Liz Truss has resigned as prime minister after just 44 days in the post – here’s how the news was received around the world.
Russia: Liz Truss will be remembered for her ‘catastrophic illiteracy’
Russia’s foreign ministry welcomed the resignation of Liz Truss – saying she was a “disgrace” of a leader who will be remembered for her “catastrophic illiteracy”.
“Britain has never known such a disgrace of a prime minister,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
The claim of illiteracy appears to refer to Ms Truss’ visit to Moscow shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine while she was foreign minister.
In a meeting with Russia’s veteran foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, she appeared to confuse two regions of Russia with Ukraine, triggering mockery by the Russian diplomat and across talk shows on Russian state TV.
Senior Russian politician Dmitry Medvedev tweeted: “Bye, bye @trussliz, congrats to lettuce,” referring to the UK Daily Star’s joke about whether a lettuce would last longer than Ms Truss’s prime ministership.
France: We wish for stability for the UK
Advertisement
French President Emmanuel Macron said: “I won’t comment on this issue which relates to British politics, but what I want to say is that we always had very constructive meetings and exchanges over the phone, no later than a few days ago in Prague.
“I also want to say that France, as a friend of the British people, wishes for stability and in this context of war and tensions over the energy crisis, it is important that Great Britain sets out again on the path of political stability and that’s all I wish for.
“On a personal level, I am always sad to see a colleague leave and I hope that stability will come back.”
US: We’ll continue to have a close relationship
US President Joe Biden said: “The United States and the United Kingdom are strong allies and enduring friends – and that fact will never change.
“I thank prime minister Liz Truss for her partnership on a range of issues including holding Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine.
“We will continue our close co-operation with the UK government as we work together to meet the global challenges our nations face.”
Ireland: New PM should be appointed as ‘quickly as possible’
Britain must appoint a new prime minister to succeed Liz Truss as “quickly as possible” to ensure political and economic stability, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said.
“I think stability is very important and we would like to see the UK system within its capacity to have a successor selected as quickly as possible and that stability would be brought to the situation given the fairly significant geopolitical issues facing Europe, not least the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis,” he said.
Australia: ‘Voters want a say in what happens next’
Rebecca Armitage wrote for the Australian Broadcasting Corp: “Voters are the ones who have endured a devastating pandemic, Putin’s cold and costly winter, and now a looming recession.
“After their government descended into chaos, in-fighting and betrayal, they want a say in what happens next.”
In The Sydney Morning Herald, columnist Waleed Aly wrote that Ms Truss’s downfall held lessons for Australia’s Liberal Party.
He said: “In a certain sense, this Tory nightmare really began with a loss: specifically David Cameron’s lost gamble that he could put Brexit to bed. But Australia’s Coalition found civil war in victory, especially on issues like climate change.
“Which explains probably the key similarity we’re now seeing.
“There’s a certain Tory who feels the extremists are now in charge of their party, and who hopes that this crash landing might be the chance to remove them and restore a traditional Tory balance.
“There, as here, victor’s remorse must inevitably become reduced to a loser’s hope.”
United Arab Emirates: The market won the argument
The National’s columnist and assistant editor-in-chief Mustafa Alrawi wrote: “People are dealing with a cost-of-living crisis and governments must respond – which will mean spending more or taxing less.
“The UK wanted to do both to stimulate growth and the market was highly sceptical it would work.
“The market won the argument.”
Netherlands: ‘I’m annoyed for her personally’
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: “I had a good contact with her… so I’m annoyed for her personally.
“We agreed on a whole range of views and I’m looking forward to work with who will be my next colleague.
“It will be the fifth one, I believe.”
Canada: Government by lettuce leads only to the compost heap
Tom Rachman, columnist at Canada’s Globe And Mail, blamed Britain’s political “disgrace” on “the culmination of six woeful years sparked by the vote for Brexit, which hastened the decline of a major power while thrusting dunces and charlatans into command”.
“Sadly, Britain cannot simply vote this mess off the island.
“Besides the ongoing costs of Brexit, this latest loss of credibility means billions more frittered on higher borrowing costs.”
He says public service cuts, inflation and soaring energy prices make for a “frightening” winter, adding: “One economic boost is obvious, yet few dare speak its name: re-joining the EU”.
“Britain must summon courage now, and view itself honestly. Government by lettuce, it turns out, leads only to the compost heap.
“A humbling was due. A humbling is here.”
India: Failed promises and dashed hopes
India Today’s Nandini Singh wrote that the British prime minister’s short tenure was “marred by failed promises and dashed hopes”.
