Independent retailers on UK high streets face rising costs, online competition and changing customer habits. Birmingham photography shop owner Surpreet Suri says rent, taxes, wages and supplies have made his current location difficult to afford, despite a loyal customer base.
Key Facts
Suri’s father started the family photography business in Birmingham about 40 years ago, and it once had four locations.
The business now has one shop in Kings Heath, and Suri is considering moving to reduce costs.
Suri says he pays himself less than the UK minimum wage and lives month to month.
He says refilling one professional printer with ink costs about 2,000 pounds.
Online retailers account for 28 percent of UK retail sales.
Nearly 14 percent of UK high street retail units are estimated to be vacant.
Independent retailers face costs including rent, business rates, VAT, wages, energy and specialist materials.
The UK government’s budget is due on Wednesday, with possible business-rates relief for smaller businesses in focus.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel needs a right-wing government and warned against relying on Arab parties to form a coalition. Early election projections showed Likud leading as the largest party, but neither Likud’s bloc nor the opposing alliance appeared likely to secure a governing majority.
Key Facts
With more than half of ballots counted, projections put Netanyahu’s bloc at 56 seats and Gadi Eisenkot’s alliance at 49.
Israeli Channels 12 and 13 projected Likud to win 27 seats, compared with 21 for Eisenkot’s Yashar party.
Netanyahu said final results would take another one or two days to emerge.
Netanyahu cited Israeli military operations and security zones in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria as achievements of his current term, which began in 2022.
Netanyahu said Israel had an opportunity to work with U.S. President Donald Trump to address what he called the threat from Iran.
Analysts said the party seeking to form a government may need an uncomfortable coalition agreement, while opposition voters would oppose a deal with Netanyahu’s coalition.
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John Healey is expected to present a budget focused on household costs, energy bills, first-time buyers and defence spending. Higher debt-interest costs have reduced the government’s projected financial buffer, while the article says Healey cannot raise income tax, National Insurance or VAT rates without breaking manifesto commitments.
Key Facts
The government is expected to spend about £1.42tn on day-to-day services and public investment this year.
About £100bn is expected to go toward debt interest, which has risen as government borrowing costs increased.
The Resolution Foundation estimates that the government’s £24bn budget buffer may have fallen to about £12bn.
The budget is expected to extend parental pay to more than 150,000 additional parents each year and change rules for unpaid carers.
Healey plans to spend more than £1bn to help poorer households with energy bills, including by expanding the Warm Home Discount.
The budget is expected to set out details of a first-time buyer scheme offering a 20% equity loan for new-build homes and a minimum deposit of 2.5%.
Healey aims to address a £4.7bn shortfall in the defence investment plan, mainly through cuts to other departments, according to the article.
The article says Healey has ruled out raising income tax, National Insurance and VAT rates because of manifesto commitments.
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Simon Tisdall argues that President Donald Trump may renew military action against Iran after the U.S. midterm elections, potentially alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He warns that another attack could raise energy prices and disrupt trade, and says diplomacy is needed to prevent wider harm.
Key Facts
The article says Trump reportedly rejected Netanyahu’s push for an attack on Iran this month, partly because of concerns about the midterm elections.
Tisdall argues that Trump’s political calculations may change after the midterm polls close.
The article says Netanyahu may favor renewed conflict to strengthen his position in post-election coalition talks.
The article reports that a renewed assault could target a mountain complex where Iran’s enriched uranium is believed to be stored.
Pentagon officials reportedly say Iran could retaliate against Gulf oil infrastructure and undersea internet cables.
The article warns that attacks or disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab could affect energy supplies, transport and trade.
Tisdall argues that renewed fighting could push oil prices higher and harm consumers worldwide.
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Mair Godley, 78, says Reform UK councillor Carl Johnson compared her to a Nazi collaborator after she said she had volunteered to teach English to asylum seekers near Wethersfield, Essex. A draft meeting record says the discussion became heated and Johnson was asked to leave; Godley’s husband has filed a formal complaint with Essex County Council.
Key Facts
The Godleys live near the former Wethersfield military base, where the Home Office houses hundreds of asylum seekers.
At a parish council meeting on 14 October, Nick Godley questioned Johnson about potholes and Operation Vanguard, a private-security patrol scheme.
Mair Godley said she had volunteered to help asylum seekers at the facility learn English.
The couple say Johnson called her help “facilitating the invasion” and compared it to helping Germany during the Second World War.
Johnson also said he did not want to raise his daughter to be raped and murdered by asylum seekers, according to the article.
Draft meeting minutes say the discussion became heated and Johnson was asked to leave to restore order.
Nick Godley filed a formal complaint with Essex County Council, which said it would comment after investigating and finding a breach.
