Trump defends decision to waive some sanctions on Russia; Lithuania foils attack on Starlink site; Kyiv hits another oil terminal. What we know on day 1,699

Donald Trump has defended his decision to waive some sanctions on Russia, while once again accusing Volodymyr Zelenskyy of not wanting to end the war. “My decision on Russia is a very simple one. I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,” the US president wrote on Truth Social. “Zelenskyy doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him … he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” he added. Trump’s remarks come after he signed an executive order on Friday putting on hold a sweeping new sanctions package targeting the Russian economy.

Earlier on Sunday, Zelenskyy had thanked the Trump administration for resuming intelligence sharing between the two countries, but maintained the US had intentionally throttled its Starlink satellite internet access to send a “message” to Kyiv, write Andrew Roth and Sam Jones.

Lithuania said Russia was likely behind an attempted arson attack on a company hosting communication hardware for Starlink satellites. Prime minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius made the claim on broadcaster LRT after authorities discovered flammable liquids at the company in question. Sinkevicius said the firm, whose location he did not mention, houses “nine satellite antennas to guarantee the Starlink connection, which of course supports and assists Ukraine”. He added: “It is obvious this is part of the hybrid war being waged by Russia, involving acts of sabotage.”

In September, a satellite station belonging to the network located in central Poland was set ablaze with Warsaw claiming sabotage. In Bulgaria, an investigation is under way amid claims that antennas linked to the Starlink satellite network were set on fire.

Shipping Russian diesel to the US market will take 15 to 20 days once contracts are signed, a senior Russian official said on Sunday, though a date for signing has yet to be announced. Trump announced the controversial agreement with Moscow last week, seen as a way to try to lower fuel prices for American consumers ahead of crucial midterm elections. “Negotiations are currently under way regarding the commercial terms – that is, on finalisation of the contracts,” Russian deputy prime minister for energy Alexander Novak said in an interview with state media. “Once the contracts are signed, the fuel will reach the markets – in this case, the US markets – within 15 to 20 days.”

Ukrainian strikes set an oil export terminal and a depot ablaze in St Petersburg on Sunday as Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia in one of its largest aerial attacks of the war. One person was killed and five others were wounded in the attack, which sparked fires at the Petersburg oil terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot, officials said. A logistics centre belonging to Russian retailer Ozon and a datacentre operated by Russian tech company VK were also targeted, the companies confirmed. Russia’s defence ministry said Sunday that its forces had destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black Sea.

A ⁠Russian air ⁠strike ⁠killed one person ​and injured ⁠two in Kyiv ‌overnight, mayor Vitali ‌Klitschko said on Telegram early on ‌Monday. A medical facility ​and a non-residential ⁠building were damaged ​in the ​attack, ​he ​said.

A suspected ⁠drone exploded over Lithuania after triggering an alert that forced residents in northern and central areas to seek shelter for an hour on Sunday, officials said. Ukraine’s foreign ​ministry said later it regretted the incident in Lithuania’s airspace, adding that it may have resulted from Russian electronic warfare diverting drones off course. The object flew ⁠into Lithuania’s airspace from Poland, Lithuanian defence minister Robertas Kaunas told reporters.

Anthony Goodman argues that probation officers have increasingly lost their autonomy, while Joe Sim says rehabilitation will not work in a society divided by brutal social divisions. Plus letters from Chris Parsons and Tracey Burley

Your editorial on overcrowded prisons and probation (13 October) was most welcome as it highlights a crisis in community justice that shows little sign of abating. You say that problems date back to the failed part-privatisation of the probation service, but in reality political interference has been happening for far longer than that.

Having worked for years as a prison probation officer and then in an aftercare and resettlement unit for ex-offenders, I saw good practice and ongoing practical and emotional support that demonstrated all the important points raised by Enver Solomon in his recent Guardian article.

Dr Denise Al Mari-de Waal and Aaron Hume call for lifelong support and an integrated care pathway that recognises the physical and mental health impacts of cerebral palsy

The sudden passing of RJ Mitte has deeply affected many people in the cerebral palsy community (RJ Mitte, actor best known for Breaking Bad, dies aged 34, 12 October). His success challenged assumptions and showed what can be achieved when people are given opportunities and support.

