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      What would UK recognition of Palestine as a state actually mean?

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      The UK will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire and a two-state solution in Gaza, Sir Keir Starmer has vowed. The prime minister said Benjamin Netanyahu’s government must end its starvation tactics and allow the supply of aid into the embattled enclave after a UN-backed food security body said the “worst-case scenario of famine” was playing out in the territory.The announcement on Tuesday came after an emergency virtual cabinet meeting where Sir Keir laid out his plan for peace in the Middle East, agreed over the weekend with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz.Sir Keir has come under mounting pressure from his own party to recognise a Palestinian state, which has only grown since Mr Macron announced France’s intention to do so by September.In addition, Britain’s foreign secretary David Lammy is attending a United Nations conference in New York on Tuesday to urge support for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.With warnings that people in Gaza are facing starvation, growing numbers of Labour MPs want Keir Starmer to recognise a Palestinian state to put pressure on Israel More

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      Starmer says UK to help air drop aid into Gaza – but UN warns they could kill starving civilians

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      The UK is working with Jordan on plans to air drop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance, Sir Keir Starmer has announced.But the UN has warned has warned the focus on air drops is a ‘distraction’, and could lead to more deaths in the war-torn enclave. The prime minister held emergency talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Saturday amid mounting global anger at the starving population in the besieged enclave.In a readout of the call, a spokesperson for Sir Keir said the leaders had agreed “it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace”.The UN and experts have warned that Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine More

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      in World Politics

      Trump won’t say if US still committed to defense of NATO nations ahead of summit: ‘It depends on your definition’

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      President Donald Trump on Tuesday refused to state whether he would commit the United States to continued support of the mutual defense provision in the NATO treaty that saw America’s allies come to her aid after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington.Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while flying to The Hague for the alliance’s annual leader-level summit, the president was asked if he was still committed to Article Five of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all of the organization’s 32 member nations.Trump, who often refused to voice U.S. support for the collective defense pact during his first term — and only did so begrudgingly when pressed on the matter — declined to say for sure.He replied: “It depends on your definition. There’s numerous definitions of Article Five. You know that, right?”The president added that he was nonetheless “committed to being … friends” with the other members of the alliance because he had “become friends with many of those leaders” and was “committed to helping them.”When pressed to explain his comments and given another chance to voice support for mutual defense, he told reporters he was “committed to saving lives” and “committed to live and safety” while promising to give his “exact definition” of Article Five once he arrived in The Hague rather than doing so “on the back of an airplane.”( More

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      Trump administration denies wanting war with Iran or regime change after nuclear site bombing raid

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      Donald Trump’s administration “does not seek war” and is not trying to create regime change, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has claimed after the president authorised a stunning attack on Iran.With the world reeling over the stealth bomber raids on three nuclear sites – dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer – President Trump claimed he had “completely obliterated” Iran’s chances of obtaining nuclear weapons.But despite Mr Hegseth’s comments on Sunday, the attacks have prompted the UK and others to organise repatriation flights for citizens from Israel, Iran and surrounding countries amid fears of all-out war.Click here for the latest on the ongoing conflict.Defence secretary Pete Hegseth revealed new details of the attack at the Pentagon in Washington on Sunday More

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      What are sleeper cells and why are the FBI on alert for them after Trump’s strikes on Iran?

