New Caledonia Groups Sign Accord on French Territory's Future
The draft deal signed early Saturday among the groups and the government would create a New Caledonia state that would nevertheless remain part of France, according to a post by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou. While details of the agreement weren't immediately released, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said in a post on X that it includes 'expanded local powers, an unfreezing of the electorate and possible international recognition.'
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Starmer rejects calls for Palestinian statehood as Trump flies to the UK
Sir Keir Starmer has rejected calls from MPs to immediately recognise a Palestinian state, as US President Donald Trump arrived in the UK amid the continued desperate situation in Gaza. Some 221 MPs have signed a letter urging the British Government to recognise the state of Palestine at a meeting of the UN next week. The UK would follow in the footsteps of France if it did, though Mr Trump claimed French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement was 'not going to change anything' ahead of flying to the UK on Friday. Sarah Champion, a senior Labour MP who co-ordinated the cross-party letter, said recognition 'would send a powerful symbolic message that we support the rights of the Palestinian people'. While the PM said he was 'unequivocal' about wanting to see a Palestinian state, he insisted this needed to be part of a 'wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis'. The UK and its allies must work together to broker a peace, he added, likening the effort to the coalition of the willing to support Ukraine. Sir Keir is expected to meet Mr Trump on Monday, as the US president stays in Scotland ahead of a full state visit later this year. On Friday evening, amid mounting global anger over the starving population in Gaza, the Prime Minister also suggested the UK will play a role in dropping aid into Gaza by air. He welcomed that Israel said it would allow aid to be delivered by parachute to alleviate starvation in Gaza. The Prime Minister said the step had 'come far too late', but he insisted the UK will 'do everything we can to get aid in via this route'. Britain is already working alongside Jordan to get aid onto planes, the PM signalled, also adding that children from Gaza in need of specialist medical care will be evacuated to the UK for treatment. In a video statement released on Friday, Sir Keir made plain his desire for a ceasefire. He said: 'I know the British people are sickened by what is happening. The images of starvation and desperation are utterly horrifying. 'The denial of aid to children and babies is completely unjustifiable, just as the continued captivity of hostages is completely unjustifiable.' Meanwhile, in a statement released alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and France's Mr Macron, the Prime Minister urged Israel to stop restricting the flow of aid into Gaza. A call between the three leaders was expected on Friday, but has been postponed until the weekend. US-led peace talks in Qatar were cut short on Thursday, with Washington's special envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of a 'lack of desire to reach a ceasefire'. The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire, and aid supplies would be ramped up as negotiations on a lasting truce took place.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sir Keir Starmer is caught between Trump, Macron and MPs over Palestine recognition
Parliament may have shut up shop for a six-week summer break, but MPs and the French president are turning up the heat on Sir Keir Starmer over the Middle East. More than one in three of all 650 MPs have written to the prime minister calling on the UK to recognise a Palestinian state at a United Nations conference next week. In response to the call, his answer is essentially: Yes, but not yet. That, of course, won't satisfy the 222 MPs backing an all-party letter to the PM penned by the Labour MP Sarah Champion. The majority of names on the letter, predictably, are Labour, Lib Dem and SNP MPs. But there are some Tory big hitters too, including Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh and former cabinet minister Kit Malthouse. Until now, the PM and foreign secretary David Lammy have argued that the gesture of recognising Palestine on its own won't end what Sir Keir himself calls "the appalling scenes in Gaza". But the pressure for recognition isn't just coming from MPs. French President Emmanuel Macron has said France will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September. Read more: Might Mr Macron - whose bromance with the PM during his state visit to the UK could not have been warmer - persuade Sir Keir to do the same? Possibly. He's not ruling it out. But there's one big obstacle to Sir Keir bowing to the pressure from MPs and the French president. And that's the towering figure who's in Scotland this weekend: the golfing president of the United States. When Donald Trump was asked about President Macron's vow to recognise Palestine in September, his response was brutal and bordering on condescending. "What he says doesn't matter," the president told reporters at the White House as he headed for Air Force One. "He's a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn't carry weight." Ouch! But the US president's unflinching support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu places Sir Keir in an awkward spot: Caught between the opposing stances of the French and US presidents. The PM is, therefore, also under pressure from President Trump, and he won't want to fall out with him when he meets him this weekend. Hence, his carefully worded statement responding to the letter from the MPs. Appearing to try and please the US and French presidents - and the large number of Labour MPs backing Sarah Champion's letter - Sir Keir said he's "working on a pathway to peace" in the Middle East. He spoke of "concrete steps" to turn a ceasefire into a lasting peace and said recognition of a Palestinian state "has to be one of those steps", adding: "I am unequivocal about that." And he concluded: "But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis. "This is the way to ensure it is a tool of maximum utility to improve the lives of those who are suffering - which of course, will always be our ultimate goal." Read more from Sky News: As well as his own statement, the PM issued a joint statement with President Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, both of whom have held talks with Sir Keir in the UK in the past fortnight. That statement was tough, beginning: "The time has come to end the war in Gaza." It went on: "The humanitarian catastrophe that we are witnessing in Gaza must end now." Yet there's little sign of either the war or the humanitarian catastrophe ending any time soon. And that means that throughout parliament's summer break, MPs will no doubt continue to turn up the heat on the PM.
Bloomberg
6 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Gaza Truce Talks Falter Amid Escalating Humanitarian Crisis
Hagar Chemali, Greenwich Media Strategies founder, breaks down the recent blow dealt to Gaza peace talks as Israel and the US withdrew their representatives from the negotiations. She also talks France's move to recognize a Palestinian state and why it may come too late to make an impact. (Source: Bloomberg)
