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HEALTH

What vitamin D supplements do – and don’t do

Vitamin D helps control the calcium and phosphate the body needs for healthy bones, teeth and muscles, the NHS says.

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A small pile of white vitamin D tablets on a white surface
CRIME & SAFETY

IOPC: Met should investigate itself over ‘Putney pusher’ suspect

The man’s family welcomed the decision and said the investigation should be “thorough, independent and unflinching in establishing what went wrong”.

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The rotating New Scotland Yard sign outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters in London
GENERAL

Xi at Trump’s state dinner: ‘You make us feel truly at home’

At the White House arrival ceremony on 24 September, Xi announced that two pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, would come to Zoo Atlanta “in a few days”.

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Xi Jinping and Donald Trump walking side by side along a garden path in Beijing during Trump’s visit to China in May 2026, with officials behind them
HEALTH

Once or twice a week: the exercise that can cut heart risk

The NHS counts 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week as giving similar health benefits to 150 minutes of moderate activity.

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A person jogging along a tree-lined path beside the New River in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire
DEFENCE & SECURITY

Netanyahu at UN: ‘Israel prevented genocide’ as delegates walk out

Türkiye’s delegate later told the assembly that the walkout was a “resounding diplomatic condemnation” of Netanyahu’s policies.

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Delegates seated in the UN General Assembly hall in New York, with the rostrum and the UN emblem at the back
HEALTH

Six to eight cups – and it does not have to be water

Most people should aim to drink enough during the day for their urine to be a clear pale yellow colour, the NHS says.

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A glass of water with ice on a dark table, with empty metal chairs behind
JUSTICE

English Channel boat: Daniel Thomas charged with criminal damage

Thomas, of no fixed address, was remanded in custody to appear before magistrates in Basingstoke.

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Basingstoke Law Courts, the building that houses Basingstoke Magistrates' Court in Hampshire
JUSTICE

Two firms fined £1.3m over London coach driver’s death

A window had fallen from the same penthouses in August 2017 and just missed two workers, but key concerns raised in the review that followed were not acted on…

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Curved glass and balcony facades of the Corniche towers on Albert Embankment in London, seen looking up from street level
CRIME & SAFETY

Channel boat damage: man arrested on suspicion of endangering life

The man, who has not been named by police, was held on suspicion of four offences, two of them under maritime safety laws.

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Two police officers on board a police rigid inflatable boat travelling through open water in the Solent
POLITICS

Burnham: Alcohol ban in football stands ‘discrimination’

The UK Football Policing Unit has warned that changing the 1985 law without a full review of the evidence would be “incredibly rash”.

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Supporters in the family stand at Bramall Lane, Sheffield United's ground, during a match in October 2010
POLITICS

UK Tories’ ‘back to work’ card would block alcohol

Claimants would keep the full rate for six months, and after that only if they have built up enough years of paying tax.

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Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, in an official House of Commons portrait from 2024
HEALTH

The walk after meals that lowers blood sugar

Most of the walking in the studies reviewed lasted between 20 and 60 minutes, at a moderate pace.

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A person walking a dog along a paved path through a park, with someone resting on a bench to one side
HEALTH

What screen time before bed does to sleep

Even the type of screen can matter: e-readers such as the Kindle give off blue light, but less of it than other devices, the Sleep Foundation says.

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A laptop screen glowing in a dark bedroom, the only light in the room
POLITICS

UK to review Chagos deal without US backing

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, who was in the cabinet that agreed the deal, said the decision still stood, but that the agreement had always needed American support.

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A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flies low over the coastline of Diego Garcia, where the UK and US operate a joint military base, in August 2020
HEALTH

Scotland’s drug deaths rise to 1,133, driven by men

Scotland has a higher rate of drug-induced deaths than any country reported by the European Union Drugs Agency, with cocaine now implicated in more than half of all…

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A pharmacy shopfront on a street corner in Edinburgh, Scotland
CRIME & SAFETY

Six arrested in Gosport as migrant boat reaches Dover

The six remained in custody after some of those who had gathered in the town turned hostile towards officers, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said.

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A UK Border Force cutter moored at Ramsgate harbour on the Kent coast
POLITICS

EU to drop two oligarchs, extend Russia sanctions to 2029

The deal has still to be formally adopted, and Latvia – the last country to hold out – is already preparing national sanctions of its own against the two men.

