UK News
View All 9'Couldn't make it up!' Britain 'dishes out 1,000 hijabs to illegal migrants' - and YOU have to pay
Britain is thought to have dished out more than 1,000 hijabs to illegal migrants this year alone.Internal Government figures show officials have been handing out 162 Muslim headscarves to so-called "asylum seekers" every month.Home Office data unearthed by the Mail shows that between January and June, 974 hijabs were given to small boat migrants.If that rate has continued, the total will have almost reached 1,500 by today.A Home Office source told the newspaper it had a legal duty to provide basic clothing, including cultural and religious items, under the Short-term Holding Facility Rules.The rules also say that migrants' cultural and religious needs "must be catered for so far as is practicable" when they stay at places like the Manston processing centre in Kent. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say The source added: "All arrivals receive a basic dry clothing pack where required. The items available form part of standard welfare arrangements."Reform UK MP Andrew Rosindell told GB News: "I don't know why we should be giving these people anything."They're coming in illegally, and if they're coming in illegally, we shouldn't be incentivising people by making them feel like they're getting everything given to them on a plate."You couldn't make it up. The British state is acting in a way that is encouraging people to come to this country."Don't they realise that British people have had enough? They don't want all these people coming to this country illegally."They're tired of the asylum system being abused. The last thing we should be doing is incentivising more people to arrive."Women's rights activists have previously sounded the alarm over the hijab.Unlike the burka or niqab, the hijab does not cover the wearer's face.But campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull previously told GB News it was a "very visible tool of oppression".The ideology behind the garment is "deeply misogynistic... (and) deeply discriminatory towards women and girls", she warned.MIGRANT CRISIS - READ MORE:Protesters demand end to migrant crisis at small boat 'drop-off' points on south coastIraqi and Lebanese men remanded in custody over 'sex offences against two schoolgirls' in SussexSmiling Sudanese 'asylum seeker' set fire to hotel with 170 people insideShadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Mail last night: "The Government must stop handing out hijabs to illegal immigrants immediately."It's an insult to hard-working British taxpayers that they're funding religious items for people who have broken into our country. It should not be for us to fund someone else's religious practices."Many illegal immigrants actually hate our values. Many come here for free accommodation and a life on benefits at our expense."Illegal immigrants crossing the channel are breaking into our country. They have no legitimate reason to flee France, which is clearly safe."That's why we must leave the European Convention on Human Rights so we can deport all illegal immigrants immediately upon arrival."Clothing handouts figures also shattered claims that migrants are mostly women and children.More than 10,000 male clothing packs were handed over - but just 2,670 packs were given to women, 773 to boys and 829 to girls.Nearly 20,000 illegal migrants have arrived in Britain via small boat this year alone - though that figure is down by 42 per cent compared to the same period in 2025."We have made progress tackling the small boats. Crossings are down significantly," a Home Office spokesman said."We have just recorded the fewest summer arrivals since 2020." Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
SAS 'hunted and killed Iran-backed gang members who executed British troops'
Two members of the gang that killed six British military policemen in Iraq were secretly hunted down and eliminated by the SAS, a new book has claimed.The June 2003 murders of the Red Caps, just weeks after the fall of Saddam Hussein, was the single greatest loss of British military life to hostile action during the entire Iraq conflict.For over two decades, it was widely believed the killers had escaped across the Iranian border.But in "Blades", by Mark Nicol, SAS sources say they found and killed two of the Iran-backed gang members responsible. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Senior military figures are said to have blocked further operations, fearing retaliation against British troops in the predominantly-Shia southern Iraq.John Miller, the father of Corporal Simon Miller, who was just 21 when he died, said he was stunned to discover the SAS had "meted out justice".He told The Mail on Sunday: "This has been kept from us for 23 years. I can't believe we are hearing it now, from you. "I am very pleased to hear two of them are dead. I hope the SAS soldiers emptied their magazines into them, as they did to our Si."But it is another sickening blow for the families that the SAS were stopped from hunting down the others. They got away with it. The SAS catching these guys was our best chance of justice."The families have long accused the Government of covering up the circumstances of the killings.The five other Red Caps killed in the attack were Sergeant Simon Hamilton-Jewell, 41, Corporal Russell Aston, 30, Corporal Paul Long, 24, Lance Corporal Ben Hyde, 23, and Lance Corporal Tom Keys, 20.They were executed inside a police station in Majar al-Kabir, in southern Iraq's Maysan province, after an angry demonstration erupted nearby.READ MORE ON THE SAS:Fears Labour's SAS 'witch-hunts' could leave UK-US 'special relationship' in tattersSAS troops resigning in 'significant numbers' amid war crime 'witch hunts'Ex-SAS commander backs Al Carns's claim that Troubles Bill could push veterans towards ReformIraqi officers stationed there abandoned the building minutes before the murders took place.Within days, SAS operatives returned to the same station, posing as mourning comrades of the dead soldiers.During that covert visit, Iraqi police handed over the names of those responsible for the killings.Reflecting on the secret mission, an SAS officer says in the book: "We couldn't believe how disinterested UK commanders were in finding those responsible. We just got on with it and got lucky."We got their names and went after the murderers. But the reaction from the hierarchy was: 'Stop, you're stirring up opposition to us.'"Every one of those gang members posed a live threat to UK forces. We would have got them all given the chance. We flew back to Baghdad knowing more British troops' lives would be lost because of the reluctance of senior officers to confront the Iranian threat."The families have consistently challenged the conclusions of a 2006 inquest which found the deaths were unavoidable.In a further source of grievance, nine Iraqi police officers were dished out £800,000 in compensation in 2013 after claiming they were tortured during efforts to identify the killers.The MoD has offered its "heartfelt sympathies" to the victims' families but does not publicly discuss SAS operations.Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
Dante Mayfair, Claridge’s, London W1: ‘Are chips ever worth £11? Probably not’ – restaurant review
The whole point of going to Claridge’s in the first place is to sweep in through the grand main hotel entranceDante Mayfair, inside Claridge’s on Brook Street in London, has been created, the hotel’s management says, to become “the living room of Mayfair”. It’s a charming idea: pop in, have a cuppa or a bowl of pappardelle bolognese, or lie about on the fancy sofas wearing elasticated tracksuit bottoms and slurping soft-serve with s’mores. No, sorry, I’ve gone too far: it’s nowhere near that informal.Still, like many well-used living rooms, this one has been rearranged, redecorated and repurposed many times over the years. I’ve eaten fancy-schmancy Simon Rogan dinners here when it was Fera, as well as his table experience at Aulis during which venture capitalist “foodies” bored the pants off me over a 12-course meal in the kitchen itself. I’ve stared unmoved at Daniel Humm’s New York-style pomp at the short-lived Davies and Brook, and have visited several times since Claridge’s took matters in-house in the shape of a rather anonymous ye olde British brasserie. Continue reading...
Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force GX preview – a nostalgic return to Duel Academy
Konami’s latest video game revival is for the digital adaptation of their Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, as they aim to tap into PSP era nostalgia. There are some games that immediately transport you back in time, especially the mid-2000 PSP era. Tag Force GX is one of them. So when I walked into the Konami booth at Tokyo Game Show 2026 and found myself face-to-face with Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force GX, I was immediately back at Duel Academy, surrounded , even more ridiculous monsters, and teenagers who apparently have nothing better to do than settle every argument with a card game. Tag Force GX is a remake of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Tag Force 3, the 2008 PSP game, and is coming to Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC on February 16, 2027. It is also arriving at a particularly nostalgic moment, with Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. ‘We believe Tag Force is a very popular title,’ director Matsumura Yuji told me. “And now it’s the 20th anniversary for Yu-Gi-Oh! That’s why we made Tag Force GX.’ So why bring back the third game, specifically? According to Matsumura, the original plan was to combine the first three Tag Force games into one title. Technical limitations eventually meant the team settled on Tag Force 3, which he describes as the ‘final’ entry in the original series. After spending time with the remake, that choice makes sense. Tag Force has always been about more than simply playing the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game (TCG). You aren’t just throwing cards at increasingly dangerous opponents, you are a student at Duel Academy, exploring the world, meeting characters, and building relationships with them before heading into Tag Duels. the GameCentral for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. That means you can team up with familiar Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime favourites, including Jaden Yuki, Alexis Rhodes, Chazz Princeton, and Syrus Truesdale, with the characters around you becoming an important and compelling part of the experience. ‘The characters and the story of this game are very attractive,’ Matsumura said. ‘We added some additional dialogue and features to make it more appealing.’ That character focus is also what Konami sees as one of the game’s biggest strengths, for people who aren’t already Yu-Gi-Oh! And that matters because, let’s be honest, modern Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG can look like somebody has thrown an encyclopaedia at a card table, which has then exploded.
World News
View All 10Widespread damage after huge hailstones pound Paraguay capital
Large hailstones pounded parts of Paraguay’s capital, breaking windows and denting cars, as heavy rain and strong winds swept across the country.
Somalia President: Houthis ‘not in a position’ to bring Yemen peace
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud accused the Houthis of destabilising the region and disrupting navigation through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
How Cornell Punished Each of the 7 Men Accused of Sexual Assault
Summaries obtained by The New York Times offer a detailed look at the discipline meted out to the men accused of sexually assaulting a fellow student at Cornell University.
Cornell President Calls Rape Inquiry ‘Defining Moment’ for Campus
Michael I. Kotlikoff said in a video the university would be more transparent, hold Greek groups accountable and improve sexual assault prevention.
Politics
View All 10Ministers explore how to stop regional leaders misusing planned new spending powers
Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury select committee, says strong oversight structures are needed alongside devolution. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury select committee, says strong oversight structures are needed alongside devolution. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian Ministers explore how to stop regional leaders misusing planned new spending powers Labour wants to make sure mayors and council chiefs in England can be held to account for extra revenues devolved to them Ministers are mulling over how to ensure that England’s regional leaders do not misuse their newfound spending muscle, as Whitehall prepares to devolve more revenue to local levels. Ideas under consideration include a new select committee in Westminster, enhanced reporting rules and a new audit body focused on local and regional government. The Guardian understands the idea has even been mooted of allowing spendthrift mayors to be recalled , as can happen to rule-breaking MPs. Welsh first minister calls on Burnham to deliver ‘new deal’ on devolution The government will publish a white paper on “rewiring the state” later this month, setting out detailed plans to hand over more income tax revenue to regional mayors. Rachel Reeves suggested the idea in her Mais lecture earlier this year, and it has been adopted ’s government, which sees devolution as a big part of its growth policy. However, officials are concerned about how to ensure local leaders are fully accountable for what they do with the additional cash – including in between elections. Meg Hillier, the chair of the Treasury select committee, said she believed hers would be the right body to scrutinise the use of the additional spending powers. “It’s clear that one of the prime minister’s key ambitions is to take spending power out of Westminster and hand it to local leaders,” the Labour MP said. England’s mayors should face greater scrutiny as powers expand, thinktank says “It is absolutely critical, though, that strong, clear scrutiny structures are established which match this move to localism. It would be reckless to hand out new powers without ensuring there are transparent mechanisms to hold mayors to account for their decisions.” Hillier added: “One way to do this is to establish clear lines of authority running through departments and up to ministers, which will allow existing select committees to judge this work. “A core role of a select committee, particularly the Treasury committee which I chair, is to ensure politicians are publicly held to account for how they decide to spend taxpayers’ money.
