Connect with us

Headline

David Lammy Appointed UK’s Deputy PM

Published

on

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a major cabinet reshuffle following the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, in a move that could reshape the direction of his administration.

As part of the shake-up, David Lammy, a senior Labour figure and former Foreign Secretary, has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, taking over key roles previously held by Rayner.

The cabinet reshuffle comes at a politically sensitive time for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose leadership is under growing pressure from both within the Labour Party and the broader electorate.

Advertisement

The sudden resignation of Angela Rayner, a high-profile figure with strong working-class support, has exposed internal tensions and sparked concerns over the party’s unity and electoral strategy.

According to BBC News on Friday, the reshuffle is seen as a crucial test for Starmer’s leadership, especially as Rayner had been a prominent and working-class figure whose departure may weaken his appeal to core Labour voters.

READ ALSO:UK PM Starmer Urges Israel To Stop Gaza Assault

Advertisement

Key Cabinet reassignment

-Lammy transitions from Foreign Secretary to Deputy PM and Justice Secretary.

-Yvette Cooper moves from Home Secretary to Foreign Secretary.

Advertisement

-Shabana Mahmood is promoted from Justice Secretary to Home Secretary.

Other notable appointments include:

-Steve Reed as Housing Secretary

Advertisement

-Pat McFadden as head of a newly expanded Work and Pensions department

-Douglas Alexander as Scotland Secretary

-Liz Kendall moves to Science and Technology

Advertisement

READ ALSO:UK PM Starmer Urges Israel To Stop Gaza Assault

-Emma Reynolds becomes Environment Secretary

-Peter Kyle appointed Business Secretary

Advertisement

-Jonathan Reynolds named Chief Whip

-Alan Campbell becomes Leader of the House of Commons

Meanwhile, Lucy Powell and Ian Murray were removed from their cabinet roles.

Advertisement

Political Fallout and Internal Tensions

READ ALSO:UK Bars Over 100 Job Roles From Foreign Recruitment To Curb Migration

Labour now faces mounting political pressure. Observers note Rayner’s exit leaves a vacuum for constituents drawn to her working-class credentials, possibly intensifying internal party divisions.

Advertisement

Her resignation also triggers a deputy leadership contest, opening up a battleground between the party’s centrist and left-leaning factions.

Moreover, Labour’s popularity has waned, with opposition to policies on welfare and immigration increasing support for Reform UK.

Starmer’s government’s handling of economic pressures and an upcoming £40 billion budget shortfall deepen the political stakes.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:Putin Not Serious About Peace, Says UK’s Starmer

Lammy Steps into Key Role at a Crucial Juncture

Lammy’s appointment is viewed as strategically significant. Known for his reform credentials and advocacy for criminal justice reform, his new position comes as Parliament prepares for the Sentencing Bill.

Advertisement

The Prison Reform Trust welcomed his appointment, noting the timing offers “an important opportunity to move away from the failed cycle of overcrowding and crisis management.”

This reshuffle represents a pivotal moment in the evolution of Keir Starmer’s administration. With Labour under heightened scrutiny and internal frictions rising, the effectiveness of the newly configured cabinet will be a litmus test of Starmer’s leadership, particularly as the party approaches a difficult budget season, rising populist pressures, and internal power shifts ahead of the next deputy leadership election.

 

Advertisement

Headline

China, US Agree To Resume Trade Talks

Published

on

China and the United States agreed on Saturday to conduct another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, as the world’s two biggest economies seek to avoid another damaging tit-for-tat tariff battle.

Beijing last week announced sweeping controls on the critical rare earths industry, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten 100 percent tariffs on imports from China in retaliation.

Trump had also threatened to cancel his expected meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Advertisement

In the latest indication of efforts to resolve their dispute, Chinese state media reported that Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges” during a Saturday morning call, and that both sides agreed to hold a new round of trade talks “as soon as possible”.

On social media, Bessent described the call as “frank and detailed”, and said they would meet “in-person next week to continue our discussions”.

READ ALSO:Nigeria, China Strengthen Ties On Marine, Blue Economy Devt

Advertisement

Bessent had previously accused China of seeking to harm the rest of the world by tightening restrictions on rare earths, which are critical to everything from smartphones to guided missiles.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also participated in the call, according to the report by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Hours before the call, Fox News released excerpts of an interview with Trump in which he said he would meet Xi at the APEC summit after all.

Advertisement

Trump told the outlet that the 100 percent tariff on goods from China was not sustainable.

It’s not sustainable, but that’s what the number is… They forced me to do that,” he said.

READ ALSO:PHOTOS: Xi, Putin, Kim At Beijing Parade As China Flaunts Military Might

Advertisement

The high-level video call came as Washington worked to rally Group of Seven finance ministers in response to the latest Chinese export controls.

