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Republicans representing Texas in Congress are considering this week whether to push their state Legislature to take the unusual step of redrawing district lines to shore up the GOP’s advantage in the U.S.

Such was the scale of aid spending on asylum hotels in recent years that the previous Conservative government gave the Foreign Office an extra £2bn to shore up its humanitarian commitments overseas.

Campaigners backing the bill do not expect many MPs to reverse their views - but with such tight margins, efforts to shore up support are in full swing.

Nato is pushing for members of the military alliance to commit more funding to shore up defence in Europe as Russia continues to wage a war on Ukraine.

Two major new reservoir projects have been fast-tracked in a bid to shore up England's water supplies, the government has announced.