UK News
View All 9Hundreds of French fridges hacked in nationwide cyber attack sparking fires and spoiling food
Hackers forced refrigerators and freezers at hundreds of French supermarkets to 50C, triggering fires and destroying perishable goods.The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed on Monday that a "large-scale" attack was "affecting connected refrigerators in several major food retailers across France", resulting in both food losses and fires.Temperatures inside the compromised units reached as high as 50C during the six-hour assault on some of the country's biggest supermarket chains.No one immediately calculated total industry losses, though Intermarché chief executive Thierry Cotillard told BFM TV the "unprecedented" attack would amount to "tens of millions of euros nationwide in a single day." TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Carrefour reported that 80 of its stores were affected, while Monoprix said roughly five per cent of its approximately 490 French outlets were hit.Les Mousquetaires, the parent company of Intermarché, confirmed that fridges at about 150 of its locations were pushed to 50C for six hours overnight. A spokesman said they threw away all compromised stock to prevent health risks.Cooperative U chief executive Dominique Schelcher confirmed his group was also targeted, saying: "Targeting equipment essential to the preservation of fresh products and to the food supply of the French people is of extreme gravity and is unprecedented."In central Paris, a resident observed Intermarché workers wheeling trolleys laden with defrosted frozen goods into a large skip, with melted ice cream spilling from burst containers onto the pavement.Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu directed France's National Cybersecurity Agency, ANSSI, to investigate the breach, according to a source in his office.Investigators traced the vulnerability to software produced by Danish refrigeration technology firm Danfoss. The company acknowledged it was "aware of incidents in France affecting a limited number of refrigeration management systems" and stated that the compromised units "were running outdated firmware".LATEST DEVELOPMENTSFrench riots reach climax as parents and students clash with police forcing closure of hundreds of schoolsHorror France school shooting leaves headmistress and teacher wounded as student, 14, arrestedFrance to 'make parents pay' for nationwide repairs as rioting youths leave behind €30million trail of destructionDanfoss added that it had "long advised customers to keep supported systems updated with the latest firmware and to migrate legacy systems to current-generation solutions".France was also liaising with European partners amid concerns the attack could extend beyond its borders, with authorities evaluating whether additional French businesses might be vulnerable.Cybersecurity analyst Felix Aime of Sekoia Threat Detection and Research said the disruption had spread beyond France, with Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany and Belgium also affected.Supermarket refrigeration systems are typically managed through internet-connected control panels that cover an entire store's cold aisles, enabling remote maintenance, but also creating a potential entry point for attackers.In August, cybersecurity firm Claroty's Team82 published findings on vulnerabilities in the Danfoss AK-SM 800A controller, identifying flaws that could let hackers bypass authentication and run code on compromised devices.The incident bears similarities to attacks on roughly a dozen US military commissaries in late August, which also resulted in food losses after refrigeration units were compromised.Dutch supermarket giant Ahold Delhaize, which runs the Netherlands' biggest grocery chain Albert Heijn, said it was separately contending with a "security issue" on its network and had taken multiple systems offline as a precaution.A notification on the retailer's app informed customers it could not fulfil grocery deliveries owing to a "cybersecurity incident". Physical Albert Heijn shops continued to trade, though rival chains reportedly saw a spike in delivery orders.The company said there was no indication of a connection between its difficulties and the French attacks.Ahold Delhaize, the fourth-largest grocery retailer in the United States, also saw websites for its Stop & Shop, Giant, Hannaford and Food Lion brands go down temporarily. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
Somali-born congresswoman's home raided by immigration enforcement officers
Authorities conducted a predawn raid on the Washington home of Somali-born Democratic US Representative Ilhan Omar. A source close to the investigation said the raid was related to alleged immigration fraud, and part of the probe concerns the lawmaker's immigration paperwork filled out by her late father when she was a child.Minnesota Congresswoman Omar is an outspoken critic of Donald Trump, with the two having traded verbal blows over immigration policy. She wrote on social media that the US government is being weaponised to target a political enemy of the president. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Congresswoman Omar said: "For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. "This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced."Not long after, speaking to supporters in Youngstown, Ohio, President Trump quickly turned to Congresswoman Omar, who was born in Somalia and became a US citizen in 2000, settling in Minnesota, home to a large Somali community.He said: "She comes from one of the worst countries anywhere on the planet. What a mess they have done...Somalia", which was met with chants of "deport, deport" from supporters. In announcing the raid, a Justice Department spokesman said: "Today in the Washington, DC area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorised search warrant secured by the Department of Justice. This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal investigation."Homeland Security Investigations is part of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, an appointee of President Trump, said last month "something's gonna happen" in the investigation into Congresswoman Omar's family's entry into the United States.He told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson: "If we can prove that you shouldn't have been here in the first place, we'll deport you."LATEST DEVELOPMENTS FROM WASHINGTONDonald Trump calls for Ukraine to 'get a new President' as clash with Volodymyr Zelensky intensifies following Vladimir Putin diesel dealDonald Trump chooses 'devoted fan' as new White House Press SecretaryDonald Trump defends Russia diesel deal as White House hopes pact can 'soften' Moscow on peace talksCongresswoman Omar, a prominent progressive, represents a safe Democratic district, having won reelection in 2024 by 50 percentage points.In a statement, US House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other members of the party's leadership in the chamber said the raid was "deeply disturbing and raises serious questions" about the weaponisation of the federal government against President Trump's enemies.Republicans have "relentlessly targeted" Omar, said Jeffries, joined by Representatives Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar. President Trump's "mass deportation machine has descended