US households pay 62% more for water than they did a decade ago, study finds 06. October 2026 (11:00) For-profit water corporations, federal cuts and climate crisis are ‘supercharging water rate hikes’, study co-author saysUS households are paying 62% more for drinking water than they did a decade ago – outpacing inflation, grocery prices and household incomes, according to a new study.Food & Water Watch, a Washington DC-based non-profit, analyzed 2025 billing data from the 500 largest community water systems in the US, which together serve about 155 million people, or 45% of the country’s population. The analysis compared current rates with data from a similar Food & Water Watch survey conducted in 2015. The study does not include wastewater or storm water charges, which are often billed separately from drinking water service. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Loss of green space could be issue that decides Holborn and St Pancras byelection 06. October 2026 (11:00) Labour could pay price for disappearance of parks and playgrounds around Euston stationWhen HS2 construction began around London’s Euston station in 2017 and people living nearby watched parks and playgrounds give way to diggers and rubble, they were promised that the lost green space would be replaced. “They have to give it all back,” said Dorothea Hackman. “But they are destroying it – so there’s nothing to give back.”As the dust from the political party conference season begins to settle, disappearing green spaces and housing developments have become central issues in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection. On Thursday, Labour and the Green party will contest the seismic seat vacated by the former prime minster Keir Starmer. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Axe used by Jack Nicholson in The Shining for sale as part of Stanley Kubrick auction 06. October 2026 (11:00) Exclusive: Weapon is one of hundreds of items to be sold as part of the influential late director’s personal archiveThe axe wielded by Jack Nicholson as he delivered his chillingly manic line “Here’s Johnny!” in the 1980 horror movie The Shining is to go on sale.Nicholson’s character, Jack Torrance, uses the axe to hack out an opening in a locked door protecting his terrified wife Wendy, played by Shelley Duvall. It is also the murder weapon in the killing of Scatman Crothers’ character, Dick Hallorann. One of cinema’s most famous axes could be yours for a list price of between £30,000 and £50,000. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US televangelist Jim Bakker, ensnared in fraud and sex scandal, dies at 86 06. October 2026 (10:55) Bakker spent four and a half years in prison after being convicted in 1989 of defrauding followers in a scheme involving holidays at his Christian theme parkThe US televangelist Jim Bakker, who built a multimillion-dollar empire and lived in opulence before being disgraced by a sex scandal, a conviction for defrauding followers and divorce from his television co-host Tammy Faye, has died aged 86.The death of Bakker, whose journey from the TV pulpit to a prison cell in the 1980s inspired comparisons to the corrupt character of the fictional preacher-huckster Elmer Gantry, was revealed on social media by his second wife, Lori Bakker. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Badenoch denies ‘British Iron Dome’ plan – after Tories use phrase in press release 06. October 2026 (10:27) Tory leader says proposed ‘Britannia Shield’ would not be comparable to Israeli missile defence systemUK politics live – latest updatesKemi Badenoch has denied she compared a new air defence system proposed by the party to Israel’s Iron Dome, despite using the term in her press release and a newspaper article.The Conservative leader said the party’s proposed “Britannia Shield” would not be comparable to the missile defence system in Israel, which is primarily designed to counter short-range attacks. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
