minister

Houthis condemn killing of Ahmed al-Rahawi, other government ministers in Israeli attack on Yemen’s capital this week.

A Houthi official has vowed “vengeance” against Israel after the Yemeni group confirmed that an Israeli air strike earlier this week killed the prime minister of the Houthis’ government in the capital, Sanaa.

Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a Thursday strike on Sanaa along with “several” other ministers, the Houthis said in a statement on Saturday.

Al-Rahawi, who served as prime minister in areas of the divided country that the group controls, was targeted along with other members of the Houthi-led government during a workshop, the statement said.

The Houthis did not specify how many other ministers were also killed in the Israeli attack.

“We shall take vengeance, and we shall forge from the depths of wounds a victory,” Mahdi al-Mashat, a Yemeni politician and military officer who serves as the chairman of the Supreme Political Council of the Houthis, said in a video message later in the day.

Israel’s attack on Sanaa, which the Israeli military had said struck “a Houthi terrorist regime military target”, came as tensions in the region continue to escalate amid Israel’s war on Gaza.

🔴عاجل🔴
رئاسة الجمهورية اليمنية: نعلن استشهاد المجاهد أحمد غالب الرهوي رئيس الوزراء في حكومة التغيير والبناء مع عدد من رفاقه الوزراء يوم الخميس الماضي pic.twitter.com/sSpIqTukkn

— قناة المسيرة (@TvAlmasirah) August 30, 2025

Translation: Yemeni Presidency: We announce the martyrdom of the mujahid Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi, prime minister of the Government of Change and Construction, along with several of his fellow ministers, on Thursday.

Israel has repeatedly targeted Houthi positions in recent months as the Yemeni group has launched attacks on Israel and on Western vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in what it says is a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza.

The group has repeatedly said that Israeli attacks will not deter its military operations.

On Wednesday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a missile attack on southern Israel, which the country said was intercepted.

Escalating attacks

In its statement on Saturday, the Houthi presidency said its government and institutions would still be capable of carrying out their duties after the deadly Israeli attack.

“The blood of the great martyrs will be fuel and a motivator to continue on the same path,” it said.

Al-Mashat also said the Houthis will “continue the path of building our armed forces and developing their capabilities”.

“To our people in Gaza, our stance is steadfast, and will remain so until the aggression ceases and the siege is lifted, no matter the scale of the challenge,” he said.

It remains unclear how many people were killed in Thursday’s air strike on Sanaa.

Quoting unnamed sources, Israeli media reported on Friday that the Israeli army attacked the entire Houthi cabinet, including the prime minister and 12 other ministers.

The attack came four days after Israeli strikes on the Yemeni capital on August 24 killed 10 people and wounded more than 90, according to health officials.

The Israeli military said it had targeted Houthi military sites and the presidential palace in that attack.

Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut noted that Israel has said it will “continue to target Houthi-related targets, meaning that anything that could be used militarily or politically by the rebel group” will be a target for the Israeli military.

“The [Israeli] defence minister, Israel Katz, had previously noted that Israel’s strikes on Yemen weren’t really doing enough to deter the group from launching” attacks against the country, Salhut said.

As a result, Katz said “he wanted to target their leadership similar to what Israel has done with assassinations within other political groups across the region, like Hezbollah, like Hamas, like Islamic Jihad”, she added.

‘Shame!’
A group of protesters confronted Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, accusing him of pursuing war at the expense of a deal with Hamas to free captives in Gaza. They called him a draft dodger, referencing the ban on him serving in Israel’s army due to his extremist background.

Caspar Veldkamp and other ministers step down after cabinet rejects sanctions against Israel, prompting broader political upheaval.

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp has resigned after failing to secure cabinet support for additional sanctions against Israel over its military onslaught in Gaza.

Veldkamp, a member of the centre-right New Social Contract party, said on Friday that he could not achieve agreement on “meaningful measures” and had repeatedly faced resistance from colleagues over sanctions already in place.

His efforts included imposing entry bans on far-right Israeli ministers, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, citing their role in inciting settler violence against Palestinians.

Veldkamp also revoked three export permits for navy ship components, warning of “deteriorating conditions” in Gaza and the “risk of undesirable end use”.

“I also see what is happening on the ground in Gaza, the attack on Gaza City, and what is happening in the West Bank, the building decision for the disputed settlement E1, and East Jerusalem,” Veldkamp told reporters.

His departure leaves the Netherlands without a foreign minister as the European Union navigates security guarantees for Ukraine and continues talks with the United States over tariffs.

Following his resignation, all New Social Contract ministers and state secretaries confirmed their support for Veldkamp and resigned from the caretaker government in solidarity.

Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen, reporting from Berlin on developments in the Netherlands, said Veldkamp was “under increasing pressure from lawmakers in parliament, especially from the opposition who have been requesting stricter sanctions against Israel”.

While Veldkamp had announced travel bans for two Israeli ministers a few weeks ago, Vaessen said the foreign minister was facing growing demands after Israel’s attacks on Gaza City and the “increasing aggression” that the Dutch government “should be doing more”.

“Veldkamp has also been pushing for a suspension of the trade agreement that the EU has with Israel,” Vaessen added, noting that the Dutch foreign minister had “increasingly become frustrated because Germany was blocking that. So there was also this push from the Dutch parliament that the Netherlands shouldn’t wait anymore for any European sanctions but should put sanctions on Israel alone.”

Europe-Israel relations

Despite limited Dutch sanctions on Israel, the country continues to support the supply chain of Israel’s F-35 fighter jet.

