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Finance · 19 October 2026

Mortgages Outweigh Rent: 56% of First‑Time Buyers Now Pay More Monthly Than They Did Renting

Iris Quay, London desk

Half of new UK homeowners find their monthly mortgage payments eclipsing the rent they once paid, a trend that has peaked in a decade and follows a steep rise in rates since the Iran war began.

Entertainment · 19 October 2026

Holmes’ Home Tour Turns Blockbuster: $15m Documentary Opens on 855 Screens, Beats Fahrenheit 9/11

Celia Marsh, London desk

Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s nearly three‑hour documentary "You Can See Everything" opened to $15 million on 855 screens, the biggest North‑American documentary debut since Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004. The f…

Entertainment · 19 October 2026

Brazilian Spy‑Master‑Director Kleber Mendonça Filho Takes the Helm of Marrakech’s Atlas Workshops

Tariq Bell, World desk

Kleber Mendonça Filho, acclaimed for his film "The Secret Agent," has been appointed patron of the Marrakech Film Festival’s 9th Atlas Workshops, where 30 projects will be selected for development.

Technology · 19 October 2026

Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos Hoax That Even Wired Bought

Rita Knox, Washington desk

A satirical look at how Elizabeth Holmes’s charismatic pitch for Theranos fooled major outlets like WIRED and The New York Times, even as warning signs were already flashing.

Environment · 19 October 2026

French Police Lose Control as Looters Ransack Over 2,000 Shops, Minister Cites Anticipation Gap

Inès Vogel, Brussels desk

France’s interior minister Laurent Nunez said police lost control during weekend protests that saw more than 2,000 shops damaged, costing hundreds of millions of euros, and blamed a lack of anticipation for the chaos.

Politics · 19 October 2026

Burnham’s ‘big changes’ to welfare: a promise as shaky as a teenager’s Wi‑Fi signal

Tariq Bell, World desk

Mayor Andy Burnham has announced sweeping welfare reforms aimed at ending the NEET crisis, citing a warning from children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza and the upcoming Alan Milburn review. Critics questi…

AI Wire · 19 October 2026

Block Teams with OpenAI to Accelerate Threat Detection and Patch Proposals

Ada Circuit, World desk

Block has integrated OpenAI’s language models into its security platform, enabling faster threat analysis and automated patch suggestions. The move promises to cut investigation time from hours to minutes.

Politics · 19 October 2026

Greens leader pushes for senator’s leave as internal ‘binfire’ flares into full‑blown inferno

Mabel Crowe, Sydney desk

David Shoebridge has urged Jordon Steele‑John to take personal leave amid allegations, but the senator flatly denied ever offering to step back, deepening the party’s rift.

Science · 19 October 2026

Orionids Blast Into Orbit – Earth Dances with Halley’s Comet

Sam Orbit, World desk

The Orionid meteor shower peaks this week, offering 10‑20 meteors per hour until 7 November as Earth sweeps through Halley’s comet debris.