The BBC has placed an Algerian-born former illegal immigrant, who served time in prison for immigration deception and publicly defended Hamas rocket attacks as legitimate resistance, in a senior position overseeing its use of artificial intelligence (AI). The revelation comes amid growing scrutiny of the backgrounds and political sympathies of those employed by Britain’s publicly funded institutions, as pro-Palestinian activism has become increasingly influential.

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Hicham Yezza, the BBC’s Principal Data Scientist for Responsible AI, was sentenced to nine months in prison in 2009 after falsely claiming he had permission to remain in Britain. His visa had expired in 2003, but he continued living in the country as an illegal immigrant for more than five years, subsequently deceiving immigration authorities about his status.

The sentencing judge described Yezza’s actions as a deliberate and prolonged manipulation of Britain’s immigration controls.

Despite his criminal history, Yezza avoided deportation, successfully appealed against removal in 2010, and subsequently obtained British citizenship. He joined BBC Monitoring in 2021 before assuming his current AI position in July 2025. The broadcaster now employs him to help determine how AI systems should handle news and information, including the development of benchmarks for assessing AI performance in public-service media.

Immigration Offender to BBC AI Adviser.

Yezza’s immigration conviction was not his first encounter with British authorities. In 2008, police arrested him after discovering an al-Qaeda training manual on his computer at the University of Nottingham. The document had been sent to him by a postgraduate researcher studying Islamist terrorism. Both men were later released without terrorism charges. However, Yezza’s subsequent political statements have raised additional questions about his suitability for a role at a broadcaster legally obliged to maintain impartiality.

Yezza described Israel in 2018 as an apartheid state established through ethnic cleansing. In 2021, he characterized Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel as acts of Palestinian resistance. Yezza also founded the pro-Palestinian publication Ceasefire, which he edited before joining the BBC.

The broadcaster has defended his employment, claiming that his prior activities were unrelated to his work at the corporation and that he had not violated its social media policies while employed there. While this may be true, Yezza’s background is causing concern amid widespread instances of pro-Palestine bias at the BBC.

The BBC Has Fired Others For Challenging Its Ideology.

The broadcaster has previously disciplined employees over views that seem to counter its woke left ideology, including criticism of its coverage of Hamas and opposition to gender-neutral language.

In 2024, veteran BBC Radio Lancashire journalist Sean McGinty was dismissed following disputes involving his criticism of the broadcaster’s Israel-Hamas coverage and comments on transgender issues. McGinty, who had worked for the corporation for more than two decades, subsequently lost an employment tribunal case. The BBC cited misconduct and breaches of editorial policies.

Meanwhile, BBC News presenter Martine Croxall was found to have breached impartiality guidelines after visibly pulling a face while reading the phrase “pregnant people” during a 2025 broadcast. The BBC upheld complaints, ruling that her reaction suggested a personal opinion on a controversial issue, heedless of the fact that “pregnant people” is itself an ideologically loaded term.

Britain’s Public Institutions Have Faced Similar Scandals.

The BBC controversy is not the first time a British public institution has faced criticism over employing individuals with serious criminal backgrounds. In 2017, London’s Southwark Council admitted that it had employed a woman previously convicted under the Terrorism Act.

The woman, identified as Ms. Girma, worked as a customer service officer despite her prior conviction. According to the council’s official statement, she had initially disclosed a conviction without specifying its nature, and the authority did not bother to investigate it any further.

Her employment was terminated when the full details emerged. The council acknowledged failures in its recruitment procedures and commissioned further scrutiny of its vetting arrangements.

British Charities Are Also Being Infiltrated.

Britain’s charitable sector has also faced serious questions about its ability to prevent extremist activity. A Charity Commission investigation into Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre uncovered major failures after a former trustee delivered a speech encouraging violent jihad at the mosque in November 2020.

