minister

Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will choose the country’s fifth leader in five years on Saturday following the resignation of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

After governing Japan almost continuously since the 1950s, the conservative party has been in disarray following successive election defeats and a series of political scandals.

The LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito lost their governing majority in lower house elections in October last year, a defeat followed by a drubbing in upper house polls in July.

After leading a badly damaged minority government for nearly a year, Ishiba announced on September 7 that he would step down.

Whoever takes over the LDP will face a public frustrated over the cost of living, an ascendant populism epitomised by the “Japan first” Sanseito party, and the headwinds of US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

LDP lawmakers and some one million rank-and-file party members will choose from five candidates, ranging from the son of a former prime minister to the protege of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Their choice could determine whether Japan will enjoy a period of political stability or continue down the path of the “rotating prime ministership,” which marked Japanese politics in the late 1990s and early 2000s, said Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer at Japan’s Kanda University of International Studies.

“Even though it’s not historically abnormal for Japan to have a high turnover rate, this is a very bad time for Japan to not have stable political leadership,” Hall told Al Jazeera.

Here’s a look at the candidates:

Shinjiro Koizumi

Koizumi, 44, is the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and one of two frontrunners in the race.

Earlier this year, he stepped in as the minister of agriculture at a time when the price of rice – Japan’s beloved staple food – was rising sharply.

Koizumi’s work on Japan’s “rice crisis” won him a surge in public support, and he is also popular with a large swath of the LDP, said Kazuto Suzuki, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy.

“Mr. Koizumi is supported by traditional LDP heavyweights and the centre of the party. He does not have a particular policy position, so he is flexible to meet demands from older LDP values,” Suzuki told Al Jazeera.

Viewed as a political moderate, Koizumi has pledged to work with opposition parties to reform the tax system while lowering the public debt ratio, and to pursue balanced policies geared towards economic growth with fiscal discipline.

His relatively young age and educational background could still keep him from winning the leadership despite his popularity, said Stephen Nagy, a visiting fellow with the Japan Institute for International Affairs.

Koizumi attended Kanto Gakuin University and later Columbia University, but three of his rivals – Toshimitsu Motegi, Yoshimasa Hayashi, and Takayuki Kobayashi – graduated from the more prestigious University of Tokyo and Harvard.

“Whether we like it or not, educational pedigrees bring respect in society and in the LDP,” Nagy told Al Jazeera.

Sanae Takaichi

Takaichi, 64, is the only woman in the race and the leading challenger to Koizumi.

A former economic security minister, Takaichi skews towards the right-wing flank of the LDP and has “strong conservative credentials” as Abe’s former protege, Nagy said.

All the candidates have focused on how to revive Japan’s economy after decades of stagnation, putting forward broadly similar expansionary policies, said Sota Kato, research director at the Tokyo Foundation.

Still, Takaichi is “closer in stance” to “Abenomics”, the three-pronged strategy of fiscal expansion, monetary easing and structural reform championed by her mentor, Kato told Al Jazeera.

Takaichi is known for conservative views on social issues, including immigration and same-sex marriage, and foreign affairs, including China-Japan relations.

While her views have earned her the support of the conservative wing of the LDP, they are at odds with more centrist members.

“Some believe she is exactly what the LDP needs to pull support away from the opposition parties, such as Sanseito … Others believe she will push more centrist voters away,” Nagy said.

Yoshimasa Hayashi

Hayashi, 64, is considered the “dark horse” of the election due to his experience and amenable personality, according to Kato of the Tokyo Foundation.

Currently serving as chief cabinet secretary, Hayashi previously held high-profile posts including defence chief and minister of foreign affairs, and is campaigning on an economic policy focused on fiscal discipline.

Like Koizumi, he is viewed as a political centrist.

“From the perspective of LDP lawmakers, Hayashi provides a sense of stability compared to figures like Koizumi or Takaichi,” Kato said.

“If Hayashi secures more votes than either Koizumi or Takaichi in the first round of voting and proceeds to the second round, his chances may improve.”

Hayashi cited his extensive ministerial experience while campaigning and argued that Japan should strengthen its cooperation with “like-minded” democratic countries to push back against China, Russia and North Korea.

Toshimitsu Motegi

Motegi, 69, is a former secretary-general of the LDP who also did stints as minister of foreign affairs and minister of economy, trade and industry.

His platform includes cuts to petrol and diesel prices, wage increases for nurses and childcare workers, and incentives to encourage investment.

His economic policies “fall somewhere in between” those of Takaichi and Koizumi, the latter of whom has placed greater emphasis on fiscal discipline than his more conservative rival, according to Kato of the Tokyo Foundation.

Motegi and Hayashi both have factional support within the LDP, but this may not translate into enough votes to win the leadership position, according to the University of Tokyo’s Suzuki.

“Mr Motegi and Mr Hayashi are very experienced politicians, but they represent the old-fashioned LDP. They have certain support within the party, but they are not popular among the public,” he said.

Takayuki Kobayashi

Takayuki Kobayashi, 50, is a former economic security minister and previously ran for leader of the LDP.

