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Deep Dive

What killed Keir Starmer

23 June4 min read
An image of Keir Starmer with wanted for murder posters behind him

Over the past few years, doctors in the UK have observed the emergence of an obscure seasonal ailment: as temperatures go up, leaders go down.

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Latest news
  1. 01

    SPAIN

    Spouse issues.

    A Spanish judge has ruled that Begoña Gómez, who’s married to PM Pedro Sanchez, is now under a travel ban while she stands trial on corruption charges. She denies any wrongdoing but — combined with the PM’s former top aide just copping 24 years (!) for corruption — it’s all piling pressure on his tenure. (NYT $)

  2. 02

    QATAR

    Deadly restart.

    A reported technical explosion at the Barzan gas processing facility in Qatar’s massive Ras Laffan LNG hub has killed at least 13 workers and injured dozens more. Authorities are stressing no sabotage was involved. (Al Jazeera)

  3. 03

    GUINEA

    Golden ban.

    President Doumbouya has banned all raw gold exports with immediate effect, with every ounce now needing to be refined locally before it can leave. (Mining.com)

  4. 04

    BOLIVIA

    End in sight?

    With even President Paz’s pledge to scrap his austerity and privatisation plans still failing to mollify Bolivia’s more hardline protestors, Paz has now declared a nationwide state of emergency for troops to clear remaining blockades. (Guardian)

  5. 05

    CHINA

    Payback.

    As we foreshadowed, Beijing has now hit back at the latest US blacklisting of Chinese tech firms like Alibaba, announcing new rules that block China-origin sales to 10 US firms including drone-makers and rare earths producers. (The Hill)

  6. 06

    FRANCE

    Heatwave emergency.

    Amid Europe’s second major heatwave in a matter of weeks, France’s education minister has closed 845 schools, while another 1,800 have started letting pupils out early. More than half the country is now under a rare ‘red alert’ heat warning after 18 died, with similar alerts now hitting Spain, Italy, and beyond. (EuroNews)

  7. 07

    NEW ZEALAND

    Spooks sound the AI alarm.

    In a rare joint statement, the cyber agencies from the Five Eyes intelligence partners (US, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand) have warned that frontier AI models are now poised to “fundamentally transform” offensive and defensive cyber capabilities. They’re urging leaders and CEOs to treat cyber resilience as an urgent, board-level priority. (RNZ)

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