Politics
Summer Clothes, Fans, And Raincoats A Shopping Writer Is Eyeing Up This Pay Day
We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI — prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.
Every month, I look at hundreds, if not thousands of products as a shopping writer. And just like in my own time (I <3 shopping).
Thus there are plenty of things on my wishlist that simply don’t make it into my house because, well, I can’t afford them.
Come payday, though, I’m always looking for a little treat to buy myself, which is why this month I thought I’d share a list of my best fashion, homes, and tech finds – on the off chance you’re looking for something to spend your hard-earned money on, too.
Politics
Toy Story 5 Sneakily Addressed A Decades-Long Plot Hole
Though it seems to have divided critics, Toy Story 5 has proven an undeniable box office success. It’s achieved the franchise’s biggest ever opening weekend, raking in over £227 million in the two-day stretch.
We loved the new installment – entertainment editor Daniel Welsh described it as “a return to form for the beloved animated series [and] for Pixar in general, after a hit-and-miss run for the once-untouchable studio”.
And as ScreenRant pointed out, the movie should satisfy long-standing viewers on another front too: it addressed a decades-long plot hole.
Buzz Lightyear doesn’t know he’s a toy for much of the first 1995 Toy Story movie. He truly believes he’s a Space Ranger and tries to contact his Space Command.
But that leaves a problem fans have previously pointed out on sites like Reddit: if Buzz doesn’t think he’s a toy, why does he freeze when Andy (the human owner of the toys) enters a room he’s also in?
All the other toys stop moving and talking whenever a person can see them, presumably so they can keep up their secret activity unnoticed.
But, some fans have argued, if Buzz saw himself as another human, it didn’t make sense for him to maintain the illusion of inanimacy.
Toy Story 5 seems to have given us an answer.
The new movie begins with a batch of Buzz Lightyear toys, all of which (though they’d probably prefer “of whom”) think they’re real Rangers.
Like Andy’s Buzz Lightyear, they try to contact their Space Command and can’t get through. Instead, they end up in a shipping crate in a shipyard.
When a worker gets close to them, all of the toys freeze.
And once they come back to life, one of them asks: “Why did we freeeze?”
Nobody has an answer, though one Buzz muses: “fascinating”.
It doesn’t fully explain the plot hole. But it does address it, and it shows that freezing isn’t a conscious choice for the toys – meaning Buzz probably froxe because he didn’t have any other option.
Politics
The Internet Won’t Let Jimmy Fallon Forget His Conor McGregor Interview
Content note: the following contains sexually violent details.
The host of The Tonight Show brought McGregor on as a guest to discuss his return to UFC.
This comes two years after the fighter was found liable by 12 jurors in a civil case after Nikita Hand accused him of raping her in a Dublin hotel back in 2018.
He was ordered to pay £206,000 in damages, though McGregor denies that he raped Hand, saying they had “fully consensual sex”.
Before the civil case, Ireland’s Director of Public Prosecutions made the decision not to bring criminal charges to McGregor due to insufficient evidence. Two later appeals were dismissed.
Now, fans have noticed that no clips of the McGregor interview have appeared on Fallon’s Instagram page, even though it took place days ago.
A comment under the talk show host’s Instagram clip, which showed his interview with Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney, reads: “Don’t want to post McGregor @jimmyfallon? Why not?”
It has racked up over 13,000 likes as of the time of writing.
In fact, the entire comment section under the McCartney video is filled with references to the McGregor appearance.
“Rehabilitating McGregor. I hope you’re proud of yourself,” a comment reads.
“Jimmy Fallon supports [grape emoji]ists [calling someone a “grapist” is a way of alluding to rapists online] and then hides behind other guests when called out,” another said.
Still more simply wrote Nikita Hand’s name over and over.
Similar responses have been shared under his more recent Trump, “password” game, and Milly Alcock videos on social media.
“I’m struggling to find the clips of the predator on @jimmyfallon Was it deleted? It should be acknowledged and there should be an apology!” an Instagram user opined under his most recent Instagram upload.
Others say they used to be fans but have changed their mind since the McGregor interview.
“We loved you. We thought you were one of the good ones,” a former fan said.
Comments also included the mention of tampons – “Tampon. Surgically. Removed,” one reads.
During the 2024 trial, gynaecologist and forensic examiner, Dr Daniel Kane, said he had had to remove Hand’s “wedged” tampon with forceps.
HuffPost UK has reached out to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for comment.
