UK warns Israel not to retaliate against Palestinian statehood push
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says she has warned Israel not to annex parts of the West Bank in retaliation for the UK's recognition of Palestinian statehood, BBC reported.
Cooper was speaking to the BBC before attending a conference on Monday at the UN in New York where France and other European states are due to make a similar announcement.
In what was a significant change in policy, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the UK's recognition of a Palestinian state on Sunday, along with Canada, Australia and Portugal, according to BBC.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the moves, saying they give "a huge reward to terrorism".
Disney’s Kimmel suspension shows Trump’s increasing grip over media
ABC's abrupt suspension of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel under pressure from the Federal Communications Commission is the latest demonstration of the power President Donald Trump wields to bend media, entertainment and digital platforms to his will, as he uses political pressure to mute criticism and punish institutions he sees as biased against him, Reuters reported.
The move, which came after Kimmel's remarks about the accused killer of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, has jolted the U.S. media and entertainment industries and intensified free-speech fears as the Trump-appointed FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened to revoke broadcast licenses from stations that carry what he called "garbage."
Major media and tech companies are now controlled by Trump supporters or billionaire business leaders who lined up behind Trump during his inauguration, donated to his inaugural fund, or visited the White House bearing gifts. Billionaire GOP donor Larry Ellison’s Oracle is part of a consortium of investors with the inside track to take control of the U.S. operations of the video-sharing platform TikTok, according to Reuters.
Trump to return to UN as Gaza, Ukraine conflicts rage
World leaders gather in New York this coming week for a U.N. General Assembly dominated by U.S. President Donald Trump's return to the rostrum, war in Gaza and Ukraine, rising Western recognition of Palestinian statehood and nuclear tensions with Iran, Reuters reported.
"We are gathering in turbulent – even uncharted – waters," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a week before the 193-member world body hosts six days of speeches by nearly 150 heads of state or government along with dozens more ministers.
"Geopolitical divides widening. Conflicts raging. Impunity escalating. Our planet overheating," he told reporters on Tuesday. "And international cooperation is straining under pressures unseen in our lifetimes."
Israel presses on with Gaza City assault, at least 60 Palestinians killed
Israel’s military kept up its assault on Gaza City and the wider Gaza Strip on Saturday, dismantling underground shafts and booby-trapped structures in attacks that killed at least 60 Palestinians, according to Gazan health authorities, Reuters reported.
The assault came as 10 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Britain and Canada, are scheduled to formally recognise an independent Palestinian state on Monday, ahead of the annual leaders’ gathering at the UN General Assembly next week.
Israel’s intensified military demolition campaign targeting high-rise buildings in Gaza City began this week alongside a ground assault, according to Reuters.



