BRITAIN and the US have committed to coordinating the implementation of their Indo-Pacific strategies, with a focus on enhancing ties with India, Downing Street has said.
At “high-level consultations” on the Indo-Pacific held in London last week, officials from both governments resolved to broaden and deepen their alignment and cooperation in the region.
The meeting, one of many being undertaken amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, also assessed the preparations to meet the “challenge of systemic competition with China”.
“In the coming months, the US and the UK will work together to invest in partnerships with the Pacific Islands; to support the centrality of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and to advance concrete cooperation with ASEAN and its member states; and to enhance ties with India,” read the joint statement from the consultations released on Friday (11).
“US and UK officials committed to coordinate the implementation of the US Indo-Pacific Strategy and the UK's Indo-Pacific tilt, as set out in its Integrated Review… They agreed to pursue positive economic engagement in the Indo-Pacific, including through supporting just green transitions as part of the Clean Green Initiative and Build Back Better World agendas; to collaborate on critical and emerging technologies; to ensure economic security; and to oppose economic coercion,” it read.
The US delegation for the talks was led by Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell and included representatives from the Department of State, Department of Defence, and National Security Council. The UK delegation was led by deputy national security advisor David Quarrey and included representatives from across the British government.
“Officials from both governments resolved to broaden and deepen their alignment and cooperation on and in the region. They welcomed growing coordination among allies and partners across the Atlantic and the Pacific,” the joint statement noted.
“In particular, they noted unprecedented commitments from Indo-Pacific countries - including Japan, Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, and Singapore - to support Ukraine and to impose costs on Russia for its brutal and unprovoked attack. They also noted that these steps come at a time when the US, UK and European partners are enhancing their engagement with the Indo-Pacific and preparing to meet the challenge of systemic competition with China,” it added.
India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's aggressive military manoeuvring in the region. China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea.
Both sides have agreed to inaugurate a “continuing dialogue” on the Indo-Pacific, to be led in the US government by the National Security Council and the Department of State and in the UK by the National Security Secretariat and the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO).
The development comes days after UK foreign secretary Liz Truss told the UK Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) that the way forward is for a closer economic and defence relationship with India, to counter India's dependence on Russia.
“I think the issue for India is there is some level of dependence on Russia, both in terms of its defence relationships but also in terms of its economic relationships. And I think the way forward is for a closer economic and defence relationship with India. Both by the United Kingdom and also our like-minded allies,” the minister said.
Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, senior fellow for south Asia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, believes this marks an “ambitious UK step-change towards India's defence industry”.
“India's defence sector has been highlighted by the ongoing war in Ukraine, on which there is a significant diplomatic divergence between the UK and India,” Roy-Chaudhury said in his address at a State Bank of India (SBI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) conclave in London last week.
“India's diplomatic position is largely a result of its strategic dependence on Russia for arms denied to it by the West. Russia is India's dominant, although declining source of arms supplies, accounting for over half of total arms imports,” he noted.
According to the strategic expert, there can be no real mutual trust or a truly comprehensive strategic partnership between India and the UK without defence industrial cooperation and partnership.
“Liz Truss' recent statement indicates political intent to work closely with India's defence industries to reduce its dependence on Russia in the wake of the Ukraine war. This comes at a time of prospective strains on Russian arms deliveries to India in the wake of western sanctions. But, it needs UK Plc to deliver amidst challenging circumstances,” he noted.
UK's second heatwave of 2025 ends with cooler temperatures setting in.
Tuesday recorded the year’s highest temperature at 34.7°C in London.
No return to heatwave conditions forecast for early July.
Showers expected in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, with drier weather ahead.
UK heatwave fades as cooler weather returns
Following a stretch of record-breaking heat, the UK has now entered a cooler phase, with no heatwave conditions forecast for the first half of July. This change comes after Tuesday became the hottest day of the year so far, with 34.7°C recorded in London’s St James’s Park.
However, the high temperatures that marked the start of July have now given way to more comfortable conditions. In many parts of the country, temperatures have dropped by more than 10°C, bringing relief from the extreme heat.
Temperature outlook across the UK
On Wednesday, temperatures ranged between 16°C and 26°C from north to south, with cooler, fresher nights expected. Over the next week, Scotland and Northern Ireland will see daytime highs in the mid to high teens, while England and Wales can expect low to mid-20s.
Friday is likely to be the warmest day in the near forecast, with 27°C or 28°C predicted in the far south-east. Despite this brief warm spell, meteorologists have confirmed that there is no indication of another heatwave during the first two weeks of July.
Rainfall expected after dry spell
After one of the driest springs on record and a similarly dry start to summer, some rainfall is forecast over the next five days, particularly in north-western parts of the British Isles.
