ICE agent shoots man in New York City with five-year-old in car, mayor says 09. October 2026 (02:13) Police say man taken to hospital and mayor says child physically unharmed as he condemns ‘unconscionable’ actA US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot a man in New York City on Thursday afternoon, according to the city’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani.Early reports indicated that agents had surrounded the man and a five-year-old child in his car in a residential area before firing multiple rounds, the mayor said in a statement on Thursday evening. The child was physically unharmed, according to Mamdani. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Plans for Sydney’s controversial new public square in doubt after NSW government intervention 09. October 2026 (01:59) State planning minister declares project ‘state significant’, wresting approval process away from local councilPlans for a grand new public square in centre of Sydney are in doubt after the New South Wales planning minister declared the project “state significant”, wresting the approval process away from the City of Sydney.The lord mayor, Clover Moore, released renders in August for the plaza opposite Sydney’s town hall. The design for the space, which the council had expected to be completed by 2031, include a semi-circular clearing projecting eastwards towards Hyde park, with a fountain and a grove of native trees. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
No ‘snowflakes’: mental health review says today’s youth have it harder and harms are real 09. October 2026 (01:01) Peter Fonagy lauds courage of young people and warns of consequences of rising prevalence of mental illnessFull report | NHS at risk of ‘system failures’ as demand for ADHD and autism care soars, inquiry findsExplainer | What has the Fonagy review found and what does it recommend?Eighteen months ago, in an off-the-cuff remark during a discussion on disability benefit cuts, Wes Streeting said mental health conditions were being “overdiagnosed”, riding headlong into another culture war.He later apologised for the comment, but at the time it seemed the then health secretary had endorsed a populist view that ordinary stresses and disappointments had become too often medicalised, resulting in a surge of bogus clinical diagnoses and creating a “snowflake generation” of fragile, avoidant and workshy young people.I am in awe of their courage. Young people are contending with more powerful forces than I ever faced Continue reading...(The Guardian)
NHS England mental health services review: what has it found and what does it recommend? 09. October 2026 (01:01) Prof Peter Fonagy’s 607-page report is categoric that mental distress has increased substantially and ‘cannot be explained by greater awareness alone’Full report | NHS at risk of ‘system failures’ as demand for ADHD and autism care soars, inquiry findsAnalysis | No ‘snowflakes’: mental health review says today’s youth have it harder and harms are realThe Fonagy review of NHS England’s mental health, ADHD and autism services was commissioned in 2025 by Wes Streeting, then the health secretary, in response to growing concerns that spiralling waiting lists for assessment, diagnosis and care threatened the NHS’s ability to meet the demand.The 607-page report, published on Friday, says that without a radical overhaul, mental health and neurodiversity services will be overwhelmed. Here are some of its key findings and recommendations. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
NHS at risk of ‘system failures’ as demand for ADHD and autism care soars, inquiry finds 09. October 2026 (01:01) England-focused mental health review returns stark warning and calls for shift to ‘needs-led’ systemExplainer | What has the Fonagy review found and what does it recommend?Analysis | No ‘snowflakes’: mental health review says today’s youth have it harder and harms are realThe NHS in England is heading into a “world of system failures” as it struggles to cope with relentlessly rising demand for mental health, ADHD and autism care, leaving those affected desperate for support, a government-commissioned inquiry has found.The stark warning was made in a review led by Prof Peter Fonagy into the sharp rise in demand over recent decades for help with mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
New Ofsted inspection regime damaging teachers, survey says 09. October 2026 (01:01) Nine in 10 school heads who responded say inspections still ‘negatively affected’ staff mental healthSchool inspections in England continue to damage the mental wellbeing of teachers and senior leaders, according to a survey commissioned by Ofsted that casts doubt on efforts to reduce the stress caused by inspectors’ visits.The independent survey of school leaders who had undergone the revised inspections since last year found that 88% said it had “negatively affected” the mental wellbeing of school staff, including 29% who said it affected them “a lot”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Curtis Flowers, US man wrongfully imprisoned for 22 years, dies aged 56 09. October 2026 (00:36) Flowers, tried six times over 1996 murders of four people, faced execution before supreme court tossed his convictionCurtis Flowers, a Black man who spent more than 22 years in prison and was on death row in Mississippi before the US supreme court threw out his conviction and death sentence, has died. He was 56.Flowers’ family confirmed that he died on Wednesday at his home in Mississippi, attorney Rob McDuff told the Associated Press on Thursday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Firmus pulls biggest ASX float since Telstra amid investor doubt about datacentre company 09. October 2026 (00:33) The $11-a-share offer would have been the biggest debut on the stock market since the telecommunication giant in 1997Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFirmus Technologies has scrapped what was set to be Australia’s biggest company listing in decades after investor demand for its much-hyped AI datacentre business failed to materialise.A Firmus spokesperson said the board decided that proceeding with the offer was no longer in the best interests of the company and its shareholders. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Hegseth says execution of Fort Hood shooter will be a public event 08. October 2026 (23:46) Officials clarified execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, army psychiatrist who killed 13 people, will be livestreamedPete Hegseth has said the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, will be a public event when the sentence is carried out later this year. Officials later clarified the execution will be livestreamed and that more details would follow, the Associated Press reported.In an interview with Real America’s Voice, the Pentagon secretary said the firing squad would carry out the sentence at Fort Hood, Texas, at 1pm on Thursday, 3 December. This would be the first US military execution in more than 60 years. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Democratic senator says Hegseth trying to hide costs of Iran war from US public 08. October 2026 (23:41) Chris Murphy says Pentagon blocked him from military base in Qatar and Iran strike on US embassy in Riyadh far worse than public led to believeThe US senator Chris Murphy said the Pentagon blocked him from a major US base in Qatar, yet saw enough damage on the US embassy in Saudi Arabia to conclude that an Iranian strike would have been deadly had it happened during the day.The Connecticut Democrat, who sits on the Senate foreign relations and appropriations committees, described the destruction he witnessed in Riyadh as “extraordinary” and much more damaging than the public has been led to believe. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
