The head of Britain’s biggest police force has urged phone companies to turn stolen devices into ‘unusable bricks’ so they are less attractive to snatching gangs.

Sir Mark Rowley told the International Mobile Phone Crime Conference in central London ‘there would be no criminal market’ for handsets if telecoms giants did more to make them worthless after being taken.

The Met Police Commissioner said phone thefts are a ‘significant’ problem for the force, which has some of the highest rates of robbery and theft from the person in England and Wales.

He warned the Met will call on the Home Secretary to change laws to force phone companies to take action if necessary, and will encourage international law enforcement to do the same.

Sir Mark said: ‘Phone manufacturing software companies have invested massively in preventing access to your data.

‘It’s an escalating war with fraudsters and cyber criminals, but they’ve been successful enough to allow us to run our lives, including our finances, on our phones.

‘Whilst they’ve worked hard on the financial and data security of our phones, they spend far less attention on the physical safety of their customers who walk through cities with a £1,000 or £2,000 device held loosely in their hands.

‘If a stolen phone were to become an unusable brick and the parts were not recyclable, there would be no criminal market.’

He added: ‘I do not understand why tech companies leave their clients at risk despite two or three years of discussions.

‘Until this device is worthless, the market will remain attractive to organised crime.’

In the UK, the Met has seen adverts on Snapchat offering children as much as £380 to steal a single iPhone, with a bonus of £100 for stealing 10.

Sir Mark said: ‘The exploitation of children in this trade is not just about individual offences.

‘It’s an entry point into organised crime.

‘Children recruited to snatch phones for quick cash are being groomed into criminal networks, normalised into offending behaviour and pushed further into exploitation.

‘What begins as one device on a street corner becomes a pathway into debt, coercion, violence and deeper criminality.’

The Met wants anti-theft protection switched on by default, stolen phones to be rendered unusable, and better access to IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) data to make it easier to return devices to their owners.

Figures released under Freedom of Information legislation show only a fraction of devices taken in London are returned to their owners.

Between 2017 and February 27, 2024, a total 587,498 phones were stolen in London excluding the City, 13,998 of which were recovered, and 573,500 were not.

Separate figures available on the Met’s crime data website show that in 2023 there were 52,820 thefts from the person where a phone was taken, and 14,326 robberies; the figures for 2024 were 70,249 thefts and 11,125 robberies; and for 2025 61,292 thefts and 10,207 robberies.

In the space of the month to mid-February, the Met arrested 248 people over phone theft and recovered around 770 stolen handsets.

The force is using high-powered e-bikes and drones as part of its operations to stop phone theft.

But in a report for the London Policing Board, Sir Mark warned the Met remains ‘an outlier’ for the number of personal robberies per thousand people, and theft from the person.

The force also solves one of the smallest proportion of these offences compared with others in England and Wales.

In the year to the end of December 2025, 6.9% of personal robbery cases ended with a suspect being identified and dealt with, while the rate was 0.9% for theft from the person.

In Westminster, between 69% and 72% of thefts from the person and personal robberies each week involve phones.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Saudi Arabia’s state oil company has today warned of ‘catastrophic consequences’ for the world’s oil markets if the Middle East war continues to choke exports.

Amin Nasser, the CEO of Aramco, said: ‘While we have faced disruptions in the past, this one by far is the biggest crisis the region’s oil and gas industry has faced.’

He admitted that while his firm, the world’s single biggest exporter of oil, was meeting most of its customers’ needs for now, this was only possible by tapping into storage facilities outside the Gulf. 

Nasser said that these stores cannot be used for ‘an extended period of time, but for the time being, we are capitalising on it.’ 

The CEO said: ‘There would be catastrophic consequences for the world’s oil markets, and the longer the disruption goes on … the more drastic the consequences for the global economy.’ 

The stark warning comes after three commercial ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint in the global oil trade.

As a result of the roiling war, oil shipments have been largely blocked from using the shipping artery, where normally ‌roughly 20% of the world’s oil would pass through daily. Iran said on Tuesday would not allow ‘one litre of oil’ to be shipped from the Middle East if US and Israeli attacks continue.

An attack on the Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree from an ‘unknown projectile’, which was reported at 4.35am GMT, happened 11 nautical miles north of Oman and resulted in a fire onboard the ship. 

The UKMTO, a maritime monitor, said crew are evacuating the vessel. 

It added: ‘Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO while authorities continue to investigate.’

No group or military has yet claimed responsibility. 

It comes as: 

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russia may send troops to Iran to fight against US and Israeli attacks
• Four people were injured after two Iranian drones struck near Dubai International Airport
• The UN Security Council is set to vote today on a resolution demanding Iran stops attacking its Arab neighbours 

Earlier, the Japan-flagged container ship One Majesty had sustained minor damage from an unknown projectile 25 nautical miles northwest of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, two maritime security sources said.

Its crew members are safe and the vessel is sailing towards a safe anchorage, the sources added.

A third vessel, a bulk carrier, was also hit by an unknown projectile approximately 50 miles northwest of Dubai, maritime security firms said.

The projectile had damaged the hull of the Marshall Islands-flagged Star Gwyneth, maritime risk management company Vanguard said, adding that the vessel’s crew were safe. 

The attacks came shortly after American forces destroyed 16 Iranian minelaying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz. 

The White House had earlier warned Iran will be hit ‘at a level never seen before’ if they place mines on the Strait of Hormuz amid concerns the regime could target the key oil waterway.

‘US forces eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, March 10, including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz,’ the US Central Command announced on X, with an accompanying video showing some of the strikes.

The Strait of Hormuz is the only sea passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz were among multiple Iranian vessels taken out by US forces on Tuesday.

The military published the figure and unclassified footage of some of the vessels after Donald Trump warned Iran against laying mines in the critical waterway.

Overnight, the US and Israel traded air strikes with Iran across the Middle East on Wednesday as the besieged Tehran government warned its state security forces were ready with ‘fingers on the trigger’ to confront any anti-government protests.

Following an exchange of some of the heaviest bombardments in the region yet on Tuesday, the combatants renewed their attacks on opposing targets in Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf as the war stretched into its 12th day. 

The conflict has effectively blocked vital shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, halting the flow of one-fifth of the world’s fossil energy supplies from the petroleum-rich Gulf. 

Further complicating matter, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Russia could become the first country to send troops to Iran to fight against the US and Israel amid reports Moscow is sharing intelligence with Iran.

Vladimir Putin has denied providing information to Iran to help target American forces in the Middle East during a phone call with Donald Trump earlier this week.

It comes after the Washington Post reported the Kremlin has passed Iran the locations of American military assests including warships and aircraft.

Overnight, millions of Israelis were repeatedly driven into bomb shelters as the military warned Iran had launched missiles toward Israel, a sign that Tehran retains the capacity to strike Israel after nearly two weeks of hostilities.

The sound of explosions from air defences intercepting the rockets punctuated the pre-dawn darkness as air raid sirens blared and Israelis scrambled to safe rooms and shelters. 

There was no immediate word of whether any of the missiles reached the ground.

Iran’s armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi on Wednesday urged regional countries and fellow Muslims to indicate ‘US-Zionist [Israeli] hiding places’ to maximise the precision and impact of Iranian strikes, while minimising harm to civilians, who he said are ‘used as human shields’, according to Defapress, a news outlet affiliated with the military.

Shekarchi also said that Iran will respond to recent U.S.-Israeli strikes in residential areas.

The latest attacks from Iran roughly coincided with a new Israeli barrage on Beirut aimed at rooting out the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, which has fired into Israel from Lebanon in solidarity with the Tehran government. 

Explosions were also heard in Beirut and in southern Lebanon after Israel said it had started a new assault on targets related to the Iranian-linked militia Hezbollah.

The attacks set a building ablaze in central Beirut in the densely populated Aicha Bakkar area, engulfing the top two floors of the multi-storey structure. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the strike, which came without warning.

An earlier Israeli strike killed five people in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon, while two more were killed in strikes in the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

A Red Cross worker also died as a result of wounds sustained on Monday, when his team was hit by an Israeli strike while they were rescuing people from an earlier attack.

Nearly 500 people have been killed so far in Lebanon since Hezbollah triggered the latest round of fighting with Israel when it fired rockets into the country’s north after the American and Israeli attacks on Iran started.

Israel warned of three Iranian attacks early on Wednesday, with sirens heard in Tel Aviv and elsewhere but no immediate reports of casualties.

In addition to Iranian attacks targeting Saudi Arabia’s oil fields, the kingdom’s defence ministry said it had destroyed six ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, a major US and Saudi-operated air facility in eastern Saudi Arabia.

The ministry also said it intercepted and destroyed two drones over the eastern city of Hafar al-Batin.

Two Iranian drones have struck near Dubai International Airport, wounding four people though flights continue, authorities said.

The Dubai Media Office, which issues statement on behalf of the city-state’s government, said the attack caused ‘minor injuries to two Ghanaian nationals and one Bangladeshi national, and moderate injuries to one Indian national.’

