Conservatives expect heavy losses that could destabilise Rishi Sunakas premiership

• Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting photo ID
• Local and mayoral elections: results to look out for and when

The first boxes have arrived at the count in Blackpool South, Rishi Sunakas first big electoral test.

The Conservatives do not expect to hold the seat after todayas byelection, a senior party source has told Sky News.

The most important election of the night is the historic byelection in Blackpool, caused by yet more Tory chaos and scandal.

Itas the only election today where voters have had the opportunity to directly reject Rishi Sunakas party in Westminster.

Conservatives predicted to lose 500 council seats in England a about half the number they are defending

• Local elections 2024: full council results for England

Voting has closed in local elections, a moment of potential peril for Rishi Sunak, with the Conservatives braced for heavy losses that could destabilise his premiership.

The elections, in more than 2,600 seats across 107 English councils, are seen as a key test of whether the Conservative party is as unpopular with voters as the polls suggest.

Former PM made the requirement to bring photo ID a stipulation of the Elections Act in 2022

Boris Johnson was turned away from his local polling station when trying to cast his vote in Thursdayas elections after forgetting to bring the required photo identity.

The former prime minister was initially told by polling station staff he would not be allowed to vote in the police and crime commissioner election in South Oxfordshire without proving his identity.

Results across 107 councils and in 10 mayoral votes will start coming in from the early hours of Friday

• UK politics a latest updates

Voters across England have the opportunity to give their verdict on Rishi Sunakas government on Thursday in the last set of local elections before the general election.

Many of the seats up for grabs were last contested in May 2021, when the Conservatives under Boris Johnson were enjoying a Covid avaccine bouncea. Fast-forward three years and the Tories are trailing 20 points behind Labour in national polls.

Exclusive: decision to grant licences condemned by critics as a stunt that shows Tories are aplaying politics with climatea

Fossil fuel companies will be allowed to explore for oil and gas under offshore wind-power sites for the first time, the government will announce on Friday, in a move which campaigners say is further proof that ministers are abandoning the climate agenda.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates North Sea oil and gas production, will confirm that it is granting licences to about 30 companies to look for hydrocarbons on sites earmarked for future offshore windfarms.

Boy band cites atechnical issuesa at new Manchester site, where Olivia Rodrigo, Keane and Peter Kay had also been due to perform

Take That have announced they will not be performing at the new Co-op Live Arena due to aongoing technical issuesa with the venue in Manchester.

The boyband had been due to perform from Tuesday but will instead switch their shows to the rival AO Arena.

Federal investigation to come as university called New York police to quell protest on campus

• More than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested across US campuses
• US students: share your experience of the campus protests

NYPD Deputy Commissioner, Kaz Daughtry, has confirmed that Fordham University was among a number of educational institutions which requested police assistance on campus to disperse protests.

He said that individuals who refused to disperse has been arrested without incident.

Your @NYPDnews officers continue to protect the right to peacefully protest, but lawlessness will not be tolerated. I commend the professionalism consistently displayed by our officers.

In light of the activities that are currently happening, we further request that you retain a presence on campus through at least May 22, 2024 (when commencement and diploma ceremonies are completed) to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished.a

Israeli foreign minister strongly criticises decision by President ErdoAan, accusing him of acting like a adictatora

Turkey has halted all trade with Israel, citing the aworsening humanitarian tragedya in the Palestinian territories, which prompted strong criticism from the Israeli foreign minister.

aExport and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,a Turkeyas trade ministry said late on Thursday.

Unesco joint research dating back 15 years found violence and intimidation against about 750 reporters and 44 murders

More than 70% of environmental journalists have been attacked for their work since 2009, according to a Unesco report, which warns of rising threats against those covering the climate crisis.

At least 749 environmental journalists have faced violence and intimidation in the last 15 years, the UN body found. It said that 44 reporters were murdered between 2009 and 2023 but that resulted in just five convictions.

Move comes after west African countryas military government had told US to withdraw its troops

Russian military personnel have entered an airbase in Niger that is hosting American troops, after a decision by Nigeras junta to expel US forces from the country.

