- Israel-Hezbollah: US envoys in ceasefire push BBC.com
- Live Briefing: U.S. pushes to rekindle peace talks; hospital hit in northern Gaza The Washington Post
- US attempts to broker ceasefire as civilians killed in Lebanon and Israel The Guardian
- Israel said seeking US commitment for freedom of action if Hezbollah breaches truce The Times of Israel
- Israel wants to enforce any Lebanon ceasefire deal, Netanyahu tells US envoys Reuters
How are Green politics faring as the climate crisis worsens?
Greens fared badly in European elections this year.
Africa CDC warns mpox is not under control, appeals for resources
AU health watchdog's chief has said mpox outbreak is 'still on the upward trend generally' as cases spread.
Foreign governments are using ChatGPT to influence voters, report finds – NBC Washington
- Foreign governments are using ChatGPT to influence voters, report finds NBC Washington
- Foreign Adversaries Target Specific Demographics in Attempt to Sway U.S. Election The Wall Street Journal
- Russian disinformation network with ties to notorious ‘troll factory’ is taking aim at the US election, analysis finds CNN
- Rival nations try to ‘divide, degrade, deceive’ US voters, experts say Military Times
- How Russia, China and Iran Are Interfering in the Presidential Election The New York Times
US says 8,000 North Korean troops at Ukraine border expected in combat soon
Blinken says North Korean troops expected to deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces 'in the coming days'.
2024 election violence is already happening – Vox.com
- 2024 election violence is already happening Vox.com
- She Saw Jan. 6 Coming. Here’s What Worries Her Now. POLITICO
- Political violence in US could surge after elections, experts warn The Guardian US
- The 76 dangerous days between the election and the inauguration The Hill
- "The mood out there is harsh": Congress freaked out about Trump-focused violence Axios
Reeves told she will have to raise further £9bn to avoid UK public service cuts
Warning from comes after Rachel Reeves’s record tax-raising budget sent tremors through financial markets
Rachel Reeves has been warned an extra £9bn of tax rises may be required to avoid a fresh austerity drive in key public services as her record tax-raising budget sent tremors through the financial markets.
Threatening to undermine the chancellor’s claim that her budget would restore economic stability to Britain, government borrowing costs rose sharply in the City on Thursday as traders turned on Reeves’s tax and spending measures.
Continue reading...US envoys in push for Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire
Diplomats return to the region, as Lebanon's PM expresses cautious optimism over a truce.
Sara Sharif’s father ‘hit her like crazy’ and made her do sit-ups all night, court hears
Stepmother’s WhatsApp messages read out at Old Bailey in trial over death of 10-year-old in Surrey last year
The father of Sara Sharif forced his daughter to do sit-ups all night because she hid his keys, a court has heard.
Urfan Sharif was also said to have made the schoolgirl put her hands in the air after beating her so badly her stepmother, Beinash Batool, feared he would break her arms and legs.
Continue reading...Authorities in Mexican state warn residents to avoid Halloween costumes
In Sinaloa state, police have asked for security measure so revelers aren’t mistaken for criminals amid cartel violence
Authorities in the Mexican state of Sinaloa have ordered residents not to don masks or costumes for Halloween to avoid being confused with criminals amid a worsening cycle of cartel violence.
Home to the powerful Sinaloa cartel, the north-western state has been wracked by deadly infighting between factions of the group following the arrest of one of its leaders, drug trafficker Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, in the United States in late July.
Continue reading...U.S. Officials Try to Advance Israel’s Cease-Fire Talks With Hezbollah and Hamas – The New York Times
- U.S. Officials Try to Advance Israel’s Cease-Fire Talks With Hezbollah and Hamas The New York Times
- Hamas rejects any hostage deal that doesn’t end war, despite mediators’ efforts The Times of Israel
- Hamas rejects proposal for 30-day Gaza ceasefire Semafor
- Israeli Strike in Iran Should Mark End of Tit For Tat Between Two Nations Department of Defense
- Hamas open to discussing new deal securing end to Gaza war, Israeli pull-out, group official says Reuters
UK Prime Minister declines to label Gaza crisis a ‘genocide’
Green Party MP Carla Denyer urged UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to label the Gaza crisis as “genocide."
