The top photos of the day by AP's photojournalists

From front page news to powerful moments you may have missed, this gallery showcases today's top photos, chosen by Associated Press photo editors.

A hawksbill turtle swims at Addu Nature Park, a protected UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, off the coast of Addu City, Maldives, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Sophia Nasif)

Former Seattle Mariners pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith wrestles an inflatable crocodile during a homerun derby after a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)

Relatives mourn at the coffin of Oleksiy Yukov, who was fatally wounded while exhuming bodies of killed soldiers in the frontline in Donetsk region, during farewell service in St. Volodymyr Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Nigerian brides attend a mass wedding ceremony in Kano, Nigeria, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Sani Maikatanga)

A man carries schoolgirls outside the site of a school shooting in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Noemi Marrero, left, who lost her children Mathias and Wilker, stands with her sister close to the urns with their ashes and other relatives members during a prayer for relatives of the victims of the June 24 earthquakes, in La Guaira, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Machine Gun Kelly performs at MGK Day on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, at North Coast Yard in Cleveland. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

A cat sits on a street in the late afternoon at Karakoy district in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Landmines collected for destruction are arranged in rows as members of a Syrian army engineering team conduct an operation to clear minefields left behind during the war in Qara, in the Damascus countryside, Syria, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Netherlands' Demi Vollering, centre, celebrates with the team after winning the Women's Tour de France cycling race (Tour de France Femmes) in Nice, France, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

A Hindu devotee reacts in pain after having his cheeks pierced with a steel rod as part of a ritual during the 'Aadi' festival, a holy month for Tamils observed with prayers and offerings to Hindu goddesses, in Chennai, India, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A fly feeds on flower nectar in a forest on a sunny day in outskirts of Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Participants spray water from their water guns during a water gun festival in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Francesca kisses her father, Colombia's President Abelardo de la Espriella, after he took the oath of office in Cali, Colombia, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

A mural of soccer player Lionel Messi's adorns a facade of his childhood home on the day his father, Jorge Messi, died following a long illness, in Rosario, Argentina, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Mexico competes in the artistic swimming team acrobatic final at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Choir performs in a Tehran Symphony Orchestra performance at Unity Hall in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Ultra-Orthodox protesters demonstrate against a café operating on Shabbat, clashing with Israeli police and secular counter‑protesters supporting the café, in Jerusalem, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Kashmiri Muslim women pray inside the shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom, during the annual commemoration of the saint in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Displaced Palestinian beekeepers harvest honey from beehives at al-Dabba family bee farm, in Gaza city, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

LONDON (AP) — Timing is everything in comedy and, so it seems, in British politics for a perennial joke candidate who wears a garbage can on his head.

Count Binface, a self-described intergalactic space warrior, has landed in the center of the U.K.’s political universe ahead of a special election Thursday that was derided as a farce long before the ballot was packed with nearly three dozen candidates — many from the silly end of the spectrum.

Binface, who has run against prime ministers past and present, was the first to throw his bucket in the ring when Reform UK leader Nigel Farage abruptly quit Parliament and said he would seek reelection to clear his name over financial allegations.

“Game on, Nige,” Binface declared soon after Farage, portraying himself as the victim of a witch hunt, said he would represent the people against the establishment.

But when the major political parties denounced Farage’s move as a political stunt and boycotted the Clacton-on-Sea election in southeastern England, the trash-talking comedian was launched into prime position as default challenger. He has been on a nonstop media blitz since.

“I’m the only fresh thing on the menu,” Binface told The Associated Press on a day of interviews with reporters from Japan, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. “You’re all sick of these politicians, as good as they’re trying to be, but you know you need something different, a little bit of secret sauce.”

The jokes have continued nearly nonstop — and not all are coming from the man in the can with a 20-point plan.

“If (Farage) wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won’t stop him,” then-Treasury Secretary Rachel Reeves, known more for number-crunching than playing for yuks, said as she officially accepted Farage’s resignation and set the stage for the special election.

Under Binface’s black cape, rubbish bin and ample body armor that looks straight out of a low-budget sci-fi film, is a middle-aged comedian named Jon Harvey trying to keep his cool during a sweaty summer.

You’d never know who was in there from talking to his alter ego. Binface never breaks character and delivers snarky ripostes when challenged to lift the lid.

“Has anyone here seen ‘Return of the Jedi’?” he said to a BBC host in reference to the “Star Wars” sequel where Darth Vader is unmasked. “Nobody wants to know what’s under the recycling. ... It’s absolutely putrefying.”

Harvey is a married father of two who grew up in London and studied the classics at Oxford. He has been a TV writer on the political comedy “The Thick of It” and the humorous news quiz “Have I Got News for You.” He’s the author of a sports memoir written after his brother’s death and Binface’s memoir: “What on Earth? An Alien’s Guide to Fixing Britain.”

In a country where almost any adult citizen can run for office — regardless of where they live — eccentric candidates are a celebrated electoral tradition. On the 3-foot-long (0.9-meter-long) Clacton ballot, there are no fewer than three members of the Monster Raving Loony Party, including Nick the Incredible Flying Brick and Baron von Thunderclap.

Harvey’s turn in politics began almost a decade ago when he blasted to earth from the so-called planet of Sigma IX as Lord Buckethead to run for the House of Commons seat held by then-Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May. She won handily, but Binface rocketed to fame and landed on “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver."

But the use of Buckethead, borrowed from a “Star Wars” parody, ended in “an unfortunate battle on the planet Copyright.” He was reincarnated as Binface to take on Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.

He twice challenged London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who proclaimed in his 2024 victory speech that he was the first person in British politics to win successive victories over Binface.

“Believe me, he made me work hard for it,” Khan quipped.

In June, Binface lost a parliamentary special election to Andy Burnham, who quickly replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister when he was forced out after his Labour Party was battered by Farage’s party in local and regional elections.

Binface, leader of the “Recyclons” on his home planet, continues to reuse items of past campaign manifestos that feature a mix of absurd and hyper-local policy offerings that don't necessarily resonate with a global audience.

Among the more relatable points, he promises to “cut your taxes, and raise everyone else’s,” build one affordable home and nationalize singer Adele — whatever that means.

One item that has raised some eyebrows is a vow to relocate the hand dryer in the men’s restroom at the Crown & Treaty pub in Uxbridge to a more sensible location.

“Do you want to be using the urinal and have another human blasting your bits with insanely hot air?” he said.

His main selling point is that he’s not Farage, though he has opted not to directly attack his main opponent. Instead, his platform takes not-so-subtle digs at the populist often pictured with a pint of beer.

In reference to the gift Farage did not declare when he was elected, which is the source of a parliamentary investigation, Binface said he would not accept 5-million-pound ($6.7-million) gifts from “crypto billionaires (on Earth).”

He would also bar members of Parliament who resign midterm from running in the subsequent by-election and promised to spend more time in Clacton than Washington, D.C., a reference to Farage’s trips to the U.S., where he considers President Donald Trump an ally.

Binface, if elected, has no interest in dealing with Trump: “He’s awful.” But he would “love to cement” the so-called special relationship between Britain and the U.S. “with a galactic union.”

“You’ve still got the Atlantic Ocean. I can’t do much about that, but yes, I’d love to foster better relations,” he said.

Binface has conceded he doesn’t expect to win, but if he pulls off an otherworldly upset, he would have to check his headgear at the door of the House of Commons under rules that bar costumes and require businesslike attire.

He said some members of Parliament have been discussing making an exception.

“You might think they should be trying to fix the British economy, healthcare system and infrastructure first," he said.

But those are issues for serious politicians and not ones you’ll find on a platform that includes price caps for croissants and a plan to punish scofflaw cyclists by making them ride unicycles.

Count Binface leaves after being interviewed at a studio in London ahead of the Clacton by-election, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Count Binface is interviewed at a studio in London ahead of the Clacton by-election, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Count Binface leaves after being interviewed at a studio in London ahead of the Clacton by-election, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A journalist takes a selfie with Count Binface after he is interviewed at a studio in London ahead of the Clacton by-election, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Count Binface is interviewed at a studio in London ahead of the Clacton by-election, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)