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The Journal
12 minutes ago
- The Journal
Starmer rejects calls for Palestinian statehood as Trump kicks off UK visit
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 Trump claimed French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement was 'not going to change anything' ahead of his arrival in the UK yesterday. 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. Keir is expected to meet 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. Advertisement 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, Starmer 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.


Irish Examiner
12 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Four people killed in Russia and Ukraine as countries trade aerial attacks
Russia and Ukraine traded aerial attacks overnight resulting in two deaths in each country, according to officials. Ukraine's southern Dnipro and north-eastern Sumy regions came under combined rocket and drone attack, local officials reported. Head of the Dnipro regional administration Serhii Lysak said at least two people had died and five were wounded in the barrage. A rescuer looks at a damaged city hospital that was hit by a Russian guided air bomb in Kharkiv, Ukraine (Andrii Marienko/AP) In the city of Dnipro, a multi-story building and business were damaged during the strike and in the region a fire engulfed a shopping centre. In Sumy, the military administration said three people were injured. Kharkiv sustained an intense aerial bombardment overnight with local authorities reporting Ukraine's second-largest city was hit by four guided aerial bombs, two ballistic missiles and 15 drones over a three-hour period. In a post on Telegram, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said high-rise residential buildings, local businesses, roads and the communication network were damaged in the attack. He said at least five people were injured, including three rescue workers who were wounded in a double tap strike — where a second attack targets emergency workers trying to help people wounded in the initial attack. According to the daily air force report, in total Russia targeted Ukraine with 208 drones and 27 missiles overnight. It said according to preliminary data, air defence and electronic warfare took down or intercepted 183 drones and 17 missiles but hits from 10 missiles and 25 drones had been recorded in nine locations. In Russia, officials said that Ukrainian drones targeted multiple regions overnight. Rescuers clear the rubble after a Russian guided air bomb hit a city hospital in Kharkiv, Ukraine (Yevhen Titov/AP) A drone attack on the Rostov region, on the border with Ukraine, killed two people, acting governor Yuri Slyusar reported. In the neighbouring Stavropol region, drones hit an unspecified industrial facility, governor Vladimir Vladimirov said on Telegram. He added that the attack sparked a brief fire, but did not specify where exactly. Mr Vladimirov said cellphone internet in the region was restricted because of the attack — a measure authorities regularly take across the vast country that critics say helps widespread online censorship. An unconfirmed media report said videos posted online by local residents showed that the drones hit the Signal radio plant that makes jamming equipment. The Associated Press was unable to verify the claim. Drones also targeted Moscow, but were shot down, according to mayor Sergei Sobyanin, and an unspecified industrial facility in the Penza region south-east of the capital, governor Oleg Melnichenko said. Russia's Defence Ministry said that its air defences shot down or intercepted a total of 54 Ukrainian drones, including 24 over the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, 12 over the Rostov region, six over the annexed Crimean Peninsula, four over the Azov sea, three over the Black Sea and a few others over the Orlov, Tula and Belgorod regions. Russian civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia overnight briefly halted flights in and out of airports serving the city of Kaluga, south-west of Moscow, as well as Vladikavkaz and Grozny in the North Caucasus.

The Journal
an hour ago
- The Journal
At least three people killed as Russia and Ukraine exchange strikes overnight
RUSSIA STRUCK SEVERAL regions of Ukraine overnight, officials said this morning, reporting one person killed in Dnipro, while Moscow said two people died after a Ukrainian drone attack in the Rostov region. The Dnipro Mayor, Borys Filatov, said one person was killed in a high-rise apartment complex. Across the border, Russia's acting governor of Rostov said a car caught fire following a drone strike. 'Tragically, two people died,' Yuri Sliusar posted on Telegram. Ukrainian officials in Dnipro, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia all reported coming under Russian fire overnight. In Dnipro, residents were urged to take precautions during Russian attacks. 'I understand that there aren't enough shelters, but I must say: during shelling, it is absolutely not advisable to stay on the upper floors, especially when there is an underground parking area available,' the mayor posted on Telegram. Advertisement Kharkiv Mayor, Igor Terekhov, said that his city had come under sustained bombardment 'for almost three hours'. 'The enemy used several types of weapons simultaneously: guided bombs, ballistic missiles and kamikaze drones,' he added. In Zaporizhzhia, Governor Ivan Fedorov said several fires broke out following Russian drone attacks, one of which hit a residential building while another damaged a farm warehouse. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pushing for a meeting with counterpart Vladimir Putin to end the war, with Kyiv proposing talks by the end of August. But the Kremlin on Thursday downplayed the likelihood of any such meeting being imminent. Both sides have radically different positions at the negotiating table, and Ukraine has accused Russia of sending only low-level officials with no decision-making power. Russia has called on Ukraine to effectively cede four regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, a demand Kyiv has called unacceptable. Ukraine meanwhile has been pleading with its Western backers to send more weapons for its troops to withstand daily Russian attacks. © Agence France-Presse