Rishi Sunak is facing calls for the UK to recognise the state of Palestine, on the day that Ireland, Spain and Norway officially do so.
The Scottish first minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) leader John Swinney has written to both the prime minister and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urging them to “do the right thing” and “immediately” recognise a Palestinian state.
He said the SNP would force a binding vote at Westminster after the general election if they failed to do so.
Mr Swinney said recognition would offer “hope” that a “durable political solution” was possible between Israel and Palestine.
“I am calling on the UK to follow the lead of Ireland, Norway and Spain by immediately recognising Palestine as a state – and if Rishi Sunak will not do it now, Keir Starmer must commit to doing so on his first day in Downing Street.”
The Palestinian ambassador to Ireland has also urged the UK government to recognise Palestine.
Speaking to Sky News, Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid said: “The British have a very strong hand in the injustice that happened to the Palestinians, so I think it’s important that one of those countries that should recognise the right of Palestinian self-determination is the British government.”
Dr Abdalmajid referred to Britain’s involvement in the establishment of the state of Israel, including the 1917 Balfour Declaration, in which the British government of David Lloyd George announced its support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.
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“Justice must prevail,” said the ambassador. “I think it’s very important for the British government to see this and try to correct what happened in 1917, and during the Mandate when they encouraged colonisation in Palestine.”
Their ambassadors have been formally reprimanded by Tel Aviv, and were filmed by Israeli media as they were asked to watch video footage from the 7 October Hamas attack, something the Irish government deems “unacceptable”.
The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, posted a video on X showing footage of Hamas militants interspersed with traditional Irish music, footage of Irish dancing and the slogan “Hamas: Thanks Ireland”.
Similar videos, tailored to Spain and Norway, were also posted.
Addressing the taoiseach, Mr Katz wrote: “Ireland, if your goal was to reward terrorism by declaring support for a Palestinian state, you’ve achieved it. [Irish Prime Minister] Simon Harris, Hamas thanks you for your service.”
It’s a point of view firmly rejected by the Irish. Speaking in Brussels with his counterparts from Spain and Norway, the Irish foreign minister Micheal Martin said: “Some have framed our decision to recognise the State of Palestine as a move to impose an outcome on the parties, or as somehow a reward for terror.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. We have recognised both the State of Israel and the State of Palestine precisely because we want to see a future of normalised relations between the two peoples.”
But members of Ireland’s small Jewish community are sceptical. Former justice minister Alan Shatter told Sky News the move was political theatre.
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“It’s about as relevant as New Zealand announcing that they now recognise that the government of the Republic of Ireland rules the entirety of the island of Ireland,” he said.
“Of course, that wouldn’t change the reality on the ground. And probably if that did happen, the Irish government would look askance and think everyone in New Zealand has gone mad.”
Others say they fear the move could fuel anti-semitism. Maurice Cohen, chairman of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, said that “latent anti-semitism is now becoming blatant anti-semitism”.
“The experience [for Jews in Ireland] has always been ‘cead mile failte’ [‘a hundred thousand welcomes’]. There was an outstretched hand for us and for other people.
“But now we find, very simply, that that hand is curling into a fist and we don’t know where that is going.”
Palestinians in Ireland are expected to gather outside Leinster House, the home of the Irish parliament, today as speeches are made.
“This gives them hope,” said Dr Abdaljamid. “This gives them some light after this dark tunnel.
“The Palestinian people see that we are seen, we are heard by Ireland, by Spain, by the whole world actually who protest since the 7th of October. We are not alone in this world. I mean it’s very important.”
NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks on Tuesday after Vladimir Putin said Russia will ramp up the production of a new, hypersonic ballistic missile.
Ukraine‘s parliament cancelled a session as security was tightened following a Russian strike on Thursday on a military facility in Dnipro, a central city with a population of around one million. No fatalities were reported.
In a nationally-televised speech, Mr Putin said the attack – carried out with an intermediate-range Oreshnik missile – was in retaliation for Ukraine’s use of US and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.
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“No one in the world has such weapons,” the Russian president said. “Sooner or later other leading countries will also get them. We are aware that they are under development.”
He added: “We have this system now. And this is important.”
Detailing the missile’s alleged capabilities, Mr Putin claimed it is so powerful that using several fitted with conventional warheads in one attack could be as devastating as a strike with nuclear weapons.
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General Sergei Karakayev, head of Russia’s strategic missile forces, said the Oreshnik could reach targets across Europe and be fitted with either nuclear or conventional warheads – while Mr Putin alleged Western air defence systems will not be able to stop the missiles.