Tory conference 2026: What POLITICO reporters are watching for
From AI to bank taxes, there are plenty of spaces for Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives to carve out a niche, POLITICO reporters write in from Birmingham.
Tories vow to scrap £100,000 ‘tax trap’ for UK’s higher earners
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Andy Burnham scraps plan to curb jury trials
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Business
View All 10Ukraine’s surprise robot offensive exposes a vulnerability in Putin’s war machine
Livestream Menu Ukraine’s surprise robot-led offensive in the Donbas appears to have reversed more than a year of Russian territorial gains around Lyman. Dubbed "Operation Vivaldi," the offensive has retaken 176 square kilometers, with Ukrainian forces using drones and unmanned ground vehicles to strike behind Russian lines while limiting risks to personnel. Security experts say the offensive is not a decisive breakthrough, but demonstrates how Ukraine’s expanding use of robotic systems is reshaping frontline warfare. A soldier with the call sign ''Italian'' and design engineer Denys load a machine gun mounted on a ground robotic complex during trials at a training ground on April 10, 2026. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | A surprise Ukrainian robot offensive in the eastern Donbas region appears to have reversed over a year of Russian territorial gains, according to security experts, dealing a strategic blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's territorial ambitions. Details of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, dubbed "Operation Vivaldi," have started to come to light in recent weeks, offering rare insight into the fast-changing nature of frontline combat operations amid Russia's full-scale invasion. As part of the ongoing operation, which started in May, security experts said Ukraine's Third Army Corps had been able to deploy large bomber drones and remote-controlled robots behind enemy lines around Lyman in the northern Donetsk Oblast, apparently catching Russian forces off guard. Russian forces have been seeking to encircle Ukraine's so-called fortress belt cities that make up the remaining Ukrainian-held territory in the region for the past 12 months. The third phase of Operation Vivaldi, however, liberated an additional 51 square kilometers, taking the total area of territory retaken to 176 square kilometers, Ukrainian Brigadier-General Andrii Biletskyi said on Sept. 28. The latest phase of fighting inflicted over 2,000 Russian losses, with over 250 Russian soldiers taken prisoner, he added. Patrick Bolder, a defense expert and strategic advisor at the Hague Center for Strategic Studies (HCSS), described the offensive as a "big bloody nose" to Putin's minimal war aim of seizing Ukraine's Donbas region. Alongside demonstrating an ability to keep details of the operation secret, running disinformation campaigns against Russia and orchestrating a months-long air operation to disrupt logistical supplies to the frontline, Bolder said Ukrainian forces had managed to secure control of the air in the Lyman area, denying Russia the use of its drones. Ukrainian forces were then able to deploy their own drones to drop unmanned ground vehicles behind enemy lines to attack the Russian troops from behind, Bolder said, without endangering their own personnel. "They put this together masterly," Bolder said.
Wall Street’s IPO fervour cools on tepid demand and valuation worries
Several listings have been paused in recent weeks as delay in Anthropic’s public debut sends a chill through markets
Andy Burnham and the art of corporate pitch-rolling
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The government can take 15% of Social Security benefits to repay student loans. These proposals seek to stop it.
Debt among older Americans is rising, both in terms of the number of older households carrying debt and the amount borrowed.
Technology
View All 10Why don't more developers "use the platform"?
For years, advocates for web standards, performance, and accessibility have implored web developers to “use the platform”. I’ve often been one of those advocates. The argument is simple: why build something yourself, in JavaScript, when the browser can do it for you? Whatever you build, it’s likely to have poorer performance and worse usability than something the browser could just give you out-of-the-box. I think it’s worth taking the other side, though, if for no other reason than to understand where the “platform-skeptic” developers are coming from. If “use the platform” is so obvious, then why do so many people seem to need convincing? The most obvious reason is historical: for the longest time, browsers were playing catch-up with the ecosystem on top of them. Libraries like jQuery filled crucial gaps while browsers implemented equivalent APIs – and even then, you might have to wait for laggards like IE6 to age out before you could actually use them. Today, most browsers are evergreen (Safari is debatable, although ~7 times per year ain’t bad), but up until the 2020s or so, web developers had to deal with a decidedly lumpy web. In that environment, rolling your own is a sensible choice. Another reason is familiarity: when you’re used to looking for React components on npm, that’s what you tend to reach for, regardless of the problem at hand. If you search for “sticky positioning” on npm, there’s no package that says “just use CSS position: sticky, you dolt.” And often, even with a robust standard, libraries on npm would fill a useful gap between framework ergonomics and the platform underneath it. I always found it intriguing that many React developers preferred to stick to JSX and React idioms – raw DOM APIs felt “icky” – but were perfectly happy to use lower-level libraries where raw DOM manipulations are common. For example, a virtual list library might happily use raw DOM APIs for pure performance, while exposing higher-level primitives that a novice React developer could better grasp. In a sense, the ecosystem of React components led to a natural division of labor where those with more expertise packaged up unfamiliar platform APIs in a more familiar form factor. Some of this effect was also driven by documentation. Many npm packages have lovingly detailed READMEs or websites with examples, tutorials, and screenshots. Whereas until MDN became cemented as the go-to place for web documentation (with web. dev as Google’s more future-facing arm), documentation for the web platform was scattered across blogs, StackOverflow, and sites like CSS Tricks.
