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Falklands veteran hopes King can speak to Trump over US 'review' of UK's sovereignty claim

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Falklands War veteran Simon Weston has said he hopes King Charles III can convince US President Donald Trump to "back down" over reports the US could review its position on the UK's claim to the territory.

Weston told BBC Newsnight that Trump's "hissy fit" over the sovereignty of the islands "makes our sacrifice feel slightly irrelevant".

An internal Pentagon email reported by Reuters suggested the US was considering options to punish Nato allies it believed had failed to support its war on Iran. BBC News has not been able to review the email.

Downing Street said that sovereignty of the Falkland Islands "rests with the UK" and that the islanders' right to self-determination was paramount.

The report regarding the US position emerged three days before King Charles and Queen Camilla's state visit to the US.

Weston said he hoped the monarch could persuade Trump to "back down and calm down" over the islands, which have been under British rule since 1833.

"He's [Trump] paying absolutely no heed to the humanity that he's abusing with his words because the people of the Falklands deserve more respect, but so do every veteran who served down there deserve more respect."

He called the US president's comments "very unstatesmanlike" and said he was "sad and disappointed it's come to this".

Weston served as a Welsh Guardsman during the 1982 war between the UK and Argentina over the territory.

He suffered almost 50% burns to his body during the bombing of the Sir Galahad ship, which caused the biggest loss of British life during the war.

Argentina has now said it wants to reopen negotiations with the UK over the Falklands, something to which the UK is unlikely to agree.

Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman said on Friday that "sovereignty rests with the UK, and the islanders' right to self-determination is paramount".

Meanwhile, Downing Street noted that its residents had previously voted "overwhelmingly" in favour of remaining a British Overseas Territory.

All but three of the islands' 1,672 eligible voters opted to remain a British territory in a 2013 referendum, on a turnout of more than 90%.

Although the 10-week war ended with the surrender of Argentine forces, the country still claims sovereignty over the islands which lie some 300 miles (483km) to its east in the south-west Atlantic Ocean.

The Falklands' government said on Friday: "The Falkland Islands has complete confidence in the commitment made by the UK government to uphold and defend our right of self-determination."

A US state department spokesperson was quoted by the AFP news agency on Friday as saying the US position on the islands remained "one of neutrality".

"We acknowledge that there are conflicting claims of sovereignty between Argentina and the UK," the spokesperson said.

They added that the US recognises "de facto United Kingdom administration" of the archipelago without taking sides on sovereignty claims.

WATCH: How Trump could punish Nato allies | Global News Podcast

Claiming sovereignty over the Falklands has been a rallying cry every Argentine government has deployed in the past, guaranteed to have a popular reaction.

In Argentina's presidential palace, a plaque dedicated to the islands – which it calls Malvinas – is mounted in a prime position.

On Friday, Argentina's President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, posted in capital letters on social media: "The Malvinas were, are, and always will be Argentine."

Simon Weston told Newsnight: "What we don't need is Mr Milei to raise his sleeves and believe that aggression may work because that would just cost more lives."

Milei's foreign affairs minister also denounced the exploration and extraction of natural resources around the islands, where there are significant oil fields.

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The Papers: Original 'Labour leadership rivals circle' and 'Golden boys' on Baftas red carpet

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Chris Mason: Another crunch moment for Starmer as he pleads with Labour MPs not to topple him

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It feels like the prime minister has to give the speech of his life today.

Those within the Labour Party who want to see him succeed acknowledge that you can't change everything in one speech.

But it is clearly imperative for Sir Keir Starmer to try to calm down a party that is hurting and anxious.

Many Labour MPs have spent the weekend observing the politically scorched earth around them locally – their friends and colleagues in local and devolved government wiped out. There are fraught emotions and there is anger.

And for the last few days now there has been the drip, drip of revolt, with Labour MP after Labour MP coming out publicly to say Starmer has to go.

With every one, a little more of the prime minister's authority drains away.

