A three-part Netflix documentary, *The One About Matthew Perry*, explores the actor’s addiction, relationships and efforts to help others. It features accounts from his sister and longtime friends and is scheduled to premiere October 27, 2026, shortly before the third anniversary of his death.
Key Facts
Perry’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, says he spent more than $7 million pursuing sobriety.
The article notes that this figure differs from reports about Perry’s 2022 memoir, which put his rehabilitation spending above $9 million.
Bowick says Perry had recently left treatment when his family watched the *Friends* episode featuring Chandler and Monica’s wedding.
Bowick says Perry was exhausted after filming the 2021 *Friends* reunion; comedian Kevin Pollak also recalled Perry struggling on camera.
Perry let Tim Harrington, whom he met through recovery, move into his home for about a year and attended recovery meetings with him.
The documentary is directed by Mary Robertson, who said Perry’s 2022 memoir prompted her interest in telling his story.
Perry’s five *Friends* co-stars did not participate in the documentary.
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Divorce attorney Hannah Hembree Bell describes a “medium-suck” marriage as one without a major crisis but marked by ongoing unhappiness. She shares signs of this situation, including feeling unsure whether to leave and judging a marriage by the problems it lacks rather than by whether it brings happiness.
Key Facts
Bell says her first marriage ended after she recognized that she was quietly unhappy, despite no single major problem.
Bell describes a “medium-suck” marriage as one in which a person feels they are functioning rather than flourishing.
One sign Bell identifies is feeling that there is no clear reason to leave but also no strong reason to stay.
Another sign is measuring a marriage by the absence of major problems, such as abuse, infidelity, or frequent arguments.
The article says researchers estimate that about 40 percent of first marriages in the United States end in divorce.
A study cited in the article found that divorced participants most often named lack of commitment, infidelity, and excessive conflict as contributors to their divorce.
The study also listed financial problems and substance abuse among commonly cited contributors to divorce.
Bell is now a divorce attorney and says she is happily married in a blended family with four children.
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Vote-Scope projects Democrats will win 54 Senate seats, but polling experts say a 55-seat majority remains unlikely. They say Democrats would need to hold their current seats and win several races in Republican-leaning states, including contests beyond their main pickup opportunities.
Key Facts
Vote-Scope’s October 23 forecast gives Democrats 54 seats, with a range of 48 to 55 and a 71 percent chance of a Senate majority.
The forecast draws on 529 polls and 50,000 simulations, weighting polls by quality, sample size and recency.
The Fred Cornell Senate Forecast projects 52 Democratic seats and gives the party a 66 percent chance of winning at least 51.
The 270toWin consensus places 49 seats in the Democratic column and lists five races as tossups.
Democrats need a net gain of four seats for a 51-seat majority and eight pickups, with no losses, to reach 55.
The article identifies North Carolina, Maine, Ohio and Texas as four leading Democratic pickup opportunities; winning all four would bring the party to 51 seats.
Pollsters Lee Miringoff and Patrick Ruffini said a 55-seat outcome is unlikely; Ruffini estimated its probability at about one in ten.
Ruffini said Iowa could be a key test: a Democratic win could make Kansas competitive, while a loss could leave 53 seats as the party’s upper limit.
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Indigenous communities in Brazil’s Amazon say they are concerned that the election outcome could affect environmental protections. Al Jazeera’s Monica Yanakiew reports on their concerns.
Key Facts
Indigenous communities in Brazil’s Amazon expressed concern about the election’s potential impact on environmental protections.
The article focuses on Brazil’s election and environmental protections.
Monica Yanakiew reported the story for Al Jazeera.
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A shooting near Florida A&M University's Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee injured 11 people on Saturday, police said. Police said a physical altercation may have preceded the shooting; no arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.
Key Facts
The shooting happened shortly after Florida A&M's homecoming football game at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Six of the injured people were juveniles, including an 11-year-old.
One injured person is a Florida A&M University student.
Police said one victim was in critical condition, three had serious injuries, and the others were stable.
The grandmother of one victim was injured while fleeing the scene.
Tallahassee police said they believe a physical altercation occurred before the shooting.
No arrests had been made, and detectives and forensic personnel were investigating.
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Former President Barack Obama campaigned for Democrats in Ohio and Michigan ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. He criticized President Donald Trump’s Iran war, tariffs and trade policies, and urged voters to reject Republicans.
Key Facts
Obama spoke at rallies in Cleveland, Ohio, and Michigan on Saturday, 10 days before the elections.