Yet the 165,000 people with cerebral palsy in the UK are too often underestimated. Others frequently decide what we can and cannot do without recognising our abilities, ambitions or potential.

George Graham of Save the Children UK says the government has a clear opportunity to act and ensure that victims of conflict are helped

Amid allegations about advisers dealing with Roman Abramovich’s business affairs (Roman Abramovich aides falsified paperwork to disguise assets and dodge tax, records suggest, 12 October), another issue demands urgent government action – the £2.5bn from the sale of Chelsea FC, which has remained stuck in a Barclays bank account since May 2022.

The money was originally pledged to help victims of the war in Ukraine, no matter where they are in the world. Yet for over four years this huge sum of money has sat in limbo, accruing interest while victims of conflict go without desperately needed support. At a time of global aid cuts, rising food insecurity and growing humanitarian needs, the £2.5bn could make a transformative difference to the children and families we serve around the world.

Eugene Litvak says hospitals could rearrange scheduled admissions as part of efforts to prepare operationally for changes on 1 January

Your report (Millions of Medicaid recipients to face draconian requirements as of 1 January, 13 October) warns that millions may lose Medicaid coverage just as hospitals face rising uncompensated care and growing emergency department demand.

Protecting eligible patients from losing coverage through paperwork must remain the first priority. But hospitals also have a responsibility to prepare operationally for 1 January. They should not compound the coming increase in emergency demand with avoidable peaks they create themselves.

Prime minister Mark Carney describes blaze as ‘one of the worst tragedies for the forces on Canadian soil in peacetime’

Four people have been killed and dozens more seriously injured after a “violent, fast-moving” fire tore through one of Canada’s busiest military training bases in Alberta, the country’s prime minister said on Sunday.

Mark Carney called the incident “one of the worst tragedies for the forces on Canadian soil in peacetime”.

James, 34, a researcher, meets Michelle, 30, a radio presenter

What were you hoping for?
An unforgettable evening.

David Tennant wows in the third series of Jimmy McGovern’s harrowing prison drama, and the Dublin band are back with a beguiling fifth album. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviews

A social media star comes a cropper in timely horror, and the Spice Girls ledge takes her disco- and indie-tinged bops out on a short tour

The Influencer Project
Out now
When your career involves constantly posting footage of everything you do to social media, it makes things a cakewalk for stalkers. And lo, the influencer-in-peril horror subgenre was born. British social media star Chiara King plays herself in this chilling iteration, set in Copenhagen.

President signed the legislation championed by late senator Lindsey Graham last month but has waived the restrictions as they were due to come into effect

Donald Trump has put on hold a sweeping new sanctions package targeting the Russian economy, telling Congress the pause on the legislation passed by both chambers was in the national interest.

In an executive order on Friday, the US president said he was waiving many ⁠sanctions, restrictions and duties ⁠on Russia, in a move that comes as he has been publicly criticising ⁠Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, including suggesting that Ukraine needs a ​new leader.

The annual Taoist celebration is held in the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar. During the nine-day vegetarian festival – also known as the Nine Emperor Gods festival – worshippers abstain from eating meat, consume only vegetarian food and perform rituals to cleanse body and mind

Pete Crockett says the history of British education is not simply one of children dutifully accepting adult instruction, while Simon Dawson says Kitty Sayers misses the mark when describing English attitudes. Plus a letter from Kevin Donnelly

Reading Kitty Sayers’ interesting article, I was reminded of the rich, and perhaps too easily forgotten, history of direct action by British schoolchildren (Angry French students take to the streets. British students don’t – and I think I know why, 10 October). Far from being historically meek or unquestioningly compliant, they have demonstrated a remarkable capacity for challenging authority.

At Marlborough college, troops were once summoned to dislodge rebellious pupils occupying an island in the school grounds. In the late 1700s, Winchester college experienced several rebellions.

We need to work together to build a more inclusive history, writes Mags L Halliday. Plus a letter from Shane Ritchie

Sandi Toksvig is right to highlight the systemic bias in information about women’s lives in history (Pass notes: Is Wikipedia ‘deeply biased’? Sandi Toksvig says it is – so she’s backing a rival, 12 October). Her comment about Wikipedia, however, implies that no one is working to correct this bias on the site itself. I belong to several projects whose goals are to reduce the gender gap on Wikipedia.