upon the home of a duly elected Member of Congress and her family," they added, and they vowed to "deliver full accountability" for a "rogue abuse of power."Congresswoman Omar has faced a barrage of political insults from President Trump, who has cast the Somali-American community as a threat to Minnesota in a burst of anti-Somali and anti-Muslim rhetoric.The Democrat has called the President's focus on her an "unhealthy and creepy obsession."Civil rights advocates have criticised President Trump's rhetoric toward minorities and immigrants, including when he previously called Somalis "garbage."Congresswoman Omar has said she and her family have faced death threats, which she attributes to "hateful political rhetoric," especially from President Trump.Minnesota Democrats also condemned the raid.Minnesota Governor and former Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz wrote on social media. "Americans see this for what it is."President Trump is abusing his power to go after political opponents weeks before an election."Republican Representative Nancy Mace said: "If the fraud is proven, she should be denaturalised and removed from this country. NO ONE is above the law." Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
‘Incredibly ashamed’: Man accused of throttling pensioner in apparent case of mistaken identity is remanded in custody
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Six Scottish RNLI stations to receive new lifeboats by 2030 as demand increases
RNLI Charity Emergency Scotland Six Scottish RNLI stations to receive new lifeboats by 2030 RNLI Charity Emergency Scotland Six RNLI stations across Scotland are set to receive new lifeboats (Image: RNLI Thurso) This article is brought to you , and has been written . It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald. Six RNLI stations across Scotland are set to receive new lifeboats . Volunteer lifeboat crews responded to 9,058 callouts in 2025 – more than three and half times what was expected of the charity 50 years ago. In addition to increasing demand, the RNLI said the way people are using the coast and the water is changing, which the charity said requires an “evolutionary” response. Lifeboat crews are responding to far fewer calls to boats and vessels, and are increasingly responding to people who start out from the beach and use the coast for recreational purposes, such as open water swimming, kayaking and paddleboarding. It means that the majority of incidents are now within the operational capabilities of an inshore lifeboat, prompting the charity to review its long-term lifeboat fleet strategy. “The RNLI has constantly evolved and improved our service over 202 years,” RNLI chief executive Peter Sparkes said. Design concept of the new Coastal Lifeboat (Image: Zodiac) “We make evidence-based decisions and strive to ensure that we have the right lifeboats in the right places, at the right time to save as many lives as possible around the coast of the UK and Ireland and, crucially, to enable us to bring our selfless, dedicated people home safely. “We are responding to the changing nature of lifesaving at sea ’ future needs. What will never change is our charity’s purpose, to save lives at sea and our mission, to save every one.” On Monday, the RNLI announced that it has reviewed its fleet strategy and developed a 15-year plan to ensure it has the most appropriate lifeboats in the right places which will save the greatest number of lives in the most effective way while keeping volunteer crews safe. As part of the RNLI’s 2040 strategy, six lifeboat stations across Scotland will receive new lifeboats between 2028 and 2030. Scotland’s two remaining Trent-class lifeboats, based at Broughty Ferry and Dunbar, will be replaced . The Severn-class lifeboats at Campbeltown, Stromness and Mallaig will be succeeded by Shannon-class lifeboats, and Portpatrick’s Shannon-class lifeboat will be replaced by a Coastal lifeboat. RNLI crews rushed to sinking boat after reports of person in water Kirkcudbright RNLI opens £1.2 million station and names new lifeboat Lifeboat crew called into action four times in six hours The second phase of changes will modernisation of the charity’s lifeboat fleet through the gradual exit of the Trent-class All Weather Lifeboat, which first entered service in 1994, 2028.
World News
View All 10Despite long history with Netanyahu, Trump hedges as Israel vote nears
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are seen in Jerusalem [File: Evelyn Hockstein/Getty] 13 Oct 202613 Oct 2026 Washington, DC, United States – Since first entering the White House in 2017, US President Donald Trump has delivered on a right-wing Israeli wish list and pursued a foreign policy that has helped buoy Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political fortunes.
More than 100 foreign trekkers stranded by floods in Nepal’s Gorkha region
Locals stand over sludge along the banks of the Budhi Gandaki river on Monday, a day after a flash flood caused by a dry landslide, at Sallari Chumnubri in Nepal's Gorkha district [Sovit Shrestha/AFP] 13 Oct 202613 Oct 2026 More than 100 foreign trekkers have been stranded in central Nepal, according to a local official, a day after flash floods in the Gorkha district washed away bridges, hiking trails and hundreds of homes.
Russia says Europe bought $320 billion in hydrocarbons since 2022
Russia said on Monday that European Union countries had bought $320.7 billion worth of its energy resources since 2022, despite sanctions over the war in Ukraine. The figure fuelled tensions as European officials criticised a US deal to import Russian diesel, while Stockholm called for the bloc to use frozen Russian assets to boost support for Kyiv. What is this page? The website you are visiting is protected. For security reasons this page cannot be displayed.
'Breaking Bad' actor and disability activist RJ Mitte dies aged 34
"Breaking Bad" actor RJ Mitte, who played Walter White Jr. in the hit US television series, has died aged 34, his representatives said Monday. The actor, who lived with cerebal palsy, also became a prominent disability rights advocate, championing inclusion and representation in film and television.
Politics
View All 10Newsom backs California ballot measure that cancels out billionaire tax proposal
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) endorsed a ballot measure that, if approved by voters, would cancel out the ballot measure proposal that would impose a one-time tax on the Golden State’s billionaires. On Friday, Newsom endorsed Proposition 42, which would prohibit retroactive taxes imposed by Proposition 40, known as the Billionaire Tax Act, for any…
Sanders calls for artificial superintelligence ban after OpenAI CEO interview
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday called for permanently banning artificial superintelligence in response to recent remarks made by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Altman told Politico’s “Decoded” podcast in an interview last week that society will face a “coming tidal wave of cybersecurity problems” coming from open-source AI models. He also said that people will…
France’s Glucksmann notched a crushing primary victory. But he needs more allies to win the presidency.
Other parties on the left continue to go after Glucksmann, while François Hollande's shadow looms over his campaign.
