Parties contesting the Makerfield by-election are “locked in a war of words” over how many voters are backing insurgent “far-right” party Restore Britain, said Kitty Donaldson in The i Paper. An early poll by Survation puts support for Rupert Lowe’s Restore at 7%, with Labour at 43% and Reform UK at 40% – fuelling Labour supporters’ hopes that Restore could split the right-wing vote and usher in leadership hopeful Andy Burnham.

What did the commentators say?
Farage and his allies are “visibly rattled” by Restore, said Robert Shrimsley in the Financial Times. Although Farage may not fear being “superseded” by Lowe, a split on the right could “cost him seats”. Yet a Restore surge could also be a blessing in disguise for Farage, serving as a “decontamination chamber” to rid his own party of extreme voices unpalatable to mainstream voters.

“Then there is Lowe himself,” said James Heale in The Spectator. Farage has “withstood 30 years of muckraking and press sleuthing. Is Lowe ready for the same?” At 68, the Restore leader must now “do in a decade what Farage managed in three”. Lowe is already under investigation by the parliamentary watchdog over a complaint made against him, and as his party’s prominence grows, he will also face pressure to “disavow comments his activists have made”. Given the need to balance that with Restore’s founding principle that Reform’s immigration policies are “insufficiently robust”, his party will “inevitably struggle to keep its base onside”.

What next?
“You don’t need to be John Curtice to see what this means,” said Brendan O’Neill on Spiked. In a “two-horse” race between those who believe Andy Burnham can “resuscitate the corpse of Labour” and those who are “taking a punt on the populists of Reform”, Restore is “giving the listless, dull-eyed horse of technocracy its best shot of winning”.

Support for Restore could make a “critical difference” to the result in Makerfield, said Melanie Phillips in The Times. But either way, “whoever occupies No. 10 after this by-election”, and perhaps the general election, “will be presiding over a country that has become an explosive tinderbox”.

The EU may soon be on track to gain a 28th member, as Iceland prepares to vote on resuming accession talks. Polling shows Icelanders divided on the issue ahead of August’s referendum, which could have ripple effects on the international order.

Strategy ‘rethink’
If Icelanders vote to resume accession talks with the EU, any agreement ultimately reached with the bloc would be subject to a second referendum. According to a recent survey, “42% of Icelanders are in favour of reopening accession talks and 39% are opposed”, said The Guardian. Those in favour view joining the EU as “important for international security and an opportunity for better integration in Europe”, an attitude “in part motivated by threats from the US, a longtime close ally of Iceland, to forcibly acquire its closest neighbour, Greenland”.

Since last year’s Greenland furore, the bloc has “intensified a rethink of its Arctic strategy”, said Mari Novik in the Financial Times. Previous talks stumbled over regulations around fishing, a major industry in Iceland, but the EU may now be prepared to offer a “carve-out” to smooth the way towards accession.

‘Forced to pick a side’
Politics in Iceland “tend to be rather benign”, but there’s “something about the EU debate that stirs the pot” of public opinion, said Elías Þórsson at Icelandic news magazine The Reykjavík Grapevine. Some feel that EU membership means “giving up Iceland’s sovereignty”.

The outcome of the vote may come down to the all-important fishing industry. Icelanders have “watched with alarm as Ireland, an EU member, has endured cuts to fishing quotas that have devastated its coastal communities”, said Amelia Nierenberg in The New York Times. Citizens are fearful that the EU could do the same thing to Iceland, unless a carve-out can be secured.

“People feel that they might be forced to pick a side,” Eirikur Bergmann, a politics professor at Iceland’s Bifrost University, told the paper. But with Donald Trump’s threats to Greenland looming in Icelanders’ minds, there’s “really only one side to pick”.

Members of Iraq’s Saraya al-Salam militia celebrate during a ceremony in the city of Samarra marking their formal integration into the country’s security forces. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has urged armed factions to join government forces, amid US pressure to rein in Iran-aligned groups.

Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP / Getty Images

Outdoor life takes centre stage in summer, and nature is the headliner. Up and down the country, there are some brilliant nature festivals where you can spot animals and plants, learn about conservation and immerse yourself in hands-on experiences. Here are some of the best.

Biosphere festival, Isle of Wight
This event showcases “the most diverse species and landscapes of this Unesco reserve, from beaches and wetlands to chalk downland and woodland”, said The Guardian. There are open gardens, storytelling sessions, scavenger hunts and fossil workshops, as well as an array of “nature experiences” at sites across the island.

Cambridge Nature Festival, Cambridge
This popular festival highlights the region’s natural sights, “from the ancient fens of Wicken” to the “rare orchids of Haslingfield Quarry”, said the Cambridge Independent. There are more than 180 free or low-cost “outdoor adventures” to choose from, including guided bat walks, pond-dipping, boat trips and children’s bushcraft sessions.

Festival of Nature, Suffolk
An opening-day talk by local wildlife illustrator Angela Harding kicks off three weeks of creative workshops, discovery sessions, talks and family events at this new addition to the nature festival calendar. Look out for “immersive sound baths, sound installations” and “mesmerising projections”, said the BBC.

Festival of Nature, Bristol and Bath
This is the UK’s “largest free nature festival”, with an impressive collection of fun and informative events, said The Guardian. Expect “wildlife walks, river and shoreline surveys, citizen science projects, seed-planting, pollinator-tracking and hands-on conservation activities”.

AI is the greatest money-wasting scheme humanity has ever invented
Cory Doctorow in The Telegraph
People “fret” that AI will “take all our jobs”, writes digital-rights activist and author Cory Doctorow. But they don’t worry about how much of the stock market is “tied up” in tech firms that “have yet to make a penny’s profit on AI”. This “could become the most toxic investment bubble in history”. AI can’t “do your job, though an AI salesman might well convince your boss” otherwise. But if “the stock market collapses”, it could “destroy your livelihood”.

Dramatising Sarah Everard’s death only serves the ghouls
Janice Turner in The Times
The murder of Sarah Everard “will haunt a generation of young women forever”, writes Janice Turner. That’s why 400 female screenwriters “who petitioned the BBC feel so betrayed” that a new docu-drama about her “will be written by a man”. But it's “immaterial” who writes it; “the only relevant question is whether” it’s right to dramatise “such a horrific and recent crime”. No doubt “Sarah Everard: the Movie will be a mega ratings hit”, but I'm “queasy” about fictionalising her story for “entertainment”.

Remembering Muhammad Ali’s message of peace
Amina J. Mohammed on Al Jazeera
“Ten years after the world said goodbye” to Muhammad Ali, his words still echo “in a hallway just outside my office”, writes UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina J. Mohammed. Hanging there is a watercolour he painted for us, with a handwritten letter underneath that says: “Service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on Earth.” That message feels “even more urgent” today, reminding us that “peace requires courage” and that “we must nurture and safeguard” it every day.