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Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pope, has submitted a mail-in ballot in Chicago for the midterm elections on 3 November, the Vatican confirmed on Friday. The 71-year-old, born Robert Francis Prevost, registered to vote in New Lenox, Illinois on 3 October. As a US citizen living abroad, he is legally entitled to vote under federal law. The Vatican said Leo has exercised his right to vote whenever eligible, including during his years as a missionary and bishop in Peru. Leo has clashed with President Trump over immigration enforcement and the US-Israel war with Iran. Trump criticised the pope in April, calling him weak on crime and foreign policy.

The United States cancelled a traditional group photograph at the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta on Friday after multiple countries, including the UK, European nations and Australia, refused to be pictured with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to scrap the photo to avoid controversy distracting from substantive discussions. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who had planned to boycott the picture, told Lavrov at the meeting that Russia was 'not winning' the war in Ukraine and accused Russian forces of killing civilians. The diplomatic row reflects tensions over Russia's presence at the summit amid its invasion of Ukraine, and follows growing discomfort among Western allies over the Trump administration's recent warming of ties with Moscow, including waiving sanctions and limiting support for Ukraine.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is open to calls for Britain to formally apologise for its role in the slave trade, but ruled out considering financial reparations. He expressed his personal 'sorrow and regret' for the suffering caused and pledged to offer a 'structured dialogue' with those affected. Caribbean nations have renewed calls for an apology and reparations as Burnham prepares to attend a Commonwealth meeting in the Caribbean next week.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has defended Wednesday's Budget, saying the room for manoeuvre was limited by economic uncertainty and geopolitical crises including the war in Iran, which has pushed up borrowing costs. He told ITV the measures, including a £100 payment to 20 million households for energy bills and new taxes on banks, were 'radical within what we were able to do', though he admitted he would have liked to go further, including with higher energy support payments. Chancellor John Healey also announced fiscal devolution measures from 2028, giving mayoral strategic authorities a share of income tax receipts. Despite Burnham's repeated denials of an early election, MPs continue to speculate about one, with some suggesting the Budget's voter-friendly measures indicate a possible spring election. Ahead of a Commonwealth leaders' summit, Burnham has also gone further than any previous prime minister in suggesting openness to a formal apology for Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade, though he rejected calls for financial reparations.

Fallon Sherrock won £501,000 by beating world champion Luke Littler in a single leg on Netflix's 'Beat Luke Littler' event in Manchester on Friday. Littler had defeated 14 previous challengers before Sherrock took her turn. Sherrock, ranked women's world number three, hit five treble 20s in a row and finished on double top to claim victory.

England's Red Roses returned to winning ways with a 55-12 victory over the United States in the WXV Global Series, responding to shock back-to-back defeats to Canada. Wing Claudia Moloney-MacDonald scored four tries as England ultimately dominated, though the first half remained competitive. The win extended England's unbeaten record against the USA to 22 matches since 1991.

Alexander Zverev secured the men's world number one ranking after beating Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 7-5 at the Vienna Open. The 29-year-old German becomes the 30th player to top the ATP rankings and the second German after Boris Becker, who reached the summit in 1991. Zverev's breakthrough has been built on winning the French Open and US Open this year, taking advantage of injuries to rivals Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. He has now won 64 of his 80 matches this year. Zverev described the achievement as special, saying 'it's been a wait but sometimes you have to wait for the best things in life'. He is also the second-oldest man to become world number one for the first time. The German will face Alex de Minaur or Matteo Berrettini in the Vienna semi-finals.

Anthony Durkan, 35, was jailed for four years at Snaresbrook Crown Court after pleading guilty to 26 voyeurism charges. He carried out a campaign of voyeurism in Islington, north London, between January 2020 and March this year, filming through women's windows in the middle of the night whilst dressed in black and wearing a balaclava. Police caught him during a patrol after two women reported being filmed through their home windows.

