The Guardian

Leader of Reform UK on course to defeat Count Binface and an assortment of fringe candidates as polls close in Essex Voting has closed in one of the UK’s more unusual and least tense byelections, with Nigel Farage set for a decisive if arguably empty victory against dozens of independent, fringe, extreme or otherwise oddball opponents. The Reform UK leader sought re-election to his Clacton seat i…

District attorney says Arjun Aravind, 17, used internet and AI to search for fantasy stories regarding killing of his family A Massachusetts teenager accused of killing his mother and younger brother is being held without bail as authorities investigate a double-murder case that prosecutors say is connected to his use of ChatGPT. Arjun Aravind, 17, appeared Thursday morning for his arraignment in…

Longest ballot in UK voting history features likes of Count Binface and Howling Laud Hope alongside Reform leader Polls have closed in Clacton, where thousands of residents in the Essex seat voted in a ballot featuring Nigel Farage and a range of novelty and fringe candidates led by Count Binface. The Reform UK leader resigned as the MP for Clacton at the start of July and forced a byelection in …

Parliamentary committee continues investigation into KPMG audit leaks. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast KPMG has contacted the man who blew the whistle on its audit leaks scandal to apologise, ahead of an inquiry into its failures today. The whistleblower was a KPMG employee who sent an email raising alarm in May 2024, in which he claims he was…

Donald Tusk says it is first time ‘someone on the order of Russia’ has sought to attack US citizen in Nato country A Russian plan to kill a Ukrainian American citizen in Warsaw was thwarted by Poland before it could be carried out, the Polish prime minister has said. Donald Tusk said it was the first time that “someone on the order of Russia” had sought to attack a US citizen on the territory of …

CEO announces measures after reports that system is used to target immigrants or people seeking out-of-state abortions For nearly a decade, the company Flock Safety has gradually built out a network of cameras across the US that allows law enforcement to conduct about 20bn license plate scans every month. In that time, the company had largely left the decision to turn on safety measures up to its…

Defense secretary said conditions on aircraft carrier deployed in support of Iran war have been ‘completely misrepresented’ The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, insisted a wave of reports describing deteriorating conditions and mental health struggles onboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln “completely misrepresented” the situation, pushing back against growing congressional pressure …

Karoline Leavitt’s abrupt departure has sparked a tough race inside Trump’s circle for the prominent position Karoline Leavitt’s surprise resignation as the White House press secretary is set to trigger a sharp-elbowed race inside Donald Trump’s world for one of the most prominent positions in the Trump administration. Several names have circulated since the US president announced that Leavitt wo…

Former PM of Israel calls events ‘concerted and meticulous attempt at ethnic cleansing’ against Palestinians Israeli troops forced two Palestinian families to leave their besieged West Bank homes on Thursday, the day after a top Israeli commander personally promised he would end a violent settler campaign to drive them out. Israeli soldiers also took over eight other homes in Qusra early on Thurs…

About 60 crew responding to blaze covering about 40 acres near Stourbridge golf course Several homes are ablaze and two people are receiving treatment as firefighters attempt to contain a grassfire in the West Midlands. The region’s fire service was alerted to an extensive grassfire near Stourbridge golf course just before 1.30pm on Thursday. Continue reading...

Need for Burnham to tackle regional inequality could not be clearer as London becomes ‘educational outlier’ Andy Burnham has put regional inequality at the top of his agenda as prime minister, and nowhere is the need for doing so clearer than in education. As England’s A-level results were published on Thursday morning, students across the country were pictured celebrating a bumper crop of result…

Kyiv said to have suggested agreement in apparent attempt to reopen crucial grain corridor, according to Reuters Ukraine has proposed a deal with Russia that would see both sides halt their attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea, Reuters has reported, in an apparent attempt to reopen a crucial grain corridor. Kyiv is said to have made the offer via a third party. Moscow has yet to respond, th…

Figures emerge in critical letter to Home Office from organisation appointed to scrutinise detention facilities Nearly 100 children have been wrongly identified and detained as adults under Shabana Mahmood’s “one in, one out” deal with France, the Guardian can disclose. Home Office staff said that of 304 age-disputed cases arising from the scheme over nine months, 94 – or 31% – were ultimately fo…

Kew Gardens in London hits 38.1C and 40C-plus expected in parts of Europe with continent trapped under heat dome Europe heatwave – latest updates The UK has recorded its hottest day of the year so far with a provisional temperature of 38.1C in southern England as Europe sweltered under a major heat dome. As temperatures on the continent approached 40C at the peak of the summer’s fifth heatwave, t…

Rapid emergency response under way after Southern rail service comes off tracks in Lewes area A passenger train has derailed in East Sussex, prompting a rapid emergency response in the area. Several rail routes were closed after a Southern service came off the tracks near Lewes just before 4pm. Continue reading...