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UK bans ninja swords in move to crack down on violent knife crime
Brits have until Aug. 1 to get rid of all their ninja swords as the U.K.’s Labour government looks to crack down on knife crime.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Thursday that «ninja swords» specifically will be banned this summer after the 2022 murder of 16-year-old Ronan Kanda, who was stabbed to death by a ninja sword just outside his home.
«Confirmed: Ninja swords will be banned by this summer,» Starmer said in a post on X. «When we promise action we take it.»
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An activist wearing a T-shirt with the slogan «Put Knives Down!» stands in front of pictures of victims of knife crime during a demonstration outside New Scotland Yard. (Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The new ban, «Ronan’s Law,» will now make it illegal to possess, sell, make or import ninja swords.
«Since losing our beautiful boy Ronan, we have relentlessly campaigned for a ban on ninja swords, the lethal weapon which took his life,» Pooja Kanda, the mother to the 16-year-old boy, said, according to a government readout. «We believe ninja swords have no place in our society other than to seriously harm and kill.
«Each step towards tackling knife crime is a step towards getting justice for our boy Ronan.»
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The British government has set up a surrender process for any owner of a ninja sword, defined as a blade between 14 inches and 24 inches «with one straight cutting edge with a tanto-style point.»
«From 1 August, anyone caught in possession of a ninja sword in private could face 6 months in prison, and this will later increase to 2 years under new measures in the Crime and Policing Bill,» the government said in a statement. «There is already a penalty of up to 4 years in prison for carrying any weapon in public.»
Knife crime has long plagued the U.K. and though offenses involving a «sharp instrument» committed last year across England and Wales were down from a 15-year peak in 2019, they were still substantially higher than crimes reported in 2010, when 33,800 crimes were reported, versus the 50,500 cases in 2024.
A person views knives available to purchase via an online website. (Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)
A sharp instrument, according to the U.K., could include knives, but it could also include the use of a broken bottle to commit an offense.
The U.K. saw a significant drop from the 52,000 cases involving a «sharp instrument» reported in 2019 by the following year with 41,700 cases reported.
But these incidents have continued to increase each year since.
Nearly two dozen different types of knives are already banned in the UK, including swords that are not a part of a national uniform, switch blades, zombie knives, belt buckle knives or butterfly knives, to name a few.
Knives that are permitted are those used for cooking or while working and have a cutting edge of no more than three inches.
Though the government states that «it’s illegal to use any knife or weapon in a threatening way.»
Under Ronan’s Law, jail sentences were also increased for selling knives to minors and the illegal sale of banned knives.
An officer outside All Saints Catholic High School on Granville Road in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, after a 15-year-old boy died in a stabbing at the school Feb. 3, 2025. (Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)
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«Knife crime is destroying young lives as too many teenagers are being drawn into violence, and it is far too easy for them to get hold of dangerous weapons,» Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement. «Ronan Kanda was just 16 when he was ruthlessly killed by two boys only a year older than him.
«We are acting with urgency to bring forward measures to prevent deadly weapons from getting into the wrong hands and will continue to do whatever is needed to prevent young people being killed on our streets as part of our mission to halve knife crime over the next decade.»
INTERNACIONAL
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Evangelical leaders rally for Trump and Israel as Operation Epic Fury reshapes the region
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Despite efforts to shift evangelical Christian support away from Israel, some of the most influential leaders say the community has stood firmly by the Jewish state since the start of the joint U.S.-Israel operation against Iran.
As Wednesday’s ceasefire took effect, Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a close evangelical ally of President Donald Trump, reflected on the war. Evans flew to Israel on Feb. 26 as tensions escalated ahead of the operation.
During his visit, Evans toured impact sites caused by enemy missiles, met wounded civilians and Holocaust survivors, and provided $50,000 in financial assistance to a bereaved family.
«I knew the war would start, so I flew to the area. I have been in 41 wars. I go there intentionally when people are hurting to help them,» Evans told Fox News Digital.
