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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.»
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Photos capture devastation after Chile truck explosion kills at least 4, damages at least 50 vehicles
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Images revealed extensive damage following a truck explosion in Chile on Thursday that reportedly left four people dead and damaged at least 50 vehicles.
The blast in Chile’s capital of Santiago happened after a truck transporting liquid gas overturned and exploded, Reuters reported, citing local authorities.
The incident left another 17 people injured and prosecutors are examining what led to the accident, Reuters added.
Photos taken at the scene showed firefighters working to put out flames. In one image, rows of cars parked in a nearby lot were shown burned from the explosion.
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A drone view shows firefighters working at the site of a deadly explosion, in Santiago, Chile, on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (Pablo Sanhueza/Reuters)
Firefighters said the blast damaged at least 50 vehicles and its effects were felt up to 650 feet from the scene, according to Reuters.
A drone view shows burned vehicles near the site of the deadly explosion in Santiago. (Pablo Sanhueza/Reuters)
«Government teams are deployed and working together with the competent institutions to protect the population due to the smoke in the area,» Chile President Gabriel Boric wrote on X.
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Firefighters work at the site of a deadly explosion in Santiago, Chile, on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (Pablo Sanhueza/Reuters)
«My solidarity and condolences to the families and loved ones of the people who unfortunately died in this tragedy, and much strength to the injured so that they have a speedy recovery,» he added.
The effects of the blast could be felt up to 650 feet from the scene of the accident in Santiago, Chile, officials said. (Pablo Sanhueza/Reuters/TPX Images of the Day)
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Five of those injured were in serious condition, Reuters reported, citing Claudio Orrego, the governor of the Santiago metropolitan region.
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Rick Scott says Prince Andrew ‘absolutely’ must face US trial in Epstein case if American laws were broken
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A top Senate Republican demanded that if former Prince Andrew is found to have broken American laws with his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, he should stand trial in the U.S.
«If he’s violated American law, absolutely,» Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital.
Scott’s comments came after the news that the former prince, now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who is linked to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office in the United Kingdom on Thursday.
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Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said that former Prince Andrew, who was arrested under suspicion of misconduct in public office in the United Kingdom on Thursday, should «absolutely» stand trial in the U.S. if he was found to have broken any American laws with his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
British authorities were reportedly investigating whether Mountbatten-Windsor had shared confidential trade information with Epstein while acting as Britain’s special envoy for trade over a decade ago, the Associated Press reported.
Mountbatten-Windsor has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, despite being one of his most well-known associates. He was also accused by the late Virginia Giuffre — one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers — in her memoir of having sex with her when she was a minor.
The list of co-conspirators and those connected to Epstein continues to grow, following Congress’ move to force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release millions of documents related to him, known as the «Epstein Files.»
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The former Prince Andrew, Duke of York attends the Easter service at St. George’s Chapel on April 20, 2025, in Windsor, England. He lost his princely title in October of that year. (Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)
But criminal action against those alleged to have ties with Epstein has remained scarce, given that appearing in the files doesn’t directly translate to criminal charges. Scott argued that if people «violate the law, you should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.»
«It’s as simple as that. It’s despicable what Epstein did,» Scott said. «I can’t imagine these people who had relationships with Epstein, especially after he was convicted the first time, and they kept their relationship.»
«If they’ve done anything wrong, they should be held accountable,» he continued. «I don’t know if Prince Andrew has done anything wrong, but everybody who has should be held accountable. What you read that happened to these young girls is just like — I’ve got two daughters, I’ve got a granddaughter, and I can’t imagine, you know, the position that Epstein and, it seems like, some other people put these young women in.»
The Senate voted unanimously last year in favor of legislation that President Donald Trump signed into law that required the DOJ to release all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials «publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format» related to the late financier and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Several names of prominent Americans, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, were revealed in the trove of unredacted documents.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., when asked if Lutnick or others should face consequences, said earlier this month that «transparency is something we all ought to aspire to here.»
«And if there are folks who are, you know, named in there or discussed in there in some way, they’re going to have to answer for that,» Thune said.
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Millions of files and a handful of months later, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced earlier this week that the DOJ had unloaded all the documents. But lawmakers have said it’s not enough.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., charged that the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files «is a travesty.»
«But in France, the Paris prosecutor’s office just opened two investigations based on new leads from the released files,» Schumer said on X. «And in Britain, former Prince Andrew has been arrested over ties to Epstein. When will there be justice in America?»
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