She notes the possibility that Boris Johnson could make a return to power “as he still has a core of supporters who feel a departure forced by a string of scandals inside Downing Street was unfair, and that number has surely grown as Tory MPs and members grasp for anything that could rescue the party from electoral oblivion”.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it carried out a “precise strike” on Hezbollah’s “central headquarters”, which it claimed was “embedded under residential buildings in the heart of the Dahieh in Beirut”.
The first wave of attacks shook windows across the city and sent thick clouds of smoke billowing into the air.
While Israel stressed it had been a “precise” strike, preliminary figures from Lebanon’s health ministry confirmed at least six other people were killed and 91 were wounded.
Israel said Nasrallah was the intended target and initially there were claims he had survived.
However, after several hours of confusion, his death was confirmed by Israel.
Advertisement
“Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world,” the IDF said.
Hours later, a defiant Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah’s death but vowed their fight with Israel would continue after confirming they had fired upon sites in northern Israel.
“The leadership of Hezbollah pledges to the highest, holiest, and most precious martyr in our path full of sacrifices and martyrs to continue its jihad in confronting the enemy, supporting Gaza and Palestine, and defending Lebanon and its steadfast and honourable people,” they said.
Alongside claiming to have killed Nasrallah, the IDF said it had killed a number of other commanders, including Ali Karaki, the commander of the southern front.
The country’s military said the strike was carried out while Hezbollah leadership met at their underground headquarters in Dahieh.
In the aftermath of the most recent attacks, an Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment on whether US-made Mark 84 heavy bombs were used in the strike against Nasrallah.
“The strike was conducted while Hezbollah’s senior chain of command were operating from the headquarters and advancing terrorist activities against the citizens of the State of Israel,” Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in a media briefing.
He continued: “We hope this will change Hezbollah’s actions.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
6:17
Hezbollah leader killed says IDF
He added the number of civilian casualties was unclear but blamed Hezbollah for positioning itself in residential areas.
“We’ve seen Hezbollah carry out attacks against us for a year. It’s safe to assume that they are going to continue carrying out their attacks against us or try to,” he said.
Meanwhile, Iran said it was in constant contact with Hezbollah and other allies to determine its “next step”, but Reuters reported the country’s supreme leader was transferred to a secure location in light of the latest attack.
Speaking after the attack, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Muslims “to stand by the people of Lebanon and the proud Hezbollah” and said: “The fate of this region will be determined by the forces of resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront,” state media reported.
Nasrallah’s death will be a blow to Hezbollah as it continues to reel from a campaign of escalating Israeli attacks.
Nasrallah is latest Hezbollah leader to fall
While Nasrallah’s death is certainly the most high-profile of recent attacks, it continues a trend of Israel targeting Hezbollah’s leadership structure.
Also on Saturday, in the early hours of the morning, the commander of the group’s missile unit and his deputy were killed in another Israeli attack in southern Lebanon.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
A Swiss teenage cyclist with “a bright future ahead of her” has died a day after suffering a serious head injury at the world championships.
Muriel Furrer crashed while competing on rain-slicked roads in the junior women’s road race in her home country.
The 18-year-old rider fell heavily on Thursday in a forest area south of the city of Zurich and was airlifted to hospital by helicopter, reportedly in a critical condition.
Race organisers announced on Friday she had died.
They said in a statement: “Muriel Furrer sadly passed away today at Zurich University Hospital.”
The UCI governing body for world cycling paid tribute to her in a statement on its website, entitled “The cycling world mourns the loss of Muriel Furrer”.
It read: “It is with great sadness that the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the Organising Committee of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships today learned the tragic news of the death of young Swiss cyclist Muriel Furrer.
“With the passing of Muriel Furrer, the international cycling community loses a rider with a bright future ahead of her. We offer sincere condolences to Muriel Furrer’s family, friends and her Federation Swiss Cycling.”
Swiss Cycling said in a post on X: “Our hearts are broken, we have no words. It is with a heavy heart and infinite sadness that we have to say goodbye to Muriel Furrer today.
“We are losing a warm-hearted and wonderful young woman who always had a smile on her face. There is no understanding, only pain and sadness.”
X
This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable X cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to X cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow X cookies for this session only.
Furrer is the second Swiss cyclist to die in just over a year after crashing on home roads.
At the Tour de Suisse in June 2023, Gino Mader went off the road and down a ravine during a descent. The 26-year-old died from his injuries the next day.
“Obviously it is another tragic death,” Mr Senn said. “There are a lot of similarities, similar feelings. Today is about Muriel.”
