Wednesday 4 Nissan – Iran will develop nuclear bomb if Trump attacks, says supreme leaders adviser – In swift U-turn, Netanyahu nixes nomination of Shin Bet head amid opposition from allies – & more…

US President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to London says he will ask Britain to reverse a partial suspension of arms exports to Israel, a decision taken over rights concerns.

Warren Stephens, an Arkansas-based investment banker and political donor to Trump named for the coveted diplomatic posting, says he is “a little perplexed” by the decision of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“What I’ve read about that, with the UK halting some of their shipments to Israel, is certainly concerning,” Stephens says at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“I would do my part to encourage them to reinstate those permits and to try to get them, you know, what they need to continue the fight,” he says.

His comments come in response to a question from Republican Senator Rick Scott, who said Starmer’s Labour Party “treats Israel as a problem and not a solution” and called on Stephens to “try to educate” Britain on Israel.

Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, announced in September that Britain would suspend 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel out of fear the weapons could be used in breach of humanitarian law amid the war in Gaza, sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion and massacre in southern Israel.

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Iran will develop nuclear weapons if Donald Trump launches military strikes against the country, a senior official has said.

Ali Larijani, a former parliament speaker and senior adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, warned the United States to “change its behaviour” after a military build-up on the UK-US base on Diego Garcia, in the Chagos Islands.

Tehran insists it is not developing nuclear weapons, but Mr Larijani said: “If they [Americans] move toward bombing Iran themselves or through Israel, they will force Iran to make a different decision, which is also not in America’s interest.

“If the US makes a mistake regarding Iran’s nuclear issue, it will force Iran to move toward nuclear weapons because Iran must defend itself.

Marine Le Pen is an icon of France’s nationalist right: one of the country’s best-known and most popular political figures – with her France First, anti-woke, anti-migration agenda.

Hard-right leaders, currently growing in support across much of Europe, view her as “one of the gang” – even if they don’t see eye to eye on every issue.

Many of these leaders took to social media on Monday, after Le Pen was banned from running for political office for five years having been accused, alongside others, of embezzling €2.9m ($3.4m; £2.5m) of EU funds for use in France by her National Rally party.

For them, this was an opportunity, not simply to show support for Le Pen but to use her case to highlight what they see as their common cause – a struggle against a politically traditional mainstream, that seeks to muzzle or undermine their nationalist agenda.

But for Le Pen, this could be the death knell of her long-cherished ambition to become French president. She’d been riding high in the polls ahead of the next election, scheduled in two years’ time.

She and her political associates insist they’re innocent. They’re appealing against the verdict.

Just 24 hours after it was announced, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday morning that he was backtracking on his decision to appoint Vice Adm. (res.) Eli Sharvit as the next head of the Shin Bet.

Netanyahu’s office said that the prime minister met Sharvit on Monday evening to tell him that he would not be the next head of the security service, following a whirlwind day of criticism of the nomination both in Israel and abroad.

“The prime minister thanked Vice Adm. Sharvit for his willingness to serve,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement, “but informed him that after further thought, he intends to interview other candidates.”

Netanyahu announced Sharvit on Monday morning as his choice to replace Ronen Bar at the head of the agency, in a move that raised eyebrows both given Sharvit’s reported participation in anti-government protests and ongoing questions — including High Court petitions — surrounding Bar’s dismissal during a criminal probe into associates of the prime minister.

In the initial announcement Monday, Netanyahu said he had made the decision to tap Sharvit, a former Navy chief, after interviewing “seven worthy candidates.”

Israeli aircraft are carrying out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, including in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, according to Palestinian media reports.

There is no immediate statement from the Israel Defense Forces.

After a group of some 50 Israeli settlers entered the Palestinian West Bank village of Duma earlier this evening, setting fire to property and attacking residents, the military says troops and police officers worked to disperse a “violent confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians.

In a statement, the IDF says it received reports that dozens of Israelis entered Duma and set fire to property.

“Afterward, a violent confrontation developed between Israeli civilians and Palestinians in the area, and additional report was received regarding several Palestinians who were injured in the incident,” the IDF says.

It says troops and police officers reached the scene and worked to “disperse the violent confrontation.”

“The IDF condemns incidents of this type and will continue to act with determination to maintain security and order in the region,” the military adds.

There are no reports of arrests in the incident. Five suspects were briefly caught by police, but defense sources say they managed to escape.