Independent News & People Network Desk of News

Elections 2026 live: Labour suffers historic defeat in Wales; Starmer vows to fight on as Reform surge in English council elections

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:49:58+00:00

Welsh Labour leader and first minister Eluned Morgan loses seat; John Swinney declares victory for SNP in Scotland2026 election results: latest from local, Scottish and Welsh votesWe’re getting statements from some of the political parties now as we wait for results.For the Conservatives, party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said:We have run an energetic and positive campaign, showcasing that we have a clear plan to get Britain working again and that we have the team to deliver it... We know that so soon after a historic general election defeat and contesting wards won during the Party’s polling hi

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Plaid Cymru biggest party in Senedd, ending 100 years of Labour control

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:42:55+00:00

Welsh nationalist party able to form minority government in Wales, blocking momentum of Reform UKElection 2026 live: latest news updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesPlaid Cymru have won 42 seats in Wales’s Senedd election, putting the Welsh nationalists in position to form a minority government and ending more than 100 years of Labour hegemony.Polls consistently suggested Plaid Cymru and Reform UK were neck and neck in the race to become the biggest party under Wales’s new more proportional voting system. As in last year’s closely watched Caerphilly Senedd byelection, however,

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Cyberattack on system used by thousands of US schools disrupts final exams

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:41:56+00:00

Nationwide Canvas outage left students and faculty ‘dead in the water’ and rushing to rearrange end of academic yearA system that thousands of schools and universities in the US use was offline on Thursday during a cyberattack, creating chaos as students tried to study for finals and underscoring education’s dependence on technology.Students quickly took to social media to ask if others were unable to access Canvas, with many panicking that they could no longer view course materials housed within the platform to study for their final exams. Continue reading...

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Cyber-attack on system widely used in US education disrupts final exams

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:41:56+00:00

Nationwide Canvas outage left students and faculty ‘dead in the water’ and rushing to rearrange end of academic yearA system that thousands of schools and universities in the US use was offline on Thursday during a cyber-attack, creating chaos as students tried to study for finals and underscoring education’s dependence on technology.Students quickly took to social media to ask if others were unable to access Canvas, with many panicking that they could no longer view course materials housed within the platform to study for their final exams. Continue reading...

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ABC lawyers accuse Trump’s FCC of punishing network for political reasons

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:34:42+00:00

Network lawyers in a legal motion strongly pushed back against the FCC’s investigation into The View talkshowLawyers representing an ABC station have accused the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of punishing the network for political purposes in a strongly worded attack on the Trump-controlled commission’s investigation into top-rated talkshow, The View.In a legal motion filed on Thursday, KTRK-TV, a Houston-based local television station owned by ABC, pushed back strongly against the FCC investigation, accusing the purportedly independent agency of taking actions that “threaten to upen

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Frustrated by Iran, Trump at last seizes enriched uranium – but from Venezuela

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:32:27+00:00

US energy department says 13.5kg of uranium taken from reactor in Caracas – a fraction of the 408kg held by TehranDonald Trump has succeeded in removing a country’s stash of highly enriched uranium – although that country is not Iran.On Friday, the US Department of Energy announced that “thanks to President Trump’s decisive leadership” 13.5 kilograms (about 30 pounds) of uranium had been removed from a legacy research reactor in Venezuela. Continue reading...

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Oil Slick Is Detected Off Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf

Source: New York Times - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:32:02+00:00

The slick, captured in satellite images near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, has raised concerns about the condition of Iran’s oil infrastructure.

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Nigel Farage hails ‘historic shift in politics’ after Reform UK election gains

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:24:14+00:00

Party has success in Labour and Tory heartland areas but one pollster says results suggest Reform may have peakedNigel Farage hailed sweeping election wins for Reform UK as a “historic shift in British politics” on a day when the populist party made gains at the expense of Labour and the Conservatives.Reform made advances in heartland areas of both parties, clocking up substantial early results in the English local elections by taking control of Essex county council, Havering, its first London local authority, and Sunderland city council. Continue reading...

