WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge who halted construction of President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom clarified on Thursday that the administration can proceed with below-ground construction of a bunker and other “national security facilities” at the site.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington issued his latest ruling in a lawsuit over the ballroom project several days after an appeals court instructed him to reconsider the possible national security implications of stopping construction.

Government lawyers had argued that the project includes critical security features to guard against a range of possible threats, such as drones, ballistic missiles and biohazards.

Leon had barred work from proceeding without congressional approval, but he suspended enforcement of that order for two weeks. The appeals court extended that stay until Friday.

Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, said he is ordering a stop only to above-ground construction of the planned ballroom, apart from any work needed to cover or secure that part of the project. Otherwise, the Trump administration is free to proceed with construction of any excavations, bunkers, military installations, and medical facilities below the ballroom.

“Defendants argue that the entire ballroom construction project, from tip to tail, falls within the safety-and-security exception and therefore may proceed unabated,” the judge wrote. “That is neither a reasonable nor a correct reading of my Order!”

The Prime Minister is facing renewed calls for his resignation over the scandal.

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of misleading MPs over the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US, after it was reported the peer failed his security vetting but was still handed the Washington job.

Security officials initially denied Lord Mandelson clearance, but the Prime Minister had already named him as Britain’s top diplomat in the US, and the Foreign Office took the rare step of overruling the recommendation, according to The Guardian.

Sir Keir has previously insisted due process was followed in the appointment, and that Lord Mandelson had lied about the extent of his links with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The Labour leader has also said the vetting carried out independently by the security services “gave him clearance for the role”.

But the peer was not granted approval following the secretive process by the Cabinet Office’s UK Security Vetting (UKSV) last January, the newspaper reported.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said on X: “Last September, Keir Starmer told Parliament three times that ‘full due process’ was followed over the appointment of Lord Mandelson.

“We now know the Prime Minister misled the House.

“The Prime Minister must take responsibility.”

OPINION

Paul Hutcheon

OPINION

Paul Hutcheon

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Keir Starmer had already made a catastrophic error of judgment. Now it looks as though he has also misled Parliament and lied to the British public. If that is the case, he must go.

“Labour came into government on a promise to clean up politics. Instead we’re seeing the same old sleaze, scandal and cover-ups as we did under the Conservatives.”

The Green Party also called for Sir Keir to resign.

Lord Mandelson, a political appointment rather than a career diplomat, was sacked from his Washington role last September when more details emerged about his relationship with Epstein, who died in 2019.

Sir Keir has been under fire over the decision to give Lord Mandelson the job despite it being known that his dealings with Epstein continued after the financier’s conviction for child sex offences.

Questions over his judgment intensified after the first batch of documents showed he was warned before announcing Lord Mandelson’s ambassadorship of a “general reputational risk” over the Epstein ties.

That warning stemmed from the first part of the checks, carried out by the Cabinet Office, which was based on information in the public domain at the time.

The second was the highly confidential background vetting by security officials, which followed the announcement but before Lord Mandelson took up his role in February 2025.

Information unearthed in this process – including any concerns – is never shared with ministers, and the result is binary, either clearing the candidate or barring them.

Foreign Office officials deployed a rarely used authority to override the decision to deny Lord Mandelson clearance, and he was told days later that he had passed, according to The Guardian.

More documents are yet to be released at the behest of MPs.

The Guardian reported that senior Government officials have been weighing whether to withhold documents from Parliament that would show Lord Mandelson failed the security vetting.

Some material is expected not to be published either because it relates to a police investigation into Lord Mandelson, or because Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee believes it could jeopardise national security or diplomatic relations.

But keeping documents from the committee could amount to a breach of the Conservative motion to release “all papers relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment”.

Sir Keir said in February that Lord Mandelson was cleared by security vetting, which he criticised for failing to disprove the former Labour grandee’s lies.

He said: “There was a due diligence exercise that culminated in questions being asked because I wanted to know the answer to certain issues.

“That’s why those questions were asked. The answers to those questions were not truthful.

“There was then, I should add, security vetting carried out independently by the security services, which is an intensive exercise that gave him clearance for the role, and you have to go through that before you take up the post.

“Clearly, both the due diligence and the security vetting need to be looked at again.

“I’ve already strengthened the due process. I think we need to look at the security vetting because it now transpires that what was being said was not true. And had I known then what I know now, I’d never have appointed him in the first place.”

Taking questions from journalists following a press conference on 5 February in Hastings, Sir Keir said that “security vetting carried out independently by the security services, which is an intensive exercise that gave [Lord Mandelson] clearance for the role, and you have to go through that before you take up the post”.

