London
Reuters
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The UK said it would begin implementing a contract to return migrants who have arrived in small boats to France within days, an important part of its plan to reduce illegal migration after the treaty was ratified on Tuesday.

Under the New Deal, France agreed to accept the return of undocumented people who have arrived in the UK by small boats in exchange for consenting to legal asylum seekers with ties to British families.

Last month, Prime Minister Kiel and French President Emmanuel Macron announced the “One In In, One Out” pilot scheme on the return of immigrants.

To date, more than 25,000 people have come to the UK on small boats in 2025, and priority has attempted to reduce the number of arrivals by promising to “smash the gang” of smugglers.

A priority that has lost popularity since winning an election landslide last year is facing pressure from Nigel Farage’s Reform British Party to stop small boats, leading the polls of public opinion.

In recent weeks in the UK, there have been many protests over a hotel attended by both anti-immigrant and immigrant groups, which housed asylum seekers who arrived on small boats.

French Home Minister Bruno Reciroe said in X that the new agreement between the nations has a “clear purpose” to disband the densely populated network, but UK Home Minister Yvette Cooper said he would not say how many people will be returned under the scheme.

“The numbers will accumulate when they drop,” she told Sky News on Tuesday, adding that those who returned were not people already in the UK, but those who quickly arrived in the small boat.

Government sources previously said the deal includes around 50 returns per week, or 2,600 returns per year.

Critics of the scheme say the scale is not enough to serve as a deterrent, but Cooper said the agreement with France is just part of the government’s wider plan.

The government is also working with delivery companies to sanction people’s smugglers, tighten social media ads, and tackle illegal jobs that are often promised to migrants.

The Planning Convention was signed last week but had not been previously announced prior to ratification Tuesday. The UK said the European Commission and member states of the European Union gave the plan a green light.

Zoos in northern Denmark ask pet owners to donate unwanted guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens and even small horses.

In a Facebook post, Aalborg Zoo wrote that he was “trying to mimic the natural food chain of animals.”

“Chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs form an important part of the diet of predators,” he wrote in the post, along with an image of the sharp-toothed horny sims in open mice.

“If you do that, nothing will be wasted. And we will ensure the natural behavior, nutrition and happiness of predators,” the zoo added.

On its website, the zoo said the donated animals were “gently euthanized” by staff trained before being served as food. The zoo is home to carnivorous predators such as Asian lions, European lynxes and Sumatran tigers.

The zoo’s open request elicited lively debate online by protesting the idea of turning pets into prey and celebrating the zoo’s efforts to maintain natural eating behavior.

Pia Nielsen, deputy director of Aalborg Zoo, said in an emailed statement that the initiative has been in place for many years and is a common practice in Denmark.

“For many years at Aalborg Zoo, we have been feeding small livestock to carnivorous animals. When we keep a carnivorous animal, we need to provide meat to provide meat, preferably fur, bones, etc,” Nielsen said.

“Therefore, it makes sense to make this possible to use animals that need to be euthanized for a variety of reasons.”

“In Denmark, this practice is common, and many of our guests and partners appreciate the opportunity to contribute. The livestock we receive as a donation are chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs and horses.”

Carnivorous animals fill a central niche in the ecosystem, Nielsen added, saying they play an important role in the balance of nature.

It is not the first time that a Danish zoo has been scrutinized about how animals are fed and controlled by populations.

In 2014, the Danish capital, Copenhagen Zoo euthanized a healthy young giraffe named Marius to avoid inbreeding despite attempting to stop moving. The corpse was used in part for research purposes, and in part for supplying zoos, lions, tigers and leopard carnivorous animals.

A few weeks later, when the zoo euthanized four of these lions, public criticism ignited again, giving way to new men in the hopes of breeding a new generation of cubs.

AP
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Afghanistan is seeing the sharpest surge in child malnutrition, the World Food Program said Monday, adding that $539 million is needed to help the country’s most vulnerable families.

Approximately 10 million people, a quarter of Afghanistan’s population, face acute food insecurity. One in three children develops.

WFP said the increase in child malnutrition is linked to a decline in emergency food aid over the past two years as donor assistance is declining. In April, US President Donald Trump’s administration blocked food aid to Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world.

The US is WFP’s biggest funder, providing $4.5 billion last year with a $9.8 billion donation. Previous US administrations saw aid, such as contributing to national security by mitigating conflict, poverty, extremism, and migration control.

Food insecurity in Afghanistan is exacerbated by massive returns from neighbouring countries.

The WFP said the 60,000 Afghans who have returned from Iran in the past two months support some of those who are crossing the border.

“Now, WFP does not have enough funds to cover the responses of returnees at this time, so we will need $15 million to support all eligible returnees from Iran,” said Ziauddin Safi of WFP Communications. He said he would need $539 million until January to help vulnerable families in Afghanistan.