His platform has heavily focused on economic growth and assisting citizens with cost-of-living issues.

Kobayashi has the support of many younger LDP members, but his youth and experience are potential handicaps, according to Nagy.

“Kobayashi is seen as very accomplished, smart, internationally minded, but still too young to fight with the 80-year-old sharks in the LDP,” he said.

His view was echoed by the University of Tokyo’s Suzuki.

“Mr Kobayashi is a new generation politician who has been a rising star, but not yet popular enough,” Suzuki said.

“Motegi, Hayashi and Kobayashi are very competent in policies and their sharpness in discussion, but these qualities are not the issue for this party leadership contest. The most important issue is the popularity and reactivation of the LDP,” he added.

A pro-Palestine activist has interrupted the United Kingdom’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ speech during the annual Labour Party conference in Liverpool to call out the country’s ongoing complicity in Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.

The protester, later named as Sam P, stood up less than 10 minutes into the finance minister’s speech, holding a large Palestinian flag and asking, “Why is Britain still arming Israel?”

“Labour is complicit in the mass starvation of Palestinians,” he added.

In response to the protest, Reeves told delegates, “We understand your cause and we are recognising a Palestinian state.

“But we are now a party in government, not a party of protest,” Reeves added, receiving a standing ovation from those in the audience.

But in a statement from the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), which planned the disruption for London for a Free Palestine, the group called on the ruling Labour Party to impose a “full two-way arms embargo on Israel”.

“The end of RAF surveillance flights over Gaza that gather intelligence for Israel … The immediate resignation of Labour Party leadership for lying to the public about Britain’s complicity in enabling Israel’s genocide … [and] an end to Britain’s diplomatic ties with Israel,” the statement read.

In May, PYM released a report that found that the British government had continued to send military exports to Israel despite the UK announcing that it had cut arms export licences to Israel that could be used during the war.

Nihal, an organiser with PYM, said the action was taken because the “horror in Gaza is only growing as Palestinian people are experiencing the most violent bombardment since the beginning of the genocide.

“Tens of thousands of Palestinians have already been starved, bombed, and killed while the Labour Party approves weapons licences, shares intelligence, and offers diplomatic cover for these crimes,” they added.

Leila, an organiser with London for a Free Palestine, added that they were “watching the end of the Labour Party”, traditionally once a party of the left which has veered centre-right on many issues.

“Despite the UN Commission of Inquiry declaring Israel is enacting genocide, the Labour government still continues to deny the genocide and offer diplomatic support for Israel’s crimes,” Leila said.

Earlier in September, the UK officially recognised Palestinian statehood in a landmark decision, 108 years after the Balfour Declaration in 1917, which supported the establishment of a home for Jews in Palestine, and 77 years after the creation of Israel in the British Mandate of Palestine.

While the recognition was welcomed by Palestinian officials, for those suffering Israeli atrocities in Gaza, the announcement had no material effect to ease their daily horrors.

In nearly two years of intense Israeli bombardment, and now a ground invasion of Gaza City, the destroyed enclave’s largest urban centre, at least 66,055 people have been killed and 168,346 wounded, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported on Monday.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the UK have protested, often weekly, against Israel’s war in the last two years and feel their voices have not been heard by the government.

There have also been a series of largely peaceful rallies denouncing the UK government’s decision in July to ban the Palestine Action group under the Terrorism Act 2000, which have been met by a heavy-handed police response and mass arrests.

Sept. 28 (UPI) — Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called a policy that could lead to the indefinite deportation of thousands of people from the country “racist” and “immoral.”

Currently, migrants can apply for indefinite leave from other countries for five years, and allow them to live, study and work in Britain permanently, according to the BBC.

But a plan by Reform UK would abolish the status quo and require migrants to apply for new visas with more stringent guidelines. Right now, indefinite leave gives people more rights and access to benefits

Starmer said he did not think supporters of Reform UK are racist, but said he remains “frustrated” following 14 years of “Tory failure.” Starmer said he needed “space” to pursue and fulfill pledges he made during last year’s general election, which the Labor party won with a large majority.

“I do think it’s a racist policy, I do think it’s immoral,” Starmer said in an interview with the BBC. “It needs to be called out for what it is. It’s one thing to say we’re going to remove illegal immigrants, people who have no right to be here. I’m up for that. It’s a completely different thing to say we’re going to reach people who are here lawfully here and start removing them.”

Starmer called people in Britain under the current policy “neighbors” who contribute to the economy and changing the policy will “rip this country apart.”

A YouGov poll published Saturday shows that 58% of Britons oppose removing indefinite leave from those who already hold it. More than 44% say they support ending the policy, while 43% are opposed.

Sept. 20 (UPI) — Shinjiro Koizumi seeks the presidency of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, which would enable him to become the nation’s youngest prime minister if he wins.

Koizumi, 44, is Japan’s minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and is the second to declare his candidacy for the party’s leadership role, according to The Chosun Daily.

“I am challenging the presidential election to rebuild the LDP into a party that realizes the safety and security demanded by the people,” Koizumi said during a press conference on Saturday.

