SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Voters in Texas will see little of the Republican candidates for U.S. Senate on Monday. But that’s only if they stay away from screens.

There were no public campaign events scheduled for Sen. John Cornyn nor state Attorney General Ken Paxton on the final day of their more than yearlong quest for the GOP nomination. Instead, their fight for Tuesday’s runoff continues as it has for months — intense and unabated — through advertising that has topped $109 million, heavily from Cornyn’s side.

Cornyn is scheduled to host an annual, non-campaign event in San Antonio to recognize high school graduates attending the nation’s service academies. The senator seeking a fifth term held his last public campaign event in Corpus Christi on Friday, ahead of Tuesday’s voting.

Paxton headlined his last events Thursday in the Austin area and in San Antonio, content to let his campaign and a super PAC carry his primary message: that President Donald Trump endorsed him on May 19.

Trump’s announcement and accompanying dismissal of Cornyn, who has had an awkward public relationship with the president, came on the second day of early voting, which ended Friday.

Though the candidates were quiet over the weekend, Trump reaffirmed his support for Paxton on Sunday, and disparaged Cornyn as insufficiently loyal to him.

Paxton, Trump posted on social media, “was also very loyal to your favorite President, ME,” while calling Cornyn “VERY disloyal to me.” It was Trump’s strongest rebuke of Cornyn, who had dismissed his 2024 comeback chances, and echoed the president’s reproach of Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy before he lost in the May 15 GOP Senate primary.

After Trump’s jabs, Cornyn still leaned into his support for the president just before Monday’s event. The senator said that 99.3% of his votes aligned with Trump, that he “wants him to be successful” and then he referenced Trump’s previous comments “where he called me a good man and a friend.”

As for endorsing his opponent, “obviously the president is entitled to make his pick,” he said, but “Texans are a pretty independent breed and people will be making their own choices.”

Following Trump’s call for retribution, Republican voters in Indiana and Kentucky have also chosen GOP primary challengers over incumbent GOP officeholders who have crossed the president or opposed his agenda.

For a contest that is expected to draw a fraction of Texas’ 18.7 million voters, the two candidates’ campaigns and supporting groups were continuing to bombard all Texans with advertising, though more by Cornyn’s backers than Paxton’s.

“It’s just a slug fest, with the campaigns and third-party groups slugging it out,” said Wayne Hamilton, a former executive director of the Texas Republican Party.

The combination of Cornyn’s campaign and supporting super PACs has far outspent pro-Paxton groups over the past year, by almost nine-to-one. But the gap has shrunk as the runoff has approached. In the final week of the campaign, the combination of pro-Cornyn ad spending was less than twice that of Paxton’s group.

Cornyn’s network continued to air spots attacking Paxton over ethical and personal questions that have shadowed him with little effect throughout the campaign. The senator’s consequent argument to voters is that Paxton would struggle in the general election and threaten to flip the seat blue.

“Paxton’s flaws and the baggage he brings to the general election is going to be exploited to the fullest by James Talarico,” he told reporters, before heading into Monday’s ceremony and giving a speech devoid of campaign politics to the assembled graduates.

Cornyn’s campaign also had reprised an ad noting his tendency to vote in the Senate for Trump’s priorities.

Paxton’s campaign and groups supporting him transitioned midweek to all ads noting Trump’s endorsement, though Paxton’s primary super PAC, Lone Star Liberty Fund, began airing one over the weekend aimed at raising questions about state Rep. James Talarico, the Texas Democratic Senate nominee.

The Blue Flag and Seaside Awards have been announced for 2026 ahead of the summertime.

All of the beaches across England that have been given Blue Flag status for 2026 have been announced. Keep Britain Tidy reveals which beaches have Blue Flag status every May in time for the summer holidays to help people choose “clean, safe, and well-managed beaches” to visit.

A beach is judged on whether it should have Blue Flag status through four areas: environmental management, safety and services, cleanliness, and environmental education. 63 sites across England have “met the high standards required”.

The Seaside Awards have also been revealed with 106 sites being given the award after being judged on their cleanliness, safety, and management. The Seaside Award “recognises fantastic coastal spots” that might not be a “traditional bathing beach”.

Many of the beaches given Blue Flag or Seaside Awards are in Norfolk or Suffolk, which are easy to reach from Cambridgeshire. If you are planning to take your family on a trip to the seaside, you might want to pick one of these places.

All of the Norfolk and Suffolk beaches with Blue Flag status:

• Cromer;
• West Runton;
• Southwold;
• Sheringham;
• Sea Palling;
• Mundesley;
• Felixstowe;
• East Runton.

