Backing

• Approximately 88 Labour MPs, representing over one-fifth of the party's House of Commons presence, are calling for the establishment of a body to investigate electoral reform. • The movement seeks to challenge Britain's "first past the post" voting system, with high-profile support from potential leadership contender Andy Burnham. • This push for reform highlights internal party pressure to move toward a more proportional representation system to ensure fairer election outcomes.

• The Supreme Court struck down a 50-year-old federal election law on Tuesday, removing limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for president and Congress. • The ruling follows a Republican-led lawsuit involving Vice President JD Vance, with the court's conservative majority deciding to upend congressionally enacted spending restrictions. • This decision expands the precedent set by the 2010 Citizens United ruling, which previously allowed for unlimited independent spending in federal elections.

• A bipartisan group launched on Thursday with $500 million in funding to retrain American workers displaced or affected by the artificial intelligence boom. • The initiative is supported by major corporate donors, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon, Microsoft, and Bank of America. • This represents one of the largest private sector efforts to date to mitigate public anxiety regarding AI-driven widespread job losses.

• Democratic lawmakers are reluctantly supporting a memorandum of agreement between the U.S. and Iran, despite Senator Chris Murphy describing the deal as a "disaster." • The agreement focuses on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and extending the current ceasefire for a period of 60 days. • This temporary measure is critical as it provides a window for negotiators to develop a broader deal to restrict Iran's ability to procure or develop nuclear weapons.

• NASA is reportedly shifting its priorities away from the active search for life on Mars, placing the long-standing quest in a state of limbo. • This pivot comes 50 years after the Viking 1 mission initiated the search for Martian organisms, a goal once championed by scientists like Carl Sagan and Joshua Lederberg. • The shift matters because it represents a departure from an "existential quest" to find extraterrestrial life, which has driven Martian exploration for decades.

Former chancellor also tells Hay festival ‘good riddance’ to Tory MPs defecting to ReformSajid Javid said that supporting Liz Truss in the Conservative leadership contest that ultimately made her prime minister was his “biggest mistake in politics”.Speaking at the Hay festival in Wales while promoting his memoir, the former chancellor, who is no longer an MP, said there were friends in the Conservative party he remained in contact with. Continue reading...

• The Supreme Court has provided constitutional backing to the Systemic Institutional Revision (SIR), affirming its validity as an administrative reform. • The ruling clarifies that previous adjudicatory proceedings against individual electors do not constitute a constitutional bar against systemic revisions of electoral rolls. • The court noted that the presumption under Section 114 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (now Section 119 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023), is rebuttable and does not permanently freeze voter rolls.

• Padel, a Mexican-origin racquet sport played in doubles, is gaining significant popularity and is being positioned as a potential "sport of the summer." • The sport's growth is receiving a high-profile boost through the backing of tennis legend Serena Williams. • This endorsement highlights a shift in athletic trends and suggests a growing market for racket sports beyond traditional tennis.

• Padel, a Mexican racquet sport played in doubles, is gaining significant popularity and is being positioned as a potential "sport of the summer." • The sport's growth is receiving a high-profile boost through the backing of tennis legend Serena Williams. • This endorsement highlights a growing trend of professional athletes diversifying into emerging racquet sports to expand their reach and influence.

Reform UK leader records video with Essex pastor to support his battle against council banning orderNigel Farage has been criticised for giving his full support to a Christian church leader who preached that homosexuality was an “abomination” and would lead to eternity in hell.The Reform UK leader recorded a video with Stephen Clayden after Colchester council applied for a banning order to limit his street preaching. Continue reading...

The podcaster admits he ‘misled’ supporters as his rift with the US president deepens over the Iran warUS politics live – latest updatesTucker Carlson, a Conservative podcaster, has said he is “tormented” by his support of Donald Trump, issuing in an extraordinary mea culpa that called for “a moment to wrestle with our own consciences”.Carlson delivered that comment in a conversation with Buckley Carlson, his brother and a former Trump speechwriter, on The Tucker Carlson Show on Monday that reviewed the new money takeover of the traditional conservative values in a Republican party now dominated by the president. Continue reading...

As voters head to polls, Washington support and alleged interference from Moscow raise questions about influenceThe official announcement that JD Vance was to visit, days before Hungarians cast their ballots in a hotly contested election, was greeted by Budapest with no less than four exclamation marks and three emojis.“!!Official!!” Viktor Orbán’s political director, Balázs Orbán, wrote on social media as he confirmed the news. The White House said Vance, along with his wife Usha, will land in Hungary on Tuesday, in what is widely seen as an attempt to bolster Orbán as he trails in the polls. Continue reading...

The party, whose parliamentary leader is Jeremy Corbyn, will back 250 candidates, focusing on urban areasYour Party is to focus its local election efforts on a number of urban areas with large Muslim populations where Labour support has weakened, throwing its support behind supporting independent candidates and community groups.Party insiders have intentionally narrowed their focus to key targets including the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham and Redbridge, where locally rooted independent campaigns are already braced to challenge Labour. Continue reading...

Just three of Labour’s 20 MSPs in Holyrood voted for bill, despite support for legislation in House of CommonsSupporters of Scotland’s assisted dying bill said they are frustrated a significant majority of Labour MSPs voted against the proposals, despite Labour’s substantial support for the measure at Westminster.The Scottish bill was defeated in a late night free vote at Holyrood on Tuesday, five years after it was first proposed and a year after it was first tabled, by a larger than expected 12-vote margin. Continue reading...