Labour MPs are urging Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Chancellor John Healey not to overrule Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh if she rejects environmental approval for the Rosebank oilfield. Fahnbulleh’s aides say she alone will decide, while ministers have expressed support for developing North Sea oil and gas fields.
Key Facts
Sources told the Guardian that Fahnbulleh was minded to refuse environmental permission for Rosebank, but no decision has been made.
Labour MPs have raised concerns with party leadership and Healey about the possibility of ministers intervening in Fahnbulleh’s decision.
MP Catherine Fookes said approving Rosebank would undermine Labour’s green credentials and conflict with the direction of its manifesto.
Fahnbulleh’s aides circulated a memo saying she is the sole decision-maker and will consider all relevant factors through a quasi-judicial process.
Burnham has said the Rosebank decision belongs to Fahnbulleh, while describing the recently approved Jackdaw gasfield as a bridge to the future.
The Treasury says forecast tax revenues from Rosebank, estimated at about £500 million by the end of the parliament, do not prevent Fahnbulleh from blocking the project.
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast includes estimated production from Rosebank and other new fields.
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Diana Simpson is seeking a judicial review of Westminster City Council’s approval for a Pimlico home to become Montenegro’s embassy, arguing the council failed to consider the effect on her mental health. The council denies her claims and is seeking a summary judgment without a hearing.
Key Facts
The embassy occupies a five-bedroom family home on Cambridge Street in Pimlico, central London.
Simpson, 35, lives next door with her parents and has lived on the street for more than three decades.
She says the embassy’s arrival has worsened her anxiety and disrupted her sleep.
Simpson has been diagnosed with clinical anxiety, long Covid and a functional neurological disorder, and receives disability benefits.
Her legal claim concerns the council’s handling of planning permission for the home’s change of use and a flagpole.
Simpson alleges the council failed to consider her health conditions and conducted a flawed public consultation.
Westminster City Council denies that the embassy interferes with her home or private and family life.
The dispute has drawn attention to conflicts between embassies relocating to London and residents of nearby streets.
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Ofcom recommended four methods social media companies could use to check whether UK users meet the age limit under a planned ban on access for under-16s. The measures require government approval, and platforms must choose and implement checks that protect privacy and personal data.
Key Facts
The UK ban is due to take effect in March next year and would block under-16s from ten major platforms, including Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.
Ofcom named photo ID matching, bank-based checks, facial age estimation and digital ID services as methods it considers highly effective.
The regulator said social media companies remain responsible for carrying out age checks, even if app stores verify users’ ages at the device level.
Meta and other technology companies have advocated device-level checks, while Apple has already introduced age verification in the UK.
Ofcom said many adults may also have to show they are not under 16, but it has not estimated how many accounts would be affected.
The regulator acknowledged that age checks cannot prevent all circumvention and some children may bypass them.
Ofcom said its recommendations draw on its experience introducing age checks for pornographic websites.
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Chancellor John Healey said the government will reduce the benefits bill before the next general election, but ruled out crude cuts and has not yet set out detailed reforms. Two reviews due in November will inform proposals that the government plans to publish by year-end, with legislation expected next year.
Key Facts
Welfare spending is forecast to rise by £19 billion this year to £353 billion.
The Office for Budget Responsibility projects welfare spending will reach £431 billion in 2031/32, driven mainly by health-related and pensioner benefits.
Healey said helping young people who are not in education, employment or training could reduce welfare spending over the long term.
A review of disability benefits and a review of young people not in education, employment or training are due to be published in November.
The government expects to respond to the reviews by the end of the year and publish legislation next year.
The government has pledged to reform the state pension triple lock from 2030.
Conservative and Reform UK politicians criticised the Budget for not setting out more detail on welfare reform.
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Analysts say a Democratic victory in the U.S. midterms would not fundamentally change European elections, but could affect political debates in Europe. They warn it might make some Europeans less concerned about far-right movements and could lead President Donald Trump to increase pressure on Ukraine to accept a deal with Russia.
Key Facts
Polls cited in the article give Democrats an average eight-point lead in both the House and Senate.
Catherine Fieschi of Carnegie Europe said a Democratic win could encourage the view that democracies can recover from far-right or authoritarian politics.
French politician Marine Le Pen is leading polls for the presidential election scheduled for April 18, with surveys putting her at about 34 percent.
An ECFR poll conducted in June 2025 found that majorities in Western Europe viewed the U.S. political system as broken; majorities in Eastern Europe viewed it as working well.
Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris said European shifts toward tighter migration policies developed independently, while U.S. actions influenced the tone of the debate.
The article says Le Pen has proposed reducing France’s contributions to the EU budget and military aid to Ukraine, and has raised the possibility of replacing the euro with a devalued franc.