Liverpool will host Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday with two players in doubt. Midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai sustained a hamstring injury on Nations League duty with Hungary and suffered a recurrence when forced off after 32 minutes in Liverpool's win over Brentford earlier this month. Victor Munoz picked up a knee injury in the same match. Both have missed Liverpool's last three games, though the club has won all three without them. Iraola said on Friday that the pair 'have a chance' to feature but stated he did not know for certain if they would be involved, with two days remaining before the match.

Intel's stock fell around 16 to 28 per cent after the chipmaker issued a weak fourth-quarter forecast. The company cited continued softness in the global PC market, where rising memory component costs have pushed PC prices higher. Intel expects fourth-quarter revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion, below analyst expectations of $17.1 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of 25 cents against expected 43 cents.

Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude, plans to go public in what is expected to be a $1.5 trillion flotation, making it one of the most hotly anticipated IPOs in history. The company's prospectus revealed $16.29 billion in revenue for the first half of 2026, more than thirteen times the $1.16 billion for the same period in 2025, though growth slowed to 47% in the third quarter compared to 144% in the second. Analysts question whether the company can maintain its expansion as computing costs rise, and whether management expectations justify the valuation amid broader tech sector uncertainties.

England beat Papua New Guinea 34-12 in Wollongong but face elimination from the Rugby League World Cup despite the victory. Head coach Brian McDermott's side needed to win by 70 points to overtake Samoa on points difference, but fell far short with a 22-point margin. England would become the first side in World Cup history to fail to reach the semi-finals, ending a run dating back to the tournament's inception in 1954. Their qualification now depends entirely on Tonga beating Samoa by at least 46 points on Sunday, a result commentators have described as near-impossible. England started promisingly with four tries in the opening 21 minutes but then made repeated errors that allowed Papua New Guinea to score two converted tries and disrupt their rhythm.

Novaya Gazeta, Russia's most prominent independent newspaper, announced Friday it is shutting down after more than 30 years, citing pressure from Russian authorities and security services. Editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said in a video statement that 'the Russian authorities – the Russian special services – have forced the editorial team to end its work'. The newspaper will cease operations on 9 November. The closure follows a recent search of Sokolov's home and the detention earlier this year of journalist Oleg Roldugin, charged with unlawful access to computerised information. The newspaper has also been evicted from its Moscow headquarters and its reader donation system has been disabled, cutting off its funding.

An evacuation of residents from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky began on Friday under a localised ceasefire in the Kherson region. A convoy of 25 buses with up to 750 seats, along with ambulances and aid vehicles carrying food and medicine, arrived in the city. Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova led the joint operation. Evacuees travel through Russia to southern Anapa, then fly to Belarus before entering Ukraine's Chernihiv region. Between 2,000 and 6,000 people remain in Oleshky, which has lacked electricity, running water and regular food supplies since Russian occupation began in 2022. Several hundred chose to stay and receive humanitarian assistance.

US technology stocks fell sharply on Friday after disappointing earnings from Alphabet, Amazon and Intel renewed fears about whether massive AI spending will generate returns. The Nasdaq composite dropped more than 2%, with Intel shares falling as much as 30% and Amazon down around 7% in premarket trading. Alphabet had already fallen more than 12% on Thursday, its worst day since going public. Investors worry that tech giants' ballooning capital expenditure and negative free cash flow suggest the AI boom may not be profitable enough to justify the costs.

Graham Gooch, a former murder detective who became a Lancashire county councillor, has died aged 76. He spent a decade solving major crimes in Lancashire before moving into politics. The Lancashire Post reports he had 30 years in policing before his career change.

A Texas grand jury indicted ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales on Friday on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for striking Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old construction worker, with a vehicle on 10 October. Morales, 33, allegedly drove an unmarked Jeep Cherokee into Parra Hernandez as he ran away during an immigration enforcement operation in Houston, causing multiple leg fractures and other injuries. Parra Hernandez, a Mexican national with no criminal record who has lived in Harris County for more than 30 years, was placed into custody with a broken leg. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said surveillance video shows the vehicle crossing a median and pursuing Parra Hernandez as he runs. Body camera footage released on Friday records Morales saying 'I was coming in and I hit him with the car'. ICE has disputed the account, claiming Parra Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle, and called the indictment a 'political stunt'.