“My role is to break through the conventional wisdom of economic management from the deflation era and build a new approach suited for the era of inflation,” he added, as reported by The Japan Times.

Koizumi wants to raise the average annual wage for Japanese workers by a million yen by the 2030 fiscal year and ensure pay increases stay ahead of inflation.

To do that, he wants to enact a supplementary budget for the 2025 fiscal year that would counteract inflation.

He also wants to eliminate the provisional gas tax as quickly as possible.

Koizumi sought the top post within the LDP a year ago but lost to current Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Ishiba on Sept. 7 announced his intention to resign as Japan’s prime minister.

Former Economic Security Minister Takaichi Sanae previously announced her candidacy to become the LDP’s president.

Nepal’s former Chief Justice Sushila Karki has been appointed as the country’s new interim prime minister, following days of deadly youth protests.

Karki’s appointment was announced by the office of President Ramchandra Poudel on Friday, September 12, and she was sworn into office as the country’s first-ever female prime minister later that day.

“I did not come to this position because I had sought it, but because there were voices from the streets demanding that Sushila Karki should be given the responsibility,” she said during her first public remarks on Sunday.

Here is what we know about Karki.

Who is Sushila Karki?

Following the youth-led “Gen Z” protests against corruption in Nepal, former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned last Tuesday. Karki was appointed on Friday to lead the transitional government until snap elections in March 2026.

Karki, 73, is the first woman to head the government of Nepal.

She was born in June 1952 in what is now Nepal’s eastern city of Biratnagar, about 400km (250 miles) south of Kathmandu, the capital. Karki reportedly attended the Mahendra Morang College in Biratnagar and earned her Bachelor of Arts at age 20. Later, she attended graduate school in India, earning her Master’s degree from Banaras Hindu University before returning to Nepal.

Karki completed her law degree at Tribhuvan University in 1978, according to The Kathmandu Post, and went on to become a lawyer and teach law at Mahendra Multiple Campus in Nepal’s eastern city of Dharan.

Karki became the first female chief justice of Nepal in 2016.

In May 2017, the government tried to suspend her as members of parliament signed an impeachment motion against her after the court, under her leadership, overturned their appointment of Jaya Bahadur Chand as police chief. The court chose the highest-ranking officer, Nawaraj Silwal, for the position instead.

The United Nations labelled the impeachment effort, which was eventually dropped, as “politically motivated”, and Karki retired in June 2017.

What happened in Nepal?

Young people in Kathmandu and other cities took to the streets on September 8 to protest political corruption. There was also anger towards children of Nepali government officials – dubbed “Nepo kids” – who document their lavish lifestyles online.

Days before the protests, the Nepali government had banned more than 20 social media websites in the country for not complying with the government’s demands.

On the first day of protests, some demonstrators broke past police barriers and entered the parliament complex. A violent crackdown by security forces led dozens dead, inflaming tensions further.

The next day, protesters defied curfews to set fire to government buildings, including parliament, and freed thousands of prisoners. Nepali ministers were evacuated by helicopter to ensure their safety.

Many protesters were killed amid clashes with the police. On September 12, a police spokesman said the death toll from the protests had climbed to 51.

In response, Oli, who was elected as PM for the fourth time last year, announced his resignation last Tuesday, September 9. Other ministers also resigned from their posts.

Nepal’s army was deployed late on September 9 in an attempt to restore order. The situation has started to calm down, with schools reopening and businesses resuming operations.

Hami Nepal, the group that organised the protests, held a call on the messaging application, Discord, late last week to choose Nepal’s interim prime minister. About 10,000 Nepalis – including many from the diaspora – participated.

After hours of debate, they chose Karki.

Paudel announced Karki’s appointment on September 12. He also announced that the 275-seat parliament had been dissolved, and elections were then set for March 5, 2026, about two years earlier than planned.

Why Karki?

While the young protesters highlighted the generation gap between them and Nepal’s leaders during their agitation, they ended up picking septuagenarian Karki as their interim leader.

“This has been a concern from people here as well,” Anish Ghimre, a Nepali journalist with the Kathmandu Post, told Al Jazeera, referring to Karki’s age. “But I think the bigger picture here is people wanted someone they could trust, someone they can look up to.”

Ghimre, 24, said the decision was motivated by the young protesters researching Karki’s background and career. He pointed out how Karki has previously said during interviews that “many ministers came to her and they asked for some favour” but that she had refused to comply with their demands.

“Hopefully, after six months, maybe we can see a new face, maybe someone younger,” he added, referring to the March election.

Others also pointed to the selection of Karki being based on her reputation, despite her age.

“Gen Z protesters rallied behind septuagenarian Sushila Karki because, even in her earlier statements to the press, her image as Nepal’s first woman chief justice symbolised integrity and resistance against corruption,” Yog Raj Lamichhane, an assistant professor at the School of Business in Nepal’s Pokhara University, told Al Jazeera.

What has PM Karki done so far?

“We have to work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation,” Karki said on Sunday.