The former trustee, who had previously served as the mosque’s imam, was convicted of encouraging terrorism in April 2022 and received a custodial sentence. The regulator found that trustees had failed to protect the charity from extremist abuse despite being aware of the risks associated with the individual.

The Charity Commission subsequently intervened, appointing new trustees and disqualifying former trustee Dr. Karim Aboutayab for four years and six months over separate governance failures.

The case revealed how inadequate oversight can enable extremist activity within organizations operating under Britain’s regulated charitable framework. Unlike Yezza, whose terrorism-related arrest resulted in no charges, the Brighton case involved a criminal conviction for encouraging terrorism.

Hamas-Support Is Infecting Britain’s Establishment Parties.

Controversies involving rhetoric sympathetic to Hamas and Islamist extremism have also reached Britain’s mainstream political parties.

In October 2024, Liberal Democrat councilor Leena Sarah Farhat was suspended after sharing a social media post that appeared to celebrate Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks against Israel. Farhat, who had also stood as a parliamentary candidate, reposted a message praising the attacks as an anti-colonial uprising. She subsequently apologized, describing her decision to share the message as a mistake.

The Labour Party faced a separate scandal during the February 2024 Rochdale by-election when its candidate, Azhar Ali, claimed Israel had deliberately allowed the October 7 attacks to provide justification for invading Gaza. Labour initially defended Ali before withdrawing its support following additional revelations about his comments concerning Jewish media figures.

This is incredible.

An Algerian Hamas supporter who became an illegal overstayer in Britain, lied to immigration officers about it, and went to prison for it, is now in a senior role at the BBC.

Because the Tories and Labour failed to deport him.

Hicham Yezza has a long record…

— Zia Yusuf (@ZiaYusufUK) October 20, 2026

Britain’s Institutions Are Not Unbiased.

The BBC’s decision to employ Yezza reveals that the broadcaster will not only tolerate but will also defend employees with immigration fraud convictions and historic support for the actions of terrorist groups, if they are on board with the BBC’s leftist ideology.

Those who have spoken out about leftist ideologies have been disciplined or even fired in recent years, showing that the broadcaster is hardly impartial, despite its own claims to the contrary.

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Violent youth gangs associated with Italy’s second-generation immigrant communities have turned the streets of Milan into scenes of chaos, looting, and destruction, prompting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to announce sweeping new law-and-order measures. The disturbances, which erupted over the weekend of October 17–18, saw thousands of young people descend on the northern Italian city’s historic city center, attacking police officers, smashing storefronts, and ransacking businesses.

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According to Italian news agency ANSA, the violence caused damage initially estimated at more than half a billion euros, approximately $580 million, although the figure is just an estimate so far.

Police deployed tear gas and water cannons as masked rioters hurled stones, bottles, and concrete blocks at officers. Disturbances were also reported in other major Italian cities, such as Bologna, Brescia, Bergamo, and Turin, fueling fears that the unrest may spread across northern Italy.

Children As Young As  11 Involved in the Violence.

According to police-sourced figures, authorities brought 271 individuals to police headquarters, including 220 minors and 60 foreign nationals. Of those, 32 were formally arrested, including 23 minors and 13 foreign nationals. Fourteen police officers were reported injured in Sunday’s violence.

Italian media reporting described children as young as 10 and 11 wearing masks, carrying clubs, and riding scooters through the streets while participating in the disorder. A report identified the growing influence of the so-called Maranza phenomenon, a youth subculture associated with aggressive street behavior, intimidation, and criminal activity.

The term has become particularly prominent in Milan, where groups of teenagers, including many from North African and Eastern European immigrant backgrounds, have attracted growing attention from police.

The New Migrant Generation Hates the West.

Parents gathered outside Milan police stations after discovering their children had been detained following the violence. One Tunisian father, who described working tirelessly to support his family, said he was ashamed and disappointed over his son’s alleged involvement. Others reportedly discovered their children had traveled into central Milan only after being told by police.

