UK Column News - 9th April 2025

Mike Robinson, Vanessa Beeley, Charles Malet and Sandi Adams with today’s UK Column News.

Sources:

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UK Censorship Expands: BitChute Withdraws, Ofcom’s Reach Grows, Another Platform Falls Silent

00:23 BitChute: UK Regulation

After careful review and ongoing evaluation of the regulatory landscape in the United Kingdom, we regret to inform you that BitChute will be discontinuing its video sharing service for UK residents. The introduction of the UK Online Safety Act of 2023 has brought about significant changes in the regulatory framework governing online content and community interactions.

UK Parliament: Parliamentary Bills: Data (Use and Access) Bill [HL]

The Record from Recorded Future News: European lawmaker says EU is committed to continuing data transfers to US

Open Rights Group (ORG): IPT supports ORG’s call for open hearing in Apple encryption case

Digital ID Disaster Incoming: Data Leaks, Dead Phones, No Battery, No Access!

12:20 GOV.UK: Companies House starts to verify identities

GOV.UK: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act: outline transition plan for Companies House

GOV.UK: Cyber security sectoral analysis 2025

Security Brief UK: Concerns rise over digital ID storage on phones in the UK

Hedgehog Security: Capgemini Data Breach: 20GB of Sensitive Information Stolen

Barings Law: Ministry of Defence Data Breach: What Happened?

Amazon Web Services: Using AWS, Companies House Maintains Register of 4 Million Businesses

BlackFog: AWS Data Breach: Lesson From 4 High Profile Breaches

Crown Commercial Service: Outsourced Contact Centre and Business Services

GOV.UK: Search Term: Hinduja Global Solutions UK Ltd

Strategic Shifts in the Middle East: Militias Reposition, Pressure Builds, Alliances Tested

20:53 The Telegraph: Iran abandons Houthis under relentless US bombardment (Archived)

The Times of Israel: Iran-backed Iraqi militias consider disarming amid threats from Trump administration

Haaretz: With Disarmament of Militias in Iraq, Iran Signals a Major Strategic Shift (Archived)

The Jerusalem Post: Iran’s Al Quds special forces use Beirut Port to smuggle weapons for Hezbollah – Arab report

Strat News: Hezbollah Ready For Disarmament Talks If Israel Withdraws From South Lebanon

Reuters: U.S. envoy says Hezbollah must be disarmed ’as soon as possible’

Haaretz: Ben-Gvir to Embark on Official Visit to U.S. After Being Boycotted by Biden Administration (Archived)

Mondoweiss: As reconstruction stalls in Lebanon, victims of Israeli strikes say they won’t bow to U.S. pressure to normalize with Israel

Saturday’s Livestream Now Available — UK Column Is Member Funded, Please Join Us

27:04 Support Independent Journalism from the UK Column with only £5 a month

Access UK Column News Extra Today—UK Column Community

UK Column shop: UK Column On Location Livestream Access

Event: Stand For Peace Glasgow Rally - 12th April 2025 (St. Enoch Square, assemble from 12pm)

Event: Thetford Truth and Freedom Festival - 18th July 2025 (Angel Inn, Larling at 11am)

Give Send Go: Legal Defense for SLAPP Suits Against Free Speech

Trump Talks: Iran & Netanyahu

29:48 Reuters: Trump says US, Iran set for direct nuclear talks; Tehran says they will be indirect

The White House (YouTube): President Trump Participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel - April 7th 2025

Genetic Editing Gone Wild: Woolly Mammoths, Dire Wolves, and the Return of Prehistoric Pets

33:00 Colossal Biosciences: The Mammoth

We have the DNA, the technology and the leading experts in the field. Next, we will have the woolly mammoth. Alive again.

Colossal Biosciences: The Dire Wolf

On October 1, 2024, for the first time in human history, Colossal successfully restored a once-eradicated species through the science of de-extinction.

Legislation: Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023

GOV.UK: New powers granted to research gene editing in plants

BOFIN: A project bringing trials of precision-bred cereal crops onto commercial farms for the first time in Europe is now underway.

Supermarkets Push Prices Up While Lab-Grown Meat Sneaks In

38:19 The Grocer: Beef prices on the way up as supply tightens and farmgate prices soar

Dawn Meats (2022): Dawn Meats to invest €100m in Net Zero climate commitment

The Guardian: Lab-grown meat could be sold in UK in next few years, says food regulator

UNEP – UN Environment Programme: Novel meat and dairy alternatives could help curb climate-harming emissions – UN 

Seafood Source (2020):  Sainsbury’s to close meat and fish counters, slash jobs

Grain Strikes, Biactive Herbicide and Folic Acid

48:11 Milling and Grain: UK farmers strike to protect food security and highlight supply chain fragility

Olly Harrison (on X): Milling wheat strike in UK? (Video)

Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB): Recovery in wheat production expected in 2025, but imports remain high

Bayer Crop Science Australia: Roundup Biactive Herbicide Safety Data Sheet

GOV.UK: Birth defects prevented by fortifying flour with folic acid 

GOV.UK: More than 100,000 Baby Loss Certificates have now been issued

NHS: About folic acid

Folic acid is available on prescription. Your doctor will explain how often to take it.

National Preparedness Commission: Just in Case: 7 steps to narrow the UK civil food resilience gap

UK Column article: Farmers’ Protests: the Wrong Target?

UK Column series: Farming

Turkey and Israel: Rivals Over Syria’s Future

56:06 The Economist: Turkey and Israel are becoming deadly rivals in Syria (Archived)

News Week: Syria’s New ‘Resistance’ Takes on Israel and a US ‘Axis of Evil’

Reuters: Turkey wants no confrontation with Israel in Syria, foreign minister says (Archived)

Middle East Eye: Israel’s Netanyahu lobbying US against F-35 sale to Turkey, sources say

Middle East Eye: Turkey moves to take control of Syria’s strategic T4 air base

Middle East Eye: Turkey and Israel mull deconfliction line in Syria