Politics
Fox News Anchor Highlights Trump’s Recent Threat
Fox News is … sounding the alarm?
Shortly after the conclusion of a Cabinet meeting Q&A at the White House on Tuesday, Fox News anchor John Roberts decided to zero in on one very disturbing thing President Donald Trump did: casually threaten to blow up Oman.
During the Q&A, Trump rejected a plan to have Oman and Iran jointly control the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Strait is going to be open to everybody. It’s international waters,” Trump said. “We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it. Oman will behave like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that. They’ll be fine.”
“In the middle of all that — and it really kind of went unnoticed by the reporters,” the visibly flummoxed anchor said. “President Trump became the first American president that I know of to ever threaten to take military action against Oman, saying that they have to behave like everyone else or we’re going to blow them up. I’m not quite sure what that was all about.”
“Let’s go to our senior White House correspondent, Peter Doocy, at the White House. Peter, what were your takeaways from this, other than that not-so-veiled threat against the country of Oman, with which the United States has had a traditionally peaceful relationship?”
Doocy went on to highlight other moments from the meeting, but Roberts seemed to still be reeling.
“Well, there’s no question there is something going on in this town. For sure,” Roberts said.
The State Department seemed to double down on Trump’s remarks about Oman — a Middle Eastern country the US has shared a friendly relationship with for two centuries — by publishing a clip of his remarks on X Tuesday (below). You know, just so the threat doesn’t slip through the cracks.
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Cynthia Erivo is reflecting on the fall-out from an incident that took place at the premiere of the second Wicked film in Singapore last year.
In November 2025, Cynthia and her co-star Ariana Grande were attending the Wicked: For Good premiere when a man leapt over a barrier and grabbed the No Tears Left To Cry singer, before jumping up and down.
Viral footage of the incident showed the British performer stepping in to protect her co-star, which inspired jokes and memes referring to her as Ariana’s “bodyguard”.
However, in a new interview with Variety, Cynthia suggested that these jokes were evidence that society has not yet “come to terms with the insidious nature of how we view Black women”.
“I’m sure people will read this and think, ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, it’s not about that.’ But it is,” she said.
Cynthia continued: “That’s what was being made fun of. It was my physique; it was my shape; it was the fact that I was bald; it was about what I looked like. And because of that, there was this assumption that I was bigger than my co-star and so I had to be controlling or protecting, and that was my role.
“I would hazard a guess that it would not have been the same had it been the other way around.”
Later in the interview, Cynthia claimed that the incident in Singapore put her off campaigning for an Oscar for her work in Wicked: For Good.
She lamented: “I just felt like my humanity had been bastardised. I felt like something I did instinctively had been made to be something that it simply was not because of the way people see women who look like me, and because of the assumptions that are made, and I just didn’t want to be a part of that, really and truly.”
Cynthia added that people’s preconceptions about the second Wicked film being inferior to the first contributed to her not wanting to campaign for an Oscar.
In the end, Wicked: For Good was completely snubbed at the 2026 Oscars, despite the first film receiving 10 nominations (and two wins) a year earlier.
Speaking to Variety, Cynthia also spoke about the impact that the grueling Wicked promotional tour took on both herself and Ariana.
Labour MP Richard Burgon has spoken out against Ofgem’s price cap rise, labelling it a “total con”:
Ofgem’s so-called energy price cap is a total con. Bills are going up again
We need a real price cap that protects ordinary people, paid for through the profits of energy giants.
We need to replace expensive gas with cheaper renewables. And energy back in public ownership!
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) May 27, 2026
Ofgem energy price cap
Reporting on the latest Ofgem price hike, the Canary’s Rose Cocker explained:
On 27 May energy regulator Ofgem announced that it will raise the energy price cap for 1 July to 30 September 2026 by a massive 13%. That’s the sharpest hike in household energy prices of any summer in the past four years.
Bill-payers under the cap will now pay the equivalent of £1,862 a year from 1 July to 30 September for gas and electricity. That’s up from the current equivalent of £1,641 a year – an increase of around £18 a month, based on typical use.
Cocker added that Ofgem is blaming Trump and Israel’s war on Iran for the price increase. It should be noted, however, that while most of us are facing price increases, Shell just saw “first-quarter profits surge by 115%”. It’s a similar phenomenon to supermarkets experiencing record profits as the rest of us suffer record prices.