The cage, which stars Sheridan Smith and Michael Socha, was partly shot in the picturesque village of Tockholes as part of a wider production across the North West and is set to air April 26.

It was also filmed in Le Mans Crescent, the go to location for many producers of hit television dramas.

The five-part series, written by BAFTA-nominated Tony Schumacher, follows casino cashier Leanne, played by Smith, who turns to stealing from her workplace to save her family home.

Her actions put her on a collision course with her boss Matty, played by Socha, who is hiding secrets of his own.

The Cage (Image: BBC)

Filming in Tockholes saw road closures in place last year, with Tockholes Road shut between the Royal Arms and Belmont Road during evening and overnight shoots.

(Image: Henry Lisowski)

Production crews were based in the area for two days, using locations including a pub car park for equipment.

Residents were warned to expect disruption, including changes to their usual routines, while scenes featuring actors in police uniform and vehicles with flashing blue lights were also recorded.

Filming in Le Mans Crescent (Image: NQ)

The drama has also been filmed in and around Liverpool and Merseyside, with Element Pictures producing the series.

The BBC has released the trailer for the high-stakes drama, which will air on BBC One at 9pm, with all episodes also available on BBC iPlayer.

The Cage features a wider cast including Barry Sloane, Geraldine James and Sue Jenkins, and promises a tense story of crime, loyalty and survival.

All five hour-long episodes will be released at once on BBC iPlayer, alongside weekly broadcasts on BBC One.

Coronation Street have been filming storylines in the old Bolton Magistrates Court all week.

Paul Merson has revealed his prediction for the crucial Premier League clash between Chelsea and Manchester United and urged Michael Carrick to bench striker Benjamin Sesko.

Chelsea welcome Man United to Stamford Bridge on Saturday night hoping to boost their Champions League hopes following a difficult run.

Liam Rosenior’s side have won just one of their last six games in all competitions, slipping to sixth in the Premier League and crashing out of the Champions League.

Manchester United, in contrast, have climbed to third in the table since Michael Carrick was appointed caretaker manager in replace of Ruben Amorim.

The Red Devils have dropped points in each of their last two games, however, drawing 2-2 at Bournemouth before the international break before suffering a shock defeat at home to Leeds United on Monday night.

Merson believes United’s winless run to continue at Stamford Bridge, backing Chelsea to clinch a crucial 2-1 win to boost their hopes of Champions League qualification.

The Arsenal legend expects Enzo Fernandez to come back into the Chelsea team following his recent absence but says Sesko should be dropped and allowed to ‘make an impact from the bench’ as he has does effectively in the second-half of the season.

‘Chelsea were atrocious of the highest level in the second half against Manchester City,’ Merson told Sportskeeda.

‘Luckily for them, they now face Manchester United, who were also terrible in the loss to Leeds!

‘This is a must-not-lose game for United and a must-win game for Chelsea. After this, Chelsea face Brighton away, Nottingham Forest at home, Liverpool away, Spurs at home and Sunderland away.

‘If they lose this game, I don’t see them playing Champions League football next season.

‘As long as Manchester United avoid defeat, they are at an advantage for Champions League qualification because Chelsea will play Liverpool.

‘I would be shocked if Enzo Fernandez is not back in the line-up for this game.

‘I still can’t get my head around the fact that Chelsea banned him for two matches! They were crying out for someone like him to get on the ball and pass to break lines during the defeat to City.

‘Manchester United were poor against Leeds and have a few injuries to deal with.

‘I don’t know why Bryan Mbeumo did not start that game though. And Casemiro is nowhere near the same player without Kobbie Mainoo next to him!

‘I would probably leave Benjamin Sesko out of the line-up against Chelsea. He’s someone who they can bring on to make an impact off the bench.

‘The other day against Leeds, they had no one who could do that as a substitute because Sesko was in the starting XI.

‘Chelsea could be ninth in the league by the end of the week, if they don’t win this game. But I actually think they can trouble United. I’m backing Chelsea to get a 2-1 win.’

Manchester United beat ten-man Chelsea 2-1 the last time these two sides met back in September, taking advantage of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez’s early red card.

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The actress, who is originally from York, said the proposal would mean replacing a “living, growing woodland created through patience, care and public spirit” with industrial development.

A final decision on Harrogate Spring Water’s (HSW) plans- which has received more than 1,000 objections – will be made by North Yorkshire Council on Friday.

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The scheme would require the removal of hundreds of trees from Rotary Wood, a community woodland planted 20 years ago by children and volunteers.

