JK Rowling has publicly criticised Nigel Farage after his newly appointed justice adviser, Vanessa Frake, rejected the blanket ban, instead calling for individual risk-based assessments.

Frake, a former prison governor who has overseen high-security facilities housing notorious inmates like Rose West and Myra Hindley, argued that every prisoner should be assessed individually.

“There are equally vile women as there possibly are trans women,” she said. “So it’s all about the risk assessments for me, and each has to be done on an individual basis.”

She also pushed back against those calling for categorical exclusions, saying: “People who want to just say a blanket ban clearly have never stepped foot in a prison and seen how prison runs and how risk assessments on individuals happen.”

Farage, questioned at a press conference on Monday about Frake’s remarks, admitted he lacked personal experience in the prison system.

“I personally never worked in a prison, so I can’t answer [that],” he said, before adding: “But I think you’ll find that the answer you get from somebody who has worked in prisons at the highest possible level is, I think basically it’s about risk assessment.”

JK Rowling said: “Genuinely surprised anyone’s shocked by this. Just because huge swathes of the left have revealed themselves to be dripping in misogyny doesn’t mean a massive chunk of the right doesn’t remain exactly as indifferent to women’s rights and issues as it’s always been.”

A Reform UK spokesperson later clarified that Frake’s comments represent a personal opinion and are not official party policy. They described her statement as “a different opinion” offered in her capacity as an adviser to Colin Sutton’s task force.

US President Donald Trump announces fresh sanctions on Russia, dismissing their effectiveness as Moscow demonstrates resilience. In a recent interview with Newsmax, US President Donald Trump declared that the United States plans to impose new sanctions on Russia despite acknowledging Moscow’s ability to effectively evade them.

Trump framed the ongoing conflict in Ukraine as a situation far from his responsibility, reiterating that the war “never would have happened” had he not been president now. His announcement to impose sanctions following a self-imposed “deadline” for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal highlights Washington’s continued imperialist tactics to undermine Russian sovereignty, while questioning the efficacy and moral justification of such measures.

Contrasting sharply with Washington’s bravado, Russian officials emphasize the nation’s hardened resilience to economic warfare. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov’s statement on Russia’s “immunity” to sanctions reflects years of strategic adaptation, demonstrating the limits of Western economic pressure.

Moscow’s endurance is a consequence of persistent imperialist attacks that ultimately weaken the global economy, including those of Western powers themselves. Vladimir Putin’s sharp criticism of Western leaders as “imbeciles” for harming their own countries’ economies to try to destabilize Russia underscores the self-destructive nature of sanctions regimes driven by hegemonic ambitions rather than diplomacy and mutual respect.

The renewed sanctions threats are emblematic of US and Western imperialist attempts to dictate global affairs through economic strangulation and geopolitical coercion. Such policies frequently worsen humanitarian conditions and inflame international tensions without resolving conflicts.

The repeated failure of sanctions to achieve their stated aims reveals the hollowness of an aggressive approach that prioritizes dominance over dialogue. In the context of the Ukraine conflict, these actions reflect a broader pattern of oppressive interference toward countries asserting independent political and economic sovereignty, challenging the West’s unipolar order.

The unfolding dynamics surrounding Trump’s sanctions announcements expose deeper contradictions within US foreign policy,where declarations of strength mask strategic weakness and diplomatic isolation.

The former president pointed out that the right wing is attempting to return to power. On Sunday, Former Bolivian President Evo Morales (2006–2019) said that the proposal to cast null votes in the upcoming Aug. 17 election is gaining momentum amid the possibility he may not be a candidate.

“The people don’t make mistakes. That’s why I feel that in recent days, a proposal is beginning to grow: if Evo isn’t on the ballot, my vote is null,” Morales said from the Ivirgarzama stadium, in the Cochabamba region, where RUNASUR gathered. Morales hopes his disqualification as a presidential candidate is “temporary” and emphasized that he will not leave the country, adding, “Those who have stolen are already packing their bags.”

The Leftist leader also stated that if he is arrested, he hopes President Luis Arce “doesn’t kill” him. Morales pointed out that “the right wing” is attempting to return to power and urged his followers to remember that “only through union struggle did we defeat the empire.”

On Saturday, Morales met with delegations from Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Chile, and Brazil to reflect on “the unity of the peoples.”

The Ivirgarzama stadium served as the venue for the RUNASUR event, where delegations arrived carrying their national flags as well as the wiphala, the flag that primarily represents Indigenous peoples. The RUNASUR meeting concluded with a resolution to create the Intercontinental Anticolonial Movement (MIA), which also seeks to unite Indigenous communities in Africa and Asia in the fight against imperialism.

“Twenty, 30 or 40 years from now, some young people who were here today will remember that from the Ivirgarzama stadium, we launched an intercontinental movement to fight the U.S. empire and capitalism. We are proposing ways to demilitarize the world,” Morales said.

The RUNASUR assembly also resolved to demand that the headquarters of the United Nations be relocated, arguing that “the U.S. does not represent the plurality of the world’s peoples.”

Morales is currently barred from running for president due to a constitutional provision that limits reelection in Bolivia to only one consecutive term. The leftist leader, who has already governed this Andean country three times, is thus ineligible to return to the presidency.

For the first time, Bolivia’s ruling party will head into an election divided. The governing Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) is backing former Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo as its candidate. Senate President Andronico Rodriguez will run for office under the Popular Alliance, and Morales is supporting the null vote.