Areas already affected by drought, including Yorkshire and North-west England, are under close monitoring. The Environment Agency reports that two-thirds of England’s rivers currently have flow levels classified as below normal or lower for this time of year.
Regions such as eastern Scotland and parts of Wales are also experiencing low water levels. Showers are expected to arrive on Thursday and Friday, mainly across Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Unsettled weekend ahead
Forecasts indicate that the weekend will be unsettled, with unpredictable showers across the UK. However, early signs suggest that higher pressure may build again during the second week of July, reducing the chances of rain and bringing more stable conditions.
Recap of 2025’s second heatwave
This week’s hot spell marked the second official heatwave in the UK for 2025. It lasted six days in Yorkshire and the Humber, and five days in central and eastern England.
An official heatwave is recorded when a region meets specific temperature thresholds for three consecutive days, which range from 25°C to 28°C depending on location.
The recent high temperatures were driven by a large area of high pressure stalled over Europe, sometimes referred to as a “heat dome.” Scientists continue to warn that climate change is making UK heatwaves more frequent and more intense, with such events expected to become increasingly common in future years.
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Matt Hancock arrives ahead of his latest appearance before the Covid-19 Inquiry on July 02, 2025 in London, England.(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
BEREAVED families have condemned former health secretary Matt Hancock as "insulting" and "full of excuses" after he defended the controversial policy of moving untested hospital patients into care homes during the early days of the Covid pandemic.
Speaking at the Covid-19 inquiry on Wednesday (2), Hancock described the decision to discharge patients into care homes as "the least-worst decision" available at the time, despite the devastating death toll that followed.
Nicola Brook, a solicitor representing more than 7,000 families from Covid Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said Hancock's claims were "an insult to the memory of each and every person who died."
A spokesperson for the bereaved families group said: "We've waited years for this moment, hoping for truth. What we got was finger-pointing and evasion. Our loved ones were left to die without PPE, without testing or protection. Other countries protected their care homes. Ours were abandoned."
When the pandemic struck in early 2020, hospital patients were rapidly moved into care homes to free up beds and prevent the NHS from becoming overwhelmed. However, there was no policy requiring patients to be tested for Covid before admission until mid-April, despite growing awareness that people without symptoms could spread the virus.
Hancock told the inquiry: "Nobody has yet provided me with an alternative that was available at the time that would have saved more lives. I still can't see a decision that would have been less bad. None of the options were good."
The policy was later ruled unlawful by the High Court in 2022, which found it was "irrational" not to advise that patients should isolate from existing residents for 14 days after admission. Hancock faced sharp criticism over his previous claim that a "protective ring" had been placed around care homes. When challenged about this statement at a Downing Street press conference in May 2020, he admitted it was "rhetoric."
"I would stress in that piece of rhetoric, what I said is that we had 'tried' – it was not possible to protect as much as I would have wanted," he said.
The inquiry heard anonymous evidence from care home workers who said Hancock had "blatantly lied about the situation" and that they felt like "the sacrifice, a cull of older people who could no longer contribute to the society."
Sharon Cook, who lost both her parents during the pandemic, described the "lot of confusion" about guidance at the time. Her mother tested positive for Covid and died three days later.
A week after that, her father died, with care home staff showing her a Do Not Attempt Resuscitation form they claimed had been agreed in consultation with her.
"If they'd been using the proper form, a more up-to-date form, I would have had to countersign," she said. "If I'd been let in, would my dad still be with me? I don't know."
The inquiry has heard that more than 43,000 deaths involving Covid occurred in care homes across the UK between March 2020 and July 2022. A civil servant earlier this week described the figure as a "generational slaughter within care homes."
Hancock, who resigned from government in 2021 after admitting to breaking social distancing rules by having an affair with a colleague, said the discharge policy was "formally a government decision" signed off by the prime minister but "driven" by then-NHS chief executive Simon Stevens.
Throughout his evidence, Hancock offered no apology for the policy's consequences. He told the inquiry: "We were trying to do everything that we possibly could, we were in bleak circumstances."
The care sector module of the inquiry is expected to run until the end of July, with bereaved families continuing to demand accountability from those who made key decisions during the pandemic's early stages.
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Starmer has said the NHS must 'reform or die' and promised changes that would control the rising costs of caring for an ageing population without increasing taxes. (Photo: Getty Images)
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer will on Thursday launch a 10-year strategy aimed at fixing the National Health Service (NHS), which he said was in crisis. The plan seeks to ease the pressure on overstretched hospitals and shift care closer to people’s homes.
The NHS, which is publicly funded and state-run, has faced difficulties recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. It continues to experience annual winter pressures, repeated waves of industrial action, and a long backlog for elective treatments.
Starmer has said the NHS must “reform or die” and promised changes that would control the rising costs of caring for an ageing population without increasing taxes.
