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BERLIN — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stepped down Monday following a sharp drop in his approval ratings, but leaders across Europe were quick to offer kind words for a leader many had found far more cooperative than those who came before him.

Starmer made history as the first non-Conservative prime minister since Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. While he firmly ruled out any possibility of the UK rejoining the 27-nation bloc, he worked actively to repair the strained relationship that followed the painful Brexit process.

He also kept Britain firmly committed to supporting Ukraine, working alongside fellow “E3” partners French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz throughout his tenure.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took to the social media platform X to honor his service. “It can take many leaders years to grow into the statesman you became in just two years,” she wrote. “European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you. Thank you, dear Keir.”

Starmer first took office in 2024, defeating a deeply unpopular government that had overseen a struggling economy and a country still fractured by the divisive Brexit debate. But much like other European leaders of his era, he found himself unable to hold onto voters who had grown frustrated with mainstream political parties and were increasingly turning to anti-establishment movements promising dramatic change.

While critics at home often described him as lacking charisma and conviction, those qualities seemed to weigh less heavily on the international stage, where he was seen as a steady and dependable partner.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin issued a formal statement praising Starmer’s diplomatic efforts. “I want to acknowledge the significant role Keir played in resetting the Irish-British relationship as well as relations between the UK and the European Union during his time as prime minister,” Martin said.

Starmer continued the strong pro-Ukraine stance established by Conservative predecessors, including Boris Johnson, who threw Britain’s support behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy following Russia’s attack on Kyiv in 2022.

Zelenskiy personally thanked Starmer on X, saying he was grateful “for always being in touch, always engaged, and always striving to do what is needed.” He added that their conversations had always been “filled with real substance” and extended an open invitation: “Keir, you are always a welcome guest in Ukraine.”

A spokesperson for the German government described Starmer as “a reliable and close partner,” though German Chancellor Merz — himself dealing with record-low approval ratings and growing speculation about his political future — did not issue a personal statement.

The reaction from across the Atlantic was far less generous. U.S. President Donald Trump had actually announced Starmer’s departure a day before it was made official, and said the outgoing prime minister had “failed badly” on immigration and energy — two areas where Trump has sharply disagreed with British policy.

Russia, which views Britain as one of its chief adversaries largely due to its backing of Ukraine, went even further. A post on X from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev claimed responsibility for Starmer’s exit. “We did this jointly,” the post read, “by exposing Starmer’s warmongering and consistently wrong policies on immigration, crime, energy and economy.”

BERLIN (AP) — A German journalist whose fate had been a mystery for months following her detention in Syria is now free, according to her lawyer, who made the announcement Monday.

Eva Maria Michelmann walked out of a Damascus prison on Friday and made it back to Berlin that same day, her attorney Roland Meister confirmed in a written statement.

“She’s doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances,” Meister said, while cautioning that “this cautious wording is not an all-clear as to the physical and psychological consequences of her detention.”

The 36-year-old journalist, along with a Kurdish-Turkish colleague, was taken into custody by Syrian government forces back in January. The arrests came during the takeover of Raqqa, following military operations against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

For a period of time, no one knew where Michelmann was being held. It wasn’t until the Syrian government confirmed her detention that her situation became clearer. The Committee to Protect Journalists called for her release in April, and international pressure on her behalf continued to grow.

Her colleague, Kurdish-Turkish reporter Ahmet Polad, has not been released, and his current whereabouts remain unknown.

Meister called on authorities to immediately and unconditionally free Polad, and also demanded that doctors, lawyers, and his family be given unrestricted access to him.

Michelmann, who grew up in the western German city of Cologne, had been working as a reporter in Syria since 2022. She and Polad both worked for the Istanbul-based Etkin News Agency ETHA and Özgür TV, a broadcaster with operations across multiple European cities, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Her lawyer expressed gratitude toward staff at the German Foreign Ministry and the German embassies in Damascus and Beirut for their role in securing her release.

Martin Giese, a spokesperson for the German Foreign Office, told reporters: “The federal government is, of course, very relieved that Ms. Michelmann has been released. From the very first day we learned of her arrest, we have worked very, very hard to secure her release.”

Her family responded with great relief. Her brother, Antonius Michelmann, said: “I am immensely relieved that my sister is now free. This was only possible because of the tremendous solidarity shown to Eva and Ahmet and to both our families.”

He also made clear that the fight isn’t over: “It is now high time for Ahmet to be released as well.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is embarking on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East this week, visiting the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain from Tuesday through Thursday to make the case for the Trump administration’s preliminary agreement with Iran directly to Gulf Arab leaders.

While in Bahrain, Rubio is also scheduled to meet with the Gulf Cooperation Council — known as the GCC — a bloc of six Sunni-led monarchies that also includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed the trip on Monday.

Although GCC member nations have generally backed efforts to end the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, many of those same leaders are uneasy about the specifics of the memorandum of understanding that President Donald Trump signed last week.

A major sticking point for regional officials is a provision that could establish a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Tehran. Gulf leaders fear Iran would use that money to rebuild its military and continue bankrolling proxy groups throughout the region. Adding to their anxiety is the deal’s silence on Iran’s ballistic missile program — a particularly sensitive issue for nations that have faced Iranian missile and drone attacks in recent months.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar all host American military installations, which form the foundation of U.S. military presence in the Middle East. Any shift — even a minor one — in how those countries approach their security relationship with Washington could carry significant consequences for U.S. strategy in the region.

Rubio’s visit is part of a broader wave of Iran-focused diplomacy. Trump signed the Iran memorandum of understanding on Wednesday during a visit with French President Emmanuel Macron at Versailles. The agreement starts a 60-day countdown for the United States and Iran to finalize a more comprehensive deal.

Over the weekend, a U.S. negotiating team led by Vice President JD Vance participated in talks in Switzerland, facilitated by Qatari and Pakistani mediators. The first phase of those discussions wrapped up Monday, with technical-level negotiations set to continue throughout the week.

The specific schedule for Rubio’s stops in each country, along with the full list of officials he plans to meet, had not been released as of Monday. In his statement, Pigott said Rubio — who also serves as the White House national security advisor — would “discuss a range of regional priorities including the memorandum of understanding with Iran, efforts to secure full and free safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz, and the importance of peace and stability in the region.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted that Iran would have developed a nuclear weapon and deployed it against Israel had it not been for two recent military campaigns — but that claim is not backed by any publicly available evidence and contradicts findings from U.S. intelligence agencies and the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

Netanyahu has spent decades warning about the dangers of Iran’s disputed nuclear program, most notably during dramatic presentations at the United Nations. His rhetoric has intensified following a recent interim peace deal reached between the U.S. and Iran, and with Israeli elections scheduled later this year.

Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear activities are intended for peaceful purposes, even as it has enriched uranium to near-weapons-grade levels well beyond what civilian energy programs require. The United States and other nations say Iran operated a nuclear weapons program until 2003, when it was reportedly abandoned.

Even before the recent conflicts damaged Iran’s nuclear capabilities, the country was still months or years away from producing a functional atomic weapon — and there was no evidence it had made the decision to build one. Israel itself is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons.

Speaking Sunday at the JNS International Policy Summit, Netanyahu delivered remarks in English: “We have prevented Iran from carrying out a plan to annihilate us, and today they would have had a nuclear weapon, an atomic bomb to do so. Had we not acted in Operation Rising Lion and then in Operation Roaring Lion, Iran would have had atomic bombs. And let me tell you something, they would have used them.”

Iran and Israel have been bitter adversaries since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian leaders have repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction, while Netanyahu has made confronting Iran’s nuclear ambitions a defining mission since the 1990s, consistently warning that Tehran was on the verge of obtaining a bomb.

When U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement — a deal Netanyahu had long opposed — the United States reimposed and expanded severe economic sanctions on Iran that had been eased under the accord. Iran reacted by ramping up uranium enrichment to 60%, which is technically just one step below weapons-grade.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear oversight body, has pointed out that Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons that enriches uranium to that level. The IAEA’s director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has said Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium could potentially be used to construct as many as 10 nuclear bombs, if Iran chose to pursue that path.

Despite this, there is no publicly available evidence that Iran has maintained an active nuclear weapons program since 2003, when the IAEA, the U.S., and others say Tehran shut down the effort as U.S. forces invaded Iraq. IAEA inspections, though increasingly restricted in recent years, have not uncovered any evidence of a weapons program.