Reform UK and Johnson did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
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Australia’s annual inflation rate rose from 4% to 4.3% in September, with higher fuel prices accounting for much of the increase. Treasurer Jim Chalmers pointed to the Iran conflict and global data-centre investment as external pressures, while a poll found more voters blamed government spending for rising living costs; the Reserve Bank was expected to consider another rate rise.
Key Facts
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that fuel costs rose 9.4% in September.
Petrol and diesel prices were on average 24% higher than a year earlier.
The Reserve Bank’s preferred measure of underlying inflation rose from 3.6% to 3.7% in the year to the September quarter.
In an Essential poll, 31% of voters named government spending as the top cause of rising living costs.
In the same poll, 24% cited overseas events such as the global oil shock, and 19% cited supermarket price gouging.
The poll found that 61% of Australians thought the country was on the wrong track, while 25% thought it was on the right track.
Reserve Bank officials said they were more concerned about inflation becoming entrenched than about rising unemployment, which had reached a five-year high.
The article said another interest rate rise was expected the following Tuesday; it would take the cash rate to 4.85% if delivered.
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India’s relationship with President Donald Trump’s administration has grown more strained ahead of the US midterm elections, a shift from the public warmth between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. Indian officials have criticized US policies on trade, Pakistan and terrorism, while negotiations over a trade deal have stalled.
Key Facts
In 2019, Modi praised Trump at a Houston rally attended by more than 50,000 Indian Americans and used the slogan “This time, a Trump government.”
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.
India has traditionally had close ties with Republican administrations, including under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
The article says India usually raises disagreements with friendly countries privately but has recently criticized the Trump administration more openly.
Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said the administration had been insensitive to India’s concerns about terrorism, had warmed to Pakistan and had pursued self-centered trade policies.
India is among the countries most affected by Trump’s tariff policies, according to the article.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said trade negotiations with the United States had reached a plateau.
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Australia’s House of Representatives passed a digital duty of care bill that would set safety rules for social media, games, apps and chatbots. The bill includes a proposed ban on AI chatbot conduct that simulates emotional intimacy and encourages children to depend on a chatbot instead of human relationships; it now goes to the Senate.
Key Facts
The bill would require covered platforms to provide a safe online environment and protect users from specified harmful content.
The government accepted an amendment covering chatbot conduct that simulates emotional intimacy and fosters a child’s dependence on the chatbot in place of human relationships.
The communications minister said content promoting misogyny, terrorism, suicide, self-harm and eating disorders could fall under the proposed rules.
Social media platforms would have to offer users an accessible, easy-to-use and prominent option to turn off algorithms and suggested content.
The Coalition and One Nation voted against the bill in the House, while the Greens support it.
The bill will be debated in the Senate, where a Greens inquiry is due to report in late November.
The Greens want stronger penalties and a right for Australians to bring private legal action against platforms.
Independent MP Sophie Scamps proposed giving the telecommunications industry ombudsman a role in handling complaints about big tech, but the article does not say Labor accepted the proposal.
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Two major unions have withdrawn support for Victoria’s Labor government ahead of the November 2026 state election. The Australian Services Union is running ads criticizing Premier Ben Carroll and will not canvass for Labor, while the Electrical Trades Union has canceled its planned statewide campaign and redirected funds toward preparing for a construction royal commission.
Key Facts
The Australian Services Union says it will not door-knock for Labor in the weeks before the election.
The ASU’s ads accuse Ben Carroll and Labor of lying over the government’s decision not to lift a cap on council rates.
The ASU says it had an agreement with former premier Jacinta Allan to lift the cap, but Carroll scrapped the plan after taking over as premier.
The ASU ads are scheduled to run online in several electorates, including Carroll’s seat of Niddrie and seats held by senior Labor figures.
The Electrical Trades Union’s state council resolved not to run a third-party campaign for Labor at the 2026 election.
The ETU said it would use campaign resources to prepare for and defend the union and its members in the construction royal commission.
The ETU resolution cited polling that it commissioned, which predicted Labor would win 25 seats, 10 fewer than an earlier forecast.
A Victorian government spokesperson said Carroll was fighting for working people and criticized the Liberal–One Nation coalition.
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Gulf states are pursuing a multi-part deal to prevent renewed fighting between the United States and Iran. The proposals include reopening the Strait of Hormuz after sanctions relief, reducing Houthi forces in Yemen, and discussing a broader regional security agreement, while the United States is seeking Iran’s return to nuclear inspections.
Key Facts
Iran’s deputy national security council secretary said Iran could agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz four days after economic sanctions are lifted, rather than seven days.
European diplomats say allowing UN weapons inspectors to return to Iran and visit bombed nuclear sites is a minimum requirement for a breakthrough with the United States.
