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Israel-Gaza latest: Israel says it has killed Hamas military leader; Hamas submits response to ceasefire proposal
Analysis: Former UN chief's labelling of Gaza war as 'genocide' marks extraordinary shift By Yalda Hakim, lead world news presenter In a stark and direct intervention, Martin Griffiths, the former UN humanitarian chief, has described the situation in Gaza as genocide. The statement, made during an interview I conducted with Griffiths on The World, marks one of the most pointed accusations yet from a figure known to be deeply embedded in the world of international politics and diplomacy. "I think now we've got to the point this is unequivocal. Of course it is genocide. Just as it is weaponising aid. "We don't need to look behind ourselves to see that's the case. That should encourage us even more because we, of course, all doubted whether it would come to that level of definition. "We all doubted whether famine is actually there. I think starvation is killing people. That's bad enough. We don't have to worry about famine, which is obviously there lurking in the shadows. "Also, genocide… of course that's what has happened. We only need to look at the statements made. Prime Minister Netanyahuhas the virtue of being very clear about his objectives." Watch Yalda Hakim's interview with the former UN humanitarian chief in the video below His choice of words is extraordinary - not just for its gravity, but because it's Griffiths who is saying it. A veteran diplomat with decades of experience navigating complex international crises, Griffiths is known for his calm and thoughtful demeanour - not for inflammatory language. For him to use the term "genocide" in a television interview signals a significant shift in how some within the international system are now interpreting events on the ground in Gaza - 20 months since Israel launched its war.
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2 hours ago
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Prison officers should be armed with lethal weapons to crack down on Islamist terrorists, Tories say
Prison officers should be armed with lethal weapons to crack down on Islamist terrorists in jail, the shadow justice secretary has said. Highly trained teams should also be equipped with tasers, stun grenades and baton rounds to tackle dangerous criminals in high-security jails, Robert Jenrick said. The plan is taken from a series of recommendations by counter-extremism expert and former prison governor Ian Acheson. It comes after a prison officer at high-security prison Long Lartin in Worcestershire was stabbed on Friday morning with a weapon Sky News understands was brought in from outside the prison. It also follows several attacks on prison officers in jails. In April this year, the Manchester Arena bomb plotter, Hashem Abedi, allegedly assaulted prison staff by throwing hot oil on them and then launching a stabbing attack, injuring three officers. At Belmarsh prison, Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has been accused of throwing boiling water over an officer through the hatch in his cell door earlier this month. Mr Jenrick said: "Islamist gangs and violent prisoners in our jails are out of control. It's a national security emergency, but the government is dithering. If they don't act soon, there is a very real risk that a prison officer is kidnapped or murdered in the line of duty, or that a terrorist attack is directed from inside prison." He said he commissioned Mr Acheson to conduct a rapid review into measures the government could adopt. The measures include removing all radical Islamist imams working in prisons, immediately rolling out high-collar stab vests to frontline officers, and mandating the quarterly release of data on religious conversions in prison and faith-based incidents. It also recommended legislating to overturn the De Silva ruling to strip back judicial interference in operational decisions by governors to isolate extremists. Mr Jenrick added: "We have to stop pussy-footing around Islamist extremists and violent offenders in jails. "That means arming specialist prison officer teams with tasers and stun grenades, as well as giving them access to lethal weapons in exceptional circumstances. "If prison governors can't easily keep terrorist influencers and radicalising inmates apart from the mainstream prisoners they target, then we don't control our prisons - they do. We must take back control and restore order by giving officers the powers and protection they need." Mr Acheson said: "Too often what goes wrong behind the walls of our high security jails passes unnoticed, as does the bravery of the men and women in uniform who deal every day with terrorists and other highly dangerous offenders. "Robert Jenrick is right - the threat to officer safety is now intolerable and must be met decisively by the government. "The balance inside too many of our prisons has shifted away from control by the state to mere containment and the price is soaring levels of staff assaults and wrecked rehabilitation. Broken officers can't help fix broken people - or protect the public from violent extremism." A Ministry of Justice source said: "The government considers the introduction of lethal weapons into prisons would put prison officers at greater risk." They added: "The last government added just 500 cells to our prison estate, and left our jails in total crisis. In 14 years, they closed 1,600 cells in the high-security estate, staff assaults soared, and experienced officers left in droves. Now the arsonists are pretending to be firefighters. "This government is cleaning up the mess the last government left behind. We are building new prisons, with 2,400 new cells opened since we took office. And we take a zero-tolerance approach to violence and extremism inside."
