NHS bodies in England impose two-year minimum wait for ADHD and autism assessments 24. September 2026 (23:00) Patient groups decry ‘scandalous’ delays as four integrated care boards take step due to soaring demand for diagnosesNHS bodies are forcing people with suspected attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism to wait at least two years before they can be assessed as they struggle to meet surging demand for diagnoses of neurodiversity.Four NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) covering large regions of England have adopted the approach because they cannot afford the cost of the number of assessments that people are seeking. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Senate Republicans block Democratic effort to end US war with Iran 24. September 2026 (22:11) GOP stymies House-passed war powers resolution as conflict passes 200-day mark with 19 US service members killedSenate Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic effort to end the US war with Iran, voting down a House-passed war powers resolution as the conflict that has killed 19 American service members passed the 200-day mark.The measure, which passed the House last week with bipartisan support, failed in the Senate by a 49-50 vote. Senate Democrats, led by the minority leader, Chuck Schumer, and the senator Andy Kim of New Jersey, forced the vote under the War Powers Resolution, which allows lawmakers to bring such measures to the floor. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Met chief criticises court system after paedophile granted bail 24. September 2026 (21:57) Officers left feeling ‘hamstrung’, says Mark Rowley after offender allowed to return to flat overlooking playgroundPressure to cut the number of prisoners on remand has led to “dangerous and prolific offenders” being granted bail, the country’s most senior police officer said after a paedophile was allowed to return to his flat that overlooked a children’s playground.Zafer Dogan was jailed on Thursday for two years and four months after he was convicted of taking thousands of pictures of women and girls before using AI technology to turn them into nude images for his sexual gratification. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Ed Miliband meets Iran’s foreign minister as Tehran gives US ultimatum on strait of Hormuz 24. September 2026 (21:13) Senior Iranian officials say Washington has four to five days to respond to its conditions for reopening the strait The UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, has met his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, for the first time in New York amid warnings from senior Iranian security officials that the US has four to five days to respond to its conditions for reopening the strait of Hormuz.The previously unknown apparent deadline was specified by Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of the supreme national security council, in a TV interview on Wednesday evening, and it is unclear what action Tehran will take if the US does not respond to Iran’s preconditions for reopening the vital waterway. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
California sheriff ordered to return ballots he confiscated in voter ‘fraud’ inquiry 24. September 2026 (20:55) State supreme court rules Chad Bianco’s conduct unlawful and says he ‘must refrain from further handling’ of ballotsA Republican California sheriff must return more than a half-million ballots he seized for an investigation into unfounded voting improprieties in a special election last year, the state supreme court ruled Thursday.Riverside county sheriff Chad Bianco in February seized approximately 650,000 ballots from a November 2025 special election on statewide congressional redistricting favorable to Democrats and pushed by Governor Gavin Newsom. The measure easily passed statewide, and won in Bianco’s county by roughly 80,000 votes. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
ICE has wasted tens of millions to carry out Trump’s mass detention agenda – report 24. September 2026 (20:54) US GAO documents array of costly problems as ICE pursues controversial plans to rapidly increase detention capacityUS Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies have wasted tens of millions of dollars pursuing controversial plans to rapidly increase detention capacity – and the total will likely rise due to ongoing mismanagement, congressional investigators warned on Thursday.The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) documented costly problems in several initiatives ICE has pursued since Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025 and ordered the mass arrest and deportation of people whom his administration has deemed should be forced out of the country. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump swoons over strongman soulmate Xi – are you feeling jealous, Vladimir? 24. September 2026 (20:30) Deference was deafening as US president rolled out red carpet for world’s biggest jailer of journalists – perhaps he was seeking tipsOne is an authoritarian who represses the media with a strong allergy to democratic elections. The other is head of the Chinese Communist party.Donald Trump welcomed the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to the White House on Thursday, setting the stage for a scene quite unlike anything the august old building has seen over more than two centuries. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Democratic lawmakers accuse Trump administration of interference in Brazilian elections 24. September 2026 (19:56) Legislators sent letter to Marco Rubio saying US interference is weakening Brazil’s democratic institutionsUS politics live – latest updatesA group of 31 Democratic members of the US Congress has sent a letter to the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, criticising the Trump administration over “an apparent effort to interfere with, and potentially undermine” Brazil’s elections.Latin America’s largest country will hold the first round of its presidential election on 4 October, with polls showing a technical tie between the incumbent leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
France says EU’s ‘Made in Europe’ law should not include the UK 24. September 2026 (19:42) ‘If you’re not in the internal market, you don’t get the same protection,’ says French minister of policy designed to curb Chinese competitionFrance is leading a push to exclude the UK from the EU’s “Made in Europe” policy that could result in British companies losing out in the race to supply European countries with low-carbon technologies and electric cars.The plans were raised by Andy Burnham when he met the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on the sidelines of the UN general assembly earlier this week. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Launch of UK’s ‘largest AI supercomputer’ delayed by power supply problems 24. September 2026 (19:26) Datacentre hailed by government was supposed to start operating next year but may be held back into mid-2030sA huge datacentre project hailed by the UK government will miss its launch date next year and could be delayed into the mid-2030s.The site in Loughton, Essex, was described as the country’s largest AI supercomputer when it was announced in 2025, but power supply problems mean it now faces a lengthy wait before coming online. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
