Tories to pledge to scrap Environment Agency and Natural England

Shadow chancellor will also promise to scrap affordable homes regulations as part of strategy to refocus on growth

The Conservatives will announce a bonfire of regulations including abolishing affordable homes and community funding rules as well as scrapping Natural England and the Environment Agency.

The shadow chancellor, Andrew Griffith, will say the party intends to “streamline regulations” that protect nature and oblige developers to include affordable homes and community services such as GP surgeries, to speed up infrastructure and housebuilding.

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Nearly all women arriving on small boats have been raped, says Shabana Mahmood

Home secretary warns people traffickers will exploit asylum seekers because they decide who comes to the UK

Nearly all women who try to reach the UK in small boats from northern France have been raped on their journey, Shabana Mahmood has claimed.

In an interview with The Rest Is Politics podcast, the home secretary said far-right, balaclava-wearing activists would “kill” or “kick me out of my own country” if they took power.

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Women given shorts at Oktoberfest to prevent upskirting

The step at the Munich festival comes after thousands of voyeuristic videos emerged on social media.

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Met launches murder inquiry after man shot dead at London memorial service

Forty-year-old victim declared dead at the scene in East Acton in a ‘senseless act of violence’

A murder investigation has been launched after a 40-year-old man was shot dead in a “senseless act of violence” during a memorial service in west London, police have said.

Police were called on Friday at 7.47pm after multiple shots were heard in East Acton.

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Tories plan to expand free childcare to high earners to end ‘cliff edge’

Kemi Badenoch says those earning more than £100,000 should not be discouraged from working more

The Conservatives have unveiled a proposed £700m childcare giveaway for high earners ahead of their annual conference, saying they would end the “cliff edge” where free entitlement ends at salaries above £100,000.

The plan, set out the day before the event begins in Birmingham, follows the earlier proposal by Kemi Badenoch’s party to abolish most stamp duty, another change to taxation that would disproportionately benefit wealthier people.

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Trump urges calls to Arkansas senator in push for permanent daylight saving time

President appeared to share phone number of Tom Cotton for people to call to push him to support measure

Donald Trump on Saturday put pressure on the US senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas to support a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, urging Americans to call what appeared to be the personal cellphone number of his fellow Republican and the chair of the Senate intelligence committee.

The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House in July, but it faces roadblocks in the Senate, where some Republicans are strongly opposed to it. Proponents, including the president and his administration, argue that the change would provide more daylight during the times that Americans are most active. Detractors said permanent daylight saving time would lead to darker and potentially more hazardous winter mornings when children will be waiting for school buses and parents will be driving to work in darkness.

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UCLA law school accused by justice department of illegally using race in admissions

University denies allegations, saying it is committed to making admissions decisions in compliance with all laws

The Department of Justice said on Thursday that the law school at the University of California, Los Angeles illegally considered race in admissions.

The announcement follows a similar accusation against the university’s medical school and comes as the Trump administration ramps up scrutiny of colleges’ processes for selecting students.

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Boston mass transit authorities flap around for solution to pigeon menace

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority are now considering setting trained falcons on the urban birds

The mass transit authorities in the greater Boston region are clawing around for ways to mitigate the excessive local pigeon population – or more graphically, pigeon poo all over stations – and have swooped on the possibility of setting trained falcons on them.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), the public system commonly known as “the T”, issued a “request for information” (RFI) last month from falconry experts on the potential use of birds of prey, such as falcons, to control the crowds of urban birds widely considered a public nuisance.

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Hegseth puts the future of warfare in the hands of major Maga donors

Installing tech billionaires Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey to Pentagon defense board raises conflict of interest concerns

By installing the tech billionaires Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey to advisory roles in a Pentagon project about the future of warfare, the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, bestowed extraordinary influence on two of Maga’s most significant campaign donors – and both men own companies that benefit from federal defense contracting.

The new project, which Hegseth dubbed “Project Meridian” in an event in Quantico, Virginia, on Wednesday, will be led by Pentagon official Emil Michael, a former Uber executive. As the Guardian has reported, Michael made millions in profits off non-public Musk company AI stock while in federal office – and while guiding the Department of Defense’s artificial intelligence efforts.

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US trade regulator opens investigation into AI giants including Anthropic and OpenAI

FTC move is first official US enforcement ⁠action on rogue AI agents, following surge in incidents first reported in July

The US’s main trade regulator is conducting an industry-wide investigation ⁠into Anthropic, OpenAI and other ⁠AI labs ​to uncover the potential dangers their technology poses to consumers.

The investigation by the Federal Trade Commission is the first official US enforcement ⁠action that delves into rogue AI agents, following a surge in incidents first reported in July that have stoked fears among the public that uncontrolled AI could one day ⁠harm humans.

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