Author: James Carter

Sir Keir Starmer is bracing for a wave of ministerial resignations following Thursday’s Makerfield by-election, with Andy Burnham widely expected to win the seat and immediately position himself to challenge for the Labour leadership and Downing Street. The vote takes place on 18 June, with the result expected in the early hours of the following morning. The Greater Manchester mayor is running in the constituency after Labour MP Josh Simons resigned to clear the way for him, following months of speculation about whether Burnham would mount a comeback to Westminster. Polling by Survation has put Burnham on around 49 per…

Classic luxury watches once treasured as status symbols are increasingly being sent to the melting pot rather than the auction room, as soaring gold prices mean the precious metal inside some timepieces is now worth more than the watches themselves. Models including Omega’s Constellation, famously worn by George Clooney and Nicole Kidman, are among those being scrapped for their gold content, according to insights gathered by Reuters from more than a dozen traders and industry experts. The trend is particularly affecting used watches from prestigious but less exclusive brands such as Omega and LVMH-owned TAG Heuer. British dealer Jon White,…

Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire after shares in his rocket company SpaceX surged by more than 20 per cent on their New York stock market debut, lifting the company’s valuation from $1.8 trillion to more than $2 trillion in what was the world’s biggest initial public offering. Musk, who joined a ceremonial bell-ringing at Nasdaq remotely from SpaceX’s Starbase headquarters in Texas, used the occasion to declare his ambition was “to make life multi-planetary.” He told viewers: “Whoever you are watching this, SpaceX wants to be able to take you to the moon, take you to Mars and…

Pakistan declared on Friday that a final, agreed text of a peace deal between the United States and Iran “has been reached” and that “peace has never been this close as it is now” — only for a leaked Iranian account of the document’s contents to spark a furious dispute that exposed how far apart the two sides remain on key terms. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has played a central mediating role throughout the negotiations, wrote on X that “a final, agreed upon text of the peace deal has been reached” and that Pakistan was “now working closely…

Ed Miliband is set to restrict the sale and use of electric towel rails, underfloor heating, gas fires and storage heaters as part of his latest Net Zero push, with critics branding the plans “Soviet-level intrusion” into how Britons heat their homes. Under new energy efficiency requirements being introduced by the Energy Secretary, more than a third of so-called “space heating systems” will become illegal to sell. Temperature controls will become mandatory across these systems, while some electric towel rails will only be permitted to operate for six hours a day. According to Yahoo News, the changes are designed to…

Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that an intensifying campaign of Ukrainian strikes on Russian infrastructure is causing economic damage, while insisting Moscow is “recovering quickly” and vowing the attacks will not weaken Russia’s resolve to continue the war. Putin’s comments on Friday came after weeks of escalating Ukrainian strikes on refineries, fuel depots and pipelines deep inside Russia, including an attack claimed by Kyiv on a major oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk the previous night. “As for the economy: they are certainly causing us damage, but we are recovering quickly,” Putin said, in remarks carried by Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency. He…

Sir Keir Starmer is facing a furious backlash from his own MPs after warning that a leadership challenge against him would plunge Britain into “chaos,” with backbenchers branding the comments “insane” and “mental” just days before a by-election widely seen as a referendum on his future. Speaking to the BBC, Starmer vowed to fight any challenge mounted by Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor standing as Labour’s candidate in Thursday’s Makerfield by-election. “I’m not going to go away,” Starmer said. “I don’t think we should plunge the country into the chaos of a leadership election. I don’t think it should…

The SNP has been accused of “working hand in glove” with radical trans activists after five of its MPs backed a parliamentary motion seeking to block new guidance on protecting single-sex spaces, in a move that has reignited Scotland’s long-running row over gender and women’s rights. More than 130 MPs have signed Early Day Motion 240, tabled by Labour backbencher Nadia Whittome, calling for Parliament to “disapprove” the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s updated Code of Practice on single-sex services. Among the signatories are five SNP MPs — Kirsty Blackman, Chris Law, Pete Wishart, Graham Leadbitter and Seamus Logan. The…

Donald Trump has lashed out at Iran’s leadership as “very dishonorable people” after Tehran leaked details of an impending peace deal that the President insists bear “no relation to the truth,” even as both sides signal a signing could take place in Geneva as early as Sunday. In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump wrote: “The terms that Iran leaked out to the Fake News have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing. What they said, including their weak and pathetic statement on having a deal, bears no relation to the truth. Very…

Papa Johns has closed 44 restaurants across 17 US states in the first quarter of this year, the latest step in a broader plan to shut around 300 North American locations by the end of 2027 as the pizza chain battles falling sales and intensifying competition. The closures, identified through an analysis of corporate filings, were concentrated in major markets including Texas, California, Florida and Arizona, with further closures in states such as Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia. Most of the affected restaurants are franchise-owned stores that have been operating for more than a decade and generate less than $600,000…