Follow our live blog for all the new and developing stories from around the world.

Edited by: Louie Rowe. Contributors: Isobella-Skye Taylor, Ben Harrison-Smith, Lola Fettis, Christine Griffin, Lizzy Paige, George Harp.

13:05 – Israel Boycott

Lola Fettis

Israel Boycott: Starbucks responds

Though Starbucks statement did not explicitly support Israel their condemning of Palestine after years of violence and current victimization left people unhappy.  People also disagreed with Starbucks singling out the Hama’s actions as “terrorism, hate, and violence.”  

Social media users quickly called for a boycott of the company. Many are now noticing its impact. They have reportedly dropped by 8.96% in shares. Their stocks have declined for 12 consecutive stock market sessions, which is the longest since going public in 1992. In value the Company has lost 11 billion dollars, which has reduced their total value by 9.4%.  

Though Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan claimed he believes the company’s future is still optimistic he did admit the boycott has presented challenges. The Chain has faced some financial issues. In Egypt they have laid off workers after the Boycott forced them to cut expenses.  

13:05 – Gaming Awards

Ben Harrison-Smith

Gaming Awards: Update

However, for some, the event was a major let down illustrating the stagnant nature of the gaming industry this year. Complaints in regards to category winners have surfaced on social media, primarily Twitter and TikTok, most notably the winner of this years coveted Game of The Year award Baldur’s Gate 3. The popular RPG title developed by Larian Studios has sparked debate over its eligibility to receive the award. Unsurprisingly, these complaints come from communities whose favourite games were nominated and subsequently lost.

This is far from the biggest controversy to impact the awards show, as last year at the 2022 show an individual by the name of Matan Evan walked up on stage during the Elden Ring acceptance speech pretending to be an affiliate. Upon reaching the microphone, he gave a brief speech before finally being escorted off stage where he thanked his “reformed orthodox Jewish Rabbi, Bill Clinton.”

12:55 – Rwanda Asylum Deal

Christine Griffin

Rwanda nets extra £100m in UK asylum deal

12:45 – COP 28

Isobella-Skye Taylor

COP:28 – Sultan Al Jaber takes questions from journalists

Sultan Al Jaber took questions from Journalists, including the BBC asking how he would bring the counties who are reluctant on the issue of fossil fuels on board, countries including China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. His response was “I have been engaging with everyone on all parties.” He added “I did not leave any stone unturned for my commitment for the highest possible ambition ever coming out of a Cop.” 

12:40 – Israel Boycotts

Lola Fettis

Starbucks Boycott: Union Comment

On October 10th Starbucks Workers Union (SWU) tweeted their support for Palestine which conflicted with other Unions who sided with Israel. Starbucks issued a statement in response in which they recognized both sides. They also threatened the SWU that they would take legal action if the post wasn’t removed. Stating they “strongly disagree with the views expressed by Workers United.”

12:40 – Republican Debates

George Harp

Republican Debates: The Highlights

A highlight moment of the debate was when Vivek Ramaswamy for the first time at a U.S presidential debate bought the controversial “Great Replacement Theory” this was notable as it has been a long talked about topic on the right now and links in with the immigration concerns that are widely talked about in the Republican party. The theory is the idea that white people are becoming minorities in what were previously white majority countries because of mass migration patterns in the last 50-80 years. This has caused concern from political rivals as they believe that the theory is unfounded and will lead to a rise in anti-migrant racism and is a fear-mongering tactic used by the right.

The 2024 Presidential election takes place on the 5^th of November next year, the winner of the republican primary will likely face the incumbent 46^th President of the U.S Joe Biden but as was brought up by Ron DeSantis, Biden is turning 82 next year and his health is being widely questioned as many doubt that he is fit to be president now let alone another potential 4 years. There is great speculation that the California Governor G

12:40 – Game Awards

Ben Harrison-Smith

Game Awards: The Highlights

For the most part, The Game Awards was received positively with communities finally seeing their favourite games and studios receiving adequate recognition for their achievements. Remedy Studios received three awards last night for their acclaimed sequel Alan Wake 2, snubbing the competition in best narrative, best direction and best art direction.

The ceremony also highlighted a number of debut indie titles, hosting them on a platform that can present them to a much wider audience. Cocoon, a puzzle game by Geometric Interactive, took home the accolade for best debut indie title and gave a brief speech on their acknowledgement and appreciation for the win.

12:35 – Ruth Perry’s Death

Louie Rowe

Statement from Coroner in Ruth Perry case

12:35 – Israel Boycott

Lola Fettis

Public boycott Starbucks for Israel comments

Over the last couple of weeks two of the most popular fast-food chains, Starbucks and McDonald’s, have been the subjects of mass boycotts. Starbucks specifically has been the most targeted and spoken about. The boycotts have come in response to the Israel and Palestine conflict. While many consumers have sided with Palestine, major corporations like Starbucks have shown support for Israel.

12:25 – Ruth Perry’s Death

Louie Rowe

Statement from Ruth Perry’s Husband

Ruth Perry’s husband, Jonathan Perry, previously told the inquest his wife felt “completely devastated” in the weeks following the inspection, and that she worried about the impact of the school’s downgrading on the local community.

