Author: Henry

The maker of the leading brand of mifepristone has turned to the US Supreme Court in an urgent bid to overturn a ruling that has temporarily blocked mail-order access to the abortion pill. Danco Laboratories lodged its application on Saturday, asking the justices to stay a decision handed down a day earlier by a conservative three-judge panel of a federal appeals court. According to Reuters, the unanimous ruling significantly curtails access to the drug nationwide, with the sharpest consequences expected to fall on states that have already outlawed abortion. In its filing, the company painted a picture of an industry…

The era of the bottomless McDonald’s drink appears to be quietly drawing to a close, with apologetic notices warning diners that free refills are no longer on the menu beginning to surface in branches across the United States. Photographs circulating online show signs in restaurants reading, “We’re sorry. No refills. Thank you for your understanding,” while another, shared on the McDonald’s subreddit, takes a curter tone: “No refills. Thank you for your cooperation.” The reaction from regulars has been anything but cooperative. Furious customers have accused the chain of “nickel and diming” them, with one retort summing up the mood:…

Last week, in a German town most people couldn’t find on a map, Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited a high school. He spent some of his time with the students talking about the war in Iran. He said the Americans had no exit plan. He said the Iranians were running circles around them. He said an entire country was being humiliated.Four days later, the Pentagon announced it was pulling 5,000 American soldiers out of Germany.If that sequence sounds too direct to be coincidence, that’s because it is.Most of the news coverage you’ll read calls this a “Trump-Merz feud over the Iran…

The King has become the first reigning British monarch to visit Bermuda in the territory’s 400-year history, drawing laughter from a garden party crowd as he told them: “I am terribly sorry it has taken so long!” Speaking at Government House on Friday evening, where he stayed during his two-day visit, Charles said it was “to his amazement” that he had only recently learned no sovereign had ever set foot on the island while reigning. Raising a toast, he told guests: “I need hardly say that Bermuda, like all the Overseas Territories, is a most cherished and important member of…

Streeting ‘has the numbers’ to challenge Starmer as Burnham eyes return Sir Keir Starmer is facing the most serious threat to his leadership since entering Downing Street, with reports that Health Secretary Wes Streeting has secured enough support among Labour MPs to mount a formal challenge and could move within days of next week’s local elections. According to multiple newspaper reports, Mr Streeting, 43, has the backing of more than 81 colleagues — the minimum threshold required to trigger a leadership contest. Those urging him on are said to want a bid launched as early as next Friday, just 24…

Spirit Airlines has ceased operations and grounded all of its flights, marking the first complete shutdown of a major US carrier since the days following the 9/11 attacks. The collapse will cost 17,000 employees their jobs and leave millions of ticket holders scrambling to rearrange their travel. In a brief statement issued shortly after 2am Eastern Time on Saturday, the airline confirmed it had begun “an orderly wind-down of our operations, effective immediately”. The notice, posted on a website dedicated to the carrier’s failed bankruptcy proceedings, told customers: “All flights have been cancelled, and customer service is no longer available.”…

A China Eastern Airlines Airbus A350-941 has collided with a jet bridge at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, prompting an investigation by Chinese authorities. The incident took place at around midday on Saturday, shortly after flight MU5406 landed at Hongqiao having flown in from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. Photographs taken from inside the aircraft show the passenger boarding bridge buckled and tilted at a sharp angle alongside the fuselage, with visible damage to its outer panels. Authorities have opened an investigation into the cause of the collision. No further details on injuries or damage to the aircraft have been released at…

President Donald Trump has said he is “not happy” with Iran as the White House faces a looming legal deadline to obtain congressional approval for the US-Israeli war, with administration officials insisting the 60-day clock has been paused by the current ceasefire. Friday marks 60 days since Mr Trump formally notified Congress on 2 March of the strikes against Iran. Under US law, a president must “terminate any use of United States Armed Forces” within that window unless lawmakers grant explicit approval. A senior administration official told reporters that hostilities had “terminated”, pointing to a ceasefire that has been in…

A blackmailer who posed as a woman online to coerce a male teacher into sending an explicit video — before sharing it with his pupils and costing him his job — has been jailed for 15 months. Muaawiya Ameen, 21, of Allenton, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty to blackmail at Derby Crown Court. The court heard that his victim, who attempted to take his own life after the footage was circulated, had been driven to the brink by the ordeal. Prosecutors told the hearing that the teacher had made contact with an Instagram account he believed belonged to a woman, and that…

More than a thousand homes have been evacuated in Plymouth as bomb disposal experts prepare to carry out a controlled detonation of an unexploded Second World War device unearthed at a building site. The 250kg German SC250 bomb was discovered on Thursday at Flamborough Road in Southway, prompting a major safety operation. Following a detailed assessment, Royal Navy and Army specialists concluded that the explosive could not be safely moved and must be detonated where it lies. Plymouth City Council confirmed that a 400-metre cordon remained in place around the site. In a statement, a council spokesman said: “Royal Navy…