White House defends new press aide who posed with rifle in ‘Fuck Joe Biden’ shirt 05. October 2026 (01:38) Beni Rae Harmony, 24, has been ‘a trusted voice for the MAGA movement as a White House correspondent’, White House saysThe White House has defended a newly hired press aide who posed for a holiday photograph in 2021 wearing a “Fuck Joe Biden” T-shirt and holding a rifle.Beni Rae Harmony, the new assistant White House press secretary, revealed on Friday that she was going to work for Donald Trump just days after covering him as a correspondent for Real America’s Voice, a partisan rightwing outlet originally created as a video podcast platform for the president’s former adviser Steve Bannon. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Children’s books with Black main characters down 8% in a year, study shows 05. October 2026 (01:01) Only 150 of 2,189 titles published in UK for young children last year focused on minority ethnic, disabled or neurodivergent charactersThe number of children’s books featuring Black main characters fell by almost 8% last year, according to research into diversity in UK publishing.Just 47 – or 2.1% – of the 2,189 books published for under-10s in 2025 featured a Black main character, a 7.8% fall from the previous year, according to Inclusive Books for Children. Black children make up about 8.5% of that age bracket in England and Wales. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Money stolen by scammers hijacking UK social media accounts rises 400% 05. October 2026 (01:01) Many cases involve criminals using other people’s identities to sell fake event tickets to friends and familyThe total amount stolen by criminals who hack into people’s emails and social media accounts and then pretend to be them has risen by more than 400% in a year, official UK data shows.In many cases, the scammers are hijacking people’s accounts in order to use their identity to sell fake event tickets – such as to sold-out gigs – to unsuspecting friends and family. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Strikes by North Sea oil workers could ‘severely disrupt’ UK fuel supplies 05. October 2026 (01:01) Union says staff left with no choice but industrial action after breakdown in pay talks with Texas oil firm ApacheA looming strike by oil workers in the North Sea could “severely disrupt” UK fuel supplies, the Unite union has said, adding that staff were left with no choice after a breakdown in pay talks with the Texas oil company Apache.The union said Apache workers had “emphatically” backed strike action after being given what it said was an unacceptable pay offer that amounted to a real-terms pay cut for many employees, at a time when the company was “raking in eye-watering profits”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