To produce a deployable weapon, Iran would need to enrich uranium to 90% purity, construct an actual bomb, and likely miniaturize it for use on a ballistic missile. That entire process would require months or years and would carry a significant risk of detection by Israeli or American intelligence.

A 2025 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which coordinates all U.S. intelligence agencies, stated plainly: “We continue to assess Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.”

Israel launched a 12-day military campaign against Iran in June 2025, known as Operation Rising Lion. During that conflict, the United States struck Iranian nuclear facilities, destroying centrifuges and halting uranium enrichment. That enrichment activity has not been known to resume, and the bombing is believed to have buried Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium underground. Iran has since prevented IAEA inspectors from accessing the bombed locations.

Following that conflict, Netanyahu boasted that Israel had sent Iran’s nuclear program “to oblivion.” The U.S. and Israel then carried out a surprise military operation on February 28, which Israel has named Operation Roaring Lion.

The initial strikes in that operation killed Iran’s longtime supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who held ultimate authority over the country’s nuclear decisions. Iranian diplomats say he had issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, prohibiting nuclear weapons.

His son and successor, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is believed to have been wounded in those strikes and has not made any public appearances since assuming leadership. He is regarded as a more hardline figure than his father and has not issued any statements regarding Iran’s nuclear intentions.

Some other Iranian officials have suggested the country should consider pursuing nuclear weapons if its survival is at stake.

MILAN (AP) — As the world grapples with economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, Milan’s fashion designers responded by stripping things down — at least in terms of silhouette, if not always in fabric choice.

During a sweltering Milan Fashion Week, designers largely opted for cleaner lines and simplified looks ahead of next summer’s season. Prada set the tone early, with co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons championing simplicity and familiar wardrobe staples reimagined through new proportions and fabrication choices.

That said, dressing for warm weather was far from simple on Milan’s runways. Leather and knitwear featured prominently in the Spring-Summer 2027 collections, raising the question of whether fashion’s elite will need air-conditioned spaces, mountain retreats, or cooler climates to pull off some of these looks.

The menswear collections, which concluded Monday, highlighted several key trends: a love of luxury materials, creative approaches to ventilation, and more relaxed tailoring — though a handful of designers threw restraint out the window entirely in favor of full-on glamour.

One of the season’s most unexpected themes was the staying power of leather. Prada drew inspiration from the everyday appeal of denim, creating slim five-pocket trousers paired with cropped, flat-pocketed jackets worn in place of shirts. Other houses used woven and perforated leather techniques to add breathability, even as the heat outside continued to rise.

After several seasons dominated by oversized, boxy fits, menswear appears to be moving back toward the body. Designers widely agreed that the well-dressed man still reaches for a suit — the question was simply how to make one wearable in the heat.

The answer, for many, was ventilation. Dress shirts were left unbuttoned, made sheer, or eliminated altogether. Long trousers stayed dominant, but cuts moved closer to the body. Dolce & Gabbana pushed this idea to the extreme with microshorts that put muscular legs on full display, while other brands left torsos uncovered.

Tailoring remained a cornerstone of the Milan collections, though it appeared in softer, more relaxed forms. Designers loosened construction, opened up necklines, and explored fabrics that allowed for better airflow. The overall effect was formal dressing adapted for a warming world.

The message was unmistakable: the suit isn’t disappearing, but it is evolving.

Not everyone got the memo on minimalism, however. Philipp Plein unveiled a crystal-covered denim outfit that requires days of painstaking handwork to produce. Dolce & Gabbana also leaned into decoration, incorporating beaded details reminiscent of coral.

Where Prada offered reduction, these designers delivered unapologetic excess and spectacle.

A less crowded Milan schedule gave newer designers room to shine alongside established powerhouses. Martin Quad made his Milan debut, bringing the inventive tailoring techniques that first earned him recognition in his home city of Copenhagen. Domenico Orefice presented a co-ed collection rooted in leather and richly textured woven fabrics.

Japanese designer Shinya Kozuka also made his Milan debut with what many considered one of the season’s most poetic and warm-weather-appropriate collections, highlighted by a bare-chested model in a flowing sheer teal coat styled over baggy white trousers.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday that he is resigning, making him the sixth leader in ten years to deliver a farewell address outside 10 Downing Street — a remarkable streak of political instability in the United Kingdom.

Starmer rode into office in 2024 on a sweeping Labour Party election victory, promising to bring order after years of Conservative-led turmoil, grow the economy, and deliver on a pledge to “rebuild Britain.” Less than two years into his tenure, his approval ratings collapsed and his government fell short of those ambitious goals, ultimately forcing him out.

Here is a look at how six prime ministers have cycled through Britain’s top office since 2016:

Cameron won a parliamentary majority in 2015, but resigned in June 2016 — the day after British voters chose to leave the European Union in a historic referendum that he had strongly opposed. Ironically, it was Cameron himself who called the referendum, hoping to put to rest long-running divisions within his party over Britain’s ties to Europe.

May governed from 2016 until May 2019, spending three largely unsuccessful years trying to steer Britain through its departure from the EU. She managed to reach a withdrawal agreement with the bloc, but her own Conservative colleagues repeatedly blocked it. Parliament rejected the deal three times — opposed by pro-EU lawmakers on one side and Brexit-hardliners on the other, who felt the agreement kept Britain too tightly linked to Europe. “I have done my best,” she said upon her exit.

Johnson, a polarizing and larger-than-life figure, guided Britain through its formal EU exit and led the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. But a mounting pile of ethics controversies ultimately ended his time in office. Accusations included being too cozy with party donors, shielding allies from misconduct allegations, and misleading Parliament about social gatherings held at government offices during pandemic lockdowns. After dozens of officials and close supporters walked away from his administration, Johnson had no choice but to go.

Truss holds the record as Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, stepping down in October 2022 after just six weeks on the job. She came in promising to shake up the economy with bold free-market reforms, but her sweeping tax cut plan triggered financial and political chaos, gutting her support within the Conservative Party almost immediately.

Sunak took over from Truss in 2022 after earning the backing of his Conservative colleagues. He pledged to bring down inflation, clear a massive backlog in the public healthcare system, and crack down on illegal migration. Despite those promises, he was unable to reverse his party’s sliding poll numbers, and in 2024 he led the Conservatives to their worst electoral defeat in two hundred years of party history.

Starmer arrived at Downing Street in 2024 as the first Labour prime minister in 14 years, promising to repair the economy, restore crumbling public services, and renew public confidence in government. But close to two years later, he acknowledged that members of his own party no longer believe he is “best placed to lead us into the next general election” — and announced he would step aside.

LONDON (AP) — Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of Northern Ireland’s largest unionist political party, was found guilty Monday of rape and sexual abuse charges stemming from crimes committed against two girls over the course of several decades.

The 63-year-old was convicted at Newry Crown Court on one count of rape, four counts of gross indecency, and 13 counts of indecent assault. The offenses involved two girls and took place between 1985 and 2008.

Donaldson’s arrest two years ago effectively ended his prominent political career, during which he had been one of the most recognizable voices in Northern Ireland advocating for maintaining close ties with the United Kingdom. Following his arrest, he stepped down as leader of the conservative Democratic Unionist Party, known as the DUP, and relinquished his seat in the U.K. Parliament.

During the trial, Donaldson took the stand over two days and denied every allegation brought against him. At times visibly emotional, he insisted he was “crystal clear” that he had not raped one of the girls when she was a child. “It just didn’t happen, I am absolutely crystal clear about that,” he testified. “It is not something I would ever have done, it is just simply not true.”

Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor Donaldson, was determined to have aided and abetted her husband by witnessing the abuse and failing to intervene. However, due to mental health concerns, she underwent only a fact-finding hearing, a process that does not allow for a criminal conviction.

The two victims, who testified that the abuse began when they were around primary school age, described being groped by Donaldson. The older of the two, referred to throughout the proceedings as Complainant B, stated that he raped her.

Complainant B also recalled a meeting that took place in the 1990s at a Christian center, where she had been staying while dealing with drug-related issues. She said that during that encounter, Donaldson apologized “for what had happened in the past.” Donaldson, however, claimed the apology was only for making her feel uncomfortable at the meeting itself.

