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UK Prime Minister, Truss, Sacks Chancellor

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British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday dismissed her Finance Minister, forcing Kwasi Kwarteng to carry the can for turmoil sparked by her right-wing economic platform as restive Conservatives plotted her own demise.

The chancellor of the exchequer was dismissed in person by Truss after he rushed back early from international meetings in Washington, multiple media reports said, and she was due later to hold her first Downing Street news conference.

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There was no immediate announcement of his successor, who would become Britain’s fourth Finance Minister this year.

READ ALSO: Buhari Congratulates New UK Prime Minister

Financial upheaval sparked by the new government’s September 23 plan to slash taxes — financed via billions in more borrowing — has subsided somewhat since the Bank of England intervened in bond markets.

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But the central bank was adamant it would end its bond-buying spree on Friday, and market analysts said only a bigger climbdown by Truss following Kwarteng’s disastrous budget announcement last month would avert fresh panic.

No timing was given for Truss’s news conference, but the announcement underscored the sense of peril as some Conservative MPs reportedly mobilised to unseat the new leader just five weeks since she succeeded Boris Johnson.

Kwarteng was due to conclude annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington this weekend, after earning a rebuke from IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva on the need for “coherent and consistent” policies.

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A Treasury spokesman confirmed Kwarteng had cut short the trip “to continue work on his medium-term fiscal plan” due on October 31, after Truss held hurried meetings with her own financial advisors on Thursday in his absence.

As UK broadcasters showed live footage of Kwarteng’s British Airways plane landing at Heathrow airport, government bond yields eased in a sign that markets did expect a volte-face.

Speculation was rife that Truss would row back on planned changes to corporation tax, having already changed her mind about cutting income tax for the highest earners.

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The promised tax cuts were the centrepiece of Truss’s successful pitch to Tory party members that she rather than rival Rishi Sunak was the best candidate to replace Johnson.

READ ALSO: Nigerian Doctors In UK Lament Exploitation, Slave Labour

That programme now lies in tatters, and Truss’s judgement is in question more than ever, after Sunak’s warnings were entirely vindicated: higher borrowing to pay for tax cuts served only to terrify the markets and drive up borrowing costs for millions of Britons.

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Speaking in Washington on Thursday, Kwarteng had insisted that his job was safe. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

Truss has “total confidence” in her fellow free-marketeer, international trade minister Greg Hands told Sky News on Friday morning.

– ‘Romcom-worthy dash’ –

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However, a new YouGov poll for The Times newspaper said 43 per cent of Conservative voters wanted a new Prime Minister in Downing Street.

Other polls show a mammoth lead up opening up for the opposition Labour party, threatening electoral meltdown for the Tories.

Hands said, “I don’t recognise” multiple reports that senior Tory MPs were plotting to unseat Truss by installing a new leadership team under her defeated rival Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, who also ran to succeed Johnson.

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Pressed on whether Truss will still be in 10 Downing Street in a week, Hands told ITV, “Oh definitely.”

The Chancellor of the exchequer’s September 23 budget sparked markets chaos because of fears it would drive up state debt.

The pound tumbled to a record dollar low near parity with the greenback and bond yields surged, before stabilising.

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With the Bank of England’s costly interventions ending Friday, markets have already priced in a fresh about-turn by the government, leaving Downing Street with no room for manoeuvre.

“Do it now,” Mel Stride, chairman of the Treasury select committee in the House of Commons, urged Kwarteng and Truss earlier Friday.

“If it doesn’t happen, then the markets may have an adverse reaction to that,” he said on BBC television.

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Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, agreed with Stride’s analysis.

READ ALSO: UK PM Truss Unveils Non-white Top Cabinet Members

“There is a sense of urgency in this move and it would seem the market is optimistic that Kwarteng’s romcom-worthy dash through the airport suggests a dramatic reconciliation between stubborn existing policy and the U-turn investors have been waiting for,” she commented.

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For many pundits, the self-inflicted damage risks proving terminal for Truss and her hard-right platform.

This is a government in meltdown and an economic policy in tatters, and frankly I think the Conservative party should be hanging their head in shame at what it’s putting the country through,” senior Labour MP Ed Miliband told Sky News.

AFP.

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After Fallout With Trump, Elon Musk Says He’s Forming ‘America Party’

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Billionaire Tesla owner Elon Musk, has disclosed that he is forming a third political party, which he called the ‘America Party,’ after a dramatic falling out with Donald Trump over a tax and spending bill recently signed into law by the President.

Musk, who was the largest individual donor to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, worked with the current US President as the lead of his cost-cutting government agency—the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—until his recent resignation.

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After bowing out of the DOGE role, Tribune Online reports that Musk started criticizing Trump’s “big beautiful bill” because of estimates that he said would add trillions of dollars to the federal deficit.

READ ALSO:Trump Says Will ‘Take A Look’ At Deporting Musk

Speaking via his X social media platform, Musk said, “When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.”

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Musk, a former ‘first buddy’ of the US President, declared that the new party is for freedom: “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”

Meanwhile, Musk’s rift with President Trump last month after intense criticism of the spending bill appeared to have cooled after Musk regretted and deleted the most incendiary posts he made linking Trump with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and calling for the President’s impeachment. According to Musk, those posts ‘went too far.’

