World
Starmer’s chief of bankrupt Birmingham council takes video call from ‘holiday in New York’ | Politics | News

Sir Keir Starmer’s handpicked Labour leader of “bankrupt” Birmingham City Council has been slammed for “being on holiday in New York” as Europe’s biggest local authority goes into financial meltdown.
John Cotton video-called in for a series of interviews on Tuesday when it is claimed he was out of the country, the day it was announced a section 114 notice had been filed by the council he leads, meaning it is effectively bankrupt.
All new spending will stop immediately with the exception of protecting vulnerable people and statutory services.
The Labour-led council said in June it faces an equal pay liability of between £650 million and £760 million, which is growing at between £5 million and £14 million a month and which is now estimated to be more than £1 billion.
Sources told the Mail Online Mr Cotton, who is said to have been handpicked by Sir Keir Starmer, was on holiday in the US when news broke of the financial disaster.
Gary Sambrook, Conservative MP for Birmingham Northfield, told the paper: “If anyone wants to see how Labour would behave in Government then look no further than Birmingham.
“Starmer’s man was picked without a vote and when things get tough is nowhere to be seen. Labour have bankrupted Birmingham and they’ll do the same to the country.”
The council also faces an in-year financial gap in its budget which currently stands in the region of £87 million.
Speaking to BBC Radio West Midlands, Mr Cotton said the council would “continue to deliver on essential services like children’s safeguarding and social care, social care for adults, education, waste collection, road maintenance and library services”.
The BBC said that Mr Cotton is not in the city due to “longstanding family commitments”, but that statutory services would continue for the city’s 1.1 million taxpayers.
Issues with equal pay settlements at the council have been ongoing for well over a decade.
In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of 174 low-paid women workers at the council to ensure they were paid equally, which effectively extended the time workers have to bring equal pay compensation claims from six months to six years.
That added to a number of previous equal pay settlements dating back to 2006.
It was estimated at the time that existing and future equal pay claims could cost up to around £750 million, which the council had to borrow hundreds of millions of pounds to settle.
Meanwhile, talks remain ongoing to safeguard the jobs of thousands of staff at the authority, with Unite – which represents hundreds of workers at the organisation – claiming the council’s bankruptcy came as a result of “chronic financial mismanagement”.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Birmingham City Council’s workers must not pay the price for the council’s or central government’s incompetence and financial mismanagement.
“Our members undertake vital frontline services that are essential for the communities they serve and they should not be impacted through no fault of their own.”
The Conservative Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, said promises from the council to produce a plan for how to settle the liability from the equal pay claims had not been produced.
He said: “The city of Birmingham deserves so much better and, truthfully, I am incredibly concerned that citizens – and the services they rely on – have been let down in this way.”
Birmingham becomes the latest of several councils to issue section 114 notices this century, after Hackney, Northamptonshire, Croydon, Thurrock and Woking.
World
Horror Russia-NATO war warning issued by European spy agency | World | News


Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 (Image: Getty)
Russia could be ready to start a conflict with NATO within a year of the war in Ukraine coming to an end, with the aim of creating political division in the alliance, according to Dutch military intelligence service MIVD. The spy agency said Moscow could rebuild enough combat power within a year of the fighting ending in Ukraine to mount a regional challenge to NATO under the most favourable conditions for the Kremlin.
However, the MIVD stressed that a conventional war between Russia and NATO is “virtually out of the question” while Moscow remains heavily involved in Ukraine. Rather than seeking to defeat the alliance outright, the report warned that Russia could instead attempt limited territorial gains in an effort to expose divisions between NATO members. The intelligence agency said this could even involve the threat of nuclear weapons use. The annual report described Russia as the most serious threat facing Europe. MIVD Director Vice Adm. Peter Reesink said: “Russia poses the greatest and most direct threat to peace and stability in Europe, and thus to our national security and our interests.”

Russia is using the Ukraine war to strengthen and adapt its armed forces, according to Dutch intel (Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Read more: Russia fires missiles near Chernobyl threatening horror nuclear disaster
Read more: Russia economy meltdown as industry demands ‘major bailouts’ – £190m loss
The report said the war in Ukraine is part of a wider Russian effort to reshape Europe’s security order and create a more multipolar world in which Moscow is one of the leading powers.
According to the MIVD, Russia sees liberal democratic values as a threat to the Kremlin’s internal stability, giving the conflict in Ukraine an “existential” character.
The report warned that many of the safeguards which existed during the Cold War, including arms control agreements and structured dialogue between rival powers, have largely disappeared.
The MIVD said worsening relations between Western nations have left Europe more exposed, particularly “where rules become blurred and power becomes increasingly determinant.”
It added that Russia’s alleged use of methods below the level of open warfare, including cyberattacks, sabotage and covert activity, creates “a real risk of unintended and therefore difficult-to-control escalation.”
The MIVD also said uncertainty surrounding American security policy could influence Moscow’s calculations.

