Category: 2. World

Palestine Action will be banned from midnight after a judge refused its request to temporarily block the government from proscribing it as a terror group.

On Friday, a High Court judge refused the group more time to pursue legal action against the government’s decision.

It means supporting Palestine Action will become a criminal offence, with membership or expressing support for the direct action group punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The group’s co-founder Huda Ammori said her lawyers will seek an “urgent appeal” to prevent what she called a “dystopian nightmare”.

Mr Justice Chamberlain said: “I have concluded that the harm which would ensue if interim relief is refused but the claim later succeeds is insufficient to outweigh the strong public interest in maintaining the order in force.”

The proposed ban, which amends the Terrorism Act 2000, will come into force after being approved by both the House of Commons and House of Lords earlier this week.

The move was taken to ban the group after an estimated £7m of damage was caused to planes at RAF Brize Norton last month, in action claimed by Palestine Action.

At a hearing earlier on Friday, Raza Husain KC, barrister for Palestine Action’s Ms Ammori, told the court banning the group would be “ill-considered” and an “authoritarian abuse” of power.

“This is the first time in our history that a direct action civil disobedience group, which does not advocate for violence, has been sought to be proscribed as terrorists,” he said.

In a 26-page judgement, Mr Justice Chamberlain said some of the consequences feared by Ms Ammori and others who gave evidence were “overstated”.

After the court’s ruling, Ms Ammori said “thousands of people across Britain wake up tomorrow to find they had been criminalised overnight for supporting a domestic protest group which sprays red paint on warplanes and disrupts Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer”.

She added: “We will not stop fighting to defend fundamental rights to free speech and protest in our country and to stand up for the rights of the Palestinian people.”

Being a member of, or showing support for, Palestine Action will be a criminal offence from Saturday after a last-minute legal challenge to suspend the group’s proscription under anti-terrorism laws failed.

A ban on Palestine Action, which uses direct action to mainly target Israeli weapons factories in the UK and their supply chain, was voted through by parliament this week but lawyers acting for its co-founder Huda Ammori had sought to prevent it taking effect.

After a hearing at the high court on Friday, however, Mr Justice Chamberlain declined to grant her application for interim relief.

It means Palestine Action will become the first direct action protest group to be banned under the Terrorism Act, placing it in the same category as Islamic State, al-Qaida and the far-right group National Action.

UN experts, civil liberties groups, cultural figures and hundreds of lawyers have condemned the ban as draconian and said it sets a dangerous precedent by conflating protest with terrorism.

Another hearing is scheduled for 21 July when Palestine Action will apply for permission for a judicial review to quash the order. In the meantime, and unless the judicial review is successful, membership of, or inviting support for, the group will carry a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

A wildfire on the island of Crete that forced the evacuation of 5,000 tourists and locals is “retreating”, Greek firefighters told AFP on Friday, but a new blaze fanned by strong winds is spreading east of the capital, Athens.

Hot dry weather in Greece — not unusual for this time of year — has heightened the risk of summer wildfires, and scientists say human-driven climate change is making them more frequent and more intense.

The new wildfire broke out at Koropi, a town some 30 kilometres (20 miles) east of Athens, where residents received text messages from civil protection units urging them to evacuate the vicinity.

That fire “has reached the courtyards of the houses”, Koropi mayor Dimitris Kiousis told public television channel ERT.

“The fire is ongoing. All residents (in threatened areas) have been evacuated,” Thodoris Grivas, deputy mayor of Koropi, told ERT.

“We do not yet know the extent of the disaster,” Grivas added.

A fire department official later told AFP that the situation appeared “improved”. “There remain some scattered clusters,” he added.

In all, 120 firefighters were at the scene, with 30 engines, eight planes and the same number of helicopters, fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyannis told reporters.

A coastguard vessel was patrolling nearby.

Concerns remain for the coming days, particularly Saturday. when temperatures are due to rise, with the risk of fire still high.

Temperatures are forecast to reach up to 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) in some areas of the country, according to the EMY weather agency.

Greece had until now been generally spared the heatwave roasting parts of Europe, particularly Spain, Portugal and France over recent days.

Early on Friday afternoon, at least two water bombers and two helicopters were battling flames fanned by strong winds blowing across Attica, the Athens region, and the capital itself.

The fire was destroying olive trees and brushwood, ERT images showed.

Firefighters earlier managed to bring under control a separate fire which had on Thursday threatened the port of Rafina, around 20 kilometres northeast of Koropi, after some 300 local people were evacuated from their homes.

Fire crews remained on alert, as the Rafina wildfire was not far from Athens International Airport and winds still posed a threat.

The blaze destroyed a several houses and vehicles, local mayor Dimitris Markou told ERT.

It also disrupted ferries to and from tourist islands in the western Aegean, including Mykonos.

