LONDON: Prince William will be the first senior British royal to make an official visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, as part of a tour in June announced by Kensington Palace on Friday.
William will begin his tour in Jordan on June 24 and travel on to Tel Aviv the following day, the palace, his official residence, said in a statement.
He will visit Jerusalem on June 26 and then go on to Ramallah on June 27.
The visit by the second in line to the throne “is at the request of Her Majesty’s government and has been welcomed by the Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian authorities,” the statement said.
There have been no previous official visits by members of the British royal family to the Palestinian Territories.
William will also be the first close relation of Queen Elizabeth II to make an official visit to Israel, following trips made previously by the monarch’s cousins the Duke of Kent and the Duke of Gloucester.
Other foreign trips made by royals, such as attendance at funerals or weddings, were not made at the request of Britain’s Foreign Office and were therefore not classed as official visits.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier that the British royal’s trip would be “a historic visit” to his country.
The invitation to the royals was extended by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, during a working visit to Jerusalem in March 2017.
In London later in the year the two countries’ leaders celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, which played a key role in the creation of the state of Israel.
Written by Britain’s then foreign minister, the declaration announced the UK’s backing for the establishment within Palestine, then a region of the Ottoman Empire, of “a national home for the Jewish people.”
It shocked the Arab world and has always been condemned by the Palestinians, who held rallies to protest the anniversary.
William and his wife Kate have boosted the popularity of British royals in recent years, helped by their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
Prince William to visit Palestinian Territories, Israel in June
Prince William to visit Palestinian Territories, Israel in June
Protests erupts in Tunisian town after three died in school wall collapse
Witnesses said protesters burned wheels, blocked roads, and smashed a government vehicle
TUNIS: Hundreds of Tunisians protested on Tuesday, demanding accountability, after three students died on Monday following a school wall collapse in the central town of Mazzouna, an incident that provoked widespread anger and accusations of negligence against officials.
The collapse of a dilapidated wall led to the death of three teenaged students preparing for their baccalaureate exams, and two others were seriously injured, the Civil Defense said.
For demonstrators, the tragedy reflects the deterioration of public service in Tunisia and the neglect of maintenance of the country’s aging infrastructure, amid a worsening economic and social crisis.
Witnesses said protesters burned wheels, blocked roads, and smashed a government vehicle. All shops and schools in the area were closed.
Protesters gathered near the National Guard headquarters in Mazzouna town, shouting slogans against social marginalization and demanding the dismissal of officials.
In Tunis, hundreds of young people also protested, raising anti-government slogans and demanding the government’s resignation, in a show of solidarity with the victims of the accident.
Authorities have opened an investigation into the incident. A judicial spokesperson said the school principal has been arrested.
Khamenei says Iran-US talks going well but may lead nowhere
TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday he was satisfied with talks with arch-foe the US but warned they could ultimately prove fruitless.
Tehran and Washington are due to meet again in Muscat on Saturday, a week after top officials held the highest-level talks since the landmark 2015 nuclear accord collapsed.
US President Donald Trump, who pulled out of the deal during his first term, revived his “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign after returning to office in January.
In March, he sent a letter to Khamenei urging talks and warning of possible military action if Iran refused.
Saturday’s talks were “well carried out in the first steps,” Khamenei said, quoted by state television. “Of course, we are very pessimistic about the other side, but we are optimistic about our own capabilities.”
But he added that “the negotiations may or may not yield results.”
Despite having no diplomatic ties since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, both sides described the talks as “constructive.”
Iran insists discussions remain “indirect” and mediated by Oman.
On Monday, Trump again threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities if no deal was reached, calling Iranian authorities “radicals” who should not possess nuclear weapons.
Sudan marks two years of war
- Officials from around the world are meeting in London to ‘agree a pathway to end the suffering in Sudan’
KHARTOUM: Sudan on Tuesday marked two years of a war that has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and triggered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis — with no sign of peace.
Fighting erupted on April 15, 2023 between the regular army, led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, headed by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Khartoum quickly became a battleground. Bodies lined the streets. Hundreds of thousands fled. Those left behind struggled to survive.
“I’ve lost half my bodyweight,” said 52-year-old Abdel Rafi Hussein, who stayed in the capital under RSF control until the army retook it last month.
“We’re safe (now), but still, we suffer from a lack of water and electricity and most hospitals aren’t working.”
