Lithuania briefs EU allies after drone shot down by Nato jets overnight – Europe live 15. September 2026 (12:03) Minister says discussions are ongoing on how to strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank after security incidents intensify across Europe, including in Denmark and PolandWe are also getting a bit more detail from the Netherlands, as the Dutch broadcaster NOS showed long, thin pipes being removed from the tracks after causing widespread disruption to railway services.“At this stage, it appears to be a deliberate disruption of train services caused by human action. It is not yet known who is responsible or what the motive is“, the infrastructure operator ProRail said in the latest update to its statement on the incident. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Pensioners are ‘big winners’ with triple-lock set to rise by 3.9%, lifting state pension to £13,000 – business live 15. September 2026 (11:57) Wage growth – used to set triple-lock pension – slows to 3.9%, meaning state pension should hit £13,000 next year‘Costing billions’: is the pensions triple lock a lifeline or simply unaffordable?If the state pension rises to £13,000 next year, it will probably breach the UK’s tax-free personal allowance (currently £12,570) – the amount you can earn before paying income tax.However, pensioners who don’t receive any other income should still be exempt from paying tax if the state pension exceeds the personal allowance.In the 2025 Budget the government announced the personal allowance would be frozen at its current level up to April 2031.It also announced that pensioners whose sole income is the basic or new state pension would not have to pay small amounts of tax via simple assessment from 2027/28 if the new or basic state pension exceeded the personal allowance from that point. To date the government has not published any further details of how this is to be done. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
One of Sydney’s largest councils joins ban on ‘pervert’ glasses at local swimming pools 15. September 2026 (11:38) Councillors say locals have been raising concerns about people secretly filming in change rooms, swimming pools and around schoolsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne of Sydney’s largest councils has joined the City of Brisbane and the City of Yarra to issue a ban on AI smart glasses at public pools as concerns mount over the potential for predators to exploit the new technology.On Tuesday evening, Canterbury-Bankstown voted overwhelmingly in favour of banning the tech at its local pools, with its mayor, Bilal El-Hayek, describing them as “pervert glasses”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