For now, the G7 ministers have agreed to coordinate a short-term response and diversify suppliers, the EU’s economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters in Washington.

Speaking after the grouping met this week, Dombrovskis noted the vast majority of rare earth supplies come from China, meaning that diversification could take years.

Advertisement

We agreed, both bilaterally with the US and at the G7 level, to coordinate our approach,” he said on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s fall meetings.

Countries would also exchange information on their contacts with Chinese counterparts as they work out short-term solutions, he added.

READ ALSO:India Test-fires Ballistic Missile, Capable Of Reaching All Of China

Advertisement

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told journalists he hopes that Trump and Xi’s meeting can help to resolve much of the US-China trade conflict.

“We have made it clear within the G7 that we do not agree with China’s approach,” he added, referring to the group of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva also expressed hope Friday for an agreement between the countries to cool tensions.

Advertisement

The US-China trade war reignited this year as Trump promised sweeping tariffs on imports soon after returning to office.

At one point, US-China tariffs escalated to triple-digit levels, effectively halting some trade as businesses waited for a resolution.

The two countries have since lowered their respective levies, but their truce has remained shaky.

Advertisement

AFP

Continue Reading

Headline

Morocco Jails Student One Year Over Gen Z Protest

Published

on

A student arrested during Morocco’s youth-led protests has been sentenced to one year in prison, his lawyer told AFP on Friday.

The case marks the first publicly known prison sentence linked to the kingdom’s Gen Z demonstrations, which have been held near-daily between late September and last week to demand social and political reforms.

The student was charged with “participating in an unauthorised and unarmed gathering” and “insulting the judicial police by providing false information”, lawyer Mohamed Nouini said.

Advertisement

“The ruling is unfair, and we will appeal,” he added, arguing that sit-ins did not require authorisation as per a Supreme Court precedent.

READ ALSO:Why Wike Is Always Attacking Peter Obi — Obidient Movement

The lawyer said his client was arrested on September 30, three days after the protests erupted in the North African country.

Advertisement

According to a report by news website Hespress, citing another lawyer, the student’s arrest was “an unfortunate coincidence” as he was in Casablanca for a family visit.

The other lawyer, Mohamed Lakhdar, told the judge the student had “not insulted” police nor provided false information, telling them he “was just a student”, according to the report.

Hundreds were arrested during the early days of the largely peaceful demonstrations.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:CAF Champions League: Replicate Ivory Coast Success In Morocco, Alli Charges Edo Queens

Some cities had seen spates of violence and acts of vandalism, while authorities have said three people were killed by police acting in “self-defence” during clashes in a village near Agadir.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) has said roughly 550 people are facing prosecution on suspicion of joining the protests, with some still in detention.

Advertisement

The organisers of the online-based movement behind the nationwide protests, the GenZ 212 youth collective, remain unknown.

READ ALSO:Ghana To Take More West African Deportees From US

The collective has called for “peaceful sit-ins” on Saturday and demanded the release of those arrested during the demonstrations.

Advertisement

The protest came after the deaths of eight pregnant women during Caesarean sections at a hospital in Agadir.

But protesters have also demanded reforms to the education system and a change of government.
AFP

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Headline

Trump Refiles $15bn Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times

Published

on

US President Donald Trump has refiled a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, court documents show, weeks after it was thrown out by a federal judge.

Trump has intensified his long-established hostility toward the media since his return to the White House, and the suit is one of numerous attacks against news organizations he accuses of bias against him.

The Times’ complaint was thrown out in September because District Judge Steven Merryday took exception to its florid writing, repetitive and laudatory praise of Trump, and its excessive 85-page length.

Advertisement

The suit filed Thursday in Florida and seen by AFP runs to less than half the length, at 40 pages.

READ ALSO:Burkina Rejects US Deportees, Calls Trump’s Proposal Indecent

It takes aim at “false, defamatory, and malicious publications”, highlighting a book and two Times articles.

Advertisement

The lawsuit named the newspaper, three Times reporters and the publisher Penguin Random House as defendants.

It accuses them of making defamatory statements against Trump “with actual malice.”

The statements in question wrongly defame and disparage President Trump’s hard-earned professional reputation, which he painstakingly built for decades” before entering the White House, the lawsuit says.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal

The court was asked to grant compensatory damages of not less than $15 billion and additional punitive damages “in an amount to be determined upon trial.”

Trump’s attacks on media outlets have seen him restrict access, badmouth journalists critical of his administration, and bring lawsuits demanding huge amounts of compensation.

Advertisement

In July, Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion after it reported on the existence of a book and a letter he allegedly sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit over election coverage on CBS News’ flagship show “60 Minutes” for $16 million the same month. He had alleged that the program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.

AFP

Advertisement

 

Continue Reading

Trending