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Mikhail Fridman, centre, and Alisher Usmanov, right, at a Kremlin meeting with business leaders in 2009; on the left is Alexander Shokhin of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
CRIME & SAFETY

Migrant dinghy at sea more than 33 hours before UK rescue

HM Coastguard directed lifeboat crews to take the people off the dinghy out of concern for their safety and deteriorating health, the RNLI said.

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The Border Force cutter HMC Vigilant under way off the English south coast
POLITICS

Trump praises UK’s Burnham as a ‘natural businessperson’

Before the two met in New York, Trump had dismissed Burnham as “extremely liberal” and described the former mayor of Greater Manchester as the “mayor of a town”.

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UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham shakes hands with US President Donald Trump at their bilateral meeting at the UN General Assembly in New York, 22 September 2026
DEFENCE & SECURITY

Burnham sends RAF aircraft to refuel Saudi jets

The refuelling agreement is “time-limited” and will be kept under review, Burnham said, without setting out how long the support would last.

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A Royal Air Force Voyager tanker aircraft, the same type being sent to refuel Saudi jets, refuels two RAF Tornado jets during a previous operation over Iraq in 2015
CRIME & SAFETY

Two men held over suspected Manchester Jewish community terror plot

Counter Terrorism Policing said it was working closely with Greater Manchester Police and partners to keep the Jewish community and the wider public safe.

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A Greater Manchester Police patrol car parked outside Manchester Victoria railway station.
HEALTH

Five foods linked to a better memory

There is no magic pill for a sharp brain with age, Harvard Health Publishing says – what matters most is the overall pattern of eating, not any single item.

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Fresh berries, among the foods research has linked to better memory
ENVIRONMENT

El Niño heads towards its strongest level on record

The Climate Prediction Center puts the chance of a very strong event over the northern hemisphere autumn and winter at more than 90%.

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A satellite visualisation of the Pacific Ocean showing higher-than-normal sea surface levels along the equator, which the image labels as warmer-than-normal waters associated with El Niño.
HEALTH

Six things that help you sleep

The Sleep Foundation says it is best to talk to a doctor about sleeping problems that are severe or long-lasting, or about sleepiness that lasts through the day.

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A made bed in a bedroom, with daylight coming through an open patio door
ECONOMY

UK borrowing hits £18.3bn ahead of Healey’s Budget

Borrowing in the financial year to August 2026 is £8.1bn above the official government forecast, the ONS said.

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The Treasury building in Whitehall, London
HEALTH

Every A&E in England gets Martha’s Rule helpline

The phased rollout is due to be completed by March 2028, NHS England said.

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The entrance to an accident and emergency department at an NHS hospital in England
HEALTH

Borrowed genes may explain deadly Kent meningitis outbreak

The same changes that made the strain so dangerous may also explain why it has not continued to spread since the outbreak was brought under control, UKHSA said.

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A microscope image of Neisseria meningitidis, the bacteria that causes meningococcal disease and can live harmlessly in the throat
GENERAL

News outlets take Trump to court over White House ban

Television networks dropped their shared coverage of President Trump on the day the lawsuit was filed, the Fox News Washington bureau chief told pool members.

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Television camera positions used by the White House press corps
JUSTICE

London doctor charged in UK’s first Rwanda genocide case

Dr Vincent Brown, 65, who was formerly known as Vincent Bajinya, is originally from Kigali in Rwanda, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

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The entrance to Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, where Brown is due to appear
SCIENCE & TECH

Irish watchdog fines Google €403m over location data

The decision lists four failures, including keeping users’ location data for longer than necessary.

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The entrance to Google's offices in Dublin, Ireland
TRAVEL

Air traffic fault at Prestwick delays Scotland flights

The UK’s air traffic control provider said the Prestwick fault had nothing to do with the failure on 8 September, which a preliminary report traced to a software defect.

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The air traffic control tower at Glasgow Prestwick Airport in Scotland, seen across open grassland under a cloudy sky.
ECONOMY

State Pension payment dates October 2026: your payday

A first State Pension payment comes no later than five weeks after the date a claimant chooses to start it, GOV.UK says.

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The entrance to a Post Office branch on a UK high street, with the Post Office sign above the door.
ECONOMY

Christmas 2026 benefit payment dates: when Universal Credit, PIP and State Pension are paid

Payments due 25 to 28 December 2026 are usually paid on Thursday 24 December, and those due 1 to 3 January 2027 on Thursday 31 December, going by GOV.UK’s rule.

