Sixteen English councils spend more than 80% of core funding on social care

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

Blast during search operation near border fuels political tensions amid attempts to revive diplomatic channelsSouth Korea has demanded an apology from North Korea over a landmine blast that injured three soldiers, saying they were hurt by North Korean mines on the southern side of the border.Kang Hyun-woo, the director of operations at South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff, demanded an apology and “responsible measures” from Pyongyang over the blast, which occurred on 21 September during a search operation south of the border. Continue reading...

Ex-Asda boss Andy Bond linked to plan, with buyout team understood to be negotiating with financial backerPoundland’s management team are in “advanced talks” to lead a rescue bid for the ailing cut-price retailer that could save more than 11,000 jobs.The former Asda boss Andy Bond, who ran Poundland for a number of years from 2016 then stepped up to its former parent Pepco before leaving in 2025, is understood to be part of the negotiations to take on the business. Continue reading...

Kyiv mayor says debris had also been found at the site of a western embassy in the capital Debris ⁠had been found ⁠at ⁠the premises ​of one of ⁠the western embassies ⁠in ​the ‌centre ‌of Ukraine’s capital, ‌Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said this morning, citing preliminary ‌information.Klitschko did not ​name the embassy, ⁠but said ​emergency services were ​heading ​to the ​site. Continue reading...

PM says he is looking at all options and ministers will examine ‘what is doable’ and the ‘pros and cons’UK politics live – latest updatesAndy Burnham has opened the door to the UK rejoining the EU, saying Britain could “go all the way”, as he prepares to reconsider Labour’s post-Brexit red lines.The prime minister used a series of interviews after his emotional Labour conference speech to spell out how wide-ranging his consideration of Britain’s future with Brussels could be because Brexit had caused “more harm than good”. Continue reading...

New leader says his party must connect with millions of disaffected voters and ‘make them believe in politics again’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastAs One Nation’s polling surged this year, and Pauline Hanson ate away at the votes of first the Coalition and then Labor, one curious mainstay emerged; the Greens remained seemingly anchored to the 10-12% range, no matter which poll you look at.That’s despite the fact that, arguably, there’s rarely been more fertile political ground for the Greens leader to reap rewards; a centrist Labor government with a big majority but increasingly on the nose, a resurgent anti-immigration populist party backed by Australia’s richest mining billionaire, a Coalition in disarray, a cost-of-living crisis set ablaze by rising interest rates and inflation, and a public increasingly alarmed about the nexus of big tech, big datacentres and shadowy AI oligarchs operating with impunity. Continue reading...