The UK banned trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where it says "settler terrorists" are carrying out "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians, in a significant toughening of Britain's stance toward a longtime ally. France and Canada announced they would take similar action in an attempt to prevent expanding settlements and growing violence from making it impossible to establish a future Palestinian state. Israel responded angrily and said it would close the British consulate in Jerusalem.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the UK will ban imports of all goods from the settlements and bar companies from providing services for the settlements, including financing, construction, infrastructure, real estate and advertising. "I do not believe the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets," Miliband said. The economic impact is likely to be limited, but signals a significant shift in terms of policy by some of its closest allies.

The Argentine government said that it will file criminal charges against oil company Navitas Petroleum for operating in seas off the Falkland Islands. The move came just days after Argentine President Javier Milei said he would sanction oil companies drilling in the British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean. Reacting to the news, Britain's Foreign Office Minister Kirsty McNeill insisted that there could be "no doubt" about the British government's commitment to the Falkland Islanders.

McNeill added that "the future of the Falkland Islands is for Falkland Islanders to determine". Navitas, which is listed in Tel Aviv, holds a 65% stake in Sea Lion, an offshore oil project set to start production in the North Falkland Basin in 2028. Sovereignty of the archipelago remains disputed between the UK and Argentina more than 40 years after a British military task force ejected Argentine forces which had invaded the territory in 1982.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis attacked four cities in Saudi Arabia, wounding more than 70 people and setting oil installations ablaze in what appeared to be a significant expansion of the Middle East war. Saudi Arabia said it would retaliate after the overnight strikes - reportedly involving dozens of drones and missiles - that targeted several oil facilities in the country's south. A Saudi foreign ministry statement said it would "take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty", and demanding a halt to the Houthi strikes on Saudi territory and oil tankers in the Red Sea.

The Houthis, who control most ⁠of Yemen's populated areas including the capital, said ⁠they had launched a broad operation deep into Saudi territory using drones and missiles to strike an airbase in the southern city of Khamis Mushait, and targets belonging to Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state oil company. A spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting for control of Yemen, said they "will take all necessary operational measures to deter the terrorist Houthi militia".

The far-right Alternative for Germany party surged to a resounding victory in a regional election, but fell just short of winning a majority in its quest to form the country's first far-right state government since World War II. The party of Germany's unpopular leader, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, slumped to a disastrous result in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. The anti-migration and Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany's candidate for governor, Ulrich Siegmund, said that "we have written history" and the party had a clear mandate to govern.

Merz said his center-right Christian Democratic Union was "deeply shocked" by what he called "the most serious election defeat that the CDU has had for years, for decades." Because of Germany's Nazi past, far-right movements have always come under strong scrutiny. Other major parties have refused to cooperate with AfD in a so-called "firewall."