The United Arab Emirates has warned Israel that annexing the occupied West Bank would "severely undermine" the "vision and spirit" of the Abraham Accords.

The series of agreements, brokered in 2020 by the US, established full diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. But the accords' standing has been called into question since the 7 October attacks and Israel's subsequent military operations.

What was agreed?
The Abraham Accords established diplomatic ties between Israel and Arab states for the first time since the 1994 Jordan-Israel agreement and the 1979 Egypt-Israel agreement, and led to the appointment of ambassadors and increased trade and cooperation between the countries. 

The 2020 treaties "broke with long-standing foreign policy consensus treating peace with the Palestinians as a condition for Israel's more thorough integration with the Arab world", said The Washington Post. The decision to normalise relations with Israel without securing progress towards a Palestinian state was met with dismay by many citizens of the signatory nations, and across the Middle East more generally. Regional analysts said the signing of the accords even "contributed to Palestinian alienation" that fuelled the 7 October attacks.

Why are they under threat?
Emirati Foreign Ministry official Lana Nusseibeh has called Israel's recent proposal to annex more than 80% of the West Bank a "red line for the UAE". Emirati officials have reportedly spoken to both the White House and the Israeli government in recent weeks to warn of the consequences of annexation.

Will the US intervene?
Donald Trump, who oversaw the signing of the Abraham Accords, wants to see the agreement expanded, rather than diminished: recruiting Saudi Arabia would be the "ultimate prize", said the Media Line. Asked about the US president's motivation, Hadas Lorber, head of the US-Israel project at the Institute for National Security Studies, said Trump "wants a Nobel Prize".

Trump is "likely the only foreign player" who could stop Israel from annexing the West Bank, said Axios. The UAE's message is that should he fail to do so, a "key aspect of his foreign policy legacy could unravel".

As students return for the autumn term, a growing number of US universities are facing the fallout of shooting hoaxes. Calls falsely claiming that a gunman is on the loose on campus are becoming increasingly prevalent and are putting a strain on not only police resources but also the psychological well-being of students and staff.

Victims nationwide
A "rash of hoax calls" about active shooters on US college campuses, "some featuring gunshots sounding in the background", have "sent waves of fear among students", said The Associated Press. Universities targeted by the so-called swatting calls have initiated active shooter protocols, texting students to "run, hide, fight", while "officers swarmed over campuses, seeking out any threat."

More than a dozen campuses have fallen victim to such hoaxes since the latest semester began. Swatting calls at Villanova University in Pennsylvania and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sent students scrambling for cover, and "campuses across the country have received similar hoax calls", said CNN. Where the fake calls are originating from is unclear, but at least one online group, called Purgatory, has claimed responsibility for a number of them.

Raising the stakes
Tracking down the perpetrators is difficult. The calls "frequently originate online, overseas or by using AI software", said Axios, and the callers often hide their identities by using "AI-generated voices, caller ID spoofing and masking a user's IP address".

This is not a new or "benign endeavour", John Cohen, a former acting undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security, told ABC News. It's causing huge disruption and panic as technology makes the pranks more realistic.

Anyone found swatting a university can be federally charged with "false information and hoaxes", said Robert Boyce, a retired NYPD chief of detectives, and could face a five-year prison sentence and a "substantial fine". And the sentence could be up to 20 years if they are found guilty of "interstate transmission of threat" and there is an injury involved. Now is the time to "prosecute these individuals" and raise awareness that perpetrators can face jail time.

The "Blood Moon" appears from behind Japan's Tokyo Skytree tower. Sky gazers were treated to the rare phenomenon as the Moon was engulfed by Earth's shadow in a lunar eclipse, making it appear red.

Jiji Press / AFP / Getty Images

Mixologists are no strangers to pickles but now pickle juice is getting a "star turn" on drinks menus everywhere, said The Independent. The liquid is being used to add a "zing" to cocktails from martinis to margaritas.

"Pickles have become a defining food of Gen Z," said Ben Sixsmith in The Spectator, and the juice left over from jars of gherkins and the like has been inspiring all sorts of "eccentric" concoctions.

"Excuse me," said Victoria Moore in The Telegraph, "but if you want to meet the real pickle generation then look at us Gen X-ers, who celebrated our single-digit birthdays with pickled onions on cocktail sticks stuck into a foil-covered orange." We've been feasting on cornichons for decades; using the leftover juice to "add piquancy to drinks isn't a trend – it's a no brainer". All sorts of brines are being used, from beetroot to jalepeño, while olive brine has, of course, been a key ingredient in dirty martinis for over a century.

For a cocktail that packs a punch, try making a "tangy margarita", said Moore. Put 50ml of tequila in an ice-filled shaker along with 25ml of triple sec and the same of lime juice, plus 10ml of pickle juice, then strain into a salt-rimmed glass. The leftover brine also makes a "terrific" lemonade, as the pickle pairs perfectly with the acidity of lemons.

But the simplest drink to make is pickle-flavoured soda. Just mix 20ml of your favourite pickle juice with 200ml of sparkling water. "It doesn't get easier than this."

When I left India, Ireland welcomed me in. I won't let bigotry destroy the country we love
Cauvery Madhavan in The Guardian
"I grew up twice," writes Cauvery Madhavan: India "birthed me" and Ireland "swaddled my very soul". I've felt "at home" in my "wonderful" adopted country since arriving in Sligo in 1986. Back then, racism was something that only "eejits" indulged in, but a recent string of "unsettling" hate crimes suggests that "complacency caught us out". Yet "we can each take our country back by just being what we know we can be: fierce sound people".

Four people now run the government, and none of them is called Starmer
Kamal Ahmed in The Telegraph
"After a year of U-turns, chaos and crisis", some political insiders believe that Keir Starmer is now "PINO – Prime Minister in Name Only", writes Kamal Ahmed. "The state of the nation will have to improve with some speed" if Starmer is to see out a full five-year term. The "new power brokers" are Wes Streeting, Pat McFadden and Shabana Mahmood, who have shown "competency" during their first year in office. And though "weakening", Rachel Reeves is also "still essential to the project".

In praise of cars
John Hardy in The Critic
Politicians are "openly proud of inconveniencing" motorists, writes John Hardy. Yet the "post-liberals" who "sneer" at car culture are the ones "who gnash their teeth about Britain's declining birth rate". Being able to drive is "vital" for many parents, who "cannot ferry babies, prams, and shopping onto a bicycle or through the Underground barriers". So "if we are serious about civilisational renewal, the family car has to be at the centre of it".