Inflation leaps to 4% stoking fears of fifth interest rate hike before Christmas

• 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.

• 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.

• UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned a Tuesday airstrike that reportedly killed at least 50 people at a market in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. • The UN humanitarian office reported that Israeli fire hit near humanitarian convoys and UN facilities in Gaza several times in recent days.

The injection of thermal energy, 40 times that used by humanity in total, comes amid an increasing rise in sea levels and continuing acidificationA record-breaking 23 zettajoules of heat was sunk into the world’s seas last year, leaving ocean waters hotter, higher and less hospitable, a report has found.The explosive addition of thermal energy, which was almost 40 times greater than all the energy humanity used that year, comes amid far-reaching changes to the deep water bodies fundamental to life on Earth. Continue reading...

Many products aimed at women over 45 lack meaningful quantities of key nutrients, consumer watchdog Which? foundMenopause supplements costing more than £400 a year are no better than a £22-a-year multivitamin, according to analysis by the consumer watchdog Which?.Which? found that many popular supplements that are aimed at women over 45 going through menopause or perimenopause lack meaningful quantities of key nutrients, yet cost 20 times more than standard multivitamins. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: ​At Labour conference members are basking in the glow of the Burnham bounce. But beneath the enthusiasm lies a growing sense that delivery must follow hopeful messagingGood morning from Liverpool (and hello again to the newsletter subscribers I met in person, as I took First Edition on tour to Labour party conference).It’s the first gathering of the party faithful since Andy Burnham ousted Keir Starmer in July, in what I’ve heard delicately referred to as a “soft coup”, and the theme of this conference is “Hope again.”UK news | One of the five men arrested near RAF Fairford as part of a terror investigation that prompted fears of an Iran-backed plot called the police to report the incident. The call from the man, in his 20s and from London, was one reason armed police were scrambled to arrest the men.Football | The Premier League has confirmed Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges of breaching its financial rules over a nine-year period, with the club found to have boosted their income by a staggering amount of more than £900m.France | More than 400 people, most of them children, have been detained in France on Tuesday after teenagers across the country blockaded their schools in protest at class sizes, teacher shortages and long timetables.US politics | The Trump administration can resume quickly deporting immigrants to a “third countries”, or countries other than those immigrants’ homeland, without giving them any opportunity to contest their removals, the supreme court ruled on Tuesday.UK news | A six-month trial of live facial recognition technology in London’s railway stations cost more than £320,000 and led to one false match against a watchlist of suspects and no arrests. Continue reading...

Independent Planning Commission says climate change impacts from Hunter Valley project will be ‘outweighed’ by economic benefitsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales independent planner has approved the biggest coalmine project to ever go before it, allowing mining to continue until 2045 at a Hunter Valley project described by climate groups as a “carbon bomb”.The Independent Planning Commission (IPC) has green lit the Hunter Valley Operations Continuation Project after a contentious assessment that drew in climate and environment groups, unions, state authorities and more than 10,000 public submissions. Continue reading...

Indonesia’s prisons have long faced allegations that well-connected inmates can obtain preferential treatment through briberyFive Indonesian prison officials have been suspended after investigators found an apartment-style compound complete with airconditioners, big-screen televisions and expensive cars allegedly used by inmates at a prison near Jakarta.“We found strong indications that certain prisoners had access to special facilities unavailable to ordinary prisoners,” said Syafrida Rachmawati Rasahan, a member of Indonesia’s ombudsman, on Tuesday. “We encountered prisoners inside the residential compound and discovered facilities resembling home stays, apartments and villas rather than prison housing.” Continue reading...

Police allege Nicholas Scott killed 79-year-old then ‘set upon’ 59-year-old relative who arrived at Gurranang to sort out estateFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA man accused of murdering two members of a family on the same property a fortnight apart has faced court.The body of a 59-year-old man was found by police on Monday afternoon in a shed on a property at Gurranang, about 25km north of Grafton in northern New South Wales. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Culture secretary says UK will crack down further and be ‘pioneer of tech as a force for good’Lisa Nandy has warned technology firms that the government’s online safety crackdown is not finished, saying that banning under-16s from social media platforms is only a “staging post”.Earlier this year the government announced that teenagers under the age of 16 would be banned from accessing “high-risk” social media apps, while safer platforms would be subjected to restrictions. Continue reading...

Relatives of Hollywood legend say her doppelganger could now be used for more glamorous rolesShe shimmered in Hollywood’s silent movie era and lit up the first talkies – now Greta Garbo may be about to star in cinema’s new AI age.More than a century after her screen debut and decades after her ashes were laid to rest in a Swedish woodland cemetery, the Hollywood superstar’s descendants are ready to consider an AI version of her taking a 21st-century film role. Continue reading...