On the island of Crete, around 230 firefighters, 48 fire engines and six helicopters remained at the scene near the resort town of Ierapetra, even though the blaze was receding.

Some 3,000 visitors had been forced to leave their hotels and guest houses on Wednesday evening and 2,000 local residents were also evacuated, authorities said.

“The fire is retreating,” Vathrakoyannis told AFP.

“There are still fears of flare-ups but there is no longer a major front,” he added.

Scattered hot spots still remained and firefighters were dealing with several smoke-filled areas from which flare-ups had restarted, the fire department told the ANA press agency.

Weakening winds in the hard-to-reach area had improved the situation, firefighters said, although a fire brigade spokesperson had warned overnight of some “difficult” days ahead.

Last month, fires on Greece’s fifth-biggest island Chios, in the northern Aegean, destroyed 4,700 hectares (11,600 acres) of land, according to the WWF and the National Observatory of Athens research institute.

The most destructive year for wildfires was 2023, when nearly 175,000 hectares were lost and there were 20 deaths.

LONDON: Former Labour MP Zarah Sultana has claimed she is set to start a new political party with Labour’s ex-leader, Jeremy Corbyn, after accusing the government of being “an active participant in genocide” in Gaza.

Sultana made the announcement on the social media platform X on Thursday evening, a day after Corbyn told the political TV show “Peston” on ITV that “there is a thirst for an alternative” in British politics. 

In her post, Sultana claimed the Westminster political system was “broken” and that the new movement would focus on social justice in the UK and abroad.

“Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives. And across the political establishment, from (Reform leader Nigel) Farage to (Prime Minister Sir Keir) Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.

“But the truth is clear: This government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.”

She added that the choice before voters at the next general election would be between “socialism or barbarism” and claimed, in relation to the vote earlier this week on changes to benefit rules, “the government wants to make disabled people suffer; they just can’t decide how much.”

Sultana continued: “Jeremy Corbyn and I will co-lead the founding of a new party, with other independent MPs, campaigners and activists across the country.”

Corbyn has yet to confirm whether he will be involved in the new party but admitted on “Peston” that he had been in discussions with the four Independent Alliance MPs elected in July 2024 on a platform of opposing the war in Gaza — Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, and Iqbal Mohamed — about forming a party based on “peace rather than war.”

The BBC’s “Newsnight” program confirmed Sultana had held talks with Corbyn and the Independent Alliance earlier this week, but that the idea of co-leadership had not been received well by Corbyn.

Sunday Times journalist Gabriel Pogrund posted on X that a source told him Corbyn was “furious and bewildered” that Sultana made her announcement without consulting him first.

Israel denies it is committing genocide in Gaza.

Starmer has repeatedly demanded a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, describing the situation as “appalling and intolerable,” but has stopped short of accusing Israel of genocide.

Alastair Campbell, the former Labour director of communications, told the BBC that the “government’s handling” of the war in Gaza was a thorn in the side of the party, affecting people’s perception of Labour’s values.

Sultana was suspended by Labour last year for rebelling against the government in a vote on child benefits.

She has been a vocal critic of her former party, including last week, when the government sought to ban the group Palestine Action after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and vandalized military aircraft.

Sultana posted “We are all Palestine Action” on X ahead of a vote to proscribe the group as a terrorist organization, which passed with just 26 MPs opposing the motion.

In her announcement about forming her new party, she said: “Westminster is broken, but the real crisis is deeper. Just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population. Poverty is growing, inequality is obscene, and the two-party system offers nothing but managed decline and broken promises.”

She continued: “We’re not an island of strangers; we’re an island that’s suffering. We need homes and lives we can actually afford, not rip-off bills we pay every month to a tiny elite bathing in cash. We need our money spent on public services, not forever wars.”

The announcement elicited mixed responses from Labour MPs.

John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor who was also suspended at the same time as Sultana, posted on X: “I am dreadfully sorry to lose Zarah from the Labour Party.

“The people running Labour at the moment need to ask themselves why a young, articulate, talented, extremely dedicated socialist feels she now has no home in the Labour Party and has to leave.”

Dawn Butler, the MP for Brent East, said she could “understand (Sultana’s) frustration”

But Neil Coyle, MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, told The Times: “The hard left (is) seeking to damage Labour while the far right are on the march. As shabby as they ever were.”

Israel’s historic military operation in Iran delivered significant achievements whose complete impact will only emerge over time, whether through the elimination of key officials in the Islamic Republic’s leadership or through meaningful damage to its nuclear capabilities. However, this powerful operation triggered devastating retaliation that killed Israelis and scarred the nation with widespread destruction – damage that extends far beyond Israel’s borders affecting numerous European countries, and specifically, the European Commission.

We joined European Union Ambassador to Israel Dimiter Tzantchev during his visit to the Weizmann Institute of Science, among the hardest-hit locations from Iranian ballistic missile attacks, as part of a tour of strike sites nationwide. Two missiles rendered five buildings unusable, affecting research conducted by at least 52 research groups. The cancer research center suffered the worst damage, with laboratories now entombed beneath mountains of debris.

