EU ministers largely back Israeli settlement trade ban, Kallas says EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says foreign ministers largely favoured the idea of banning trade with Israeli settlements during a meeting today. The officials met in Brussels to discuss a response to increasing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. "Everybody agrees that the situation in the West Bank is really intolerable," Kallas said at the start of the meeting.
Iranian foreign minister says Tehran will remain 'guardian' of Hormuz Iran's foreign minister says the country has "always been the guardian of the Strait and will remain so forever". The comments came after Trump announced that the US would levy a charge on vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. "POTUS is absolutely right.
President Trump said the United States could collect tolls or fees, despite Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying no country could do so.
Israel’s Mossad recruited former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and chose him to lead Iran after a planned operation to overthrow the Islamic Republic, Haaretz reported Monday, citing more than 30 political, defense, diplomatic and foreign sources.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly wooed by Mossad agents after distancing himself from Khamenei Middle East crisis live – latest updates Israel tried to recruit Iran’s intensely anti-Zionist former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to lead a new post-Islamic regime in Tehran, even going as far as sending its top spy to Budapest to meet him, according to media reports. The remarkable quest to turn a leader who had denied the Holocaust and called for Israel’s erasure began in 2022, according to reporting by the New York Times and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz , and continued even after Israel became engaged in a brutal campaign in Gaza against Hamas, a key Iranian ally. Continue reading...
Andy Burnham has rightly spoken out on Labour's Gaza shame. Now comes the hard part Submitted by David Hearst on Mon, 07/13/2026 - 13:20 The future prime minister should reconstruct a Labour Party with a strong moral core. This begins with Palestine and not repeating Starmer's fatal mistakes Andy Burnham, British prime minister in waiting, delivers a speech at the People's History Museum in Manchester, Britain, on 29 June, 2026 (Reuters) On It is easy, if not to say tempting, to be cynical about Andy Burnham .
New Delhi [India], July 13 (ANI): Poland on Monday voiced support for India's stance on the West Asia conflict, with the Polish Secretary of State and Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski terming New Delhi's approach as the 'right position' and stressing that the ongoing crisis should be resolved through diplomacy while ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Syrian Druze chief suggests Sweida integration into Israel Submitted by Alex MacDonald on Mon, 07/13/2026 - 13:48 Hikmat al-Hijri says his province's 'autonomy' could be preserved as part of its southern neighbour Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri reading a speech to the Druze community in Syria (Wikicommons) Off A spiritual leader of Syria 's Druze community has suggested that the country's Sweida province be integrated into Israel. Speaking at an event to mark the first anniversary of violent sectarian unrest in the southern province, Hikmat al-Hijri said his home's autonomy could be preserved under the protection or even "integration with another state". "We are determined to preserve our autonomy in Sweida so that we can live an independent life and present people with a model for this region," he said.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood says police are ‘pursuing multiple lines of enquiry to establish the motivation for this attack’ Ann Widdecombe death: counter-terrorism police take over investigation The government has announced that it is in effect proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It is doing so using new powers under the National Security (State Threats) Act 2026. Ministers have been under pressure for years to proscribe the IRGC, which backs terrorist activity outside Iran.
Tehran [Iran], July 13 (ANI): Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei's first public address after his father's funeral comes with a 'revenge list', naming 13 world leaders after the death of the country's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran will continue to defend its sovereignty against any aggression while remaining prepared to pursue diplomacy whenever it serves the country's national interests, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran will employ all available legal and diplomatic mechanisms to pursue justice and avenge the martyrdom of late Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and other victims of the US-Israeli aggression against the country, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Iran says it will not comply with deal if US does not uphold MoU commitments Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday that the country would no longer abide by the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the US in June if Washington continued to violate its commitments to end the war. "Each time that the other party has failed to meet its obligations, we did not uphold ours... we will continue to act in this manner," Esmaeil Baghaei told a press conference in Tehran.
EU countries discuss trade ban on Israeli settlement goods EU foreign ministers on Monday discussed imposing an import ban on products from Israeli settlements, after pressure from a number of member states. "Everybody agrees that the situation in the West Bank is really intolerable," EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas said at the start of a meeting in Brussels, according to AFP. "What is happening in the West Bank is actually making it more and more impossible that the two-state solution ever can come into effect," Kallas added.
Starmer’s parting gift of billions for the military is a chain around Burnham's neck Submitted by Tom Blackburn on Thu, 07/09/2026 - 14:29 After a sustained media campaign by military hawks, this proposed increase in defence expenditure is being shielded from effective scrutiny US President Donald Trump stands next to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as NATO leaders gather for a family photo at a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara, Turkey on 8 July, 2026 (Reuters) On British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Defence Investment Plan ( DIP ), although presented as an urgent response to unprecedented security threats facing Britain , says more about the imperatives of domestic politics than about national security needs. These big military spending announcements have always, to a large extent, been calculated to suit domestic political prerogatives rather than actual defence, but the DIP is explicitly the product of political manoeuvring. The plan, unveiled with much fanfare on 30 June after intense lobbying and weeks of concerted propaganda conducted through the media, proposes throwing another £15bn ($20bn) into the gaping maw of the Ministry of Defence (MoD); this is below the £28bn (approximately $37bn) it had sought, but however much the MoD receives at the expense of other government departments, it never seems to be enough.
Washington [US], July 13 (ANI): In a major development that has sent shockwaves through Washington's political landscape, US Senator Lindsey Graham, a towering Republican figure who shaped American foreign policy for decades and served as a crucial strategist to President Donald Trump, passed away on Saturday evening following a sudden medical crisis at the age of 71.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian offered his condolences to Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani following the death of former Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, praising his role in strengthening relations between Tehran and Doha.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and United Nations Special Representative for Lebanon Jean Arnault discussed the latest developments in Lebanon, regional security, and efforts to consolidate the Iran-US ceasefire agreement.
Washington DC [US], July 13 (ANI): In the final weeks leading up to his sudden demise, senior US Senator Lindsey Graham was actively spearheading a major diplomatic push aimed at brokering a historic normalisation pact between Saudi Arabia and Israel, according to a report by US media outlet Axios.
Tel Aviv [Israel], July 13 (ANI): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that US President Donald Trump wanted to 'exhaust the possibility' of reaching a diplomatic agreement with Iran before pursuing other options on the nuclear issue. Speaking in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press, Netanyahu asserted that the US leader would not hesitate to use force if Tehran violated its commitments.
