UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is considering a public inquiry into Jeffrey Epstein's activities in the UK, according to Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones. Burnham has agreed to meet Epstein's victims and is reviewing possible actions, including how Epstein used UK military bases. The government is also considering an inquiry into allegations against former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, with the Metropolitan Police investigating over 400 allegations. This follows a BBC investigation that found around 90 flights linked to Epstein arrived at or departed from UK airports.

Catalyst Care Limited became the first unregistered children's homes provider to be successfully prosecuted by Ofsted in the UK. The company operated three unregistered homes in Kent between 2022-2025, accommodating up to nine children and receiving over £1.7 million from local authorities. Directors Miriam Ekhator and Davidson Lynch-Shyllon were fined a total of £92,400, disqualified from managing children's homes, and ordered to pay surcharges and costs. The case highlights a shadow market of an estimated 900 illegal children's homes in England, driven by a shortage of registered placements for vulnerable children.

A major wildfire on Llanwonno mountain near Ferndale in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales, has been declared a major incident after burning since Saturday. The fire, exacerbated by deliberate fire setting, has prompted a rest centre for residents affected by smoke and poor air quality, and road closures remain in place. Firefighters are working in challenging conditions—including low cloud, mist, and rain—to contain the blaze and protect nearby properties. A specialist firefighting helicopter could not be deployed due to weather. Operations are expected to continue for many days. This incident is part of a broader series of wildfires across Wales, including the largest at Rhinogydd mountains in Gwynedd.

A new report from the 878 Institute highlights that the British Army's 3rd Division is 42 main battle tanks short of its own requirement, with three tank regiments requiring 168 tanks plus 22 for training, totaling 190, while only 148 Challenger 3 tanks are on order. The paper recommends increasing the order to 198 at a cost of around £650 million to keep regiments at full capacity and cover the training fleet. Without this, the paper argues, the Army's tank capability will be reduced by over one third, undermining combined arms manoeuvre and conventional deterrence. This comes as the UK Ministry of Defence reviews the Challenger 3 Initial Operating Capability date due to supply chain delays, with IOC still targeted for 2027.

A peer review by 60 intelligence professionals from 25 countries, published by French magazine L'Express, ranked MI6 as the most powerful foreign intelligence service in Europe, ahead of France's DGSE and the Netherlands. MI6 was praised for recruiting high-level informants and penetrating elites in Russia, China, Iran, and Turkey. The ranking highlights the UK's leading role in intelligence on Ukraine and other global threats.

Airbus Operations Limited has paid HMRC more than £6.4 million after admitting multiple breaches of UK Strategic Export Controls, the largest compound settlement ever reached for such offences. The breaches were record-keeping failures rather than unlicensed exports, related to transfers of controlled technology under three Open General Export Licences and one Standard Individual Export Licence. Airbus self-reported the breaches and cooperated with the investigation. This settlement follows a change in HMRC policy to publicly name companies accepting such penalties, aiming to improve transparency.

A roundup of UK newspaper headlines covers multiple stories: MPs calling for exemptions to early prisoner release for those who killed emergency workers, government plans to change fiscal rules to boost borrowing for infrastructure, analysis of oil giants' profits amid the Iran war, a weapons amnesty taking knives off streets, and a controversy in the Women's Tour de France.

HSBC reported a quarterly profit of $10.1 billion, a significant increase driven by strong performance in its global banking and markets divisions. The results underscore the bank's resilience amid global economic uncertainty and highlight its strategic focus on Asia.