Why the prime minister wants to talk about Brexit again
The Brexit debate is back. For years, it felt like the only thing Westminster talked about. I have had a ringside seat at it all, from the Conservative election victory in 2015, with the party's promise in its manifesto that year to offer "a straight in-out referendum on our membership of the European Union 2017." Then there was the then Prime Minister David Cameron's negotiation with the European Union to try to secure what he saw as a better deal and then the referendum itself on Thursday, . And that, you will remember, was merely the start, as years of wrangling began. Two general elections came and went in 2017 and 2019 and it took the two prime ministers after David Cameron, first Theresa May and then Boris Johnson, before the UK left the European Union at on Friday, . Little wonder perhaps that , almost irrespective of someone's views on the topic, there was an appetite to talk about something else. Political parties picked up that vibe and while their long standing instincts on the EU were there to see if you scratched the surface, there was minimal desire to extemporise about them any time soon. With the arrival of Andy Burnham as prime minister, that has changed, despite what he said just a few months before he arrived in Downing Street. He has been happy to repeatedly lean into an argument claiming that it is time to "face up to the reality that Brexit has done more harm than good" and "the status quo is not good enough for Britain." First he made this case at the Labour Party Conference last month and now he has made it again in the House of Commons. Burnham is attempting to make a two-pronged case. First, in the short term, he wants to "deepen" the UK's relationship with the EU at a summit in Brussels at the end of next month. He insists such a deepening would be within the promise made , the single market and freedom of movement. Which brings us onto the second element of his case, in the medium term. What might Labour promise in its next general election manifesto? The prime minister told me a fortnight ago the manifesto could promise an in-out referendum. In the Commons, he sought to reassure you, whatever your view on Brexit. "This country in the next decade needs to know where it's going. There are no assumptions here, and as I said, the British public will be the boss of whatever is decided," he said.
Business
View All 10Chip stocks slide in wake of ‘casino’ comment by Broadcom boss
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FirstFT: IMF sounds alarm on dire public finances
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EU hybrid curbs to offer only ‘temporary’ respite against Chinese carmakers
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Unreliable Boyfriend — Chrystia Freeland’s roadmap for dealing with a chaotic superpower
Canada’s former deputy prime minister’s memoir chronicles her political ups and downs while offering a strategy to survive the US president’s bullying
Technology
View All 10Wayfair Coupons: Up to 80% Off October 2026
Save StorySave this story Save StorySave this story Photograph: Martin Cizmar Save to wishlistSave to wishlist Mercer41 Convertible Sleeper Sofa Photograph: Julian Chokkattu Courtesy of Steelcase Chevron Chevron Save to wishlistSave to wishlist Steelcase Gesture Top Wayfair Coupons for 2026 Wayfair has become a staple of online furniture sales thanks to its wide selection of furniture and home goods, fast and free shipping on orders over $35, limited-time deals, and exclusive daily sales. There are tons of rotating Wayfair coupons and flash deals for up to 70% off pricey purchases like furniture. Since its founding 20 years ago, the Boston-based online retailer has grown steadily and now offers 14 million items from more than 11,000 global suppliers. Wayfair carries almost everything needed to furnish a home, including pillows, mattresses, bedding, home goods, couches, office chairs, and so, so much more (even cat furniture). We’ve rounded up the best ways to save from this often WIRED-tested and -reviewed brand. Courtesy of Wayfair Save to wishlistSave to wishlist Langley Street Fleckenstein Oriental Area Rug Photograph: Wayfair Save to wishlistSave to wishlist Langley Street Herzig Multicolor Area Rug Unlock Halloween at Wayfair Spooky season is here, and Wayfair has the decorations to get your home into the spirit. With a wide selection of whimsical, Halloween-themed decorations and deals on both outdoor and indoor decor under $20, Wayfair may be your unexpected Halloween destination. Wayfair also breaks down its Halloween selections, making it easier to find what you’re looking for, with Halloween accents from $20, entryway essentials from $30, doormats from $25, lawn statues and props from $40, wreaths and garlands from $25, inflatables from $40, and more. Thanksgiving for Less with Wayfair The holiday season is quickly approaching, and now’s the time to get prepared. Save money while hosting this year by shopping Wayfair’s Thanksgiving section. With Wayfair’s Thanksgiving shop, you can find tons of discounted items ahead of the celebration marathon, including table linens and drinkware sets starting at $25, fall decor starting at $25, dining tables starting at $200, dining chairs at $150, cookware sets starting at $50, and more. Shop Wayfair Coupons and Flash Deals Up to 80% Off Furniture Wayfair has daily sales and early Black Friday deals, with half off or more on bedroom, kitchen, dining room, and living room furniture, including tables and TV stands. There are also Wayfair flash sales, like rotating 24-hour Deals of the Day, which change daily and are heavily discounted, up to 80% off. There are also deeply discounted Closeout Deals on discontinued and overstocked products, with up to 70% off last-chance items.
Lego Promo Code | 20% Off October 2026
Save StorySave this story Save StorySave this story Just about everyone has heard of Lego and its block sets. You can use them to build just about anything. It’s great for all ages, a great gift, and even great for date night. My husband and I have gotten Lego Botanical sets for four years in a row for Valentine’s Day to build together. Lego sets are constantly fought over at every White Elephant party I attend, which is why you’ll always find a set recommended in our White Elephant gift guide. We love Legos as a gift so much that we have an entire gift guide dedicated to it. There are even Lego smart bricks that let you add sounds and light effects to your Lego set of choice. If you’re shopping for a specific Lego set ahead of the holiday season, like a Star Wars Lego set or Harry Potter Lego sets (or, if you’re my husband, a specific One Piece Lego set that features an entire ship and all the characters), it isn’t always cheap, especially for the cooler, larger sets. That’s where WIRED’s Lego coupon codes come in handy, whether you’re shopping for a holiday or just for fun. These Lego discount codes can help you with all kinds of sets. Here are all the Lego coupons you need to try the next time you’re shopping for a Lego set. Buy One, Get 20% Off With This Lego Promo Code Why get just one Lego set when you can get two? This Lego discount code gives you 20 percent off your second Lego set. Stock up on the best Lego sets in one swoop, and check out Lego’s website for the current monthly discount. Piece Together Huge Lego Discounts With the Lego Sale The smartest way to get a good Lego discount (without a Lego promo code) is to shop in the Lego sale section. You can always find on-sale Legos on Lego’s website, and right now there’s a handful of Harry Potter Lego keychains on sale, along with other Lego minifigures and accessories. Unlock Your Lego Student Discount Today Students can always shop with their own special Lego promo code and discount options. Students can check here to see which discounted Lego sets they can currently purchase. Score Extra Savings With Lego Coupons and at Lego Insiders Love Lego?