In a separate written communication, Donaldson sent a letter to Complainant A in 2020 expressing regret for “hurt, pain and distress” he said he had caused. He maintained the letter had nothing to do with sexual abuse allegations and referred instead to other conduct. In the letter, he wrote, “I know how deep the wounds are caused by my sinful and selfish actions,” and expressed hope that God would “lift a sinner out of the deep pit of sin.”

BUDAPEST — Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar stood before parliament on Monday and announced that his government would pursue a constitutional amendment to remove the country’s president from office, while also unveiling a sweeping package of anti-corruption reforms.

Magyar told lawmakers that his administration would take wide-ranging economic, political, and legal steps to address corruption in Hungary, including the establishment of a new National Asset Protection and Recovery Office.

Magyar has labeled the reform package “Operation Purgatory.” Here are the key elements of the plan:

The government intends to amend 47 laws to build the legal framework for the new National Asset Protection and Recovery Office, which would investigate suspected misuse of public funds going back two decades.

Magyar claims that corruption has drained between 8% and 10% of Hungary’s gross domestic product in recent years.

A constitutional amendment would be used to remove President Tamas Sulyok from office. Magyar has accused Sulyok — described as one of Hungary’s least popular politicians — of helping to sustain the influence of right-wing former leader Viktor Orban. Sulyok has denied having any political agenda, saying he simply provided necessary checks and balances.

If Sulyok is removed, parliament would elect a new president to serve a term of up to five years.

Lawmaker Gergely Gulyas, a member of the previous ruling party Fidesz, sharply criticized Magyar’s address, calling it “slanderous and appalling.”

A wide-ranging constitutional review, including public consultations, is scheduled to begin in the fall. Any new constitution would be put to a public referendum.

Proposed legal changes would set a mandatory retirement age of 70 for judges on the Constitutional Court, which holds the power to block certain legislation. Under that rule, Orban ally Peter Polt would be required to step down as head judge.

Additional reforms would allow two-thirds of judges to initiate the removal of the heads of the Kuria — Hungary’s supreme court — and the National Judicial Office, provided two-thirds of lawmakers also approve.

The plan also calls for limiting lawmakers’ terms in office to a maximum of 12 years.

At least 15 people — most of them students — lost their lives Monday when a fire broke out at an animation training center in the city of Lucknow in northern India, according to authorities.

The blaze ignited in the Aliganj neighborhood of Lucknow, which serves as the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, according to local media reports.

Video footage from the scene showed uniformed personnel carrying bodies away from the building while onlookers gathered in the area.

Police said approximately 21 students were inside the facility when the fire started. Two of those students suffered serious injuries, while four others were reported to be in stable condition.

The facility provided animation training to its students, according to the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, who spoke with reporters at the scene. He said investigators are working to determine what caused the fire.

The deadly incident comes weeks after a hotel fire in Delhi on June 3 claimed the lives of more than 20 people, including roughly a dozen foreign nationals. That earlier tragedy had already sparked widespread concern about fire safety standards in India’s national capital.

Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party, was convicted Monday of historic sexual offenses committed against two women when they were children — marking one of the most high-profile criminal cases the British-run region has seen in recent memory.

A jury at Newry Crown Court found Donaldson guilty on one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault, and four counts of gross indecency. The offenses were committed against two victims at various times between 1985 and 2008. Donaldson had denied every charge brought against him.

At 63 years old, Donaldson was among the most recognizable political figures in Northern Ireland when authorities arrested and charged him in March 2024. He immediately resigned as head of the Democratic Unionist Party — a party founded by Protestant clergyman Ian Paisley during three decades of sectarian violence that came to an end with a peace agreement in 1998.

Donaldson held the distinction of being Northern Ireland’s longest-serving member of the British parliament, having first won election in 1997. Just two months before his arrest, he had negotiated an agreement with the British government over post-Brexit trade arrangements, which enabled the Democratic Unionist Party to end its boycott of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government.

In 2016, he was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth in recognition of his contributions to public service.

The same jury also determined that Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor, had aided and abetted her husband in the offenses. She too had denied the charges against her.

Last month, the court ruled Eleanor Donaldson unfit to stand trial because of mental health concerns, which meant she could not be found criminally guilty in the traditional sense. Instead, she faced what is known as a trial of the facts — a separate concurrent proceeding in which jurors were asked only to determine whether she committed the acts, not whether she was legally guilty or not guilty.

A devastating fire ripped through a commercial building in the northern Indian city of Lucknow on Monday, leaving at least 14 people dead — most of them students — according to officials.

The fire ignited in the Aliganj neighborhood. The building housed a pet shop and veterinary clinic on its lower levels, while a study center and an animation studio occupied the upper floors.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak confirmed that 14 bodies had been recovered from the scene. Officials also reported that at least 10 survivors were pulled from the building and transported to a hospital for medical care.

Investigators had not yet determined what caused the fire.

Videos circulating on social media captured people climbing out of shattered windows in a desperate attempt to escape the flames. One clip appeared to show a man plunging from an upper floor during his escape attempt. Local media outlets reported that he survived and was taken to the hospital.

Firefighters were forced to break through a rear wall to gain entry to the building after thick smoke blocked their access. Officials said exhaust fans were deployed to help clear the smoke while emergency crews methodically searched rooms and restrooms for anyone still trapped inside.

Mohammad Asin, who worked at the animation studio, described the terrifying moments after the fire broke out. He and his coworkers had just come back from their lunch break when they were warned about the fire.

“At first we thought it was a small fire. By the time we tried to leave, smoke had filled the rooms and passageways,” he said.

Fatal fires occur with troubling frequency across India, where building codes and safety regulations are routinely ignored by both developers and occupants.

CAIRO — Libyan warlord Ossama Anjiem, better known as Ossama al-Masri, has been found guilty of human rights abuses carried out at a detention center in western Libya, authorities announced Sunday.

Al-Masri, who headed the Tripoli branch of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution, received a sentence of seven years and four months behind bars. Libya’s attorney general’s office stated he was convicted of “violating the rights of inmates” who came forward with accounts of “torture, cruelty and degrading treatment.”

The detention center where the abuses reportedly occurred is one of several facilities operated by the government-backed Special Defense Force, or SDF — a military police unit charged with addressing crimes including kidnappings, murders, and illegal migration. Despite that mandate, the SDF has been linked to serious atrocities during Libya’s ongoing civil war. The institution did not respond when asked for comment.

Back in January 2025, the International Criminal Court had issued an arrest warrant for al-Masri, alleging “crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence, allegedly committed in Libya from February 2015 onwards.”

Al-Masri was taken into custody in Turin after arriving in Italy from Germany to attend a soccer match — the day after he crossed into the country. Italy, however, set him free on a technicality and then expelled him back to Libya, a move that infuriated human rights advocates and triggered an ICC investigation into why Italy chose not to transfer him to The Hague.

Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio defended the release at the time, arguing that the ICC’s arrest warrant was contradictory and legally flawed.

In addition to the prison term handed down Sunday, the Tripoli Criminal Court ordered that al-Masri be stripped of his legal capacity and civil rights for the duration of his sentence and for one additional year following his release.

Libya has been mired in instability since a NATO-backed revolt overthrew and killed longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Since then, rival governments — one in the country’s east and one in the west — have competed for control, each supported by various armed factions and foreign powers.

At present, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah leads the internationally recognized government based in Tripoli in the west, while Prime Minister Ossama Hammad governs the eastern administration. Military commander Khalifa Hifter, who leads the Libyan National Army, also holds significant influence in the east.

Libya continues to serve as a key transit route for migrants from across Africa and the Middle East who risk dangerous sea crossings in hopes of reaching Europe, fleeing conflict and economic hardship.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer admitted Monday that he no longer has the backing of his own Labour Party members in Parliament, announcing he will leave office once a new party leader is selected — potentially as early as mid-July.

The announcement was set in motion by Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, whose overwhelming win in a special U.K. by-election last Thursday triggered Starmer’s departure. Burnham has since confirmed he intends to run for the Labour leadership.

Burnham is widely viewed as the leading candidate to take over, largely because his Thursday victory in the Makerfield constituency in northwest England was so commanding that it demonstrated broad appeal across the political spectrum.