One, Women in Red, started in October 2014. At that point, only 15.53% of biographies on the encyclopedia were of women. As of October 2026, that has risen to 20.42%, in part thanks to the many volunteers who spend their spare time searching for reliable sources to draw on. The Women in Red project currently publishes an average of 1,500 new biographies every month.

Readers respond to an article by Rachael Stirling

I would like to reassure Rachael Stirling (‘I didn’t expect to be portrayed as a cannibal’: Rachael Stirling on eating her mother Diana Rigg’s ashes, 11 October) that, far from grimacing or feeling disgust over her admission of eating a few grains of her mother’s ashes, I was deeply moved. My best friend’s beloved mother died last year and I immediately sent the quote to her, as I knew it would resonate with her.

As your review of Stirling’s book entitled All About My Mother states, she eats a grain of her mother’s ashes so that she is “cloaked in her, shielded and shrouded by her. I am her. My mother is my superpower. She always was.”

Guardian readers reflect and reminisce about the cooking equipment that has been significant in their families

Among the wedding presents from 1963 that I still use (Letters, 9 October) are Denby ovenware, a complete set of Prestige kitchen utensils, a Victorinox paring knife we bought with money given to us for bedsheets, and smoked-glass wine and sherry glasses from a friend of my parents. When a grandchild noticed that we had rather a lot of flower vases, we had to confess that when asked what we would like as a present, we were so embarrassed that we always said “a flower vase”, knowing that it could come in at any price. It was a vintage year, 1963.
Prue Baker
Brighton

• I inherited my mother’s potato masher, bought just after the war. As a newly married housewife setting up home with everything in short supply and rationing continuing, she told me that she was delighted to see the masher for sale and bought two – one for her sister. It was flimsy – a thin circular metal holed base with three wires attached, which were twisted to form the stem, and a wooden handle painted blue. History and memories in a utensil.
Sue Rawson
Scarborough, North Yorkshire

Nearly 50 years ago in inner-city Birmingham, photographers Derek Bishton, Brian Homer and John Reardon set up an impromptu studio in the street and invited their neighbours along. With no camera phones in 1979, long cable releases gave participants the power to decide how they wished to be seen and represented. The project’s original aim was to counter negative media images of Handsworth and its people. Now, in collaboration with Dewi Lewis Publishing, a Kickstarter fund has been set up to bring them together in book form

Rebecca Hope Duncan says she has not received any help after being assessed as autistic, in response to Prof Peter Fonagy’s review of mental health, ADHD and autism services. Plus letters from Jeremy Seymour, John Bryant, Peter Deadman, Steve Bamford and another reader

Your coverage of the Fonagy review concentrates on children and on the risk of diagnosing too readily (NHS at risk of ‘system failures’ as demand for ADHD and autism care soars, inquiry finds, 9 October). I’d like to speak for those of us who were not diagnosed at all.

I first asked for help at 17. For 34 years I was treated for anxiety, depression and trauma. All were real; none were the whole story. I was diagnosed as autistic at 51. The same report identified ADHD, which until 2013 could not officially be diagnosed alongside autism.

Biruk Mekonnen, the Ethiopian ambassador to the UK, responds to an editorial on the war in Tigray

Your attention to Ethiopia is welcome, but your editorial (8 October) presents an incomplete account of the crisis, framing Ethiopia’s national interests as sources of regional instability while insufficiently examining the actions of other actors.

The opening reference to the Nobel peace prize is particularly telling. By suggesting that the committee will hope its next choice “ages better than 2019’s”, the editorial invites readers to question Abiy Ahmed’s award because of the war that followed a year later. Yet the prime minister received the prize for his efforts to achieve peace with Eritrea. The subsequent war in Tigray does not erase that achievement or, by itself, establish that the award was undeserved.

Ian A Anderson reminds readers of The Meaning of Liff. Plus letters from Peter Lewis, John Davies, Penelope Fletcher, Phil Ivens and Chris Skelcher

Neither Adrian Chiles, in his column about placenames (7 October), nor the writers of the follow-up letters (9 October) mentioned Douglas Adams and John Lloyd’s legendary 1983 dictionary of placenames, The Meaning of Liff, still in print.