AI Models Can Provably Hide Arbitrary Capabilities
[Submitted on ] Title: AI Models Can Provably Hide Arbitrary Capabilities Authors: Andis Draguns, Sumeet Ramesh Motwani, Raymond Douglas, Christian Schroeder de Witt View a PDF of the paper titled AI Models Can Provably Hide Arbitrary Capabilities, 3 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: Capability evaluations aim to surface dangerous model behaviors before deployment, but their reliability depends on the assumption that hidden capabilities can be elicited. We show this assumption does not hold under adversarial conditions , decrypting and executing them only upon receiving a secret trigger. Using digital lockers, these hidden circuits remain provably hard to elicit and interpret under cryptographic assumptions, even given full access to model weights, extending prior work from hiding fixed strings to arbitrary computations. We implement our proof of concept constructions in PyTorch and evaluate elicitation through fine-tuning, weight noising, gradient-based trigger search, and latent adversarial training on a small chemical reaction prediction task - a proxy for CBRN-relevant capabilities. Our results demonstrate resistance to these methods and, together with our cryptographic guarantees, reveal a limit of elicitation-based capability audits. We release our models to support the improvement of defenses. Accepted at NeurIPS 2026 Subjects: Machine Learning (cs. LG); Cryptography and Security (cs. CR) Cite as: arXiv:2610.13928 [cs. LG] (or arXiv:2610.13928v1 [cs. LG] for this version) https://doi. org/10.48550/arXiv.2610.13928 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Andis Draguns [view email] [v1] Fri, :06 UTC (878 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled AI Models Can Provably Hide Arbitrary Capabilities, 3 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Additional Features Audio Summary Current browse context: cs. LG < prev | next > new | recent | 2026-10 Change to browse by: cs cs. CR References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) IArxiv recommender toggle IArxiv Recommender (What is IArxiv?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community?
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Claims Strikes on Russian Data Centers Silenced Social Media Bots
Tech News Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Claims Strikes on Russian Data Centers Silenced Social Media Bots Yandex's automated traffic fell by 94%, but that probably reflects widespread service outages rather than bot posting rates. 12, 2026, pm ET Reading time 3 minutes Zelenskyy is seen among Ukrainian weapons as he touts drone advances. © PresidentGovUa / YouTube Read Later Read Later Comments (15) The ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war has mixed the digital and the kinetic in unprecedented and often terrifying ways, including widespread use of suicide drones, software orchestration of the front lines, and the weaponization of commercial ad data. So it’s hardly surprising that Ukraine has struck data centers run by Russia-based tech giant Yandex (sort of a Facebook/Google/Uber hybrid) three times in the last few days. The most recent strike, on Oct. 11, reportedly completely disabled a facility in the Vladimir region east of Moscow. The result was widespread outages of Russian internet services, both within and outside the country. That said, automated traffic is a huge umbrella that includes everything from search crawlers to uptime-monitoring tools. Euronews also noted that social media users in other countries, like Germany, the UK, and US, also claimed to witness a decrease in bots; this was apparently based on vibes. Online “prediction market” Polymarket also tweeted that “Activity on several major U. S. political subreddits plunges following attacks on Russian data centers,” though that assertion didn’t come with evidence. Insisting that online rivals are secretly bots is a time-honored posting tactic, one of the few bipartisan ones left—it’s pretty hard to find a front-page Reddit thread that doesn’t have at least a couple comments insisting that “the bots are really out today.” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a U. S. government-funded broadcaster that primarily serves foreign audiences, noted that technical experts have pointed out the supposed drop in automated traffic is from Yandex’s own search crawler hitting websites with AS13238 HTTP requests. As a result, it does not indicate anything about the broader volume of Russian internet traffic or what it contains. Finally, that stat only accounts for Russian web traffic that’s already been categorized as automated. Russian cyber adversaries would presumably make at least some kind of cursory effort to obfuscate their traffic, including . Some of the claims appear to conflate data centers with Russian “troll farms” such as the Internet Research Agency (IRA), which became well-known following a 2015 expose.
Science
View All 10SpaceX launches Falcon 9 Starlink mission for 1st time in more than 3 weeks (photos)
The company sent 27 of its Starlink internet satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) today (Oct. 12), launching them atop a Falcon 9 rocket from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base at p. m. EDT ( p. m. local time; 0028 GMT on Oct. 13) It was the first Starlink mission for a Falcon 9 since Sept. 19, which was another 27-satellite liftoff from Vandenberg. For some perspective on this recent gap: Between Aug. 19 and Sept. 6, a span of 19 days, SpaceX launched seven Starlink missions with Falcon 9s. Latest Videos FromSpace View more Watch full video here: The Falcon 9's first stage rests on the deck of a ship at sea shortly after the Oct. 12 launch. ()SpaceX did loft a batch of Starlinks after that, but it wasn't aboard a Falcon 9. The company's Starship megarocket carried 26 next-gen Starlink V3 craft on its 14th test flight, which took place on Sept. 28. Starship reached orbit for the first time ever on Flight 14, and it deployed the Starlinks successfully as well. This will happen many more times going forward, if all goes to plan: The Starlink V3 constellation will eventually consist of about 100,000 satellites, all of which will fly on Starship, Elon Musk has said. Indeed, SpaceX plans to sunset the Falcon 9 and its cousin, the Falcon Heavy, in the next few years, shifting their duties over to the fully reusable, far more powerful Starship, which remains in the test-flight phase. That shift will be a big one for the spaceflight community, for the Falcon 9 is the workhorse rocket of its generation. In 2025, for example, it flew 165 times — roughly the same number as the rest of the world's orbital launchers combined. Nearly three-quarters of those Falcon 9 launches were Starlink missions. Things have slowed down a bit in 2026. Today's flight was the 112th Falcon 9 liftoff of the year, and the 82nd in service of the Starlink megaconstellation, which currently consists of more than 11,100 active satellites. Previous Booster 1088 launches NROL-126 | Transporter-12 | SPHEREx | NROL-57 | USSF-366 | 14 Starlink missions All went according to plan on today's launch. The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth as planned, touching down about 8.5 minutes after launch on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You," which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean. It was the 20th launch and landing for this particular booster, which is designated B1088. The rocket's expendable upper stage, meanwhile, delivered the 27 spacecraft to LEO, deploying them there 62 minutes after liftoff, SpaceX announced via X.
