Democrat Zohran Mamdani – who described himself as “Trump’s worst nightmare” – is set to become New York’s next mayor, Sky’s US partner network NBC News projects.

The projected win – with 60.2% of votes counted – comes after one of the most colourful races in years and looks set to have a profound effect on US national politics.

Mr Mamdani will be the first Muslim, first South Asian, and youngest person in a century to be elected as New York City mayor.

The first reaction from the Democrat came on social media while votes were still being counted, where Mr Mamdani posted a video of a subway coming to a stop as a tannoy says: “The next and last stop is: City Hall.”

After the current Democratic mayor, Eric Adams, announced he would run as an independent after a corruption scandal, Andrew Cuomo emerged as frontrunner to take the party’s nomination.

He was looking to rebuild his career after resigning as governor of New York State in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment.

But in a major upset, relative outsider Mr Mamdani took the nomination instead, and became the favourite for mayor. Cuomo then chose to run as an independent.

Read more:
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On the eve of the election, Mr Trump said Mr Mamdani – who is known for left-wing policies and campaigning on issues like affordable housing – would bring “disaster” to the city.

He encouraged backers of Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate who trailed in polling, to transfer their votes to Mr Cuomo instead.

New York’s mayoral race was one of four elections on Tuesday serving as a bellwether referendum on Mr Trump’s second term as president.

Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill won their races to become state governor in Virginia and New Jersey, respectively.

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The government has announced it will cut GCSE exam time by up to three hours per student.

The final report from a curriculum and assessment review – commissioned by Labour last year, and the biggest of its kind for a decade – recommends cutting the overall volume of exams at Key Stage 4 by 10%, ruling the current amount as “excessive”.

It also calls for the introduction of new maths and English tests in Year 8 to help teachers identify learning gaps sooner, the addition of mandatory citizenship lessons in primary schools, and a major overhaul of the Key Stage 2 grammar, punctuation, and spelling test.

AI among new subjects

The reforms to the national curriculum will also include a focus on AI and data science for post-16 students.

For the first time, primary-aged children will be taught how to spot fake news and identify misinformation and disinformation. This will help them develop their critical thinking skills and protect them when online.

Primary pupils will also learn more about the fundamentals of money. The review recognises that children are now consumers often before they reach secondary school.

A new compulsory reading test in Year 8 will be introduced. This will be in addition to a writing assessment in Year 6, as well as SATs, to identify pupils who need extra support.

Schools will also be expected to work towards offering triple science GCSE as standard.

This comes alongside the government exploring a new qualification for 16-18 year olds in data science and AI, with a view to encourage more young people into science and tech careers.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the changes “will help young people step boldly into the future, with the knowledge to achieve and the skills to thrive as the world around us continues to rapidly evolve”.

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Additionally, the government will publish an oracy framework to help ensure more young people become confident and effective speakers, building on the success of existing reading and writing frameworks.

It is also committed to ensuring all pupils retain access to sport and the arts.

A major review to unearth failures to tackle grooming gangs has found that potential human error led to some police investigations being dropped.

The review – named Operation Beaconport – is looking into cases between 1 January 2010 and 31 March this year.

Thousands of cases are expected to come under scrutiny.

So far, 1,273 files from 23 police forces have been referred to the review, led by the National Crime Agency (NCA), of which 236 are being examined as a priority because they involve allegations of rape.

NCA deputy director Nigel Leary said initial reviews suggest there were mistakes in some investigations.

He said: “Initial reviews have identified that in some cases where there has been a decision to take no further action (NFA), there were available lines of inquiry that could have been pursued.

“We’ve seen in those cases what appears to be potentially human error.”

Mr Leary said that in some cases the inquiries haven’t followed what the NCA would characterise as “proper investigative practice”.

“That includes, for example, lines of inquiry being identified but not being followed, victim accounts not being taken in a way that we would recognise as best practice, and suspects not being pursued or interviewed in the ways that we would anticipate,” he said.

Read more from Sky News:
Hull grooming gangs investigation reopened
Officers taken off Hull grooming gangs investigation

Last month, the Metropolitan Police announced officers were reviewing 9,000 cases of child sexual exploitation.

It is expected that some of these will be referred to Operation Beaconport, which is looking at cases involving two or more suspects, more than one victim, contact offences, where the suspects are still alive, and that have not already been independently reviewed.

The investigation into grooming gangs and other non-familial sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, Operation Stovewood, has cost £89m over 11 years. It is not clear how much the latest investigation will cost.

However, Mr Leary said it would be the “most comprehensive investigation of its type in UK history”, with the NCA estimating thousands of officers will be involved in the overall operation.

Officials are recording the ethnicity of suspects and victims as part of the review, and have found gaps in the existing data that they are trying to fill.

As they examine cases, they aim to flag any dangerous suspects, and any that are at risk of fleeing the UK.

Investigators have vowed to be “honest and transparent” with victims from the start, to avoid giving them unrealistic expectations.

Richard Fewkes, from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said while going after perpetrators is important, some victims will just want to feel they are being listened to.

He said: “Justice means different things for different victims and survivors, and no one victim and survivor is the same.

“For some, justice is just being believed, perhaps for the first time, by someone in authority – being listened to.

“Or it might even be understanding that the review has taken place, a reinvestigation has taken place in an appropriate, focused, robust way, but nothing more can be done.

“For some that is justice in their mind.”