On 6 February police arrested over 20 people across the UK in a huge operation to tackle a Kurdish gang smuggling hundreds of illegal immigrants into the UK for up to £10,000 a time. Over 300 officers coordinated by the National Crime Agency raided properties in Northumbria, Cleveland, Sussex and London to arrest suspected traffickers. Hundreds of Iraqi Kurds, men, women and children, are being brought into the UK in lorries and on ferries by the gang, paying up to £10,000 each. A number of car washes were also raided, in what is said to be a bid to shut down the gang's money laundering operation. Senior investigating officer Mark Spoors said all of the agency's targets had been arrested, and a significant trafficking network has been disrupted.

Nearly 3,000 athletes will compete in 102 events in this year’s Winter Olympics. Among them are Christian Olympians who have spoken openly about their faith. Kelly Clark (snowboarding halfpipe) said she didn’t get her worth from what she did, it was from Christ. David Wise (freestyle skiing halfpipe) said his Christian faith ‘plays a huge role because it enables me to be confident’. Elana Meyers Taylor (bobsled) said, ‘Regardless of whether I win gold or not, I just have to trust that God has a plan for my life and I’m called to be his representative through the sport and outside the sport.’ Katie Uhlaender (skeleton) said God guides her and gives her the strength to keep going. Gigi Marvin (hockey) said her mission is more than winning medals: it’s about sharing Christ and leading others to him.

Sir Ed Davey put the ‘Homelessness End of Life Care Bill’ before Parliament on Wednesday, but it will need to win the support of MPs and ministers to move forward and end the current situation where people with cancer or long term illnesses are ‘dying on doorsteps’. The plan is to offer homeless people with terminal illnesses a right to housing. Under current laws, many who are sleeping rough, living in hostels or staying on friends’ sofas are not automatically eligible for long-term housing. The local authority deems they have other options. The number of people sleeping rough in England hit a record high of 4,751 last autumn, double the 2010 number. Those who are expected to die in the next twelve months need palliative care. They are cold and in pain, possibly in hostels with staff who have no medical training and no painkillers or drugs to manage people who are dying.

In the wake of an announcement that the UK is to clamp down on rich foreigners, a number of Russian oligarchs have reportedly asked the Kremlin if they can return to their country without being arrested. British security minister Ben Wallace is said to have sparked fear among some of London's wealthy foreign contingent when he announced tough measures to crack down on criminals and corrupt politicians, resembling those portrayed in the TV series McMafia. The High Court has started issuing unexplained wealth orders (UWO's), in which money of those who were unable to explain how they acquired British assets of more than £50,000 could be frozen. Last March the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project stated 500 wealthy and well-connected Russians were behind a ‘global laundromat' when their banking records were obtained.