Qesser Zuhrah, the youngest member of the Filton 24 prisoner group, was re-arrested on Monday 30th March 2026, having been granted bail in February 2026 after 15 months on remand.

🇵🇸🔻Qesser, la plus jeune des prisonnier•es des #Filton24, qui a été incarcérée pendant 15 mois avant d’être libérée sous caution, a été de nouveau arrêté ! Elle avait lancé la grève de la faim historique des prisonnier•es pour la Palestine en Angleterre le 2 novembre dernier. pic.twitter.com/Mdgnw0swjM

— Samidoun Paris Banlieue (@SamidounPB) March 30, 2026

Counter-terrorism police raided Qesser’s bail address at 6:20 this morning while she was sleeping.

She has been booked into custody under Section 1 of the Terrorism Act and Section 44 of the Serious Crimes Act 2007.

🚨‼️ URGENT: QESSER ZUHRAH HAS BEEN ARRESTED AND IS CURRENTLY IN CUSTODY, MOBILISE OUTSIDE HATFIELD POLICE STATION NOW TO SUPPORT HER‼️🚨

‼️🚨At 6.20 am this morning whilst she was sleeping, counter terrorism police turned up at Qesser’s bail address and abducted her under the… pic.twitter.com/CefRw9SSYd

— The Crispin Flintoff Show (@CrispinShow) March 30, 2026

Zuhrah, speaking at a recent press conference, said Prisoners for Palestine “are the collateral damage of Britain’s immoral allegiance to the Israeli state.” She recounted being assaulted twice in prison, once for requesting help for a suicidal prisoner and once for the mere act of crying. During her hunger strike, she was left on her cell floor for 22 hours with the door open, unable to move, and was only taken to the hospital after public pressure.

🚨BREAKING — Declassified attended the Filton 24 press conference today, where five recently released Palestine Action activists revealed shocking details about their experience in prison.

Teuta Hoxha began by explaining that her mind is “not as sharp as it used to be before… pic.twitter.com/YnmRuOPQ4p

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— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) March 25, 2026

Last December, Qesser nearly died on a hunger strike inside HMP Bronzefield. Supporters, including MP Zarah Sultana, spent over 12 hours outside the prison demanding that an ambulance be called.

At Zuhrah’s release in February, she was greeted by MP Zarah Sultana.

Last December, Qesser nearly died on hunger strike, and we spent over 12 hours outside Bronzefield demanding an ambulance.

Yesterday, she walked out into the arms of friends and family.

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It has been beautiful to see videos of Palestine Action prisoners released across the UK… pic.twitter.com/Z2sfV0i6BU

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) February 21, 2026

Netpol’s recent report noted that repression has become routine in British protest policing. New and overlapping laws, combined with a growing tendency to treat protest as a security issue, have normalised surveillance, heavy-handed policing, and punishment, with harm concentrated on marginalised groups.

The report said:

As powers have proliferated, mechanisms to restrain or scrutinise their use have weakened. Accountability is being eroded through legislative and policy changes, undermining routes to redress. Alongside this, rising levels of surveillance mark an increasingly preemptive approach to protest policing that resists democratic scrutiny. Meanwhile, the environment for those documenting police violence and repression – namely, journalists and legal observers – is becoming increasingly dangerous. The result is a widening accountability gap in which violence and punitive outcomes multiply while meaningful checks and balances are hollowed out.

Featured image via the Canary

Italian port authorities and dockworkers have intercepted multiple shipments of raw materials and precision components heading for the weapon factories of the genocidal “Israeli” state.

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement reported that three of four Indian shipments of military-grade steel were detained and placed under investigation in Italy.

This specialised steel is essential for the production of 155mm artillery shells, which are manufactured by the “Israeli” company IMI Systems, (formerly known as Israel Military Industries), a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, the Israeli occupation’s largest private defence contractor.

