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World News

Fresh news brought to you daily from around the world. Hot news, breaking stories as they happen.

Trump Approval Slides Again as Midterm Worry Grows: Poll

President Donald Trump’s approval rating fell again this week, according to a new survey, extending a downward trend in support for the president as the Iran war continues and voters raise concerns about affordability ahead of November’s midterm elections. Political debate has focused on the administration’s conduct of foreign policy and the prices faced by households.

The Economist/YouGov poll, published on Monday, found 33% of respondents approved of how Trump has handled his job as president. Sixty-two per cent said they disapproved.
Partisan split remains stark
Approval was divided largely on party lines. Seventy-nine per cent of Republican respondents said they approved, while 4% of Democrats gave the same rating.
The result follows reporting by The Economist’s polling tracker in June that Trump had become the most unpopular president ever in its model, with a net approval rating of negative 25 percentage points. The tracker draws on data from YouGov surveys.
Earlier polls show weak support
YouGov’s latest numbers continue a broader slide. A Reuters/Ipsos survey published last week put approval at 35%. A Quinnipiac University poll released at the end of July showed approval slipping to 32%.
Together, the figures suggest Trump’s ratings remain below majority support in recent polling across multiple firms, with the gap between approval and disapproval widening in the new YouGov survey. The latest survey underlined the same pattern.
Midterm stakes for Republicans
Trump’s weakening job approval comes as Republicans try to lift backing for GOP candidates ahead of the midterms, with a goal of maintaining control of both chambers of Congress. The approval figures come as Republicans seek to defend their positions in the House and Senate.
GOP strategists have warned that dissatisfaction with the president’s performance could hurt the party in November. They point in particular to divisions among voters over his handling of the Iran conflict and affordability.
What voters say on specific issues
In addition to overall approval, the YouGov survey asked about Trump’s handling of individual issues. Around 40% of respondents supported his approach to immigration, while 30% said they had confidence in his ability to deal wisely with an international crisis.
On age, 53% of respondents said Trump was too old for the role. That view was shared by 85% of Democrats and 17% of Republicans.
The Economist/YouGov survey interviewed 1,589 people between 7 and 10 August. The margin of error was about 3.2 percentage points.
White House rejects the criticism
A White House spokesperson, Davis Ingle, defended Trump’s record in a statement shared with The Hill on Wednesday. Ingle said no other president in history had achieved more for hardworking Americans, and argued that Trump is creating jobs, bringing down inflation and improving housing affordability. He also said progress at home and abroad is already under way, describing the administration’s work as part of a longer agenda. Ingle said the president’s agenda is taking effect.

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13 August 2026
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Clacton By-election Puts Farage Versus Count Binface

Clacton voters in Essex are set to vote in a by-election on Thursday, August 13, with the seat expected to be fought primarily between Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and a political satirist known as Count Binface.

The contest is one of the most unusual in recent British politics after major parties declined to stand, leaving a crowded ballot dominated by independents, fringe candidates and satirical entrants alongside Farage and Count Binface.
When voters go to the polls
Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm local time, with results due on Friday morning in Australian Eastern Standard Time terms. The winner will return as MP for the Clacton constituency, which covers Clacton-on-Sea, Frinton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze.
A total of 34 candidates are listed, extending to about 90 centimetres of ballot paper, according to figures cited with the poll.
What triggered the by-election
Farage resigned as MP for Clacton on July 7, triggering the by-election.
His departure followed a parliamentary investigation into his finances, including an undeclared gift worth £5 million from a cryptocurrency billionaire. Under House of Commons rules, the probe has been paused during the by-election campaign, but is due to resume automatically if Farage is re-elected.
Farage has denied wrongdoing and said he was seeking a fresh mandate. In making the case for voters to decide whether they still support him, he has framed the election as a contest between voters and the political establishment.
However, Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens have all opted not to field candidates, describing the by-election as a “political stunt”. As a result, the ballot includes a range of non-mainstream figures.
Who is standing in the race
Farage is the only candidate representing a major party, standing for Reform UK. He won the seat in 2024 with 46% of the vote. A Survation poll for Mandate Research suggested that a majority of Reform voters in the constituency plan to back him again, despite the controversy surrounding his finances.
Count Binface, who is running under the Count Binface Party banner, is the best-known challenger. The comedian Jonathan David Harvey is legally standing under the Count Binface name and, according to his published platform, is promising measures including capping bus fares at £1.99, selling 99p Flake ice creams, regenerating Walton Pier, and building “at least one” affordable home.
The manifesto also includes proposals for oil and gas firms to help fund solar panels, a referendum on whether Pluto should regain planet status, and a pledge to bar MPs who resign mid-term from contesting the resulting by-election. It also states: “I will not accept 5 million-pound gifts from crypto billionaires (on Earth).”