Crew searching for Amelia Earhart arrives at crab-infested island
Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while piloting her Electra plane in 1937 A team of researchers have arrived at a remote island to inspect possible plane wreckage of famed aviator Amelia Earhart, who vanished in 1937 while flying around the world. The group from the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) and Purdue University arrived at Nikumaroro Island in the Pacific Ocean on Monday. The search team's work, expected to take five days, could be hampered -dwelling crabs, as well as the El Niño climate phenomenon which is now the strongest ever recorded. Coconut crabs, also known as Robber crabs, emerge at night to hunt for small mammals and seabirds, and will force the search crew to spend nights on their ship for their own safety. The disappearance of Earhart, an American aviation pioneer who was attempting to circumnavigate the globe with navigator Fred Noonan, has spawned decades of speculation. Researchers will work to locate what has been called the Taraia Object, first spotted sitting on the edge of a lagoon off Nikumaroro in satellite imagery in 2020. Some believe it to be the wreckage of her plane, but others have expressed scepticism that it is an aircraft at all, with one theory suggesting it is a collapsed tree. This is the first authorised trip to Nikumaroro Island in seven years, and the first visit to the Taraia Peninsula in more than 15, according to Purdue. The ship, the Marin Mainiku, on Monday arrived at the western side of the island, part of the nation of Kiribati, after a five-day voyage crossing 830-nautical-miles through the South Pacific. "It is incredibly rewarding to be this close to completing our inspection of the Taraia Object and potentially solving, at long last, the outstanding mystery of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan more than 89 years ago," expedition leader Rick Pettigrew said in a blog post on Monday. Coconut crabs, pictured here in the Marshall Islands, could have played a role in Earhart's disappearance On Tuesday, the crew plans to navigate through a narrow gap "blasted" in the atoll's reef 1963 - the last time the island was inhabited - to prepare for landing. The first day on the island will focus on "transporting equipment, clearing vegetation, and establishing staging operations", according to the post. One group of researchers will cut a trail through the jungle. Work will then shift to searching for evidence, including magnetic metals, on the Taraia Peninsula on Wednesday.
SpaceX launching 6,300 pounds of cargo to the ISS today: Watch it live
A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch a robotic Dragon capsule to the orbiting lab from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday at a. m. You can watch the action live here at Space. com, courtesy of NASA, starting at a. m. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the company's Dragon spacecraft on the CRS-34 cargo mission to the ISS from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 15, 2026. ()The launch will kick off the CRS-35 mission, so named because it will be the 35th that SpaceX flies under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. If all goes according to plan, Dragon will reach the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday (Oct. 15), docking autonomously to the space-facing port of its Harmony module at around 11 a. m. You can watch the arrival here at Space. com as well; coverage will start at a. m. CRS-35 will deliver 6,300 pounds (2,860 kilograms) of supplies to the astronauts aboard the orbiting lab, including the final set of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs), which will boost the orbiting lab's energy budget. There's also quite a bit of scientific gear heading up on the flight. Dragon "will deliver hardware to manufacture artificial retinas in microgravity to help restore vision on Earth and 3D heart tissue models to advance large‑scale drug testing on future missions," NASA officials wrote in a CRS-35 launch preview on Oct. 7. "The spacecraft will carry materials to study how a new type of glass forms in microgravity and brain organoids that could reveal treatment targets for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis," they added. Dragon will stay attached to the ISS for about a month, then head back down to Earth with scientific experiments and other hardware. It will splash down safely under parachutes in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. Dragon is the only currently operational freighter that can carry cargo in the downward direction. The other three — Russia's Progress, Japan's HTV-X and Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL — are all expendable, burning up in Earth's atmosphere after their time at the ISS is done. Spaceflight and Tech Editor Michael Wall is the Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space. com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers human and robotic spaceflight, military space, and exoplanets, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018.
The Monte Verde controversy is back: who first lived in the Americas?
Illustration of the Monte Verde people Julieta Torres/www. indaga. me This is an extract from Our Human Story, our about the revolution in archaeology. receive it in your inbox every month. In every scientific field, there are totemic places. The CERN physics laboratory that houses the Large Hadron Collider; the Cavendish lab in Cambridge where James Watson and Francis Crick did their research on the structure of DNA; NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. In archaeology, one such place is a site in Chile called Monte Verde. For half a century, Monte Verde has been central to our understanding of the peopling of the Americas. For two decades, the story that Monte Verde told was wildly controversial. It then became fairly settled, but, as of this year, it has become controversial again. The details of the new argument are, at times, punishingly technical, and I’m going to give only the roughest outline of them or we’d be here all week. However, the actual questions at the back of all this are simple: who were the first people to live in the Americas, and when did they arrive? The Americas were the last continents to be settled by humans. (Well, there’s Antarctica, but given it was discovered only within the last 300 years, let’s not worry about it.) The oldest known hominins lived in Africa, and we don’t see hard evidence of hominins anywhere else until 1.8 million years ago, when Homo erectus reached what is now Georgia – the one in Eurasia, not the US state. Later, hominins like Neanderthals and Denisovans spread throughout Eurasia. Later still, our species, Homo sapiens, appeared in Africa and migrated all over Eurasia. That’s a lot of travelling around, over a period of nearly 2 million years. Yet none of those people seem to have reached the Americas. While the exact timing of that momentous landfall is very contentious, we are talking at most about the last 35,000 years – and the main waves of settlement seem to have been between 20,000 and 13,000 years ago. That’s where Monte Verde comes in. It has long been claimed to be the oldest evidence of humans in the Americas – or at least the oldest one with indisputable traces of human intervention and reliable dating evidence. Monte Verde told us that people entered the Americas thousands of years earlier than previously thought. Now, the archaeological data at the site is under attack – and with it, our understanding of the prehistory of the Americas.
