Guinea-Bissau cancelled a proposed US-funded trial that would have tested the effects of giving newborns a hepatitis B vaccine at birth. The study planned to give the vaccine to half of 14,000 babies and withhold it from the rest, drawing criticism from the WHO and others because the vaccine is recommended to protect newborns.
Key Facts
The trial was planned at the Bandim Health Project, a research centre in Guinea-Bissau.
Researchers planned to enroll 14,000 newborns, with half receiving the vaccine shortly after birth.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded the University of Southern Denmark $1.6 million for the study in December 2025.
The WHO said withholding a vaccine proven to protect newborns raised an ethical concern.
Guinea-Bissau vaccinates children against hepatitis B at six weeks, although the WHO recommends a birth dose.
Nearly one-fifth of Guinea-Bissau's population is infected with hepatitis B, according to the article.
The government prohibited hepatitis B vaccine trials involving children in January and asked the Africa CDC to help assess the study.
Police seized a batch of vaccines from the research centre at the centre of the dispute.
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UK health charities are taking a larger role in patient care, including services that the NHS may not be able to provide. Supporters say charitable funding helps patients, while critics warn that charities can end up filling gaps in stretched public services and that wealthier communities may benefit more.
Key Facts
Dementia UK funds virtual clinics that support more than 100 patients and family members each week.
The clinic began during the Covid pandemic and continued because demand remained strong.
Charities work in areas including dementia, children's care, mental health and cancer services.
Some charities have formal NHS contracts, while others work alongside NHS services.
The article says the NHS in England spends nearly £2 billion a year buying services from not-for-profit and voluntary organisations.
Cancer charities are estimated to raise more than £1 billion a year.
The article says more than 220 NHS charities are attached to hospitals or community services and raises the history of public concern about healthcare depending on charity.
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A review of youth employment led by former Labour minister Alan Milburn is expected to recommend government-backed jobs and flexible work arrangements for disabled and chronically ill people aged 16 to 24. The proposals aim to address barriers to work through wage subsidies, skills support and jobs designed around individual abilities.
Key Facts
The Milburn review is due to report this month.
About one million young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training, a group known as Neets.
Disabled or unwell young people make up 45% of Neets and are three times as likely to be Neet as their non-disabled peers.
The review is expected to recommend a Danish-style flexi-job scheme, with adjustable hours and government wage top-ups.
It will also propose job carving, which divides tasks from one role into separate jobs suited to different workers.
Nearly half of 24-year-old Neets have never worked, according to the article.
Milburn has suggested redirecting some of the £4 billion spent each year on disability benefits for young people toward employment and training support.
The proposals may face opposition from campaigners and Labour MPs concerned that benefit cuts could increase poverty.
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Former SAS officer George Simm has denied that the unit carried out shoot-to-kill missions during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. He described a 1988 ambush near Omagh in which three IRA members were killed, and criticized the UK government’s proposed legislation on the conflict’s legacy, while the government says the bill includes safeguards for veterans.
Key Facts
Simm served with the SAS in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and 1980s and says he took part in hundreds of operations.
He said the SAS arrested more people than it killed, though there are no official figures for killings carried out by the unit.
Simm commanded the SAS unit involved in the 1988 Drumnakilly ambush near Omagh, where three IRA members were killed.
The three men were Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullan, who, according to the article, planned to kill an off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment.
Simm said the IRA members fired at soldiers during the ambush and that the soldiers opened fire after one man ran around the truck.
Simm criticized the UK government’s proposed Troubles legacy legislation, saying it abandoned veterans.
The Northern Ireland Office said the proposed bill includes safeguards for veterans and requires consideration of the Army’s operational context and orders.
The Troubles lasted about 30 years and caused more than 3,500 deaths.
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Iranian officials welcomed the results of the U.S. midterm elections, describing the vote as a rejection of war. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he accepted last week’s election results and would consult party leaders about forming a new government. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched more than 300 drones overnight.
Key Facts
Iranian officials welcomed the results of the U.S. midterm elections.
Iranian officials characterized the vote as a rejection of war.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he accepted the results of last week’s election.
Herzog said he would consult party leaders on forming a new government.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched more than 300 drones overnight.