Mrs Perry’s GP, Tom Back, also said he believed there was a “link” between the inspection and the headteacher’s mental health deterioration and death, adding it contributed “in a more than minimal way”.

Concluding her inquest in Reading, senior coroner Heidi Connor said: “The evidence is clear in this respect, and I find that Ruth’s mental health deterioration and death was likely contributed to by the Ofsted inspection.”

The inquiry heard Ofsted’s Alan Derry, who led the inspection at the school, said Mrs Perry was “tearful” and kept saying “it’s not looking good is it?”.

12:20 – Rail Strikes

Lizzy Paige

Train Disruption: Update from GWR

This is the latest from GWR, updated just now:  

Due to heavy rain flooding the railway between Plymouth and Totnes all lines are blocked.
Impact:

• Train services running through these stations will be cancelled. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
• Customer Advice:
  Due to flooding at South Brent all lines between Plymouth and Totnes are closed. This means we are unable to operate intercity services between London and Plymouth/Cornwall
• Services will run between Penzance and Plymouth, with limited services operating between Exeter St Davids and Totnes. 

https://www.gwr.com/travel-information/travel-updates/live-network-updates 

12:15 – COP 28

Isobella-Sky Taylor

Native Groups call for Indigenous Rights

One hundred global Native groups and allies have published an open letter calling for COP28 negotiators to protect Indigenous rights during the transition to clean energy. Read the open letter here. 

At 11am GMT Sultan Al Jaber held a press conference to start week two of the summit, telling the audience “I do hope you managed to get some rest yesterday and I hope you are ready for what will be a momentous few days ahead.”  

12:15 – Republican Debates

George Harp

Republican Debates: Polling Figures

Latest polling has Donald Trump leading Ron DeSantis by 46.5% with a 59.3% share overall. Trump’s popularity in the polls certainly affected the debates as Haley, DeSantis and Ramaswamy were all reluctant to level much criticism at Trump when given the opportunity by the debate moderators. Chris Christie was the only candidate to take advantage of the opportunity to attack the Former U.S President calling him a “dictator”.

12:15 – COP 28

Isobella-Skye Taylor

Statement from UN Climate Chief 

Today, the UN’s climate chief when the Paris agreement was reached in 2015 Christiana Figueres has backed phasing out fossil fuels, saying “If we want to step forward in the Cop, then we cannot compromise on phase out. It sends a political signal that has ramifications for companies the need to decide where they are going to put their (investment).” 

12:10 – Rail Strikes

Lizzy Paige

Rail Disruption between Totnes and Plymouth

On a more directly local note, the train line between Totnes and Plymouth have been blocked this morning and this is expected to continue throughout the day.

Although refunds and compensation is available, it is evident that train ticket refunds can often take over a month to go through, despite claims that it will hit passengers bank accounts within ten days.  

12:05 – Rail Strikes

Lizzy Paige

Rail disruption continues at Paddington

Services to and from Paddington railway station remain disrupted after hundreds of passengers were stranded on dark, cold trains for several hours. 

 A Network Rail spokesman said: “We are so sorry for the difficult journeys passengers endured on our railway last night and we will be investigating how and why it happened. 

“The knock-on effects from last night mean operators will not be able to run a full service from Paddington today and passengers should check before they travel. 

“Repairs are ongoing and we hope to have the railway fully open by the weekend.” 

12:05 – COP 28

Isobella-Skye Taylor

COP:28 Live

COP28 is getting back into full swing after a rest day yesterday, with the attention focused on fossil fuel. The debate on fossil fuels today will look at whether to phase out or phase down fossil fuels. 

12:00 – Republican Debates

George Harp

Republican presidential debates

Yesterday was the final of the primary debates for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

The four debate attendees were the: ex-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and ex-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Former U.S President Donald Trump is in the running currently but has refused the opportunity to attend the primary debates.

11:50 – Game Awards 

Ben Harrison-Smith

Game Awards met with mixed reviews after last night’s ceremony

The Game Awards have come around once again, and this year saw a variety of new titles competing for top spot in several categories. Whilst the results are in and awards have been received, the fixation on the event hasn’t changed with both overwhelming praise and criticism sparking up across major social media platforms.

Follow for updates.

11:45 – Ruth Perry’s Death 

Louie Rowe

OFSTED report ‘likely contributed’ to Head Teacher’s death – Coroner’s Report

An Ofsted inspection “likely contributed” to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry, a coroner has concluded.

Mrs Perry took her own life after a report from the watchdog downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns.

Staff at the school said the headteacher was left tearful and incoherent after the inspection on November 15 and 16 last year.

Follow for updates.

11:40 – Rail Strikes 

Lizzy Paige

Railway chaos continues

Commuters are facing more disruption continuing on from the chaos of the past week. Rail lines are still set for interferences over today and tomorrow, after the walkouts that have spread out over the week and extreme weather leading to damage to overhead electric wires. There will be updates posted over the next couple of hours about the state of the train lines so keep checking in. 

Follow for updates.