Voters back Burnham’s plan to cut back triple lock to fund social care reform by 48% to 28%, poll suggests – UK politics live

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The data suggest Burnham may be able to win the argument with the public amid lobbying efforts

Andy Burnham has suggested that it would not be legitimate for a party to form a majority government with less than 30% of the vote.

In his Today interview, asked why he wanted electoral reform and a move towards proportional representation, Burnham replied:

I found it better being elected under a different system as mayor of Greater Manchester, where people had one or two, they could put that on the ballot paper.

Because you had a reason to stop on every doorstep and chat to people who might not always support your party and try and get their second preference.

No, it could happen with any political party. It’s whether that would be a legitimate government.

I think you’ve got it completely wrong really, if you don’t mind me saying, to put it like that, because I have put out … a vision for a national care service.

There are pensioners out there who watch your programme who are paying for care costs from their basic state pension. Now, is that right or fair?

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‘Third country’ deportation can resume, US supreme court rules | First Thing

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Trump administration can deport immigrants to countries other than their homeland. Plus, 550lb bear returns to LA neighborhood

Good morning. The supreme court has ruled the Trump administration can resume deporting immigrants to “third countries”, or countries other than their homeland, without giving them any opportunity to contest their removals.

The six-justice conservative majority of the high court temporarily lifted a decision by a lower court that required the administration to provide immigrants sufficient notice and the opportunity to claim fear of torture or persecution in the countries where they were being sent.

What has the administration asked the supreme court to rule on about trans prisoners? The administration asked the justices to allow it to deny gender-affirming care to transgender people in federal prisons. The solicitor general, D John Sauer, wrote that gender-reassignment surgeries, hormone therapy and social accommodations such as undergarments, makeup, padding and wigs “could no longer be justified.”

Why is the EPA union suing the administration? The union, which represents more than 8,000 workers at the Environmental Protection Agency, has filed a lawsuit against the EPA and the agency’s administrator, Lee Zeldin, alleging it illegally terminated a collective bargaining agreement.

Which legal battle has Trump appeared to have conceded? The president has agreed to stop fighting the disbursement of E Jean Carroll’s $5m verdict in her 2023 sexual abuse and defamation civil trial against him, a procedural development as the funds had already been distributed to her.

What new product has OpenAI announced? Less than 24 hours after OpenAI said it would scrap the launch of a model over safety concerns, the company debuted a whole new suite of artificial intelligence tools, including “dots”, agents it said were “more ambitious” than ChatGPT and a “whole new way to work with AI.”

Why is Greta Garbo making AI headlines? More than a century after her screen debut and decades after she was laid to rest, the actor has been reanimated by AI for a Swedish advert. Peter Bradshaw has given it a damning one-star review.

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Israel-bound passenger plane makes emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after reported fight between pilots

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Israeli officials scrambled fighter jets amid fears of possible hijacking before plane landed at Tabuk airport

A commercial plane travelling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Israel has been forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, after an apparent brawl between its pilots prompted distress signals that briefly raised fears of an attempted hijacking.

The flydubai flight was over Jordan when it diverted to Saudi Arabia, transmitting three emergency signals, one of which indicated a possible unlawful interference.

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AI tool that copied actor’s ‘lustrous’ voice violated his rights, Tokyo court rules

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Kenjiro Tsuda wins case against TikTok account in landmark Japanese verdict to protect publicity rights

A court in Japan has ruled that the human voice has legal protection after a landmark case involving a well-known actor and a TikTok account that he claimed had cloned his “lustrous” baritone voice in its AI-generated videos.

Tokyo district court said on Wednesday that voices should enjoy the same protection as publicity rights, at the end of a closely watched legal action brought against TikTok by Kenjiro Tsuda – best known for voicing the character Kento Nanami in the anime Jujutsu Kaisen.

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Iranian singer’s 74 lashes for performing without a hijab ‘a form of torture’, say rights groups

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Iranian court upholds sentence against 29-year-old star Parastoo Ahmadi and other musicians in crackdown on women flouting hijab law

An Iranian court’s decision to uphold a sentence of 74 lashes against the popular singer Parastoo Ahmadi for performing without a hijab has sparked outrage among rights groups, who described it as “a form of torture”.

