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US Has ‘No Plans’ to Recognize Palestinian State, Vance Says Before Talks with UK Foreign Secretary

Vice President JD Vance speaks during a meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House in Kent, England, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks during a meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House in Kent, England, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP)
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US Has ‘No Plans’ to Recognize Palestinian State, Vance Says Before Talks with UK Foreign Secretary

Vice President JD Vance speaks during a meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House in Kent, England, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks during a meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House in Kent, England, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP)

US Vice President JD Vance met with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday at a stately home south of London, with the two leaders saying the agenda includes global economics and the Israel-Hamas war and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Taking questions from reporters before their talks, Vance addressed the UK decision to recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza, saying he wasn’t sure what such recognition would even mean, “given the lack of a functional government there.”

Asked whether Trump had been given a heads up on Israel’s announced intent to occupy Gaza City, Vance said he wouldn't go into such conversations.

“If it was easy to bring peace to that region of the world, it would have been done already,” he said.

The meeting comes amid debates between Washington and London about the best way to end the wars between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Israel and Hamas. It’s also taking place as the United Kingdom tries to come to favorable terms for steel and aluminum exports to the US, and the two sides work out details of a broader trade deal announced at the end of June.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he hoped to meet with US President Donald Trump next week, comments that came a day before Trump’s deadline for Moscow to show progress in ending the nearly 3½-year war in Ukraine.

While Trump has focused on bilateral talks with Putin, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European leaders have stressed that Ukraine must be part of any negotiations on ending the war.

The US and Britain, which have historically close ties known as “the special relationship,” have also disagreed on their approach to ending the war in Gaza.

The meeting took place at Chevening, an almost 400-year-old mansion surrounded by 3,000 acres (about 1,200 hectares) of gardens that serves as the foreign secretary’s official country residence.

About two dozen protesters were spotted on the road before the turnoff to the stately home. A few were wearing keffiyeh scarves and another held up a round sign that had a meme making fun of Vance printed on it.

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World

Iran President Calls on People to Save Energy

Iranians shop in the Tajrish bazaar in Tehran, Iran, 25 April 2026. (EPA)
Iranians shop in the Tajrish bazaar in Tehran, Iran, 25 April 2026. (EPA)
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Iran President Calls on People to Save Energy

Iranians shop in the Tajrish bazaar in Tehran, Iran, 25 April 2026. (EPA)
Iranians shop in the Tajrish bazaar in Tehran, Iran, 25 April 2026. (EPA)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called on his people Saturday to conserve electricity, warning that while there were no shortages at present, the US and Israel aimed to sow "dissatisfaction" among the Iranian people.

"We have asked our dear people, who are now ready and present on the ground, a simple request. And that is to reduce their own electricity and energy consumption," the president said on state TV.

"We do not need people to sacrifice for the time being, but we do need to control consumption. Instead of 10 lights, two lights should be turned on in the house -- what is wrong with that?" he added.

Despite the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran, there have been no reported power cuts in Tehran in recent days.

Pezeshkian accused Iran's enemies of hitting infrastructure and imposing a blockade "so that the current satisfaction turns into dissatisfaction".

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to wipe out Iran's power infrastructure, but has so far not followed through.

Even before the current war with the United States and Israel, however, Iran suffered frequent power outages during the winter and summer peaks in demand.

According to the International Energy Agency, Iran generates nearly four-fifths of its electricity from burning natural gas, a resource in which it is self-sufficient thanks to vast gas fields.

It supplements this with low-quality heavy fuel oil, known as mazout, used at older power stations.

Nevertheless, ageing infrastructure, a lack of investment and the impact of fierce international sanctions that cut off access to technology and investment have left the electricity grid unable to cope with demand.

Pezeshkian has previously launched several public awareness campaigns to reduce energy use.

World

Türkiye Dismisses Deputy Education Minister After School Shootings

Flowers are hung on the fence of a school where a shooting took place, in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaras, Türkiye, April 16, 2026. (Reuters)
Flowers are hung on the fence of a school where a shooting took place, in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaras, Türkiye, April 16, 2026. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Dismisses Deputy Education Minister After School Shootings

Flowers are hung on the fence of a school where a shooting took place, in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaras, Türkiye, April 16, 2026. (Reuters)
Flowers are hung on the fence of a school where a shooting took place, in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaras, Türkiye, April 16, 2026. (Reuters)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed Türkiye’s deputy education minister after two school shootings that left nine people dead, according to the official gazette published late Friday.

Eight students aged 10 and 11 and a teacher were killed this month when a 14-year-old opened fire at a school in the southern province of Kahramanmaras.

Authorities said the attacker, who died at the scene, brought five firearms and was the son of a former police inspector, who has since been arrested.

A separate attack in southeastern Sanliurfa province involved a former student who opened fire at his old high school before taking his own life when confronted by police.

Under a decree signed by Erdogan, deputy education minister Nazif Yilmaz was dismissed and replaced by Cihad Demirli.

The measures also targeted the leadership of state institutions responsible for education, according to the decree.

The incidents have sparked public outcry and Erdogan has said the government will introduce measures, including restrictions on gun ownership.

World

Macron Reaffirms Efforts to Reopen Strait of Hormuz, as TotalEnergies Warns of Energy Shortages

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a Greece–France Economic Forum at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece, April 25, 2026. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a Greece–France Economic Forum at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece, April 25, 2026. (Reuters)
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Macron Reaffirms Efforts to Reopen Strait of Hormuz, as TotalEnergies Warns of Energy Shortages

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a Greece–France Economic Forum at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece, April 25, 2026. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a Greece–France Economic Forum at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece, April 25, 2026. (Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated ‌on Saturday that he was focused on efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a day after the head of TotalEnergies warned of global energy shortages if the Iran war continues for months.

Macron, speaking at a news conference in Athens alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said panic caused by geopolitical uncertainty can in itself lead to shortages.

"Our goal is to achieve a full reopening in the coming days and weeks, in accordance with ‌international law, ‌guaranteeing freedom of navigation without tolls on ‌the ⁠Strait of Hormuz. Then ⁠things can gradually return to normal," Macron said.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne pressed on Friday for the reopening of the strait, through which about a fifth of the globe's oil and gas supply normally flows.

Movement through the strait, which is also a key transport route for ⁠goods including fertilizers and pharmaceuticals, has been choked ‌due to the US-Israeli ‌war with Iran, as Iran has seized container ships and ‌the United States has mounted a blockade on Iranian ‌ports.

"If it lasts two, three months more, we are entering in a world of scarcity of energy, which Asian countries have already suffered," Pouyanne told the World Policy Conference in Chantilly, ‌outside Paris. "You cannot have 20% of the oil and gas of the planet being ⁠stranded and ⁠not accessible without major consequences."

More than a dozen countries have said they are willing to join an international mission led by France and Britain to protect shipping in the strait when conditions permit, even as US President Donald Trump has said he does not need allies' help.

"We're all in the same boat, and it's not a boat we chose, if I may say. We're victims of geopolitics and we're victims of this war that started several months ago," Macron said on Saturday.