Even as Labour struggled with poor poll numbers and significant losses in local elections back in May, Burnham bucked the trend. He fended off the candidate from the anti-immigration Reform UK party and pulled in votes from other left-leaning parties as well, pushing Labour’s share of the vote to nearly 55%. Analysts say a similar performance nationally in the next general election would likely keep Labour in power.

While Starmer did not refer to Burnham by name in his resignation statement delivered outside the prime minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street, he acknowledged “with good grace” that he was not the right person to lead Labour into the next national election.

That next general election does not need to take place until 2029. Under British political rules, parties are permitted to change leaders during a term without triggering a general election.

Here is a look at how the coming weeks could play out:

Burnham, who is 56 years old, arrived in London on Monday and was sworn in as a member of Parliament — his return to the role after nearly ten years away, during which he served as the popular mayor of Greater Manchester.

Shortly after Starmer made his statement, Burnham confirmed he would seek the Labour leadership. He described Starmer’s exit as the start of a transition period and stressed the importance of handling it responsibly. “The country expects stability, seriousness and a continued focus on the issues that matter most and that is what it will get,” Burnham stated.

Starmer said he will remain in his role as prime minister until a successor is in place. He indicated that Labour’s national executive committee will open the nomination process on July 9.

If Burnham turns out to be the only candidate, he could be confirmed as party leader within a week or two after that. However, a contested race would likely push the outcome into September.

Burnham has already gained the support of Wes Streeting, who stepped down as health secretary last month and had previously suggested he might run himself. Streeting threw his support behind Burnham, saying “he can win the fight of our lives against the forces of nationalism” — a reference to the anti-immigration Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage, which has surpassed Labour in opinion polls since the July 2024 general election. “We could spend the summer exaggerating small differences, or we can roll up our sleeves and help him to deliver the change our party and our country needs,” Streeting added.

Other potential candidates have not yet responded publicly to Starmer’s announcement. Those names include Starmer’s former deputy Angela Rayner, who stepped down last September over an unpaid property tax issue, and Al Carns, who resigned last week from his position as armed forces minister over disagreements with Starmer’s defense funding plans.

Many within Labour are hoping no one challenges Burnham, which would allow him to move into 10 Downing Street before the party’s autumn conference. Burnham himself was noncommittal when asked whether he would prefer an uncontested path to the leadership as he boarded a train from Manchester to London.

To enter the leadership race, candidates must secure support from at least one-fifth of Labour’s House of Commons lawmakers — that equals 81 members. Candidates who clear that bar must then win backing from either 5% of local constituency parties or at least three party affiliates, such as trade unions and cooperative societies.

Eligible party members and affiliates would then cast ranked-choice votes, with the winner being the first candidate to surpass 50% support. King Charles III would then formally invite the winner to become prime minister and form a new government.

PRAGUE (AP) — Employees at Czech public radio, including journalists and other staff members, formed a human chain around the broadcaster’s Prague headquarters on Monday as part of a 24-hour warning strike aimed at pushing back against a government proposal to restructure how public media is funded.

The proposal, put forward by the government of populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, has sparked widespread concern about the potential erosion of media independence in the country.

Under the plan, which the government approved last week, public radio and television would no longer be supported through fees collected from individuals, households, and businesses. Instead, both broadcasters would receive their funding directly from the state budget beginning next year.

Opponents of the change argue it would hand the three-party coalition government significant leverage over public media outlets. They point to similar situations in neighboring countries, drawing comparisons to the influence populist governments have exerted over media in Slovakia under Prime Minister Robert Fico and in Hungary under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The financial impact would also be considerable. According to the proposal, public broadcasters would see their funding cut by roughly 15% this year. The heads of both public radio and television warned that such a reduction would force them to lay off hundreds of employees, scale back production, and cancel programming.

Protesters dressed in black as they stood shoulder to shoulder outside the radio station’s building, symbolically forming a barrier to defend its independence. Some broadcasts were delayed by a minute during the action, and the station’s online and social media activity was scaled back as part of the demonstration.

Strike organizers indicated that additional actions are being planned, though they did not provide specific details about what those next steps might involve.

A Russian drone strike targeting the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine has killed three people from the same family, including a teenage boy, a regional official announced Monday.

According to Oleh Hryhorov, the head of the regional military administration, the attack struck a residential home and claimed the lives of a 36-year-old man, his 13-year-old son, and a 73-year-old woman who was the mother of the man’s partner. The man’s partner and their 10-year-old son survived but were wounded in the attack.

Russia has relentlessly targeted civilian areas across Ukraine with drones and missiles since launching its full-scale invasion more than four years ago. The United Nations reports that more than 16,000 civilians have died in the conflict, and U.S.-led peace negotiations have so far been unable to halt the fighting.

The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reports that civilian casualties have been rising sharply in recent weeks as Russian forces struggle to make meaningful gains on the battlefield. In May alone, at least 274 civilians were killed and 1,763 were injured — the highest monthly death toll since April 2022. The monitoring mission noted that most of those casualties occurred in cities located far from the front lines.

In a separate overnight attack, a Russian drone strike on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed one woman and left three others injured, including an 11-year-old boy, according to regional head Ivan Fedorov.

Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched a total of 88 long-range attack drones and one ballistic missile overnight. Air defense systems managed to shoot down or electronically jam 79 of those drones.

Ukraine also launched a significant drone campaign of its own, with Russia’s Defense Ministry reporting that its forces intercepted 301 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimea peninsula, and over the Azov and Black seas.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that 84 Ukrainian drones aimed at the Russian capital were brought down. He did not address whether any damage occurred, but all four of Moscow’s airports temporarily suspended flights following the attack. Residential buildings in Russia’s Vladimir region, east of Moscow, and the Tula region to the south were also evacuated as a precaution, local Russian authorities reported.

Last month, a commander from Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group known as Ali Rizkallah arrived in the capital city of Khartoum, was outfitted in a military uniform, and assigned a rank within the very armed forces he had been battling for roughly three years.

The military-backed government celebrated his switch of sides — the most recent in a string of high-profile defections that have been shifting Sudan’s wartime alliances and strengthening the army’s position in one of the most devastating conflicts of this century.

However, the sight of Rizkallah and other former RSF figures walking freely and holding press conferences has provoked deep anger among many people who fear these men will never face justice for crimes allegedly committed under their command.

“These RSF soldiers, even if they seek God’s forgiveness, I can’t forgive them because of what I saw face to face,” said Halima Ismail, a woman living in western Darfur, in an interview with Reuters. She described how forces under Rizkallah’s command fired weapons into the air during a 2024 attack on a village where she had taken shelter.

Sudan’s civil war is estimated to have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, uprooted millions of people, and triggered widespread famine and disease since the RSF and the army turned against each other and began fighting in April 2023.

Some of the most severe violence has taken place in Darfur, the RSF’s stronghold where Rizkallah — commonly referred to by his nickname “al-Savannah” — served as a military commander. The RSF faced accusations of committing atrocities during its assault on the city of al-Fashir last October, which was the subject of a Reuters documentary.

Another senior commander from North Darfur, al-Nour Guba, also crossed over to the military side in April. Speaking to Reuters, Guba rejected the notion that he defected to avoid legal consequences, and stated that any former RSF commanders who carried out crimes should be brought to justice.

“If anyone from the Sudanese people has anything against us, I swear we are ready,” he said.

Rizkallah, who did not respond to requests for comment, has previously stated publicly that he would turn himself in if formally accused of wrongdoing. Neither Sudan’s military-affiliated government nor the RSF — which has denied committing atrocities in Darfur — responded to requests for comment.

Ismail, now taking refuge in the Darfur village of Tawila, said she had been forced to flee her home multiple times as RSF fighters raided communities surrounding al-Fashir. She recounted witnessing women being raped and said she herself was whipped by RSF fighters.

“You can see the scars on my arms, all the way down my legs,” she said.

In the neighboring Kordofan region, resentment runs equally deep. A merchant in the town of al-Nuhud told Reuters he intends to file a private lawsuit against Rizkallah under Sudan’s sharia law framework, alleging that one of Rizkallah’s units looted peanuts and gum arabic from his storage facilities.

“What happened is the responsibility of Savannah, the RSF, and the army that did not protect us,” said the trader, who spoke anonymously out of concern for his personal safety.

Mohamed Salaheldin, a member of the executive board of Emergency Lawyers, an activist organization, said such individual lawsuits were unlikely to move forward given the chaos of wartime. “This issue can’t be dealt with piecemeal — it needs transitional justice,” he said.

