Stories

Labour MP Naz Shah had the House of Commons in stitches while mocking Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin's controversial comments about non-white actors in TV adverts, during Shah's historic speech as the first Muslim to propose the loyal address in response to the King's Speech.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) laughed at Interior Secretary Doug Burgum during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., after Burgum claimed that gas prices being $1.40/gallon higher than last year under President Trump's administration were 'exciting,' as Burgum testified on Trump's 2027 budget request.

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has named Sioned Williams as Deputy First Minister, Elin Jones as Finance Minister, and a full cabinet including Mabon ap Gwynfor (Health), Adam Price (Enterprise), and Elfyn Llwyd (Counsel General) in Wales' first ever Plaid Cymru government, formed after Plaid became the largest party in the Senedd in the historic 2026 election that ended Labour's 27-year rule.

Trump biographer Michael Wolff predicts President Donald Trump will fire Secretary of State Marco Rubio because Rubio's competence upstages Trump, calling it a 'fatal flaw' after noting multiple cabinet departures including FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Reform UK councillor Jay Cooper, elected to Sefton Council's Bootle West ward with 705 votes in the 2026 local elections, resigned from the party days later after apologising for social media comments in which he called the Holocaust a 'hoax' and 'propaganda', following condemnation from party leader Nigel Farage.

Xavier Becerra, the leading Democratic candidate in California's 2026 governor's race, faced backlash after a viral KTLA clip showed him asking reporter Annie Rose Ramos to confirm a 'profile piece, not a gotcha piece' before an interview aired on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.

French football captain Kylian Mbappé, 27, has been attacked by far-right National Rally party leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, 30, after telling Vanity Fair he fears consequences for France if the RN wins the spring 2027 presidential election, with Bardella mocking Mbappé's move from PSG to Real Madrid after PSG won the Champions League the following year.

Former Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, while canvassing for a Fianna Fáil by-election candidate in a Dublin housing estate, was recorded telling a voter he has 'no problem with the Ukrainians' but 'the ones I worry about are the Africans' and 'we can't be taking in people from the Congo,' leading current Taoiseach Micheál Martin to call the remarks 'not appropriate'.

Republicans have reshaped 14 districts across 6 states in their favor and are positioned to gain up to a dozen Democratic-held House seats through redistricting, but Trump's 36% approval rating and a Reuters/Ipsos poll showing Democrats leading 41% to 35% on the generic ballot may still give Democrats the upper hand in the November 2026 midterm elections.

Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka revealed on Pod Force One that President Donald Trump left a letter for Vice President JD Vance in the Resolute Desk in case he is assassinated during his visit to China.

Readers debate whether Keir Starmer can survive Labour leadership challenges after losing Lincolnshire councils to a Reform mayor, following the nationalisation of British Steel and Starmer's speech calling for closer EU ties.

Billionaire Trump donors Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein's company, Uline, is pausing construction of a 1m+ sq ft distribution facility in Kenosha, Wisconsin, citing economic uncertainty; the Kenosha City Planning Commission granted a 12-month permit extension, with construction on hold until 2027 or later.

The King's Speech outlined the Overnight Visitor Levy Bill, granting mayors in English cities and regions powers to impose a tourist tax on overnight accommodation such as hotels, B&Bs, guest houses, and holiday lets, welcomed by London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan and Liverpool's Steve Rotheram but opposed by UKinbound and holiday rentals firm Awaze; Manchester already operates a £1-per-night voluntary levy since April 2023.

The U.S. Army is cutting training programs, including canceling the Army Sapper Course and an artillery course at Fort Campbell, and reducing pilot flight hours to minimum levels, to address a budget shortfall of up to $6 billion caused by President Trump's expanded Iran war operations, border security missions, and National Guard deployments in Washington, D.C. projected to cost $1.1 billion this year.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will headline the Rededicate 250 faith rally on the National Mall in Washington DC this weekend, alongside speakers including Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewell (who called the Democratic platform 'demonic' and launched a memecoin after Trump's inauguration), Rabbi Meir Soloveichik (who has defended torture and authored 'The Virtue of Hate'), and Eric Metaxas (who said he would 'die in the fight' to keep Biden out of office), with no Muslim, Black church, Indigenous, or mainline Protestant representatives.

With deadlines approaching before the November 2026 midterms, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. must decide whether to appeal a judge's March order freezing his ACIP overhaul, approve a new Moderna mRNA flu vaccine by early August, release $600 million in FDA funding for international vaccine distribution, and respond to a petition from his former attorney Aaron Siri to add 300+ conditions to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, while the White House publicly directs him to prioritize food policy over vaccine skepticism.

Livingston MP Gregor Poynton welcomed the UK Labour Government's King's Speech legislative programme focused on jobs, energy and public services, while Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay criticised blocking new North Sea oil drilling and SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan called the agenda 'massively underwhelming'.

The Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump, 79, has posted over 8,800 times on Truth Social since January 2025, often in late-night bursts aided by executive assistant Natalie Harp (dubbed the 'human printer'), who does not coordinate with chief of staff, communications or national security officials — including a night of 55 posts between 10:14 p.m. and 1:12 a.m. falsely claiming the 2020 election was stolen and calling for the arrest of Barack Obama.

Oldham Council leader Arooj Shah (Labour) will step down on May 20 after Labour lost 8 seats in the May 7 local election, while Reform UK — now the second-largest group with 16 councillors — has refused to form a coalition, leaving the council in political deadlock.

Philip Davis and his Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won re-election in the Bahamas on May 13, 2026, securing over 30 of 41 parliamentary seats, making Davis the first prime minister in nearly 30 years to serve a second consecutive term, after calling an early election ahead of Atlantic hurricane season.