News Hub Central — breaking world, business, tech and sports news, summarised in minutes

US 'watching closely' after plague researcher dies in Russia

Donald Trump says the US was looking "very strongly" at the case of a lab technician who died at a research centre in Siberia.

Trump says 'threat' led US to pull bombers from RAF Fairford

The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday it had removed the B1 bombers from the base in England back to their home stations in America.

Coalition set to unveil dramatically deeper cuts to overseas migration as it fends off One Nation’s rise

Sources say the opposition’s target will be below Labor’s but won’t match One Nation’s goal to limit net arrivals to 130,000 Get our new political email , free app or daily news podcast The Coalition is expected to reveal deep cuts to immigration today which the party says would maintain working holidaymaker places and prioritise skills as part of attempts to dent growing support for One Nation. The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, is expected to unveil the Coalition’s policy on Tuesday, following sign off from Liberal and National MPs in a special party room meeting due to convene this morning. Continue reading...

France braces for national day of school protests after injuries and mass arrests

Thousands expected to join marches of support on Tuesday across the country amid growing concerns over police response France is bracing for a national day of protests and high-school blockades as a youth protest movement gathers pace amid a growing debate over the scale of the police response. In one incident, a 15-year-old protesting against what demonstrators said were France’s dilapidated ⁠and understaffed ​schools ‌had his hand ‌blown off outside a high school in the northern town of Lens, said François-Xavier Lauch, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais. Continue reading...

House Democrat targets candidate prediction market trades after opponent’s Kalshi penalty

A new bill bans federal candidates from trading prediction market contracts related to their own elections and would result in a fine if violated.

Lucid's Q3 deliveries fall 6.7% as EV maker cuts production to align with demand

Lucid delivered 3,806 EVs and produced 2,954 vehicles during the third quarter. That compared with 4,078 deliveries on production of 3,891 vehicles a year earlier.

'We had a threat': Trump explains U.S. moving long-range bombers from UK

The U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers removed from England have been used in strikes on Iran.

Brazilian stocks jump as Bolsonaro now seen as heavy favorite to win presidency

The moves come after the first round results of Brazil's presidential election on Sunday. Bolsonaro will face incumbent Lula da Silva in a runoff on Oct. 25.

Reverse-engineered games: All the news on video game decomps, recomps, VR and web and 3D ports

It’s a wild time for retro gaming. Thanks to decompilations and recompilations of classic titles, those games are becoming unshackled from their proprietary code and original hardware to be ported to new devices or updated in ways to completely change the original game. Ever imagined skateboarding in Call of Duty? Or playing the original Halo right […]

The Matic is the first robovac to get an FCC ban waiver, not that it needs it

The Matic is our favorite robot vacuum and robo-mop, and it's also now the first to escape the FCC's Roomba ban. Well, sort of - because the Matic wasn't banned to begin with. Here's what's actually happening: On October 2nd, the FCC added the original Matic, model 4MA0001, and its charging dock model 4DK0008 to […]

OpenAI will start watermarking ChatGPT’s text in the EU

An invisible, machine-readable watermark in text output is rolling out to ChatGPT and Codex, but only for users in the European Union at first. OpenAI says its textGrain watermarking "matched or exceeded" other approaches like Google DeepMind's SynthID for text, which is also the basis for the watermarking Anthropic announced in August. Like OpenAI, Anthropic […]

Etched fields funding offers at $40B+ valuation, sources say

Just a couple of months after its last big raise, the AI chip startup is already being plied with investment offers at double or more its current value, sources tell TechCrunch.

20 years later: How Steve Gleason's punt block unified New Orleans, stoked flames of Falcons-Saints rivalry

Ahead of Monday's Falcons-Saints game, players and coaches reflect on the storm, the game and a play from 20 years ago.

Is Bijan Robinson the NFL's best running back? He is when he's in primetime

"When it's time to [play], no matter what time it is, it's time to go."

Follow live: Guardians chase Sox starter, score on throwing error

'Cheetah it's time': Why a Tyreek Hill-Chiefs reunion makes so much sense

The Chiefs had been monitoring and receiving updates on Hill's rehab and training sessions, even before the injuries to Tyquan Thornton and Rashee Rice.

Carey Mulligan and Marcus Mumford Raise $7.65 Million for Children in War Zones (EXCLUSIVE)

Carey Mulligan and Marcus Mumford raised $7.65 million on Sunday night in Los Angeles for Children in Conflict, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting, educating and providing mental health support to children living in war zones and high-conflict areas. The couple hosted their annual star-studded Wassail benefit for the first time in Los Angeles. Previously […]

Author and former politician Jeffrey Archer dies aged 86

Lord Archer died peacefully at home between writing sessions, his publisher said The author and former politician Jeffrey Archer has died aged 86. Archer, who was a Conservative MP for five years before serving as the party’s deputy chairman, died “suddenly and peacefully” at his home “between writing sessions” on Monday, his publisher Harper Collins said. Continue reading...

‘Free Elizabeth Holmes’ Group Defends Convicted Theranos Founder at ‘You Can See Everything’ Doc Screening: She’s ‘Innocent and Needs to Be Free’

In the wild A24 documentary You Can See Everything, Elizabeth Holmes still maintains her innocence in her Theranos fraud case despite being sentenced to 11 years in prison. It turns out, there are a few others who share her beliefs. Ryan Elhosseiny, who runs a group called Just Blood, claims that Holmes is innocent and […]

Best Horror of October 2026: ‘Other Mommy’ Goes for the Heart, ‘Carrie’ Returns, Josh Hartnett Hunts for Sea Monsters and More

Welcome to Horror Explorer, a curated column showcasing the month’s best movies, series, books and everything else spooky worth checking out. I’m William Earl, the executive digital director of Variety and the publication’s resident horror enthusiast. Please drop me a line at wearl@variety.com if there’s something I should check out for next month’s missive.

There's a contraception shortage in Tanzania due to a cut in U.S. family planning aid

The U.S. supplied the majority of Tanzania's birth control until it was abruptly cut off in 2025. It's unclear how the country will fill the gaps.

Texas Senate race shatters state's campaign spending record

Combined spending on advertising by Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, and super PACs supporting each of them has already topped $240 million.

Conservatives propose £10bn ‘Britannia Shield’ inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome

Party to unveil plans for one of UK’s ‘most significant military programmes since the cold war’ The Conservatives will announce plans to build a £10bn British “Iron Dome” similar to Israel’s air and missile defence system, which the party will christen “Britannia Shield” in an announcement at conference on Tuesday. The shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, will say Britain needs to be ready to defend itself from potential aerial attacks and that new investment was needed in advanced radar and interceptor missiles. Continue reading...

Jeffrey Archer, former Conservative politician and novelist, dies aged 86

Lord Archer died peacefully at home between writing sessions, his publisher said The author and former politician Jeffrey Archer has died aged 86. Archer, who was a Conservative MP for five years before serving as the party’s deputy chairman, died peacefully at his home between writing sessions on Monday, his publisher Harper Collins said. Continue reading...

Zack Polanski may regret not using his influence when Greens needed him to act

Party’s leader was absent when members voted to adopt policy stating that Zionism was a type of racism Shortly after the Greens’ triumph in February’s Gorton and Denton byelection , with the party polling above 20%, Zack Polanski seemed as if he might be taking the party into a new era. Now, some members fear he has led them off an electoral cliff. It is not Polanski’s direct responsibility that the English and Welsh Greens are saddled with an official policy stating that Zionism, the movement for a Jewish state, is a type of racism, and that Israel should be replaced by a Palestinian state. The party is a direct democracy, and the members decide. Continue reading...