A U.S. State Department senior official said the U.S. expects Venezuela to establish a new Supreme Judicial Council before year-end and, shortly thereafter, a new electoral council.

Al Jazeera reports Israel's defense minister said reports of a split between the political leadership and the military over Iran are unfounded.

Labour MPs told Prime Minister Burnham the government’s pledge to revive industry may be hard to deliver because current policies still tilt toward services rather than manufacturing. Burnham has made industrial revival a core priority and pledged to publish a 10-year development plan within weeks, ahead of Chancellor John Healey’s first budget. Labour MPs say progress is slow and lacks ambition and warn ministers have yet to reach consensus on investing beyond urban services. Andy McNair, chair of Labour’s reindustrialisation research group, said a long-standing orthodoxy favours a services-led economy and reliance on cheap imports; he added that while creating manufacturing jobs is popular, government attention remains focused on city-driven GDP growth.