Will Meakin-Durrant

The still Adriatic Sea off the coast of Budva - with its Old Town in view - as parasailing takes place above.

Budva's Old Town

A view of Budva's suburbs from atop a hill, with mountains beyond.

A postcard from Budva 🇲🇪

Labour has 'no plan' to fix Birmingham debt amid major bin strike Labour has "no plan" to fix the debts blighting English councils, a trade...

Labour has "no plan" to ease the debts blighting English councils, one Unite delegate warned on stage at the party's conference. Unite the Union is behind the long-running Birmingham bin strike

hellorayo.co.uk/hits-radio/b...

Miliband vows to permanently ban ‘dangerous and deeply harmful’ fracking The Energy Secretary used the announcement to attack Reform UK, which has called for more extraction of oil and gas.

"Let’s ban fracking," says Ed Miliband, as he warns it is "dangerous and deeply harmful to our natural environment"

www.independent.co.uk/news/busines...

Losing Commons seat to Reform UK in by-election was ‘wake-up call’ Labour’s Karen Shore lost to Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by six votes.

EXC: When Reform UK overturned a 14,696 majority in the only by-election of the Parliament so far, it was a "wake-up call" for Sir Keir Starmer, Labour's losing candidate tells me

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Labour demands recognition and prevention of Gaza ‘genocide’ at conference The Unison trade union tabled an emergency motion on Monday.

In a blow for Sir Keir Starmer and the Government, Labour conference has approved a motion which says Israel is carrying out a genocide in Gaza

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

After a brief speech, where he said his “marching orders” to “get Britain building again” came directly from Sir Keir Starmer, Steve Reed signed bucket hats, caps and t-shirts.

It’s not even day one proper and the bucket hats are out

Starmer faces calls to scrap two-child benefit cap as MPs head to Liverpool The Prime Minister will be joined in Liverpool by delegates and activists for Labour’s annual conference.

Sir Keir Starmer is heading for the Labour conference in Liverpool, which begins this weekend.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Starmer to call for ‘difference under the same flag’ at London summit Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian prime minister Mark Carney will join Sir Keir Starmer in London.

Sir Keir Starmer will pitch the idea of “difference under the same flag”, days after St George’s crosses appeared on landmarks such as the Westbury White Horse and Nottingham’s Goosey the Goose

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Lucy Powell: Labour must grab ‘political microphone’ back from Nigel Farage The Manchester Central MP made her pitch just days before party delegates and activists gather in Liverpool for their annual conference.

This summer, Nigel Farage "has been allowed to hog the political microphone", says Labour deputy leadership hopeful Lucy Powell in her pitch to voters ahead of this weekend's conference

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

‘We’ve proved the concept’ of deportations, says Starmer Referring to a one in, one out returns agreement with France, Sir Keir said he wanted ‘to ramp that up’.

“Small numbers – I accept we want to ramp that up but we’ve been able to prove that you can actually remove people,” Sir Keir Starmer tells Kit Bradshaw as he faced questions about the one in, on out deal with France

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Royal Navy deployed to shadow Russian warship and freighter through British seas “Russian warships are increasingly transiting through the English Channel,” defence minister Luke Pollard warned.

Royal Navy crews shadowed the Russian warship RFN Neustrashimy and freighter Sparta IV through the North Sea and English Channel

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Britons ‘under attack’ on 52-boat flotilla heading to Gaza the Global Sumud Flotilla said ‘drones launched explosives and gases on boats’ earlier this week.

EXC: "We’re British citizens under attack," says Louie-Joe Findlater, from Poole, who is travelling to Gaza as part of a 52-boat flotilla

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Mandatory ID risks forcing unauthorised migrants ‘into shadows’, warn groups A compulsory identification system could be ‘uniquely harmful to privacy, equality and civil liberties’, the liberties group leaders wrote.

Mandatory digital ID risks pushing “unauthorised migrants further into the shadows”, the leaders of eight civil liberties groups have warned in a letter to Sir Keir Starmer.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Business Secretary visits Jaguar Land Rover as shutdown continues JLR, the UK's largest carmaker, has extended its pause in production until October 1, having a knock-on impact to the companies that supply it.

EXC: West Midlands manufacturing faces a "real cash crunch" amid cyber attack disruption at Jaguar Land Rover, says Labour MP Antonia Bance

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Sunset in Podgorica, Montenegro. After the sun falls below the dark mountains, the trees which line the city streets appear in a darker shade of green. The tallest building in shot is the Bemax tower.