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      The United States has ramped up its monitoring of Iranian sleeper cells as President Donald Trump’s strikes on three major Iranian nuclear sites decisively propelled the U.S. into Israel’s war. Following Saturday’s strikes, which Trump claimed “totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, both White House and FBI officials have been on high alert for Iranian sleeper cells. Sleeper cells comprised of spies or terrorists hiding out in the U.S. or Western countries, remain inactive, often living quiet and unassuming lives working regular jobs until they are ordered to act on a mission. (Think Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, the fictional Cold War-era KGB spies who pose as the typical American couple with kids in suburban DC in FX’s series The Americans.)According to reports, Iran may now try to activate these covert spies after the U.S. joined Israel’s strikes against Iran. Even before Trump ordered U.S. involvement in the strikes, FBI Director Kash Patel increased efforts to surveil potential sleeper agents linked to Hezbollah – a U.S.-designated terror organization backed by Iran, sources told CBS News. U.S. authorities are monitoring potential Iranian sleeper cells in the wake of President Donald Trump’s strikes on three major Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday.The increased surveillance started earlier this month, after Israel’s Operation Rising Lion offensive began, according to the report. Both current and former administrations have worried about the threat of Iranian operatives, especially after Trump ordered Iranian General Qasem Soleimani to be assassinated in January 2020. In the wake of his killing, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies ramped up their resources to counter potential threats. Since then, prosecutors have also charged several U.S.-based individuals with plotting to kill both Trump and his national security adviser John Bolton. A recent U.S. Department of Homeland Security threat assessment found that the intelligence community expects Iran to remain the primary source of terrorism and continue to advance plots against the U.S., according to NewsNation. “As the conflict in the Middle East escalates and Iran is being targeted, the regime thinks to itself, ‘OK, we are on our last throes, and therefore we will go out with a bang, quite literally,’” Barak Seener, a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, told NewsNation before the U.S. joined the strikes. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine speak during a news conference Sunday at the Pentagon after the U.S. military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel’s effort to destroy the country’s nuclear program. More

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      Giraffe genitalia among hundreds of body parts imported by trophy hunters

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      Wildlife hunters took home nearly 1,800 giraffe body parts “trophies” in a year – including from more than 100 animals specially bred in captivity to be shot, it’s been revealed. Whole skins, bones, skulls, feet and tails were all popular with wealthy hunters who paid to shoot giraffes – but one even tried to smuggle back home genitalia from an animal they had shot. Customs officers in the United States discovered the genitalia in the luggage of a traveller returning from Africa.Giraffe are classified as vulnerable while their numbers continue to fall More

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      ‘I may do it, I may not’: Donald Trump taunts Iran over airstrikes as Starmer holds Cobra meeting

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      Donald Trump taunted Iran on Wednesday over the extraordinary prospect of US airstrikes on Tehran, after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected demands for unconditional surrender.“I may do it. I may not do it,” the president said amid a growing divide among his inner circle over whether to join Israel’s attacks.“The next week is going to be very big,” he teased as thousands fled the Iranian capital following the latest aerial bombardment, leaving many shops closed and streets empty.Sir Keir Starmer chaired an emergency Cobra meeting on the Middle East crisis late on Wednesday, two days after he expressed confidence that Mr Trump would not join the unfolding war between Iran and Israel.The Foreign Office has evacuated family members of embassy staff from Israel, but has not advised British nationals to leave the country.Mr Trump on Tuesday demanded Iran’s conditional surrender and issued a chilling warning that US forces knew the whereabouts of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s 86-year-old religious ruler.In a speech aired on Iranian television – his first appearance since bombing began last Friday – the supreme leader said any US intervention would lead to “irreparable damage”.Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation More

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      in UK Politics

      The UK should protect its allies in the Gulf and Middle East – but Israel isn’t one of them

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      For Britain, Israel is mostly a strategic liability – but it’s also a very close ally in stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.Now that Israel is locked in a war with Iran and Britain is rushing to send a handful of RAF jets to the region, that relationship needs careful management.The UK cannot afford to be seen as guilty by association in respect of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, or to suffer reputational damage by offering Israel unnecessary help – there is plenty for the RAF to do aside from that. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has said that the aircraft may be used to defend the UK’s allies – in other words, shoot down Iranian missiles heading towards Tel Aviv.Helping Israel to stop the erratic and malevolent Iranian regime from making an atomic bomb is smart. Being seen to do so, and protecting Israel against the consequences of its endeavours, is not.Iran has threatened to attack any US ally that defends Israel. The US has already helped to shoot down ballistic missiles fired by Tehran in retaliation for the ongoing, and widespread, Israeli attacks on Iran’s air defences, missile systems, military leadership and nuclear programme. The US has a vast array of military assets very close to Iran, with air force and navy bases positioned across the Persian Gulf, in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and Oman. These are all vulnerable to attack.Rescue teams clear rubble in a neighbourhood in the northern Israeli town of Tamra following an overnight missile attack by Iran More