What to know as the UK prepares to vote

Hello. Here in the UK, it has been the last day of campaigning ahead of the general election. Chris Mason and James FitzGerald have the lowdown on what could be a landmark moment in British politics. In India, Anbarasan Ethirajan has a heart-rending report from the scene of a crush that killed 121 people at a religious event. We trace the remarkable rise of South Africa's new sports minister and have plenty of interest for those who appreciate Italian art.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Britain braces for change

Polls have long suggested Sir Keir Starmer (background) will replace Rishi Sunak in Downing Street. Credit: BBC

On the eve of the UK's general election, Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was "campaigning hard for every vote". His main challenger, Sir Keir Starmer, said Conservative claims his Labour Party was on course for a huge victory amounted to "voter suppression".

How have the main rivals been campaigning?

Sir Keir Starmer and his Labour team have been quietly preparing for government, while wracked with a paranoia about complacency. Nothing the prime minister has attempted, both during his conventional time in office and then during this campaign, appears to have made much difference to his political fortunes.

What has been the effect?

For all the noise and hullaballoo over the past month-and-a-half, the colossal gap in the opinion polls between Labour and the Conservatives has barely budged. Conservatives, from the top down, are braced for defeat - and a potentially catastrophic one at that.

And what about other parties?

The other big fact of this long campaign was the arrival of Nigel Farage - as both a candidate and the new leader of (right-wing) Reform UK... his party’s uptick in the opinion polls matching the uptick in the blood pressure of so many Tories. The (centre or centre-left) Liberal Democrats are chipper: they are confident they can capitalise on what they are certain is a disdain for the Conservatives in parts of the country which are not enamoured by Labour. It looks likely, given how privately the Scottish National Party fear they might fare, that the Liberal Democrats can overtake the SNP to become Westminster’s third biggest party.

THE BIG PICTURE

From gang life to government

Mr McKenzie's Patriotic Alliance gained 2% of the national vote in the election. Credit: Getty Images

He robbed his first bank before he turned 16, then spent seven years in prison, before transforming himself into a motivational speaker. Now, Gayton McKenzie has been appointed sports minster in South Africa's new coalition government. Rafieka Williams describes his remarkable turnaround.

And finally... under the hammer

A painting by Titian has set a new world auction record for the Venetian master, selling for £17.6m ($22.3m) at a Christie's auction in London. Rest On The Flight Into Egypt was stolen from the drawing room of a stately home in England in 1995, but was found seven years later - without its frame - in a plastic carrier bag in London.