“The Labour Party is united behind Andy Burnham as its next leader, two senior party figures have told the BBC. The party set out a timeline for a leadership contest following Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation earlier this week, but there is scant evidence of support for any contenders other than Burnham. Former defence minister Al Carns has said a speech on Monday, in which Burnham will set out his economic policy, will decide whether he challenges him for the Labour leadership. Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell and Housing Secretary Steve Reed, who had stayed loyal to Sir Keir, both said that Labour MPs were backing a coronation of Burnham, rather than a contest.” (06/28/26)
“An archaeological excavation in Israel recently revealed ancient faces that haven’t been seen in centuries. Two statues were discovered near Binyamina, Israel, according to a June 15 press release from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). Archaeologists were digging ahead of construction of a coastal high-speed railway when they found two marble statues in the wine collection pit of a Roman-Byzantine winepress, the IAA said. The statues, which date back around 1,700 years, depict two unknown figures from the ancient Greco-Roman world. … Researchers are cleaning and conserving the statues before analyzing them further in hopes of determining exactly whom they depict.” (06/27/26)
“Four people have died due to flooding from thunderstorms in Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said Saturday, and he declared a state of emergency with additional rainfall expected. Flash flood warnings were in effect Saturday for parts of Kentucky and Indiana amid heavy rainfall, according to the National Weather Service. The agency late Saturday afternoon said between 100 and 250 millimetres of rain had already fallen in some parts of southwestern Indiana, with more possible. Beshear’s office said up to 178 millimetres of rain were expected in parts of his state through the late evening.” (06/28/26)
“Southern California mega cannabis grower Glass House Brands has skyrocketed to a valuation of over $1 billion for the first time, a striking turn of fate for a company that was facing existential panic and the prospect of federal charges just a year ago. … Last July, the Trump administration targeted Glass House’s two massive growing facilities in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties with a militarized immigration raid that left one worker dead and over 360 workers arrested. … But instead of charging the company’s executives, the Trump administration sent Glass House a lifeline. In April, Trump’s attorney general signed an order reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, moving it to a far friendlier designation. While the exact impacts are complicated and not certain, it’s likely to cut taxes for companies and could lead to legal interstate sales of medical marijauna.” (06/26/26)
“An icon of the Italian way of life, the Vespa was celebrating its 80th birthday on Saturday, as thousands of riders paraded through Rome on the legendary scooters. A few donned biker jackets despite the scorching heat while others opted for t-shirts, the hum of their machines filling the capital with a colourful buzz. … The Vespa, which means ‘wasp’ in Italian – a reference to the sound of its engine – was born on 23 April 1946, when the first patent for its manufacture was filed in Italy by Piaggio. It is still produced at the Pontedera site in Tuscany. … Thousands of ‘Vespisti’ from all over the globe turned up in the scooters, which are instantly recognisable because of their rounded lines, their brightly coloured metal bodywork and their round headlight mounted on the handlebars.” (06/27/26)
“Several Iraqi political officials were arrested early Sunday on corruption charges, Iraq’s state-run Iraqi News Agency reported. It said the arrests were based on statement made by former Deputy Minister of Oil Adnan al-Jumaili, who was arrested last month, and ‘included members of Parliament whose immunity had been lifted.’ Iraqi security forces sealed off all entrances to the capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone early Sunday and carried out raids inside the compound that houses key government institutions and foreign embassies. A security agency report obtained by The Associated Press said that seven people were arrested, among them five members of Parliament.” (06/28/26)
“President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that he nominated former Oklahoma state trooper Lance Schroyer to be director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Schroyer, a senior advisor at the Department of Homeland Security and retired U.S. Marine, will replace former acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, who announced in April that he would leave the agency on May 31. Trump announced that he is nominating Schroyer for the position in a post on Truth Social, touting his 29 years in law enforcement, including in previous partnership roles with ICE.” (06/27/26)
“Burkina Faso’s military junta has broken off diplomatic ties with France, accusing Paris of persistently acting against its national interests. Relations between Burkina Faso and its former colonial ruler worsened after Capt Ibrahim Traore seized power in a coup in 2022 and pursued largely anti-Western policies. In a televised statement on Friday, communications minister Pingdwendé Gilbert Ouédraogo said France was guilty of ‘ceaseless activism’ against his country and accused it of ‘neo-colonial ambitions.’ The French foreign ministry called the decision ‘hostile and unfounded’ and said it ‘illustrated the troubling drift by the Burkinabe government.'” (06/27/26)
“Opening Pope Leo XIV’s closed-door conference of the world’s cardinals on war, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief accused the European Union of applying international law selectively, sanctioning some military invasions while treating others differently. The rare gathering was called by Leo to examine what he calls a global “culture of power” that fuels modern conflict and to consider how the Church should respond. A central focus of the discussions was the pope’s effort to rethink the traditional doctrine of a just war, which he argues has too often been invoked to justify military action. That position has already brought Leo into conflict with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who challenged the pope’s interpretation of Catholic teaching after Leo questioned whether the U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran could meet the criteria of a just war.” (06/28/26)
“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., revealed that she believes Congress should look to break up companies like Apple amid news that the tech giant might soon raise its prices on phones and laptops due to a strained processing chip supply chain. ‘We need to break up a lot of these companies that are far, far too big and we need to be instituting consumer protections for people,’ Ocasio-Cortez said. … ‘The problem that we have is that these big companies think they are governments. They want to be governments. They want to have totally unchecked power,’ Ocasio-Cortez said.” (06/28/26)
