered a new era.
Today many are going luxurious or doubling down on nostalgia. Some are charging $1,000 a night. Others are sticking to their frugal roots and charging $100 a night. Several have been repurposed by government agencies to house people at risk of homelessness. And some don’t even take overnight guests anymore — they make their way by housing retail and restaurants and supplying all-American scenery for selfies and videos.
Among the overnight destinations we cover in our motel centennial special:
For travelers and admirers of midcentury design, the most welcome news may be that just about every week, another revived California roadside lodging reopens, many of them sporting the bold, space-age shapes and signage that midcentury design geeks know as Googie.
We’re also hoping these stories will help with your next road trip:
Happy traveling.
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Lyle Menendez, right, and brother Erik listen to a charge of murder conspiracy against them with Leslie Abramson, far left, attorney for Erik, Dec. 29, 1992, in Los Angeles.
(Chris Martinez / Associated Press)
The new “World of Color Happiness!” begins with a charming pre-show featuring the Muppets.
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Thousands of Palestinians have been ordered by the Israeli forces to flee parts of northern Gaza as indiscriminate air strikes have killed at least 115 people in the territory.
Palestinians in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya area fled their homes with essential belongings on Friday, after intense Israeli air strikes hit the area.
More than 19,000 Palestinians have been displaced in Gaza since Thursday afternoon, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). “Many with nothing but the clothes on their backs,” the organisation said in a post on X. “Nowhere is safe in Gaza.”
Nearly all of Gaza’s population has been displaced at some point during the genocide, with several forced to flee many times over. Israel has increasingly issued forced displacement orders as it escalates its attacks in the enclave.
In a statement in Arabic on Saturday, the Israeli military said it has launched the “initial stages” of what it calls Operation Gideon’s Chariots, a new offensive for “the expansion of the battle in the Gaza Strip, with the goal of achieving all the war’s objectives, including the release of the abducted and the defeat of Hamas”.
A separate statement in English said the army was “mobilising troops to achieve operational control in areas of the Gaza Strip”.
Israel has killed at least 115 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn on Friday as it intensifies bombardment of the enclave amid widespread forced starvation. More than 100 other Palestinians were killed on Thursday in similar attacks.
Since October 2024, Israel has killed at least 53,119 Palestinians and wounded 120,214 others, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The enclave’s Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
IT’S an invasive, extremely high-risk procedure that could leave patients with a lung puncture, nerve damage and chronic pain.
But despite the eye-watering risks, more women than ever are opting for ‘Barbie rib’ surgery – that’s having one or more ribs taken out – to achieve a tiny waist.
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In the 1950s, stars of the silver screen such as Marilyn Monroe wowed with their tiny hourglass figures.
But in 2025, women are going one step further by opting for the latest surgery trend.
When Kim Kardashian graced the Met Gala’s red carpet last March wearing a tightly cinched silver corset, it sparked rumours that the A-lister may have gone under the knife.
While getting ready for the event, she told Vogue: “I’ll feel so snatched I won’t even be able to communicate to you how snatched I feel.”
She fiercely denied rumours of rib removal, later saying: “I don’t even know if that’s possible.”
Well, the shocking surgery IS possible, with many women now going under the knife to achieve the same look as their favourite red carpet celebs.
The surgery, performed under general anaesthesia, involves the surgeon detaching the rib bone and removing it or partially removing to give the appearance of a slimmer waistline.
The ribs can also be repositioned, and a rib brace is then worn to compress the midsection.
It’s an incredibly dangerous procedure that could cause the lungs to collapse or damage other internal organs, with few experienced surgeons willing to carry out the op.
Hazim Sadideen, Consultant Plastic Surgeon at the Cadogan Clinic, told The Sun: “There’s been a lot of noise around the ‘Barbie rib’ procedure, and I think it’s important to separate fact from fiction.
“First off, rib modification and rib removal are very different things.
“True rib removal, where one or more of the floating ribs are completely taken out, is an invasive and high-risk procedure. I would never recommend it purely for cosmetic reasons.
“The risks include lung puncture, nerve damage and chronic pain. There are long-term asymmetry risks too.”
Other celebs have also been rumoured to have had the surgery, including Cher and singer Prince, while other A-listers have donned corsets and tight dresses on the red carpet to achieve a cinched look – a body ideal that has seeped onto social media.
Despite the controversy, Essex Mum Kerry Miles, 41, still planned to spend £15,000 on the procedure after using a corset to shrink her waist to just 21 inches.
Belgian performer Jada Sparks spent over £14,000 having ribs removed. The former nurse said: “I’ve done it for the cosmetic reason, but also the thrill of it to be honest.
“I went down about 2.5 inches from the start until now.
“I think I have reached my ultimate result now. In the beginning, it felt weird, but your body is an odd thing, it can adapt really quick.
“So, I like the feeling right now of having something ‘missing’.”
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Emily James, an influencer from Kansas City, Missouri, spent £13,000 having six of her ribs removed last year – and claims it is no different to a Brazilian Butt Lift.
Emily told The Sun she’d researched her procedure thoroughly and defended her decision.
