WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will host British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for talks next week that will focus on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the White House said on Friday.
Starmer’s visit to the White House on September 13, his second since taking office in July, will also focus on the “special relationship” between London and Washington, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
The visit comes after Biden’s July 21 decision to drop out of the 2024 US presidential election and pass the mantle as Democratic candidate to Vice President Kamala Harris.
It was not clear if Starmer would also meet Harris on his trip to Washington.
Biden and Starmer will discuss “continuing robust support to Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression” and “securing a hostage release and ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza,” said Jean-Pierre.
The US leader has been pushing for a truce to end Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip before he leaves office, but the talks brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar have failed to produce an accord.
Ukraine meanwhile has captured a swath of Russian territory, but Moscow has hit back with advances in Ukraine’s east.
Biden and Starmer will also discuss attacks on shipping by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and, in a reference to countering Chinese influence, ensuring a “free and open” Asia-Pacific region.
“President Biden will underscore the importance of continuing to strengthen the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom,” added Jean-Pierre.
Labor leader Starmer first visited the White House on July 10, just days after his election as British Prime Minister, while attending a summit of NATO military alliance leaders in Washington.
During their meeting in the Oval Office, Biden hailed Britain as the “best of allies” while Starmer reaffirmed Britain’s support for Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion.
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Biden to host UK PM for talks next week, says White House
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Biden to host UK PM for talks next week, says White House
- The visit comes after Biden’s July 21 decision to drop out of the 2024 US presidential election
- It was not clear if Starmer would also meet Harris on his trip to Washington
US heading to ‘authoritarianism’, warns Human Rights Watch
- HRW: US President Donald Trump has shown ‘blatant disregard for human rights and egregious violations’
WASHINGTON: Human Rights Watch warned Wednesday that President Donald Trump was turning the United States into an authoritarian state as democracy declines globally to its lowest ebb in four decades.
Trump’s return to the White House has intensified a “downward spiral” on human rights that was already under pressure from Russia and China, the New York-based advocacy and research group said in its annual report.
“The rules-based international order is being crushed,” HRW said.
In the United States, the group said, Trump has shown “blatant disregard for human rights and egregious violations.”
In descriptions that would have been unthinkable in the US section of its previous annual reports, the group pointed to the deployment of masked, armed agents — the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency — which has carried out “hundreds of unnecessarily violent and abusive raids.”
“The administration’s racial and ethnic scapegoating, domestic deployment of National Guard forces in pretextual power grabs, repeated acts of retaliation against perceived political enemies and former officials now critical of him, as well as attempts to expand the coercive powers of the executive and neuter democratic checks and balances, underpin a decided shift toward authoritarianism in the US,” the report said.
Human Rights Watch repeated its finding that the United States engaged in enforced disappearances — a crime under international law — by sending 252 Venezuelan migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Trump’s return to the White House has intensified a “downward spiral” on human rights that was already under pressure from Russia and China, the New York-based advocacy and research group said in its annual report.
“The rules-based international order is being crushed,” HRW said.
In the United States, the group said, Trump has shown “blatant disregard for human rights and egregious violations.”
In descriptions that would have been unthinkable in the US section of its previous annual reports, the group pointed to the deployment of masked, armed agents — the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency — which has carried out “hundreds of unnecessarily violent and abusive raids.”
“The administration’s racial and ethnic scapegoating, domestic deployment of National Guard forces in pretextual power grabs, repeated acts of retaliation against perceived political enemies and former officials now critical of him, as well as attempts to expand the coercive powers of the executive and neuter democratic checks and balances, underpin a decided shift toward authoritarianism in the US,” the report said.
Human Rights Watch repeated its finding that the United States engaged in enforced disappearances — a crime under international law — by sending 252 Venezuelan migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
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