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Spermageddon, ‘greedy jobs’ and abject fear: why birth rates are plummeting – and why it matters

The author of Generation Maybe, Camilla Cavendish, explains the many reasons people are having fewer children, from dating apps to unaffordable housing and the climate crisis Generation Maybe is the most tactful possible title for Camilla Cavendish’s bracing new book – because the trend she’s describing is anything but a “maybe”. “The wave of childlessness that is sweeping the globe is extraordinary,” she writes. It’s in the UK, where the fertility rate hit 1.39 children per woman in 2025 , the lowest on record. It’s across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, visible in so many measures – nearly half of Canadian women surveyed in their 40s said they’d had fewer children than they would have liked. But it’s also a global story. “The UAE, Chile and Tamil Nadu in India have even lower birthrates than Germany,” Cavendish writes. “China is growing old before it gets rich, and Russia has maintained its population size purely by annexing Crimea and parts of Ukraine.” In fact, when it comes to falling populations, “only the Black Death in the 14th century is comparable to what is happening now”. When I meet her in central London, Cavendish is tailored, self-possessed, you might even say poised, but very open – she never gives an opinion without asking yours, she talks very freely about her family and she is upfront about what she sees as her faults. Now 58, she started her career at McKinsey, the mega-management consultancy, having done PPE at Oxford at the same time as David Cameron, for whom she worked as policy director when he was in government and to whom she remains intensely loyal (every time his name comes up, we have a fight). Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Zoe Williams17 Sept

Brian Dubiski: ‘Everything I do is about Madison. It’s a big reason I did this game at Wembley’

Man behind US college football’s landmark match in London has dedicated his life to improving crowd safety since his daughter was killed in a crowd crush at a concert aged 23 On Saturday afternoon, as he looks out at the crowd of 60,000 he has helped entice to Wembley Stadium, Brian Dubiski’s dream will become a reality. But, as Arizona State and Kansas make history by playing the first US college football game in Britain, Dubiski will think most of his daughter, Madison, who was crushed to death at the age of 23. Madison and nine other people were trampled and suffocated by a crowd at a Travis Scott concert in Houston in November 2021. Dubiski now dedicates his life to keeping people safe at sporting events and concerts and, since December, Wembley is one of the stadiums that follows the protocols he introduced. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Donald McRae17 Sept

Qatar Airways flight QR329 requested security on arrival at London Gatwick this morning

LONDON — A Qatar Airways flight from Doha was met by security personnel upon landing at London Gatwick Airport early Thursday morning following an onboard incident involving a disruptive passenger. Flight QR329 departed Hamad International Airport in Doha during the middle of the night on Thursday, September 17, 2026, bound for London. According to flight […]

AAIRLIVE•AIRLIVE contibutors17 Sept
  • neutral toward Qatar Airways · 96%

The Watergate Caper: Richard Nixon and the Death of the American Dream review – political scandal, 70s style

Shane O’Sullivan’s documentary weaves archive clips and snippets from films old and new to draw out the highlights of the crisis that rocked the US Judging by his past work, the Irish-born, London-based writer and film-maker Shane O’Sullivan may have a chronic case of born-too-late nostalgia. It manifests as a fascination with the politics and counterculture of the late 1960s and 70s, and that’s clearly a theme in O’Sullivan’s previous works, which include: a book and film about the assassination of Robert Kennedy; the acclaimed feature doc Children of the Revolution about the female leaders of the Baader-Meinhof Group and the Japanese Red Army; and a film about Lee Harvey Oswald . His latest takes aim at the big kahuna itself: Watergate – the crime, the scandal and the cultural phenomenon. It is explored through a hailstorm of archive clips and snippets of feature films, all nimbly stitched together, with a deadpan voiceover by the great Harry Shearer. The result is, of course, nostalgic, but also feels fresh and immediate, especially thanks to the use of moments from more recent features about, but not from, the period, including a Watergate-hearings-obsessed teenage Christina Ricci in The Ice Storm from 1997, the comic ineptitude of the Watergate burglars as represented in 1999 spoof Dick, or Shea Whigham’s skewering of break-in mastermind G Gordon Liddy from recent TV miniseries Gaslit. These performed moments all play nicely with O’Sullivan’s selection of clips from more contemporaneous, Watergate-adjacent classics such as Medium Cool, All the President’s Men and Taxi Driver. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Leslie Felperin17 Sept
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World: More than five children a day killed or injured by explosive ordnance as Save the Children warns of growing threats from drones and landmines

