Chief-Exec.com

Pakistan strikes Kabul, declares ‘open war’ on Afghanistan after border clashes
Pakistan conducted airstrikes in Kabul and three other Afghan provinces on Friday, according to Afghan authorities, as Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif declared "open war" after his country ran out of “patience” following cross-border attacks. France 24, February 27

Drop in overseas workers is ‘car crash’ for UK hospitals and care homes, say experts
Hospitals and care homes in the UK face “an impending car crash”, experts have warned, as research shows the number of overseas nurses and carers has collapsed. Analysis of Home Office quarterly data reveals the number of overseas nurses granted entry to the UK has fallen by 93 per cent over three years. Just 1,777 overseas nurses were granted entry in 2025, compared with 26,100 in 2022. Visas for workers in the caring personal service occupations category - which includes care workers, but also nursing auxiliaries, ambulance staff and dental workers - had the steepest decline in new workers from overseas in absolute terms. The figure fell from 107,847 workers granted entry in 2023 to just 3,178 in 2025, a 97 per cent decline over two years. Only 23 overseas care workers were granted entry from October to December 2025. The Guardian, February 26

Starmer rocked by historic Green by-election victory
Sir Keir Starmer is under renewed pressure after a stunning victory by the Green party in the Gorton and Denton by-election, with Labour trailing in third place behind Reform UK in second. The leftwing Greens comfortably won the key parliamentary by-election in south-east Manchester, in a previously safe Labour seat, with 41 per cent of the vote. Labour’s defeat will further weaken the prime minister, following a bruising start to the year and speculation over his leadership, with many of Starmer’s MPs looking over their shoulders at a potential Green challenge. The Green candidate, Hannah Spencer, took the seat with 14,980 votes after a bitter three-way fight. It was the Greens’ first ever by-election win and a vindication of the strategy of Zack Polanski, the party’s leader since last September, of targeting urban voters with an anti-poverty message combined with strong criticism of Israel’s campaign in Gaza. Turnout for the by-election was 47 per cent, only fractionally down on the 2024 general election, in a sign of how intense campaigning has been in the seat. Financial Times, February 27

Vegetarians less likely to get five types of cancer
Vegetarians are up to a third less likely to get five types of cancer, the largest study of its kind has concluded. A team at Oxford University looked at 1.8 million people, finding that those who did not eat meat were at a lower risk of developing several cancers, including breast and prostate. They said “meat itself” was likely to be the problem, urging people to avoid processed meat and instead build meals around wholegrains, pulses, fruit and vegetables. Compared with meat eaters, vegetarians have a 21 per cent lower risk of pancreatic cancer, a 9 per cent lower risk of breast cancer, a 12 per cent reduced risk of prostate cancer, 28 per cent lower risk of kidney cancer and 31 per cent lower risk of multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. In total, these cancers kill 41,800 people and account for 143,000 new cases in Britain each year. The Times, February 27

Dyson settles forced labour suit in landmark UK case
Electronics appliance maker Dyson has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed against it by 24 migrant workers, who alleged they were subjected to forced and abusive treatment in a Malaysian factory making the firm's parts. The workers, from Nepal and Bangladesh, sued the firm in 2022 and described being subject to what amounted to modern day slavery. Dyson has denied any liability. When the case was brought it said it had been previously unaware of the alleged abuses, and the Malaysia supplier should be held responsible instead. The case is significant for establishing the precedent that allegations against foreign companies supplying British manufacturers can be judged in an English court. Under the terms of the settlement the details of any compensation to the workers are not being disclosed. In separate but almost identical statements posted on their websites, Dyson and Leigh Day said the resolution was reached "in recognition of the expenses of litigation and the benefits of settlement". BBC news, February 27

Kim says North Korea could ‘get along’ with US, rebuffs closer ties with Seoul
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has suggested his country could “get along” with the United States but declared that South Korea - Washington’s security ally - remained its “most hostile” enemy, state media reported on Thursday. Kim made the remarks at the end of a landmark party congress, urging Washington to respect Pyongyang’s status as a nuclear power. His words came as speculation grows that US President Donald Trump may seek some kind of meeting with Kim on the sidelines of a visit to China in April. If Washington “respects our country’s current status as stipulated in the Constitution … and withdraws its hostile policy … there is no reason why we cannot get along well with the United States”, Kim said, according to the Korean Central News Agency. France 24, February 26

Iran enters critical nuclear talks with US insisting deal is within reach
Iran enters critical talks on its nuclear programme with the US on Thursday, insisting a deal is in reach as long as Washington sticks by its willingness to concede Iran’s symbolic right to enrich uranium, allow Tehran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and not to impose controls on Iran’s ballistic missile programme. The three preconditions for success are seen as critical by Iranian diplomats, but it remains unclear whether Trump accepts these parameters. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said on Wednesday that it would be a “big problem” if Iran did not negotiate over missiles. The US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is heading to Geneva for the talks along with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, had already accepted these principles in the two previous rounds of indirect talks, Iranian officials claim. But it remains possible that Trump could overturn these terms, a step that will inevitably lead to a conflict between the two nations that could rapidly consume the whole of the Middle East. The Guardian, February 25

Russia’s new air defences could soon intercept UK nuclear missiles
Air defences around Moscow may soon be sufficient to intercept Trident missiles launched from the UK’s nuclear deterrent, according to a new report. The paper by the Royal United Services Institute, a defence and security think tank, warns that the UK can no longer be certain of the effect of launching nuclear weapons. Without any certainty that the US would back Europe up in a conflict, Europe will have to acquire or build hypersonic missiles to ensure Russia’s air defences can be defeated and maintain its nuclear deterrent, the report warns. Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow for missile defence at Rusi, said enhancing Europe’s long-range precision-strike capabilities was becoming critical to safeguarding the credibility of Britain and France’s nuclear deterrents. He said: “It is not certain that they [Russia] will intercept every submarine-launched ballistic missile but potentially also not a certainty that the required number will get through.” The Times, February 26

UK government debt sales set to fall for first time in four years
UK government debt sales are expected to drop for the first time in four years, in a sign that chancellor Rachel Reeves’ effort to keep a lid on borrowing is easing pressure on the gilt market. Big investment banks expect £247bn of gilt sales for the year to March 2027, according to the average of seven estimates, down from the £304bn the UK is raising in the current fiscal year. The drop in issuance expected alongside next week’s spring forecast for the public finances - which would be the first since the 2023 fiscal year - is partly due to a lower bill for refinancing maturing debt in 2026-27. But it has also been bolstered by a reduction in the government’s borrowing needs after a broad rise in taxation. Though gilt sales remain high by historical standards, investors have grown more optimistic on the supply-demand outlook for gilts at a time when other big economies such as Germany and Japan are expanding their issuance. Financial Times, February 26

UK: asylum claims fall by 4%
More than 100,000 (100,625) people claimed asylum in the UK in 2025, down by 4 per cent on the year before, according to new Home Office figures. Slightly more than 40 per cent arrived by small boats (41,262). Nearly the same amount had entered the UK on another visa before claiming asylum (39,095). The data provided is up to the end of December 2025. BBC news, February 26