As Burgon notes, public ownership would improve things. Instead of losing money to shareholder profits, we could re-invest money into the network. We could also stabilise prices whenever an event like the current oil shock occurs.
On this topic, Cat Hobbs of We Own It said:
It is also time to rethink the private ownership of our energy grid. Across the sector, energy companies made £23.1 billion in profits last year, at a time when household energy bills were going up, and families were being squeezed on all fronts. Reinvesting profits that are currently being paid out to shareholders into cutting bills could go a long way to cut our energy bills and save people from falling further into fuel poverty.
Burnham to the rescue?
Many are hoping that Andy Burnham is the man to renationalise Britain’s utilities. The problem is that Burnham’s statements on the matter have been wishy-washy and conflicting:
Andy Burnham says we could have a "localised public control option" for Thames Water
What does that mean? Who is in charge? Where do the profits go?
We need nothing less than permanent PUBLIC OWNERSHIP of Thames Water with households, workers and anti sewage groups on the board pic.twitter.com/0s1OT1mMzz — Cat Hobbs (@CatHobbs) May 23, 2026
As we reported, Burnham has not committed to ‘renationalising’ anything as far as we’ve seen. Instead, he’s talked about putting utilities under “stronger public control”. Burnham also said:
He has also spoken of stronger public control over utility companies. “I use that phrase advisedly. People then shorthand it as nationalisation; it’s not the same thing,” he said, pointing to Greater Manchester’s bus services, which are run by private operators.
When we suggested this means Burnham has no plans to renationalise, he responded as follows:
I’m not doing anything of the kind. Just got to be realistic about how quickly it can be done.
— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) May 24, 2026
How quickly ‘what’ can be done, we don’t know, because he’s still not explained what he has in mind.
Reading between the lines, he seems to be suggesting that ‘stronger public control’ would be a stepping stone to full-on re-nationalisation? We don’t know, Andy — sounds like another centrist half-measure to us!
Hot air
Should Burnham come forwards with a clear plan for renationalisation, we’ll be sure to update you. Until then, we need to keep the pressure up. And this shouldn’t be difficult, because the public is massively in favour of nationalisation:
It’s almost like your average Briton doesn’t like being ripped off by private companies.
Featured image via Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
By Willem Moore
As was the case with season one, the new episodes follow a group of middle-aged friends over the course of one year in their lives, as they deal with the highs and lows of marriage, parenthood, friendship and grief.
Season one was a huge hit with audiences and critics, and judging by the overwhelmingly positive reviews, the second – which reunites showrunner Tina with Colman Domingo, Will Forte, Kerri Kenney-Silver, and Marco Calvani – looks set to be just as loved.
Here is what critics are saying about the second series of The Four Seasons….
“Poignant, hilarious, loaded with a super-sharp script … the second outing for this midlife comedy is even more fantastic than the first […] This is a dark and difficult world in which good men smash up vintage snack shacks, regrets must be lived with, sacrifices made, childhood traumas kept buried, and people who love each other want completely different things.”
“The freshman season of The Four Seasons worked because it was so willing to pull the rug from under the daily lives of a group of fifty-somethings, but season two, which has less wit and seemingly lower stakes, never quite reaches the breezy, banter-filled charm.
“Yet, with several new locations, including the Italian Alps in all of their winter glory, and a group of utterly talented actors whose chemistry leaps off the screen, the show remains a world very much worth checking out.”
Emily V. Aragones/Netflix
“The writing is tack-sharp and the ensemble is full of underappreciated comic performers – Kenney-Silver, for example, has always been great in shows such as Reno 911! and 2 Broke Girls.
“Writers and cast realise that the humour here comes from the group interactions, not just quirky individuals saying funny lines.”
“When it isn’t making you laugh, The Four Seasons will break your heart, only to put it back together again when the clime next changes.”
“The Four Seasons is a love letter to honest friendships, the one constant in life through the day-to-day grind. Making the time to get together even once a season is a needed reset because sometimes, your friends are the calm amidst the chaos.”
