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This dissolution signals the conclusion of all parliamentary activities in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords while rendering every seat in the Commons vacant until after the general election on July 4.

An American professor and writer has said that Donald Trump’s “brain is rotting in front of us”, and claimed that to compare him to Joe Biden is “dangerous and wrong”. Sarah Churchwell, an American culture specialist and the author of a book examining division in the US, The Wrath to Come, was appearing on a panel at Hay Festival chaired by The Independent’s chief book critic Martin Chilton. They were joined by political podcaster David Runciman and We Need to Talk About Kevin author Lionel Shriver. Shriver claimed that, ahead of the US election on 5 November, she finds herself...

British rock guitar legend Eric Clapton moved one step closer to Roger Waters territory last week, telling an interviewer that “Israel is running the world, Israel is running the show.” The 79-year-old musician, who has recently performed playing a guitar painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag, was interviewed on May 22 by David Spuria, an American Youtuber who hosts the popular Real Music Observer show. alking about the recent campus protests in the US against Israel, Clapton criticized the Senate hearings in which university presidents were asked about antisemitism on campus. “I was so enthused about what was...

~As you know, two weeks from today my suit against the media censor Ofcom comes to the High Court of England. I shall be landing at Heathrow just as the UK election campaign kicks into what commentators insist will be "high gear". And yet I can muster zero interest in its outcome now that Nigel Farage has - for the second time - whiffed his rendezvous with destiny. Cometh the hour, cometh Nigel's absurd contention that he's unfortunately needed in America to get Trump across the finish line. Patrick O'Flynn, a favourite Steyn Show guest from the GB News days,...

Television host Piers Morgan backed a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war Monday morning, saying in a string of social media posts that a recent Israeli strike in a Rafah “safe zone” that killed more than 40 people was too far. “The scenes from Rafah overnight are horrific,” Morgan wrote on the social platform X. “I’ve defended Israel’s right to defend itself after Oct 7, but slaughtering so many innocent people as they cower in a refugee camp is indefensible.”

A UN Security Council meeting tomorrow on the Memorial Day Weekend attack by Israel in the southern Gaza city... In Israel's largest city Tel Aviv tonight a clash between Eritreans who support and oppose the country's government... US Central Command says a drone launched from Yemen was destroyed... An alert over Israel's southern port city of Eilat tonight... Canada's Immigration Minister saying five thousand people from Gaza will be allowed to enter Canada... In the British election campaign the Conservative Party suspending MP Lucy Allan. Allan endorsed a Reform UK... In Amsterdam riot police stopping an effort by Pro-Palestinian demonstrators...

The Conservative Party has said it would bring back mandatory national service if it wins the general election. It said 18-year-olds would have a choice of either joining the military full-time, or volunteering one weekend every month carrying out a community service. The party is proposing a Royal Commission to consider the details but would plan for the first teenagers to take part in September 2025. The cost is expected to be around £2.5bn per year. Under the plans, young people could choose a full-time, 12-month placement in the armed forces or UK cyber defence, learning about logistics, cyber security,...

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last night took a huge gamble by pulling the trigger on a snap election. The Tory leader has long insisted the national vote would happen in the second half of this year, which many in Westminster thought to mean October or November. But on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Sunak stepped out into the pouring rain to deliver a speech outside Downing Street in which he called a surprise summer election on July 4. Despite some backbenchers claiming the early poll date is a 'death wish', the defiant PM hopes signs of a recovering economy will help him...

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is shortly expected to call a snap general election for July 4, sources say, with his Conservative party facing an uphill struggle to extend its 14 years in power. Sunak was required to hold a vote by January 2025, and had long resisted calls to be specific about his plans. But a fall in inflation rates, announced on Wednesday, provided the backdrop for the announcement, due to be made outside Downing Street. The decision will fire the starting gun on a six-week campaign that, currently, is almost universally expected to conclude in the demise of...

@AFP #BREAKING UK general election to be held on July 4: media, quoting sources

A Tory rebel source tells the BBC that some letters calling for a no confidence vote in Rishi Sunak are being submitted. The reported move came after one senior Conservative MP described the atmosphere in the tea room as “panic”. (As a reminder, 15% of Conservative MPs must submit a letter before the party holds a leadership election - that would mean 52 letters are needed).

The number of people using Gaelic has increased across Scotland despite a decline in the language's heartland, according to the latest census data. Experts say the increase in Gaelic medium education (GME) accounts for the rise. However, Gaelic is now a minority language in the Western Isles - while 52% reported speaking Gaelic in 2011, the figure in 2022 was 45%. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes told BBC Scotland that Scottish Gaelic was part of a "modern, diverse Scotland". Ms Forbes – who is also minister for Gaelic – said she was “extremely optimistic” about the future of the language....

Leprosy, one of the oldest recorded diseases in human history, remains prevalent in Asia, Africa, and South America, with over 200,000 cases every year.1,2 Although ancient DNA (aDNA) approaches on the major causative agent, Mycobacterium leprae, have elucidated the disease’s evolutionary history,3,4,5 the role of animal hosts and interspecies transmission in the past remains unexplored. Research has uncovered relationships between medieval strains isolated from archaeological human remains and modern animal hosts such as the red squirrel in England.6,7 However, the time frame, distribution, and direction of transmissions remains unknown. Here, we studied 25 human and 12 squirrel samples from two...

Quote from the video "...what the **** was that woman talking about you sit in the cartoons where somebody's on stage and that that performance is not going well they take a hook and yank you off stage I was waiting for that hook to come in and drag her *** off stage get your *** off the stage everybody look like why is this bit here yeah that was like one of the worst speech over here..."

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher reacted to the United Kingdom and Scandinavian nations walking back transitioning children by saying that America has tried to be so progressive, it’s actually behind the rest of the world and that the American medical establishment won’t make the same corrections other nations have because “They’re afraid.” Maher stated, “Let me add one more thing to our discussion there about rolling back some of the overexcesses in 2020…this is in the U.K., they are now pronouncing the United States as way behind. This is so, to me, symbolic of so...

Donald Trump is a homophobe, sexist, and racist declared far-left Mayor of London Sadiq Khan while urging his party to do more to “call him out”. The “special relationship” between the United Kingdom and the United States may be in store for choppy waters as polls suggest former President Donald Trump is set to return to the White House and the left-wing Labour Party is widely projected to take power in Westminster as the two countries head towards general elections later this year.

Seán Ono Lennon @seanonolennon I just wish I could have listened in on the meeting… ‘Your Highness, it would seem the people have begun to grow weary and possibly suspicious of the institution of the monarchy.’ ‘Well what are we going to do about it?’ ‘One idea is to have your portrait painted as an ancient hell demon emerging from a sort of murky lake of blood, ready to claim rule over the people of light, dragging them into the shadow realms for all eternity.’ ‘Terrific idea! I’ll get my fancy red coat!’ 5:09 PM · May 15, 2024 ·...

King Charles III marked another first in his reign this week, unveiling the first official portrait of himself since his coronation last year. Charles and his wife Queen Camilla were on hand Tuesday as the king's portrait was unveiled at Buckingham Palace. The portrait, which stands over 6 feet tall, was painted over the course of three years by Jonathan Yeo, a U.K.-based artist, according to the palace. The painting features a striking red background and shows Charles wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards, of which he was made Regimental Colonel in 1975, according to the palace.

Prince Andrew, whose involvement with Jeffrey Epstein's underaged girls has disgraced the U.K. royal family, is now causing other problems for them. According to Fox News:Prince Andrew is reportedly facing eviction from his brother, King Charles III, after neglecting to pay the annual $503,000 upkeep of his $37 million Royal Lodge mansion.The claim was made by Us Weekly, which alleged that the Duke of York is unable to keep up with the expenses to maintain the sprawling 19th-century property, which the monarch’s estate owns. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.British royal...

Everything about the British royal family since the beginning of the year has been steeped in the mystery of an Agatha Christie novel. And Then There Were None would be the perfect title for the successive disappearances from public life of the members of the Windsor household, which have unleashed a torrent of speculation and rumor, especially on social networks. First, the Princess of Wales, Catherine (Kate) Middleton, wife of the heir to the throne, Prince William, and almost immediately afterward King Charles III withdrew from the public eye due to health problems. Later, William also announced a pause in...