Research from the Palestinian Youth Movement shared with Al Jazeera in June shows that ships carrying F-35 components frequently dock at the port of Rotterdam, operated by Danish shipping company Maersk.

The F-35 jets have been used by Israel in air strikes on Gaza, which have left much of the Strip in ruins and contributed to the deaths of more than 62,000 people since October 2023.

Earlier this week, the Netherlands joined 20 other nations in condemning Israel’s approval of a large West Bank settlement expansion, calling it “unacceptable and contrary to international law”.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military attacks on Gaza continue, forcing civilians from Gaza City southwards amid mounting famine. A global hunger monitor confirmed on Friday that residents of Gaza City and surrounding areas are officially facing famine conditions.

No successor to Veldkamp has been announced. The caretaker Dutch government, which has been in place since the collapse of the previous coalition on June 3, is expected to remain until a new coalition is formed following elections in October, a process that could take months.

Ham and Cheese

By Steph Cha

Author Steph Cha in the kitchen at Louisa’s Trattoria in Larchmont Village.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Marlowe Lee was off the clock, 12 more hours in the can, but Call-Me-Jessie had changed the closing procedure, and now, for the second week running, Marlowe had to do final cleanup and lockup after clocking out. It was 9, and she was starving, with another 15 minutes of unpaid work ahead of her. She hadn’t eaten since her lunch break, and as sick as she was of Charcuterie Girl’s sandwiches (The Best Deli on Ventura Boulevard, Human-Owned and Operated!), it was torture making and serving them on an empty stomach.

Los Angeles knows how to weather a crisis — or two or three. Angelenos are tapping into that resilience, striving to build a city for everyone.

She set two slices of baguette on the counter and stared at her options. Roast turkey and mortadella, vegan salami and imitation tuna salad. It was depressing, that fake tuna, the best on the market but still a vaguely unsavory amalgam of fish paste and seaweed powder — nothing like the tuna she remembered. It made her think of all the things she missed, those lost treasures of the recent past. Avocados, panda bears, temperate weather.

Her eyes landed on Charcuterie Girl’s crown jewel: a whole leg of ibérico ham in its own bespoke rig. How much longer would the world have black Spanish pigs, fed nothing but acorns and chestnuts? The jamón cost $70 an ounce, but rich people were too rich — they bought things because they were expensive, and those pigs were in higher and higher demand. Jessie named the sandwich the Trillionaire’s Ham and Cheese at the suggestion of the richest man in Los Angeles, who personally requested to see jamón ibérico on the menu. He bragged about it online, and now it was every local billionaire’s favorite sandwich in town.

Marlowe had yet to try the jamón — she wasn’t allowed to touch it, except to slice it by hand for high-value customers, who liked to record her slow, methodical movements as she handled the special ham knife. It came off in thin red ribbons that she piled onto baguettes with manchego and grated tomato. She tried to imagine the taste, and her mouth watered.

She eyed the camera, which transmitted footage to Jessie’s iGlass, with any irregularities flagged for immediate review. An irregularity could get Marlowe fired, never mind that the camera also logged hours and hours of labor violations.

She was lucky, she knew, to have this job — any job at all, when she was only 23. Just that day, a customer had asked how long she’d spent on the California Hourly Employment.

Marlowe answered, truthfully, that she’d gotten on when she was in college. The customer shook his head. He’d been waiting for two years — how could anyone be expected to go that long without work? Marlowe didn’t mention the exemption for small business owners, who could circumvent CHEW if they were willing to invest in superfluous human labor, or that her mom and Jessie had been classmates at Wellesley.

Marlowe looked back at the camera and picked up the ham knife. It slid easily under the oily meat, again and again and again. She worked until she had enough jamón for a half-dozen sandwiches, then pulled a last slice right off the leg and popped it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and laughed. Oh man, she thought. I could get used to this.

Steph Cha is a critic and author of “Your House Will Pay,” winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the California Book Award, and the Juniper Song crime trilogy.

Allnight Supermarket

By Ivy Pochoda

Ivy Pochoda, right, a novelist, and writer/activist Linda Leigh in Skid Row.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

I’m here to tell you a few things. Some are triumphs and some are facts. But first — let me welcome you to the first official meeting of the Skid Row Neighborhood Council. Doesn’t sound historic to you? Well, let me say, we’ve been trying for decades to get recognized. As a neighborhood. As a community. As people. The BID stopped us. The Downtown Neighborhood Council stopped us. I wouldn’t be surprised if a succession of supposedly helpful mayors hadn’t a hand in stopping us.

Let me also say there was a moment when I myself lived in the elements. That’s what I told my daughter. “I’m living in the elements.” Nevertheless, it’s part of my story — this story that brings us here today. Thirty long years after we first tried to get a neighborhood council of our own. What’s the big deal? Let me tell you the big deal. This is a real neighborhood — an actual community. We all know each other and what’s what and what’s up. Did people in Hancock Park know each other? Did folks in Beverly Hills help one another out? Nothing doing. Just strangers in big houses. It’s different down here. Always has been.

It took some doing to get recognized. We are the last ones not driven out by climate and prices. That’s what sent the rich people away. They gave up and made this city a ghost town of heat and poverty. But we stayed. Climate and prices don’t mean a lot when you don’t have a lot of choice. Not much we can do about the elements. Fact is — we are used to the elements. The elements are our thing. And rising prices don’t matter when you can’t afford anything anyway.

So when everyone up and fled, we got our neighborhood council charter. We are Skid Row proud — climate and cash be damned.

Things happen by default, you know. I got sick. I lost my home. I wound up on the streets. I got housed for good. So be it. That was a long time ago. Same with this council. We tried. We tried again. We got denied. The city got hot. The city got wet. The city became the climate crisis’ ground zero. Prices shot up. People didn’t want to pay for water rights. They didn’t want their kids suffering at recess. They didn’t want to pay soaring gas prices for their private jets to take them north. So came the great abandoning.

We could have moved into their houses. We could have swept into the Hollywood Hills and Brentwood. But that’s not a place. That’s not a home. That’s not a community. We are who we are and where we are. And with no one left but us, we got our council. And now we have plans, and plans are happening. You might think our plans are simple. But these small things are everything.

And so I’m proud to set in motion our first community market. All these years, and this is the first time Skid Row has an exclusive place to shop, hear music, get your hair cut. A place to get trained up to work, a place to give back. A place from which we will rebuild this blessedly emptied city in our own image.

Ivy Pochoda is the author of several novels including “Wonder Valley,” “Visitation Street,” “These Women,” “Sing Her Down,” which won the L.A. Times Book Prize in 2023, and “Ecstasy,” which was released in June.

2047: Meet David Allen, the Minister of Commemoration

By Jonathan Lethem

Author and MacArthur Fellow Jonathan Letham against a backdrop of Mt. Baldy in Upland.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Stanleg and I had long planned an expedition to meet the Minister of Commemoration. Very few people knew as much as we did, which made Stanleg and me famous frenemies. Stanleg was the Emperor of Dead People Hill. I lived in Bonelli with the Boaties. He liked org as much as I liked disorg, but we both remembered the floodtimes from when we were children, so the little amnesiacs liked to flock around and pepper us with queries, but our information was nothing like Minister Allen’s.

You could get by gondola up to the mouth of the Euclid trail, where the donkey trolleys dragged the sledges up toward Baldy. That was where the Minister lived. He liked the high places and never went by water. David Allen was made and lived in the Dry and still saw it all with the Eyes of the Dry: the Gabriels and the Wetness below. They had once named some of these places for the water, like Riverside, or the Wash, before the water came. But those who truly remembered the Dry wanted no part of the Wetness.

So Stanleg and I packed in and portaged through the Pomonliest swamp and then crossed the Downland gondoliers’ palms with bribes to get us to the shore where the mule sleds waited, and then we bribed the mule sledders. They had no interest in our tales.

The Minister of Commemoration waited in his temple, only lightly guarded by amnesiacs. He was deep and surprisingly tall, though crooked and bald, and his robes hung long. He greeted us with a magnificent smile. The lenses as well as the repairing tape on his spectacles were thick.

We had brought waterkale cakes and wild bird hand-pies, because we had been encouraged to believe David Allen liked these things. Perhaps he did, though he seemed to take no notice of our gifts.

“Stanleg is from Dead People Hill,” I said before Stanleg could get a word in. “He likes org, and he orgs those dead people pretty good. Maybe the amnesiacs not so good.”

“Fitchly hails from Bonelli Underwater Park,” said Stanleg, returning the favor. “He is an expert in disorg and keeping it real. I had to bake you those hand-pies myself.”

“Org and disorg were sitting on a fence,” said David Allen. “Org fell off, and disorg felt the bump.”

We were humbled by his wisdom, and all the rancor was relieved from our bodies. We wanted only to be suffused with his powers of Commemoration.

“Is it true,” asked Stanleg, “that where there is now a beach there was once a forest and a lawn?”

“It was a forest lawn, yes, on the top of the hill, when the lands surrounding were dry. But it took much watering to keep the Forest Lawn from reverting to yellow scrub. I know this might seem preposterous to you…”

“Watering is one of the old mysteries. Was it the watering that brought the flood?”

“Not in a direct sense,” said Allen.

“Will you give us a Commemory?” I asked.

“I have been thinking much about the Beach Boys,” said Paul Allen. He seemed to draw deep inside of himself to summon the Commemory. Perhaps he mused upon the chosen theme because Stanleg had mentioned his own beach, there at Dead People Hill. “There were many debates,” the Minister intoned, “back in the dry times, about the extent of their Inland reach. Some scant evidence suggests they came to Riverside in 1962. An autographed glossy or two. But did they actually perform?”

“What miracles might the Beach Boys perform?”

“At that time, they might have performed ‘Don’t Worry Baby.’”

“This would have been a consolation.”

“If they made it to Riverside and performed ‘Don’t Worry Baby,’ it would have been a terrific consolation, yes.”

“We thank you for this Commemory,” said Stanleg. “We don’t want to ask too much of you.”

“I am old.”

“Yes.”

“It may or may not have happened. Go now.”

“Yes.”

“And remember, and speak it to your amnesiacs.”

“Yes.”

“Tell them this. Tell them they are all Beach Boys now.”

Jonathan Lethem, a MacArthur fellow, is the author of several novels, including “The Fortress of Solitude,” and “Motherless Brooklyn,” winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, and several short story collections. “A Different Kind of Tension: New and Selected Stories,” will be published in September.

Varsen Aghabekian Shahin says international community must take concrete steps to end Israeli impunity for abuses.

The international community must “shoulder its responsibility” and take action against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the Palestinian foreign affairs minister has told Al Jazeera before an emergency United Nations Security Council session.

In an interview on Saturday, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin said the 15-member council must uphold international law when it convenes at UN headquarters in New York on Sunday to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip.

The meeting was organised in response to Israel’s newly announced plan to seize Gaza City, which has drawn widespread condemnation from world leaders.

“I expect that the international community stands for international law and international humanitarian law,” Aghabekian Shahin told Al Jazeera.

“What has been going in Palestine for the last 22 months is nothing but a genocide, and it’s part and parcel of Israel’s expansionist ideology that wants to take over the entirety of the occupied State of Palestine.”

The Israeli security cabinet approved plans this week to seize Gaza City, forcibly displacing nearly one million Palestinians to concentration zones in the south of the bombarded coastal enclave.

Palestinians have rejected the Israeli push to force them out of the city while human rights groups and the UN have warned that the plan will worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza and lead to further mass casualties.

Israel has pledged to push ahead with its plans despite the growing criticism, saying that it wants to “free Gaza from Hamas”.

The country’s top global ally, the United States, has not commented directly on the plan to seize Gaza City. But US President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that he would not block an Israeli push to take over all of Gaza.

Aghabekian Shahin told Al Jazeera that if Trump – whose administration continues to provide unwavering diplomatic and military support to Israel – wants to reach a solution, Palestinian rights must be taken into account.

“There will be no peace in Israel-Palestine, or the region for that matter, or even the world at large, if the rights of the Palestinians are not respected,” she said, noting that this means a Palestinian state must be established.

The minister also slammed recent remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the future governance of Gaza.

In a social media post on Friday, Netanyahu said he wants “a peaceful civilian administration” to be established in the enclave, “one that is not the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, and not any other terrorist organization”.

But Aghabekian Shahin said it’s up to Palestinians to decide who should govern them.

“The one that has the legal and the political authority on Gaza today is the PLO,” she said, referring to the Palestine Liberation Organization.

“If Gaza wants to come back to the core, which is the entirety of the Palestinian land, then it has to become under the control and governance of the Palestinian Authority, the PLO.”

Aghabekian Shahin also condemned the international community for failing to act as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have faced a surge in Israeli military and settler attacks in the shadow of the country’s war on Gaza.

“It is the inaction that has emboldened the Israelis, including the settlers, to do whatever they are doing for the last six decades, since day one of the 1967 occupation,” she said.

“The times are very dangerous now, and it’s important that the international community shoulders its responsibility. The impunity with which Israel was happily moving should stop.”

The resignation is a blow for the Labour government, which trails Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party in polls.

Britain’s minister for homelessness has resigned over allegations that she evicted tenants from a property she owns and increased rents by hundreds of pounds.

In her resignation letter to United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, Rushanara Ali, a junior minister in the Ministry of Housing, said she had followed all the legal requirements “at all times” in her dealings as a landlord.

Ali, the member of parliament for Bethnal Green and Stepney, evicted four tenants from her four-bedroom house in east London last year as the property was being sold, British outlet The i Paper reported on Wednesday.

The property, which had a monthly rent of 3,300 British pounds (about $4,433), was re-listed for rent and rented out weeks later at 4,000 British pounds ($5,374) after no buyer was found, the report added.

Ali, who has spoken out previously against tenants being exploited by “unreasonable rent increases”, told the prime minister in her resignation letter that she had taken her “responsibilities and duties seriously, and the facts demonstrate this”.

“However, it is clear that continuing in my role will be a distraction from the ambitious work of the government. I have therefore decided to resign from my Ministerial position,” she said.

She added that she was “proud to have contributed to the change this government has delivered in the past year”.

“Working alongside the Deputy Prime Minister, we secured record investment in social and affordable housing, and nearly a billion pounds of funding to alleviate homelessness and rough sleeping,” she said.

The end of rental contracts is considered one of the leading causes of homelessness in Britain, and Starmer’s government is currently preparing a Renters’ Rights Bill that will end short notice “no-fault” evictions by landlords and ban them from re-listing a property for higher rent within six months after eviction.

Ali is the fourth Labour minister to step down under pressure following the exits of the transport minister, Louise Haigh; the anticorruption minister, Tulip Siddiq; and junior health minister, Andrew Gwynne, for separate reasons.

The resignations represent an embarrassing blow for Starmer’s government, with his party trailing Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist Reform UK party in opinion polls just over a year after Labour won a landslide election victory.

A June survey by polling firm YouGov showed that Reform UK would win 271 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons if an election were held now, with the ruling Labour Party second at 178 seats.

The opposition Conservative Party’s chairman, Kevin Hollinrake, has criticised Starmer for presiding “over a government of hypocrisy and self-service”.

Rushanara Ali has resigned as Homelessness Minister, Downing Street has confirmed.

The move comes after she was accused of hypocrisy over the way she handled rent increases on a house she owns in east London.

There were calls for her to step down from homelessness charities and opposition politicians.

In a letter to the prime minister she has said that remaining in the role would be “a distraction from the ambitious work of this Government”.

In a story first broken by the The i Paper, four tenants who rented a house owned by Ali in east London were sent an email in November giving them four months’ notice their lease would not be renewed.

However, the property was re-listed shortly after they moved out, at a rent £700 a month higher.

Tory Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake accused Ali of “staggering hypocrisy” over the handling of the property but Ali’s spokesman said she “takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements”.

In a letter to the prime minister, Ali wrote: “It is with a heavy heart that I offer you my resignation as a minister.”