Not so long ago, finding ourselves in Lincolnshire, we made a detour just to get a selfie with the village sign for Mavis Enderby (“the almost-completely-forgotten girlfriend from your distant past for whom your wife has a completely irrational jealousy and hatred”). The book is full of delightful definitions of placenames like Nempnett Thrubwell (“the feeling experienced when driving off for the first time on a brand new motorbike”) and Mellon Udrigle (“the ghastly sound made by traditional folk-singers”). Hours of endless pleasure.
Ian A Anderson
Cambridge

The government must stop allowing foreign companies to have access to our sensitive data, writes Ian White. Plus a letter from Bill Cawley

The UK cannot become dependent on foreign AI technology that can be switched off at short notice, says George Williamson, head of the Alan Turing Institute (Report, 10 October). The growing opposition to Palantir, an American company, having government contracts that give it access to sensitive data are all part of the same issue. The UK does not have digital sovereignty.

This is not a theoretical problem. The US government imposed targeted sanctions on the international criminal court, stopping all digital services to certain individuals. This could happen to a country.

Demonstrators are demanding resignation of Edi Rama after three days of clashes in Tirana

Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, has said he will not resign over student-led demonstrations, as protesters and police clashed in the country’s capital for a third consecutive day.

Police used teargas and water cannon to disperse demonstrators marching along several main roads around Tirana, while protests spread to other cities.

This year’s London photography festival takes you from the colourful streets of Kolkata to the grim isolation units of Guantánamo Bay

Dozens of people detained after government building and two banks set on fire as tens of thousands march over education costs and corruption

Tens of thousands of students have taken to the streets of Tirana, the Albanian capital, setting alight a government building and two banks and hurling stones at police during a protest over rising education costs and ⁠corruption.

Police responded with water ⁠cannon and teargas to disperse protesters who started a fire at the ministry of education building, overturned bins and smashed the fronts of local businesses. A branch of Raiffeisen Bank near the education ministry also caught fire.

Kate Fleming says the government must look beyond the models it rewards today, while Jenny Haigh says unlocking potential means recognising that creativity and science are partners

Gordon Brown wants Britain to invent, invest in and own the future (British households would be £5,000 richer if we were more innovative. Let’s unleash our talents, 9 October). But invent what, and for whom? His hunt for “lost Einsteins” rests on a narrow vision: a lone genius invents, commercialisation scales, the problem is solved.

That may suit a cancer drug, but not the wicked problems of our time – social care, education, climate – which demand not silver bullets but new technologies and practices for collaboration, distributed ownership and collective innovation.

John Foster and Carol Peaker express their disappointment at Zack Polanski’s failure to focus on the climate crisis

There was no mention in Zack Polanski’s self-serving apologia of the real reason why we need the Green party – to insist unremittingly on putting the climate and ecological crisis top of the political agenda (Yes, it’s been a tough week for the Greens: but don’t lose sight of how we’re transforming British politics, 11 October).

Polanski should recognise that it is his own downplaying of that task in favour of populist foreign-policy posturing (along with bashing the rich) that has fuelled the anti-Jewish entryism he deplores, but isn’t quite brave enough to call out.

John Banks on the driving force behind a pioneering self-build project in the London borough. Plus a letter from Jonathan Pearson

An uplifting article by Phineas Harper about plans for self-build houses by Lewisham council in London (Free land for those who will build social homes on it. Is this the radical solution to the UK’s housing problem?, 8 October).

The original 1970s Lewisham self-build scheme that he mentions, using methods developed by the German architect Walter Segal, was proposed by a friend of mine, Brian Richardson, who was a Lewisham council architect at the time.

David Redshaw and Fernando Quintana respond to reports of a billionaire exodus from Britain

The idea that the departure of the super-rich is a problem ignores a historical fact (Apparent exodus of super-rich suggests UK is no longer billionaires’ playground, 7 October). Capitalism works better without them. The most successful countries today are states where redistributive taxation has empowered the working masses and provided a better and more stable market for business people.

How do today’s complaining uber-rich explain the postwar decades, when the top rate of income tax was commonly 80% or 90%, and yet the period is known as a golden age of capitalism? Then Margaret Thatcher lowered the top rate to 60% and the country tilted into a massive recession. The rich get to a point where they simply become wealth extractors, using their money to buy assets and raising the cost of them for the rest of us – housing being a good example today.