Tell HN: Bob Cringely has died
Comments
Federal judge calls Flock ‘indiscriminate mass surveillance’
A federal judge ruled this week that a Tulsa, Oklahoma sheriff’s deputy violated a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights when using Flock Safety to search for her license plate without a warrant. As reported by 404 Media, this ruling does not create a binding precedent, but it is one of the first times that a federal judge has ruled that a Flock search is unconstitutional. In this case, Judge Sara Hill said the deputy should have obtained a warrant before searching the Flock database for the woman’s license plate, as he had “no apparent reason” for the search “other than the fact that [the woman’s vehicle] had a California license plate.” The deputy then used the woman’s travel history in Flock as part of the justification for searching her car, where he allegedly discovered 91 pounds of meth. But Judge Hill wrote that all evidence obtained after the Flock search “must be suppressed as the fruit of a poisonous tree.” Judge Hill also took broader aim at warrantless searches of the Flock database, writing that tracking people’s location — even when they’re in public places — becomes “constitutionally problematic when law enforcement can indiscriminately and passively catalog your whereabouts over an extended period of time and then use that information for any purpose whenever convenient.” “This is a type of indiscriminate mass surveillance,” Hill wrote. “It is not targeted on a single individual, as in [Carpenter v. United States, a Supreme Court case focused on how government agencies access location data from cell phones]. It is a tool that collects information about all vehicles that pass -connected camera at all times, and it serves up the information to law enforcement on demand.” Hill joins a growing chorus of Flock critics from across the political spectrum. Numerous local and state governments, including Florida and Texas, have said they will stop using the technology. And on Friday, Senator Bernie Sanders — a Democrat from Vermont — introduced the Block Flock Act, which would bar federal agencies from using automated license plate readers such as Flock. Flock CEO Garretty Langley — who we’ll be interviewing on-stage at TechCrunch Disrupt — has called for a “compromise” between privacy and safety and offered an apology to women who have been stalked . And with all those cancellations, Flock has also reportedly offered voluntary employee buyouts as a way to shrink its workforce. Topics flock safety, Government & Policy, Security When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission.
Amazon responds to data center backlash, says it no longer uses NDAs
Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman said the company has stopped using nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in its dealings with government agencies as it seeks approval to build new data centers. Garman’s statement is just one sentence in a longer blog post in which he tried to push back against widespread suspicion of data centers, and to make the case that they’re actually good for communities. NDAs are a significant piece of the broader data center backlash. For example, environmental activist Erin Brockovich recently said that the number one complaint she’s heard about data centers is transparency, with these projects following a common pattern: “projects announced after permits are already secured, developers who don’t return calls, local officials who signed NDAs before their neighbors knew a project was being considered.” As a result of that backlash, New York announced a one-year moratorium on permits for large data centers, and according to Garman, there are more than 100 data center moratoriums currently being considered across the United States. “If these measures are enacted, the U. S. could be writing its own losing ticket to this race, and the consequences would last generations,” Garman claimed. “As a country, we can’t afford to find ourselves in that position.” Garman also attempted to puncture what he said are four big myths around data centers: that they consume too much water, that they increase electricity costs, that they emit an enormous amount of pollution, and that they don’t provide any benefits to their communities. Pointing to an Amazon report about its own water usage, Garman said that “direct data center water consumption” only accounts for 0.5% of all industrial water usage in the United States, “orders of magnitude less than golf courses, almond farming, and many other industries.” Nvidia recently said its new cooling system eliminates “pretty much all water usage” inside the data center, but those claims — like Amazon’s — seem to ignore the broader water usage involved in electricity generation and chip manufacturing. Scientists have also said they need to study data centers’ water and energy usage independently, since there are no federal or state requirements around how tech companies report this data. As for electricity rates, Garman said they’ve only gone up in some states with large numbers of data centers, while they’ve gone down or at least grown more slowly in others. And he argued, “In instances where energy rates are going up, it’s primarily because the grid is old and hasn’t been invested in and expanded before the demand arrived.” On the other hand, an independent watchdog said recently data centers were the main culprit behind a 76% year-over-year price increase on America’s largest electrical grid.
