LONDON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held talks with Benjamin Netanyahu in London on Friday as protesters shouting “Shame!” In Hebrew demonstrated against the Israeli leader’s right-wing policies and his plans to overhaul the country’s judiciary.
Netanyahu had to pass by hundreds of protesters waving Israeli flags and waving signs calling for the defense of Israeli democracy as he arrived at 10 Downing St. for talks that focused on the war in Ukraine and concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.
Sunak also raised Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reforms, which have sparked mass protests in Israel and beyond. One placard in London read: “We are Israelis and Jews living in the UK demonstrating against Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is leading a judicial coup turning Israel into a dictatorship.”
Some women protesting outside Downing Street wore red robes and white caps inspired by “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a novel and TV series set in a dystopian future. Similarly clad demonstrators have become fixtures of the mass protests roiling Israel.
Sunak “stressed the importance of upholding the democratic values that underpin our relationship, including in the proposed judicial reforms in Israel,” the British leader’s office said in an official readout of the meeting.
Netanyahu’s proposals would give his government more control over judicial appointments, weaken the Supreme Court by limiting judicial review of legislation and allow Parliament to overturn court decisions with a simple majority vote.
He arrived in London as protesters in Israel blocked roads and clashed with police. The planned judicial system overhaul have ignited the biggest protests in the country’s history amid rare dissent from people throughout Israeli society, including military reservists, navy veterans, high-tech businesspeople and former officials.
Netanyahu’s right-wing government has also been criticized for its hard-line policy toward Palestinians, including recent comments by a government minister who denied the existence of the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination.
Sunak “reiterated our support for two-state solution,” and Britain’s view that Israel’s West Bank settlements are illegal and ”contrary to the cause of peace,” spokesman Jamie Davies said.
“Israel is a vital international partner for the United Kingdom, and the prime minister was visiting London, and this was an important opportunity to talk about issues that matter to both countries, whether that’s the threat of Iran, Russia, new trade and investment … as well as peace and stability in the Middle East,” Davies said.
Netanyahu’s office said the two leaders discussed the rapidly advancing nuclear program of Israel’s archenemy, Iran, as well as “deepening strategic cooperation in security, intelligence and economic fields.”
As thousands of people took to the streets across Israel on Thursday, Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, defiantly pledged to proceed with the judicial overhaul, hours after his coalition passed a law making it harder to remove him from office.
Rights groups and Palestinians say Israel’s democratic ideals have long been tarnished by the country’s 55-year, open-ended occupation of lands the Palestinians seek for an independent state and the treatment of Palestinian Israeli citizens, who face discrimination in many spheres.
Netanyahu pushed back his departure to Britain until 4 a.m. Friday to deal with the political crisis.
Protesters greet Netanyahu as he meets UK leader in London
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Protesters greet Netanyahu as he meets UK leader in London
- Sunak also raised Netanyahu's controversial judicial reforms
- Some women protesting outside Downing Street wore red robes and white caps inspired by “The Handmaid's Tale,” a novel and TV series set in a dystopian future
National Guard troops arrive in Los Angeles on Trump’s orders to quell immigration protests
- In recent days, clashes between between federal immigration authorities and protesters seeking to block them from carrying out deportations erupted in Los Angeles
- Trump has said he is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell the protests
LOS ANGELES: National Guard troops began arriving in Los Angeles early Sunday on orders from President Donald Trump in response to clashes in recent days between federal immigration authorities and protesters seeking to block them from carrying out deportations.
Members of California’s National Guard were seen staging early Sunday at the federal complex in downtown Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Center, one of several sites that have seen confrontations involving hundreds of people in last two days.
The troops included members of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to a social media post from the Department of Defense that showed dozens of National Guard members with long guns and an armored vehicle.
Trump has said he is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell the protests, which he called “a form of rebellion.”
Early Sunday, the deployment was limited to a small area in downtown Los Angeles. The protests have been relatively small and limited to a downtown section. The rest of the city of 4 million people is largely unaffected.
Their arrival follows clashes near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles. As protesters sought to block Border Patrol vehicles, with some hurling rocks and chunks of cement, federal agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls.
Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.
On Sunday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the National Guard would “keep peace and allow people to be able to protest but also to keep law and order.”
In a signal of the administration’s aggressive approach, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also threatened to deploy active-duty Marines “if violence continues” in the region.
The move came over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom, marking the first time in decades that a state’s National Guard was activated without a request from its governor, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Newsom, a Democrat, said Trump’s decision to call in the National Guard was “purposefully inflammatory.” He described Hegseth’s threat to deploy Marines on American soil as “deranged behavior.”
Trump’s order came after clashes in Paramount and neighboring Compton, where a car was set on fire. Protests continued into the evening in Paramount, with several hundred demonstrators gathered near a doughnut shop, and authorities holding up barbed wire to keep the crowd back.
Crowds also gathered again outside federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including a detention center, where local police declared an unlawful assembly and began to arrest people.
Outrage as pro-Palestine protester to spend 21 months in prison before trial
- William Plastow, 34, took part in a demonstration against Israeli weapons firm’s factory last year
- He was given a trial date of April 2026 over charges of criminal damage, violent disorder, aggravated burglary
LONDON: The mother of a British man charged over a protest against an Israeli weapons firm has voiced outrage over the expected 21-month imprisonment of her son before his trial, The Guardian reported.
William Plastow, a 34-year-old resident of Manchester, is accused of taking part in a Palestine Action demonstration against a factory in Bristol owned by Elbit Systems.
The protest, which took place in August last year, involved 17 others. The group has been dubbed the “Filton 18.”
Plastow, a script editor, has denied charges of criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary relating to the demonstration.
Six of the 18, including Plastow, who are all being held in prison, have been given a trial date of April next year.
Defendants should not spend more than six months in jail while awaiting trial, according to custody time limit guidelines.
By the time of Plastow’s expected trial, he will have served the equivalent of a sentence of more than five years, based on new sentencing rules that allow the release of convicted criminals who have served one-third of their sentences.
Jane Plastow, his mother, said the case might set a record for the longest time anyone has been held in prison awaiting trial on protest charges in Britain.
The 66-year-old, an academic, said: “It’s outrageous, it’s terrible. Will is a kind of glass-half-empty guy, so he tends toward (believing in) the worst possible outcome.
“Every day, which has become a kind of ritual, I have to say: ‘Yes, you are going to get out of there, this is not the end of your life. They are not going to be able to keep you in for years and years and years.’ Because you just obviously feel so helpless and hopeless locked up in that place.”
In a prison diary published in Inside Time, Plastow revealed he had suffered suicidal thoughts.
He was denied bail despite agreeing to a slew of measures designed to limit his behavior, including wearing an electronic tag, having his phone and passport confiscated, and submitting regular police reports on his activity.
The judge responsible for the decision said Plastow posed a risk of breaking the law again, his mother said.
“What you’re being required to prove is a negative — well, you can never prove the negative, can you?” she said. “You can’t prove that you’re not going to do anything.”
Plastow’s artner of a decade, Valentina Tschismarov, said: “I think the worst that I have personally seen him was when his bail application was denied, which obviously was really disheartening for all of us. Shortly afterward myself and his mum went to visit him together and I was very worried at that point because he was really shaken, just out of it.
“Even on the phone in the weeks after that, he just sounded very distant and kind of broken down. It seems incredibly disproportionate. I always imagined that there were these protections in place and you couldn’t just have somebody jailed without a conviction for these amounts of time.
“I think people are not really aware.”
The 18 protesters arrested at the Elbit facility last year were initially arrested under the Terrorism Act, meaning they could be held for 14 days without charge.
However, despite the Crown Prosecution Service saying the protest held a “terrorism connection,” none of the 18 have been charged with terror offenses.
Kemi Badenoch says she refuses to speak to women in burqas at constituency surgeries
- ‘I’m not talking to people who are not going to show me their face,’ UK Conservative Party leader tells interviewer
- Badenoch links issue to concerns over integration, pointing to Shariah courts and cousin marriages as ‘more insidious’ challenges
LONDON: The leader of the UK’s Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch has said she asks women to remove face coverings, including burqas, before speaking with them at constituency surgeries, and believes employers should be allowed to ban staff from wearing the garment.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Badenoch said she supported the right of individuals to wear what they liked, but drew a line at face coverings in certain settings.
“If you come into my constituency surgery, you have to remove your face covering, whether it’s a burqa or a balaclava,” she said. “I’m not talking to people who are not going to show me their face.”
Her comments follow renewed debate over the issue after Reform UK’s new member of Parliament, Sarah Pochin, urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to consider a burqa ban similar to those in countries such as France.
Party leader Nigel Farage also backed the call, prompting a backlash from Muslim groups and some within his own party.
Reform’s chairman, Zia Yusuf, briefly resigned after the row, citing exhaustion and racist abuse, but has since returned.
He told The Sunday Times he might support a ban in principle, but said other issues were more urgent.
Yusuf is expected to take on a number of roles within the party, including overseeing local council spending.
Badenoch linked the issue of face coverings to broader concerns over integration, pointing to Shariah courts and cousin marriages as “more insidious” challenges.
“People should be allowed to wear whatever they want, not what their husband or community tells them to wear,” she said.
She also backed the right of organizations to set their own dress codes, saying: “It shouldn’t be something that people should be able to override.”
While employers can impose dress policies, they must meet legal tests of proportionality and legitimacy under equality and human rights law.
Restrictions may be justified on grounds such as health and safety, or the need for clear communication.
The debate echoes comments made in 2006 by then-Labour home secretary Jack Straw, who said he asked women visiting his surgery to remove the burqa to enable more meaningful conversation.
Restive Indian state orders curfew after fresh violence
- Manipur in India’s northeast has been rocked by periodic clashes between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community
- The latest violence was triggered Saturday after reports of the arrest of five members, including a commander, of Arambai Tenggol, a radical Meitei group
IMPHAL, India: An Indian state riven by ethnic tensions imposed an Internet shutdown and curfew after protesters clashed with security forces over the arrest of some members of a radical group, police said Sunday.
Manipur in India’s northeast has been rocked by periodic clashes for more than two years between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community that have killed more than 250 people.
The latest violence was triggered Saturday after reports of the arrest of five members, including a commander, of Arambai Tenggol, a radical Meitei group.
Incensed mobs demanding their release stormed a police post, set fire to a bus and blocked roads in parts of the state capital Imphal.
Manipur police announced a curfew in five districts, including Imphal West and Bishnupur, due to the “developing law and order situation.”
“Prohibitory orders have been issued by District Magistrates. Citizens are requested to cooperate with the orders,” the police said in a statement.
Arambai Tenggol, which is alleged to have orchestrated the violence against the Kuki community, has also announced a 10-day shutdown in the valley districts.
The state’s home ministry has ordered all Internet and mobile data services in volatile districts to be shut off for five days in order to bring the latest unrest under control.
Internet services were shut down for months in Manipur during the initial outbreak of violence in 2023, which displaced around 60,000 people from their homes according to government figures.
Thousands of the state’s residents are still unable to return home owing to ongoing tensions.
Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and public jobs.
Rights activists have accused local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain.
Indian FM starts week-long EU trip in new cooperation push
- Jaishankar will inaugurate the first edition of the Mediterranean Raisina Dialogue in Marseille
- India and EU are negotiating a free trade deal, which is expected to be finalized this year
NEW DELHI: India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has embarked on Sunday a week-long trip for talks with the top diplomats of the EU, France and Belgium in a new push for cooperation with Europe, his office said.
Jaishankar is set to meet his French counterpart, Jean-Noel Barrot, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot, and “will be holding a Strategic Dialogue with the EU High Representative and Vice President Ms. Kaja Kallas, and will engage with the senior leadership from the European Commission and the European Parliament,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
“The visit of EAM is expected to further deepen India’s friendly relations with the European Union, France and Belgium and give renewed momentum to ongoing cooperation in diverse areas.”
The foreign minister will also inaugurate the first edition of the Mediterranean Raisina Dialogue in Marseille.
The Raisina Dialogue is a premier multilateral conference on geopolitics and geo-economics held annually in New Delhi and organized by the Observer Research Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs.
The dialogue in Marseille “is a new initiative involving both government and non-government officials from both from India and various parts of the world to converge and talk about issues pertaining to the Mediterranean,” Prof. Harsh V. Pant, vice president of the Observer Research Foundation, told Arab News.
During EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s New Delhi visit in February, India and the EU committed to conclude negotiations on a comprehensive free trade agreement in December.
During last week’s talks in Paris, nearly half the agenda — covering areas like customs, trade facilitation, rules of origin, and intellectual property — has been agreed on.
“The partnership between India and France, and India and the EU continues to evolve dramatically,” Pant said, adding that Jaishankar’s trip is also about conveying “how India feels about the changing strategic realities, as well as what has happened with Pakistan.”
Last month, India and Pakistan engaged days-long cross-border fire. Indian forces launched a series of strikes across the Line of Control — the de facto border that separates the Indian-controlled and Pakistani-controlled parts of the disputed Kashmir territory. They also hit other sites on the Pakistani mainland, targeting what New Delhi claimed were militant positions.
Pakistan retaliated with strikes on Indian military targets before a US-brokered ceasefire took effect on May 10. According to the Pakistani military, its forces had downed six Indian warplanes, including several French aircraft Rafale and a Mirage 2000.
The escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbors took place as India blamed Pakistan for a deadly militant attack, in which 26 tourists were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir — Islamabad denied any involvement.