Help and support:
Politics
The Surprising Way Upper Body Strength Can Predict Your Heart Attack Risk
Eating a balanced (largely Mediterranean) diet, steering clear of stress, and quitting smoking are just some of the ways to help reduce your heart attack risk.
Exercise also has a huge bearing. Studies have consistently found physical activity has a protective effect against heart disease, which can lead to heart attacks.
Adding to this body of evidence, researchers recently looked at the routine heart scans of 1,722 people, mostly in their fifties, who’d experienced chest pain.
Using artificial intelligence to analyse the scans, they found people with greater muscle density in their chest and back were less likely to have a heart attack or die in the decade after having the scan.
One of the study’s senior authors, Professor Michelle Williams, from the Centre for Cardiovascular Science at the University of Edinburgh, said the findings have inspired her to go to the gym twice a week (where possible) and walk for an hour a day.
“It is fascinating that people’s skeletal muscle could be linked to their risk of having a heart attack. The muscles which show up in the scans we used … are principally the back muscles, part of the pectoral muscles (or ‘pecs’) and the intercostal muscles between the ribs,” she said.
“So I am now personally interested in exercises like cycling, planks and pilates, which I enjoy and may have an effect on these muscles. However we need far more research to better understand how exercise may affect muscle density, and how this may relate to heart health.”
The reduction in heart attack risk was witnessed even after taking into account other factors which may increase a person’s risk of heart attack and death, such as age, sex and the amount of calcium build-up up in their arteries.
Researchers said it’s likely that people who exercise enough to have strong muscles in their upper body have a healthy lifestyle which protects their heart in other ways.
What type of exercise should I prioritise for heart health?
The researchers said all kinds of exercise, not just strength-training, can improve muscle density.
The size of people’s muscles was not linked to their risk of a heart attack or early death, which suggests it is the composition of the muscle which matters.
Cardiac rehab physiotherapist Helen Alexander previously told the British Heart Foundation (BHF) that three types of exercise can help strengthen heart health.
These are:
1. Aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, cycling and swimming,
2. Resistance and strength training, such as lifting weights, using resistance bands, doing squats and press-ups,
3. Exercise that improves balance and flexibility, such as tai chi and yoga.
Professor Bryan Williams, chief scientific and medical officer at the BHF, which helped fund the study, said the findings provide “yet more evidence supporting the power of exercise”.
“Every time we move, we are making a positive difference to our muscles, our blood vessels and our overall health, and regular exercise can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by up to a third,” he said.
Politics
Ex-James Bond Casting Director Addresses Search For Next 007
A former casting director on the James Bond franchise has weighed in on the ongoing search for the next actor to lead the series.
However, for casting director Debbie McWilliams – who spent more than 40 years casting roles in James Bond films, including helping pick the most recent three actors to play 007 – there’s one “absolutely essential” quality that would make all three of them unsuitable for the role.
“I don’t want to see any of them as Bond because we now know so much about them,” she told The Independent, insisting that 007 should remain “a total enigma”.
“We want to know as little about them personally as possible, because that’s what spies are,” she continued. “We don’t need to know where he goes shopping or who his parents are, or where he lives. We never want to see him at home.
“And a vital element of the whole thing is his job description. He’s licensed to kill, and we have to believe that he can do that. If you don’t, then you’ve lost the audience.”
She added that the next James Bond should be “somebody who is completely out of the blue”, which she suggested was part of Daniel Craig’s appeal when he first picked up the mantle.
Deadline reported in May that the franchise’s new casting director Nina Gold was keeping an eye on the West End for new talent that might be suitable to play James Bond.
Politics
After Henry Nowak: taking on two-tier policing
The post After Henry Nowak: taking on two-tier policing appeared first on spiked.
Politics
I Tried The New M&S Sweet Dips, And My Life Will Never Be The Same Again
We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI — prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.
Every now and again, I have to try things I don’t want to as a shopping writer. I might not want to, but I do it anyway in the name of good journalism; so you don’t have to.
This particular occasion wasn’t one of them. Without giving you TMI, there is a certain time of month where my craving for anything with even a sprinkling of sugar becomes almost unbearable.
Praise the lord, that coincided with M&S releasing its new sweet dips this month, and I made it my business to try them.

Honey Jane Wyatt/HuffPost
You’ll remember its viral strawberries and cream sando from last year; this year it’s made a comeback in the form of a pistachio, chocolate, and strawberries and cream sandwich.
Personally, that sounds like a bit much. But even better than that, I think, is the fact the brand has now released two new dips to make all your picky bits dreams come true.
And yep, they’re also as sweet and delicious as a girl could dream for.
