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Conflict shows signs of entering new, more dangerous phase as additional 3,500 US troops arrive in the Middle EastUS lawmakers responded to reports that the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, as thousands of US troops assemble in the Middle East and the conflict showed signs of entering a new, more dangerous phase.Officials told the Washington Post that a ground operation in Iran could be limited to raids by Special Operations forces and infantry troops, but it was unclear whether Donald Trump would approve any of the Pentagon’s plans. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Health secretary’s pledges in doubt as analysis shows health service will not deliver key improvementsThe NHS is set to miss key targets to shorten waiting times for help at A&E, cancer care and planned hospital treatment, leaving millions of patients facing persistently long delays.The health service in England will not deliver a series of milestone improvements in its performance that ministers demanded it achieve by the time the fiscal year ends on Tuesday, a Guardian analysis of the NHS’s most recent data has found.The number of people forced to wait more than 13 weeks for a test – well over the six-week supposed maximum – has risen to 139,652, the highest number since January 2024.Based on its recent growth, the diagnostic waiting list will hit 2 million by September next year.While NHS trusts are delivering large volumes of diagnostic tests, the waiting list for them is still growing. Continue reading...

Pontiff’s unusually pointed comments come after Pete Hegseth’s prayer for violence against enemies ‘who deserve no mercy’Pope Leo has said God ignores the prayers of leaders who wage war and have “hands full of blood”, in an apparent rebuke to the Trump administration.The pontiff made the comments on Sunday as thousands of US troops arrived in the Middle East and days after the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, prayed for violence against enemies who deserved “no mercy”. Continue reading...

Donald Trump’s border czar, who oversaw the president's demands to deploy ICE agents to the nation’s overwhelmed airports, was at a loss for words on CNN on Sunday morning as to why the president just didn’t pay TSA agents from the start when funding ran out.With the country’s airports in chaos due to TSA no-showing at their jobs since they were not being paid, Tom Homan filled in the gaps to a slight degree with ICE agents pulled from their jobs, rounding up immigrants off the streets to help out overwhelmed TSA agents and harried travelers.On “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper had to ask Homan twice why Trump didn’t alleviate the problem weeks ago.On his second try, Tapper asked, “But if if President Trump had the power to pay TSA agents this whole time, why only start doing it now?” After a pause, Homan admitted, “Look, I don't understand. Look, I'm a cop, I don't understand the whole, you know, appropriations language, appropriations law. I just, you know, I'm just glad that President Trump is able to pay the TSA agents –– at least that's a start. But again, there's a lot more, many more, thousands more, tens of thousands of more DHS employees who are not being paid that need to be paid.”The CNN host pressed, “Once TSA agents start getting paid, will ICE agents leave the airports?”“We'll see,” the Trump official replied. “You know, it depends how many TSA agents come back to work, how many TSA agents have actually quit and have no plan coming back to work. I'm working very closely with the TSA administrator and the director to decide what airport needs what. But you know, God bless the men and women, right? So they're doing the job, they're plugging those holes or they're keeping the security airport at a high level, again, because of heightened threat.” - YouTube youtu.be