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CQC research finds long delays are making conditions harder to treat and highlights regional disparities in care

Thousands of children in England are experiencing some of the sharpest rises in waiting times for healthcare in the history of the NHS, a report has revealed.

While some adult waiting times have improved, children and young people are being “hit hardest” amid soaring demand and falling numbers of staff, according to the annual state of care report by the Care Quality Commission.

Caricom commission chair Hilary Beckles wants king to ensure Commonwealth becomes a ‘moral institution committed to human justice’

The head of the Caribbean’s reparations commission has appealed to King Charles III as a “human brother” whose family he said had benefited from slavery to support reparations talks at next month’s Commonwealth leaders meeting in the Caribbean.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) in Antigua and Barbuda next month, professor Hilary Beckles urged the king to use his influence to advance slavery reparations talks between Britain and the Caribbean.

Datacenter and chip costs fueled sharp decrease in AI sector although non-AI stocks still had a strong showing

The latest shudder for stocks in the AI industry pulled markets lower worldwide on Thursday, while oil prices hit their highest levels since May on worries about the war with Iran.

The S&P 500 fell 1.2% for its worst day since July, while the Nasdaq composite tumbled 2.6%. The weakness for tech stocks was so overwhelming that it masked strength for the rest of the US market, in which the majority of stocks actually rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 11 points, or less than 0.1%.

• 41-year-old set on ‘dream to be able to race in Africa’

• Rwanda to host despite criticism of human rights record

Lewis Hamilton has said he hopes to remain racing in Formula One until he can take part in the African Grand Prix which is set to take place in Rwanda in the 2030s. The seven-time world champion believes it is right that F1 is to hold a race there despite criticism of the country’s human rights record.

Last week F1 confirmed Rwanda was to host the African Grand Prix having concluded a 10-year agreement for the meeting on a purpose-built circuit, with the first race set for the early 2030s. It is lined up to be held on a circuit in Bugesera, 25 miles south of the capital, Kigali, which has yet to be constructed and marks a return to the African continent for the first time since it last held a race at Kyalami, South Africa in 1993.

PM will also announce funding for specialised protective gear and the deployment of military aircraft

The UK government is to create an AI Cobra unit to spot wildfires after this year’s record-breaking summer saw devastating blazes across the country.

The country experienced its hottest-ever summer this year, with prolonged dry periods and extreme heat fuelling wildfires that triggered an emergency alert to mobile phones in England and Wales. Figures released on 8 October showed a clear upward trend in the number of fires recorded each year.

Actors in the mix to play 007 in Denis Villeneuve’s installment include Callum Turner and Jack Lowden

The search for the next James Bond may finally be nearing its end: according to reports, a very select group of actors will screen-test to become the next British agent 007 this weekend.

According to the Hollywood Reporter and Variety, citing several sources, a group of actors reportedly including Callum Turner and Slow Horses’ Jack Lowden, will appear in front of cameras as the secret agent this weekend in London.

Singer who has had record-breaking Brit awards success adds to haul thanks to massively ambitious big-band album

Raye is the winner of the 2026 Mercury prize, for her second studio album, This Music May Contain Hope.

Her win – for a hugely ambitious 73-minute record that spanned big band jazz, power balladry, funk and more – caps an ongoing renaissance for a British singer who at one point was in the doldrums, lashing out publicly at her record label for not letting her release a studio album.

Actor also had roles in M*A*S*H, A River Runs Through It and Picket Fences in career spanning 60 years

Tom Skerritt, the actor known for roles in Alien and Top Gun, has died at the age of 93.

His publicist confirmed to Variety that he died from natural causes.

Becky Drury says she was hit by gunfire before she could intervene in attack that killed four, including three children

A teacher wounded in last week’s shooting at a Bend, Oregon, elementary school shared her account of the incident, and how she was shot before she could intervene and “[pretended] to be dead”.

Becky Drury was seriously wounded at Silver Rail elementary when Griffin J John II, a 16-year-old former student at the school armed with a shotgun, broke in and headed toward a special education classroom. He shot six people, killing Megan Lambert, a 25-year-old teacher, and three children, including five-year-old Rhoam Summer.

Regulators say removing ‘unnecessary burdens’ will save businesses about £2bn over 10 years

The UK is watering down rules introduced in the aftermath of the financial crisis that were designed to hold City bosses accountable for wrongdoing.

The plans, put forward by the financial industry’s two top regulators, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), include a reduction in reporting for “lower-level misconduct” and would also free 140,000 managers from extra checks.