This stands in stark contrast to 243 cases tracked by Emergency Lawyers that have gone to trial against individuals accused of collaborating with the RSF, on charges that include providing intelligence and cooking meals for RSF fighters during their occupation of various areas.

Analysts say the army is deliberately encouraging these defections to exploit ethnic divisions within the RSF. Emadeddin Badi, a senior fellow at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, explained that many top RSF commanders belong to the Arab Rizeigat tribe, which has experienced growing internal tensions between its clans — particularly after an RSF raid earlier this year on the hometown of army-aligned figure Musa Hilal.

Hilal is a member of the Mahamid clan, as is Rizkallah. In his Reuters interview, Guba pointed to these internal dynamics, describing the RSF as being “based on a racist, tribal” structure that primarily served the interests of RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

The army is hoping that these internal fractures could produce results similar to what happened in the central state of El Gezira, where the defection of militia commander Abuagla Keikal — who had been aligned with the RSF — helped turn the tide of battle in 2024, according to Badi.

“There’s a military rationale, but the social repercussions are probably underappreciated by the armed forces,” he added.

BERLIN — The German government announced Monday that it plans to acquire a 40% ownership stake in defense contractor KNDS, a company whose military hardware includes Leopard and Leclerc tanks, as part of a broader effort to bolster European defense production alongside NATO partner France.

France’s government already holds a 50% share in KNDS, a company created in 2015 through the merger of Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and France’s Nexter. The remaining ownership is held by the German family connected to Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.

KNDS, which is based in Amsterdam, reported revenues of 4.4 billion euros — roughly $5 billion — last year and employs more than 11,000 people worldwide.

European nations have been working to increase defense spending, ramp up weapons production, and grow their military forces in response to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and growing uncertainty about the reliability of the United States as an ally.

In a statement, the German government said its planned investment “will secure long-term influence on a company that is strategically significant for European security and defense capability.” It added that the move will also strengthen “national industrial value creation, as well as technological sovereignty and the protection of security interests and key technologies in Germany.”

A joint statement released by both governments said France and Germany have reached an agreement on how KNDS will be managed and governed, noting that both countries “intend to become joint shareholders through transactions aiming at equal shareholding levels for both countries.”

The statement did not provide a specific timeline for when the transactions would be completed or what the final ownership percentages would be. However, it indicated the agreement could open the door for a potential initial public offering of KNDS in the near future.

Together, the two governments said their deal “reflects the shared determination of France and Germany to strengthen Europe’s industrial and defense capabilities, support their armed forces, and strengthen European sovereignty over the long term.”

In addition to tanks, KNDS manufactures Puma infantry fighting vehicles, as well as Boxer and Dingo armored personnel carriers.

LONDON (AP) — When Keir Starmer was elected Britain’s prime minister, voters saw him as a steady, reliable figure who could put an end to years of turmoil under Conservative leadership. He was seen as dependable rather than dazzling — exactly what many thought the country needed.

But his time in office is now coming to a close in under two years, brought down by a string of political blunders, divisions within his own party, and one catastrophic appointment that drew him into the orbit of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal — a man Starmer had never personally met and whose crimes he had no part in.

On Monday, Starmer delivered an emotional announcement that he is stepping away from the leadership of the governing Labour Party. He will remain as a caretaker prime minister while the party selects a new leader in the weeks ahead.

“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,” he said. “I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.”

Rob Ford, a political science professor at the University of Manchester, noted that Starmer’s appeal had been built on a promise of “no more soap opera politics.” But Ford said the government turned out to be “the antithesis of what he said he was going to be about, and it’s very hard to survive that.”

The breaking point came when Labour suffered a crushing defeat in a midterm round of local and regional elections on May 7. That loss set off a wave of government resignations and internal challenges that appear poised to bring former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham into 10 Downing Street.

The fall from grace is dramatic when measured against where Starmer stood on July 4, 2024, when he led the center-left Labour Party back to power after 14 years in opposition, capturing 411 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons.

The day after that victory, standing outside the prime minister’s official residence, Starmer vowed to restore “respect to politics” and build a government rooted in “public service.” After the turbulence of the final years of Conservative rule — which saw scandals and the rapid removal of prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss — Starmer pledged to dial back the drama and make governing more routine.

Some of the seeds of his downfall were planted in the nature of his victory itself. Despite Labour’s commanding majority in Parliament, the party had only earned the support of 34% of voters, with many of those votes appearing to reflect frustration with the Conservatives rather than genuine enthusiasm for Labour.

That lukewarm foundation was further weakened by a succession of stumbles. Early controversy over accepting gifts — including designer eyeglasses and tickets to a Taylor Swift concert — was followed by a series of policy reversals, most notably awkward efforts to reduce welfare spending that sparked outrage among Labour members.

What ultimately ended his tenure, however, was his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United States.

Mandelson was viewed as well-suited to help Britain manage relations during U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term. His background in trade and his ease among the wealthy were seen as valuable credentials, and he helped negotiate a trade agreement that shielded Britain from some of the tariffs Trump had imposed globally.

But the appointment turned disastrous. Mandelson had referred to himself as Epstein’s “best pal” back in 2003, and in September 2025, documents surfaced revealing just how deep that connection ran. Starmer dismissed Mandelson from the post, but additional revelations in the months that followed sent his leadership into a tailspin.

Ford noted that because Starmer came to politics in his 50s following a distinguished legal career, he lacked the “political radar” needed to detect potential pitfalls before they became crises.

That legal career had been a distinguished one — Starmer rose to become chief prosecutor for England and Wales, handling cases involving terrorism, organized crime, and other serious matters. He was knighted for his leadership of the Crown Prosecution Service, and political opponents used his title, Sir Keir Starmer, to portray him as out of touch — an elite “lefty London lawyer.”

That characterization persisted even though Starmer’s background was far from privileged. The son of a toolmaker — a fact he frequently referenced in speeches — he has a passion for soccer and still plays the sport at age 63. He enjoys watching his favorite team, Arsenal, over a beer at his local pub. He and his wife Victoria, who works in occupational health, have two teenage children they have worked hard to keep away from public scrutiny.

Starmer first won a seat in Parliament in 2015 and was chosen to lead and rebuild Labour five years later, following the party’s worst election performance since 1935. He took over from veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn, who had steered Labour to defeats in both 2017 and 2019. Starmer moved the party toward the political center, abandoned some of his predecessor’s more left-leaning positions, and issued an apology for antisemitism that an internal investigation found had been allowed to take hold under Corbyn.

His sharp, prosecutorial style served him well in Parliament, where he relentlessly challenged the three Conservative prime ministers he faced. He was particularly cutting in his attacks on Boris Johnson over the parties held inside Downing Street during the COVID-19 pandemic, in clear violation of the nation’s own lockdown rules.

Yet the role of prime minister demands a different kind of skill, and Starmer frequently came up short domestically, lacking the adaptability and political instincts the position requires.

He appeared far more at ease on the world stage — particularly in rallying European backing for Ukraine in its war against Russia and in working to contain the fallout from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

That conflict created tension between Starmer and Trump, with whom he had initially built a cordial relationship despite their very different political outlooks.

“He’s liberal, which is a bit different from me, but I think he’s a very good person and I think he’s done a very good job thus far,” Trump said in January.

Starmer initially avoided public criticism of Trump, but began speaking out more forcefully after the U.S. president made threats regarding Greenland. His criticism sharpened further once the Iran conflict began, and by March, Trump was dismissing him as “not Winston Churchill” and taking jabs at the Royal Navy.

Starmer’s choice to keep Britain largely out of the Iran conflict was well-received by the British public, but it did nothing to reverse his party’s declining poll numbers.

Many Labour members of Parliament, elected with relatively narrow margins in their districts, grew increasingly nervous as the party’s standing in polls continued to fall. Starmer’s personal approval rating sank to among the lowest ever recorded for a sitting prime minister.

For much of the Labour caucus, the Mandelson-Epstein revelations were the last straw, exposing what they saw as a serious lapse in Starmer’s judgment.

Significant anger arose over the fact that Mandelson had been placed in such a sensitive, high-visibility role at all. Starmer removed him after a first set of emails published in September showed Mandelson had maintained a friendship with Epstein even after the late financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor.

