Washington, DC – United States President Donald Trump has called on all countries in the Middle East to forge formal relations with Israel despite the ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza, citing the US attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June.
Trump’s call on Thursday comes amid a growing international push to recognise a Palestinian state.
“Now that the nuclear arsenal being ‘created’ by Iran has been totally OBLITERATED, it is very important to me that all Middle Eastern Countries join the Abraham Accords,” the US president wrote.
“This will insure [sic] PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump’s administration has not presented evidence that Iran was weaponising its nuclear programme or building a nuclear arsenal, as the president has claimed.
During his first term in 2020, Trump secured a series of deals, known as the Abraham Accords, to establish official diplomatic ties between Israel and several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
But US efforts to expand the agreements – with focus on Saudi Arabia – over the past years have failed.
The kingdom’s top officials have repeatedly stressed that Riyadh is committed to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which conditions recognising Israel on establishing a Palestinian state.
The war on Gaza, which Riyadh has decried as a genocide, further complicated the push to normalise relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
But Trump appeared to link Arab-Israeli relations to the Iranian nuclear programme and the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, which saw the US military strike Iran’s nuclear sites.
Arab countries had condemned Israel’s attacks on Iran in June, which killed top military officials and nuclear scientists as well as hundreds of civilians.
When he visited the Gulf region in May, Trump appeared to de-emphasise Arab-Israeli normalisation.
He said it is his “dream” for Saudi Arabia to establish official ties with Israel, but he wants the kingdom to do it on its “own time”.
While the so-called Abraham Accords fostered trade and security ties between the countries involved, they failed to end or mitigate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel has continued to build and expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, and it has destroyed most of Gaza, killing more than 61,000 people as it imposes a starvation crisis on the territory.
It’s not clear what sparked Trump’s renewed call for Arab-Israeli normalisation. But his statement coincides with an Arab-backed international push to recognise the state of Palestine, which Washington has rejected.
Earlier this week, Trump suggested that he would not block Israel’s plan to expand its ground military operations to all of Gaza – a move that could compound the suffering of Palestinians who have been repeatedly displaced throughout the war.
“That’s going to be pretty much up to Israel,” the US president said when asked about the Israeli plan.
Sudan’s air force has destroyed a UAE aircraft carrying Colombian mercenaries as it was landing at an airport in Darfur controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), army-aligned state TV reported.
The attack late on Wednesday killed at least 40 people, the state broadcaster reported.
The airport has recently come under repeated air strikes by the Sudanese army, which has been at war with the RSF since April 2023.
A military source, speaking to the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity, said the Emirati plane “was bombed and completely destroyed” at Darfur’s Nyala airport.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF.
AFP quoted an Emirati official denouncing what he considered false allegations that the Sudanese army had destroyed the plane.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said his government was trying to find out how many Colombians died in the attack.
“We will see if we can bring their bodies back,” he wrote on X.
State TV said the aircraft had taken off from an airbase in the Gulf, carrying dozens of foreign fighters and military equipment intended for the RSF, which controls nearly all of Darfur.
The army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has long accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying advanced weaponry, including drones, to the RSF via Nyala Airport.
Abu Dhabi has denied the accusations.
Satellite images released by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab have shown multiple Chinese-made long-range drones at the airport of the South Darfur state capital.
On Monday, Sudan’s army-aligned government accused the UAE of recruiting and funding Colombian mercenaries to fight for the RSF, claiming it has documents proving that.
Reports of Colombian fighters in Darfur date back to late 2024 and have been confirmed by United Nations experts.
Colombia seeks to ban mercenaries
This week, the Joint Forces – a pro-army coalition in Darfur – reported more than 80 Colombian mercenaries fighting on the RSF’s side in el-Fasher, the last Darfur state capital still under army control.
The army also released video footage it said was of “foreign mercenaries believed to be from Colombia”, which could not be independently verified.
In December, Sudan said Colombia’s Foreign Ministry had expressed regret “for the participation of some of its citizens in the war”.
Colombian mercenaries, many former soldiers and guerrillas, have appeared in other global conflicts and were previously hired by the UAE for operations in Yemen and the Gulf.
In his post on Wednesday, Petro said he was moving to ban mercenary activity, calling it “a trade in men turned into commodities to kill”.
As fighting continues, thousands of families trapped in the besieged city of el-Fasher are at “risk of starvation”, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.
An outbreak of cholera in the North Darfur state, of which el-Fasher is the capital, has further added to the misery.
