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Figures obtained by Sky News suggest crimes involving e-bikes and e-scooters have soared by more than 730% in the last five years.

The data released by police forces in England and Wales in response to freedom of information requests reveals tens of thousands of offences, such as theft, robbery and burglary, have been linked to the vehicles since 2019.

The figures also include crimes such as drug trafficking, stalking, arson,  violent crimes and weapons offences.

Sgt Ford says he’s not surprised by the rise in crime, with the availability of electric vehicles so much greater than five years ago.

He says criminals are attracted to them because of their relatively low cost compared to motorbikes or mopeds – a good model can sell for under £1,000 – and discreetness – they’re not picked up by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.A total of 11,266 crimes were recorded in the year 2023/24 that mentioned electric bike, e-bike, electric scooter, or e-scooter, up from 1,354 in 2019/20 – a 732% rise, according to the data released by 36 of the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales.

In one incident in North Wales last year, a woman and her partner were followed by two males on an e-bike, one who was holding a knife, in an apparent bid to steal their scooter.

The same force disclosed details of crimes including a victim who was robbed of his e-bike by people “brandishing machetes and knives”, and another who was repeatedly punched to the head by an offender who tried to steal his electric vehicle.

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Joe Biden has said he will commute the sentences of almost 1,500 non-violent offenders and pardon 39 others in the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.

The outgoing president said in a statement that America “was built on the promise of possibility and second chances”.

He called it a “great privilege” of his office that he could show mercy “to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation” and said he was “taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offences”.

All the 1,500 offenders are “non-violent” and have been placed on home confinement for at least one year under the COVID-19-era CARES Act, the White House said.

They had shown “successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer” and would receive lower sentences if they were tried today, Mr Biden said.

Some inmates were released from prison during the pandemic because one in every five prisoners in US jails was catching the virus.

The 39 pardoned individuals were all convicted of “non-violent crimes”.

They include a decorated military veteran who volunteers at a local church, a nurse who leads responses to natural disasters, and an addiction counsellor who works with young people.

Those pardoned on Thursday had been convicted of nonviolent crimes such as drug offences and turned their lives around, White House lawyers said.

There may be more to come, as Mr Biden said he would be taking further steps in the weeks ahead and would continue to review clemency petitions.

Britain, France and Germany have told the United Nations Security Council that they are ready — if necessary — to trigger a so-called snap back of all international sanctions on Iran to prevent the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

They will lose the ability to take such action on October 18 next year when a 2015 UN resolution expires. The resolution enshrines Iran’s deal with Britain, Germany, France, the United States, Russia and China that lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

Iran is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade, the UN nuclear watchdog chief told Reuters last week.

The move comes as Iran has suffered a series of strategic setbacks after its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah went to war against Israel last year — with Hamas invading southern Israel and massacring 1,200 people, and Hezbollah pounding northern Israel with rocket barrages — prompting Israel to hit back and decimate their leadership, infrastructure and weapons stockpiles. Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas all avowedly seek to destroy Israel. The ouster of Iranian ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria by Islamist rebels last week has been another significant blow to Iran’s regional influence.

Tensions remain high more than a year after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, launching the Gaza war. Hezbollah began attacking across the border from Lebanon the next day in support of Gaza. The war in Gaza, which ignited the regional unrest, is still ongoing while Israel and Hezbollah reached a fragile ceasefire agreement last month.

Meanwhile, other Iranian proxies have attacked US, Israeli and other Western targets, and Tehran has accelerated its nuclear program while limiting the UN nuclear watchdog’s ability to monitor it.

Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian program and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs. Iran denies pursuing nuclear weapons.

“Iran must deescalate its nuclear program to create the political environment conducive to meaningful progress and a negotiated solution,” the UN ambassadors of Britain, Germany and France wrote in a December 6 letter to the UN Security Council. “We reiterate our determination to use all diplomatic tools to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, including using snap back if necessary.”

After more than a year of objections, Hamas has given in to an Israeli demand that the IDF remain in Gaza temporarily under a potential ceasefire-hostage deal, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing Arab mediators.

Hamas had for long months insisted that it would not agree to a deal unless it included a permanent end to the war in Gaza and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Strip. However, the report said the terror organization is seemingly easing its demands, and has also provided mediators with a list of hostages that it would release in the first phase of a new deal.

The mediators told The Journal that the list consisted of US nationals, women, older hostages and those with medical conditions, and also included the names of five hostages who have been confirmed to be dead.

The report added that Israeli negotiators were pushing for more hostages to be released in the initial phase of the ceasefire. At the same time, it said they had agreed to a gradual withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border. Hamas has also reportedly agreed that it would not have any involvement in running the Palestinian side of the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long vowed that Israeli troops would remain on the route.

Mossad chief David Barnea met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Doha on Wednesday to discuss a potential hostage release and Gaza ceasefire deal, a source familiar tells The Times of Israel, confirming an Axios report.

Mossad chief David Barnea visited Doha and met with the prime minister of Qatar on Wednesday to discuss the latest ceasefire and hostage release proposal, a source familiar with the meeting told The Times of Israel, confirming a report in the Axios news outlet. The meeting is part of efforts to reach a deal before the inauguration of Donald Trump in January after months of deadlocked talks.

According to the WSJ, the proposal being negotiated would see up to 30 hostages released in a 60-day ceasefire in exchange for which Israel would release Palestinian prisoners from its prisons and up the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip.

The terrorist who opened fire on a bus on the way from Beitar Illit to Jerusalem late Thursday night, killing Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Simcha, H’yd and wounding several others, turned himself into Israeli security forces on Thursday morning at about 10 a.m.

The heinous terrorist, Az Al-Adin Massalmeh from the village of Beit Awwa, near Chevron, fled to Beit Lechem after he fired 23 bullets at the bus. He tried to turn himself in to the Palestinian Authority police overnight Wednesday but although they confiscated his gun, they refused to allow him to enter the police station.

The IDF, police and Shin Bet issued a statement saying: “Following a joint manhunt by IDF, police, and Shin Bet forces, which included a military siege of Beit Lechem and military pressure in the area, the terrorist who carried out the shooting attack at the Al-Khader Junction in the Etzion Brigade surrendered to security forces.”

The head of the Beit El Local Council, Shai Alon, stated: “We wake up to a terrible morning that reminds us all that the war is not over – there is a main front that threatens Israelis and it in Yehudah and Shomron. After the Iranian failures in Lebanon and Gaza, the focus of efforts to harm Israel is in Yehudah and Shomron. The ceasefire in Lebanon allows the IDF to bring more forces to reinforce Yehudah and Shomron and act more forcefully against the terror nests in the area. We must transition to a war footing! To surround the Palestinian cities and conduct a thorough cleaning of weapons and terrorists. This time the attack was at the tunnels checkpoint, and next time, chalilah, it could be in the center of Tel Aviv. Get your heads out of the conceptzia before more blood is shed!”

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