Could the UK really rejoin the EU? 07. October 2026 (16:45) The big question facing Andy Burnham is not whether Brexit has harmed Britain, but if a rapidly changing Europe will keep the door open if the UK decides it wants back in• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereIt was lobbed into the national conversation without fanfare or warning, almost a footnote in the UK prime minister’s first speech as leader to his governing Labour party’s annual conference. But Andy Burnham has kicked off a quiet U-turn on Brexit.By stating bluntly that the decision to leave Europe’s core political community had done “more harm than good”, Burnham broke a taboo in his own party, in effect, discarding his predecessor’s paralysing ‘red lines’ on Europe, and signalling he will not be bound by these constraints after the next British election. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Overseas, Albanese sees ‘the very definition of climate injustice’ – but at home, he still wants coal 07. October 2026 (16:00) It isn’t hard to see a contradiction between the PM’s message in Fiji and his opposition to legal action to stop a NSW coalmineGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastThere are unlikely to be many bigger moments in Australian action on the climate crisis this year than a judgment by the high court on Wednesday.In what is likely to prove a historic victory, the court sided with community members in the Hunter Valley to strike down a state regulator’s approval of a massive coalmine expansion that could have kept it operating until 2048.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Politics, really newsletter here Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Mayor of Turkish opposition stronghold defects to Erdoğan’s party amid political crackdown 07. October 2026 (15:54) Izmir mayor Cemil Tugay joins ruling AKP after vowing he would never switch sides in boost for Turkish presidentThe mayor of Izmir, Turkey’s third city and an opposition stronghold, has defected to the ruling AKP in a move hailed by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president.Turkey’s opposition is battling an increasingly intense crackdown, with a barrage of what observers say are politically motivated arrests and lawsuits targeting its mayors and elected officials. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump’s LA and San Diego comments ‘dangerous, if not treasonous’, says Newsom – US politics live 07. October 2026 (14:58) California governor critcizes president for ‘putting a target on two of our biggest cities and one of America’s largest naval hubs’California to ‘actively monitor’ possible threats after Trump said Iran could ‘take out’ LA and San DiegoSign up for the Breaking News US emailKen Paxton, aware of just how competitive his race for Senate is, acknowledged that high gas prices as a result of the ongoing Iran war appear to be hampering his campaign, according to an audio recording obtained by Axios.At a fundraiser in Washington DC, Paxton can be heard responding to questions about the main issues affecting his competition. “It’s not tariffs,L he said. “It’s the war, it’s gas prices, it’s diesel.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Now is the moment’: housing activists at Madrid encampment pin wary hopes on Spain’s early election 07. October 2026 (14:43) Campaigners set up in more than 1,200 tents in Puerto del Sol square say challenge now is to translate a groundswell of public support into concrete changeAt a makeshift lunch counter tucked within a maze of tents at a housing protest camp in Madrid, Sélpide San Luis pointed to the dizzying pace of change.“We built a city in a week,” said the 26-year-old, whose videos documenting day-to-day life at the encampment have attracted tens of thousands of views on social media, as she pointed to the more than 1,200 tents set up in the central Puerta del Sol square. “We have urban planning, the streets have names and we’ve put surveillance systems in place. And thanks to what we’re doing here, media have not stopped talking about the issue of housing – something that we’ve been trying to get on the agenda for so long.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Electric-shock gloves ICE plans to use inflicted intense pain in army study 07. October 2026 (14:30) Immigration enforcement agency has signed $16.7m deal for devices that induced ‘excessive’ fear in military subjectsThe electric-shock gloves immigration agents could soon use to control detainees and protesters worked so powerfully during a military exercise that participants felt intense pain, stopped fighting immediately and feared additional exposures, according to a previously unreleased army study.Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) leaders were aware of the findings before signing a $16.7m contract in August to purchase 6,000 pairs of shock gloves, according to records obtained by the watchdog group American Oversight and shared with the Associated Press. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Reform clears its own officials of breaking party funding laws despite police investigation 07. October 2026 (14:26) Internal inquiry clears Dan Jukes and James Orr after undercover sting filmed them discussing possible overseas donationsReform UK has cleared two senior officials of breaking laws that ban foreign donations, despite the matter remaining under police investigation.The party published a 27-page report of an internal inquiry by its legal secretary and general secretary, finding that Dan Jukes, Nigel Farage’s press adviser, and James Orr, its head of policy, had not breached funding rules. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Flávio Bolsonaro’s advance in Brazil’s election is grim jolt for climate campaigners 07. October 2026 (14:03) Inquest under way into why President Lula’s success in curbing Amazon deforestation has not lead to success at pollsMore fire, more ash, more crime, more death. And a globally important ecosystem driven ever more rapidly towards a point of no return. That is the prospect for the Amazon rainforest for at least the next four years if Flávio Bolsonaro holds on to the lead he established this week in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election.This appears to be of far more concern to the outside world than to voters in Latin America’s biggest, richest and most biodiverse nation. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Detained immigrants at Georgia ICE facility launch mass hunger strike 07. October 2026 (14:00) At least 73 people estimated to have joined protest against prolonged detention and Folkston facility’s ‘violations’A group of people detained inside a privately-run Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) jail in Georgia have launched a mass hunger strike this week to protest against their prolonged detention and the facility’s conditions, according to advocates and family members.Advocates estimate at least 73 detained immigrants are participating in the hunger strike inside the Folkston D Ray James ICE processing center in south-east Georgia. The Folkston facility, a former state prison, is run by the private prison company GEO Group under a contract with ICE. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Husband of Norfolk GP found dead at home appears in court charged with her murder 07. October 2026 (13:31) Mark Cain, 45, charged on Tuesday after Hannah Cain was found dead in Fern Hill, Dersingham, on Sunday nightThe husband of a GP has appeared in court charged with her murder.Dr Hannah Cain, 45, was found dead at her home in Fern Hill, Dersingham, near the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, on Sunday 4 October. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