All of the Norfolk and Suffolk beaches given a Seaside Award:

• Felixstowe;
• Hunstanton Main;
• Kessingland Beach;
• Lowestoft beach;
• Southwold.

Terrorism and spy cases tried by the UK’s top magistrate will be televised for the first time.

The sentencing remarks of the country’s chief magistrate – who hears high-profile lawsuits such as terrorism and extradition cases – will be broadcast live.

Controversial judicial reviews challenging the government and local authorities will also be shown on TV.

The major expansion of courtroom cameras is part of a drive to boost transparency and improve diversity within the judiciary, the Telegraph reports.

The current chief magistrate, Paul Goldspring, sits at Westminster magistrates’ court and has heard some of the most talked-about lawsuits of the day.

This includes the not guilty verdict on Tommy Robinson, the far-Right activist, after he refused to give police access to his phone in July 2024.

Now his sentencing remarks will be televised when the media applies for those cases to be broadcast in the public interest.

Justice Secretary David Lammy hopes the initiative will ‘deliver more transparent justice, by expanding broadcasting and bringing the work of our justice system closer to the public than ever before’.

Cameras have already been allowed into the Supreme Court since 2009, the Court of Appeal from 2013 and for major criminal trials in the Crown Court since 2022.

More than 30 cases were beamed into nation’s living rooms in the first 12 months after Crown Court sentencing was broadcast in July 2022.

Baroness Carr, the Lady Chief Justice, and Lammy also want to increase diversity among the predominantly white, male judiciary. Nearly half, 44 per cent, of judges are now women.

The pair co-chaired the first meeting of a new diversity board last week that is working to make the legal profession reflect ‘modern Britain’.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: David Lammy stumbles through endless football metaphors while supporting Starmer

In The Mixer’s World Cup special

Get previews of every single team at the World Cup sent directly to your inbox, featuring the players to look out for, games you shouldn’t miss and Metro’s big England predictions.

A workman had climbed the spire to assess the structure and found several loose stones – stones that were a very present danger to anyone below.

They were told the building had to be abandoned immediately.Paul’s

St Paul’s Church building (Image: Dan Dougherty)

“We had our service on Tuesday, and we were out before Sunday,” said Susan Pilkington, the current lay reader for the church and its main organiser.

“It’s sad, but it’s too expensive – the repairs could cost over £1m.

“And even if we got it sorted tomorrow, we still wouldn’t be able to afford to run it.

“It’s up to the diocese now.”

The large building of St Paul’s church was built in 1847-8 and consecrated by the first Bishop of Manchester, James Prince Lee.

Part of the churchyard is fenced off (Image: Dan Dougherty)

The spire is one of Astley Bridge’s most noticeable monuments, towering over the nearby buildings so that it is visible from the nearby Blackburn Road.

But the famous spire is now one of the building’s biggest problems, with the front part of the churchyard now barricaded off due to the danger of collapse.

“It’s a very nice building, but if you can’t afford to run it anymore, what do you do?” said Susan.

“It wasn’t just the spire. All the internals needed redoing – the plaster, the electricals.”

The children of St Paul’s School made a cross for the church (Image: Dan Dougherty)

In fact, the church group had already voted to leave the church in 2024 due to its various problems – the issue with the spire only expedited the process.

The church moved into St Paul’s School directly over the road. They use the assembly room for their services, and host meetings and groups in the community room.

A church is not its building; a church is a community. Judged this way, St Paul’s, Astley Bridge, is stronger now than it has been in years.

(Image: Dan Dougherty)

“The people have come together enormously,” said Susan.

“It’s brought everybody together, and the feeling across the whole community is tremendous.

“The kids from the school drop in to see us, the staff come in. We work together, do assemblies, and events.

“The relationship we have with the children is amazing – we’re working closely with them on their June summer fair.”

The physical church’s closing down seemed to galvanise a community that, until that point, had seemed less and less keen to attend church. Only when faced with its potential loss did the community realise how much it meant to them.

St Paul’s attendance is now up from what it was when the church was still open, with older members, families, and children all worshipping together.

The famous spire that causes concern (Image: Dan Dougherty)

And holding services in the school rather than the church building has its own set of advantages.

“It’s good in the winter because you don’t have to wear six layers to come in for the Sunday service!” said Susan.

The church also lost its vicar last year, who stepped down from their role. Susan now does all the services herself. She’s licenced to do so, as a lay reader.

The church formerly held two Sunday services, a more traditional one at 9am, usually attended by the older folk, and another family-oriented one at 10.45am.