Insisting that “at all times I have followed all relevant legal requirements” she added: “I believe I took my responsibilities and duties seriously, and the facts demonstrate this.

“However, it is clear that continuing in my role will be a distraction from the ambitious work of the government.

“I have therefore decided to resign from my Ministerial position.”

Responding to her resignation, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer thanked her for her work, which he called “diligent”.

The PM praised her work to repeal the Vagrancy Act and added: “I know you will continue to support the Government from the backbenches and represent the best interests of your constituents in Bethnal Green and Stepney.”

A source close to Ali said the previous fixed-term contract had been ended because the house was being put up for sale and the tenants had been told they could stay on a rolling basis while the house was on the market, but they had chosen to go.

The house was put on the market in November 2024 with an asking price of £914,995 but was reduced in February by £20,000 and the i Paper said it was only re-listed as a rental because it had not sold.

The government’s Renters’ Rights Bill is in its final stages in Parliament, and will ban landlords re-listing a property for rent, if they have ended a tenancy in order to sell, for six months.

Landlords must also give four months’ notice when the legislation is passed, which is not expected to be until at least next year.

London Renters Union spokesperson Siân Smith said Ali’s actions were “indefensible” and she “must step down” due to a “clear conflict of interest” with the Bill in its final stages.

Ali had to give up part of her ministerial portfolio in October last year, when she came under fire for her attendance at a conference linked to the parent company of one of the firms heavily criticised in the recent Grenfell inquiry.

Giving up her duties managing building safety and the government’s response to the Grenfell Tower fire, she said she was relinquishing her building safety brief because “perception matters”.

Welcoming her resignation, a Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: “Rushanara Ali fundamentally misunderstood her role.

“Her job was to tackle homelessness, not to increase it.

“At a time of widespread political disillusionment, her actions were staggeringly irresponsible and only added insult to injury after years of delay for renters’ rights reform under the Conservatives.”

After gracing the Weatherfield cobbles and other hit shows, Suranne Jones stars in Netflix’s political thriller Hostage, sharing the spotlight with a grime star.

Bombshells, diplomacy and danger collide in Matt Charman’s new thriller Hostage – and some grime fans might be surprised to see one of their favourite stars grace the screen.

From the cobbles of Coronation Street to Doctor Foster, Vigil and Gentleman Jack – winning a TV Bafta on the way – Suranne Jones has cemented herself as one of Britain’s best-loved acting talents.

Now, the versatile star is taking on her most powerful role yet – quite literally – as the British Prime Minister in Hostage, Netflix’s explosive new political thriller from Oscar-nominated Matt Charman (Bridge Of Spies).

In Hostage, Suranne plays Abigail Dalton, a politician plunged into chaos when her husband, Dr Alex Anderson, is kidnapped. And she made sure she was thoroughly prepared and did her homework.

“I don’t think I’m allowed to say [who], but I did speak to three really high-up women from different parties,” Suranne, 46, says. “I read their books and I interviewed them, and that was very exciting.”

That attention to detail paid off. Abigail isn’t just a PM fighting for her family – she’s a woman balancing power and vulnerability. Portraying the latter involved getting close to her co-star and on-screen husband, Ashley Thomas, aka grime star Bashy.

“We did chemistry tests, and when he came in, it was just like, ‘Oh, you’re intriguing, handsome, lovely, smart, intelligent,’” Suranne remembers. “And then we met our daughter (Isobel Akuwudike), who is also brilliant. It was her first job.”

READ MORE: Teeth whitening solution so ‘effective’ shoppers of all ages love it is 30% off

Ashley also prepared thoroughly to portray medic Alex. He consulted real-life doctors, but it was the emotional weight of Alex’s kidnapping that hit the hardest.

“That was tough. Putting yourself in those places is heavy – especially as Alex is a father,” says Ashley. “The environment I’ve come from, I’ve witnessed and experienced a lot of trauma, so there were things I was able to pull from.”

While Abigail grapples with domestic turmoil, things aren’t calm across the Channel either. French President Vivienne Toussaint – played by French-American actress Julie Delpy – is battling her own political scandal after being blackmailed.

During a state visit to the UK, Vivienne is forced to work with Abigail to expose a common enemy, despite their vastly different political backgrounds.

“She’s quite conflicted, which I liked,” Julie, 55, says. “She is someone who started out with ideals but had to give up part of what she believes in to get access to power.”

Vivienne is dangerous and captivating – a role that seemed made for Julie, who has spent her career tackling complex characters. “She might not be a very good person, but she’s more than just a bad guy,” Julie adds.

But beneath her icy exterior lies a secret: an age-gap relationship that threatens everything. “A May-September relationship these days isn’t a big deal – but this is a little darker and more complicated than that. A little more destructive,” Julie explains.

“Her husband is key in her ascent to power, so to put herself in this situation and put everything at risk is kamikaze.” Hostage shows Vivienne’s struggle to keep her Achilles’ heel hidden.

“She’s good at handling situations and power, but her weakness is her hidden side,” Julie says. “She’s romantically involved with someone she shouldn’t be and that’s a huge weakness for a politician – especially a woman.”

Before Sunrise actress Julie embraced the opportunity to portray someone morally grey. “I loved the idea of playing someone very different from me,” she says. “She’s not the most likeable of characters, but that’s fine with me.

If they are unlikeable as a person, you find a way to approach them as a human being. When I played a Nazi character, she was obviously repulsive, but then you have to think that she sees it differently.”

Despite Vivienne’s complicated personality, Julie found herself intrigued by her. “It was interesting to see someone that seems so rational and together, but behind the mask, her life is a mess,” she says.

“I’m the opposite – I look messy and crazy, but I would never do what she does!” And when it comes to politics? “I’m not interested at all [in politics] because of the compromises you would have to make. I don’t even do that in the movie business, and you see a lot of people give up their morals to succeed. I’m not able to do that. I’m just not that kind of person.”

Julie’s first day of filming for Hostage set the tone that the tense series demanded. “I’m always nervous, and not just on the first day,” she admits.

“My first day on Hostage was a kissing scene – so it was even more stressful than usual. I didn’t know this person so I had to switch off my mind a little.”

If that wasn’t enough, the role involved linguistic hurdles, too. Julie had to learn the more official, formal speeches in English. “Those are hard enough in your own language, but to do them as a non-native speaker was tough,” she says.

Luckily, the tension on screen was offset by the real-life camaraderie with her castmates – particularly Suranne. “She’s a lovely person and a great actress,” Julie says.

“Sometimes, it takes a little time to find your way with certain people, but with Suranne it was immediate. I like communication to be quick and fast and clear, I have no time for ego and she’s like that as well. So it made it very easy.”

The friendly feelings appear to be mutual. Suranne revealed during a recent appearance on the Table Manners podcast, “There were a lot of unrepeatable stories, told in the make-up trailer. Julie would be talking in the corner, and then everyone would go quiet!”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

Aug. 3 (UPI) — Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem and prayed there over the weekend, breaking a longstanding agreement that allows Jews to visit the site, but not pray.

The site, located in occupied East Jerusalem, is known by Jews as the Temple Mount, and Ben–Gvir’s prayer prompted a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office affirming that there has been no change in the decades-old agreement.

Jordan, the site’s custodian, called Ben-Gvir’s actions “an unacceptable provocation.” Hamas called it a “deepening of the ongoing aggressions against our Palestinian people.” A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the visit “crossed all red lines.”

During his visit, Ben-Gvir called for Israel to “conquer” Gaza and encouraged Palestinians to leave the embattled region.

Temple Mount is the most holy place for Jews as it is the site of two Biblical temples. It is the third most holy site for Muslims, who claim it is where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

The Waqf, the Islamic endowment that runs this site, said Ben-Gvir was one of 1,250 Jews who visited the compound Sunday morning.

Ben-Gvir has been convicted of supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism in Israel in the past.

Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said warnings that the recognition of a Palestinian state could breach international law are “missing the point”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced the UK would move towards recognition unless Israel met certain conditions, including agreeing a ceasefire and reviving the prospect of a two-state solution, earlier this week.

However, some of Britain’s most distinguished lawyers have warned that Palestine does not meet the legal requirements for statehood under a 1933 treaty.

Nearly 150 more than 140 of the UN’s 193 members already formally recognise a Palestinian state, with Canada, Germany and Portugal considering recognition.

Under the Montevideo Convention, signed in 1933, the criteria for the recognition of a state under international law are set out as a defined territory, a permanent population, an effective government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.

In a letter to the government’s attorney general, Lord Hermer, first reported by the Times, 43 cross-party peers call for him to advise the prime minister against recognition.

The group includes some of the country’s top lawyers, such as former Supreme Court judge Lord Collins of Mapesbury and Lord Pannick KC.

“It is clear that there is no certainty over the borders of Palestine,” they argue, and also that “there is no functioning single government, Fatah and Hamas being enemies”.

“The former has failed to hold elections for decades, and the latter is a terrorist organisation, neither of which could enter into relations with other states,” the letter adds.

The UK did not sign the 1933 convention but the lawyers argue that it has “become part of customary law and it would be unwise to depart from it at a time when international law is seen as fragile or, indeed, at any time”.

They add: “You have said that a selective, ‘pick and mix’ approach to international law will lead to its disintegration, and that the criteria set out in international law should not be manipulated for reasons of political expedience.

“Accordingly, we expect you to demonstrate this commitment by explaining to the public and to the government that recognition of Palestine would be contrary to the principles governing recognition of states in international law.”

Lord Hermer has previously insisted that a commitment to international law “goes absolutely to the heart” of the government’s approach to foreign policy.

Jonathan Reynolds defended the plans on BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme and suggested the peers needed to “look at the levers the UK has” to deliver peace.

Asked about the signatories’ concern recognition does not align with the 1933 Montevideo Convention, Reynolds said: “I think to be honest, with respect to those colleagues, that is missing the point somewhat.”

He explained the objective was “not just a ceasefire for the conflict in Gaza but a genuine peace process, and that requires a two-state solution”.

Asked about why conditions had not been placed on Hamas, he said: “Hamas is a terrorist organisation and we don’t put conditions on those, we don’t negotiate with terrorists.

“We’ve been absolutely clear: it’s our longstanding position that the hostages have to be released. It’s also our longstanding position that Hamas can play no role in the future governance of Gaza or any Palestinian state.

“So those are our absolute condition, but we will never be willing to negotiate with Hamas because they are a terrorist organisation.”

The peers’ intervention follows condemnation of Sir Keir’s announcement by Emily Damari, a British-Israeli women who was held captive by Hamas for more than a year, who said Sir Keir is “not standing on the right side of history”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also claimed it “rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism”.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country plans to recognise a Palestinian state as part of the two-state solution – that is Israel and Palestine living side-by-side.

