Every story LiveDigest published on Thursday, October 15, 2026, newest first.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
All sections · Newest first
Katie Zacharia, who replaced Karoline Leavitt as Donald Trump's White House press secretary, said it is "unknown" how much she will engage with the press or hold briefings, adding that Trump "is his best spokesperson, and I will interact as needed".
Two 1960s council estates in south London, Cressingham Gardens and Central Hill, have been saved from demolition after more than a decade under threat. Lambeth's cabinet is expected to reverse the demolition plans at a meeting next week.
Tens of millions of dollars are flowing into the Paxton Talarico Texas Senate race ahead of the November midterm elections, with Elon Musk's donations and James Talarico's record $64m quarter shaping a contest polls show essentially tied.
Chancellor John Healey is poised to raise taxes on Britain's banks in his bank surcharge budget on 28 October, with an increased levy under discussion to help offset damage to the public finances from the Middle East war.
Thames Water has asked creditors for a further £2.4bn because it is close to running out of cash, warning it would be without funds by the end of 2026 or the start of 2027 unless the money arrives.
An undercover ITV recording captures Reform UK's head of communications telling Nigel Farage he was 'protecting' Chris Parry, the party's Hampshire and the Solent mayoral candidate, over racist remarks about David Lammy. The full documentary airs on Sunday.
Facing torture allegations before a New York court, Nicolás Maduro called the rewritten drug trafficking indictment against him and his wife Cilia Flores a set of false accusations; Judge Alvin K Hellerstein entered not-guilty pleas for both on Thursday.
A lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Texas and Move Texas Civic Fund says a Texas voter registration glitch at the Department of Public Safety left nearly 600,000 applications unrecorded, days before early voting opens Monday.
Seven sailors are missing after a black sea drone attack on tankers struck the Wine Trader and Yara J near Romania's Black Sea coast, setting both vessels on fire. A Nato military source said the drones were of Russian origin and hit inside Romanian territorial waters.
Donald Trump said on Thursday he was cancelling Pete Hegseth's livestream execution plan for Nidal Hasan, the former army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, saying many people would rather not watch him die.
Santiago Caputo, chief adviser to Argentine president Javier Milei, claimed on social media that the UK is being 'colonised by Islam' and that Argentina must reclaim the Falkland Islands as 'a cause for the west'. Milei shared the post on X amid heightened UK–Argentina tension over the territory.
Labour chair Bridget Phillipson has told Labour councils sharing power with the Greens to review and end their labour councils green agreements unless Green partners condemn the 'Zionism is racism' policy adopted at the party's Brighton conference in early October 2026.
All 10 Victoria Crosses ever awarded to the Royal Marines are going on public display together for the first time, at a new £15m Royal Marines Experience at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard opening on 24 October.
Chancellor John Healey has promised his first budget, due in a fortnight, will give consumers and businesses 'breathing space' while sticking to Labour's fiscal rules, with a further package of energy support expected at the 28 October statement.
A Harris poll for the Guardian conducted in early October 2026 finds 38% of Republicans believe the economy is worsening, up from 29% a year ago, with the midterm elections about three weeks away. Overall, 58% of average US voters see the economy deteriorating.
Serbia's president Aleksandar Vučić personally convened a 2024 presidency meeting where heritage officials were pressed to strip the General Staff building's protected status for a $500m Trump-branded tower backed by Jared Kushner, a Guardian investigation reports - the secret role in the Vučić Trump Tower Belgrade affair that the subsequent indictment never mentions. Kushner's company abandoned the project in December 2025 after Vučić's culture minister was indicted for abuse of office.
Albania's prime minister Edi Rama says he will not step down over the student-led protests demanding his resignation, telling Reuters in written responses that governments are changed through democratic elections, 'not a revolution', as the Albania protests entered a third day.
Charity Commission chairwoman Dame Julia Unwin is expected to condemn the RNLI intimidation volunteers have faced - 'thuggery and intimidation', in her words - at the commission's AGM today in central London, after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called for criminal penalties against groups helping asylum seekers.
A UK ban on Eritreans entering the country could be imposed unless Eritrea agrees to take back rejected asylum seekers and criminals with no right to remain, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has warned.
Aardman, the Bristol animation studio behind Wallace & Gromit, fell short of its target to return to profit in 2025, posting a £1.1m loss despite revenue rising 8% to £20.4m, its accounts show.
The UK economy grew by 0.1% in August 2026, Office for National Statistics figures showed, defying City economists' forecasts of a 0.1% contraction despite a fall in consumer spending ahead of John Healey's budget.