In a letter addressed to councillors and officers, Dame Judi said: “I am sorry not to be with you in person, but I wanted my support for Rotary Wood and for the local community defending it to be heard clearly at this planning meeting.

“Rotary Wood is not an empty plot waiting for a better use. It is a living, growing woodland created through patience, care and public spirit.”

Other public figures who have voiced opposition include Sam West, and environmentalist Sir Jonathon Porritt, and Dame Joanna Lumley – who called the decision to potentially cut down the trees ‘dreadful in so many ways’.

Dame Judi added: “Local families, volunteers, schoolchildren and community supporters helped plant it and watch it take root. Over the years it has become part of Harrogate’s natural fabric and part of the area’s shared sense of place.”

“At a time when the country is talking so urgently about biodiversity loss, climate pressure and the need to protect nature close to where people live, it is deeply troubling that a healthy community woodland could be treated as disposable.”

“I respectfully urge the committee to recognise Rotary Wood for what it is: a meaningful community woodland, a haven for wildlife and a symbol of what local people can achieve when they invest in nature. It deserves protection, not destruction.”

North Yorkshire Planning officers have recommended that the scheme be approved.

Danone – the company behind HSW – said only 500 trees would be affected by the expansion, not the 1,000 claimed by campaigners, and has pledged to plant 491 new trees nearby and a further 3,000 across the district.

It said it had originally planned to plant around 1,500 trees in its new community woodland, next to Rotary Wood, but reduced this to 491 after advice from North Yorkshire Council’s arboriculturist.

A spokesman for HSW said: “Throughout the planning process, we have worked constructively with council officers and listened closely to community concerns.

“These plans are consistent with Danone’s commitments globally to sustainable, responsible development, including its Renewed Forest Policy.

“Ultimately our goal remains to balance sustainable development and economic growth with care for the local environment and community.”

Mike Clancy, general secretary of Prospect, the trade union which represents vetting officers at UKSV, said: “It is deeply unfortunate that following the resignation of Morgan McSweeney, Downing Street allowed the impression to circulate that the vetting of Peter Mandelson had not been done correctly by UK Security Vetting.

The judge said he was not prepared to sentence the defendant until he knew his true age and demanded he attend court and confirm his age on oath

A judge told a defendant he must attend court and go into the witness box to testify on oath as to his true date of birth.

Anthony Maughan was due to be sentenced for a spree of burglaries of cafes, restaurants, and shops across Swansea, Neath, Bridgend and Cardiff, but the judge said he was not prepared to pass sentence on a “persistent offender” with 26 different dates of birth recorded on his antecedent record without knowing his true age.

The judge adjourned the hearing and ordered Maughan, who was appearing in court via a videolink, to be brought to court in person so he could go into the witness box.

Matthew Comer, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that over an 18-day period in January and February this year Maughan burgled 10 business premises, namely the Giggling Squid restaurant, a Tesco Express shop, Castle Welsh Crafts shop, Total Asia restaurant, and Cote Brasserie – all in Cardiff – Costa Coffee in Bridgend, Kumar Stores in Neath, and an Aldi supermarket, Fresco Cafe, and Green Room restaurant all in Swansea.

The barrister said that over the same period Maughan also committed theft from a vehicle, an offence which saw him entering the cab of a lorry while the driver was making a delivery in Cardiff.

The court heard that a number of burglaries saw the defendant entering staff only areas while the businesses were open, but that on a number of occasions he had forced entry to premises through rear doors or fire exits while they were closed.

For each of the 10 burglaries Maughan was identified from CCTV footage. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter

Among the haul of items stolen by Maughan during the spree were bank cards, North Face jackets, keys, iPhones, meats and cheeses, bottles of Johnnie Walker whisky, Smirnoff vodka, and champagne, and a pair of new Adidas trainers.

He also took various quantities of cash.

Anthony Paul Maughan, of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to 10 counts of non-dwelling burglary and one count of theft from a vehicle when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

Judge Huw Rees said that, looking through the defendant’s antecedent record, it was clear he was a “persistent offender” and he noted that over the years he had provided 26 different dates of birth.

He said he was not prepared to pass sentence until the true date of birth was established, and he directed the prosecution to make its own enquiries.

And he told the defendant that he would be required to attend court in person and to testify as to his true date of birth on oath.

Sentencing was adjourned to April 29 and Maughan was further remanded into custody.

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Frank Lampard has distanced himself from rumours linking Coventry with a loan move for Chelsea’s Jesse Derry, insisting his focus remains on the club securing a return to the Premier League.

