US has 'no plans' to recognise Palestinian state, Vance says before talks with UK foreign secretary
London, Aug 8 (AP): US Vice President JD Vance met with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday at a stately home south of London, with the two leaders saying the agenda includes global economics and the Israel-Hamas war and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Taking questions from reporters before their talks, Vance addressed the UK decision to recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza, saying he wasn't sure what such recognition would even mean, “given the lack of a functional government there.”
Asked whether Trump had been given a heads up on Israel's announced intent to occupy Gaza City, Vance said he wouldn't go into such conversations.
“If it was easy to bring peace to that region of the world, it would have been done already,” he said.
The meeting comes amid debates between Washington and London about the best way to end the wars between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Israel and Hamas. It's also taking place as the United Kingdom tries to come to favourable terms for steel and aluminum exports to the US, and the two sides work out details of a broader trade deal announced at the end of June.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he hoped to meet with US President Donald Trump next week, comments that came a day before Trump's deadline for Moscow to show progress in ending the nearly 3½-year war in Ukraine.
While Trump has focused on bilateral talks with Putin, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European leaders have stressed that Ukraine must be part of any negotiations on ending the war.
The US and Britain, which have historically close ties known as “the special relationship”, have also disagreed on their approach to ending the war in Gaza.
The meeting took place at Chevening, an almost 400-year-old mansion surrounded by 3,000 acres of gardens that serves as the foreign secretary's official country residence.
About two dozen protesters were spotted on the road before the turnoff to the stately home. A few were wearing keffiyeh scarves and another held up a round sign that had a meme making fun of Vance printed on it.
Vance and Lammy, who come from opposite ends of the political spectrum but have made a personal connection through their hardscrabble childhoods and Christian faith,
While Lammy is a member of the left-leaning Labour Party and Vance is a conservative Republican who supports Trump's “America First” agenda, the two men have bonded in recent months.
Lammy told the Guardian newspaper that the two men can relate over their “dysfunctional” working class childhoods and that he considers Vance a “friend”.
Lammy attended a Catholic Mass at the Vance home in Washington earlier this year, and the two men met again at the US Embassy in Rome when he and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner attended the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV in May.
“I had this great sense that JD completely relates to me and he completely relates to Angela,” Lammy told the Guardian. “So it was a wonderful hour and a half.”
After spending a few days at Chevening, Vance and his family will head to the Cotswolds, an area that has become popular with wealthy American tourists because of its quaint villages, stone cottages and rural countryside that hark back to old England. The Vance family's trip will include official engagements, fundraising, visits to cultural sites and museums and meeting with US troops, according to a person familiar with Vance's trip who wasn't authorised to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A host of celebrities descended on the area two weeks ago for the wedding of Eve Jobs, the daughter of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and Harry Charles, a member of the British equestrian team at last summer's Olympic Games in Paris.
The Cotswolds cover about 800 square miles and parts of five counties in the west of England. Vance and his family have reportedly rented a house in the village of Charlbury, 12 miles west of Oxford, according to British media outlets.
“That area is very fashionable,” Plum Sykes, a socialite and journalist, told London-based newspaper The Times.
“If you wanted to be in the super-hot, super-social Cotswolds, that's where you'd go,” she said. “There's been this mass exodus from America to the Cotswolds. Americans just cannot get over the charm. Then power and money attract power and money.”
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Prasidh, Kuldeep limit South Africa to 270 after De Kock's hundred
Visakhapatnam (PTI): India fought back gallantly through Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav after Quinton de Kock struck his 23rd hundred, keeping South Africa to a manageable 270 in the third and series-deciding final ODI, here Saturday.
India won the toss after judging the spin of the coin incorrectly 20 times in a row. They had little hesitation in inserting the Proteas into bat, a clear indication of dew factor dominating the thought.
After Arshdeep Singh sent back Ryan Rickelton early, De Kock (106, 89b, 8x4, 6x4) struck his seventh century against India and put on 113 runs off 124 balls with skipper Temba Bavuma (48, 67b) as the visitors moved to a healthy position.
De Kock was severe on Prasidh (4/66), who erred on length continuously in his first spell (2-0-27-0). The left-hander biffed the pacer for 6, 6, 4 in his second over to milk 18 runs.
The 32-year-old quickly pounced on anything that was short, and pacers Prasidh and Harshit offered him plenty of feed on his pet areas.
Bavuma was more sedate, and made runs through those typical dabs and jabs, occasionally unfurling a drive of elan.
De Kock moved to fifty in 42 balls, and never let the tempo down reaching his hundred in 79 balls.
India found temporary relief when Ravindra Jadeja induced a false slash from Bavuma to get caught by Virat Kohli at point.
The tourists got another move on through a 54-run partnership between De Kock and Matthew Breetzkle for the third wicket, and at 168 for two in 28 overs they were in a good position to press on.
But Breetzke's punishment of part-time spinner Tilak Varma forced a rethink in the Indian camp, as skipper KL Rahul brought back Prasidh for a second spell.
What a masterstroke it turned out to be! The Karnataka man broke the back of South Africa’s top and middle order in an exceptional second spell (4-0-11-3).
Breetzke was the first man to go, trapped plumb in front with a straight one and four balls later Aiden Markram uppishly chipped a fuller delivery to Kohli at short covers.
Prasidh soon castled De Kock, whose ugly cross-batted swipe failed to connect a full length delivery from the pacer.
All of a sudden, SA found themselves at a shaky 199 for five, losing three wickets in the space of three overs.
Once Prasidh was done away with the top and middle-order, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (4/41) took over and mopped up the tail as SA fell short of even a par total on this track.
