Voters across much of England will head to the ballot box for local and mayoral elections on 4 May.
It will be the first time people in England will have to show photographic identification at voting stations before they can cast their ballot.
Sky News takes you through all you need to know about the upcoming local elections.
Where are they taking place?
Most local councils in England are holding elections – excluding the Greater London area as they were held in 2022.
The majority of councils held their last elections in 2019 so the four-year cycle means it is their turn again.
A total of 8,057 seats are up for grabs in 4,831 wards.
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Mayoral elections will also take place in Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough.
Local elections in Northern Ireland will take place two weeks later on 18 May.
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There are no local elections in Scotland and Wales.
Voter identification
The law was changed last year so voters in Great Britain now have to show photo ID before being issued a ballot paper in polling stations for general, local and police and crime commissioner elections, and referendums.
Voters in Northern Ireland have been required to show photo ID since 2007.
But this is the first time since the law came into play voters in the rest of the UK will have to provide photo ID.
When a similar system was introduced in Northern Ireland in 2003, there was an almost five-point drop in expected turnout but normal patterns were restored in subsequent elections.
Most forms of existing photo ID will be accepted, including:
• UK, EEA and Commonwealth passports or driving licences
• Most concessionary travel cards
• Blue Badge
• Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) card.
Voters can still use photo ID that it is out of date, as long as it still looks like them and the name is the same one used to register to vote.
For those who do not have an accepted form of photo ID, their photo no longer looks like them or they are worried about using an existing form, such as due to a gender marker, voters can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate.
The deadline for applying for a certificate for the English local elections is 5pm on 25 April, but people must have registered to vote before applying.
Voter registration deadline
People who wish to vote, and are eligible, must make sure they are registered.
For those who have not previously registered to vote or, have moved house, the deadline for the 2023 local elections is 11.59pm on 17 April.
People who have changed their name but are already registered can either contact their local council’s electoral services team and request a name change, or they can register again.
You can register online – it takes fives minutes and you need your National Insurance number.
For those who cannot do it online they can download a paper form.
Voters who want to vote by post need to apply to do so by 5pm on 18 April, and must also have registered to vote by the end of the day on 17 April.
Ballots will be sent out about three weeks before polling day and needs to be with their local council by 10pm on polling day to be counted. If you cannot post it in time, you can take the pack to your local polling station or council on polling day.
Voters can also get a trusted person to vote on their behalf – a proxy vote – and must apply for this by 5pm on 25 April, after first registering to vote.
How many seats/councils are parties defending?
The Conservatives hold the highest number of seats and councils in England, with the party holding majority control of 85 councils and defending 3,365 seats – 42% of the total seats.
Labour has majority control of 50 councils and 2,131 seats while the Lib Dems have control of 16 authorities and are defending 1,223 seats.
A third of English councils – 74 – currently have no overall control.
The Greens are defending 239 seats and Independents or local parties have majority control over five councils.
A combination of UKIP/Brexit/Reform UK are defending 30 seats, according to Sky News analysis.
There will be ward boundary changes in 49 authorities – more than a fifth of all councils – and boundaries are being altered in eight metropolitan boroughs, 14 unitary councils and 27 districts.
Boundary changes make it much harder to predict how the vote will go as they can encapsulate a different demographic.
What are the different types of authorities?
There are several different types of local authorities. County councils are responsible for larger services across an entire county such as education, transport, social care and fire and public safety.
District, borough and city councils provide a second tier and cover a smaller area than county councils, with responsibility for services like recycling, housing and planning applications.
In some parts of the country, there is just one tier of local government providing all local services. There are unitary authorities, and London and metropolitan boroughs.
Parish, community and town councils operate at a level below district and borough councils, and in some cases under unitary authorities. They provide help on issues such as allotments, bus shelters, play areas, local grants and have the power to issue fixed penalty fines for litter, graffiti, fly posting and dog offences.
How are local councillors elected?