The UK government has set an ambition for 10% of English land to be farmed organically by 2036, up from 3.4% today, in a new organic farming plan for organic farming in England that took more than three years to develop.
Indonesia will drop 1.5 tons of dry ice from a Cessna over Palembang on Thursday in a new attempt to fight the toxic haze from its fires - the latest front in the Indonesia fires toxic haze crisis that has marked the worst fire season in more than a decade.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch before dawn on Tuesday produced a giant luminescent 'jellyfish cloud' over Florida, visible to sky watchers along the US east coast from Georgia to New York.
Brazil's congress has approved a constitutional amendment cutting the maximum working week from 44 to 40 hours and banning six-day workweeks, affecting over 30 million workers, days before the presidential runoff between President Lula and far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro on 25 October.
Israel has not allowed a contracted military outpost for Donald Trump's Board of Peace to be built in Gaza, leaving contractors and trucks unable to cross the border two months after the project was awarded in early August 2026, according to the Guardian and a person with direct knowledge.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he feels personally betrayed by Donald Trump after Starlink access for Ukraine's military was restricted, cutting most frontline strike drones - a Zelenskyy betrayed Trump Starlink rift laid bare in remarks made in London on Wednesday ahead of talks with prime minister Andy Burnham.
Guardian US reporters hosted a live reader Q&A on the Trump economy and the midterms on 14 October 2026, with election day on 3 November just over two weeks away.
Paddington: The Musical, the Olivier-winning West End show, will land in Sydney in September 2027 for a 10-week season at the Capitol Theatre. Dates in other Australian cities and the Sydney cast are yet to be announced.
Showing 29 stories · October 15, 2026
Every story LiveDigest published on Thursday, October 15, 2026, newest first.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
All sections · Newest first
Katie Zacharia, who replaced Karoline Leavitt as Donald Trump's White House press secretary, said it is "unknown" how much she will engage with the press or hold briefings, adding that Trump "is his best spokesperson, and I will interact as needed".
By LiveDigest · 23:52 GMTTwo 1960s council estates in south London, Cressingham Gardens and Central Hill, have been saved from demolition after more than a decade under threat. Lambeth's cabinet is expected to reverse the demolition plans at a meeting next week.
By LiveDigest · 23:02 GMTTens of millions of dollars are flowing into the Paxton Talarico Texas Senate race ahead of the November midterm elections, with Elon Musk's donations and James Talarico's record $64m quarter shaping a contest polls show essentially tied.
By LiveDigest · 22:14 GMTChancellor John Healey is poised to raise taxes on Britain's banks in his bank surcharge budget on 28 October, with an increased levy under discussion to help offset damage to the public finances from the Middle East war.
By LiveDigest · 21:24 GMTThames Water has asked creditors for a further £2.4bn because it is close to running out of cash, warning it would be without funds by the end of 2026 or the start of 2027 unless the money arrives.
By LiveDigest · 20:32 GMTAn undercover ITV recording captures Reform UK's head of communications telling Nigel Farage he was 'protecting' Chris Parry, the party's Hampshire and the Solent mayoral candidate, over racist remarks about David Lammy. The full documentary airs on Sunday.
By LiveDigest · 19:44 GMTFacing torture allegations before a New York court, Nicolás Maduro called the rewritten drug trafficking indictment against him and his wife Cilia Flores a set of false accusations; Judge Alvin K Hellerstein entered not-guilty pleas for both on Thursday.
By LiveDigest · 18:55 GMTA lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Texas and Move Texas Civic Fund says a Texas voter registration glitch at the Department of Public Safety left nearly 600,000 applications unrecorded, days before early voting opens Monday.
By LiveDigest · 18:06 GMTSeven sailors are missing after a black sea drone attack on tankers struck the Wine Trader and Yara J near Romania's Black Sea coast, setting both vessels on fire. A Nato military source said the drones were of Russian origin and hit inside Romanian territorial waters.
By LiveDigest · 17:18 GMTDonald Trump said on Thursday he was cancelling Pete Hegseth's livestream execution plan for Nidal Hasan, the former army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, saying many people would rather not watch him die.
By LiveDigest · 16:30 GMTSantiago Caputo, chief adviser to Argentine president Javier Milei, claimed on social media that the UK is being 'colonised by Islam' and that Argentina must reclaim the Falkland Islands as 'a cause for the west'. Milei shared the post on X amid heightened UK–Argentina tension over the territory.
By LiveDigest · 15:41 GMTLabour chair Bridget Phillipson has told Labour councils sharing power with the Greens to review and end their labour councils green agreements unless Green partners condemn the 'Zionism is racism' policy adopted at the party's Brighton conference in early October 2026.
