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Following Farage’s difficulties, Labour is also now losing fewer of its 2024 voters to Reform. But the same is true of the Conservatives, whose loss of support to Reform in the polls during in this parliament has always been much greater than that suffered by Labour. Far from suffering from a Burnham bounce, Kemi Badenoch’s party has edged up to 20% in the polls for the first time since last spring.Burnham’s arrival has given Labour new hope. But despite having overtaken Reform in the polls, the new Labour leader still has to prove he can win back the working class…

Firefighters watch a blaze west of Madrid. Credit: UME-OCP/Cover Images/ReutersFuelled by an unprecedented heatwave, the powerful fires scorching France and Spain are breaking records or are on the verge of doing so — and there are still months to go in the fire season.“We have been telling society this is going to happen, that we are going to have larger, more catastrophic, more dangerous fires,” says Cristina Santín, who studies wildfires and is at the University of Oviedo in Mieres, Spain. “And now they are here.”Satellite data show that 91,000 hectares have burnt in France as of 29 July (see…

(FILES) FIFA president Gianni Infantino looks on during a meeting with the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on November 17, 2025. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has lost the “confidence” of the UEFA, European football’s governing body, it said in a statement on August 1, 2026, after his plan to allow private investment in the World Cup was withdrawn following a global backlash. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) FIFA president Gianni Infantino has lost the “confidence” of European football’s governing body after his plan…

If a high-profile academic is reviewing a movie for the London Review of Books, that movie in question must be making some kind of mark on some kind of culture. And if people are actually reading a movie review in the London Review of Books, and writing thinkpieces in disagreement or favor of said movie or its review, that movie may actually be a cultural phenomenon.Normally, volume of discourse about a movie should not be mistaken for a sign that people are actually seeing it. Sometimes online factions just have a bored fixation not shared by the rest of the…

If you believe rightwing influencers and politicians, Dover and the wider Kent coast has been the site of an “invasion” for years now. And, for an online audience of millions, they and their camera crews have been the vanguard in the nation’s defence.Indeed, if you believe all you see on the algorithms of amateur Channel watchers, the shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, braved a hail of French gunfire as he took to the water in a fishing boat this week; an attempt by the French authorities, he suggested, to deter him in his mission of highlighting the small boats crisis.The…

Spanish PM criticises ‘selfish’ attitude of some EU countries over Ceuta crisisThe Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has hit back at some EU countries for what he described as their “selfish, polarising and illegal reaction” to the mass border crossings at Ceuta, as he thanked Morocco for its help in dealing with the crisis.In a letter to Brussels, he said several European states have chosen to “attack” Spain and request its temporary exclusion from the Schengen area, driven by “prejudice, fake news, ignorance, or political interests” that is contrary to European law, humanitarian law and the principles of EU solidarity,…

Vessels transiting through the Gulf of Oman are pictured off the coast of Muscat on July 25, 2026. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images) / – | Afp | Getty ImagesA tanker near Oman reported being struck overnight, with another saying it saw an explosion nearby as Iran warned Washington that the U.S. military’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would result in the closure of key shipping routes.Separately, Kuwait said its air defenses confronted hostile drone attacks by Iran.The latest conflict comes amid U.S. media reports that U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing for a fresh round of strikes…

As Chris Best, the co-founder and chief executive of Substack put it last week: “It’s getting harder to tell what’s real on the internet.”Announcing a new tool, external designed to let readers on the newsletter platform detect AI-generated writing, Best cited other research that has found up to 40% of writing on social media is now fake or AI-generated.”Platforms that reward fakeness will create a race to the bottom,” Best said.LinkedIn, a social media platform focused on work, introduced a button on its platform this week that allows any user to report if a post or a comment appears to…

President Tinubu. By Luminous Jannamike Less than six months before  Nigerians return to the polls, President Bola Tinubu and the African Democratic Congress, ADC, are already battling over something bigger than votes. It is a fight to define what the election itself should be about; political strength or the government’s ability to protect lives. The exchange lasted barely 24 hours, but it may have offered the clearest glimpse yet into the shape of the 2027 presidential contest. Standing before members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, at the State House, President Bola Tinubu sounded less like a leader reflecting on…

In Nigeria, zobo is more than just a refreshing drink. It is a staple sold on street corners, served at social gatherings, and widely regarded as a healthy beverage. Many also consider it a natural blood tonic due to its nutritional profile. For pregnant women managing nausea, heat, and fatigue, a chilled cup of zobo can be an appealing choice. But is it safe during pregnancy? Health experts state that there is currently insufficient scientific evidence to confirm that regular zobo consumption is safe for expectant mothers. Speaking with PT Health Watch, obstetrician and gynaecologist Emmanuel Arekhandia advised pregnant women…