TRUMP VOWS TO HIT IRAN ‘VERY HARD’ AFTER OBLITERATING NEARLY ’90 PERCENT’ OF REGIME MISSILES
Rescue workers and military personnel carry the body of a victim after several people were killed by an Iranian missile strike in Beit Shemesh, Israel, March 1, 2026. (Leo Correa/AP Photo)
On March 1, an Iranian missile struck the city of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, killing nine people. Evans arrived at the scene with first responders shortly after the strike. He later visited Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital, where he met Pnina Cohen, who was injured and lost both her husband and mother-in-law in the attack.
«I have been doing this for half a century. This is my life—combating antisemitism and helping the Jewish people,» Evans said.
Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign [named Roaring Lion in Israel], began on Feb. 28, with the stated goal of «obliterating Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and production capacity,» weakening its military infrastructure and preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons, according to a White House briefing. The first day of the operation was marked by the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
AMERICAN WHO FLED IRAN SAYS CITIZENS ‘DESPERATE’ FOR FREEDOM, PRAYING FOR ISLAMIC REGIME TO FALL
Leading evangelical figures urge President Trump to continue backing Israel. (Graham; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, Mike Evans; Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
According to Israel’s Ministry of Health on Tuesday, since the beginning of the war, 7,183 people have been evacuated to hospitals, of whom 118 are currently hospitalized.
Evans described the U.S.-Israel partnership as unprecedented. «No one could have imagined an American president partnering so closely with Israel against radical Islam,» he said, calling the campaign «historic.»
He said evangelical support for Israel is rooted in religious belief. «The Bible is a Jewish book, and evangelicals believe in a Jewish person, Jesus,» he said. «They see Israel as the biblical land and believe God keeps his promises.»
The Evangelical Christian community, which numbers about 52 million people in the United States, supported Trump’s presidency on the condition that he would back Israel, Evans said.
Beyond political backing, Evans said evangelicals are active online. «We’ve had 127 million views on social media in the last eight weeks,» he said. «We are fighting misinformation and antisemitism because lies can cost lives.»
He emphasized that support is also practical. «We don’t just offer prayers — we provide financial help to those who lost homes and possessions.»
President Donald Trump bids farewell to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he leaves the White House after a meeting on April 7, 2025. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Evans acknowledged that a portion of younger evangelicals has shifted away from traditional support for Israel. «A segment has been influenced by universities and online voices,» he said, estimating that about 22% to 23% have shifted. «We are working to reach them and I believe we can.»
American Pastor John Hagee, the founder and chairman of the Christian Zionist organization Christians United for Israel, told Fox News Digital that the evangelical community supports Trump’s decision to seek the end of Iran’s menacing and murderous behavior.
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«We will be backing his request to Congress to fund this effort, and we will ensure our elected officials represent the will and morality of the American people by seeing this righteous endeavor to its righteous end,» he said.
Hagee said that «as Americans, we have a right to defend ourselves against the Islamic Republic’s half-century of terror. As Christians, we are mandated to defend ourselves against evil, to stand with the oppressed against the same, and to stand with the children of Israel at all times.»
People take shelter as Iran launched missiles and drones toward Israel following the U.S.-Israel attacks. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
«Evangelical Christians who’ve been raised in the church and are biblically literate are Christian Zionists,» he said.
«The rise of antisemitism on the ‘woke right’ is not a product of evangelical churches, but rather a product of the false doctrine of Replacement Theology, repurposed and used as clickbait,» he continued.
Any pastor or priest, politician or podcaster, who charges that the modern children of Israel are anything other than the direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the beneficiaries of God’s unbreakable covenant with Israel, Hagee said, is not preaching the word of God.
«Operation Epic Fury is making the world a safer and better place for all its inhabitants; stay the course, Mr. President,» he said.
An Israeli fighter jet takes off for strikes in Tehran. (IDF)
Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, an international, evangelical Christian disaster relief organization, said Iran has vowed to wipe the State of Israel off the face of the earth, and with nuclear weapons, they could.
«If President Trump had not stopped them, this is something this fanatical Islamic regime might have done within the next few months,» he said.
The Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, speaks during President Donald Trump’s visit to Hurricane Helene-damaged North Carolina on Jan. 24, 2025. (Samaritan’s Purse)
«My message to the American people would be to remember Israel is the only truly democratic nation in the Middle East — the only one. And they have been our nation’s closest ally in the region. I urge Americans to ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem’ as the Bible instructs us,» he continued.
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Graham said Trump stood with Israel in a way no other American president did in the past.
«We’ve never had a president like President Trump in my lifetime. If he says he’s going to do something, he’ll do it. He warned Iran that if it continued to develop nuclear weapons, the U.S. would intervene, and that’s exactly what he did.»
anti semitism, war with iran, evangelical, donald trump, franklin graham, israel
INTERNACIONAL
Epstein survivors push back on Melania Trump hearing call as Comer vows ‘we will have hearings’
Melania Trump advisor reveals why she addressed Jeffrey Epstein ‘lies’
Melania Trump publicly denies ties to Jeffrey Epstein, calling for an end to ‘disgraceful lies’ and demanding congressional action for survivors. Senior advisor Marc Beckman emphasizes her clear record and advocacy for Epstein victims, pushing for a public hearing. This rare statement aims to fight against ongoing false narratives and highlight her achievements, including the ‘Take It Down Act’ she championed.
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Some Jeffrey Epstein abuse survivors are pushing back on first lady Melania Trump’s call for public congressional testimony, as House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., confirmed Friday «we will have hearings,» following a rare public statement Thursday by Trump at the White House where she came out swinging at those who have linked her to Epstein.
The first lady also called on Congress to conduct hearings «specifically centered around the survivors.»
«Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony,» Trump said. «Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the Congressional Record.»
But a group of 15 Epstein victims released a joint statement Friday against the move.
«First Lady Melania Trump is now shifting the burden onto survivors,» they said. «Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony,» they added. «Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility, not justice.»
MELANIA TRUMP DENOUNCES ‘LIES’ CONNECTING HER WITH DISGRACED FINANCIER JEFFREY EPSTEIN IN WHITE HOUSE EVENT
First lady Melania Trump delivers a statement Thursday at the White House denying any link to Jeffrey Epstein, while calling for a congressional hearing to allow survivors of his abuse to share their stories. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Comer said such hearings have always been on his radar.
«I agree with the first lady and appreciate what she said. We will have hearings,» Comer told Fox News’ Sandra Smith. «I’ve always planned on having hearings with the victims.
«My attorneys on the Oversight Committee have been communicating on a constant basis for months with the attorneys representing Epstein victims,» he added. «There are some victims who are willing to come in, [but] most victims aren’t, and I completely understand that, but we have always planned on having a hearing with Epstein’s victims once the depositions have been completed.»
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both sat for closed-door depositions with the House Oversight Committee in February for questioning related to Epstein, and a deposition is forthcoming for Microsoft founder Bill Gates in June.
EPSTEIN’S LAWYER ‘NOT AWARE’ OF ANY RELATIONSHIP TRUMP HAD WITH LATE CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER, COMER SAYS
House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., says «we will have hearings» with Jeffrey Epstein abuse survivors. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images; Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images)
«The first lady accomplished three things [Thursday] as it relates to the disgraceful Epstein,» the first lady’s senior advisor, Marc Beckman, told «Fox & Friends» Friday. «First, she cleared her record; she set the record straight, she debunked all of the lies surrounding her and Epstein.»
MELANIA TRUMP ADVISOR SAYS SHE’S HAD ‘ENOUGH’ AFTER BREAKING SILENCE TO DENY JEFFREY EPSTEIN CONNECTION
Epstein abuse survivor Teresa Helm speaks during a news conference with lawmakers on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Nov. 18, 2025, outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images, File)
«Second, she became a champion for these women, for the victims, and finally, third, she’s a real leader in Washington, D.C. She’s calling on Congress to act now.»
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It is unclear when or how many of the survivors will come forward to testify.
«Survivors have done their part. Now it’s time for those in power to do theirs,» the survivors said in the statement.
hearings house of representatives politics, melania trump, jeffrey epstein, congress, politics
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