Former GMB presenter Piers Morgan was accused of ‘attention-seeking’ after sharing a post about Beyoncé’s new jeans advert
Piers Morgan told to ‘have a day off’ after accusing Beyoncé of ‘cultural appropriation’(Image: 2024 Jason Mendez/Getty Images)
Piers Morgan was told to ‘have a day off’ as he shared yet another controversial post, this time accusing Beyoncé of cultural appropriation. The former Good Morning Britain presenter, who stormed off the ITV set before quitting the show, is known for his outspoken views that have often landed him in hot water.
This time, the 60-year-old took to his X/Twitter account to share a picture of Beyoncé rocking a full denim outfit in a new advert for Levi’s jeans. The award-winning singer posed in a bedazzled denim crop jacket and equally bedazzled jeans for the photo, which was shared on the brand’s social media page.
She rocked curly blonde hair in the snaps and completed the outfit with silver shows. While most people loved the advert, Piers couldn’t help but hit out at her, claiming she was trying to ‘culturally appropriate’ Marilyn Monroe. It comes after Taylor Swift sparks engagement rumours as fans spot Travis Kelce’s lock screen.
READ MORE: Piers Morgan leads reaction as injured England cricket star Chris Woakes bats in SLINGREAD MORE: Sarah Ferguson flew 1,500 miles to try and date ‘gorgeous’ Tiger Woods, wild book claims
Beyoncé looked stunning in a new Levi’s advert(Image: INSTAGRAM)
His criticism comes extremely soon after Sydney Sweeney received backlash for her American Eagle advert, which had her saying she had ‘great jeans’.
In the advert, she said: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality, and even eye colour. My jeans are blue.”
A voiceover then adds: “Sydney Sweeney has great genes.” In the US, American Eagle’s billboard ads show the word ‘genes’ crossed out and replaced with ‘jeans’.
Piers said his tweet was a ‘joke’(Image: Piers Morgan Uncensored/Youtube)
While some think the campaign is harmless, many say it taps into the ideology of eugenics – the belief that the human race could be “improved” by increasing the presence of traits considered desirable, traits historically linked to whiteness.
Meanwhile, Piers used the heightened tension regarding the recent advert to share the picture of Beyoncé’s advert and wrote: “Very disappointed to see Beyoncé culturally appropriate Marilyn Monroe in her new Levi’s ad.”
Fans hit out at his antics, with one writing in the comment section: “Have a day off,” and another posting: “A white British man talking about cultural appropriation. The jokes. They write themselves.”
Another commented: “Do you understand.. Words? Do you know what culture means?” while one simply pointed out: “Attention seeking ting Piers?”
One person reminded the TV presenter Marilyn, real name Norma Jeane Mortenson, wasn’t a natural blonde and another posted: “Marilyn Monroe is not a culture she’s a person and she didn’t invent blonde hair either lol.”
Even Dionne Warwick said: “Getting involved in women’s business again, I see…” before Piers responded: “Oh not you too, Dionne… it was a JOKE!”
He defended himself in another tweet and claimed: “I would say I can’t believe anyone took my obvious Beyoncé joke post seriously… but I forgot the woke brigade have zero sense of humour.”
Article continues below
Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.
READ MORE: Teeth whitening solution so ‘effective’ shoppers of all ages love it is 30% offREAD MORE: ‘This £12 smudge-proof brow pen gives me thicker eyebrows in seconds’
The award-winning football player Simon Stone, the chief football news correspondent for BBC Sport, discusses who will likely support Scott McTominay once he has received the nomination.
One of the 30 candidates for the prize was the Napoli and Scotland midfielder, with the winner set to be announced on September 22.
McTominay’s nomination comes less than a year after he was allowed to leave Manchester United for Napoli in a £25 million move.
On BBC iPlayer, follow up on the 2025 Ballon d’Or nominations.
In this Thursday’s Mirror Daily Digest, we’ve pulled together the biggest stories of the day from the BBC ‘penis picture’ scandal to what to expect from the government’s emergency alert test
The BBC has been hit with another scandal(Image: Getty Images)
Welcome to the Mirror’s Daily Digest, where we pull together all the best stories of the day from our News, Showbiz, Sport teams and more. This Thursday, we’re featuring everything from the BBC being embroiled in a fresh scandal to more details surrounding the government emergency alert.
This morning, it was revealed that the BBC had reportedly been hit with another scandal as a top female presenter is alleged to have shown a ‘penis picture’ to a junior staff member, leaving them in tears. Elsewhere, we’ve uncovered all you need to know about the upcoming government emergency alert and revealed explosive new claims about Prince Andrew
BBC presenter ‘showed penis picture’ to junior staff member in fresh scandal
BBC presenter ‘showed penis picture’ to junior staff member in new scandal(Image: Getty Images)
This morning, news broke that the BBC had reportedly been hit with another scandal – a top female presenter is alleged to have shown a ‘penis picture’ to a junior member of staff, leaving them in tears. The star is alleged to have revealed an image of a man’s penis on her phone during a casual conversation.
