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In today’s newsletter: Why did picture agencies issued a ‘kill’ notice for a doctored image of the Princess of Wales – and just how seriously should we take it?
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Good morning. Yesterday’s Daily Mirror, like many of the newspapers, featured a wholesome picture of the Princess of Wales with her children. “It is hoped the photo will stop the wild conspiracies about Kate’s health as she recovers,” the caption read. Well, not exactly.
It’s been a heady couple of days on WhatsApp. On Sunday afternoon, the resident royal mystery connoisseur on one of my group chats sent round a series of screenshots of parts of the photo in a “just asking questions” sort of way. Later that evening, something discombobulating happened: the conspiracists turned out to be right.
Conservatives | The Conservative party’s biggest donor told colleagues that looking at Diane Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women” and said the MP “should be shot”, the Guardian has revealed. Read a profile of Frank Hester, who has given £10m to the Tories in the past year.
Haiti | Embattled Haitian prime minister Ariel Henry has issued his resignation, calling for “all Haitians to remain calm” in a video address from Puerto Rico after a gang insurrection against his government. The news of Henry’s resignation led to celebrations and fireworks in the streets of Port Au Prince.
Russia | A fleet of Ukrainian drones has targeted Russia, causing explosions and fires at fuel refineries, cutting electricity supplies and reaching Moscow and beyond, according to reports from Russian authorities. The reports came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that the situation at the front was the best it had been in three months.
UK politics | Downing Street is braced for more defections after Lee Anderson quit the party for Reform UK, with MPs warning Rishi Sunak that he “cannot pretend any longer” his strategy is working. The addition of Anderson, who recently lost the Tory whip after claiming that “Islamists” had “got control” of the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, gives Reform UK its first ever MP.
Prisons | Prisoners could be released from jail two months early, the justice secretary has announced, as the pressure on overcrowded prisons intensifies. In a written ministerial statement, Alex Chalk said prisons in England and Wales would have licence to release “certain low-level offenders” up to 35 days before their sentence was due to end.
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