Category Archives: Arms trade

Arms company drops plan to test bombs at Scottish world heritage site

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Firm says it had no idea proposed test site on Lib Dem peer’s land included part of Strathmore peatlands in Flow Country

A British arms company has abandoned plans to detonate fragmentation bombs in the middle of the Flow Country world heritage site, the Guardian can reveal.

The company, Overwatch, asked the Civil Aviation Authority this month for permission to carry out “live fire testing” of anti-personnel bombs dropped by drones on to land owned by the Liberal Democrat peer John Thurso.

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Israel perpetrating war crimes in plain sight in Gaza, says ex-UK diplomat

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Mark Smith, who quit Dublin embassy role, says he raised his concerns over weapons sales with foreign secretary

Israel is “flagrantly and regularly” committing war crimes in Gaza, according to a former British diplomat who recently resigned over ministers’ failure to ban arms sales to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Mark Smith, who resigned as a counter-terrorism official at the British embassy in Dublin after raising complaints about the sale of British weapons to Israel, told the BBC on Monday that he believed Israel to be in breach of international law.

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Foreign Office official quits over UK refusal to ban arms exports to Israel

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Mark Smith says evidence of Gaza war crimes is clear, but that his complaints were brushed aside

A Foreign Office official has resigned over the UK’s refusal to ban arms exports to Israel because of alleged breaches of international law.

Mark Smith, a counter-terrorism official based at the British embassy in Dublin, said he had resigned after making numerous internal complaints, including through an official whistleblowing mechanism, but receiving nothing but pro-forma responses.

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US to resume sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia

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Arms supply had been halted over role in Yemen war, but move is sign of hope kingdom can help resolve Gaza conflict

The United States has confirmed it will resume sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, as concerns over human rights in the kingdom’s Yemen war give way to US hopes for it to play a role in resolving the conflict in Gaza.

More than three years after imposing limits on human rights grounds over Saudi strikes in Yemen, the state department said it would return to weapons sales “in regular order, with appropriate congressional notification and consultation”.

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‘Smoking gun’ evidence points to UAE involvement in Sudan civil war

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Exclusive: Discovery of Emirati passports in wreckage suggest covert boots on the ground, despite Gulf state’s denials

Passports recovered from battlefields in Sudan suggest the United Arab Emirates is covertly putting boots on the ground in the country’s devastating civil war, according to leaked documents.

A 41-page document, sent to the UN security council and seen by the Guardian, contains images of Emirati passports allegedly found in Sudan and linked to soldiers of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the African nation’s notorious paramilitary.

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Czech Republic says shells for Ukraine plan will fall short without more money

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Prague’s foreign minister urges donor countries to pay extra to avoid 800k target being missed by over a third

A Czech initiative to supply Ukraine with 800,000 shells by the end of the year will fall short by more than a third unless donor countries come forward with more money, the Czech foreign minister has said.

“We have secured funding for half a million pieces of large-calibre ammunition, which we will deliver by the end of this year,” Jan Lipavský told reporters in Brussels on Monday.

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Birmingham University censoring student beliefs over Gaza camp evictions, court hears

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University is taking legal action to shut down pro-Palestine encampment on Edgbaston campus

The University of Birmingham is censoring students’ beliefs about Gaza by seeking to shut down a pro-Palestine encampment on its grounds, the high court has heard.

Birmingham is one of several universities taking legal action to try to evict student protesters, with a case brought by the University of Nottingham due to be heard before the same judge on Friday.

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Activists tell UK arms makers they may face criminal liability over sales to Israel

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Campaign groups write to 20 firms warning of potential war crimes for roles in production of F-35 fighter jets

Campaigners have written to the directors of 20 arms manufacturers based in the UK saying they may face criminal liability for failing to prevent war crimes if their companies continue to sell military equipment to Israel.

Four groups, including the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), have written to directors of arms companies that contribute parts or elements of the F-35 fighter jets used by Israel’s air force as part of the bombing of Gaza.

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UK ‘morally incoherent’ for sending arms to Israel and aid to Gaza, says Oxfam chief

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Exclusive: Charity granted permission to intervene after ministers rejected calls to suspend weapon sales

Supplying arms to Israel while simultaneously providing humanitarian aid to Gaza is “intellectually and morally incoherent”, the head of Oxfam GB has said.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 37,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli military offensive on Gaza since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Israel and Hamas have both been accused of breaking international law.

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Australia news live: Minns ‘really sorry’ final Vivid drone show cancelled with 20 minutes notice; Malinauskas welcomes ‘exciting’ panda news

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The current pair, Wang Wang and Fu Ni, will return to China this year. Follow the day’s news headlines

Labor ‘continuing to consult’ on Makarrata commission, Albanese says

Anthony Albanese says he will attend Arnhem Land’s Garma festival in August to “talk about a way forward” on Indigenous policy after the defeat of the voice referendum, keeping open the prospect of setting up a Makarrata commission to advance truth and treaty processes.

Treaty process is undergoing at the various states and that’s appropriate. With regard to Makarrata, we’re continuing to consult on those issues. said.

Indigenous leaders, of course, were very disappointed by the referendum result. I’ll attend Garma once again this year and sit down with people and talk about a way forward.