Emily V. Aragones/Netflix
“While it can be unbearably gooey and the characters hugely annoying, their dynamic sucks you in, which is testament to the skill of Fey and her co-screenwriters. In life, friendship groups can feel horribly excluding, especially if you are a stray outlier who is not quite in what Jack calls the ‘core group’.
“But the show has fun with its ensemble, pricks at their failings when it needs to and allows you to care. And while we don’t necessarily come to TV for life lessons, The Four Seasons offers plenty.”
“Like season one, The Four Seasons succeeds because it depicts middle age in ways television rarely attempts. These characters carry decades of friendship, compromise, resentment, and love. They care deeply for one another, but that love does not magically solve anything.
“Season two develops that idea even further, allowing grief and uncertainty to coexist with awkward holidays, disastrous flirtations, and the exhausting messiness of long-term friendship.”
“The ‘Core Group’ is not facing traditional midlife crisis moments, and yet that sword hangs over the cast at all times.
“Forte, Fey, Calvani, Kenney-Silver, and Domingo bring authenticity and empathy to their characters, and enrich the screenplays as a result. With fewer stereotypical moments, we dig deeper into these characters and their struggles. The cast is too good to ignore, and Domingo is poised for another Emmy nomination with his sweet performance.”
Emily V. Aragones/Netflix © 2025
“Fey leads the cast of seasoned pros making it all look easy. Standout turns remain Colman Domingo and Will Forte, with Marco Calvani enjoying a well-deserved push to the front. Erika Henningsen slots in well as new mum Ginny, but doesn’t have that much to do, while spiky, eccentric Anne once again takes a while to warm to but gets there in the end.
Fey is her usual persona at first as Kate, the savvy, sarky, capable New Yorker keeping everything and everyone together. However, such is the quality of the writing, Kate doesn’t stay that way for long. In one brief scene, set in flashback during Covid times, Kate and Danny are both sick. With a couple of sentences, a feverish Kate recalls something from her past that changes entirely how we will look at her from now on.”
“While The Four Seasons doesn’t quite reach the emotional heights of a show like Shrinking, there’s still a warmth to the story that makes it easy to breeze through and be moved by along the way, resulting in a vacation I wouldn’t mind going on again next year.”
Both seasons of The Four Seasons are available to stream on Netflix now.
Tony Blair is being rightly slammed for his disappointingly common ‘rare’ interventions into British politics. This time, Green Party leader Zack Polanski had a sharp response:
This country has heard enough from Tony Blair. pic.twitter.com/SIC6hzxFEU
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) May 27, 2026
Polanski was far from the only figure in British political life to speak out.
Blair is “grotesque”
In full, Polanski said the following about Blair’s lengthy essay:
I think it was 5,600 words too many. Tony Blair is a former prime minister who dragged this country into an illegal war in Iraq.
I think it’s pretty grotesque to see him selling the future of our children and grandchildren down the river through the kind of climate delay tactics, talking down clean energy and the security that we need.
I just don’t think this is a sensible intervention in a day where we’re speaking in these extreme temperatures, to have someone who should hold a position of responsibility or a former position of responsibility to be speaking like this.
Polanski wasn’t the only Green to slam the slimy toad:
Whatever world Tony Blair inhabits appears to be one without climate change & where UK temperature record for May hasn’t just been smashed by over 2C. How else to explain his extraordinary dismissal of net zero & erroneous claim that fossil fuels are cheaper than renewables? — Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) May 27, 2026
The idea that “every honest sensible person” agrees that – for example – we should abandon our belief in climate science and drill the North Sea, and that those who don’t say it are all dishonest populists, is just a form of centre-right conspiracy theory. https://t.co/ZAJh0CwqTP
— Adam Ramsay (@AdamRamsay) May 27, 2026
Polanski did receive some pushback from the dead-eyed media shills who fawned over Blair’s rambling right-wing screed:
I’m pretty sure at least nine out of ten randomly chosen punters would agree with the Green Party leader and not the eldritch, night-stalking terror here, but since when did anyone care what they think about anything pic.twitter.com/LffTrU3Gbf
— Flying_Rodent (@flying_rodent) May 27, 2026
And, this is what the man himself looked like when he later defended his call to ramp up fossil fuel production:
really good timing to wheel out this ghoul in the middle of a record breaking heatwave to complain about net zero lmao https://t.co/HfMkXgCPfx
— adam (@resurrecti0ns) May 27, 2026
Media fawning
On 27 May, we reported:
Historically, people in Britain said there is ‘nothing certain but death and taxes.‘ At this point, the third inevitability we can add is ‘disgraced war criminal Tony Blair will stick his oar in, and the media will describe it as an ‘unprecedented intervention.”
