EU's Kaja Kallas:

Europe wants Syria's transition to succeed. We want Syria to take its rightful place in the international family and we are ready to help turn this into a lasting process.

Our task now is to turn closer relations into concrete improvements for Syrians’ lives.

Andy Burnham:

I will say it straight.

Britain has been on the wrong path for a long time.

Andy Burnham:

Deindustrialization, deregulation, privatization, austerity, Brexit—and what has it given us?

A country run for vested interests, not in the public interest, with power held in too few hands and too many places left to drift.

Andy Burnham:

I am ready to do things my predecessors wouldn’t. I will make a break with the direction of the past 40 years and put Britain on a new path.

Build a new economy and a new politics. That is the case I make to you today.

Andy Burnham:

The British right talk about taking back control.

Never let them forget they are the ones that gave it away in the first place!

Andy Burnham:

I will not rest until we live in a Britain where everyone has a roof over their head every night, and no one is forced to sleep rough on our streets.

Andy Burnham:

We will reform Right to Buy, not taking the right away from anyone in an existing home, but removing it from the new homes we build.

So they are there for generations to come.

Andy Burnham:

Landlords who rent out the worst-quality homes will be given warnings to improve them.

If they refuse, we will make it much easier for councils to acquire those homes, and we will legislate if necessary.

Andy Burnham:

To the millions of leaseholders across the country, you have my word: the days of you being squeezed for every penny are coming to an end.

Andy Burnham:

Go to almost any town across Britain, and you will see plenty of empty homes.

We will give councils the power to take control of them and bring them back into the public housing stock.

Andy Burnham:

Today, I can confirm Angela Eagle will present a strengthened water bill to Parliament.

The centerpiece of that bill will be this: the repeal of Margaret Thatcher’s ideological ban on public ownership of water companies.

Andy Burnham:

One of the biggest barriers to growth in the UK is the cost of energy. British businesses and bill payers pay some of the highest energy costs in Europe.

Within 10 years, I want those costs to be in line with our neighbors. This means reforming a broken energy market so it better serves the public interest. We are already taking more control of our electricity prices with a massive expansion of homegrown renewables and nuclear.

I have asked Miatta to speed up the breaking of the link between what we pay for power at home and the international gas market to get bills down.

Andy Burnham:

We will be pragmatic in relation to the North Sea as we build a bridge to a clean energy future and face the climate crisis.

Andy Burnham:

I realize people can’t wait forever for change, though. They need breathing space now, and I am determined to provide it.

I can say to everyone watching: you will see VAT disappear off your electricity bill this Thursday.

Andy Burnham:

From January, you will be able to travel for the whole of 2027 anywhere in England, paying no more than two pounds for a single bus journey.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz:

Hamas leaders abroad are also in the crosshairs.

Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev held “constructive” talks with U.S. officials in Washington on ending the Ukraine war and possible postwar U.S.-Russia energy initiatives.

Dmitriev, head of Russia’s RDIF sovereign wealth fund, also met with representatives from the U.S. Treasury and Energy departments.

Source: Reuters

BIG: Pete Hegseth plans to cut the number of general and admiral positions in the U.S. military by 20% as part of a Pentagon shakeup.

The reductions apply to senior leadership positions, with some roles downgraded rather than eliminated.

Source: Fox News

Andy Burnham:

I will be steadfast in my support for Ukraine and stand up to threats wherever they come from, whether Russia, Iran, or anywhere.

Andy Burnham:

We will be principled in our leadership in securing a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, as Ed Miliband has shown.