In Cleveland, Obama backed former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown.
Obama said Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement and start a war had raised oil and diesel prices.
Obama cited attacks on U.S. bases, American casualties and disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as consequences of the war.
Obama argued that tariffs raise costs for consumers and for U.S. manufacturers that use imported parts.
Trump has threatened 50 percent tariffs on Canadian vehicles and auto parts starting in January 2027, according to the article.
Obama said the federal debt had reached $40 trillion; the article notes that this is accumulated debt, not the annual budget deficit.
Senate and gubernatorial races are taking place in both Ohio and Michigan.
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Kenyan creator That Girl Boina says diverted customer payments and suspected employee theft contributed to falling revenue at her Nairobi waxing studio, which closed in October 2025. Her account drew responses from other Kenyan business owners, while a 2022 PwC survey found that 63% of East African respondents said their organisations had experienced economic crime.
Key Facts
Boina opened Waxaholic Studio in Nairobi on 1 September 2024.
She hired a receptionist and two specialists and took a two-week trip to Europe.
A customer told Boina that someone at the studio had asked them to send payment to a number different from the one displayed at the business.
Boina said the studio's revenue began falling in early 2025, and she later decided to close it rather than confront the employees.
Waxaholic Studio closed in October 2025 after Boina failed to find a buyer and sold some of its equipment.
Boina shared a video about the experience on TikTok in September, nearly a year after the studio closed; the video was widely reposted and viewed.
A 2022 PwC survey found that 63% of East African respondents said their organisations had experienced economic crime, compared with 46% globally.
The article says employee theft was among the problems partly attributed to the collapse of Kenyan supermarket chains Tuskys and Nakumatt, alongside wider financial and operational issues.
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Elon Musk said SpaceX restricted Ukraine’s Starlink service last week because, he alleged, Ukraine used the civilian network for offensive drone strikes. Ukrainian officials said the connection had stabilized, but Kyiv had not officially responded to Musk’s claim; a Ukrainian presidential adviser disputed it. The article links the service disruption to a broader dispute between Washington and Kyiv over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure.
Key Facts
Musk said SpaceX closed what he described as a loophole that let Ukraine use Starlink for offensive drone strikes.
Musk denied responsibility for a simultaneous issue with Starshield, which he said is controlled by the U.S. government.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said Ukraine could not use commercial Starlink for long- and medium-range drone strikes.
Ukraine’s defense minister said the military was recording a stable connection, and President Volodymyr Zelensky said service speeds had returned to the needed level.
Ukraine uses Starlink for battlefield coordination and Starshield for some military communications and drone operations.
Ukraine previously said the connection cut out when drones exceeded 161 km/h; officials said speeds were now above 400 km/h.
The connectivity problems began amid a dispute between Washington and Kyiv over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.
Trump said he had told Musk to restore the service, while also denying that he had instructed Musk to restrict it.
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Brazilian voters are choosing between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in a closely contested presidential runoff. Lula has gained ground since the first round, while the candidates’ supporters remain largely settled and undecided voters may determine the result.
Key Facts
Flávio Bolsonaro won the first-round vote by less than two percentage points.
Lula focused his runoff campaign on voter turnout after abstention reached a record high in the first round.
Flávio Bolsonaro is the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Jair Bolsonaro is under house arrest and serving a 27-year sentence for attempting to overturn his 2022 election defeat, according to the article.
Flávio Bolsonaro has said he would pardon his father if elected.
Flávio Bolsonaro has proposed building five large prisons and has called for constitutional changes.
The article says Flávio Bolsonaro is under investigation in two federal police inquiries over alleged corruption and money laundering.
Both candidates held large closing campaign rallies on Saturday.
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Channel 4 is bringing back One Born Every Minute for a 12th series, filmed at St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester. The new series focuses more on parents’ experiences and includes stories about caesarean births, pregnancy loss, health anxiety and complicated pregnancies.
Key Facts
The first episode airs on Sunday night.
The series is made by Dragonfly for Channel 4.
Executive producer Will Rowson said the show reflects greater willingness among parents to share personal experiences.
The series shifts its focus toward parents and their stories, rather than medical staff.
The programme features caesarean births and other surgical procedures.
Faye discusses multiple miscarriages and the anxiety she experienced during a later pregnancy.
Peace shares her experience of having twins and concerns about their growth.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited China on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, and inaugurated a new bridge linking the two countries. He met Chinese officials and said North Korea would strengthen cooperation and ties with Beijing.
