The Guardian - October 26, 2024

In this issue

October 26, 2024

Budget to make a million poor households better off

Change to universal credit will bring extra £420 a year to poorest families

3 mins

Astronauts back on Earth after eight months on ISS

Four astronauts have returned to Earth after a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by technological problems and weather.

1 min

Musk has been in regular contact with Putin for two years, claims report

Elon Musk, the world's richest man who is now central to Donald Trump's election campaign, has been in regular contact with Vladimir Putin for the past two years, according to a report in the US.

2 mins

Kate Bush wish to make new music as short film is released

Kate Bush said yesterday she was \"very keen\" to make a new album, adding: \"I've got lots of ideas...it's been a long time.\"

1 min

One's company, two's a crowd: why solo dining is on the up

People eating alone might once have been met with curious, pitiful looks from staff and fellow diners.

2 mins

MPs push for clarity from Starmer on reparations for slave trade

Labour MPs have urged Keir Starmer to clarify his government's position on non-cash reparations for Britain's historical role in the slave trade, as No 10 says the issue is off the table.

2 mins

Robinson charged under Terrorism Act on eve of far-right protest in London

The far-right leader Tommy Robinson has been charged under the Terrorism Act and is being held in custody before a planned march of his supporters amid fears of a repeat of violence that erupted when he was imprisoned in 2018.

3 mins

Surface water found to help oceans absorb carbon dioxide

A sliver of cool surface water less than 2mm deep helps oceans absorb carbon dioxide, a British-led team of scientists has established after spending months in the Atlantic measuring gas and temperature levels.

1 min

Catfisher who abused 70 young girls in 'horrif1c' case given life sentence

A man from Northern Ireland who abused at least 70 children online and drove one to suicide was sentenced to life in jail yesterday with a minimum term of 20 years in a \"horrific\" case that has caused 'catastrophic damage,' to young girls all over the world.

3 mins

Man jailed for pet scam blackmailed victim again days after early release

A man who was let out of prison under the government's early release scheme, after being jailed for blackmailing people over their missing pets, went on to blackmail one of his previous victims within a fortnight of being freed.

3 mins

Artisan cheesemakers in shock over £300,000 scam

The close-knit community of artisan cheesemakers has been dealt a blow by fraudsters who have stolen more than £300,000 worth of award-winning, clothbound cheddar in a sophisticated scam.

2 mins

Author offers seaside cottage to working writers for free retreats

On the wall of a Ramsgate house owned by the Booker winner Bernardine Evaristo hangs a large-scale cover of Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own. It might just as well read \"A Cottage of One's Own\", as that is precisely what the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) president is offering.

2 mins

Mescal reveals he was cast in Gladiator II after a Zoom call

The Irish actor Paul Mescal has revealed he was cast in Gladiator II after a 30-minute Zoom call.

1 min

Mirren: 'It's sad Cobain died before he could experience GPS tracking'

The actor Helen Mirren has lamented that the Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain did not live long enough to be able to experience the excitement of tracking his location on his phone.

1 min

What is a working person? Maybe we will find out by the time the chancellor sits down

It is a phrase that crops up 21 times in the Labour manifesto, 12 times in the Conservative manifesto and has been used in the House of Commons more than 3,500 times in the past decade. So, surely everyone knows what \"working people\" are - don't they?

2 mins

A defining moment Labour MPs fear tough budget will bring new set of problems

When Rachel Reeves stands up in the Commons on Wednesday, her budget will end months of speculation, allowing the government to fully set out what it stands for. And that, some Labour MPs fear, could herald a whole new set of problems.

3 mins

Road pricing Will the chancellor grasp the nettle to make up for lost fuel duty?

While the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, grapples with the parlous £40bn funding gap in Britain's finances, another £25bn of annual revenue is revving up to disappear into the sunset.

5 mins

Home Office carries on demanding fees unlawfully charged for language tests

Thousands of people applying for visas in the UK have been unlawfully charged for language tests, the government has disclosed, but the Home Office is continuing to demand the fees because it needs the money.

2 mins

Commons MPs divided over reform of working hours to aid parents

MPs tasked with modernising parliament are divided over family-friendly hours, with some lobbying for shorter days to return home to children and others hoping for shorter periods away from their constituencies.

2 mins

Indo-Pacific Starmer will boost military presence to counter China

The UK will increase its military and economic presence in the Indo-Pacific to support regional stability, Keir Starmer will announce today.

1 min

Inquiry into whether 'race science' group accessed genetic data

Concerns have been raised about access to a scientific repository of the genetic data and medical records of more than 500,000 people, after an investigation revealed that \"race scientists\" appeared to claim to have obtained the data.

3 mins

Drugs, fans, Jackie O... 10 things we learned from Al Pacino's memoir

When Penguin bought the rights to Al Pacino's memoir in 2022 for $5m, it raised questions about the true Value of Hollywood celebrity autobiography at a time when most stars happily spill sanctioned life highlights for free on social media.

4 mins

Challenge to UK's climate adaptation plan fails in high court

An East Anglian man whose home fell victim to coastal erosion has lost his high court challenge against the government's climate adaptation plans.

1 min

Jail staff sacked over messages mocking suicide of prisoner

Two prison officers have been dismissed for joking about an inmate's suicide on a WhatsApp group in a string of abusive messages made just hours after his death.

2 mins

From easyJet to easyBet: billionaire airline founder makes move into online gambling

Stelios Haji-Ioannou has stamped the \"easy\" brand on everything from aeroplanes to pizza joints, with varying degrees of success.

2 mins

Emperor's new clothes Zuckerberg leads way with a tech bro glow up

For more than 20 years, Mark Zuckerberg made a Macbook-grey T-shirt and an equally drab-colored hoodie his trademark look. But now, the Facebook founder has ditched this combo in favor of something with a bit more oomph.

3 mins

Bit of a squeeze So does a three-minute hugging rule make sense?

Be it a brief squeeze or a bone-crushing bear hug, few can deny the comfort of a farewell cuddle from a person you love. Yet in a bid to keep traffic flowing at Dunedin international airport on New Zealand's South Island, bosses have decided to impose a three-minute cap on hugging in the airport's drop-off zone.

2 mins

One Direction albums back in Top 40 after singer's death

The whole of One Direction's five-album back catalogue has charted in this week's Top 40, as fans revisit their songs after Liam Payne's death.

1 min

Erotic frescoes revealed in tiny Roman house in Pompeii

A tiny house featuring erotic frescoes is the latest discovery in the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii.

1 min

Police face 'constant battle' after surge in drone use to fly drugs into prisons

The number of drones seen carrying drugs into prisons soared to more than 1,000 last year as police waged a \"constant battle\" against gangs flying in cocaine and cannabis from miles away.

3 mins

Everybody wants this? Dope-smoking 'hot rabbi' welcomed by British Jews

It was the summer of 2022 when Benjamin Stanley was left pleased and slightly embarrassed to hear he was being referred to as the \"hot rabbi\" at the wedding where he was officiating.

3 mins

Raye's second album to be delayed after songwriting books stolen

The chart-topping British singer-songwriter Raye has said her second album will be delayed after songs for it were stolen with her car.

1 min

Promising treatments The new Alzheimer's drugs bringing hope to patients in the UK

This week England's health spending watchdog rejected a new Alzheimer's drug - the second such drug it has turned down this year.

2 mins

Daughter calls for reforms after her mother's suicide in prison

The daughter of a vulnerable woman who took her own life in prison after being denied phone calls with loved ones and left without clean underwear for 10 days has called for urgent reform of the justice system.

4 mins

Russell Group universities to be dropped from school ratings

The government will no longer measure schools in England on how many of their students go to Russell Group universities in an effort to encourage school leavers towards a wider range of universities and vocational options.

2 mins

'Safe sex for seagulls' Why plan to give contraception to birds may not fly

Their brazen swooping, squawking and chip-snatching has earned seagulls a reputation as a scourge of seaside towns - terrorising tourists and enraging residents.

3 mins

Beauty halls Spending on cosmetics and fragrance is soaring

With their perfectly groomed and liveried assistants stood down during the pandemic, it seemed the department store beauty hall might have had its day. But temples of pampering are making a high street comeback as Britons prioritise looking good.

2 mins

Far steeper cuts to carbon emissions needed, say climate campaigners

Climate campaigners have urged ministers to make steeper cuts in Britain's greenhouse gas emissions after the government's statutory adviser on the climate gave its verdict on new targets.

3 mins

Youth worker shot by police with stun gun wins assault case

A black youth worker who was shot with a Taser electrical weapon while standing with his arms folded during a road stop has won an appeal for damages from City of London police.

2 mins

Seeing someone trapped between a rock and a hard place is strangely uplifting

Friends in New York with non-American accents are careful not to go canvassing in swing states (or anywhere else).

4 mins

Theatre review Sombre, even-toned staging digs subtly into characters

With its fibs, delusions and mislaid props, Shakespeare's Othello is structured almost like farce - one that goes horribly wrong.

1 min

Foreign policy Why the stakes have never been higher for US and the rest of the world

When Americans choose between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris next month, the decision will mark one of the most consequential elections for American foreign policy in generations that could ripple out into conflicts and redraw alliances around the world.

4 mins

Harris and Trump locked in nail-bitingly close race as 'Democratic panic' rises

Less than a fortnight before polling day, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are locked in a nail-bitingly close US presidential election race, triggering pessimism among Democrats and confidence among Republicans - even though polls suggest both candidates have a near-equal chance of entering the White House.

3 mins

The world's fate in their hands The seven key battleground states that will decide the presidency

Spare a thought for beleaguered Pennsylvanians. Over the past few weeks they have been pummelled with $280m-worth of campaign ads, part of an eye-popping $2.1bn spent so far on the US presidential election.

9 mins

The Pelicot trial Hearings expose 'profound problem' of attitudes to rape

Hearings expose 'profound problem' of attitudes to rape

4 mins

Notre Dame rejects visitor charge that would fund heritage 'preservation plan'

Weeks before its grand reopening after a devastating fire, Notre Dame has become embroiled in an escalating row over whether to charge visitors a fee to enter the 12th-century gothic masterpiece.

