Sunak, Starmer clash in final TV debate before election

Britain’s Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak, and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer attend a live TV debate, hosted by The BBC, in Nottingham, on June 26, 2024, in the build-up to the UK general election on July 4. (AFP)
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Updated 27 June 2024
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Sunak, Starmer clash in final TV debate before election

LONDON: The two men bidding to be British prime minister faced off late on Wednesday in a bad-tempered, last head-to-head TV debate before the country’s general election next week.

With Keir Starmer’s Labour opposition enjoying a huge poll lead, the verbal tussle in Nottingham, central England, was premier Rishi Sunak’s last big opportunity to give his Conservatives a fighting chance on July 4.

The debate turned personal at times with Sunak accusing Starmer of “taking people for fools” over Labour’s plans to reduce immigration, while Starmer accused the wealthy Sunak of being “out of touch.”

Sunak repeatedly urged voters not to “surrender” to Labour on everything from borders to taxes, while Starmer repeated his mantra that the election represents an opportunity to “turn the page” after 14 years of Tory rule.

The two also locked horns about a betting scandal that has ensnared several senior Tories and a Labour candidate, and overshadowed talk about key policies in the campaign’s final days.

Starmer pledged to “reset politics, so that politics returns to public service,” accusing Sunak of showing a lack of leadership over the furor.

Sunak, who promised to restore “integrity, professionalism and accountability” when he was named Tory leader and prime minister in 2022, said he had been “furious” when he learned about the allegations.

“I’ve been crystal clear: anyone who has broken the rules should not only face the full consequences of the law, I will ensure that they’re booted out of the Conservative Party,” he added.

But in a sign of the public’s low opinion of politicians, one audience member’s question — “are you two really the best we’ve got?” — got loud applause.

Labour has been more than 20 points ahead in surveys for over 18 months, as Britons appear weary of Tory rule dominated by austerity, Brexit and party infighting.

Sunak has failed to reduce the deficit since he called the election on May 22, six months earlier than legally required.

His rain-sodden announcement outside Downing Street was an ominous portent of what was to come.

The Tory leader has since run a lacklustre campaign featuring blunders, and caused uproar for skipping the main D-Day anniversary with other world leaders in northern France.

He has been criticized for belatedly taking action over the betting row, which this week saw the Conservatives withdraw support from two candidates being probed by the Gambling Commission regulator for allegedly betting on the election date.

One, Craig Williams, who served as Sunak’s close aide during the last parliament, is alleged to have staked £100 ($127) three days before Sunak called the vote.

The other, Laura Saunders, is married to the Tories’ director of campaigns, who took a leave of absence when the claims became public.

The party’s chief data officer also stepped back from duties over allegations he placed dozens of bets on the election date.

Separately, Labour suspended a candidate after he bet on himself losing the election, while five police officers are also being investigated.

The regulator is thought to be looking into whether anyone had privileged information when they placed their bets.

Such flutters are allowed in the UK but using insider knowledge to make them is against the law.

The tawdry row has summed up an underwhelming campaign that has failed to galvanize the public, with polls suggesting a good chunk of the electorate made up their minds months ago.

Labour’s poll lead increased hugely in October 2022, when Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss spooked markets and tanked the pound with billions of pounds of unfunded tax cuts.

Voters were already showing signs of becoming fed up with the Tories following the “Partygate” scandal over illegal Downing Street Covid lockdown parties, which precipitated ex-premier Boris Johnson’s fall from power.

Sunak has made a number of headline-grabbing announcements during the campaign, such as national service for teenagers, but they have failed to move the polls.

Arch-Euroskeptic Nigel Farage’s decision to run for the hard-right Reform UK party has also made his job more difficult.

Starmer, in contrast, has played it safe as he tries to preserve Labour’s lead and return the party to power for the first time since 2010.

He has stopped short of announcing new policies, instead trying to reassure voters that Labour will responsibly marshal the economy and repeating his mantra that Britain is crying out for “change.”

Despite the poll lead, Labour still requires a record swing to win a majority of one, owing to the Conservatives’ landslide win under Johnson at the 2019 election.


Israel is in danger of becoming isolated, German foreign minister warns

Updated 01 August 2025
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Israel is in danger of becoming isolated, German foreign minister warns

  • Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul made the remarks while on a trip to Israel

FRANKFURT: Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday that Israel was in danger of becoming isolated and Germany was trying to prevent that.
“Israel must always find friends, partners and supporters in the international community. And that is currently in danger in this situation. And if there is one country that has a responsibility to prevent this, then in my view it is Germany,” Wadephul told reporters on a trip to Israel.

He added that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “beyond imagination,” after meeting senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem.
“The humanitarian disaster in Gaza is beyond imagination.”

Wadephul said: “(Israel is) obliged to quickly and safely send sufficient humanitarian and medical aid to avoid mass death as part of a famine.”


Turbulence forces Delta flight to land and sends 25 people to hospitals, airline says

Updated 31 July 2025
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Turbulence forces Delta flight to land and sends 25 people to hospitals, airline says

  • The 25 were taken to hospitals for evaluation and treatment, the airline said
  • One passenger said people who weren’t wearing seat belts were thrown about the cabin

MINNEAPOLIS: A Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam was hit by serious turbulence, sending 25 people on board to hospitals and forcing the flight to divert to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, the airline said.

The Airbus A330-900, carrying 275 customers and 13-member crew, landed around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday. The airport fire department and paramedics met the flight. The 25 were taken to hospitals for evaluation and treatment, the airline said.

One passenger said people who weren’t wearing seat belts were thrown about the cabin.

“They hit the ceiling, and then they fell to the ground,” Leann Clement-Nash told ABC News. “And the carts also hit the ceiling and fell to the ground and people were injured. It happened several times, so it was really scary.”

Delta said in a statement: “We are grateful for the support of all emergency responders involved.”

Serious injuries from in-flight turbulence are rare, but scientists say they may be becoming more common as climate change alters the jet stream.

The disturbance Wednesday is one of several turbulence-impacted flights reported this year. It also raises awareness about aviation safety ranging from of January’s midair collision over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people, to last weekend’s smoking jet at Denver International Airport, where passengers slid down an emergency slide.

Regarding turbulence, five people were taken to a North Carolina hospital for evaluation in June after an American Airlines flight from Miami hit turbulence on its way to Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The plane landed safely.

Earlier that month, severe storms in southern Germany forced a Ryanair flight to make an emergency landing after violent turbulence injured nine people on board, German police said. The flight was traveling from Berlin to Milan with 179 passengers and six crew members. Eight passengers and one crew member were hurt.

A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Singapore experienced severe turbulence in March. At the time, the plane carrying 174 passengers and 14 crew members were flying over the Philippines. Five people were injured and the plane was able to land safely in Singapore.

Several flights were diverted to Waco, Texas, on March 3, because of turbulence. Five people were injured aboard one of them, a United Express plane flying from Springfield, Missouri, to Houston.

A man was killed when a Singapore Airlines flight hit severe turbulence in May 2024, the first person to die from turbulence on a major airline in several decades.


Trump wants deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine by Aug. 8, US tells UN

A view shows the site of an apartment building hit by Russian missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine.
Updated 31 July 2025
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Trump wants deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine by Aug. 8, US tells UN

UNITED NATIONS: US President Donald Trump has made clear that he wants a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine by August 8, the United States told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday.
“Both Russia and Ukraine must negotiate a ceasefire and durable peace. It is time to make a deal. President Trump has made clear this must be done by August 8. The United States is prepared to implement additional measures to secure peace,” senior US diplomat John Kelley told the 15-member council.


GHF aid system in Gaza is a ‘scandal, and shameful’ says French foreign minister

A mourner reacts next to a body during the funeral of Palestinians, who were killed by Israeli fire while trying to receive aid.
Updated 31 July 2025
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GHF aid system in Gaza is a ‘scandal, and shameful’ says French foreign minister

  • UN estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food since May, most near militarised distribution sites of the GHF

NICOSIA: France’s foreign minister said on Thursday a US and Israel-backed aid distribution system in Gaza had generated a “bloodbath” and had to cease activity.
“I want to call for the cessation of the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the militarised distribution of humanitarian aid that has generated a bloodbath in distribution lines in Gaza, which is a scandal, which is shameful, and has to stop,” Foreign and European Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters after meeting his Cyprus counterpart in Nicosia.
A global hunger monitor said on Tuesday that a famine scenario was unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with malnutrition soaring, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access severely restricted.
The UN estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food since May, most near militarised distribution sites of the GHF, which employs a US logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed US veterans. The GHF denies that there have been deadly incidents at its sites, and says the deadliest have been near other aid convoys.
The Israeli military has acknowledged that civilians have been harmed by its gunfire near distribution centers, and says its forces have now received better instructions. Israel accuses Hamas fighters of stealing aid — which the militants deny — and the UN of failing to prevent it. The UN says it has not seen evidence of Hamas diverting much aid. Hamas accuses Israel of causing starvation and using aid as a weapon.
Barrot said France would carry out four humanitarian flights carrying 10 tons each of aid from Friday into Gaza in cooperation with Jordan.
Cyprus was briefly a staging point for about 22,000 tons of pre-screened aid sent to Gaza by sea in 2024 via a short-lived US-built landing jetty. Some 1,200 tons of aid is still on the island, awaiting delivery when conditions allow, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said.


‘Poisoning’ arrest at UK childrens summer camp

A police officer stands in Leicestershire, central England. (File/AFP)
Updated 31 July 2025
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‘Poisoning’ arrest at UK childrens summer camp

  • Emergency services were called to the camp in the village of Stathern in central England
  • A triage center was set up to assess all the youngsters

LONDON: UK police said on Thursday they had arrested a 76-year-old man on suspicion of administering poison after eight children at a summer camp were taken to hospital.

Emergency services were called to the camp in the village of Stathern in central England on Monday after a “report of several children feeling unwell,” Leicestershire police said in a statement.

A triage center was set up to assess all the youngsters at and “eight children were taken to hospital as a precaution and have all since been discharged,” the police added.

The man in custody is being questioned on suspicion of “administering poison/a noxious thing with intent to injure/aggrieve/annoy,” the police said.