“We truly experienced the five stages of grief,”  Dr. Leeat Yankielowicz-Keren, who heads a team investigating connections between the immune system and cancer. Her laboratory housed cutting-edge, exclusive equipment essential to her Weizmann research team’s work – all completely destroyed. “We obtained special permission to enter the building today, and several people wept. The devastation is beyond belief. One of my students, a reserve combat soldier who served in Gaza, insisted he would rappel through windows to salvage what he could, though we told him ‘nothing’s left.’ He was really in denial.”

Another laboratory that became unusable as a result of the blast belongs to Dr. Ranit Kedmi, who studies the immune system. “I only opened my laboratory two years ago,” she shared.” Both research teams share a crucial commonality – they were enabled by European Research Council (ERC) grants, financed through the European Commission. The destruction of these laboratories means Iranian strikes directly impact European interests.

Dr. Yankielowicz-Keren stresses the consequences reach even further internationally. “During the first week [after the attack], I had to spend at least an hour every day replying to emails from all over the world – people offering to help, people offering to send students, people showing compassion,” she said. “After October 7th, I didn’t feel the same kind of solidarity. I think that this time the scientific community and particularly the cancer community experienced this as their own loss. It’s not a Weizmann-specific research – it’s our understanding of cancer that got pushed back years because of this, on a global level.”

The Weizmann Institute ranks among the world’s top research facilities. Though based in Israel, its research teams include students from across the globe. “Scientists excel at problem-solving,” Dr. Kedmi observed, describing how a South Korean student in her team chose to remain in Israel and help rebuild the damaged laboratory despite the wartime reality in Israel. Meanwhile, a colleague from Heidelberg, Germany, offered his laboratory facilities to one of Yankelvitz-Keren’s students to continue crucial research.

While the determination shown by these research teams and their female leaders inspires admiration, the growing global recognition of Weizmann’s damage cannot be overlooked. Worldwide discourse often reduces to either supporting or opposing Israel, missing the global ripple effects created when the Weizmann Institute becomes a target, impacting the European Research Council, scientists across the world, and potentially life-saving medical advances.

The tour naturally included Soroka Hospital, the Negev region’s sole medical facility. We were granted special access to examine the damage in the northern surgical building, which sustained a direct upper-floor hit. Exceptional preparation and threat assessment by Soroka personnel enabled patient evacuation one day before the strike that completely destroyed that floor and caused the floor below to collapse.

The strike’s severity and the ballistic missile’s warhead power became evident through the extensive ground-floor damage. Shattered ceilings and walls, demolished elevator shafts, displaced door frames, and patient rooms reduced to rubble fragments intensified as we ascended through the building’s floors. Medical staff that was inside the building during the attack followed proper defensive protocols and escaped injury.

“Anywhere else worldwide, we would transfer all patients to alternative hospitals and spend a year recovering,” Soroka Hospital Director Dr. Shlomi Kodesh told Ambassador Tzantchev. Remarkably, the hospital resumed 80% of operations surrounded by destruction and blast damage, in extremely difficult conditions for both patients and medical personnel alike. “We need tens of millions of dollars,” Dr. Kodesh emphasized, highlighting the critical importance of maintaining Soroka’s operations as southern Israel’s only hospital. “The Negev deserves better,” he concluded.

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The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is turning 90 and has confirmed – after years of uncertainty – that he will have a successor after his death and will not choose to end the line.

In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the Dalai Lama is reincarnated after they die. Monks search, select, and school a successor – usually a child. The current Dalai Lama was recognised at the age of two. He and an estimated 150,000 Tibetans now live in exile in India, and other countries, after China annexed Tibet decades ago.

And that makes who the next Dalai Lama is, a concern of China’s.

Joining Matt Barbett is Professor Robert Barnett, who founded the Modern Tibetan Studies Programme at Columbia University and is now at University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He has also met the Dalai Lama several times.

Producers: Soila Apparicio and Emma Rae Woodhouse
Editor: Wendy Parker

Sense of disbelief among people coming to Anfieldpublished at 19:29 British Summer Time

19:29 BST

Daniel Austin
Reporting from Liverpool

Meanwhile in Liverpool, the famous Paisley Gates in front of the Kop are adorned with homemade banners bearing Diogo Jota’s name.

The Portuguese forward’s tenacity, determination and knack for scoring at crucial moments made him one of the most popular players here.

There is a still a sense of disbelief among those who are coming to Anfield to pay their respects today.

Those paying tribute to Diogo Jota this evening include those from the Liverpool area and many from further afield.

Items laid in tribute to the forward include the badges of teams like Tranmere Rovers, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, German side Borussia Monchengladbach, and Portuguese club Boavista.