UK students could face jail over support for banned Palestine Action

Police officers monitor protesters holding a banner during a protest in support of pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action, in Trafalgar Square. (File/AFP)
Police officers monitor protesters holding a banner during a protest in support of pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action, in Trafalgar Square. (File/AFP)
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UK students could face jail over support for banned Palestine Action

Police officers monitor protesters holding a banner during a protest in support of pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action.
  • Ex-govt advisor urges universities to warn students of penalties for supporting illegal organizations
  • Palestine Action proscribed as terrorist group after members broke into Royal Air Force base last month

LONDON: University students in the UK face jail if they support the group Palestine Action, the former government advisor on political violence and disruption has warned.

Lord Walney, who wrote a report in 2024 advising that the organization be proscribed, said vice-chancellors should let students know the penalties that could be incurred by promoting the group’s policies, displaying its symbols or voicing support for it.

Palestine Action was declared a terrorist organization earlier this month after activists filmed themselves breaking into a Royal Air Force base in England. 

On Monday, 29 people were arrested for supporting it at a protest in Westminster, with some holding placards stating: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”

Penalties for membership of, or eliciting support for, proscribed groups in the UK include a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

Protests in support of the Palestinian cause and against Israel’s war in Gaza have been frequent features across numerous university campuses in the UK since the outbreak of hostilities in October 2023.

In a letter to Vivienne Stern, CEO of Universities UK — a body representing 142 higher education establishments — Walney claimed there was a “clear danger that individuals may be unwittingly lured into expressing support for an entity whose methods are not only criminal, but now formally recognised as terrorism,” and “Universities UK has an important role to play in protecting both freedom of expression and student welfare within the bounds of the law.”

He added: “Palestine Action’s deliberate strategy has long involved drawing students into criminal activity under the guise of legitimate protest, preying on the understandable sympathy for Palestinians felt by large numbers of young people to find recruits.

“With its formal proscription, the legal threshold has shifted: expressions of support, including wearing insignia, arranging meetings, or promoting the group’s activities — whether knowingly or through naivety — now risk serious sanction with students at risk of acquiring a criminal record for a terror offence.

“This risk clearly exists whatever any individual may think of the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action.

“My view is that the group’s systematic campaign of sabotage justifies proscription, given the fact that property damage is included in the legal definition of terrorism.”

UUK told The Times that it had “written to our member vice-chancellors to alert them to the fact that Palestine Action has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000, effective from Saturday July 5, and to their obligation to ensure that staff and students are aware of this.”


A British F35 fighter jet stranded in India may finally fly back home after inspiring memes

A British F35 fighter jet stranded in India may finally fly back home after inspiring memes
Updated 14 sec ago

A British F35 fighter jet stranded in India may finally fly back home after inspiring memes

A British F35 fighter jet stranded in India may finally fly back home after inspiring memes
  • Jet has been stranded at airport in southern Kerala state due to technical snag, is being repaired by UK engineers
  • One of the memes shows cartoon in which plane is enjoying snacks with group f locals against a scenic background

NEW DELHI: A British F-35B fighter jet stranded at an Indian airport for nearly a month, sparking memes and cartoons on social media, is expected to fly back home as early as next week, Indian officials said.

The stealth fighter, one of the world’s most advanced and costing around $115 million, is stranded at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in the southern state of Kerala due to a technical snag and is being repaired by UK engineers, officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media.

The jet was on a regular sortie in the Arabian Sea last month when it ran into bad weather and couldn’t return to the Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, officials said.

The aircraft was then diverted to Thiruvananthapuram, where it landed safely on June 14. Officials said engineers hope to repair the plane in the next few days before it could fly back to UK sometime next week.

The stranded military aircraft, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, has triggered A.I.-generated memes in India. In a social media post, the tourism department of Kerala showed the aircraft on the tarmac surrounded by coconut trees and posting a fictitious five-star review.

“Kerala is such an amazing place, I don’t want to leave. Definitely recommend,” it said.

The state’s top official at the tourism department, K. Biju, said the post was put out in “good humor.”

