Teachers could be allowed to work four-day weeks under Government proposals to relax rules on the number of days a year that full-time teachers must be available.

The post Teachers May Be Given Four-Day Weeks appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) warned that Russia may stage sabotage in Central and Eastern Europe, including the Baltic states, and blame Ukraine for the attacks, in a Telegram post on 23 October.

The warning comes three days after The Wall Street Journal reported that US intelligence traces Europe’s sabotage wave to Putin’s personal order. If Russia stages new attacks and pins them on Ukraine, as HUR warns, European anger could turn on Kyiv rather than the Kremlin. This goes further than HUR’s statement on 2 October, which named potential Russian targets in Europe but did not mention a plan to blame Ukraine for attacks.

HUR says Moscow wants to discredit Ukraine’s army

Russia is stepping up its hybrid strategy to destabilize the European Union, according to HUR. The agency identified two aims: reducing foreign support for Ukraine by discrediting its Defense Forces, and intimidating European governments and societies.

The accusations would be spread through Russian propaganda channels and international platforms accessible to the Kremlin.

Potential targets include infrastructure and Russian Orthodox Church sites

HUR listed several potential targets for Russian provocations:

• critical infrastructure and areas bordering Russia;
• the Kaliningrad exclave;
• areas of EU countries with Russian-speaking populations;
• Kremlin-controlled sites, including properties belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church network;
• historical sites associated with Russia.

The list reflects HUR’s assessment of potential targets, not confirmation that attacks at these locations are planned.

Earlier warnings and reported sabotage

On 2 October, HUR said Russian intelligence services had been ordered to increase activity in EU and NATO countries. It named military facilities, critical infrastructure, communications systems, and Starlink ground stations as potential targets and said it had alerted partners.

Warnings of Russian false flags on NATO’s eastern flank predate HUR’s. In August, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed European intelligence official, that Russia might expand hybrid attacks against Poland and the Baltic states, including false-flag attacks. A European government official separately told the agency that the CIA had warned countries in the region of a possible Russian attack. Lithuania’s military intelligence had warned earlier in August that Moscow might reassemble captured Ukrainian drones for false-flag strikes on critical infrastructure in the Baltic region.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported on 20 October that US intelligence agencies believe the attempted drone attack on Leipzig-Halle Airport in Germany in early August was among the opening shots of a sabotage campaign ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Journal cited European officials briefed on the intelligence findings.

According to the newspaper, at least three drones carrying military-grade Semtex explosives were involved. One struck an Antonov cargo plane used to transport military aid to Ukraine but failed to explode. Another collided with a different aircraft, while a third detonated near the airport perimeter. German newspaper Welt am Sonntag has since named two suspects, citing German investigation files. Earlier German media reports described the sequence differently.

The Journal also reported sabotage attacks on Starlink stations in Poland, Lithuania, and Bulgaria in recent weeks. In August, Slovak authorities said they had foiled a planned arson attack on a Ukrainian drone factory, the Journal reported.

Russia denies involvement in sabotage in Europe. Responding to Berlin’s accusations over the Leipzig incident in early September, Putin asked where the evidence was.

• I've never been skiing.
• But if I ever decide to learn, I'll do it at the Four Seasons in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
• My 550-square-foot room felt like a luxury cabin on the slopes.

When I arrived at the Four Seasons Jackson Hole on a muggy day in early September, I imagined it covered in snow. This was in 2024, when I visited Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the first time.

I spent one night at the five-star ski-in, ski-out resort. If I ever take a ski trip, I imagine that my room at this Four Seasons would be a peaceful place to rest after an active day of gliding through powder.

Step inside the 550-square-foot room with a starting rate of nearly $1,000 a night during the winter ski season.

Welcome to the Four Seasons Jackson Hole, a five-star, slopeside ski resort.

The 65-year-old hotel chain has a luxurious reputation and over 130 locations worldwide, each designed to reflect its destination.

Kim Cole, the director of public relations for the Four Seasons, told Business Insider that the company describes the Jackson Hole location's aesthetic as "modern mountain chic," catering to hikers, bicyclists, and skiers in the winter.

After checking in, I explored the room with the typical peak-season guest in mind.

The hotel has 106 guest rooms and 18 suites. The starting rate is $525 in the offseason and $995 in the peak winter season. Business Insider received a media rate for a one-night stay.

There are also 31 Resort Residences on-site, built to serve large groups. These residences have kitchens and up to five bedrooms. Starting prices range from $4,200 to $11,000, depending on the season.

Cole told Business Insider that in the winter, guest rooms are typically booked with active guests who participate in winter sports, so I imagined how the room would feel as a skier.

I thought my 550-square-foot room blended traditional cabin nostalgia with midcentury modern luxury.

My room had a king-sized bed, a full bathroom, and a private balcony.

Renovated by Wimberly Interiors in 2022, the guest rooms were designed to bring the outside in, with metal accents, stone finishings, and a soft, earth-toned color palette. This nature-inspired trend, known as biophilic design, gained traction in 2024.

The bed was plush with warm, fluffy bedding and dense pillows.

The king-sized bed sat between mixed-material nightstands with edgy lamps that contrasted with classic wooden shutters.

With one king-sized bed, the room sleeps up to three adults (or two adults and one kid). The room can also be arranged with two double beds, increasing the maximum occupancy to four adults (or two adults and two kids).

The nature-inspired headboard was a mesmerizing statement piece.

The headboard was the standout piece in the room. A cherry-wood frame juxtaposed with a bright-white image gave it a midcentury modern look.

The image was a textured carving of trees that I could feel when I brushed my fingers over the branches. A light bar glowed beneath the board, making it easier to see the details of the monochrome image.

The bed was so comfy that I didn't want to get up — and with smart controls on the in-room tablet, I didn't have to.

The tablet on the nightstand served as the room's control center, commanding everything from the TV to room service. This amenity was added in the 2022 remodel.

The tablet would be especially handy after an exhausting day on the slopes.

The other nightstand held an eclectic shelf of books with a warm white color palette.

Few things are more relaxing on a snow day than cozying up with a good book.

Luckily, my room had a small selection of biographies, historical literature, and novels, ranging from realistic fiction to young adult fantasy.

Publishing dates for these books ranged from 2003 to 2020, but I thought they looked much older. They were all sleeveless with a white or off-white binding.

Across from the bed, a large TV was mounted above a stone fireplace.

Rustic drawers were to the left of the fireplace, while a modern sitting area was on the right.

I noticed all the seating in my room was soft and cushy, which seemed ideal for sore bodies after an active day.

The room also had a private bar with gold trimmings.

The bar had an espresso machine, neutral-toned ceramic mugs, and Four Seasons-branded water.

Beneath the bar, a cabinet hid the mini-fridge. It was stocked with alcohol and snacks like peanut M&Ms and gummy bears, which were available for an extra cost.

In the marble bathroom, the oversize tub had a bendy shower head that made me feel like I was in a spa.

The bathroom had complimentary Le Labo toiletries.

The bathroom felt spacious, with a double-sink vanity, a sizable shower, and a separate toilet room.

The mirrors and vanities were replaced by Wimberly Interiors in 2022.

Across from the bathroom, a walk-in closet held bathrobes, a safe, and some classic, upscale amenities I've only seen in ultra-luxury hotels.

I spotted old-school amenities like a shoehorn and a shine brush, which I've seen more often in high-end European accommodations than in the US.

The ample size of the bathroom and closet made the room suitable for up to four guests.

The private balcony seated one in a comfortable lounge chair.

I spent some time on the deck, but since I imagined it would be less enjoyable in the cold, I appreciated the sliding glass doors that let me enjoy the view without the cold.

Out there, I had a view of the ski lifts traveling up and down Rendezvous Mountain.

From the balcony, I spotted the downhill trails towering over the resort's courtyard. Looking down, I pictured the green courtyard blanketed in snow.

In the winter, I imagine the biggest luxury of this $1,000-a-night room is hitting the slopes just outside. If I ever visit Jackson Hole during peak season, I'll only splurge on a Four Seasons stay if I'm taking a ski trip.

France and Germany have teamed up to press the EU to relax its looming combustion car ban. It’s the latest sign the EU's climate agenda is running on empty, says Ben Pile – and the UK isn't far behind.

The post The EU’s Climate Agenda is Running on Empty – and the UK isn’t Far Behind appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Kemi Badenoch has said a "red warning light" is flashing on the economy as Britain's debt tops £3 trillion for the first time and inflation surges to 3.5% ahead of the Budget next week.

The post Badenoch Warns of “Red Warning Light” on Economy as UK Debt Tops £3 Trillion and Inflation Surges to 3.5% Ahead of Budget appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

VTM

Segundo o que apurou a VTM, a agressão terá ocorrido durante a madrugada, perto das duas horas do dia 12 de setembro, numa altura em que aquele serviço não teria muita afluência. A mesma fonte, confirmou à VTM que as agressões não são frequentes dentro da unidade hospitalar, nem existe um clima geral de insegurança, contradizendo a denúncia que foi enviada para a redação.

De acordo com essa comunicação, “é importante dar visibilidade a este tipo de situações, não só pela gravidade desta agressão, mas também pelas condições em que muitos profissionais desempenham diariamente as suas funções, frequentemente em ambientes de grande tensão e sujeitos a situações de violência”.