By LiveDigest · 14:52 GMTAll 10 Victoria Crosses ever awarded to the Royal Marines are going on public display together for the first time, at a new £15m Royal Marines Experience at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard opening on 24 October.
By LiveDigest · 14:01 GMTChancellor John Healey has promised his first budget, due in a fortnight, will give consumers and businesses 'breathing space' while sticking to Labour's fiscal rules, with a further package of energy support expected at the 28 October statement.
By LiveDigest · 13:11 GMTA Harris poll for the Guardian conducted in early October 2026 finds 38% of Republicans believe the economy is worsening, up from 29% a year ago, with the midterm elections about three weeks away. Overall, 58% of average US voters see the economy deteriorating.
By LiveDigest · 12:22 GMTSerbia's president Aleksandar Vučić personally convened a 2024 presidency meeting where heritage officials were pressed to strip the General Staff building's protected status for a $500m Trump-branded tower backed by Jared Kushner, a Guardian investigation reports - the secret role in the Vučić Trump Tower Belgrade affair that the subsequent indictment never mentions. Kushner's company abandoned the project in December 2025 after Vučić's culture minister was indicted for abuse of office.
By LiveDigest · 11:33 GMTAlbania's prime minister Edi Rama says he will not step down over the student-led protests demanding his resignation, telling Reuters in written responses that governments are changed through democratic elections, 'not a revolution', as the Albania protests entered a third day.
By LiveDigest · 10:47 GMTCharity Commission chairwoman Dame Julia Unwin is expected to condemn the RNLI intimidation volunteers have faced - 'thuggery and intimidation', in her words - at the commission's AGM today in central London, after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called for criminal penalties against groups helping asylum seekers.
By LiveDigest · 09:57 GMTA UK ban on Eritreans entering the country could be imposed unless Eritrea agrees to take back rejected asylum seekers and criminals with no right to remain, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has warned.
By LiveDigest · 09:08 GMTAardman, the Bristol animation studio behind Wallace & Gromit, fell short of its target to return to profit in 2025, posting a £1.1m loss despite revenue rising 8% to £20.4m, its accounts show.
By LiveDigest · 07:32 GMTThe UK economy grew by 0.1% in August 2026, Office for National Statistics figures showed, defying City economists' forecasts of a 0.1% contraction despite a fall in consumer spending ahead of John Healey's budget.
By LiveDigest · 06:42 GMTThe UK government has set an ambition for 10% of English land to be farmed organically by 2036, up from 3.4% today, in a new organic farming plan for organic farming in England that took more than three years to develop.
By LiveDigest · 05:55 GMTIndonesia will drop 1.5 tons of dry ice from a Cessna over Palembang on Thursday in a new attempt to fight the toxic haze from its fires - the latest front in the Indonesia fires toxic haze crisis that has marked the worst fire season in more than a decade.
By LiveDigest · 05:03 GMTA SpaceX Falcon 9 launch before dawn on Tuesday produced a giant luminescent 'jellyfish cloud' over Florida, visible to sky watchers along the US east coast from Georgia to New York.
By LiveDigest · 04:14 GMTBrazil's congress has approved a constitutional amendment cutting the maximum working week from 44 to 40 hours and banning six-day workweeks, affecting over 30 million workers, days before the presidential runoff between President Lula and far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro on 25 October.
By LiveDigest · 03:26 GMTIsrael has not allowed a contracted military outpost for Donald Trump's Board of Peace to be built in Gaza, leaving contractors and trucks unable to cross the border two months after the project was awarded in early August 2026, according to the Guardian and a person with direct knowledge.
By LiveDigest · 02:36 GMTVolodymyr Zelenskyy said he feels personally betrayed by Donald Trump after Starlink access for Ukraine's military was restricted, cutting most frontline strike drones - a Zelenskyy betrayed Trump Starlink rift laid bare in remarks made in London on Wednesday ahead of talks with prime minister Andy Burnham.
By LiveDigest · 01:48 GMTGuardian US reporters hosted a live reader Q&A on the Trump economy and the midterms on 14 October 2026, with election day on 3 November just over two weeks away.
By LiveDigest · 00:56 GMTPaddington: The Musical, the Olivier-winning West End show, will land in Sydney in September 2027 for a 10-week season at the Capitol Theatre. Dates in other Australian cities and the Sydney cast are yet to be announced.
By LiveDigest · 00:02 GMTShowing 29 stories · October 15, 2026
Every story LiveDigest published on Thursday, October 15, 2026, newest first.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
All sections · Newest first
By LiveDigest · 23:52 GMT
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Showing 29 stories · October 15, 2026
