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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.»
Noelia Castillo Ramos dies by euthanasia after legal fight
Noelia Castillo Ramos, 25, died Thursday after receiving euthanasia in Sant Pere de Ribes, Barcelona, following a legal battle of more than a year. Supporters gather outside Sant Camil hospital, where flowers were left. (EFE via Reuters Connect.)
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This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Spain is grappling with the death of a 25-year-old woman from Barcelona who was euthanized following a series of tragic events despite multiple legal challenges from her father.
Noelia Castillo Ramos’ case galvanized international attention after her father, Gerónimo Castillo, mounted a legal battle against the authorization of various Spanish courts for his daughter to receive euthanasia in 2023. Aided by Abogados Cristianos (Christian Lawyers), a conservative Catholic organization, Mr. Castillo exhausted all appeals to the Spanish courts.
The father argued that his daughter wasn’t fully psychologically able to make a decision regarding euthanasia and that she needed better medical and psychiatric care. His legal battle was ultimately shut down by the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, on March 10.
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Noelia Castillo Ramos is featured in Spain’s El País newspaper following her euthanasia last Thursday. (APTV)
The case of Castillo Ramos is just the latest in euthanasia deaths across Europe, but the Barcelona woman’s choice to die has inflamed passions across the country.
Castillo Ramos’ parents divorced when she was 13 and spent almost four years in public tutelage centers when she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) — a serious psychiatric condition often leading to severe depression, suicide ideation and a tendency to addiction.
By her own account, in an interview she gave before dying to Spanish TV channel Antena 3 she tried to commit suicide at least twice despite being under intensive psychiatric care. In her first suicide attempt, she took several pills and ingested a toxic automotive liquid, but was saved by her mother, who took her to the hospital for a gastric-intestinal cleansing procedure.
Things got worse for her when she left the home and ended up being sexually assaulted multiple times when she was about 20. First, she was sexually abused by a former boyfriend after taking sleeping pills. Soon after, two men attempted to rape her while in a nightclub, leaving her deeply scarred, and as reports indicate, this led her to a care home for worsening psychiatric symptoms.
Several people pray at the entrance of the Sant Camil hospital, on 26 March 2026 in Sant Pere de Ribes, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The magistrate of the 20th Preliminary Section of the Barcelona Court of First Instance has denied for the third time the adoption of the precautionary measures requested by the Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers, which asked to suspend the application of euthanasia to Noelia Castillo Ramos from Barcelona. Castillo Ramos died on Thursday. ( Lorena Sopena/Europa Press via Getty Images)
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There, she was gang-raped by three men. With her mental state deteriorating, she attempted suicide by jumping out of the fifth floor of a building.
Multiple reports and social media posts originally indicated that the three rapists who assaulted her were immigrant minors under the care of the state – something the Barcelona-based newspaper El Periódico says is false.
Many Spaniards have reacted angrily the court’s authorization for her to receive euthanasia, accusing the leftist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of not providing the girl with adequate medical care, opening up the country to mass migration, lack of policing and ultimately handing down euthanasia as a solution to her case.
Several people pray at the entrance of the Sant Camil hospital, on 26 March, 2026 in Sant Pere de Ribes, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The magistrate of the 20th Preliminary Section of the Barcelona Court of First Instance has denied for the third time the adoption of the precautionary measures requested by the Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers, which asked to suspend the application of euthanasia to the young woman from Barcelona scheduled for this Thursday afternoon. (Lorena Sopena/Europa Press via Getty Images)
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After her interview on Spanish TV, several anonymous donors and public figures, including pianist James Rhodes, offered to fund her treatment and to provide her and her family with material assistance if she decided against having the procedure.
The Catalan High Court of Justice confirmed to Fox News Digital that all legal and medical requirements, including a favorable opinion by the Catalan Commission of Guarantee and Evaluation (CGEC), had been met and that there was nothing preventing the young woman from receiving the requested euthanasia.
Noelia died at 6 p.m. local time on Thursday at Hospital Sant Pere de Ribes in Barcelona. She is the youngest person ever to be euthanized in Spain under the country’s assisted dying law passed in 2021.
spain, the european union, mental health
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Rubio gains early momentum in hypothetical 2028 GOP primary race as Vance remains front-runner
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Vice President JD Vance has long been seen as the heir apparent to President Donald Trump and his MAGA and America First base. While Vance remains the hypothetical clear front-runner ahead of the start of the 2028 White House race, which won’t ignite until after this year’s midterm elections, Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears to be on the rise.
Thanks to an increase in his responsibilities and public profile, most recently around the U.S. operation in Venezuela and the month-long strikes against Iran, Rubio has seen his support for a possible presidential bid soar in recent weeks.
The latest example — Rubio’s strong second-place finish this weekend in the 2028 Republican presidential nomination straw poll at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
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President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters while Vice President JD Vance, left, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, look on, as they attend a meeting with oil industry executives, at the White House in Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Rubio, who was one of more than a dozen Republican contenders who ran and lost to Trump in the tumultuous 2016 presidential race, grabbed 35% of the vote at CPAC when the straw poll results were announced this past weekend, up from a mere 3% a year earlier.
Vance, who is popular with MAGA and America First groups, finished first at 53%. While the vice president saw his support slightly edge down from 61% last year, Vance’s numbers are higher than any one else in CPAC presidential straw poll history other than Trump.
All the other potential Republican 2028 White House candidates in the new straw poll scored in the low single digits in the informal survey of CPAC attendees.
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The CPAC straw poll follows recent numbers from the Saint Anselm College Survey Center in New Hampshire, the state that has long held the first primary in the GOP presidential nominating calendar, that also showed Rubio surging. And a handful of national polls have also pointed to a rise in support for a hypothetical Rubio bid.
The results are fuel for intrigue over what some in the Republican Party see as a budding rivalry between Rubio and Vance, who describe each other as friends.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and President Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (Yuri Gripas/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«His overall favorability is going up because voters see him as a capable and steady person in the president’s cabinet, and Trump supporters are reacting,» New Hampshire Institute of Politics Executive Director Neil Levesque, who oversees the Saint Anselm poll, told Fox News Digital.
Partially fueling Rubio’s rise is Trump, who has lavishly praised his secretary of state.
The president recently declared that Rubio would go down as «the greatest secretary of state in history.»
Trump has also promoted a Vance-Rubio ticket — calling it «unstoppable» a few months ago—but has not said who should be at the top of the ticket.
But the president did say last year that Vance is «most likely» his heir apparent. «In all fairness, he’s the vice president,» Trump added.
Vice President JD Vance, left, and President Donald Trump attend the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace on Feb. 19, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
While Vance has demurred when questioned about 2028, he has built a political team of advisers who, if he runs as expected, would quickly build out a presidential campaign.
Rubio, who is crisscrossing the globe as part of job requirements, doesn’t have a similar group of political aides. And Rubio has said he’ll back Vance if the vice president launches a 2028 campaign.
«If JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him,» Rubio told Vanity Fair late last year.
Regardless, Republican sources confirm to Fox News that a group of GOP donors who support the secretary of state are quietly working on ways to boost Rubio’s political profile.
That’s not sitting well with some in the president’s political orbit.
«Vice President Vance is the future of the Republican Party and Marco Rubio is one of his closest friends in the administration,» an operative in Trump’s political orbit told Fox News.
«The divisive stories from some donors trying to cause chaos are not helpful,» the operative, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, emphasized.
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Vance has also weighed in, telling Fox News’ Martha MacCallum last month that «Marco is my closest friend in the administration.»
And the vice president, in his interview on Fox News’ «The Story,» added, «I think it’s so interesting the media wants to create this conflict where there just isn’t any conflict.»
donald trump, jd vance, marco rubio, republicans elections, elections, presidential primaries
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