She acknowledged the youth’s demands for the end of corruption, good governance and economic equality.

“We will not stay here more than six months in any situation. We will complete our responsibilities and pledge to hand over to the next parliament and ministers.”

On Monday, she named three new government ministers: Om Prakash Aryal as home minister, Rameshwar Prasad Khanal as finance minister and Kulman Ghising as energy minister.

What’s next for Nepal?

With the parliament dissolved, Karki is likely to face challenges in passing any new legislation.

“Although the government has changed and parliament dissolved, no concrete programme against corruption has been introduced, underscoring the concerns of the Gen Z movement,” Lamichhane said.

“The interim government must ensure timely elections and also address the challenge of reconstruction.”

Conservative MP Danny Kruger has become the first sitting Conservative MP to defect to Reform UK.

Kruger has been an MP since 2019, and sat on Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s team as a shadow work and pensions minister.

“The Conservatives are over,” he told a press conference, sitting alongside Reform party leader Nigel Farage.

Kruger said he had been “honoured” to be asked to help Reform prepare for government, and said he hoped that Farage would be the next prime minister.

The East Wiltshire MP – who has said he would not be triggering a by-election – said the Conservatives were no longer the main party of opposition.

He said: “There have been moments when I have been very proud to belong to the Tory party”, but added: “The rule of our time in office was failure.

“Bigger government, social decline, lower wages, higher taxes and less of what ordinary people actually wanted.”

He added: “This is my tragic conclusion, the Conservative Party is over, over as a national party, over as the principal opposition to the left.”

Although he said he had “great regard” for Badenoch, he said the Tory party had a “toxic brand”, adding: “We have had a year of stasis and drift and the sham unity that comes from not doing anything bold or difficult or controversial.”

Describing his move leaving a party he has been a member of for 20 years as “personally painful”, he said his “mission” with Reform would be to “not just to overthrow the current system, it is to restore the system we need”.

Responding to the news of the defection, Badenoch said: “Danny has made his case very clear, that this is not about me.

“I can’t be distracted by that, and I’m not going to get blown off course by these sort of incidents.

“I know this is the sort of thing that is going to happen while a party is changing. I’m making sure people understand what Conservative values are.”

Kruger’s defection is damaging for Badenoch, not only as a Tory thinker and veteran, but also as the most significant among several from the party moving to Reform.

Speaking after the press conference, Kruger told the BBC he had come to the conclusion the Conservative Party remains “the same party that failed the people in the last government” and doesn’t have “any chance” of winning the next election.

A few weeks ago, Kruger said he agreed with Reform on many issues except public spending, telling MPs in July: “There is a problem: they would spend money like drunken sailors.”

Asked about his comment, Kruger said: “I think we’re all sober sailors now, I’m glad to say, because since I said that Reform have corrected their position on welfare spending.

“I was very concerned that we need to really reduce overall benefit spending… Nigel made clear he also wants to bring down overall benefit spending but he does want to support families with children.”

Kruger is the second sitting MP to join Reform UK. Lee Anderson, who was previously a Tory MP, sat as an independent before joining Reform in 2024.

Reform now have five MPs in the Commons, having seen two of their MPs elected in the 2024 general election, Rupert Lowe and James McMurdock, leave the party.

His previous jobs include serving as former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron’s speechwriter, penning the “hug a hoodie” speech, and as former political secretary to Boris Johnson when he was prime minister.

Kruger spoke in a 2022 Parliamentary debate about the US’s abortion ban and told MPs he disagreed that pregnant women had an “absolute right to bodily autonomy” and that he didn’t understand why the UK was “lecturing” the US.

In 2023, Kruger was one of the speakers at a National Conservatism Conference, an event organised by a right-wing think tank from the United States, and made comments about the role of conventional family values in society.

The evangelical Christian told delegates that marriages between men and women were “the only possible basis for a safe and successful society” and one that “wider society should recognise and reward”.

Rishi Sunak, the Conservative prime minister at the time, distanced himself from the remarks.

Kruger is the son of TV chef Prue Leith and an Old Etonian, who studied at Edinburgh and Oxford Universities before becoming a director at the Centre for Policy Studies.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage can recruit as many failed Tories as he likes – it won’t change the fact that he has no plan for Britain.

“Britain deserves better than Reform’s Tory tribute act that would leave working people paying a very high price.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper labelled the Conservative Party “a shell of its former self” and said Badenoch had pushed lifelong Tories towards her party “in their droves”.

“Nigel Farage’s party is shapeshifting into the Conservatives in front of our very eyes,” she said.

“It is getting to the point where the only difference between them is just a slightly lighter shade of blue.”

Sept. 13 (UPI) — Nepal’s former chief justice Sushila Karki was sworn in this week as the country’s first-ever female prime minister, amid continued social upheaval in the South Asian country.

The country has also called an election for March 5, which would come roughly halfway through the current political term.

Karki, 73, was hastily sworn in under heavy security as the country of almost 30 million people remains under strict military curfew following deadly protests earlier in the week that caused prime minister KP Sharma Oli to resign.