A BDS investigation identified approximately 600 tonnes of this steel, which was being transported from India to “Israel” via the Mediterranean using 23 Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) vessels.

These 155mm artillery shells have been used extensively by the Israeli occupation in its genocide in Gaza and were used by “Israel” in early March when it attacked the Southern Lebanese town of Yohmor with white phosphorus — a crime under international law.

According to BDS, there is enough steel in these shipments to produce up to 13,000 artillery shells.

Israel’s military-grade steel seized

The blockade intensified after 13 tonnes of weapon components were seized at the Italian port of Ravenna. These precision-machined cannon parts were produced by the Italian firm, Valforge, and heading for IMI Systems. However, investigators found the cargo did not have the mandatory “dual-use” export licences required by Italian law, which strictly prohibits the export or transit of military material to countries involved in armed conflict without explicit government authorisation.

The physical enforcement of this blockade is being led by the Italian trade unions, Collettivo Autonomo Lavoratori Portuali (CALP) and the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB). They have implemented a “Friday for Peace” schedule where, every week, workers refuse to service vessels flagged as carrying cargo for “Israel”.

The focus of their actions are on the Israeli-owned ZIM shipping line and MSC vessels like the MSC Vega and MSC Danit. These ships have faced protests and docking complications in Italy, Greece, and Spain, leading to the rerouting of several to other ports.

A national petition launched by BDS Italy, calling for a comprehensive military embargo and stricter checks on containers at Italian ports and airports, has so far gathered more than 10,000 signatures. The demand is based on Article 11 of the Italian Constitution, which “repudiate[s] war as an instrument of offence”.

Under Italian Law 185/1990, shipping companies and their directors face severe criminal and financial penalties for transporting restricted military goods without a valid licence. Individual directors can face between two and six years in prison, while corporate fines can reach up to 5% of global annual turnover.

Featured image via the Canary

Production on the upcoming TV adaptation of Tomb Raider is currently on hold after its leading star Sophie Turner suffered an injury.

A spokesperson for the production company Amazon MGM Studio confirmed on Monday that the former Game Of Thrones actor had “recently experienced a minor injury” leading to production being “briefly paused to allow her time to recover” on a precautionary basis.

“We look forward to resuming production as soon as possible,” they added.

Sophie previously enthused: “I am thrilled beyond measure to be playing Lara Croft. She’s such an iconic character, who means so much to so many – and I am giving everything I’ve got.”

Tomb Raider’s heroine Lara Croft has previously been played on the big screen by Oscar winners Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander, with Hayley Atwell also lending her voice to the character in a Netflix animated series.

Of her predecessors, Sophie added last year: “They’re massive shoes to fill, following in the steps of Angelina and Alicia with their powerhouse performances, but with Phoebe at the helm, we (and Lara) are all in very safe hands. I can’t wait for you all to see what we have cooking.”

Phoebe also beamed: “It’s not very often you get to make a show of this scale with a character you grew up loving.

“Everyone on board is wildly passionate about Lara and are all as outrageous, brave, and hilarious as she is. Get your artifacts out… Croft is coming…”

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We think The Scotsman might have gotten a bit confused and/or carried away when it came to putting the clocks forward at the weekend. At 6am on Sunday morning they tweeted this:

But the link was a 404. We checked the print edition of Scotland On Sunday but there was nothing there. Finally, though, the article has shown up in today’s paper and on the website, and to be honest, readers, we still think it must be some sort of mistake, because it’s two days early for April 1st.

And this is too batshit crazy to explain any other way.

Fortunately it’s the end of the month and time for our latest election analysis piece, so let’s pick our way through the madness. Heaven knows we could all do with the laugh.

“Labour believes it has identified a route to forming the next Scottish government by flipping a dozen constituencies from the SNP and relying on a strong Reform performance on the regional list to deprive John Swinney’s party of the keys to Bute House.