The riots initially developed around demonstrations against rising living costs, largely inspired by the French riots going on at the same time. However, footage circulating on social media apps like TikTok and Instagram reportedly encouraged teenagers from surrounding suburbs to join the disorder.

Some participants appeared more interested in filming themselves looting shops and confronting police than advancing any sort of political movement. Italian authorities also identified far-left activists among the demonstrators, something also seen during the mass riots in France.

BREAKING:

Inspired by France, young second and third-generation migrants started looting stores in Milan, Italy around 2 hours ago.

International mainstream media isn’t showing just how bad things are in Europe. pic.twitter.com/ngDVLvDpj2

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 18, 2026

Meloni Sends the Army In.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni responded to the rioting on October 20, approving an emergency security decree intended to restore order and strengthen penalties against violent offenders. The government authorized the deployment of an additional 500 soldiers to Milan through the end of 2026.

The measures also introduce a new criminal offense for violent participation in demonstrations, carrying penalties of up to five years in prison and fines reaching approximately $22,500. Parents could be made financially responsible for damage caused by their minor children, while prosecutors would receive expanded powers to pursue criminal cases involving offenders aged 14 and older.

Meloni described the involvement of so many children in the violence as disturbing, warning against allowing images of young rioters stealing and destroying property to inspire further copycat attacks. The crackdown builds on previous security legislation introduced by Meloni’s government, including 2023 measures targeting juvenile crime.

🇮🇹 The violent riots have SPREAD to Italy, and the fashion capital of Milan is taking the full brunt of it.

More "aggrieved European students" are smashing cars and kicking through store windows.

The police have deployed tear gas but honestly, this already looks completely out…

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 19, 2026

Migrant Riots Are Spreading Across Europe.

The violence in Milan has similarities to the mass riots in France, which saw leftist agitators and migrant background youth loot and burn cities across the country, including burning down the historic city hall in the city of Limoges.

The violence may be a key test for Meloni, who has often touted her tough-on-crime policies and claimed to be opposed to mass migration. The allegations that many of those involved are second or third-generation migrants reveal the utter failure of integration policies in the country, a fact Meloni will have to address.

With social media playing a large part in the riots, it remains to be seen if Meloni, like many other European leaders, will make moves to restrict access to platforms like Instagram and TikTok for young people.

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Net zero is making electricity prohibitively expensive, according to a new report from Britain’s energy industry, raising new questions about the severe economic consequences of the green agenda and the role of the Conservative and Labour governments who have implemented it.

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A report published this week by Energy UK reveals that electricity has been approximately four times more expensive than natural gas per unit, with government-imposed policy costs contributing to the enormous disparity.

The findings come as British manufacturers struggle with some of the highest electricity prices in the Western world, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and his deputy, Richard Tice, are promising to dismantle the country’s net zero agenda and deliver substantial reductions in household energy bills.

British governments have spent years encouraging households and businesses to abandon gas in favor of electricity, while imposing costs that make electricity considerably more expensive, amid a cost-of-living crisis.

Labour and the Tories have gutted Britain's industry, leaving areas like Redcar behind.

Reform will scrap net zero, reindustrialise Britain and bring thousands of good jobs back into local areas. pic.twitter.com/38RbFDXWol

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) October 5, 2026

The Hidden Costs of Britain’s Net Zero Agenda.

Energy UK’s October 20 report, Sparking Change: How to Make Clean Heat Cheaper and Accelerate Electrification, acknowledges that Britain’s approach to financing decarbonization and social programs through electricity bills has made electricity artificially expensive compared with gas.

These costs include the Renewables Obligation, a subsidy scheme supporting renewable electricity generators, as well as other government programs financed through household and commercial energy bills.

Carbon pricing policies, including the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, impose an additional cost on electricity generated from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, substantial investment in the electricity network and the costs of balancing intermittent renewable generation contribute to the overall price of power.

