2nd Man Charged over Fires at Properties Linked to UK PM

19 May 2025, United Kingdom, London: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gestures during a reception for UK and EU businesses in Downing Street. Photo: Hannah Mckay/PA Wire/dpa
19 May 2025, United Kingdom, London: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gestures during a reception for UK and EU businesses in Downing Street. Photo: Hannah Mckay/PA Wire/dpa
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2nd Man Charged over Fires at Properties Linked to UK PM

19 May 2025, United Kingdom, London: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gestures during a reception for UK and EU businesses in Downing Street. Photo: Hannah Mckay/PA Wire/dpa
19 May 2025, United Kingdom, London: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gestures during a reception for UK and EU businesses in Downing Street. Photo: Hannah Mckay/PA Wire/dpa

British police said a Romanian national was charged with arson offences on Tuesday, the second man to be charged in an investigation into a series of fires at properties linked to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Police were called to a blaze at a property belonging to Starmer in north London earlier in May. No one was injured, but the entrance to the home was damaged.

Two further fires on separate days, targeting a nearby flat and a car, both linked to the prime minister, are also part of the investigation.

A 21-year-old Ukrainian, Roman Lavrynovych, was charged over the fires last week.

Police said the Romanian national, 26-year-old Stanislav Carpiuc, will appear in a London court later on Tuesday charged with conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life. He had been arrested at London's Luton Airport on Saturday.

Police also arrested a third man in connection with the fires on Monday. He remains in police custody, Reuters reported.

Counter-terrorism police have led the investigation given the prime minister's involvement.

Starmer, who has lived at his official 10 Downing Street residence in central London since becoming prime minister last July, has called the incidents "an attack on all of us, on our democracy and the values we stand for.”



Russia Slams Report it Backed 'Zero Enrichment' Iran Nuclear Deal

A handout photo made available by the Iranian foreign ministry office shows, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (R) speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors and diplomats to Tehran, in Tehran, Iran, 12 July 2025. EPA/HAMID FOROOTAN / IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the Iranian foreign ministry office shows, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (R) speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors and diplomats to Tehran, in Tehran, Iran, 12 July 2025. EPA/HAMID FOROOTAN / IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT
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Russia Slams Report it Backed 'Zero Enrichment' Iran Nuclear Deal

A handout photo made available by the Iranian foreign ministry office shows, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (R) speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors and diplomats to Tehran, in Tehran, Iran, 12 July 2025. EPA/HAMID FOROOTAN / IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the Iranian foreign ministry office shows, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (R) speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors and diplomats to Tehran, in Tehran, Iran, 12 July 2025. EPA/HAMID FOROOTAN / IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT

Russia's foreign affairs ministry on Sunday described reports claiming that President Vladimir Putin had encouraged his Iranian ally to accept a "zero enrichment" agreement on its nuclear programme as "defamation".

US news outlet Axios reported on Saturday, citing three anonymous sources familiar with the matter, that Putin had "encouraged" Iran to accept a deal with the United States that would prevent the Islamic republic from enriching uranium.

The article "appears to be a new political defamation campaign aimed at exacerbating tensions around Iran's nuclear program", the Russian ministry of foreign affairs said on Sunday.

"Invariably and repeatedly, we have emphasised the necessity of resolving the crisis concerning Iran's nuclear program exclusively through political and diplomatic means, and expressed our willingness to help find mutually acceptable solutions," the statement read.

Publicly, Moscow has defended Tehran's right to use nuclear technology for civilian purposes but in recent months, Putin has also drawn closer to US President Donald Trump.

On June 13, Israel launched an unprecedented attack on Iran, triggering a 12-day war.

The conflict halted negotiations initiated in April between Tehran and Washington to frame Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions against Iran.

On June 22, the United States bombed the underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, south of Tehran, and nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.

The exact extent of the damage is not known.