Coventry are within touching distance of sealing automatic promotion from the Championship, with a draw away to Blackburn Rovers enough to send Lampard’s men up on Friday night.

The Sky Blues have been dominant in the English second tier under Lampard and hold an imperious ten-point lead over second-placed Ipswich with three games remaining of the campaign.

But while promotion is all but confirmed, the club’s hierarchy recognise it will take a monumental effort to survive next season given the strength and financial might of those teams competing in the top flight.

With summer recruitment set to be key, Lampard is said to have identified Chelsea youngster Derry as a loan target in preparation for Coventry’s first appearance in the Premier League following a 25-year hiatus.

According to talkSPORT, Lampard plans to utilise his deep Stamford Bridge connections to get a temporary deal over the line for the highly rated 18-year-old forward, who can play on the left and through the middle.

Derry, the son of former QPR and Crystal Palace midfielder Shaun, made his senior Chelsea debut as a substitute in the side’s FA Cup victory over Hull City in February and has been tipped for a bright future with the Blues.

Asked about the rumours surrounding Derry and, more generally, how far along Coventry are in planning for next season, Lampard told reporters: ‘Not that far, if I’m honest, because of the jeopardy of the season.

‘I know it feels like in the last week or so things have felt more apparent but at the same time, me personally, I’ve been focusing on the job in hand.’

‘I’m not stupid. I know that this may happen and there’s a lot of work to do at the football club, whether it be things at the training ground to try and get the levels to what I know is the Premier League, because I’ve been there in different forms.

‘So those are all things that the football club has to really broach quickly, and we’re all aware of that.

‘But in terms of individual players, I’m not saying all those rumours [regarding Jesse Derry] are false, but they’re definitely not true as a fact.

‘And that’s one of the difficult things now in football, recruitment, because you’re as good as it, to a degree, because you need good players. And I think the club has done a really good job in terms of that at where we are in the Championship because you can see where we are in terms of what we spend etcetera.’

Lampard urged both supporters and those in the media not to give too much weight to rumours linking Coventry with potential incomings and outgoings at this stage.

‘It’s not a parachute team but we’ve had our way of doing it and that’s going to change this summer, if we get to where we want to get to because the level will go up,’ he added.

‘So there’s a lot of work to be done but the rumours that are whirling around now, I wouldn’t hold too much to them, with respect.’

Derry, who has scored eight times in 15 appearances for the England Under-19s, is tied into a contract with Chelsea until June 2029.

The teenager joined Chelsea on a four-year deal from Crystal Palace last summer and has played the vast majority of his football in Premier League 2 this season.

Facing the media prior to Chelsea’s FA Cup fifth-round victory win over Wrexham last month, Liam Rosenior revealed how Derry had ‘really impressed’ him with his application on the training ground.

‘Ryan [Kavuma-McQueen] and Jesse will travel with the group, so they will be part of the squad for Wrexham,’ Rosenior told reporters.

‘Jesse has really impressed me, Ryan’s impressed, but it’s not just those two. There have been a few that I’ve got to see in training when they’ve been brought up that I’m really happy with.

‘Reggie Watson has trained with us a few times, he’s really impressed me. It’s scary the age that he is. Young Mahdi [Nicoll-Jazuli] has been up a few times, he’s an outstanding talent as well.

‘There are some outstanding young players in the group. We just need to make sure we put them in at the right time and they get the experiences that they need to continue their development.’

A month earlier, Rio Ferdinand named Derry as one of four young English talents to keep an eye on in the Premier League, along with Rio Ngumoha, Max Dowman and JJ Gabriel.

‘You know the four, right now, if I was going to put money on and going these four, and you know what, it probably won’t even be these four that go and dominate the Premier League and do crazy things,’ the legendary ex-Manchester United defender said on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel.

‘If you were going to put your money on four kids right now, in the Premier League to do their thing, based on what you’re seeing now, you’ve got Rio at Liverpool, you’ve got Max Dowman, you’ve got JJ Gabriel at Manchester United and Jesse Derry at Chelsea.

‘Jesse Derry, I know his dad, Shaun, he’s an ex-player, but I know the kid, wow, ridiculous, not only a talent, but an actual, like, as a kid who loves, loves the game.

‘You know, certain kids, they just love football and live and breathe. All the time, he makes that and the balls that you see, like, still, one of those kids.’

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When people think about censorship, they often imagine an obvious ban: a book prohibited, an exhibition closed, or a speaker silenced.

But the recent revelation that London’s Victoria and Albert Museum changed exhibition catalogues at the request of its Chinese printer points to something subtler. It suggests that Chinese censorship is increasingly capable of shaping cultural production beyond China’s borders through reliance on foreign companies.

