Chloé and Crufts: photos of the day
A standard poodle at Crufts on the first day of the dog show in Birmingham Photograph: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters
F Company Scots Guards prepare for an inspection by General Officer Commanding the household division, Maj Gen James Bowder, during the annual ceremonial inspection of the London Central Garrison and Bands of the Household Division, at Wellington Barracks Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Keir Starmer takes part in a Q&A session at a company in north-west England. Last week the British prime minister pledged to boost UK defence spending to 2.5% of the nation's economy by 2027, which the Labour government believes will also help to grow stagnant gross domestic product Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets the French president, Emmanuel Macron, on the sidelines of the Special European Council to discuss continued support for Ukraine and European defence after the pause in US military aid. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images
American rapper and songwriter Doechii attends the Chloé womenswear fall/winter 2025-26 show as part of Paris fashion week at Tennis Club de Paris Photograph: Marc Piasecki/WireImage
US marines take part in a joint military exercise with South Korea Photograph: Son Dae-sung/AP
Children play in a slum area in Parañaque city. The latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority found the country's poverty rate dropped to 15.5% in 2024 from 18.1% in 2021, with 17.54 million people living below the poverty line. This is a decrease of 2.4 million from the previous survey two years earlier Photograph: Francis R Malasig/EPA
A view of the half moon over the Sultan Ahmed Mosque last night Photograph: Isa Terli/Anadolu/Getty Images
Second world war veterans Ruth Bourne, Marie Scott, Dorothea Barron and 102-year-old Robbie Hall at an International Women's Day event, hosted by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, at the RAF Club in Piccadilly Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA
A US Marine Corps member works on reinforcing the border wall at El Nido de las Aguilas in eastern Tijuana, seen from the Mexican side of the Mexico-US border Photograph: Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images
Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed houses, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Photograph: Hussam Al-Masri/Reuters
Demonstrators hold photos depicting the faces of Israeli hostages who are being held in the Gaza Strip and demand their release from Hamas captivity Photograph: Oded Balilty/AP
Imported iron ore is sorted into piles at the port in eastern Shandong province Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
A member of the media visits the exhibition Space by German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans at the Albertinum Photograph: Jens Schlueter/AFP/Getty Images
Leaders of the Shaanxi province delegation meet during the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People Photograph: Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images
Young men play in sea foam created by record-breaking waves as the outer fringe of Tropical Cyclone Alfred whips eastern Australia Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
The Milky Way in a spectacular display over the Bamburgh Lighthouse in the early hours
Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
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Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Starmer seeking to quell revolt over welfare reform plan
Downing Street insiders said talks were taking place with Labour MPs about the legislation after 126 of them publicly backed a move to block the legislation. The first vote on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill is due to take place on Tuesday and a concerted effort has been launched by ministers to win round potential rebels. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces the most serious revolt of his premiership (Ben Stansall/PA) A No 10 source said: 'The broken welfare system is failing the most vulnerable and holding too many people back. 'It's fair and responsible to fix it. There is broad consensus across the party on this.' The source insisted the reforms were 'underpinned by… Labour values'. They said: 'Delivering fundamental change is not easy, and we all want to get it right, so of course we're talking to colleagues about the Bill and the changes it will bring, we want to start delivering this together on Tuesday.' Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said talks between backbenchers and the Government were 'ongoing' as six more Labour MPs added their names to the rebel amendment that would halt the legislation in its tracks. The reasoned amendment argues that disabled people have not been properly consulted and further scrutiny of the changes is needed. Angela Rayner sought to reassure backbenchers on Wednesday (Andrew Milligan/PA) The new signatories include the Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee chairman Toby Perkins, Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Gareth Snell, Newcastle upon Tyne MP Mary Glindon and Tamworth MP Sarah Edwards. North Ayrshire and Arran MP Irene Campbell and Colchester MP Pam Cox, both of whom won their seats in the party's 2024 landslide election victory, have also added their names. The new names take the total number of Labour backbenchers supporting the amendment, tabled by Treasury Select Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier, to 126. The plans restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability payment in England, and limit the sickness-related element of universal credit. The Government hopes the changes will get more people back into work and save up to £5 billion a year. Existing claimants will be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support, a move seen as a bid to head off opposition by aiming to soften the impact of the changes. But the fact so many Labour MPs are prepared to put their names to the 'reasoned amendment' calling for a change of course shows how entrenched the opposition remains. One backbencher preparing to vote against the Bill told the PA news agency: 'A lot of people have been saying they're upset about this for months. 'To leave it until a few days before the vote, it's not a very good way of running the country. 'It's not very grown-up.' They said that minor concessions would not be enough, warning: 'I don't think you can tinker with this. They need to go back to the drawing board.' The Daily Telegraph reported that potential concessions being considered include a commitment to speed up payment of support to help people back into work and offering assurances that reviews of policies in this area will be published. Meanwhile, The Times reported some MPs opposed to the plans had blamed Sir Keir's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and suggested the time had come for 'regime change' in Downing Street. Other senior Labour figures outside Parliament, including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, have publicly expressed their opposition to the plans. Meanwhile, the Tories seem unlikely to lend the Government their support, with leader Kemi Badenoch setting out conditions for doing so, including a commitment to rule out tax rises in the autumn budget and further cut to the benefits bill.