The community has rallied (Image: NQ)

But now, these services have been condensed into one. The results have been interesting.

“You have 80-year-old guys there doing action dances with the kids,” Susan told me.

“We would never have thought that that would have happened. Everybody really joins in. Everybody.

“It’s really tremendous.”

The church has grown so much since last year that they are now facing another issue: where once they were thinking of downsizing, they might now be forced to upsize.

“We had so many people here for the Easter service that we could just barely fit everyone in,” Susan said.

(Image: Dan Dougherty)

“And Christmas was very busy as well.

“Our ideal situation would be that we could get a plot of land in Astley Bridge and build something new, though the land would have to be in Astley Bridge.”

One member who attends is Astley Bridge councillor Toby Hewitt.

Cllr Hewitt said: “I love to see the church has remained open.

(Image: Dan Dougherty)

“They have a really great set of people who want to do the right thing for the local community.

“The building is with the diocese, but there’s a process they have to follow, but it would be good if it could stay open as a place of worship.”

But despite the struggles with the building, St Paul’s church itself has never been stronger.

“I do enjoy it,” said Susan.

“Without the support of everyone around me, my job would be impossible.

(Image: Dan Dougherty)

“It’s difficult to keep everything going, but it’s such a privilege to be able to do this.”

Regarding the building itself, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Manchester said: “The church building at St Paul’s Astley Bridge remains closed and is currently subject to a statutory consultation process.

“As we are continuing to receive and respond to submissions to the consultation, we are not yet able to provide a timeline for when a decision will be made.”

DALLAS (AP) — After three terms in the U.S. House and two unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate, Colin Allred said he’s heard plenty about voters’ suspicions that politicians are just trying to make a buck in Washington.

“‘What about the stock trading in Congress? What about people getting rich in Congress?’” Allred said they ask him regularly. “And I have to say to them, you’re absolutely right about that, too. We need to be better.”

He’s challenging Rep. Julie Johnson in the Democratic runoff for a Dallas-area House seat on Tuesday, and he’s one of several candidates trying to harness populist anger over congressional stock trading. Allred has denounced Johnson for trades involving companies like Palantir, a data analytics firm with ties to President Donald Trump’s administration.

Johnson said her trades were handled by a financial manager, and she accused Allred of being “only out for himself.” She pointed to financial disclosures that showed Allred’s wealth nearly doubling during his own time in Congress, although Allred said his assets were in a blind trust and the money came from his wife’s income as a partner at a law firm.

“To be clear, the sum total I made on that trade was only $90,” Johnson said of her Palantir stock. “My opponent is trying to make it seem like it was hundreds or thousands.”

The bitter campaign is emblematic of broader debates within the Democratic Party over the role of money in politics. Long a refrain of strident progressives and good-government reformers, accusations that political rivals are self-dealing or bought by special interests have become a mainstay of Democratic primaries. The heightened criticism of lawmakers’ personal wealth comes as the party looks to sharpen its anti-corruption message against Trump and to develop a platform for overhauling Washington if Democrats take power in the midterms.

Some are tracking congressional stock trading

Trump campaigned on a promise to “drain the swamp,” capitalizing on Americans’ disdain for the Washington establishment. Now that his family is profiting while he’s back in the White House, Democrats are eager to regain the upper hand on an issue that could prove potent with voters.

“The difficulty is that right now, no party has the mantle on anti-corruption,” said Daniel Lobo-Lewis, a political consultant in Washington. “Many voters outside of the beltway see both parties as corrupt, because they see all politicians as bought by the donors or by their own self-interest.”

Lobo-Lewis and Nico Agosto founded the Political Integrity Project last year to track stock trading and corporate donations involving members of Congress.

The organization asks candidates to sign an “integrity pledge” to refrain from trading stocks or accepting corporate donations while in Congress and vow not to work as a lobbyist after they leave office. So far, about 90 challengers and seven sitting lawmakers have taken the pledge, all of whom are Democrats.

“If we want to, in any way, start rebuilding trust in our political institutions, it starts with no-brainer changes like this that have an approval rating above and beyond any other issue you could imagine,” Lobo-Lewis said.

Congress has yet to enact a stock trading ban for its members, though insider trading is already illegal. for members just like it is for anyone else. There are multiple proposals on Capitol Hill but none have gained traction.

A bipartisan bill to ban congressional stock trading stalled this year despite receiving Trump’s blessing during his State of the Union. And Democrats remain divided over the number of alleged loopholes in their competing proposals.