Energy UK’s findings reveal that government policy has helped create a system in which electricity is considerably more expensive than the fuel consumers are being encouraged to switch to for the sake of the environment.

The report estimates that transferring remaining domestic electricity policy costs to general taxation would require approximately $3.34 billion annually in additional government spending. Combined with changes to gas standing charges, the reforms could reduce the electricity-to-gas price ratio from approximately four-to-one to three-to-one.

British Industry Is Being Crushed.

Energy UK reports that non-domestic electricity prices in Great Britain are around 50 percent higher than the median among G7 economies, crippling British business competitiveness on the global stage.

Energy-intensive manufacturers, including steelmakers, chemical producers, and heavy industrial businesses, are in the worst position, as they depend on low energy prices to keep their own costs down. Other countries are in much better positions, like France, which benefits from an extensive nuclear power industry, while American manufacturers enjoy access to comparatively cheap natural gas and electricity.

Britain, meanwhile, has pursued increasingly inane and self-harming decarbonization targets while maintaining a system in which wholesale electricity prices frequently reflect the cost of gas-fired generation.

An October report examining British steelmakers highlighted an electricity cost disadvantage of nearly $40 per megawatt-hour compared with French competitors. For companies consuming enormous quantities of electricity, such differences can translate into millions of dollars in additional annual operating expenses.

Major British Industrialist’s Warning of Impending Doom.

The growing industrial crisis was highlighted in September when billionaire industrialist Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s chemical giant INEOS announced it was suspending operations at three chemical plants in Hull. The company blamed high European natural gas prices, which have made chemical production increasingly uncompetitive against manufacturers in the United States and China.

The three plants collectively employ almost 4,000 people and produce chemicals used in pharmaceuticals, clothing, cosmetics, detergents, and construction materials. Ratcliffe warned that European manufacturers were being undermined by a combination of high energy prices and carbon taxation.

He claimed that European natural gas prices had reached approximately 12 times those in the United States and eight times those in China. The industrialist’s warning illustrates a wider danger facing Britain: businesses may relocate production overseas rather than continue operating under an increasingly expensive domestic energy system.

Closures can destroy skilled manufacturing jobs and weaken Britain’s industrial supply chains without even having much of an impact on global emissions, particularly when production shifts to countries with more carbon-intensive industries. The INEOS decision provides a clear example of what happens when environmental targets take precedence over industrial competitiveness.

Reform UK Promises to Scrap Net Zero and Cut Energy Bills.

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is proposing a radically different approach to Britain’s energy crisis, promising to reverse the net zero policies pursued by successive Conservative and Labour governments. Under its official energy platform, Reform pledges to cut average household energy bills by approximately $334 annually within its first 100 days in government.

The party intends to achieve this by removing government-imposed policy costs from energy bills, transferring renewable subsidy obligations to the Treasury, and pursuing the renegotiation or termination of contracts it considers unfair to consumers.

Unlike Labour, which remains committed to the Green agenda, no matter the cost to Britons, Reform argues that the immediate priority should be reducing costs for households and businesses. The party has also pledged to scrap net zero policies it believes are undermining Britain’s economic competitiveness, while supporting nuclear generation and expanding domestic energy production.

Its proposals would mark a massive departure from the climate policies maintained by the Conservatives during their 14 years in government and subsequently embraced by Labour.

Reform deputy leader Richard Tice has made the party’s energy commitments a personal political test. In an October 1 speech in Doncaster, Tice pledged to resign if a Reform government failed to reduce average annual household energy bills by approximately $334 within its first 100 days.

Tice also accused Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband of failing to deliver promised energy savings when he served as Energy Secretary from 2024 to 2026, arguing that Britain’s green agenda had become an obstacle to economic prosperity.

Reform UK advocates increasing domestic oil and gas production, reducing dependence on foreign energy suppliers, and supporting nuclear power as a reliable source of electricity. It also favors reversing policies that discourage investment in Britain’s remaining fossil fuel resources.