2 mins

Widening conflict North Korea's involvement in Russia's war in Ukraine is raising fears in Seoul

The video is grainy, but the message is clear. The clip, posted by NK News, purports to show North Korean soldiers in green fatigues receiving basic supplies at a training base in Russia's east, before joining Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine.

2 mins

UN human rights chief warns of 'darkest moment' as 72 die in Gaza

At least 72 people have been killed in Israeli operations across Gaza in the past day, hospital officials in the besieged territory have said, although communication difficulties in the north of the Strip mean the final toll could be much higher.

2 mins

Jordan Calls for halt to 'ethnic cleansing' in Gaza

Jordan's foreign minister has called for pressure on Israel to end what he called the \"ethnic cleansing\" in Gaza, as he met the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in London.

2 mins

Generals' plan The blueprint behind the IDF offensive in northern Gaza

Hospitals shelled, shelters set alight, men and boys separated from their families and taken away in military vehicles: a year into the Israel-Hamas war, civilians clinging on in northern Gaza say the situation is worse than it has ever been.

3 mins

'War crime' Journalists die in strike on Lebanese press post

Three journalists from the TV stations Al Mayadeen and Al-Manar were killed and several others hurt yesterday in an Israeli airstrike on their press station in southern Lebanon.

1 min

Stage review Shakespeare throbs with strobe lights and glitter

Like the pangs of romance or the pull of melodrama, adolescent angst proves timeless. Sam Gold, the director of a newly revived Romeo + Juliet on Broadway, knows this – the production, an admirably diverse, comfortably queer and aggressively millennial version featuring original music from the pop maestro Jack Antonoff, leans hard into the text’s hot-blooded, definitively teenage impulsivity. But he doesn’t seem to trust it.

2 mins

'Watershed' for Georgia as Voters choose between Russia and west

Georgians will vote today in a critical election that could determine whether one of the once most pro-western former Soviet states will veer towards a more authoritarian, Russia-aligned path.

2 mins

AI-powered garden that can ask for water will appear at Chelsea

Gardeners sometimes talk quietly to their trees and shrubs - but at next year's Chelsea flower show, visitors will be encouraged to have a chat with its first garden powered by artificial intelligence.

1 min

Cloud forest in Ecuador could be recognised as songwriter in radical legal proposition

A forest in Ecuador could be recognised as the co-creator of a song under a groundbreaking legal proposal.

3 mins

Emotions play important role in research, say climate scientists

Climate scientists who were mocked and criticised after speaking up about their fears for the future have said acknowledging strong emotions is vital to their work.

3 mins

Weather forecasts How the climate crisis is challenging meteorologists

Why do TV and radio forecasts rarely contextualise extreme weather events in terms of the climate crisis?

3 mins

Core value Appeal to save first bramley apple tree

It is the mother tree of perhaps the most popular cooking apple in the world. But the original Bramley apple has been neglected and barred from public view, according to descendants of the gardener who discovered it.

2 mins

Beleaguered Thames Water pushes to secure £3bn lifeline

Thames Water is racing to secure a £3bn lifeline as the struggling water company battles for financial survival.

2 mins

'Unjust threat' Murdoch joins artists in fight against AI firms' content use

It is an unlikely alliance: the billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch and a panoply of leading artists including Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, actor Julianne Moore and author Kazuo Ishiguro. This week both began very public fights with artificial intelligence companies, accusing them of using their intellectual property without permission to build the increasingly powerful and lucrative new technology.

4 mins

Car loan users win milestone legal challenge against lenders

Consumers have won a landmark car finance mis-selling case, in a development that could pave the way for companies to be forced to pay billions of pounds in compensation to borrowers.

1 min

Brexit raises cost of energy from EU by £370m a year

Brexit has added up to £370m a year to the price of power supplies from Europe, according to industry representatives. They calculate the total energy costs of leaving the EU could amount to £10bn by the end of the decade.

1 min

Reeves 'must get balance right' on debt rules, says NatWest CEO

Rachel Reeves must \"get the balance right\" when announcing changes to Britain's debt rules next week, given the potential knock-on effects to borrowing and mortgage rates, the boss of NatWest has warned.

2 mins

Warm welcome Washington visit gives the chancellor a boost ahead of budget

Speaking in Washington on Tuesday, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund suggested he was relaxed about higher debt levels to fund public investment.

4 mins

Q&A How to warm up and keep bills down this winter

With the return of darker evenings this weekend and the heating coming on, Zoe Wood puts your energy questions to our experts

6 mins

Money Hacks How young people can cash in on discounts... or go free

There are regional schemes that offer cheap or free travel to young people. In London, travel on buses is free with a 16+ Zip Oyster photocard, rather than £1.75 a trip, and you get 50% off adult pay-as-you-go fares on the tube, DLR and London Overground until 30 September in the year after your 18th birthday. If you are 19 and turned 18 before 31 August, live in Greater London and are in the sixth form, college or training, you are still eligible for the concession.

4 mins

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