Iran has so far refused to readmit the inspectors and says it will discuss its nuclear program only in principle.
A delegation from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan visited Tehran to discuss terms for ending the Yemen conflict and a longer-term regional security arrangement.
Iran’s security council secretary met with the Houthi ambassador to Iran as Iran acknowledged a role in mediating the Yemen conflict.
The Houthis are seeking an end to what they describe as a Saudi naval and air blockade of territory they hold.
Iran is promoting a regional security pact involving Gulf states and Iran, with a reduced or ended US military presence in the Middle East.
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Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels was first published anonymously in October 1726, and events across Ireland are marking its 300th anniversary. An exhibition at Trinity College Dublin explores the novel’s editions, adaptations, characters and themes, alongside talks, performances and other anniversary events.
Key Facts
Swift wrote the novel under the title Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
The book satirized Georgian society and later reached popular audiences through translations, children’s editions, comics and films.
Trinity College Dublin’s exhibition runs until December and is also available online.
The exhibition includes materials from the university’s collection, including a 1726 edition, a 1976 Marvel comic and a surviving 1761 abridgement.
The exhibition examines modern retellings that imagine the perspective of Gulliver’s wife, Mary.
Co-curator Aileen Douglas said Gulliver’s visit to Laputa connects with present-day concerns about technology.
Anniversary events include a Trinity panel discussion, a children’s choir premiere and events at the Robinson library in County Armagh.
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A friend of Beau Lamarre-Condon told his murder trial that he arrived at her home after Jesse Baird and Luke Davies disappeared and scrubbed blood from his van while she sat nearby. Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to murdering the men in 2024 and says he acted in self-defence; prosecutors allege he planned the killings.
Key Facts
The friend, identified in court as Fiona Rosso, said Lamarre-Condon arrived unannounced and told her he had “done something bad.”
Rosso testified that Lamarre-Condon asked her to look up schizophrenia and said he had experienced an out-of-body experience.
She said she sat with a glass of champagne while he tried to scrub blood from the back of his van.
Rosso told the jury that Lamarre-Condon said he had driven with another woman to dispose of the bodies in a dam.
Baird and Davies, both in their 20s, were found at a rural property inside surfboard bags.
Lamarre-Condon says he killed the men in self-defence after entering Baird’s home to retrieve his belongings.
Prosecutors allege Lamarre-Condon killed Baird and then shot Davies to eliminate a witness.
Prosecutors rejected Lamarre-Condon’s offer to plead guilty to Baird’s manslaughter; the trial is continuing in New South Wales Supreme Court.
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Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil’s presidential runoff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, landed in the United States, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The U.S. State Department said it would allow Bolsonaro and his family to enter and issue them visas; Brazilian authorities had been investigating whether he left the country.
Key Facts
Lula defeated Flávio Bolsonaro in Brazil’s presidential runoff on Sunday.
Two sources told ABC News that Bolsonaro landed in the United States.
A senior State Department official said the United States would allow Bolsonaro and his family to enter and issue them visas.
Brazilian authorities said they did not know Bolsonaro’s whereabouts and were investigating whether he had left for the United States.
Brazilian authorities are investigating Bolsonaro in connection with a sports betting case and a probe into a film about his father, Jair Bolsonaro.
Two U.S. officials said the Trump administration had tracked Bolsonaro’s plans and expected him to leave Brazil for the United States.
Trump said Brazil’s election looked rigged, but the article reported no evidence supporting that claim.
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Victoria’s Court of Appeal is due to rule on Friday on Erin Patterson’s appeal against her convictions for three murders and one attempted murder. The court will also consider whether her life sentence, with a 33-year non-parole period, should be increased; the convictions appeal could lead to a retrial or acquittal, or leave the convictions in place.
Key Facts
Patterson was convicted of murdering Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson after serving them lunch.
She was also convicted of attempting to murder Heather Wilkinson’s husband, Ian, who survived.
Patterson received a life sentence with a 33-year non-parole period.
The Court of Appeal heard arguments in August and is scheduled to deliver its decisions from 10 a.m. Friday.
Patterson’s lawyers argued that jurors staying at the same hotel as police and prosecutors during deliberations compromised the trial.
The court could reject the appeal, order a retrial, or enter an acquittal.
If the court upholds the convictions, it may also decide whether Patterson should be resentenced.
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U.S. District Judge David O. Carter said he intends to appoint a special master to examine how the Justice Department compiled a list of about 20,000 California voters it says may be noncitizens. He did not rule on the department’s request to block the state from counting ballots linked to the list, and said he expects to issue a ruling on the case’s next steps by October 28.
Key Facts
The Justice Department sued California over roughly 20,000 registered voters it alleges are likely noncitizens.