The article cites the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine Support Tracker for an estimate that France provides 3.5 percent of Ukraine’s foreign military aid.
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Emails obtained by Guardian Australia show that Defence Secretary Meghan Quinn backed Deputy Secretary Celia Perkins’ plan to ask a Senate committee not to share edited clips of public servants’ testimony on social media. Perkins cited concerns about bullying and security risks, but the committee rejected the request after advice from the Senate clerk.
Key Facts
Perkins made the request during a 4 September Senate committee hearing.
Perkins said edited or out-of-context clips could lead to personal abuse and ridicule of staff.
She also warned that online posts could increase risks from cyber and foreign intelligence actors.
Emails show Perkins said Quinn and Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil supported her plan.
The offices of Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Khalil were informed about the proposal, but neither gave an on-record response to the newspaper.
Greens senator David Shoebridge objected that the hearing was public and witnesses could not censor what Australians saw.
The committee rejected Perkins’ request on the Senate clerk’s advice.
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Spain began a three-day mourning period after a high-speed train collision killed 68 people and injured many others. Officials are investigating the cause as emergency crews search the wreckage and relatives seek information about missing loved ones.
Key Facts
A Renfe train struck the rear of an Iryo train near Urda in Castilla-La Mancha.
The two trains were traveling in the same direction on the line between Madrid and Andalusia.
Officials said 107 people received hospital treatment, including 15 in serious condition.
Emergency crews searched the wreckage overnight, and regional officials said more victims might be found.
Authorities opened offices in Madrid, Toledo, Córdoba, and Seville to collect DNA samples and help identify victims.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said investigators were examining the cause and that any security failures or negligence would be addressed.
The article reports that 46 people died in a separate collision on the same line in January.
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Turkiye is building closer political and military ties with eastern Libya after Libya’s eastern-based parliament approved a 2019 maritime agreement between Ankara and the Tripoli government. Ankara has renewed an offer for a maritime boundary agreement with Egypt, but Egypt, Greece and Cyprus have objected to the Libya-Turkiye deal, saying it infringes on their rights.
Key Facts
Libya’s eastern-based parliament in Tobruk approved the maritime agreement eight days before Turkiye renewed its offer to Egypt.
The 2019 agreement sets out maritime jurisdiction areas claimed by Turkiye and Libya.
Turkiye says the agreement complies with international law; Greece, Cyprus and Egypt say it infringes on their sovereign rights.
Turkiye’s Ministry of National Defence said an agreement with Ankara could give Egypt more than 15,000 square kilometres of maritime jurisdiction; that figure is Turkiye’s estimate.
Turkiye helped repel a 2019–2020 offensive on Tripoli by forces loyal to eastern military leader Khalifa Haftar.
Turkish officials have held meetings with Khalifa Haftar, his son Saddam Haftar, and officials from the Tripoli government.
On October 6, Libya’s eastern parliament replaced speaker Aguila Saleh with Al-Salhin Abdelnabi al-Obeidi, who previously chaired the Libyan-Turkish parliamentary friendship committee.
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Russian officials said air defenses neutralized 613 drones launched toward Moscow between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. Ukraine’s Kharkiv mayor said a Russian attack damaged an educational institution in the city.
Key Facts
Russian state news agency TASS reported that 613 drones were launched toward Moscow overnight.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses destroyed 231 drones as they approached the city.
Sobyanin said the remaining drones were neutralized farther away from Moscow.
The attack followed a reported record assault in September, when Russian air defenses said they shot down more than 1,600 drones.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a Russian attack damaged an educational institution in Ukraine’s second-largest city.
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The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s board passed a resolution requesting a review of the utility’s rates, rate structures and how charges are applied to customers. A UCLA School of Law analysis found LADWP rates rose 45% in the last year, compared with a 4% increase for Southern California Edison; the article says the increases have outpaced inflation.
Key Facts
LADWP’s Board of Commissioners approved a resolution requesting a review of rates and how they are applied to customers.
Tim O’Connor, head of the city’s Office of Public Accountability, said the review should address transparency and modernize rate structures.
CBS California Investigates found nine LADWP executives earn more than $700,000 a year and more than two dozen supervisors earn over $600,000.
O’Connor said major capital projects, operations and maintenance are among the main drivers of utility costs, rather than individual salaries.
LADWP said overtime makes up 5% of its $10.8 billion budget and total labor costs account for 18%.
LADWP reported overtime compensation rose from about $426 million in 2024 to more than $499 million in 2025, a 17% increase.
A UCLA School of Law analysis found LADWP rates rose 45% in the last year, compared with a 4% increase for Southern California Edison.