Then, emails released in January 2026 indicated that Mandelson had also shared sensitive government information — information that could potentially affect financial markets — with the disgraced financier in 2009, while serving as a member of the Labour Cabinet.

Mandelson has since been arrested and questioned by police on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has not been charged, and faces no allegations of sexual misconduct.

Making matters worse was the disclosure that Mandelson had been appointed despite failing security screening required for the ambassador position. Starmer’s apologies and his claims that he had been unaware of the failed vetting process found fewer and fewer sympathetic ears.

In the House of Commons on April 28, Labour lawmaker Emma Lewell said she felt “let down, disappointed and angry,” describing Mandelson’s appointment as “a fundamental failure of judgment.”

Following Labour’s drubbing at the polls in May’s local and regional elections, the party moved quickly. A Labour lawmaker in Greater Manchester stepped aside to allow Burnham to run for a parliamentary seat. Burnham won by a wide margin and described the moment as a “turning point” for British politics. Within days, Starmer announced he would be stepping down.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stepped down as head of the governing Labour Party on Monday, potentially making him the sixth leader in a decade to leave office ahead of schedule — and clearing the path for the United Kingdom’s seventh prime minister in just over ten years.

Starmer announced he will not immediately vacate 10 Downing Street, instead staying on as caretaker prime minister while Labour selects a new leader. He said nominations will open on July 9 and close when Parliament begins its summer recess, currently set to start July 16. Even if a leadership contest develops, Starmer said a successor would be in place by September 1.

In his remarks outside Downing Street, an emotional Starmer reflected on his time in office and explained his decision.

“Walking up this street two years ago was the proudest moment of my life. A new Labour government. The first in 14 years. A page in our country’s history turned after years of disappointment and despair. … The chance to change the lives of millions of people for the better. That’s what I came into politics for,” he said.

Starmer acknowledged the pressure he faced from within his own party, saying: “The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question. And I accept that answer with good grace.”

He added: “Every decision I’ve taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party. I have spoken to His Majesty the King this morning to inform him of my decision. I will remain in post as Prime Minister until the contest is complete. And I will do everything I can to ensure an orderly handover of power.”

His voice noticeably broke with emotion toward the end of the brief address. As he began speaking, protesters nearby played Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” — the anthem of the European Union.

Former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is widely seen as the leading candidate to take over. Burnham, who until last week served as Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, won a special parliamentary election and was set to be sworn in as a member of Parliament on Monday. He has since confirmed he will run for the Labour leadership.

Another prominent contender, Wes Streeting, announced he would throw his support behind Burnham — a move that could allow Burnham to secure the leadership without a formal contest.

Starmer won a sweeping general election victory in July 2024 but saw his popularity and that of his party fall sharply during his two years in office, amid a series of political missteps that eroded public confidence.

International leaders offered reactions to the news. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Starmer’s record, writing on X: “It can take many leaders years to grow into the statesman you became in just two years. European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you. Thank you, dear Keir.”

A spokesperson for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described Starmer as “a reliable and close partner in foreign policy questions, particularly regarding Ukraine,” while declining to weigh in on the “internal motives in Britain.” The spokesperson added that a planned Wednesday meeting in Berlin of the so-called “E5” nations — Germany, France, Britain, Italy, and Poland — is expected to proceed as scheduled. That gathering is part of preparations for the upcoming NATO summit.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said whoever succeeds Starmer must address deeper problems in British governance. “The British people are sick of being let down by an endless merry-go-round of prime ministers while nothing really changes for them,” Davey said. “This time must be different. It can’t just be about changing who’s in No. 10, it has to be about changing our broken politics so we can fix our country.”

Green Party leader Zack Polanski also called for significant change, saying the UK needs a “bold change of direction.” Referring to Burnham, Polanski warned: “The time for half measures and sticking plasters is long gone — if he becomes the next PM, Burnham must be bold or he will be bust.”

Starmer’s departure continues a turbulent stretch for British leadership. He had succeeded Rishi Sunak, who held the office from 2022 to 2024. Before Sunak, Liz Truss served only 45 days. Truss followed three other Conservative prime ministers: Boris Johnson (2019–2022), Theresa May (2016–2019), and David Cameron (2010–2016).

Starmer delivered his resignation speech at a lectern bearing the royal coat of arms — a crest featuring a lion and a unicorn that has been part of British royal symbolism since the 17th century. The lion, though never native to England, is its national animal. The unicorn, though mythical, is Scotland’s official animal. The two were united on the crest in 1603 when King James I took the English throne, having already ruled Scotland as King James VI.

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s former justice minister has been handed a 25-year prison sentence after a court determined he played a key part in helping ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol carry out a brief but dramatic declaration of martial law in 2024.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Park Sung-jae was deeply involved in Yoon’s attempt to consolidate power following the martial law declaration on December 3, 2024. According to the court, Park directed ministry officials to evaluate how many people correctional facilities could hold in preparation for detaining politicians.

The court also found that Park instructed officials to look into deploying prosecutors to Yoon’s martial law command to assist with potential investigations targeting political opponents. Those investigations would have been tied to Yoon’s unverified allegations of election fraud by liberal political figures. Park additionally ordered immigration officials to be ready to enforce travel restrictions, the court stated.

Yoon’s martial law decree came after years of political conflict with liberals who controlled the legislature. The measure lasted only about six hours before lawmakers managed to push past a military blockade Yoon had set up around the National Assembly and voted to cancel it, compelling Yoon’s Cabinet to rescind the order.

Judge Lee Jin-gwan said Park had abandoned his constitutional duty by participating in what the judge called a “self-coup” — an attempt by a sitting leader to seize unchecked power. The judge noted that Park’s contributions would have been pivotal if Yoon had succeeded in neutralizing his political rivals and blocking the legislature from overturning the martial law declaration.

Park maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings, arguing he was simply carrying out obligations required during a national emergency. His legal team did not immediately indicate whether they plan to file an appeal.

Yoon himself was impeached and removed from office on December 14, 2024, and the Constitutional Court formally ousted him in April 2025. He was arrested in July 2025, and several criminal cases against him remain active. The Seoul court previously sentenced Yoon to life in prison on rebellion charges. In a separate case, he received a 30-year sentence for allegedly ordering drone flights over Pyongyang in October 2024, which prosecutors say was intended to stoke tensions with North Korea and provide justification for declaring martial law. Yoon has appealed both convictions.

Park joins a growing list of former Cabinet members sentenced to prison for their roles in the martial law episode. Former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun received a 30-year sentence for his central role in mobilizing the military and pursuing arrests of political opponents, along with a separate 30-year term connected to the Pyongyang drone flights. Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was initially sentenced to 23 years for helping lend official legitimacy to Yoon’s decree by pushing it through a formal Cabinet approval process, though an appeals court later reduced that sentence to 15 years.

LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday that he would be stepping down, positioning the United Kingdom to welcome its seventh head of government in just ten years.

The roots of this prolonged political turbulence stretch back to the Brexit referendum, which fell exactly ten years prior on Tuesday. In the years following that historic vote, Britain has worked to chart an independent course but has found it difficult to stimulate a sluggish economy burdened by significant debt, an expanding welfare bill, and an increasingly unstable global landscape.

JUNE 2016: BREXIT VOTE SHOCKS THE WORLD, CAMERON STEPS DOWN

British voters delivered a stunning result by choosing to leave the European Union by a margin of 52% to 48%, ending a membership spanning more than four decades and triggering the country’s gravest political crisis since World War Two. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron announced his departure, and the party selected Theresa May to take his place.

JUNE 2017: SNAP ELECTION GAMBLE FAILS

With strong poll numbers and a desire for a larger parliamentary majority to advance Brexit legislation, May called a surprise election. The move backfired — the Conservatives lost their majority and were forced to enter into an agreement with Northern Ireland’s pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party to hold onto power.

MAY 2019: PARLIAMENTARY GRIDLOCK ENDS MAY’S TENURE, JOHNSON STEPS IN

Unable to break a parliamentary stalemate over the terms of Britain’s EU departure, May resigned. Boris Johnson, a prominent figure in the pro-Brexit movement, won the internal Conservative Party vote to become the new prime minister.