Over the past 18 years Nasrallah has grown Hezbollah in his image, expanding its forces, building its infrastructure and significantly expanding its arsenal.
He wasn’t just the leader of Hezbollah, he was a global figurehead of anti-Israel resistance.
More on Hezbollah
Related Topics:
With Iran’s help, Hezbollah became one of the best armed non-state militaries in the world.
It is now decapitated and in disarray.
Advertisement
During the past decades Israel has also been at work, steadily gathering intelligence on Nasrallah and Hezbollah, building a vast database of information, an effort which arguably distracted them from better understanding the intentions of Hamas.
The intelligence successes of the past days have helped restore Israel’s reputation after the stunning failures on October 7.
Iran and Hezbollah must choose
This is a pivotal moment.
Iran and Hezbollah must now decide how to respond: fight, or backdown.
The strike also killed Ali Karaqi, commander of Hezbollah’s southern front and labelled as the second most wanted by the IDF.
It is still unclear who else died in the strike, but given the location and the presence of top officials, it seems likely that other senior figures would have been eliminated too.
Nasrallah will be replaced.
The assassination of enemy leaders can prove to be a short-term victory because they are often succeeded by someone more formidable than before, as witnessed by the killing of the former Hezbollah leader Abbas al Moussawi in 1992.
He was succeeded by Nasrallah.
The working assumption is that the group will respond with barrages of missiles into Israel, probably targeting Tel Aviv.
But Hezbollah’s command structure has been severely degraded by Israel.
Nasrallah had become isolated as the IDF had steadily killed commanders over a fortnight of scything airstrikes on their compounds in Beirut and elsewhere.
It will probably take time to co-ordinate a response and it will probably be done with Iranian guidance.
Nasrallah might be dead, but Hezbollah isn’t
Hezbollah is badly wounded, not just as a paramilitary force but in the eyes of the Lebanese people, many of whom are angry their country is now facing another period of devastating violence.
This might be a moment for more moderate voices within Lebanon, including the national armed forces, to step in.
As the war escalated over recent weeks, noticeable divisions emerged between Tehran and Nasrallah.
He remained an important ally, however, a trusted advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, and this will come as a personal blow to him.
Having resisted the opportunity to get involved so far, Iran might decide the time has come to take the gloves off and deploy what is left of the thousands of missiles they’ve provided Hezbollah with.
Alternatively, after such a difficult ten days, Tehran might conclude that this round of fighting needs to end and pull back with its main proxy still in some shape to rebuild and fight another day.
With such momentum behind Israel, Iran will also be concerned about its own fate and that of its smaller proxies in Iraq and Syria.
Ultimately, the reason for Hezbollah’s existence – to act as insurance against an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities – hasn’t changed, but if Tehran calculates its proxies can no longer act as that shield it might try to accelerate its nuclear programme.
Could a ground invasion follow?
The Israeli government has choices of its own: order a ground invasion of southern Lebanon or continue with an air campaign that has delivered such dramatic successes.
There will be strong and compelling voices in Netanyahu’s cabinet urging him to take advantage of the situation and send troops in, but Hezbollah is not defeated, thousands of its soldiers remain and they are likely hiding in the vast tunnel network under the hills across the border.
Even a limited ground invasion risks large loss of life, on both sides, and the potential Israel will be lured into something more prolonged than it intended.
Nasrallah’s death might change the dynamic in Gaza too.
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, has clung on and rejected ceasefire attempts in the hope that Hezbollah and Iran would go to war with Israel, dragging its enemy into a multi-front and unwinnable conflict.
That might still happen, but just as Nasrallah became isolated, so too is Sinwar.
The much trumpeted “unity of arenas” has failed to join up.
The Middle East might often look chaotic to outsiders, but there are unspoken rules generally acknowledged and followed by belligerents.
For years Hezbollah and Israel acted within the unwritten but understood parameters of a shadow war.
Then, eleven months ago on 8 October, Hezbollah attacked Israel out of solidarity with Hamas.
Nasrallah tied Lebanon’s fate to Hamas, insisting that Hezbollah would only stop when the fighting ended in Gaza.
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The rules shifted as the crossfire escalated, but it remained broadly contained within boundaries understood by both sides.
Until two weeks ago, 17 September, when thousands of pagers started exploding across Beirut and Lebanon.
It is possible Nasrallah had concluded that Israel was war-weary, and he overestimated the domestic and international pressure Netanyahu was under to end the fighting.
He might have believed that Netanyahu had neither the will nor the support to open up another front.
He, like so many of us, maybe assumed US influence on Israel would prevail.