Political candidates’ once reflexive support for Israel has increasingly become a liability

When the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the most prominent pro-Israel lobby group in the US, announced on Wednesday that it would stop endorsing candidates or make direct contributions to them, its many critics were quick to hail the development as Aipac’s admission of how toxic its brand had become.

The announcement marked a significant reversal that underscored just how profoundly US public opinion of Israel has shifted over the latest war in Gaza, and how political candidates’ once reflexive support for Israel has increasingly become a liability.

Aisha Zaman, 27, charged with two firearms offences after incident in city centre on Sunday

A 27-year-old woman has been charged after a police officer was shot while attending an incident in Nottingham.

Aisha Zaman, from the Hyson Green area of the city, has been charged with possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of that firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.

Republican Mike DeWine said ad featuring estranged mother of Democrat Amy Acton was ‘wrong’

Donald Trump issued a swift rebuke against Mike DeWine, Ohio’s Republican governor, who on Thursday said gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was “wrong” to release an ad critical of his Democratic rival Amy Acton that featured her estranged mother.

DeWine had implored Ramaswamy to take the ad down, but hours later, Trump urged Ramaswamy to keep airing it and accused the Republican governor of disloyalty.

New account from Pike’s lawyer suggests team was racked by doubts even before pentobarbital began to flow

The Tennessee execution team tasked with setting an intravenous line in the arms of the death row prisoner Christa Pike through which she could be injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital repeatedly warned that her vein might be “blowing”, before they went ahead with the procedure, her lawyer has revealed.

Members of the intravenous (IV) team used up to 10 needles as they sought to establish a line through which Pike could be killed with a massive dose of the sedative. About 20 minutes into the attempt, they began discussing among themselves whether the prisoner’s vein “might be blowing”.

Government inspections showed overcharges as high as 39% on some items. The discount store giant was the subject of a 2025 investigation by the Guardian

Dollar General, the nation’s largest dollar-store chain, has agreed to a $1.875m deal to settle allegations that it “repeatedly and persistently” overcharged customers across New York state.

The New York attorney general’s office found that Dollar General often charged customers higher prices at checkout than the prices it promised on shelf labels, signs, advertising circulars and its mobile app. The state agency said one check of 114 items across multiple stores revealed overcharges on individual items as high as 26%, 38% and 39%.

‘The word ‘justified’ has haunted me since Monday,’’ the child’s maternal grandmother says

Since the Mississippi attorney general, Lynn Fitch, announced on Monday that the police shooting of Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old baby, “was justified”, footage of the shooting has been made public. It was first reported by Darkhorse Press, a Mississippi outlet.

On Thursday, attorneys Ben Crump and Van Turner, who are representing the Wiley family, held a press conference at the Senatobia Church of Christ, in Senatobia, Mississippi. The press conference came shortly after members of the family were able to view footage of the shooting.

Stage show based on late singer reportedly set to feature her best-loved songs with involvement from her father Mitch

A musical based on Amy Winehouse is in development for London’s West End.

The project is still in early stages with Catherine Schreiber, a Tony award-winning producer (Cabaret, Rent), attached to the project, according to Variety. Casting is reported to currently be under way.

Miatta Fahnbulleh says reference to ‘awkward’ interview was meant to be lighthearted and self-deprecating

The energy secretary has been forced to clarify that she backs Shabana Mahmood’s migration policy, after earlier joking that she had not been able to “lie” about supporting a key element of the changes.

Miatta Fahnbulleh made the original remarks to a journalists’ event in Westminster, referring to an “awkward” Sky News interview in which she repeatedly refused to say she was in favour of plans to make foreign workers wait 15 years to get permanent residency.

People near south Wales river were told to keep windows and doors shut after thousands of litres of kerosene from a GE Aerospace site got into the water

Oily slicks of kerosene still appeared to be leaking into the River Taff this week, several days after a breach of thousands of litres was spotted by members of the public.

The breach into the Welsh river was identified last Friday, after people reported strong chemical odours emanating from it. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) officers arrived on site soon afterwards to identify the source of the pollution and were assisted by the south Wales fire and rescue service, which placed absorbent mats and booms to contain as much kerosene as possible.

Tech company previously complied with president’s demand to rename Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America

Donald Trump said Google rejected his request to rename the Atlantic Ocean after himself or America.

Speaking at a rally in South Carolina on Wednesday, the president said he had called Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, to ask whether the company could “handle” his proposal.

PM pledges commitment to address climate crisis, saying in Guardian article that his ‘determination is unwavering’

• Andy Burnham: We will make the net-zero transition work for Britain

Andy Burnham has said he will not “abandon the responsibility” of fighting the climate crisis after the government approved the Jackdaw gasfield, pledging to block new North Sea licences and keep Britain on track for net zero by 2050.

The comments are the prime minister’s most forthright yet on net zero, after many MPs have privately cast doubt on the authenticity of his commitment to tackling the climate crisis.

Far-right activist says he used private investigators to track down journalists but denies trying to intimidate them

The far-right activist Tommy Robinson has told his harassment trial that he used private investigators to track down journalists who had written about his alleged role in the 2024 riots, and had photographs taken of their homes “to put pressure” on them.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, denied in court that his actions, which included sharing photos of the wife and daughter of one of the journalists, were designed to intimidate and bully.

‘Scapegoating non-permanent residents is not going to lower the cost of living,’ Vanesa Ortiz says

When Vanesa Ortiz came to Calgary from Mexico, she found herself in a city gripped by winter. Outside the airport, it was -15C (5F).

“I would come to understand that this was not an extreme cold,” she said. “But in the moment it was terrifying.

California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii health officials ask CDC ‘prioritizing emerging technologies’ to reconsider

California and Washington asked the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in May to validate a new way to test for measles – but after waiting two months, the CDC denied the request, citing “other competing priorities”, according to a letter from the West Coast Health Alliance to the CDC director, Erica Schwartz.

The letter, signed by health officials in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, asks Schwartz to reconsider and validate a rapid, high-volume measles test in preparation for major outbreaks. The alliance also asked the CDC to create protocols to test for other high-priority pathogens to prepare for future outbreaks.

Parents, colleagues and others encouraged her to go to police but she feared she would not be believed

A woman told her mother that Russell Brand had raped her and “didn’t stop even when she screamed out in pain”, a court has heard.

The woman also told a colleague she was “bleeding everywhere” and that Brand had shouted at her, saying, “Look what you’ve done to my fucking sheets”, Southwark crown court heard on Thursday.

No 10 says Russian president ‘has killed thousands of people, both innocent Ukrainians and his own people’

Downing Street has rejected the description of Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian” made by Donald Trump’s chief negotiator on the Ukraine war.

Steve Witkoff met the Russian president in St Petersburg on Wednesday as he sought to make a new push to end the invasion of Ukraine, with the US putting pressure on Kyiv to agree to a settlement.

Exclusive: Sasan Ghandehari’s partnership with religious foundation raises questions about past dealings with republic criticised by Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage’s newest billionaire donor was in business with a powerful Iranian religious foundation under the authority of the country’s supreme leader, raising questions about his past dealings with the hardline republic.

Hossein Ghandehari, also called Sasan, was little known in the UK until he pledged to give millions to Reform UK this summer and donated £50,000 to Farage to cover the cost of two passes for the Davos World Economic Forum.

The Pentagon’s Active Denial System shoots energy beam that causes ‘sensation of intense heat on surface of skin’

Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of defense, reportedly signed a memo last month permitting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to test a non-lethal “heat ray” for potential use at the US southern border.

The “heat ray”, known as the Active Denial System, is a military-grade weapon that shoots an energy beam causing “a sensation of intense heat on the surface of the skin”, according to a 2009 National Defense University case study on the weapon.

French president also says he will decide on concrete ‘next steps’ for the next nationwide demonstrations

• Angry lawyers and bewildered defendants: the fallout from fast-tracking French rioting cases

Emmanuel Macron has said “illegitimate” demonstrations will be banned over the coming days as France seeks to get a grip on civil unrest after some of its worst street violence in years erupted on the fringes of cost of living protests at the weekend.

Speaking after a ​meeting with intelligence officials and senior ministers, the French president said on Thursday that demonstrations organised by recognised groups would be allowed to go ahead, although their routes could be changed.

Federal authorities allege state senator L Louise Lucas, a vocal Trump critic, led a ‘criminal marijuana enterprise’

Virginia state senator L Louise Lucas, one of the state’s most powerful Democrats, was charged on Thursday in connection with what federal authorities alleged was a role leading a criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds.

An indictment unsealed on Thursday charged Lucas and six other defendants, including several of her relatives, the Department of Justice said in a statement. Lucas surrendered on Thursday, a justice department spokesperson said.

