Grooming gangs inquiry to investigate offending in Wales and Birmingham

• The United Nations concluded its 81st General Assembly amid rising geopolitical tensions that threaten global cooperation and peace. • The organization is currently facing a rupture of multilateralism, which is the process of multiple countries working together to solve shared problems.

• Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger appointed Douglas Mercado, a visiting lecturer in public and international affairs, to the advisory board of the state’s Office of New Americans in September 2026. • Mercado cited his decades of professional experience supporting refugees, internally displaced persons, and disaster-impacted communities as the basis for his appointment.

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated that the United States and other partners must better understand India's concerns regarding cross-border terrorism. • The minister indicated that a lack of understanding on these specific security threats could negatively impact diplomatic relations.

• Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on September 29 that mass draft evasion and the potential collapse of the Israel Defense Forces are the greatest dangers facing the country. • The Israel Defense Forces reported that its troops physically prevented harm to a Palestinian family during a settler riot in the West Bank.

• Interconnected conflicts are expanding on both sides of the Red Sea while the United States continues to provide inconsistent policy signals. • The African Union estimates that the conflict leading to the 2022 Pretoria Agreement resulted in approximately 600,000 deaths.

Prime minister’s pure political argument marks new era for party as he sets out his plans and prioritiesThe hottest ticket at Labour conference – after Andy Burnham’s speech – was an afterparty in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle, headlined with a set by the noughties girlband Sugababes.As Labour activists and ministers belted out the lyrics under pink spotlights, it was hard not to draw some parallels with the party’s recent history. There have been painful lineup changes and a lot of internal division, but this week onstage in Liverpool, the originals are back together and they only played the hits. The fans can’t get enough. Continue reading...

Julian Hill says educational providers are being closely watched by government after course attracted non-genuine studentsGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastPrivate colleges have issued nearly 3,000 last-minute enrolments to a diploma course that is being cancelled after allegedly being “misused” by non-genuine students, as Labor threatens to suspend providers that are manipulating new rules.Guardian Australia revealed last month that private colleges were offering discounts to rush students into the graduate diploma of management (learning) ahead of its deregistration on 5 October, which the government says was being used by some non-genuine students to remain in the country. The assistant minister for international education, Julian Hill, said at the time the system had been “misused”. Continue reading...

Plane made emergency landing after pilot tried to crash aircraft, Israeli PM says, as officials investigate whether it was an attempted terror attackOne of the pilots of a plane flying from the UAE to Israel stabbed his co-pilot and appeared to try to crash the plane, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said, as Israeli officials said they were investigating whether the incident was an attempted terror attack on Israelis. Here is what we know so far:A commercial plane travelling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Israel was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, after an apparent brawl between its pilots prompted distress signals that briefly raised fears of an attempted hijacking. The FlyDubai flight was over Jordan when it diverted to Saudi Arabia, transmitting three emergency signals, one of which indicated a possible unlawful interference.The plane dipped dramatically during the reported fight, descending about 16,000ft in just two minutes. Israeli officials scrambled fighter jets, fearful of a possible hijacking attempt on a plane containing dozens of Israelis, and the plane landed at Tabuk airport in north-western Saudi Arabia.Netanyahu said one of the FlyDubai pilots stabbed his co-pilot and appeared to be intending to crash the plane. He added that one of the passengers on the flight managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members, and together they “neutralised” the attacking pilot.Netanyahu described it as “an extremely severe security incident”. Other officials, including the defence minister, Israel Katz, have called it an attempted terrorist attack. Netanyahu thanked the passengers and crew who helped to stop the attack, saying they “showed exceptional resourcefulness and courage”.An Israeli official has identified the attacker as an Omani national, Reuters reported. The Boeing 737 plane, which Israeli officials said had between 160 and 180 passengers onboard, transmitted a general emergency signal about two and a half hours after departing from Dubai, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24.A passenger on the flight, Miryam Shira Ohayon, said the plane was “pretty much out of control” when the alleged stabbing took place. “The co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane,” she told reporters, using a speakerphone held up by her mother who was waiting at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv.The plane transmitted the initial general emergency signal again before landing at Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport. Tabuk airport said the plane landed at 9.45am local time and that both pilots were taken to hospital after sustaining injuries.A second FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv landed safely at its destination. Flightradar24 initially showed flight FZ1081 diverting back towards the UAE but it was later shown to be on its way to Israel, where it landed in Tel Aviv this afternoon. Continue reading...

Two supermarket home brands claim equal first while the worst-ranked condiment has double the sugar content of almost all the other productsA condiment worthy of compliments, or one that gets a dressing down? Consumer advocacy group Choice has taste tested 29 store-bought mayonnaises, and found the cheapest product is also the best.Aldi’s Colway Real Mayonnaise placed equal first with a score of 80%. A jar costs $2.79, or 61c per 100g – the lowest price per unit of the product spread. Judges relished its “mild” and “pleasant” aroma and “traditional mayonnaise appearance”, while noting its “creamy, smooth texture with balanced citrus acidity, subtle sweetness, mustard and whole-egg flavour”.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

Cotality data shows median house prices fell in September as interest rates hit borrowing capacityGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastHousing prices are falling in almost every suburb in Australia’s biggest cities, with values dropping faster in Brisbane than Sydney as the slowdown intensifies.Prices nationally have fallen 5.2% from their peak in March to where they were a year ago, Cotality data released on Thursday shows. Continue reading...

Unprecedented university donation from Citadel CEO Ken Griffin will go toward building a new Miami campusCarnegie Mellon University will receive an unprecedented $3bn donation from billionaire investor Ken Griffin, making it the largest single donation in the history of US education.Griffin, 57, is the founder and CEO of Citadel, described as the most profitable hedge fund in history. The money is going toward a new Miami campus as well as big investments at the university’s longtime home in Pittsburgh. Continue reading...

Senator Jim Justice of West Virginia criticizes immigration crackdown as ranchers’ associations condemn ICE activity A close political ally of Donald Trump has broken from the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement agenda and recommended it “step back” to evaluate what it could do better.“To get better, the first thing you got to do is admit you’re doing something wrong,” Jim Justice, a Republican senator of West Virginia, told Politico. “And in this situation, with all that’s going on and all the stuff, we probably got to step back from it and say: ‘Maybe we’re doing something wrong here or there,’ and then adjust to that.” Continue reading...