Environment
View All 10Coastal erosion in England has claimed at least 183 homes in past 16 years
A clifftop home in Hemsby being demolished in 2023. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA View image in fullscreen A clifftop home in Hemsby being demolished in 2023. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA Coastal erosion in England has claimed at least 183 homes in past 16 years Exclusive: Homes demolished along east coast after being deemed too vulnerable to live in, figures reveal Seaside communities along the east coast of England have lost at least 183 homes to coastal erosion and landslides over the past 16 years, figures obtained . After councils judged properties across the Yorkshire and East Anglian coasts too vulnerable to remain safely occupied, the homes were proactively demolished. The demolitions cost £1.1m, with the Environment Agency contributing about £482,000 towards clearing 61 homes at risk of collapsing and the rest paid for . Coastal erosion is the gradual wearing away and retreat of the sea shoreline, which can destabilise cliffs and eventually force homes and infrastructure to be demolished before they collapse. While it is a natural process, scientists said the climate crisis was accelerating the retreat of the UK’s shores. The Guardian requested data from nine councils noted in a House of Commons environment, food and rural affairs committee (EFRA) report as being some of the most vulnerable to coastal erosion. East Riding of Yorkshire council, which includes vulnerable communities in Skipsea, Aldbrough and Mappleton, has demolished 66 homes since 2010 – the most of these nine local authorities. Great Yarmouth borough council (GYBC) has demolished 64 homes since 2010, with all the houses located in the village of Hemsby. Since December 2025, the council has removed 41 properties in the seaside resort. A GYBC spokesperson said: “Last winter, the dunes in Hemsby saw about 50% of the erosion predicted for the entirety of the next 30 years. More than 10 metres of land was lost in just over 12 months. “Council staff continue to liaise with people to make sure residents and the public are safe and work closely with people to offer support and advice and explain the options available.” North Norfolk council has proactively demolished 21 homes over the same period. East Suffolk council, which only held data for the past six years, recorded a sharp rise in demolitions last year. Eight homes were demolished between 2020 and 2024, and 16 between May last year and April this year. Most of East Suffolk’s homes demolished this year are understood to be in Thorpeness. Hilary Lightfoot’s home, in which she lived and raised a family for 20 years, was demolished this year. “I’ve lost £650,000 – that was what my flat was worth,” she said. “I’ve had to dig into my pension savings to buy a house, of which I still owe money on.
UN carbon market forces cookstove projects to protect against forest loss
Share: X (Twitter) Facebook LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Print Cleaner cooking projects in the UN carbon market will have to set aside a share of their credits to insure against the risk that the trees they save are lost to fire, drought or logging, after the market’s regulator rejected calls to exempt the sector. The requirement is part of a new rulebook that the Paris Agreement carbon market regulator – the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body – approved last Friday for programmes that aim to cut emissions . These are the UN mechanism's first rulebooks for cookstoves, one of the carbon market’s most popular credit types and also one of its most criticised for overstating climate benefits. Log in here → Lots of our articles are free. This one isn't This story is exclusively available to paid subscribers. A free account gets you a selection of our reporting and our Climate Weekly . But a subscription gets you every story in full, our Bulletin emails from negotiations and conferences, two subscriber-only newsletters, and our monthly Editor’s column. £40/quarter → Or £130/year — best value. Cleaner cooking projects in the UN carbon market will have to set aside a share of their credits to insure against the risk that the trees they save are lost to fire, drought or logging, after the market’s regulator rejected calls to exempt the sector. The requirement is part of a new rulebook that the Paris Agreement carbon market regulator – the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body – approved last Friday for programmes that aim to cut emissions . These are the UN mechanism's first rulebooks for cookstoves, one of the carbon market’s most popular credit types and also one of its most criticised for overstating climate benefits. They consist of two methodologies: one for programmes that aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions , and a separate methodology for projects shifting households to lower-emissions cookers running on electricity or liquid petroleum gas (LPG). Mkhuthazi Steleki, the South African chair of the Supervisory Body, said “this decision gives cleaner cooking projects a new pathway under the UN carbon market, with clear rules to ensure that each credit represents a real and credible emission reduction”. Exemption push rejected More efficient cookstove projects earn credits based on the amount of carbon they save . But if those trees later burn in a wildfire or are logged, the carbon stored would be released anyway, erasing the climate benefits of the credits. Several carbon credit developers, conservation NGOs and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) disputed that cookstove projects face this risk, in what critics described as a “coordinated lobbying campaign”.
A once-in-a-generation opportunity for California’s ocean
The ocean surrounding California’s Channel Islands can feel like another world. Beneath the surface sway towering kelp forests that are patrolled , striking in pink and black with protruding teeth, along with refrigerator-sized giant sea bass. Seals and sea lions swim among colorful sponges and sea stars. “We sometimes think of the Channel Islands as our Galapagos in California,” said Doug McCauley, a professor of marine science at UC Santa Barbara. The cornucopia of marine wildlife here wasn’t always this vibrant. Violet Sage Walker, the chair of California’s Northern Chumash Tribal Council, recalled documentary footage showing the Channel Islands before marine protections were enacted, in an era when intensive commercial fishing had damaged kelp forests and key species. “It looked like Mars, like a dead planet,” she said. But beginning in 2003, areas around the Channel Islands were designated as California Marine Protected Areas, or MPAs — a conservation strategy akin to creating underwater state parks. With roughly 150 square miles of protected waters, the islands now function as a safe haven for marine flora and fauna, essentially acting as nurseries for baby fish and protecting dozens of iconic species like kelp bass, rockfish, leopard sharks, and more. Now, for the first time in 15 years, California officials are considering proposals to create new areas and expand existing ones, as part of the state’s first-ever review of its MPA network. “This is a historic opportunity that we don’t want to miss,” said McCauley. Building California’s marine protections MPAs are designated ocean zones where restrictions on activities such as fishing, oil and gas drilling, and other seafloor disturbances can help preserve marine ecosystems and give damaged habitats room to recover. Protections vary by site, but in areas where these kinds of disturbances are removed, “you have larger fish, more abundant wildlife, and a healthier habitat,” said Sandy Aylesworth, director of the Pacific Initiative, Nature, at the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC. Among the 2026 potential additions are two new proposals for protected areas on the state’s Central Coast: the Point Sal and Mishopshno State Marine Conservation Area proposals. Each of these sites is co-sponsored by a California Tribe in collaboration with NRDC, and in the case of Mishopshno, also , a Santa Barbara-based non-profit. These Tribally sponsored proposals represent a first for California’s MPA network, and offer the state an opportunity to formally recognize the longstanding role of California Tribes as ocean stewards and make good on its commitment to Tribal marine stewardship. A rare convergence of habitats The proposed Point Sal State Marine Conservation Area would include roughly nine square miles off the Santa Barbara County coast.