The military officers ruling the west African country have told the US to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel, which until a coup last year had been a key partner for Washingtonas fight against insurgents who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more.

The foreign secretary called the conflict athe challenge of our generationa after making second trip to Kyiv to meet Zelenskiy

The UK has promised APS3bn a year afor as long as it is necessarya to help Ukraine, David Cameron said on Thursday as he made his second visit to Kyiv since becoming UK foreign secretary.

He also said he had no objection if weapons supplied by the UK were used to strike inside Russia.

Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone, Kasia Madera and Annita McVeigh have accused broadcaster of age and sex discrimination

Four female BBC presenters who have taken legal action against their employer will not be able to include equal pay as part of their claim, an employment tribunal has ruled.

Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone, Kasia Madera and Annita McVeigh have accused the broadcaster of conducting a asham recruitment exercisea after they lost their jobs when the BBC merged its domestic and global news channels last year.

Two women in their 20s and a child suffered minor injuries from a sharp object at Birley Academy

A teenager has been charged with three counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm after three people were injured at a secondary school in Sheffield, South Yorkshire police said.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on Wednesday morning after reports of an incident involving a asharp objecta at Birley Academy.

Oscar-winning actor criticized an upcoming two-part exposA(c) in the UK detailing alleged incidents that go back to his youth

Kevin Spacey has attacked an upcoming documentary detailing years of his alleged sexual abuse, saying he was not given adequate time to respond.

The two-part documentary, Spacey Unmasked, which will be broadcast on Channel 4 on 6 and 7 May in the UK and will stream on Max in the US, claims to feature anever-seen-before interviews and archivea material to examine the Oscar-winning actoras life afrom childhood to early success on Broadway and subsequent meteoric rise to stardoma.

Teenager killed and another injured after attempted burglary at east Midlands farm

A man in his 50s has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after a teenager was shot dead and another injured following an attempted burglary at a farm in the east Midlands.

Officers were called to the property in Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, at about 1.20am on Wednesday and found a teenager with fatal gunshot wounds. The force said he was not the owner of the property.

Some prospective parliamentary candidates have been found to hold fringe views that even the populist party says are aeccentrica

• Reform UK backs candidates who promoted online conspiracy theories

Some of the most senior prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs) of Reform, the rightwing populist party, have been found to have posted conspiracy theories and other fringe views online. Yet, far from distancing itself, the party has backed them. Here are seven examples:

John Swinney faces series of immediate challenges, including rebuilding cross-party trust at Holyrood

John Swinney and senior Scottish National party deal-makers have scored an initial success in avoiding another bruising leadership contest, which would have been potentially disastrous in a general election year.

But that relief will be short-lived, as the new leader faces a series of immediate practical challenges. Chief among them are convincing voters the party is genuinely focused on their concerns, and rebuilding cross-party trust at Holyrood in minority government.

Keith Davidson, a lawyer who negotiated payments, testified in Trumpas criminal trial as prosecutors ask for $4,000 more for gag order violations

Keith Davidson, a lawyer who negotiated payments on behalf of Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, testified for most of Thursday in Trumpas criminal trial in Manhattan, shedding more light into how the deal came together and efforts to keep Daniels quiet as media began reporting on the deal in 2018.

Here are a few key takeaways:

All the things you expect from a classic drama are here: heroism, suspense, stirring music. But against a backdrop of true horror, this well-intentioned show becomes utterly grotesque

There is that word, that name, sitting there in the title, coming up before each ad break: Auschwitz. There had better be a good reason to invoke it. The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a drama that raises the question of whether fiction can ever be an appropriate response to the Holocaust; on this evidence, perhaps not.

In 1942, a young Slovakian Jew named Lali (Jonah Hauer-King) is deported to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau extermination camp in Poland. He is soon given the task of tattooing serial numbers on to the arms of new arrivals a one of them is Gita (Anna PrA3chniak), with whom Lali falls instantly in love. Thanks to the privileges Lalias job brings, and the protection given to the couple by the unstable SS officer Stefan Baretzki (Jonas Nay), Lali and Gita are able to pursue their romance and survive. Decades later, in Australia, the widowed Lali (Harvey Keitel) invites rookie writer Heather Morris (Melanie Lynskey) to hear his story, of the Holocaust and of his life afterwards with Gita.

