Harry Styles performed a new track in memory of Liam Payne on the second anniversary of Payne's death, according to the BBC.
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October 2026 news
MapQuest now shows nearby license plate reader cameras on a map, including Flock cameras, according to TechRadar. CNET says users can turn on a Surveillance option to see camera locations marked by tiny eyeball icons.
A contributor to The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal and Foreign Policy called on the Israeli army to investigate Washington Post journalists attacked by settlers in the occupied West Bank, questioning who they travel with and whether they may have incited or engaged in violence. Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine recounted from her hospital bed that settlers pushed her to the ground and kicked her while she was reporting on attacks against Palestinian olive farmers in Abu Falah; she said her helmet and flak jacket helped protect her. Middle East Eye reports that a post by Quds News Network said at least 50 settlers attacked her and destroyed and looted her equipment. The United States condemned violence in the West Bank, and officials said they had offered consular assistance and called for investigations and legal accountability.
Rolls-Royce customers are making increasingly elaborate requests for bespoke cars at the company’s Goodwood factory in West Sussex. The Guardian reports examples including an interior lined with 3,000 iridescent feathers, a built-in champagne cooler and a car designed as a tribute to its owners’ dog.
The Times of Israel reports that Adm. Brad Cooper cited reports that Iran’s proxies are withholding salaries to send money to the IRGC; it says he claimed the US blocked $25 billion in Iranian oil exports and controls the Strait of Hormuz, while at least one tanker was reported struck. The outlet also says increased Iranian help reportedly fueled Houthi advances. Earlier, President Donald Trump said the US Navy’s blockade was effective and no Iranian ship had crossed Hormuz, according to Middle East Eye, which had previously reported Cooper’s claims that the US and regional partners controlled the strait and the blockade halted Iran’s maritime imports and exports except humanitarian assistance.
England’s men lost 30-12 to Tonga in Perth in their opening Rugby League World Cup match. The Guardian reports the match was in Pool B, while the BBC says Tonga took their chances.
Residents of Totnes, Devon, have held Saturday “play protests” throughout autumn to oppose a school’s plan to sell part of an open field to fund refurbishments. They have gathered by the River Dart to play ballgames, fly kites or spend time on the grass, The Guardian reports.
A Guardian opinion article argues that new technologies are quickly used to harass women, citing people who record women with smart glasses and post footage on TikTok, sometimes exposing their identities to online harassment. The article says Meta has introduced some bans and privacy updates but has not adequately addressed the problem, and that Mark Zuckerberg did not apologize at the Meta Connect 2026 keynote.
A seriously ill British man living in Sweden says he has gone into hiding amid fears he will be deported over what he describes as a Brexit residency error. The Guardian reports that Mark Smith, 60, who is married to a Swedish woman, says he was told three times that he needed to do nothing to remain in Sweden after Brexit, but was later told by phone to leave by 17 October because he lacked permission to stay. Smith has had heart attacks, strokes, severe headaches and chronically high blood pressure, according to the report.
Chilean-American author Isabel Allende has won Spain’s €1m Premio Planeta for La hora antes del alba, a sequel to her 1982 debut, The House of the Spirits. The Guardian reports she won the award under a pseudonym at its 75th edition on Thursday.
Sebastian Rucci wants to build what he hopes will be California's largest artificial intelligence datacenter near Imperial, a desert city in an agricultural area north of the Mexican border. The Guardian reports that Rucci promised thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue, but the project has faced strong local resistance amid concerns about a new, energy-intensive neighbor in a water-scarce region.
At a summit in Brussels on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked EU leaders for an additional €70 billion in 2027 to sustain Ukraine's war effort; Al Jazeera put the request at $79 billion. The South China Morning Post reports he said the war would cost €155 billion next year and the extra funds were needed for defence, weapons and resilience. France 24 reports he feared Donald Trump would continue lifting Russia sanctions after Washington eased them in a diesel-supply deal; The Japan Times says Trump waived new Russia sanctions, while Le Monde says Zelensky described Trump's actions as a betrayal. In a later video, France 24 says Zelensky made the appeal amid a fresh row with Trump and said he was standing up for Ukraine.
Former national security adviser Peter Ricketts has urged the UK to improve its resilience against Russian hybrid attacks. The Guardian reports that he called on ministers to be honest about the immediate threat, which he said could soon cost lives, and to protect banking, energy and water systems from cyberattacks; the BBC reports that he called for more spending to strengthen energy, transport, air traffic control and defence sites.
The Guardian reports that half of the women on Donald Trump's team have been replaced by men, while men facing misconduct allegations remain. This follows earlier reports that people leaving Trump's second-term administration, voluntarily or involuntarily, are overwhelmingly women, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Research suggests that bosses can improve meetings by listening more and talking less. The report also says that cutting aimless meetings can help.
Leap seconds are set to be retired next year and replaced by a leap hour, which would not need to be implemented for several centuries, Tom’s Hardware reports. This follows reports that the International Bureau of Weights and Measures voted to scrap the leap second.
Apple has tightened App Store rules to more explicitly ban AI apps that generate intimate images of people without their consent. The change follows criticism over X users’ use of Grok earlier this year to create sexualized deepfakes, including images of minors; The Verge reports that Apple did not remove X or Grok from the store.
Researchers in New Zealand’s South Island are trying to retrieve data from a tagged female tawaki, or Fiordland crested penguin, at its burrow on Eleanor Island. The Guardian reports that the bird has dug multiple tunnels to evade the team, which has been watching the burrow for weeks.
Democrats have raised more than Republicans in key congressional races, while Elon Musk is funding Ken Paxton in Texas and GOP groups aligned with Trump, CNBC reports. This follows earlier reports that Musk gave $158 million to a group helping Paxton’s Texas Senate bid.
Protests in India demanding the removal of the chief election commissioner over alleged voter fraud have intensified, CNBC reports, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi defends India as the “mother of democracy.” This follows earlier reports that authorities released leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party after demonstrations and detentions.