UK holds general election | Tribute to au pair killed in London attack | Ex-FBI boss to testify

Plus, can you learn to be more charismatic?

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By Justin Parkinson

UK holds general election

Voters across the UK are going to the polls for the general election. More than 40,000 polling stations will be open from 07:00 until 22:00 BST, with about 46.9 million people registered to vote.   Results from the first of the 650 constituencies to declare are expected before midnight, while the final tally should be known by Friday afternoon. To form a majority in the House of Commons, one party must win 326 seats.   The weather forecast for Thursday is mixed, with some rain expected in south-west England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and other areas remaining largely cloudy and dry.   There'll be a double-edition News Daily election special on Friday, showing the state of play in the early hours and again at around lunchtime in the UK.   If you want to find out who are the candidates in your area, click here.   And here's our guide to voting.

Other top stories

The family of 21-year-old Australian au pair Sara Zelenak - one of eight people who died in the London attack - have paid tribute to a "beautiful daughter and sister". All the victims have now been named and 29 people remain in hospital, 10 of them in a critical condition.       It could be a difficult day for Donald Trump. Former FBI director James Comey is set to tell Congress the president asked him to drop an inquiry into fired National Security Adviser Mike Flynn. According to his opening statement, Mr Comey - whom Mr Trump fired in May - will also say Mr Trump wanted a "patronage relationship" and asked for his "loyalty". But he also says he told Mr Trump three times he was not under scrutiny, confirming the president's account.       A military plane with 120 people on board has gone missing in the Andaman Sea, off Myanmar. Debris has been found near the coastal town of Dawei, officials say, as well as the bodies of a man, woman and a child. Communication with the flight was lost on Wednesday, with no mayday signal given.

What's like like under the Taliban?   Musa Qala is famous for the opium trade but it is also a commercial lifeline for the district. Traders come here all the way from the Afghan-Pakistan border areas. At the bazaar you could buy motorbikes, cows, ice-cream - and less conventional commodities such as ammunition.           Read full analysis >          Auliya Atrafi In Afghanistan

Daily digest

Tehran attacks Suicide bombers 'were IS recruits'       North Korea Several anti-ship missiles fired, says South Korea       Gay marriage Scottish Episcopal Church to vote on whether same-sex couples can wed in church.       'Smile a lot' Can you learn how to be more charismatic?

If you watch one thing today   Why pugs' tongues shouldn't stick out

If you listen to one thing today   Will technology stop us sinning?

If you read one thing today   Did Sir Roger Moore invent the Magnum?

Today's lookahead

15:00 Former FBI director James Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee on alleged Russian interference in the US election.       Today It's World Oceans Day, with thousands of events taking place to encourage conservation.

On this day     1949 George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 is published.

From elsewhere       Can VR be used to assess child abusers? (Guardian)         The eerie abandoned holiday homes of Cambodia (Daily Telegraph)             Are journalists a potential trip hazard? (Washington Post)       How comic books mocked the Nazis (Vice)

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