She says: “I absolutely think that it’s important to make informed, well-thought-out decisions before you get plastic surgery.
“People should not just be going into random like garages, getting oil pumped into their bodies for like a BBL or getting veneered by some girl that you found on Instagram.
“It’s important to make well-informed decisions, and if you’re going into it with the mindset knowing the risks and the benefits, then you absolutely should do what you want to do.
“But just keep in mind that it is plastic surgery, and there are dangers involved, and there are risks and complications that can arise from getting these kinds of surgeries.”
The iconic Barbie doll has impossible proportions – which in real life would be 39″ bust, 18″ waist and 33″ hips.
Her terrifyingly tiny waist measurement would in reality be smaller than that of the average three-year-old.
A Google search of “Barbie rib procedure” yields over 135,000 results.
But while Mr Sadideen believes filtered images don’t reveal the truth about invasive procedures, Emily, who had post-surgery complications with a catheter, was able to get the surgery without any psychological evaluation or counselling.
“There was nothing like that,” she says. “But it was a really hard process to find someone that I felt comfortable going to.
“There were lots that were certified to do the surgery, but I didn’t feel they were qualified. I wanted someone who really understood me.”
Emily flew almost 800 miles for the surgery in Cleveland, Ohio.
But with the trend taking off on social media and celebrities in the US, Germany and UK reportedly having it done, increasing numbers of women are attending clinics asking for their ribs to be removed.
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While Towie’s Abigail Clarke is also rumoured to have had the procedure, Emily says the invasive and risky surgery, which she’s still recovering from, was more painful than she imagined.
“I got there about 6.30 in the morning and honestly, I was really scared,” she says. “I knew my rib removal was going to be painful because I’d done a lot of research.
“I had my boobs done at the same time, but coming out of surgery, I was super swollen, and I couldn’t sit up or lay down by myself.
“I had to have someone help me stand up, lay down, pretty much do everything.
“It was a really intense surgery, and I had a lot of numbness and pain for a long time.”
While Emily has documented her journey online, Mr Sadideen says social media could be to blame for the increase in requests for these types of invasive procedures.
“What really worries me is how social media glamorises extreme body transformations without showing the full story – the recovery, the risks, or the emotional toll,” he says.
“The rise of these trends is often driven by filtered images and unattainable ideals, which can feed into body dysmorphia and lead people to believe something drastic is the only solution.”
While Emily had no psychological evaluation at all prior to the procedure which altered her skeleton, he believes the mental capacity of a patient should factor into every surgical evaluation.
Just because something is technically possible doesn’t mean it’s the right choice
Mr Hazim Sadideen
“Any patient considering a procedure like this should undergo a thorough psychological assessment to ensure they’re making this choice for the right reasons, not due to pressure or distorted self-image,” he says.
“As surgeons, we have a duty to protect our patients.
“Just because something is technically possible doesn’t mean it’s the right choice.”
Despite having the support of her loved ones, Emily is aware that she entered into the procedure without any long-term idea of how her rib removal might affect her body in the future.
“I knew going into surgery, the ribs I was having removed do serve some protection of my kidneys and my liver,” she says.
“I don’t think that I regret any of my surgeries, but who knows when I’m 60 if I’ll have complications from my rib removal.
“I’ve noticed already there has been one weird complication that whenever I get sick or cough, my muscles separate. So yeah, there might be complications later down the road.”
Mr Sadideen says there is a less invasive option that can be considered without needing to go to the dangerous extremes Emily has.
“There is a more conservative alternative sometimes referred to as rib reshaping or rib modification,” he says.
“In very carefully selected cases, surgeons may use a controlled mini-fracture technique to slightly bend a rib inward.
“It’s a method already used in nose reshaping – known as rhinoplasty – and orthopaedic surgery.
“But it must be done with the utmost precision, using detailed scans, ultrasound guidance during surgery, and specific tools to reduce risk and avoid complications.
“Even so, the data is still emerging, and we don’t yet have a full picture of long-term safety or outcomes.”
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While Emily – who plans to make a crown out of the ribs she’s had removed – has received a barrage of online hate for her surgery choices, she says it doesn’t bother her.
“I’ve had a lot of people say that I worship the devil, or that I’m like, controlled by Satan because I am making a crown out of my rib bones, which is really silly,” she says.
While there are plenty of celebrities who are rumoured to have had the procedure done – from Cher to Prince to Kim Kardashian and Demi Moore, Mr Sadideen says society’s obsession with filters could be resulting in the dangerous trend growing in popularity.
“Extreme procedures like rib removal should be a last resort, not a trend,” he says.
“And we should all be asking: are we doing this to feel better, or just to look better on a screen?”
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A MOTORIST has shared how he made “hundreds of thousands” by buying and selling car number plates.
Neal Bircher, 60, has collected hundreds of plates worth gargantuan sums and currently has around 350 in the garage at his home in Uxbridge, London, and owns the rights to 220 more.
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The DVLA is auctioning 2,000 car number plates in its latest sale – and an expert has revealed the best buys.
The latest auctions of personalised registrations starts on Wednesday at 10am.
Plates expert Neal has identified which plates to keep your eye on.