Incidentally, don't underestimate what a big deal it is for any individual MP to go over the top and say their boss should go – not least because, for now at least, those that have done so are a tiny fraction of the total number of Labour MPs.

And it was his name up in lights as their leader when many of them won their seats for the first time, and often in parts of the country where Labour rarely if ever win. So to say now, out loud, that you think he is a dud is a big deal.

Wherever you look in the Labour Party right now there are knots of anxiety.

Firstly, there is anxiety in Downing Street, of course. They are acutely aware of what is at stake.

Secondly, there is anxiety among the potential challengers, weighing up if, when or whether to go for it. Timing can be everything: get it right, and the premiership can be yours. Get it wrong, and what might be your only chance to be prime minister is gone.

Thirdly, there is anxiety among the many, many Labour MPs keeping their heads down and who really don't want the prime minister to leave right now, nor for there to be a leadership contest.

Then there are those who would like Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham to be Labour's next leader and so don't want a contest right now – because he needs time to firstly find and then win a Westminster seat, having been blocked from standing in one just a few months ago.

So what happens after the speech tomorrow? How do Labour MPs react? Does Catherine West, the former minister who has said she is willing to challenge the prime minister to try to force a contest, decide to back down, or press ahead?

Does the prime minister manage to put people off challenging him, at least for now?

Or is there a flood of anguish that leaves his position untenable and tempts one of the challengers to go for it?

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, in particular, faces a massive call in the next couple of days. He has said he won't challenge Sir Keir, but is prepared to make his case if it becomes clear the prime minister is a goner.

So does he go for it, or not? Some who would like to see him replace Sir Keir think this might be his very best chance, before Burnham can get back to Westminster.

It is worth emphasising that it is not easy to dislodge a sitting prime minister who doesn't want to budge and, up until now at least, Sir Keir has given every indication he wants to stick around.

But what a moment he confronts and his party confronts.

The Labour Party is in a glum swirl right now, where no one can be certain what will happen next.

Whatever does – or doesn't – happen will have consequences for us all.

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Ailing Iran Nobel laureate given bail and hospital transfer

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Iranian human rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi has been transferred from jail to a Tehran hospital amid concern over her deteriorating health.

Iranian authorities granted Mohammadi "a sentence suspension on heavy bail", a foundation run by her family said on Sunday.

Last week Mohammadi's family and supporters warned she could die in prison after suffering two suspected heart attacks earlier this year.

Mohammadi, 54, was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her activism against female oppression in Iran and promoting human rights.

After pleas from her family for her to be transferred from prison, Mohammadi is "now at Tehran Pars Hospital to be treated by her own medical team", ​the Narges Mohammadi Foundation said in a statement.

She had spent 10 days hospitalised in Zanjan in northern Iran, where she had been serving her sentence.

Mohammadi's Paris-based husband said "she is not in a favourable general condition" and that "her status remains unstable", in a statement over the weekend.

The activist is believed to have lost about 20kg (three stone) while in prison, and has difficulty speaking and is barely recognisable, according to her lawyer Chirinne Ardakani.

In 2021, Mohammadi began serving a 13-year sentence on charges of committing "propaganda activity against the state" and "collusion against state security", which she denied.

In December 2024, she was given a temporary release from Tehran's notorious Evin prison on medical grounds.

Mohammadi was arrested last December for making "provocative remarks" at a memorial ceremony, Iranian authorities said at the time. Her family said she was taken to hospital after being beaten during the arrest.

In early February, Mohammadi was sentenced by a Revolutionary Court to an additional seven-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of "gathering and collusion" and "propaganda activities", her lawyer said.

Last month, Mohammadi's brother Hamidreza said his sister had been found unconscious by fellow inmates at Zanjan prison after suffering a suspected heart attack.

The foundation's statement on Sunday said "a suspension is not enough" and that the human rights activist requires "permanent, specialised care".

"We must ensure she never returns to prison to face the 18 years remaining on her sentence," it read.

"Now is the time to demand her unconditional freedom and the dismissal of all charges. No human and women's rights activists should ever be imprisoned for their peaceful work," it said.

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