Russia has criticised a proposed US-Ukraine ceasefire, saying it would give Ukrainian forces a reprieve, as Donald Trump’s envoy, Steven Witkoff, arrived in Moscow for peace talks with Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said he had told the US national security adviser, Mike Waltz, that Moscow viewed the proposed 30-day ceasefire as “nothing more than a short reprieve for Ukrainian forces”.

“Steps that merely imitate peaceful actions are not needed by anyone in this situation,” Ushakov said in an interview with Russian state television.

Ushakov’s remarks appeared to be the clearest indication to date that the 30-day ceasefire plan, proposed by the US and accepted in principle by Ukraine, is unacceptable to Moscow in its current form.

Ushakov added: “The document, it seems to me, has a hasty character … It will be necessary to work, think and take into account our position too. It outlines only the Ukrainian approach.”

His comments came as Witkoff’s jet landed in Moscow on Thursday, where the close Trump ally is expected to meet Putin at the Kremlin to push for a ceasefire after Washington’s talks with Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Witkoff, officially Trump’s Middle East envoy, has been acting as a key negotiator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Ukraine said after the talks with top US diplomats in Jeddah on Tuesday that it was ready to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire, and the US said it would put the proposal to Russia.

However, Moscow has been unwilling to commit to any ceasefire or timeline agreement.

Recent rhetoric from Russian officials has been notably sceptical of a temporary ceasefire, indicating little urgency to reach an agreement or make concessions. With the battlefield gains favouring Russia, Moscow appears to see little incentive to freeze the fighting without gaining major concessions.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, cautioned against “getting ahead of things” regarding a Russian response, saying Moscow would discuss the details with the US first.

Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday that Moscow was ready to discuss a US-backed peace initiative “as early as today”. But she also indicated that Russia saw little urgency in halting fighting, reiterating it would not accept western peacekeepers in Ukraine as a security guarantee and that they would be targeted if deployed.

“We are ready to discuss the initiatives set out there in future contacts with the United States,” Zakharova said. “Russia will not accept the deployment of foreign armed forces in Ukraine, as it would constitute direct involvement in the conflict, and Moscow will respond with all available means.”

Ukraine has said it would need some kind of security guarantee in order to sign a lasting ceasefire deal.

Moscow’s continued resistance to European peacekeeping forces – seen by Ukraine as the only viable alternative to Nato membership for guaranteeing its security – presents a major obstacle to a peace acceptable to Kyiv.

The Russian president is expected to comment for the first time on the ceasefire proposal on Thursday after his talks with the Belarusian dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, a Moscow ally.

Putin has repeatedly rejected the possibility of a temporary ceasefire, saying he was focused on addressing what he called the “root causes” of the conflict.

Observers believe Putin is determined to put forward a string of maximalist demands before agreeing to any ceasefire, which is likely to prolong negotiations.

Reuters and Bloomberg have reported that Russia, in discussions with the US, has presented a list of such demands to end the war in Ukraine and reset relations with Washington.

Peskov declined to comment on Thursday on the media reports.

These demands could include the demilitarisation of Ukraine, an end to western military aid, and a commitment to keeping Kyiv out of Nato. Moscow may also push for a ban on foreign troop deployments in Ukraine and international recognition of Putin’s claims to Crimea and the four Ukrainian regions Russia annexed in 2022.

Putin could also revisit some of his broader demands from 2021, which go beyond Ukraine, including a call for Nato to halt the deployment of weapons in member states that joined after 1997, when the alliance began expanding into former communist countries.

Many in Europe fear these conditions for peace could weaken the west’s ability to increase its military presence and could allow Putin to expand his influence across the continent.

Moscow’s confident rhetoric is reinforced by its recent battlefield gains. On Thursday, the Kremlin said its forces were in the final stages of expelling Ukraine’s army from the Kursk region, where Kyiv had seized Russian territory last year in the hope of using it as leverage in peace negotiations.

The Russian military announced on Thursday it had recaptured Sudzha, the largest town Ukraine held in the region, while Kyiv has indicated that an organised withdrawal is under way.