You’re not going to believe this, but the mainstream media would spend much of yesterday describing the predictable intervention as being somewhat unpredictable.
how can you be employed as a political editor and write that tony blair having an unsolicited opinion on anything that aligns with his funding sources is 'unusual' https://t.co/Rw1MSDcfP4
— P.G. Chodehouse (@mynnoj) May 26, 2026
Tony Blair: Wow, get a load of AI. We should probably cut welfare somewhat. Also, we should be involved in the Iran War for some reason.
Broadsheet columnist: Say what you like about the man, but the sophistication of his analysis is unparalleled.
— Ben Sixsmith (@BDSixsmith) May 27, 2026
As an alternative, here’s what our analyst William Kedjanyi said:
Tony Blair has staged another intervention, our political analyst William Kedjanyi has read it so that you don't have to pic.twitter.com/posg9Ew5Od
— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) May 27, 2026
Kedjanyi explained:
The most important part of Tony Blair’s essay that he wrote on his website yesterday is arguably what he didn’t say. The ex-prime minister accused the current one of having no plan, but he didn’t talk about a massive issue in Britain: housing—something which exacerbates so many of the problems we are dealing with today.
I thought that was extraordinary, considering the scope of a 5,700-word piece. Now there’s an awful lot to go into, but crucially we have to acknowledge that the lack of housing impacts everything else, and for him to omit it is a very big thing.
Blair really should be talking about this issue too. House prices quadrupled under him, thanks in part to buy-to-let. This left us with permanently expensive housing, because Blair failed to use the housing boom to build more houses – creating a political issue which has hamstrung every PM since.
The shifting centre
It wasn’t just the media fawning over Blair, tbf – there was also the occasional dipshit like this:
Tony Blair is possibly the only person on earth that makes people instantly reach for the dislike button whilst secretly knowing deep inside that he’s absolutely right and no one has come anywhere near his level of seriousness since.
— Brendan May (@bmay) May 27, 2026
Yes, mate – everyone secretly loves Blair as much as you do; it’s not that your supposedly ‘centrist’ ideology is now a fringe belief in British politics.
Making this point in more detail, Scarlett Maguire noted in April that the political ‘centre’ today is not what it was in 1997:
The 'centre' of British politics in 2026 looks a bit different. The median voter:
– distrusts politicians — Scarlett Maguire (@Scarlett__Mag) April 20, 2026
-wants change
– backs deportations
-wants large reduction in legal migration
– pro wealth tax
– pro wage ratios
-anti big-business
She added that your modern centrist also:
-dislikes rhetoric that seems too inflammatory
– opposes Trump
– worries about an unstable world and doesn’t want a leader that makes that worse
– wants to see solutions over political point scoring
This is all particularly notable in the case of Tony Blair, because he literally just said the UK should be closer to Trump.
Yo, Blair!
Blair’s insistence that the UK should suck up to Trump is grim but unsurprising. After all, this is the PM who let George W. Bush treat him like his manservant.
Activist Andrew Feinstein described Blair as follows:
Tony Blair promotes the corrupt, money-grubbing warmonger Trump because he is a corrupt money-grubbing warmonger & believes the world should genuflect before people like him & Trump so that they can kill & loot unhindered https://t.co/W6LWQXRPeA
— Andrew Feinstein (@andrewfeinstein) May 27, 2026
Zarah Sultana said this about the sweaty war monger:
The only statement Tony Blair should be making is a plea of "guilty" from the dock at The Hague.
He is a war criminal with the blood of over a million Iraqis on his hands. https://t.co/bJ8yOylich
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) May 26, 2026
Diane Abbott said:
Blair has no coherent plan for the country. His policy framework is support every US war, cut welfare and pensions, deregulate and privatise, continue anti-migrant policies. Labour has no coherent plan for country, says Blairhttps://t.co/eHMuyhUvgj — Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) May 27, 2026
A hopeless, failed project.
