Brazil’s neck-and-neck election offers test for growing pro-Trump Latin American bloc

• Gustavo de Arístegui analyzed geopolitical tensions on September 28, focusing on a foundational crisis within the UN Assembly and US-Iran relations. • The analysis notes that Iranian initiatives aim to remove secondary sanctions—penalties on non-US companies trading with Iran—without offering verifiable nuclear concessions.

• Governments, UN entities, and private sector representatives met recently to call for stronger cooperation to address a rapidly changing global information landscape. • The event was co-hosted by Brazil, the UN Secretariat, the UN development Programme, and UNESCO to discuss implementing the Global Digital Compact.

Revelation comes amid mounting concern over online prediction market’s effects on integrity of financial systemUK authorities are being urged to intervene after it emerged that the online prediction market Polymarket has been taking thousands of dollars worth of bets over whether HSBC and Lloyds will fail.Polymarket – the US-owned company which holds bets on anything from football matches, to the existence of aliens, to when a bomb drops on a city – has allowed users to take $77,507 (£58,530) worth of positions on whether the world’s biggest banks will go under by the end of this year. Continue reading...

Attorney general says ‘terrorist attack’ was attempted by suspect who is said to have been barred from flying by Oman because of extremist viewsThe co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 attempted to carry out a “terrorist attack” during the flight, the United ⁠Arab Emirates prosecutor general said on Saturday, according to a state news agency.The UAE statement cited the prosecutor general as saying the co-pilot also tried to take control of the plane during Wednesday’s attack on the Israel-bound flight. Passengers and crew intervened to subdue the co-pilot and stabilise the plane. Officials said the co-pilot’s actions nearly crashed the flight with 182 people on board by sending it into a sharp plunge. Continue reading...

Companies race to switch households to ‘voice over internet protocol’ services by the end of JanuaryBT has been accused of “bullying” customers by temporarily cutting off their broadband to pressure them to upgrade to a digital landline, as providers race to switch households over before the January deadline.Telecoms companies have so far migrated 16-17m lines from the old copper network to digital voice over internet protocol (VoiP), which uses a broadband connection instead, in the biggest technological upgrade since the early 00s, when analogue TV was switched off. Continue reading...

Who is really in charge – the people or the markets? In the first episode of Radical Thinking, a new series from the Guardian, senior economics commentator Aditya Chakrabortty speaks to the former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. What was it like during the eurozone crisis when Varoufakis went head to head with those who wanted to stop his reforms?Watch Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabortty here. Continue reading...

Hammersmith and Fulham says it faces ‘biggest financial challenge in living memory’ as government cuts biteA flagship Labour authority has warned it may have to impose a 150% council tax rise on residents to maintain current services following central government cuts under a new funding settlement.Hammersmith and Fulham council’s cabinet has concluded in a report due to be published on Monday that such a rise would cost Band D households an additional £29.11 a week in 2027/28. Continue reading...

Citizen environmentalists create online platform that flags spills in real time and highlights repeatedly polluted spots The easy thing for the people who live on the banks of the River Dart in Devon might have been to grumble and groan about the sewage spills that blight their beloved waterway.Instead, citizen environmentalists in the area have created a unique online platform that flags up spills in real time, highlights spots that are repeatedly polluted, and sets out where improvement work is planned – and where it isn’t. Continue reading...

Company says it is reviewing 50 petabytes of data after its agents accessed websites including Medicare without authorisationGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOpenAI says its review in response to the Medicare and Hugging Face agent attacks is costing the company more than US$500,000 per day, as it deploys AI to examine data that would take a human 66m years to read.The company has warned the review is ongoing, and more organisations may be informed they’ve been targeted in the near future. Continue reading...

Pyongyang fires towards sea a day after Kim Jong-un sister denounces South Korea for claiming North’s mines wounded South’s soldiers in DMZNorth Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea on Saturday, South Korea and Japan said, ⁠a day ​after it rejected Seoul’s accusation of its mines wounding soldiers.The missile was launched from the Wonsan area at about 6.30am towards the East Sea – also known as the Sea of Japan – and flew more than 700km (434 miles), the South Korean military said. Seoul and Washington were analysing the test for details, it added. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Findings will bolster those in No 10 who want to negotiate on re-entry but some senior figures remain waryAndy Burnham’s personal preference to rejoin the European Union after the next election is supported by almost half of all voters, a new megapoll has found, although cabinet ministers concerned about reopening Brexit divides are privately urging him to proceed with caution.The poll by the Messina Group (TMG) found that renegotiating the UK’s relationship with the EU could boost Labour’s vote share by as much as seven points, if the prime minister offered a fresh referendum in which he campaigned to re-enter the bloc. Continue reading...