News in brief
- Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani has been killed in an airstrike according to Israel, which also claims to have killed the leader of Iran’s Basij paramilitary forces in a separate strike.
- Hundreds of Starlink devices have been seized by Iranian security services. The devices, made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, are intended to counter the internet blackout in Iran.
- The UN says investigators are seeking access to a girls’ school in southern Iran, which was the site of a strike that killed 168 people according to Iranian authorities.
- Labour MP Emily Thornberry has called for the King’s state visit to the US to be postponed, to avoid the risk of Charles and Camilla being ‘embarrassed’.
- Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting Downing Street today to agree a new defence partnership which will make use of Ukrainian expertise in anti-drone warfare.
- The UK Health Security Agency says there are now 15 confirmed cases of meningitis in Kent, in an outbreak that has killed two so far.
- The cost of a typical two-year fixed-rate mortgage is now £788 a year more than it was before the beginning of the war in Iran.
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On Coffee House today…
Julie Burchill says Meghan Markle has passed irretrievably from the ranks of royalty to that of pay-by-the-hour celebrity, Kristina Murkett thinks self-care is making us sick, and Matthew Lynn won’t miss the NCP and its exorbitant parking charges. Stephen Daisley explores the real reason the Guardian is so hostile to Gail’s bakeries, Ian O’Doherty says Ireland’s Establishment has reimagined St Patrick’s Day as a celebration of multiculturalism, and James Hanson asks why the Lib Dems haven’t ditched the embarrassing Ed Davey.
‘It’s a rough area.’
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In pictures
Seoul: South Korean Buddhist monks protest against the war on Iran.
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Most read on The Spectator
The real reason the Guardian is so hostile to Gail’s – Stephen Daisley
Official Ireland is embarrassed by St Patrick’s day – Ian O’Doherty
Spare us the girls’ weekend, Meghan – Julie Burchill
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In words
‘Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated overnight and joined… Khamenei, and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil, in the depths of hell.’
– Benjamin Netanyahu reacts to the latest Israeli strikes.
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