U.S. Ambassador to Nepal Dean Thompson was one of the few foreign officials present at the swearing in ceremony.

Oli, who served three terms as the country’s prime minister, had his house set on fire as part of the anti-corruption protests. The demonstrations were first sparked after the Nepalese government moved to block access to several social media apps.

Nepal’s military has moved most of the country’s serving politicians to an army barracks near the capital of Kathmandu.

The country’s current parliament was officially dissolved Friday evening.

The Communist Party of Nepal criticized the dissolution of parliament, saying it was in “serious disagreement” with the move, a sentiment echoed by the Nepal Bar Association.

Karki was chosen informally by the so-called “Gen-Z” protestors, who organized a vote on the messaging app Discord.

In 2016, she became the first woman to serve as chief justice in Nepal.

Nepal had yet to issue an official statement and the official website of the prime minister’s office could not be reached Saturday afternoon.

India’s government issued a formal statement, recognizing the new transitional government.

“We welcome the formation of a new Interim Government in Nepal, led by Right Honorable Mrs. Sushila Karki. We are hopeful that this would help in fostering peace and stability,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

“As a close neighbor, a fellow democracy and a long term development partner, India will continue to work closely with Nepal for the well-being and prosperity of our two peoples and countries.”

Sept. 12 (UPI) — Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, will be at the White House on Friday before a summit between Arab states regarding Israel’s attack on Qatar’s capital city of Doha.

Al-Thani is expected to discuss the strike by Israel and potentially a defense deal between Qatar and the United States.

He is expected to meet with President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and diplomat Steve Witkoff.

Trump was in Doha in May, when the United States and Qatar finalized agreements regarding a letter of intent on defense cooperation between the Qatari Ministry of Defense and U.S. Department of Defense, which included a purchase of both drone systems and drone defense systems, as stated in a press release from the Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Trump has distanced himself from the Israeli strike, which was intended to target the leadership members of Hamas. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that Trump assured the Qatari government that such an attack would never take place again.

The Israeli attack struck a residential compound in Doha and killed six people, including a Qatari security officer.

Qatar has since stressed it would “take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity” in a statement from the Qatari government.

Other countries in across the Persian Gulf are also concerned and are holding an emergency summit in Doha Sunday in response to Israel’s attack.

Following deadly protests across Nepal, the country has appointed former Chief Justice Sushila Karki as interim prime minister. Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride looks at who she is and the challenges she faces.

Sceptics wonder whether ‘Diella’, depicted as a woman in traditional folk costume, will herself be ‘corrupted’.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has put an artificial intelligence-generated “minister” in charge of tackling corruption in his new cabinet.

Diella, which means “sun” in Albanian, was appointed on Thursday, with the leader introducing her as a “member of the cabinet who is not present physically” who will ensure that “public tenders will be 100 percent free of corruption”.

The awarding of tenders has long been a source of corruption in the Balkan country of 2.8 million people, which aspires to join the European Union.

Corruption is a key factor in Albania’s bid to join the bloc.

Rama’s Socialist Party, which recently secured a fourth term in office, has said it can deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, with negotiations concluding by 2027.

Lawmakers will soon vote on Rama’s new cabinet, but it was unclear whether he would ask for a vote on Diella’s virtual post.

Legal experts say more work may be needed to establish the official status of Diella, who is depicted on screen as a woman in a traditional Albanian folk costume.

Gazmend Bardhi, parliamentary group leader of the Democrats, said he considered Diella’s ministerial status unconstitutional.

“[The] Prime Minister’s buffoonery cannot be turned into legal acts of the Albanian state,” Bardhi posted on Facebook.

The prime minister did not provide details of what human oversight there might be for Diella, or address risks that someone could manipulate the artificial intelligence bot.

Launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform, Diella helped users navigate the site and get access to about one million digital documents.

So far, she has helped issue 36,600 digital documents and provided nearly 1,000 services through the platform, according to official figures.

Not everyone is convinced.

One Facebook user said, “Even Diella will be corrupted in Albania.”

Another said, “Stealing will continue and Diella will be blamed.”

Spain’s Vuelta cycling event has added extra security following pro-Palestine protests against Israel-Premier Tech.

Spanish Sports Minister Pilar Alegria has said Israeli teams should be banned from sport in the same way that Russian sides broadly were in 2022 after the country invaded Ukraine, highlighting a “double standard”.

The presence of a team named Israel-Premier Tech at the Vuelta a Espana cycling grand tour has led to huge protests in Spain. The Spanish government has described Israel’s offensive in Gaza as “a genocide”.

Israel-Premier Tech is a private outfit owned by billionaire Israeli-Canadian property developer Sylvan Adams, not a state team, but has been hailed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for refusing to quit the Vuelta despite vehement protests.

“It is difficult to explain and understand that there is a double standard,” Alegria told Spanish radio station Cadena SER.

“Given that there has been such a massacre, a genocide, such an absolutely terrible situation we are living through day-by-day, I would agree that the international federations and committees should take the same decision as in 2022,” she added.