The social media personality denies allegations he gave a girl alcohol until she was drunk and sexually assaulted her

The “looksmaxxing” livestreamer Braden Peters, better known by his stage name Clavicular, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges that he raped a 17-year-old girl at his family’s Massachusetts home.

A social media personality known for promoting extreme devotion to male beauty, Peters, 20, is accused of giving the girl alcohol until she was drunk and then sexually assaulting her when she visited him in Chatham, on Cape Cod, in May 2025.

The PM is heard having a long discussion about crisps in the trailer to the show, which is in aid of Stand Up To Cancer

From ranking his favourite crisps in the pub to complaining about people watching TikToks out loud on the train, Andy Burnham has made efforts to show he has the common touch.

Now he will become the first prime minister to appear on the TV show Gogglebox, in a special charity episode on Friday.

Exclusive: Michael Aboud, whose actions in what he believed to be a documentary are likely to come under considerable scrutiny, has expressed anger at the film-maker

• This article contains spoilers for Ali G: Who Iz I?

The chair of the El Paso County Republican Party has said he intends to sue Sacha Baron Cohen over footage of the local politician used in new satircal comedy Ali G: Who Iz I?

In the film, Michael Aboud is shown taking part in a training programme with another Cohen character, ex-Mossad terrorist expert Col Erran Morad, who instructs Aboud and fellow Maga sympathisers in self-defence techniques including the wearing, over clothes, of protective plastic buttocks. He also schools them in how to fire bullets from the middle of these buttocks by the repeated up and down manipulation of a rubber penis.

Other prizes at Freedom from Torture event include rare Mary Wollstonecraft book illustrated by William Blake

Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan are among a number of literary stars auctioning off the chance for readers to name characters in their next novels to raise money for survivors of torture.

The auction is part of Freedom from Torture’s 10th anniversary literary festival, which brings together leading authors and survivors for a celebration of storytelling, featuring a poetry competition and live readings at the London Library on 11 November.

Hegseth’s aides, who attempted to move 30in fragile globe themselves, dropped it during relocation, army officials say

A priceless pre-second world war globe coveted by the US defence secretary Pete Hegseth for his office in the Pentagon was damaged by his staff in a botched attempt to relocate it, army officials have admitted.

Photographs published by the Washington Post on Thursday show the shattered 30-inch Eisenhower globe, said to have been used by Dwight D Eisenhower, the 34th US president, as he plotted the D-day landings as allied supreme commander.

Investigations under way to determine whether virus normally found in livestock contributed to man’s death

A man in France has become the first human known to have contracted Shamonda virus, with investigations under way to explore whether it contributed to his death.

Shamonda virus is a type of bunyavirus and is spread by bites from infected midges. According to the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, in animals such as cattle, sheep and goats it can cause diarrhoea, lack of appetite and a decline in milk yield, “as well as abortions and congenital abnormalities in newborn calves, lambs and kids”.

Hostility from constituents is not new for the state’s politicians, including its premiers. But the alleged attack on Helen Haines has sent a chill down the collective spine

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On Monday night, Georgie Purcell shared a statement on social media in support of Helen Haines, who earlier that day had been allegedly attacked by a constituent in her regional Victorian electorate.

Purcell, a Victorian upper-house MP whose region partly overlaps with Haines’s federal electorate, wrote that the alleged attack had sent chills down her spine. Being a woman in politics, she said, had changed the way she moved through the world – where she parked her car, which route she took home, even whether she held public events at all.

This animated map shows the insect’s population exploding in Australia’s eastern states, with the endangered species coming back from the brink

If you live anywhere on the eastern side of Australia, you’ve probably noticed that bogong moths are back in a big way.

While we don’t yet have figures from ecologist-led surveys to compare with previous years, there is a wealth of data on the great moth revival being generated by citizen scientists across the eastern states.

Democratic lawmaker says family’s safety is at risk amid death threats and raid making apartment’s address public

• Our reporters answer your questions about ICE, immigration and the midterms

Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar said she plans to move out of her Washington DC apartment after federal agents raided her residence last week as part of a larger immigration investigation.

“I mean obviously, I can’t continue to live there,” Omar told MS Now in an interview that aired on Wednesday. “So we have to figure out where to move to, because our address has been public and with the death threats that I deal with, it’s no longer going to be feasible to be in that house and have my kids, like, visiting off and on, having people track them.”