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A mother and daughter died after a suspected grizzly bear attack near Bella Coola in British Columbia, Canada. Conservation officers are investigating and searching for bears that may have been involved; they said any captured bear would be assessed to determine whether it was connected to the deaths.
Key Facts
The women were identified as Jennifer Balcarras, 48, and her daughter Selah Reed, 20.
Their family reported them missing on 1 November after they did not return from a short afternoon walk.
Searchers found Balcarras’ remains on Monday and Reed’s on Tuesday in a trail area near Bella Coola.
The BC Conservation Officer Service said evidence at the scene suggested an animal may have been involved.
An officer said it was not yet known whether one or more bears were involved.
British Columbia estimates that 10,000 to 13,000 grizzly bears live in the province.
Grizzly bears are classified as vulnerable by the provincial environment ministry and as a species of special concern under federal law.
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Ethiopia ordered six Sudanese consular staff to leave within 48 hours and closed Sudan’s consulate in Asosa, according to media reports. The move follows mutual accusations of support for armed groups, which both countries deny, and comes amid fears that the conflicts in Sudan and Ethiopia could widen into a regional confrontation.
Key Facts
Reuters and the Associated Press reported the expulsions, citing Ethiopian and Sudanese officials.
Ethiopian authorities reportedly summoned Sudan’s ambassador on Sunday to announce the consulate’s closure; the staff left on Tuesday evening.
The reports said officials did not give a specific reason for the expulsions.
Sudan accused Ethiopia before the UN Security Council and African Union’s Peace and Security Council of allowing the RSF to launch drone attacks from Ethiopian territory; Ethiopia denies supporting the RSF.
Ethiopia has accused Sudan of backing rebels in Tigray; Sudan denies the allegations.
Sudan’s war between its military and the RSF began in 2023 and has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 14 million people, according to the article.
Drone strikes on power substations in Al-Dabbah and Abu Hamad cut electricity, with Sudan’s government and Emergency Lawyers blaming the RSF.
Ethiopia also expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats and closed its embassy in Eritrea on October 1; Eritrea responded by severing diplomatic ties.
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A giant banner depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was burned at a rally in Tehran. The article says the rally took place after the Republican Party’s major loss in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections.
Key Facts
The rally took place in Tehran.
A giant banner depicting Donald Trump, JD Vance and Benjamin Netanyahu was burned.
Trump is identified as the U.S. president.
Vance is identified as the U.S. vice president.
Netanyahu is identified as Israel’s prime minister.
The article links the rally to a Republican Party loss in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections.
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A series of powerful storms has caused deaths and widespread disruption across East Asia in recent months, including floods, evacuations, flight cancellations and power outages. The article says El Niño is warming Pacific waters and affecting wind patterns, which may help storms form farther east and grow stronger; forecasts warn that elevated sea temperatures could prolong the danger.
Key Facts
Typhoon Champi had winds reported at 295 km/h but did not make landfall in Taiwan.
Champi led to hundreds of cancelled flights in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan, while power was cut to 15,000 homes in Japan’s Okinawa islands.
In June, Typhoon Mekkhala and Severe Tropical Storm Higos moved toward Japan at the same time, prompting one million people to evacuate.
Tropical Storm Narra submerged villages in southern China in July and displaced tens of thousands of people.
Super Typhoon Dolphin crossed the Pacific for 16 days before hitting eastern China in August, causing severe flooding and dozens of casualties.
The article reports that this year’s accumulated cyclone energy for Southeast and East Asia is forecast to reach nearly twice the 30-year average.
Equatorial Pacific sea temperatures reached 4°C above normal last month, the highest recorded by the Japan Meteorological Agency’s monitoring series, which began in 1949.
China’s climate agency warned that Pacific sea temperatures could continue rising over the next three months.
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Bob Dylan met privately with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican during a break in his Italian concert schedule. The Vatican said the meeting lasted a few minutes; Leo gave Dylan a rosary, and Dylan gave the pope a copy of his autobiography.
Key Facts
Dylan met Pope Leo XIV in Vatican City on Wednesday.
The Vatican described the encounter as brief and private.
Leo gave Dylan a rosary, while Dylan presented Leo with his autobiography, "Chronicles: Volume One."
Leo quoted Dylan’s unpublished 1963 protest song "Go Away You Bomb" in his 2026 book about peace and disarmament.