EU to limit Chinese hybrid vehicle imports to 350,000 a year
Any Chinese plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (known as PHEVs) imported above the new quota level will remain blocked in customs at docks in Europe. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Any Chinese plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (known as PHEVs) imported above the new quota level will remain blocked in customs at docks in Europe. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian EU to limit Chinese hybrid vehicle imports to 350,000 a year Brussels uses WTO rules to quickly impose quota, which will halve Chinese market share to 3% Business live – latest updates VW boss backs EU plan to bolster domestic industry The EU is to limit the number of hybrid electric vehicles imported from China to 350,000 cars a year, the European Commission has confirmed. Imports have been soaring in the past two years; about 800,000 battery and plug-in hybrids are likely to be sold this year. The EU expects that the quota, which will come into force in December, will halve China’s market share, which now stands at 6% in a landmark four-year agreement made in Beijing last week. The annual limit on imports of hybrids will be taken under the World Trade Organization safeguard measures, which mean it can be implemented swiftly without the type of investigations needed in anti-dumping measures. Jaguar targets young Americans with Type 01 EV – but it’s too long for UK parking spaces Any cars imported above the quota level will not be subject to tariffs, but will remain blocked in customs at docks in Europe. Chinese vehicles assembled within the EU, such as those made in Hungary or, in future, Spain, will not be subject to the quota, officials have confirmed, but EU companies making cars in China will. China’s exports of hybrids to the EU tripled to €6.7bn (£5.7bn) in the first half of this year, from €2.2bn a year earlier, according to Chinese customs data. As part of the deal, China has also agreed to drop some tariffs on auto parts and cut duties , olive oil and ice-cream from the EU. Officials stressed that the quota is fully supported by China, and further dialogue on cars and other imports including chemicals, renewable energy and furniture is continuing. “We will continue the dialogue on some products … this is ,” an official said. Last month, the EU called for feedback on a new rule that could oblige companies to diversify their supply chains while the“Made in Europe” legislation would do the same in public procurement.
Weather
View All 6Today: Sunny Intervals, Minimum Temperature: 7°C (45°F) Maximum Temperature: 17°C (63°F)
Search for a location Search Manchester - Weather warnings issued 14-day forecast Red Met Office Weather WarningsAmber Met Office Weather WarningsYellow Met Office Weather Warnings Forecast - Manchester Day Today , Sunny intervals and a moderate breeze Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High17° 63° Low7° 45° Sunny intervals and a moderate breeze Wednesday 14th OctoberWed 14th , Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High18° 64° Low13° 55° Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze Thursday 15th OctoberThu 15th , Light cloud and a gentle breeze Light Cloud Light Cloud , High20° 67° Low11° 51° Light cloud and a gentle breeze Friday 16th OctoberFri 16th , Sunny and a gentle breeze Sunny Sunny , High14° 57° Low4° 39° Sunny and a gentle breeze Saturday 17th OctoberSat 17th , Sunny intervals and light winds Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High13° 56° Low5° 41° Sunny intervals and light winds Sunday 18th OctoberSun 18th , Sunny intervals and light winds Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High13° 56° Low7° 44° Sunny intervals and light winds Monday 19th OctoberMon 19th , Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High15° 59° Low10° 49° Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze Tuesday 20th OctoberTue 20th , Light rain and light winds Light Rain Light Rain , High15° 59° Low9° 49° Light rain and light winds Wednesday 21st OctoberWed 21st , Light cloud and light winds Light Cloud Light Cloud , High16° 60° Low10° 50° Light cloud and light winds Thursday 22nd OctoberThu 22nd , Light rain and light winds Light Rain Light Rain , High15° 59° Low9° 48° Light rain and light winds Friday 23rd OctoberFri 23rd , Sunny intervals and light winds Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High15° 58° Low9° 48° Sunny intervals and light winds Saturday 24th OctoberSat 24th , Sunny and light winds Sunny Sunny , High14° 58° Low7° 45° Sunny and light winds Sunday 25th OctoberSun 25th , Sunny intervals and light winds Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High14° 57° Low8° 46° Sunny intervals and light winds Monday 26th OctoberMon 26th , Sunny intervals and light winds Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High14° 56° Low9° 47° Sunny intervals and light winds Back to top Sunny intervals and a moderate breezeSunny intervals and a gentle breezeLight cloud and a gentle breezeSunny and a gentle breezeSunny intervals and light windsSunny intervals and light windsSunny intervals and a gentle breezeLight rain and light windsLight cloud and light windsLight rain and light windsSunny intervals and light windsSunny and light windsSunny intervals and light windsSunny intervals and light winds Environmental Summary Sunrise07:31Sunset18:18 MUVModerateLPollutionLow Sunrise07:33Sunset18:16 LUVLowLPollutionLow Sunrise07:35Sunset18:13 MUVModerateLPollutionLow Sunrise07:37Sunset18:11 MUVModerateLPollutionLow Sunrise07:39Sunset18:09 MUVModerateLPollutionLow
Wednesday: Sunny Intervals, Minimum Temperature: 13°C (55°F) Maximum Temperature: 18°C (64°F)
