Three sisters who drowned in Brighton took their own lives, inquest finds 08. October 2026 (14:20) Jane Adetoro, Christina Walters and Rebecca Walters from London visited late mother’s former home shortly before their deaths in MayThree sisters who drowned in the sea in Brighton collectively decided to end their own lives, a coroner has ruled.The bodies of Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, all from London, were recovered from the sea off Brighton in the early hours of 13 May.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Polls open in Holborn and St Pancras byelection – UK politics live 08. October 2026 (14:20) Voters choosing replacement for Keir Starmer, who announced he was standing down last monthThe UK’s military is too focused on global commitments at the expense of domestic defence, meaning the government’s planned increase in defence spending is likely to result in even greater waste, a thinktank report has warned.According to an analysis by researchers at the Transition Security Project, Britain has the most overseas-oriented military among European nations, with almost a quarter of the defence budget spent on commitments across five continents. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Can Sánchez convince Spanish voters he is their best hope for fairer housing? 08. October 2026 (14:16) Recent death of 87-year-old woman likely to focus attention on crisis in run-up to election at end of NovemberEurope live – latest updatesEven before María del Carmen Abascal died on Wednesday night, a mere fortnight after her eviction from the Madrid flat where she had lived for most of her life, the frail 87-year-old woman had become the enduring face of Spain’s housing crisis.Her plight – and the wider issue it embodied – had led to street demonstrations, the creation of a protest camp in the middle of the Spanish capital, and spurred the socialist-led government to propose emergency measures to facilitate and protect access to housing. When rightwing and far-right parties voted down those measures in congress last week, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, responded by announcing a snap general election for the end of November. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Racial and religious hate crimes at record high in England and Wales, data shows 08. October 2026 (14:02) Offences targeting Muslims increased most in 12 months to March – up 15% – while antisemitic hate crimes rose by 10%UK politics live – latest updatesRacially and religiously motivated offences have reached record highs in the UK, as the government’s main Islamophobia partner says attacks on mosques are increasing in severity.New Home Office figures show police recorded 146,825 hate crimes in the year ending March 2026 – a rise of 7% in the past year. Offences targeting Muslims increased the most – up 15%, from 4,479 to 5,132 – while antisemitic hate crimes rose by 10%, from 2,874 to 3,162. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Anne Carson wins Nobel prize in literature 2026 08. October 2026 (13:44) World’s most prestigious prize for literature goes to Canadian poet known for genre-crossing works including Autobiography of RedThe Nobel prize in literature has been awarded to the Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson, the Swedish Academy has announced.The academy cited the author’s “bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Russian attack on bus kills at least 30 people near Ukraine frontline 08. October 2026 (13:32) Governor says Kremlin ‘deliberately targeting civilians’ after strike in Kramatorsk, which also wounded 18 and set second bus on fireEurope live – latest updatesA Russian missile strike on a bus in the eastern city of Kramatorsk has killed at least 30 people, officials said on Thursday, in one of the worst attacks by Moscow on Ukrainian civilians this year.The regional prosecutor’s office in the Donetsk region said the vehicle had been hit at 10am by an aerial bomb. “As of now, the death toll from this morning’s attack has risen to 30. Eighteen people were wounded,” it said, adding that all local public transport had been suspended. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US infant defies bleak odds from rare congenital trait: ‘Don’t quit before your child quits’ 08. October 2026 (13:00) Wren Michelle Roberts was born with heterotaxy, a syndrome so rare a specialist could only find 15 similar casesSouth-eastern Louisiana couple Nick and Savannah Roberts planned to bury their infant daughter the weekend after she was born in September with an exceedingly rare combination of birth defects that her doctors feared was unsurvivable.But an unforeseen congenital trait in Wren Michelle Roberts’ heart, combined with her parents’ dedication to her complex medical care, has allowed her to defy her bleak initial prognosis and meet weeks’ worth of milestones that each are a “miracle in [their] own way”, according to her doctor. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Queensland literary awards: ‘stunning’ debut inspired by segregated shantytown wins top prize 08. October 2026 (12:30) Lenora Thaker wins $30,000 prize for ‘a work of state significance’ for The Pearl of Tagai Town, which draws on her family’s history in Cairns-Malay TownA “stunning” debut novel described as “unambiguously and distinctively Queensland” has won the $30,000 top prize at the Queensland literary awards (QLAs).Meriam and Wagedagam author Lenora Thaker won the Queensland premier’s award for a work of state significance for her historical novel The Pearl of Tagai Town, which was inspired by her ancestors’ lives in an unmapped shantytown known as Cairns-Malay Town. The town once housed Indigenous Australians, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Malaysian and Sri Lankan residents who had been segregated from the white population; it existed from the late 1800s until the late 1950s. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
USS Abraham Lincoln scheduled to dock in San Diego after harrowing stretch at sea 08. October 2026 (12:00) Deployment for nearly a year was marked by reports of supply shortages, and deteriorating morale and mental health among crewThe USS Abraham Lincoln, the US aircraft carrier that has been deployed for nearly a year and has spent months supporting US military operations against Iran, is scheduled to dock in San Diego on Thursday afternoon.It marks the end of a deployment that has been described as “one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era” and that became marked by a record-stretch at sea, repeated deployment extensions, and reports of supply shortages, and deteriorating morale and mental health among some crew members. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘System is rigged’: Democrat Sherrod Brown puts datacenter danger at heart of populist Senate bid 08. October 2026 (12:00) Ohio former senator attacks Republican rival as the ‘face of datacenters’ as he wraps AI concerns into pro-worker messageSherrod Brown, the Democratic former senator from Ohio hoping to return to office in November’s midterm elections, has spent the past year traveling across his home state explaining to voters about all the ways the “system is rigged” against them. Recently, he’s been telling people about a trip he took across the north-west Ohio countryside.“You’re driving on what looks like really good farmland, driving past fields, driving past barns, driving past milking parlors, and you see, all of a sudden, you see these huge cranes and you see these trucks coming,” Brown told a crowd of dozens at a coffee shop in the city of Lima earlier this month. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
