US home sales weaken to slowest pace in more than a year as mortgage rates and prices climb

• A top researcher at the AI firm Anthropic stated that there is a more than 10 per cent chance artificial intelligence could kill all humans within the next decade. • The researcher claimed that AI companies are acting irresponsibly because they are locked in a race to develop the technology first.

• Recent conflicts, including the Iran War, have accelerated the decline of U.S. global dominance and the shift toward a multipolar world order. • Gulf capitals are diversifying foreign relations by strengthening ties with China and maintaining dialogue with Russia rather than relying exclusively on Washington.

• President Xi Jinping began a series of diplomatic meetings throughout September to redefine China's future role and influence in the world. • Xi met with leaders including Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi in Bishkek to demonstrate China's ability to manage both geopolitical partners and rivals.

• The United Nations trained nearly 200 community health officers in Rwanda to prepare the government for a potential Ebola outbreak. • Training focused on early detection, risk communication, and infection and prevention and control.

Democrats are targeting Trump’s relationship with Epstein as part of strategy ahead of midterm electionsJames Talarico, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas, accused his rival Ken Paxton of “ignoring” survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse, as Democrats seek to increase pressure on Republicans ahead of November’s midterm elections.Speaking in Dallas, where Republicans are holding a midterm convention this week, Talarico appeared alongside one of Epstein’s victims at an exhibit that featured about 3.5m pages of Department of Justice’s files related to Epstein. Continue reading...

Terry Strada, whose husband was killed in the attacks, says she remains hopeful for justice as a lawsuit alleging Saudi support for the hijackers moves toward trialThe leader of one group of 9/11 victims’ families says it has “taken way too long” to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its alleged support of the terrorists who carried out the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, whose 25th anniversary was observed across the US on Friday.As that grim milestone approached, Terry Strada – the national chair of 9/11 Families United – said she felt as if it had “been several lifetimes” for there to be progress in the effort “to achieve a modicum of justice through our court system” in connection with the deadliest act of terror against the US. Continue reading...

Veterans recall chaos and confusion as the attacks unfolded – followed by a ‘war on terror’ that left agency with a tarnished reputationA generation of spies had lost an enemy but not yet found a role. Then came 9/11.A decade after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, al-Qaida’s devastating attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001 announced to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that the long era of battling communism, for which it had been founded, was officially at an end. Continue reading...

The payments amounted to 30% of each aides’ $150,000 annual salaryDonald Trump may have committed “serious” ethical violations by giving three officials including his close personal aide Natalie Harp cash gifts of $45,000 each, according to a former White House “ethics czar”, as a watchdog group called for an investigation.The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the US Office of Government Ethics over the US president’s handouts to a handful of staff, arguing that an investigation is “clearly warranted”. Continue reading...

The defense says: ‘It’s about competition, not conspiracy’ A US prosecutor described China’s Huawei as a criminal enterprise that stole from US companies to build its telecommunications empire, as ⁠the trial against the tech giant kicked off in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday.“Theft, lies, cover-up,” Taylor Stout, a trial attorney from the US Department of Justice, said in the government’s opening statement. “For 20 years, that’s how Huawei, a massive Chinese telecommunications company, victimized American companies ⁠and abused the American financial system, all ⁠in an effort to dominate the telecommunications ​industry around the world.“ Continue reading...

Bronwen James, 30, admitted offences against two girls at schools in Wiltshire and Hampshire, and found guilty of charges involving boyA former PE teacher is facing a lengthy jail sentence for grooming and sexually abusing three pupils at two schools.Bronwen James, 30, admitted offences against two girls at schools in Hampshire and Wiltshire and was found guilty by a jury of charges involving a boy. Continue reading...

The Ali G and Borat creator is reported to be taking the lead in The Popinjay Cavalier, a swashbuckling comedy Tarantino is developing for early 2027He will soon be seen resuming his old Staines rudeboy persona in the film Ali G: Who Iz I?, but Sacha Baron Cohen may also be eyeing a new departure – on stage.The actor will reportedly star in Quentin Tarantino’s first play, The Popinjay Cavalier, which is billed as a “rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise” and a “sweeping celebration of theatre and its heightened romance”, set in 1830s Europe. According to Deadline, Baron Cohen will play the swashbuckling title character in the play, which Tarantino will also direct. Continue reading...