Respondendo ao pedido de esclarecimento da VTM, a ULSTMAD confirma a agressão, explicando que “o profissional foi prontamente assistido pela equipa do Serviço de Urgência, tendo apenas sofrido ferimentos ligeiros”. Já na primeira denúncia, é descrito que o segurança foi “violentamente agredido” e “atingido com murros e pontapés”, tendo este ficado “inanimado no chão”.

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The post Segurança agredido nas urgências durante a noite appeared first on A Voz de Trás-os-Montes.

Labour has finally approved new drilling for gas in the North Sea, despite the project already receiving the go ahead over two years ago under the Tories, after energy prices hit a four-year high.

The post Labour Finally Approves New North Sea Drilling appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Fighters of the Bratstvo Battalion, part of the Timur Special Unit of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR), captured three Russian servicemen and gave first aid to one of them, HUR reported on 19 October. They also found and destroyed Russian sabotage groups, HUR said, adding that counter-sabotage operations in the Zaporizhzhia direction are ongoing.

Russian forces have spent months trying to get closer to Zaporizhzhia, one of Ukraine’s largest cities. They may try to use the dried-up bed of the Kakhovka Reservoir to infiltrate north toward it as autumn fog and dense vegetation set in, the Institute for the Study of War reported on 26 September. Ukrainian troops are now clearing the area of Russian saboteurs trying to get into the rear of Ukrainian positions, according to HUR.

HUR’s video shows the fighting and the captures, with one dead Russian soldier blurred. At the end, a captured Russian says two of the three men in his group were killed by a “Baba Yaga,” the nickname Russian troops use for Ukraine’s heavy bomber drones.

HUR described what the Russian groups are trying to do:

“Using small sabotage groups, the enemy is attempting to penetrate deep into the rear positions of Ukraine’s Defense Forces, build up forces to destabilize the situation, disrupt logistics, and neutralize Ukrainian defenders’ combat crews.”

Russia seeks to bring the front closer to Zaporizhzhia

Russia’s objective in the Zaporizhzhia direction is to advance within artillery range of the city, hold forward positions, and protect its rear from Ukrainian strikes, the Institute for the Study of War noted.

In January, Russian forces were trying to capture Stepnohirsk and advance along the shore of the former Kakhovka Reservoir toward Zaporizhzhia. Taking the settlement would let Russian troops place long-range artillery or fiber-optic drones there to strike the city’s outskirts, Southern Defense Forces spokesperson Vladyslav Voloshyn told Ukrinform on 14 January.

Explore further

Russia drained the Kakhovka Reservoir. Now it hides in the dry bed to creep toward Zaporizhzhia

On 22 September, Anastasiia Shevchenko, spokesperson for the Southern Forces Group, said there were no signs of preparations for a direct offensive on Zaporizhzhia and that Russian forces lacked the troops and means to advance directly toward the city.

Dense vegetation and limited visibility: combat on the reservoir bed

The Kakhovka Reservoir was a vast artificial body of water on the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine that supplied water to millions of people, as well as to agriculture and industry. On 6 June 2023, Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, the Southern Operational Command reported.

After the dam was destroyed, the bed of the former reservoir quickly became overgrown with willows, poplars, and shrubs, creating a new battlefield. Ukrainian troops have fought there before.

In November 2025, fighters from the same Bratstvo unit carried out a reconnaissance and sabotage operation 7 kilometers from the shoreline of the former reservoir, HUR said. They found and eliminated Russian troops, then raised the Ukrainian flag over the islands there and took control of the area.

In April, the Bratstvo unit’s chief of staff, who goes by the call sign “Dyviziia,” described the conditions on an earlier raid across the reservoir bed:

“You’re just constantly moving through these thickets, with no way to figure out which direction to go. You can literally see everything just two meters ahead of you.”

Labour has cut £2 billion from front-line Army equipment as John Healey tries to fill a defence spending black hole in his first Budget.

The post Labour Cuts £2 Billion From Army Front Line appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

EU ministers have discussed how to make labour standards compatible with modern technological conditions and workplace culture, such as telework and AI-led staff oversight, without losing competitiveness.

The law in question, called the Quality Jobs Act, covers a wide range of work protection measures, such as common standards for being able to ‘go home’ and disconnect from remote work, and limits to AI role in recruitment or its scrutiny of workers’ performance.

Technological innovation should “benefit both workers and businesses,” said Portuguese labour minister Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, addressing the ministers’ council on Monday (19 October) in Luxembourg.

Human oversight is essential, especially where AI systems decide on recruitment or workers’ assessment, she said.

Next to innovation, labour rules needed to ensure “fair and transparent practices, respect for human workers’ rights … and effective social dialog,” said Roxana Mînzatu, the EU commissioner for employment.