Science
View All 10Queen's University students blast off to US for Nasa robotics competition
The team is made up of 10 students from Queen's University Belfast Could a robot designed ? A team, from Queen's University Belfast (QUB), are heading to Florida later this month to take part in a Nasa 'lunabotics' competition. Lunabotics is a university-level competition for teams to use the Nasa systems engineering process to design, build, and operate a lunar robot. The students created a lab-built robot that they will bring to the competition to find out how it would deal with future moon missions. The robots will be expected to dig up lunar material, drive over obstacles and use the material to form a wall. Jack Fitzpatrick, who's studying for a PhD in mechanical engineering, said "it's a great feeling" to have been invited and they're looking forward to the opportunity to take part. Jack Fitzpatrick is studying for a PhD and is part of the mechanical team The team of 10 QUB students made it to the competition following their win at the competition earlier this year. They'll be competing at the University of Central Florida against university teams from Australia, India and the US. Jamie Smith is the team's software lead Jamie Smith is a third-year electrical and electronic engineering student. He explained that the team was divided into three groups for software, electronics and mechanical. Jamie was the software team lead for this project. He said their main task was to control the rover then provide the autonomous capabilities towards it. And, they had to build rover simulations to test their software before they actually got one. Jack, however, is part of the mechanical side. "We analyse that something is physically strong enough, it's well built enough to survive this environment, it's going to have the traction to drive in this environment," he explained. Jack Fitzpatrick, Sandro O'Hara, Eoin Conway, Jamie Smith and Alex Dunne Jamie explained they designed the 52 kg aluminium frame robot rover and took it compete at a competition in Milton Keynes. "We got on very well. We ended up winning the competition and had great fun," he said. Then a few weeks later, they were invited to compete at Nasa's international Lunabotics competition. Jack said that being asked to go was a "great feeling" and "a real opportunity to demonstrate everything that you've learned". "It's just a great opportunity to represent Northern Ireland, the UK and really Europe abroad as we are the only European team that will be there," Jack explained.
I'm a wildlife cameraman but 'special' rare sightings can still take me by surprise
Abbot has seen the humpback whale before, but never in this area A wildlife cinematographer and shark guide has spoken about the unexpected surprise and joy of seeing a humpback whale in the Celtic Deep just off the Welsh coast. Dan Abbot, known as Sharkman Dan on his social media, shared a recording of the exciting moment just off the Pembrokeshire coast. He has seen the large marine mammals before, on planned trips where humpback whale sightings are not as unusual, but this experience was "a complete surprise". Lloyd Nelmes from Sea Trust said the sighting was "unusual for someone who works in the field... who probably has their eyes on the water every day", adding, "for a normal person, it's insanely rare". Abbot guides blue shark snorkelling trips off of Pembrokeshire Abbot guides blue shark snorkelling trips off of Pembrokeshire and was on a scheduled snorkelling trip in the Celtic Sea on 25 September when he discovered the rare find. The group had just left the snorkelling site after seeing multiple sharks and were 25-30 miles offshore. Abbot recalled seeing lots of feeding going on among bluefin tuna, dolphins and gannets which he said was not unusual in the waters there at this time of year. You could see barnacles around the front of the head, which fin whales don't have. "I actually went quiet for a moment. At that point, it was pretty clear it was a humpback whale." He continued: "I don't really get that excited, which sounds strange. I'm usually one of the quietest ones on the boat, but I think it was just because it was such a surprise to see that species. "I'm a wildlife cameraman but when something happens like that unexpectedly and catches you off guard, there's something about it that kind of makes it even more special." Guests on the boat were already in high spirits after the four-hour snorkelling trip, but Abbot said 'then to see a humpback whale was just an incredible way to finish the day". Dan Abbot says despite spending his days out in the water as a wildlife cameraman, "special" sights can still catch him off guard Lloyd Nelmes, an aquarium manger and marine project officer with Sea Trust Wales, spotted a humpback whale in Pembrokeshire in 2024. Nelmes said: "The whale jumped out right in front of us. It was incredible, and it's still probably my top wildlife moment of my life." He explained that humpback whale sightings were rare but not unheard of in Welsh waters, with sightings happening once every two or three years.
This protective enzyme could help stop fatty liver disease from getting worse
Date: October 3, 2026 Source: Cedars-Sinai Summary: Scientists have identified an enzyme that may act as a natural defense against the worsening of fatty liver disease, which affects an estimated 100 million Americans. The enzyme, called UBE2N, helps liver cells clear away damaged mitochondria and break down fat, potentially preventing the inflammation, scarring, and cell damage associated with the more dangerous condition MASH. Share: Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email FULL STORY A newly identified protective enzyme could offer scientists a new way to stop fatty liver disease before it causes serious liver damage. Credit: Shutterstock Researchers co-led by Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University have identified an enzyme that may help protect the liver from the damage that can occur as the most common form of liver disease becomes more severe. The findings, from a preclinical study published in Nature Metabolism, could eventually support new strategies for preventing serious liver injury and progression toward liver failure. An estimated 100 million people in the U. S. have metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, according to the American Liver Foundation. Roughly 20% to 25% of those affected go on to develop metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a more serious form of the condition in which excess liver fat is accompanied by inflammation, cell injury and scarring. Why MASH Is Difficult to Treat Current care mainly centers on lifestyle changes and efforts to limit additional liver damage. Although medications are available, treatment options are still limited, and there is currently no cure for MASH. Earlier research has suggested that damaged mitochondria, the structures that produce energy for cells, may contribute to the development and progression of MASH. After doing so, they observed reductions in fat accumulation, inflammation and scarring. Additional authors include: Feng Wang, Jin Lee, Jeong-Su Park, Meizhou Huang, Hwan Ma, Guoyan Sui, Zixiong Zhou, Xufeng Wu, Haram Lee, Soohwan Oh, Hanseul Park, Key-Hwan Lim, Chun-Woong Park, Sang-Bae Han, Jin Tae Hong and Michael Karin. Funding: This work was supported (grant nos. RS-2025-02273102 and RS-2025-02603096), Regional Innovation System & Education (RISE) programme of Chungbuk (grant no. 2025-RISE-11-014-03), the Pinnacle Research Award of American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD, to J. L.), the San Diego Digestive Diseases Research Center (SDDRC) Pilot/Feasibility Grant (NIDDK P30 DK120515, to J. L.), the National Institutes of Health (grant nos. R01DK085252, R01DK138591 and R01CA301632) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 82404726).