Russia has criticised a proposed US-Ukraine ceasefire, saying it would give Ukrainian forces a reprieve, as Donald Trump’s envoy, Steven Witkoff, arrived in Moscow for peace talks with Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said he had told the US national security adviser, Mike Waltz, that Moscow viewed the proposed 30-day ceasefire as “nothing more than a short reprieve for Ukrainian forces”.

“Steps that merely imitate peaceful actions are not needed by anyone in this situation,” Ushakov said in an interview with Russian state television.

Ushakov’s remarks appeared to be the clearest indication to date that the 30-day ceasefire plan, proposed by the US and accepted in principle by Ukraine, is unacceptable to Moscow in its current form.

Ushakov added: “The document, it seems to me, has a hasty character … It will be necessary to work, think and take into account our position too. It outlines only the Ukrainian approach.”

His comments came as Witkoff’s jet landed in Moscow on Thursday, where the close Trump ally is expected to meet Putin at the Kremlin to push for a ceasefire after Washington’s talks with Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Witkoff, officially Trump’s Middle East envoy, has been acting as a key negotiator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Ukraine said after the talks with top US diplomats in Jeddah on Tuesday that it was ready to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire, and the US said it would put the proposal to Russia.

However, Moscow has been unwilling to commit to any ceasefire or timeline agreement.

Recent rhetoric from Russian officials has been notably sceptical of a temporary ceasefire, indicating little urgency to reach an agreement or make concessions. With the battlefield gains favouring Russia, Moscow appears to see little incentive to freeze the fighting without gaining major concessions.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, cautioned against “getting ahead of things” regarding a Russian response, saying Moscow would discuss the details with the US first.

Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday that Moscow was ready to discuss a US-backed peace initiative “as early as today”. But she also indicated that Russia saw little urgency in halting fighting, reiterating it would not accept western peacekeepers in Ukraine as a security guarantee and that they would be targeted if deployed.

“We are ready to discuss the initiatives set out there in future contacts with the United States,” Zakharova said. “Russia will not accept the deployment of foreign armed forces in Ukraine, as it would constitute direct involvement in the conflict, and Moscow will respond with all available means.”

Ukraine has said it would need some kind of security guarantee in order to sign a lasting ceasefire deal.

Moscow’s continued resistance to European peacekeeping forces – seen by Ukraine as the only viable alternative to Nato membership for guaranteeing its security – presents a major obstacle to a peace acceptable to Kyiv.

The Russian president is expected to comment for the first time on the ceasefire proposal on Thursday after his talks with the Belarusian dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, a Moscow ally.

Putin has repeatedly rejected the possibility of a temporary ceasefire, saying he was focused on addressing what he called the “root causes” of the conflict.

Observers believe Putin is determined to put forward a string of maximalist demands before agreeing to any ceasefire, which is likely to prolong negotiations.

Reuters and Bloomberg have reported that Russia, in discussions with the US, has presented a list of such demands to end the war in Ukraine and reset relations with Washington.

Peskov declined to comment on Thursday on the media reports.

These demands could include the demilitarisation of Ukraine, an end to western military aid, and a commitment to keeping Kyiv out of Nato. Moscow may also push for a ban on foreign troop deployments in Ukraine and international recognition of Putin’s claims to Crimea and the four Ukrainian regions Russia annexed in 2022.

Putin could also revisit some of his broader demands from 2021, which go beyond Ukraine, including a call for Nato to halt the deployment of weapons in member states that joined after 1997, when the alliance began expanding into former communist countries.

Many in Europe fear these conditions for peace could weaken the west’s ability to increase its military presence and could allow Putin to expand his influence across the continent.

Moscow’s confident rhetoric is reinforced by its recent battlefield gains. On Thursday, the Kremlin said its forces were in the final stages of expelling Ukraine’s army from the Kursk region, where Kyiv had seized Russian territory last year in the hope of using it as leverage in peace negotiations.

The Russian military announced on Thursday it had recaptured Sudzha, the largest town Ukraine held in the region, while Kyiv has indicated that an organised withdrawal is under way.

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has said he will accept responsibility for his government’s so-called “war on drugs” in a video message filmed on board a plane shortly before he was taken into the custody of the international criminal court (ICC).

“Whatever happened in the past, I will be the front of our law enforcement and the military. I said this already, that I will protect you, and I will be responsible for everything,” he said.

