MercoPress https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2026, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[Burnham’s Britain: what kind of country has UK’s new prime minister inherited?]]> UK will have its seventh prime minister in the ten years since it voted to leave EU. It begs the question: what is it about the UK that makes governing it so difficult at this point in time? By Ben Wellings, Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations, Monash University - When Andy Burnham was handed the keys to 10 Downing Street on Monday, the United Kingdom will have its seventh prime minister in the ten years since it voted to leave the European Union. It begs the question: what is it about the UK that makes governing it so difficult at this point in time?

]]> Wed, 22 Jul 2026 09:26:00 GMT <![CDATA[PM Burnham first day in office “welcomed” by Russian navy live fire gunnery in the Channel south of Plymouth]]> Outgunned but unperturbed… HMS Tyne inbound to Devonport on the evening of 20th July after the incident (Photo: Kevin Kelway / Westward Shipping). In what appears to have been a calculated show of military presence close to the UK, the Russian Navy marked the first full day of Andy Burnham’s premiership by conducting a live-fire gunnery exercise in the English Channel while under close surveillance from the Royal Navy.

]]> Wed, 22 Jul 2026 09:15:00 GMT <![CDATA[Chancellor Healey pledges “UK will meet defense commitments to our allies”]]> Mr Healey said in his resignation speech that Britain should not let down its Nato allies on defense spending as “our adversaries do not follow timetables set by the Treasury” Former British Defense Secretary John Healey, who resigned under Sir Keir Starmer in a row over military funding, is now in charge at the Treasury. Prime Minister Andy Burnham appointed him as Chancellor in a surprise move as he named his new top team.

]]> Wed, 22 Jul 2026 09:01:00 GMT <![CDATA[US readies tariffs on some 60 economies over forced labor, with Argentina among them]]> The proposal, put forward by Greer's office in June following an investigation launched in March, contemplates two tiers US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said his government will announce new tariffs on some 60 economies in the coming days for failing to enforce bans on the import of goods produced with forced labor. "The US has laws to prohibit trading goods with forced labor. Other countries, most of them, don't have a law, and those that do really don't enforce it," he said on Tuesday in an interview with CNBC.

]]> Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:18:00 GMT <![CDATA[Baseless conspiracy theories about Argentina's defeat go viral and are debunked]]> The coach attributed the defeat to the opponent's performance: “We lost because they played better, it's good to acknowledge that.” In the hours after Argentina's 1-0 defeat to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final, social media filled with posts claiming, without offering evidence, that the result was "fixed." Fact-checkers and Argentina's own coach, Lionel Scaloni, moved to dismiss those versions.

]]> Tue, 21 Jul 2026 21:34:00 GMT <![CDATA[US reacts to Ortega's announcement that Nicaragua will hold no more elections]]> “Daniel Ortega's declaration that under his family's dictatorship Nicaragua will never again hold elections lays bare their true authoritarian nature,” Rubio said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Tuesday that his country "will not stand idly by" after Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced that the country will no longer hold elections. In a State Department statement, Rubio called on the international community to "join forces" to respond to what he described as the Nicaraguan government's attacks on the democratic principles of the hemisphere.

]]> Tue, 21 Jul 2026 21:23:00 GMT <![CDATA[Conmebol presses FIFA for a 64-team 2030 World Cup and more matches in South America]]> The proposal, originally presented by Uruguay's Ignacio Alonso to the FIFA Council in March 2025 and taken up by Domínguez, faces strong opposition The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) has stepped up its pressure on FIFA for the 2030 World Cup to be played with 64 teams, which would allow Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay to host more matches than currently planned. A day after the 2026 World Cup final, won by Spain, the body's president, Alejandro Domínguez, treated the format as all but settled in a message on the social network X: "In 2030 the World Cup is coming to Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay," he wrote, proposing to mark the centenary "with a 64-team competition."

]]> Tue, 21 Jul 2026 21:08:00 GMT <![CDATA[Falklands Assembly congratulates Burnham and looks to continuity with London]]> The Assembly reaffirmed the principle that, it said, has been and will remain the foundation of its bond with the United Kingdom The Falklands Legislative Assembly congratulated the United Kingdom's new prime minister, Labour's Andy Burnham, and expressed confidence in the continuity of the relationship between the islands and London, in an official statement issued on Tuesday. The territory's legislative body said it looks forward to working with the new prime minister and his government, and to “continuing the close and productive relationship” between the two sides.

]]> Tue, 21 Jul 2026 21:01:00 GMT <![CDATA[PM Andy Burnham’s first conversation was with President Trump, whom he invited to visit Manchester]]> The Prime Minister also hoped that he would be able to show the President what Manchester had to offer during a visit in the future. Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, shortly after taking office Monday afternoon, 20th July 2026. According to 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister began by congratulating the President on a successful World Cup and agreed that England had an excellent tournament.

]]> Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:16:00 GMT <![CDATA[The Falklands, FIFA and the Future of the British Overseas Territories]]> Members of the Argentine team held up a banner exclaiming ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ (‘The Falklands are Argentine’). By Peter Clegg (*)

I have been researching the British Overseas Territories (BOTs) and their geopolitical relationships for over twenty years, and I cannot remember so much focus on them as there has been in recent days. The FIFA World Cup match between England and Argentina provoked heated discussions over the future of the Falkland Islands (or Malvinas if you are Argentine). Gibraltar has received significant media coverage with the removal of the border infrastructure with Spain. The Caricom Reparations Committee has called for the British Virgin Islands (BVI) to be decolonized by the UK, and new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will likely retain the government’s commitment to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. So, are we witnessing centrifugal forces that could fracture the BOTs’ relationship with the ‘UK family’?

]]> Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:10:00 GMT