In a statement, Starmer said his Labour Party had inherited a health system in crisis when it took office a year ago, but that the new plan would “fundamentally rewire and future-proof” the service.
New health centres and waiting list cuts
The strategy includes the creation of new health centres that will offer a wider range of services in a single location. According to the government, this move is intended to reduce pressure on hospitals, help bring down waiting lists and end “perpetual firefighting” in the system.
After a first year in office marked by unpopular spending cuts and some costly U-turns, healthcare is one of the areas where Starmer’s government says it has made progress.
The government has delivered 4 million extra appointments – double the target set for the first year – and brought waiting lists to a two-year low. Starmer said the NHS would not be fixed overnight but added, “we are already turning the tide on years of decline”.
Talks with pharma sector and life sciences strategy pending
However, the government remains in a deadlock with the pharmaceutical industry over drug pricing. It also faces potential further strikes from healthcare workers and has yet to release its promised plan to accelerate development in the UK’s life sciences sector.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Starmer and Reeves during a visit to Horiba Mira in Nuneaton, to mark the launch of the Government's Industrial Strategy on June 23, 2025 in Nuneaton. (Photo: Getty Images)
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer on Wednesday said that Chancellor Rachel Reeves would remain in her role for “a very long time to come”, after she appeared visibly upset in parliament as questions were raised about her future.
Reeves was seen with tears rolling down her face during Prime Minister’s Questions, after Starmer did not confirm whether she would remain chancellor until the next general election, expected in 2029.
The moment came after the Labour government reversed its position on key welfare spending cuts, removing a multibillion-pound saving from the public finances and prompting speculation about Reeves’s position in the cabinet.
Following the incident, the pound dropped by more than one per cent against the dollar, and the London stock market also declined.
'The Chancellor is going nowhere'
A spokeswoman for Starmer told reporters later that Reeves had the Prime Minister’s “full backing”. A spokesman for Reeves said she had been upset due to a “personal matter”.
“The Chancellor is going nowhere. She has the Prime Minister’s full backing,” said Starmer’s press secretary.
When asked why Starmer had not voiced support for Reeves in the Commons, the spokeswoman said: “He has done so repeatedly.”
She added: “The Chancellor and the Prime Minister are focused entirely on delivering for working people.”
In a later interview with the BBC, Starmer said Reeves had done “an excellent job as chancellor” and would stay in the role “for a very long time to come”.
He said the tears had “nothing to do with politics” and described suggestions to the contrary as “absolutely wrong”.
Reeves to continue work from Downing Street
Asked about why Reeves was upset, her spokesman said: “It’s a personal matter, which, as you would expect, we are not going to get into.”
He added: “The Chancellor will be working out of Downing Street this afternoon.”
Starmer reversed the government’s welfare spending plan on Tuesday following a rebellion from Labour MPs, in what has been seen as a significant blow to his authority.
The decision to drop the cuts has left a gap of nearly £5 billion in Reeves’s fiscal plans, raising the prospect that she may have to increase taxes on “working people”—something she has said she would not do.
She has also ruled out changing her position that day-to-day spending must be funded by tax receipts rather than borrowing.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Chief adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus , prays at Abu Sayeed’s grave
BANGLADESH opened on Monday (30) the murder trial of student protester Abu Sayeed, whose killing last year escalated demonstrations nationwide that ultimately ousted then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Sayeed died aged 23 in the northern city of Rangpur, the first student demonstrator killed in the police crackdown on protests.
Footage of his last moments on July 16, 2024 – standing with his arms outstretched before he was shot at close range – was shown repeatedly on Bangladeshi television after Hasina’s downfall.
Prosecutors at Bangladesh’s war crimes tribunal charged 30 people in connection with the killing.
Only four are in custody – two police officers, a university official and a student leader – with warrants issued for the remaining 26. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August last year, according to the United Nations, when Hasina’s government ordered a crackdown in a failed bid to cling to power.
Chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said the court had accepted the formal charges, marking the opening of the trial.
“We have stated that Sheikh Hasina ordered the then interior minister to use lethal weapons; the inspector general of police at the time carried out the instruction, and the forces on the ground, under senior police officers, executed the order,” Islam told journalists.
“Senior members of the university administration actively participated in quashing the protest.”
They include the former vicechancellor of Begum Rokeya University (BRUR), Hasibur Rashid.
The opening of the Sayeed murder trial comes a day before the first anniversary of students launching their protests.
Initially demanding reforms to a quota system for public sector jobs, the demonstrations widened to include more general grievances against Hasina’s government.
Hasina, who fled to India on August 5, is not listed in the Sayeed case and her separate trial in absentia opened in early June. Prosecutors have filed five charges against her that amount to crimes against humanity, which she denies according to her now-banned Awami League. (AFP)