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With 91% of votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc is projected to win 53 seats, while Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc is projected to win 48 and Palestinian parties 19. No bloc has the 61 seats needed for a Knesset majority, and coalition talks are expected to begin as leaders weigh whether Palestinian lawmakers will support an opposition-led government.
Key Facts
Israel’s Central Elections Committee has counted 91% of votes.
Netanyahu’s bloc is projected to receive 53 seats, Eisenkot’s bloc 48, and Palestinian parties 19.
No grouping has reached the 61 seats needed for a Knesset majority.
Yair Golan said he would meet Eisenkot and Yair Lapid on Thursday for coalition talks.
Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen said he was open to supporting an opposition-led government but not joining it.
President Isaac Herzog urged parties to avoid another election and keep an open mind.
Israel’s Central Elections Committee said it would review Likud’s complaint alleging that Arab parties compromised election integrity.
UN rights chief Volker Turk urged Israel’s next government to respect international law.
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A federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s request to stop California from counting more than 20,000 mail ballots tied to people it identified as alleged noncitizens. The department appealed the ruling, which came six days before the midterm elections.
Key Facts
US District Judge David Carter ruled on Wednesday that the federal government could not require California to exclude the ballots.
The Justice Department filed its lawsuit on October 15 and appealed Carter’s decision to the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals.
The administration has issued more than 100 subpoenas seeking records on tens of thousands of voters in at least 13 states.
A whistleblower said the federal investigation scrutinizes voters nationwide and may include US citizens.
Democracy Docket reported that one in four voters on Los Angeles County’s alleged noncitizen list were born in the United States.
California said its safeguards against noncitizen voting are robust and that the federal government relied on suspect data.
Noncitizens are barred from voting in US federal elections.
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North Korea fired around a dozen short-range ballistic missiles from near Wonsan toward the East Sea on Thursday, South Korea’s military said. The launches came amid rising tensions over landmines near the border and followed South Korea’s proposal for military talks, which Pyongyang had not answered.
Key Facts
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles traveled about 250 kilometres.
South Korea and the United States were analyzing the missiles’ specifications, and Seoul said it had increased surveillance for further launches.
South Korea’s National Security Office said the launches violated UN Security Council resolutions.
A landmine explosion near the border wounded three South Korean soldiers.
A joint South Korean and UN investigation concluded that North Korea planted the mines more than a year ago.
South Korea proposed talks to confirm the border’s location and discuss restoring communication channels.
North Korea and South Korea remain technically at war because the 1953 Korean conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.
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Readers in the UK described pressure from housing costs, rising bills and taxes after the government’s 2026 budget. A young London renter welcomed a new first-home scheme but said volatile wages make saving difficult, while a business owner earning £126,000 said higher costs leave him with little money at month’s end.
Key Facts
Louie, a 24-year-old chef in London, earns between £37,000 and £40,000 and shares a rented home with two friends.
Louie said rent and bills now take about half his salary, and his landlord plans to raise the household’s rent by £200 a month in November.
The government’s Your First Home scheme will let buyers purchase a new-build home with a 2.5% deposit, supported by an interest-free equity loan.
Louie is taking an access course and plans to begin a physiotherapy degree next year before considering a home purchase.
Greater Manchester business owner Graham Robinson said he earned £126,000 last year but has virtually nothing left in his bank account at the end of each month.
Robinson said his mortgage payments rose from about £900 to £1,300 a month, while council tax, food, energy and other costs also increased.
Robinson wanted the budget to provide more help with employment costs and said the employment allowance remains at £10,500.
The article says the personal allowance is gradually withdrawn for income above £100,000 and reaches zero at £125,140, creating an effective 60% income tax rate on some earnings.
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John Healey announced a package aimed at easing household energy costs in Britain. It includes a one-off £100 payment for eligible households, a planned end to gas standing charges, and an extension of the removal of VAT from electricity bills until July.
Key Facts
About 20 million households in council tax bands A to D are due to receive a one-off £100 payment in January.
The government says the payment will cost £2.6 billion and go directly into bank accounts.
The payment will be in addition to the Warm Home Discount, which gives about 6 million eligible households £150 off winter energy bills.
The government plans to end gas standing charges for 23 million homes in 2027 or as soon as possible afterward.
Ending gas standing charges could save households using less than the average amount of gas, while households with high use could pay more under higher unit rates.
The article estimates a home using 7,000 kilowatt hours of gas a year could save about £40, while a home using 14,000 kilowatt hours could pay about £25 more.
The government removed the 5% VAT charge on electricity bills for 29 million households and plans to keep it removed until July; the Treasury estimates annual savings of £50.