Country: World Source: Save the Children New Save the Children research finds that more than five children every day were killed or injured by landmines and UXO between 2020 and 2025. The growing use of drones and AI in warfare is exposing children to new threats and disrupting schools, healthcare and humanitarian aid, while allowing attacks to happen faster and at greater scale. Save the Children, Imperial College London and Archewell Philanthropies commit to strengthening partnership to support child amputees with the latest prosthetic technology and long-term rehabilitation. LONDON, 17 September 2026 - Over 12,000 children - or more than five every day - were killed or injured by landmines, unexploded ordnance, improvised explosive devices and other explosive ordnance between 2020 and 2025 [1], according to new Save the Children analysis. The research found that explosive ordnance was the largest single named weapon type category in UN reporting on child casualties, causing more recorded child casualties than air strikes or artillery shelling. Children accounted for nearly half (46%) [2] of civilian casualties from landmines and explosive remnants of war, where age was known. The report also highlights how the growing use of drones is changing children's experience of conflict. Drone attacks can kill and injure children directly, while also disrupting the schools, hospitals, homes and humanitarian services they rely on. Their ability to hover overhead, monitor movement and strike with little warning can leave children feeling unsafe even when they are not directly targeted. In Ukraine, drone attacks on schools increased by 358% in 2025 compared with the previous year, forcing many children back into remote learning [3]. Save the Children warns that the international norms designed to protect children and their families are being weakened, while rapidly evolving military technology is exposing children to new explosive threats both during conflicts and long after they end. Against this backdrop, the need for innovation to support children affected by conflict is more critical than ever. Save the Children UK, Archewell Philanthropies and Imperial College London are today committing to strengthening their existing partnership to support child amputees with the latest prosthetic technology, rehabilitation and long-term physical and mental health support. Claire Sanford, Conflict and Humanitarian Director at Save the Children UK, said: “Children are facing a new generation of explosive threats from the air, on the ground, and increasingly enabled by AI. As technologies transform conflict, with devastating consequences for children, both partnership and political action are urgently needed. Governments must ensure that the laws and protections designed to keep children safe evolve with changes to warfare. Children’s rights and safety must remain at the centre of decisions about how emerging technologies are developed and used.” In 2025, air-launched explosive weapons, including drones, were involved in around two-thirds (67%) of incidents that harmed civilians worldwide [3]. The growing use of AI and other technologies in warfare also raises concerns about how decisions to use force are being made, particularly when children and other civilians are present. In Sudan, drone attacks accounted for 78% of reported child casualties between January and March 2026 [4]. Health professionals have reported carrying out medical procedures using only a phone light, to reduce the risk of detection and attack by drones. The true scale of harm remains largely unseen. The report also highlights Gaza as an example of a new phase in modern warfare, in which drone surveillance, AI-supported targeting and other unmanned systems are being used at an alarming scale in densely populated areas. Save the Children is calling on the international community to stop the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and enforce stronger political and military policies to protect children in conflict. The organisation is also calling for the international community to invest in victim assistance, research, and rehabilitation for children affected by blast injuries, and establish international rules for AI technology that require meaningful human control and prohibit systems that can select and engage people to target without human oversight. ENDS Notes: The report draws on evidence from the United Nations, including the UN Secretary-General’s Annual Reports on Children and Armed Conflict, UNICEF, OHCHR and other UN human rights monitoring mechanisms; the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, Explosive Weapons Monitor and Insecurity Insight, as well as Save the Children’s own research and analysis. [1] United Nations, Children and Armed Conflict: Report of the Secretary-General , 2021,2022,2023,2024,2025,2026. Calculation: UN data records 12,053 children killed or injured by explosive ordnance between 2020 and 2025. There are 2,191 days across this six-year period (including the leap year). Dividing 12,053 by 2,191 gives an average of 5.5 children killed or injured every day. [2] Landmine Monitor 2025 Landmine-Monitor-2025-Final-Online-updated.pdf [3] Explosive Weapons Monitor Explosive-Weapons-Monitor-2025.pdf [4] Unicef 2026 https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/least-245-child-casualties-sudan-first-90-days-2026

