Top World News
Keir Starmer to make Iceland boss Richard Walker a Labour peer
Dec 7, 2025 - World 
Appointment marks a rapid political transformation for a former Tory donor and potential candidate for MPThe formerly Conservative-supporting boss of the supermarket Iceland is to be made a Labour peer when the party appoints another 25 representatives to parliament’s upper house later this month.Keir Starmer will appoint Richard Walker to the House of Lords, the Guardian understands, the culmination of an unusual and rapid political transformation for someone named as a prospective Tory MP candidate a little over three years ago. Continue reading...
Thousands of patients in England at risk as GP referrals vanish into NHS ‘black hole’
Dec 7, 2025 - World 
Exclusive: Watchdog finds 14% of cases not put on hospital waiting lists, with many reporting worsening health and rising anxietyOne in seven people in England who need hospital care are not receiving it because their GP referral is lost, rejected or delayed, the NHS’s patient watchdog has found.Three-quarters (75%) of those trapped in this “referrals black hole” suffer harm to their physical or mental health as a result of not being added to the waiting list for tests or treatment. Continue reading...
'Golden Dome' czar quietly consults with private companies on missile defense project's architecture
Dec 7, 2025 - World 
President Trump's "Golden Dome" czar says he's held "one-vs-one" talks with more than 300 private companies in recent months to hash out the secretive architecture of the futuristic missile defense shield that the administration is determined to put into operation over the entire U.S. homeland by mid-2028.
MAGA senator makes startling admission after reviewing controversial boat strike footage
Dec 7, 2025 - World 
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) made a startling admission Sunday on NBC News that at no time during his briefings on the potentially “illegal” strike last month on a suspected drug-carrying sea vessel was he provided proof that the boat was actually headed toward the United States.According to a whistleblower, the Trump administration approved a follow-up strike on a boat last month in an effort to kill its survivors, who were observed clinging to the wreckage, which, if accurate, would likely constitute a war crime.Cotton has received a private briefing on the strike, which included video of the incident. On Sunday, however, he may have potentially undercut one of the Trump administration’s potential justifications for the strike, that the boat was deemed an imminent threat.“Senator, is there any hard evidence that shows that this particular boat was headed to the United States?” asked NBC News’ Kristen Welker.“That didn’t come up in my briefing,” Cotton admitted. “But again, there’s very reliable multiple sources of intelligence that tells us that this boat had drugs on it, that everyone on that boat is associated with these designated terrorist organizations that are trying to kill American children.”President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February to designate drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, a designation that gives the administration far more leeway in targeting suspected drug traffickers with lethal force. Even so, targeting enemy combatants who pose no imminent threat and are surrendering would still constitute a war crime in most cases, regardless of the combatants designation.Given as much, Welker pressed Cotton on the matter, asking if he was “comfortable” with the Trump administration targeting a boat that he hadn’t seen evidence proving it was “actually heading to the United States.”“Any boat loaded with drugs that is crewed by associates and members of Foreign Terrorist Organizations that are trying to kill American kids, I think is a valid target,” Cotton said. “I’m not just comfortable with it, I want to continue it.”WELKER: Is there any hard evidence showing this particular boat was headed to the US?TOM COTTON: That didn't come up in my briefingWELKER: Are you comfortable having the US target a boat that you're not sure is heading to the US?COTTON: I'm not just comfortable with it -- I… pic.twitter.com/JObokcszyn— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 7, 2025
Let it be: Paul McCartney urges EU to drop ban on veggie ‘burgers’ and ‘sausages’
Dec 7, 2025 - World 
Former Beatle argues use of terms for meat-free products ‘encourages attitudes essential to our health’Paul McCartney has joined calls for the EU to reject efforts to ban the use of terms such as “sausage” and “burger” for vegetarian foods.The former Beatle has joined eight British MPs who have written to the European Commission arguing that a ban approved in October by the European parliament would address a nonexistent problem while slowing progress on climate goals. Continue reading...
