“Keir Starmer is preparing to set out a timetable for his departure from No 10 this week after Andy Burnham’s triumphant return to Westminster in the Makerfield byelection,” The Observer reports.

“The prime minister is understood to have reached the conclusion that his position is no longer tenable after conversations in recent days with cabinet ministers, Downing Street advisers, trade union leaders, and party donors.”

“Although Starmer is spending the weekend talking his future over with his wife, Victoria, at Chequers before making a final decision, senior Labour figures believe a ‘clear statement’ could come as early as Monday.”

Bloomberg: Is Andy Burnham the UK’s next Prime Minister.

“The U.S. has unleashed more than 1,000 sanctions on Iran over the last 18 months as part of its wider campaign to squeeze Tehran into submission,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Iran’s ability to withstand those sanctions so far exposes a hard fact for Washington: Economic pressure has largely failed to cow rogue regimes, as they game out more ways to sidestep U.S. restrictions.”

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni called on President Donald Trump to end his “constant, unprovoked attacks” on her character, The Wrap reports. 

Said Meloni: “President Trump, these constant, unprovoked attacks are senseless. As for my popularity, being your friend certainly has not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you.”

“Ukraine is pounding Russian oil refineries with long-range drone strikes, leading to restrictions on fuel sales, surging gasoline prices and huge lines of cars outside gas stations hundreds of miles from the front lines,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

President Trump threatened to impose U.S. tolls in the Strait of Hormuz if a final deal with Iran isn’t reached in 60 days, saying the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East,” Associated Press reports.

“After a cease-fire was announced in Lebanon on Friday afternoon, the sixth such effort in a matter of weeks, little had changed 24 hours later as the truce once again devolved into more Israeli strikes and Hezbollah fire,” the New York Times reports.

“Israel pounded towns and villages across southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least seven people and wounding more than a dozen, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.”

“President Donald Trump and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni traded barbs for a second day in an unprecedented blowout between the two countries’ leaders,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Trump: “Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her ‘numbers up.’ No thanks!!!”

Said Meloni: “Italy remains a sovereign nation. In any case, my popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on yours.”

New York Post: Italian PM claps back at Trump for ‘senseless’ verbal attacks, slams prez’s political popularity as feud escalates.

“Rahm Emanuel attacked Donald Trump’s ceasefire deal with Iran, claiming the US president “just got schooled” hours after the Revolutionary Guards announced they were closing the Strait of Hormuz,” the Financial Times reports.

Said Emanuel: “While the president thinks he wrote a book called The Art of the Deal, they’re going to teach him a lesson — which is the Persian lesson, the art of the negotiation. And he just got schooled, unbelievably.”

“Vice President JD Vance left for Switzerland for talks with top Iranian officials, after fighting in southern Lebanon delayed the negotiations and prompted Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic again,” Bloomberg reports.

“Vance departed from Washington shortly after Pakistan said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and military chief Asim Munir would attend the meeting, bringing two key mediators to the table.”

Said Vance: “I can only be there for a day or two. I think we’re going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue.”

NewsNation: US, Iran to begin new round of peace talks as Israel strikes Lebanon.

Politico: “Cotton, the No. 3 Senate Republican and Intelligence Committee chair, is not alone among GOP defense hawks in finding himself in an awkward position more than a decade after lambasting President Barack Obama’s Iran deal.”

“But the combination of his prior ferocity toward the Iranian regime and his current leadership responsibilities have put him into an especially tight spot as President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance sell their 14-point “memorandum of understanding” to skeptical Republicans.”

“Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer is sounding out his future with his Cabinet after Andy Burnham’s win in the Makerfield by-election put the two Labour politicians on a collision course,” Politico reports.

“The assessments he’s received back have been grim.”

Bloomberg: Starmer tests his cabinet’s loyalty after Burnham victory.