Insiders claim the star, who is listed among the BBC’s 50 highest-paid employees, asked the young staff member an inappropriate question before showing the picture. The young producer was said to have been “horrified and in tears” over the encounter. It is unknown whose private parts were in the picture.
Bosses were alerted about the encounter, and the presenter was brought into a private meeting where she was told to apologise for her actions. The crisis has been described as a “ticking time bomb” by staff at the BBC, fearing there could be a widespread fallout if the presenter’s identity became public.
Read the full story here.
Emergency alert will go off on millions of phones – ‘spread the word’
The test will be just the second of its kind in the UK(Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)
As the UK gears up for one of the ‘biggest safety exercises in UK history’, our Politics team have uncovered more details about the emergency alert. In a month’s time Brits have been urged to brace themselves for a loud alarm from their mobile phones in a national drill.
The system will be tested at 3pm on Sunday, September 7, with millions of phones receiving a message warning of danger to life nearby. Mobiles on 4G and 5G networks will vibrate and emit a loud siren for around 10 seconds – even if they are set on silent, and also see a test message appear on screens, making it clear the alert is a drill.
The public won’t need to do anything, just swipe the message away or click ‘OK’ on the phone home screen. The test will be just the second of its kind and follows a government pledge to test the system regularly to make sure the alarm works and get the public used to it.
Read the full story here.
Prince Andrew ‘slept with more than a dozen women in first year of marriage’
An explosive book has made claims about Prince Andrew(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
This Thursday, our Royal team has been covering explosive Prince Andrew claims revealed in a new royal book. According historian Andrew Lownie, Prince Andrew “slept with more than a dozen women” in the first year of his marriage to Sarah Ferguson.
The biography of the Duke and Duchess of York alleges Fergie wanted to be “The One” but enjoyed several affairs of her own with “reckless abandon”. Lownie, who has written several acclaimed books on the royal family, details claims the York’s troubled marriage was riddled with infidelity.
Within weeks of their lavish wedding in 1986, Fergie is said to have realised the marriage was a mistake as they had few mutual interests. And, with Andrew regularly away on Navy duty, it has been claimed that she embarked on numerous flings.
Read the full story here.
Fury as small boat detentions begin amid threat of human rights legal challenges
The first wave of small boat arrivals have been detained for return to France (file image)(Image: Getty Images)
As the first wave of detentions of small boat arrivals set to be returned to France began this Thursday, human rights groups voiced their outrage. Campaigners have hinted they are weighing up a legal challenge over the new returns agreement – which will see people who made the dangerous Channel crossing kicked out.
The Home Office said those taken into detention after arriving in Kent yesterday are expected to be sent back to France within a fortnight. In exchange people with a legitimate case to settle in the UK – who have never attempted a small crossing – will be admitted in their place.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper branded the first wave of detentions an “important step forward”. But Steve Smith, chief executive of refugee charity Care4Calais said the group is “keeping all our options open” on challenging the scheme.
Read the full story here.
This Morning’s Josie Gibson ‘skint’ as she moves ‘back into caravan’
Josie has been busy filming a new series(Image: ITV)
Our Showbiz team were tuned into GMB this morning as Josie Gibson appeared on the ITV show to talk about her new TV project. Josie, known for hosting ITV’s This Morning, has been busy filming a new series, Josie Gibson’s Big Country Build, which sees her renovate her Somerset home into an eco-friendly haven, with the help of her loved ones.
A promotional video for the new seven-part series was shown on GMB, in which Josie shared the reality of taking on such a big construction project, admitting it has left her “skint”. During her interview, she also spoke of the challenges she’s faced working so closely with her family and friends on the renovation.
Ranvir kicked things off by pointing out, “You know what, you used to live in a caravan before all of this, and now, just a few years later, you’ve bought this enormous house. You’re a great British success story, Josie!” However, Josie admitted: “Well, I’m moving back into a caravan, I don’t know about that!”
Read the full story here.
Article continues below
READ MORE: Woman loses 20lbs in eight weeks without setting foot in the gym
According to a new biography about the Duke and Duchess of York, Fergie claimed she was “in love” with the golf champion and that she went to another country to go on a date.
The Duchess of York is claimed to have gone after a 22-year-old Tiger Woods after her royal split with Prince Andrew(Image: X00251)
Sarah Ferguson once flew 1,500 miles in an attempt to go on a date with golfing legend Tiger Woods, a new tell-all book has claimed.