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Thames Water’s creditors are set to vote on a £2.4bn emergency loan that would raise the utility’s available funding to £5.4bn and support its operations until autumn 2027. The company says it may run out of cash by the end of 2026 or early 2027, while debate continues over a creditor takeover, government control or special administration.
Key Facts
The creditor consortium London & Valley Water is due to vote on the proposed loan on Thursday.
Thames Water’s existing £3bn loan carries an interest rate of 9.75%; the company has drawn £2.65bn of it.
Thames Water said this month that it needed another £2.4bn because it could run out of cash before agreeing on a longer-term debt deal.
Campaign group We Own It estimated that interest on the new loan could cost £40 per household if added to bills; London & Valley Water said the cost would not be added to bills.
We Own It estimated that including the full loan amount in bills would equal £454 per household.
Thames Water has about £20bn in debt and serves 16 million customers in London and the Thames Valley.
The company’s shareholders withdrew in 2024, leaving creditors with effective control while they seek a deal to avoid bankruptcy.
Andy Burnham is considering a creditor takeover, nationalisation or another form of state control; some politicians and campaigners have called for special administration.
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A New South Wales Supreme Court jury heard evidence that police tried for four days to contact Beau Lamarre-Condon after the alleged killings of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in February 2024. Lamarre-Condon, who has pleaded not guilty to both murders, told an officer he was not avoiding police and said he would come in the next day.
Key Facts
Lamarre-Condon is accused of murdering his former partner Jesse Baird and Luke Davies on 19 February 2024.
A police colleague messaged him on Instagram on 21 February, asking him to contact a crime manager; the message remained unread.
Police were unable to reach Lamarre-Condon for four days before he turned himself in, according to evidence heard in court.
In a 22 February phone call, Lamarre-Condon said he was not avoiding police and would come in the next day.
He later led officers to a rural property where the bodies were found in surfboard bags, the court heard.
A friend testified that Lamarre-Condon came to her home crying three days after the alleged murders and said he had “done something bad.”
The prosecution alleges the killings were planned; Lamarre-Condon says he acted in self-defence while retrieving his belongings.
The trial is continuing before Justice Natalie Adams in the New South Wales Supreme Court.
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Families of victims of South Korea’s 2022 Itaewon crowd crush have demanded that Activision remove real news footage of the disaster from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. The footage appears in the game’s opening and depicts rescue efforts and victims during a fictional North Korean invasion; Activision said it did not intend to make light of the tragedy.
Key Facts
The Itaewon crowd crush killed 158 people, and two more have since been recognised as victims.
The game’s opening cinematic includes seconds-long clips showing CPR, bodies in the street and a victim on a stretcher.
The bereaved families’ council and civic groups said the footage could worsen trauma for survivors and witnesses and demanded its removal.
The Korean Game Users Association called for Activision to apologise and replace the footage.
Activision said it used actual news footage to support the fictional story and had no intention of treating the Itaewon tragedy lightly.
Players in South Korea identified the footage after the game’s release, and local broadcasters compared it with recordings from the night of the crush.
The game follows a South Korean marine fighting a North Korean invasion and reached the top of South Korea’s Steam sales chart within days of release.
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Barack Obama mocked the Trump administration’s response to a joke he made about White House renovations. The joke compared the renovations to Saddam Hussein opening a Cheesecake Factory restaurant.
Key Facts
Barack Obama is a former U.S. president.
Obama made a joke about renovations at the White House.
The joke compared the renovations to Saddam Hussein opening a Cheesecake Factory restaurant.
The Trump administration organized a government-wide response to the joke, according to the article.
Obama mocked the administration’s response.
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Queensland MP Amanda Stoker’s appointment as the state’s minister for the prevention of domestic violence has drawn concern because of past comments questioning calls to believe people who report violence. Stoker has argued that allegations should be assessed against evidence, while advocates say her comments could discourage victim-survivors from reporting abuse.
Key Facts
Stoker was appointed Queensland’s minister for the prevention of domestic violence on Saturday.
In a 2023 article, Stoker said calls to “blindly” believe complainants rather than assess evidence could harm innocent defendants.
Stoker has also said that false allegations can harm people accused of sexual assault.
Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame called Stoker’s appointment disappointing.
Several Queensland workers who support victims told Guardian Australia they had private concerns about Stoker’s appointment but would not speak publicly.
The Queensland Police Service says there is no evidence that many women make vexatious sexual-violence reports and describes false allegations as very rare.
Full Stop Australia CEO Karen Bevan said victim-survivors need to know they will be believed, supported and taken seriously if they come forward.
Stoker took her seat in the Queensland parliament in 2024 after leaving the federal Senate in 2022.
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