Author: BLMS MEDIA
It seems the local elections may have been Sir Keir Starmer’s Pandora’s Box.Ever since Labour were robustly rejected at the ballot box (losing a by-election, a mayoralty and almost 200 seats), backbenchers have been popping up with criticism of the PM.Over the weekend, multiple Labour MPs put their heads above the parapet – most notably, former minister Louise Haigh who hit out at winter fuel cuts and said they had become a “totemic” issue for voters.Now, another member of the PM’s party is causing him a headache.Steve Witherden, the MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr has launched a broadside against the…
In depth analysis: Putin’s ceasefire may be a ploy – but it’s also a moment of truth with plenty at stake By Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor, in KyivDonald Trump has a soft spot for military spectacles and autocrats.He will be looking on with envy as Vladimir Putin parades both tomorrow in Moscow, with Chinese leader Xi Jinping already in Russia’s capital to join Victory Day events in Red Square. European allies of Ukraine will be watching nervously, wary of anything that could upturn the delicate quest for peace.Trump’s patience for peddling his much vaunted ‘peace deal’ has been wearing thin,…
Today in history:On May 27, 1937, the newly completed Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County, California, was opened to pedestrian traffic (vehicles began crossing the next day).Also on this date:In 1896, 255 people were killed when a devastating F4 tornado struck St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois.In 1930, New York’s Chrysler Building, at the time the world’s tallest building, opened to the public.In 1941, the British Royal Navy sank the German battleship Bismarck off France, killing over 2,000 German sailors.In 1942, Doris “Dorie” Miller, a cook aboard the USS West Virginia, became the first African-American…
Today in history:On May 26, 1940, Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, began during World War II.Also on this date:In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a measure creating the Montana Territory.In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed the Immigration Act of 1924, which barred immigration from Asia and restricted the total number of immigrants from other parts of the world to 165,000 annually.In 1927, the Ford Model T officially ended production as Henry Ford and his son Edsel drove the 15 millionth Model T off the Ford assembly line in Highland Park, Michigan.In 1938,…
Today in history:On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a Black man, was killed when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and pleading that he couldn’t breathe; Floyd’s death, captured on video by a bystander, would lead to worldwide protests, some of which turned violent, and a reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S.Also on this date:In 1787, the Constitutional Convention began at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia after enough delegates had shown up for a quorum.In 1946, Transjordan (now Jordan) became a kingdom…
Today in history:On May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers. The gunman, Salvador Ramos, a former student at the school, was also killed. It was the deadliest shooting at a U.S. elementary school since the 2012 attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.Also on this date:In 1844, Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message “What hath God wrought” from Washington to Baltimore as he formally opened America’s first telegraph line.In 1883, New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, at the time the world’s longest suspension bridge, opened to traffic.In…
Today in history:On May 23, 1934, bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot to death during a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.Also on this date:In 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, aligning with the Triple Entente of Russia, France and the United Kingdom.In 1945, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler killed himself while in British custody in Lüneburg, Germany.In 1984, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop issued a report saying there was “very solid” evidence linking cigarette smoke to lung disease in non-smokers.In 2013, the Boy Scouts of America announced it would remove membership restrictions based on sexual orientation, while…
Today in history:On May 22, 1960, the strongest earthquake ever recorded struck southern Chile; the magnitude 9.5 quake claimed 1,655 lives and left 2 million homeless, and triggered a tsunami responsible for over 230 additional deaths in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines.Also on this date:In 1939, the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, signed a “Pact of Steel” committing their two countries to a military and political alliance.In 1962, Continental Airlines Flight 11, en route from Chicago to Kansas City, Missouri, crashed near Unionville, Missouri, after a passenger ignited dynamite on board the plane,…
Today in history:On May 21, 1881, the American Red Cross was founded by nurse and educator Clara Barton in Washington D.C.Also on this date:In 1924, 14-year-old Bobby Franks was murdered in a “thrill killing” carried out by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb (Bobby’s distant cousin).In 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis monoplane near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 33 1/2 hours.In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean as she landed in Northern Ireland, about 15 hours…
Today in history:On May 20, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which was intended to encourage settlements west of the Mississippi River by making federal land available for private ownership and farming; approximately 10 percent of the land area of the United States (270 million acres, or 1.1 million square km) would be privatized by 1934.Also on this date:In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York, aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France.In 1932, Amelia Earhart departed from Newfoundland in an attempt to become the first…