Next month marks the 61st anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, Texas, and one of the last surviving witnesses is Clint Hill, a former Secret Service agent who was on duty that day.

Lingered for Six Decades

Now 92 years old, Hill recently shared his reflections in a podcast titled Secret Service Agent #9 – 60 Minutes: A Second Look, breaking a silence he maintained since a 1975 interview on 60 Minutes, according to 20minutos.

During that original interview, Hill expressed profound guilt, claiming that if he had acted “five-tenths of a second faster,” he could have saved Kennedy. Now, he reflects on how this guilt has lingered for more than six decades.

Hill was positioned on the running board of the car directly behind Kennedy’s limousine as the motorcade moved through Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963.

When Hill heard the first gunshot and saw Kennedy clutch his throat, he immediately jumped from his vehicle and sprinted toward the president’s car. Tragically, a second shot struck Kennedy in the head just moments later.

Good morning. In today’s news:

• Indian solar companies see opportunity in the US

• Indonesia’s coal producers face growing scrutiny

• The swing states that will decide the US election

But first: Chinese authorities are demanding that a growing number of schoolteachers and other public sector employees hand in their passports as President Xi Jinping tightens his grip on society.

The passport collection drive allows local government officials to control and monitor who can travel abroad, how often and to where.

Interviews with more than a dozen Chinese public sector workers and notices from education bureaus in half a dozen cities show restrictions on international travel have been greatly expanded from last year to include rank-and-file employees of schools, universities, local governments and state-owned groups.

“All teachers and public sector employees were told to hand in our passports,” said a primary school teacher in a major city in the western province of Sichuan.

In central Hunan province, a mid-level official at a local government investment fund said he gained approval from nine different departments for a holiday abroad but still could not retrieve his passport. 

“No one would tell me what exactly was needed to get my passport back,” he said. Read more about the widening restrictions on foreign trips.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: Thailand publishes September inflation data. China, Hong Kong and Singapore report foreign exchange reserves.

• Diplomacy: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol meets Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr for bilateral talks in Manila.

• Middle East: Today is the first anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel.

Five more top stories

1. Indian companies are moving to fill the gap left by the exclusion of Chinese exports from the fast-growing US solar industry. Sumant Sinha, chief executive of ReNew, among India’s largest renewables companies, told the FT that there “will be demand” for solar components from India as Washington steps up its crackdown on manufacturers with ties to Beijing.

2. European households are saving at higher rates than the pre-pandemic era, according to data that highlights a clear divergence from more buoyant US consumers driving America’s economic recovery. “The European consumer is just very, very cautious, and the US consumer is much more comfortable to spend, spend, spend,” said Nathan Sheets, chief economist at US bank Citi. Read the full story.

3. Ireland has rejected Israeli calls for its UN peacekeeping troops to withdraw from Lebanon, insisting it will not evacuate them even as Israel intensified its air campaign against the militant group Hizbollah. Irish President Michael D Higgins slammed what he called “outrageous” threats against the peacekeepers from the Israel Defense Forces that “sought to have them evacuate the villages that they are defending”.

4. One of Saudi Arabia’s richest tycoons Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has launched a comeback attempt, reviving a project to build the world’s tallest tower. The Jeddah Tower is set to surpass the 828-metre Burj Khalifa in neighbouring Dubai as the world’s tallest building when completed in 2028. It is the most high-profile deal involving Prince Alwaleed since he was detained in Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton in an anti-corruption drive in 2017.

5. The co-founder of Regeneron has warned that blockbuster weight-loss drugs could cause “more harm than good” unless the rapid muscle loss associated with the treatments is solved. Regeneron is among a growing list of drugmakers researching experimental medicines to preserve lean muscle mass in combination with weight-loss drugs.

News in-depth

From mine sales to expansion into nickel and aluminium smelting, coal producers in Indonesia are reducing their exposure to the commodity as finding financing for the “dirtiest” fossil fuel becomes increasingly difficult. The corporate efforts to diversify underscore the scrutiny businesses are now facing amid the energy transition and concerns over long-term demand for coal.

We’re also reading . . . 

• US swing states: From a “blue wall” to the American desert, these are the places where the 2024 presidential race will be decided.

• FT Magazine: Here’s the unlikely story of the greatest prison break in British history — and why it took 25 years to solve.

• The case for office pettiness: There is a reason white-collar workers obsess about the most apparently trivial things, writes Pilita Clark.

Chart of the day

The scorching rally in Chinese stocks over the past week or so underlines one of the key rules of markets, writes columnist Katie Martin: always keep an eye on the crowd.

