Just two years after securing a landslide general election victory, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer finds himself trapped in an existential battle for his political future, triggered by catastrophic, unexpected losses for the Labour Party in last week’s local elections. This challenge to his leadership has been months in the making: earlier this year, Starmer already nearly fell from power following the Peter Mandelson scandal, when damning connections between the now-former US ambassador, a close Starmer ally, and convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein came to light. Back then, internal Labour sources confirm, party figures opted to hold off on a leadership challenge solely to avoid upheaval ahead of the local elections, allowing Starmer to cling to his position. Today, that reprieve is over, and Starmer is surrounded by potential successors ready to step in if he steps down or is forced out. Whitehall insiders name four leading contenders for the top job: Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. What is most notable about this unfolding leadership crisis is its likely ripple effect on British foreign policy, particularly regarding Israel — a topic that has dominated UK political discourse for more than two years amid Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and the recent economic shocks stemming from the US-Israeli war on Iran. Leading pollster Sir John Curtis has confirmed that the Green Party, the most prominent UK political voice opposing British support for Israel, inflicted far more damage on Labour’s local election vote share than right-wing challenger Reform UK. With left-wing and progressive voters abandoning Labour in droves over its Israel policy, any new leader will be forced to shift course to win back disaffected voters and undercut the Green Party’s growing momentum. That shift would almost certainly mean a far firmer stance against documented Israeli war crimes, analysts say. Of the four main contenders, Andy Burnham has staked out the most distinct position on Israel, diverging sharply from Starmer’s pro-Israeli stance over the last two years. A popular soft-left figure within Labour, Burnham’s history on the issue is layered: he voted for the 2003 UK invasion of Iraq under Tony Blair, joined the pro-Israel lobby group Labour Friends of Israel in 2015, and during that year’s Labour leadership campaign described the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as “spiteful”, called Israel a “democracy with a long history of protecting minorities”, and argued the Balfour Declaration should be celebrated in UK schools as an example of British values. But even in his early career, Burnham positioned himself as a critic of hardline Israeli government policy. A little-documented 2012 trip to the occupied West Bank with the pro-Palestine group Labour Friends of Palestine foreshadowed his later shift. After Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2015 re-election, he called the result “depressing” on social media, noting Netanyahu had run on a pledge to expand illegal settlements and arguing the Palestinian people would need increased international support. That same year, he told the Palestine Solidarity Campaign he backed full recognition of Palestinian statehood as a right, not a gift, called for an end to Israeli occupation and illegal settlement expansion, and condemned Hamas rocket and terror attacks. In the wake of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent siege and bombardment of Gaza, Burnham openly broke with Starmer’s approach. While the then-opposition Labour Party aligned with the Conservative government to give Israel unqualified support — with Starmer infamously backing Israel’s “right” to cut off all power and water to Gaza’s 2 million Palestinian civilians — Burnham released a statement just two days later that drew a clear line between himself and his leader. He condemned Hamas’ attacks but only backed Israel’s right to self-defense “in line with international law”, explicitly ruling out carte blanche for Israel and calling for urgent humanitarian access to Gaza. As the Palestinian death toll climbed into the thousands, Burnham went even further, joining London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar in breaking ranks to call for an immediate bilateral ceasefire, at a time when Starmer was still pressuring rebel MPs to fall in line. In a column explaining his decision, he warned Starmer against labeling dissenting MPs as disloyal, argued Israel’s response to 7 October had to be targeted to avoid being seen as disproportionate and indiscriminate, and publicly recanted his 2003 vote for the Iraq War, acknowledging the US-led invasion had caused massive harm to innocent civilians and fueled terrorist recruitment rather than rooting out extremism. This positioning paid off electorally in 2024: while Labour lost a third of its vote share in UK areas with majority Muslim populations, Burnham comfortably retained his Greater Manchester mayoral post, just as Khan held London despite both having large Muslim constituencies. Over the following two years, Burnham continued to push the Starmer government for bolder action on Palestine, joining a group of senior Labour figures in June 2025 to urge immediate recognition of Palestinian statehood, noting the UK’s historic role in carving up the Middle East via the Sykes-Picot