Vatican officials Antonio Spadaro and Andrea Monda accompanied Dylan.
Dylan played for Pope John Paul II during a 1997 religious congress in Bologna, Italy.
Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.
Dylan played in Milan on Monday and was scheduled to perform in Rome on Thursday.
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Welsh filmmaker Jamie Adams shot his new film, Tangled Up in Blue, in Cardiff and his hometown of Porthcawl, with Quentin Tarantino, Kylie Minogue and RZA among its cast. The film follows a talent manager at a hotel bar and was made using improvisation; Adams has not announced a release date.
Key Facts
Adams filmed scenes in locations in Porthcawl that have personal meaning to him, including the pub his father once ran.
Tarantino plays a talent manager who has worked with famous performers for 40 years.
Minogue has Welsh family roots near Porthcawl, and Adams said she welcomed the chance to take part.
RZA, a rapper and member of the Wu-Tang Clan, also appears in the film.
Adams said he first worked with Tarantino after making an improvised film in France last year.
The production filmed mainly in Cardiff and Porthcawl.
Adams said there is no release date yet.
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Victoria’s Labor and Liberal parties have used AI-generated videos in their campaigns ahead of the state election. Labor’s video depicts Liberal leader Jess Wilson making claims about the cost of U.S.-style health care that she did not say, while the Liberals have posted AI-generated videos of Premier Ben Carroll; experts and the Greens have called for a ban on the practice.
Key Facts
Labor posted an AI-generated video showing Jess Wilson warning that a heart attack would cost $150,000 under U.S.-style health care.
Wilson’s remarks at a press conference concerned a Liberal plan to pay private hospitals to perform public elective surgeries.
Wilson said she was not proposing to Americanise Victoria’s health system and called Labor’s video a smear campaign.
Premier Ben Carroll defended Labor’s video by citing Wilson’s earlier comments about Americanising the health system.
The Liberal campaign called Labor’s video “garbage.”
The Liberals have also posted AI-generated videos depicting Carroll asleep at his desk.
Advance Australia released an AI-generated video depicting a Labor election victory, and One Nation showed a video featuring people from various ethnic backgrounds at its launch.
Transparency International Australia chief executive Clancy Moore said AI-generated political ads could further erode trust in politicians and democracy.
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Police in Scotland will embed officers at some fire stations and accompany firefighters on calls during Bonfire Night to help protect crews from attacks. Up to 1,700 officers may be deployed as part of Operation Moonbeam, which will also address fireworks-related disorder, a Celtic football match and potential protests in Glasgow.
Key Facts
Operation Amberlight will place police officers at 10 fire stations across Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire.
Police say the officers will support firefighters if crews come under attack and help respond to incidents.
Officers and public order vehicles are being brought in from 18 English and Welsh police forces through mutual aid arrangements.
Operation Moonbeam is Scotland's annual police operation for Halloween and Bonfire Night and is in its ninth year.
Disorder in 2023 left 62 officers injured, with severe violence reported in Edinburgh's Niddrie area.
Fireworks Control Zones, where setting off or throwing fireworks is a criminal offence, have expanded from 12 to 18 this year.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said about 20 organised displays had taken place in the five days before the report, with 79 more planned.
The fire service received about 750 calls and attended more than 250 bonfires on Bonfire Night last year.
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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has received a witness summons to testify in a London civil fraud case, in what lawyers say may be the first such summons for a British royal since 1870. He may ask the court to cancel it, and he is not a party to the lawsuit.
Key Facts
The case was brought by Turkish national Nebahat Evyap Isbilen against her former adviser, Selman Turk.
Isbilen alleges Turk misappropriated tens of millions of pounds of her money.
The case concerns a £750,000 payment Turk arranged for Isbilen to make to Mountbatten-Windsor in 2019.
Mountbatten-Windsor repaid the money in 2021.
Turk says Isbilen authorized the payment in hopes Mountbatten-Windsor could use his connections to help her husband, who has been imprisoned in Turkey since 2015.
The High Court approved the possibility of calling Mountbatten-Windsor as a witness last month; he may apply to set aside the summons.
The last reported royal witness summons was issued in 1870 to the future King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales.
Several British police forces are investigating Mountbatten-Windsor's links to Jeffrey Epstein, according to the article.