A man armed with a knife threatened migrants boarding a dinghy off Hardelot-Plage in northern France before climbing aboard the vessel himself. Footage shows him moving through waist-deep water with the knife as a man on board attempted to hit him with a boot. He shouted 'I will kill you' during the confrontation. Most outlets report he dropped the knife into the sea; one outlet reports he dropped it before boarding, whilst another states he boarded moments later. It remains unclear whether he reached British shores. The incident occurred as 263 migrants arrived in the UK on Thursday, following a three-week pause in crossings.

Christa Pike, 50, survived a botched lethal injection execution in Tennessee on 30 September, becoming the first person ever to survive such an attempt. Governor Bill Lee said on Wednesday that her death sentence will likely remain the same unless changed by the courts, despite calls from her legal team for him to commute it to life imprisonment. Pike has now broken her silence, saying in a statement released Friday that she has been in constant physical and mental pain since waking up confused in hospital. She described her arms as burned and blistered from the drug. Lee has halted executions in the state through the end of the year while officials investigate what went wrong. Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and stabbing of her classmate Colleen Slemmer.

Police Scotland has launched an investigation into visits to Balmoral by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The Daily Express reported that the inquiries relate to allegations that women were trafficked to the King's private estate in the Scottish Highlands. Police Scotland said it had received 'information' and that active inquiries were ongoing but at a 'very early stage'. A 1999 visit by Epstein and Maxwell is documented in photographs released by the US Department of Justice showing them at the estate. Flight logs show Mountbatten-Windsor and Maxwell flew from Luton to Edinburgh on Epstein's private jet on 1 September 2006. Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has defended his stern reaction to Max Dowman's red card during the Gunners' shock penalty shootout loss to Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday. The 16-year-old was sent off in the 85th minute for kicking out at Fleetwood defender Harrison Neal after receiving what Arteta describes as a reckless challenge. Arsenal's appeal against the three-match suspension was rejected by the Football Association. Arteta said he warned Dowman before the match to expect physical treatment and not to react, adding that the teenager must understand the demands of Premier League football. Dowman will miss matches against Liverpool, Hull City and Newcastle. This is his second red card this month, having also been sent off playing for England's Under-19s.

Simon Richardson, 35, has been convicted of murdering headteacher Michael Mullins, 56, who was cycling home from Stretford Grammar School in Greater Manchester on 20 April. Richardson drove through give-way markings at a junction in Warburton and struck Mullins, who became trapped beneath his Volvo XC90. Instead of stopping, Richardson drove on for more than a mile at up to 60mph with Mullins still under the car, according to prosecutors. The court heard Richardson was aware the cyclist was beneath his vehicle and chose to continue driving to escape the consequences. Richardson's passenger, his cousin Gabrielle Debotte, heard 'moaning' from outside as they drove away. Mullins, a father of two, was found dying at a grass verge in Lymm, Cheshire. Richardson denied knowing Mullins was under his car but was found guilty of murder and dangerous driving. He will be sentenced on Monday and faces life imprisonment.

President Donald Trump cancelled in-person rallies scheduled for Kansas on Saturday and Iowa on Sunday, announcing instead he would hold telephone rallies across 19 states in a '72-hour sprint' before Tuesday's midterm elections. When asked by a reporter on Thursday whether the cancellation related to his health, Trump became angry, telling the reporter he was 'disgusting' and 'way out of shape'. Within hours, Trump reversed course, announcing Friday that both rallies would proceed on Sunday. The Republican National Committee initially said the tele-rallies would reach more voters efficiently, but sources said the in-person events were rearranged to accommodate additional telephone rallies rather than replaced entirely.

Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian Croft won the second series of The Celebrity Traitors as faithfuls, splitting the £83,000 prize for charity. The finale followed James Acaster's dramatic self-confession at Thursday's penultimate roundtable, where he revealed his traitor status under pressure from Michael Sheen's questioning about Ross Kemp's murder. Acaster, who said he had wanted to be a faithful throughout the competition, was then voted out. In Friday's final, the remaining faithfuls successfully identified and banished the two remaining traitors, Maya Jama and King Kenny, with Kenny ultimately betraying his fellow traitor. The series attracted over 15 million viewers across four weeks.

BP reported third-quarter underlying replacement cost profit of $8.46 billion, nearly quadrupling from $2.2 billion a year earlier and exceeding analyst expectations. The surge reflects significantly higher refining margins and gas and marketing trading results, driven by the Middle East conflict and disruptions to global fuel supplies including closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping route. Chief executive Meg O'Neill said refineries have been running at near capacity to offset shortfalls. BP's net debt fell to $13.87 billion in the first nine months of the year from $26.05 billion. Environmental campaign groups criticised the profits as obscene, with Global Witness claiming Europe's six largest oil firms have earned $89 billion so far in 2026.

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has suffered a $6.3 billion theft in what is believed to be the biggest crypto hack on record. The attack, which took approximately 20 minutes, involved hackers gaining access to a DevOps engineer's compromised laptop, though Binance later said investigation uncovered additional points of breach. Blockchain intelligence firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis have attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit linked to the Lazarus Group. Binance has frozen about $3 billion of the stolen assets and said it will cover all losses using company reserves. The company suspended deposits and withdrawals while working with law enforcement to investigate the breach.

Three people died when two helicopters collided in mid-air near McMinnville Municipal Airport in Oregon on Thursday afternoon around 2:15pm local time. The Robinson R22 carried a 22-year-old flight instructor from Texas, Maddie Aasbo, and a student pilot from the United Kingdom, whose identity has not yet been released. The Airbus H125 carried 38-year-old Tyler Sturdevant, a pilot from Newberg, Oregon. A witness working on a nearby barn roof told Fox12 he saw the helicopters collide and watched as one 'dropped straight down'. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the collision.

Alphabet reported third-quarter revenue of $127.6 billion, up 25% year-over-year, but missed analyst expectations and saw net profit fall 25% to $26.2 billion. Search revenue grew just 12%, down from 17% the previous quarter, as Google's new AI search summaries reduced the number of advertisements the company could sell. The company also reported negative free cash flow of $9.1 billion, more than triple analyst expectations, driven by spending on AI infrastructure. Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi said capital expenditures would increase significantly in 2027. The stock fell more than 12% in extended trading, wiping around $500 billion from Alphabet's market value in what analysts said was the company's worst day since going public 22 years ago.

A Renfe high-speed train travelling from Madrid to Seville collided with a stationary Iryo train near the town of Urda in Toledo province on Wednesday morning, killing at least 69 people and injuring more than 100. Both trains had been stopped when the automatic signalling system failed. Audio recordings show a controller in Madrid instructed the Renfe driver to proceed under normal operations rather than at low speed, an instruction Transport Minister Óscar Puente described as 'inexplicable'. The Renfe train was travelling at between 160 and 200 kilometres per hour when it struck the rear of the Iryo train, destroying front carriages and causing derailments. Spain declared three days of national mourning. This is the country's second fatal high-speed collision this year, following a crash in January that killed 46 people on the same line.

Sir Patrick Stewart, the acclaimed British actor best known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles aged 86. He had been living with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. Stewart spent much of his career in classical theatre, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and appearing in productions of Shakespeare and other classics, before finding global fame in science fiction and superhero films. His death prompted tributes from co-stars including Hugh Jackman, Sir Ian McKellen, William Shatner and James McAvoy, who praised his generosity, warmth and talent. West End theatres will dim their lights in his memory next week.