Hamas gives Israel-backed Abu Shabab gang leader 10 days to surrender
Iran's President Pezeshkian approves law suspending IAEA cooperation
Israeli attacks on Gaza today kill at least 32
Israel's Saar says opportunity to free Gaza hostages 'must not be missed'
At least 56,647 Palestinians killed and 134,105 wounded since Gaza war began
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The National
14 minutes ago
- The National
New left-wing party in UK touted to challenge government on Gaza
Former Labour MP Zarah Sultana has said she will co-lead a new British political party with Jeremy Corbyn, declaring that the current UK government is an 'active participant in genocide' in Gaza. Ms Sultana – who had the Labour whip suspended last year – urged people to 'join us' as she took to X, formerly Twitter, to say she had left the Labour after 14 years to launch a new party with the former party leader. Mr Corbyn has still to confirm his part in the plan, leading to some speculation that her announcement is premature. Referring to the next general election, Ms Sultana said: 'In 2029 the choice will be stark: socialism or barbarism'. Alastair Campbell, the former Downing Street director of communications under Tony Blair, said he would not 'underestimate' how much the Government's handling of the situation in Gaza has led people to question 'what is Labour about?'. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'There feels to me to be a gap between the scale of the challenges facing the country as the public feel them, and the sorts of policy responses coming forward.' Ms Sultana, who represents Coventry South, said that the project would also involve 'other independent MPs, campaigners and activists across the country'. She said that 'Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper' and the 'two-party system offers nothing but managed decline and broken promises'. Setting herself out as a left wing alternative to Reform, which has gained popularity with its message to change traditional politics, her strongest criticism of the government is its stance on Gaza. Ms Zultana said the 'truth is clear' and added: 'This government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it. We are not going to take this any more.' She said a 'billionaire-backed grifter is leading the polls, because Labour has completely failed to improve people's lives'. Reform is currently projected in the latest polls to win the next election, pushing Labour into second place, despite only currently having five seats in parliament. 'Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience [who are] trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists,' she wrote, referring to the activist group Palestine Action, which the government intends to proscribe as a terrorist group. A High Court hearing will decide today if it can go ahead immediately or if it should be suspended to allow the group to make the case for a legal challenge. The move was announced after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident claimed by Palestine Action, which police said caused around £7 million worth of damage. Home secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action on June 23, stating that the vandalism of the two planes was 'disgraceful' and that the group had a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage'. MPs backed her proposal on Wednesday. The government supports a two-state solution and has called for a ceasefire in Gaza. It has introduced sanctions against two Israeli ministers but has faced criticism from many within the party for not taking a tough enough stance against Israel. Ms Sultana said Britain was not 'an island of strangers' but an 'island that's suffering', taking issue with words used by Prime Minister Keir Starmer while giving a speech about illegal migration, words he said he later regretted using due to their echoes with a speech by politician Enoch Powell, an MP who came to represent racism in 1960s Britain. 'We need homes and lives we can actually afford, not rip-off bills we pay every month to a tiny elite bathing in cash,' she said. 'We need our money spent on public services, not forever wars.' It comes in the same week as Sir Keir U-turned on plans for welfare reform in the face of a rebellion from Labour backbenchers. Ms Sultana was one of seven MPs who had the Labour whip suspended last summer when supporting an amendment to the government's two-child benefit cap policy. Four of the seven had the whip restored earlier this year but Ms Sultana was not among them. John McDonnell, another of the suspended MPs who has not had the whip restored, posted on X that he was 'dreadfully sorry' to see Ms Sultana quit the 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,' he said. Mr Corbyn led Labour from 2015 to April 2020, stepping down after the party's loss at the 2019 general election. He was suspended from Labour in 2020 after he refused to fully accept the Equality and Human Rights Commission's findings that the party broke equality law when he was in charge, and said anti-Semitism had been 'dramatically overstated for political reasons'. He was blocked from standing for Labour at last year's general election and expelled in the spring of 2024 after announcing he would stand as an independent candidate in his Islington North constituency, which he won with a majority of more than 7,000. Last year, Mr Corbyn formed the Independent Alliance with other independent members of the Commons. Asked on ITV's Peston programme this week whether that group could turn into an official party, Mr Corbyn said that they have 'worked very hard and very well together' over the last year in Parliament. He added: 'There is a thirst for an alternative view to be put.' 'That grouping will come together, there will be an alternative,' he later said. Responding to Ms Sultana's statement, a Labour spokesperson said: 'In just 12 months, this Labour Government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions. 'Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.'