Papy Booom runs outings for older people, and late-night dancing is proving a successful way of socialising and staying active

A Belgian initiative with the motto ahappiness overcomes old agea has found a novel way to counter feelings of loneliness among nursing home residents: unleashing them on to the dancefloor of Brusselsa largest nightclub.

As part of a series of unconventional activities designed to keep retired people active, a nonprofit association, Papy Booom, recently arranged for 11 pensioners to visit Lift Brussels, a 1,360 sq metre (14,500 sq ft) venue specialising in R&B, reggaeton and Latin dance.

From excessive travel to food waste, weddings can have a huge carbon footprint. Hereas how to plan an eco-friendly celebration

A wedding is a coupleas big day. Unfortunately, it can also have a big carbon footprint.

The average American wedding creates around 60 metric tons of CO₂ a the carbon equivalent of 71 round-trip flights from New York to LA. Youad need to plant roughly 60 trees and let them grow for 100 years to sequester that amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. And with more than 2m marriages taking place in the US alone in 2022, the wedding industryas environmental impact adds up.

An act of decency is being hailed as the greatest sporting gesture ever. Politicians, business folk, celebrities a please take note

You may not be into snooker, dear reader. You may not be into sport at all. But really, this is not about sport. In losing yesterday to Stuart Bingham in the quarter-final of the World Snooker Championship, Ronnie OaSullivan proved himself a contender for the worldas most sporting sports star. He may have lost, but in doing so he showed there are still standards in public life, and some people do care about doing the right thing. Not something we see often these days.

Hereas what happened. Yesterday afternoon, with Ronnie leading by six frames to five, he potted a black ball. When it was returned to its spot, it should have obstructed his next red ball, making it trickier for him to progress. But there was a tiny divot on the table, and the black ball wobbled ever so slightly from its spot, making access to the red simple. Ronnie wasnat having any of it. He asked the ref time and again to replace the black to make it more difficult for him. But the black wasnat having any of it either, and kept bobbling away.

Gosling does the dirty work in this entertaining action film, which has moments of tenderness with Blunt among the crashes, leaps and fireballs

You might need to get your indulgent smile firmly in place for this colossal action comedy a not unlike the adorable smirks on the faces of its male and female leads, Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, who play the daredevil movie stuntman and the stern director with whom he is in love. Itas a goofy summer crowd-pleaser (and you can never have too many of those) that is very far from the edgier and more satirical mien of Richard Rushas 1980 movie The Stunt Man, in which a Vietnam draft evader hides out on a movie location, doing dangerous stunts in return for anonymity. Actually, this one is loosely inspired by a 1980s TV show, also called The Fall Guy, about a stuntman with a parallel career as a bounty hunter a starring Lee Majors, a legend who puts in a tongue-in-cheek cameo here along with his co-star, Heather Thomas.

Gosling plays seasoned stunt maestro Colt Seavers, utterly unafraid of any physical challenges, self-effacingly doubling for insufferably conceited star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who outrageously claims to do all his own stunts. Colt is having a passionate affair with beautiful, talented camera operator Jody Moreno (Blunt), but when he is involved in a catastrophic and career-ending failed stunt, he is overwhelmed with macho shame, thinking the accident was his fault because his infatuation with Jody made him take his eye off the ball.

For years, Disney has stopped US viewers from watching Dad Baby, in which Bandit pretends to push out his daughter Bingo in a paddling pool. But itas far from the only kidsa TV to face a ridiculous censor

In some parts of the world, the Bluey episode Dad Baby has gained almost mythological status. This 2020 episode, in which Blueyas dad, Bandit, pretends to give birth to his daughter Bingo, has never been allowed to be shown in the US. No official reason has been given for the censorship, something that has only allowed speculation to spurt off in numerous weird directions.

Why did Disney decide to ban it? Was it because the birth sequence was too graphic for the sensibilities of its young viewers? Or was it that the central conceit, of a man growing and giving birth to a baby, risked getting embroiled in the red-hot culture war screaming match about gender and biology? Just how wildly subversive was this episode anyway?