Russia was reported as having growing ties with China (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite suffering heavy losses in Ukraine, the report said Russia has continued to expand its armed forces by recruiting and training more personnel, increasing weapons production and building up ammunition stockpiles.
The agency estimated that Russia, which doesn’t release an official report on war casualties, has suffered around 1.2 million permanent casualties since 2022, including more than 500,000 deaths.
Even so, it warned that Russian forces have become more effective during the war.
The report said: “The Russian armed forces have not only grown larger but have also become more effective than before the war in Ukraine.”
According to the MIVD, Russia has improved significantly in areas including drones, battlefield command systems and the ability to quickly adapt lessons learned from combat in Ukraine.
Russia is becoming increasingly confident in its ability to strike military and civilian targets in the West because of its growing ties with China.
It said Beijing has intensified military cooperation with Moscow and that Chinese cyber capabilities are now likely on par with those of the United States.
Vice Adm. Reesink said China’s cyber operations are “very capable, and they are organised in a very complex way”, adding “we are vulnerable and we’re not always capable of seeing all the threats China produces.”
The MIVD also warned of a new nuclear arms race driven by China’s expanding nuclear arsenal, weakening arms control measures and rapid advances in artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
World
Trump claims Iran ‘respected my request’ just hours after making demand to regime | World | News

Donald Trump has claimed Iran has listened to his request and called off the alleged execution of eight protesters. On Tuesday, the US President republished on his social media platform an X post alleging Iran was going to execute eight women. In his Truth Social post, he addressed Iranian leaders directly, saying he would “greatly appreciate the release of these women” and suggested the gesture would show goodwill in the midst of a tense ceasefire.
One day later, on April 22, he announced the alleged executions had been called off. He claimed: “Very good news! I have just been informed that the eight women protestors who were going to be executed tonight in Iran will no longer be killed. Four will be released immediately, and four will be sentenced to one month in prison.
“I very much appreciate that Iran, and its leaders, respected my request, as President of the United States, and terminated the planned execution. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Mr Trump didn’t immediately share who informed him about the women’s alleged executions.
On Tuesday evening, the Iranian judiciary denied that eight women were facing an execution.
The judiciary’s official Mizan Online website read on April 21: “Trump was misled once again by fake news. The women who were claimed to be on the verge of execution, some of them have been released, while others face charges that, if convictions are upheld, would at most result in imprisonment.”
The image Trump recirculated on Tuesday was originally created by the Lawfare Project, a pro-Israel organisation based in the US.
Of the eight women pictured in the original post, one had been confirmed by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) as having been sentenced to death alongside her husband.
The defendants were accused of chanting slogans, throwing incendiary projectiles from rooftops and engaging in “propaganda against the regime”.
Thousands of people were killed by the regime, then led by Ali Khamenei, between December and January, when streets were flooded by Iranians protesting the state of the country’s economy.
World
Benidorm horror as two dead after scaffolding collapses 13 floors high | World | News

Two people have died after a piece of scaffolding plummeted 13 floors from a building in Benidorm. The victims, aged 26 and 45, were thought to be working on the structure when it gave way in the Spanish seaside resort on Wednesday morning. A third person reportedly had a miracle escape after being left hanging from the 11th floor in the horror accident on Ibiza Street.
Emergency services rushed to the 18-storey Principality Europe building after being alerted at around 10:48am, according to local reports. The workers had purportedly been carrying out remodelling work on its façade for months, with the project scheduled for completion in just a few weeks’ time.
Initial reports suggested one person had died, and another was seriously injured after the scaffolding collapsed, with the second fatality confirmed later in the day.
The third worker, who is believed to have been left hanging near windows on the 11th floor, was rescued after tourists who had arrived the previous night helped them to safety.
A business owner based near the building said she heard “a great crash” and then “heartbreaking screams”, before finding a pile of “dust and destroyed scaffolding”.
She told Spanish newspaper Informacion that the work had been underway for around a year and a half, describing the incident as “horrible”.
Another passerby recounted “a spectacular roar of iron and tiles and screams” before he saw the worker who was left hanging get “hooked to a railing” before someone opened a nearby window.
Spanish police said a major investigation is underway.
Benidorm has decreed an official day of mourning for the two deaths, with a rally planned outside City Hall on Thursday including a three-minute period of silence.
Video4 weeks agoToday Fast 100 | 01 FEB 2026 | இன்றைய 100 முக்கியச் செய்திகள் | 100 Fast News | News Tamil 24×7
Video4 weeks agoWorld News | ख़बरें विदेश की | 21 march 2026 | Donald Trump | venezuela news | America #dblive
Video4 weeks agoAre we all just watching Trump’s live political theatre? 🎭
Video2 weeks agoWorld News | ख़बरें विदेश की | 11 march 2026 | Donald Trump | venezuela news | America #dblive
World1 week agoChina threatens Trump over Strait of Hormuz blockade: ‘Do not interfere’ | World | News
Video3 weeks agoপেকুয়ায় হিন্দু, বৌদ্ধ ধর্মাবলম্বীদের সঙ্গে সালাহউদ্দিন আহমদ | Protidiner Bangladesh
Fashion3 weeks agoPrincess Kate’s Penelope Chilvers boots have £129 off | Royal | News
Technology7 days agoWindows PC users placed on red alert and told to watch out for urgent update



