“No team, no club from Russia participated in an international competition, and when the individuals participated, they did it under a neutral flag and without a national anthem.”

Alegria said she would like Vuelta organisers to block Israel-Premier Tech from competing, but accepted that such a decision could only be taken by the cycling world governing body, UCI.

Various stages of the Vuelta have been affected by protests, with stages 11 and 16 shortened during racing, while Thursday’s stage 18 time trial has also been cut short in advance for security reasons.

Alegria said she hopes the race can be completed, with Sunday’s final stage heading into Madrid expected to be targeted by various protests.

“It would not be good news if the race cannot finish,” said Alegria.

“However, what we’re seeing these days with the protests is, in my opinion, logical,” she added.

“[The protests] are a clear representation of what the people feel, sport cannot be distanced from the world that surrounds it.”

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s left-wing coalition government has taken one of Europe’s strongest pro-Palestinian stances, straining ties with Israel.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive in October 2023 in retaliation for an unprecedented cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of 1,139 people, most of whom were civilians.

Israel’s bombardment has killed at least 64,600 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza.

“[Israeli forces] have killed more than 60,000 people; children, babies [are] starving to death, hospitals destroyed,” added Alegria.

“So it is important that sport, given this situation, takes a position at least similar to what it did against Russia.”

PARIS — Legislators toppled France’s government in a confidence vote on Monday, a new crisis for Europe’s second-largest economy that obliges President Emmanuel Macron to search for a fourth prime minister in 12 months.

Prime Minister François Bayrou was ousted overwhelmingly in a 364-194 vote against him. Bayrou paid the price for what appeared to be a staggering political miscalculation, gambling that lawmakers would back his view that France must slash public spending to repair its debts. Instead, they seized on the vote that Bayrou called to gang up against the 74-year-old centrist who was appointed by Macron last December.

The demise of Bayrou’s short-lived minority government — now constitutionally obliged to submit its resignation to Macron after just under nine months in office — heralds renewed uncertainty and a risk of prolonged legislative deadlock for France as it wrestles with pressing challenges, including budget difficulties and, internationally, wars in Ukraine and Gaza and the shifting priorities of President Trump.

Hunt for a replacement

Although Macron had two weeks to prepare for the government collapse after Bayrou announced in August that he’d seek a confidence vote on his unpopular budget plans, no clear front-runner has emerged as a likely successor.

After Gabriel Attal’s departure as prime minister in September 2024, followed by former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier’s ouster by parliament in December and Bayrou now ousted, too, Macron again faces an arduous hunt for a replacement to build consensus in the parliament’s lower house that is stacked with opponents of the French leader.

As president, Macron will continue to hold substantial powers over foreign policy and European affairs and remain the commander in chief of the nuclear-armed military. But domestically, the 47-year-old president’s ambitions are increasingly facing ruin.

The root of the latest government collapse was Macron’s stunning decision to dissolve the National Assembly in June 2024, triggering a legislative election that the French leader hoped would strengthen the hand of his pro-European centrist alliance. But the gamble backfired, producing a splintered legislature with no dominant political bloc in power for the first time in France’s modern republic.

Shorn of a workable majority, his minority governments have since lurched from crisis to crisis, surviving on the whim of opposing political blocs on the left and far-right that don’t have enough seats to govern themselves but can, when they team up, topple Macron’s choices.

Bayrou’s gamble

Bayrou, too, rolled the dice by calling the confidence vote, a decision that quickly backfired on the political veteran as left-wing and far-right legislators seized the opportunity to oust his government, seeking to increase pressure on Macron.

Bayrou conceded in his last speech as prime minister to the National Assembly that putting his fate on the line was risky. But he said that France’s debt crisis compelled him to seek legislative support for remedies, in the face of what he called “a silent, underground, invisible, and unbearable hemorrhage” of excessive public borrowing.

“The greatest risk was to not take one, to let things go on without changing anything, to go on doing politics as usual,” he said. “Submission to debt is like submission through military force. Dominated by weapons, or dominated by our creditors, because of a debt that is submerging us — in both cases, we lose our freedom.”

At the end of the first quarter of 2025, France’s public debt stood at 3.346 trillion euros, or 114% of gross domestic product. Debt servicing remains a major budget item, accounting for around 7% of state spending.

Le Pen wants new election

The 577-seat National Assembly interrupted its summer recess to convene for the extraordinary session of high political drama. Macron’s opponents worked to leverage the crisis to push for a new legislative election, pressure for Macron’s departure or jostle for posts in the next government.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen called for Macron to again dissolve the National Assembly, seemingly confident that her National Rally party and its allies would win a majority in another snap legislative election, positioning it to form a new government.

“A big country like France cannot live with a paper government, especially in a tormented and dangerous world,” she said in the National Assembly.

Pressing problems

In a last-ditch effort to save his job before the vote, Bayrou warned that France is risking its future and its influence by racking up trillions in state debts that are “submerging us,” pleading for belt-tightening.

Macron’s chosen successor will operate in the same precarious environment and face the same pressing budget problems that dogged Bayrou and his predecessors. Macron himself has vowed to stay in office until the end of his term, but risks becoming a lame duck domestically if political paralysis continues.