Key Facts
Kim crossed the new bridge into the Chinese border city of Dandong, according to South Korean and Chinese sources.
Kim visited a memorial to China's support for North Korea during the 1950–53 Korean War.
Kim met Wang Huning, a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Standing Committee.
Wang conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinping's greetings, according to North Korea's state news agency.
Kim and Wang toured a car factory before Wang accompanied Kim to the bridge.
North Korea has sent troops and conventional weapons to support Russia's war in Ukraine, the article says.
Kim last visited Beijing in September 2025, when he met Xi Jinping and attended a military parade.
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Egypt is considering whether to send forces to help defend Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks, but officials say any role would be defensive and not target the Houthis. Cairo is wary of becoming drawn into Yemen’s conflict, partly because Egypt suffered heavy losses in its 1960s intervention and wants to avoid broader regional entanglements.
Key Facts
Egypt sent thousands of troops to Yemen in 1962 to support republican forces against royalists.
Egyptian forces withdrew after heavy losses and Egypt’s defeat in the 1967 war with Israel.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said a possible deployment would focus on defending Saudi Arabia, not attacking Yemen’s Houthis.
Egypt’s foreign minister called for a political solution to the Yemen conflict.
Saudi Arabia has faced Houthi missile and drone attacks, including a strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport that killed 13 people, one of them Egyptian.
Egypt’s National Defence Council said on October 18 that Egypt was ready to provide necessary and possible support to Saudi Arabia.
An Egyptian combat deployment abroad requires parliamentary approval, and a vote was scheduled for Monday after a one-week delay.
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Hundreds of thousands of people marched across France to protest rising living costs, and clashes broke out in several cities. Police arrested nearly 1,000 people, while authorities said the response was more controlled than during the previous week’s unrest.
Key Facts
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said police arrested nearly 1,000 people nationwide on Saturday.
Riot police used tear gas in Paris and cities including Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Lille, Toulouse, Montpellier and Nantes.
Authorities deployed about 70,000 security personnel for the demonstrations.
The previous week’s unrest led to vandalism of public buildings, looting of hundreds of businesses and 2,700 arrests.
Nunez said police made faster interventions, conducted more checks before demonstrations and better protected commercial areas.
At least two people were seriously injured, including a man in Toulouse and another person in Clermont-Ferrand.
Rights advocates and protesters criticized what they viewed as restrictions on freedom and the right to demonstrate.
France is due to elect a successor to President Emmanuel Macron in six months.
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Israel said it will restrict Palestinian workers from entering most areas of the occupied West Bank from Sunday through Monday and close all crossings on Tuesday, the day of its general election. The measures follow a lockdown and raids in Hebron after an attack that killed two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian gunmen; Israeli officials say about 2,000 people have been displaced, while Hebron’s mayor put the figure at 2,200.
Key Facts
The Israeli army announced the worker restrictions and Tuesday closure of crossings.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a full lockdown of the occupied West Bank after the attack.
Two Israeli soldiers and the two Palestinian gunmen were killed in Friday’s attack on an Israeli army reserve base.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said about 2,000 people had been displaced from Hebron.
Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Ja’bari said 2,200 people had been forced from their homes and described the city and nearby villages as under a complete blockade.
The Palestinian Authority called for international pressure and described Israel’s actions as collective punishment.
The Israeli military said its operation would last several days; Netanyahu said he was planning a large-scale operation.
Israel’s general election is scheduled for Tuesday, and Netanyahu is seeking another term.
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Ursula Wills said a camping trip to Melinsey Mill in Cornwall inspired her 2006 short story, The Wicker Husband. The story was adapted into Wicker, a film starring Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård and Peter Dinklage, which opened in UK cinemas on 30 October 2026.
Key Facts
Wills wrote the 14-page story after seeing wicker sculptures on an art trail around a pond at Melinsey Mill.
The story follows an ostracised fisherwoman who pays a basket-maker to weave her a husband.
Wills posted the story on the short-story website East of the Web, where it attracted readers.
Actor Rhys Jennings and composer Darren Clark adapted the story into a musical that opened at Watermill Theatre in March 2020 and closed after four nights because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Producer Justin Lothrop approached Wills about film rights in 2021.
Filming took place in Budapest in 2024 after Olivia Colman joined the project in 2023.
The film was written and directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, who expanded the intimate relationship in the original story.
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Serbia is holding a parliamentary election on October 25, 2026, in a close contest between the ruling Serbian Progressive Party and the student-backed Students’ List. The vote follows nearly two years of protests after a train-station canopy collapse killed 16 people, and election monitors have raised concerns about campaign fairness and safety.