Three candidates are standing for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party. (Supplied: Official Monster Raving Loony Party)

Alongside them are 32 other candidates, including three from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party: Howling Laud Hope, Baron Von Thunderclap and Nick the Incredible Flying Brick. Their policies include replacing “all red tape with Sellotape”, giving voters the chance to be prime minister for 15 minutes during their lifetime, and banning by-elections created purely for political self-interest. Laurence Fox, a former actor and right-wing Reclaim Party leader, is also on the ballot, along with independents Attieh Fard, Andy Erlam and Nick Pelas, and Daniel Pocock.
Pocock, described on his website as a Melbourne-born software engineer, said he moved to Europe and previously worked for firms including Barclays Capital, Thomson Reuters and UBS. In explaining his candidacy, he framed the race as an opportunity for “novelty candidates”.
How tight is the contest
While the field is large, the election has been widely viewed as a head-to-head between Farage and Count Binface. In a Survation poll of 502 Clacton adults, Farage was on 73%, with Count Binface on 20%.
Count Binface has lost every election he has contested, and his highest vote total to date is 308. Farage, asked by the ABC whether he was confident he could beat him, said he “hoped so”.
If Count Binface were to win, he would become MP for Clacton, as there is no exemption for novelty candidates under the UK’s electoral system. Parliamentary dress guidance expects business-like attire and, in principle, faces should not be covered when members speak or vote, meaning he would likely need to take his seat under his legal name, Jonathan Harvey.

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13 August 2026
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Trump Flight Switch Underscores Iran Assassination Threat

The US administration’s decision last month to move Donald Trump off Air Force One using a reported ruse in Turkey has raised concerns in Washington about the credibility and seriousness of an Iranian assassination threat, experts said.

The episode comes after joint US and Israeli strikes in February killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and scores of other senior Iranian officials on the first day of the war. In that context, a reported revenge plot against Trump was not expected to be far-fetched, analysts said, particularly given the long-running US warnings about Iran targeting Trump and people close to him.
Turkey escape and surprise in Washington
The reported plan to remove Trump from the aircraft involved measures that left some aides and journalists on the plane, according to the account discussed by experts. The episode has been seen by some in Washington as notable because it suggested that protecting the president may have required unusual steps while others near him could still have been exposed to risk.
Colin P Clarke, executive director of The Soufan Center, said the approach could make the administration’s posture look poor. He described the actions as “not a good look” and said they risked making Trump appear “weak”, while also stressing that threats should not be discounted even if they have not previously succeeded on US soil.
Previous threat allegations
US officials have accused Iran of seeking to assassinate Trump for years.
In 2024, Manhattan federal prosecutors said Iranian authorities had ordered an operative to kill Trump while he was a presidential candidate, linking the alleged order to Trump’s role in the killing of Qassem Suleimani, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, during his first term.
In July this year, Israel shared intelligence with the US saying Iran had drawn up a new plan to kill Trump. Separately, an Iraqi militant arrested earlier this year was alleged to have close ties to Iranian officials and was said to be considering an attack targeting Ivanka Trump.
Senior figures including Mike Pompeo, Trump’s former secretary of state, and John Bolton, a national security adviser, were also reported to have been under threat.
Bruce Hoffman, a senior fellow on counter-terrorism and homeland security at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the February strikes had set the stage for further threats. He said that, for Iran, revenge “is something that’s taken very seriously” and that the killing of Suleimani “has set in motion very serious threats”. Hoffman also said humiliation can be treated as a form of revenge from Iran’s perspective.
He added that, in view of the reported Turkey operation, Iran may benefit from the episode regardless of how imminent the threat was “from the Iranian point of view”.
Capability and implications for talks
Experts pointed to a broader historical pattern in which Iran and its networks have used terrorism as part of foreign policy. Hoffman cited the 1992 Buenos Aires car bombing outside the Israeli embassy, which killed 29 after Abbas al-Musawi, the then secretary general of Hezbollah, was assassinated. He also cited a bombing two years later on a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and injured more than 300.
While the current risk has been widely discussed since the war began, Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, wrote in May for War on the Rocks that authorities had not reported a single homeland plot specifically tied to Iran. He noted that lone attackers angered by the war had killed Americans, but that those cases were not directly linked to Iranian intelligence or security agencies.
Levitt argued that Iran’s ability to execute attacks may have been “somewhat diminished” by strikes targeting senior figures involved in external operations, including Rahman Moqadam, head of special operations in the IRGC’s intelligence organisation, and Majid Khademi, head of the IRGC Intelligence Organisation.
Clarke said Iran’s past patience in assembling complex attacks—citing the 1994 Buenos Aires attack—also suggested the conflict may not be winding down as some may assume. Hoffman said Iran’s readiness to try to kill a sitting US president would likely complicate the White House’s calculations and could affect negotiations to end the war, arguing it showed Iran was not backing down.

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13 August 2026
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Karoline Leavitt to Depart as Trump’s Press Secretary

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her role at the end of August, President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday.

