Remains of medieval tsar return to Bulgaria after decades-long dispute with Greece 03. October 2026 (12:31) Greek PM hopes handover of Tsar Samuel will help persuade Britain to return Parthenon marblesThe remains of medieval ruler Tsar Samuel will arrive in Bulgaria on Saturday amid great pomp and ceremony, after decades of negotiations with neighbouring Greece.The remains – discovered in a Greek border area 60 years ago – are to be flown to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, onboard a military aircraft to be received with full state honours, including a fighter jet escort, a 21-gun salute and a procession to the Church of St Sophia, where the public will be able to pay respects. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘I have to dodge them all the time’: Rome locals incensed by rise in golf cart tours 03. October 2026 (12:00) Authorities crack down on trade they says risks spiralling out of control – but operators say they are being targeted unfairlyOn the edge of Piazza Navona, one of the grandest squares in central Rome, Barry and Linda, visitors from Texas in the US, stepped out of a golf cart. They planned to cross the square on foot, perhaps stopping to admire Lorenzo Bernini’s 17th-century Fountain of the Four Rivers, before being picked up by their driver at the opposite end.The couple had already done a walking tour on day one of their trip, and had been so exasperated by a stifling three-hour shuffle along a corridor towards the Sistine Chapel on day two that by the third day they wanted to give their tired feet a rest. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘It’s enraging’: lawmakers call for action after Guardian investigation into convenience store overcharges 03. October 2026 (12:00) Congress members say pricing practices at 7-Eleven and Circle K stores underscore everyday Americans’ affordability strugglesFive US House members have called out pricing practices at the US’s two largest convenience store chains in response to an investigation by the Guardian.The Guardian found that 7-Eleven and Circle K stores frequently charge customers more at the register or pump for snacks, gas and other items than the prices they promise on the shelf or on outdoor fuel signs. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Prison chief in Christa Pike case oversaw five ‘botched’ executions, lawyers say 03. October 2026 (12:00) Frank Strada facing mounting questions after Pike survives injection with lethal drugs in TennesseeTennessee’s prison chief is under fire for the failed execution of Christa Pike, which lawyers say was the fifth “botched” execution under his leadership across two states since 2022.Frank Strada, the commissioner of the Tennessee department of correction, has faced mounting questions about the state’s highly secretive death penalty protocols since Wednesday evening when Pike became the first death row prisoner in the US to to be injected with lethal drugs and survive. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Libyan unity talks upended as warlord’s son linked to drone attacks on fuel facilities 03. October 2026 (11:00) Western Libya’s GNU say working with Saddam Haftar ‘impossible’ as US-backed merger plan breaks downAllegations that the son of the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar oversaw a “terror cell” that launched drone attacks on fuel storage facilities and power stations in western Libya have upended plans for the Tripoli-based government of national unity (GNU) to continue cooperating with Haftar on a plan to unify the country.Saddam Haftar, the deputy commander of the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA), has increasingly been seen by the US as an important figure in its plans to unify Libyan security, judicial and political institutions. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK urged to act as Polymarket takes bets on whether HSBC and Lloyds will fail 03. October 2026 (10:00) Revelation comes amid mounting concern over online prediction market’s effects on integrity of financial systemUK authorities are being urged to intervene after it emerged that the online prediction market Polymarket has been taking thousands of dollars worth of bets over whether HSBC and Lloyds will fail.Polymarket – the US-owned company which holds bets on anything from football matches, to the existence of aliens, to when a bomb drops on a city – has allowed users to take $77,507 (£58,530) worth of positions on whether the world’s biggest banks will go under by the end of this year. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Flydubai co-pilot used crash axe to attack captain, says UAE 03. October 2026 (09:01) Attorney general says ‘terrorist attack’ was attempted by suspect who is said to have been barred from flying by Oman because of extremist viewsThe co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 used a crash axe to attempt to carry out a “terrorist attack” during the flight, the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general said on Saturday, according to a state news agency.The UAE statement cited the prosecutor general as saying the co-pilot also tried to take control of the plane during Wednesday’s attack on the Israel-bound flight. Passengers and crew intervened to subdue the co-pilot and stabilise the plane. Officials said the co-pilot’s actions nearly crashed the flight with 182 people on board by sending it into a sharp plunge. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
BT accused of ‘bullying’ customers by pausing broadband in digital landline push 03. October 2026 (09:00) Companies race to switch households to ‘voice over internet protocol’ services by the end of JanuaryBT has been accused of “bullying” customers by temporarily cutting off their broadband to pressure them to upgrade to a digital landline, as providers race to switch households over before the January deadline.Telecoms companies have so far migrated 16-17m lines from the old copper network to digital voice over internet protocol (VoiP), which uses a broadband connection instead, in the biggest technological upgrade since the early 00s, when analogue TV was switched off. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Brazil’s neck-and-neck election offers test for growing pro-Trump Latin American bloc 03. October 2026 (09:00) Sunday’s poll pits the leftist incumbent Lula against the son of a former far-right president convicted of staging a coup‘No one disrespects Our Lady’: fears for Brazil’s patron saint grip country ahead of electionShortly after his controversial speech to the United Nations general assembly in September, Donald Trump gathered a dozen like-minded Latin American leaders and boasted that rightwing candidates had won all seven presidential elections held in the region since he began his second term.“Everybody I’ve endorsed has won,” the US president said in New York to most of the leaders of the Shield of the Americas, an anti-drug cartel coalition of 15 countries governed by the right or far right. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
'There’s no such thing as democracy': Yanis Varoufakis | Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabortty – podcast 03. October 2026 (08:50) Who is really in charge – the people or the markets? In the first episode of Radical Thinking, a new series from the Guardian, senior economics commentator Aditya Chakrabortty speaks to the former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. What was it like during the eurozone crisis when Varoufakis went head to head with those who wanted to stop his reforms?Watch Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabortty here. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
