Job vacancies in the UK have seen their largest fall since the start of the year as smaller businesses cut back on recruitment, official figures indicate. Vacancies fell by 21,000 in the three months to September to 691,000, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which said small firms were citing labour costs as a key factor in scaling back hiring. Energy costs have risen since the Iran war began, and companies have also said that increases in National Insurance and the minimum wage have made it more expensive to employ staff. The ONS figures also showed the unemployment rate fell to 4.7% in the three months to August, down from the previous figure of 4.9%. Job vacancies fell to their lowest level in more than five years, the figures indicated, with the largest decrease in construction jobs.

How is the US economy really doing under President Trump? President Donald Trump has been boasting about the performance of the US economy ahead of the midterm congressional elections, claiming he has boosted incomes, reduced inflation and created jobs. Trump has repeatedly said: We have the hottest country anywhere in the world. While the overall US economy is faring better than many expected after Trump launched his sweeping Liberation Day tariffs in 2025, there's evidence those import taxes and the impact of the US-Israel war with Iran have pushed up inflation, with the harmful effects felt by most American households. The US economy is also being helped by an AI investment boom, and could falter if that spending were to dry up. So how does all this feel for the average American?

'I'm fed up of swiping': Why singles now want to meet IRL Checking in at a dating event in a bar in Guildford, Olivia Miller-Davis is understandably apprehensive. Even bringing a friend with her doesn't remove the awkwardness at the start of the night. It's always nerve-wracking when you're meeting new people, the 28-year-old admits before downloading an app that will match her to other daters based on their star signs. This is speed dating 2026-style and Olivia, like many people we speak to, is here because she's fed up of endlessly swiping or as some describe it app fatigue. She says she hates judging people with really limited information and just a couple of pictures because she doesn't feel she can really fully commit with so little to go on. According to a recent study from online regulator Ofcom 11% of adults use dating sites but it suggests the time we spend on them is dropping, from a peak of almost four hours a month in 2023, down to three hours last year.

Burnham vows end to'rip-off parking charges' under new rules Drivers will be given the right to challenge rip off private parking charges and more grace when using private providers under new rules set out by Andy Burnham. The Prime Minister announced the changes after drivers repeatedly raised concerns penalties issued by private providers were too harsh and left motorists unfairly penalised. In one case, a woman was taken to court in a £1,906 claim after taking longer than five minutes to pay at a car park in Derby . The charge was eventually dropped . Private car parks already have an industry code of practice, but the RAC motoring group said the government's changes would protect drivers from the poor practices of some private parking companies.

Ukrainians have died because Kyiv is still not receiving reliable US warnings of incoming Russian attacks, according to a key adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky. Serhii Flash Beskrestnov told the BBC that lives had been lost because there had not been time to warn citizens about ballistic missile strikes, saying: It's dangerous... I think it's really very bad... The adviser also said restrictions to Ukraine's use of the Starlink internet network were ongoing. The White House said there had been no changes to intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

The US has ordered all artificial intelligence (AI) technology from the Chinese firm DeepSeek to be removed from most government systems. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has banned all use of DeepSeek within civilian government agencies, and any technology built with the aid of its AI models. As a powerful AI model that is open source - meaning it is free to access and less expensive to use - DeepSeek has been seen as a disruptive force in the ongoing AI technology race. While the DHS notice did not detail the exact security concerns surrounding DeepSeek, the White House has this year criticised AI firms from China. The DHS, DeepSeek, and the Chinese embassy in Washington DC have been contacted for comment.

CNN's chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour, has announced she will leave the organisation next year after more than four decades. After many months of thought and a few sleepless nights, I have decided to separate from CNN, my partner of 43 fantastic years! Amanpour said in a statement. The 68-year-old said she looks forward to interesting new projects down the line, and will always be rooting for CNN and maintaining its history of independent journalism. Remember: always be truthful, not neutral. CNN chairman Mark Thompson described her as one of the most trusted and beloved journalists anywhere and said the network will take time to celebrate her before she departs next year.

A Saudi national charged with secretly planting a recording device in one of OpenAI's meeting rooms has been accused of having considerable support from the Saudi government, according to a court filing, external in California. US prosecutors claimed Abdulrahman Alfozan, who worked for the AI firm, was in frequent communication... with a member of the Saudi royal family, and say a member of the country's military paid for a one-way flight to Saudi Arabia for his wife and son after his arrest. It was argued the 35-year-old engineer therefore posed a flight risk and should be detained, pending trial. The Saudi government did not immediately respond to BBC requests for comment. Alfozan had worked at OpenAI for around a year before he allegedly made his attempt to plant an audio recorder.

Barack Obama has said congresswoman Ilhan Omar is under federal criminal investigation simply because she's an outspoken critic of the President Donald Trump. The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president, the former US president wrote on X, calling the probe so appalling. The White House defended the inquiry, saying the justice department was focused on restoring law and order. Last week, homeland security agents searched the Minnesota Democrat's Washington DC home as part of an investigation into her immigration status. Born in Somalia, Omar moved to the US with her family as a child.

AI is creating a'human premium' for art made by people. A few weeks back, in a former bank building that's now a music venue in Falmouth, Cornwall, I was DJ-ing at a night I run called Rave Machine. It was a noisy, high-energy, sweaty affair, just as a night's dancing should be. All of the elements - the crowd, performers, staff, music, the journey home - connected to create something special, a one-off. It was also completely human.