He says that dateless plates – those with a number at the start or the end – dateless plates with a single letter and shorter plates with common initials are where the money is.
For example, Neal believes 910 AM – which has a starting price of £2200 – will attract more interest thanks to the popularity of ‘AM’ as a set of initials, wheresas 232 XW – also with a starting price of £2200 – won’t have as many buyers.
In terms of plates less likely to grow, Northern Irish style plates, containing the letters’ ‘I’ and ‘Z’ are at the lower end of the market.
Neal, an IT management consultant and part-time plate dealer, said: “As a general rule, the shorter the better, and also the popularity of initials is a very common factor.
“‘Dateless plates are always popular and can be good investments.
“‘1’ plates have proved very good investments, whatever the letters, and so plates such as 1 XDX will be expensive even though ‘XDX’ is unlikely to be many people’s initials.
“1 YOB starting at £2400 is an interesting one – reminiscent of ‘YOB 1’ which famously adorned Slade guitarist Dave Hill’s Rolls-Royce in the 1970s!
“In recent years dateless plates that contain only a single letter have become more sought after – for example 125 B starting at £2500, or 8118 D starting at £2500 in this auction.
“And those where the letter is ‘O’, and hence the plate can look as if it only contain numbers, have really grown in popularity of late.
“Hence 54 O starting at £2500 might well fetch the top price in this action. ‘540’ is also a model of BMW.”
According to Neal, a common misconception is just because a plate might look like it spells a word, it doesn’t mean it’s valuable.
He said: “People sometimes assume that if a plate looks as if it spells a word then it will prove valuable.
“That may well be the case if the word is relevant to a business or profession, but if it’s just a random word then not necessarily so.
“Registration numbers generally tend to grow in value, but the ones less likely to do so are those at the lower end of the market, especially some of the Northern Irish style plates, containing the letters’ ‘I’ and ‘Z’.
“But there can be exceptions with those as well.”
Having bought and sold for much of his life, Neal has urged people to be cautious before entering the number plate game.
He added: “People who are trying to make money have to be very careful.
“It requires a lot of homework if you’re looking to invest or make money.
“Two very similar-looking plates might have very different values.
“AJB would be worth far more than XUY for example because of how common the first set is for initials.
“Not everyone is, but some are interested in the backstory behind plates.
“There are a lot of people who are in clubs and associations who ask me a lot of questions every day about value and the history of plates.
“People are very interested in when it was issued, to know what vehicles it was in, who owned it etc.”
The DVLA is auctioning some highly coveted number plates on May 14
The plates range from £300 to over £2000, as drivers clamour to get a unique number for their motor.
Bids can only be placed at the auction or through the DVLA website.
The plates on sale on May 14 include:
TRYING to get onto the housing ladder is no mean feat, and many people have to make some sacrifices when it comes to it.
From tightening up the budget, and reducing the spending on some of life’s luxuries, managing to find the money can take quite some time.
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But one woman managed to bag her dream home by making some sacrifices.
Leonie, who is known as ‘building_ribbons’ on TikTok, shared a video on her social media account explaining how she lived in a caravan for eight years to be able to afford her dream home.
She went on to explain that people now assume that she is rich because of it, but instead she just managed to save thousands on rent.
Speaking to her 122.7k TikTok followers, Leonie did a tour of her home which was in the countryside.
The kitchen was large and open plan with an island in the middle, and wooden beams in the ceiling giving a luxurious touch to it.
She also had large glass doors which looked out onto her garden, and allowed for plenty of sunlight to shine through.
Her video also showed her bathroom, which had a standalone large bath in it as well as her living space which had a fireplace lit to give a warm cosy touch to it.
Having so much garden space also allows her to keep animals on it including a goat, and two dogs which her son plays with.
Leonie explained that it was self-built in the English countryside and she was able to style it whilst also doing some bargain hunting.
Speaking to her followers, she adds that “you guys probably think I’m rich but in reality we spent eight years living in a caravan to achieve the dream of building our own home and it was so worth it.”
Revealing that she is a “country girl at heart,” Leonie loves that she can spend time with her family, horses, animals, and “gorgeous son”.
Her video, which was shared in October, has gained 105.6k views and gained 67 comments.
One person who was in a similar situation, wrote: “I spent 10 years in our Mobil while we built our home. It was worth it, no mortgage.”
Whilst a second complimented her “beautiful home” saying that her situation was “a dream.”
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A third asked: “Your home is beautiful, can you please talk us through how you found the land and the process of building?
“Also, did you live in the caravan on the land?”
Leonie replied: “We already owned the land….. planning took us nearly 10 years…the build took around 18 months. Yea we lived on site.”
LIVING in a caravan can be an economical and flexible lifestyle choice in the UK. Here’s a breakdown of potential costs:
Initial Costs
Ongoing Monthly Costs
Other Potential Costs
Sample Monthly Budget
Annual Estimated Cost
Tips to Save
While initial setup costs can be significant, ongoing expenses for living in a caravan can be relatively low, making it a viable option for those seeking an affordable and mobile lifestyle in the UK.
India-Pakistan ceasefire brings relief, but many who fled Kashmir fighting remain fearful of returning home.
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