ESA’s Juice just used Earth as a slingshot to Jupiter
Date: October 3, 2026 Source: European Space Agency (ESA) Summary: ESA’s Juice spacecraft raced past Earth on September 28, using our planet’s gravity to dramatically reshape its path toward Jupiter without burning much fuel. The flyby changed its direction by 20 degrees and increased its speed by 3.5 km/s, while also giving scientists a rare chance to test its instruments on Earth and the Moon. Share: Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email FULL STORY During its flyby of Earth on September 28, 2026, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) captured this stunning view of Earth. The image was taken 1 (JMC1) at CEST, as Juice was heading away from its closest approach to Earth. This successful flyby of Earth redirected Juice’s path through space to put it on course for another flyby of Earth in 2029. Credit: ESA/Juice/JMC The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) made a close pass 28, skimming the outer reaches of the atmosphere and using our planet's gravity to reshape its path toward Jupiter while consuming very little fuel. The carefully planned gravity assist changed Juice's direction by 20° relative to its previous trajectory and increased its speed by 3.5 km/s. During the four weeks leading up to the encounter, mission controllers needed to make only one small course correction (out of six opportunities set aside) to place the spacecraft on the precise approach needed to take full advantage of Earth's gravity. Controllers began monitoring Juice particularly closely on August 17 and will continue that intensive tracking through October 10. Juice Makes a Close Pass Over Earth Juice reached its closest point to Earth at CEST ( UTC) on September 28. At that moment, the spacecraft passed just 8640 km above the Indian Ocean while taking a sequence of images with its onboard monitoring cameras. "The flyby required ultra-precise navigation in real time. Thanks to our very careful planning, we used only a small amount of the propellant reserved for this flyby," says Angela Dietz, Juice's Spacecraft Operations Manager. "This gives us more to use at Jupiter to carry out observations of the planet's icy moons." Preserving that fuel is especially valuable because Juice will eventually need it while carrying out its ambitious scientific campaign around Jupiter and its moons. Earth Becomes a Test Site for Juice Changing the spacecraft's trajectory was the primary purpose of the flyby, but the encounter also gave the mission team a valuable chance to test Juice's science instruments using a real planetary target.
Environment
View All 10Southern California swelters as late-season heatwave smothers region
A person relaxes in the shade in Echo Park during high temperatures in Los Angeles, California, on . Photograph: Caroline Brehman/Reuters View image in fullscreen A person relaxes in the shade in Echo Park during high temperatures in Los Angeles, California, on . Photograph: Caroline Brehman/Reuters Southern California swelters as late-season heatwave smothers region Temperatures expected to hover around 100F in downtown LA and even hotter inland, raising concerns about wildfires Southern California faced scorching heatwaves this summer that made locals wonder what happened to their famed Mediterranean climate. Now, the fall is bringing heatwaves too. Friday kicked off a new round of long-duration heatwave advisories from the National Weather Service (NWS), which expects unseasonably high temperatures to linger for at least a week. Temperatures are expected to hover near 100F in downtown Los Angeles, and spike well into the triple digits farther inland, raising the risk of both heat-related illness and wildfires. “We’re expecting temperatures will run some 15-20 degrees above normal – that’s pretty significant,” said Richard Bann, a meteorologist with the NWS’s Weather Prediction Center. “Stay cool. Limit exposure to the sun.” US arrests California man for allegedly smuggling $300m worth of computer servers to China October heatwaves are not uncommon in southern California. This year, they’re also influenced , in turn, is driving a strong El Niño – a year of above-average surface-water temperature in the Pacific Ocean. It’s difficult for scientists to point to a specific event and describe it as an effect of climate change, said David Neelin, an atmospheric physicist who researches climate change at UCLA. But research is showing that with every half-degree of global warming, heatwaves become both more likely and longer lasting. “Overall, it’s hard to escape that a warmer climate adds to the strength of heatwaves,” Neelin said. “It adds to the probability of heatwaves and the likelihood of getting longer-duration heatwaves.” This week’s heatwave will coincide with major outdoor events in the region, including the first game of the National League division series between the LA Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, noted Edith de Guzman, a researcher who studies climate change and heat adaptation at UCLA. She urged political governments to invest in heat adaptation now to make the region more livable in the future. Providing more shade is the most “most effective way to keep people safe”, she wrote in a text message. “Climate change is making longer-duration heatwaves possible, while simultaneously increasing their frequency and intensity,” De Guzman wrote. “So we should prepare for more of this in the future.
