Black smoke signals no pope elected at first conclave vote
VATICAN CITY, May 7 (Reuters) - Black smoke appeared from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican on Wednesday, signalling that the 133 Catholic cardinals meeting in a secret conclave failed to elect a new pope on their first ballot.
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Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Boris Johnson: ‘Feeble' defence budget will leave us at Russia's mercy
Boris Johnson has said Labour's 'feeble' spending on defence leaves Britain at the mercy of Russia. The former prime minister told The Telegraph that Rachel Reeves's claims that defence spending would rise to 2.6 per cent of GDP by 2027 had left him 'very puzzled' and that the Chancellor's reluctance to pump more money into the sector suggested she did not view it as a priority. On Wednesday, Ms Reeves said defence spending would rise to 2.6 per cent by April 2027, but did not confirm whether it would climb higher, as demanded by Nato. 'This is feeble,' Mr Johnson said. 'They [Labour] have wasted a big opportunity. 'My view is that this Government is completely failing to show the leadership that is needed to defend Britain and defend Europe. 'Labour are congenitally hostile to defence spending. Their grass roots are still basically Corbynistas who think Russia is a great thing. Those views are still highly influential in Labour.' At the start of this year, Sir Keir Starmer pledged to send British troops into Ukraine in the event that a ceasefire between the two warring nations was negotiated by Donald Trump. A ' coalition of the willing ' was also established between European nations, with the UK said to be leading the group that would establish a road to peace in Ukraine. However, talk on both of these subjects appears to have gone quiet. Mr Johnson, who was prime minister when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb 2022, and has remained close with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, since leaving government, said: 'What's happened to the boots on the ground initiative? 'As with Ukraine, the way to peace is through strength. If you talk to people in Ukraine or the US, they will say leadership on protecting Ukraine is now being offered by Germany and France.' Mr Johnson also said the Chancellor's increase in the welfare budget was 'out of control' and that such sums should be invested in defence instead. At a summit in the Hague later this month, which Mr Trump will attend, all Nato members will be expected to agree to committing 5 per cent of GDP on defence. Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general, has called for all alliance members to get to 3.5 per cent by 2032 and 5 per cent by an unspecified date. Earlier this week, Mr Rutte told The Telegraph that if Nato nations failed to achieve this percentage, then they needed ' to start learning to speak Russian '. Ms Reeves told the Commons: 'A new era in the threats we face demands a new era for defence and security. That's why we took the decision to prioritise our defence spending by reducing overseas development aid so that defence spending will now rise to 2.6 per cent of GDP by April 2027, including the contribution of our intelligence agencies. 'That uplift provides funding for the Defence Secretary, with a £11 billion increase in defence spending and a £600 milllion uplift for our security and intelligence agencies.' However, Tory sources claimed that by adding the single intelligence agencies budget in with the defence budget, it was eating into what money was left for the Armed Forces and did not account for 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence. 'Labour have taken money from a different department and pretended it was going to the Armed Forces,' one said. However, a Labour source accused the Tories of 'getting their numbers wrong' and insisted Wednesday's announcement was 'not a cut to defence' based on the Nato qualifying spend.
Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Barron Trump's best friend claims he got ICE to detain world's biggest TikTok star Khaby Lame
One of Barron Trump's supposed best friends has claimed he's responsible for getting the world's biggest TikTok star deported out of the United States. Bo Loudon, a Gen Z MAGA influencer who's previously been pictured with Barron and Donald Trump, said he reported Khaby Lame to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Loudon's first post on X came June 6 when he wrote that Lame is an 'illegal alien ' in all caps before proclaiming that he has 'been working with the patriots at President Trump's DHS' to deport the Senegal-born influencer. ICE already confirmed Lame was detained at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on June 6, the same day Loudon made his supposed involvement public. Lame, who has over 162 million TikTok followers, overstayed his visa after entering the country on April 30, according to an ICE spokesperson. He was granted 'voluntary departure', a bureaucratic euphemism for being kicked out. 'Serigne Khabane Lame, 25, a citizen of Italy, was detained… for immigration violations,' the spokesperson confirmed in a statement. 'Lame was granted voluntary departure… and has since departed the US.' Loudon, 18, claimed that Lame was detained at Henderson Detention Center, southeast of Las Vegas proper, though its unclear how long he may have been in custody before leaving. ICE has not confirmed whether Loudon was involved in reporting Lame to authorities. has approached immigration officials for comment but did not immediately respond. Loudon has continued to celebrate his alleged role in the TikToker's removal. He made a post Wednesday afternoon denouncing various media outlets' coverage of this incident, who reportedly called him a 'rat' and a 'rat extraordinaire'. 'Why? Because I helped President Trump's DHS deport TikTok's biggest star, Khaby Lame, for being in the U.S. illegally,' he added. 'I wish Khaby well and hope he returns as a LAW-ABIDING citizen.' Loudon also did an interview with Dylan Page, another popular TikToker who has been the 'News Daddy.' In that sit-down, Loudon said he became aware of Lame's immigration status because 'he had worked with a few of my friends and business partners' who said his visa expired years ago. 'I called some people in the administration and they said "we're gonna get on this right quick,"' Loudon said. Lame is best known known for his dead-pan skits reacting to other content on the social media site. Loudon admitted that he doesn't watch much of Lame's content but said Lame has posted videos expressing a 'hatred' for Trump. 'I'm sure he hates him much more now, which is why I posted "far-left" TikToker,' he said. Lame has not commented on his detainment or his removal from the US and has continued to post videos as if nothing happened. As recently as May 5, Lame attended the Met Gala in New York City, where he wore a three piece suit with well over a dozen timepieces attached to his vest. Loudon, from Palm Beach, Florida, is the son of Dr. Gina Loudon, a conservative pundit and former co-chair of Women for Trump in 2020. His father, John Loudon, was a Republican Missouri state senator until 2008. Loudon and Barron Trump were instrumental convincing Donald Trump that it was a strategic advantage to appear on various podcasts popular with young me, including Adin Ross' show.
The Guardian
41 minutes ago
- The Guardian
MPs call for inquiry into how RedBird Capital is funding £500m Telegraph deal
A cross-party group of MPs and peers has called on ministers to investigate how a US private equity company is funding its £500m takeover of the Telegraph. In a letter sent to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, last week, the MPs said there was a risk of 'potential Chinese state influence' in RedBird Capital. They said the firm's chair, John Thornton, sat on the advisory council of China's sovereign wealth fund and had high-level meetings with Chinese Communist party figures in 2024 and this year. RedBird Capital announced last month it had agreed a deal to buy the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, ending two years of uncertainty over the future of the titles. The MPs' letter said there was 'a lack of transparency regarding the source of the funds behind this acquisition' and that it was 'conceivable, and increasingly likely, that funds could be sourced directly or indirectly from foreign state actors' including China. A source close to RedBird said there were no Chinese state funds involved in the deal. The letter to Nandy was signed by six Conservative MPs including Iain Duncan Smith and Tom Tugendhat, the Labour MPs Alex Sobel and Marie Rimmer, the Liberal Democrats' Christine Jardine and the Scottish National party's Chris Law. The Tory peers Kevin Shinkwin and Catherine Meyer and the crossbenchers Frances D'Souza and David Alton were also among the signatories. They called on Nandy to 'initiate a full and transparent investigation into the acquisition', consider its national security implications and review Thornton's 'suitability in owning and controlling a UK media outlet'. It is understood that although the proposed deal will eventually need regulatory approval, no proposal has been submitted to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) for review yet. Only a commercial agreement in principle has been reached. While RedBird Capital has been in talks with additional investors in the US and UK, the deal is fully funded and not contingent on them coming onboard. RedBird Capital will become the sole controlling owner. The US private equity group is buying the Telegraph titles from RedBird IMI, which took control of the newspapers in November 2023 after agreeing to pay debts owed by the previous owners the Barclay family. RedBird Capital contributed a quarter of the funding to RedBird IMI, with the other three-quarters funded by International Media Investments (IMI), a company owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the owner of Manchester City. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Sheikh Mansour is vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, and concerns over the consortium's links to Abu Dhabi prompted a campaign against the takeover that culminated in the UK government introducing a law in March last year blocking foreign states or associated individuals from owning British newspaper assets. This forced RedBird IMI to put the titles back up for sale. Under the legislation, which is still going through parliament, ministers said they would allow foreign states to own stakes of up to 15% in British newspapers. Subject to the legislation, under RedBird Capital's acquisition IMI would be reduced to a minority stake in line with the new cap. The MPs and peers' letter said allowing the sale to go through would make a mockery of the legislation, adding: 'Those who have invested in RedBird should surely be known before any final sale approval can be allowed.' The DCMS was contacted for comment.