Western Telegraph
an hour ago
- Western Telegraph
Starmer seeking to quell revolt over welfare reform plan
Downing Street insiders said talks were taking place with Labour MPs about the legislation after 126 of them publicly backed a move to block the legislation. The first vote on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill is due to take place on Tuesday and a concerted effort has been launched by ministers to win round potential rebels. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces the most serious revolt of his premiership (Ben Stansall/PA) A No 10 source said: 'The broken welfare system is failing the most vulnerable and holding too many people back. 'It's fair and responsible to fix it. There is broad consensus across the party on this.' The source insisted the reforms were 'underpinned by… Labour values'. They said: 'Delivering fundamental change is not easy, and we all want to get it right, so of course we're talking to colleagues about the Bill and the changes it will bring, we want to start delivering this together on Tuesday.' Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said talks between backbenchers and the Government were 'ongoing' as six more Labour MPs added their names to the rebel amendment that would halt the legislation in its tracks. The reasoned amendment argues that disabled people have not been properly consulted and further scrutiny of the changes is needed. Angela Rayner sought to reassure backbenchers on Wednesday (Andrew Milligan/PA) The new signatories include the Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee chairman Toby Perkins, Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Gareth Snell, Newcastle upon Tyne MP Mary Glindon and Tamworth MP Sarah Edwards. North Ayrshire and Arran MP Irene Campbell and Colchester MP Pam Cox, both of whom won their seats in the party's 2024 landslide election victory, have also added their names. The new names take the total number of Labour backbenchers supporting the amendment, tabled by Treasury Select Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier, to 126. The plans restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability payment in England, and limit the sickness-related element of universal credit. The Government hopes the changes will get more people back into work and save up to £5 billion a year. Existing claimants will be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support, a move seen as a bid to head off opposition by aiming to soften the impact of the changes. But the fact so many Labour MPs are prepared to put their names to the 'reasoned amendment' calling for a change of course shows how entrenched the opposition remains. To leave it until a few days before the vote, it's not a very good way of running the country Labour backbencher One backbencher preparing to vote against the Bill told the PA news agency: 'A lot of people have been saying they're upset about this for months. 'To leave it until a few days before the vote, it's not a very good way of running the country. 'It's not very grown-up.' They said that minor concessions would not be enough, warning: 'I don't think you can tinker with this. They need to go back to the drawing board.' The Daily Telegraph reported that potential concessions being considered include a commitment to speed up payment of support to help people back into work and offering assurances that reviews of policies in this area will be published. Meanwhile, The Times reported some MPs opposed to the plans had blamed Sir Keir's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and suggested the time had come for 'regime change' in Downing Street. Other senior Labour figures outside Parliament, including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, have publicly expressed their opposition to the plans. Meanwhile, the Tories seem unlikely to lend the Government their support, with leader Kemi Badenoch setting out conditions for doing so, including a commitment to rule out tax rises in the autumn budget and further cut to the benefits bill.
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Trump has no authority to delay TikTok ban
The TikTok ban is the law of the land, and Trump's refusal to enforce it is a dereliction of his duties as president. Those who are silent on it should put aside their own personal motives and bring more attention to this fact. TikTok ban is the law of the land Many forget that a TikTok ban was originally Trump's idea, and that many Democrats wrote the idea off as just another piece of his anti-China agenda. However, things have changed. Trump seemingly developed a soft spot for TikTok because he believes it helped him win reelection. Still, in the time between Trump's original stance and his change of heart on the issue, a law banning TikTok passed the House and Senate and was signed in 2024 by then-President Joe Biden. The Supreme Court even upheld the ban, against the arguments of TikTok's lawyers. Trump saved TikTok - for now. Guess it's not a national security threat anymore? | Opinion The law banning TikTok does have a provision that allows for the president to delay the deadline for TikTok to cease operations or agree to a sale. Still, the criteria allowing for such an extension are nowhere close to being fulfilled. The text of the ban allows for the president to extend the deadline a single time for 90 days, so long as TikTok is close to reaching a deal with an American company to sell. There is no indication that's the case, and Trump's arbitrary executive orders are flagrantly illegal. Even Trump's guise in refusing to enforce the law - the idea that he is attempting to give TikTok time to broker a deal - doesn't make sense. Nothing would be more compelling for TikTok to sell the app to an American company than the ban going into effect. An app that cannot run is useless to its owners, and their best course of action would be to sell. Trump has no authority to refuse to enforce the law The president does not have discretion over which laws he would like to enforce and which he would like to ignore. Trump's decision to arbitrarily extend TikTok's lifespan does exactly that. The president, along with the rest of the executive branch, has an obligation to enforce the laws of the nation that have been passed by Congress and signed into law. A president's job is to enforce the law, whereas Congress' job is to decide what the law is. When a president can choose which laws he is to enforce, he is deciding what the law is, in a sense. Opinion: AOC howls about impeaching Trump. But president had the authority to bomb Iran. That's why Trump's refusal to enforce the ban is his most lawless action as president. Sure, there's the constitutionality of his deportation schemes and his reinterpretation of birthright citizenship, but those instances had judicial checks. In no other area is Trump as actively derelict in his duties as president without repercussions as he is in relation to the TikTok ban. For all the talk about Trump being a lawless president, Democrats and Republicans have both been relatively quiet about this single worst example of Trump acting as such. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. Republicans should be wary about the next administration of Democrats that comes along refusing to enforce a certain law because they disagree with it, or they simply don't feel like it. If Democrats were the ones refusing to enforce the ban on TikTok, it would be the only thing Republicans talked about. I'm sure that the outrage would be far louder if Trump were refusing to enforce other statutes, such as parts of the National Firearms Act, the tax code, or any other number of statutes that Democrats are sympathetic to. However, because it concerns a popular social media platform remaining in service, the complaints are rather quiet. Refusal to enforce laws is not a path Americans want our presidents to travel. That slippery slope can take us to some very dangerous places. Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.
