What the rest of the world is reading today.

A digest of top world and technology headlines, pulled from a handful of publisher feeds once a day and stored here. Every link goes straight to the original story.

October 7, 2026

78 stories published this day.

Around the world

Christa Pike ‘angry, confused’ and unable to move arms after failed execution, lawyers say

The Guardian

Attorneys say Pike was set to be taken off life support before she woke up, as judge orders officials to preserve evidence Christa Pike awoke “angry and confused” after surviving two lethal injections, her attorneys said on Wednesday, as a judge ordered Tennessee state officials to preserve all evidence related to the failed execution.Pike, 50, was taken to hospital unconscious but alive from Tennessee’s execution chamber last Wednesday after two supposedly lethal doses of the barbiturate pentobarbital. Continue reading...

Trump heads to Texas as Republican midterms woes deepen – US politics live

The Guardian

Trump earlier said he has ‘no regrets’ about endorsing Ken Paxton amid leaked recordings of state attorney general decrying Iran war and high gas pricesSign up for the Breaking News US emailTonight, we’ll have another set of midterm debates. In Iowa, we’ll see the Republican nominee for US Senate, Ashley Hinson, face off against Democrat Josh Turek, a state representative and Paralympian at 8pm ET.The race has become one of the most competitive of this cycle, despite the fact a Democrat hasn’t won a Senate election in the Hawkeye state since 2008. Turek, however, trails by just a point in a recent New York Times/Siena College poll. And Hinson, who currently serves as a congresswoman, has pushed back on Donald Trump’s agenda of late, as the president’s approval rating sinks to a new low. Hinson has called for an end on the war in Iran, despite consistently voting against House war powers resolutions that would curb military action, and criticizing the president’s recent pause on tariffs for foreign beef imports, which, Hinson argues, will affect the bottom line for the many cattle ranchers in Iowa. Continue reading...

What is the pneumonic plague?

NPR World

The ancient disease of plague is back in the headlines after the death this month of a Russian lab worker.

Labour Send changes at risk as parents rush to secure support, say experts

The Guardian

Overhaul of special education in England could unravel, thinktank finds, because of ‘use it before you lose it’ dynamicLabour’s flagship changes to special education in England are at risk of unravelling because parents are rushing to secure support for their children before the system changes, new analysis has found.The Institute for Government (IfG) thinktank says the government’s plans to largely replace education, health and care plans (EHCPs) in England with more widespread support in mainstream schools may be too optimistic and take longer to complete than its 2030 timeline. Continue reading...

Texas set to carry out first US execution since botched lethal injection of Christa Pike

The Guardian

Jamaal Howard’s lawyers urge halt, citing risk of another failed execution after Pike’s ordeal in TennesseeTexas on Wednesday is scheduled to carry out the first execution in the US after the the botched lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee last week.Lawyers for Jamaal Howard, a Texas man on death row for capital murder, are seeking to halt the execution, arguing there are similar risks as in the case of Pike. Continue reading...

María del Carmen Abascal, symbol of Spain’s housing protests, dies aged 87

The Guardian

Maricarmen’s eviction from Madrid apartment after over seven decades set off wave of protests against housing crisis‘Now is the moment’: housing activists at Madrid encampment pin wary hopes on Spain’s early electionMaría del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old whose eviction set off a nationwide wave of protests against Spain’s housing crisis, has died.News of her death came two weeks after Maricarmen, as she had come to be known across Spain, was evicted from the Madrid apartment where she had lived for more than seven decades. Continue reading...

WHO says it does not have ‘full picture’ from Russia following suspected plague death

The Guardian

‘Transparent information sharing’ from Moscow is required to conduct full risk assessment, UN agency saysThe World Health Organization has said it does not have the “full picture” from Russia following the suspected death from plague last week of a 28-year-old laboratory worker in Siberia.Darya Shipilova died two days after falling ill with cold-like symptoms. She was an employee at the anti-plague research institute in the eastern city of Irkutsk, with some reports suggesting she was infected after a workplace accident. Continue reading...

Trump backs away from top aides who reportedly advised pro-Russia government

The Guardian

President floats firing Chris LaCivita and James Blair over any ‘conflict’ after reports of work in Republika SrpskaDonald Trump distanced himself from two top advisers on Wednesday, claiming he did not have “any idea who else they work for”, after it was reported they spent the weekend assisting a pro-Russia government in the Balkans.On Truth Social, Trump wrote that Chris LaCivita, the co-manager of his 2024 presidential campaign, and James Blair, a campaign adviser and White House deputy chief of staff on leave of absence, “are outside consultants” and “do not work for me other than as outside consultants”. Continue reading...