Trump said Leavitt’s departure is to allow her “to spend more time with her beautiful young children and family”. He added that he understands and respects her decision, and said she would remain one of his “top outside advisors” and an “influential voice” within the Republican Party ahead of the midterm elections.
In the post, Trump praised Leavitt as “one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office” and thanked her for what he called a “job well done”.
Leavitt to step down at end of August
The announcement comes with less than a month having passed since Leavitt delivered her first White House briefing after returning from maternity leave. She welcomed her second child in May.
Leavitt confirmed her decision to step down in a post on X, expressing gratitude to Trump. She described the job as the “honor and adventure of a lifetime” and said she was thankful for the opportunity to work in his administration.
Return after maternity leave
She said her position as a mother of two was central to her reasoning, adding that balancing the role had been “rewarding yet challenging”.
Leavitt wrote that, after returning to the White House following the birth of her daughter, she had concluded she could not be “the best mom” her two young children needed while also devoting the “constant time, energy, and attention” required of the press secretary role. She said the decision was “bittersweet” and that she would “embark on a new chapter”.
Background in Trump’s campaign and administration
Leavitt became the youngest White House press secretary in history when she took up the post last year at 27.
Before becoming press secretary, she served as Trump’s spokesperson during his 2024 presidential campaign and his transition. She also worked in Trump’s first administration and in roles associated with Republican Representative Elise Stefanik.
Earlier than that, Leavitt ran for Congress in her home state of New Hampshire before joining Trump’s 2024 campaign, but lost the general election.
It was not immediately clear who Trump will choose to replace Leavitt.
Acting briefings during her leave
While Leavitt was on maternity leave earlier this year, a rotating group of administration officials delivered press conferences from the briefing room. Among those who held briefings were Vice President J D Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
During Trump’s first term, he had four press secretaries: Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kayleigh McEnany and Stephanie Grisham.

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13 August 2026
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Harry Potter Fans Force Reroute of £430m Power Cable

A multimillion-pound electricity link between the United Kingdom and Ireland has been diverted after Harry Potter fans raised concerns that its planned undersea route would pass through a beach memorial dedicated to Dobby the house-elf.

The Greenlink interconnector, a £430 million project (about $580 million), connects the UK’s National Grid to Ireland through a 125-mile cable running from County Wexford on Ireland’s south-east coast to Freshwater West, on a beach in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales. The scheme is designed to share excess renewable power, improve energy security and double the electricity transfer capacity between the two countries.
Planned route risked disturbing memorial stones
Freshwater West is where Dobby’s death was filmed for the Potter film franchise. On the beach, fans have left handwritten tributes on pebbles at the spot of a small memorial known as Dobby’s grave.
Project plans initially indicated that laying the cable along the proposed route would disturb the memorial area.
After a BBC News report on the operation prompted widespread attention, the project team said it received a large volume of calls.
CEO says project team changed course
Simon Ludlam, chief executive of project manager Etchea Energy, said the feedback led his team to revise the cable path. Speaking on the Energy Revolution podcast last week, he said the number of calls was in the hundreds and that the concern initially puzzled him.
Ludlam said he had been told there was a risk the cable would run directly through Dobby’s grave. He added that, even after being informed of the reference, he remained unclear at first before understanding the issue was taken seriously. His team then worked on rerouting the interconnector to avoid the memorial entirely.
He said many people welcomed the change, and joked that the project was now going ahead “with Dobby happy”.
CNN later contacted Greenlink Ireland and Etchea Energy for comment.
Tourism benefits, but new concerns remain
Local residents and visitors have described the memorial as drawing people to the beach. Jack Nicholas, 20, from Pembrokeshire, said the memorial brought tourists from around the world to one of the area’s most prominent beaches, and that rocks left at the site include items brought from places such as Italy, Australia and South Africa.
Pembrokeshire County Council estimates that tourism contributes about £604 million (around $815 million) to the local economy, with more than 6 million visitors supporting 23% of all employment in the county.
Sophie Pearce, a Welsh travel blogger who has visited locations including Egypt, India and New Zealand, said she had discovered a “magical” local attraction during the pandemic. She described painted rocks and messages left for Dobby and said the memorial is bittersweet for fans because it represents the character’s final moments in the films. Pearce said it would be a shame to destroy it.
However, Ludlam said the repositioning is not risk-free. He said the cable now comes “quite close” to Bronze Age remains.
Memorial backstory and earlier National Trust guidance
Dobby’s grave first appeared after the theatrical release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in November 2010, the film in which the character dies.
In 2022, the National Trust, which owns the land, agreed that the memorial could remain following a consultation. The charity also warned fans not to leave souvenirs. People had previously been in the habit of leaving a sock in tribute, reflecting the house-elf’s fictional condition of being bound to serve a wizarding family until the elf is granted freedom through an article of clothing being presented to a master.
Visitors were urged not to leave socks because Freshwater West is environmentally sensitive.