It said flights are continuing.

Dubai International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates, is the world’s busiest for international travel. Authorities have been trying build up its flight schedule though the airport has been targeted in the war. 

More to follow.  

It’s a long way from downtown Tehran to Surfer’s Paradise, a gaudy tourist metropolis on Australia’s sun-drenched Gold Coast.

One is the war-torn capital of a repressive Islamic theocracy where women can be arrested for leaving the house without covering their hair. The other, a beer-fuelled party town where high-rise hotels overlook white sand beaches on which bikinis are, more or less, mandatory.

These two divergent cultures collided in spectacular fashion this week at the Royal Pines Resort, a five-star joint with its own water park, golf course, tennis centre and ‘day spa’, where Iran’s women’s football team stayed during group stages of the Asian Cup.

An impromptu decision by players to stand in silence on the pitch – rather than sing the Islamic Republic’s national anthem before their opening game against South Korea – had escalated into a major diplomatic incident involving street protests, death threats and a fraught late-night phone call between Donald Trump and Australia’s Left-wing prime minister Anthony Albanese.

The whole thing culminated on Monday, with a cloak-and-dagger operation to help several members of the football team escape from the venue where they were being held under the watchful eye of a largely male security team with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

By last night, six players and one member of support staff had successfully defected and were being held at a safe house in Brisbane.

After learning from home secretary Tony Burke that they were granted ‘humanitarian visas’, a pathway for refugees to obtain permanent residency, the group reportedly broke into a spontaneous chant of: ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi!’ Mr Burke last night said the rest of the team decided against taking up the Australian visa support.

The seeds of this crisis were sown back in January, when an Iranian women’s footballer named Zahra Azadpour was killed at a peaceful and unarmed protest during a crackdown on anti-regime protests that briefly gripped Iran.

The death of the 27-year-old, who played for Mehregan Pardis and had joined training camps with the national team, was later referred to in an Instagram post by one of the country’s best known female players, Atefeh Ramezanizadeh, who told her 15,000-odd followers: ‘Our hearts are heavy when our people are grieving the loss of their loved ones, it is hard to be happy.’

Ramezanizadeh, one of the players to defect this week, has – like all of Iran’s footballers – become accustomed to rubbing up the religious authorities the wrong way.

The sport was outlawed (for women, that is) following the Islamic Revolution and only permitted again in 2004. 

Fifa then briefly banned the international side in 2011, due to concerns about players being forced to wear restrictive hijabs. There was also controversy in 2014 amid reports that several star players were actually men awaiting gender reassignment surgery – which is legal in Iran, while homosexuality is not.

More recently, a national team player named Zahra Ghanbari was briefly suspended after her head covering slipped off as she celebrated scoring a winning goal in a 2024 cup tie. She was forced to issue a public apology before being allowed to play again.

To this day, members of the team must wear long-sleeved undergarments and socks, and are forced to obtain a male relative’s permission to travel with the national side.

When overseas, their phone use is regularly monitored, and players are constantly accompanied by security guards.

Resentment over these intrusive practices appears to have boiled over in the aftermath of Azadpour’s death. And prior to their first Asian Cup match against South Korea, which took place 48 hours after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US and Israeli air strikes, the team decided to register their discontent by refusing to sing the national anthem.

The gesture went down poorly back home. A commentator on Iranian state TV said standing in silence was the ‘pinnacle of dishonour’, and called the team, who had lost the match 3-0: ‘Traitors during wartime [who] must be dealt with more severely.’

Members of the Revolutionary Guard, who were accompanying the players as part of the team’s delegation, are then believed to have warned of draconian consequences if it was repeated. And Iran’s second and third matches, against Australia last Thursday and the Philippines on Sunday, saw the team both sing and theatrically salute during the national anthem.

By this time, proceedings were being watched closely by members of the Iranian community who live in Australia, many of whom fled during the Iranian revolution in 1979, remain deeply hostile to the regime, and began staging demonstrations outside the stadiums.

As the players drove away from the final fixture, at the Gold Coast Stadium, a crowd of around 200 briefly blocked the bus. As activists filmed proceedings, a member of the squad was seen making the ‘international SOS distress signal’ in which one hand is raised, then the thumb is folded into the palm and all four fingers are folded down over the thumb.

The incident led to a series of ugly headlines, with many commentators accusing Australian authorities of sitting idly by whilst women were essentially being held hostage in a luxury hotel. 

Criticism was levelled at both a hired local security firm, which was accused of assisting with the repression, and Fifa, whose press conferences became increasingly farcical thanks to media monitors who sought to ban reporters from asking about the growing scandal.