FBI says it thwarted terrorist attack in Minnesota by an 18-year-old it supplied with an AK-47

The Guardian

Authorities say they arrested an 18-year-old who was planning a shooting attack at the Mall of AmericaFBI officials stopped a potential terrorist attack on the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, authorities announced Wednesday. An 18-year-old was arrested on one count of obtaining a firearm to carry out an act of terrorism.Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud had been investigated over the last nearly two years by the FBI. He was arrested Tuesday in a public park after he paid $600 to an undercover FBI employee posing as a member of the Islamic State for an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition, according to the criminal complaint. Continue reading...

Arizona congressional candidate says she was raped while trying to repair campaign sign

The Guardian

Bernadette Greene-Placentia says she is sharing her story in order to fight for victims of sexual assault This article contains graphic descriptions of sexual assault.A congressional candidate in Arizona says she was attacked and raped in August while trying to repair one of her damaged campaign signs.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organizations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...

In tech

Teenage Engineering’s CEO says it’ll stop making synths

The Verge

Teenage Engineering founder and CEO Jesper Kouthoofd told Highsnobiety that it plans to stop making synths. And yes, that includes the iconic OP-1, which put the company on the map. TE isn't just a music gear maker; it's also a sought-after design firm. It's collaborated with Ikea, Nothing, and Playdate, among others. But almost everything […]

Android’s physical navigation buttons are back on Googlebooks, but not the way you think

The Verge

A common misconception I've seen with Googlebooks is that the Quick Insert and Google logo keys are new. They're not, as they first debuted a couple of years ago on some Chromebooks. But there is something new for Googlebooks that's ripped straight from Android phones circa 2014. On every Googlebook keyboard, the F1, F2, and […]

We found some great October Prime Day deals under $50

The Verge

Getting in on the Prime Day action doesn’t have to result in an empty wallet. Just as we found a couple handfuls of goodies that are under $25, there are plenty of deals during Amazon’s October sale that are $50 or less, many of which offer a lot of practical value. Everything from chargers to […]

Roku’s OLED TVs are up to $400 off during Prime Day, starting at $700

The Verge

Just over a week ago, we covered a deal at Amazon that knocked around 30 percent off Roku’s new (and first-ever) OLED TVs. The deal expired, but has returned for the final day of October Prime Day. The 55-inch Pro Series OLED is $699.99 at Amazon, which is 30 percent off its list price. The […]

Meet the Vendors Selling ‘Cornell Seven’ Merch

Wired

Brands, influencers, and Etsy sellers claim they're hawking T-shirts, mugs, and buttons out of solidarity with the woman who accused seven male classmates of sexual assault. Some say it’s shameless.

ChatGPT’s ‘Intelligent UI’ update fills its responses with pictures, charts, and buttons

The Verge

OpenAI is launching a new Intelligent UI feature in ChatGPT that allows the chatbot to answer your questions with interactive visuals. The update, which is rolling out to all users alongside GPT-6, gives ChatGPT the ability to combine a text response with diagrams, charts, forms, tappable buttons, and more. In a blog post explaining the […]

The first Nvidia RTX Spark laptops cost up to $7,000

The Verge

The first array of laptops powered by Nvidia's new RTX Spark chip are designed to compete with high-end MacBook Pros - and they've got some high-end prices to match. The flagship Surface Laptop Ultra and RTX Spark laptops from Dell, Lenovo, MSI, HP, and Asus start as low as $2,599 for configurations with an 18-core […]

It appears .agent and .agi are about to be the hot new domains

The Verge

For the first time in years, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - better known as ICANN - is accepting applications for new top-level domains. These are the suffixes at the end of all URLs, and you may know them as things like .com, .org, and .pizza. ICANN just announced the 1,615 applications […]

Everything announced at Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra event

The Verge

Microsoft just wrapped up a big Windows and Surface-focused keynote in San Francisco. The biggest announcement was arguably the release details about the Surface Laptop Ultra, its new laptop that’s powered by Nvidia’s RTX Spark Arm-based chip. The machine will start at $2,599 for a configuration with an 8-core CPU, 24GB of RAM, and 512GB […]

Microsoft is giving Copilot more control over Windows and your files

The Verge

At today's Windows and Surface event, Microsoft showed off an upgrade to its Copilot AI system that will give it access to local files on your PC and the ability to take actions across the OS. It's part of an idea Microsoft is calling "Hybrid Intelligence," where apps and tools rely on a mix of […]

How Microsoft built its MacBook Pro competitor

The Verge

Before Microsoft releases a laptop to the public, it needs to put the device through its paces. That all happens inside a windowless, warehouse-like lab on the company's Redmond, Washington, campus, where the team developing Surface devices programs robots to press their buttons thousands of times, pelts devices with radio waves from giant antennas, and […]