New Colorado neighborhood could offer glimpse into the future of home energy use
This story was originally published and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. A new residential development south of Denver is the testing ground for an unusual partnership that could transform home heating and cooling across the country. Dandelion Energy, a geothermal startup, and Lennar, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, recently completed construction of nearly 100 homes at the base of Colorado’s Front Range, each equipped with its own ground-source heat pump. The systems use less electricity than even the most efficient air-source heat pumps, potentially helping Colorado meet its climate goals while reducing peak energy demand and eliminating the need for new gas pipelines. Ground-source heat pumps draw on steady temperatures belowground to help heat and cool buildings. However, the projects’ custom designs and drilling requirements—homes typically require one or more boreholes drilled several hundred feet deep—are pricey. Drilling alone often costs more than $10,000. Dandelion, a company that got its start at X—a “moonshot” research and development subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s parent company—says it can complete geothermal heating and cooling projects twice as fast and at half the cost of similar installations. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Here's How Geothermal startup Dandelion Energy and homebuilder Lennar recently completed nearly 100 homes with geothermal heating and cooling at the Ken Caryl Ranch housing development in Littleton, Colorado. Phil McKenna / Inside Climate News The company is “taking a kind of mass market and maximally efficient lens to what has historically been a bespoke kind of custom, high-end product,” said Dan Yates, Dandelion Energy’s CEO and chairman. Earlier this year at Lennar’s Ken Caryl Ranch development, Dandelion’s drill team demonstrated a lightweight rig designed to quickly move from lot to lot, drilling boreholes and installing polyethylene pipe across the sprawling housing development before building foundations are poured. Each home gets a single bore between 200 and 500 feet deep, where temperatures are approximately 50 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. Water circulating through the pipe is warmed or cooled a heat pump installed in the basement of each new home provides additional heating or cooling depending on the time of year. Dandelion’s drilling team can complete boreholes for one or more homes per day. If they had to drill a similar installation elsewhere for a single building, they could lose an entire day simply transporting the rig to and from the site.
‘Nature-Based’ Solutions Could Save Insurers and Policyholders Billions
After years trudging through marshes around San Francisco Bay studying conservation practices, coastal ecologist Megan Kelso realized that one of the largest determinants of wetland health may not be an invasive species lurking with her among the sea grasses, but decisions made miles away in the executive suites of insurance companies. Wetlands absorb massive volumes […]
SEC Move Would Make it Harder for Shareholders to Push Companies on Climate Action
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wants to scrap a rule that allows shareholders to formally petition companies, one of the ways that shareholder advocacy groups have pressed for more action on climate and sustainability. Investor and advocacy groups warn that the SEC’s move would block a longstanding avenue for pressuring public companies to factor […]
Weather
View All 4Today: Sunny Intervals, Minimum Temperature: 13°C (55°F) Maximum Temperature: 19°C (65°F)
This video can not be played This morning will be dry with sunshine. It will turn cloudier in the afternoon but it will stay dry. It will be a breezy day. Tonight will be mostly cloudy and breezy. In the early hours, there will be a few scattered showers in places. It will be a mild night. Tomorrow will be a mostly cloudy day with scattered showers. It will turn drier later in the afternoon with some late bright spells developing. Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday Tuesday will be a mostly cloudy and breezy day with patchy outbreaks of rain. There will be the occasional drier and brighter spell. Wednesday will be a cooler day with a chance of rain in the morning. The afternoon will see sunny spells and a few scattered showers. Thursday will be another cool day, but it will be mainly dry with sunshine. Average wind speed 3 Miles per hour, South South Easterly3Average wind speed 5 Kilometres per hour, South South Easterly5 Humidity: Humidity: 93%,93% Visibility: Visibility, not available,-- Pressure: Pressure: 1029 millibars, Steady,1029mb, Steady Observation station: Manchester Airport (53.350° North, 2.283° West)Observation station: Manchester Airport (53.350° N, 2.283° W) Our favourite Weather Watchers photos nearby Report for Mossley, Tameside Report for Rochdale, Rochdale jol1yReported by jol1y Report for Rochdale, Rochdale stevenReported , Bolton Cheryl DoranReported
Monday: Light Rain, Minimum Temperature: 14°C (57°F) Maximum Temperature: 20°C (68°F)
This video can not be played This morning will be dry with sunshine. It will turn cloudier in the afternoon but it will stay dry. It will be a breezy day. Tonight will be mostly cloudy and breezy. In the early hours, there will be a few scattered showers in places. It will be a mild night. Tomorrow will be a mostly cloudy day with scattered showers. It will turn drier later in the afternoon with some late bright spells developing. Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday Tuesday will be a mostly cloudy and breezy day with patchy outbreaks of rain. There will be the occasional drier and brighter spell. Wednesday will be a cooler day with a chance of rain in the morning. The afternoon will see sunny spells and a few scattered showers. Thursday will be another cool day, but it will be mainly dry with sunshine. Average wind speed 3 Miles per hour, South South Easterly3Average wind speed 5 Kilometres per hour, South South Easterly5 Humidity: Humidity: 93%,93% Visibility: Visibility, not available,-- Pressure: Pressure: 1029 millibars, Steady,1029mb, Steady Observation station: Manchester Airport (53.350° North, 2.283° West)Observation station: Manchester Airport (53.350° N, 2.283° W) Our favourite Weather Watchers photos nearby Report for Mossley, Tameside Report for Rochdale, Rochdale jol1yReported by jol1y Report for Rochdale, Rochdale stevenReported , Bolton Cheryl DoranReported