The Meta boss looked traumatised when he sipped stout on the Cheeky Pint podcast. An hour later, his glass was still half full

Name: Guinness.

Age: Arthur Guinness began brewing porter in the 1770s. Guinness draft was first poured in 1959.

Looking for a new reading recommendation? Here are some brilliant new paperbacks, from a time-travelling fantasy novel to an eclectic essay collection. Discuss what you’re reading in paperback in the comments

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As a new exhibition looks at how the pioneering photographer sparked a colour revolution, his son, William Eggleston III, explains his father’s unique approach

FSB security agency said reporter was arrested on island of Sakhalin, alleging he was collecting information about Russia’s defences

Russia has arrested a Japanese journalist on the far east island of Sakhalin and accused him of espionage, Moscow said on Tuesday.

Russia regards Japan as an “unfriendly” country because it has joined western sanctions over its war ⁠in Ukraine. Russia has arrested several citizens of “unfriendly” countries in recent years, accusing them of working for western intelligence services.

University bans parties at frat houses for rest of academic year to conduct ‘thorough review’ of campus Greek life

Cornell University has announced that it is suspending parties and other social gatherings at fraternity houses for the rest of the academic year amid intensifying backlash over its handling of allegations that a female student was sexually assaulted at a fraternity house in 2024.

The university has also said that Cornell will involve New York state police in investigating sex crimes on campus.

Ultra-processed foods are displacing traditional diets, warns Prof Kent Buse. Plus letters from Hugo Harper, Dr Pawan Randev and Patricia Hampton

Your editorial on cancers in under-50s (8 October) rightly names food among the culprits. But the confrontation it calls for should be aimed less at obesity than at what produces it. Obesity is the intermediary; the exposure is a food system engineered for profit.

The Lancet’s series on ultra-processed foods showed these products displacing traditional diets worldwide and driving chronic disease, and documented more than 200 interconnected lobby groups through which the industry organises its influence to block regulation.

Terry Peach responds to Kemi Badenoch’s conference speech, while Penelope Turton writes on her promise to cut inheritance tax

Kemi Badenoch’s conference speech rehearsed the argument that Andy Burnham’s economic policies were warped by his “nostalgia” for the 1970s, unlike her own forward-looking programme for “a better tomorrow” (Tories accused of prioritising rich voters as Badenoch lays out inheritance tax cut plan, 7 October).

She appears not to see that her preference for a lesser-regulated capitalist market economy, with lower public expenditure, taxes and national debt, coupled with “tough love” welfare policies, is itself harking back to arguments that have circulated for centuries.

Andrew Burton suspects that had other teams delivered similar success, fans would have been just as forgiving of their owners

Re Sean Ingle’s article (How did some City fans become aggressive defenders of a nation state’s regime?, 5 October), I suspect that most City fans are no more supportive of the United Arab Emirates regime than those of Arsenal were of the Rwandan government during its sponsorship deal, or Newcastle’s of Saudi Arabia, or those of the 11 clubs whose shirt sponsors were gambling companies in 2025-26. Fans are simply concerned with how their club is managed and success on the pitch.

At City, UAE ownership brought unprecedented success to a historic club. The new regime delivered the most feted coach of our time, who revolutionised how the game in England was played. Highly successful City youth teams nurtured young talent that has gone on to grace numerous other squads in the Premier League and beyond, including England players. City Women, reigning double winners, are the current force in English women’s football.

They are some of our oldest and most historically significant buildings, yet they receive no secure state funding, writes Dr Coco Parkinson-Huggins

Jonathan Davies’ article (Abide with me: English choral music is a living part of our cultural heritage – we should cherish it, 7 October) speaks beautifully to the contribution of English choral music to our living cultural heritage, highlighting the importance of cathedral choirs in particular, in giving children access to “world-class musical training, extraordinary cultural experiences and educational opportunities that might otherwise be beyond their reach”.

What he misses however, is just how under threat these bastions of England’s religious, cultural and spiritual heritage actually are.