Mr Putin said of the Oreshnik: “There is no countermeasure to such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system. It is necessary to establish serial production.”
Testing the Oreshnik will happen “in combat, depending on the situation and the character of security threats created for Russia“, the president added, stating there is “a stockpile of such systems ready for use”.
EU leaders condemn Russia’s ‘heinous attacks’
Numerous EU leaders have addressed Russia’s escalation of the conflict with Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying the war is “entering a decisive phase [and] taking on very dramatic dimensions”.
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Russia’s new missile – what does it mean?
Speaking in Kyiv, Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky called Moscow’s strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe”.
At a news conference, Mr Lipavsky gave his full support for delivering the additional air defence systems needed to protect Ukrainian civilians from the “heinous attacks”.
Israel has targeted central Beirut with at least four airstrikes, according to security sources cited by Reuters news agency.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the attack “completely destroyed” an eight-storey residential building in the Basta neighbourhood early on Saturday.
It is not immediately clear how many have been killed or injured and the Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack, the fourth targeting the centre this week.
The blasts happened at about 4am (2am UK time) and came after a day of bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs, which Israel had warned residents of in advance.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end the more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the Gaza war.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, Israel has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and wounded more than 15,000.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
A woman who accused Conor McGregor of raping her has said “justice has been served” after she won her civil case against the Irish mixed martial arts fighter.
Nikita Hand has been awarded €248,603 (£206,000) in damages after a jury at Dublin’s High Court found McGregor assaulted her in a Dublin hotel in 2018.
McGregor, 36, made no comment as he swiftly left court following the decision on Friday evening.
He later said in a statement that he had instructed his legal team to appeal the civil court’s decision, adding he was “disappointed that the jury did not hear all the evidence that the director of public prosecutions reviewed”.
He ended the statement saying: “I am with my family, focused on my future.”
McGregor had previously told the court he had consensual sex with Ms Hand in a penthouse at the Beacon Hotel in December 2018.
‘No matter who the person is, justice will be served’
Speaking outside court after the decision, an emotional Ms Hand said the last two weeks of her civil case against the fighter have been a “nightmare” and has impacted not only her life but her daughter’s, friends and loved ones.
“I would like to start off by saying I’m overwhelmed and touched by the support I have received from everybody,” the mother-of-one said.
“It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.
“Now that justice has been served, I can now try and move on and look forward to the future with my family and friends and daughter.”
Ms Hand continued: “I hope my story is a reminder that no matter how afraid you might be: Speak up, you have a voice and keep on fighting for justice.
“You can stand up for yourself if something happens to you – no matter who the person is – and justice will be served.”
Ms Hand told the civil court McGregor pinned her to a bed, choked her three times and “brutally raped and battered” her.
The jury was told she was left with extensive injuries, including purple and blue bruising along her hands and wrists, a bloodied scratch to her breast and tenderness to her neck.
McGregor no longer known for just his sporting abilities
There was not an inch to move in this tiny civil courtroom in centre Dublin.
The jury sat for six hours and 10 minutes, determining the future of one of Ireland’s biggest stars.
You could cut the tension with a knife.
McGregor sat stoney faced taking intermittent, deep heavy breaths as the clerk of the court declared the jury had reached their decision.
The judge sternly told the public gallery he would “jail” anyone who caused a scene when the news came out.
It was a sign of the high stakes in this case.
Within 40 seconds, the judge read out the news that McGregor was dreading, and Nikita Hand was determined to get.
“Did Conor McGregor assault Nikita Hand?”
“Yes” came the reply.
The blood drained from McGregor’s face. His head in his hands.
As the MMA star stepped out of court, he entered a new era. He walked straight to his Bentley, ignoring questions from reporters about whether he feels remorse.
He is no longer just a household name for his sporting abilities.
But lawyers for the fighter contested the lawsuit and accused her of attempted “extortion”.
They pointed to CCTV footage of Ms Hand arriving at and leaving the hotel with McGregor and a second man, James Lawrence, whom she also accused of assault.
Both McGregor and Lawrence denied any wrongdoing. While Ms Hand won her case against McGregor, she lost her claim against Lawrence.
On Monday, McGregor’s legal team told jurors it did not matter if they did not like or even loathed the famous fighter, urging them to look at the evidence and not his character.
McGregor and Ms Hand knew each other and had occasionally been in contact on social media, the civil trial heard.
Before the assault, Ms Hand had contacted the fighter, who picked up her and a friend in his car.
McGregor “came on to her”, but she did not want to have sexual intercourse with him as she was on her period, the court heard.