Starmer accused of hypocrisy over sharp cuts to World Food Programme

Starmer leadership speculation ‘serious’ but task ahead ‘very clear’, says Brown – UK politics live

Gordon Brown says he believes current prime minister is a man of ‘integrity’ who was ‘misled and betrayed’ by Peter MandelsonAmid mounting speculation that Keir Starmer could quit over the Mandelson scandal, Gordon Brown has described the prime minister as a “man of integrity” but said he faced a “serious” challenge to remain in his role.Police officers probing accusations relating to Peter Mandelson’s links with Jeffrey Epstein have concluded their search of two properties connected to the Labour peer in London and Wiltshire.Met police said its investigation “will take some time” and that “a significant amount of further evidence gathering and analysis” was needed.The Liberal Democrats have urged the Financial Conduct Authority to immediately investigate Mandelson, saying his apparent decision to leak highly confidential government information to Epstein may have led to insider trading.Brown said the alleged leaks put Britain “at risk” and could have caused “huge commercial damage”.The Metropolitan police has provided an update on the searches of two properties linked to Mandelson. Continue reading...

US transfers ISIL detainees to Iraq as northeast Syria base draws down

Iraq launches investigations into ISIL detainees from Syria, with 7,000 expected to arrive in total.

<a href='https://www.skysports.com/live-blog/15234/13502613/winter-olympics-2026-live-milan-cortina-news-schedule-updates-latest-results-todays-events-as-team-gb-aim-for-record-breaking-medal-haul'>Winter Olympics: All the news from Italy as first gold won by Switzerland</a>

Trump Reverts to Diplomacy With Iran, but the Road Is Narrow

Iran is skilled at prolonging negotiations over its nuclear program, and seems to be hoping President Trump is out for a quick win, rather than a prolonged regional war.

Lib Dems suspend Chris Rennard amid new inquiry into sexual harassment claims

Party says it has received advice that 2013 investigation of allegations against peer was ‘flawed in several respects’The Liberal Democrat peer Chris Rennard has been suspended from the party amid a new investigation into sexual harassment allegations.The party said it had received advice that a 2013 inquiry into the claims made by four women against Lord Rennard was “flawed in several respects”. Continue reading...

The Epstein files reveal that a vast global conspiracy actually exists – sort of

The documents confirm what many have long assumed: elites live by their own special rules and codes of immunityThe millions of Jeffrey Epstein files dumped last Friday by the US Department of Justice will provide journalists, conspiracy theorists and interested members of the public with months of reading. And what they will read is enraging.What makes these files so infuriating, however, is not just Epstein’s horrific predatory behavior, which is well-known, but the more mundane examples of elite conduct that the documents continue to expose. They vividly illustrate a world whose existence many everyday people, whether fevered with visions of the Illuminati or just jaundiced by banal anti-establishment cynicism, already suspected exists: an informal global club of powerful, ultra-rich people who all seemingly know each other, help one another out, and protect each other from the consequences of their depravity. Continue reading...

‘An unqualified insurrectionist’: outcry over Trump nominee in Wyoming

Darin Smith, who was outside Capitol on January 6, decried as Senate mulls nomination as state’s top federal prosecutorA Republican former state lawmaker with no experience trying cases, a record of opposing LGBTQ+ rights, and who was outside the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection, is awaiting Senate confirmation to become the top federal prosecutor in Wyoming.Donald Trump first nominated Darin Smith as Wyoming’s US attorney last year, and the judiciary committee advanced him in a party-line vote in January. Democrats have condemned Smith, saying he lacks the experience necessary for the job and threatens to impose a discriminatory approach to federal law enforcement in the state where gay college student Matthew Shepard’s 1998 murder galvanized the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Continue reading...

Post-Brexit sales of British farm products to EU fall by 37%

NFU warn it could take years to restore Brexit losses despite efforts to smooth negotiations on farming and other elements of UK-EU resetExports of British farm products to the EU have dropped almost 40% in the five years since Brexit, highlighting the trade barriers caused by the UK’s divorce from the EU in 2020.Analysis of HMRC data by the National Farmers’ Union shows the decline in sales of everything from British beef to cheddar cheese has dropped by 37.4% in the five years since 2019, the last full year before Brexit. Continue reading...

‘A harmful barrier’: new Florida law mandates all driving tests to be offered in English only

Critics say law will disproportionately affect immigrant communities and those who speak limited EnglishAs of 6 February, people in Florida are no longer be able to take driver’s license examinations in any language other than English, the Florida department of highway safety and motor vehicles (DMV) said in a statement.Before the change, exams for noncommercial driver’s licenses were offered in multiple languages, including Spanish, Haitian Creole and Portuguese, while the commercial learner’s permit and commercial driver’s license knowledge exams were both offered in English and Spanish. Now all driver’s license knowledge and skills testing will be conducted in English. Continue reading...