Britons

A chartered flight from the UK government evacuating British nationals from Jamaica in the wake of Hurricane Melissa is due to land at London’s Gatwick Airport on Sunday.

The flight, which left Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport, comes after the UK flew aid in earlier in the day as part of a £7.5m regional emergency package.

Some of the funding will be used to match public donations up to £1m to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent – with King Charles and Queen Camilla among those who have donated.

Despite aid arriving in Jamaica in recent days, blocked roads have complicated distribution after Hurricane Melissa devastated parts of the island, killing at least 19 people.

The hurricane made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a category five storm and was one of the most powerful hurricanes ever measured in the Caribbean.

Melissa swept across the region over a number of days and left behind a trail of destruction and dozens of people dead. In Haiti, at least 30 people were killed, while Cuba also saw flooding and landslides.

Jamaica’s Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon said on Friday “there are entire communities that seem to be marooned and areas that seem to be flattened”.

Around 8,000 British nationals were thought to have been on the island when the hurricane hit.

The UK foreign office has asked citizens there to register their presence and also advises travellers to contact their airline to check whether commercial options are available.

The UK initially set aside a £2.5m immediate financial support package for the region, with an additional £5m announced by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on Friday.

Cooper said the announcement came as “more information is now coming through on the scale of devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, with homes damaged, roads blocks and lives lost”.

The British Red Cross said the King and Queen’s donation would help the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) “continue its lifesaving work” – which includes search and rescue efforts in Jamaica as well as ensuring access to healthcare, safe shelter and clean water.

The Red Cross said that 72% of people across Jamaica still do not have electricity and around 6,000 are in emergency shelters.

Until the Jamaican government can get the broken electricity grid back up and running, any generators aid agencies can distribute will be vital.

So too will tarpaulins, given the extent of the housing crisis.

Meanwhile, with so many in need of clean drinking water and basic food, patience is wearing thin and there are more reports of desperate people entering supermarkets to gather and give out whatever food they can find.

The BBC has seen queues for petrol pumps, with people waiting for hours to then be told there is no fuel left when they reach the front of the queue.

Some people are seeking fuel for generators, others for a car to reach an area in which they can contact people, with the power down across most of the island.

The country’s health minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, on Saturday described “significant damage” across a number of hospitals – with the Black River Hospital in St Elizabeth being the most severely affected.

“That facility will have to be for now totally relocated in terms of services,” he said.

“The immediate challenge of the impacted hospitals is to preserve accident and emergency services,” Dr Tufton added. “What we’re seeing is that a lot of people are coming in now to these facilities with trauma-related [injuries] from falls from the roof, to ladders, to nails penetrating their feet”.

The minister said arrangements had been made for the ongoing supply of fuel to the facilities as well as a “daily supply of water”.

Although aid is entering the country, landslides, downed power lines and fallen trees have made certain roads impassable.

However, some of the worst affected areas of Jamaica should finally receive some relief in the coming hours.

At least one aid organisation, Global Empowerment Mission, rolled out this morning from Kingston with a seven-truck convoy to Black River, the badly damaged town of western Jamaica, carrying packs of humanitarian assistance put together by volunteers from the Jamaican diaspora community in Florida.

Help is also coming in from other aid groups and foreign governments via helicopter.

It remains only a small part of what the affected communities need but authorities insist more is coming soon.

Hundreds rally near Downing Street as delegation delivers letter to UK government calling for sanctions on Israel.

Leading Jewish figures in Britain have signed a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper denouncing the government’s decision to proscribe the activist group Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organisation.

The delivery of the letter on Tuesday coincides with a protest organised under the slogan Proscribe Genocide, Not Protest. The rally outside Downing Street is expected to draw hundreds of participants, including figures from Britain’s Jewish community.

The letter, signed by about 300 Jewish British citizens, condemns the ban as “illegitimate and unethical” and calls for urgent government action against Israel over its conduct of the war in the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip and over escalating violence engulfing the occupied West Bank.

