Wes Streeting has resigned as UK Health Secretary, demanding a leadership contest in a move that has thrown Keir Starmer’s premiership into fresh turmoil. In a blunt rebuke, Mr Streeting accused the Government’s leadership of losing its way and told the British Prime Minister it is now “clear” he will not take Labour into the next general election. Though he stopped short of declaring his own candidacy, Mr Streeting urged Mr Starmer to open the race to the “best possible field of candidates” to succeed him in Downing Street,…

Live Pressure mounts on Starmer as Labour unrest shows no sign of easing UK

Rising temperatures are casting a shadow over the World Cup, with a new study by World Weather Attribution warning that 25% of tournament matches are likely to be played in conditions above 26C. Researchers said the finding points to serious dangers for both players and supporters at the event, which will be staged across North America in the US, Canada and Mexico during June and July. The Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) measures the level of physical heat stress placed on the human body. Experts broadly regard a WBGT of…

Donald Trump said before landing in Beijing that he does not expect China to be crucial to ending the war in Iran or loosening Tehran's hold over the Strait of Hormuz, even as the conflict looms over his summit with President Xi Jinping. The war is set to dominate discussions between Mr Trump and Mr Xi over the next two days, yet the US president played down Beijing's importance in bringing it to a close. The fighting has already strangled traffic through a strategic passage that normally carries roughly one-fifth of global…

A dramatic turn in one of America’s most closely watched murder cases has upended the conviction of a once-powerful lawyer who was serving life in prison for the killings of his wife and son. Alex Murdaugh, 57, heir to a prominent family of judges and attorneys, did not receive a fair trial because a court clerk improperly influenced jurors, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled. Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 of fatally shooting his son, Paul, 22, with a shotgun and his wife, Maggie, 52, with an assault rifle on the…

Donald Trump opened high-stakes talks in Beijing by praising Xi Jinping as both “a great leader” and a friend, as the two presidents began two days of meetings expected to test a delicate trade truce and tackle flashpoints including the Iran war and US arms sales to Taiwan. With Mr Trump’s approval ratings weakened by conflict in the Middle East, his expected visit to China has taken on greater political and diplomatic weight. The trip is the first by a sitting US president to visit America’s main strategic rival since Mr…

Israeli strikes killed 10 more people in southern Lebanon today, Lebanese authorities said, pushing the death toll for the day to at least 22 as violence persisted despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. According to the health ministry, six people — "including three children and two women" — were killed in the town of Arab Salim. Another child died in a strike on Harouf, while three more people — "including two children" — were killed in Roumin, all in south Lebanon. Earlier in the day, the ministry said 12 people…

Gunfire shattered the calm at the Philippine Senate on Tuesday, forcing senators to shelter in their offices as a lawmaker sought by the International Criminal Court remained inside the building. At least five shots echoed through the Senate complex, according to AFP journalists inside, moments after soldiers carrying rifles and wearing protective gear moved up the building’s stairs. Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla told reporters no one had been hurt and said authorities were still trying to identify and locate the…

The United Arab Emirates has flatly rejected reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a covert trip to the Gulf state, dismissing suggestions of any unannounced visit as “baseless”. The denial came after the Israeli prime minister’s office said Mr Netanyahu had travelled to the UAE and held talks with the Emirati president during the war with Iran. Abu Dhabi said those claims were false, adding that no Israeli military delegation had been received in the country. "Any claims regarding unannounced visits or…

Russia unleashed a sweeping daytime drone assault focused largely on western Ukraine, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more, according to the Ukrainian president, in what looked like a notable shift in Moscow’s long-running air attack pattern. For more than four years, Russian forces have hammered cities across Ukraine, though major drone and missile barrages have typically come under cover of darkness rather than in broad daylight. "Since midnight, at least 800 Russian drones have already been launched,"…