Anti-corruption messages spread in Democratic primaries

A crowded race in a Democratic-leaning Utah congressional seat has featured attacks over candidates’ personal wealth. State Sen. Nate Blouin criticized his main rival, former Rep. Ben McAdams, for having equity in a Utah data center firm, and excoriated others in the race for past investments and jobs.

McAdams said the equity of several thousand dollars was payment for a past contract completed by his government consulting firm while he was a private citizen. His campaign defended the data center project by saying it would use no water and run on clean energy.

A spokesperson for McAdams also claimed Blouin “is currently hiding his corporate donations” by removing them from campaign disclosure reports, which McAdams’ campaign claims “is not only deceitful, it breaks campaign finance law.”

In an interview, Blouin rejected the claim that he broke the law, and said that he removed the donations because he returned the money to each donor.

“It was actually quite uncomfortable to return some of those,” said Blouin, because some of the firms included local firms and clean energy companies. “But there is a perception that campaign contributions from lobbyists and companies influence votes, and I think there is some truth to that.”

In a New York City congressional district that includes both Wall Street and the Democratic Socialists of America’s headquarters, the city’s former comptroller, Brad Lander, has accused Rep. Dan Goldman of trying to buy another term by using his own wealth to match campaign contributions. Goldman, an heir to the Levi Strauss family fortune, says he entered all of his assets into a blind trust after taking office in 2023.

A spokesperson for Goldman said Lander is “running a deceitful campaign based on absurd lies that Dan is beholden to special interests” and that Goldman has raised more campaign funds than Lander “without taking a dime of corporate PAC money.” Goldman has spent his own money on the race, the spokesperson said, “to ensure that the NY-10 voters can be sure that he is beholden only to them and his principles.”

Lander said Goldman’s spending is “not illegal, but it is certainly anti-democratic when a quarter-billionaire like Dan Goldman not only dumps millions of his own inherited wealth into his elections but also solicits money from the same forces who are rigging the economy and worsening the affordability crisis.”

More candidates are fighting over stocks in California

Even representatives who support a ban on congressional stock trading are feeling the heat.

Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California is facing multiple primary challengers who have criticized the congressman for holding stocks while serving in Congress. Sherman does not trade individual stocks and supports a ban on stock trading.

“I only own three individual stocks which I inherited from my mother when she passed away, which were originally acquired by my grandmother,” Sherman said. “I have never sold them because I made a promise to my constituents that I would not buy and sell individual stocks.”

One of Sherman’s primary challengers is Jake Levine, a former climate adviser to President Joe Biden, who signed the pledge from the Political Integrity Project. But Sherman said Levine “refuses to disclose key elements of his $18 million stock portfolio, and actively bought and sold stocks while serving on the National Security Council.” Levine has said he cannot disclose the portfolio because it is managed by his family and he has no oversight.

In the race to succeed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California State Sen. Scott Wiener has critiqued his progressive opponent, Saikat Chakrabarti, over his personal wealth. Chakrabarti is a former software engineer who earned millions as an early employee at the tech firm Stripe. He later served as the first chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Wiener said that Chakrabarti “has enormous investments” and “is trying to buy this seat” while “spreading bogus conspiracy theories” with his own wealth. He criticized Chakrabarti for not disclosing the last decade of his stock trades.

“If you’re making a ban on stock trades a central part of your campaign — as Saikat is doing, running around saying that everyone under the sun is corrupt — how about you tell the voters about your own stock trading history,” Wiener said.

Chakrabarti retorted that his wealth as a private citizen is not relevant to his future time in office and that he would put all of his assets into a blind trust should he be elected. He critiqued Wiener for being supported by super PACs funded by the AI firm Anthropic and other major corporations.

“This is all part of a larger problem, which is just the whole idea of corruption in our politics,” Chakrabarti said. “If you’re in Congress, you sit on committees that oversee a lot of these industries, and it’s unethical to be using that insider information, that knowledge to make stock trades. But that doesn’t apply to a private citizen.”

The fire service have asked the public to cease contacting them regarding the incident as they have already received more than 180 calls since the blaze broke out.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We are currently in attendance at an incident on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh.

“Operations Control has mobilised three appliances to the scene. People are being asked to avoid the area as crews work to extinguish a large grass fire.

“There is no further need to alert our Operations Control to this incident as we have already received a large volume of calls.”

“It’s extremely addictive and bad for our health”

Wes Streeting has made demands for children to ‘get their childhood back’ amid a call for a social media ban for under-16s. The former health secretary likened tech companies to the tobacco industry ahead of the closure of the public consultation on online safety for young people.