Faiza Shaheen questioned why anyone would ever listen to Blair given the gravity of his crimes in Iraq:
.@faizashaheen: "Firstly on Blair, he should be held accountable for what he did with the Iraq War, when he lied to all of us, I just find it shameful that he can come out & expect to give us advice on anything"
Spot on. pic.twitter.com/YJgBYMcaep
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) May 27, 2026
While many have rejected Blair’s Trumpism the British media is trying to sell it as sensible politics:
this is an insane bit of "saying the quiet part out loud"
journalists & the former prime minister openly saying "Britain is not a sovereign state, our democracy is a sham, and we're all lying to you about it… and that's a good thing!" https://t.co/OcC4naM5PY pic.twitter.com/wyYW3yP7fK
— Archie Woodrow (@SamuraiApology) May 27, 2026
AI
If you’re wondering why war criminal Tony was so enthusiastic about AI in his essay, we can name at least 200 million reasons:
sometimes stuff doesn't need a complicated explainer pic.twitter.com/A9WbEFcyuL
— P.G. Chodehouse (@mynnoj) May 27, 2026
Sorry, make that £257 million:
I'm not interested in any coverage of Tony Blair's views that makes no mention of the fact the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) is bankrolled by billionaire Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle.
From 2021-2025, Ellison donated or pledged £257m to the TBI. Of course he's an AI evangelist!
— Aisha Nicole Malik-Smith (@ANMalikSmith) May 27, 2026
Dan Hodges suggested the essay may literally only exist to promote AI, with the non-AI stuff simply there to attract eyeballs:
Someone just pointed out to me, Blair’s article is actually a classic example of “Client Laundering”. He has a number of major AI clients, and if you read the “essay”, it’s peppered with AI references. So he writes an article ostensibly about Labour, gets a huge response, then contacts his clients and says “See, got a really good response to my AI article. All our top lines are in there”.
Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, said the following:
Tony Blair thinks the answer to this country’s problems is AI, welfare cuts and endless spending on war.
Who benefits? Arms companies and tech billionaires.
Once again, Blair is wrong. The answer is a redistribution of wealth and power and the relentless search for peace.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 27, 2026
Phony Blair
Economist Yanis Varoufakis was among those who highlighted what Tony Blair’s real priority is – namely Tony Blair. In his response, Varoufakis noted that Blair’s “real innovation” was:
the financialisation of the ex-premiership itself. The Tony Blair Institute, fuelled by £130 million from Oracle’s Larry Ellison—coincidentally, the largest individual donor to the Friends of the IDF—became a shadow state, brokering governance contracts for autocrats and companies like Palantir that weaponise AI to produce mega-death abroad and full-on surveillance of Western populations.
Many added to Varoufakis’s argument, including Feinstein:
Blair, who Thatcher described as her greatest achievement because he turned Labour into a corrupt, warmongering, neoliberal party just like the Tories, is a war profiteer & at best a sociopath at worst a psychopath who feels nothing for the slaughter & immiseration he has caused,… https://t.co/ONaDX0AK7r
— Andrew Feinstein (@andrewfeinstein) May 27, 2026
It’s crystal clear Tony Blair does not care about the lives of working class people.*
And, this intervention definitely does not speak on their behalf
He speaks for the billionaire class, vested interests and the status quo with the aim of protecting their wealth and power, much like his great friend Peter Mandelson.
His institute are bankrolled by big tech and corporate interests, not the 99% struggling through austerity, insecurity and inequality.
Completion
We’re going to end with the following from Richard Burgon:
Tony Blair once said: “My project will be complete when the Labour Party learns to love Peter Mandelson.”
That quote is worth remembering given The Times is reporting that Blair plans more interventions on Labour’s future. — Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) May 28, 2026
This is why Blair’s project will never be complete, and it’s also why he will keep feeling a need to intervene.
The only positive in all this is that the backlash against him only seems to be growing with each new intervention.
Featured image via Pool (Getty Images) / Ryan Jenkinson (Getty Images)
By Willem Moore
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has claimed he gets more media scrutiny than Reform UK’s Nigel Farage.
It recently emerged he did not pay council tax when he lived on a narrowboat in London, though Polanski says he is taking steps to remedy the issue.
