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Reform UK hit by fresh blow in Wales as Senedd member defects to Plaid Cymru – UK politics live

Sarah Cooper-Lesadd says party is ‘far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than finding solutions’Leader of Reform UK in Wales stands down after arrest on suspicion of assaultThe Liberal Democrats have said that they will try to introduce a cap on the amount people donate to political parties by amending the representation of the people bill as it goes through the Lords.Lisa Smart, the Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson, said:We can’t keep playing whack-a-mole with each new attempt by Farage to sell out our democracy.Labour’s residency requirements aren’t good enough and the Conservatives simply sat on their hands whilst in power. For decades governments of both colours have stood by and done nothing.The scale of donations made to Reform in recent days is unprecedented in British politics and should deeply concern anyone who cares about the health and integrity of our democracy.We cannot afford to see the Americanisation of our politics, with out of control political spending, funded by stratospheric sums of crypto and corporate cash. These donations show clearly whose side Reform are on, with crypto billionaires, foreign and powerful corporate interests lining up to pour in eye-watering sums of money to advance their agendas. Continue reading...

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Trump blasts decision that blocks mail-in voting executive orders: ‘This court has really let our country down’ – live

The president called mail-in voting – which he has used on several occasions to cast a ballot – ‘a laughing stock’ across the worldSupreme court rejects Trump’s mail ballot restrictions for midterm electionsSign up for US Breaking News emailsKash Patel, the FBI director, is now testifying before lawmakers on the Senate judiciary committee. A reminder that the last time he appeared before Congress was in May, when he sparred with senators on the appropriations committee and denied – under oath – allegations of excessive drinking and unexplained absences on the job, dismissing them as “baseless” during a fiery congressional hearing.Today’s hearing is also expected to be full of heated exchanges. “Mr Patel is the least qualified and most partisan FBI director in our nation’s history,” said Senator Dick Durbin, the judiciary committee’s top Democrat. “The bureau has been reshaped as a political weapon against President Trump’s political enemies and a shield to protect the president and his MAGA loyalists, not the American people.” Continue reading...

Health secretary says plans for cot cams in baby wards being developed ‘urgently’ after Lucy Letby inquiry report – latest updates

Yvette Cooper says this must ‘be a turning point for the NHS’ and tells the Commons she is ‘profoundly sorry’ for mistakes highlighted in Thirlwall reportThree babies may have survived if hospital had acted over Lucy Letby concerns, inquiry findsLady Justice Thirlwall said that senior nurses at the hospital refused to accept the consultant’s concerns could be justified, and criticised the “prolonged delay by senior managers in calling the police”.The police were eventually contacted in May 2017, around a year after the death of baby P in June 2016, and despite the fact Letby had been removed from neonatal unit.There was also complete failure at all levels to invoke safeguarding procedures at any point.Looking for clinical or other explanations for deaths and collapses was not wrong, but once there was suspicion that Letby may be causing harm deliberately safeguarding steps should have been taken. Continue reading...

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New Order keyboardist Gillian Gilbert announces she is ‘living with cancer’

Musician clarified her own health status after concerns were raised by interview with husband and bandmate Stephen Morris earlier this monthGillian Gilbert, keyboardist with New Order, has announced she is again having treatment for cancer.The 65-year-old musician announced the news on Instagram, as a response to an interview her husband and New Order bandmate, drummer Stephen Morris, gave to Rolling Stone earlier this month. Morris had said: “I’ve got a bit of a health problem at the minute, which precludes leaving the country for any length of time … it’s pretty serious.” Continue reading...

‘Like Syd Barrett’: AI models chatting in ‘surreal’ dialect mixing poetic language and tech bro jargon

Experts air concern over AI lingo redolent of Pink Floyd star and James Joyce’s prose that is creating headaches for monitoring and oversightAI models have begun communicating in a strange new version of English that reads like a cross between James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake and tech bro jargon, new research has found.Autonomous AI agents are rapidly creating novel dialects allowing them to converse in an often barely comprehensible language, which risks making it harder for humans to monitor their behaviour. Continue reading...