agreement created a moral obligation to endorse Palestinian self-determination. The Starmer government ultimately granted recognition that September. Burnham also remains a prominent supporter of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, which organizes parliamentary trips to the occupied Palestinian territories. His stance puts him sharply at odds with the other three leading contenders, all of whom have largely stuck to Labour’s official pro-Israel line on Gaza. While Ed Miliband, a figure seen as more left-leaning on foreign policy, privately opposed British participation in the recent US-Israeli war on Iran before it launched, he has not broken with the party’s public stance. For his part, Wes Streeting — who narrowly held his seat in 2024 against a challenge from British Palestinian independent candidate Leanne Mohamad — privately acknowledged earlier this year that Israel was “committing war crimes before our eyes” and accused Israel of “rogue state behavior” in leaked text messages with disgraced former ambassador Mandelson, but he has yet to repeat these claims publicly or push for concrete action such as sanctions. Even under Starmer, UK-Israel diplomatic relations have been strained, with London imposing a partial arms embargo on Israel, but the British government has continued deep military and political collaboration with Israel throughout its campaign in Gaza. If Starmer departs, analysts agree that any replacement will face overwhelming electoral pressure to ramp up criticism of Israel, and the UK government could finally move forward with sanctions on goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Burnham’s path to the premiership does face significant barriers: as a sitting mayor, he would first need to secure a parliamentary seat to be eligible for the Labour leadership. Even so, he remains the candidate most likely to pull Labour back to its traditional center-left roots if he clears those hurdles. Regardless of which candidate ultimately prevails, all contenders will be forced to take a public stance on Starmer’s handling of the Gaza conflict, and a fundamental shift in British foreign policy is all but guaranteed in the coming months.
作者： admin
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Pressure grows on UK’s Starmer to quit as PM
Just 22 months after sweeping to power in a historic landslide that ended 14 years of Conservative rule, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing the most severe crisis of his premiership, as growing numbers of ruling Labour Party lawmakers demand his resignation in the wake of catastrophic local and regional election outcomes. The 63-year-old leader, who took office in July 2024 on a promise of systemic change after years of Conservative austerity, Brexit infighting and mismanaged COVID-19 response, doubled down on Monday on his pledge to hold his position and reframe his agenda to win back disillusioned voters.
However, his vows to deliver bolder policy action have failed to calm internal dissent. More than 60 of Labour’s 403 sitting members of Parliament have now publicly called for Starmer to step down, including four junior government aides who resigned from their posts over the weekend to register their no confidence. Joe Morris, former parliamentary private secretary to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, a figure long rumored to be considering a leadership bid, wrote on social media platform X that it was “now clear that the prime minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change”.
Tom Rutland, a former aide to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, argued Starmer had “lost authority” among the parliamentary party and would never be able to rebuild that credibility. Melanie Ward, former assistant to Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, acknowledged Starmer’s early work reshaping the Labour Party before the 2024 general election, but said the public’s verdict in last week’s polls was unambiguous. “The message from last week’s elections was clear; the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the public to lead this change,” she wrote on X. Naushabah Khan, a former Cabinet Office aide who also resigned, added that new leadership was the only way to rebuild public trust and deliver the progressive agenda British voters backed at the 2024 general election.
Under Labour Party rules, any potential challenger needs the backing of 81 MPs – 20 percent of the party’s parliamentary caucus – to trigger an official leadership contest. A leadership battle would almost certainly plunge the party into crippling internal infighting, with factions on the left and right of the party scrambling to elevate their preferred candidates or shore up Starmer’s remaining support.
Since taking office, Starmer’s premiership has been marked by a string of missteps. He was recently embroiled in major controversy after the sacking of his appointed UK ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson, following the exposure of long-concealed ties between Mandelson and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Critically, Starmer has also failed to deliver tangible economic growth to ease the ongoing cost of living crisis that has left millions of British households struggling financially, though he has earned cross-party praise for taking a firm stance against former US President Donald Trump’s policy on Iran.
Last week’s local and regional elections delivered a damning judgment on Starmer’s tenure. Labour hemorrhaged seats to the hard-right Reform UK and left-wing Green Party, both of which recorded historic gains at Labour’s expense. For the first time since the devolved Welsh parliament was established in 1999, Labour lost control of the legislature to Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru. The party also failed to cut into the Scottish National Party’s dominant position in the Scottish Parliament, leaving Labour’s ambition for UK-wide unity unfulfilled.
In a make-or-break speech to the party on Monday, Starmer acknowledged the widespread public frustration with his leadership and the current state of national politics. “I know I have my doubters, and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will,” he said. He abandoned his previous incremental policy approach, promising a far more ambitious agenda focused on accelerating economic growth, rebuilding closer ties with the European Union, and overhauling UK energy policy. In a major break from years of muted political discussion on Brexit, Starmer admitted for the first time that the 2020 UK departure from the EU has left the country “poorer, weaker and less secure”. He also announced plans to fully nationalize British Steel, a significant shift from his previously cautious industrial policy. He launched a scathing attack on Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, whose party was the biggest beneficiary of Labour’s election collapse, calling Farage a “chancer” and “grifter” who deceived the British public during the 2016 Brexit referendum. Starmer warned that if the Labour Party failed to reset its course, the UK would slide toward “a very dark path” under far-right leadership.
Despite the speech, internal dissent has not abated. Senior Labour MP Catherine West, who previously threatened to trigger a leadership challenge this week, announced after the address that she was now collecting signatures from MPs calling on Starmer to outline a formal timetable for a leadership election to be held in September. Starmer has hit back, pledging to fight any challenge and warning that voters would never forgive Labour if it repeated the chaotic turnover of Conservative governments, which saw five different prime ministers take office between 2010 and 2024, including three in just four months in 2022.
Speculation has long centered on Health Secretary Wes Streeting and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner as the most likely candidates to oust Starmer. However, neither figure commands universal support across the divided parliamentary party. Rayner, who has not yet explicitly called for Starmer’s resignation, echoed the mood of frustration in her own remarks on Monday, saying “what we are doing isn’t working, and it needs to change.”
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Hantavirus ship heads to Netherlands after passengers flown home
A Dutch-flagged cruise vessel that experienced a deadly hantavirus outbreak that killed three people departed the Canary Islands of Spain on Monday, heading toward its home port of Rotterdam after all remaining passengers were disembarked, repatriated and placed in quarantine across multiple countries.
The outbreak on the MV Hondius, operated by Netherlands-based cruise firm Oceanwide Expeditions, triggered a global public health alert after the rare rodent-borne virus was detected on board. Unlike the Covid-19 pandemic, global and national health officials have repeatedly emphasized that the general public faces a very low risk of transmission, and that no broad public alarm is warranted, despite the fact that no targeted vaccine or specific curative treatment exists for hantavirus infections.
According to on-site reporting from Agence France-Presse, the last 28 passengers and personnel were removed from the vessel before it set sail from the port of Granadilla on the island of Tenerife on Monday evening. Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed in an official statement that the 6-day voyage to Rotterdam is scheduled to arrive at the port on the evening of May 17, 2026. The vessel remains crewed by 25 full-time staff and two medical personnel, and is also transporting the remains of a German passenger who died during the outbreak.
The multi-day, large-scale evacuation wrapped up on Sunday, when 94 people representing 19 nationalities were safely removed from the ship. Spanish health authorities originally only granted permission for the vessel to anchor offshore due to public health protocols, but unfavorable weather conditions forced the ship to dock at the Granadilla industrial port. Spanish officials stressed that all public safety measures were strictly enforced to prevent any contact between people on the ship and local communities. Medical teams escorted all evacuees directly from the vessel to the Tenerife airport for repatriation flights, following mandatory health screenings at every step. The final group of evacuees removed on Monday included citizens of Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and remaining crew members.
As of Monday, eight confirmed cases of hantavirus and two additional probable cases have been recorded across the outbreak, with people from six countries affected, according to data from the World Health Organization and national health agencies. Multiple countries have already reported confirmed infections among repatriated passengers: A French woman repatriated to Paris tested positive for the virus after developing symptoms Sunday night; one Spanish evacuee has also tested positive, while 13 other Spanish evacuees returned negative results. U.S. health authorities confirmed one American evacuee with mild symptoms and a second positive case of the Andes virus, the only strain of hantavirus that can spread from human to human.
In the Netherlands, 12 staff members at Radboud University Medical Center have been placed in six-week preventive quarantine after procedural errors occurred when handling blood work and disposing of urine samples from an infected evacuee being treated at the facility. Hospital officials noted the quarantine is a precautionary measure, as the overall risk of infection remains low.
Health agencies around the world are currently conducting contact tracing operations, tracking all passengers who disembarked the vessel before the full evacuation, as well as any individuals who may have had close contact with infected evacuees.
The origin of the outbreak remains a point of discussion between international health authorities. The MV Hondius departed Ushuaia, Argentina – where hantavirus is endemic – on April 1 for an Atlantic cruise bound for Cape Verde. The WHO has stated it believes the initial infection occurred before the voyage departed, with secondary human-to-human transmission taking place on board the ship. However, Argentine health officials have raised questions about this timeline, pointing to the virus’s multi-week incubation period and other epidemiological factors to cast doubt on the theory that the outbreak originated in Ushuaria.
In a video address shared by the cruise line on Monday, MV Hondius Captain Jan Dobrogowski praised the resilience of everyone on board during the weeks-long crisis, highlighting the “unity and quiet strength” of passengers and the “courage and selfless resolve” of the crew that remained on the vessel to sail it back to Rotterdam.
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Text scheme as ‘honest mistake’ costing NSW motorists thousands
Tens of thousands of drivers across New South Wales (NSW), Australia, have faced hundreds of dollars in fines over a single preventable mistake each year, but a new state government initiative aims to eliminate these costly penalties for accidental oversights. In 2025 alone, more than 50,000 motorists in NSW were penalized for driving with expired vehicle registration or without valid insurance — violations that most often stem from simple forgetfulness rather than intentional misconduct.
Currently, more than one million NSW drivers already access digital registration reminders through email or in-app notifications in their official MyServiceNSW and Service NSW accounts, with alerts sent two weeks and one day before expiration. Under a new expansion of the existing opt-in reminder program rolled out by the state’s Labor government, drivers will now be able to add free SMS text message alerts to their reminder suite, delivering a final critical notification directly to their mobile devices.
Addressing the rationale behind the policy change, NSW Digital Government Minister Jihad Dib noted that late registration renewals almost always stem from everyday disruptions to busy modern lives, not intentional noncompliance. “We know people lead busy lives and can carry huge mental to-do lists. Paperwork gets misplaced, deadlines slip off the radar, and before you know it, your registration has expired,” Dib explained. “By introducing an overdue SMS notification one day after expiry as a final reminder to get your registration sorted, we could save you hundreds of dollars in fines while keeping everyone safe on our roads. This is a simple idea that could make a huge difference to people; by giving drivers this option we are offering you a convenient reminder in the palm of your hand.”
NSW Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison echoed Dib’s comments, emphasizing that the consequences of an accidental late renewal extend far beyond financial penalties. “Driving unregistered doesn’t just risk a fine, it means being uninsured and putting yourself and others at risk on our roads,” Aitchison said. “These SMS reminders are a simple, practical way to help people stay on top of their rego and avoid an honest mistake that can have serious outcomes.”
Current penalty structures for unregistered driving in NSW reflect the state’s commitment to road safety, but the government recognizes that penalizing accidental oversights is unfair to residents. Light vehicle drivers face maximum fines of $818 for driving or parking an unregistered vehicle on public roads or related areas, while penalties for unregistered heavy vehicles jump sharply to $1,728.
The reminder scheme remains entirely optional for NSW motorists. Drivers who choose not to opt in to digital or SMS reminders will continue to receive printed paper reminders via standard mail six weeks before their registration expiration date. As part of a public outreach blitz to boost participation, the NSW government will send invitation messages to more than four million eligible drivers throughout May and June, encouraging them to add SMS reminders to their account settings.
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World Cup debutant Curaçao parts with coach amid reports Advocaat could return
Just five weeks ahead of its highly anticipated World Cup debut against Germany, Caribbean underdog Curaçao has shaken up its technical staff, announcing Monday that head coach Fred Rutten has left his post just months after taking the job. Multiple reports indicate that 78-year-old Dutch coaching legend Dick Advocaat is set to reclaim the position he held throughout the team’s historic qualifying campaign.
As the smallest nation by population to ever qualify for a men’s World Cup, Curaçao enters the first-ever 48-team iteration of the tournament with unprecedented attention. Located in the southern Caribbean, this autonomous territory within the Kingdom of the Netherlands counts only around 156,000 residents, and its national squad draws nearly all its talent from players born and raised in the Netherlands.
The coaching change comes after a clear sequence of events that began earlier this year, when Advocaat stepped down from the role in February, citing a need to care for his daughter’s ongoing health issues. At that time, Rutten — a well-respected Dutch coach with experience at top clubs including PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord, Twente and Germany’s FC Schalke 04 — was tapped to step in and lead the side into the World Cup.
However, Rutten’s tenure got off to a rocky start during March international friendly matches held in Australia, where Curaçao dropped back-to-back losses to the Socceroos and China PR. Reports soon emerged that a majority of the Curaçao squad had pushed for Advocaat’s return to the bench, creating internal unrest that ultimately led to Monday’s leadership change.
In a statement released by the Curaçao Football Federation, Rutten acknowledged the disappointing end to his short tenure. “I regret how things unfolded but I wish everyone the best,” he said.
Curaçao is far from alone in making a late coaching change ahead of this World Cup: it joins Ghana, Morocco and Saudi Arabia as teams that have replaced their managers since the final tournament draw was held last December. The Curaçao federation has scheduled an official press conference for Tuesday to confirm the full details of the transition and Advocaat’s expected appointment.
Advocaat brings a wealth of World Cup experience to the role, having previously led his native Netherlands to the 1994 World Cup quarterfinals when the tournament was hosted by the United States, and managed South Korea at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. His return comes as Curaçao prepares for a tough group stage: after opening against Germany in Houston on June 12, the side will face Ecuador at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium and Ivory Coast in Philadelphia. Curaçao secured its place in the expanded tournament thanks to new rules that granted three additional guaranteed spots to CONCACAF, the confederation covering North and Central America and the Caribbean.
With the entire tournament kicking off in just four weeks, teams across the globe are finalizing their coaching staffs and preparing to name their final 26-man rosters ahead of the opening match.
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EU agrees sanctions on Israeli settlers over West Bank violence
After months of political gridlock that stalled action against escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank, the European Union’s 27 foreign ministers formally approved new targeted sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers and settlement-affiliated organizations on Monday. The breakthrough came after a recent change in Hungary’s government removed the veto that had blocked the measure under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a longstanding close ally of Israel.
The approval marks a significant shift in the EU’s approach to the escalating crisis in the West Bank, where the United Nations has recorded a dramatic surge in settler-led attacks on Palestinian communities since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. Settlements constructed on Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem land are universally recognized as illegal under international law, and the territories remain the core of Palestinian claims for an independent future state.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas emphasized the urgency of the action, stating, “It was high time we move from deadlock to delivery… extremisms and violence carry consequences.” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot echoed this sentiment in a social media post, clarifying that the sanctions target the leading Israeli organizations responsible for advancing the “extremist and violent colonisation of the West Bank.”
According to EU diplomatic sources and Israeli media reports, seven individual settlers and settler organizations will be subject to the new measures. The sanctioned list includes Daniella Weiss, a veteran figure widely referred to as the “godmother of the settler movement,” who is already subject to United Kingdom sanctions. Four leading settlement promotion and support organizations are also targeted: Nachala and Regavim, which push for the expansion of Israeli settlements on occupied land, and HaShomer Yosh and Amana, which provide financing and logistical support for unauthorized outposts built without Israeli government approval. Senior leaders of Regavim and HaShomer Yosh, Meir Deutsch and Avichai Suissa respectively, are also named on the sanction list; Suissa was previously sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 before being removed from the list during the second Trump administration.
The sanctions also expand EU restrictive measures to include additional Hamas representatives, a move that Israeli officials have criticized as an unfair moral equivalence between Israeli civilians and the designated terrorist group.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rejected the decision in sharp terms, dismissing it as “arbitrary and political.” He asserted that Israel will continue to uphold “the right of Jews to settle in the heart of our homeland,” and added that the EU’s move “is equally outrageous… imposing sanctions on Israeli citizens and entities because of their political views and without any basis.” He also condemned the joint sanctions on both settlers and Hamas representatives, calling the comparison “completely distorted.”
Successive Israeli governments have overseen the expansion of settlements since the 1967 Middle East War, when Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Today, roughly 700,000 Israeli settlers reside across approximately 160 established settlements in the occupied territories. Settlement expansion accelerated sharply after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to office in late 2022 at the head of a far-right, pro-settler coalition, and the pace of both expansion and settler violence has grown even more rapidly since the start of the Gaza war.
United Nations data underscores the scale of the ongoing violence: in 2025 alone, the UN documented more than 1,800 settler attacks that caused Palestinian casualties or property damage across 280 West Bank communities. Recent high-profile incidents have included an incident where settlers allegedly forced local Palestinians to exhume a grave – which the UN Human Rights Office condemned as “appalling” – the fatal shooting of a Palestinian man during a settler raid on the village of Tayasir, and multiple arson attacks targeting Palestinian homes, civilian vehicles, and agricultural land. One recent example cited earlier this year was an attack south of Nablus, where settlers set fire to a Bedouin tent and two civilian vehicles. Just weeks before the EU’s sanction vote, Israeli activists confirmed that the former Sa-Nur settlement had been reestablished on a hill southwest of Jenin, marking another expansion of settler presence in the northern West Bank.
Before the sanctions can be formally implemented, the EU must complete remaining technical and legal procedural steps. While several EU member states have also pushed for a broader ban on goods produced in Israeli settlements, the bloc has not yet reached a collective consensus to move forward with that additional measure.
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Venezuela’s acting president defends country’s territory and rejects Trump’s 51st state remarks
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — During closing arguments at a high-stakes International Court of Justice (ICJ) territorial hearing on Monday, Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez publicly pushed back against an extraordinary remark from former U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently claimed he was “seriously considering” recognizing Venezuela as the 51st U.S. state.
The hearings, which concluded this week, center on a long-running territorial dispute between Venezuela and neighboring Guyana over the Essequibo region — a 62,000-square-mile territory that accounts for two-thirds of Guyana’s current land area. The resource-rich region holds extensive gold, diamond, and timber reserves, and sits adjacent to massive offshore oil deposits that currently produce 900,000 barrels of crude daily, a volume nearly matching Venezuela’s total daily output of 1 million barrels and lifting Guyana from one of South America’s smallest economies to a major global energy player.
Addressing reporters after her court appearance, Rodríguez made clear Venezuela has no interest in becoming part of the United States. Standing on the ICJ’s public platform, she emphasized, “We will continue to defend our integrity, our sovereignty, our independence, our history.” She added that Venezuela is “not a colony, but a free country,” noting that the country remains open to constructive dialogue with U.S. officials. “Venezuelan and U.S. officials have been in touch and are working on cooperation and understanding,” she said.
Trump first made the 51st state comment during an interview with Fox News earlier on Monday, as shared on social media by Fox co-anchor John Roberts. The White House has not yet issued an official response to requests for comment on the remark, which is not unprecedented for Trump: he has previously floated similar suggestions about absorbing Canada into the U.S.
Before responding to Trump’s comment, Rodríguez laid out Venezuela’s formal legal position to the ICJ’s panel of international judges on the Essequibo dispute. The territorial conflict stretches back more than a century: Venezuela has claimed the region as its own since Spanish colonial rule, when the jungle territory fell within its administrative boundaries. A 1899 arbitration ruling, led by representatives from Britain, Russia and the U.S., redrew the border along the Essequibo River and awarded almost the entire region to what is now Guyana. Venezuela has long contested this decision, arguing a 1966 Geneva agreement negotiated between the two sides effectively invalidated the 19th century ruling.
The current legal process at the ICJ was triggered in 2018, three years after U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil announced major oil discoveries off the Essequibo coast. Guyana brought the case to the United Nations’ highest court, asking judges to formally uphold the 1899 border decision. Rodríguez called Guyana’s move “opportunistic,” noting that “at a time when the mechanisms established in the Geneva agreement were still fully in force, Guyana unilaterally chose to shift the dispute from the negotiating arena to a judicial resolution. This change was not accidental; it coincided with the discovery in 2015 of the oil field that would become world-renowned.”
Tensions between the two South American nations escalated sharply in 2023, when then-President Nicolás Maduro held a national referendum on converting Essequibo into a Venezuelan state and threatened military annexation of the region. Maduro was ousted from power in January during a U.S. military operation in Caracas, captured, and taken to New York to face federal drug trafficking charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty. Rodríguez assumed the acting presidency following the operation.
In opening remarks to the court last week, Guyana’s Foreign Minister Hugh Hilton Todd described the dispute as “a blight on our existence as a sovereign state from the very beginning,” noting that 70% of the country’s current territory is at stake in the ruling.
The ICJ is expected to take several months to issue a final, legally binding decision on the case. Venezuela has repeatedly stressed that its participation in the hearings does not constitute consent to or recognition of the court’s jurisdiction over the dispute, maintaining that only direct bilateral negotiations aligned with the 1966 Geneva agreement can deliver a lasting resolution to the conflict.
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War on Iran: Senior royal says Saudi Arabia avoided Israeli plan to ‘plunge region into ruin’
A high-ranking member of the Saudi royal family has publicly confirmed that the Gulf kingdom has deliberately rejected falling into an Israeli scheme designed to spark a catastrophic full-scale war between Riyadh and Tehran. Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former longtime intelligence chief who led Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency for more than 20 years and the son of the kingdom’s former ruler King Faisal, laid out this position in an opinion piece published over the weekend in Arab News, a major Saudi-owned regional publication.
In the commentary, Prince Turki emphasized that under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, the kingdom has prioritized diplomatic de-escalation to resolve a conflict Riyadh sought to prevent from its outset. He detailed that when regional actors including Iran pushed to draw Saudi Arabia into what he called a “furnace of destruction,” the kingdom’s leadership chose to absorb the harm caused by regional tensions to safeguard its citizens’ lives and property.
The former intelligence head acknowledged that if Saudi leadership had opted to launch retaliatory strikes against Iranian infrastructure and interests, it had the capability to carry out such attacks. However, he warned that any military response would have had devastating consequences, triggering further attacks on critical Saudi assets including vital oil production facilities and the kingdom’s strategic desalination plants that supply the arid nation with drinking water.
“Had the Israeli plan to ignite war between us and Iran succeeded, the region would have been plunged into ruin and destruction,” Prince Turki wrote in the piece. “Thousands of our sons and daughters would have been lost in a battle in which we had no stake. Israel would have succeeded in imposing its will on the region and remained the only unchecked actor in our surroundings.”
He added that Saudi Arabia is currently working alongside Pakistan to head off additional regional escalation and prevent tensions from spiraling out of control. In a sharp rebuke to proponents of military action, he noted that “As for the advocates of war, they continue in their arrogance and cawing, perhaps unaware that the rug has been pulled from under their feet.”
Prince Turki’s comments come amid a sharply escalated regional crisis that unfolded after the U.S. and Israel launched military operations against Iran on February 28. In retaliation, Iran carried out strikes against every Gulf state that hosts U.S. military bases, including Saudi Arabia. The kingdom has also suffered major economic and strategic disruption from Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital maritime chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s daily crude oil shipments pass.
Last month, Saudi Arabia officially announced that attacks on its key East-West Pipeline had cut 700,000 barrels per day of the kingdom’s production capacity, equal to approximately 10 percent of its current total oil exports. The pipeline is a critical strategic asset that allows Saudi Arabia to ship oil from its Gulf coast fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, bypassing the closed Strait of Hormuz entirely.
Beyond pipeline infrastructure, Iranian strikes have also targeted key refining facilities in major Saudi energy hubs including Jubail, Ras Tanura, Yanbu, and the capital Riyadh. These attacks have directly disrupted the kingdom’s exports of refined petroleum products to global consumer markets, adding additional strain to already volatile global energy supplies.
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Trump says Iran ceasefire is on ‘massive life support’
Tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated sharply in recent days, after U.S. President Donald Trump publicly declared that the month-long bilateral ceasefire is barely clinging to survival, dismissing Iran’s counter-proposal for a lasting peace as entirely unacceptable. Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump characterized the current truce, which has held since mid-April despite sporadic cross-fire exchanges, as \”unbelievably weak\”, drawing a grim comparison to a terminally ill patient with only a 1 percent chance of survival. \”I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support… when the doctor walks in and says, ‘Sir, your loved one has approximately a 1 percent chance of living’,\” Trump told reporters.
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Advocaat open to return as Curacao boss resigns
Just one month before Curacao makes its first ever appearance at the FIFA World Cup, the small Caribbean nation has been thrown into sudden coaching turmoil, with incumbent manager Fred Rutten stepping down just days after the country’s football federation publicly reaffirmed its support for him.
The drama traces back to last November, when veteran Dutch manager Dick Advocaat guided Curacao through an undefeated Concacaf qualifying campaign to book the country’s historic first World Cup ticket, making Curacao the smallest nation ever to qualify for the global tournament. Three months after that historic achievement, Advocaat stepped away from the role, citing urgent need to attend to his daughter’s ongoing health issues. The federation appointed fellow Dutch coach Fred Rutten as his replacement to lead the side through the 2026 finals.
But Rutten’s short tenure was marked by immediate tension. After Curacao dropped friendly matches to China and Australia in March, players and top sponsors publicly pressured the Curaçao Football Federation (FFK) to bring Advocaat back into the fold. Despite that unrest, the FFK issued a formal statement on Friday standing firmly behind 63-year-old Rutten, confirming he would remain in charge for the World Cup.
That resolve crumbled just three days later. Following what both sides described as “open and constructive” negotiations, Rutten agreed to step down. In a statement announcing his departure, Rutten emphasized that unresolvable tension within the camp posed a tangible risk to the team’s preparations ahead of the tournament. “A climate that damages professional relationships among players and staff must not be allowed to emerge,” he said. “It is prudent to step back. Time is pressing and Curacao must move forward.”
Multiple Dutch media outlets have now reported that 78-year-old Advocaat is willing and ready to return to the head coaching position, after his daughter’s health has seen significant improvement in recent months. If Advocaat formalizes his comeback, he will make history once again: he will become the oldest head coach to lead a national side at any World Cup, breaking the long-standing record for age in the role.
Curacao is set to kick off its Group E campaign against four-time champion Germany on June 14, followed by group stage matches against Ecuador and Ivory Coast. Before the tournament begins, the side will wrap up its pre-finals warm-up schedule with a friendly against Scotland at Glasgow’s Hampden Park on May 30, serving as Steve Clarke’s side’s final home preparation match before Scotland also departs for the 2026 World Cup.