Climate change is also hurting populations, particularly rural populations.

Last week, head of the National Environmental Protection Agency, Matiura Karis said droughts, water shortages, reduced arable land and flash floods have “deeply affected” people’s lives and the economy.

The US State Department has condemned a Brazilian Supreme Court order for the arrest of former President Jea Bolsonaro, who is on trial over a conspiracy suspected to overturn the outcome of the 2022 presidential election.

Judge Alexandre de Moraise issued the order Monday, saying Bolsonaro failed to comply with restrictions previously imposed by the court, including the use of social media and mobile phones.

The court’s decision took place at the time of tense relations between Washington and Brasilia, and the lawsuit against right-wing populist Bolsonaro was seized by President Donald Trump as a threat to trade negotiations.

On Monday, the US State Department’s Western Hemisphere Bureau accused Judge Moraes of “using Brazilian institutions to silence opposition and threaten democracy.”

“It’s not a public service to put more restrictions on Jair Bolsonaro’s ability to protect herself in public. Let Bolsonaro speak to her!” Post said.

“The United States will condemn Moraes’ orders to impose house arrest on Bolsonaro, and will support and hold all authorized actions liable.”

The court order said Bolsonaro recorded a speech posted on other users’ social media accounts where he can see his ankle monitor. Moraes said it ignored an order banning “the exploitation of interviews or public or private speeches posted on third-party social media.”

Bolsonaro is on house arrest at his residence and is not permitted to have visitors except for his lawyers and people who have been approved by the court. The former president is also prohibited from using mobile phones directly or through third parties.

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro’s eldest son, also criticized the court. A decision that told CNN Brasil that his father never violated a court order.

“We are officially in a dictatorship, which is a sad page in Brazil’s history,” he said.

In February, Jer Bolsonaro was charged in connection with alleged coup plans to overturn the results of the 2022 election and take power away from his opponent, President Louise Inacio Lula da Silva. Prosecutors argue that some of the coup conspiracy could potentially assassinate his vice president and the Supreme Court minister.

Bolsonaro denied any misconduct.

Bolsonaro’s ally, Trump calls the trial against the former Brazilian president “politically motivated” and criticizes Brazilian authorities for rejection. Last week he signed enforcement action that imposes a 50% tariff on Brazil after threatening to do so if the country fails to close the trial against Bolsonaro.

The United States has also approved Judge Moraes for what is considered “serious human rights violations” and announced visa restrictions on Bolsonaro’s trial against him and other court officials.

Bolsonaro supporters and some of Brazilian rights welcome Trump’s active interest in the incident. However, the current administration of Brasilia, and many other administrations in Latin American countries, see it as a US that directly interferes with the issue.

president Last week, Lula accused the United States of imposing tariffs on Brazil’s exports and sanctioning them by a Supreme Court judge. He accused the US government of interfering with Brazil’s judicial system. This is a move he called “unacceptable.”

Singapore
Reuters
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Property tycoon On Ben Sen pleaded guilty to denial of obstruction of justice on Monday in part of a landmark case that led to the imprisonment of former Transport Minister S. Iswaran, who obtained valuable items as a civil servant last year.

However, both the prosecutor and the defense agreed to grant ONG’s judicial mercy in light of his chronic illness, and insisted that he would be fined in lieu of imprisonment. He will be declared on August 15th.

A second charge of crime was also considered.

Judicial mercy gives the court the authority to grant more lenient mitigation penalties in exceptional mitigation situations, such as terminal illness, or when prisons are at high risk of risking their lives.

Defense submitted that ONG suffers from multiple myeloma. This is an incurable cancer that affects his plasma cells and allows him to withstand immune system.

The incident has been the subject of a major conspiracy in Singapore. Singapore offers its Ministers a salary of over S$1 million ($775,000) to block grafts and takes pride in its reputation for clean governance.

Ong had informed Iswaran that his companions were being questioned and that a private flight depicting Iswaran’s name for a flight from Singapore to Doha had been seized by a corrupt watchdog during the investigation.

This led Iswaran to request that he issue an invoice through Singapore GP, the Singapore F1 Grand Prix promoter, and to charge him for the trip.

Iswaran was sentenced to 12 months in October 2024. This was the first time he was imprisoned in Singapore on charges of obstructing justice and receiving gifts of over $300,000.

In February, Iswaran was placed under house arrest for the remaining sentence.

Ong gave him tickets for Iswaran to ride a private jet amid the British Premier League soccer match, the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, the London Musical and other bounties.

Iswalan was an advisor to the Singapore Grand Prix steering committee, but the 79-year-old ONG owns the rights to the race.

The billionaire resigned in April as managing director of Singapore-listed hotel properties.