A local woman named Leigh Swansborough, who had previously met the team during a hiking holiday in Iran, decided to travel to Royal Pines hotel to check on their welfare. 

She told reporters the atmosphere was ‘tense and heavily controlled’ with players ‘under constant monitoring’. They had even been banned from eating meals in a private room off the lobby, and were instead being forced to dine in a secure function room on the 21st floor.

Members of the Iranian community from Brisbane, led by an activist named Hesam Orouji, were apprehended by security for calling out to players. Two other men were ejected from the hotel, shouting as they left.

Swansborough, who kept a lower profile, appears to have played a key role in orchestrating the escape of the first five players to defect, persuading a prominent Iranian-Australian politician named Tina Kordrostami to travel to the Gold Coast to help out. They met in the underground car park of the Royal Pines resort before sneaking into the lobby to meet the women.

‘Security was intense, like there was a serial killer on the loose,’ Kordrostami told The Australian newspaper, saying that the players were ‘very frightened, looking round to make sure no one saw them and adjusting their hijabs’.

‘I told them, “We have a plan for you”,’ she added. ‘The girls kept saying they weren’t convinced it could be that easy because the regime handlers had been in their heads for days. But a few hours later we got told through our contacts that the girls were talking with their families and were happy to go ahead.’

Messages appear to have been relayed between the five players and their relatives back home in Iran via a former member of the team who now lives in Turkey. 

She also passed on details of the escape plan, which involved meeting Kordrostami and Swansborough in the resort’s reception on Monday evening and, when their minders’ backs were turned, running down a staircase into the underground car park and driving off to a nearby police station.

‘They were running full bolt’, is how Swansborough later described the escape, saying three Iranian officials had attempted to pursue the defectors but been frustrated by the fact that they had managed to lock a door to the staircase behind them.

Back in reception, the hotel’s management announced that the building was being locked down, telling anyone who wasn’t a resident to leave immediately. The decision, which was very helpful to Iranian minders seeking to prevent further defections, will doubtless be pored over in detail in due course. 

Quite how the owners of Royal Pines, the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, will defend it is, for the time being, anyone’s guess.

There followed a bewildering night in which the defectors were taken to Brisbane by Australian police officers, amid confusion over whether they would be granted asylum by the authorities in a country which boasts famously rigid immigration laws.

Around 2am, Donald Trump waded into proceedings, using his social media network Truth Social to accuse Australia of ‘making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran national women’s soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed’.

‘The US will take them if you won’t,’ he added.

Trump then called prime minister Albanese. During the bleary-eyed conversation, the Australian leader informed the US President that his home secretary had already met with the players at their safe house and signed off their applications for visas. The women had even been told that they could to train with A-League Women’s club Brisbane Roar.

Trump duly wrote a follow up post. ‘Just spoke to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, of Australia… He’s on it!’ Trump wrote.

‘Five [players] have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way. Some, however, feel they must go back [to Iran] because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don’t return. In any event, the Prime Minister is doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation. God bless Australia!’

Yesterday saw the remainder of the Iranian squad pursued from the hotel to Coolangatta Airport by protesters. 

They took a Virgin flight to Sydney before jetting off to Kuala Lumpur just before 11pm and are expected to catch a connecting flight to Turkey before being driven across the border to their war-torn home country, where they may (or may not) face punishment for humiliating a regime already under intense siege.

That is unlikely to be the only fallout from the affair, either: Iran’s men’s team is due to travel to California and then Seattle during this summer’s World Cup.

Only a fool would bet against Trump offering them asylum, in a bid to further embarrass the ayatollahs, proving the old adage that football isn’t always a matter of life and death but can sometimes be much more important than that.

За минулий тиждень за програмою «єОселя» українці отримали 121 новий кредит на суму 227 млн грн. З них кредити під 3% отримали: 54 військовослужбовці та представники сектору безпеки, 7 медиків, 6 педагогів, 2 науковці.

Кредити під 7% отримали 37 українців без власного житла та 16 внутрішньо переміщених осіб.

Загалом з початку 2026 року скористалися програмою «єОселя» 1450 українців, які отримали пільгових іпотек на суму 2,9 млрд грн. Найбільше кредитів у межах програми надано в Києві — 25, Київській області — 24 та у Львівській області — 12.

За типом нерухомості: 89 українців отримали кредит на житло першого продажу, з яких 42 об’єкти — на стадії будівництва. Ще 32 кредити видано на придбання житла на вторинному ринку.