About 8,000 North Korean soldiers at Ukraine border, says US
Antony Blinken warns that Russia is preparing to deploy the troops into combat ‘in the coming days’
About 8,000 North Korean soldiers are stationed in Russia on the border with Ukraine, the US secretary of state has said, warning that Moscow is preparing to deploy those troops into combat “in the coming days”.
Antony Blinken said the US believed that North Korea had sent 10,000 troops to Russia in total, deploying them first to training bases in the far east before sending the vast majority to the Kursk region on the border with Ukraine.
Continue reading...Rachel Reeves’s most irritating manifesto fudge: private equity’s tax loophole | Nils Pratley
Labour said it would bring taxation of performance-related pay in the industry in line with others – but the chancellor had a change of heart
It has been almost two decades since Nicholas Ferguson, a grand figure in the private equity business, caused a storm by talking out loud about his industry’s dirty little secret. It could not be right, he said, that highly remunerated private equity executives could pay less tax than a cleaner or other low-paid workers.
Things have moved on a bit since 2007. So-called “carried interest”, or carry – the portion of an investment profit that the private equity managers retain as a bonus for success – is now taxed at 28% under the capital gains regime; in the old days, rates in effect as low as 10% could be secured thanks to various exceptions.
Continue reading...Seven killed in Israel in deadliest Hezbollah rocket strikes in months
They were killed in two areas, in the deadliest series of rocket attacks on Israel in months.
VIDEO: 2 Chinese Aircraft Carriers Drill Together for the First Time in South China Sea – USNI News
- VIDEO: 2 Chinese Aircraft Carriers Drill Together for the First Time in South China Sea USNI News
- China's navy flexed new muscles in the South China Sea with its first dual aircraft carrier drills Business Insider
- China's PLA navy perform first dual aircraft formation exercise in South China Sea Reuters.com
- China Conducts First Dual Carrier Op In South China Sea Naval News
- Chinese Navy conducts dual-aircraft-carrier formation exercise for first time China Military
Bronze Age town with tombs full of weapons discovered hidden in Arabian oasis – CBS News
- Bronze Age town with tombs full of weapons discovered hidden in Arabian oasis CBS News
- Archaeologists discover 4,000-year-old Bronze Age settlement hidden in Saudi Arabian oasis Livescience.com
- 4,000-year-old Bronze Age settlement discovered hidden in Saudi Arabian Oasis Archaeology News Online Magazine
- Bronze Age Town of Al-Natah Represents ‘Slow Urbanism,’ Archaeologists Say Sci.News
- Desert oasis — part of 4,000-year-old settlement — explored in Saudi Arabia. See it Miami Herald
Private schools to take legal action against planned VAT on fees
Independent Schools Council says its focus is on children and it is concerned about impact on specialist schools
The Independent Schools Council (ISC) has said it will launch legal action against the government’s decision to impose VAT on independent school fees.
The council, which represents more than 1,400 private schools in the UK and abroad, reached its decision after a board meeting held on Thursday.
Continue reading...EU citizen who applied for pre-settled status is to be deported from Scotland
Greek Cypriot Costa Koushiappis to be removed from UK even though his application is pending with Home Office
An EU citizen caught up in a Home Office backlog of applications for post-Brexit residency status is to be deported by Border Force officials in Scotland.
Costa Koushiappis, 39, who is Greek Cypriot, has been told to show up at Edinburgh airport at 7am on Friday to be forcibly put on a flight to Amsterdam just weeks after he received an email from the Home Office to say it could take a further 24 months to process his application for status.
Continue reading...Housing, social care and universities: who lost out in the UK budget?
Rachel Reeves made funding the NHS a priority but people working in other areas said they were disappointed
Rachel Reeves’s first budget emphasised raising taxes to help the NHS, as the health service tries to cope with huge waiting lists and an ageing population. Funding the NHS was a top priority but people in other sectors – from universities to social care – feel the budget was a missed opportunity to tackle impending crises or introduce desperately needed reforms in their areas.
Continue reading...