Search for a location Search Manchester - Weather warnings issued 14-day forecast Red Met Office Weather WarningsAmber Met Office Weather WarningsYellow Met Office Weather Warnings Forecast - Manchester Day Today , Sunny intervals and a moderate breeze Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High17° 63° Low7° 45° Sunny intervals and a moderate breeze Wednesday 14th OctoberWed 14th , Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High18° 64° Low13° 55° Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze Thursday 15th OctoberThu 15th , Light cloud and a gentle breeze Light Cloud Light Cloud , High20° 67° Low11° 51° Light cloud and a gentle breeze Friday 16th OctoberFri 16th , Sunny and a gentle breeze Sunny Sunny , High14° 57° Low4° 39° Sunny and a gentle breeze Saturday 17th OctoberSat 17th , Sunny intervals and light winds Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High13° 56° Low5° 41° Sunny intervals and light winds Sunday 18th OctoberSun 18th , Sunny intervals and light winds Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High13° 56° Low7° 44° Sunny intervals and light winds Monday 19th OctoberMon 19th , Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High15° 59° Low10° 49° Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze Tuesday 20th OctoberTue 20th , Light rain and light winds Light Rain Light Rain , High15° 59° Low9° 49° Light rain and light winds Wednesday 21st OctoberWed 21st , Light cloud and light winds Light Cloud Light Cloud , High16° 60° Low10° 50° Light cloud and light winds Thursday 22nd OctoberThu 22nd , Light rain and light winds Light Rain Light Rain , High15° 59° Low9° 48° Light rain and light winds Friday 23rd OctoberFri 23rd , Sunny intervals and light winds Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High15° 58° Low9° 48° Sunny intervals and light winds Saturday 24th OctoberSat 24th , Sunny and light winds Sunny Sunny , High14° 58° Low7° 45° Sunny and light winds Sunday 25th OctoberSun 25th , Sunny intervals and light winds Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High14° 57° Low8° 46° Sunny intervals and light winds Monday 26th OctoberMon 26th , Sunny intervals and light winds Sunny Intervals Sunny Intervals , High14° 56° Low9° 47° Sunny intervals and light winds Back to top Sunny intervals and a moderate breezeSunny intervals and a gentle breezeLight cloud and a gentle breezeSunny and a gentle breezeSunny intervals and light windsSunny intervals and light windsSunny intervals and a gentle breezeLight rain and light windsLight cloud and light windsLight rain and light windsSunny intervals and light windsSunny and light windsSunny intervals and light windsSunny intervals and light winds Environmental Summary Sunrise07:31Sunset18:18 MUVModerateLPollutionLow Sunrise07:33Sunset18:16 LUVLowLPollutionLow Sunrise07:35Sunset18:13 MUVModerateLPollutionLow Sunrise07:37Sunset18:11 MUVModerateLPollutionLow Sunrise07:39Sunset18:09 MUVModerateLPollutionLow
Category 3 Hurricane Simon remains off western Mexico after heavy rain floods Manzanillo
Satellite image of Hurricane Simon at UTC on October 12, 2026. Credit: NOAA/GOES-19, RAMMB/CIRA, The Watchers At LT ( UTC), Simon was centered about 235 km (145 miles) west-northwest of Manzanillo and 75 km (50 miles) southwest of Cabo Corrientes. The hurricane was moving northwest at 7 km/h (5 mph). Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 30 km (15 miles) from the center, while tropical-storm-force winds reached 95 km (60 miles). A Hurricane Warning remained in effect from Playa Pérula to El Roblito and for Las Islas Marías, with a Hurricane Watch north of El Roblito to Bahía Tempehuaya. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said hurricane conditions were likely occurring within the warning area and were expected to spread northward during October 12. /NHCHeavy rain flooded homes and streets in Manzanillo on October 11, where soldiers assisted affected families. 28 municipalities in Jalisco and Colima were under the highest cyclone alert level and another 93 were under high alert. Air transportation remained disrupted along the affected coast. Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico said official aviation notices scheduled Puerto Vallarta International Airport to remain closed to all operations until LT ( UTC) on October 13 and Manzanillo International Airport until LT ( UTC) on October 12. NHC said Simon showed modest structural degradation early on October 12, with its eye becoming filled, although satellite-based intensity estimates remained widely dispersed. Further weakening was forecast because of interaction with Mexico’s mountainous terrain and increasing easterly wind shear, although waters of 31–32°C (88–90°F) could slow the weakening if the center remained farther offshore. NHC forecast Simon to move slowly northwest through early October 13 before turning gradually north and northeast toward west-central Mexico around midweek. Track uncertainty remained higher than normal because forecast models differed on how long Simon might remain in weak steering currents before beginning the northeastward turn. Simon was expected to remain a hurricane through midweek and weaken rapidly after moving over Mexico’s mountainous terrain. NHC forecast an additional 50–100 mm (2–4 inches) of rain across coastal southwestern and west-central Mexico. Isolated amounts of 150–200 mm (6–8 inches) were possible in parts of Jalisco early in the week and in Sinaloa mainly on October 14 and 15. Isolated storm-total accumulations near 760 mm (30 inches) remained possible in parts of Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco. NHC warned that the rainfall could produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides or worsen flooding already underway, particularly in steep terrain. A dangerous storm surge was expected along the immediate coast near and east of where Simon’s center approaches land, accompanied .
Strong M6.2 earthquake hits Solomon Islands region
Epicenter of M6.2 earthquake near Panguna, Papua New Guinea on October 11, 2026. Credit: TW/SAM, Google The epicenter was located approximately 81 km (50 miles) SSE of Panguna (population 2 916), 88 km (55 miles) S of Arawa (population 40 266), and 482 km (300 miles) SE of Kokopo (population 26 273), Papua New Guinea. It was also located 175 km (109 miles) NW of Gizo (population 7 177) and 534 km (332 miles) NW of Malango (population 10 532), Solomon Islands. Approximately 1 000 people are estimated to have experienced weak shaking, 244 000 light, and 78 000 moderate. The USGS issued a Green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage. Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are a mix of vulnerable and earthquake-resistant construction. The predominant vulnerable building types are informal structures made of metal, timber, and GI materials, and unreinforced brick masonry construction. Recent earthquakes in the area have caused secondary hazards such as landslides that might have contributed to losses. Recent earthquakes in this area have caused landslides that might have contributed to losses, according to the USGS PAGER information. Epicenter of M6.2 earthquake near Panguna, Papua New Guinea on October 11, 2026. Credit: TW/SAM, Google Estimated population exposure to earthquake shaking Caption: Selected cities exposed Regional seismicity References: 1 6.2 earthquake near Panguna, Papua New Guinea – USGS – October 11, 2026 2 M6.2 earthquake Solomon Islands region – EMSC – October 11, 2026 Rishav Kothari I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.
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