Under the French political system, the prime minister is appointed by the president, accountable to the parliament and is in charge of implementing domestic policy, notably economic measures.

Arguing that sharp cuts are needed to repair public finances, Bayrou had proposed to cut $51 billion in spending in 2026, after France’s deficit hit 5.8% of GDP last year, way above the official EU target of 3%.

He painted a dramatic picture of the European Union’s No. 2 economy becoming beholden to foreign creditors and addicted to living beyond its means. He castigated opponents in the National Assembly who teamed up against his minority government despite their own sharp political differences.

“You have the power to overthrow the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality,” Bayrou said. “Reality will remain inexorable. Spending will continue to increase and the debt burden — already unbearable — will grow heavier and more costly.”

Leicester writes for the Associated Press.

LONDON — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday she doesn’t think the detention of hundreds of South Koreans in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia will deter investment in the United States because such tough actions mean there is no uncertainty about the Trump administration’s policies.

The detention of 475 workers, more than 300 of them South Korean, in the Sept. 4 raid has caused confusion, shock and a sense of betrayal among many in the U.S.-allied nation.

“This is a great opportunity for us to make sure that all companies are reassured that when you come to the United States, you’ll know what the rules of the game are,” Noem said at a meeting in London of ministers from the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing partnership focused on border security.

“We’re encouraging all companies who want to come to the United States and help our economy and employ people, that we encourage them to employ U.S. citizens and to bring people to our country that want to follow our laws and work here the right way,” she told reporters.

The detained Koreans would be deported after most were detained for ignoring removal orders, while “a few” had engaged in other criminal activity and will “face the consequences,” Noem said.

Newly appointed U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood welcomed Noem and ministers from Canada, Australia and New Zealand to the 18th-century headquarters of the Honourable Artillery Company for talks on countering unauthorized migration, child sexual abuse and the spread of opioids.

Mahmood, who was given the interior minister job in a shakeup of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Cabinet on Friday, said the ministers would “agree new measures to protect our borders with our Five Eyes partners, hitting people-smugglers hard.”

The far-flung countries are close allies with some common problems but also widely differ in their approaches to migration. The Trump administration’s program of street raids, mass detentions and large-scale deportations of unauthorized migrants has drawn domestic and international criticism and a host of legal challenges.

Noem says tough measures are an inspiration to others

Noem said there had not been disagreements among the ministers in talks focused on sharing information on criminal gangs, using technology to disrupt their networks and speeding extradition arrangements.

“I don’t think that the discussion today has covered politics at all,” she said. “It is what resources do we have that we can share so we can each protect our countries better?”

Noem said that “when we put tough measures in place, the more that we can talk about that and share that is an inspiration to other countries to do the same.”

She denied a plan to expand immigration raids and deploy the National Guard in Chicago, which has met with opposition from local and state authorities, was on hold.

“Nothing’s on hold. Everything is full speed ahead,” Noem told reporters, saying “we can run as many operations every single day as we need to, to keep America safe.”

Also attending Monday’s talks were Canadian Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Judith Collins, the attorney general and defense minister of New Zealand.

U.K. grapples with migrant crossings

Britain’s center-left Labor government is struggling to bring down the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, some 30,000 so far this year. It faces calls from opposition parties to leave the European Convention on Human Rights in order to take tougher action.

The government says it won’t do that, but may tweak the interpretation of the rights convention in British law. It has struck a deal with France to return some migrants who cross the channel and is working on similar agreements with other countries.

Mahmood said Monday that the U.K. could suspend issuing visas to people from countries that do not agree to take back their citizens with no right to remain in Britain, though she did not name any potential countries.

“We do expect countries to play ball, play by the rules, and if one of your citizens has no right to be in our country, you do need to take them back,” she said.

Lawless writes for the Associated Press.

Sept. 7 (UPI) — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation Sunday to avoid a split of his Liberal Democratic Party after recent election defeats.

“Today, I have decided resign from the position of President of Liberal Democratic Party,” Ishiba posted in a brief message on social media.

Ishiba, in a news conference carried by public broadcaster NHK, said he had decided to resign from the post now that negotiations with the administration of President Donald Trump over tariffs had ended.

“I thought a decisive division within the party could be created if the issue of an extraordinary presidential election continued to develop. That is not what I wanted,” Ishiba said in the news conference.

“I hope people will fully understand as I will continue fulfilling my duties during my remaining time in office.”

Ishiba instructed LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama to begin preparations for a leadership election in line with party rules, according to NHK.

The announcement followed a bruising summer election in which Ishiba’s LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito lost their majority in the upper house of parliament.

Projections ahead of the vote had warned the coalition was at risk of falling short, and final results confirmed the parties captured only 47 seats, three shy of the 50 needed to maintain control.

The setback deepened the LDP’s political troubles after earlier losses in the lower house, fueling speculation about Ishiba’s hold on power. NHK noted the results left the ruling party struggling to pass legislation without opposition support, raising the prospect of gridlock.