Нагадаємо, що програма «єОселя» також доступна для жителів прифронтових територій. Вона передбачає державну компенсацію 70% першого внеску за іпотекою, 70% щомісячних платежів протягом першого року кредитування, а також до 40 тис. грн на супутні витрати під час оформлення іпотеки, повідомляє Мінекономіки.

By PATRICK HARRINGTON, UK NEWS REPORTER

Published: 02:23 EDT, 11 March 2026 | Updated: 03:03 EDT, 11 March 2026

A British tourist has been arrested in Dubai after reportedly filming Iranian missiles, it has been claimed. 

The 60-year-old man, from London, who is understood to have been on holiday, was taken into custody on Monday, according to campaign group Detained in Dubai. 

He is currently being held at a police station in the Bur Dubai area of the Emirati city. 

The tourist was reportedly seen filming missiles at the time of his arrest. It is not known whether the footage was shared on social media.

It came amid retaliatory Iranian strikes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and across the broader Gulf region after Iran was attacked by the US and Israel on February 28. 

The man could face up to two years in prison or a fine, if he is charged under the state’s cybercrime laws. 

Accusations related to national security legislation could see him handed an even longer custodial sentence. 

Currently, the man has not been charged – and he could still be released without further action. 

But in 2011, British businessman Lee Brown died, after five days’ detention, at the same police station the man is being held at. 

Holidaymakers, influencers and expats alike have shared pictures of missiles both falling and being intercepted in Dubai throughout the ongoing Middle East conflict. 

UAE authorities have warned they could be jailed for posting online about the war, as the country has some of the strictest cybercrime laws in the world. 

Under this legislation, any commentary on government policy, security or regional conflict could be seen as a criminal offence. 

Officials have warned material harmful to ‘public order’, ‘national unity’ or the country’s reputation could carry a fine of up to ($77,000) £58,000 or jail. 

The draconian regulations have seen online content creators tell of exercising caution over what they share in the wake of bombing across the Gulf. 

Campaign group Detained in Dubai, which provides assistance with UAE law globally, has confirmed it is assisting the family of the Briton being held in Dubai. 

CEO Radha Stirling said despite warnings from authorities not to share pictures or clips of missiles, many people ‘forget or get caught up in everything’. 

‘Everyone’s got their phone and their camera out. People are just being a bit negligent,’ she said. 

But people do not fully appreciate, she continued, how serious this is – and the fact it can wind them up in jail. 

Ms Stirling said officials are cracking down so hard, especially on photos outside government buildings, over concerns foreign citizens are acting as spies for Iran. 

Authorities want to prevent intelligence going back to both Iran and Russia, she explained. 

And they are trying to stop information about whether missiles have successfully hit Dubai getting back to Tehran, she said. 

Ms Stirling added that the UAE does not want these images to cast ‘a dark shadow’ over the country – and perceptions of its safety – in the coming years. 

‘They don’t want these images imprinted on people’s brains. It’s PR more than anything,’ she said. 

Around 14,000 UK nationals have contacted the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). 

The British government is advising against all but essential travel to the region.  

The FCDO and Detained in Dubai have been contacted for comment. 

It comes after questions were raised about whether influencers living in Dubai were being told what to say about the ongoing missile strikes over the city. 

An army of content creators, with hundreds of thousands of followers between, have posted curiously identical posts on social media about the attacks. 

Many have shared images of Dubai leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, while posting the seemingly reassuring words, ‘I know who protects us’.

At the outbreak of the war, the government cracked down on those reposting genuine footage of the first of the attacks. 

These included drones or debris causing damage at the five-star Fairmont Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah and the iconic sail-shaped Dubai hotel Burj Al Arab in flames. 

The Dubai Media Office announced within a few hours of the first strikes that ‘outdated images of past fire incidents’ in Dubai were being spread to stoke fear among the city’s residents and garner clicks.

In a new viral TikTok trend, influencers are sharing identical videos and text, leading users online to speculate whether they have been paid by the state.

They typically begin with a shot of the influencer, with the accompanying text, ‘You live in Dubai, aren’t you scared?’, or, ‘Do you feel safe in Dubai?’.

It then cuts to the clip of the UAE leader with the words, ‘No, because I know who protects us’. One such video has been viewed nearly seven million times.

Social media users have been quick to suggest the videos appear as if they have been sponsored by the government as propaganda to make Dubai seem safe.

One person commented, ‘Influencers are doing overtime trying to convince the rest of the world it’s all okay’. 