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A village post office and shop in a blue-painted building on an English roadside, with a red post box by the door.
SCIENCE & TECH

US proposes AI incident alert system with China

The talks came before a meeting between Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping at the White House on 24 September.

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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng shake hands at earlier talks in Geneva in 2025
POLITICS

Merz’s CDU falls to 4.9% in German state election

The AfD won 22 of the state’s 36 constituencies, against 14 for the SPD, the returning officer’s figures show.

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Voting booths at a polling station in Germany
TRAVEL

Stranded rail passengers can now use another operator’s trains

A ticket is valid on another operator’s train leaving within two hours of the cancelled service, and there is no need to buy a new one, the Department for Transport said.

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An Avanti West Coast Pendolino train at London Euston station
CRIME & SAFETY

Specialist rape courts to open across England and Wales

A new Rape Justice Taskforce will bring together criminal justice leaders to tackle the rising rate of postponed rape trials, the Ministry of Justice said.

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Manchester Crown Court at Crown Square
HEALTH

Hoist misuse ‘can be devastating’, UK regulator warns

The alert updates guidance first issued in 2014 and 2015, after investigations consistently found similar factors behind incidents, the agency said.

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A mobile patient hoist and wheelchair stored in a hospital corridor
CRIME & SAFETY

UK minister vows to send misogyny ‘back to the dark ages’

Bridget Phillipson will chair a national taskforce of experts, ministers and local leaders, with its first meeting focusing on young people.

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Bridget Phillipson, the minister for women and equalities, in an official portrait against a dark grey background.
SCIENCE & TECH

UK to waive liability for some space missions until 2030

The Government Actuary’s Department said it had assessed the cost to taxpayers of insurance and liability reforms accompanying the new UK Space Strategy.

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An illustration of an in-orbit servicing spacecraft above Earth
POLITICS

Minister for Overseas Territories: The Falkland Islands are British

Uma Kumaran, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Overseas Territories, said the Islanders have the right to develop their natural resources as they see fit, and…

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The waterfront road in Stanley, capital of the Falkland Islands, with brightly painted buildings beside the harbour.
ECONOMY

UK fashion designers to get £3m in government funding

The government will put £1m a year into the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN scheme for its next three rounds, up to 2028-29.

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People arriving at a London Fashion Week show at Somerset House in London
ECONOMY

UK’s 250th banking hub opens in Chepstow

The government has committed to opening at least 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament, the Treasury said.

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A banking hub with a Post Office counter and cash machine on a UK high street
GENERAL

UK blocks export of £4.6m Renaissance bronze

UK museums and galleries have until 17 December to come forward to buy Antico’s Seated Nymph, cast more than 500 years ago.

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Detail of an Italian Renaissance bronze sculpture, Donatello's David, at the Bargello Museum in Florence.
AGRICULTURE

Newcastle disease research marks 100 years in UK

Experts from six countries met at the Animal and Plant Health Agency in Weybridge to review a century of work on the poultry virus, last seen in the UK in 2006.

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A scanning electron microscope in a laboratory — a representative image for research work.
EDUCATION

Schools in England to share £22.5m for clubs and activities

More than 400 secondary schools in disadvantaged communities will get funding and support under the Enrichment Expansion programme, the government said.

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An English secondary school building seen from its playing field
ENERGY

UK’s Sellafield chief to step down in 2027

Chris Train, who chairs Sellafield Ltd, said the timing would let the company “identify the right candidate to succeed him”.

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The Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, including the former Windscale reactor dome.
DEFENCE & SECURITY

UK military families to get say over home repairs

A pilot will give service families a role in signing off repairs, and a Red Tape Challenge will ask them to identify outdated rules, the Ministry of Defence said.

Whitehall Minute
A street of modernised service family homes, with brick garden walls and a tree on a corner verge.
POLITICS

Irish PM is first foreign leader to visit UK’s No10 North

Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Micheál Martin reaffirmed their commitment to the Good Friday Agreement at talks in Manchester, Downing Street said.

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Ireland's Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, speaking in Dáil Éireann.
DEFENCE & SECURITY

UK and Maldives reaffirm commitment to Indian Ocean security

At their third Strategic Dialogue, held in London on 17 September 2026, senior officials discussed defence cooperation, maritime security, counterterrorism and…

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Aerial view of Malé, the capital of the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean.