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US Refuses to Include Israel in 'Visa Waiver Program'

Travelers Ben Gurion International Airport (Reuters)
Travelers Ben Gurion International Airport (Reuters)
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US Refuses to Include Israel in 'Visa Waiver Program'

Travelers Ben Gurion International Airport (Reuters)
Travelers Ben Gurion International Airport (Reuters)

The US Department of Homeland Security informed Israel that it has failed to meet the requirements to enter the visa waiver program.

Earlier, the Israeli government informed its citizens that it had reached the final arrangements to obtain an official US decision to cancel the entry visa.

On Wednesday, Haaretz reported that the matter remained confidential until the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Land Security, Alice Lugo, announced it in a letter sent last month to the Democratic Representative, Don Beyer.

In the letter to Beyer, Lugo stressed that "Israel does not currently meet all [visa waiver program] designation requirements, including extending reciprocal visa-free travel privileges to all US citizens and nationals."

In response, Beyer sent a letter to members of the US House of Representatives, calling on them to support pressuring Israel to withdraw the new "discriminatory restrictions" imposed by the Israeli military for entry into the West Bank to assure reciprocity for all US citizens.

Beyer prepared a petition for which he collects signatures from other US representatives, which will be directed to the several US and Israeli agencies.

In the petition, the representatives put forward a request to open a hotline to publish monthly reports for future visa waiver program evaluations.

He sent a letter to the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, saying that it is clear that "Israel cannot and should not be admitted into the visa waiver program under the status quo."

"It is incumbent upon Israel as a key US ally and beneficiary of significant aid to treat US citizens with dignity and respect regardless of race, religion, and ethnicity, and it is especially pertinent at this time because Israel is currently being evaluated for entry into the United States Visa Waiver Program," said Beyer.

He highlighted the "onerous and discriminatory" new restrictions issued by the Israeli army's Coordinating Office for Government Affairs in the Territories.

The Representative added that Israel "consistently refused to extend fair treatment to US visitors attempting to travel through Israeli controlled entry points," despite the visa waiver program's prerequisite of reciprocity.

"The State Department itself acknowledges in its travel advisory that US citizens traveling to Israel have been unfairly denied entry."

It is known that Israel has been in deliberations with the US authorities for several years to include it in the visa waiver program, which would allow Israelis to stay in the United States for 90 days for tourism or business, and would be a catalyst for economic cooperation.

Diplomatic sources in Tel Aviv noted that the only clause restricting the exemption is the "reciprocity" clause that obligates Israel to treat all US citizens equally upon their entry to Israel.

They indicated that travelers who are not white and Jewish have long complained about racial profiling at Ben Gurion Airport. Palestinians with US citizenship, meanwhile, travel via the Allenby Bridge crossing with Jordan.

In response to Israeli journalists, the US embassy spokesman said Israel "must extend reciprocal privileges to all US citizens and nationals, including Palestinian-Americans, as those the United States would extend to Israeli citizens."

"We seek equal treatment and freedom to travel for all such US travelers to Israel regardless of national origin or ethnicity."

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World

US Reports ‘Wave of Strikes’ on Iran as War Returns

This US Navy handout photo released on July 10, 2026 and taken on June 29 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (US Navy/AFP)
This US Navy handout photo released on July 10, 2026 and taken on June 29 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (US Navy/AFP)
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US Reports ‘Wave of Strikes’ on Iran as War Returns

This US Navy handout photo released on July 10, 2026 and taken on June 29 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (US Navy/AFP)
This US Navy handout photo released on July 10, 2026 and taken on June 29 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (US Navy/AFP)

The United States launched a wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday, after it reimposed a naval blockade in a return to war between the two foes.

Nearly a month after they signed a memorandum of understanding towards ending the Middle East war, the two sides resumed fighting with strikes on targets across the region.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they targeted Bahrain, where the military said it had intercepted attacks against civilian targets, while Jordan's armed forces said they had downed three missiles from Iran.

US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, threatened to widen strikes next week to hit power plants and bridges unless Tehran returns to the negotiating table.

"Next week it gets really bad for them," he told Fox News. Despite a return to hostilities, mediated talks between the two sides have not formally ended.

At the heart of the resumption of hostilities has been the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is crucial for global oil and gas flows.

- Agreement 'dismantled' -

Iran blockaded Hormuz after the US and Israel launched their massive attack on February 28, using it for leverage against its foes for months before briefly reopening it, and then again vowing it would be closed "until the US ends its aggression".

The US, in turn, has reimposed its own blockade of Iran's ports, though Trump has backed down on a planned 20 percent levy on ships using the strait.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the renewed US blockade "has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum", referring to the interim deal reached last month to halt hostilities and pursue peace talks.

Days after the return to war, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it launched "a wave of strikes... designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz."

Iranian state media reported explosions near the port city of Bandar Abbas, on the island of Qeshm and on Bandar Imam Khomeini. It later said fresh US strikes hit the southern port city of Bushehr, home to the country's only civilian nuclear plant.

In the capital Tehran, there was no sign of a return to conflict, with ordinary Iranians thronging cafes to watch the France-Spain World Cup semifinal in huge crowds, AFP journalists saw.

But in Kuwait, repeatedly targeted throughout the war, people were anxious.

"Every day, I wake up wondering whether the situation will de-escalate or worsen," said Mustafa Mohamed, a 39-year-old Sudanese accountant in the Gulf country.

"It has become difficult to feel at ease or plan anything because uncertainty grips everyone."

George Atef, a 38-year-old Egyptian civil servant in Kuwait, said: "What exhausts me most is not knowing when this situation will end -- the waiting itself has become draining."

- Trump scraps levy -

Since the war began, Iran has asserted its control over the Strait of Hormuz and opened fire on ships for taking routes it says are unauthorized.

"The retaliatory operations of the fighters will continue, and the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States ends its acts of aggression," the Guards said.

A Norwegian tanker was hit by an explosion caused by an unidentified device off the Omani coast early Tuesday, the crisis response company MTI Network said.

And Kuwait said one of its naval vessels was struck during an Iranian missile and drone barrage, wounding four crew members.

Trump meanwhile said he was scrapping a planned levy on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz that he announced Monday.

Since last week, renewed US attacks have killed at least 30 people in Iran, government spokesman Fatemeh Mohajerani said.

Separately, the military announced that seven of its personnel were killed in Wednesday's strikes on the southeast.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country has not so far rejoined the war, warned Iranian leaders on Tuesday that Israel would deal a heavy blow if they launched an attack on his country.

Speaking from Dimona, a southern town widely believed to house Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal, he told them: "Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us."

World

Macron Presents UK’s Starmer with France’s Highest Award

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrives for the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris on July 14, 2026. (AFP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrives for the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris on July 14, 2026. (AFP)
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Macron Presents UK’s Starmer with France’s Highest Award

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrives for the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris on July 14, 2026. (AFP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrives for the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris on July 14, 2026. (AFP)

Britain's outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been awarded France's highest honor, in recognition of his work on the security of Europe and Ukraine.

President Emmanuel Macron's office said he presented Starmer with the Legion d'honneur on Monday in Paris, where he was attending a summit of Ukraine's allies.

Starmer, who has been prime minister since winning a landslide election victory in July 2024, is the first UK prime minister to receive the award.

He is due to leave office within days after losing the confidence of his governing Labour party over a slew of domestic policy U-turns that hit his popularity.

In contrast, he is held in high regard by many foreign leaders on issues from Ukraine to forging closer European ties.

Starmer is due to be replaced as Labour leader and prime minister by Andy Burnham, a veteran former minister, who is also a pro-European centrist.

Starmer, 63, attended the annual July 14 military parade in central Paris as a guest of Macron, alongside other Ukraine allies.

Presenting the former human rights lawyer and chief state prosecutor with the legion d'honneur, Macron praised his "personal leadership" and "commitments" to "the security of Europe, Ukraine, the bilateral relationship" and his "decency".

