Ministers say Starmer will set out his intentions on Monday morning with an autumn departure the most likely option
Keir Starmer is expected to announce a timetable for his departure on Monday morning, clearing the way for Andy Burnham to become prime minister without a formal contest by the autumn.
Cabinet ministers say Starmer will set out his intentions outside No 10 Downing Street, starting a process of the UK installing its seventh prime minister in a decade.
Continue reading...Algae blooms and peeling paint mar $14.2m renovation as president claims pool has been ‘seriously vandalized’
Repair work will begin “immediately” at the troubled Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington DC, Donald Trump said on Sunday, after suggesting the pool would need to be drained and blaming alleged “vandals” for the disruption.
The reflecting pool has been plagued by algae blooms and peeling paint following the controversial recent renovation efforts for America’s 250th anniversary celebrations next month.
Continue reading...Archie Law, 15, sailed his own vessel to save men in distress, beating lifeboat service to the scene
A 15-year-old boy rescued two men who had fallen from an inflatable toy boat off the Isle of Skye by sailing his own vessel to save them, beating the lifeboat service to the scene.
Archie Law beat a volunteer crew of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to the rescue on Saturday evening after the UK coastguard received reports of two males in difficulty in the water off Broadford Bay around 9pm.
Continue reading...New leader could be chosen unchallenged or after a quick contest while outgoing PM has time to finalise his legacy
If the predictions are proved correct and Keir Starmer does announce a timetable for an autumn departure from Downing Street, the machinery of government will again kick into gear for a handover of power – but one that will be, by UK standards, relatively leisurely.
While many democracies build in lengthy transition periods – a defeated or retiring US president serves for nearly three months after their successor has been picked – the UK tends to do things at speed. A losing prime minister will typically get out of 10 Downing Street the morning after an election while the removal vans of their replacements lurk idling around the corner.
Continue reading...Talks expected to continue for rest of the week despite disruption caused by US president’s threat to bomb Iran and kidnap negotiating team
High-stakes talks between the US and Iran are expected to continue for the rest of the week in Switzerland, after a tense start that saw Iranian negotiators walk out in protest at a stream of threats issued by Donald Trump on social media.
The US president had threatened to bomb Iran and even to kidnap the Iranian negotiating team unless the strait of Hormuz was reopened, forcing mediators Qatar and Pakistan to continue negotiations in the background.
Continue reading...Former negotiating team member gives shock interview claiming supreme leader’s instructions were not followed
A former member of Iran’s negotiating team in the previous round of talks with the US in Islamabad is facing the threat of prosecution and dismissal from parliament after he went on the main state broadcaster to reveal what he claimed were confidential letters from the country’s supreme leader.
The interview with Mahmoud Nabavian, the deputy chair of Iran’s national security council, was eventually cut off, but only after he said he had seen secret correspondence written by Mojtaba Khamenei in which the ayatollah allegedly said Iran’s negotiating team had overstepped its mandate
Continue reading...Rob Jetten acknowledges grief and pain of Moluccan families as crowdfunded monument unveiled in Rotterdam
The Dutch prime minister, Rob Jetten, has formally apologised for the “heartless” mistreatment of thousands of Moluccan soldiers who fought for the Dutch colonial army during Indonesia’s struggle for independence.
About 12,500 people – men who had served in the Royal Dutch East Indies and their families – came from a group of Indonesian islands to the Netherlands in 1951, many having been given no choice. They thought it would be a temporary evacuation after Indonesia had won independence.
Continue reading...Sports and nationwide music festival affected, with temperatures for some expected to reach 42C from Monday
Authorities in France have placed more than a third of the country under a red heat alert, cancelled some outdoor sports events and restricted alcohol consumption at the nationwide Fête de la Musique event amid a brutal heatwave forecast to push temperatures above 40C.
Level 1 or 2 heat alerts were issued on Sunday for about 53 million people, just over 75% of the population. A record 35 of the country’s 96 mainland departments were put on danger-to-life red alert, with another 45 under an orange warning.
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