Author: Gulf News Week
Andy Burnham will attempt to return to the Commons as an MP, after Wes Streeting resigned as health secretary, saying he had lost confidence in Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, said he would ask to run for Labour in Makerfield after Labour MP Josh Simons said he would resign to make way for him.Any candidate in a Labour leadership contest to replace Sir Keir must be an MP. Streeting called for a broad debate about what comes next but did not say he would run for leader.Earlier on Thursday, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner,…
Five Italians have died in a scuba diving accident in the Maldives, the foreign ministry in Rome has said.”The divers are believed to have died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 metres (164ft),” the ministry said, adding that this happened in Vaavu Atoll.The Maldives’ military said one body had been found in a cave about 60 metres underwater, and the other four divers were believed to be also there.It said divers with special equipment had been sent to the area, describing a search operation as a very high risk.The five Italians entered the water on Thursday…
The Supreme Court has ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone can continue to be accessed by mail.Two manufacturers that make the pill had asked the Supreme Court to intervene after a lower court placed significant restrictions on access to mifepristone as part of an ongoing lawsuit. Thursday’s order from the high court blocks those limitations while litigation plays out. Access to the pill will likely remain until that lawsuit is decided, which could happen next year.Abortion pills are the most common method of terminating pregnancies in the US – especially in states where abortion is banned.The Supreme Court’s most conservative…
BBC on the ground during march through Jerusalem’s Old CityTens of thousands of Israeli celebrants have marched through the area captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.2 hrs agoMiddle East
In 25 years of flying, pilot Ian Nixon had never faced anything like the crash that left him and ten passengers stranded for hours in the Atlantic Ocean, waiting to be rescued off Florida’s east coast.On Tuesday, during what should have been a routine 20-minute flight between two islands in the Bahamas, Nixon watched one disaster unfold after another – first the navigation system, then the radio, then one engine, and finally the other.”I wasn’t able to reach anybody on the radio for a while,” Nixon said. “I tried to call Freeport, [Bahamas]; I tried to call Miami radio. I…
Xi Jinping threw a grand welcome for Donald Trump on the first day of a visit that could reset ties between the rival superpowers.The military honour guard lined up outside the Great Hall of the People to welcome Trump, complete with a gun salute and a band playing the US national anthem. The president paused twice to say hello to schoolchildren cheering with Chinese and American flags.As he shook hands with Xi, he leaned in to pat him on the arm in what appeared to be a gesture of warmth. And he lavished praise on his host.”You’re a great leader.…
The Cuban government says it is open to reviewing a US offer of $100m (£74m) in aid, hours after rare protests over worsening power cuts erupted on the Communist-run island.Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said on Thursday that Cuba was “ready to hear the details of the proposal and how it would be implemented”.The shortages have been exacerbated by a US-imposed blockade of oil which has squeezed the country’s supplies of essentials such as diesel and fuel oil.Hospitals have been unable to function normally, and schools and government offices have been forced to close. Tourism, an economic engine for Cuba, has…
A new type of giant long-necked dinosaur has been identified by scientists from remains dug up in Thailand.The nagatitan, the largest-ever dinosaur found in South-East Asia, weighed 27 tonnes – as much as nine adult Asian elephants – and measured 27m (88ft) in length, longer than a diplodocus. Like that dinosaur, it belonged to the sauropod family of long-necked herbivores.A team of researchers from the UK and Thailand identified the species from fossils found beside a pond in north-eastern Thailand a decade ago. They say the discovery sheds light on how changes in ancient climatic conditions allowed gigantic dinosaurs to…
A vessel reportedly operating as a “floating armoury” in the Gulf of Oman has been seized by Iranian military personnel, according to the maritime risk management company Vanguard.The ship is now “bound for Iranian territorial waters”, the UK’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation said.BBC Verify has checked ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic which shows the vessel – identified by Vanguard as the Honduras-flagged Hui Chuan – last broadcast its location 70km (40 miles) north-east of Fujairah in the UAE on Wednesday.Hui Chuan’s operators told Vanguard it was operating as a floating armoury which stores weapons for security firms who protect ships…
Wes Streeting has quit as health secretary after days of speculation that he is preparing to mount a leadership challenge to Sir Keir Starmer.The now ex-health secretary is brutal in his assessment of Sir Keir’s leadership of the Labour Party and the country in his resignation letter.But he stops short of announcing a leadership challenge, saying instead that the prime minister should take steps to ensure there is a “broad” contest to replace him with “the best possible field of candidates”.Here are four key excerpts from the near-1,000 word letter and what they may mean.Streeting delivers the killer blow, saying…