Starmer needs sharper survival strategy if he is to stay on

• Israel's military operations, which began with the destruction of Gaza, have expanded into Lebanon, Iran, and the Gulf region. • The escalation is being sustained through significant financial support and arms shipments provided by the United States.

• The "Geneva fiasco" highlights the risks of replacing professional diplomats with business dealmakers who misinterpret diplomatic compromise as weakness. • This shift in approach transformed a negotiable crisis into an active conflict with Iran, undermining traditional diplomatic strategies.

• Former President Donald Trump admitted to calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "crazy," reflecting a shift in his previous strong support for the leader. • Trump claimed that Israel's current actions and policies are complicating potential peace negotiations and diplomatic efforts involving Iran.

• Global stability is facing a systemic threat as economic warfare, resource shortages, and geopolitical tensions create a dangerous chain reaction of overlapping failures. • These intersecting crises are driving increased migration pressures and widespread social unrest, which further destabilize societies and intensify international conflict.

US president alleges there is ‘big cheating’ in elections for governor and Los Angeles mayor as results are pendingDonald Trump has alleged without evidence that Democrats are cheating in California’s primaries and claimed in a late-night social media post that the US attorney’s office in Los Angeles was investigating.As counting continues in the most populous state in the US, the president’s unfounded remarks are likely to further alarm election observers, who have warned of the risk of escalating misinformation in the absence of a final result. Continue reading...

Justices uphold FCC authority to impose in-house penalties, rejecting AT&T and Verizon jury trial claimsSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailThe US supreme court backed the Federal Communications Commission’s system for levying fines, ruling on Thursday against wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon in their challenge to the agency and handing a win to Donald Trump’s administration.The ruling was 8-1. At issue in the legal dispute was whether the agency’s in-house proceedings for imposing the penalties deprived the companies of their right to a jury trial under the US constitution. Trump’s administration defended the FCC’s system for assessing financial penalties, known as forfeiture orders. Continue reading...

Snow arrives in time for the start of ski season, but climate change and El Niño mean it may not stick around for long, experts sayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThere was optimism across Australian alpine resorts this week as their social media channels filled with footage of snow flurries that arrived just in time for the opening of the ski season this weekend.“We couldn’t be more excited,” said the Instagram account of Perisher, the southern hemisphere’s biggest ski resort in Kosciuszko national park in New South Wales, as hands swept the fresh snow from outdoor tables. Continue reading...

Nauran government says its citizens are ‘friendly’ after MP spoke of serious threats allegedly made against former Australian detaineesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Nauruan government has issued a rare statement insisting it is a “friendly” and “welcoming” country after a whistleblower alleged “serious threats of physical violence” were made against a group of non-citizens removed there by the Albanese government.The unexpected defence, sent shortly after midday Thursday, was mounted hours after independent MP Andrew Wilkie used his three-minute constituency statement to read claims from an anonymous whistleblower familiar with the arrangements of the secretive $2.5bn deal between Australia and Nauru. Continue reading...

Deletion of the bureau’s website content is just the most recent part of a larger plan to ‘undermine an agency that’s helped people’The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau deleted at least 2,200 webpages from its website last month, a move advocates say is part of the Trump administration’s latest effort to dismantle the federal consumer finance watchdog.The removed content was all published before Trump’s second term, and includes press releases, consumer advisories, congressional testimonies, speeches and blog posts. Some of the material dates back to as early as 2010, when the agency was formed. Continue reading...

Justice department filed charges against Trump’s former adviser in 2025 as part of onslaught against president’s criticsUS politics live – latest updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailJohn Bolton, the former US national security adviser who left Donald Trump’s first administration and became a staunch critic of the US president, will reportedly plead guilty over mishandling classified documents.The US Department of Justice filed federal charges against Bolton in October 2025, one of a string of Trump critics against whom it secured criminal charges in a matter of weeks. Continue reading...

IPO could raise up to $75bn, giving SpaceX market value of $1.77tn as it sets up Musk for extraordinary wealthElon Musk’s SpaceX is looking to raise $75bn (£55bn) from its blockbuster stock market listing next week as the rocket company aims for the largest initial public offering ever.If the stock market launch – primed for 12 June – goes as planned, founder Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, could make history as the first trillionaire. Continue reading...

‘Retail theft ring’ stole goods from logistics sites in Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Jersey and sold them in New York, officials sayEight people were indicted this week in New York in connection with what prosecutors describe as a “wide-ranging retail theft ring” that stole nearly $5m worth of goods – from steaks to cheeses to copper wiring and cigarettes.The Manhattan district attorney’s office announced charges against the eight individuals on Wednesday, accusing them of “conspiring to impersonate shipping carriers in a wide-ranging retail theft ring throughout the north-east”. Continue reading...