The National
14 minutes ago
- The National
Syria unveils new emblem for post-Assad era
Syria launches a new national visual identity in Damascus, marking a historic shift from Baath Party rule
The National
an hour ago
- The National
US imposes new sanctions against Iran oil trade and Lebanon's Hezbollah
The US has imposed new sanctions against a network that smuggles Iranian oil falsely presented as Iraqi oil and on a Hezbollah-controlled financial institution, the Treasury Department said. A network of companies run by Iraqi-British national Salim Ahmed Said has been buying and shipping billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil disguised as, or blended with, Iraqi oil since at least 2020, the department said. 'Treasury will continue to target Tehran 's revenue sources and intensify economic pressure to disrupt the regime's access to the financial resources that fuel its destabilising activities,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The US has imposed layers of sanctions on Iran's oil exports over its nuclear programme and funding of militias across the Middle East. 'As President Trump has made clear, Iran's behaviour has left it decimated. While it has had every opportunity to choose peace, its leaders have chosen extremism,' added Mr Bessent. The Treasury Department also issued sanctions against seven senior officials and one entity linked to Al Qard Al Hassan (AQAH), a Hezbollah-controlled financial institution. The armed Hezbollah group is Iran's proxy in Lebanon. 'These officials, through their management roles, have facilitated Hezbollah's evasion of sanctions, enabling AQAH to conduct millions of dollars in transactions through 'shadow' accounts,' said State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce. This comes as the Trump administration intensifies efforts to pressure Tehran into returning to nuclear negotiations and to clamp down on its proxies across the region. The US carried out strikes on June 22 on three Iranian nuclear sites including its most deeply buried enrichment plant, Fordow. The Pentagon said on Wednesday the strikes had degraded Iran's nuclear programme by up to two years, despite a far more cautious initial assessment that had leaked to the public. The US and Iran were expected to hold talks about its nuclear programme next week in Oslo, Axios reported. Said's companies and vessels blend Iranian oil with Iraqi oil, which is then sold to western buyers through Iraq or the Gulf as purely Iraqi oil using forged documentation to avoid sanctions, Treasury said. Said controls Gulf-based company VS Tankers, although he avoids formal association with it, the Treasury said. Formerly known as Al Iraqia Shipping Services & Oil Trading (Aissot), VS Tankers has smuggled oil for the benefit of the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is designated by Washington as a terrorist organisation, it said. The sanctions block US assets of those designated and prevent Americans from doing business with them. Hezbollah trying to rebuild its operations The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has been severely weakened following a year-long war with Israel that ended in November. The US Treasury said the new sanctions underscore a commitment to disrupting the group's sanctions evasion schemes and supporting efforts by the new Lebanese government to limit Hezbollah's influence. 'Through their roles at AQAH, these officials sought to obfuscate Hezbollah's interest in seemingly legitimate transactions at Lebanese financial institutions, exposing these banks to significant AML/CFT [money laundering and terrorism financing] risk while allowing Hezbollah to funnel money for its own benefit,' said Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender. 'As Hezbollah seeks money to rebuild its operations, Treasury remains strongly committed to dismantling the group's financial infrastructure and limiting its ability to reconstitute itself,' he added. Hezbollah has long been described as a 'state within a state' in Lebanon, maintaining its own military, security and social infrastructure that operates independently of government control. It also runs a parallel financial system, receiving funding from Iran and various independent sources, while managing its finances outside official state institutions. Ms Bruce said that Washington remains committed to supporting Lebanon by disrupting schemes that empower Hezbollah's destabilising influence. 'We will continue to employ all available tools to ensure that this terrorist group no longer poses a threat to the Lebanese people and the region,' she said.
