Switched off over the bank holiday? Struggled to stay engaged after the local elections?
No problem – here are five stories that may have slipped under your radar in last few days.
1. Spat between David Cameron and Russia
The foreign secretary caused a stir in Moscow after he said Ukraine had the right to use British weapons to strike Russia.
Moscow described this as a serious escalation, claiming there would be “inevitable catastrophic consequences of such hostile steps”.
In retaliation, Russia summoned the British ambassador to its foreign ministry – although the UK described it as a “diplomatic meeting”, not a summoning.
On Monday, Britain said ambassador Nigel Casey had “reiterated the UK’s support for Ukraine in the face of unprovoked Russian aggression” during the encounter.
Meanwhile, Moscow claimed it warned Casey “any British military facilities and equipment on the territory of Ukraine and abroad” could be targeted if Ukraine used British weapons to attack Russia.
2. The UK’s net zero plan declared unlawful
On Friday, the High Court ruled that the UK’s latest strategy to meet its legally binding net zero targets is unlawful and breaches the UK Climate Change Act.
It comes after campaign groups challenged the UK’s most recent climate plan, published in March 2023.
The groups suggested the new strategy provided too little information on the risk of not following through with the proposed policies, or the reliance on expensive tech like carbon capture.
The High Court called for the government to release a new plan with clear climate policies and plans to cut carbon emissions within the next 12 months.
The government also had to pay for the costs for two of the campaign groups.
In response, the government said the “judgement contains no criticism of the detailed plans we have in place” and that the UK is “hugely proud” of its climate record.
It was the second time the government’s climate plan has been found unlawful – in July 2022, the plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was also slammed for not offering enough detail.
PM Rishi Sunak also rolled back the UK’s green pledges in September by delaying the deadline for completely phasing out gas boilers, and new petrol and diesel cars.
3. Protesters stopped asylum seekers being sent to Bibby Stockholm
A successful protest to stop a coach taking asylum seekers from south London to Bibby Stockholm took place last Thursday.
Forty-five people were arrested in Peckham and police claimed a “number of their officers were assaulted” amid road blockages.
The Home Office also claimed the protest was “intimidatory and aggressive”, reiterating that using the barge as accommodation was meant to reduce taxpayer costs.
The barge costs £22.5m, which is more per migrants than hotels, according to the government’s official stats.
Meanwhile, home secretary James Cleverly said the protesters will not “deter us from doing what is right for the British public”.
The bus left after seven hours with no asylum seekers on board.
A similar protest took place in Margate, Kent, the week before where a coach was stopped from taking 22 refugees to Bibby Stockholm.
It later emerged that the Home Office was considering abandoning plans to move asylum seekers in Margate to the barge due to the protests.
4. Pro-Palestine protests spread to the UK
Last week, students from the UK started to mimic the protests popping up across the US and France over the Israel-Gaza war.
Students in Oxford and Cambridge have set up encampments on their campuses in favour of Palestine.
In a joint statement, Oxford Actions or Palestine and Cambridge for Palestine said they “refuse to accept our universities’ complicity in Israel’s war crimes against the Palestinian people”.
The students are calling for their universities to “divest from Israeli genocide apartheid and occupation,” overhaul their investment policies and support the re-building of education in the Palestinian region.
Oxford’s faculty and staff members issued a statement supporting the protesters, and calling for an “unconditional and immediate ceasefire”.
The university’s spokesperson said they respected freedom of expression with peaceful protests.
Their protests come as Israel has escalated its attacks against Rafah, where 1.5m Gazans are estimated to be sheltering amid the ongoing war.
Similar demonstrations have popped up in Manchester, Sheffield, London and Newcastle.
5. Home Office admits it has lost track of asylum seekers
According to the Mail Online, the Home Office has lost at least 21,000 asylum seekers in the last five years.
Almost 10,000 were lost between January and September last year when officials were hurrying to complete PM Rishi Sunak’s promise to get the backlog of asylum claims down.
Allegedly, most of those who are now lost in the system had their asylum claims refused or withdrawn.
This number only refers to the main applicant in each family, not including spouses, children or other dependents.
People on this list were logged onto a “last resort” special database called “service to file” because officials had no way of contacting them, and no idea where they were.
The real figure could also be much higher because the data only begins in the five years leading up to September 2023.