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Starmer Is on the Precipice as Pressure Builds for the UK Leader to Resign

Number 10 Downing Street in Westminster as Britain's Prime minister Keir Starmer has vowed to fight any challenge after Andy Burnham's decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election, in London, Britain, June 21, 2026. (Reuters)
Number 10 Downing Street in Westminster as Britain's Prime minister Keir Starmer has vowed to fight any challenge after Andy Burnham's decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election, in London, Britain, June 21, 2026. (Reuters)
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Starmer Is on the Precipice as Pressure Builds for the UK Leader to Resign

Number 10 Downing Street in Westminster as Britain's Prime minister Keir Starmer has vowed to fight any challenge after Andy Burnham's decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election, in London, Britain, June 21, 2026. (Reuters)
Number 10 Downing Street in Westminster as Britain's Prime minister Keir Starmer has vowed to fight any challenge after Andy Burnham's decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election, in London, Britain, June 21, 2026. (Reuters)

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a career-defining decision: step down or fight a possible challenge from Labour Party rival Andy Burnham.

Starmer has publicly vowed to stay in office, but pressure is building as more and more Labour Party colleagues conclude that his time is up. Expectation is growing that he will announce a timetable for his resignation as soon as Monday. That’s the day Burnham will be sworn in as a lawmaker in the House of Commons after winning a special election last week.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said Sunday that Starmer is “making time to reflect on the political realities, challenges and opportunities that he finds himself in.”

“I know he is a prime minister who always puts his country first,” Kyle told the BBC, though he said that reports that Starmer will resign are “speculation.”

Starmer is spending the weekend at Chequers, the country mansion used by prime ministers, with his family. He gave no public hint about his decision, but sent a Father's Day message on social media.

“Being a dad is my greatest joy. Today, I’m thinking about my dad, and the father I am to my children because of him,” he wrote on X.

US President Donald Trump weighed in even before an announcement, linking Starmer's potential exit to two of his recurring bugbears: immigration and renewable energy.

“Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. He failed badly on two very important subjects- IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well! President DJT,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network.

It was unclear whether Trump was responding to media reports about Starmer's plans. The two leaders haven't spoken over the weekend.

Starmer's initially warm relationship with the president has soured in recent months over issues including the Iran war, which the UK didn't join.

If Starmer quits, he will be the sixth prime minister to leave office in the past 10 years, an extraordinary rate of churn for the United Kingdom.

Discontent with the prime minister has been building for months, with Labour lawmakers desperate to reverse the government’s decline in popularity since Starmer led the center-left party to a landslide election victory in July 2024.

He has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and has been hamstrung by repeated missteps, including his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as the UK ambassador to the United States.

Labour is losing liberal voters to the growing Green Party and facing a rising Reform UK, the Nigel Farage -led anti-immigration party that consistently leads in nationwide opinion polls.

Burnham, until this week the popular mayor of Greater Manchester, decisively won the seat of Makerfield in northwestern England in a special election held Thursday. He took almost 55% of the 45,510 votes cast, over 9,000 more than the Reform UK runner-up.

Now that Burnham is becoming a lawmaker, he’s in a position to challenge Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party. Burnham’s acceptance speech left no doubt that he wants to lead both the party and the country.

“Everyone knows that politics isn’t working,” he said. “Everyone can feel that the country isn’t where it should be. Tonight could, just could, be the turning point.”

It’s unclear whether Burnham would face a coronation or a challenge, if Starmer steps aside. Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary last month to protest Starmer’s leadership, has said that he will run in a contest if there is one.

Starmer congratulated Burnham on Friday, but insisted that he would fight any attempt to oust him.

“I will run, I will stand,” if there is a Labour leadership contest, Starmer said. “I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that.”

But Charlie Falconer, a senior Labour member of the House of Lords, said Saturday that Starmer has “absolutely no authority” left.