Take a break from the news

Affluent Indians are getting serious about wine. That should give the world’s wine producers, concerned about shrinking sales elsewhere, some reason to be hopeful, writes Jancis Robinson, the FT’s wine correspondent.

SHOPPERS are racing to their nearest branch to snap up new curry-flavoured crisps scanning at a major supermarket for just £1.15.

The supermarket’s new range, inspired by various Indian dishes, celebrates National Curry Week which starts October 7.

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Aldi revealed two new flavoured curry crips which hit shelves in stores across the UK starting October 8.

The bargain supermarket’s new Specially Selected Hand Cooked Bombay Potato Crisps features a rich Indian spice blend to give shoppers a spicy kick.

The 150g crisps are available to buy in stores for just £1.15.

Similarly, Aldi’s new Specially Selected Hand Cooked Spiced Tikka Crisps are packed with a variety of spices, aiming to “transport shoppers to the streets of New Delhi“.

This sought-after crisp packet is also 150g and costs £1.15.

The Indian-inspired crisps can only be purchased in stores, and Aldi fans will need to act quickly before branches run out of stock.

Bear in mind availability will vary between stores – you can find Aldi’s store locator on its website.

The popular discount chain recently announced that one lucky shopper has the chance to win free shopping for a year.

To win, customers must write no more than 250 words explaining why they deserve to receive the ultimate gift.

Judges at Aldi will review all the submissions before choosing who will hold the exclusive card.

To be eligible, candidates must be aged 18 or over.

Applicants must explain why they are Aldi’s biggest superfan to have a chance at winning.

Aspiring winners must send their letters to aldicompetitions@citypress.co.uk, including their name, age, and location.

Shoppers have until October 31 at 11.59pm to apply for the Superfan Card, and one lucky customer will be notified about their win on November 30.

Richard Thornton, Communications Director at Aldi, said: “We know how passionate our customers are about Aldi, and we wanted to find a way to give something truly special back to Aldi’s biggest fan.

“We can’t wait to see the creativity and enthusiasm in the entries. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we’re thrilled to be launching it.”

It comes after McDonald’s revealed that they would bring back a menu item which has not been seen in almost a decade in just a matter of days.

And M&S customers are delighted after spotting a classic treat which has made a reappearance on supermarket shelves for the holidays.

How to bag a bargain

SUN Savers Editor Lana Clements explains how to find a cut-price item and bag a bargain…

Sign up to loyalty schemes of the brands that you regularly shop with.

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Big names regularly offer discounts or special lower prices for members, among other perks.

Sales are when you can pick up a real steal.

Retailers usually have periodic promotions that tie into payday at the end of the month or Bank Holiday weekends, so keep a lookout and shop when these deals are on.

Sign up to mailing lists and you’ll also be first to know of special offers. It can be worth following retailers on social media too.

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When buying online, always do a search for money off codes or vouchers that you can use vouchercodes.co.uk and myvouchercodes.co.uk are just two sites that round up promotions by retailer.

Scanner apps are useful to have on your phone. Trolley.co.uk app has a scanner that you can use to compare prices on branded items when out shopping.

Bargain hunters can also use B&M’s scanner in the app to find discounts in-store before staff have marked them out.

And always check if you can get cashback before paying which in effect means you’ll get some of your money back or a discount on the item.

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Television does love a bit of law and order, doesn’t it? Whether it’s Line of Duty or Slow Horses, we’re forever bombarded with small screen depictions of right being separated from wrong. Enough? Seemingly not, because here comes Showtrial to offer up more.

This is the second series of the BBC anthology, which follows a splashy court trial that prompts a media frenzy and hooks the nation. The first, broadcast in 2021, focused on a student who’d gone missing in Bristol, while this second – different story, different actors – lands in Brighton, a place where climate activists are thriving, closing roads, protecting trees, and giving the local constabulary a right old headache.

When leading activist Marcus Calderwood – bicycle, trouser clips, megaphone – is left for dead in a hit-and-run, he uses his last words to name a serving policeman as his killer. The policeman, Justin Mitchell (Michael Socha), claims his innocence with such sociopathic arrogance that only a fool would agree to represent him in court.

Enter Sam Malik (Adeel Akhtar), an earnest campaigning lawyer whose default setting is perpetual anxiety. Sam wears cheap suits, and is nursing a personal tragedy that has robbed him of sleep for months. He’s going to have his work cut out for him here; as Showtrial is so keen to suggest, the police these days do err towards the corrupt and the bent. “Not just one bad apple,” one of the climate protesters says, “the whole basket is rotten”, later hammering home the point by sneering: “Yeah, like anyone is going to believe the word of a cop these days.”

