Labour party loses more than 1,400 English council seats and crashes out in Welsh and Scottish parliament votes

• UK politics live – latest updates

Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, is facing increasing pressure to set a date for his departure after elections across much of the country resulted in massive losses for his ruling Labour party.

With the bulk of results now counted after voting on Thursday, Labour had lost more than 1,400 representatives from English councils, the local government structures that deliver many neighbourhood services.

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Several frontbenchers told the Guardian they agreed the prime minister’s time in office should not go beyond the end of the year

• Mapped: how Labour lost ground in different directions

• Pippa Crerar: Starmer under pressure to agree exit plan

Gordon Brown has been appointed as a special envoy on global finance.

Number 10 said:

The PM has committed to boosting the country’s security and resilience’

In this role, Gordon Brown will advise on how global finance cooperation can help to achieve this.

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The contrast between the dense, layered building and the clean lines of the cab make for a winning image

William Shum describes Yau Ma Tei, the Hong Kong district in which he took this photo, as “one of the region’s older and most characterful districts. I’m always drawn to this area because it feels authentic and full of local life. Older residential buildings, street-level shops and constant traffic show a very recognisable side of the city.”

Shum’s eye was drawn to the contrast between the passing vehicle in the foreground and the residential building in the background. “The building is full of repeating windows and air-conditioning units, which creates a dense and layered background, while in front the taxi appears in a very simple and clean shape,” he says. “Two things are instantly recognisable here: the city’s compact residential architecture and its iconic red taxis. This image brings those together.”

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Second season of BBC hit has attracted one of the most high-profile casts ever assembled for a reality TV show

If it were any other show, the sight of the comedian Alan Carr sobbing under the burden of his dishonesty may have been enough to put off any celebrity thinking about accepting a place in the perilous Traitors’ castle.

Yet the second season of The Celebrity Traitors, being filmed at its now famous Highlands retreat, has managed to attract one of the most high-profile casts ever assembled for a reality TV show.

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As soccer fans turn their attention to the future of the sport in the States, we revisit four oft-overlooked moments – and one famous kick – that shaped its past

• This was originally published in the newsletter The World Behind the Cup. Sign up for it here.

The last time the US hosted the men’s World Cup in 1994, many Americans viewed soccer as a game they watched their kids play on Saturday mornings, not the world’s most beloved sport. Thirty-two years later, the sport has exploded in popularity and the USA have become a regular fixture at World Cups. But many people don’t realize the US’s World Cup history extends all the way back to the first tournament staged – when the US men had their best-ever finish, reaching the semi-finals.

The tale of those connected with the US team is often bleak, but it’s also more deeply rooted and richer than is often appreciated. As US soccer fans turn their attention to the future of the sport, we revisit four often overlooked moments – and one widely celebrated kick – of the USA’s early World Cup history.

This was originally published in the newsletter The World Behind the Cup. Sign up for it here.

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The company’s UK and Europe boss has become a lightning rod for the British public’s fear of a US tech takeover

The hall was packed with rightwing radicals when Louis Mosley heralded a coming revolution. Just as Oliver Cromwell – that “crusader for Christ and liberty” – routed King Charles I’s royalists, “a similar revolution is brewing today”, said the UK and Europe boss of Palantir. Globalism’s “twilight” was upon us, he said in a speech dotted with admiring mentions of the podcaster Joe Rogan and “Elon’s Doge”.

It was not a typical peroration for a big UK government contractor with more than £600m in deals with the NHS, the Ministry of Defence and police. But Palantir, the world’s most controversial tech company, is no typical contractor. In recent years it has gained firm footholds across Britain’s public sector while appalling critics with its leadership’s rightwing rhetoric and its work for the US and Israeli militaries and Donald Trump’s ICE immigration crackdown.

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LONDEN (ANP) - De Britse premier Keir Starmer heeft voormalig premier Gordon Brown aangewezen als zijn speciale gezant op het gebied van mondiale financiën. De stap volgt na zware nederlagen van zijn partij bij de lokale verkiezingen van donderdag.

"De premier heeft zich ertoe verbonden de veiligheid en weerbaarheid van het land te versterken. In deze rol zal Gordon Brown adviseren over hoe internationale financiële samenwerking kan helpen dit te bereiken", staat in een verklaring van Starmers kantoor. Kort daarvoor werd bekend dat hij oud-vicepremier Harriet Harman heeft benoemd als zijn gezant voor vrouwen en meisjes.

Starmer verklaarde eerder dat zijn partij Labour zal moeten reageren op de boodschap die kiezers de partij hebben gestuurd. Donderdag vonden verkiezingen plaats voor een deel van de lokale volksvertegenwoordigingen in Engeland en in Wales en Schotland waren er parlementsverkiezingen.

etsu2 has added a photo to the pool:

Visitors to London’s iconic Telecom Tower might soon be able to go for a rooftop swim, according to plans revealed by the developer turning the building into a hotel. The iconic 177 meter (581 ft) high structure in Fitzrovia in London’s West End was sold off by BT Group in 2024 to US-based hotel owner-operator MCR Hotels for £275 million ($346 million). At the time, the firm said it wanted to preserve the Grade II listed building, while converting it into a hostelry. Now, MCR has announced a small number of public consultation events it is holding on May 11, 12, and 16 where those interested can view the emerging proposals for the site, meet the project team, and share any feedback on the plans. Those proposals include public access to the top of the tower and its podium buildings for the first time in almost half a century. The 34th floor was famously home to a revolving restaurant that gave diners a panoramic view of Britain’s capital as it slowly turned once every 22 mins, but this was closed in 1980. Also part of the proposals are a new publicly accessible square plus retail shops and restaurants at ground level, and a rooftop swimming pool. London is home to a number of high-rise swimming venues already. There is the vertigo-inducing Sky Pool which spans two apartment buildings ten stories up at the Embassy Gardens development in the Nine Elms region of Wandsworth. You will find an infinity pool at the Shangri-La hotel on the 52nd-floor of the Shard building near London Bridge, and there is also a pool on the roof of the Berkeley Hotel, overlooking Knightsbridge. The BT Tower was originally known as the Post Office Tower when it was first built in 1964, and its main purpose was to support microwave antennas used to beam telecom signals between London and the rest of the country. The tower will not be turned into a vertical hotel immediately. BT said payment for the site is spread over six years to 2030, during which time the company will gradually remove all of its telecoms equipment from the building. As we reported previously, the BT Tower also famously fell victim to a giant kitten in an episode of the British 1970s TV comedy series The Goodies. ®

Google heeft Gemma 4 gratis weggegeven: geen abonnement, geen API-kosten, geen omzetdeling. Ali Salam stelt de centrale vraag: waarom geeft een bedrijf zijn meest kostbare bezit gratis weg? Het antwoord ligt in drie gestapelde strategieën die elk miljarden waard zijn.

Goed ook om je te realiseren waar OpenAi en Anthropic zich wat dat betreft bevinden.

Leer er meer over via zijn interessante video. Ook deze video komt uit het bericht van afgelopen dinsdag over AI-agents.