“There should be an agreed transition process in which Andy and Keir cooperate as to when the handover should take place,” he told the BBC.

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World

Vance Says Iran Conflict Is Not a War, Declines to Offer Timeline for End

Vice President JD Vance speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
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Vance Says Iran Conflict Is Not a War, Declines to Offer Timeline for End

Vice President JD Vance speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP)

US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday said the fighting between the United States and Iran was not a war and declined to provide a timeline for when the conflict would be over, underscoring the challenge the Trump administration faces as the hostilities enter their seventh month and midterm elections loom.

His comments come as Washington and Tehran exchanged back-and-forth attacks this week after a period of relative calm, with no diplomatic talks with the Iranians underway to end the ‌conflict.

The war ‌has dragged down President Donald Trump's approval ratings and ‌driven ⁠up gas prices, ⁠raising the stakes for Republican candidates fighting to preserve their party's narrow congressional majorities in November.

In a briefing at the White House, Vance touted US efforts to facilitate oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranians have disrupted maritime traffic since the war started, crediting Washington's actions with helping to avert a broader global energy crisis.

He pushed back on describing the conflict as a "war," saying the US ⁠has ended major combat operations with Iran, despite renewed ‌fighting this week. He said Washington's focus ‌now was to ensure Tehran cannot keep disrupting commercial oil shipping.

"I wouldn't call it ‌a war," Vance said. "Right now there's no active shooting. I recognize there's ‌been places where this has flared up."

The US maintains more than 50,000 troops in the Middle East. The Trump administration has surged assets into the region, including nearly 20 warships focused on a blockade. In some instances, troops have been deployed for longer ‌than expected and have been pulled from Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

Asked repeatedly about the timeline on the war, ⁠Vance said an end ⁠would require a halt in Iranians shooting at commercial shipping.

"When will the Iranians stop shooting at ships? I think the reality is I don't know the answer to that question," he said.

He also ruled out any negotiations as long as Tehran continued to target commercial shipping.

While the most intense fighting has subsided, the recurring exchange of fire and the lack of a definitive end to the war have kept global oil prices elevated.

On Tuesday, the United States launched airstrikes on Iran, hitting what it said were military targets along the coast in retaliation for Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The sudden escalation of the war has caused a surge in oil prices to levels unseen since July.

World

Russian Attacks Kill at Least 3 in Ukraine as US Talks on the War Are Expected

Firefighters walk among debris at a destroyed pharmaceutical warehouse after Russian drone attacks on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP)
Firefighters walk among debris at a destroyed pharmaceutical warehouse after Russian drone attacks on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP)
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Russian Attacks Kill at Least 3 in Ukraine as US Talks on the War Are Expected

Firefighters walk among debris at a destroyed pharmaceutical warehouse after Russian drone attacks on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP)
Firefighters walk among debris at a destroyed pharmaceutical warehouse after Russian drone attacks on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP)

Russian attacks overnight killed at least three people in Ukraine, local officials said Friday, after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said US envoys are expected to visit Kyiv within the coming days as part of renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war.

The air war between Russia and Ukraine has intensified as the conflict stretches into its fifth year following Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor. Russian forces have relentlessly struck civilian areas.

Previously, these attacks occurred mostly at night — but now they are happening during the day as well. The front line in eastern and southern Ukraine remains largely deadlocked.

US envoys expected in Kyiv

Though US efforts to negotiate a settlement have yet to produce a path to peace, in his nightly address Thursday, Zelenskyy said that preliminary dates have been set for meetings in both Moscow and Kyiv. Ukraine’s negotiating team is in near-constant contact with the US side and preparing for talks, he said.

“They confirmed they will have a meeting in Moscow and another one in Kyiv. We expect the latter to take place in the coming days. This is very important. It is important that America remain actively engaged,” he said, adding that Ukraine is ready for substantive, high-level negotiations.

Russian state news agency TASS reported Friday that American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would visit Moscow first, then Kyiv on Sept. 5-6, though this could not be independently verified.