In June, Ahmadi, 29, and eight members of her production team, including musicians, were sentenced by a court in the city of Qom over a concert that was streamed online in 2024, which went viral and racked up millions of views. The court said the group had violated the country’s “legal and cultural norms” and called the performance “obscene and vulgar”.

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California rushes to prepare for massive ‘Kelvin’ wave and predicted sea level rise

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Wave nearing southern California expected to reach San Francisco Bay Area by October as it crawls toward Alaska

Communities across California are rushing to prepare for the imminent arrival of the so-called “Kelvin wave”, a massive underwater band of warm water threatening to inundate swaths of the vast North American shoreline.

The wave is nearing southern California and expected to reach the San Francisco Bay Area by early October, as it crawls toward Alaska. Waters could rise by a foot along the California coast, according to scientists, who have warned that this could dramatically double the 8-12in rise in sea levels already caused by climate change over the last century.

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We need ‘right to intervene’ in AI amid growing threat, says Bank of England boss

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Andrew Bailey’s comments come as fears grow that rogue models could take financial system hostage

The governor of the Bank of England has said authorities must retain the “right to intervene” in the AI industry amid growing fears that rogue models could take the financial system hostage.

Andrew Bailey said the risks posed by the rapid advancement of frontier AI models – a number of which have gone rogue in recent months – were “real and increasingly significant” and reduced the ability of society to supervise and intervene when things went wrong.

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UK-France ‘one in one out’ deal to expire on Thursday, say sources

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Deal aimed at deterring small boat arrivals set to end as talks stall over French demand for EU-wide scheme

The UK government’s “one in one out” deal with France, which was supposed to help deter small boat arrivals, is expected to expire on Thursday, government sources have said.

It is understood that negotiations have stalled over French demands for a Europe-wide deal instead, and a reluctance to scale up the numbers of people exchanged between the two countries.

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Insects play critical role in ecosystems beyond just providing food, new research shows

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Insects provide protection, sanitation and even shelter to vertebrates, making them a priority for conservation efforts

For many vertebrates, insects are more than a food source. As “little things that run the world”, insects provide critical functions such as protection, sanitation and shelter across ecosystems, according to a new study.

The study, published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity on Wednesday, sheds light on the various ways insects support vertebrates, ranging from birds and bats to reptiles, amphibians and mammals.

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Trump campaign ads paid with public money violate federal law, critics say

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White House has labeled ads ‘public service announcements’ and has responded defiantly to criticism

Federal regulators have been urged to stop the broadcast of White House advertisements promoting Donald Trump that critics say amounts to government propaganda and violate laws against using public money to promote partisan causes.

Public Citizen, an advocacy group, called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to intervene and block further airing of three ads it said were “designed to boost the image and character of Donald Trump” as part of the Republicans’ campaign for November’s midterm elections.

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As AI images become common, the threat to elections draws alarm: ‘How will voters know what’s true?’

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Deepfakes and misinformation driven by artificial intelligence have become a point of deep concern for legislators, advocates and the public

An image of College Park, Georgia mayor Bianca Motley Broom kissing a man – who was not her husband – in a bar spread far and wide on Facebook. The fact that it’s fake is spreading faster, now, but only after it had been seen by thousands of people.

“I think this is a sad commentary about where we are in our democracy, and where we are in our political discourse,” Motley Broom said. “It also seeks to reinforce really tired stereotypes about women in leadership.”

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Poundland management in talks to lead bid that could save 11,000 jobs

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Ex-Asda boss Andy Bond linked to plan, with buyout team understood to be negotiating with financial backer

Poundland’s management team are in “advanced talks” to lead a bid for the ailing cut-price retailer that could save up to 11,000 jobs.

The former Asda boss Andy Bond, who ran Poundland for a number of years from 2016 then stepped up to its former parent Pepco before leaving in 2025, is understood to be part of the negotiations to take on the business.

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South Korea calls for apology from North Korea after mine injures three soldiers

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Blast during search operation near border fuels political tensions amid attempts to revive diplomatic channels

South Korea has demanded an apology from North Korea over a landmine blast that injured three soldiers, saying they were hurt by North Korean mines on the southern side of the border.

Kang Hyun-woo, the director of operations at South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff, demanded an apology and “responsible measures” from Pyongyang over the blast, which occurred on 21 September during a search operation south of the border.

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