Watch: Pentagon shows test footage of 'bunker busters' used in Iran
The video was part of an incredibly detailed briefing on the strikes against Iran's nuclear programme.
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Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Universal Credit and PIP cuts halted as Starmer announces benefits U-turn
DWP disability benefits changes will not be applied to people who currently receive the personal independence payment (Pip), after the Government made concessions to Labour rebels on controversial welfare reforms. A letter from Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall to MPs said adjustments to Universal Credit would also see incomes protected. The announcement comes after crisis talks with backbenchers, with some 126 MPs within the party signing an amendment that would halt the legislation in its tracks. Sir Keir Starmer's Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill has its second reading on Tuesday, the first opportunity for MPs to support or reject it. A spokesperson for Number 10 said: 'We have listened to MPs who support the principle of reform but are worried about the pace of change for those already supported by the system. I've made it clear: I won't vote for any cuts to PIP. We should be building a system that lifts people up — not taking vital support away from those who need it most. — Imran Hussain MP (@Imran_HussainMP) June 26, 2025 'This package will preserve the social security system for those who need it by putting it on a sustainable footing, provide dignity for those unable to work, supports those who can and reduce anxiety for those currently in the system. 'Our reforms are underpinned by Labour values and our determination to deliver the change the country voted for last year.' The Government's original package restricted eligibility for the personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability payment in England, and limited the sickness-related element of universal credit. The PIP Cuts DWP Welfare Bill must be pulled. I've signed an amendment to the Bill alongside 100+ calling for a pause and rethink. The Government must #PullTheBill and #StopTheCuts to #PIP#York — 💙Rachael Maskell MP (@RachaelMaskell) June 25, 2025 Existing claimants were to be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support in an earlier move that was seen as a bid to head off opposition by aiming to soften the impact of the changes. In her letter, the Work and Pensions Secretary said: 'We recognise the proposed changes have been a source of uncertainty and anxiety. 'We will ensure that all of those currently receiving PIP will stay within the current system. The new eligibility requirements will be implemented from November 2026 for new claims only. 'Secondly, we will adjust the pathway of Universal Credit payment rates to make sure all existing recipients of the UC health element – and any new claimant meeting the severe conditions criteria – have their incomes fully protected in real terms.' She said a ministerial review would ensure the benefit is 'fair and fit for the future' and will be a 'coproduction' with disabled people, organisations which represent them and MPs. 'These important reforms are rooted in Labour values, and we want to get them right,' she said. The change in Pip payments would protect some 370,000 existing claimants who were expected to lose out following reassessment. If the legislation clears its first hurdle on Tuesday, it will then face a few hours' examination by all MPs the following week – rather than days or weeks in front of a committee tasked with looking at the Bill. The so-called 'reasoned amendment' tabled by Treasury select committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier had argued that disabled people have not been properly consulted and further scrutiny of the changes is needed. She said: 'This is a good deal. It is massive changes to ensure the most vulnerable people are protected… and, crucially, involving disabled people themselves in the design of future benefit changes.' While the concessions look set to reassure some of those who had been leading the rebellion, other MPs remained opposed before the announcement. The Disability Benefit Cuts Bill has been published. On average PIP recipients will lose £4,500 a year. These are the deepest cuts to disability benefits since George Osborne - impacting 3 million people. This won't create jobs, it will create poverty. MPs must vote against. — Neil Duncan-Jordan MP (@NeilForPoole) June 18, 2025 Speaking before the concessions were revealed, Rachel Maskell said: 'As the Government is seeking to reform the system, they should protect all disabled people until they have completed their co-produced consultation and co-produced implementation. 'I cannot vote for something that will have such a significant impact … as disabled people are not involved, it is just a backroom deal.' One MP said that ministers would need to 'go back to the drawing board' to make the Bill acceptable. Another said they expected the legislation would get through second reading if the Government conceded the key sticking points relating to existing Pip claimants, the health element of universal credit and a policy consultation. 'It would need to be in the Bill, not just a commitment,' they said. Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Sir Keir told MPs he wanted the reforms to reflect 'Labour values of fairness' and that discussions about the changes would continue over the coming days. He insisted there was 'consensus across the House on the urgent need for reform' of the 'broken' welfare system. 'I know colleagues across the House are eager to start fixing that, and so am I, and that all colleagues want to get this right, and so do I,' he said. 'We want to see reform implemented with Labour values of fairness. 'That conversation will continue in the coming days, so we can begin making change together on Tuesday.' There was a mixed reaction among charities to the prospect of concessions. Learning disability charity Mencap said the news would be a 'huge relief to thousands of people living in fear of what the future holds'. 'It is the right thing to do and sends a clear message – cutting disability benefits is not a fair way to mend the black hole in the public purse,' director of strategy Jackie O'Sullivan said. But the MS Society urged rebels to hold firm and block the Bill, insisting any Government offer to water down the reforms would amount to 'kicking the can down the road and delaying an inevitable disaster'. Head of campaigns at the charity, Charlotte Gill, said: 'We urge MPs not to be swayed by these last-ditch attempts to force through a harmful Bill with supposed concessions. 'The only way to avoid a catastrophe today and in the future is to stop the cuts altogether by halting the Bill in its tracks.' Recommended reading: Labour MPs rebel over DWP disability benefits cuts HMRC urging parents to claim £2,000 tax-free childcare Child Trust Funds worth £1.4bn in unclaimed accounts The Tories described concessions as 'the latest in a growing list of screeching U-turns' from the Government. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: 'Under pressure from his own MPs, Starmer has made another completely unfunded spending commitment. 'Labour's welfare chaos will cost hardworking taxpayers. 'We can't afford Labour.'
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israel says Iran's Supreme Leader avoided assassination by going underground
(Reuters) -Israel would have killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were it possible during the countries' 12-day war, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday. "I estimate that if Khamenei had been in our sights, we would have taken him out," Katz said in the interview with Israel's Kan public television. "But Khamenei understood this, went underground to very great depths, and broke off contacts with the commanders who replaced those commanders who were eliminated, so it wasn't realistic in the end," he said. Israel killed several top Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists on June 13 at the start of the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump had both suggested at various times during the air war that Khamenei's life could be in danger as regime change could be a result of the war that ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on Tuesday.
Bloomberg
40 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Iran Dismisses US Claim of Nuclear Talks Resuming Next Week
Iran denied that nuclear talks with the US are scheduled to resume, diminishing prospects for diplomacy after President Donald Trump suggested a deal could come as early as next week. 'I say explicitly that no agreement, arrangement or discussion has taken place regarding the initiation of new negotiations,' Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with state TV late Thursday. 'Some of the speculation about the resumption of negotiations should not be taken seriously.'
