UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has announced that the UK will lift the pause on funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) six months after halting it. In his first statement to members of parliament, the foreign secretary outlined that “the UK will release £21 million [$27 million] to support its lifesaving work in Gaza and the provision of basic services in the region.” This funding will […]
LOCAL President Cyril Ramaphosa received a standing ovation after delivering his address at a joint sitting of parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London on Tuesday afternoon. “It is reassuring that since becoming president in 2018, you have led the way in restoring the Mandela vision for your country. I wonder if you and the people of South Africa realise the importance to the people of the United Kingdom […]
INTERNATIONAL British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has ended his hunger strike, according to a note his family received from prison in Egypt on Tuesday. The detainee had been on hunger strike for more than seven months to protest against his imprisonment. The note, addressed to his mother Laila Soueif, said he had "broken" his strike, which he began on 2 April. Last week the imprisoned activist began refusing water too, coinciding with […]
INTERNATIONAL British officials considered it inevitable that Jerusalem would one day become Israel’s capital and identified land for use as a future embassy in the city from the 1950s, UK government records seen by Middle East Eye reveal. Documents detailing negotiations between the UK and Israeli governments over the transfer of British-held assets dating from the Palestinian Mandate show how officials initially settled on an area within the former Allenby Barracks in southern Jerusalem […]
INTERNATIONAL Osama al-Shaheen, a member of the Kuwaiti parliament, has urged British Prime Minister Liz Truss not to move the British embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In an interview with Middle East Eye, he warned that such a move could scupper the free trade agreement between the UK and the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (which includes Kuwait) due to be signed by the end of the year. During a meeting with her Israeli […]
INTERNATIONAL Three UN experts have strongly criticised UK Prime Minister Liz Truss's repeated suggestion that she may relocate the British embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Truss told her Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid that she is reviewing the embassy's current location. During the Conservative party leadership contest, Truss, then foreign secretary, told the Conservative Friends […]
INTERNATIONAL British police have faced criticism from activists and civil liberties groups over their treatment of people who have publicly challenged King Charles III‘s accession to the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, raising free speech concerns. A woman in Edinburgh holding a sign reading “F*** imperialism, abolish the monarchy” was charged with a breach of the peace while another woman in London was moved from the gates of Parliament […]
INTERNATIONAL The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (Fosis), the national body for Muslim students in Britain, has threatened to launch a disaffiliation campaign against the National Union of Students (NUS) after the NUS suspended its president-elect, Shaima Dallali. Earlier this year, Jewish students accused Dallali of antisemitism and homophobia over old tweets she posted. Dallali denied the claims and welcomed the QC-led investigation into her actions. But following a leaked […]
INTERNATIONAL The UK Department of International Trade (DIT) has been accused of using "delaying tactics" after twice telling Middle East Eye it needs more time to decide whether releasing information about British weapons sales to Saudi Arabia is in the public interest. Campaigners argue that the information should be released because members of the public should know how government decisions to sell arms to the Gulf kingdom at the height […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
