Israelis are marking three years since the Hamas-lead attack on 7 October 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 more taken hostage.
Events are taking place across Israel, which include the observation of three separate minute silences throughout the day. The first was held at 06:29 (04:29 BST), the time Hamas launched its attack and a second was held at noon (10:00 BST).
Further ceremonies will take place throughout the day, including at Reim – the site of the Nova music festival where more than 378 people were killed, and 44 taken hostage.
The site was visited by Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the opposition party, Yisrael Beiteinu party, and former defence minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
On October 7th, Hamas attacked military bases and multiple kibbutzim – small villages – near the Gaza border, burning homes and killing civilians. One kibbutz, Nir Oz, saw 41 people killed and 76 kidnapped out of its 400-strong community.
Local memorial services have been held at these Kibbutz, including at the Kfar Aza cemetary. The Kibbutz is about 3 kilometers from the Gaza border, and was attacked on 7 October. It took two days for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to regain full control of the area, by which point at least 62 residents had been killed, while a further 19 were taken hostage.
Which weight-loss drug ads are being banned
Two online pharmacies have been sanctioned by the advertising watchdog after they for oral weight-loss medicines.
Which pharmacies are being sanctioned?
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) ruled that and wrongly used ads on social media and on their own websites to promote GLP-1 anti-obesity treatments.
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What you need to know
- Medicines cannot be advertised in the UK until licensed for use by regulators. Even once authorised, prescription-only drugs cannot be advertised to the public.
- The ASA found that Simple Online Pharmacy broke these rules by inviting people to join a waiting list for GLP-1 slimming pills on 1 June. The first such medicine was not authorised in the UK until 11 June.
- Pharmacy Online also had its adverts banned after it promoted the oral version of Wegovy after it had been licensed as prescription-only. The ads included a website pop-up inviting people to “pre-order” the medication.
The licensing of GLP-1 pills, seen as easier to administer than weight-loss jabs, has boosted the £210m market for anti-obesity drugs obtained with private prescriptions.
However, it has also provided regulators with a headache as they seek to ensure use only occurs under proper medical supervision.
‘Treatments could put people at risk’
“These are powerful medicines, so it’s important that ads don’t encourage people to seek treatment in ways that could put them at risk”
Catherine Drewett, investigations manager at the ASA
Daniel Craig’s Bond suit from Skyfall up for auction
A suit worn by Daniel Craig in the 2012 film will go up for auction this month.
Bond suite for sale
A worn by Daniel Craig while playing James Bond in the 2012 film is among the lots being offered in a from the 007 franchise.
A collection of 400 items spanning every Bond film since 1962’s is being sold via an online auction open until 27 October. It also includes a complete set of 14 first edition 007 books written by Ian Fleming.
What you need to know
- The grey suit, complete with branded shirt and a tie and cufflinks, was worn by Craig in the opening sequence of as Bond chases a villain across Istanbul, Turkey.
- The outfit, part of Craig’s wardrobe for his fourth of five outings as Bond, has a pre-sale estimate of between £20,000 and £40,000.
- Also offered is a navy dress with a plunging neckline worn by Hollywood star Ana de Armas as secret agent Paloma in the most recent Bond film, .
The Bond memorabilia up for sale
A cinema poster for , the first Bond Film and starring Sean Connery, has an estimate pre-sale price of £8k to £16k.
A clapper board used for miniature special effects sequences in is offered with a pre-sale price tag of £4k to £8k.
With an estimate of £20k to £40k, another star lot is 14 first-edition, first impression 007 books written by Ian Fleming.
What you need to know about new air travel rules
As the October half-term looms, British holidaymakers taking to the skies may notice a number of changes as they head to Europe.
Here’s what you need to know…
Air travel changes
Face as passport
E-gates at UK airports will soon work without a passport for British nationals by using facial recognition to match travellers with their passport image held on Home Office systems.
Free personal item
Since July, passengers can take a small bag (40x30x15cm) on board for free. EU airlines must also include at least a carry-on trolley bag in the starting price for flights.
The EU’s EES is now in full effect at most Schengen area airports, causing delays for passengers who will now need to register biometric data at gates.
Anyone trying to avoid the queues should try to secure a seat towards the front of the plane to be able to dash to passport control before queues form.
Pro-Palestine march to go ahead on 7 October anniversary
A pro-Palestine march on the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack has been given the go-ahead by police, under strict conditions.
The protest
Who is protesting?
A group of students called the University of London Coalition are expected to march in the capital on Wednesday.
Why they are marching
Organisers urged people to “take to the street and demand an end to the Palestinian genocide”.
Why is it controversial?
It has drawn criticism for being held on the anniversary of Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel.
Police restrictions
- The group is required to form at Lincoln’s Inn Fields by 12.30pm, take a prescribed route to Russell Square, and finish the rally by 2pm.
- Demonstrators must not wear a face covering which conceals their identity, with the Met Police saying anyone who breaches these conditions can be arrested.
- The march was originally set to leave from King’s College London, but restrictions require them to be further from the university.
