LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Saturday that he is abandoning a contentious Conservative policy of deporting asylum-seekers to Rwanda, promising to fulfill the voters’ mandate for reform, though he warned that it would take time.

“The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started,” Starmer stated at his first press conference. “It has never functioned as a deterrent. “Almost the opposite.”

Starmer told reporters in a wood-paneled chamber at 10 Downing St. that he was “restless for change,” but refused to say when Britons would see changes in their standard of life or public services. His Labour Party inflicted the most devastating blow to the Conservatives in their two-century history on Friday, winning by a landslide on a program of change.

New UK Prime Minister Starmer Says Controversial Rwanda Deportation Plan Is ‘Dead And Buried’

The 30-minute question-and-answer session came after his first Cabinet meeting. His new government faces the daunting task of addressing a slew of internal issues while also winning over a population weary of years of austerity, political upheaval, and a wounded economy.

“We have a huge amount of work to do, so let’s get started,” Starmer said as he welcomed the new ministers to the table at 10 Downing Street. He stated it had been the greatest honor of his life to be asked by King Charles III to form a government in a ceremony that officially promoted him to prime minister.

Among the challenges they face are reviving a stagnant economy, repairing a failing healthcare system, and rebuilding faith in government.

“Just because Labour won a big landslide doesn’t mean that all of the problems that the Conservative government has faced have gone away,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London.

In his first words as prime minister Friday after the “kissing of hands” ceremony with Charles at Buckingham Palace, Starmer said he would go to work right once but warned that results would take time.

“Changing a country is not as simple as flipping a switch,” he remarked as ecstatic fans cheered him outside his new official residence at 10 Downing Street. “It’ll take a while. But there is little doubt that the job of change begins immediately.”

Following the six-week campaign, he will have a hectic schedule, traveling to each of the four nations of the United Kingdom—England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland—that he claims voted for Labour.

He will next go to Washington for a NATO meeting on Tuesday before hosting the European Political Community conference on July 18, the day following Parliament’s official opening and the King’s Speech, which outlines the new government’s agenda.

Starmer singled out several major issues on Friday, including fixing the revered but crippled National Health Service and securing its borders, alluding to a larger global issue of absorbing an influx of migrants fleeing war, poverty, drought, heat waves, and floods caused by climate change.

Conservatives struggled to slow the flood of migrants crossing the English Channel, failing to keep ex-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s promise to “stop the boats” that led to the contentious Rwanda plan.

Starmer’s decision on what he dubbed the Rwanda “gimmick” was widely predicted given that he had previously stated that he would not carry out the plan, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars and had never taken flight.

It’s unclear what Starmer would do differently to address the same situation, which saw a record number of refugees arrive on shore in the first six months of the year.

“Labour is going to need to find a solution to the small boats coming across the channel,” Bale told the crowd. “It’s going to have to come up with other solutions to deal with that particular problem.”

New UK Prime Minister Starmer Says Controversial Rwanda Deportation Plan Is ‘Dead And Buried’

Suella Braverman, a Conservative hardliner on immigration who could replace Sunak as party leader, slammed Starmer’s decision to dissolve the Rwanda accord.

“Years of hard work, acts of Parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked,” she tweeted on Saturday. “There are big problems on the horizon which will be I’m afraid caused by Keir Starmer.”

Starmer’s Cabinet is also going to work.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy was to go on his first international trip Saturday, meeting counterparts in Germany, Poland, and Sweden to emphasise the importance of their partnership.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would resume talks with NHS physicians at the start of their careers next week after they launched a series of multi-day strikes. The wage conflict has exacerbated the NHS’s high wait times, which have become a defining feature of its issues.

SOURCE – (AP)

On Thursday, Patrick Bertoletti a 39-yearold Chicago native chocked down 58 hotdogs in 10-minutes to win his men’s title at the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest.  While reigning champion Miki Sudo set a new world record of 51 hotdogs to win her tenth victory in the women’s tournament.

The current men’s champion, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, who has won 16 of the last 17 events, opted not to attend this years Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July event due to a disagreement with his sponsor.  Instead he competed later in the day against four soldiers at a U.S. Army base in El Paso, Texas, where he wolfed down 57 hot dogs in five minutes, AP reported.

The 39-year-old Chicagoan Bertoletti beat out thirteen international rivals in a close 10-minute race in which the lead changed hands multiple times. He claimed to have trained for the event for three months with “an urgency” and shed pounds in the belief that he could win.

According to Bertoletti, “I knew I had a shot” when Joey was not present. “I found a way to open something, but I have no idea what it was.”

At the annual Independence Day festival on New York’s Coney Island, a beachside attraction featuring amusement parks and summer atmosphere, Bertoletti shattered his previous record of 55 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

New World Record Set

Earlier, in the women’s division, 38-year-old Florida dental hygiene student Sudo maintained her dominant performance and set a new record, following her successful consumption of 39 1/2 hot dogs in 2023.

“I’m just happy to call this mine for another year,” Sudo remarked after winning the pink belt.

Mayoi Ebihara of Japan, a 28-year-old participant, finished second after devouring 37 hot dogs, but Sudo still managed to overcome 13 of her rivals. She finished in second place in 2023 as well.