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UK has issued 108 arms export licences to Israel since 7 October

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Ministers have rejected calls to suspend arms exports to Israel despite claims they break international humanitarian law

The UK has issued more than 100 arms export licences to Israel between the Hamas attack on 7 October and 31 May, according to government figures.

Thirty-seven of the 108 licences were described as military and 63 as non-military, but this might include telecommunications equipment for use by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). A further eight open licences were granted.

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More than 100 artists tell Starmer to halt arms sales to Israel if he becomes PM

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Letter signatories from Steve Coogan to Paloma Faith urge Keir Starmer to ‘take stand’ for human rights and international law

Actors including Steve Coogan, Miriam Margolyes and Juliet Stevenson have joined forces with musicians, writers and directors in calling on Keir Starmer to halt arm sales to Israel if elected prime minister.

The singer Paloma Faith, the film-maker Mike Leigh and the author Michael Rosen are among the more than 100 celebrities who have signed a joint letter, coordinated by Artists for Palestine UK, that urges the Labour leader to “take a stand against the ongoing atrocities committed by Israel” in Gaza.

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New review by UK ministers again finds no reason to stop arms exports to Israel

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Latest three-month period to 24 April includes Israeli strike that killed three workers for British World Central Kitchen

UK government ministers have reviewed a further three months of the IDF’s presence in Gaza and found no reason to suspend arms exports to Israel.

The latest review of evidence examined Israel Defense Forces’ behaviour until 24 April, the Foreign Office said in a statement late on Friday.

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Summary of advice that UK arms sales to Israel not unlawful to be released

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Andrew Mitchell preparing to share details of assessment that there is no clear risk in breaching international human law

The British government is preparing to publish a summary of its legal advice stating there are no clear risks that selling arms to Israel will lead to a serious breach of international humanitarian law (IHL).

In a pre-prepared concession to the business select committee, the deputy foreign secretary, Andrew Mitchell, said: “In view of the strength of feeling in the IHL assessment process, I will look to see what more detail we could offer in writing on the IHL assessments in relation to Israel and Gaza both in process and substance.”

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Does Israel need more US arms for a Rafah offensive?

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Biden’s threat to halt shipments seems to leave some weapon types available to Israel as well as stockpiles and an unaffected air force

The volume of US military aid to Israel since 7 October last year suggests the intensity of the assault on Gaza would not have been possible without the continued supply of American bombs, shells and other munitions, some of which the US president, Joe Biden, is now threatening to halt after seven months of the fighting.

Precise figures are hard to come by, partly because the US is careful to keep shipments below disclosable limits and can rely on old congressional approvals, sometimes dating back many years, to send arms without the need for fresh authorisation. But even the limited disclosure reveals their significance.

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Children ‘piled up and shot’: new details emerge of ethnic cleansing in Darfur

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As El Fasher stands on the ‘precipice of a massacre’, rights groups call for sanctions after new testimony describes atrocities carried out by RSF paramilitaries in Sudan

Gruesome new testimony details one of the worst atrocities of the year-long Sudanese civil war – the large-scale massacre of civilians as they desperately tried to flee an ethnic rampage in Darfur last summer.

Witnesses describe children, still alive, being “piled up and shot” by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as they attempted to escape the regional capital of El Geneina in June last year during a bout of ethnic violence in which thousands of civilians were killed.

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US signals to Israel more arms shipments could be paused over Rafah offensive

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Move would mark significant pivot in relations as pressure builds on Israel to pull back from attack

US officials have signalled to Israel that more arms shipments could be delayed if the Israeli military pushes ahead with an offensive in Rafah, Gaza, in what would mark the start of a major pivot in relations between the two countries.

Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, confirmed on Wednesday that the Biden administration had paused the supply of thousands of large bombs to Israel, in opposition to apparent moves by the Israelis to invade the city.

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UK accused by Amnesty of ‘deliberately destabilising’ human rights globally

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Rights chief also warns Britain will be ‘judged harshly by history for its failure to help prevent civilian slaughter in Gaza’

The UK has been accused by Amnesty International of “deliberately destabilising” human rights on the global stage for its own political ends.

In its annual global report, released today, the organisation said Britain was weakening human rights protections nationally and globally, amid a near-breakdown of international law.

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Global defence budget jumps to record high of $2440bn

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For the first time, government military spending increased in all five geographical regions, Sipri thinktank finds

Global military expenditure has reached a record high of $2440bn (£1970bn) after the largest annual rise in government spending on arms in over a decade, according to a report.

The 6.8% increase between 2022 and 2023 was the steepest since 2009, pushing spending to the highest recorded by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) in its 60-year history.

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Peter Hain calls for inquiry into MoD’s alleged role in Saudi bribes scandal

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Government auditors must look into claims of complicity in corruption on arms deals with UK, says Labour peer

Alleged Ministry of Defence complicity in the “national scandal” of bribery on arms deals in Saudi Arabia must be investigated by government auditors, a senior Labour politician has said.

Peter Hain, the antiapartheid campaigner and peer, said in a letter to the National Audit Office (NAO) that a “timely, targeted” investigation was now necessary after the conclusion of a major criminal trial.

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