In England, councillors are elected on four-year terms to either single or multi-member wards using the first-past-the-post electoral system.
In most councils (67%), all their seats – the areas of responsibility within the council – are elected at the same time every four years.
Nearly a third of councils (31%) see a third of their council seats elected each year for three years out of every four.
A very small number (2%) have half their council seats elected every two years. None of those are up for grabs this year.
A helicopter carrying Iran’s president has been involved in a “hard landing” during bad weather, Iranian state media has said.
President Ebrahim Raisi was travelling across the far northwest of Iranfollowing a visit to Azerbaijan.
Rescue teams are trying to reach the scene but are reportedly being hampered by fog and heavy rain in a mountainous area.
State media initially said it happened near Jolfa, about 375 miles (600km) northwest of Tehran, but then put it further east near the village of Uzi.
The president was said to be travelling with foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan province and other officials.
However, Iranian interior minister Ahmed Vahidi didn’t confirm whether Mr Raisi was on board the helicopter involved, saying he was travelling in a convoy of three aircraft.
Mr Raisi had been in Azerbaijan for the inauguration of a dam with the country’s president, Ilham Aliyev.
“The esteemed president and company were on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog,” the interior minister said on state TV.
“Various rescue teams are on their way to the region but because of the poor weather and fogginess it might take time for them to reach the helicopter.”
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He added: “The region is a bit [rugged] and it’s difficult to make contact. We are waiting for rescue teams to reach the landing site and give us more information.”
Many of Iran’s military aircraft date back to before the 1979 revolution and international sanctions can make it hard to obtain parts.
Mr Raisi, 63, is a hardliner and former head of the judiciary who some have suggested could one day replace Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He was elected in 2021 at the second time of trying.
Mr Raisi’s time in charge has included major protests over Mahsa Amini – the woman who died after she was arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.
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Officials in Slovakia are investigating whether the attacker who shot the prime minister was not a “lone wolf”.
The interior minister Matus Sutaj Estok issued the update on Sunday, after the suspect was previously believed to be a “lone wolf”.
Robert Fico’s condition is no longer life-threatening but is still very serious, his team said on Sunday.
Deputy prime minister Robert Kalinak issued the update four days after the assassination attempt on the populist leader.
Speaking to reporters outside the Banska Bystrica hospital, where Mr Fico is being treated, he said: “The worst that we feared had passed, at least for the time being.
“We are all a little calmer. When we were saying that we want to get closer to a positive prognosis, then I believe that we are a step closer to that.”
The prime minister, 59, was shot multiple times on Wednesday in an attack that raised fresh concern over the polarisation of politics in the central European country of 5.4 million people.
Mr Fico was shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters – the first major assassination attempt on a European political leader for more than 20 years.
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Video footage showed the Slovak premier approach people gathered at barricades and reach out to shake hands as a man stepped forward, extended his arm and fired five rounds before being tackled and arrested.
Mr Estok has previously said the suspect objected to the government’s Ukraine policy.
Mr Fico’s government has ended official military support for Ukraine and taken a more pro-Russian line on the conflict than most European Union partners.
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Slovak PM shooting suspect’s home raided
The Slovak Specialised Criminal Court ruled on Saturday that the suspect, identified by prosecutors as Juraj C, should remain behind bars until the trialcharged with attempted murder.
Prosecutors said they feared he could flee or commit other crimes if freed, a court spokesperson said.
The suspect can appeal the order, but so far no statement has been published by him or a lawyer on his behalf.
Little information about the would-be assassin has been made public, after prosecutors told police not to identify him or release details about the case.
Meanwhile, Mr Kalinak, who is also Slovakia’s defence minister, said Mr Fico’s condition was still too serious to consider transferring him to a hospital in the capital.
Milan Urbani, deputy director of the Banska Bystrica hospital, told reporters that, as of Sunday morning: “The patient is currently out of a life-threatening condition”.