Among the signatories are human rights lawyer Geoffrey Bindman, filmmaker Mike Leigh, author Michael Rosen and writer Gillian Slovo. Jenny Manson, chairperson of Jewish Voice for Labour and one of the lead organisers, said the group was acting both as human beings and as Jews with a moral obligation to oppose genocide.

“We are Jews horrified by the genocide being carried out by Israel against the Palestinian people,” Manson said in a statement. “For us, ‘Never again’ does not mean only crimes against Jews but never again by anyone to anyone.”

Speakers at the rally include Andrew Feinstein, son of a Holocaust survivor and former South African MP; historian Joseph Finlay; documentary filmmaker Gillian Mosely; and comedian and author Alexei Sayle.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the United Kingdom have been protesting weekly against Israel’s genocidal war since October 2023, making it clear they feel their voices aren’t being heard.

Protest despite police warning

The rally comes as the rights group Defend Our Juries confirmed that more than 500 people have committed to “risking arrest” by participating in a related demonstration on Saturday aimed at overturning the ban on Palestine Action.

Those taking part are expected to hold placards reading, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

The Metropolitan Police Service has warned that expressing support for Palestine Action could lead to arrest under the Terrorism Act 2000.

“Anyone showing support for the group can expect to be arrested,” a police spokesperson said.

Defend Our Juries, which coordinated the campaign, rejected claims that the demonstration is intended to overwhelm law enforcement or the courts. “If we are allowed to protest peacefully and freely, then that is no bother to anyone,” a spokesperson said.

More than 200 people were arrested in protests across the UK last month for displaying the same message.

The letter being delivered on Tuesday urges the UK government to move beyond “handwringing” over the situation in Gaza and take meaningful action.

It calls for the immediate recognition of the State of Palestine and the imposition of sanctions on Israel, including suspension of the UK-Israel trade agreement, an end to all exports used by the Israeli military and the termination of UK military and intelligence collaboration with Israel.

It also calls for a ban on all Israeli imports, legal accountability for UK citizens serving in the Israeli military and the summoning of Israel’s ambassador to the UK for her public support of military actions.

The letter states that opposing genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing in Palestine is not anti-Semitic and should not be criminalised.

“Criticising Israel and opposing the brutality … including taking direct action, are not terrorism,” it reads.

Palestine Action was banned in July after a high-profile incident in which the group claimed responsibility for damaging two Voyager aircraft at the Brize Norton air force base, causing an estimated 7 million pounds ($9.3m) of damage.

Last week, the High Court ruled that a legal challenge against the ban by Palestine Action cofounder Huda Ammori could proceed, citing several “reasonably arguable” grounds for review. However, the court declined to pause the ban before a three-day hearing set for November.

If upheld, the proscription means membership in or support for Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool became the first all-British pairing to win the men’s doubles title at Queen’s in the Open era with victory in a match tie-break over Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus.

Cash and Glasspool won 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 10-6 to earn their third ATP Tour title of the season and their fourth since beginning their partnership last year.

“It’s been a great year so far,” Cash said. “It’s really nice to start the grass season strong. Hopefully we can push on to a good run at Wimbledon.”

The Britons dominated the first set and were on course to wrap up victory with a break in the second before Croatia’s Mektic and New Zealand’s Venus fought back to take it to a tie-break, which they edged.

But in the match tie-break – played to 10 points and in lieu of a deciding third set – Cash and Glasspool got an early mini-break and then broke again before sealing victory on their first match point.

“I think we’ve been a really strong team this year and hopefully he [Julian] can continue making these tie-breaks a lot easier when he serves and the ball doesn’t come back,” said Glasspool, who was runner-up here in 2022 with Finland’s Harri Heliovaara.

The victory marks a successful couple of weeks on grass for the pair after they also reached the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last weekend and they will continue their warm-up for Wimbledon by competing at Eastbourne next week.

Britons to have won the doubles title here include Andy Murray, Neal Skupski and Jamie Murray but the only other all-British team to contest the Queen’s men’s doubles final in the Open era (since tennis went professional in 1968) were 1978 runners-up David and John Lloyd.

There was more British doubles success on grass in Germany, where Olivia Nicholls and her Slovak partner Tereza Mihalikova won the Berlin Open women’s title.

They came from behind to beat Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 4-6 6-2 10-6 to win their first title as a pair.

British sympathy for the Palestinian cause – and criticism of Israel – is surging, according to a new survey.

London, United Kingdom – Most Britons who oppose Israel’s war on Gaza believe the onslaught, which has to date killed more than 55,000 people, amounts to genocide, according to a new poll.

The survey, carried out by YouGov and commissioned by the Action for Humanity charity and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) advocacy group, found that 55 percent of Britons are against Israel’s aggression. A significant number of those opponents – 82 percent – said Israel’s actions amount to genocide.

“This translates to 45 percent of adults in the UK who view Israel’s actions as genocidal,” said Action for Humanity and ICJP.

Details of the poll, which 2,010 people responded to in early June, were released on Wednesday.

Sixty-five percent said the UK should enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to visit Britain.

“It is clear that a majority of the public here are disgusted with Israel’s conduct, and a growing number agree that this is clearly a genocide,” said Othman Moqbel, head of Action for Humanity.

He added that all but a few believe the UK should do “everything in its power to stop Israel and seek justice against those responsible”.

“The government’s failure to recognise the scale of the crimes being inflicted upon Gaza is not just putting them on the wrong side of history, it’s putting them on the wrong side of the present day.”

Tens of thousands of Britons have taken to the streets over the past 20 months to protest against Israel’s war on Gaza.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has in recent weeks adopted harsher tones on Israel and sanctioned top officials. In 2024, the UK suspended 30 arms export licences to Israel for use in Gaza amid concerns Israel was violating international humanitarian laws.

But critics have lamented the pace and power of the UK’s response, calling for tougher sanctions and measures that would prevent Israel from receiving F-35 components made in Britain.

The survey also highlighted the positions of Britons who voted for the Labour Party in the 2024 general election.

Of the 68 percent of Labour voters who are against Israel’s actions in Gaza, 87 percent believe they amount to genocide. Seventy-eight percent of Labour voters said the UK should enforce the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu.

The UK has suggested it would comply with the ICC warrant.

“The UK government is totally out of touch with the British public they are supposed to represent, and the Labour Party are even more out of touch with their own voters,” said Jonathan Purcell of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians.

“UK policymaking should be based on complying with international law obligations, regardless, but this poll just goes to show the level of popular support for such policies too. There is absolutely no appetite to drag our national reputation through the mud by continuing to stand with a rogue, pariah state.”

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has advised against all travel to Israel amid an escalation in the country’s military activity with Iran.

The advice, which covers Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, means travel insurance could be invalidated if individuals do not follow it.

It comes as missiles have been launched by both countries in recent days with Israeli airspace remaining closed.

“The situation has the potential to deteriorate further, quickly and without warning,” the FCDO said.

Those already in Israel or the Occupied Territories have been told to follow the advice of local authorities.

The new notice from the FCDO referred to the risks of regional escalation – adding that the government recognises it is a “fast-moving” situation.

Previous advice had told Britons to avoid “all travel to parts of Israel”.

This was updated to warn against “all but essential travel” to the country after a state of emergency was declared on 13 June.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy posted on X: “My message to British nationals there is clear – your safety remains our top priority.”

The current FCDO advice is to avoid all travel to Iran.

Israel launched a new attack on Iran on the night of 12 June saying its targets were military infrastructure including nuclear sites.

Iran subsequently launched retaliatory airstrikes with tensions proceeding to escalate between the two countries.

Areas of Bat Yam and Tamra were hit by Iranian missiles on Saturday night, while the Israeli military said they struck more than 80 targets in Tehran overnight.

Over the weekend, the UK government confirmed it was sending more RAF jets to the Middle East – a move the chancellor described as a “precautionary measure”.

Meanwhile, oil prices surged on Friday after concerns the conflict could disrupt supplies coming from the energy-rich region.