13/05/2026

WEDNESDAY | MAY 13, 2026 9 Middle East peace deal hopes fade DUBAI: Hopes for a peace deal on Iran faded yesterday after President Donald Trump said a ceasefire with Iran was “on life support” as Tehran rejected a US proposal to end the conflict and stuck to a list of demands the president described as “garbage”. Iran has called for an end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, where US ally Israel is fighting Hezbollah. Tehran also emphasised its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, demanded compensation for war damage, and an end to the US naval blockade. Trump said Iran’s response threatened the status of a ceasefire that began on April 7. “I would call it the weakest right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us. I didn’t even finish reading it,” Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to end the ceasefire, told reporters. The US had proposed an end to fighting before starting talks on more contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme. Iran has expanded its definition of the Strait of Hormuz into a “vast operational area” far wider than before the Iran war, according to a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy. The strait is no longer viewed as a narrow stretch around a handful of islands but instead has been greatly enlarged in scope and military significance, said Mohammad Akbarzadeh, deputy political director of the IRGC Navy, Fars news agency reported yesterday. “In the past, the Strait of Hormuz was defined as a limited area around islands such as Hormuz and Hengam, but today this view has changed,” Akbarzadeh said. – Reuters BEIRUT: Israeli strikes on a town in southern Lebanon killed six people and wounded seven others, state media said yesterday, as fighting continued despite a ceasefire agreement. National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli strikes on Monday night hit a house in Kfar Dounine, a town about 95km from capital Beirut. The NNA reported the wounded were transported to hospitals in the coastal city of Tyre. Israel has intensified its attacks in south Lebanon as it trades fire with Hezbollah despite an April 17 ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that aimed to halt the fighting. More than 2,800 people have been killed in Lebanon since the country was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2, according to health authorities. Lebanese leaders recently urged the US ambassador to Beirut to pressure Israel to halt its attacks during the ceasefire. – Reuters TEL AVIV: Israel’s parliament passed a law late on Monday establishing a military tribunal to try hundreds of Palestinians accused of taking part in the Oct 7, 2023 attack. Israel has been holding an estimated 200-300 fighters captured during the attack, who have not yet been charged. The special military court established by the law, to be presided over by a three-judge panel in Jerusalem, could also try others captured later in Gaza and suspected of taking part in the attack, or of having held or abused Israeli hostages. The new law was backed by a wide majority, 93 of the Knesset’s 120 lawmakers, in a rare show of Israeli political unity. Lawmakers from both the governing coalition and the opposition authored the Bill, meant to ensure all assailants are brought to justice under criminal statutes for what it describes as crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Proceedings will be public, with major hearings broadcast live. – Reuters ISRAELI STRIKES KILL SIX IN SOUTH LEBANON NEW MILITARY TRIBUNAL TO TRY OCT 7 ACCUSED

Starmer defies calls to quit LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer defied calls to resign yesterday, telling ministers he would “get on with governing” despite a “destabilising” 48 hours of growing calls to set out a timetable for his departure after a drubbing in local elections. o Junior minister resigns challenging a leader and that has not been triggered,” Starmer told his Cabinet, according to his Downing Street office. “The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet.” Leaving the meeting, four senior ministers offered Starmer their support, with Pensions Minister Pat McFadden telling reporters that no one had challenged the prime minister at Cabinet. “I can’t see how he gets through the day,” one Labour lawmaker told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “If we’re on 70-odd now, the number who think he should go but haven’t gone public is easily double that.” replaced by someone further on the left who might want to borrow and spend more.

It is generally harder for Labour lawmakers to remove a prime minister than the opposition Conservative Party. While dozens of Labour lawmakers might have expressed their dissatisfaction with Starmer, 81 of them need to rally behind one single candidate to trigger a contest. Removing Starmer now, or forcing him to set a departure date, would likely favour Health Minister Wes Streeting, who is in a position to move first. His supporters say Streeting, who hails from the right of the party, would be a better communicator than Starmer. Other possible challengers, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner face obstacles to running, both seen as favourites of the moderate left of the party. Burnham does not have the seat in parliament he needs to mount a challenge and Rayner has yet to fully resolve the tax issues that prompted her resignation from office last year. – Reuters

At a meeting of his Cabinet, Starmer, in the top job for less than two years, repeated that, while he took responsibility for one of Labour Party’s worst election defeats, there had been no official move to trigger a leadership contest. Four ministers expressed their support for him. It was the latest pledge from Starmer to press on with a premiership that has been dogged by scandal and policy U-turns since he won a large majority at a national election in 2024. On Monday, he promised to be bolder in tackling the problems besetting Britain to try to shore up his political future. In a nod to an increase in borrowing costs on the markets over fears of another bout of political instability in Britain, Starmer said the “past 48 hours have been destabilising for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families”. “The Labour Party has a process for

McFadden said there were “many statements of support for the job that he’s doing”. Starmer’s defiance was in marked contrast to the feelings of many in the wider Labour Party. A junior minister resigned yesterday after a handful of ministerial aides also quit the government. More than 80 Labour lawmakers have publicly called for him to set a resignation date so the party could install a new leader in an orderly manner. On Monday, Starmer vowed to stay the course, saying succumbing to calls for him to go would bring in the type of chaos that has dogged Britain since the nation narrowly voted in favour of Brexit in 2016. Bond markets have been sensitive to any suggestion that Starmer and his Finance Minister Rachel Reeves could go, and be

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Starmer gets on with governing – REUTERSPIC

TikTok challenges EU ‘gatekeeper’ status LUXEMBOURG: Bytedance’s social media platform TikTok yesterday made a last-ditch attempt at Europe’s top court to scrap its designation as a “gatekeeper”under EU rules, which require it to meet tougher standards as regulators seek to curb the power of Big Tech. The case – the first EU Digital Markets Act “gatekeeper” challenge heard by the EU Court of Justice – could bolster or weaken Europe’s attempt to rein in Big Tech to ensure competition and more choice for users. out TikTok’s challenge, saying it met DMA criteria for the gatekeeper designation. The DMA sets out an onerous list of requirements aimed at curbing the power of Big Tech, with infringement fines as high as 10% of a company’s annual turnover. TikTok argued the tribunal had erred in its ruling that the company failed all three criteria for gatekeeper status: significant market impact, acting as a key business gateway to users and holding an entrenched market position.

Batchelor said at Europe’s top court. He told the panel of 15 judges that 70-80% of TikTok users use other platforms in parallel, including Meta Platform’s Facebook and Instagram, Snap and X, and hence were not locked into TikTok’s ecosystem. “We refer to this as ‘multihoming’. That means businesses can reach the same end users via multiple other platforms,” Batchelor said. A European Commission lawyer dismissed TikTok’s arguments. “Lock-in can occur even when some degree of multihoming exists. For example, there may be specific user groups that depend on TikTok,” Mislav Mataija told the court. Meta Platforms is also contesting its gatekeeper designation for Messenger and Marketplace. – Reuters

TikTok was designated a “gatekeeper” under DMA in September 2023, joining other companies with more than 45 million monthly users. These included Alphabet’s Google, Meta Platforms, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Booking.com. A lower court tribunal had in 2024 thrown

“ByteDance showed not only that its market cap is overwhelmingly derived from its Asian businesses but also they had no connection to Europe, face different competitive dynamics and operate in a distinct regulatory, linguistic and cultural environment,” TikTok’s lawyer Bill