I also find this forced new tab behavior annoying.
Opera makes opening a new tab very easy if I should want one. If some users want new tabs always, please realise that ofhers do not.
Do not make opera stupid. Many of us chose Opera in order to have options.

I only got as far as initial news page before running to settings, where I found no relief from the new typeface for news. Yes, big, square, slab-serif typefaces are traditional to set off headlines from copy text, but not as the main text. They are not designed for easy reading and take up a lot of very limited space on a small screen. Please provide an option to use a more legible typeface.

Easy, yes, although not as clearly communicated as I found the older settings.
Opera mobile for Android still offers:

• Ask every time
• Allowed
• Denied
  Who could misread that?

The option for Flash still appears to read intuitively:

• Allow sites to run Flash off/on
• Ask first (recommended) off/on
  No doubt about the meanings there.
  Turning off Ask first means allow; however, the ask first switch has no effect on the setting displayed. It reads ask first, whether switch is off or on.
  Have mercy on us!

Thanks for your clear and unequivocal answer.
My request still stands, though - now as a request to word the option more intuitively. Everyone I have asked to look at the options assumes that to turn off the requirement to ask first would give automatic approval, not denial.

In recent versions I have only the option to "Ask before accessing/sending (recommended)"
Other than that, I can only Allow or Block sites individually or by TLD. Either way gets messy.
The "Allow" option indicates possibility of a blanket block, but I haven't found it.
To turn off a requirement for sites to ask before using locations/notifications sounds like a blanket "allow".
Please return "block" as an available default option in locations/notifications.
Thanks

I do not use or want such notifications, and grow tired of blocking each and every site that asks.. google docs and google drive can not be disallowed from notifications, ostensibly enforced by an extension - I have NO extensions installed except opera's non-removable ad blocker which is disabled.

I also find this forced new tab behavior annoying.
Opera makes opening a new tab very easy if I should want one. If some users want new tabs always, please realise that ofhers do not.
Do not make opera stupid. Many of us chose Opera in order to have options.