International
JUST IN: Keir Starmer’s Labour Wins UK General Election
Keir Starmer on Friday will become Britain’s new prime minister, as his centre-left opposition Labour party swept to a landslide general election victory, ending 14 years of right-wing Conservative rule.“The Labour Party has won this general election, and I have called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory,” a sombre-looking Rishi Sunak said after he was re-elected to his seat.“Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner with goodwill on all sides,” the Tory leader added, calling the results “sobering” and saying he took responsibility for the defeat.At a triumphant party rally in central London, Starmer, 61, told cheering activists that “change begins here” and promised a “decade of national renewal”, putting “country first, party second”.
But he cautioned that change would not come overnight, even as Labour snatched a swathe of Tory seats around the country, including from nine Cabinet members, and former prime minister Liz Truss.Truss’s disastrous 49-day tenure effectively sealed the Tories’ fate with the public two years ago, when her unfunded tax cuts spooked markets and crashed the pound.She had been facing a campaign to oust her by grassroots activists — dubbed “the Turnip Taliban” — in her rural constituency and lost by just 630 votes.
‘Keir we go’Labour raced past the 326 seats needed to secure an overall majority in the 650-seat parliament at 0400 GMT, with the final result expected later on Friday morning.An exit poll for UK broadcasters published after polls closed at 2100 GMT on Thursday put Labour on course for a return to power for the first time since 2010, with 410 seats and a 170-seat majority.The Tories would only get 131 seats in the House of Commons — a record low — with the right-wing vote apparently spliced by Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party.In another boost for the centrists, the smaller opposition Liberal Democrats ousted the Scottish National Party as the third-biggest party.
The results buck a rightward trend among Britain’s closest Western allies, with the far right in France eyeing power and Donald Trump looking set for a return in the United States.British newspapers all focused on Labour’s impending return to power for the first time since Gordon Brown was ousted by David Cameron in 2010.“Keir We Go,” headlined the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror.“Britain sees red,” said The Sun, the influential Rupert Murdoch tabloid, which swung behind Labour for the first time since 2005.
Tory futureSunak will tender his resignation to head of state King Charles III, with the monarch then asking Starmer, as the leader of the largest party in parliament, to form a government.The Tories’ worst previous election result was 156 seats in 1906. Former leader William Hague told Times Radio the projections would be “a catastrophic result in historic terms”.But Tim Bale, politics professor at Queen Mary, University of London, said it was “not as catastrophic as some were predicting” and the Tories would now need to decide how best to fight back.Right-wing former interior minister Suella Braverman and Mordaunt, who was leader of the House of Commons, both said the Tories failed because they had not listened to the British people.
But Brexit champion Farage, who finally succeeded in becoming an MP at the eighth time of asking, has made no secret of his aim to take over the party.“There is a massive gap on the centre-right of British politics and my job is to fill it,” he said after a comfortable win in Clacton, eastern England. To-do listLabour’s resurgence is a stunning turnaround from five years ago, when hard-left former leader Jeremy Corbyn took the party to its worst defeat since 1935 in an election dominated by Brexit.Starmer took over in early 2020 and set about moving the party back to the centre, making it a more electable proposition and purging infighting and anti-Semitism that lost its support.
Opinion polls have put Labour consistently 20 points ahead of the Tories since Truss’s resignation, giving an air of inevitability about a Labour win — the first since Tony Blair in 2005.Starmer is facing a daunting to-do list, with economic growth anaemic, public services overstretched and underfunded due to swingeing cuts, and households squeezed financially.He has also promised a return of political integrity, after a chaotic period of five Tory prime ministers in 14 years, scandal and sleaze.
Veteran American actor Harris Yulin, widely known for his memorable roles in Ghostbusters II and Scarface, has passed away at the age of 87.
According to reports, Yulin died of cardiac arrest on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
His manager, Sue Leibman, confirmed his death in a statement to The Post on Thursday.
Leibman described Yulin as part of a generation of actors deeply committed to their craft.
“Yulin was part of the vanguard of a generation that passionately cared about the craft of acting.
This lifelong dedication led to extraordinary, resonant performances that were a gift to actors he worked with, audiences, and the art of acting itself,” she stated.