The V&A agreed to remove or replace images from at least two exhibition catalogues after objections from its Chinese printer. This included a historical map in a new exhibition, The Music Is Black, and an image of Lenin in a publication linked to the 2021 exhibition Fabergé: Romance to Revolution.

A V&A spokesperson told The Conversation: “We carefully consider, on a case-by-case basis, where we print all of our books. We sometimes print in China but maintain close editorial oversight. We were comfortable making these minor edits, as they did not affect the narrative, and would obviously pull production if we felt any requested change was problematic.”

The museum may see the changes as minor, but their significance lies less in the scale of the edits than in the mechanism through which they occurred.

Nothing in British law required these changes. No UK official ordered them. Yet the content of a British museum publication was altered because parts of its production process took place within a system governed by Chinese state censorship rules. That is why this matters. It reveals a form of externalised censorship that does not need to arrive as a direct prohibition. It can operate instead through contracts, deadlines, cost pressures and infrastructural dependence.

This article is part of our State of the Arts series. These articles tackle the challenges of the arts and heritage industry – and celebrate the wins, too.

This controversy tells a wider story about the heritage sector. Museums, galleries, libraries and publishers are all under pressure to control costs. If Chinese printers can produce catalogues at roughly half the price of British or European firms, the economic logic is obvious. Once an institution becomes reliant on a supply chain situated within an authoritarian censorship system, the practical conditions of cultural expression begin to change, even if the legal environment at home remains formally free.

In countries such as the UK, free speech is often understood in legal terms: are people formally allowed to publish, speak or exhibit? But the V&A case is a reminder that formal freedom is not the same as institutional resilience. A society may remain free on the surface while its institutions become increasingly susceptible to outside pressure.

Why the censorship matters

Museums matter especially because they are not ordinary commercial actors. They are memory institutions. They help shape public understanding of history, culture and identity. Their catalogues are not mere retail products but part of how knowledge is framed, archived and circulated. A “minor” change to an image in this context is therefore not politically neutral.

The deeper issue is that this is not only about suppressing taboo topics such as Tibet, Taiwan or Tiananmen. It is also about controlling the positive narrative.

Chinese information governance has long worked through both prohibition and projection. The 2020 Provisions on the Governance of the Online Information Content Ecosystem, issued by China’s internet regulator, encourage the production and dissemination of material that helps increase “the international influence of Chinese culture” and presents to the world a “true, three-dimensional and comprehensive China”. This forms part of a broader Party-state project, repeatedly articulated by Xi Jinping, of “telling China’s story well”.

That phrase may sound benign. But in practice it is tied to a political and legal project in which China is not merely defended from criticism, but represented abroad under conditions increasingly shaped by party-state priorities. Seen in that light, the V&A controversy is not just a matter of avoiding sensitive content. It sits within a broader effort to structure the terms under which China may be portrayed at all.

Recent developments in the digital sphere show the same broader pattern in a more aggressive form. In February 2026, OpenAI reported that it had disrupted an operation linked to a Chinese law-enforcement official who allegedly used ChatGPT to document efforts aimed at intimidating dissidents abroad. This included fake official communications and forged documents. That is different from the V&A catalogue dispute. But both illustrate a new stage of transnational control in which the Chinese party state and its affiliated actors can use a range of mechanisms at once: political security logic, economic leverage, platform manipulation, bureaucratic pressure and technological tools.

These cases should not be collapsed into one another. A museum changing an image under pressure from a company in China is not the same as a dissident being targeted through deceptive digital operations. But they belong to the same ecology. One is the hard edge of transnational repression. The other is its quieter institutional face. Together, they show that the challenge is no longer confined to dramatic diplomatic incidents or overt bans.

That has implications far beyond museums. Universities, publishers and now cultural organisations in the UK increasingly operate in environments where external authoritarian influence may be felt not through formal legal obligation, but through partnership structures, procurement decisions, market access, technological dependency and reputational caution.

Liberal institutions are often poorly equipped to recognise these pressures because they expect censorship to appear as a clear legal command. Increasingly, it appears instead as a request to make one small change, to avoid delay, to save money, to keep things moving.

The lesson of the V&A controversy, then, is not simply that one museum made a questionable decision. It is that Britain needs a more serious conversation about cultural sovereignty under conditions of asymmetric interdependence.

If institutions rely on companies governed elsewhere by censorship, then freedom of expression at home becomes more fragile. The real question is not whether British museums are free in theory. It is whether they are independent enough in practice to prevent authoritarian preferences from quietly entering the production of public culture.