Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream execution puts US in dubious company 09. October 2026 (15:55) Only Iran and Afghanistan routinely carry out sentences in public, with Saudi Arabia appearing to have ended practiceUS politics – live updatesIf the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, goes ahead with plans to livestream the execution of a soldier radicalised to extremist Islam who killed 13 people at a military base in Texas, his country will join a motley assembly of lesser powers and rogue actors who have conducted public executions in recent years.Only two countries currently systematically carry out capital sentences in public: Iran and Afghanistan. In 2025, the Taliban authorities carried out six such killings and the regime in Tehran 11, according to Amnesty International. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Democratic Senate candidate responds to anti-trans attacks pushed by Republicans 09. October 2026 (15:50) Dr Annie Andrews voices opposition to ‘biological men … in women’s sports’ in response to Republican attacksDr Annie Andrews, a Democratic Senate candidate in South Carolina, has responded to persistent efforts by Republicans to make trans athletes in women’s sports a wedge issue in the race.In a restrained direct-to-camera statement, Andrews – a pediatrician – outlined her opposition to “biological men playing in women’s sports”, as her party pushes back against Republican attacks. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
EU ‘pulling out all stops’ with minerals projects as it tries to avert China trade war 09. October 2026 (15:31) Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné says bloc will support 46 strategic projects including lithium and rare earths plantsThe EU is “pulling out all the stops” to fend off an imminent potential trade crisis with China, the industry commissioner, Stéphane Séjourné, has said, as the bloc announced its backing for a string of critical materials projects.Séjourné said on Friday that the EU would support 46 new strategic projects to accelerate supplies of critical raw materials by 2030 across the bloc. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Robert Jenrick launches scathing broadside against ‘Kensington Kemi’ 09. October 2026 (15:21) Reform UK economics spokesperson seeks to associate Tory leader with metropolitan elite as party relations sour furtherUK politics live – latest updatesRobert Jenrick has launched an extended attack on Kemi Badenoch, calling her part of a metropolitan elite and saying a coalition deal with the Tories would be like being “handcuffed to a zombie”.Reform UK’s economics spokesperson repeatedly called the Tory leader “Kensington Kemi” and claimed her party was for people who moaned about the decline of Mayfair clubs and complained that they could not find Ottolenghi recipe ingredients in the shops. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Tory tax break for banks has cost UK public purse £6bn, says TUC 09. October 2026 (15:18) Exclusive: Chancellor urged to reverse Rishi Sunak’s tax surcharge cuts to claw back billions in lost revenueBusiness live – latest updatesTax cuts for big banks have deprived the UK government of £6bn in revenues, according to campaigners, who are calling on the chancellor, John Healey, to increase taxes and force lenders to pay their “fair share” in the budget.Calculations by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which represents unions with more than 5.3 million members across England and Wales, shows that the public purse is billions of pounds worse off as a result of tax cuts introduced under the Tory chancellor Rishi Sunak in 2023. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
