‘It’s hard to sell a house when it’s covered in baboon faeces’: Cape Town divided over plan to remove its monkeys 27. September 2026 (13:00) Two troops of chacma baboons are breaking into homes and shops but animal rights activists insist coexistence is the answerCape Town’s city council has said it will “imminently” round up two baboon troops coming into repeated conflict with residents. The animals will be sterilised and permanently moved to a newly constructed sanctuary. The plan has been fiercely criticised by animal rights activists, who say the monkeys should remain roaming freely, and that less destructive options have not been properly considered.Cape Town’s baboon problem has been brewing since the 2000s, after the city stopped culling troops in the late 1990s after pressure from the public. But in the past two years it has reached boiling point. A 2025 census found that the population had grown by a third since 2000, from 360 baboons to 493, now living in 12 managed troops. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Democracy blindsides Silicon Valley’s power players looking to transform the world with AI 27. September 2026 (13:00) ‘The push against datacenters speaks to the frustration of people who don’t feel they are making the choices in their lives’The Stanford ethicist Rob Reich was once invited to a dinner organized by a Silicon Valley mogul to discuss what a state designed to maximize science and tech powered by commercial models might look like. The gathered technologists were drawn to the idea of building a small nation-state dedicated to the endeavor, Reich recalls in “System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot it”.When Reich asked whether this state would be a democracy, he got a cool no. “Democracy is too slow, and it holds science back,” he was told. “To optimize for science, we need a beneficent technocrat in charge.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Rip the plaster off’: Andy Burnham sets out vision for universal free social care 27. September 2026 (12:00) PM says he will put proposals for NHS-style service funded by everybody into Labour’s next general election manifestoUK politics live – latest updatesAndy Burnham has said that he is going to “rip the plaster off” to fix the broken social care system, as he set out a vision for a universal service that would be free at the point of use for everybody in England.The prime minister said the new NHS-style social care service would be funded by “everybody” but did not give further details of how his radical long-term plan would be paid for. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump allies could use midterms ‘counting window’ to disrupt results, experts warn 27. September 2026 (12:00) Fears grow that loyalists in key states could use critical period when votes are counted to amplify false claimsElection experts have warned Donald Trump’s administration could use the crucial hours and days after November’s midterm elections to disrupt the results after struggling to enforce a crackdown on voting.With less than six weeks remaining until polls close, and control of US Congress in the balance, the post-election “counting window” is seen as as a particularly vulnerable moment by former US federal government officials. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK politics live: Burnham confirms he wants new taxes to pay for free social care in England, saying many already paying ‘huge’ dementia costs 27. September 2026 (11:51) PM appears to be anticipating criticism of reforms that he will set out on Tuesday at the Labour party conference‘I can deliver’: Burnham pledges radical change on eve of Labour conferenceKuenssberg puts it to Burnham that, according to the Health Foundation, a system offering adult social care free at the point of deliver (like healthcare delivered by the NHS) would cost £18bn.Burnham says the cost is “not that high” (ie, not as high as £18bn).Not that high.But can I directly deal with this issue of the costs?Louise Casey is still doing an official review for us, so I will set out the vision, if you like, on Tuesday [in his speech to the conference].Louise will then help us with the how. How do we make this happen? When can we make it happen? Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Major incident declared near RAF Fairford as men held on suspicion of explosives offences 27. September 2026 (10:28) People evacuated from village as army inspects vehicles near airbase in Gloucestershire used by US forces Several men have been arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act after the declaration of a major incident at RAF Fairford.The bomb squad was sent to the village of Whelford after increased security measures, including fortifying of entrances to the base, were put in place. Roadblocks and armed police have also been seen in the area over the weekend. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
At least 27 dead after two mass shootings in South Africa, police say 27. September 2026 (10:19) Seventeen people killed at bar near Johannesburg and 10 killed in separate incident at barbecue venue near Cape TownTwo separate mass shootings near South Africa’s two biggest cities killed at least 27 people, police have said.The South African police service said on Sunday that 17 people were killed on Saturday night when eight suspects armed with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols opened fire at a bar in Wedela township, south-west of Johannesburg. At least 15 other people sustained gunshot injuries in that attack, police said. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Camo’s back: noughties pop’s military style is on the march again 27. September 2026 (10:00) A look evoking memories of All Saints and Destiny’s Child has fashion editors, Brad Pitt and the high street all blending inDiscussing their style while in All Saints, Nicole and Natalie Appleton said earlier this year that some things don’t change: “Army trousers and combat trousers will always be a staple with us.”If, for a long time after All Saints’ noughties heyday, the sisters would have known this look was not the height of fashion, things have changed in 2026. Judging by those attending shows at London fashion week this month, camo is very much back. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
NHS trust removes 10 staff from duty over Noah Woods data breach 27. September 2026 (09:51) East Suffolk and North Essex NHS trust apologises after illicit access of medical records of toddler who died in BranthamAn NHS trust has apologised after the medical records of three-year-old Noah Woods were accessed by unauthorised people after his disappearance.Noah was found dead in a pond in Brantham, Suffolk, after going missing from a playground. More than 1,300 members of the public joined a search for the boy before police discovered his body. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘It’s like the Scottish Upper East Side’: shame and snobbery as American students blamed for St Andrews classism 27. September 2026 (09:00) Online comments reflect class tensions at Scottish university between those from lower-income families and wealthier US undergraduatesWhen Sophie Rose Jenkins announced she would not return to St Andrews University this academic year because of her experiences of classism on campus, she did not expect much of a response. But in the two weeks since she published her story on LinkedIn, it has resonated with hundreds of others.“Working-class students have been made to feel ashamed of their home life at university,” the former comparative literature and classical studies student wrote in a lengthy post. “Arriving at a university ranked first in the UK at the time from a background like mine, I thought I was doing everything right. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