The Government’s Growing Up In The Online World consultation, which floated measures such an Australia-style social media ban for under-16s, app curfews and limits on addictive features, closes at the end of Tuesday (May 26).

There have been widespread calls for the UK to follow Australia’s lead on a social media prohibition for children, although there have been questions about how effective it has been.

Click here to get the biggest stories straight to your inbox in our Daily Newsletter

Mr Streeting said: “Social media should be treated like tobacco – it’s extremely addictive, bad for our health, and Big Tech is borrowing the Big Tobacco playbook to avoid regulation. We’ve got to give our children their childhood back. A ban for under-16s must be the start, not the end.

“We have given the pen to tech moguls to write our future for us. It’s time to take the pen back.”

Mr Streeting stepped down from the Department of Health earlier this month and called on the Prime Minister to go. In his resignation speech in the Commons last week, the Ilford North MP argued that successive governments were ‘short-changing’ young people.

“This generation is the first left totally exposed to the time-sucking algorithms and perils of social media,” he said, adding that he had raised ‘concerns about the impact of this on their learning and their wellbeing’.

Mr Streeting has set out policies as he positions himself to replace Sir Keir Starmer, including a wealth tax to bring back the New Labour-era Sure Start programme, and planning reforms to fund council homes to prevent children growing up in temporary accommodation.

Ministers announced last month they would introduce ‘age or functionality restrictions’ on social media for under-16s regardless of the consultation outcome, with proposals to be unveiled by the summer and plans to legislate before the end of the year. The concession by the Government came after pressure from the House of Lords over the issue.

Peers voted four times to press the Commons into accepting an outright ban, ending their stand-off with MPs only after ministers agreed to restrictions.

Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has also joined calls for a full ban for under-16s, recently questioning on the The Rest Is Politics podcast: “Why you cannot just make a decision that when it seems so clear that that’s what you need to do?”

A Government spokesperson said: “Everyone – especially children and young people – should be able to have a positive, safe experience online. That’s why we are consulting on a wide range of measures, from restricting social media access to potential app curfews, to ensure we get the balance right and protect young people from harm.

“We are still seeking views from parents, young people and experts before taking our next steps. More than 70,000 people have already engaged, and there is still time for others to share their views before the consultation closes at midnight (on Tuesday).

“We are also taking wider action to tackle online harm. Through the Online Safety Act, platforms have to give users more control over the content they see and stronger protections from harmful material.”

The Met Office is forecasting highs in York of 33 degrees Celsius, which will be matched in Selby, and moving towards the coast thermometers will be hitting 32 degrees in Easingwold, 31 degrees in Helmsley and Malton and 30 degrees Celsius in Whitby.

It comes after the UK saw its hottest day in May for at least 79 years on Sunday with a high of 32.3C at Kew Gardens in south-west London.

Recommended reading:

As reported by The Press yesterday, ice-cream vendors were enjoying a good weekend of trade in King’s Staith as the temperature gauges hit 31 degrees.

Tom Morgan, a Met Office meteorologist, told the Press Association: “We rarely see temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius (C), even in the summer months, so to see temperatures getting close to 35C in May is, as I say, pretty historic.”

. (Image: Newsquest)

A yellow heat alert is in place for York, Yorkshire and The Humber until 5pm on Wednesday.

The alert, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), means there could be a significant impact across health and social care services, including the potential for a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions.

The heat is considered to be dangerous for some vulnerable groups including older adults as their bodies struggle to regulate temperature.

Age UK recommends staying inside during the hottest hours of the day, between 11am and 3pm, and having regular cold baths or showers.

Age UK charity director Caroline Abrahams said: “We can all help older people stay safe during periods of hot weather by checking in on older relatives, friends and neighbours to see if they need anything or are struggling with the heat.

“Offering to pick up shopping or medication, or even lending a fan, can make a real difference.”

Wales and Northern Ireland also reached 2026 record temperatures of 27.4C in Cardiff and 23.4C in Armagh on Sunday.

Scotland saw highs of 23.5C in Edinburgh on Sunday, just below the current record of 23.6C recorded in Aboyne on May 1.

The Met Office said heatwave conditions were met in eight parts of England on Sunday – Heathrow in Greater London, Benson in Oxfordshire, Brooms Barn in Suffolk, High Beech in Essex, Kew Gardens in London, Northolt in London, Santon Downham in Suffolk and Writtle in Essex.

Although Monday is set to be hot for many parts of England, north-west Scotland will be breezier and damper with thicker clouds.

Saturday was the first time this year that the UK had passed 30C and Sunday saw the hottest recorded May temperature since 1947.