Charities say ‘tip of iceberg’ figures show government is not fulfilling pledge to halve violence against women and girls

Almost one in 10 adults in England and Wales have experienced domestic abuse in the last year, a survey from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) found that 9.6% of people aged 16 and over had experienced domestic abuse in the last year – which equates to about 4.7 million people.

Be Ready campaign aims to prepare UK for impact of climate crisis, technological dependency and threats by hostile state

Every Briton is being urged to stock up to nine litres of bottled water and three days’ worth of food in new government guidance designed to ensure that households can survive a weather, cyber or other serious emergency.

The Be Ready campaign is aimed at persuading people to stock up with supplies to last 72 hours, amid growing official concern about the impact of the climate crisis, technological dependency and hostile state threats.

The officer says he took possession of the property and renovated it ‘to prevent criminal activity’ and ‘squatting’

A Florida police officer who discovered a man dead during a welfare check stole his house and identity and spent years renovating the property for himself, authorities said.

Brian Louis Sguros, 35, an officer with the Lauderhill police department near Miami, appeared in court Wednesday on charges including criminal use of a deceased person’s identification.

Age-related macular degeneration has also left actor, 91, unable to read or recognise faces any more

Judi Dench has said she can no longer perform on stage or in films because of her deteriorating eyesight, more than a decade after revealing she had been diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration.

“I can’t be on stage. I can’t do a play any more. I can’t do a film any more. I can’t read any more,” the 91-year-old actor told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday.

Violent storms overnight knocked over utility poles and carried thunder and heavy winds through central Arizona

Trees fell on to homes and utility poles were knocked down by a possible tornado in a central Arizona community during a series of violent storms that moved through the state overnight into Thursday.

Storms capable of causing hail and wind damage were traveling through central Arizona early on Thursday, with some flood watches and the possibility of tornadoes, the National Weather Service said.

New designation of the Land of Standing-Up Rocks, known for its historic rock spires, passed with bipartisan support

An area of towering rock spires in south-eastern Arizona known among Native Americans as the Land of Standing-Up Rocks has become the nation’s newest national park.

Legislation to create Chiricahua national park was sent to the White House and Donald Trump signed it on Tuesday. It passed Congress with bipartisan backing and is now the 64th US national park.

Fears over lack of scrutiny for key sectors as health editor position also to go in cuts aimed at saving £5.5m

The BBC will no longer have a dedicated education editor as part of a cost-cutting drive in which 100 jobs are to go across BBC News under a plan that school leaders described as “deeply regrettable”.

BBC staff have been told that the roles of education editor and social affairs editor are to be combined into a single position as part of a round of changes that will save £5.5m. However, prominent unions and campaigners are saying the reform will dilute scrutiny of two specialisms that are too important to go without a dedicated BBC role.

Assessment finds global heating is endangering 96% of coral reefs across 80 countries – a figure scientists say should serve as a ‘wake-up call’

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Almost every shallow-water coral reef on the planet, including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, faces a high risk of ecosystem collapse before 2075 because of global heating, according to an assessment by United Nations nature advisers.

About 24% of the planet’s reefs across more than 80 countries are already critically endangered, the assessment said, but when the expected impacts of global heating were added this rose to 96%.

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John Lawrence Smart charged with being armed in a way that may cause fear but Perth lawyer expresses concern for mental health

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A man accused of making threats while armed with “improvised nunchucks” at a Western Australian MP’s electorate office could have been holding a musical instrument, not a weapon, a court has been told.

John Lawrence Smart appeared on Thursday in the WA magistrates court, where his lawyer expressed concern for his mental health. He was not required to enter a plea.

Treasury is revising all the numbers for the midyear budget update as economists warn of a difficult six months ahead

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Jim Chalmers has revealed December’s midyear budget update will project weaker growth and higher unemployment, as economists warn of a difficult six months ahead for the Australian economy.

Two days after a senior Reserve Bank official foreshadowed the potential for another interest rate rise in under two weeks’ time, the treasurer in a speech on Friday morning will say “higher inflation is putting people under pressure, tighter monetary policy is weighing on domestic activity, and we can see that in the softening of the labour market”.

Iran’s IRGC says it hit four vessels in the northern Gulf and three more struck mines near the strait of Hormuz

• Shipping workers: how is the Middle East conflict affecting you?

Oil prices jumped to a five-month high on Thursday after ​attacks in Saudi Arabia and hits to tankers in the strait of Hormuz threatened further disruptions to the world’s crude supply.

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose by 3% to hit $112 a barrel for first time since 18 May.