Influencer Bea Albero responded, ‘We are ok, I feel this way’.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth spent over $93billion of taxpayer money this past September, including huge expenses on expensive foods, musical instruments and technology. 

The cash splashing came ahead of what’s referred to as ‘Amazon Prime Day’ for government agencies, as they must spend the remainder of their yearly budgets or lose the funds by September 30. 

Hegseth’s ‘use it or lose it’ outlay amounted to $93.4 billion in September of 2025 on grants and contracts, the most any agency has spent in a single month, according to government watchdog Open the Books. 

Over half of that amount – $50.1 billion – was doled out in the final five working days of the month alone.

The goal was to spend up the remainder of the Pentagon’s fiscal year budget of $849.8 billion as set by the Biden administration.  

Much of the money was spent on food, as in September alone, the Pentagon bought over $2 million in Alaskan king crab.

They also spent $15.1 million on ribeye steaks, $6.9million in lobster tail, $1million in salmon and $26,000 for sushi preparation tables.

While Hegseth has stated his disgust at the trend of ‘fat’ generals and soldiers in his department, the Pentagon didn’t skimp on desert spending, with $124,000 for ice cream machines and $139,224 on donuts. 

A huge chunk of the cash was spent on information technology and telecommunications, amounting to $5.9 billion.  

At least $5.3 million was spent at the Apple Store alone, including 400 brand new iPads at $315,200.

Some of the stranger buys include $98,329 on a Steinway grand piano for the chief of staff of the Air Force’s residence and $21,750 on a custom flute from Muramatsu.   

For whatever reason, the Pentagon grabbed $3,160 worth of stickers of children’s television characters like Paw Patrol and Dora the Explorer.  

Another big expense was on furniture for various Defense Department facilities, which totaled $225.6 million during last September, less than the Obama administration regularly spent but more than Joe Biden. 

Among the largest purchases was $60,719 in chairs from Herman Miller, with another $12,540 spent on fruit basket stands. 

Notably, while Trump has stressed buying American products, at least $6.6 billion in spending was done with foreign governments and companies. 

The total spend was an increase of 18 percent from 2024, when the Pentagon spent $79.1 billion in September.

The money tracked does not include salaries for Pentagon staffers and only tracks money given to outside entities and governments. 

Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer confirmed the expenditures and called Hegseth ‘a true grifter.’

‘Hegseth spent $93 billion in one month – roughly the cost of extending the ACA tax credits for THREE YEARS,’ Schumer said on social media.

‘But instead of lowering American’s healthcare costs, Hegseth used millions of taxpayer dollars on fruit baskets, Herman Miller recliners, ice cream machines, Alaskan King Crabs, and a Steinway & Sons grand piano.’

Many liberals were angry about the spending, with Gavin Newsom even suggesting there had been fraud.

‘Hey Nick Shirley … any insight here?’ he asked, referencing the conservative influencer who investigated fraud perpetrated by Minnesota daycare owners. 

Mike Weily of Govly, which works with federal contractors on AI purchasing, coined the idea that September 30 of every year is Washington’s ‘Amazon Prime Day.’

‘If a government agency doesn’t spend its allocated budget funds over the course of the fiscal year, they no longer have access to those funds in the next year,’ he said.

‘The loss of their surplus funds, combined with the threat of a decline in future funding, is a recipe for serious fear amongst government agencies. Hence why they hit the panic button in August and September to spend.’ 

The Daily Mail has reached out to both the Pentagon and the White House for comment. 

This year, the Pentagon has a budget passed by Congress of $839 billion. 

Pentagon spending has come into focus of late after Donald Trump and Hegseth carried out strikes on Iran.

The Trump administration has frequently been pressed over how much these operations have cost. 

The Department of War provided a breakdown of assets and targets from the first 72 hours of Operation Epic Fury; however, government officials have not disclosed the exact cost of the military activity. 

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a bipartisan research institution in Washington, analyzed DOW fact sheets, Congressional Budget Office estimates, and statements from government officials to provide an estimate of wartime costs for the operation thus far. 

The study concluded that the US has spent around $3.7 billion, or $891.4 million a day, on wartime efforts in the first 100 hours of Operation Epic Fury.

The most significant expense comes from munitions. CSIS estimated that the US spent $3.1 billion on munitions alone, none of which were budgeted for. 

Combat losses and infrastructure damage totaled $359 million, which was not previously budgeted for by the DOW. 

Lastly, operations and support costs totaled $196.3 million, including $18.3 million that was already included in the DOW’s budget. 

These estimates indicate that the DOW spent approximately $3.54 billion in unbudgeted funds during the first 100 hours of the war in Iran. Congress passed a $900 billion defense budget last year.

David Lammy’s ‘soft justice’ reforms of jury trials have been supported by MPs who voted by a majority of 101 to pass the bill at its first Commons hurdle. 

Tonight’s decision to back the controversial Courts and Tribunals Bill comes despite a Labour MP condemning the curbs in an emotional speech about being raped.

Charlotte Nichols said that the attack, which occurred while she was an MP, had caused PTSD and led her to being sectioned for her own protection.

She accused the Justice Secretary of ‘weaponising’ the experiences of rape victims to justify changes ‘that aren’t directly relevant to them’.

A significant number of Labour MPs abstained from voting for the Bill on Tuesday night after many raised objections.

Around 90 Labour MPs had no vote recorded, suggesting a considerable amount of dissent and raising questions about whether it will become law.

Ten Labour MPs voted against, however 301 voted in favour, allowing it to pass its first Commons hurdle.

Seven Labour MPs, including former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, also voted in favour of a Conservative amendment to reject the Bill. The amendment was defeated.

The Tories said: ‘Keir Starmer and David Lammy should hang their heads in shame. They have struck the first blow against our ancient legal right to trial by jury.

‘And it is clear that their party has serious misgivings about the Bill. Some MPs chose to vote against their Government, and some chose to abstain.’

The controversial Courts and Tribunals Bill will remove jury trials for cases with a likely sentence of under three years to tackle the court backlog.

Ahead of the Commons vote, Mr Lammy, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, faced a furious backlash to his plans.

Addressing MPs, he acknowledged that the changes had provoked ‘fierce’ debate but said it would reduce trial times and free up hearing days.

He said that if no action was taken, the backlog could reach 200,000 cases in a decade and pointed to research which said it would reduce trial times by at least 20 per cent.

‘The choice before the House is stark. We cannot continue with this rising backlog,’ he said.

‘Victims are currently worn down, people simply give up, cases collapse and offenders remain free. Free to roam the streets, free to commit more crimes, free to create more victims.’

But Ms Nichols accused the Government of not helping rape victims as she waived her right to anonymity to reveal that she was attacked.

She revealed she had waited 1,088 days for the trial as she criticised the court backlog for exacerbating her experience.

She accused the Government of pitting survivors and defendants against each other in a ‘deeply damaging’ way.

‘Don’t say that this bill helps deliver justice for rape victims until it actually materially does,’ she told Mr Lammy.

Ms Nichols added: ‘There is so much that we can be doing for rape victims that isn’t the Lord Chancellor using them as a cudgel to drive through reforms that aren’t directly relevant to them.

‘In this debate, experiences like mine feel like they’ve been weaponised and are being used for rhetorical misdirection.’

Meanwhile, rebel ringleader Mr Turner said the Government’s proposed changes to juries were ‘unworkable, unjust, unpopular and unnecessary’.

However, the former barrister said he would abstain because he was confident these measures would not become law.

‘I am more confident now than ever I was that the worst parts of this Bill will be defeated at amendment stage,’ he said.

He added that under the proposed legislation, not one of those 900 sub-postmasters in the Horizon scandal who were convicted would have been entitled to a trial before their peers.

It came after former sub-postmaster Jo Hamilton who was wrongly convicted in the scandal wrote to Mr Lammy urging him not to ditch the ‘safety net of a jury’.

Labour MP Stella Creasy suggested she could not support the Bill as she did not believe magistrates’ courts have capacity for cases that will no longer be heard by crown courts.

Labour MP Jon Trickett also branded the plan to curtail access to jury trials ‘oppressive’ and ‘authoritarian’.

He said that jury trials are ‘a fundamental part of our constitutional system and the idea somehow that we should begin to abandon it is a mistaken one’.

He added: ‘I am not convinced. This is oppressive, it’s authoritarian and quite honestly, Deputy Prime Minister, as much I admire, it’s reactionary, too.’

Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy said the Government was attacking ‘an ancient English right’ which made the UK legal system ‘the envy of the world’.

He said the Government was ‘rushing’ proposed changes to jury trial through Parliament ‘at breakneck speed’.

Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh said the court backlog was a ‘temporary administrative crisis’ which should not be used to justify the jury trials changes.

Meanwhile, victims’ minister Jess Phillips said she was a victim of the courts backlog with a man accused of breaching a restraining order against her not due in crown court until 2028.

Under the Courts and Tribunals Bill, cases with a likely sentence of three years or less will only be heard by a single crown court judge, without a jury, in the biggest shake-up of the criminal justice system for 800 years.

Magistrates’ powers will be increased so they can hand down sentences of up to 18 months’ imprisonment, up from 12 months currently, so they will be able to deal with more cases.

The proposed changes follow recommendations from a review by retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Brian Leveson published last year.

The Commons vote came after thousands of lawyers signed a letter accusing Mr Lammy of seeking to erode a ‘deeply entrenched constitutional principle for negligible gain and with substantial risks’.

The letter was organised by the Bar Council and signed by top lawyers, including the former director of public prosecutions Sir David Calvert-Smith.

It said that ‘chronic underfunding’ was to blame for the backlog, adding: ‘Juries have not caused this crisis. Practically, the proposals are based on little evidence.’

The controversial court reforms passed their first Commons hurdle, with 304 MPs voting in favour to 203 voting against, giving a majority of 101.

A Fraser Institute study released on Tuesday showed the financial impact of long wait times for surgery and treatment in Canada’s health-care system.

The study showed that an estimated 1.4 million people were waiting for necessary treatment, costing $4.2 billion in lost wages and productivity.

“Canadians waiting for health care aren’t just waiting for care or deteriorating medically or risking a poor outcome from treatment when they finally get the treatment they need,” Nadeem Esmail, director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute, said.

“They’re losing productivity at work, time with friends and family, with their children, with their grandchildren.”

The study used data from the Fraser Institute’s annual Waiting Your Turn survey of Canadian physicians who, in 2025, reported the national median waiting time from specialist appointment to treatment was 13.3 weeks.

“Canadians are paying twice for health care. They’re paying through their tax dollars for the health care system that fails to deliver the timely health care, and then they’re paying with their own time, with their productivity, with their lost work while they’re waiting for that health care that is being delayed,” he said.

The $4.2 billion in lost wages is considered “conservative” as it doesn’t take into account the 15.3-week wait to see a specialist, or the wait for diagnostic testing. The total median wait time in Canada for medical treatment was 28.6 weeks in 2025 which is the second-longest in the survey’s history.

“We certainly know and understand that when individuals are waiting for health care, they are risking adverse medical events, consequences from the deteriorating condition, ” he added.

“They are facing the prospect of more complex treatments and poor outcomes at the end, and that will have a cost to the health-care system as well.”

Rayanne Boychuk is one of those 1.4 million people waiting to see a specialist. The Edmonton-area woman was diagnosed with Graves’ disease 15 years ago. She’s undergone a number of procedures since then and recently started feeling ill again after an allergic reaction.

“I started getting a really bad stomach-ache and I just couldn’t get out of bed,” Boychuck said. “I was so tired.”

She was diagnosed with eosinophilic gastritis, a rare gastrointestinal disorder that causes elevated white blood cell counts. She said her treatment is complicated by also having Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition.

She would receive steroids to help, but that’s no longer an option. She finished her last dose of the medication, before it causes more harm than good.

“I’m running out of options, so that’s where it gets scary.”

Doctors told the mother she needs to see a specialist but wait times are longer than a year to get in to see someone who understands her condition.

“When you look up the condition it has scary things like organ failure and heart problems and I’m just kind of left in limbo until somebody can see me,” she said. “It makes you feel helpless, knowing that you need help and you just cannot access it in a normal amount of time.

“I don’t know the answer is, but I know it’s not working.”

The family is considering going out of province to try to get help sooner.

The Fraser Institute said a combination of higher-than-average incomes and longer-than-average wait times has put Alberta third highest in terms of the individual cost of waiting.

Global News spoke with Alberta Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Sciences Matt Jones, who said the data from the Fraser Institute is different than the data they have internally which from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), but adds the province is investing in ways to shorten the wait times to see specialists and get the treatment that’s needed.

“We need people and we need facilities,” Jones said. “We’ve added 2.200 doctors over the last five years and we’ve added 12,000 nurses over the same period of time.”

Jones adds that the province is also trying to leverage anesthesia care teams and implement a program to fast-track access to specialist treatment, streamlining the process to refer patients from general practitioners to specialists.

“On the surgical side we are putting $300 million into enhancing, upgrading and building surgical facilities over the next three years,” Jones said.

While politicians debate the fix to health-care system wait times, Boychuck hopes they understand that there’s a human cost to the wait as well.

“It honestly feels like we’re cattle sometimes,” she said. “We’re all just shoved through the system, band-aid fixes, and you just hope for the best.”

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

By OLIVIA CHRISTIE, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 17:14 EDT, 10 March 2026 | Updated: 17:38 EDT, 10 March 2026