The department asked the court to stop California from counting ballots associated with the list in the November 3 midterm election.
Carter said he intends to appoint a special master to review how the department created the list.
The judge did not rule on the Justice Department’s request for a temporary restraining order at Tuesday’s hearing.
Carter described the requested change to California’s election process as monumental.
State officials and other opponents argued that the lawsuit could disrupt ballot counting and intrude on state control of elections.
Carter urged that threats against state and county election workers stop immediately.
A federal appeals court declined on Monday to order California to set aside the ballots, sending the matter back to the district court.
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Mahmoud Khalil returned to Columbia University for the first time since his 2025 arrest to discuss his memoir. He said Palestinian student activism has shifted U.S. views and encouraged political change, while criticizing Columbia’s response to campus protests and describing his ongoing fight against deportation as a free-speech issue.
Key Facts
Khalil, a Columbia graduate and pro-Palestinian activist, spoke at an event attended by about 100 people.
He was arrested by immigration authorities on March 8, 2025, and held for three months without criminal charges.
Khalil was released from immigration custody on June 20, 2025; the Trump administration continues to seek his deportation.
Khalil helped lead Columbia student demonstrations in 2024 against Israel’s war in Gaza.
He accused Columbia leaders of trying to erase Palestinian voices and criticized the university for authorizing police to clear protesters.
Columbia said it supports faculty members’ right to organize academic events and that inviting a speaker does not mean the university endorses their views.
Khalil cited progressive candidates, including Abdul El-Sayed and Zohran Mamdani, as signs of political change.
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Exit polls from Israel’s election show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot tied at 51 seats each, below the 61 needed for a majority. Vote counting is still underway, and the results could change; turnout exceeded 77%, the highest in more than two decades.
Key Facts
More than 30% of votes had been counted when the report was published.
Israel’s major television networks’ exit polls put both blocs at 51 seats.
A governing coalition needs at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.
Exit polls in Israel are often revised and can differ from final results by several seats.
More than 77% of eligible voters cast ballots, about 7 percentage points above turnout in 2022.
Palestinian parties were projected to win as many as 18 seats, up from 10.
Eisenkot could seek support from Palestinian parties or attempt to govern as a minority if his bloc falls short of a majority.
The Central Elections Committee said it had seen no evidence of systematic election tampering after Netanyahu alleged efforts to steal the election.
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The Cook Political Report moved the Kansas governor’s race from lean Republican to a toss-up and the Nebraska race from likely Republican to lean Republican, citing factors including polling and third-party candidates. The changes came one week before the midterm elections; Cook said Democrats could gain two to four governorships.
Key Facts
Donald Trump won Kansas in 2024 with 57.2% of the vote and Nebraska with 59.3%.
Republican Ty Masterson is running against Democrat Cindy Holscher in Kansas.
Cook cited the competitive Kansas Senate race and internal polling from Holscher as factors in its rating change.
Republican incumbent Jim Pillen is running against Democrat Lynne Walz in Nebraska.
Cook cited internal polling and third-party candidates Rick Beard and Brett Lindstrom among factors in its Nebraska rating change.
Masterson and Pillen have led in a majority of recent polls, according to the article.
Thirty-six governor’s offices are on the ballot, and the parties currently hold 18 each.
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Rogerio Marinho, a former campaign manager for Flavio Bolsonaro, said the senator did not tell him he planned to leave Brazil. Reports allege Bolsonaro secretly went to Florida after losing Sunday’s presidential election, while police investigate possible money laundering.
Key Facts
Rogerio Marinho previously served as Flavio Bolsonaro’s campaign manager.
Marinho said Flavio Bolsonaro did not tell him about plans to leave Brazil.
Reports allege Bolsonaro secretly left Brazil for Florida.
The reported departure followed Sunday’s presidential election loss.
Police are investigating possible money laundering.
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U.S. Central Command estimates that the war with Iran cost the U.S. military at least $47.1 billion by mid-October. The estimate includes replacing munitions and equipment and other added costs, but excludes damage to U.S. bases in the Middle East.
Key Facts
CENTCOM put the cost of replacing expended munitions at about $29 billion.
The estimate includes $6.1 billion to replace lost equipment.
CENTCOM counted about $11.9 billion in added costs, including support for U.S. service members.
The estimate does not include damage to U.S. military bases in the Middle East.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said three months earlier that the war had cost about $37.5 billion, also excluding base damage.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated last month that the war could cost $2 billion to $3 billion per month while it continues.
The Pentagon inspector general said the number of munitions used had created strategic inventory shortfalls, and the Defense Department is working to speed up production.
The Trump administration requested supplemental military funding from Congress earlier this year, but the request had not passed as of the article.
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