New research finds 485 chemicals in US pesticide products linked to breast cancer 26. September 2026 (15:00) Paper raises questions about safety of food and other products as early onset breast cancer rates surge worldwideNew research has identified at least 485 chemicals used in US pesticide products that are linked to breast cancer, raising questions about the safety of food and other products at a time when early onset breast cancer rates are surging worldwide.The new peer-reviewed paper, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a top journal from the American Chemical Society, highlights what public health advocates say are a range of deficiencies in how US pesticides are regulated. The review includes active pesticide ingredients, but also hundreds of so-called “inert”, or inactive, ingredients that typically do not undergo a thorough safety review. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Angela Rayner stands by attack on care worker visa reforms ahead of Labour conference 26. September 2026 (14:01) Housing secretary says Home Office moved goalposts with ‘disruptive’ change to permanent residence rulesAngela Rayner has stood by her criticism of Home Office reforms that would make it harder for foreign care workers to claim permanent residence in the UK, describing them as “disruptive”.Last year, Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, announced that low paid migrants on jobs below graduate level would have to be in the country for 15 years before applying for settlement. Rayner previously attacked the plans as being “un-British”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Venezuelan shot by ICE in Austin needs surgery to avoid losing feeling in body, supporters say 26. September 2026 (14:00) Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez has bullet lodged in back as accounts differ over events leading to traffic-stop shootingThe Venezuelan man shot by federal immigration officers after a traffic stop in Texas needs surgery to avoid losing feeling on the left side of his body, according to his supporters.Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, has spent the past five days in detention with a bullet lodged in his back, after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rapidly removed him from a hospital in Austin where he had been taken on Sunday after the shooting. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Green shoots? Burnham cultivates rural links in attempt to ‘build back trust’ with farmers 26. September 2026 (13:30) Ministers have been speaking to farming activists to try to build bridges after tax changes introduced under Starmer soured relationsAs an arable farmer, Olly Harrison’s WhatsApp messages are normally concerned with the more mundane matters of working the land: logistics, supplies and the occasional chat about the weather.So when a recent message came through from Andy Burnham, it was more than a little unexpected. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UN adds 61 firms to settlements blacklist over alleged human rights violations against Palestinians 26. September 2026 (13:10) Israel ‘categorically rejects’ publication and says businesses on database have committed no wrongdoingThe UN human rights office has added 61 more companies to a blacklist of firms that it says are involved in violating Palestinian human rights through business ties to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.The vast majority of the total 214 companies, which are based in 11 countries, are Israeli. Five of the 158 companies listed last year were removed in the latest update. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Work intensifying on UK laws to stamp out concert ticket touts, say sources 26. September 2026 (13:00) Artists including Tinie Tempah and the Smiths’ drummer Mike Joyce ramp up pressure on government to keep its pledge to outlaw for-profit resalesThe government has stepped up work on new laws to stop ticket touts fleecing fans, as the prime minister came under pressure from artists including the drummer from the Smiths, one of his favourite bands.Keir Starmer said last year that the government would “stop fans from being ripped off” by outlawing the for-profit resale of tickets on sites such as Viagogo and StubHub, a pledge Labour first made in its 2024 election manifesto. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
We followed five people in Gaza from dawn to dusk – this is what the headlines don’t tell us 26. September 2026 (13:00) Behind the stories of bombings and mass deaths, the everyday challenges facing Palestinians living under siege portray a quieter tragedy we rarely hear What does it take to make a morning cup of tea in Gaza?For Alaa Hessi, in her final month of pregnancy, this small ritual begins with a calculation of gas rations. Her family gets a ration of 6kg of gas every three months – enough to heat a pot for 18 precious minutes a day. That’s needed for cooking – so for tea, a fire must be built instead. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Thomas Jefferson letter goes on the market – containing a prescient warning for Trump today 26. September 2026 (13:00) Third US president wrote in 1787 about importance of peace, paying off debt and supporting agricultureA remarkably prescient letter written by Thomas Jefferson, the third US president, advising how the newly created country could prosper, has been put up for sale by a private collector. The handwritten document from 1787 warns specifically against many of the missteps Donald Trump has taken to drag down his own second term of office.Written in Paris, where Jefferson was the fledgling government’s minister to France, the note to David Rittenhouse, a friend and fellow member of the American Philosophical Society, muses on the priorities and principles he believed future presidents should follow. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump reportedly rejects Iran’s seven-day peace deal to reopen strait of Hormuz 26. September 2026 (11:31) Tehran awaits official response to plan, but US president is said to expect renewed strikes after midtermsIran is awaiting an official US response to its proposal to reopen the strait of Hormuz and end fighting in the Middle East war as Donald Trump was reported to have rejected the deal.Iran raised the diplomatic initiative at the UN general assembly in New York, saying it had been transmitted to the Americans via Qatari mediators and could reopen the strategic waterway and put an end to hostilities in the region within seven days. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Severely disabled young people should get fast-track access to benefits, Milburn says 26. September 2026 (11:00) Alan Milburn said 16- to 24-year-olds with most complex needs should not have to keep proving they cannot workYoung people whose complex disabilities mean they have little prospect of getting a paid job should get fast-track access to disability benefits, an official review of youth employment will say.The review, by the former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn, will say 16- to 24-year-olds with the most severe lifelong needs should be guaranteed swift and unconditional benefit support rather than having to prove they cannot work. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
