‘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)