Starmer and Labour's return to power, after 14 years in opposition, marked a sea-change in relations with Britain's closest European allies, including France.

Under the Conservatives, Britain left the European Union after a divisive 2016 referendum on membership.

World

UN Warns of Cracks in Global Immunization System

Djoumessi Mabel, right, mother of a nine-month-old, attends a malaria vaccination session at the Soa District Hospital in Yaounde, Cameroon, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP)
Djoumessi Mabel, right, mother of a nine-month-old, attends a malaria vaccination session at the Soa District Hospital in Yaounde, Cameroon, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP)
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UN Warns of Cracks in Global Immunization System

Djoumessi Mabel, right, mother of a nine-month-old, attends a malaria vaccination session at the Soa District Hospital in Yaounde, Cameroon, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP)
Djoumessi Mabel, right, mother of a nine-month-old, attends a malaria vaccination session at the Soa District Hospital in Yaounde, Cameroon, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP)

Global infant vaccination levels improved slightly last year, the UN said Wednesday, but warned that drastic funding cuts, conflicts and misinformation were deepening dangerous coverage gaps and allowing outbreaks to surge.

In 2025, 90 percent of infants globally, or nearly 116 million, received at least one dose of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP), while 85 percent completed the full three-dose series, according to data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, the United Nations' health and children's agencies.

On the surface, those numbers look promising, with both indicators up one percentage point from 2024 and up four points since 2021.

But they remained one point below the levels in 2019 -- before the Covid pandemic wreaked havoc on global vaccination programs.

This means "millions of vulnerable children are still being left unprotected due to conflict, displacement, and poverty", UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said in a statement.

"No child should suffer from a disease that a simple vaccine can prevent," she insisted.

According to the data, an estimated 13.5 million so-called zero-dose children did not receive a single shot in their first year during 2025.

That was 750,000 fewer than in 2024, and around one million fewer than in 2023.

- 'Unprecedented numbers of outbreaks' -

The UN agencies warned that a growing number of children, mainly in poorer countries, start on the vaccine schedule but do not complete it.

Globally, the data showed that an estimated 7.3 million infants had received their first DTP dose in the first months of life, but did not go on to receive their first measles dose, usually given at between nine and 12 months.

While there can be many reasons for such dropouts, "we think that this is clearly related in some settings to false information, misinformation that is provided around measles vaccination", the WHO's vaccines director Kate O'Brien told reporters, adding that this was of "very significant concern".

Dropouts have contributed to measles coverage stalling at 84 percent of children globally receiving their first measles dose, and just 77 percent receiving the second dose -- far short of the 95 percent needed to avert the spread of the highly contagious disease.

"The consequence is being felt now," O'Brien said, pointing out that "57 countries reported in 2025 large or disruptive measles outbreaks".

Overall, the world saw "unprecedented numbers of outbreaks" last year, she said, with "more diphtheria outbreaks, more cholera outbreaks", in addition to the measles spread.

- Surveillance 'considerably impacted' -

O'Brien cautioned that this was a first hint in the data of the impact of dramatic aid cuts by the United States but also other countries since US President Donald Trump's return to office last year.

"We don't think that the impact of those funding cuts is showing up yet fully in the 2025 data," she said, adding that "our concerns are very much for what's happening in programs in 2026 and what is yet to come".

The outbreaks were however already indicating "real cracks in the system now for immunization", she warned.

UNICEF's immunization chief Ephrem Lemango agreed, cautioning that funding cuts were taking a toll on the data systems needed to track the effect of such cuts.

"Our ability to have a strong surveillance of outbreaks has been considerably impacted," he told reporters.

Only 18 national immunization surveys were undertaken and submitted for 2025, down from 50 a year earlier.

On a positive note, Wednesday's report showed that vaccine coverage against a range of diseases had hit a record high in the 57 low-income countries supported by the vaccine alliance Gavi.

But that organization warned that dwindling funding for its operations risked taking a dire toll down the road.

"We believe that 600,000 lives that could have been saved will be impacted", Gavi's chief country delivery officer Thabani Maphosa told reporters.