
UK threatens Israel with 'further concrete actions' over Gaza offensive, aid restrictions
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday warned Israel of "further concrete actions" over its Gaza offensive and restrictions on aid after a meeting in London with Jordan's King Abdullah II.
"The Prime Minister reiterated that if Israel did not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, the UK and its partners would take further concrete actions in response," a spokesperson for his Downing Street office said in a statement.
AFP
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


MTV Lebanon
7 hours ago
- MTV Lebanon
UN's Guterres Urges 'Give Peace a Chance' Amid Israel–Iran Tensions
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that expansion of the Israel-Iran conflict could "ignite a fire no one can control" and called on both sides and potential parties to the conflict to "give peace a chance." Representatives from Israel and Iran later traded angry accusations at the same UN Security Council meeting, with Israel vowing not to stop its attacks. The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, meanwhile, warned that attacks on nuclear facilities could result in "radioactive releases with great consequences within and beyond boundaries" of the state attacked and called for maximum restraint. Guterres said there were "moments when the directions taken will shape not just the fate of nations, but potentially our collective future". "This is such a moment," he said. He said the conflict must not be allowed to expand. "To the parties to the conflict, the potential parties to the conflict, and to the Security Council as the representative of the international community, I have a simple and clear message: give peace a chance," Guterres said. The Security Council session took place as European foreign ministers met their Iranian counterpart on Friday hoping to test Tehran's readiness to negotiate a new nuclear deal despite there being scant prospect of Israel ceasing its attacks soon. Israel has repeatedly bombed nuclear targets in Iran, which it sees as components of a weapons program, and Iran has fired missiles and drones at Israel as a week-old air war escalated with no sign yet of an exit strategy from either side. The White House said on Thursday U.S. President Donald Trump would make a decision within the next two weeks whether to get involved on Israel's side. Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. It said on Friday it would not discuss the future of the program while under attack by Israel, which is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. Israel neither confirms nor denies this. Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said Iran would continue to defend itself from Israeli attacks, while his Israeli counterpart Danny Danon vowed: "We will not stop. Not until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled, not until its war machine is disarmed, not until our people and yours are safe." Iravani said Iran was "alarmed by credible reports that the United States... may be joining this war," and accused Israel of hitting five hospitals in its attacks, a charge for which Danon demanded he provide evidence. Danon said Israel sought genuine efforts to dismantle Iran's nuclear capabilities from Friday's meeting between European and Iranian ministers, not just another round of talks. "We have seen diplomatic talks for the last few decades, and look at the results," he told reporters. "If it is going to be like another session and debates, that's not going to work." Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, outlined Israeli attacks on nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan and Arak. He said the level of radioactivity outside Iran's Natanz site had remained unchanged and at normal levels, indicating no external radiological impact on the population or the environment there. However, he said that within the facility there was both radiological and chemical contamination. He said the IAEA was not aware of any damage at Iran's Fordow plant at this time. An attack on Iran's Bushehr plant would be most serious, he said: "It is an operating nuclear power plant and hosts thousands of kilograms of nuclear material." "I want to make it absolutely and completely clear: In the case of an attack on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity to the environment," Grossi said. "Similarly, a hit that disabled the only two lines supplying electrical power to the plant could cause its reactor's core to melt." He said any action against the Tehran nuclear research reactor will also have severe consequences, "potentially for large areas of the city of Tehran and its inhabitants." The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Dorothy Camille Shea, said the United States "continues to stand with Israel and supports its actions against Iran's nuclear ambitions." "We can no longer ignore that Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon," she said. China and Russia demanded immediate de-escalation. Russia's UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, said Israel's actions risked pulling third countries into the conflict and internationalization of the conflict must be avoided. He said targeting of what he called Iran's peaceful civilian nuclear facilities was "liable to plunge us into a hither to unseen nuclear catastrophe." Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. It neither confirms nor denies this.


MTV Lebanon
7 hours ago
- MTV Lebanon
UK parliament votes for assisted dying, paving way for historic law change
Britain's parliament voted on Friday in favour of a bill to legalise assisted dying, paving the way for the country's biggest social change in a generation. The legislation passed by a vote of 314-291, clearing its biggest parliamentary hurdle. The "Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life)" law would give mentally competent, terminally ill adults in England and Wales with six months or less left to live the right to choose to end their lives with medical help. The bill now proceeds to Britain's upper chamber, the House of Lords, where it will undergo months of scrutiny. While there could be further amendments, the unelected Lords will be reluctant to block legislation that has been passed by elected members of the House of Commons. The vote puts Britain on course to follow Australia, Canada and other countries, as well as some U.S. states, in permitting assisted dying. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government was neutral on the legislation, meaning politicians voted according to their conscience rather than along party lines. Starmer voted in favour. Supporters of the bill say it will provide dignity and compassion to people suffering, but opponents worry that vulnerable people could be coerced into ending their lives. Hundreds of people gathered outside parliament to hear news of the vote. When the result was read out, those in favour of the legislation hugged, clapped and cheered. They shouted 'victory', 'we won' and waved placards. Those opposed to it stood in silence. Emma Bray, who has motor neurone disease, said she hoped the result would help people in her condition. Bray, who is 42 and has two children, said she plans to starve herself to death next month to help relieve the pain after being told she only has six months to live. 'This result will mean that people will not have to go through the same suffering I have faced,' she told Reuters. Opinion polls show that a majority of Britons back assisted dying. Friday's vote followed hours of emotional debate and references to personal stories in the chamber and followed a vote in November that approved the legislation in principle. Opponents of the bill had argued that ill people may feel they should end their lives for fear of being a burden to their families and society. Some lawmakers withdrew their support after the initial vote last year, saying safeguards had been weakened. John Howard, a Catholic priest who led about a dozen people in prayer outside parliament while voting took place, said he worried that some people would be forced to end their lives early under pressure from family members. "I feel great sorrow and concern, particularly for the most vulnerable and disabled," he told Reuters. "This is a dark day for our country." Friday's vote took place 10 years after parliament last voted against allowing assisted dying. The 314-291 vote showed narrowing support from the 330-275 vote in favour in November. In the original plan, an assisted death would have required court approval. That has been replaced by a requirement for a judgement by a panel including a social worker, a senior legal figure and a psychiatrist, which is seen by some as a watering down. The Labour lawmaker who proposed the bill, Kim Leadbeater, said the legislation still offered some of the strongest protections in the world. "I am fully confident in the bill," she told the BBC after the vote. "The safeguards are extremely thorough, extremely robust, and I'm confident that this will help the people it needs to help." Opponents had doubts not just about the potential for coercion, but also about the impact of assisted dying on the finances and resources of the state-run National Health Service, how the law might change the relationship between doctors and their patients and whether it could mean that improvements to palliative care might now not be made. Care Not Killing, a group that opposes the law change, issued a statement calling the bill "deeply flawed and dangerous", saying that its safeguards had been weakened since November. "Members of Parliament had under 10 hours to consider over 130 amendments to the Bill, or less than 5 minutes per change. Does anyone think this is enough time to consider changes to a draft law that quite literally is a matter of life and death?" said the group's CEO, Gordon Macdonald. The law was proposed under a process led by an individual member of parliament rather than being government policy, which has limited the amount of parliamentary time allocated to it. Some lawmakers have said that such a major social change should have been allocated more parliamentary time for debate and involve a greater degree of ministerial involvement and accountability.


LBCI
11 hours ago
- LBCI
European powers urge Iran to continue US nuclear talks
European powers on Friday urged Iran to continue diplomacy to find a solution in the standoff over its nuclear program as Israel keeps up its bombardment of the Islamic Republic. "The good result today is that we leave the room with the impression that Iran is ready to further discuss these questions," said German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in a statement alongside his British, French, and EU counterparts after talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said, "We are keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran, and we urge Iran to continue their talks with the United States," while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said there "can be no definitive solution through military means to the Iran nuclear problem." AFP