British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suffered a fresh setback in his struggling election campaign on Friday (June 7) when he apologized for leaving D-Day commemorations early in order to give an interview attacking the main opposition party.

London

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has apologized for leaving a D-Day commemoration event early to conduct an interview in which he criticized the main opposition party. Sunak admitted the decision to leave the event was a mistake but noted that his travel plans were set before the start of the national election campaign. He emphasized the importance of not politicizing the sacrifices made by veterans and expressed his personal gratitude to them and their families.

During the D-Day events, Sunak participated in ceremonies in both Portsmouth and France but delegated subsequent duties to other ministers, including Foreign Secretary David Cameron. At the same time, prominent leaders such as US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were present at a memorial ceremony.

Facing a 20-point deficit behind Labour in opinion polls, Sunak’s decision has caused dismay within his Conservative Party. One anonymous Conservative politician compared the incident to then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown's "bigoted woman" comment in 2010, suggesting it could be a pivotal moment in the ongoing campaign. Labour leader Keir Starmer, who also attended D-Day events, criticized Sunak's choice and emphasized the importance of being present to pay respects to veterans.

Sunak's campaign has faced difficulties from the beginning, including a rainy announcement of the election. Additionally, the campaign encountered another hurdle when Brexit advocate Nigel Farage announced his candidacy and leadership of the right-wing Reform UK party.



U.K.'s Sunak apologizes for leaving D-Day early to campaign

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's struggling election campaign took a fresh hit on Friday, apologising for leaving D-Day commemorations early in order to give an interview attacking the main opposition party. Sunak told reporters on Friday the decision on reflection was a mistake, but that his travel plans were set long before the start of a national election campaign. I think it's important though, given the enormity of the sacrifice made, that we don't politicise this. The focus should rightly be on the veterans who gave so much. I had the honour and privilege of speaking to many of them and their families, hearing their stories, expressing my gratitude personally to them. But I'm someone who will always admit when I've made a mistake, that's what you'll always get from me. Prime Minister, you didn't care, did you? No, I cared deeply. Then why didn't you stay? As I said, the itinerary for these events was set weeks ago, before the general election campaign. I participated in events both in Portsmouth and in France. You risked everything, and we owe you. Sunak spoke at a British-led event in France, but then delegated other duties to ministers, including Foreign Secretary David Cameron, pictured here with US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a memorial ceremony. Hello. Hello. Trailing 20 points behind Labour in opinion polls and facing the prospect of a huge defeat come the July 4 election, the decision to leave early was met with dismay within his Conservative Party. One normally loyal Conservative politician telling Reuters anonymously, I can't explain it and I won't, adding the choice could become this campaign's Gillian Duffy moment. That's a reference to 2010, when then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown had to apologise for calling a voter a bigoted woman on tape, seen as a turning point in the campaign Brown ultimately lost. Labour leader Keir Starmer also attended D-Day events. Rishi Sunak will have to answer for his choice. For me, there was only one choice, which was to be there, to pay my respects, to say thank you, and to have the opportunity to speak to those veterans. Sunak's campaign got off to a bad start last month, announcing the election under a downpour of rain. This week he suffered another setback when Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage announced he would run in the election, taking over the leadership of the right-wing Reform UK party.

The Paris Olympic Games have officially opened with a ceremony in the rain along the River Seine. Athletes floated along on boats for the parade, while former French sprinter Marie-José Pérec and French judoka Teddy Riner lit the Olympic flame.

Paris

Paris Olympics

Paris Olympics underway after Opening Ceremony

Taiwanese authorities are assessing the damage caused by Typhoon Gaemi. The coastguard has been rescuing boats stranded by the tropical storm. The official death toll has risen to eight, with more than 800 people injured.

Taipei

Cargo crew rescued from Typhoon Gaemi

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Chico

Uncontrolled fires burn across California

Typhoon Gaemi has made landfall in southeastern China prompting warnings of flash floods and waterlogging in areas still recovering from torrential rain several weeks ago. Authorities relocated more than 290-thousand people.

Tsim Sha Tsui

Climate Crisis

Thousands evacuated in China as Typhoon makes landfall

Mexican drug kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and a son of his former partner, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, were arrested on Thursday in El Paso, Texas, in a major coup for U.S. authorities that may also reshape the Mexican criminal landscape.

El Paso

Mexican drug lords arrested in El Paso

Former U.S. President Donald Trump said his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had always been warm as the two leaders met on Friday (July 26), and the Israeli leader said he hoped progress was being made in talks on a Gaza ceasefire.

Palm Beach

Netanyahu meets Trump, says working on cease-fire

A North Korean military intelligence operative has been indicted in a conspiracy to hack into American health care providers, NASA, U.S. military bases and international entities.

Kansas City

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Arsonists lighting fires across France's high-speed rail network have disrupted the transport network just hours before the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Paris, however the attacks failed to stop the event from going ahead.

France rail network attacked before Olympics

Saboteurs struck France's TGV high-speed train network in a series of pre-dawn attacks that caused chaos on the country's busiest rail lines ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but two security sources said initial suspicions fell on hardline leftist militants or environmental activists.

Saboteurs attack French railways ahead of Olympic ceremony

Typhoon Gaemi pummeled towns on China's coastal Fujian province on Friday with heavy rains and strong winds as the most powerful storm to hit the country this year began its widely watched trek into the populous interior.

Fujian

Typhoon Gaemi lashes China after pounding Taiwan, Philippines

Presidential candidates in Venezuela have held their final campaign rallies ahead of the election on Sunday. Opposition leaders are asking voters to oust President Nicolas Maduro, who's seeking a third term. But Maduro has warned the country risks a "bloodbath" if the opposition wins.

Caracas

Final rallies held ahead of Venezuela presidential election

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help reach a Gaza ceasefire deal that would ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians, striking a tougher tone than President Joe Biden.

Washington

Israel-Gaza War

Harris strikes tougher tone on Gaza ceasefire deal

Dolphins swimming coach Mick Palfrey will remain in Paris for the Olympics, after being criticised for publicly backing South Korean swimmer Kim Woo-min. Swimmer Elijah Winnington has defended the coach saying he's a great guy and there's no hard feelings.

Swim coach spared axe over supporting Korean rival

On the eve of the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games, security in Paris is tight and athletes are navigating the risks. More than a million people have undergone screening to access the site of the Opening Ceremony.

Athletes navigate security risks at Paris 2024

Typhoon Gaemi has reached southeastern China after churning across the Taiwan Strait. The typhoon has prompted warnings of swelling rivers, flash floods, and waterlogging in cities and provinces that were hit by extreme rains several weeks ago.

Typhoon Gaemi hits China after pounding Taiwan, Philippines

The Olympic Games are set to officially open on Friday (July 25), with the French government pledging an "unprecedented" security operation to ensure the safety of the event. A force of 35,000 to 45,000 security personnel will be deployed, including 15,000 French military members and over 2,000 foreign police officers.

Major security operation in place to guard Paris Olympics

U.S. President Joe Biden pressed for a ceasefire to the 9-month-old war in Gaza in talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (July 25), with Vice President Kamala Harris due to meet the Israeli leader later in the day.

Biden meets with Netanyahu, presses for ceasefire in Gaza

Counterterrorism officers are investigating after a man was allegedly found with chemical explosives and a knife at a Sydney shopping centre. Police moved in after shoppers heard a loud blast at Miranda Westfield.

Miranda

Man with knife and explosives arrested at Westfield

The Prime Minister is set to unveil a new Cabinet line-up after two senior members announced today they're retiring from politics. Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney and Brendan O'Connor will move to the backbench.

Canberra

Prime Minister set to reveal cabinet reshuffle

A limited curfew is still in place in Bangladesh after days of protests and a police crackdown. Some businesses and government offices are reopening, and partial internet service is being restored in some areas. Police have arrested more than 2,000 people. The United Nations has demanded an investigation of the Bangladeshi government's crackdown on student protesters.

Dhaka

UN demands investigation of Bangladesh's crackdown on protesters

President Joe Biden on Wednesday said abandoning his reelection campaign and endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic candidate was the best way to unite the country and save democracy, despite his ambition to win a second term.

U.S. Presidential Election

Biden says he bowed out to unite nation, backs Harris to beat Trump

On the eve of the Olympics the city of Paris is getting ready to put on a show For the next two and a half weeks the competition will unfold in some of the capital's most iconic sites all prepped for the occasion, while thousands of miles away the French Polynesian island of Tahiti is also getting ready to host the surfing events.

From Paris to Polynesia, final Olympic preparations underway

Thousands of people gathered in North Carolina for Donald Trump's first rally since Joe Biden pulled out of the race. It’s a key battleground state for both sides and the Republican nominee wasted no time in going on the attack against his likely opponent in November, Kamala Harris.

North Carolina

Trump slams Harris as ‘radical’ in first rally since Biden’s exit

In a fiery speech to the U.S. Congress skipped by some top Democrats, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed critics of his country’s war against Hamas as ‘useful idiots’ for Iran, and said America and Israel must stand together.

Netanyahu blasts Gaza war critics, Iran in fiery speech to U.S. Congress

A passenger plane has crashed and caught fire shortly after taking off from Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, killing 18 people, aviation officials say. The pilot was the only survivor of the crash and was treated in hospital.

Kathmandu

Nepal plane crash kills 18; pilot only survivor

Heavy rain from Typhoon Gaemi has flooded the Philippine capital Manila and nearby cities, forcing authorities to shut schools, offices and cancel flights and declare a state of calamity in a region that is home to 13 million people.

Manila

Typhoon Gaemi brings heavy rain to Manila, forcing evacuation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told families of hostages held in Gaza that a deal that would secure their loved ones' release could be nearing, his office said.

Netanyahu in U.S. says hostage deal may come soon

U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris told cheering supporters in Wisconsin she now has enough delegates to secure the Democratic Party nomination and take on Donald Trump. Meanwhile, campaign donations have shot past $100M in the two days since she entered the presidential race.

Wisconsin

Harris slams Trump at first campaign rally

As Paris prepares to host the world for the Olympic Games, homeless advocates are accusing city officials of ‘social cleansing’ after tent camps were broken up and undocumented migrants were bussed out of the city in the lead up to the opening ceremony.

Paris officials criticized for pre-Olympic homeless sweep

The head of the United States Secret Service is stepping down over the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump after days of mounting pressure and criticism for failing to prevent the shooting.