Starmer feels the effects of setting high standards for his party in opposition

Despite pledges to run a squeaky clean administration the prime minister and some in his cabinet have been caught out

There is a theory in British politics, often attributed to Tony Blair, that you need to be careful about throwing a boomerang in opposition, because when you make it to power it could come back and hit you in the face.

As opposition leader, Keir Starmer became adept at landing blows on the Conservatives. Over the Partygate scandal in particular, he called for Boris Johnson to quit over his rule-breaking. “You cannot be a lawmaker and a lawbreaker and it’s time to pack his bags,” he said.

Continue reading...

UN leaders condemn ‘horrifying’ mass killings in Sudan

Emergency security council session criticises killings of civilians in El Fasher and external supply of arms to RSF

Diplomats and senior UN figures speaking at the UN security council have condemned mass killings by the Rapid Support Forces in El Fasher after the Sudanese city “descended into an even darker hell” following the paramilitary group’s takeover at the weekend.

Widespread reports of ethnically targeted killings in recent days prompted the UK, as the UN penholder on Sudan, to call an emergency session of the security council in New York on Thursday.

Continue reading...

5 more arrests as Louvre jewel heist probe deepens and key details emerge – AP News

  1. 5 more arrests as Louvre jewel heist probe deepens and key details emerge  AP News
  2. Inside the Louvre Jewel Heist That Shocked the World  The New York Times
  3. Five new suspects arrested over Louvre heist – but still no sign of looted jewels  CNN
  4. Paris prosecutor says 2 suspects in the Louvre jewel heist acknowledge their involvement  AP News
  5. MFA Boston’s Historic Restitution, Five New Louvre Arrests Made, and More: Morning Links for October 30, 2025  ARTnews.com
Posted in Uncategorized

Protests in Tanzania spread after a disputed election, with the military on the streets – AP News

  1. Protests in Tanzania spread after a disputed election, with the military on the streets  AP News
  2. More protests in Dar es Salaam after chaotic Tanzanian election  Reuters
  3. Tanzania election: Fresh protests after polls marred by unrest as President Samia Suluhu Hassan takes count lead  BBC
  4. Security Alert: U.S. Embassy Dar Es Salaam (October 29, 2025)  U.S. Embassy in Tanzania (.gov)
  5. Tanzania elections: Who’s standing and what’s at stake?  Al Jazeera
Posted in Uncategorized

Four feet higher and rising: Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia becomes world’s tallest church

Antoni Gaudí’s masterwork is still under construction but now stands taller than Ulm Minster in southern Germany

Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia basilica became the world’s tallest church on Thursday after a part of its central tower was lifted into place.

The masterwork of the architect Antoni Gaudí now rises to 162.91 metres (534ft 8in) above the city, the church said in a statement. That beats the spire of Ulm Minster in Germany, which tops out at 161.53 metres.

Continue reading...

UN leaders condemn ‘horrifying’ mass killings in Sudan – The Guardian

  1. UN leaders condemn ‘horrifying’ mass killings in Sudan  The Guardian
  2. Executions and Mass Casualties: Videos Show Horror Unfolding in Sudan  The New York Times
  3. Hundreds killed in Darfur hospital massacre, 'hero' doctors abducted  NPR
  4. Rebels accused of massacring hundreds of people as videos emerge of atrocities and bodies in Sudanese city  CNN
  5. Sudan war takes a turn as paramilitary force captures Darfur, threatening to split the country  AP News
Posted in Uncategorized

Photographer on Rio police raid: ‘The bodies just kept coming’ – BBC

  1. Photographer on Rio police raid: 'The bodies just kept coming'  BBC
  2. Corpses line Rio street after Brazil's deadliest operation against drug gangs  Reuters
  3. A bloody police raid in Rio was the deadliest in Brazil’s history  The Economist
  4. Brazil: Death toll in Rio de Janeiro raid rises to at least 130  Vatican News
  5. Over 100 killed in Brazil’s deadliest police raid as Rio authorities battle drug gangs in favelas  Fox News
Posted in Uncategorized

Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia becomes the world’s tallest church – AP News

  1. Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia becomes the world’s tallest church  AP News
  2. Barcelona's Sagrada Família becomes world's tallest church  BBC
  3. New images released of the iconic Sagrada Familia — now the world’s tallest church  New York Post
  4. Four feet higher and rising: Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia becomes world’s tallest church  The Guardian
  5. Spirit in the sky: Barcelona's Sagrada Família becomes the world's tallest church  Euronews.com
Posted in Uncategorized

The Canada-U.S. Trade War Is Pushing Carney Closer to Xi – The Wall Street Journal

  1. The Canada-U.S. Trade War Is Pushing Carney Closer to Xi  The Wall Street Journal
  2. Scolded by Trump, Canada’s Prime Minister Turns to Asia for Trade  The New York Times
  3. Canada's Carney to meet China's Xi in South Korea  Reuters
  4. Canada Rebuilds Asia Trade Ties to Counter Trump Tariff Pain  Bloomberg.com
  5. Carney’s Singapore visit eyes closer trade ties amid broader uncertainty - National  Global News
Posted in Uncategorized

Prince and Princess of Wales win privacy case against Paris Match

French magazine publishes judicial notice after using paparazzi images of family holiday in Alps

The Prince and Princess of Wales have won a privacy case against a French magazine after it published paparazzi photographs of them and their children on a private family ski holiday, Kensington Palace said.

William and Catherine launched legal action after their break was featured in Paris Match magazine in April, with a series of images documenting their activities with their children at a French resort in the Alps.

Continue reading...

Geert Wilders faces shutout as centrists hail huge gains in knife-edge Dutch election

Far right neck and neck with liberal D66 but all major mainstream parties have ruled out working with anti-Islam firebrand

Geert Wilders is almost certain to be shut out of the next Dutch government after a knife-edge general election in which support for his far-right Freedom party (PVV) slumped and the liberal-progressive D66 party made spectacular gains.

With 99.7% of ballots counted, the two parties were neck and neck on a projected 26 seats each in the 150-seat parliament, with D66 an estimated 15,000 votes ahead after the capital, Amsterdam, declared preliminary results on Thursday.

Continue reading...

Xi-Trump meeting: America has discovered that bullies can be bullied back

Outcome appears closer to truce than durable peace but outline of broader diplomatic relationship is visible

When Donald Trump launched his trade war against China in April, threatening tariffs as high as 145%, the Chinese government said it would never bow to blackmail and vowed to “fight to the end”.

The question now is whether the consensus reached between Trump and Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday means that the fight really has come to an end, and if so on whose terms.

Continue reading...