It quickly becomes clear, then, that it isn’t just Marcus on trial – it’s the entire force. No wonder his lawyer’s shoulders are stooped.

Read Next

Written by Ben Richards (a novelist who adapted the Scandi noir The Bridge into English in 2013), Showtrial packs a lot into its five episodes. Richards cherry-picks whose backstory he fleshes out, which makes the drama a little uneven. Of one leading detective, for example, we learn only that he doesn’t drink but does like bonsai trees. Meanwhile, we’re given enough biography of the prosecuting lawyer, Leila Hassoun-Kenny (Nathalie Armin), to fill an entire series.

She’s half Arabic, and is constantly warring with her willowy sister, whose life coach – this is Brighton, remember, encourages her to avoid all contact with her because her sister is “red” while she is “yellow”, and these auras rarely mix well. They shout at one another until their mother collapses with a pulmonary embolism. Families, eh? In other episodes, we discover more about bicycle pedals than we would while watching the Tour de France.

And yet, like light coming through trees, tension is gradually built up as the trial proceeds, until it turns the knuckles white. Showtrial works best when it focuses on just Sam and Justin, the former desperate to do good and proper legal work for a client who flaunts a deeply problematic personality. Though Justin strenuously denies murder, he blames the climate protester for the death of a pregnant woman who crashed her car on a road she’d never have been driving on had the protesters not been demonstrating on her usual route. He’d held the woman in his arms as she died, and his PTSD can now only assert itself as a deadly rage.

We already know that Akhtar is one of our very best screen actors. As he showed in the first series of Sherwood and 2016’s Murdered by My Father, he’s someone who can express a panoply of human emotions with just his overcooked eyeballs and their attendant crows feet. But it is Socha (a stalwart of Shane Meadows films) who is the real revelation here – his performance vibrates with intensity. He’s amazing, terrifying, mesmeric. The last half-hour of the fourth episode – in which the two square off at one another, alternately digging through layers of self-protection and trading insults – is surely the most electrifying television of 2024.

It’s only when the credits roll that you realise you’d been holding your breath all along.

‘Showtrial’ continues next Sunday at 9pm on BBC One. All episodes are streaming on BBC iPlayer

A NEW term called “luggage rage” has been causing chaos for airline passengers – here’s how to avoid it

Airlines are beginning to increase prices for checked luggage and are cracking down on carry-ons, according to Elliot Report.

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This has led to outrage from passengers, who have dubbed it “luggage rage”, as they struggle to downsize or are forced to pay extra for their baggage.

As a result, reports of passengers having luggage tantrums have begun to spread, with no real solution in sight.

One passenger was asked to pay a whopping £50 after crew members claimed her carry-on was too big for the flight.

Unable to pay, she angrily unpacked her bag and tossed her personal belongings.

New airline rules have led companies to focus their efforts on generating more revenue from cabin luggage.

This means passengers will face higher check-in fees for their bags and smaller spaces for their carry-ons.

Some travellers have had to rip wheels off their suitcases and cut handles or straps of their backpacks to avoid paying extra.

This infuriates passengers, who are forced to rearrange their luggage in front of fellow travellers, hence the term “luggage rage.”

Jay Ternavan, founder of Jayway Travel, said: “The aircraft cabin is a stressful and vulnerable place to be and pushes people to angry outbursts more often than is the case in other places.”

To avoid becoming the latest passenger to experience “luggage rage,” travellers should check the rules of the airline they’re flying with before packing.

Airlines in Southeast Asia and Australia are notoriously strict with luggage size, Elliot Report added.

One passenger was asked to pay an extra £40 by an Australian airline because their bag was over the limit by less than a pound.

Another tip for travellers is to avoid over-packing to prevent giving the airline a chance to impose a fee.

Instead, passengers should aim to fit all their luggage into a small, regulation-size carry-on while being careful not to overdo it.

Kimberly Davis, travel advisor, said: “Look, if you haven’t figured out by now that your oversized carry-on isn’t going to fit over your seat, I don’t know where you’ve been for the last decade.”

Finally, to avoid having a meltdown over luggage travellers should steer clear of airlines known for trying to squeeze the most out of their passengers.

Airlines that advertise themselves as “ultra-low fare” or “discount” carrier are likely to cause a large amount of “luggage rage” amongst its customers.

However, Thomas Plante, a Californian psychologists, claims the easiest way to avoid “luggage rage” is to change your mindset.

“Lower your expectations,” he added.

It comes after travellers with hand luggage breathed a sigh of relief after European airlines revealed that they hoped to unify bag dimensions.

And passengers have been left fuming after being forced to check in their hand luggage – only to find the overhead lockers empty anyway.