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Plaid Cymru tipped to be biggest party in Senedd, ending 100 years of Labour control

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:21:34+00:00

First time Welsh nationalist party has enough support to run Wales, while also blocking momentum of Reform UKElection 2026 live: latest news updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesPlaid Cymru is on course to declare victory in the Welsh Senedd elections, a result that would simultaneously end nearly 30 years of Labour dominance in devolved politics in Wales and block the momentum of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.By early Friday evening, with 14 of 16 constituencies declared, the centre-left Welsh nationalist party appeared poised to win enough support to lead the nation, replacing Wels

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What next for Labour as Reform wins big in local elections? – The Latest

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:16:55+00:00

Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on after Labour suffered heavy losses in local elections, while Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and the Green party made substantial gains. So is the era of two-party politics over? And can the prime minister survive?Lucy Hough speaks to political correspondent Alexandra Topping Continue reading...

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Elections locales au Royaume-Uni : percée historique de la droite radicale, effondrement des travaillistes et fin du bipartisme

Source: Le Monde - International · Published: 2026-05-08T17:16:25+00:00

Le premier ministre, Keir Starmer, est fragilisé par les résultats désastreux de son parti, le Labour, aux scrutins qui étaient organisés jeudi. Sa formation n’arrive qu’en quatrième position au Pays de Galles, bastion centenaire du travaillisme, tandis que le grand gagnant, Reform UK, se dote d’une assise locale.

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Keir Starmer left in limbo after bad election results that could have been worse

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:16:23+00:00

After Labour’s demise was overestimated, the prime minister’s potential challengers are staying quiet – for nowElections 2026 – live updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesAs the results rolled in, a trickle of voices were calling for Keir Starmer to quit – MPs from the governing Labour party, some trade union leaders, and a Labour peer.The numbers in England’s crucial local election results on Friday were undoubtedly bad for Labour, as Reform UK made sweeping gains across pro-Brexit heartlands in the Midlands and north, including the historically deep red Sunderland and Hartlepoo

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Elections 2026 live: Labour set for historic defeat in Wales; Starmer vows to fight on as Reform surge in English council elections

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:07:01+00:00

Welsh Labour leader and first minister Eluned Morgan loses seat; John Swinney declares victory for SNP in Scotland2026 election results: latest from local, Scottish and Welsh votesWe’re getting statements from some of the political parties now as we wait for results.For the Conservatives, party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said:We have run an energetic and positive campaign, showcasing that we have a clear plan to get Britain working again and that we have the team to deliver it... We know that so soon after a historic general election defeat and contesting wards won during the Party’s polling hi

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Експрокурор звинуватив керівників САП та НАБУ у знищені самостійності у структурах та їхній заполітизованості

Source: UNIAN (General) · Published: 2026-05-08T17:07:00+00:00

Експрокурор Станіслав Броневицький вважає, що керівники САП та НАБУ Клименко і Кривонос встановили ручне керування над антикорупційними структурами. Вони збудували чітку вертикаль, яка підпорядкована політичним...

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Badenoch claims Tories ‘coming back’ despite widespread losses in local elections

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:05:57+00:00

Badenoch’s statement came after the Conservatives won back Westminster and Wandsworth councils in LondonElections 2026 live: latest news updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesKemi Badenoch has claimed that the Conservatives are “coming back” after winning back Westminster and Wandsworth councils from Labour in London, despite her party suffering significant losses throughout England in Thursday’s elections.The party also saw off a threat from Reform in Bexley. But the Tories suffered a series of losses in Essex, where Badenoch herself is an MP, losing 13 seats while Reform gained

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Man pleads not guily to threatening Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T17:02:24+00:00

Alex Jenkinson, 39, from Suffolk is expected to stand trial in July, with the former Duke of York giving evidenceA man has denied threatening Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after reports the former prince was accosted near his Sandringham home earlier this week.Alex Jenkinson, 39, pleaded not guilty at Westminster magistrates court on Friday to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke unlawful violence against the former duke of York. Continue reading...