The politician has also been attacked for not voting in the local elections after he “fell short of time” to update his address on the electoral register after moving to a new home.
Speaking to Sky News, the London Assembly member said: “It’s right that I’m scrutinised, it’s right that I’m asked questions.
“But the disproportionality at which I am scrutinised, and a council tax bill, for instance, that it still turns out I might not even owe, has been scrutinised, compared to the £5 million [donation to] Nigel Farage.”
The Reform leader received the hefty lump sum from a crypto billionaire shortly before he decided to run to be Clacton MP in the 2024 general election.
He then failed to declare the donation to parliament, insisting the money was not used for political purposes but his own personal safety.
Farage is now facing a sleaze probe from the parliamentary standards commissioner.
When Sky News’ Rob Powell pointed out that such a donation was also uncovered due to journalistic scrutiny, Polanski said: “If you compare the scrutiny I receive to what Reform receives, it is incredibly disproportionate.
“In the same breath, I should receive scrutiny as should Nigel Farage.
“Far too often, as with right-wing politicians… we’re talking about £5 million here compared to a council tax bill!”
I think there’s been a targeted smear campaign [against me],” he also claimed.
Polanski later replied to footage of the interview on social media: “What’s really striking about this clip is that I laid out some of the nonsense against me – and why it was disproportionate. Journalist agrees some of it is ‘overcooked.’
“But none of my explanation nor the danger around my personal safety has made the cut….!”
In response to the interview, a Reform source told HuffPost UK: “I can say with some certainty that he doesn’t.”
The right-wing party has often accused the media of being rigged against them, with Farage alleging last year that the BBC has been “institutionally biased for decades”.
Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw announced during Manchester City’s trophy parade that she has signed a new four-year contract and will remain at the reigning Women’s Super League champions. The Jamaica international and WSL’s golden boot winner for three straight seasons confirmed the news to fans as City celebrated their title, saying: ‘I’m still here, I’m still hungry and there’s no place I’d rather be.”
More than goals
Shaw’s decision is a seismic result for City and the Women’s Super League (WSL). She finished the season with 21 goals in 22 games. A haul that directly powered City to the title and underlined her status as one of the world’s most feared centre forwards. Losing her, especially on a free transfer would have been catastrophic for City’s short and medium term ambitions.
City negotiated hard to keep her, reportedly matching and then bettering a major offer from Chelsea, thereby surpassing other high-value deals in the women’s game. The new contract is described as a record in the women’s game, reflecting both Shaw’s on field value and her commercial and cultural pull..
Manchester City director of football, Therese Sjogran, framed the deal as a statement:
We’re delighted that Bunny has agreed to another four years at Manchester City.
We’ve had a tremendous 2025/26 campaign and she’s been a key figure in that success. I’m sure if we also get the result we’re hoping for in the FA Cup final on Sunday, she’ll have played a huge role in that as well.
The stats and awards speak for themselves but there’s so much more to Bunny than what she does on the pitch. She has become a real leader in the team and I’m sure she’ll be a driving force on our return to Champions League football next season and our push to retain the WSL title.
That endowment is important. It signals that City will back their core stars financially and that they see Shaw as the linchpin of the next phase of their project. For rivals, it’s a warning: City intend to defend what they’ve won and they’ve just removed the most obvious route for a rival to weaken them.
The numbers do not lie
- 21 goals in 22 games this season, WSL Golden Boot for three consecutive seasons.
- Four year contract
- Chelsea reportedly offered more than £1.2m per season, which Manchester City matched or bettered.
These figures make the deal both a sporting and financial milestone for the WSL. Elite players are commanding elite contracts and clubs are prepared to spend to keep them. The ripple effect will be felt across transfer markets and wage structures.
What this means for club and player
For Shaw, the new deal buys stability and a platform to chase more silverware and personal milestones. For City, it secures the most prolific striker in the league and preserves continuity as they prepare for Champions League football and a title defence. Expect City to build around Shaw’s strengths; her pace, finishing and leadership rather than replace her with a like for like signing.
Tactically, opponents will try to limit her influence, but City’s recruitment and coaching will now focus on giving Shaw the service and support to keep her firing at the highest level. Her presence helps City to retain and attract other top players who want to play alongside a proven goalscorer.