Carney said his decision was prompted by the “catastrophe” in Gaza, and because he feared the prospect of a Palestinian state was “receding before our eyes”.

The Palestinian Authority – which runs parts of the occupied West Bank – must commit to “much-needed reform” he said, and Hamas, which controlled Gaza, “can play no part”.

The UK has said it too would recognise a Palestinian state at a UN summit in September unless Israel committed to a ceasefire.

Sir Keir has said the UK will only refrain from recognition if Israel allows more aid into Gaza, stops annexing land in the West Bank, agrees to a ceasefire, and signs up to a long-term peace process over the next two months.

He also said Hamas must immediately release all remaining Israeli hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and “accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza”.

The question of international law has been repeatedly raised with the prime minister by more than 800 other lawyers, who allege Israel has flouted the Geneva Convention by committing war crimes including genocide in Gaza.

Lithuania Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas has stepped down following investigations into his business dealings that prompted protests in the Baltic country’s capital calling for his resignation.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda announced Paluckas’ resignation to the media on Thursday morning.

Paluckas confirmed the news in a statement sent by his Social Democrat Party.

Paluckas ascended to the role late last year after a three-party coalition formed following parliamentary elections in October.

More to come…

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened on Monday to unleash “the gates of hell” on the Gaza Strip if the Palestinian group Hamas fails to release Israeli hostages, Anadolu reports.

“If Hamas does not release the hostages, the gates of hell will open in Gaza,” Katz said in a ceremony marking the demolitions of buildings damaged in Israeli missile strikes last month in the city of Holon near Tel Aviv.

“This is a complex war, it goes beyond what was done in the past. We are approaching stages where decisions need to be made. This is leadership and we are responsible, not the prosecutor and not anyone else.”

Hamas has repeatedly offered to release all Israeli captives in exchange for ending the war, Israeli troop withdrawal, and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted such terms, instead calling for the disarmament of the Palestinian resistance factions and signaling plans to reoccupy Gaza.

READ: Israeli defence minister threatens to assassinate Iran’s supreme leader, attacks Tehran

Israel estimates that 58 hostages remain in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive. Meanwhile, over 10,100 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons under harsh conditions, including reports of torture, starvation, and medical neglect, according to Palestinian and Israeli rights groups.

The Israeli opposition and hostages’ families have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war to appease his far-right coalition partners and maintain power.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

READ: Hamas official says Israel’s truce “claim” aims to deceive international public

Scotland’s former First Minister Humza Yousaf and his wife say their relatives in Gaza, including a baby, are being deliberately starved. In an Instagram video, the couple plead for borders to open and aid to reach Palestinians.

Incoming Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko says she will focus on weapons production and the economy in her new role.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed a new prime minister and other key leaders in the largest government reshuffle since Russia invaded three years ago.

Yulia Svyrydenko, 39, took over as prime minister from Denys Shmyhal, who had held the post since 2020, following her confirmation on Thursday by Ukraine’s parliament.

Svyrydenko previously served as first deputy prime minister and minister of economic development and trade, roles that brought her in close contact with the administration of United States President Donald Trump. She was credited with negotiating a critical mineral deal between Washington and Kyiv earlier this year that helped thaw an initially frosty relationship between Trump and Zelenskyy.

Svyrydenko said on social media that she intends to focus on expanding Ukraine’s domestic weapons production and the strength of its armed forces, and supporting the economy.

“Our Government sets its course toward a Ukraine that stands firm on its own foundations — military, economic, and social,” she said. “My key goal is real, positive results that every Ukrainian will feel in daily life. War leaves no room for delay. We must act swiftly and decisively,” she said.

It is a great honor for me to lead the Government of Ukraine today.

Our Government sets its course toward a Ukraine that stands firm on its own foundations — military, economic, and social. My key goal is real, positive results that every Ukrainian will feel in daily life.

War… pic.twitter.com/oytWMCp1S3

— Yulia Svyrydenko (@Svyrydenko_Y) July 17, 2025

Outgoing Prime Minister Shmyhal, 49, will step in as defence minister, taking over a ministry that has struggled with a series of corruption scandals.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, 50, will stay in place, but Zelenskyy has named outgoing Justice Minister Olga Stefanishyna, 39, as his next ambassador to the US, pending US approval. Stefanishyna has experience working with the European Union and NATO and also played a role in negotiating the recent mineral deal with the Trump administration.

Stefanishyna will replace outgoing envoy Oksana Markarova, who earned the ire of Trump due to her positive working relationship with the administration of former US President Joe Biden.

Reports last week indicated that Zelenskyy was planning to choose Defence Minister Rustem Umerov as his next US envoy, but he was allegedly not approved by Washington, according to opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

Other reshuffles will see deputies Oleksiy Sobolev and Taras Kachka take over as the minister of economy, environment and agriculture and deputy prime minister for European integration.

Despite the shake-up in positions, critics say the new faces in Zelenskyy’s cabinet remain largely the same. They have also accused the Ukrainian leader of consolidating power by stacking key government posts with his “loyalists”.

Labour Minister Marta Elena Feito Cabrera’s comments dismissing poverty in the Caribbean island nation trigger angry backlash.

Cuban Labour and Social Security Minister Marta Elena Feito Cabrera has resigned after saying there are no beggars in Cuba, only people pretending to be.

Cuba’s presidency said in a post on social media on Wednesday that Feito had “acknowledged her errors and submitted her resignation” over her “lack of objectivity and sensitivity” in addressing issues that are “at the centre of political and governmental management”.

The news came a day after Feito made the comments about poverty in the island nation to deputies in a National Assembly committee.

“We have seen people, apparently beggars, [but] when you look at their hands, look at the clothes these people are wearing, they are disguised as beggars. They are not beggars,” Feito said.

“In Cuba, there are no beggars,” she said.

The minister added that people cleaning car windscreens live “easy” lives and they use the money they make to “drink alcohol”.

Feito also lashed out against those who search through rubbish dumps, saying they are recovering materials “to resell and not pay tax”.

The remarks quickly went viral, prompting calls for Feito’s impeachment and a wave of criticism in a country experiencing a tough economic situation in recent years.

Even Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was critical.

Without mentioning her by name but referring to the meeting at the National Assembly committee in which Feito participated, Diaz-Canel said on his X account: “The lack of sensitivity in addressing vulnerability is highly questionable. The revolution cannot leave anyone behind; that is our motto, our militant responsibility.”

Cuba blames its economic woes on a Cold War-era United States trade embargo, which complicates financial transactions and the acquisition of essentials, such as fuel and spare parts. The US imposed the embargo in 1960 after the Cuban Revolution, led by Fidel Castro.

The embargo is widely criticised with 185 of 193 countries at the United Nations voting to condemn it.

US President Donald Trump recently tightened sanctions on the island’s Communist Party-run government, pledging to restore a “tough” policy towards the Caribbean country.

Former US President Barack Obama took considerable steps to ease tensions with Cuba during his time in office, including restoring US-Cuba relations and making the first visit by a US president to the country in 90 years. Cuba has also faced an energy crisis and blackouts in recent months as supplies of subsidised Venezuelan oil have become increasingly precarious as Venezuela grapples with its own economic woes.

Last week, the US Department of State imposed sanctions against Diaz-Canel as well as the luxury high-rise Hotel Torre K in central Havana.

Travel and tourism are important to Cuba’s struggling economy with millions of tourists visiting the island nation each year.

According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Cuba had a gross domestic product of $9,296 per person in 2019, making it an upper middle income country.

President Ramaphosa’s move follows accusations that Senzo Mchunu interfered with sensitive investigations.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has suspended his police minister “with immediate effect” over corruption allegations, a week after a provincial police chief made the accusations.

In a country facing endemic corruption, Sunday’s announcement was highly anticipated after a week of speculation over the fate of Senzo Mchunu, who became police minister a year ago after the general elections.

Mchunu, 67, who local media had suggested as a potential candidate from the centrist faction of the African National Congress (ANC) to succeed Ramaphosa, has rejected the allegations as “insinuations made without evidence or due processes”.

Ramaphosa also established a judicial commission of inquiry, with reports expected after three and six months.

“The commission will investigate the role of current or former senior officials in certain institutions who may have aided or abetted the alleged criminal activity, failed to act on credible intelligence or internal warnings, or benefitted financially or politically from a syndicate’s operations,” Ramaphosa said during a televised address.

Widespread corruption claims

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged on July 6 that Mchunu received payments from a corruption suspect.

Mkhwanazi also accused him of having played a role in dismantling a team investigating killings that shielded politically connected people.

The commissioner, speaking at a media briefing flanked by armed security forces, some with their faces masked, said he had opened a criminal investigation into the minister. He also accused other officials of obstructing police work against organised crime.

Mkhwanazi himself is under investigation for allegations of corruption in the awarding of a bulletproof vest contract, the weekly Sunday Times reported.

Firoz Cachalia, a law professor and member of the governing ANC, has been appointed as the interim police minister.

South Africa ranks 82nd in the world, according to the corruption perception index of the NGO Transparency International.

Most opposition parties on Sunday criticised Ramaphosa for putting Mchunu on a leave of absence instead of firing him.

“This was an opportunity to take South Africans into confidence, and to deal with these issues decisively. Instead, he calls for a commission of inquiry and expects South Africans to be patient when people are dying on a daily basis,” said Nhlamulo Ndhlela, the spokesperson of the opposition MK Party.

July 11 (UPI) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Friday in his first trip to Asia since his appointment to the cabinet post.

Rubio and Wang spoke for about an hour while at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Rubio told reporters it was a “very constructive, positive meeting” and said there is more the two countries could work on together.

He hinted at a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. He said the odds for that meeting are high, and “I don’t have a date for you, but I think it’s coming.”

At the meeting, Rubio has been working to try to shore up support for United States policies on trade with China. Wang has been pushing Southeast Asian nations to resist American pressure and lean on Beijing.

During the meeting, Rubio emphasized the importance of keeping channels of communication open, and they agreed to explore areas of potential cooperation, while seeking to manage differences, according to State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce.

“The Secretary emphasized the need for continued discussion on a range of bilateral issues. The Secretary also raised other issues of regional and global importance,” she said in a press release.

Trump has made new tariff threats on Southeast Asian nations, angering the foreign leaders at the conference, including the host country Malaysia. Japan and South Korea are also facing the threats, which cast doubt on Rubio’s efforts.

Wang met with a Bangladeshi official on Friday and said it was unreasonable and unethical for the U.S. to put 35% tariffs on Bangladesh, which is one of the least developed in the world. China has warned countries that they would face consequences if they worked with the U.S. to impede Chinese exports.

“China has always been the most reliable stabilizing force in a turbulent world and the most reliable partner” for Southeast Asian countries, Wang said on Thursday at a meeting with the region’s diplomats.