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"У суспільстві панує загальне занепокоєння": в NYT розповіли про несвяткові настрої в РФ

Source: UNIAN (General) · Published: 2026-05-08T17:01:00+00:00

Парад 9 травня на Червоній площі – одна з найбільших подій року, що відбувається в самому серці кремлівської влади – скорочується через загрозу ударів українських дронів.

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Profile of the whistle brigade

Source: The Hindu Business Line – Markets · Published: 2026-05-08T16:55:53+00:00

As TVK’s fate remains unclear, here’s a look at the 107 winners of the party. A relatively young MLAs line-up with over 80 per cent below 55 years of age and 63 per cent graduates and above in qualification, TVK has emerged as a party of ‘change’ in TN politics 

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Reform UK gains at Labour’s expense in local elections – podcast

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T16:53:51+00:00

It has been a crushing set of local and devolved elections for Labour, with Reform UK making huge gains across the country and the Greens winning in London. Keir Starmer is under pressure to announce a timeline for his departure – yet he insists he will not walk away Continue reading...

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How Labour’s ‘terrible’ night unfolded as Reform surges and Greens and Lib Dems hail wins

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T16:46:36+00:00

Plaid Cymru set to take power in Wales and SNP to retain it in Scotland, but Reform made big gains in both nationsElection 2026 live: latest news updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesThe polls had been terrible, the predictions dire and even one of his predecessors as Labour leader, Ed Miliband, had reportedly told Keir Starmer he should set a timetable for his resignation if the results were as bad as they looked.But for the prime minister, as polling stations closed in Wales, Scotland and many parts of England, there would be no consideration of such a course. “To all the Labo

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Reform and Greens surge in local elections: what next for Labour? – The Latest

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T16:43:37+00:00

Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on after Labour suffered heavy losses in local elections, while Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and the Green party made substantial gains. So is the era of two-party politics over? And can the prime minister survive?Lucy Hough speaks to political correspondent Alexandra Topping Continue reading...

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Evacuation of hantavirus-stricken cruise ship could face delays due to bad weather

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T16:41:32+00:00

‘Unprecedented operation’ under way to receive MV Hondius off Tenerife to assess and repatriate those onboard• What is hantavirus?• Where did the cruise ship hantavirus come from and what happens next?The evacuation of the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship must be completed within 24 hours of the vessel reaching Tenerife on Sunday or face days or even weeks of delay because of bad weather, authorities in the Canary islands warned on Friday.The Dutch-flagged vessel, which was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde, is due to arrive in the Spanish archipelago this weekend, triggering what

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US waiting on a response from Iran over proposals for ceasefire deal, says Rubio

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T16:38:51+00:00

Diplomatic efforts continuing despite fighting in and around contested strait of Hormuz in recent daysMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said that Washington is expecting a response from Iran on Friday to its proposals for an interim deal to end the conflict in the Middle East, as Iran accused the US of breaching the increasingly fragile ceasefire announced last month.In recent days there have been the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the contested strait of Hormuz since the informal truce began. The rise in violence followed Donald Trump’s

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US awaiting response from Iran over proposals for ceasefire deal, says Rubio

Source: The Guardian - World · Published: 2026-05-08T16:38:51+00:00

Diplomatic efforts continuing despite fighting in and around contested strait of Hormuz in recent daysMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said that Washington is expecting a response from Iran on Friday to its proposals for an interim deal to end the conflict in the Middle East, as Iran accused the US of breaching the increasingly fragile ceasefire announced last month.In recent days there have been the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the contested strait of Hormuz since the informal truce began. The rise in violence followed Donald Trump’s

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Justice for Shireen: The American investigation

Source: Al Jazeera - World · Published: 2026-05-08T16:36:08+00:00

Four years after Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing, her family is still seeking US-backed accountability.

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