Khadita Bunny Shaw staying at Manchester City is a win for the club, the player and the WSL. It preserves a championship winning core. It has set a new benchmark for contracts in the women’s game and keeps one of the sports most potent attacking threats in English football. The parade announcement was more than a feel-good moment, it was a strategic coup that reshapes the competitive landscape heading into the next season.
If City convert this momentum into sustained success, Shaw’s deal will look like the defining move of a title winning era.
Featured image via Getty/Lewis Storey
By Faz Ali
The UK has provisionally broken May temperature records multiple days in a row now, the Met Office said.
On Monday, 25 May, we saw a then-record-breaking 34.8°C in Kew Gardens. By Tuesday, we got an even hotter 35.1°C in the same spot; the previous record was 32.8°C, last recorded in 1944.
These temperatures can be tough on our sleep, our lawns, and, as charity federation The Wildlife Trusts told us, the creatures in our backyards.
That’s why they told us gardeners should offer an “extra hand” this week, as temperatures are expected to stay high
Place water out for birds, bees, butterflies, and more
Speaking to HuffPost UK, Becca Smith from The Wildlife Trusts said water is crucial in these unseasonably hot times.
“With rising temperatures being seen across the UK this week and climate change set to bring more heat extremes in the future, every drop of water counts,” she said.
“Giving wildlife an extra hand in your garden, allotment or balcony through small actions can make a big difference.”
You might want to add multiple water sources in your backyard for various animals, too. For instance, bees might fare better in a pebble-filled water saucer that’s not deep enough for them to fall into, while birds might want a full-body splash.
How can I help birds in the heat?
“Whether in a bird bath or small dish, providing regularly refreshed water for birds can help them to keep cool and bathe, but make sure to regularly clean it to prevent the spread of disease,” Smith said.
How can I help bees, butterflies, and insects in the heat?
“Meanwhile, bees and other invertebrates will also benefit from a shallow dish with a few stones in, giving them a safe place to land and drink,” the expert continued.
We’ve written about how to make your own “bee bath” before.
How can I help other animals, like hedgehogs, frogs, and more?
The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWF) said that ponds “support two-thirds of all freshwater species,” adding that some of these, like frogs, can only exist in these environments.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) previously told us that you can make your own wildlife pond using an old washing-up bowl if you don’t have much space.
“If you have a pond, make sure it has an easy entry and exit route so that more wildlife – from hedgehogs to toads – can safely access the water as temperatures rise, too,” Smith told us.
“Elsewhere in the garden, leaving your lawn long and creating shady spots, like a simple log pile, provides vital cool shelters for struggling species. These easy steps can go a long way for wildlife.”
Donald Trump is trying to play it cool with the Iran war by insisting he does not feel any political pressure to hurry up the peace process, experts have said.
The US carried out strikes on Iran overnight, targeting a military site in Bandar Abbas.
Iran claims to have responded by striking a US air base.
The fresh attacks threaten to undermine the fragile ceasefire between the warring countries.
It’s the second time in three days that the US has launched such strikes.
But the US has insisted this is self-defence, while Iran called it a “grave violation of the ceasefire” and vowed not to leave “any act of hostility unanswered”.
The war began when Trump worked with his Israeli allies to bomb Iran at the end of February.
Iran responded by effectively closing the major shipping lane, the Strait of Hormuz, causing oil prices to spike around the world.
This economic impact means Trump has faced intense pressure from international and domestic allies to find an off-ramp for the war.
But he is bizarrely pretending he is not under kind of strain and that it is Iran who needs to make a deal.
As the BBC’s North America editor Sarah Smith told Radio 4′s Today programme: “He wanted to stress that he doesn’t feel under political pressure to hurry this up.”
During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the president insisted Iran is “negotiating on fumes”.
He insisted the November midterms would not impact his negotiations, adding: “Maybe we have to go back and finish it, may be we don’t.”
Smith said: “He obviously thinks that Iran thinks they can run out the clock here, that Donald Trump has less time than they do to get to a position where the Strait of Hormuz can be reopened, because they think it’s putting so much political pressure on the president.
“He was keen to say that’s not the case, and he will take as long as he needs to to get the deal he wants.
“And the US is making it clear they’re not held back from striking Iranian facilities if they think they pose some kind of threat.”
Kirsten Fontenrose, senior director for the Gulf at the National Security Council during Trump’s first administration, also told Today: “Both sides are trying to stay to lines they think will prevent super-escalation.”
She said this was effectively “sabre-rattling with a little bit of active fire”.
Fontenrose said she thinks the negotiations are “stuck” right now.
“There seems to be as many differences about how this war should end within Iran and the US as there are between Iran and the US,” Fontenrose said.
“You’ve got a regime in Tehran which is divided into multiple factions, you’ve got the IRGC opposing any concessions or something even talks with the US.
“You have the diplomats, president, vice-president in Iran arguing in some cases that making concessions could save the regime.
“And in Washington you’ve got the US administration divided into several factions, some saying there should be no deal with Iran, and that military strikes should resume, and others saying the blockade should be allowed to do its job with a slow, sustained squeeze that strangles the regime.”
“The debates that are going on on either side of the negotiating table are just as intense as the talks that are going on between the two sides,” she said.
“It does not look like a deal is close,” she added, despite both countries trying to push their opponent to a negotiation.
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Susan Boyle has really captured people’s attention with an intriguing new social media post.
After wiping her entire Instagram feed, she shared some fabulous new pictures of herself in a full-length fur coat (not the ideal attire for a heatwave, let’s be honest), expensive-looking sunnies and a blunt blonde bob, walking down the street, sitting in the back of a car and, crucially, recording at London’s Metropolis Studios.
She also teased that a “new era starts tomorrow” (adding a cryptic “#ad” in the comments too).
The Grammy nominee’s glamorous new look and tease about her “new era” have already got people’s imaginations running wild, not to mention sparking plenty of chat over on social media.
As long-time Susan devotees, we’ll be keeping a close eye on this one…
Susan, of course, first shot to fame as a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent, with her original audition inadvertently sparking an international viral sensation.
Eventually, Susan finished in second place in the contest behind dance troupe, but still went on to sign with Simon Cowell’s record label, releasing seven studio albums (including four UK number ones), landing two Grammy nominations and setting a new record for first-week sales for a debut album.
“I’m so excited for the year ahead and everything that’s to come. I can’t wait to share it all with you,” she said last month after celebrating her 65th birthday.
Cynthia Erivo is reflecting on the infamous press tour she and her Wicked co-star Ariana Grande took part in to promote the hit film.
Back in 2024, Wicked’s two lead stars went into full-blown promo mode to help plug the movie musical, which led to a string of viral moments and, indeed, a number of tearful interviews.
Reflecting on the last four years, Cynthia told Variety as part of a new interview: “We were holding on by threads, and we were really trying to take care of each other.”
The British performer noted that she and Ariana made a “really conscious decision” early on in the process of making Wicked to have one another’s backs, but during the promotion of the film, the sincerity of their friendship was called into question once or twice.
“It’s very interesting, watching what people’s perception is versus what the reality actually is,” she recalled of the period she and Ariana were being dissected on social media.
“[There were] lots of psychologists seated at home deciding who we were, what we were going through, what we were doing and why.”
“I think that people didn’t really believe that we were actually friends, but that’s also because people don’t know me very well,” Cynthia added, noting that she and Ariana still text one another most days, even with Wicked behind them.
She added: “ I think sometimes, if I’m honest, people thought I was being myself, even though I was green.”
Towards the end of the interview, Cynthia was also asked if she’d ever consider going back to play Elphaba in a third Wicked movie, admitting that she probably didn’t have enough distance from the first two to really offer an answer.
She did, however, claim that it would “take a lot” for her to return to Oz, and that the project would have to “make sense”.
Back in 2024, Cynthia defended the emotional interviews she and Ariana had given while promoting Wicked.
Pointing out that, at that point, the films had taken up “almost three years of our lives”, she told BuzzFeed UK: “We’re still processing everything – and this tour has been a wonderful opportunity to talk about the experience of making it, and the experiences we had together, and the experience of coming out of it.”
“So, yeah, we’ve definitely been emotional, because we’re still deeply connected to it. And I think we’ll always be connected to these roles, these women that we got to play, who I don’t think have completely left, or will ever leave, because they were such a large part of our lives.”
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