In the men’s division, Sudo consumed more hot dogs than her competitor, Nicholas Wehry, a former Florida bodybuilder. Wehry ate 46 hot dogs. This is the first time since 2015 that the prestigious mustard belt has not gone to Chestnut; Bertoletti does it.

Every year, thousands of people gather outside the original Nathan’s on Coney Island for the event, with some donning foam hot dog hats. Even without Chestnut, the event drew a large crowd, according to Rich Shea, CEO of Major League Eating, who organized the gathering.

According to him, the well-known eating champion is “just a great competitor, a great guy, a grown man, and a man who’s made a choice not to be here today” (ESPN). Tens of thousands of people are swarming around Nathan’s Famous, which is quite lucky for us. It’s an annual journey. You won’t find a paid Hollywood crew here.

Contestants from around the world

With hopefuls from Brazil, Japan, the UK, South Korea, Australia, and the Czech Republic among the more than a dozen states and five continents competing for the prestigious title and $10,000 reward money, the event was truly global in scope.

Chewing his way to victory last year, Chestnut of Indiana devoured 62 dogs and buns in under 10 minutes. He set the record in 2021 with 76.

An earlier decision to not invite Chestnut stemmed from his sponsorship arrangement with plant-based meat alternative company Impossible Foods, which ran ads on ESPN during Thursday’s event.

Chestnut chose to celebrate the holiday with the military despite Major League Eating’s subsequent statement that it rescinded the prohibition. If the Coney Island contest did not accept his apologies, Chestnut threatened to withdraw from it.

Joey “Jaws” Chestnut downs 57 hotdogs

An Army base, which is not easily accessible by the public, was the site of the El Paso incident. Despite this, a few hundred Chestnut supporters turned out, with some donning hotdogs costumes and one sporting a “Let Joey eat” T-shirt. Out of the four men from Fort Bliss, who consumed a total of 49, Chestnut managed to consume 57 hotdogs.

Chestnut had voiced his concern before the show that he would struggle to perform without the enthusiastic backing of the Coney Island audience. However, he later claimed to have achieved a “record-setting pace.”

Speaking to the Fort Bliss crowd, Chestnut expressed his admiration for them after paying tribute to his family’s military service: his father, grandfather, and brother. “You all gave me a tremendous push, and I’m really grateful.”

Despite the non-inclusion of Impossible Foods’ vegan products in the competition, the company served as event sponsor. Along with Chestnut and officials from the charity Operation Homefront, who assist military families, company CEO Peter McGuinness made an appearance on stage. He gave the group a check for $106,000, or $1,000 for every hot dog consumed.

Source: The Associated Press

People Also Reading:

Heat Waves are Getting More Dangerous in Europe for Tourists

Heat Waves are Getting More Dangerous in Europe for Tourists

A woman from Oakville Ontario say she totally freaked out after she found a black widow spider in a bag of grapes that her husband bought from Walmart a day earlier.

Ginette Guidi told CTV News that she suspected something was wrong with her grapes when she noticed webs all over them, and eventually traced them back to the venomous spider that was crawling across the bag.

While finding a black widow spider in Canada is uncommon, there is one species that migrated into British Columbia and another into southern Ontario according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The CFIA reports that pests — including black widow spiders, scorpions, and iron cross blister beetles — have been found in imported grapes, berries, and leafy green vegetables.

Black widow spiders are distinctive due to their shiny round body, brown or black colour, and two reddish or yellowish triangles forming an hourglass on the underside of their abdomen.

Black Widow Spiders Rare in Ontario

The venomous spiders live in most warm regions of the eastern and central U.S., North American deserts, and southern Canada. While they are rarely found in imported grapes, the presence of the arachnids does not damage or poison the grapes.

“When grapes are harvested, they are carefully examined before being placed into their packaging; however, some spiders may camouflage with the grape vines and escape being found,” the agency says.

“Refrigeration of the product prior to being transported reduces the spiders’ activity, making them harder to detect.”

The black widow spider is not normally aggressive but may bite in self-defence. In most cases, the symptoms following a bite are a sharp pain followed by localized swelling and redness.   Thankfully, in Guidi’s case, no one was injured or bitten by the spider.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time a shopper in Ontario has found a black widow spider in their produce.

Other pesky incidences

Back in October 2023, a customer discovered the hair-raising creature in a pack of green grapes from President’s Choice, although the original poster did not clarify which supermarket chain the grapes were purchased from.

In another case the month prior, a shopper found a dead scorpion in a pack of raspberries from Metro. The creepy critter appeared to be a striped bark scorpion, which is common throughout the U.S. and Mexico where the raspberries came from.

If you find any of these pests in your food, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recommends reporting it to confirm the species. After reporting it, the agency says black widow spiders, scorpions, or blister beetles should be “promptly” killed and carefully disposed of, ensuring that a barrier (such as a glove or a fly swatter) is used between the insect and your skin.

People Also Reading:

Walgreens Plans on Closing Quite a Few Underperforming Stores

Walgreens Plans on Closing Quite a Few Underperforming Shops in the US