ReliefWebReliefWeb•Save the Children17 Sept

‘Why can’t it be 100 times more popular?’: Ohanian aims high with women’s Athlos meeting | Sean Ingle

Keely Hodgkinson and Gaby Thomas among the stars at London event whose promoter, Alexis Ohanian, has big plans and hopes for women’s sport The timing could hardly be better. After a week when the discourse around women’s sport has been dominated by the actor Sydney Sweeney posing naked – and the intense backlash and counter-backlash – London will stage a major all-female track‑and‑field event on Friday. A sell-out crowd at the Athlos meeting at the StoneX Stadium in Hendon will feature Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, along with the American stars Gabby Thomas and Tara Davis-Woodhall, competing for a prize fund of $1m (£750,000). There will be a red-carpet parade, celebrities galore and a celebration of the best of female sport. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Sean Ingle16 Sept

International FinTech industry ranks Dubai first in world: Global Financial Centres Index

Dubai: Dubai has risen to become the world’s number one location for FinTech as ranked by industry professionals in the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI). A testament to its resilience, the emirate retains its position as the only financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region within the global top ten. In addition to its FinTech leadership driven by Dubai International Financial Centre’s vision to drive the future of finance, Dubai climbed to second place globally for Professional Services. Reflecting the continued trust and confidence in the emirate and DIFC, Dubai’s global reputation ranking advanced to sixth. Dubai also maintained the number one spot for future potential, a category in which the emirate has now led for four consecutive GFCI reports. The latest GFCI report, compiled by the London-based consultancy Z/Yen in collaboration with the China Development Institute, collected 39,531 assessments from industry professionals worldwide who responded to the GFCI online questionnaire. The index combines these assessments with 143 instrumental factors. Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC, said: "The GFCI results reinforce Dubai's position as a world leading financial centres and underscore the success of the vision set by our leadership through the Dubai Economic Agenda D33. DIFC has played a pivotal role in advancing Dubai's global competitiveness by attracting leading financial institutions, talent and innovation from around the world, while providing the regulatory, legal and business environment required for sustainable growth. As Dubai strengthens its position at the heart of the global financial system, DIFC will continue to support the emirate's ambitions and reinforce its standing among the world's most influential financial centres." Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer of DIFC Authority, said: "Dubai's position in the GFCI is underpinned by the strength and scale of DIFC, and validated by the assessments of financial services professionals worldwide. As the largest ecosystem of regulated financial firms in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, and the only financial centre in the region operating at scale across banking, capital markets, wealth and asset management, insurance and FinTech, DIFC provides a unique platform for innovation, growth and collaboration. This depth and diversity enable us to continue developing the financial services industry, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies and helping shape the future of the global financial landscape."

MBMobile Business•WAM16 Sept

‘Made in Europe’ laws could derail UK plans for reset with EU

Government sources say legislation aimed at China poses a risk to British businesses and must be addressed European legislation that threatens to lock British business out of EU industry could derail a planned reset summit between the bloc and the UK, government sources have said. The “Made in Europe” legislation – formally known as the Industrial Accelerator Act – is designed to curb China’s increasing presence in European industry, but was not on the reset plan agreed by the former prime minister, Keir Starmer , and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, in London in May 2025. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Lisa O’Carroll and Jessica Elgot16 Sept