One of said life-fulfilling moments is a strawberry and cream fruity dip, while the other is a velvety chocolate and pistachio number.
You might be wondering what on earth you’re supposed to dip into them. Well, worry not, dear friend, because M&S has that covered on the literal packaging, too: shortbread, or strawberries.
And dear lord, are both of them delicious. Overall, the strawberry dip is more likely to be a crowd pleaser, because it tastes exactly like light and zingy strawberry jam loaded on top of a cream scone. Mmmmm.
It was also equally as good with the shortbread as it was the strawberries, which was surprising considering that’s basically strawberry squared.
Meanwhile, the texture of the chocolate dip was wholly delightful, however it didn’t taste much of pistachio.
I’m not complaining (because what’s not to love about pure chocolate?!) and it wouldn’t put me off trying it again, but I imagine people who are expecting a full on Dubai chocolate experience might be a tad disappointed.
All in all, though, I’d rate the strawberry one a solid 4.5/5, and the chocolate one a 4/5, and I know I’ll be picking these up on the way to picnics all summer long.
Politics
Migration, borders and belonging – spiked
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Politics
Trump’s Birthright Plans Busted!
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Politics
The House | Greens To Target “Unease About Gentrification” Under Burnham In Manchester Mayoral Race

Councillor Geraldine Coggins, the Green Party’s candidate for the Greater Manchester mayoral race, with recently elected Green MP Hannah Spencer (Alamy)
3 min read
Exclusive: The Green Party remains confident it can move ahead of Labour in the Greater Manchester mayoral race and plans to target local unease about gentrification under Andy Burnham, according to senior insiders.
The election of Burnham as Labour MP for Makerfield in June triggered a by-election in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, with polling day set for 30 July.
Labour has sought to portray the election next month as a two-horse race between itself, with candidate Bev Craig, the Manchester city council leader, and Reform UK’s Sian Astley, a newly elected local councillor. The Greens are running Geraldine Coggins, a councillor in Altrincham.
The government put into effect a change of electoral system from first-past-the-post to the supplementary vote, a preferential system under which voters will cast a first and second choice. Labour sources believe this will boost their chances of holding onto the mayoralty.
While optimism around the by-election has grown within Labour since Burnham’s upcoming coronation as leader and prime minister became clear, the Greens are still hopeful that the “Burnham bounce” is surmountable.
Senior Green insiders say the first week of the campaign has been overshadowed by the noise around Burnham’s ascent to Downing Street, but insist their party’s ground campaign is strong and support for Labour is “soft”.
The party led by Zack Polanski, who originally hails from Salford, believe there is “a lot of unease” among voters about the policies Labour has enacted in Greater Manchester, including “gentrification” and “the role of developers in pricing people out of the areas they want to be in”.
The Greens will emphasise their offers locally on affordable housing, rent controls and a policy of no more money to developers without guarantees of affordable housing targets.
Green figures also suspect that while Burnham is a better communicator than Keir Starmer, the former mayor may not be as radical in government as some on the left hoped. The party will be highlighting demands such as dropping the fiscal rules, public ownership rather than increased control and a concrete commitment to electoral reform nationally.
The Greens will be aiming for first-preference voters primarily, and senior insiders point out that YouGov polling from February showed Labour voters being more willing to tactically vote Green than the other way around.
Earleir this month, the Greens’ former leader, Caroline Lucas, told The House mag that her party would “throw everything” at the Manchester mayoral election after deciding not to run a full-throttle campaign in Makerfield.
She compared the election next month to the by-election in Gorton and Denton in February, where Green candidate Hannah Spencer won 40 per cent of the vote to unseat Labour.
However, Labour sources counter that Burnham has changed the national picture since then and that the likelihood of the Greens repeating their success in Gorton and Denton is low, given they will not be able to target a particular demographic among voters across the combined authority in the way they did so effectively to secure Spencer’s win.
They also point out that Spencer finished fifth in the mayoral contest two years ago, and add that the Green vote share in the wards making up the whole combined authority in the recent local elections showed them placing significantly behind Labour and Reform, as it was concentrated in select areas.
“They’re trying to talk themselves into the race, but there’s no evidence for it,” a Labour source told PoliticsHome.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority covers 27 parliamentary seats, making the scale of the by-election unprecedented in British politics.
The Conservative candidate is Trafford councillor Phil Eckersley, the Liberal Democrats are running Manchester councillor Richard Kilpatrick, and Restore Britain has grooming gangs campaigner Marlon West as its candidate.
Politics
Free speech, identity and cancellation
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