“This revolutionary technology has to be regulated” so that it “delivers for all,” Isabelle Schömann, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) deputy general secretary had also said during a conference organised by the centre-left S&D group in the European Parliament on 14 October, commenting on the need for the Quality Jobs Act to curb AI.

The draft Quality Jobs Act that the European Commission plans to present in December aims to update the long out of date 1989 and 1990 health and safety workplace rules.

It would also protect subcontractors and create standards for working in heatwaves, becoming more frequent with climate change.

EU legislators need to ensure minimum standards so that “neither jobs nor businesses are jeopardised” with extreme weather, Yolanda Díaz Pérez, the Spanish labour minister, said ahead of Monday’s debate.

This article continues, but the full version is available only to EUobserver.com subscribers. Visit account.euobserver.com/membership

O Secretário de Estado das Florestas, Rui Ladeira, participa, nos próximos dias 20 e 21 de outubro, nas sessões de entrega de maquinaria em Santiago do Cacém, Aljezur e Évora, no âmbito do Programa de Mecanização para a Gestão de Combustível, financiado pelo Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência (PRR).

Dia 20 de outubro, em Santiago do Cacém, serão assinados os protocolos de cedência de maquinaria entre o Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas (ICNF) e os municípios de Aljustrel, Almodôvar, Barrancos, Castro Verde, Cuba, Ferreira do Alentejo, Grândola, Mértola, Ourique, Santiago do Cacém, Serpa e Vidigueira, tendo em vista a disponibilização de 12 tratores, um por município, reforçando a capacidade para a realização de operações de gestão de combustível e prevenção de incêndios rurais.

Já no dia 21 de outubro, da parte da manhã, em Aljezur, serão assinados protocolos com os municípios de Alcoutim, Aljezur, Olhão, Portimão e Tavira, para a cedência de 5 tratores; e da parte da tarde, em Évora, serão firmados os protocolos com os municípios de Alandroal, Arraiolos, Borba, Évora, Redondo, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Viana do Alentejo e Vila Viçosa, tendo em vista a cedência de 8 tratores.

Ao todo, a nível nacional, o ICNF informa que serão entregues 150 tratores a municípios, num investimento total que ronda os 27,5 milhões de euros.

Programa

20 outubro – 15h30 – Santiago do Cacém

• Sessão de entrega de maquinaria no âmbito do programa de mecanização para a gestão de combustível – Parque de Feiras e Exposições de Santiago do Cacém
• 15h30 – Abertura, Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Santiago do Cacém
• 15h45 – Assinatura dos protocolos de cedência da maquinaria
• 16h15 – Encerramento, Secretário de Estado das Florestas
• 16h30 – Entrega dos tratores

21 de outubro – 10h00 – Aljezur

• Sessão de entrega de maquinaria no âmbito do programa de mecanização para a gestão de combustível, Parque de Estacionamento da CM Aljezur
• 10h00 – Abertura, Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Aljezur
• 10h15 – Assinatura dos protocolos de cedência da maquinaria
• 10h45 – Encerramento, Secretário de Estado das Florestas
• 11h00 – Entrega dos tratores

21 de outubro – 15h30 – Évora

• Sessão de entrega de maquinaria no âmbito do programa de mecanização para a gestão de combustível, Centro de Desenvolvimento Agro-Pecuário de Évora
• 15h30 – Abertura, Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Évora
• 15h45 – Assinatura dos protocolos de cedência da maquinaria
• 16h15 – Encerramento, Secretário de Estado das Florestas
• 16h30 – Entrega dos tratores

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has attacked Shabana Mahmood's migrant crackdown, saying making foreign nationals wait threatens "integration", deepening the split within Andy Burnham’s Cabinet about border controls.

The post Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh Attacks Mahmood’s Migrant Crackdown appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Andy Burnham has announced "big changes" to welfare to get one million NEETs back into work – but only once he's "rebuilt the education system". Sounds expensive, says Mary Gilleece. It’s clearly never going to happen.

The post Andy Burnham Will Never Cut Welfare appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

‘Sovereignty without the ability to act on it is not autonomy,’ paper by Institute for Public Policy Research says

Britain cannot deal effectively with geopolitical crises such as Russian aggression and political turmoil in the US without rejoining the EU, according to an influential thinktank.

The Institute for Public Policy Research has become the latest organisation close to the Labour party to call for the UK to re-enter the bloc, after Andy Burnham said he wanted to examine all possible options.

Andy Burnham's Government has been accused of waging a £500 million "class war" on wealthy councils, slashing funding from rural Tory and Lib Dem areas to bankroll urban Labour Party strongholds.

The post Burnham Declares £500 Million War on Tory Councils appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Endless illegal immigration, unaffordable energy, draconian speech policing – we're being conditioned to accept outrageous things as normal, says Nick Rendell. Now add to that economic crashes.

The post This Shouldn’t Be Normal appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.