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3 hours ago
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Aziz Ziriat: Body of British hiker missing in northern Italy since January found by rescuers at Care Alto
The body of a British hiker missing in northern Italy since January has been found, local rescuers have said. Aziz Ziriat, 36, had been hiking in the Dolomites with his friend Sam Harris, 35, whose body was found buried under snow around a kilometre away, at the base of the southern face of the Carè Alto mountain, soon after they were reported missing. Ziriat was discovered on Saturday, buried in snow beneath the same mountain by rescuers from the Trentino Alpine and Speleological Rescue team, the organisation said. The team, which had been airlifted to the area in the morning, began searching near where Harris' body had been found. They found nothing during the first phase of the search, but after descending along the rock face, a rescue dog, from a unit provided by the Italian Financial Police's Alpine rescue branch, detected his body "in a rocky crevice, hidden beneath layers of snow", at the foot of the southern face of Carè Alto, the rescue team said in a statement. His remains were found "at the base of the cliffs, almost 1,000 metres away from Harris' initial location and 400 metres lower in altitude". The body was airlifted to the nearby Spiazzo Rendena sports field, "where a funeral transport was waiting". The rescue team said his family "was immediately informed of the discovery". The Londoners' last known location was at a mountain hut called Casina Dosson, in the San Valentino Valley, close to the town of Tione di Trento, near Riva del Garda on Lake Garda on 1 January They had been hiking in the Carè Alto mountain area within the Adamello group over the New Year. The alarm was raised when the pair missed their return flight on 6 January. Firefighters, the Italian Financial Police's Alpine Rescue team and the volunteer group, A, helped with the search. In January, Mr Ziriat's family praised the work of search teams, saying "their commitment to finding Aziz has been outstanding". A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: "We are supporting the family of a British national reported missing in Northern Italy and are in contact with the local authorities."
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4 hours ago
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Woman in her 20s stabbed to death in Croydon
A woman has been stabbed to death in south London, police have said. Emergency crews were called to Frith Road in Croydon shortly after 9am on Saturday and treated two injured people at the scene. A woman in her 20s died at the scene, while a man in his 30s was taken to hospital with minor injuries. He has since been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in hospital. Superintendent Mitch Carr, who leads local policing in Croydon, said the force wanted to "thank the members of the public, including a teenage boy, who bravely tried to help the victim". "This is a tragic incident where a young woman has lost her life and our thoughts are with her loved ones," he added. "We believe that this was an isolated incident, but understand that this news will shock the local community." Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
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4 hours ago
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Iran has stockpiled near nuclear weapons-grade uranium, UN watchdog finds
Iran further increased its stockpile of uranium to near weapons-grade levels and has carried out secret nuclear activities, the UN watchdog has said. A report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that as of 17 May, Iran has amassed 408.6kg of uranium enriched up to 60% - an increase of 133.8kg since the IAEA's last report in February. That material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Issuing a stern warning, the IAEA said Iran is now "the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material", which it said is of "serious concern". IAEA chief, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make "several" nuclear bombs, if it chose to do so. A separate IAEA report also found traces of uranium at two to four sites that indicated Tehran had hosted secret experiments. It concluded that "these three locations, and other possible related locations, were part of an undeclared structured nuclear programme carried out by Iran until the early 2000s and that some activities used undeclared nuclear material". The findings of this report, in particular, are important, as they could lead to Iran being referred to the UN Security Council. European countries could also reimplement sanctions on Iran that were lifted under the original Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015. More immediately, it is likely to complicate recent talks between Iran and the US over a possible nuclear deal that Donald Trump is trying to reach. On 29 May, senior Iranian officials dismissed speculation about an imminent nuclear deal with the US, emphasising that any agreement must fully lift sanctions and allow the country's nuclear programme to continue. Tehran has always said it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has long denied accusations by Western powers that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. 15:11 However, the IAEA report spelt out that Iran's cooperation with the IAEA continues to be "less than satisfactory" in "a number of respects". Israel said the IAEA report was a clear warning sign that "Iran is totally determined to complete its nuclear weapons programme", according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. It said the IAEA's report "strongly reinforces what Israel has been saying for years - the purpose of Iran's nuclear program is not peaceful". It comes after Mr Trump told Mr Netanyahu to hold off striking Iran to give his government more time to push for a new nuclear deal with Tehran. Mr Trump said on Friday that he still thinks a deal could be completed in the "not too distant future". "They don't want to be blown up. They would rather make a deal," the US president said, adding: "That would be a great thing that we could have a deal without bombs being dropped all over the Middle East."