California heat wave triggers Heat Advisories and Extreme Heat Warnings through October 8
The Weather Prediction Center (WPC) said an anomalous ridge over the western United States is producing a long-duration October heat wave across central and southern California. Its Short Range Forecast Discussion, issued at UTC on October 2 and valid from UTC on October 3 to UTC on October 5, identifies October 3 as the hottest day of the period. Temperatures are forecast to be about 8–11°C (15–20°F) above normal, with coastal areas well into the 30s°C (90s°F) and the hottest valleys reaching approximately 42°C (107°F). Warm nighttime temperatures are expected to provide limited relief. Heat Advisories cover portions of northwestern California, the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, the Bay Area, Central Coast and adjacent interior terrain. Extreme Heat Warnings cover parts of Southern California, including coastal and valley zones of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. Several products extend well beyond the weekend. The Sacramento Heat Advisory continues through PDT on October 7 ( UTC on October 8), while Extreme Heat Warnings issued /Oxnard and San Diego offices remain in effect through PDT on October 8 ( UTC on October 9). NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard described the episode as a major and long-lasting heat wave. Downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach reached 39.4°C (103°F) on October 2, breaking daily high-temperature records, while Burbank reached 38.9°C (102°F) and tied its daily record. /NWS NWS San Francisco/Monterey National Weather Service (NWS) San Francisco/Monterey issued its latest Heat Advisory products at PDT on October 2 ( UTC on October 3), with the advisories beginning at PDT ( UTC) on October 3 across affected portions of the Bay Area and Central Coast. San Francisco, the Marin Hills, Northern Monterey Bay and the Northern Salinas, Hollister and Carmel valleys remain under a Heat Advisory through PDT on October 4 ( UTC on October 5). Maximum temperatures are forecast at approximately 27–34°C (low 80s to low 90s°F). Mild minimum temperatures and weak onshore flow are expected to limit overnight relief. A longer-duration advisory covers interior portions of the Bay Area and Central Coast through PDT on October 5 ( UTC on October 6). The area includes the North Bay interior mountains and valleys, San Francisco Bay shoreline, East Bay interior valleys and hills, Santa Clara Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, interior Monterey County, much of San Benito County and the southern Salinas Valley. Maximum temperatures are forecast at approximately 35–39°C (mid-90s to low-100s°F). NWS Hanford A Heat Advisory issued PDT on October 2 ( UTC on October 3) covers the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra foothills from PDT ( UTC) on October 3 through PDT on October 6 ( UTC on October 7).
October heat records reported across southern China after temperatures reach 39.5°C (103.1°F)
Tidbits China Weather said widespread hot and humid conditions affected Jiangnan and southern China from September 25 to 30 under the influence of the western Pacific subtropical high. Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, southeastern Hunan, northern Guangxi and central and eastern Guangdong experienced four to five high-temperature days. Some areas reached 37–38°C (98.6–100.4°F). The Menggu station in Qiaojia County, Yunnan reached 39.5°C (103.1°F) during the 24 hours preceding LT ( UTC) on September 30. Today, 19 stations broke&tied records for the hottest late-September, with two of them broke or tied September records; 8 stations broke or tied records for the hottest Tmin in September. However, a cold front is set to bring the heatwave to an end tomorrow. @extremetemps pic. twitter. com/Z0hlO0hoP4 — Jim (@yangyubin1998) September 30, 2026 The Yongding District Meteorological Observatory in Fujian reported temperatures above 37°C (98.6°F) in several communities during the 24 hours preceding LT ( UTC) on September 30. Xianshi recorded the district’s highest temperature at 39.1°C (102.4°F). Jiangxi’s Climate Center reported that Guangxin reached 38.0°C (100.4°F) on September 28 during a provincial heat episode from September 25 to 29. Jiangxi’s average temperature from September 1 to 29 was 26.4°C (79.5°F), or 1.4°C (2.5°F) above normal. An independent analysis compiling station observations reported that 19 stations set or tied late-September maximum-temperature records on September 30. Two reportedly reached or tied their records for the entire month of September, while eight set or tied September records for their highest daily minimum temperatures. 【Blistering Heatwave】On October 1, southern China experienced extreme heat; 62 weather stations set records for the hottest October day, while 49 stations set records for the highest Tmin in October! @extremetemps pic. twitter. com/EBsQLH8vPm — Jim (@yangyubin1998) October 1, 2026 The same analysis identified a larger concentration of records on October 1, when 62 stations reportedly set or tied their highest October maximum temperatures and 49 set or tied records for their warmest October daily minimum temperatures. On October 2, the analyst reported that 18 stations broke October maximum-temperature records and 19 broke records for the highest October daily minimum. Yuanyang, Yunnan, reportedly reached 39.4°C (102.9°F), which the analyst described as a provincial October record. Today, 18 stations in China broke the hottest October record, while 19 stations broke the hottest October Tmin record! Yuanyang, Yunnan, hit 39.4°C, setting a new record for the highest October temperature in Yunan. @extremetemps pic. twitter. com/QlTiqQoNfp — Jim (@yangyubin1998) October 2, 2026 National Meteorological Center observation archives also showed exceptionally high temperatures continuing in southern Yunnan into early October. Cold air and widespread rain subsequently displaced the heat.
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Context matters here - this didn't happen in a vacuum
ESA’s Juice just used Earth as a slingshot to JupiterSurely I'm not the only one who thinks this is weird?
ESA’s Juice just used Earth as a slingshot to JupiterLoad of nonsense
ESA’s Juice just used Earth as a slingshot to Jupiter