Key Facts
Serbia’s 6.4 million voters are choosing among 18 parties for seats in the 250-member Parliament.
The Students’ List is challenging the party of populist leader Aleksandar Vucic.
The movement grew out of student-led protests that began after the 2024 canopy collapse in Novi Sad.
Protesters have demanded accountability and justice for the 16 people killed in the collapse.
The article says the main contenders are polling neck-and-neck, making the election unusually uncertain.
Parties need at least 3 percent of the vote to enter Parliament.
International and local election monitors have raised concerns about detentions, media control, surveillance and cyberattacks against activists.
Vucic resigned as president last month to lead his party’s campaign; he could become prime minister if his party wins the most votes.
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Households in Upper Teesdale are facing sharply higher heating oil costs ahead of winter. A local buying group combines orders to seek lower prices, but some residents say oil is too expensive and use other ways to heat their homes.
Key Facts
A 500-litre heating oil delivery in rural areas including Teesdale, Weardale, Northumberland and parts of North Yorkshire costs about £600, or around £1.19 per litre.
Domestic heating oil cost about 52p per litre in October 2025.
Many homes in Middleton-in-Teesdale rely on heating oil because they do not have access to mains gas.
UTASS runs a buying group that combines household orders into monthly bulk purchases and can lower prices by about 3p per litre.
The UTASS scheme allows orders from 500 litres, while discounts typically require purchases of more than 1,000 litres.
Kim Richardson, a local resident, said she needs 1,000 litres and described the price as double last year's cost.
Pauline Thompson said she avoids heating oil because she cannot afford it and uses electric oil-filled radiators instead.
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Israel is set to vote on October 27 for all 120 seats in the Knesset, in an election that could reshape Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Polls cited in the article show neither main bloc near a majority, so coalition talks and possible support from Palestinian-led parties could determine who governs.
Key Facts
The election is the first since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023.
Recent polling cited in the article projects 52 seats for the opposition bloc and 50 for Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist alliance.
A party or coalition needs at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats to hold a majority.
Netanyahu could seek to form another government with traditional allies, including Jewish Power, Religious Zionism, Shas, and United Torah Judaism.
Four opposition parties signed a pact in late September to work together to try to unseat Netanyahu.
The opposition has not named a candidate to lead a government; the article identifies Gadi Eisenkot and Naftali Bennett as possible candidates.
The Joint List and Ra’am, both Palestinian-led parties, are projected to win about 13 seats combined.
Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas has signalled openness to joining an opposition-led coalition, while several opposition leaders have ruled out such an alliance.
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Families in the UK are reducing Halloween costs by swapping or buying second-hand costumes and making outfits from materials they already have. Charity shops and community workshops are helping families reuse clothing and other household items as Halloween costumes and decorations.
Key Facts
A survey found that 36% of shoppers planned to celebrate Halloween in 2026, up from 27% in 2025.
Some parents use Facebook groups to swap or sell costumes and search resale sites for cheaper outfits.
Birmingham mother Mandy Thomas said she often finds character costumes on eBay or Vinted for about a quarter of their original price.
A charity shop in Coundon, Coventry, sets aside donated costumes for Halloween sales.
The shop sells some costumes for as little as £1.50; items in original packaging are often priced at about a quarter of their retail value.
Coventry-based organisation Cov Cloth runs workshops where families make costumes, decorations and accessories from unwanted textiles and household items.
Workshop founder Adele Harrison encourages families to use materials such as old tights, cereal boxes and unwanted clothing before buying new items.
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Businesses in Devon say high employment costs are delaying hiring and making it harder to grow. Ahead of Wednesday’s Budget, they are asking the government to reduce employer National Insurance costs and consider cutting VAT for hospitality businesses.
Key Facts
Links Publishing owner Tim Randell said he is holding back from filling two positions because of employment costs.
Businesses at the Devon Business Show said they have struggled with higher employer National Insurance contributions and increases to the National Minimum Wage.
From April 2025, employers pay National Insurance at 15% on salaries above £5,000, compared with 13.8% on salaries above £9,100 before the change.
The minimum wage for workers aged 21 and over rose from £11.44 to £12.21 an hour in April 2025.
Business representatives called for lower employment costs and tax relief for small businesses.
Hospitality representatives called for VAT on pubs and restaurants to be cut from 20% to 10%.
A charity representative said tighter household spending affects how much the charity can raise and how many families it can support.
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