US televangelist Jim Bakker, ensnared in fraud and sex scandal, dies at 86

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Bakker spent four and a half years in prison after being convicted in 1989 ​of defrauding followers in a scheme involving holidays at his Christian theme park

The US televangelist Jim Bakker, who built a multimillion-dollar empire and lived ⁠in opulence before being disgraced by a sex scandal, a conviction for defrauding followers and divorce from his television co-host Tammy Faye, has died aged 86.

The death of Bakker, whose journey from the TV pulpit to a prison cell in the 1980s inspired comparisons to the corrupt character of the fictional preacher-huckster Elmer Gantry, was revealed on ⁠social media by his second wife, Lori ⁠Bakker.

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Badenoch disowns Tory claims that air defence plan amounts to ‘British Iron Dome’ – UK politics live

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Tory leader says ‘Britannia Shield’ will not be a similar scheme to that protecting Israel after repeated questions from broadcasters

Asked if she will propose tax cuts in her speech tomorrow, Badenoch tells McCann that she will have to wait until her speech tomorrow at 11.15am.

(This is getting confusing. On BBC Breakdfast, Badenoch told Jon Kay the speech was at 12pm.)

It’s not going to be exactly like the Iron Dome. We haven’t called it an Iron Dome.

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New Jersey congresswoman LaMonica McIver faces legal deadline after giving birth to second child

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She must decide by the end of the week whether to seek further review of federal charges over a confrontation with ICE agents at Delaney Hall

A US congresswoman who just gave birth to a baby girl faces a deadline this week on whether to seek a rehearing of a federal case against her by the Trump administration after an oversight visit to an immigration detention facility.

LaMonica McIver, 40, represents New Jersey’s 10th congressional district. She gave birth to her second child last Thursday – a rarity for a sitting member of Congress. She is only the 15th member of Congress to give birth while serving and part of a small subset of congresswomen who have school-age children.

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‘Using the presidency to line his pockets’: could claims of corruption fuel backlash against Trump?

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Experts say president is vulnerable amid discontent over rising prices – and the US public has ample cause for complaint

In Donald Trump’s telling, he’s a model of incorruptible self-sacrifice.

“I’m the only president that donated his salary,” he told a group of cheering supporters at a Hispanic heritage month celebration in the White House last week, before conceding that George Washington – “a very wealthy person” – might have beaten him to the punch.

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Germany arrests former domestic intelligence chief over alleged spying

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August Hanning served as president of Federal Intelligence Service from 1998 to 2005

Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office has said a former domestic intelligence chief was arrested on Tuesday on espionage allegations.

August Hanning was president of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from December 1998 to November 2005.

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George Fenton, Oscar-nominated British composer for more than 100 films, dies aged 76

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Fenton’s successes include scores for Gandhi, Groundhog Day and 18 Ken Loach films, plus BBC TV news themes, Blue Planet and more

George Fenton, the British composer who earned five Oscar nominations for scores to films such as Gandhi and Dangerous Liaisons, has died aged 76.

A statement from his family said his death was “unexpected” but did not give a cause. The statement added that he was survived by various family members, as well as “a life of music”.

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Woman’s body found in stockyard trough close to NSW-Queensland border

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Police say body found by trail bike riders at remote farm in Terragon is badly decomposed, sparking search of missing persons records

A partially submerged body believed to be a woman has been discovered in a remote stockyard, with the death being treated as suspicious.

Officers were called to a property in Terragon, near Murwillumbah in northern NSW, at about 11.20am on Monday after reports of a dead body.

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US households pay 62% more for water than they did a decade ago, study finds

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For-profit water corporations, federal cuts and climate crisis are ‘supercharging water rate hikes’, study co-author says

US households are paying 62% more for drinking water than they did a decade ago – outpacing inflation, grocery prices and household incomes, according to a new study.

Food & Water Watch, a Washington DC-based non-profit, analyzed 2025 billing data from the 500 largest community water systems in the US, which together serve about 155 million people, or 45% of the country’s population. The analysis compared current rates with data from a similar Food & Water Watch survey conducted in 2015. The study does not include wastewater or storm water charges, which are often billed separately from drinking water service.

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Axe used by Jack Nicholson in The Shining for sale as part of Stanley Kubrick auction

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Exclusive: Weapon is one of hundreds of items to be sold as part of the influential late director’s personal archive

The axe wielded by Jack Nicholson as he delivered his chillingly manic line “Here’s Johnny!” in the 1980 horror movie The Shining is to go on sale.

Nicholson’s character, Jack Torrance, uses the axe to hack out an opening in a locked door protecting his terrified wife Wendy, played by Shelley Duvall. It is also the murder weapon in the killing of Scatman Crothers’ character, Dick Hallorann. One of cinema’s most famous axes could be yours for a list price of between £30,000 and £50,000.