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Education Secretary Lucy Powell called on the student march organisers “to for others by moving it” to another date. She added that universities should take “a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitic abuse, backed by robust disciplinary policies”.
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‘High bar for ban not met’
We hear the calls for this event to be banned. The police cannot ban protests and can only ask the Home Secretary to do so if the risk of serious disorder is so high that it can’t be managed by conditions. That high bar is not met here.
met police Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman, who leads Met Operations including public order policing
What we know as Ofcom opens first investigation into Meta
Ofcom has launched its first investigation into Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta under the Online Safety Act.
Here’s everything we know.
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Why is Ofcom investigating Meta?
Online safety regulator Ofcom is investigating Meta regarding its disappearing content feature.
- Ofcom said it was looking into whether the tech giant adequately assessed the risks of Instagram Instants before launching it in May.
- The feature allows users to take and share photos that disappear after being viewed. It cannot be seen after 24 hours.
- Meta said it had “conducted a risk analysis” and briefed Ofcom “on a number of occasions” before launch.
What risks does the feature carry?
Ofcom said on Tuesday it had launched a formal investigation to establish “whether Meta failed to comply with its duties under the Act by not carrying out a suitable and sufficient illegal content risk assessment and children’s risk assessment before the launch of Instants”.
Meta’s response
Meta takes its regulatory obligations under the Online Safety Act seriously
A Meta spokesperson insisted Instants has in-built protections including “blocking screenshots, reshares and forwarding, no public feed, and Teen Account protections on automatically”.
Mark Zuckerberg’s toxic empire is starting to crack
Meta’s decision to pay more than $17bn (£12bn) to settle a landmark US lawsuit is being seen as a reckoning for a company that has got away with preying on children and ransacking its users’ data for decades.
Paramount and Warner Bros mega deal creates Skydance
Paramount has completed its $110bn (£83bn) takeover of Warner Bros Discovery to create a new Hollywood giant.
Details on the deal
Big money merger
The mega deal will bring both major film studio brands under the name Skydance.
Which channels are involved?
It also brings together streaming services and TV networks including CBS and HBO Max.
UK channels
In the UK, meanwhile, Skydance will control assets such as Channel 5 and TNT Sports.
Issues with regulators
Paramount, which was bought by Skydance last year, initially launched a hostile approach before gaining the approval of the Warner Bros board.
Britain’s regulators greenlit the deal in August, with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport promising not to intervene after several “legally binding commitments” from Paramount over its footprint in the UK.
The deal had to gain approval from regulators across the world, while also settling a lawsuit lodged by Democratic attorney generals in 12 states seeking to block the merger.
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Similar memorials have taken place across the world, with hundred gathering at dawn in Sydney, Australia.
Israel’s ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman told the crowd that behind every person killed on October 7 was “a face and a family”, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
He also said “there is a direct line between the shooting at Nova [the music festival targeted by Hamas] and the shooting at Bondi”.
On 14 December 2025, 15 people were killed during an antisemitic attack on a Hanukah celebration at Bondi, Sydney.
Anti-government protesters are using the day to criticise the government. According to the BBC, protestors in Tel Aviv have dyed a fountain in Dizengoff Square red. Since the attacks three years ago, this fountain has become a memorial site for victims, with pictures and flowers laid around it.
Protesters also blocked one of the main highways in Tel Aviv and held banners that read “the people will remember their sons and daughters” along with others that say “a complete failure” and “guilty” next to an image of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Anti-government groups in Israel, such as the October Council and the Kumu Movement, have been demanding a public inquiry into the 7 October attacks. Many senior defence and security officials have resigned or been fired since the attacks took place, but there has not been an independent state inquiry into what caused the security failure which allowed the attacks to happen.
The third anniversary of Hamas-lead attacks comes just weeks before Israel’s upcoming general election on October 27.
An art installation commemorating the victims of the 7 October attacks has been unveiled on a beach in Tel Aviv.
It features 1,200 human figures, referring to those killed on the day, near large Hebrew letters that spell “Total Failure”. It is not clear who is responsible for the installation.
This morning, Andy Burnham has assured Britain’s Jewish community “we stand with you” against antisemitism on the third anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel.
The Prime Minister described a rise in antisemitic behaviour in the UK since 2023 as “disturbing”, but pledged his Government is “committed to protecting our citizens from vile hatred”.
Tributes have also poured in from France, Sweden, Germany and Ursula von Der Leyen, President of the EU Commission.
Israel responded to the deadliest attacks on Jews since the Holocaust by launching an extensive military offensive in Gaza which has killed at least 74,200 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
An estimated 80 per cent of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
More than 1.9 million people – about 90 per cent of the territory’s population – have been displaced, with over 1 million currently living in tents or makeshift shelters. Humanitarian needs in Gaza remain “overwhelming”, with many struggling to access water, food and medicine, says the UN.
Last year, the world’s leading association of genocide scholars declared that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has regularly denied its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and says they are justified as a means of self-defence.
A ceasefire came into effect last October, though Israeli airstrikes and attacks on populated areas have continued.