DECEMBER 2019: CONSERVATIVES WIN BIG UNDER JOHNSON

With parliament still deadlocked over Brexit, Johnson called another snap election. Running on the straightforward slogan “Get Brexit Done,” he led the Conservatives to their most decisive election victory since Margaret Thatcher’s landslide win in 1987.

JANUARY 2020: BRITAIN EXITS THE EU

Armed with a fresh mandate, Johnson pushed a Brexit agreement through parliament and finalized terms with Brussels. On January 31, 2020, Britain officially left the European Union, becoming the first nation ever to withdraw from the bloc.

JULY 2022: JOHNSON FORCED OUT

Johnson steered Britain through the COVID-19 pandemic — even spending time hospitalized with the illness himself — but an accumulation of scandals and poor decisions eventually caught up with him. A revolt among his own ministers led to his resignation.

SEPTEMBER 2022: TRUSS ENTERS AND EXITS IN RECORD TIME

Liz Truss defeated Rishi Sunak in the race to replace Johnson. Her so-called “mini-budget,” which included unfunded tax cuts, rattled financial markets and sent borrowing costs soaring, severely damaging Britain’s standing for fiscal and political reliability. She lasted just 44 days before announcing she would resign.

OCTOBER 2022: SUNAK TAKES THE HELM

Sunak became Britain’s third prime minister within a single calendar year, vowing to bring stability back to government. He outlined five core pledges centered on the economy, curbing illegal immigration, and fixing the health system. In February 2023, he reached an agreement with the EU on trade arrangements for Northern Ireland, helping to ease tensions with the bloc.

MAY 2024: SUNAK CALLS AN ELECTION

With Labour holding roughly a 20-point lead in opinion polls, Sunak announced a general election for July 4.

JULY 2024: STARMER WINS POWER

On July 5, 2024, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer addressed supporters following a landslide election victory. “We said we would end the chaos and we will,” he declared — though the win came with the smallest share of the electoral vote of any majority government in modern history.

AUGUST 2024: STARMER SOUNDS THE ALARM ON FINANCES

Starmer raised concerns about the country’s financial condition, describing what Labour had inherited as “an economic black hole” and cautioning voters that “things will get worse before they get better.”

OCTOBER 2024: LABOUR DELIVERS ITS FIRST BUDGET

Finance minister Rachel Reeves unveiled tax increases totaling £40 billion — roughly $52.76 billion — per year, largely driven by higher employer social security contributions. The move pushed Britain’s peacetime tax burden to its highest recorded level and drew sharp criticism from the business community.

FEBRUARY 2025: REFORM UK SURGES IN THE POLLS

For the first time, the right-wing, anti-immigration party Reform UK pulled ahead of Labour in a national opinion poll. The party, headed by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, has continued to lead in polls ever since.

JUNE 2025: STARMER REVERSES WELFARE CUTS UNDER PRESSURE

Facing the prospect of a defeat in parliament at the hands of his own lawmakers, Starmer was compelled to abandon plans to reduce Britain’s welfare expenditures.

SEPTEMBER–APRIL 2025: AMBASSADOR APPOINTMENT SPARKS CONTROVERSY

Scrutiny intensified over Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington. Mandelson was eventually dismissed due to his connections to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, raising doubts about Starmer’s judgment and the thoroughness of the vetting process.

MAY 2026: LOCAL ELECTIONS DELIVER A BLOW TO LABOUR

Labour suffered significant defeats in English local elections and in votes for the Scottish and Welsh assemblies, fueling further doubts about Starmer’s leadership. Reform UK emerged as the primary winner from Labour’s losses.

MAY 2026: HEALTH MINISTER STEPS DOWN

Health Minister Wes Streeting resigned, stating he had lost faith in Starmer’s ability to lead. He called for a leadership contest and indicated he intended to put his name forward as a candidate.

JUNE 2026: DEFENCE MINISTER ALSO QUITS

Defence Minister John Healey departed after a months-long disagreement over military spending, accusing Starmer of refusing to commit sufficient funds to protect the country against growing threats.

JUNE 2026: BURNHAM VICTORY CLEARS PATH FOR LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham secured a victory in an election in northern England, soundly defeating Reform UK in the process. His return to Westminster eliminated a significant barrier to a potential leadership challenge against Starmer.

BRUSSELS — China’s top environment official delivered a firm message Monday: the worldwide effort to combat climate change will not be derailed simply because some countries choose to step away.

“The multilateral process will not stop or even slow down because of the absence of individual countries,” said Chinese environment minister Huang Runqiu, addressing a gathering of nations convened to discuss climate action.

The meeting, held in Brussels, was jointly organized by China, the European Union, and Canada. Representatives from Japan, Australia, and South Africa were among those who also attended.

The remarks come after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement in January — the international treaty widely considered the cornerstone of global climate policy. The U.S. is the world’s largest economy.

This marks the second time the U.S. has exited the Paris accord. Trump also withdrew during his first term in office back in 2017. Notably, no other nation has followed the United States in leaving the treaty.

Keir Starmer was once celebrated as the pragmatic, steady leader Britain needed after years of political turmoil. But when he announced his resignation as prime minister on Monday, it was that same absence of strong ideology — the very quality that had helped carry him to power — that many blamed for his fall.

Starmer led the Labour Party to a historic parliamentary majority in 2024, the largest in Britain’s modern era. Yet rather than laying out a bold vision for the country’s future, he focused narrowly on what he thought was achievable. That approach quickly wore thin.

More than 20 Labour insiders said voters and party members alike came to view him as someone without conviction or direction. One senior Labour lawmaker described the absence of “a guiding light” in his leadership. Without it, the former lawyer found himself pulled in different directions by competing factions within his own party, pressured by outside interests, and unable to connect with a skeptical public that grew to resent what many saw as indecision and stiff, robotic public appearances.

His tenure was marked by policies that fell apart, a revolving door of resignations and firings among his staff, and a communications team that struggled to craft any coherent story about what his government actually stood for.

As pressure mounted, the 63-year-old prime minister increasingly leaned on his wife Victoria for guidance. On May 12 — five days after a crushing set of local election results triggered calls for him to step aside — he had a long lunch with her and came away resolved to continue fighting. But a weekend retreat at the prime minister’s official country residence at Chequers with Victoria appeared to be the turning point that convinced him to accept the inevitable and step down.

Standing outside his Downing Street residence, Starmer pledged to ensure a smooth handover of power to the next Labour leader, widely expected to be Andy Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor.

“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,” he said in an emotional address, his voice breaking as he thanked his family for their support. “I have heard the answer from my parliamentary party to that question and I accept that answer with good grace.”

By the time he resigned, Starmer had become deeply unpopular with voters, weighed down by broken campaign promises and repeated policy reversals. Even some of his most trusted cabinet allies had privately begun urging him to step aside rather than drag the party through a damaging leadership battle. His earlier vows to fight on quickly gave way once most of the party concluded they could not head into the next national election, due in 2029, with him leading the charge.

Burnham had recently won a parliamentary seat in northwestern England and was being hailed as a “Reform slayer” — someone with a real shot at holding back the populist movement led by veteran Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage.

Fear of Farage’s growing influence was a driving force behind the push to remove Starmer. Lawmaker Catherine West, who broke ranks during the May 9-10 weekend to pressure others into mounting a challenge against the prime minister, put it bluntly: “I would do anything to stop Farage.”

Starmer’s political journey had been remarkable in its own right. He became a Labour lawmaker in 2015 at the age of 52, and just five years later took over the party following its worst election performance since 1935 under his predecessor, veteran left-winger Jeremy Corbyn — a tenure defined by antisemitism allegations and a muddled position on Brexit.

Drawing on his background running the Crown Prosecution Service, an independent body that advises police and handles criminal prosecutions, Starmer set about modernizing Labour and making it a credible governing force. He tackled antisemitism accusations, reined in internal factionalism, stabilized the party’s finances, assembled a strong front bench, and developed a policy platform aimed at addressing Britain’s needs.

“Everything we offer will be built on a bedrock of economic stability and a plan for growth,” his spokesperson said at the time.

At first, the strategy worked. Labour won a commanding majority in Britain’s 650-seat parliament. But analysts were quick to note the victory’s fragility — the party actually recorded one of its lowest vote shares in history, and the win relied heavily on tactical voting. After 14 years of Conservative infighting, Brexit chaos, and five prime ministers in eight years, the opposition had essentially self-destructed.