For energy-intensive manufacturers, these measures could potentially reduce regulatory costs and improve confidence in long-term domestic energy supplies. Reform’s platform represents one of the only direct challenges to the assumption that Britain’s energy future must be organized primarily around achieving net zero, which is shared by nearly all of the establishment political parties in the country.

Britain’s Energy Future Requires Major Changes.

Energy UK’s latest findings are a late admission that net-zero policies are harming regular people. Even an organization committed to expanding clean electricity acknowledges that government policy costs have contributed to making electricity artificially expensive.

Its proposed solution is to restructure those costs and accelerate electrification. Reform UK, by contrast, wants to dismantle substantial parts of the net zero framework itself.

The Conservative governments that established and expanded Britain’s net zero commitments, and the Labour government now pursuing them, are finally starting to realize that their Green Agenda dreams are hurting their voters, but they still show no sign of changing course

For Farage and Reform UK, the situation is simple: cheaper energy, domestic production, and industrial competitiveness should take precedence over dubiously effective climate goals that are damaging people’s lives in the name of ideology.

I’ve said for many years that British manufacturing is being destroyed by net zero.

Now people are finally waking up and smelling the coffee.

We need a Reform government before it’s too late. pic.twitter.com/ccQ9mNFdNh

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 11, 2026

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A former Conservative politician is facing trial over accusations of sexually violating a teenage boy, who was routinely brought to parties attended by other local government figures.

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Twenty-six-year-old Rylan Ray, a former representative on the Peterborough City Council in Cambridgeshire, England, has pleaded not guilty to 25 separate charges. The accusations leveled against the ex-councillor include one count of rape, four counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and three counts of making indecent images of children. There are eleven complainants.

During the proceedings at Ipswich Crown Court, prosecutors showed video footage of a police interview with one male complainant, who said Ray subjected him to non-consensual, inappropriate physical contact throughout his teenage years. A written deposition from the complainant’s mother, presented to the court by prosecuting attorney Lidia Iancu, noted that the Conservative politician regularly accompanied her son on daytime excursions and evening outings, frequently funding the entirety of the expenses.

The mother’s deposition highlighted that Ray escorted her son to “private parties that were held by a councillor called John Peach.” According to official documentation, these gatherings took place at the home of Peach, another Conservative who served stints as Council Leader and Mayor of Peterborough, and drew additional attendees among Ray’s “acquaintances from the council.”

The parent also recalled that her son received roughly £50 to assist with the physical preparations for one of these parties.

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During his recorded interview with law enforcement, the alleged victim noted that he and Ray had previously been “good mates.”

He went on to outline how he was approached on Snapchat by a profile that masqueraded as a young woman using the pseudonym Chelsie. Members of the jury had earlier been informed that numerous individuals targeted by Ray were approached by the Chelsie profile, with prosecutors maintaining that they were actually interacting with Ray.

The witness, who was only 16 or 17 years old at the time of the digital contact, stated that the vast majority of the correspondence with the account was explicit in nature and culminated in him transferring explicit pictures of himself. Upon reaching his 18th birthday, the complainant was allegedly approached on the dating utility Tinder.

A separate male witness who exchanged digital communications with the Chelsie account testified that he grew deeply skeptical of “Chelsie” and openly confronted Ray. According to his testimony, “Chelsie” had provided a telephone number, prompting him to place a direct voice call to the line, which he said was answered by Ray.

Prosecutors allege the behavior occurred across a span of six years, with a significant portion of the 11 complainants being Army Cadets. Ray previously volunteered with the Cadets in Cambridgeshire, holding the rank of detachment commander.

Ray was elected to Peterborough City Council in 2022, occupying his seat until this past May.

The trial continues.

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A historic French city hall that survived two world wars has been destroyed by youth rioters, as part of a wave of unrest, much of it involving young people from migration backgrounds, sweeping across President Emmanuel Macron’s France. The destruction comes amid nationwide violence that has left thousands of businesses damaged, thousands of rioters arrested, and many police officers injured.

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The 143-year-old city hall in Limoges, central France, was set ablaze by a masked mob on Saturday, October 17, during demonstrations over rising living costs and deteriorating public services. Rioters smashed windows and forced their way into the historic building before setting it on fire. Flames consumed much of the roof, while the building’s iconic 141-foot clock tower collapsed.

Residents compared the destruction to the devastating 2019 fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which shocked the entire world. Local officials described the destruction as a heritage catastrophe, while Limoges Mayor Guillaume Guérin criticized the lack of police protection, claiming officers had been diverted to deal with demonstrations elsewhere in the city.

France: The bell tower of Limoges City Hall has collapsed after a massive fire engulfed the historic building during protests.

The landmark, inaugurated in 1883, was more than 140 years old. https://t.co/7F4OO6tIiD

— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 17, 2026

A Historic French Landmark Reduced to Ruins.

Limoges City Hall was inaugurated on July 14, 1883, deliberately coinciding with Bastille Day, the French national holiday commemorating the French Revolution. Designed by architect Charles-Alfred Leclerc, the neo-Renaissance building was inspired by Paris’s Hôtel de Ville and was an example of the architecture of France’s Third Republic.

Its elaborate stone facade, huge staircase, decorative interiors, and towering central belfry made it one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. The building received historic monument protection in 1975 and served generations of residents as the city’s center of government.

Remarkably, the building survived both world wars due to its location in France’s midwest, far from the battlefields of Flanders of 1916 and the Nazi blitzkrieg in 1940. However, mass migration and far-left violence proved to be phenomena that it could not survive.

Thousands Arrested as France Descends Into Rioting.

The destruction in Limoges was part of a much wider outbreak of violence that engulfed major French cities, including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, and Bordeaux. Around 2,400 people were arrested during the weekend’s unrest, while thousands of businesses suffered damage or looting. More than 3,000 shops were damaged nationwide.

French newspaper Le Monde reported that Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had confirmed 150 injured police officers, but that was an early estimate, and the true number is likely higher. Rioters themselves also suffered serious injuries, including injuries from French police riot-control weapons.

In Marseille, rioters briefly breached the city hall, while the residence of the prefect in Bordeaux was damaged. Groups of rioters also approached within approximately 300 meters of the Élysée Palace, the French president’s official residence.

France’s Long History of Riot-Related Destruction.

The burning of Limoges City Hall is not the first occasion on which rioting has threatened France’s historic buildings and public institutions. During the 2018 Yellow Vest protests, far-left agitators vandalized the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, one of France’s most recognizable national monuments.

The 2023 riots following the police shooting of migrant-background teenager Nahel Merzouk were even more destructive. According to an official French Senate investigation, those disturbances resulted in 2,508 buildings being burned or damaged, including 105 town halls, 243 educational establishments, and 273 police or gendarmerie (paramilitary police) buildings. Rioters also burned 12,031 vehicles and vandalized or looted more than 1,000 businesses. The Senate estimated the total property damage at nearly €1 billion ($1.12 billion), with insurers recording €793 million ($889 million) in claims.

Among the cultural losses was the Jean-Macé Library in Metz, which was burned to the ground during the violence, destroying a significant collection of books and other materials.

Macron’s Repeated Failure Is Destroying France.

While President Macron has condemned the latest violence, blaming radical far-left groups and opportunistic criminals for exploiting demonstrations originally organized around education and living standards, he has done little to contain it. Some analysts have questioned whether organized extremists alone can explain the scale of the disorder, with some noting the broad leftist networks involved, many of which go well beyond France itself.

The French government has responded with additional policing and localized restrictions, including overnight curfews in parts of Paris. For Limoges, however, the consequences of the violence are already irreversible. A landmark that stood through two world wars is largely destroyed, with taxpayers expected to foot the bill for an expensive reconstruction or demolition.

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