However, the world’s richest man reignited the feud over the last several days as the bill neared passage and eventually passed by the House before it was subsequently signed at a White House ceremony.

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READ ALSO:Elon Musk Deletes Post Claiming Trump Was ‘In The Epstein Files’

According to CNN, the extent to which Musk has taken steps to legally form the party is unclear, as party formation requires registering with the Federal Election Commission. The most recent FEC filings showed no indication that this has happened, CNN reports.

The owner of X, who has made threats during the social media scuffle with Trump, had indicated he wants a party that is fiscally conservative and reins in spending, but has offered few other details about what the party’s platform would be.

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While Musk and Trump reportedly share similar views on contemporary social issues, the former has argued the Republican policy agenda will increase the debt, calling it “debt slavery.”

The two-party system in the United States has long been criticized by both registered Democrats and registered Republicans, but efforts in the last century to form a third party have shown little success. Billionaire Ross Perot ran for president as an independent in 1992, winning nearly a fifth of the popular vote, but carried no states in the election, which was won by Bill Clinton.

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Australian Actor Julian McMahon Is Dead

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Australian actor Julian McMahon, best known for his roles in Nip/Tuck, Charmed, and Fantastic Four, has died at the age of 56.

McMahon passed away in Clearwater, Florida, on Wednesday following a private battle with cancer.

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His death was confirmed in a statement released on Friday by his wife, Kelly.

The statement read,”With an open heart, I share with the world that Julian McMahon, my beloved husband, died peacefully this week after a valiant effort to overcome cancer.

READ ALSO:BREAKING: Liverpool Star Diogo Jota Is Dead

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His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible.

“We wish all of those to whom Julian brought joy to continue to find joy in life.

“We are grateful for the memories.”

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Born into a prominent political family, McMahon was the son of former Australian Prime Minister Sir William McMahon.

READ ALSO:BREAKING: Renowned Businessman, Aminu Dantata, Is Dead

In a nod to his family’s legacy, he portrayed an Australian prime minister in the Netflix drama ‘The Residence.’

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McMahon’s career spanned decades, earning him international recognition for his roles as Dr. Christian Troy in ‘Nip/Tuck’, Cole Turner in ‘Charmed’, and Victor Von Doom in ‘Fantastic Four’.

He was married three times, including a high-profile marriage to Australian singer and actress Dannii Minogue, sister of pop icon Kylie Minogue.

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Thai Police Rescue Eight-year-old Boy Living With Dogs, Unable To Speak

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An eight-year-old boy has been rescued in Thailand after authorities discovered him living among dogs and only able to communicate by barking.

According to Dailymail on Friday, the boy, whose name has been withheld, was found on Monday during a welfare check at a ramshackle, drug-infested house in Lap Lae District, Uttaradit Province.

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Local reports say the child had been living with his mother, 46, and his 23-year-old brother, both of whom tested positive for drug use after a police raid.

Neighbours revealed that the family had long been isolated from the community, and the boy had no contact with other children. Instead, he spent his days with the family’s six dogs, which he reportedly mimicked.

READ ALSO:24-year-old Thai Lady Arrested At Lagos Airport With Illicit Drugs

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“He didn’t speak, he just barked. It was pitiful to see,” said Paveena Hongsakul, president of the activist foundation which worked with police on the rescue.

Authorities said the boy had only attended school once, despite his mother receiving government stipends of around 400 baht (£9) meant to support his education.

His mother hasn’t allowed him to go to school since he received a subsidy for free education,” Hongsakul explained. “After getting the money, she simply kept him at home.”

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Neighbours were said to have forbidden their children from playing with the young boy due to the family’s behaviour.

The mother was reportedly known in the area for begging at temples and has now been charged with drug use.

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A local teacher described the boy’s environment as a “red zone for drugs” and said that neighbours forbade their children from interacting with him.

‘The house is in a red zone for drugs,’ one teacher explained. ”The boy had no one, just the dogs to play with.”

The disturbing situation came to light after a headteacher raised the alarm, prompting activists and police to raid the house on June 30.

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Images shared in Thai media showed authorities at the shack surrounded by trees and several dogs.

Following the rescue, the boy was taken to a children’s home, where he will receive medical and psychological care.

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Ms Hongsakul, of the Foundation for Children and Women, will work with authorities to ensure the child receives continuous education, and her organisation will monitor his progress.

Images from the scene showed authorities standing around a small family in a wooded area with several dogs on site. Credit: Dailymail
Images from the scene showed authorities standing around a small family in a wooded area with several dogs on site. Credit: Dailymail
The boy will be given a chance at a good life. We’ll follow up with him to make sure he gets everything he needs,” she said.

Cases of so-called “feral children”, youngsters raised with little or no human contact, are extremely rare but often highlight the severe consequences of neglect.

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Experts cite the example of Oxana Malaya, a Ukrainian girl found in 1991 living with dogs after her parents abandoned her. Though she eventually learned to speak and reintegrated into society, she still struggled with some developmental challenges.

Authorities in Thailand say they are committed to giving the rescued boy a fresh start and the chance to live a normal life.

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