The Dajbabska Gora Tower on a hill.

Swallows line up along wires in Podgorica's Stara Varoš.

A postcard from Podgorica 🇲🇪

UK joins international scramble to bring ocean protection treaty into force Sharks, whales and sea turtles are among the species thought to be in line for bolstered protections in international waters.

The UK has joined the multinational scramble to bring the High Seas Treaty into force, which can only happen once 60 countries become legally bound by it

www.independent.co.uk/climate-chan...

MP behind assisted dying Bill rejects Theresa May’s ‘cover-up’ claim The Lords was debating the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill for the first time on Friday.

This was a "very powerful contribution", Kim Leadbeater tells me, but the Labour MP said she found the “framing around suicide very uncomfortable”.

The terminally ill people she had met were "definitely not suicidal", rather, they were dying, she added.

uk.news.yahoo.com/mp-behind-as...

Conservative former PM Theresa May fears the assisted dying Bill "effectively says suicide is OK”, and warned it could lead to a future "cover-up".

Peers urged to be ‘very careful’ before any bids to thwart assisted dying Bill Lord Dubs said blocking the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would be a ‘regrettable step’.

EXC: “I do remain confident that the will of the public will be respected, as will the will of the elected chamber,” Kim Leadbeater tells me after peers began their Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill debate

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Michael in a baby blue suit and Will in mint green - wearing matching cream ties - share a kiss in front of St Mary’s Church, Saffron Walden.

Michael, wearing a baby blue suit, is sat at a table in Saffron Walden Town Hall. He smiles at Will, in a mint green suit, who is sat at the same table, which is decorated with a bouquet of white roses.

As the gathered guests are asked if anyone knows of a reason why Will and Michael can’t be married, Michael pulls a face of mock concern towards the camera. Will laughs.

Will and Michael walk up Market Hill in Saffron Walden side by side, a narrow street lined with colourful shops and a pub.

I married Michael and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

📸 Christopher Turner

Minister unveils UK crackdown on Kyrgyz finance to ‘keep pressure on’ Putin Russian leaders are ‘sorely mistaken’ if they thought they could ‘hide’ their efforts to evade sanctions, Stephen Doughty said.

London and Moscow traded sanctions after a pair of summits on Friday and Monday, when US President Donald Trump said “everyone is happy about the possibility of peace” in eastern Europe.

www.independent.co.uk/news/busines...

Ministers braced for further legal challenges after High Court Epping decision Reform UK leader Nigel Farage hailed the decision a ‘victory’.

More from the PA news agency in Westminster and the High Court - Ministers could face further legal challenges elsewhere. Reform UK-led councils are understood to be exploring the prospect of legal challenges following Tuesday’s ruling.

uk.news.yahoo.com/ministers-br...

Ministers braced for further legal challenges after High Court Epping decision Reform UK leader Nigel Farage hailed the decision a ‘victory’.

Corina Gander tells me the temporary injunction appears to set a “massive precedent”.

uk.news.yahoo.com/ministers-br...

EXC: The leader of Epping Forest’s neighbour council, Broxbourne, will gather “more detail about what Epping has done”, and could use the High Court’s decision as a launchpad for legal action to shut a hotel thought to be housing asylum seekers in Cheshunt.

Green Party leadership hopefuls’ bold plan to secure votes from Labour Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns face Zack Polanski in the Green Party leadership contest

EXC: Green leadership hopefuls Adrian Ramsay (running jointly with Ellie Chowns) and Zack Polanski have vowed to take their party into a fight against Labour, as they enter their final fortnight on the campaign trail.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

More than 100 migrants in one vessel thought to have bumped crossings to 27,799 Home Office figures show 325 migrants crossed the English Channel by small boat on Wednesday.

It was "pure chance" a 10m-long small boat carrying 106 people in the English Channel stayed afloat for more than 15 hours at sea, the Government says.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Facial recognition technology not about ‘total surveillance society’ – minister Dame Diana Johnson said it was about ‘giving the tools to our police officers to enable them to keep us safe’.

Police's use of live facial recognition has "been a bit of a Wild West" so far, Baroness Chakrabarti has warned

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Farming burden has ‘crossed the threshold’, Badenoch warns Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch tried her hand at harvesting wheat during her visit to a farm in Essex.

"It’s just endless constant Government saying, ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that, you can’t move forwards’," Kemi Badenoch told farmers from her North West Essex constituency.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch was in Little Walden today, where she tried her hand at harvesting wheat in a Claas Lexion combine harvester