The video message, which appeared to have been filmed on board the aircraft that brought him to the Netherlands to face charges of crimes against humanity, were his first comments to the Philippines public since his dramatic arrest on Tuesday.

Dressed in a plain white shirt, and speaking to the camera, he said: “This will be a long legal proceeding. But I say to you, I will continue to serve the country. So be it. If that is my destiny. Thank you”.

Duterte has previously said he offered “no apologies, no excuses” for his bloody anti drugs crackdowns which activists say may have killed as many as 30,000 people.

Duterte’s plane landed at Rotterdam airport at just before 5pm local time on Wednesday, and he was transferred to a detention unit on the Dutch coast.

In a statement the ICC confirmed it had taken custody of the former leader, with the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, calling it “a crucial step in our continuous work to ensure accountability for the victims of the most serious crimes under ICC jurisdiction.”

Duterte is the first former leader of an Asian country to be served an arrest warrant filed by the ICC.

In a statement the ICC said its chamber, composed of three judges, had assessed material submitted by office of the prosecutor and found reasonable grounds to believe that Duterte is “individually responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator for the crime against humanity of murder, allegedly committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019.”

A hearing will be scheduled “in due course” for Duterte’s initial appearance before the court, it said, which will confirm his identity and the language in which he is able to follow the proceedings. It is not clear when a trial will begin.

Supporters of the former leader gathered at The Hague Penitentiary Institution, waiving the Philippines flag and chanting “bring him back”. While rights experts and victims’ families have been overjoyed by the news of Duterte’s arrest, the former leader retains a strong support base, especially in the south of the country.

“I am OK, do not worry,” Duterte, who will turn 80 this month, said in the video message. His daughter, Sara Duterte, the vice-president, also arrived in The Hague on Wednesday evening to offer support.

Lawyers for Duterte on Wednesday filed a petition on behalf of his youngest daughter, Veronica, accusing the government of “kidnapping” him, and demanding he be returned to the Philippines.

Duterte’s supporters have argued that, as the Philippines withdrew from the Rome statute in 2019, the ICC no longer has jurisdiction. However, the court has previously said it retains jurisdiction for alleged crimes that occurred in the country before its withdrawal.

The country’s president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who once ran in an alliance with vice-president Sara Duterte but is now embroiled in a bitter feud with the family, told reporters this week he was confident “the arrest was proper, correct and followed all necessary legal procedures”.

The mayor of Miami Beach is attempting to evict an independent cinema from city-owned property after it screened No Other Land, the film about Palestinian displacement in the West Bank that just won the Oscar for best documentary.

Steven Meiner’s proposal would terminate O Cinema’s lease and withdraw $40,000 in promised grant funding. In a newsletter sent to residents on Tuesday, Meiner condemned the film as “a false one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our City and residents”.

Meiner had previously urged the O Cinema to cancel scheduled screenings of the documentary, citing criticism from Israeli and German officials. According to the mayor’s newsletter, O Cinema’s CEO, Vivian Marthell, allegedly agreed to withdraw the film from programming, citing “concerns of antisemitic rhetoric”, but Meiner claimed she reversed her decision the following day. The screenings sold out and the cinema added additional dates in March.

“Our decision to screen NO OTHER LAND is not a declaration of political alignment. It is, however, a bold reaffirmation of our fundamental belief that every voice deserves to be heard,” Marthell told the Miami Herald.

The documentary, which won the Academy Award for best documentary feature last week, follows the destruction of Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank and chronicles the unlikely friendship between a Palestinian activist, Basel Adra, and Israeli journalist, Yuval Abraham, who co-directed the film.

Tensions over free speech and Palestinian activism nationwide have been further heightened this week after Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia student activist and green-card holder who helped lead the Palestinian solidarity movement during the college encampments last year, was detained by immigration authorities. The US president, Donald Trump, has alleged without evidence that Khalil has links to “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity”.

A White House official told the Free Press that Khalil, who was arrested without charge, poses a “threat to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States” and the “allegation here is not that he was breaking the law”.

A recent Gallup poll shows support for Israel has plummeted to a 25-year low, while Palestinian sympathy has surged.

Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, a Miami Beach commissioner, said she shared the mayor’s negative assessment of the film but cautioned against a “kneejerk reaction” that could trigger “costly legal battles”, and noted O Cinema’s “longstanding commitment to the Jewish community”.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida has called the mayor’s retaliation against O Cinema unconstitutional. “The government does not get to pick and choose which viewpoints the public is allowed to hear, however controversial some might find them,” Daniel Tilley, the branch’s legal director, told Axios.

Free speech advocates are also mobilizing against what they see as dangerous government overreach targeting constitutional rights.

“Screening movies to make sure they conform to local censors’ tastes is a practice we left behind with the red scare,” said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Fire).

“If the first amendment doesn’t mean that a movie theater can show an Oscar-winning film, something is seriously wrong.”

Miami Beach has faced past controversy over artistic expression in 2019, when the city removed a portrait of Raymond Herisse, a Black man fatally shot by Beach police, from a city art project.

The mayor’s proposal to cancel the cinema’s lease is set for a commission vote next Wednesday.

The US-born woman who was the world’s oldest living person before she died in Spain last August at age 117 once attributed her longevity to “luck and good genetics”. And, evidently, Maria Branyas Morera was right.

A study of Branyas’s microbiome and DNA that scientists began conducting before her death reportedly determined that the genes she inherited allowed her cells to essentially feel and behave as if they were 17 years younger than they actually were. And Branyas’s microbiota – which primarily refers to the bacteria in people’s guts that has a role in keeping them healthy – mirrored that of an infant, according to the research led by University of Barcelona genetics professor Manel Esteller, a leading expert on ageing.

The daily newspaper Ara, which covers the Catalan region where she resided much of her life, first reported on the results of the study into what was described as Branyas’s “privileged genome” earlier in March. Esteller’s team found that Branyas retained her lucidity until almost the very end of her life.

And the ailments that she grappled with during her extended golden years were largely limited to joint pain and hearing loss.

Ara reported that Esteller’s work on Branyas amounts to the most complete research yet into a so-called supercentenarian – someone who is 110 or older – as well as some possible explanations for the longevity that marks some lives in particular.

The researchers noted how Branyas made a number of healthy lifestyle choices that also helped her take advantage of her unique genetic makeup. She adhered to a Mediterranean diet that included three yogurts daily.

She avoided drinking alcohol and smoking, enjoyed walks, and constantly surrounded herself with family and loved ones, all of which apparently aided her in staving off declines both physical and mental that could have shortened her life, the researchers concluded.

Esteller and his colleagues said that they hope the study into Branyas provides useful information to those seeking to develop medications and treatments for age-related illnesses.

They said Branyas exemplified how ageing and sickness – at least in certain conditions – do not necessarily have to go hand-in-hand. And the results of the genetic study done on her “challenge the perception that [the two] are inexorably linked”, they also said, according to Spain’s EFE news service.

Branyas was born in San Francisco on 4 March 1907, after her parents moved from Spain and Mexico to the US. She also spent time in Texas and New Orleans before her family returned to Spain in 1915 – amid the first world war – and settled in Catalonia.

Some of the major global events that she subsequently lived through were the Spanish civil war, the second world war, the 1918 flu pandemic and Covid-19.

She made international news headlines by contracting Covid in 2020, when Spain was one of the countries hit hardest by the virus and protective vaccines were not yet available. But her Covid bout was asymptomatic, and she recovered relatively easily.

Branyas gained recognition from Guinness World Records as the globe’s oldest person in January 2023 after the death of the French nun Lucile Randon, 118. Asked by the Guinness organization’s website to contemplate her longevity, Branyas chalked it up “order, tranquility, good connection with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, no worries, no regrets, lots of positivity and staying away from toxic people”.

“I think longevity is also being lucky,” added Branyas, who expressed herself later in life with a voice-to-text device. “Luck and good genetics”.

A widowed mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, she died on 19 August at a nursing home in the town of Olot in north-eastern Spain where she lived for her final two decades.

As of Wednesday, the world’s oldest person was Brazil’s Inah Canabarro Lucas, 116, according to the LongeviQuest website, an authority on supercentenarians.