Ishiba, a former defense minister who became prime minister in 2024, had campaigned on strengthening Japan’s security posture and managing rising costs of living. But his government’s popularity waned amid economic pressures, and party heavyweights pressed him to step aside to clear the way for new leadership.

The resignation was heralded as a smart move to bolster party unity by members of Ishiba’s own party while Saito Tetsuo, the chief representative of coalition partner Komeito, called the announcement regrettable.

“I am deeply disappointed by this announcement of resignation. However, I understand it as an unavoidable decision to bring an early end to the confusion within the Liberal Democratic Party,” Tetsuo said in a post on social media.

“In order to minimize the political vacuum, and also to realize the promised tax cuts and benefits, I call on the Liberal Democratic Party to respond swiftly.”

Noda Yoshihiko, the head of the main opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, also expressed concern about the country operating in a political vacuum while inflation grips Japan, NHK reported.

With Ishiba’s departure, the LDP will quickly move to initiate its formal leadership selection process. Under party rules, aspiring candidates must secure at least 20 endorsements from fellow LDP members in the Diet, the national legislature, to qualify.

The election will involve both LDP lawmakers and rank-and-file party members across Japan. If no single candidate achieves a majority in the first round, a run-off between the top two vote-getters will be held, this time giving equal weight to lawmakers and one vote per prefectural branch.

Once a new party president is chosen, the Diet will convene to endorse the next prime minister. Although the LDP has lost its majority in both chambers, its dominance in the lower house ensures that its nominee can secure the post.

Yet the absence of a decisive majority sets the stage for political instability, forcing the new leader to rely on cross-party cooperation to pass legislation or consider calling a general election for a fresh mandate.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

The vote comes a week after Paetongtarn Shinawatra was removed from office amid an ethics scandal.

Thailand’s parliament has elected Anutin Charnvirakul, leader of the conservative opposition Bhumjaithai party, as the country’s prime minister.

The vote on Friday means Anutin will replace Paetongtarn Shinawatra of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, who was dismissed by the Constitutional Court last month over an ethics scandal.

Anutin secured victory over Chaikasem Nitisiri, the candidate of the populist Pheu Thai, with the support of the liberal People’s Party.

That backing from the largest party in the 500-seat parliament was premised on a promise from Anutin to call a general election within four months.

While voting and counting were still proceeding, the Bhumjaithai leader was confirmed to have won more than 247 votes, the required majority from the House of Representatives’ 492 active members.

His final total must be certified after voting is completed. He and his government are expected to take office in a few days after obtaining a formal appointment from King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Veteran Anutin’s election deals another blow to the Shinawatra clan, which has been a mainstay of Thai politics for the past two decades.

Their populist movement has long jousted with the pro-military, pro-monarchy establishment, but has been increasingly bedevilled by legal and political setbacks.

The dynasty’s patriarch, Thaksin Shinawatra, flew out of Thailand in the hours ahead of Friday’s vote, bound for Dubai.

Anutin once backed the Pheu Thai coalition, but abandoned it in the summer in apparent outrage over Paetongtarn’s conduct during a border dispute with neighbouring Cambodia.

This is a developing news story. More to follow shortly …

The missile attack comes amid Houthi pledges to target Israel-linked shipping over its ongoing war in Gaza.

Yemen’s Houthi movement has claimed responsibility for a missile attack on a tanker in the Red Sea, days after Israeli air strikes killed its prime minister and several senior officials.

The group on Monday said it directly hit the Liberian-flagged Scarlet Ray, which is Israeli-owned, according to the maritime security company Ambrey.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency, which monitors shipping in the region, disputed the claim, reporting the missile missed its target on Sunday.

“The crew witnessed a splash in close proximity to their vessel from an unknown projectile and heard a loud bang,” UKMTO said, adding all staff were unharmed and the tanker had resumed its voyage.

The attack is the latest in a string of Houthi operations in the Red Sea. The group sank two tankers in July and has pledged to continue targeting Israel-linked shipping as part of its declared support for Palestinians and opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

On Saturday, the Houthis announced that Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi and other top officials had been assassinated in Israeli strikes on Thursday. A funeral for the prime minister and other slain officials is scheduled on Monday.

Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi hailed them as “martyrs of all Yemen” and accused Israel of “savagery” against civilians. “The crime of targeting ministers and civilian officials is added to the criminal record of the Israeli enemy in the region,” he said.

Tensions escalated further on Sunday when Houthi fighters raided United Nations offices and detained at least 11 staff members, accusing them of espionage.

The UN has rejected the allegations and called for their “immediate and unconditional release”. The group is already holding 23 other UN employees, some since 2021.

In May, Oman brokered a ceasefire between the United States and the Houthis, leading Washington to halt its daily bombing campaign in Yemen. However, Houthi chief negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam said the agreement does not cover operations against Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to retaliate, warning the Houthis they will “pay a heavy price” for attacks on Israeli territory and shipping.

The Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen, have launched dozens of drone and missile strikes against Israel and its allies since October, disrupting international trade through the Red Sea.