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Democrats swept the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, prompting divided reactions among Palestinians and Israelis. The result could reshape the next two years of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Key Facts
Democrats won the 2026 U.S. midterm elections.
The article describes the Democratic win as a sweep.
Palestinians are divided in their opinions about the result.
Israelis are divided in their opinions about the result.
The election outcome could reshape the next two years of Trump’s administration.
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A new study says Germany’s B8 reactor experiment could not have reached a sustained nuclear reaction with its design because the team lacked enough uranium and heavy water. The reactor, built by Werner Heisenberg’s group near the end of World War II, used 664 uranium cubes submerged in heavy water.
Key Facts
The study appeared in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus.
Heisenberg led the German team that built the B8 reactor in a cave beneath a castle in Haigerloch.
The reactor used 664 uranium cubes strung together with aircraft cable and placed in a tank of heavy water.
Heisenberg said the experiment failed because it had too little uranium, but believed a slight increase in its size could have started energy production.
A 2013 gift of a uranium cube to University of Maryland physicist Timothy Koeth prompted research into the cubes’ history.
Only 14 German uranium cubes are known to exist today.
As Allied forces advanced in 1944, Heisenberg’s team dismantled the reactor and buried the cubes in a field.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he doubted that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk acted alone in a Starlink slowdown last month that affected Ukraine’s military capabilities. In a PBS News interview, Zelensky said he was unsure Musk could make a similar change to Starshield, which he described as a military, government version.
Key Facts
Zelensky expressed doubt that Musk acted alone in the Starlink slowdown.
The slowdown occurred last month, according to the article.
The slowdown affected Ukraine’s military capabilities.
Musk is the CEO of SpaceX.
Zelensky made the remarks in an interview with PBS News.
Zelensky described Starshield as a military, government version.
Zelensky said he was unsure Musk could make a similar change to Starshield.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged that foreign countries spent money to influence Israel’s October 27 parliamentary election. The Joint List rejected the allegations against Arab-Israeli politicians as political persecution, while the Central Elections Committee said its review found no evidence that undermined the results’ integrity.
Key Facts
Netanyahu said there were serious suspicions that foreign states spent substantial sums to influence the election.
The Joint List, a coalition of three Arab-Israeli parties, said accusations against lawmaker Ayman Odeh amounted to political persecution.
Israeli media reported that Odeh was under investigation over claims he received hundreds of thousands of shekels from an unspecified foreign entity.
The Attorney General rejected a Shin Bet request to question other Arab party leaders, citing a lack of evidence.
Netanyahu cited arrests of people found with cash envelopes on election day and accused some leaders of taking money from Qatar.
The Central Elections Committee audited 9,069 polling stations and said it found no evidence that called the election results’ integrity into question.
Opposition leader Yair Golan accused Netanyahu’s camp of abusing its power and refusing to accept the results.
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Millions of South Africans are voting in municipal elections that will test support for the ruling African National Congress (ANC). The program also reports that Ethiopia expelled six Sudanese diplomats amid accusations it is allowing the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to launch drone strikes from Ethiopian territory, and that renewed fighting in Ethiopia has displaced thousands.
Key Facts
South Africans are voting to elect municipal governments.
The elections are described as a test for the ruling ANC.
Ethiopia expelled six Sudanese diplomats.
The expulsions came amid accusations that Ethiopia is allowing the Rapid Support Forces to launch drone strikes from its territory.
Renewed fighting in Ethiopia has displaced thousands.
The report was published on November 4, 2026.
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Israeli President Isaac Herzog accepted the certified results of the Oct. 27 parliamentary election and began consultations with party leaders on forming a government. No bloc won a majority, and the election commission said it found no evidence that irregularities compromised the vote or changed its result.
Key Facts
Netanyahu and his allies lost their parliamentary majority in the election.
Herzog began meeting party representatives to decide whom to task with forming a government.
Three factions aligned with Netanyahu recommended him for the task; one faction recommended opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot.
Eight more parties, including two Arab-led factions, were scheduled to meet Herzog on Thursday.
The election commission said its investigation found no evidence of irregularities that compromised the election or affected its results.
A Shin Bet investigation into alleged foreign interference remained ongoing.
A Shin Bet assessment cited possible foreign funding but provided no evidence, according to the report.
Election committee head Noam Sohlberg said suspicions of interference had not been shown to affect the results.
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