Vietnamese arrivals in UK by irregular means will be fast-tracked for deportation, says No 10 29. October 2025 (20:59) Starmer signs agreement with visiting Vietnamese leader after surge in clandestine arrivals from countryVietnamese people who arrive in the UK by irregular means will be fast-tracked for deportation under a new agreement, Downing Street has said.After a surge in clandestine arrivals from the south-east Asian country last year via small boats and in the back of lorries, the deal is supposed to cut red tape and make it faster and easier to return those with no right to be in the UK. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Democratic contender for Congress indicted over Chicago ICE protests 29. October 2025 (20:55) Progressive Palestinian American candidate Kat Abughazaleh, 26, decries ‘gross attempt at silencing dissent’Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive candidate for Congress, has been indicted on federal charges related to her participation in protests outside an ICE processing facility near Chicago in September.The indictment, filed last week, alleges that the 26-year old Palestinian American candidate and five other individuals “physically hindered and impeded” a federal agent who was “forced to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Tributes paid after death of Mary McGee, who helped end Ireland’s ban on contraception 29. October 2025 (20:45) Mother-of-four brought legal case against government after customs seized her contraceptives package from UKTributes have poured in from across Ireland after the death of Mary McGee, a woman credited with sparking a “social revolution” that paved the way for the legalisation of contraceptives in the country.McGee, who went by May, and her husband, Seamus, burst into the headlines in 1972, after the couple lodged a landmark legal challenge against a decades-old law that banned the sale or importation of contraceptives in Ireland. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Australia politics live: Trump praises Albanese at dinner on Apec sidelines; Bowen predicts lower electricity prices 29. October 2025 (20:43) US president praises ‘great’ Washington meeting with Australian PM; energy minister hails steep fall in wholesale prices. Follow updates liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe NSW investment announcement follows some serious setbacks for major renewables projects in NSW in the last 12 months.Equinor, the Norwegian state-owned conglomerate behind the proposed $10bn Novocastrian wind farm near Newcastle, announced in May it would withdraw from the project and in August formally pulled out leaving the project in doubt.Forty-eight proposals worth $136bn shows exactly why we created the Investment Delivery Authority. This level of interest is really promising. It shows the IDA is something investors have been waiting for.Our government is sending a clear message to global investors: if you bring your money to NSW, we’ll help you navigate our system. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Pound sinks against euro and dollar as tax rises loom and growth slows 29. October 2025 (20:42) Prospect of a tough budget is thought to have brought forward the likely date for a cut in interest rates to 3.75%The threat of higher taxes in next month’s budget and concerns about slowing economic growth pushed the pound to its lowest level against the euro in more than two and a half years on Wednesday.Sterling also slumped against the dollar as traders digested news that Rachel Reeves will need to fill a larger hole in the public finances when she puts together her budget plan, after a bigger-than-expected downgrade to the UK’s productivity outlook. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Fed cuts interest rates for second time this year amid economic uncertainty 29. October 2025 (20:32) Central bank sets rates at range between 3.75% and 4% amid turbulence from government shutdown and Trump’s tariffsThe US Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday, the second rate cut this year amid economic turbulence from the federal government shutdown and Donald Trump’s tariffs.The decision to cut the Fed’s benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.75% to 4% comes at an extraordinary moment for the central bank. The Fed has been under immense pressure from Donald Trump to cut rates despite persistent inflation and no longer has access to key data thanks to the shutdown. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Two Russians sentenced to 25 years for plot to kill Iranian dissident in US 29. October 2025 (20:30) Mobsters Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov plotted to assassinate Masih Alinejad at her New York homeThe two Russian mobsters convicted in an international assassination plot targeting the Iranian-American dissident Masih Alinejad were sentenced to 25 years in prison in a New York courtroom on Wednesday.Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov were found guilty in Manhattan federal court this March of charges including murder-for-hire and attempted murder in aid of racketeering. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Inquiry into conditions at Manston asylum centre has stalled, critics say 29. October 2025 (20:29) Lawyers acting for some of those unlawfully detained in appalling conditions at site in 2022 call for end to delaysAn inquiry into what went wrong at an asylum seeker processing centre three years ago is at a standstill, critics have said.A commitment to hold an inquiry into conditions at Manston in Kent in the second half of 2022 was first made by the former home secretary James Cleverly in March 2024 after 18,000 people were unlawfully detained in horrific conditions there. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Telegraph sale in turmoil after lead bidder linked to China’s politburo 29. October 2025 (20:01) Media group’s own paper publishes photo of RedBird Capital chair with alleged spy ring chiefThe sale of the Telegraph Media Group has been plunged into fresh turmoil after the company’s own newspaper linked its presumed new owner to the suspected ringleader of the alleged Westminster Chinese spy ring.Wednesday’s edition of the Daily Telegraph published a 2024 photograph of the financier John Thornton shaking hands with Cai Qi, a senior member of the Chinese Communist party’s ruling politburo, raising questions as to whether the British title is being eyed as a means for China to exert foreign influence. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
DeSantis urges Florida universities to stop hiring foreign visa workers 29. October 2025 (19:57) Governor tells universities to end use of H-1B visas, though legal experts say states lack authority over federal programFlorida governor, Ron DeSantis, is urging the state’s universities to stop hiring international employees through the H-1B visa program.DeSantis said he wants the Florida board of governors “to pull the plug” on the practice. Nearly 400 foreign nationals are currently employed at Florida’s public universities under the H-1B visa program, reported the Orlando Sentinel. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