The army’s recapture of Khartoum marked a turnaround after more than a year of setbacks.
Many civilians celebrated what they called the “liberation” of the capital from the RSF, whose fighters were accused of widespread looting and sexual violence.
But now the RSF is seeking to cement its grip on the vast western region of Darfur, where it has launched a deadly assault on El-Fasher — the last major city in the region outside its control.
More than 400 people have been killed in the offensive, the United Nations said, with the paramilitaries having claimed control of the nearby Zamzam displacement camp on Sunday.
An estimated 400,000 civilians fled the famine-hit camp as the RSF advanced, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The army said on Tuesday that it had carried out “successful air strikes” against RSF positions northeast of the city.
In total, the conflict has displaced some 13 million people, 3.8 million of them abroad, according to UN figures.
In London on Tuesday, officials from around the world were meeting to “agree a pathway to end the suffering” in Sudan, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.
But neither of the warring parties attended the meeting, where the African Union and European countries called for an end to the war.
“We have got to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians, to let aid in and across the country, and to put peace first,” he said, adding that the international community “simply cannot look away.”
UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said Sudan had faced “indifference from the outside world.”
“The Sudanese are besieged on all sides — war, widespread abuses, indignity, hunger and other hardships,” he said, warning that “continuing to look away will have catastrophic consequences.”
Precise death tolls are not available because of the collapse of the health care system, but former US envoy Tom Perriello cited estimates last year of up to 150,000 dead.
Both sides have been accused of targeting civilians, shelling homes and blocking aid.
Some 25 million people face acute food insecurity, and eight million are on the brink of famine in what the UN has called the world’s largest hunger crisis.
On Tuesday, the world body said 2.1 million people are expected to return to Khartoum over the next six months following the army’s recapture.
In central Sudan — where the UN said nearly 400,000 people had returned to areas retaken by the army by March — many have come back to ruins, preferring destitution at home to displacement.
Wad Madani, just south of Khartoum, has had “no electricity for a year and a half,” 63-year-old Mohamed Al-Amin told AFP, adding that only some water treatment facilities have been restored sice the army retook the city in January.
Zainab Abdel Rahim, 38, returned to Khartoum North this month with her six children, to find their home looted beyond recognition.
“We’re trying to pull together the essentials, but there’s no water, no electricity, no medicine,” she said.
According to Catherine Russell, executive director of the UN’s children’s agency, the war has “shattered the lives of millions of children across Sudan.”
UNICEF figures show 2,776 children were killed or maimed in 2023 and 2024 — up from 150 in 2022 — and the real toll is likely higher.
The Zamzam camp, which had been sheltering up to a million people, was the first place in Sudan where famine was declared.
Other nearby camps have followed and famine is expected to take hold in El-Fasher itself by next month.
On Monday, Guterres called for an end to “the external support and flow of weapons” fueling the war.
“Those with greatest influence on the parties must use it to better the lives of people in Sudan — not to perpetuate this disaster,” he said, without naming any countries.
Body of slain Syrian refugee boy in UK to be repatriated after fundraiser
- Ahmad Mamdouh Al-Ibrahim, 16, was stabbed to death in Huddersfield on April 3
- More than £15k raised by local community to support his family
LONDON: The body of a 16-year-old Syrian refugee who was stabbed to death in the UK is being repatriated to his homeland following a local community fundraiser, The Guardian reported on Tuesday.
Locals in Huddersfield raised more than £15,000 ($19,800) after the killing of Ahmad Mamdouh Al-Ibrahim, whose family described him as “a very nice boy” who wanted to be a doctor.
He was stabbed in the neck on April 3 as he was being shown around the town center by his cousin.
Al-Ibrahim had only arrived in Huddersfield two weeks earlier after spending time at a Welsh immigration center and staying with his uncle’s family during Ramadan.
Funeral prayers were held at Omar Mosque in Huddersfield last Friday, with about 500 people attending.
Alfie Franco, 20, appeared in court two days after the killing. He was charged with murder and remanded in custody until a hearing in May.
The local fundraiser for Al-Ibrahim’s repatriation was organized by Maneer Siddique, who said he was “absolutely overwhelmed” by the response from the people of Huddersfield.
He had initially hoped to raise about £2,000, but the GoFundMe page has surpassed £15,000 and continues to climb.
“To generate that kind of money in such a short space of time is unreal,” said Siddique, who runs a tailoring business.
One benefactor delivered an envelope to be passed on to Al-Ibrahim’s uncle. “He started counting the money and there was £500 in the envelope. He was in tears,” Siddique said.
“He really wants to thank everyone. And I would like to also thank people personally because of the amount of money we’ve generated through people’s kindness.”
Al-Ibrahim’s body, accompanied by two relatives, will be taken to Damascus Tuesday evening.
They will then travel to extended family in Homs, where a second funeral will be held this week for Al-Ibrahim’s burial.
He had been injured by bomb shrapnel during the Syrian civil war, which he was fleeing when he came to Britain.
His uncle said Al-Ibrahim only knew family in Huddersfield, adding: “He was trying to make a friend, because he didn’t have friends here. I said to him, you have to go out into the town center to know (where everything is), to know where you can go shopping … plus, you’re going to make friends.”
Numerous cards were left at the site of Al-Ibrahim’s killing. Some contained messages addressed to “the lad I don’t know,” and were signed by “a stranger” and the “heartbroken Huddersfield people.”
US condemns continued tenure of UN’s Francesca Albanese, claiming antisemitism, bias
- In her most recent report, Albanese accused Israel of pursuing ‘long-term strategy’ of ethnic cleansing in Gaza and West Bank
- Supporters, including prominent Jewish figures, say Albanese is a ‘true champion of human rights’ who is “free of prejudice against any ethnicity, including Jewish people’
- All of Albanese’s predecessors have been vilified by pro-Israel groups and banned from entering Israel to fulfill their mandate
NEW YORK CITY: The US has strongly denounced the continued tenure of Francesca Albanese as the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, citing what it describes as antisemitic rhetoric and bias against Israel.
In a statement issued by the US Mission to the UN, Washington reiterated its longstanding opposition to Albanese’s role, saying her actions “make clear the United Nations tolerates antisemitic hatred, bias against Israel, and the legitimization of terrorism.”
Albanese’s outspokenness against Israeli policies and what the International Court of Justice has ruled as potential genocidal actions in Gaza has marked what many called “an extraordinary period in UN history and even for human rights struggle in world history.”
But the US described Albanese’s record as emblematic of the broader failings of the UN Human Rights Council, whose support for Albanese “offers yet another example of why President Trump ordered the United States to cease all participation in the HRC.”
Albanese, an Italian academic appointed to the mandate in 2022, will remain in the role until April 2028, completing the six-year maximum term for special rapporteurs. The position is unpaid.
The UNHRC said that no formal reappointment was made during its recent 58th session earlier this month, adding that her tenure is proceeding as originally scheduled.
Albanese’s continued role has drawn sharp criticism from pro-Israel organizations and the Israeli government.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, condemned what he described as the council’s de facto renewal of her mandate, calling it “a disgrace and a moral stain on the United Nations.”
He accused Albanese of promoting antisemitic views and excusing Hamas’ actions during the Oct. 7 attacks.
Pro-Israel advocacy groups had petitioned the council to remove Albanese, citing her statements and reports as evidence of partiality.
Critics point to her March 2025 report, in which Albanese accused Israel of pursuing a “long-term strategy” of ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank.
However, pro-Palestinian figures, including prominent Jewish historians, lawyers, and human rights advocates, have rallied in support of Albanese, with many praising her continued role as “a small, but defiant, victory for Gaza, truth, and human rights.”
Albanese, who is also affiliated with Georgetown University and a former UNRWA staffer, has faced mounting scrutiny since the outbreak of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza in October 2023.
Similar attacks, although less ferocious, have been directed at each of the three special rapporteurs that preceded Albanese. One of the three, Richard Falk, described the claims against Albanese as “a totally defamatory smear that has been repeated by Israeli media and lobbying organizations around the world.”
Falk described Albanese as “a person of the highest moral character, a true champion of human rights, and someone who is entirely free from prejudice against any ethnicity, including, of course, the Jewish people.”
He added that at the same time, Albanese is “an unsparing critic of Israel as a state guilty of settler colonial policies and practices that have made the Palestinian people suffer extreme harm and hardships since 1948.”
Her defenders believe the backlash is part of a political campaign to silence criticism of Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank.
The UNHRC has not signaled any move to alter Albanese’s mandate before its scheduled end in 2028.