Prominent pollster John Curtice summed it up: “All in all this looks more like an election the Conservatives lost than one Labour won.”

That shaky foundation made governing all the harder. Starmer’s team had deliberately avoided detailed policy planning during the campaign to avoid scaring off voters. One person from his inner circle recalled being told to “stop” developing policy so as not to “frighten people in advance of the general election.” As that person remembered: “We don’t have a plan for what we’re going to do when we get in, if we do get in, because it might jinx it.”

Once in office, the government struggled both to define its agenda and to follow through on it — chasing economic growth that never materialized, trying to curb illegal migration that continued unabated, and attempting to fix a health system that kept presenting new crises.

Starmer repeatedly tried to highlight his government’s accomplishments — improvements to workers’ rights, reductions in health service wait times, and an economic climate that allowed for interest rate cuts. But a former aide said he never managed to offer voters “a destination” — a clear endpoint that would help them understand and connect with his decisions.

Instead, the public fixated on a series of missteps: controversies over personal gifts and donations, policy reversals, and the appointment of Labour veteran Peter Mandelson despite his known ties to the late convicted U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Starmer’s claim that he had not been fully informed about the extent of Mandelson’s connections left many feeling he was either out of touch or not in control. “It was a bad appointment,” said one former aide, who suggested it had been pushed through by just two other former advisers.

The atmosphere inside Downing Street grew increasingly tense. Some aides pointed fingers at a hostile right-wing media, but after one attempted reset followed another, Starmer consistently failed to project what one adviser described as “his passion for these domestic causes.” He lost key staff members, including his former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, in the fallout from the Mandelson controversy, and his relationship with Britain’s civil service deteriorated after he dismissed the top official at the foreign office.

Starmer fared better on the world stage. He earned praise from some European counterparts for helping to lead the so-called “coalition of the willing” — nations prepared to assist in the event of a Ukraine peace agreement. Alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, he also played a role in talks aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

He initially made some headway with U.S. President Donald Trump, at times appealing to his ego by offering a second state visit to Britain and praising Trump’s efforts toward peace in Ukraine and other conflicts. That goodwill soured, however, after Starmer declined to involve Britain in military action against Iran. On Sunday, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. He failed badly on two very important subjects — IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well!” Trump had also said Starmer was no Winston Churchill.

Perhaps Starmer’s most lasting mark on Britain will be the splintering of its traditional two-party political system. Local elections in England and parliamentary votes in Scotland and Wales showed that system had been shattered, with the Reform party establishing a powerful presence across the country. Labour membership numbers declined while Reform’s surged past 270,000.

Starmer had tried to use that threat to rally his own base, warning Labour in February that the battle against Reform was “the fight of our lives.” In the end, it was a fight he could not win.

Indonesia is working on a plan to weave artificial intelligence into several of its flagship government programs, including a massive $15 billion initiative to provide free meals to citizens, according to a draft presidential regulation reviewed by Reuters.

The document outlines a roadmap for government ministries and regional agencies to adopt AI technology between 2026 and 2029. Officials believe the effort could grow Indonesia’s gross domestic product by 12%, or roughly $366 billion, by 2030. The stated goals include driving economic growth and making Indonesia more competitive with neighboring countries in the region and around the world.

Compared to Singapore and Malaysia — which have attracted billions of dollars in investment from major technology companies looking to build cloud and AI infrastructure — Indonesia has been slower to advance in the AI space.

The draft regulation has not been previously reported and is currently awaiting the signature of President Prabowo Subianto. His office did not respond to a request for comment on timing.

Tech analyst Wahyudi Djafar, who helped write portions of the regulation and serves on a government AI task force, said companies including Meta Platforms, IBM, and Microsoft contributed to the drafting process. Those companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In 2024, Microsoft announced a $1.7 billion commitment to expand cloud and AI services in Indonesia over several years.

Within the free meals program, the draft says AI would be used to design menus tailored to specific regions, track kitchen cleanliness, forecast food demand, flag irregularities, and connect health data to support early emergency warnings.

The free meals program has faced significant scrutiny. Earlier this month, the head of the program was removed from his position and arrested. Tens of thousands of children experienced food poisoning last year, raising concerns about safety standards. Questions about spending efficiency have also surfaced given Indonesia’s tight budget situation.

Beyond the meal program, the regulation calls for AI to assist with health screenings and tuberculosis testing across the country.

The document also revisits a proposal for a “sovereign AI fund” to be managed primarily through the country’s new wealth fund, Danantara Indonesia, and suggests offering financial incentives to AI researchers while working to address workforce skill gaps.

A companion regulation in the draft would require government bodies to report AI-related risks, including the misuse of biometric data, violations of intellectual property, and the spread of deepfakes.

Not everyone is optimistic about the plan’s prospects. Derwin Suhartono, a professor of artificial intelligence at Bina Nusantara University in Jakarta, said Indonesia has yet to establish itself as a competitive player in AI development and warned the country “may stay as a consumer of products that foreign companies sell to.” He also cautioned that while a structured roadmap for using AI in government programs is possible, the execution so far has been “all rhetoric.”

Analysts more broadly note that Indonesia lacks the infrastructure — including computer chips — and the skilled workforce needed to become a true AI developer rather than simply a user of technology built elsewhere.

DILI, East Timor (AP) — Francisco Guterres, who served as president of East Timor and was a central figure in the nation’s long fight for independence, has passed away at the age of 71.

Guterres, commonly known by his resistance nickname “Lu Olo,” died Sunday at Prince Court Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, according to a statement posted on his official Facebook page by his family. No cause of death was immediately provided. He had been receiving treatment in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

He held the presidency from 2017 to 2022, the culmination of a lifetime dedicated to the political and armed struggle that ultimately brought independence to Southeast Asia’s youngest nation in 2002.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim extended his condolences to Guterres’ family and the people of East Timor, also known as Timor Leste. “Throughout his life, he remained committed to the freedom of his people and the building of a democratic nation,” Ibrahim said.

Fretilin, the political party Guterres had led for many years, described his passing as a “profound loss” for everyone who shared the vision of a free, democratic, and sovereign East Timor. The party noted his unwavering commitment to the independence cause and his contributions to national unity, dialogue, peace, and political stability over the course of his public life.

Born on September 7, 1954, in Ossu, a town in the Viqueque District of what was then Portuguese Timor, Guterres became a prominent voice in the resistance against Indonesia’s occupation of the territory, which lasted from 1975 to 1999. As a senior leader within Fretilin, he played an important role in guiding the country through its transition to independence following a United Nations-backed referendum in 1999.

Guterres served as president of the Constituent Assembly in 2001, where he oversaw the creation of East Timor’s constitution. After independence was achieved in 2002, he became the first speaker of the National Parliament. Though he made several unsuccessful attempts at the presidency, he was finally elected in 2017 and served one term. In 2022, he lost his reelection campaign to current President Jose Ramos-Horta, another veteran of the independence movement.

He is survived by his wife, Cidalia Lopes Nobre Mouzinho Guterres, and their children. Funeral arrangements had not yet been announced at the time of this report.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Two Palestinian teenagers were fatally shot by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinian officials reported. The Israeli military, however, stated that the individuals had launched an attack on a neighboring Jewish settlement using fire bombs and burning tires.

Palestinian officials did not provide additional comment on the deadly incident, which occurred in the Beit Ummar area. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported the two teens were 15 and 19 years old, a detail confirmed to Reuters by a relative of the victims.

Reuters was not able to independently confirm the Israeli military’s version of events. According to the military, its forces opened fire on three individuals who were hurling fire bombs and burning tires near the settlement of Karmei Tzur. Of the three, two were killed and one was wounded, the military said. WAFA reported that the surviving individual was taken to a hospital and is listed in stable condition. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society identified that person as 15 years old.

Israeli military forces conduct raids throughout the West Bank on a regular basis and have increasingly restricted movement for Palestinians living near settlements in recent months.

United Nations bodies and the majority of countries consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal under international law and a major barrier to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Israel disputes this characterization, arguing the land is contested rather than occupied and pointing to a Jewish historical presence in the region spanning thousands of years.

Attacks carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their communities have also increased significantly. According to U.N. data, at least 57 Palestinians have been killed so far this year in incidents involving settlers and the military.

Palestinians have also conducted attacks targeting Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank. Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service reports that at least one such attack proved deadly in 2026.