The biography, ‘Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York’ by Andrew Lownie, has made several allegations about Fergie and Andrew’s unusual relationship, including the rampant affairs that they both had behind closed doors before the breakdown of their marriage.
And according to the royal author, Fergie flew halfway around the world to pursue the “gorgeous” Tiger Woods a year after her split from Andrew. Confiding in Piers Morgan before embarking on the ambitious journey, she even allegedly said she was “in love” with the athlete.
READ MORE: Prince Harry’s devastating loss in royal rift exposed as Meghan ‘holds the cards’READ MORE: Meghan Markle’s birthday ‘gimmick’ quietly shelved after major mistake
A new book has claimed Fergie travelled around the world to go on a date with golf legend Tiger Woods(Image: Derby Telegraph)
According to Lownie, the author claims that Fergie was a hot pursuit of famous potential lovers over the years in the biography, which was the result of four years of research and hundreds of interviews.
The writer alleges that the Duchess declared she was “in love” with Tiger, and flew 1,500 miles to try and arrange a date. She is said to have confided to broadcaster Piers Morgan, telling him: “I’m in love.”
Morgan reportedly inquired, “Who is the lucky guy?” Fergie responded, “He doesn’t know yet,” to which Fergie replied.
Then, according to the allegations, Fergie said, “follow him around the course for a while and see how I get on.” Poor old Tiger won’t know what hit him, Morgan joked.
Morgan’s advice seemed to help Fergie, as rather than being seen as a romantic couple, the unlikely duo became good friends, with the Duchess seen supporting him at golf competitions.
Fergie allegedly confided in her friend Piers Morgan about her crush on golf star Tiger Woods(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Woods and Ferguson were pictured embracing while Ferguson was sporting a beaming smile after winning another match at the Byron Nelson tournament in Texas in 1997.
As recently as 2019, Ferguson was seen congratulating Woods’ jaw-dropping comeback to win the Masters, which is his most recent major triumph within the sport. On Instagram, she wrote: “Never have I been more proud. Good days and bad days, Tigers’ heart is loyal, steadfast, and he is an amazing friend.”
According to the book, Fergie began making hints about marrying her ex-husband Prince Andrew just three years after their final divorce, despite her clumsy almost-date with Tiger Woods just two years after their tragic relationship ended.
The Duchess also claims that John F. Kennedy Jr., the handsome son of the murdered US President John F. Kennedy, was visiting New York in 1997.
He is understood to have accepted the invitation when she found out who he was at her hotel for drinks or dinner. According to the Duchess, she said, “That’s not going to bother me” when she found out that Kennedy was seeing the actress Daryl Hannah.
The American golfer first met Fergie at the age of 22, and the pair soon became close friends.
Hannah was actually upset, so Kennedy canceled, claiming a previous engagement, because of it. According to Lownie, Fergie then instructed staff to “spy on his apartment all night to verify that he had told the truth.”
Fergie claimed in a tell-all interview that she had to get divorced in 1999 to celebrate her 40th birthday because “Andrew and I thought it wasn’t appropriate for me to be a commercial while I was still in the Royal Family.”
Despite this, Lownie claims in the book that Sarah had not ruled out remarrying Prince Andrew in the future, and also hinted at the fact that she was open to trying for a third child.
While Fergie may have been open to remarrying her ex-husband, the royal family were far less keen on the idea, according to claims from Lownie’s biography, with one senior royal in particular stepping in to stop the reunion.
The author claimed that the Duchess of York was “living in the land of Nod” and that the marriage was “a squalid public relations exercise” and that Prince Philip was determined to stop Andrew and Fergie getting married again.
Prince Philip was firmly against the idea of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew getting remarried(Image: Getty Images)
The author also claims that Charles, Princess Margaret, and Prince Edward were against the idea of the couple getting married again despite Sarah being the bridesmaid.
Despite finalising their divorce almost 30 years ago, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson still live together in the Royal Lodge: a 30-room mansion on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
While the pair have described themselves as the “happiest divorced couple”, their unusual living arrangement has often raised eyebrows, especially with reports that King Charles is desperate to kick the disgraced duke out of the royal abode.
Andrew Lownie claims they cohabitate because of the “stability” Fergie can provide for Andrew(Image: Getty Images)
The royal author claims that the former couple have insisted on maintaining their peculiar arrangement for one major reason. Lownie asserts in his new book that Andrew’s reliance on Sarah for “stability” is one of the main causes of their continued relationship.
Buckingham Palace and Sarah Ferguson’s team declined to comment.
Andrew Lownie’s “Entitled” (William Collins, £22) will be released on August 14.