International
‘I walked out of rubble’: Survivor on how he escaped Air India wreckage
But Mr Ramesh, a businessman from Leicester who has a wife and four-year-old son, said the section he was sitting in landed near the ground and did not make contact with the building.
The British man who was the sole survivor of Thursday’s Air India plane crash said he managed to escape the wreckage through an opening in the fuselage.
“I managed to unbuckle myself, used my leg to push through that opening, and crawled out,” Vishwashkumar Ramesh told Indian state media DD News.
Mr Ramesh, 40, was in seat 11A on the London-bound Boeing 787 flight when it went down shortly after take off in Ahmedabad, western India on Thursday.
Air India said all other passengers and crew were killed – including 169 Indian nationals and 52 British nationals.
More than 200 bodies have been recovered so far, though it is unclear how many were passengers and how many were from the ground.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Ramesh said the lights inside the aircraft “started flickering” moments after take off.
Within five to 10 seconds, it felt like the plane was “stuck in the air”, he said.
“The lights started flickering green and white…suddenly slammed into a building and exploded.
“The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a building used as accommodation for doctors at the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College and Civil Hospital.
But Mr Ramesh, a businessman from Leicester who has a wife and four-year-old son, said the section he was sitting in landed near the ground and did not make contact with the building.
“When the door broke and I saw there was some space, I tried to get out of there and I did.”No one could have got out from the opposite side, which was towards the wall, because it crashed there.”
(BBC)
The Israeli military confirmed the airborne assault, alerting its citizens that an Iranian retaliation was actively underway. The Israeli military confirmed the airborne assault, alerting its citizens that an Iranian retaliation was actively underway.
Tensions between Iran and Israel have escalated sharply as Iran launched more than 100 drones toward Israeli territory late Thursday night in what it described as a retaliatory operation.
The Israeli military confirmed the airborne assault, alerting its citizens that an Iranian retaliation was actively underway.
“This is a different event to what we’ve experienced thus far, and we’re expecting difficult hours,” said IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari in a late-night briefing.
“All aerial defense arrays have been operating to intercept the threats.”
The attack follows a series of Israeli airstrikes earlier this week targeting Iranian military installations.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stated that the strikes, carried out under the codename Operation Rising Lion, were a “pre-emptive, precise, combined offensive based on high-quality intelligence.”
According to reports, dozens of Israeli airstrikes struck multiple locations across Iran, including high-level military targets.
One of the most significant casualties of the operation was Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s chief of staff for the armed forces, who was reportedly killed in the Israeli strikes.
Iranian authorities have not issued an official statement confirming Bagheri’s death or detailing the extent of the damage from the Israeli offensive, but state-affiliated media have vowed that a “decisive response” would follow.
Air raid sirens were heard across multiple regions in Israel, and emergency protocols were enacted nationwide as the military attempted to intercept the incoming drones.
Early reports suggest that Israel’s Iron Dome and other defense systems were actively engaged, though the full impact of the drone assault remains unclear at this time.
International leaders have urged both nations to de-escalate, warning that continued retaliation could spiral into a broader regional conflict.
Meanwhile, citizens in both countries have been urged to remain vigilant as military tensions appear far from resolved.
IGP Egbetokun Approves Extension of Tinted Glass Permits Until August 12
Lagos Warns Residents “Don’t Go Out in The Heavy Rain falls”
JUST IN: Veteran American Actor, Harris Yulin, dies few days to birthday at 87
Tech Expert, Zuckerberg trains with UFC champions, Adesanya, Alexander
Organ Trafficking: Ekweremadu bags 10 years in UK prison
SAINT OBI: Between his marriage and his death
-
News3 days agoTinubu’s 2025 Democracy Day address (Full Speech)
-
International3 days agoAir India Plane Crash : One survivor out of 242 Passenger
-
Business2 days agoNNPCL Declares N5.89trn revenue, N748bn PAT for April 2025
-
News2 days agoLagos Court Convicts Canadian Returnee for Assaults on KAI Official
-
News3 days agoDemocracy Day: Ododo Salutes Nigerians, Restates Commitment To Inclusive Governance
-
Business3 days agoSterling Bank launches N2bn private university scholarships for Nigerian youth
-
International2 days agoIran attacks Israel, Launches Over 100 Drones In Retaliatory Strike
-
International2 days ago‘I walked out of rubble’: Survivor on how he escaped Air India wreckage