Reform wins Runcorn byelection by just six votes in blow to Labour

Result will heighten government’s fears it could lose scores of MPs to Nigel Farage’s party at next general election

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has dramatically won the Runcorn and Helsby byelection by just six votes in a blow to Keir Starmer’s premiership.

The hard-right party narrowly overturned Labour’s 14,700-vote majority in the first full-scale electoral test of Starmer’s government and set a new record for the smallest majority at a parliamentary by-election since the end of the second world war.

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LGBTQ+ charities warn of ‘genuine crisis’ for trans people after UK ruling

Charities say the judgment creates ‘a legal framework that simply cannot uphold the dignity’ of trans people

Fourteen national LGBTQ+ charities have written to Keir Starmer seeking an urgent meeting to discuss what they describe as “a genuine crisis for the rights, dignity and inclusion of trans people in the UK” after the supreme court’s ruling on biological sex.

The UK supreme court ruled last month that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 referred only to “a biological woman” and to “biological sex”, with subsequent advice from the equality watchdog amounting to a blanket ban on trans people using toilets and other services of the gender they identify as.

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RSF World Press Freedom Index 2025: economic fragility a leading threat to press freedom – Reporters sans frontières

  1. RSF World Press Freedom Index 2025: economic fragility a leading threat to press freedom  Reporters sans frontières
  2. U.S. press freedom falls to historical low  Axios
  3. Global Press Freedom at 'all-time low' in 2025, RSF says  dw.com
  4. World press freedom plummets with ‘alarming deterioration’ in US under Trump, says RSF  France 24
  5. World Press Freedom Day 3 May: defending media freedom to safeguard democracy  European Parliament
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What will Modi bring to Amaravati this time?.. – Greatandhra.com

  1. What will Modi bring to Amaravati this time?..  Greatandhra.com
  2. A 6-Year Hiatus, Then A Chandrababu Naidu Return To Relaunch Amravati  NDTV
  3. Dream becoming reality: PM Modi calls Amaravati foundation of Andhra's aspirations  India Today
  4. PM Modi in Andhra Pradesh LIVE: PM Modi lays foundation, inaugurates projects worth ₹58,000 crore in Amaravati  The Hindu
  5. PM Modi relaunches Amaravati projects: What it means for Andhra’s capital revival and real estate market  Hindustan Times
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‘World’s largest’ electric ship measuring 130 metres launched by Tasmanian boatbuilder

Manufacturer Incat built Hull 096 to run between Buenos Aires and Uruguay, dubbing it the ‘most complex’ project it has ever undertaken

An Australian boatbuilder has launched what it describes as the world’s largest battery-power ship, describing it as a “a giant leap forward in sustainable shipping” and the “most important” project it has ever done.

Incat, a manufacturer based in Tasmania, constructed the ship – called Hull 096 – after being contracted by the South American ferry operator Buquebus to build a vessel to run between the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires, and Uruguay.

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‘A win-win for farmers’: how flooding fields in north-west England could boost crops

A ‘wetter farming’ project explores rehydrating peatland to help grow crops in boggier conditions while cutting CO2 emissions

“I really don’t like the word ‘paludiculture’ – most people have no idea what it means,” Sarah Johnson says. “I prefer the term ‘wetter farming’.”

The word might be baffling, but the concept is simple: paludiculture is the use of wet peatlands for agriculture, a practice that goes back centuries in the UK, including growing reeds for thatching roofs.

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‘Blackouts can happen anywhere’: how power systems worldwide can collapse

After Europe’s biggest blackout in over 20 years, experts warn that while such incidents are rare, no grid is infallible

Europe’s biggest blackout in over 20 years on the Iberian peninsula unleashed hours of chaos for people in Spain, Portugal and parts of France earlier this week. But in the aftermath it has raised a common question for governments across the continent: could the same happen here?

Europe’s political leaders and energy system operators have given assurances that such blackouts are extraordinarily rare, and that European power grids are some of the most stable in the world.

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India will include caste details in its next census – NPR

  1. India will include caste details in its next census  NPR
  2. Rahul Gandhi forced PM Modi's hand on caste census, claims Congress  Times of India
  3. India to include citizens' castes in its delayed population census  Reuters
  4. "Country Going To Pay... ": When Rajiv Gandhi Opposed 1990 Reservation Move  NDTV
  5. Census may be held in 2026 to match delimitation schedule, says Union Minister Kishan Reddy  The Hindu
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Erin Patterson turned ‘extremely aggressive’ in dispute with estranged husband, mushroom murders trial hears

Simon Patterson tells Victorian court of ‘inflammatory messages’ his wife sent to his parents amid a financial dispute

Erin Patterson was “extremely aggressive” during a financial dispute with her estranged husband about their children, a Victorian court has heard, as more message exchanges between the former couple were revealed.

Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha in South Gippsland in 2023.

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Murder charges over shooting of gangland lawyer Joseph Acquaro dropped

Victoria DPP’s move on charges against Vincenzo Crupi brings end to case that threatened to force police to reveal informer’s identity

The Victorian director of public prosecutions has dropped murder charges relating to the shooting death of gangland lawyer and police informer Joseph “Pino” Acquaro.

The explosive development brings to an end a court case that threatened to force Victoria police to reveal the identity of human sources in order to prosecute Vincenzo Crupi, who they alleged had murdered Acquaro.

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Pakistan’s Leaders May Talk Tough, but War With India Is the Last Thing Pakistanis Want – The New York Times

  1. Pakistan’s Leaders May Talk Tough, but War With India Is the Last Thing Pakistanis Want  The New York Times
  2. Fears of attack in Pakistan-administered Kashmir amid acute India tensions  Al Jazeera
  3. Pakistan and India hint at imminent military action over Kashmir. A look at the nuclear rivals  AP News
  4. Pakistan warns of an Indian attack, while quietly urging de-escalation  The Washington Post
  5. India Seems to Be Building Its Case for Striking Pakistan  The New York Times
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