US Vice President JD Vance said he would not be following Donald Trump in endorsing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and wanted to stay on the sidelines.
“I’m not anti-endorsing him. I’m not pro-endorsing him. I’m not getting involved in Israeli elections,” Vance said of Netanyahu, in an interview on Monday with journalist Mark Halperin.
“I endorse American candidates and that’s where I’m focused on is the (US) midterms,” he added.
Trump on Sunday issued a public endorsement of his right-wing ally Netanyahu, who is seeking a new term as premier in Israel’s Oct 27 parliamentary election.
Vance’s reticence to weigh in on the Israeli vote contrasts with his approach to European elections.
Days before Hungary’s parliamentary election in April, he flew to Budapest to support then-prime minister Viktor Orban, another right-wing figure.
He has also voiced support for Germany’s far-right AfD party, whose leader, Alice Weidel, he met last year.
Vance, who is widely viewed as aiming to succeed Trump in 2029, reportedly expressed opposition to launching the US-Israeli war with Iran, but has since defended the campaign.
The vice president also had notably strong words for Israeli officials who criticised a short-lived US-Iran ceasefire agreement in June.
“Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment,” he said at the time.
“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” he added.
British fighter planes will be deployed to help Saudi Arabia defend itself against increasing attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the UK government announced on Tuesday.
The defence ministry said the deployment formed part of “additional defensive military support” to Riyadh.
“The UK will fly defensive counter air missions to support the protection of Saudi cities and critical national infrastructure against aerial attack, using RAF Typhoon fighter jets,” the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement.
“These aircraft will operate in a defensive role and will not conduct offensive strikes against the Houthis.”
Britain will also deploy a military transport aircraft “to support the movement of defence material within Saudi Arabia alongside UK military advisers to support Saudi staff officers”, the statement added.
“The continuing attacks from the Houthis on our ally Saudi Arabia are absolutely despicable,” said Defence Minister Wes Streeting.
“The targeting of the airport in Riyadh in particular shows the lengths the Houthis are going to (to) escalate the situation in the region,” he added.
The Saudi capital’s international airport has been targeted by strikes 20 times since the beginning of the month, with a recent attack killing 13 people and wounding more than 300.
The Houthis have imposed a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, hitting its tankers, seizing swathes of Yemen’s Red Sea coast vital for oil exports and causing energy prices to jump, while also raining missiles on the kingdom.
Yemen’s civil war — in which Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition supporting the government since 2015 — reignited in September after the collapse of a years-long truce.
Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni government and the United States accuse Iran of backing the Houthis — an allegation Tehran denies.
France will impose new curfews in areas where needed on Tuesday, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said, adding that the measures introduced in several cities the previous day had “helped keep the night calm”.
France was rocked on Saturday by some of its worst rioting in recent years, just six months before the country elects a successor to President Emmanuel Macron.
Accused of failing to anticipate and contain the street violence, the government has pledged to restore order, and had announced partial curfews in Paris and some other cities on Monday.
“Targeted curfews have contributed to calm overnight,” Lecornu wrote on X.
“Tonight new curfews will be decided where the situation requires it. These decisions will be made on the ground, by the prefects, in coordination with the mayors,” he said.
Police confirmed the night had passed without major incidents across France.
Several cities, including Paris, the southwestern city of Bordeaux and Nice on the French Riviera, introduced partial curfews on Monday in response to urban unrest that followed weeks of student demonstrations over poor learning conditions in high schools.
While some restrictions, such as those in Paris, initially applied only for the night from Monday to Tuesday, others, particularly in Bordeaux and Nice, were set to remain in force for several days.
During the night, a helicopter flew over the French capital’s Place de la Republique, one of the epicentres of the unrest, sweeping a powerful searchlight across the square to monitor compliance with the curfew.
In Lyon, despite a ban on demonstrations, around 500 people gathered on Monday evening outside the tourism office that was set on fire, to show support for shopkeepers affected by looting, according to organisers.
The word “LYON” had been spelled out on the ground with candles.
A banner hung on a fence nearby read “Anti-Rioters Lyon” and “Doucet Resign”, referring to Green mayor Gregory Doucet, an AFP journalist said.
Under pressure, the government scheduled another series of emergency meetings on Tuesday, including talks involving representatives of major social media platforms.
Finance Minister Roland Lescure pledged support measures for shopkeepers and craftspeople.
Patrick Martin, the head of France’s Medef business lobby group, on Tuesday accused the state of having “failed” during the urban unrest that hit at least 3,000 businesses, according to preliminary estimates.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that India had made “substantial progress” in diversifying its energy supplies, including away from its key importer, Russia.
“What India has expressed repeatedly is their desire to diversify their energy portfolio, which is a smart thing to do,” Rubio said on a visit to India’s economic capital, Mumbai.
“Obviously, it’s not easy to do that from one day to the next, so I think they’ve made substantial progress in that regard, and we’re happy to see that.”
This is Rubio’s second official visit to the country this year, as he pursues an Asian tour blending diplomacy and trade. He has visited Uzbekistan, where he called for stronger partnerships with Central Asian countries, before landing in Mumbai for talks with Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and meetings with business leaders.
India is a major importer of Russian oil, and US President Donald Trump’s tariff war launched in April last year has added to friction between Washington and New Delhi.
“Obviously, we think we could be a source of some of their energy inputs,” Rubio said.
The top US diplomat will visit Jamnagar, in the western state of Gujarat, a port and stronghold of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance conglomerate and its flagship refinery, the world’s largest.
“India is a refining superpower,” said Rubio.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not scheduled to meet Rubio this time.
Washington’s top diplomat is also due to lay a wreath in memory of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.
The top US diplomat visited New Delhi and Kolkata in May this year, while also touring the Taj Mahal and meeting Modi.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he had also spoken to Rubio and raised issues with the US military satellite system that Ukraine uses, as well as missile delays.
Zelensky, expected in Oslo for talks with US envoys, said he told Rubio that “Starlink/Starshield needs to be restored” and that ballistic missile interceptors “are needed to protect lives”.
Rubio’s visit comes as India and the United States struggle to finalise a trade deal, a persistent source of friction between the two countries.
“We’re very very close; I would say we’re about as close as you can be without having an executed agreement. I think there’s a small number of items left to wrap up,” Rubio said. “Hopefully have some good news to announce fairly soon, and perhaps the leaders can sign it thereafter.”
Speaking in Samarkand earlier this week, Rubio said Washington and New Delhi were “very close” to an agreement.
However, a deal during his visit appears unlikely.
Asked about temporary US sanctions waivers for Russian oil, Rubio said Washington had to juggle multiple factors “including our bilateral relationships with other countries and what they realistically are capable of being able to do in terms of their own energy supplies”.
“You also can’t unravel the economy of other countries because of one central issue,” he said.
The two countries reached an interim trade agreement in February aimed at reducing US tariffs on Indian goods.
But days later, the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s sweeping tariffs, fuelling uncertainty over when the agreement would take effect.
The two sides have been negotiating ever since.
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said this month the talks had reached “a plateau, beyond which giving or taking might be very, very difficult”.
Jaishankar met with his United Arab Emirates counterpart in Mumbai earlier on Tuesday. The UAE is a key supplier of Indian energy, especially liquefied natural gas (LNG).
“The situation in the Gulf remains a matter of deep concern,” Jaishankar told UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in public comments broadcast before their meeting started.
He said India continues to support “free, safe and unimpeded flow of trade, energy and fertiliser”.
Login