“It was our way to appreciate and thank the Brits who are the biggest inbound visitors to Kerala for tourism,” said Biju.

Another cartoon posted on X showed the plane enjoying snacks with a group of locals against a scenic background.

The British High Commission confirmed to The Associated Press that a UK engineering team has been deployed to “assess and repair” the aircraft.

There has been speculation in India that if the engineers fail to rectify the aircraft, it could be partially dismantled and transported in a cargo plane. The UK’s Ministry of Defense dismissed the speculation in an emailed statement.


Report: Japan, UK, Italy open to Saudi joining fighter-jet program

Report: Japan, UK, Italy open to Saudi joining fighter-jet program
Updated 27 min 53 sec ago

Report: Japan, UK, Italy open to Saudi joining fighter-jet program

Report: Japan, UK, Italy open to Saudi joining fighter-jet program
  • Tech sharing, and other issues need resolution, says report
  • Riyadh ‘encouraged’ to boost its nascent aerospace industry

DUBAI: Japan, the UK and Italy are open to having join their next-generation fighter-jet initiative, but only once the project has reached a more advanced stage and key issues have been resolved, according to The Japan Times.

The Global Combat Air Program is a joint effort to develop a sixth-generation fighter.

It will likely remain a trilateral initiative until after the GCAP International Government Organization, or GIGO, and the industry-led joint venture Edgewing sign their first international contract, likely by the end of 2025, the newspaper reported recently.

The GIGO, officially inaugurated on Monday in Reading, England, was established last year to oversee government-level coordination for the program.

Edgewing, launched last month, brings together the UK’s BAE Systems, Italy’s Leonardo, and the Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co., and is responsible for designing and developing the aircraft.

“There is no preclusion in having join the program, but we first have to define certain criteria and clarify all the points,” one source told The Japan Times, speaking after a virtual meeting between the GCAP nations’ defense ministers on Monday.

Riyadh has been “encouraged” to build up its aerospace expertise — including potentially acquiring and assembling Eurofighter Typhoons — before entering the GCAP, the newspaper reported.

In addition to , several other countries are said to have expressed interest in joining the program. These include two unnamed European countries, as well as one Middle Eastern and one Asian nation, according to a source cited by The Japan Times.

The terms of participation and contributions of any future member states remain undefined. Any expansion of the program would require unanimous approval from Japan, the UK and Italy.

The GCAP aircraft will be Japan’s first major defense development with partners other than the US.

It is intended to replace the aging F-2 fighter jets used by Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force, as well as the Eurofighters operated by the UK and Italy. The new jets are scheduled to enter service by 2035.

With the conceptual design phase complete, the program is moving into detailed design and development, and a demonstrator flight is expected within two to three years.

Despite overall satisfaction with the program’s progress, some tensions remain, particularly around access to sensitive intellectual property and full technology sharing.

In April, Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto publicly criticized the UK for not fully disclosing technology to its partners, in an interview with Reuters.

It is a concern that The Japan Times understands is still unresolved.


Bangladesh ex-top cop pleads guilty to crimes against humanity

Bangladesh ex-top cop pleads guilty to crimes against humanity
Updated 10 July 2025

Bangladesh ex-top cop pleads guilty to crimes against humanity

Bangladesh ex-top cop pleads guilty to crimes against humanity
  • Former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Mamun has agreed to assist the court by acting as a witness, giving “all the knowledge he has regarding the crimes committed during the July-August uprising”

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s former police chief pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity committed during a crackdown on protests last year, while ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina was formally indicted, prosecutors said after the trial resumed Thursday.
Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024, according to the United Nations, when Hasina’s government attempted to crush a student-led uprising.
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to Hasina’s ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League.
Former inspector general of police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Mamun “pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity,” Muhammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor at the ICT, told reporters.
Islam said Mamun has agreed to assist the court by acting as a witness, giving “all the knowledge he has regarding the crimes committed during the July-August uprising.”
The court has approved separate accommodation to ensure Mamun’s safety.
The tribunal on Thursday also rejected defense lawyers’ request to have the charges against Hasina and her interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal dismissed.
Both Hasina and Kamal were formally indicted in the same case.
Amir Hossain, the state-appointed counsel for Hasina and Kamal, however remained hopeful.
“The trial is at an initial stage, and there are several other phases,” he said.
Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to India as the protests ended her 15-year rule. She has defied an extradition order to return to Dhaka, where her trial in absentia opened on June 1.
Hasina faces at least five charges at the ICT, including “abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising.”
Prosecutors say that Hasina held overall command responsibility for the violence.
She was already convicted of contempt of court in a separate case on July 2, receiving a six-month sentence.
Fugitive former minister Kamal is also believed to be in India.


UN says if US funding for HIV programs is not replaced, millions more will die by 2029

UN says if US funding for HIV programs is not replaced, millions more will die by 2029
Updated 10 July 2025

UN says if US funding for HIV programs is not replaced, millions more will die by 2029

UN says if US funding for HIV programs is not replaced, millions more will die by 2029
  • The $4 billion that the United States pledged for the global HIV response for 2025 disappeared virtually overnight in January when US President Donald Trump ordered that all foreign aid be suspended and later moved to shutter the US AID agency

LONDON: Years of American-led investment into AIDS programs has reduced the number of people killed by the disease to the lowest levels seen in more than three decades, and provided life-saving medicines for some of the world’s most vulnerable.
But in the last six months, the sudden withdrawal of US money has caused a “systemic shock,” UN officials warned, adding that if the funding isn’t replaced, it could lead to more than 4 million AIDS-related deaths and 6 million more HIV infections by 2029.
“The current wave of funding losses has already destabilized supply chains, led to the closure of health facilities, left thousands of health clinics without staff, set back prevention programs, disrupted HIV testing efforts and forced many community organizations to reduce or halt their HIV activities,” UNAIDS said in a report released Thursday.
UNAIDS also said that it feared other major donors might also scale back their support, reversing decades of progress against AIDS worldwide — and that the strong multilateral cooperation is in jeopardy because of wars, geopolitical shifts and climate change.
The $4 billion that the United States pledged for the global HIV response for 2025 disappeared virtually overnight in January when US President Donald Trump ordered that all foreign aid be suspended and later moved to shutter the US AID agency.
Andrew Hill, an HIV expert at the University of Liverpool who is not connected to the United Nations, said that while Trump is entitled to spend US money as he sees fit, “any responsible government would have given advance warning so countries could plan,” instead of stranding patients in Africa when clinics were closed overnight.
The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, was launched in 2003 by US President George W. Bush, the biggest-ever commitment by any country focused on a single disease.
UNAIDS called the program a “lifeline” for countries with high HIV rates, and said that it supported testing for 84.1 million people, treatment for 20.6 million, among other initiatives. According to data from Nigeria, PEPFAR also funded 99.9 percent of the country’s budget for medicines taken to prevent HIV.
In 2024, there were about 630,000 AIDS-related deaths worldwide, per a UNAIDS estimate — the figure has remained about the same since 2022 after peaking at about 2 million deaths in 2004.
Even before the US funding cuts, progress against curbing HIV was uneven. UNAIDS said that half of all new infections are in sub-Saharan Africa and that more than 50 percent of all people who need treatment but aren’t getting it are in Africa and Asia.
Tom Ellman, of the charity Doctors Without Borders, said that while some poorer countries were now moving to fund more of their own HIV programs, it would be impossible to fill the gap left by the US
“There’s nothing we can do that will protect these countries from the sudden, vicious withdrawal of support from the US,” said Ellman, director of Doctors Without Borders’ South Africa Medical Unit. “Within months of losing treatment, people will start to get very sick and we risk seeing a massive rise in infection and death.”
Experts also fear another loss: data. The US paid for most HIV surveillance in African countries, including hospital, patient and electronic records, all of which has now abruptly ceased, according to Dr. Chris Beyrer, director of the Global Health Institute at Duke University.
“Without reliable data about how HIV is spreading, it will be incredibly hard to stop it,” he said.
The uncertainty comes as a twice-yearly injectable could end HIV, as studies published last year showed that the drug from pharmaceutical maker Gilead was 100 percent effective in preventing the virus.
Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the drug, called Sunleca — a move that should have been a “threshold moment” for stopping the AIDS epidemic, said Peter Maybarduk of the advocacy group Public Citizen.
But activists like Maybarduk said Gilead’s pricing will put it out of reach of many countries that need it. Gilead has agreed to sell generic versions of the drug in 120 poor countries with high HIV rates but has excluded nearly all of Latin America, where rates are far lower but increasing.
“We could be ending AIDS,” Maybarduk said. “Instead, the US is abandoning the fight.”


Rubio to meet Russia's Lavrov as strikes pound Kyiv

Rubio to meet Russia's Lavrov as strikes pound Kyiv
Updated 10 July 2025

Rubio to meet Russia's Lavrov as strikes pound Kyiv

Rubio to meet Russia's Lavrov as strikes pound Kyiv
  • The top US diplomat is to meet Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur, a senior State Department official said

KUALA LUMPUR: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with his Russian counterpart in Malaysia on Thursday, after Moscow unleashed its second major attack on Ukraine in as many days.
Rubio’s first visit to Asia as secretary of state also comes as US President Donald Trump ramps up his trade war, threatening more than 20 countries with punitive tariffs.
The top US diplomat is to meet Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur, a senior State Department official said.
Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least two people, the city’s military administration said Thursday, after earlier warning of incoming missiles and reporting around a dozen wounded.
AFP journalists in Kyiv heard loud blasts echoing over the city throughout the night and saw flashes from air defense system lighting up the sky.
Dozens of residents of the capital took shelter in a central metro station, an AFP reporter said, sleeping on mats, calming pets and waiting out the attack on camping furniture.
That came a day after Russia’s biggest missile and drone attack on Ukraine in more than three years of war — and after Trump launched an expletive-filled attack on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Trump accused Putin of talking “bullshit” about Ukraine, saying that the United States would send Kyiv more weapons to defend itself.
Rubio and Lavrov last met in February in , following a rapprochement between Trump and Putin. The two diplomats have also spoken multiple times by phone.
After Malaysia, Lavrov will visit North Korea this weekend, the latest in a series of high-profile visits by top Moscow officials as the two countries deepen military ties.
Pyongyang has emerged as one of the Kremlin’s main allies during its Ukraine invasion, sending thousands of troops to Russia’s Kursk region to oust Kyiv’s forces and providing the Russian army with artillery shells and missiles.


US officials said ahead of Rubio’s trip that Washington was “prioritising” its commitment to East Asia and Southeast Asia.
Speaking in Malaysia, Rubio said the United States has “no intention of abandoning” the region.
But his visit comes after Trump threatened more than 20 countries, many in Asia, with tariffs ranging from 20 to 50 percent, and announced a 50 percent toll on copper imports and a possible 200 percent duty on pharmaceuticals.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim warned Asia’s top diplomats on Wednesday of a new era when tariffs are among the “sharpened instruments of geopolitical rivalry.”
Trump said Monday that duties he had suspended in April would snap back — even more steeply — on August 1.
Among those targeted were top trade partners Japan and South Korea, which each face 25 percent tariffs.
Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Myanmar — all members of ASEAN — face duties ranging from 20 percent to 40 percent if they do not strike deals with Washington by Trump’s new deadline.
The levels were not too far from those originally threatened in April, although some rates were notably lower this time.
Vietnam, which is also an ASEAN member, is one of only two countries — Britain being the other — to have reached a tentative agreement with Trump.
In Malaysia, Rubio will attend a post-ministerial conference and a meeting by East Asian foreign ministers — which will also see Japan, South Korea and China participating.
He will also meet with Anwar and hold trilateral talks with the Philippines and Japan.
Rubio’s Chinese counterpart Wang Yi is also at ASEAN, but details of any meeting between the pair have not been announced.
The superpowers remain locked in a range of disputes on issues from trade and fentanyl, to Taiwan and cutting-edge technology.
Without mentioning the United States, Wang on Thursday called for a “fairer and more reasonable” international order.