Anas Sarwar’s team believe that in battlegrounds across the Central Belt, where constituencies can be framed as a straight fight between Labour and the SNP, turning 11 or 12 seats red would create three large party blocks, with an assumption Labour would be the only party able to form a government with the help of Reform.”

Good lord, where to even start? The first thing to note is that given all current polling figures, any constituency gains by Labour would be all but guaranteed to be wiped out by a corresponding loss of list seats, so the entire premise of this strategy is demented from the start.

If you look at the last 10 polls, Sarwar’s party is sitting on anywhere from 12% to 19% of the list vote, which ought to be good for 2-3 list seats per region, but if they picked up a few constituencies across the Central Belt that’d be slashed into single figures.

The definition of “Central Belt” is a matter of interpretation, but by any reasonable measure includes at least five regions and possibly six. West Scotland includes areas that anyone would class “Central Belt” – Clydebank, Milngavie, Strathkelvin, Eastwood.

Obviously Edinburgh And Lothians East counts.

Same goes for Central Scotland (clue’s in the name!) And Lothians West.

Ditto for Glasgow.

Mid Scotland And Fife is probably the most debatable, but Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy are hardly in the Highlands and are areas Labour has traditionally been strong in and will at least fancy a shot at. And remember, even picking up a single seat in (say) Kirkcaldy would be enough to halve Labour’s list vote for the whole region.

There can’t be much debate about South Scotland either, unless you’re going to seriously try to dispute that Hamilton and East Kilbride are in the Central Belt.

(Wikipedia defines it as including large swathes of Fife and the Borders.)

So even if Labour picked up “11 or 12” constituencies due to their concentrated vote – and that’s a very, very big ask unless their polling dramatically improves – the likely impact on their total seat count would be zero, because they’d lose the same number on the list.

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Speaking on Monday, the Prime Minister said that he knew the war in the Middle East, triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran, was “causing huge concern” for the public.

“Therefore, it’s really important that I reiterate where I stand and where this government stands, because this is not our war and we are not going to be dragged into it,” he said.

Starmer has granted the US permission to use UK bases for what he describes as defensive strikes on Tehran. However, he has refused to commit Britain to deeper involvement, leading to repeated public criticism from US President Donald Trump.

Later on Monday, the PM will host a Downing Street round table with senior leaders from the energy, shipping, financial and insurance sectors, alongside the UK’s Commander Maritime Operations, who will set out the security picture in the Strait of Hormuz and the Middle East.

Iranian threats to attack ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the most important trade routes in the world, have led to a spike in oil and gas prices since the conflict began.

Petrol prices in the UK have already been affected by the war, and the government is expected to announce financial support for households most exposed to rising energy bills.

However, there is now growing alarm over the impact on food prices, with fertiliser, crucial to food production, being impacted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Starmer was speaking to reporters at the launch of Labour’s local elections campaign in Wolverhampton.

The party is expected to face a bruising set of results when elections take place in English councils, Scotland and Wales on 7 May.

The PM has sought to make the Iran war a dividing line with his rivals, saying Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wanted to go “straight in with both feet into the war without thinking through the consequences”.

“It’s terrible judgement because taking your country to war is the single most important decision a prime minister can ever take. 

“And if they had been in government, we would be in a war with no plan.”

Starmer, whose own leadership could come under pressure if Labour’s performance in May is as bad as many in the party fear, pointed to what the government was doing to protect households from cost-of-living pressures worsened by the Iran war.

The PM has indicated that he wants to take a targeted approach to protecting people from soaring energy bills. 

Last week, he told MPs he was “acutely aware” of how much it cost the taxpayer when former prime minister Liz Truss gave blanket energy bill support in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Starmer also said this morning that he would chair another Cobra meeting on Tuesday to discuss the economic impact of the war.

However, he insisted that the advice to motorists is that there was “no need to do anything other than what is normal” amid warnings about fuel shortages.

On Sunday, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Sky News that drivers should “fill up as normal” and insisted that the government was “well prepared” for disruption.