Canada’s Weston family buys Boots for $8.9bn 07. October 2026 (17:12) Former Selfridges owners buy UK high street institution from long-term backer Stefano PessinaThe Canadian family that once owned Selfridges department store has bought UK pharmacy and beauty retailer Boots for $8.9bn (£6.74bn).Wittington Investments, the holding company of the Weston family that controls the Loblaws grocery chain and Drugmart pharmacy chain in Canada, will own Boots’ UK and Irish retail operations and opticians chain, the No7 beauty brand and a franchise arm in Thailand. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Another coup d’état’: fears grow as Flávio Bolsonaro vows to ‘re-democratise’ Brazil 07. October 2026 (17:03) After a surprise first-round victory, critics suggest son of disgraced ex-president could seek to continue his father’s authoritarian projectFlávio’s surprise first-round win highlights rapid rise of Brazil’s House of BolsonaroFlávio Bolsonaro, the far-right frontrunner to become Brazil’s next president, has vowed to “re-democratise” the South American country, increasing fears about a move into authoritarian rule if he wins power.Brazil was re-democratised in the 1980s after a brutal 21-year dictatorship that Flávio’s father, the disgraced ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, has long praised. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Abortion pill access jumps almost 50% after Australia eases restrictions for pharmacies 07. October 2026 (17:00) The number of pharmacies stocking the MS-2 Step medication increased from 2,228 to 4,107 after rules relaxed in 2023Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe number of Australian pharmacies stocking an abortion pill increased by almost 50% when prescribing restrictions were relaxed, with researchers saying the findings suggest deregulation of abortion promotes safer and faster healthcare.A study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open on Thursday examined the impact of changes by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in 2023 which meant the medication, MS-2 Step, could be prescribed by any GP. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
British billionaire warned Epstein was a ‘sexual deviant’ decades before FBI closed in on the abuser 07. October 2026 (17:00) Sir James Goldsmith’s links to Hilton Head, South Carolina, add to mystery of Jane Doe 4, who claimed she was abused by Epstein in the 1980sFor Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire Goldsmith family was a gateway to elite society and he wanted to be in their circle.The disgraced financier, who died in prison in 2019 facing sex-trafficking charges, longed for a billionaire’s lifestyle and cultivated the family’s friends, bankers, business associates and advisers. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Catastrophic wildfire loop’ after colonisation left parts of Australia more at risk from bushfires, study finds 07. October 2026 (17:00) Researchers found the shift from open woodland to dense forest after 1788 led to more intense fires, consistent with loss of cultural burning practicesSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereThe drastic land use changes wreaked by colonisation created a “catastrophic wildfire loop” that rendered south-east Australia more susceptible to climate-fuelled bushfires, experts say.A team of researchers, working with the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation, an organisation that represents traditional owners, reconstructed 1,000 years of vegetation and fire history at Purghagoolah, a lake surrounded by forest in Croajingolong national park in Gippsland, Victoria. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
In Vienna and Beijing, the First Nuclear Clocks Begin to Tick 07. October 2026 (17:00) By measuring the squishing and unsquishing of thorium-229 nuclei, two teams created a new type of clock that could someday beat the precision of atomic clocks.(New York Times)
Boy, 9, tossed around like a ragdoll on 62mph Universal Orlando rollercoaster after passing out, lawsuit claims, with mom sharing photo of him unconscious