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

Asylum seekers still being sent to France under ‘one in one out’ weeks after scheme ended

Guardian understands Home Office continues to detain dozens of people, with one group forcibly removed this week The Home Office is still putting asylum seekers on to planes to France weeks after the controversial scheme to remove them ended, the Guardian has learned. The “one in, one out” scheme was announced by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the former prime minister Keir Starmer in July 2025. It aimed to deter small boats crossing the Channel to the UK from northern France, with some asylum seekers arriving here forcibly returned to France while a similar number in northern France were brought legally to the UK. Continue reading...

F1: Hamilton takes first Ferrari pole; Antonelli starts fourth in Mexico

Lewis Hamilton claimed his first pole position for Ferrari by edging out Mercedes' George Russell in qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix.

US midterms: 2 days to go – what polls say as Trump, El-Sayed hit the trail

Democrats remain ahead in national polls as Trump and candidates make their final push in the days before polling day.

Shops looted as German cost of living protests turn violent

The protests in cities across Germany - including Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt - came on the same day hundreds of thousands also protested in France.

Binance resumes withdrawals following $6.3 billion hack, says 90% of stolen user assets are covered

Binance says it has restored backing for 90% of assets affected by its $6.3 billion hack and resumed phased withdrawals.

A gift to scammers: why you should probably keep your birthday a secret

Using a fake DOB or leaving the field blank when making an online account can offer protection from identity theft You get a call from your bank saying there has been suspicious activity on your account. They read out your name, address and date of birth so you are happy it is a legitimate caller. But you are talking to criminals who have used your date of birth as part of a web of verifying information to convince you they are someone else. Continue reading...

High street ‘slot farms’ could evade budget tax rise through bingo hall loophole

Hundreds of adult gaming centres in England have bingo licences that still qualify them for discounted business rates Hundreds of high street “ slot farms ” could continue claiming a discount on their business rates, unless the government closes a loophole that allows them to pose as bingo halls. John Healey singled out adult gaming centres (AGCs) in his first budget this week, in which he increased duty on slot machine takings from 20% to 25%, claiming he was “raising taxes on gambling to support good growth on every high street”. Continue reading...

Companies promised AI gains— here's how the payoff showed up in earnings

Santander, Novartis and other companies say AI is beginning to boost revenue, cut costs or improve profitability as investors seek returns.

Data centers are now a midterm issue, even in Brooklyn

At a Brooklyn midterm party five days before Election Day, every conversation, from a council member’s fireside chat to a debate about the Democratic Party, kept circling back to AI and data centers.

Apple CEO says the company doesn’t ‘want to ship AI for AI’s sake’

Apple's new CEO defended the company's current position in the AI landscape.

4 days left: How TechCrunch Founder Summit helps you make more useful connections to scale

On November 4 at Boston’s SoWa Power Station, get ready for a full day packed with meaningful networking opportunities, actionable insights, and connections that could change the trajectory of your idea and startup. Register before all prices go up at the door.

Judge allows NAACP lawsuit over xAI data center pollution to move forward

An NAACP lawsuit accuses the SpaceX-owned AI company of violating the Clean Air Act.

Ruthless Australia record biggest win in Women's World Cup history

Valkyries win WNBA title in their second season

The Golden State Valkyries win the Women's NBA title by beating Atlanta Dream in the finals decider.

Golden State Valkyries win first WNBA championship

Gabby Williams scored her team's final 11 points of the third quarter and dazzled through the fourth on the way to 30 points as the Golden State Valkyries captured the WNBA championship in just their second season.

Third-choice? Inside Alexander-Arnold's struggles in Madrid

Trent Alexander-Arnold is currently third-choice right-back at Real Madrid - where does his future lie?

Inde Navarrette Wins Halloween With Penis-Destroying Robot ‘SNL’ Sketch ‘The Inventor’s Wife’

After a pretty weak cold open that was crashed by Tom Hanks’ David S. Pumpkins, Donald Trump (who admitted he “might be gay”) and his MAGA minion Nicki Minaj, and an amusing opening monologue where host Inde Navarrette took a swipe at Shane Gillis, the Halloween edition of “Saturday Night Live” aired a surprisingly fun […]

‘SNL’: Watch Gracie Abrams Perform ‘Hit the Wall,’ ‘Here You Come, There You Go’

The singer-songwriter plays one song from her latest album, Daughter from Hell , and another from its deluxe version

‘SNL’: Telenovela Star Inde Navarrette’s Product Placement Turns Poisonous

Navarrette and Marcello Hernández find all the ways not to market a new Sprite drink

‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Stars Relive Hollywood Ovation and Fan Chants for Yamazaki Takashi at Tokyo Festival

The cast of “Godzilla Minus Zero” brought the glow of a Hollywood standing ovation to the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival on Sunday, two days before Yamazaki Takashi’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning “Godzilla Minus One” opens in Japan. Kamiki Ryunosuke, who returns as lead character Shikishima Koichi, and Hamabe Minami, who reprises the role of […]

Spill from vandalised home oil tank kills 13 birds

A number of birds are also injured after the spill from the oil tank earlier this week.

Rhino siblings celebrate first birthday with cake

Markus and Mo weighed about 70kg (11st) at birth, and now weigh about 500kg (78st) each.

'Fascinating' rare beetle found in Wales again after 60 years

It was feared The Short-Necked Oil Beetle had become extinct in Wales after recent surveys

Oil tank vandalism results in waterfowl park 'nightmare'

The popular attraction in County Down has been forced to close while efforts continue to remove oil from the pond.

Why Scottish nationalists should see Burnham as a real threat – and an opportunity | Rory Scothorne

The PM’s goals may spell bad news for the SNP. Ironically, his EU bridge-building could also resurrect their dreams of independence Fifty years ago this month, a group of leftwing Scots gathered in the Golden Lion hotel in Stirling for the inaugural conference of a new political party. The “Scottish Labour party” had formally split from Labour at the beginning of 1976, driven by disillusionment over the party’s timid proposals for a new Scottish assembly. They were led by the firebrand MP for South Ayrshire, Jim Sillars, who promised to take Scotland’s Labour tradition back to its roots in both socialism and home rule. Sillars’ new party was a media sensation in Scotland, and quickly joined by public intellectuals such as Tom Nairn , Hamish Henderson and Neal Ascherson . It offered something new and exciting: a fusion of the two movements that were battling for Scotland’s soul in a decad

Why politicians chasing economic growth is a lie | Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabortty – podcast

What if someone told you the truth about the economy? For years, governments have tried spending more, spending less, cutting red tape, Brexit, levelling up – and still failed to increase growth per person in the UK. So what’s the lesson from the great British fairytale? On the latest episode of Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabortty, rebel economists Karel Williams and Sukhdev Johal explain why they believe praying for growth is a fool’s dream – and why it won’t improve your life You can watch previous episodes of Radical Thinking here Aditya’s suggested reading list for this episode: As we say in the podcast, I’ve championed the work of Karel and Sukhdev and their colleagues for many years in the Guardian, and some of my columns are a good introduction to their approach. In our conversation we look at what life after growth looks like for towns and suburbs, and what it should look l

Reeves says UK's future should be inside the EU

In her first major intervention since leaving the Treasury, Rachel Reeves says Brexit has made the UK "poorer, weaker and less secure".

Virginia and D.C. sue to block construction of Trump arch

U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkin ordered both sides to talk and to agree on a proposed briefing schedule on the motion for a temporary restraining order by Saturday evening.