LONDON: British lawmakers squeezed into parliament Tuesday with Labour ministers sitting on the government’s side of the chamber for the first time in 14 years following last week’s landslide election win.
Labour’s 400-plus MPs jostled for space on the ruling side of the House of Commons, with many having to stand, as parliament returned after being dissolved before Thursday’s vote.
New Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed the house for the first time as Britain’s leader, vowing to “put an end to a politics that has too often seemed self-serving and self-obsessed.”
“We all have a duty to show that politics can be a force for good,” he added.
He also noted the new parliament was “the most diverse parliament by race and gender this country has ever seen.”
According to the House of Commons Library, a record 263 or 40 percent of the 650 MPs are women, up from 220 in 2019, while 90 are from minority ethnic backgrounds, an increase from 66 five years ago.
Rishi Sunak — Conservative prime minister until last week — made his first speech as leader of the opposition, and started by congratulating Starmer on his victory.
He described being an MP as the “greatest honor, privilege and responsibility,” in a congenial session that contrasted sharply with the usual arguing and shouting seen in the chamber.
The session started by re-electing Lindsay Hoyle as speaker of the house.
After the addresses by Starmer, Sunak, and other party leaders, parliament was to begin the lengthy process of swearing in all 650 MPs. Some 335 of them are new to parliament.
Labour won 411 seats, securing a majority of more than 170 as it returned to power for the first time since Gordon Brown was prime minister in 2010.
The Tories suffered their worst-ever electoral defeat, succumbing to just 121 MPs.
Sunak is due to stay in charge of the party until the Conservatives work out the timetable for his successor to be chosen.
The new parliamentary session will officially begin after Starmer’s government puts forward its priorities for the term in the King’s speech on Wednesday 17 July.
Labour ministers in government seats as UK parliament returns
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Labour ministers in government seats as UK parliament returns
- New Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed the house for the first time as Britain’s leader
- He noted new parliament was “the most diverse parliament by race and gender this country has ever seen”
South Korean court issues warrants to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and search his office
South Korean court issues warrants to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and search his office
- The country’s anti-corruption agency said it is investigating whether Yoon’s declaration amounted to rebellion
- But experts still say there is little chance of detention or searches unless he is formally removed from office
The country’s anti-corruption agency said it is investigating whether his declaration amounted to rebellion. But experts still say there is little chance of detention or searches unless Yoon is formally removed from office.
The Seoul Western District Court issued warrants to detain Yoon and to search the presidential office and residence in central Seoul, according to a statement from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military authorities.
Under South Korean law, the leader of a rebellion can face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted. Yoon has presidential immunity from most criminal prosecution, but the privilege does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason.
Yoon’s powers have been suspended since the opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14 over his imposition of martial law, which drew hundreds of troops and police officers into Seoul streets.
Yoon has argued his decree was a legitimate act of governance, calling it a warning to the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which he has called “a monster” and “anti-state forces” that has used its legislative majority to impeach top officials, undermine the government’s budget, and which he claims sympathizes with North Korea.
The Constitutional Court is to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or reinstate him.
Experts said Yoon is likely to ignore the warrants. He’s ignored repeated requests by investigative authorities to appear for questioning, and the presidential security service has blocked attempts to search his office and residence citing a law that bans raids on sites with state secrets.
A lawyer for Yoon rejected the anti-corruption agency’s request for warrants on Monday, arguing it lacked legal authority to investigate rebellion charges.
The anti-corruption agency said it has no immediate plans on how to proceed with the warrants.
“Unless Yoon voluntarily lets them detain him, there is no way to detain him,” said Choi Jin, director of the Seoul-based Institute of Presidential Leadership. “Should investigators have hand-to-hand fights with the security service?”
Choi said that investigators were still likely to visit Yoon’s residence to show they are strictly and fairly carrying out their work.
Park Sung-min, president of Seoul-based political consulting firm MIN Consulting, said the push for an arrest warrant is likely an attempt to pressure Yoon to cooperate with investigations.
Former President Park Geun-hye, who was thrown out of office in 2017 following an impeachment over a corruption scandal, also refused to meet with prosecutors while in office. She underwent questioning by them and was arrested after the Constitutional Court removed her from office.
Yoon’s imposition of martial law lasted only six hours but triggered huge political turmoil, halting high-level diplomacy and rattling financial markets. Despite Yoon’s deployment of troops and police, enough lawmakers managed to enter the assembly chamber to overturn it unanimously.
Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the martial law enactment.
Yoon has claimed he wasn’t trying to stop the functioning of the assembly, saying that the troops were sent to maintain order, and also denied planning to arrest politicians. But comments by now-arrested commanders of military units sent to the assembly have contradicted this claim. Kwak Jong-keun, the commander of the Army Special Warfare Command, testified at the National Assembly that Yoon called on troops to “quickly knock down the door and drag out the lawmakers who are inside.” Kwak said he did not carry out Yoon’s orders.
The country’s political crisis deepened last Friday, when the Democratic Party and other small opposition parties voted to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo as well over wrangling over his refusal to fill in three justice seats at the Constitutional Court. Observers say adding more justices could affect the court’s ruling on Yoon’s impeachment.
The deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, has become South Korea’s new interim leader.
Declassified files show UK anger at Chirac over Iraq
- Blair expressed “sorrow, regret and apology” for mistakes made in planning the conflict, while his influential press chief at the time of the war, Alastair Campbell, said the decision would “weigh heavily on him”
LONDON: Newly-declassified UK government documents published Tuesday reveal the frustrations of then-prime minister Tony Blair and his government with French leader Jaques Chirac for blocking UN-backed military action in Iraq in 2003.
Minutes of an emergency cabinet meeting on March 17, 2003 — a week after Chirac said he would veto any resolution approving military action — showed UK ministers agreed “the French attitude had undermined the mechanism of the UN to enforce the will of the international community.”
“We had tried our utmost” but the French “were not prepared to accept that if President Saddam Hussein of Iraq did not comply with UN obligations, military action should follow,” Blair told the meeting, according to files released by the National Archives.
Britain joined the US-led military action to oust Saddam in 2003, despite fierce opposition across the country, with Blair highlighting allegations that the Iraqi dictator had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction.
The WMD accusations fueled by the administration of then president George W. Bush were later proven to be false.
According to the files, then foreign minister Jack Straw told cabinet “effectively, one member of the UN Security Council had torpedoed the whole process,” and accused Chirac, who died in 2019, of deciding to “open up a strategic divide between France and the UK.”
In a meeting three days later, Straw said Chirac “appeared to be positioning himself ... (to) become leader of one side of the bi-polar world he advocated,” in contrast to a US-dominated world.
By contrast, ministers were told in the March 17 meeting that the Labour government “was motivated by a world view which promoted justice, good governance and pluralism and this set it apart from other governments of the industrialized world.”
The final minute of the meeting read: “Summing up, the prime minister said that the diplomatic process was now at an end; Saddam Hussein would be given an ultimatum to leave Iraq; and the House of Commons would be asked to endorse the use of military action against Iraq to enforce compliance, if necessary.”
The UK joined the US-led invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003, despite around one million people marching in London to protest against military intervention.
The invasion and subsequent war severely dented Blair’s popularity, culminating in the independent Chilcot inquiry, which concluded in 2016 he had deliberately exaggerated the threat posed by the Iraqi regime.
Blair expressed “sorrow, regret and apology” for mistakes made in planning the conflict, while his influential press chief at the time of the war, Alastair Campbell, said the decision would “weigh heavily on him.”. “for the rest of his days.”
Campbell was also caught up in controversy when the BBC reported he had “sexed up” a dossier on Iraq’s military capabilities, claims he has denied.
US soldier dies in non-combat incident in Iraq
- In September, the US announced an agreement with the Iraqi government to wrap up the American-led coalition’s military mission against the Daesh group in Iraq by 2025
WASHINGTON: A 34-year-old soldier serving with the Indiana National Guard in Iraq has died in a non-combat incident, the Army said Monday.
Capt. Eric Richard Hart, 34, of Indianapolis, Indiana, died Saturday in Iraq, the Army National Guard said in a statement. Hart was assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion of Indiana’s 38th Infantry Division in Iraq. His death is under investigation.
While all combat operations have ceased for US forces in Iraq, the US maintains a presence of 2,500 troops to assist the Iraqi military in counter-Daesh operations and training. Those forces have repeatedly come under attack in the 14 months since Hamas attacked Israel, spurring a wider, deadly response from Tel Aviv.
During the last year, Iranian-backed forces have launched one-way attack drones, rockets and missiles at US facilities in Iraq in response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.
In September, the US announced an agreement with the Iraqi government to wrap up the American-led coalition’s military mission against the Daesh group in Iraq by 2025. US troops have departed some bases that they have long occupied during a two-decade-long military presence in the country.
Washington has had a continuous presence in Iraq since its 2003 invasion. Although all US combat forces left in 2011, thousands of troops returned in 2014 to help the Iraqi government defeat Daesh.
Since the extremist group lost its hold on the territory it once seized, Iraqi officials have periodically called for a withdrawal of coalition forces, particularly in the wake of a US airstrike in January 2020 that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis outside the Baghdad airport.
Before Monday’s announcement, a total of 4,419 troops had died in Iraq since the beginning of the 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom military campaign, including 3,482 combat deaths and 937 non-combat deaths, according to the latest Defense Department data. A total of 31,993 troops were wounded in action in Iraq.
The Defense Department’s summary does not include all of the forces who returned from war with wounds that surfaced later, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or toxic exposure.
Bad weather set to hit UK New Year celebrations
- Edinburgh’s Hogmanay street party was canceled on public safety grounds
LONDON: Adverse weather on Monday looked set to hit UK New Year festivities, as the organizers of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay street party canceled the event on public safety grounds.
The Edinburgh celebrations, a major tourist draw which last year attracted some 30,000 people, had been due to feature a fireworks display and a concert headlined by Scottish band Texas.
But organizers said it would not be safe to go ahead with preparations for outdoor events scheduled for Monday and New Year’s Eve on Tuesday due to “ongoing high winds and inclement weather.”
Planned New Year fireworks in the holiday resort town of Blackpool in northwestern England were also canceled due to a forecast of high winds, the local council said.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) issued a rare severe flood warning of “danger to life” for parts of Scotland.
It said a heavy downpour was expected to burst riverbanks in Aviemore in northern Scotland and nearby areas of the Scottish Highlands.
“Due to persistent and heavy rainfall, river levels on the River Spey will rise throughout Monday night and into Tuesday morning causing serious flooding,” it said.
“Extensive flooding to properties and businesses is expected in and around Aviemore.”
The UK’s Met Office, meanwhile, said heavy rain and strong winds could be expected in parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.
Some snow was also forecast for parts of Scotland.
“A series of low-pressure systems will track across the UK over the next couple of days bringing some potentially disruptive weather,” said Met Office meteorologist Steve Willington.
“Almost the entire UK is covered by at least one weather warning” over the coming week, he added.
A Met Office amber warning for rain and snow — the second most severe weather notice, meaning there is a potential risk to life — is in place for Scotland.
A number of less severe yellow warnings for rain, wind and snow were also in place for Scotland and northern England.
US Treasury says was targeted by China state-sponsored cyberattack
- Breach accessed Treasury workstations and some unclassified documents
WASHINGTON: The US Treasury Department said Monday that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach resulting in access to some of its workstations, according to a letter to Congress seen by AFP.
The incident happened earlier this month, when the actor compromised a third-party cybersecurity service provider and was able to remotely access the Treasury workstations and some unclassified documents, a Treasury spokesperson added.
Treasury contacted the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency after it was alerted of the situation by its provider BeyondTrust, and has been working with law enforcement partners to ascertain the impact.
“The compromised BeyondTrust service has been taken offline and there is no evidence indicating the threat actor has continued access to Treasury systems or information,” the department’s spokesperson said.
In its letter to the leadership of the Senate Banking Committee, the Treasury said: “Based on available indicators, the incident has been attributed to a China state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor.”
An APT refers to a cyberattack where an intruder establishes and maintains unauthorized access to a target, remaining undetected for a sustained period of time.
The department did not provide further details on what was affected by the breach, but said more information would be released in a supplemental report at a later date.
“Treasury takes very seriously all threats against our systems, and the data it holds,” the Treasury spokesperson added.
The official said that the department would continue working to protect the US financial system from threats.
Several countries, notably the United States, have voiced alarm in recent years at what they say is Chinese-government-backed hacking activity targeting their governments, militaries and businesses.
Beijing rejects the allegations, and has previously said that it opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks.
In September, the US Justice Department said it had neutralized a cyber-attack network that affected 200,000 devices worldwide, alleging it was run by hackers backed by the Chinese government.
In February, US authorities also said they had dismantled a network of hackers known as “Volt Typhoon.”
The group was said to be targeting key public sector infrastructure like water treatment plants and transportation systems at the behest of China.
In 2023, tech giant Microsoft said Chinese-based hackers seeking intelligence information breached the email accounts of a number of US government agencies.
The group, Storm-0558, had breached email accounts at approximately 25 organizations and government agencies.
Accounts belonging to the State Department and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo were among those hacked in that breach.