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

French photographer Jean-Pierre Laffont spent two decades capturing demos, clashes and countercultural gatherings in America. ‘They dreamed of living in a better world,’ he says

National park officials took the precautionary measure to limit tourist access after heavy rain caused the Iguazu River to flow at six times the normal rate

Heavy rainfall fuelled by a supersized El Niño weather pattern briefly forced Argentinian authorities to close tourist access to the famed Iguazu Falls, amid fears that rapidly rising water levels would cause the river to burst its banks.

National park officials took the precautionary measure on Monday when the Iguazu River’s flow exceeded 12,000 cubic metres per second – more than six times its average rate.

Timothy Broglio says Catholics on army firing squad should ask to be excused since it clashes with church teachings

The archbishop who oversees the spiritual care of Catholics serving in the US military condemned the Pentagon’s proposed plans to livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan later this year.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio also stipulated in a Monday statement that any Catholic soldier assigned to the US army firing squad should ask to be excused from that duty, which he described as contrary to the teachings of the church. He joins other Catholic leaders in speaking out against the death penalty and the live stream plans.

Readers respond to John Harris’s article on the need to consider disabled people of working age when reforming the care system

I found myself nodding in agreement at John Harris’s worries about his son’s future as he leaves full-time education to enter the world of adult social services (Social care for disabled adults is in as much crisis as support for elderly people – so why is the government silent about it?, 5 October). John’s concerns were shared by my wife and I as our disabled daughter moved from her specialist residential further-education setting 17 years ago.

However, with her gutsy approach and strong financial support by way of 24-hour care from our local council, she is able to say, “I love my life”, and has expressed this in a little book, How I Flourished, published by Lewisham Adult Learning. This despite being quadriplegic, having no speech and being dependent on her personal assistants for all the necessaries of life.
I could wax at length about her wheelchair dancing, the “proper job” she secured with a wonderful charity (the Deptford-based Entelechy Arts), her painting, thirst for maintaining social relationships involving long and tiring overseas travel, and so on. The blunt truth, however, is that we, as her parents, have always needed to be closely involved in managing her care and safety, and for taking up the opportunities to broaden her landscape. We are aware that she has had a much better deal than so many people in adult care institutions.

Responding to an editorial on the extent of sexual abuse of pupils by their peers, a reader calls for more nuance and compassion. Plus a letter from Donna Hill

As a paediatrician specialising in the care of children who have been sexually abused, I am well aware of sexual harm that occurs in school settings by peers (Editorial 5 October). This is just one aspect of the wider issue of children and young people who sexually harm other children and young people.

Of all the children my organisation cares for, 30% are harmed by other children – data we shared with the children’s commissioner in their report in 2023 on the impact of pornography on harmful sexual behaviour on children.

In response to a report that rare footage of a 1966 re-enactment has been found, Sue Jenkins recalls her own that year. Plus a letter from Bryn Hughes

Having read your article (‘A God-almighty punch-up’: rare footage shows Battle of Hastings (the 1966 one), 6 October), I would love to know if anyone else remembers the “battle” that took place at Hastings on 5 March 1966 between students from Leicester University and Leicester College of Art and Technology (later De Montfort University).

We wore sacks painted with whitewash and made shields and helmets from cardboard; my diary entry (I was a second-year student at the university) gives a vivid picture of the day’s events, which ended with a dance on the pier. Apparently the BBC made a film – what happened to that, I wonder?
Sue Jenkins
Thame, Oxfordshire

Among the hardships of the second world war, a restricted diet with little sugar did little harm, write Roger Wilkinson and Helen Keats; plus a letter from Jane Robbins

An interesting juxtaposition: (While British children go hungry, we waste 1.1bn meals a year. Bring on the redistribution revolution, 6 October); and (The generation raised on sugar rations – and what their health reveals 70 years later, 7 October). Shocking that the average family throws away 156 meals a year, but this knowledge allows us war babies, who still scrape our bowls clean and only throw away items where the mould is too developed to scrape off, to be very smug. And next we’re told that we will probably live longer as a result of our parsimonious cheeseparing. My cup of smugness overflows.
Roger Wilkinson (born 1944)
Leasgill, Cumbria

• My 98-year-old aunt, who along with my mother and family lived in Rotterdam during the German occupation and “hunger winter”, is remarkably healthy. She lives independently, does her own shopping and cooking, and cycled to the local care home to “help out” until she was 80.