(Atlantic)
The Australian hitmaker reaches for moments of brilliance on her 10th studio album. But too often it plays like generic inspiration

There really is nobody else like Sia. Over two decades, the Adelaide-born pop juggernaut has graduated from acid jazz singer to downtempo sleeper star to semi-accidental hitmaker and chart-topping auteur for hire. She has written for almost every major star and superproducer a BeyoncA(c), Adele, Rihanna a and become, in her own right, one of only a handful of women over 40 to top the Billboard charts. At best, she is responsible for some of Australiaas most precise, muscular and globally successful songwriting; at worst, she has also delivered countless assembly-line emotional jock jams about resilience that are unmistakably hers but have all the gravitas of a lift-the-flap book.

Reasonable Woman, her 10th studio album, is her first release since 2021as Music a both her widely derided musical film and the accompanying record that followed. It featured longtime Sia creative partner/avatar Maddie Ziegler (who is not autistic) as the titular character (who is) in a portrayal that was criticised as offensive, ableist aminstrelsya. Last year, Sia publicly disclosed her own autism diagnosis, reframing Music as the work of an autistic person who did not yet understand herself as such and hoping it would be reassessed eventually. Over her career, she has spoken about alcoholism, addiction and relapse; her diagnoses of Gravesa disease, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, abipolar hypomaniaa and chronic pain; and her complex relationships with success, fame and her public image.

As Challengers gives us a viral spin on the T-shirt poached from a former flame, we share our stories about clothes that survived long after the relationship ended

aC/ Donat get Fashion Statement delivered to your inbox? Sign up to get the full article here

aItas such a cheeky T-shirt,a the actor Josh OaConnor recently told Rolling Stone. aJust so cheeky, and I really liked wearing it because it was just a bit like [raises shoulders and winks], aTold ya.aa

He was talking, of course, about the T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase aI Told Yaa that has become the most-talked-about garment from Luca Guadagninoas new tennis film about love, lust and (torn) ligaments, Challengers.

The government wants to scrap Englandas 50% cap on afaith admissionsa. It will just lead to religious discrimination

To gain admission to the local church school near my home, parents were always advised to attend church. Otherwise, they were told, they should try elsewhere. The result was local antagonism: cars and buses filled with local children were ferried to more distant schools. It was a bad system in every sense.

In 2010, in an attempt to stem the growth of sectarian free schools, the Cameron government imposed a 50% cap on afaith admissionsa where schools were oversubscribed. Now Rishi Sunak is proposing to end that cap. To encourage their creation, new faith-based schools a Anglican, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, whatever a can be as exclusive as they want. Since most faith schools tend to become socially selective and thus enjoy parental preference, the move has been welcomed by church leaders. They have something to sell. Anything will do to counter plummeting church attendance.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

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Useful idiots keep parroting provably false Israeli talking points. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me a|

aThe Italians having a proverb,a wrote the 17th-century British courtier Anthony Weldon, aaHe that deceives me once, its his fault; but if twice, itas my fault.aa

Today, we commonly summarize that old Italian proverb as: aFool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.a

Timeline on repeat:

aC/ Israel commits massacre

Despite the huffing of ideologues, the world has moved on. Voters and businesses are calling for more effective protections

As the sewage-filled waters start to close over the heads of Torydom, their Tufton Street thinktankers carry on like the orchestra on the Titanic. In three grand Westminster houses dwell the TaxPayersa Alliance, the Institute of Economic Affairs, the anti-migration Migration Watch UK, the climate crisis-denying Global Warming Policy Foundation, the anti-EU European Foundation, the Margaret Thatcher-founded Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) and others, all very opaque about their sources of funding. Now they sink together, still playing the old songs painfully out of tune with the country of which they seem to know nothing.

I went to watch them on Wednesday in one of their lavish salons, as the CPS launched a report calling yet again for more state-shrinking deregulation. I waited until the very end, but no, there was not one line, not one mention in their report of the great regulatory failures of our time. Not a word about Ofwat letting water companies pour sewage into rivers and seas. Nothing about all the other failed regulators a rail, mail, buses, energy, environment, broadcasting and the rest.