Speaking with journalists Friday, presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to confirm reports that Kushner and Witkoff would visit Moscow, only saying that the media would be informed if such a meeting took place.

US officials did not immediately confirm the visit.

Kushner and Witkoff last visited Moscow in January 2026, where they met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This would be their first visit to Kyiv.

After that meeting, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov described talks as constructive, but said “that reaching a long-term settlement can’t be expected without solving the territorial issue.”

However, further talks have lost momentum with the White House’s attention focused on its conflict with Iran.

In a news conference on Wednesday, Putin described negotiations as “frozen.”

Deadly strikes in Ukraine

The latest diplomatic developments came as a “massive” overnight Russian attack on the Odesa region killed one person and injured at least five others, including a child, regional head Oleh Kiper said in a post on Telegram. The attacks damaged multiple residential buildings, including two multi-story blocks.

Overnight strikes elsewhere in Ukraine killed two police officers in Dnipro, officials said, while a drone attack in Kyiv injured three people after hitting a residential building.

In Russia, a large-scale Ukrainian drone strike hit the Black Sea resort city of Sochi and the nearby district of Sirius, regional officials said Friday. They said the attack sparked a blaze at an oil depot but gave no further details. Russian media outlets reported two depots were hit, with one fire in Sochi and another in Sirius.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted oil facilities that form the backbone of Russia’s economy, one of the world’s largest energy producers. Growing economic pressure and public frustration have mounted in Russia after months of escalating Ukrainian strikes on refineries and e-commerce hubs that have caused nationwide disruptions.

The barrages prompted Putin last month to decree that the state can temporarily seize control of critical infrastructure facilities if private owners fail to protect them from Ukrainian drone attacks or don’t rebuild them after strikes. Analysts said the move was aimed at forcing companies to pay for their own security and bring damaged assets back into service, despite the cost.

Drone washes up in Finland

Finnish authorities said Friday they were investigating how a Russian-made drone ended up on a rocky shoreline in the Pellinge archipelago east of Helsinki.

Finland’s Border Guard said what appears to be a Geoscan 701 drone, manufactured by a Russian company, was found on the shore. “The device model in question is used by both state and civilian operators, and it is not possible at this stage to determine its intended use or identify the country or entity operating it,” the Border Guard said in a statement.

State broadcaster Yle reported the drone was discovered Tuesday by a fisherman, Peter Kellgren, who said it “was out there in the open sea” and appeared to have drifted ashore from elsewhere.

Geoscan describes itself as one of Russia’s leading drone manufacturers and says the 701 model is designed for large-scale aerial surveying.

World

Trump Envoys to Visit Russia and Ukraine at Weekend, TASS Reports

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner (AFP)
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner (AFP)
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Trump Envoys to Visit Russia and Ukraine at Weekend, TASS Reports

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner (AFP)
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner (AFP)

US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have spearheaded efforts to broker a Ukraine peace agreement, will visit Russia and Ukraine on Saturday and Sunday, Russian news agency TASS reported, citing a source.

There was no immediate confirmation.

Witkoff and Kushner last visited Moscow in January, ‌when they held ‌four hours of late-night ‌talks ⁠with President Vladimir Putin in ⁠the Kremlin, Reuters said.

Discussions on US. negotiators going to Ukraine were still ongoing, and the teams have spoken about September 6 as a possible date, a source familiar with the ⁠matter said.

If they come, it ‌would be ‌their first visit to Kyiv.

"The Russians don't ‌want them to visit Kyiv ‌and are trying to make them change the plan," the source added.

A vast gulf remains between Russia and Ukraine on ‌how to end the 4-1/2-year war, the deadliest in Europe ⁠since ⁠World War Two.

Putin has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine give up more territory, while Ukraine rejects terms that it considers tantamount to surrender.

The last US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in February, shortly before the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran.