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Mar 3, 2026 - World

French president will make his speech this evening; first wave of European travellers arrive home, but hundreds of thousands remain stuck in regionAirlines in Middle East rule out services resuming before ThursdayAhead of von der Leyen’s call with Zelenskyy later today, the European Commission was also asked about Ukraine’s 2027 target for joining the bloc.A spokesperson for the commission said that it was Ukraine’s ambition, but the EU “cannot have it as our reference” as it needs to go through the formal process and get the political agreement of all other member states. Continue reading...

Mar 3, 2026 - World

Multiple sources say the deployment of HMS Duncan is under consideration; Yvette Cooper says flight will take off from Muscat this weekUK considers sending Royal Navy destroyer to CyprusUK will charter flights from Oman to evacuate Britons from regionEllie Chowns, the Green party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, has said she has tabled an “armed conflict (requirements) bill’” which would require any UK military intervention to have a lawful basis, viable objective and approval from MPs.In a letter addressed to the prime minister, which she shared to X, Chowns, who is the Green’s MP for North Herefordshire, wrote:In recent days we have seen a deeply concerning escalation in conflict in the Middle East following a series of illegal and dangerously irresponsible airstrikes on Iran by the United States and Israel.You have now confirmed that UK bases will be used by the US for their operations in the area. This is a significant concession to President Donald Trump and one which risks drawing the UK into a dangerous conflict. Continue reading...

Mar 3, 2026 - World

Watchdog upholds complaint it breached code with article about impact of VAT on banker who did not existThe Telegraph has been reprimanded by a press standards watchdog after it published an entirely fabricated story about a wealthy banker complaining of the impact of school fee increases.Ian Fraser, a freelance journalist and author, complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) that the Telegraph had breached the editors’ code of practice in an article headlined: “We earn £345k, but soaring private school fees mean we can’t go on five holidays.” Continue reading...

Mar 3, 2026 - World

Attempt to project calm in spring forecast may be short-lived if living costs and unemployment keep climbingReeves insists Labour has ‘right economic plan’Business live – latest updates“This government has restored economic stability,” Rachel Reeves told the House of Commons on Tuesday.Yet the chancellor was speaking just moments after MPs had been hearing from the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, about plans to evacuate British nationals from the escalating conflagration in the Middle East. Continue reading...

Mar 3, 2026 - World

An analyst revealed the difficult challenge ahead for President Donald Trump as the war in Iran now enters its fourth day. In an interview on MS NOW's Morning Joe with David Ignatius, columnist and associate editor of The Washington Post, and Shashank Joshi, defense editor at The Economist, Joshi discussed the Trump administration's mixed messaging about objectives for the military strikes in Iran, including regime change, then "imminent threats" from Iran against Israel and the push to stop Iran from developing ballistic missiles. "What we heard yesterday from Dan Caine, from Secretary Rubio, from Secretary Hegseth, others, was a very, very different set of aims narrowly focused around Iran's missile program," Joshi said.The war aims, such as regime change, could take weeks, Joshi explained. "Now that, I think, can be done in a short period of time, they can degrade missile stockpiles, and we've already heard the Iranians the Israelis say they have destroyed about half of the Iranian missile launches did Iran's able to bring to bear and I think you could have really long lasting and severe damage done to Iran's missile program by the end of this week," Joshi said. "There's no doubt about it. But the problem is, you would still have an Iran led by individuals who are more hardline in some respects than the leaders who have been killed by the strike so far. You have, you know, a new leader of these Islamic Revolutionary Guard, called Vahidi, who is this man? Well, you know, David is, you know, he is a former head of the expeditionary, IRGC. He was associated with the bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Argentina in the 1990s. This is not a regime that will be more moderate, more pragmatic, more deterred than that, of Ayatollah Khamenei." Despite the killing of Khamenei and the dismantling of Iran's weapons, the problem over Iran's leadership will still remain. "And so, I still think at the end of this week, even though enormous damage may have been done to Iran's missile program, including the supply chain the explosives, the guidance systems, you will still have the political problem sitting in Iran over regime, that cast this incredible U.S. missile shadow over the Persian Gulf, and I think the Trump administration will find it very hard to articulate that and frame that as some kind of decisive win," Joshi added. The strikes have wiped out the regime, but it could take time for Iranians to reform their government. "But I think the focus of these first three days of operations have been on Iran's missile forces, Iran's navy and nuclear and missile sites as well as political leadership," Joshi said. "I think if you are going to give the Iranian people the confidence to say, 'if we go back onto the streets in a week's time and we want confidence, we are not going to be gunned down in the same way.' I think what you need to see is an Israeli and American set of strikes over the next four or five days that systematically break down Iran's domestic security apparatus." But history could repeat. "I think that is a very hard thing to do, and I think that President Trump will face the dilemma between doing that and upholding his commitment to the Iranian people that he has made and sucking himself into a longer campaign, but it'll, he should remember the case of George H.W. Bush in 1991, who, as you will recall at David and others, called upon the Iraqi people to rise up in 1991 after the first Gulf War and the Shias in the south and the Kurds in the north did so, and they were massacred by Saddam Hussein," Joshi said. "That should be, I think a very, very caution retail for American strategy today."