He added: “His condition remains very serious, and he needs a long time to rest to recover. We firmly believe that everything will go in a good direction.”
Members of a Ukrainian brigade have described how they were secretly relocated to help defend a section of the country’s border with Russia a few days before a new invasion began.
The commander of an artillery unit from 57 Brigade said his guns were even firing at Russian troops the day before the ground incursion into the northeastern region of Kharkiv, which started on 10 May. He said the forces had been “brazenly” amassing on the Russian side of the border.
“We were hitting tanks on the border… it was already a real war,” said Sasha, 26, who uses the callsign “black”.
The commander of a second artillery unit similarly confirmed the brigade had been moved early to bolster defences in this direction.
The troops had previously been defending the city of Kupiansk, also in Kharkiv.
The comments offer a sense of how Ukraine attempted – ahead of time – to scramble forces to counter a Russian build-up along its long, northeastern border.
But the move was nowhere near enough to prevent the largest assault into Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion almost two and a half years ago.
A Ukrainian source, describing the first few days of the Kharkiv offensive just over a week ago, said there had been moments when he feared “we had lost the frontline”.
The source said the situation had since stabilised but warned: “We don’t know how long it could be like this”.
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Sky News on Saturday tried to visit an artillery position, manned by soldiers from 57 Brigade, just outside the town of Vovchansk – a key target of the Russian offensive.
As we approached at speed by road, a soldier travelling with us said we had to pull over because he needed to communicate via radio with troops on the gunline.
Suddenly a voice over the radio could be heard saying: “Don’t come here. Don’t come at all.”
We were told it was too dangerous to travel further and we had to leave. It was not immediately clear what was happening on the ground.
At a makeshift base, safely back from the frontline, the artillery unit commander Sasha uses electronic maps on a tablet and laptop to confirm targets for his guns to attack.
He said he and his team relocated from the Kupiansk front on the 4 to 5 May.
“We were indeed moved here earlier,” Sasha said. But he signalled he would have liked longer to prepare.
“I don’t know all the situation and why it happened like this. But I know for sure that to better repel [an attack], we might need either more time or better-prepared positions,” he said.
“Ahead of the assault, we were already hitting targets on Russian territory because we knew they were gathering there. They were brazenly assembling.”
Sasha described the moment the Russians started to advance.
He said it began with three hours of artillery fire against Ukrainian targets before ground troops crossed the border.
“I would love that they [the Russians] had been stopped at the border,” he said.
Instead, a fierce battle erupted, as Russian infantry, backed by airstrikes, drone attacks and artillery fire, pushed forward.
“For the first few days, they [the Russians] were storming our positions – columns of 30 to 50 soldiers. We were hitting them.”
In the chaos, Sasha said he worked to gather information to ensure his troops were able to operate.
“I am proud that my guys managed to do their best,” he said. “All credit to those who stayed on their artillery positions.”
He described the frontline as initially being “fragile” but said reinforcements were now in place. The commander said Russia had lost the opportunity to make a significant breakthrough.
“Until now they had a chance. Even in my area, I knew where we had gaps where they could have slipped through. Now we don’t have such gaps,” he said.
“I am satisfied that we have managed to stabilise the situation.”
At a second artillery position, on a different section of a frontline that has expanded by some 40 miles in the wake of the new attack, a Soviet-era gun, hidden under netting and tree branches, points in the direction of Russia.
Soldiers here said they would be able to inflict a lot more damage on the invaders if they had more ammunition and better weapons.
Nicknamed “grandma”, their D-20 Howitzer artillery piece, which fires 152mm shells, was built in the 1970s.
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“We’re saving our artillery shells right now. We fire one, they fire back five,” said one of the servicemen, who – at 50 years old – has the callsign “Grandpa”.
A second soldier said Russia has more weapons than his side.
Asked what difference additional munitions would make, he said with a laugh: “It would increase the number of dead Russians – 100%”.
Additional reporting by Azad Safarov, Ukraine producer