Tulip Siddiq and a parent urge the government to take a number of steps to keep children safe, in response to an editorial

Your editorial on early years provision (The Guardian view on nurseries: some things are going right for under-fives, 4 October) ends by referring to the horrifying case of Vincent Chan, who worked at Bright Horizons nursery in north-west London. We write as the MP representing the constituency in which the nursery is situated and as the parent of children who attended the nursery and were victims of Chan. We believe his case exposed serious gaps in the safeguarding system that urgently need addressing by government.

First, CCTV should be mandatory in nurseries. When used with appropriate safeguards, it can provide both a deterrent and an important source of evidence when allegations are made.

Jane Middleton says the question we should be asking is not how can we use up surplus food, but how we can ensure that no one has to rely on charity to eat

Charlotte Hill (While British children go hungry, we waste 1.1bn meals a year. Bring on the redistribution revolution, 6 October) conflates two separate problems. One is food waste; the other is domestic food insecurity. If, as she suggests, we use the former to address the latter, we are simply creating a two-tier food system where people living in poverty do not have the dignity of making their own choices.

While the work of food-waste charities such as the that one Hill heads is commendable as a sticking plaster, in the long term it entrenches poverty and removes any incentive for large corporations to tackle the food waste they create.

Happy hormones | Fuel costs | Drive-in parking | Guys and girls | Young or old? | Singapore pollution

Re your report (‘Pull the plug’: protesters resort to direct action against AI firms, 6 October), the US neuroscientist Ben Rein has shown that there is a fundamental difference in our cognitive response according to the type of interaction we have. In-person meetings and conversations show a dramatic increase in serotonin, oxytocin and dopamine – “feelgood” hormones – compared with online interactions. I have been encouraged to speak to people at bus stops.
Judith Furner
Eastbourne, East Sussex

• Re easing winter fuel costs (Report, 6 October), it would benefit everyone if the outrageous daily standing charges were reduced or on a sliding scale based on usage. I can’t be the only person whose standing charges each month are half or more than the energy used.
Judith Pearson
Sheffield

Nic Madge and David Lindsay respond to the government’s proposals to reform the criminal justice system

The government is right to abandon David Lammy’s main proposal to replace some jury trials with judges sitting alone (Ministers drop plans to cut jury trials in England and Wales after outcry, 4 October). There are other ways to reduce the appalling backlog of criminal cases and to protect victims. However, the government is wrong to proceed with its plan for judge-only trials in some fraud cases. As a circuit judge, I presided over fraud trials with juries, including a Ponzi fraud worth £48m and a Russian identity fraud with more than 40,000 documents. The juries were totally on top of both trials and delivered sensible, rational verdicts – in both cases guilty on some charges and not guilty on others. My experience is that the key issue in fraud cases is frequently whether the defendant acted dishonestly. That is not a technical question. It is something that juries are much better able to decide than judges.
Nic Madge
St Albans

• Although the government has shelved its plan to abolish most jury trials, it still intends to double the sentencing power of magistrates to two years, to introduce judge-only trials in “lengthy and technical” fraud cases, and to abolish the right to elect trial by jury in “either way” cases, thereby greatly restricting access to legal aid. It is not clear whether or not the government still intended to abolish the automatic right of appeal to the crown court from the magistrates court. Every one of those measures must be resisted without compromise.
David Lindsay
Lanchester, County Durham

10-year police veteran Shane Seiber was killed after responding to a report of a man with a gun

A Philadelphia police officer was fatally shot and another was wounded on Saturday after responding to a report of a man with a gun, authorities said.

Shane Seiber, 40, was killed early on Saturday morning in West Philadelphia, according to the city’s police commissioner, Kevin Bethel.

Jeremy Strong plays Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin’s sequel to The Social Network, and the Last One Laughing star reckons with divorce in her new standup tour

The Social Reckoning
Out now
The David Fincher-directed The Social Network has only come to seem more canny over time, with the site co-founded by Mark Zuckerberg being held responsible for all manner of social ills. In this sequel from Aaron Sorkin (this time directing and writing) based on the incidents around the 2021 leak of internal Facebook memos, Zuck is embodied not by Jesse Eisenberg but Jeremy Strong.