Argentina’s hardline security minister is facing calls to resign after the violent police response to a protest by pensioners left a photographer in a coma and scores of other people injured.

More than 1,000 riot police used teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse demonstrators late on Wednesday.

Retirees gather every week in front of Congress to demand an increase in pensions and the restoration of certain free medications, which have been hit by President Javier Milei’s austerity programme.

This week the number of protesters swelled after fans from some of the country’s biggest football clubs, including Boca Juniors and River Plate, joined the rally.

To the sound of trumpets and drums, elderly marchers waved walking sticks and signs reading: “Don’t hit us, we are your parents,” and “Help me fight – you’ll be the next elderly person.”

But violence soon erupted with columns of riot police releasing a near-constant stream of teargas, and shooting water cannons and rubber bullets at demonstrators. Around 5.30pm officers drove into the crowds on motorbikes, pointing guns at the demonstrators and causing hundreds to flee.

Footage circulating on social media showed an elderly woman being hit with a baton and being knocked to the ground, her head soon covered in blood. In another, an elderly man wearing a football shirt is seen being beaten by police.

A freelance photographer and activist was also left in a critical condition, after being hit in the head with a teargas canister. Pablo Grillo reportedly suffered a skull fracture and loss of brain mass, a graphic photo of which was shared online. The 35-year-old was rushed to a hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and remains in an induced coma.

His father, Fabián Grillo, blamed the president and national security minister, Patricia Bullrich, and said: “My son’s life is in danger.” Bullrich responded by calling the photographer an activist.

The Argentinian Graphic Reporters Association (aRGra) is demanding Bullrich’s resignation. “Today our former student was vilely and seriously injured by security forces,” their statement said. “We demand that the president of the republic immediately remove her and her subordinates from office and bring them to justice. Otherwise we make him [Milei] morally, politically and criminally complicit in the crimes committed by his minister.”

Hundreds of people protested peacefully, chanting from the sidelines. But others threw stones, firecrackers and bottles at police containment lines. A police van and rubbish cans were also set ablaze. Al Jazeera reported that a police officer had been shot.

Preliminary figures from the independent human rights group Comisión Nacional por la Memoria suggest more than 500 people were injured.

More than 100 people were detained, authorities said, with Bullrich alleging on TV that organised and violent football fans had turned up “prepared to kill”.

Axel Kicillof, the opposition governor of Buenos Aires province, condemned the government’s “ferocious, illegal and premeditated” repression of the protest. “While a photographer fights for his life, government spokespeople lie, justify violence, and spread hatred. This authoritarian rampage must be urgently curbed,” he said.

Retirees were described as the biggest losers during Milei’s first year in office, with pension increases falling significantly under inflation and the list of free medications being cut.

Nearly 60% of retirees receive only the minimum pension payment, which amounts to approximately $340 a month. From 23 March, those who have not completed 30 years of contributions will reportedly be unable to access the retirement pot – estimates suggest thousands will be affected.

Liliana Morono, a 73-year-old pensioner and grandmother, attended Wednesday’s protest for the first time. “Milei’s government is reducing our money every month, we can’t live, we can’t buy medications,” she said.

“I can’t understand how any Argentinian could vote for this crazy man who is so sick and full of hate. He has created a clash, a division, across our country,” she added.

Manuel Adorni, the presidential spokesperson, dismissed the demonstration as a politically motivated stunt.

Bullrich said: “In Argentina, the law rules, not the hooligans or the left.”

A detained Columbia University graduate threatened with deportation after the Trump administration claimed he poses a risk to US foreign policy is a former employee of the British government who was extensively vetted before working at the embassy in Beirut.

Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate from a Columbia University master’s programme, was arrested at home on 9 March as he returned with his wife from a dinner to break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“My husband was kidnapped from our home, and it’s shameful that the US government continues to hold him because he stood for the rights and lives of his people,” his wife, Noor Abdalla, who is eight months pregnant, said in a statement read by her lawyer outside a New York court this week.

“His disappearance has devastated our lives.”

Khalil, a Palestinian born in Syria, had become a prominent face in protests on the Columbia campus over the last year. Following his arrest, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused him of leading “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation”.

The White House has not specified publicly or in court that Khalil has committed any crime, or how this invalidates his status as a US legal permanent resident. The Trump administration has instead sought to use a provision within immigration law specifying that the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, “has reasonable grounds to believe that your presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”, according to a charging document provided to Khalil.

Andrew Waller, a former British diplomat who worked with Khalil at the UK office for Syria, a diplomatic mission housed inside the British embassy in Beirut, described Khalil as a thoughtful individual and highly valued colleague during his government service.

“This is a naked example of the US administration arresting someone for their political opinions, and I think the British government should be exercised about this,” he said.

“He is a former British government employee who was vetted and well liked.”

Waller added that the British government was entirely dependent on non-British nationals working at embassies worldwide to provide the language skills and local knowledge needed to operate. Khalil worked for years on the British government’s flagship grant programme that brings foreign students to study at UK universities, as well as in a support role for which he helped to inform and shape British foreign policy on Syria through his knowledge and Arabic skills.

“The British government relies on people like Mahmoud all over the world,” he said. “Without them the UK could not operate overseas. It could not conduct diplomatic activity without this raft of employees who do this kind of work.”

Waller said he was “disappointed” that Khalil’s loyalty to the government he served for years has not been publicly recognised by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office. The Foreign Office declined to comment, saying it did not discuss former employees.

“There is an element of loyalty here that is really important: If there is one thing Mahmoud showed while working for the British government, it is loyalty,” said Waller.

Columbia University did not respond to questions about how the campus administration intends to protect other students like Khalil, after it emerged that he emailed the university begging for legal protection in the days before his arrest.

The White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters earlier this week that DHS was “using intelligence” to find other students who took part in campus protests over the Israeli assault on Gaza.

A spokesperson for Columbia University referred instead to a statement by the interim president, Katrina Armstrong, earlier this week pledging to “follow the law”, and underlining a “commitment to freedom of speech”.

International students at the Columbia journalism school were warned about angering the Trump administration by its dean, Jelani Cobb, and a professor of media law, Stuart Karle, according to the New York Times.

“Nobody can protect you,” said Cobb, advising them to avoid filling their social media with commentary on the Middle East. Karle reportedly warned the students to avoid coverage of protests of Khalil’s arrest.

Both Waller and Khalil’s lawyer, Samah Sisay, pointed to the extensive background checks and screening, including about his political views and those held by his family, that Khalil had been through in order to work for the British government, and then later to obtain a US green card.

“It’s completely absurd that US government is saying Mahmoud presents a threat to its foreign policy interests,” said Sisay.

“They don’t even say national security interests … they are not accusing him of specific terrorist or criminal activity, they are just saying a discretionary belief by the secretary of state is enough to deport him.”

Khalil was subject to extensive background checks to obtain a green card last year, said Sisay, which granted him legal permanent residency as the spouse of an American citizen.

“He would not have been granted it if they truly believed he was a threat. The only difference is a change in the executive, which is incredibly concerning,” she said.

Waller described the “rigorous security clearance”, that Khalil was subject to before he began work for the British government at the embassy in Beirut. He oversaw applicants for the prestigious Chevening scholarship, an academic fund for students coming to the UK.

Khalil rose up the ranks at the UK office for Syria before deciding to study for a masters degree at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Before starting work for the British government, Khalil would have been questioned about his political beliefs, said Waller.

“I would say, and I am sure the vetting officers would disagree, that if you’re going to work in a place like Beirut, they take that process a lot more seriously than some other countries,” he said. “Lebanon is a difficult place to work, and they take the security of the embassy there really quite seriously for obvious reasons. So it’s not a box-ticking exercise, it’s a considered process.”

Waller added that his friend and former colleague was motivated by a desire to help others after his family fled Syria in 2012.

“He is a political exile from Syria, who fled the oppressive regime and civil war there. Everything he has done has been driven by a sense of basic humanitarian mission and a sense of justice, to try and help people less fortunate,” he said.

The former diplomat also pointed to JD Vance’s comments during a visit by Keir Starmer, when the US vice-president described “infringements to free speech in the UK”.

“Given that the US has just reprimanded the UK on freedom of speech extremely publicly, the least the British government could do is to say they are concerned about Mahmoud’s case and the free speech violation it so clearly represents,” said Waller.

A US hunting influencer who shared video of herself snatching a baby wombat away from its mother is being investigated for a potential breach of her Australian visa.

The footage, with scenes described as “callous” by the RSPCA and “pretty dreadful” by the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, showed the Montana-based influencer Sam Jones grabbing the wombat joey at night as it was walking with its mother.

“I can’t wait to see the back of this individual,” the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said in a statement on Thursday, in response to the recording.

Burke said the home affairs department was “working through the conditions” on Jones’ visa to determine “whether immigration law has been breached”.

“Either way, given the level of scrutiny that will happen if she ever applies for a visa again, I’ll be surprised if she even bothers,” he said.

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In the film, Jones is shown running down the road towards a parked vehicle, from which she is being filmed, while clutching the joey.

“I caught a baby wombat,” Jones says to the camera as the joey hisses and screeches.

“OK, momma’s right there and she is pissed,” Jones then says, as the joey’s mother moves towards her. Jones then puts the joey back by the side of the road.

The footage has been widely shared and condemned on social media.

The footage, which did not indicate any location information or when it was filmed, was shared on the Instagram account “samstrays_somewhere” belonging to Jones, an “outdoor enthusiast & hunter”.

Jones had been sharing pictures and videos of her trip around Australia, including a video of her picking up an echidna at an unknown location and showing it to the camera.

But after the wombat video went viral, attracting strong criticism, the account has been turned to private. The Guardian attempted to contact Jones through Instagram but received no comment.

A TikTok account with the same handle was also deleted.

Australia has three wombat species, two of which are threatened.

The species caught by Jones was identified by one expert as a common wombat, also known as a bare-nosed wombat, which are not threatened.

Jones has defended her actions, saying she did not harm the joey and only held it very briefly, according to news.com.au.

“For everyone that’s worried and unhappy, the baby was carefully held for ONE minute in total and then released back to mum,” she wrote.

The Guardian has not independently seen the apology as Jones’ Instagram account has now been set to private.

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said it was “an outrage” Jones had separated the joey from its mother.

“Maybe she might try some other Australian animals,” he said at a press conference, when asked about the incident. “Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. Take another animal that can actually fight back rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother. See how you go there.”

Dr Di Evans, a senior scientific officer at RSPCA Australia, said the video showed a “blatant disregard” for native wildlife.

“The distress caused by the callous act is obvious with the joey screeching for their mother and the mother being extremely anxious,” she said.

“Removing a joey from their mother is extremely distressing and any separation is harmful. The video shows this strong maternal bond.”

Evans said there were “many appropriate ways” that tourists could observe the country’s beautiful wildlife through reputable and licensed zoos and sanctuaries.

When Wong was asked about the footage on Seven’s morning television show Sunrise, she described it as looking “pretty dreadful”.

“I think everyone who would have seen that would have thought, look leave the baby wombat alone, leave it with its mum,” Wong said.

A spokesperson for the federal environment department said it had been notified about the footage but would not comment while inquiries were ongoing.

Spotify has removed an Andrew Tate podcast after complaints from users including an online petition signed by more than 85,000 people.

The “degree course” by the misogynist influencer titled “pimping hoes” was deemed to be in breach of the company’s rules and removed.

Several podcasts have been removed from the service this week, including the “pimping hoes” course.

The takedowns were first reported by the tech news site 404 Media, which alleged that some Spotify employees had complained about Tate content being available.

“Pretty vile that we’re hosting Andrew Tate’s content,” wrote one employee on an internal messaging platform, according to 404 Media.

A Spotify spokesperson said: “The content in question was removed because it violated our policies, not because of employee discussion.”

One Spotify user, commenting on the podcast before it was taken down, wrote: “These courses actively teach men how to manipulate, control and profit from the exploitation of women.” The user added that the course breached Spotify’s own terms of use.

Spotify does not remove content based on an individual’s behaviour outside the platform. However, its rules bar content that makes “dehumanising” statements about a person or groups based on protected characteristics such as gender, identity or sex. Content targeting an individual or group for harassment or abuse is also barred.

Several Tate podcasts containing offensive or questionable content remain on Spotify platform, including a “PhD course” on “how to get girls fast and easy”.

This episode contains “iron clad” rules for dating women, including never allowing a woman to be friends with men and referring to dating as a “sexual marketplace”.

He goes on to say the “reason the sexual marketplace is so fucked is because there’s too many women out there who get attention without giving sex”. Later, he claims that men must “build” a woman to be perfect for them, saying: “A woman who is understanding and kind and respects you does not exist, unless you force her to be that way.”

He calls some women “more mouldable” than others.

Another episode titled “Willing and Able” with his brother Tristan Tate was released after their time in prison in Romania which they refer to as “unfair” and a “matrix attack”.

A petition on change.org calling on Spotify to remove Tate’s podcasts has reached more than 84,000 signatures. The petition accuses the streaming company of “cashing in on the exploitation of women and girls”.

Tate and his brother Tristan, both dual British-US nationals, face charges of rape, human trafficking and other offences in Romania. They are also wanted by UK authorities investigating allegations of rape and human trafficking. Last month they flew to the US after Romanian prosecutors suspended a travel ban and a court lifted a precautionary seizure on some of their assets.

The brothers have denied all the allegations against them and say their wealth has made them targets. “I’m sure at the end we’ll be absolutely exonerated,” Tate said last year.

It emerged last week that Kyle Clifford, a former soldier, watched up to 10 Tate videos before he murdered Louise Hunt, 25, her sister Hannah, 28, and their mother, Carol, 61, at their home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, last year.

In 2022, musician Neil Young removed his music catalogue from Spotify due to Joe Rogan’s podcasts being platformed on Spotify and called Spotify “the home of life-threatening Covid misinformation.”

However, he returned to the platform in 2022 as Rogan’s podcast was allowed to be distributed to other platforms including Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Young said he could not protest on all platforms as his music would not be able to be streamed anywhere.

Tate’s legal representatives have been contacted for comment.

Germany’s would-be chancellor has attempted to win the support of the Greens for his proposed fiscal rule changes, offering to expand the scope of defence spending and demanding to know: “What more do you want from us?”

The outgoing parliament is meeting to debate the creation of a €500bn (£420bn) fund for infrastructure investment and radical changes in Germany’s borrowing limits in order to boost defence spending.

Friedrich Merz, whose conservatives won last month’s election and who is on the verge of becoming the new leader, wants to seal the funding deal before the new parliament convenes in less than two weeks. An expanded group of far-right and far-left MPs could oppose it in the new Bundestag, a “blocking minority” Merz is keen to avoid.

Amid expectations that Germany will relax a key element of its strict fiscal rules known as the “debt brake”, its allies have responded favourably and markets have rallied. Economic forecasters have said a public spending boost is likely to help the country emerge from two years of economic doldrums.

But the deal is far from being realised, as Merz’s CDU/CSU alliance and his probable future coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), need to secure the support of the Greens in order to muster the two-thirds majority required to change the constitution.

On Thursday, Merz offered to expand the scope of defence spending to include civil defence and intelligence spending, asking the Greens: “What more do you want from us in so short a time?”

He restated his belief in the urgency of the situation. “We have to do something to improve our defensive capabilities, and quickly,” he said. “The word deterrence must rapidly be given a credible military foundation.”

Before the debate on Thursday, the Greens had indicated that negotiations were at a stalemate, with senior figures citing “grave flaws” in the legislation, including the lack of prominence it gave to climate policies.

Merz has faced accusations he intends to use the new money to finance projects that will please the new government’s conservative voter base, and has been called on to provide guarantees, including commitments to much-needed widespread reforms.

The far-right Alternative für Deutschland and the far-left Die Linke have, meanwhile, lodged complaints with the constitutional court, which might deliver its ruling this week.

Merz has argued that raising defence spending has become a matter of urgency because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, not just for Germany, but for the whole of Europe. With Donald Trump in the White House, he has argued, the continent must become more independent.

Economists have described Merz’s multibillion-euro package as everything from a “bazooka” to “an extremely risky bet”, while he has called it vital “in light of the threats to our freedom and peace on our continent”.

The second and third readings of the government’s plans will take place next Tuesday. In between now and then, Merz will continue to negotiate with the Greens, according to his party officials.

Reuters contributed to this report.