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Loss of green space could be issue that decides Holborn and St Pancras byelection

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Labour could pay price for disappearance of parks and playgrounds around Euston station

When HS2 construction began around London’s Euston station in 2017 and people living nearby watched parks and playgrounds give way to diggers and rubble, they were promised that the lost green space would be replaced. “They have to give it all back,” said Dorothea Hackman. “But they are destroying it – so there’s nothing to give back.”

As the dust from the political party conference season begins to settle, disappearing green spaces and housing developments have become central issues in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection. On Thursday, Labour and the Green party will contest the seismic seat vacated by the former prime minster Keir Starmer.

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Badenoch denies ‘British Iron Dome’ plan – after Tories use phrase in press release

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Tory leader says proposed ‘Britannia Shield’ would not be comparable to Israeli missile defence system

Kemi Badenoch has denied she compared a new air defence system proposed by the party to Israel’s Iron Dome, despite using the term in her press release and a newspaper article.

The Conservative leader said the party’s proposed “Britannia Shield” would not be comparable to the missile defence system in Israel, which is primarily designed to counter short-range attacks.

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Keeping up with the Bolsonaros: Flávio’s surprise first-round election win heralds rise of a political dynasty

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Four members of disgraced ex-president Jair Bolsonaro’s family have been elected to office, most notably his wife and son Flávio, who won the first round of voting to be Brazil’s new president

The weekend’s elections in Brazil not only put Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Flávio Bolsonaro, in the lead in the presidential race, but also underscored how far the former president has come in building a political dynasty.

As his far-right senator son heads into a runoff against the leftist incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a sweeping far-right victory in congressional races also secured seats for Jair Bolsonaro’s wife, two of his sons and one of his brothers.

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A medieval manuscript has confounded scholars for centuries. Have they been reading it wrong all this time?

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Researchers argue incorrect binding of Voynich manuscript radically changes ideas about its drawings and indecipherable text

It has been called the world’s most mysterious manuscript: a medieval set of pages filled with botanical drawings, astronomical diagrams, pictures of nude women and indecipherable text. Claimed at various times to be a book in a lost language, a musical score, an instruction manual or just an elaborate hoax, the so-called Voynich manuscript’s true meaning has defied cryptographers and codebreakers for centuries.

Now, new research offers an explanation for why a scholarly consensus over this enduring puzzle has been so hard to come by: not only because its truth is so profoundly mysterious – but because everyone has been reading its pages in the wrong order.

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Ukraine hits Moscow with one of its largest drone attacks in two years – France 24

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  1. Ukraine hits Moscow with one of its largest drone attacks in two years  France 24
  2. Moscow comes under large-scale drone attack – photos, videos  Українська правда
  3. Largest oil facility in Moscow region erupts in flames following massive Ukrainian drone attack  The Kyiv Independent
  4. Ukraine Targets Major Russian Oil Hub During Massive Drone Attack on Moscow Region  Kyiv Post
  5. Mayor: Ukraine attacks Moscow region with 650 drones  Yahoo
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Australian consumer confidence plunges to worst level since 1990s after RBA rate rise

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Key indicator dropped about 20% after the Reserve Bank last month announced the highest interest rates since 2011

Australian households are the most persistently pessimistic they have been since the early-1990s recession, after a fourth rate rise this year.

Confidence among Australian consumers has plunged about 20% since the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted interest rates to the highest levels since 2011, according to the Westpac–Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index.

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Ethiopian PM Abiy demands Red Sea access as tensions with neighbours rise – Al Jazeera

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  1. Ethiopian PM Abiy demands Red Sea access as tensions with neighbours rise  Al Jazeera
  2. Ethiopia again demands access to the Red Sea as tensions with neighbors escalate  AP News
  3. Ethiopia: PM vows to secure sea access amid fears of return to war  africanews.com
  4. Semantic Shifts and Strategic Deceptions: The Prosperity Party’s Rhetorical Pivot on the Red Sea  Eritrea Ministry Of Information
  5. News: Abiy vows Ethiopia will secure sea access, seeks stronger role in regional affairs  addisstandard.com
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Parti Québécois Returns to Power, Reviving Quebec Sovereignty Push – The New York Times

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  1. Parti Québécois Returns to Power, Reviving Quebec Sovereignty Push  The New York Times
  2. Separatist party wins Quebec election, adding new test to Canada's unity  BBC
  3. Bienvenue to Team Canada  Politico
  4. Separatists Are Set to Win Quebec’s Election. What Will It Mean for Independence?  The New York Times
  5. Secessionist party wins Quebec election in Canada  Al Jazeera
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Turkiye, Pakistan agree Saudi Arabia military deployment under Mecca pact – Al Jazeera

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  1. Turkiye, Pakistan agree Saudi Arabia military deployment under Mecca pact  Al Jazeera
  2. Iran war updates: Turkiye, Pakistan back troop deployment to Saudi Arabia  Al Jazeera
  3. Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey trigger mutual defence pact over Houthis  Financial Times
  4. Turkey says Mecca pact committee to meet in Riyadh on October 5  reuters.com
  5. Turkey, Pakistan to deploy forces to Saudi Arabia amid Houthi attacks  Al-Monitor
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