Andy Burnham speaks after being confirmed as the new leader of the Labor Party and the country’s next prime minister, during the ‘Special Labor Conference’ in central London on July 17, 2026.
Henry Nicholas | Afp | Getty Images
Hello, this is Leonie Kidd coming to you from London.
The ball may not have come home this time, but Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has a new home.
Keep reading!
What you need to know today
Today, Andy Burnham will enter Downing Street as British Prime Minister.
He is expected to announce a number of policy changes, from devolution to London to an overhaul of the Treasury. But what has been a major source of contention could be his way of using oil in the North Sea.
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to welcome Burnham’s approach to “unlocking” North Sea oil, saying it would take “the United Kingdom from a Poverty-stricken Crisis to one of the Richest Countries anywhere in the world.”
The devil will be in the details, after Labor deputy leader Lucy Powell told the BBC that Burnham would not renege on a promise to end new exploration licences.
It is expected to head to Aberdeen in Scotland to push for re-drilling in existing oil fields, ahead of upcoming decisions on the offshore Jackdaw and Rosebank fields.
Oil drives up
Meanwhile, oil prices rose in early trading on Monday after casualties among US soldiers sparked a new wave of attacks on Iran.
A third service member has been confirmed killed in recent operations. The US Central Command in a statement on X said that it has completed the ninth night in a row of strikes against Iran, and continues to “degrade the dignity of the Iranian military.”
Early Monday morning, sirens continued to sound in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan as Iran began bombing its Gulf neighbors.
There was also an escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow launched its biggest ballistic missile attack against the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, while drones from Ukraine carried out one of the deadliest strikes in Russia in two years.
Boeing is back
Spain’s success, FIFA wins
Rodri of Spain celebrates by lifting the FIFA world cup with his teammates after the FIFA World Cup 2026 final match between Spain and Argentina.
Alex Livesey – Danehouse | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
Another winner, was FIFA itself. The world governing body is poised to make more than $9 billion in revenue by 2026.
Meanwhile, another to emerge is the prediction market Kalshi, which added 3 million new users during the World Cup.
More than $1.2 billion was traded in Kalshi contracts asking traders to predict the winner of the World Cup – a single market record.
— Leonie Kidd
And finally…
Universal and Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Cruises to $124.5 Million Opening
Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” is off to a great start.
Universal’s film adaptation reached $124.5 million in its opening weekend as audiences flocked to large-format screenings, particularly IMAX theaters.
“Death, taxes, and Christopher Nolan,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. “He reinvented the superhero genre, captured the zeitgeist with thought-provoking originals, and turned a three-hour biopic into a global blockbuster. He did it again with a retelling of a 2,700-year-old poem that serves as the basis for what we see as modern storytelling.”
– Sarah Whitten