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12 August 2026
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Israel Accused of Starting Wildfires in South Lebanon

Firefighters in south Lebanon and residents have accused the Israeli military of deliberately starting wildfires in areas affected by recent fighting. They say blazes have been sparked by Israeli bombing, including the dropping of flares and incendiary munitions.

On Tuesday, the head of the civil defence in the Nabatieh region, Hussein Fakih, said a flare set fire to a wooded area outside Khiam. Firefighters moved to put out the flames, he said, but a drone struck nearby, forcing them to retreat.
Fakih said woodland near the frontline had been heavily damaged. “Most of our missions are now related to fires. There are enormous areas of woodland that have burned,” he said, adding that in areas close to the frontline “around 30-40% of the land has been affected by fires”.
Flares and drone halt firefighting
Fakih said the Israeli military has caused fires across south Lebanon, particularly in olive groves and agricultural land. He linked the incidents to the period since the 17 June ceasefire, which largely halted fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
First responders and residents described similar blazes being ignited in dry scrub and wooded areas following Israeli strikes. Videos and testimony from firefighters were cited as evidence for the claims.
The Israeli military was asked to comment on each wildfire incident but did not respond.
Wildfires after June ceasefire
Fakih said the pattern began shortly after the ceasefire and has continued daily. He described drones dropping incendiary materials and said white phosphorus shells were fired at woodlands, alongside illumination flares released during daylight hours.
On Friday, Israeli munitions created large wildfires in two heavily forested locations, according to civil defence officials and local accounts. One was in Kfarchouba near the border, and the other lay between Jezzine and the western Bekaa valley.
Samir Hardan, the civil defence station chief, said a fire near Kfarchouba began on Friday afternoon after a drone dropped a munition in woodlands. He said firefighters battled the blaze overnight and put it out on Saturday, before a second drone started another fire on Sunday.
Hardan said firefighters were required to coordinate with the Lebanese army, which relays requests to a “deconfliction” group including the Israeli military. He said permission to fight fires was granted for only two locations, not all areas where flames were burning.
Environmental groups cite long-running pattern
Environmental groups said the fires fit a long-standing Israeli approach of targeting Lebanon’s natural environment. They warned that repeated burning threatens the country’s forests and biodiversity.
Hisham Younes, founder of the Lebanese conservation organisation Green Southerners, said the affected areas include long-established woodland dominated by stone pine and oak. He said the wider region is also a passage and resting ground for migratory birds.
Younes described the attacks as “ecocide”, saying they form part of a wider pattern that degrades Lebanon’s ecosystem through munitions, fire and chemicals. He said the impact was not limited to individual incidents, but could undermine an ecosystem’s ability to regenerate and sustain life.
Ecologists and rights groups have previously argued that widespread environmental destruction would have broader effects on civilian populations.
Yaroun residents mourn destroyed groves
Alongside the firefighting accounts, residents described losses of green spaces tied to their livelihoods and home areas. On 1 August, displaced residents of Yaroun, a border village, said Israeli troops set their olive and fruit groves alight, as well as their homes.
People living in nearby Christian towns of Rmeich and Aïn Ebel—among the few border villages not emptied out by the Israeli military—also sent pictures of fires, according to local accounts.
Hafez Ghasham, mayor of Yaroun, said the village had already been bulldozed before the fires were set. “They had already bulldozed the whole village. Then they set fire to the trees,” he said, adding that large, old olive groves were damaged and the flames spread along the village edges.
Ghasham said that after previous bulldozing, only about 20 of the 900 houses in Yaroun remained before displacement. He said residents pooled resources to buy expensive satellite imagery of the village during their time away, and described the fires as part of efforts to make the land uninhabitable.
In the wider conflict, which began on 8 October 2023 after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in solidarity with the Hamas-led attacks, Israel has repeatedly targeted Lebanon’s woodlands. The Israeli military has said in the past that Hezbollah used forested areas as cover for fighters and tunnels. It has also previously used trebuchets to fling flaming debris over the border wall in summer 2024, and Lebanese army officials have published images of Israeli drones carrying hoses used to douse forests with flammable materials. Health and environmental experts raised concerns in February after Israeli planes dropped herbicides linked to cancer on farms in south Lebanon.

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12 August 2026
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Trump Says US Has Total Control Over Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States has complete control over the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran is not in a position to control the waterway. Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, the president said developments involving Iran were “going fine” and renewed his assertion that Washington, rather than Tehran, directs activity in the strait.

Trump said the situation around Iran was progressing favourably, adding that he believed the US held control over the key shipping route. He pointed to the US Navy and said American forces were operating effectively.
He argued that Iran did not have the ability to influence the strait and said the US was the only country with control. Trump continued by saying the United States “owns” the control of the passage, describing the current position as advantageous for the country.
Talks Continue, but Trust Is Absent
While Trump portrayed diplomacy with Iran as moving in a positive direction, he also said he did not trust Tehran’s representatives. He told reporters he was sceptical of Iran and said he had been misled repeatedly.
In his account, the president contrasted his view that negotiations were progressing with his belief that Iran could not be relied upon. He said he remained unconvinced by Tehran’s statements and maintained that the US held the stronger position in the region.
Military Action Still Possible
Trump also suggested that renewed military action could be considered if Iran were to take steps that the United States viewed as unacceptable. He said that, at some point, Iran might act and then face consequences.
Describing the current period as stable from Washington’s perspective, he said the balance of power was in the US favour at the time of his remarks. He framed his comments around the idea that the US maintained control over Hormuz and that Iran did not.
The president’s comments came as he continued to characterise US efforts related to Iran as advancing, while simultaneously signalling that force remained an option should circumstances change.

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12 August 2026
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Trump Shifts Back to Sanctions to End Iran War

President Donald Trump has shifted his focus back to sanctions in a bid to end the war with Iran, after months of military strikes that, the administration now argues, have pushed Iran towards financial collapse.

Trump said on Monday that, as part of any peace process, Iran is seeking compensation. He indicated the United States would demand the same, framing economic pressure as the next step after bombing and other attacks began on Feb. 28. The comments followed a broader push over the weekend to argue that Iran is approaching a tipping point financially, despite having faced sanctions for decades.
Economic squeeze as next phase
Trump’s administration expects that heightened financial pressure will force Iran’s leadership to agree to end its nuclear programme and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers. The Strait is central to global energy shipping, and the US has treated it as a key pressure point in negotiations.
In remarks to reporters, Trump said Iran was running out of money, adding that it was not paying its soldiers and citing inflation at 300%. Administration estimates have varied, and the Iranian economy has already been hit hard by the conflict.
The move comes as US stockpiles of certain weapons have diminished and as stop-start talks have again stalled. Trump has continued to argue that pressure can still produce a breakthrough.
Oil prices jump on Hormuz expectations
Crude oil prices rose on Monday as investors interpreted Trump’s comments as a sign that fewer ships would move through the Strait of Hormuz. The Iran war has largely shut the waterway used to ship about 20% of global oil supplies, disrupting flows of gasoline, jet fuel and natural gas.
Efforts to reopen the strait have been brief, and it has become a source of leverage in negotiations with Iran. However, Iran has not shown signs of being deterred by the prospect of further sanctions.
Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said on social media that when Washington fails to pursue diplomacy it turns to sanctions, and when sanctions do not achieve results they are increased. He warned that the main risk was American policymakers “strangling” their own chances of an exit that avoids humiliation.
“Operation Economic Fury” and limits
The White House has labelled the latest sanctions effort “Operation Economic Fury”. Since April 16, the US has been implementing measures described by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as the “financial equivalent” of a bombing campaign, with actions targeting countries that buy Iranian oil or handle related banking.
Bessent and other officials have argued the approach can increase pressure by restricting Iran’s access to revenue and financial channels. But some analysts say sanctions take time to take effect and cannot match the speed of a blockade or strikes.
Richard Nephew, a senior research scholar at Columbia University who helped shape Iran sanctions policy during the Obama administration, said the limits of sanctions as a warfare tool are clear. He also argued that Trump has not laid out consistent strategic goals for the war, pointing to shifting emphasis across different objectives such as denying Iran a nuclear weapon, pressuring the Strait of Hormuz, and referencing ballistic missiles.
Juan Zarate, a deputy national security adviser during the George W. Bush administration, said the US still holds leverage through sanctions aimed at third-party countries and an ongoing US naval blockade of Iranian ports. But he cautioned that the impact would depend on how far Washington is willing to go and whether it maintains patience while testing whether economic pain changes Iran’s behaviour.
War costs, Iran’s downturn and US politics
Trump’s shift also reflects a reversal from his earlier criticism of sanctions used by previous presidents. Last week, he defended the military campaign that began on Feb. 28 and argued that earlier sanctions reaching back to the late 1970s had not succeeded.
Iran has suffered economically during the conflict, with the International Monetary Fund estimating the overall economy will shrink by 5.4%. Iran’s government has reported annual inflation of 88.6%. US Treasury data says average Iranian oil loadings fell from about 1.8 million barrels per day before the war to under 500,000 barrels per day over the past month.
While the US economy has continued to grow, inflation remains elevated and borrowing costs have risen, contributing to criticism of the war domestically.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss strategy, said the US military has set back Iran’s ability to produce, sell and ship oil and other energy resources. The official said the administration views the combination of the strait blockade and sanctions as effective, and believes further options may be available in the weeks ahead.
At a joint appearance on Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US has a “most powerful economy” and that the Treasury has tools to apply pressure.

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12 August 2026
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UK Government Faces Backlash Over Early Prison Releases

The road to an early prison release scheme has been moving for some time, having been introduced with the aim of tackling overcrowding and creating more space inside prisons.

Supporters of the policy say it is designed to reduce pressure across the prison estate. However, it has attracted criticism over the implications for how long some people would spend in custody. Under the approach described by ministers, certain offenders could serve as little as 33% of their sentence before release.
Aim to reduce overcrowding
The scheme was brought forward to create “headspace” in prisons, with the government arguing that easing overcrowding would help the system cope more effectively. It sets out a pathway for earlier release rather than requiring a full term in custody in every case.
Critics argue that the prospect of a reduced time behind bars undermines the principle of serving a substantial portion of a sentence, particularly when cases differ in severity.
Political dispute over government messaging
The issue is also becoming a prominent test for the new prime minister’s ability to communicate policy clearly. A political correspondent said it is the first major communications test for the prime minister, who is seen as aiming to ensure that government messages land effectively.
In the latest clash, the shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, said the shift in position amounted to “re-traumatising victims”. Philp’s remarks came after Burnham’s announcement today appeared to contradict a message attributed to Downing Street yesterday.
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UK Justice Secretary Apologises Over Early Release Scheme
Yesterday, Downing Street’s position was that it was “not possible” to exempt “one or two offenders” convicted of manslaughter from the early release scheme. Philp argued that the change in wording and approach risks causing further harm, particularly to victims already affected by criminal cases.
Implementation details still unclear
Despite the political exchanges, it is not yet clear how the government’s plans will operate in practice. Questions remain about how decisions about inclusion and exclusion from the scheme will be applied, and what criteria will determine how much of a sentence an individual would serve.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris has been instructed to return to Parliament in September with a plan setting out how ministers intend to ensure that the most serious offenders remain in prison. The September update is expected to clarify the practical safeguards the government says it will put in place, as the debate over the scheme continues both inside and outside Westminster.

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12 August 2026
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Iran Security Reshuffle Signals Tougher US Confrontation

Iran’s Supreme Leader has moved to promote security figures with long experience in foreign confrontation and domestic repression, elevating six hardliners to senior roles in the security establishment, according to analysts and reporting.

US President Donald Trump has argued that his campaign of pressure on Tehran has produced a more “rational” and “reasonable” leadership in Iran. But the latest appointments point to a leadership that appears set on confronting Washington rather than seeking compromise.
Security appointments follow new national security chief
The changes were announced this week, with the senior appointments described as having been made by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Monday. They came after the naming of Mohsen Rezaie as national security chief the day before.
Experts said the reshuffle reflects a shift away from the more cautious style associated with Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba’s father, who had been supreme leader until he was assassinated by Israel at the start of the war.
They said the new approach combines greater aggression towards external enemies with tighter attention to dissent within Iran.
Offensive posture and tighter internal control
Hamidreza Azizi, of the Clingendael Institute in the Netherlands, said the leadership’s priorities are twofold: preparing the state for a more confrontational external environment and “securitising” day-to-day domestic life.
Azizi said the emphasis on offensive operations, unified command and faster decision-making suggests a movement from Ali Khamenei’s traditionally cautious approach to a form of “offensive deterrence”.
Saeid Golkar, associate professor of political science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, said many appointees have intelligence backgrounds and that the overall picture is of a security-dominated bureaucracy taking stronger hold of Iran’s administrative system.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said the changes reinforce “maximalist and hardline” positions. These include insisting on absolute Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz, calling for the removal of US troops from the region and pressing ahead with Iran’s nuclear programme.
Rezaie and the strategy of continued pressure
Rezaie has repeatedly called for resistance against the United States while leaving space for negotiation. In March, he warned that if the US strikes Iran’s electricity infrastructure, the response would not follow a tit-for-tat pattern, but instead would extend to multiple forms of retaliation.
Last month, he said the United States had been trapped by Iran and that Iran would not allow it to escape.
Analysts also linked the appointments to broader aims of prolonging conflict with the US and seeking to ensure that Trump’s political allies face setbacks in upcoming midterm elections.
Vali Nasr, author of Iran’s Grand Strategy, said the new leadership is more risk-taking and that it appears to believe Iran’s comparatively limited reaction in 2020 to the killing of Qasem Soleimani by the US was a factor behind Trump’s escalation in his second term. Soleimani was targeted by a US missile in Baghdad at the end of Trump’s first term, and Iran did not respond directly, despite furious rhetoric.
Israeli analyst Danny Citrinowicz said the leadership is more willing to use Iranian military capabilities directly and to test adversaries with less restraint. He said the shift is especially significant for the nuclear issue, arguing that some inside Iran view Ali Khamenei’s strategy of a strategic “limbo” as having weakened the country.
Basij role points to deeper neighbourhood intelligence
One of the appointments brings back a veteran intelligence figure to lead the Basij volunteer militia, which operates under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and played a major role in suppressing protests in January.
Hossein Taeb, described as an ally of Mojtaba Khamenei, had previously headed IRGC intelligence. Sina Toossi wrote that Taeb was a divisive figure associated with hardline repression of dissent, and noted that the US sanctioned him in 2010 for involvement in suppressing protests after an election widely described as rigged.
Taeb’s new mandate, Toossi said, calls for strengthening the Basij’s “public intelligence network”, using modern technologies and expanding neighbourhood organisation. Babak Vahdad, an independent researcher, said this represents a more granular internal security effort, pushing collection, detection and early warning deeper into neighbourhoods, local social networks and mosques.
Golkar said some analysts see the appointments, including the return of security veterans, as a hedge against possible unrest if economic pressures intensify again.
Despite uncertainties over who designed the changes—Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen or heard from directly since being chosen as supreme leader in March—Azizi said the overall combination of figures such as Taeb, Rezaie, and Ahmad Vahidi, now commander of the IRGC, indicates a leadership increasingly relying on experienced intelligence and military personnel to consolidate control after the war.

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12 August 2026
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US Court Asked to Block Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order

A federal judge has been asked to clarify whether a new executive order by President Donald Trump, aimed at limiting birthright citizenship, is blocked by the Supreme Court’s previous ruling on the issue.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), acting for a class of immigrant families that it says could be affected, filed a motion in federal district court in New Hampshire on Tuesday. The request asks for a declaratory order that the second executive order conflicts with the Supreme Court’s decision from June, when Trump’s first attempt to end birthright citizenship was rejected.
Legal challenge in New Hampshire
The ACLU argues that the Supreme Court left no room for further carve-outs beyond the specific groups it identified. It is asking the court to block the new order and to state that Trump cannot reduce birthright citizenship for the class members by relying on the latest executive action or any similar measures.
The Supreme Court’s ruling, the ACLU said in its filing, reaffirmed the constitutional rule that citizenship is determined at birth by where a person is born, and that any exceptions must follow the court’s stated categories.
What the second order targets
Trump’s second birthright order, signed last week, was issued in direct response to the June decision. It seeks to deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil in a range of situations Trump described as involving exclusions from automatic citizenship.
RELATED
Trump Orders Limits On Birthright Citizenship
The order would apply to children described as born to an “alien enemy” or a “foreign government employee”. It would also cover children born to a parent who Trump’s order says “engaged in a commercial transaction” to obtain citizenship. A further provision would deny citizenship to children born in a territory where citizenship is not conferred by statute.
The ACLU contends that these categories are not recognised in the Constitution or in federal citizenship law.
Supreme Court decision and the scope of exceptions
In June, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision addressing Trump’s first bid to narrow birthright citizenship. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said the determining factor for citizenship was “fixed by the place of nativity, irrespective of parentage”.
The court also confirmed four categories of children born on U.S. soil who would not automatically become citizens: children of ambassadors, children born on foreign public ships, children born to enemies occupying American territory, and members of Indian tribes.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, concurring, said the decision treated those four exceptions as a closed set. He added that the ruling had been consistently understood in that way, leaving no basis for additional exceptions arising from later developments.
The Trump administration argues that the categories listed in the second executive order fall within acceptable exemptions, using the legal interpretation presented in the Supreme Court’s decision.
Order scheduled to begin
Trump’s executive order is scheduled to take effect on 6 September unless a court blocks it.

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12 August 2026
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Former US Marine Gilman freed from Russian detention

Robert Gilman, a US citizen and former Marine, has been released from years of detention in Russia on humanitarian grounds, the US State Department confirmed on Tuesday.

A spokesperson said Gilman was freed following efforts by President Donald Trump and Special Envoy Witkoff, adding that the move brings the number of Americans returned by the United States during Trump’s second term to more than 100.
The spokesperson said the administration would continue working to secure the release of all Americans held unjustly in Russia, including Stephen Hubbard, who the US describes as a wrongful detainee.
Health concerns prompt US medical support
Gilman’s release came amid serious concerns about his health. An advocacy group representing his family said he was travelling to a US military hospital in Texas for medical and psychological assessment and treatment. The family has also flown to Texas, including his mother, who had been in Russia trying to reach him at the hospital.
The group said Gilman, now 32, had previously been designated a wrongful detainee, and that he was not released through a prisoner exchange.
Detained since 2022 after police incident
Gilman had been held since 2022. That year, he was sentenced to four and a half years in a prison colony after prosecutors accused him of fighting with a Russian police officer at a train station.
His family deny the allegations and have said Russian authorities detained him for political reasons because he is American.
The “Free Robert Gilman” website said he served in the US Marine Corps and founded “Robert Gilman Just English” to help students in Poland improve their English skills. It said he was in Moldova teaching when he became ill and was then accused of kicking a police officer while visiting family outside Moscow.
No exchange, US says Russia asked for nothing back
The State Department spokesperson said Gilman’s release was not part of a broader prisoner swap and that no additional concessions were made.
Trump said he had discussed Gilman’s release with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He added that Russia requested no prisoner in return and that no exchange took place.
Trump also said Gilman would land at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, DC, later on Tuesday and that representatives would welcome him. In a social media post, Trump said Gilman had made one request for a “great cheeseburger” when he arrived.
Family and lawmakers cite serious medical condition
Lexie Hudson, Gilman’s sister, said the family was grateful for the help in bringing him home. In a statement sent by Global Reach, a nonprofit organisation that focuses on returning Americans held abroad, Hudson thanked Trump and Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ed Markey.
Hudson said her brother had been “so badly” treated and described the case as punishment without reason. She said the family had not been able to speak to him since his detention began and that they would ensure he received the support he needs.
Markey also posted about Gilman’s condition on X, saying he had been diagnosed about 50 days earlier with a dissociative stupor, described by Markey as a state in which a person is non-responsive and unable to interact or eat. Markey said Gilman was essentially catatonic and had also suffered severe pneumonia, adding that the full details of his current condition and long-term recovery were not yet known.
Representatives and family members have also said Gilman was subjected to torture and harsh physical and mental abuse by Russian prison guards, beyond what they describe as the false charges.
Moscow has not commented on Gilman’s release.

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12 August 2026
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White House Pushes DOJ to Revive Reflecting Pool Case

The White House has asked the US Department of Justice to consider bringing fresh charges against former Olympian David Hearn over alleged vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Officials at Main Justice, the department’s Washington headquarters, were asked to review whether new charges should be filed after an earlier prosecution was dropped following what the District of Columbia US attorney said was insufficient evidence to prove the damage was caused by Hearn.
Request follows dismissal of vandalism case
Hearn, an Olympian, faced charges relating to damage to the reflecting pool. Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, dismissed the case on 31 July.
In a 20-page court filing, Pirro’s office said it had received evidence indicating that damage to the pool occurred before Hearn visited it. The filing added that it was “difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism”, and that proving such a link beyond a reasonable doubt would be hard.
Pirro’s office also cited issues connected to a contractor’s installation of the pool, according to the dismissal documents.
Hearn has denied wrongdoing, saying he reached into the water to touch a piece of already detached lining during a June bike ride.
Trump criticised Pirro over dismissal
Donald Trump publicly attacked Pirro after the charges were dropped, saying she “choked” when she decided to end the prosecution. He has previously complained about the case.
The White House request was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. It was not clear what legal or evidential basis would support a renewed prosecution.
DOJ says it weighs evidence and law
A Department of Justice spokesperson did not confirm whether it was considering filing new charges. The spokesperson said: “The Department of Justice follows the evidence when determining if crimes have been committed. We always evaluate any case based on the facts and the law.”
The White House also did not directly say whether it had made the request. In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson directed questions to the justice department and shared links to two recent posts on Truth Social in which Trump urged Pirro to reconsider her decision and suggested there was evidence against Hearn.
Lawyers representing Hearn said the request would be unusual. Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin said in a statement that if the reporting was accurate it would be “another bizarre turn”, arguing that it would mark a case returning “from the dead” despite the earlier dismissal.
Attorney general praises Pirro, avoids ruling
Attorney general Todd Blanche, recently confirmed by the Senate, praised Pirro but did not give a clear view on the decision to dismiss the case.
Blanche said he did not “approve or disapprove decisions that our US attorneys make in a general matter”, and that he would not comment on what was known about the case. He added that, hypothetically, if the president chose to fire a US attorney, the president would be allowed to do so because “he’s the president of the United States.”

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12 August 2026
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Colombia Quake Kills 180 as Rescuers Search for Survivors

Rescue teams in Colombia are working through the day and night to find survivors trapped after a powerful earthquake struck the country on Monday, with the death toll now at more than 180 people.

Officials said the 7.4-magnitude quake hit at 07:34 on Monday, with authorities later reporting it was felt across much of western Colombia and into surrounding areas. The shaking was followed by fresh aftershocks on Tuesday.
More than 180 deaths have been confirmed, with most reported in Cali and Pereira. The official toll stands at 181, but a separate figure compiled from local authorities suggests it could be higher, potentially exceeding 240. President Abelardo de la Espriella has declared a state of emergency.
Death toll rises as emergency response expands
Speaking on Tuesday from Pereira, one of the worst affected cities, President Espriella said almost 2,600 people had been injured and nearly 200 were still missing. He added that more than 1,100 homes had been destroyed and more than 8,000 had been damaged.
In the hours after the quake, several residents spent the night outdoors in cities including Pereira and Cali, either because their homes were no longer safe or out of fear that additional collapses could occur. Across Colombia, dozens of larger buildings have also fallen.
Cali and Pereira face widespread damage
In Cali, a city of about 2.2 million people, 95 people have died, according to officials. A unified command post has been set up to coordinate rescue operations. The city’s mayor, Alejandro Eder, said on Tuesday that 239 people were still trapped and that 949 had been injured. He also reported that 45 buildings had collapsed completely or partially.
Eder said some upper floors of a hospital in Cali collapsed, including areas used for paediatric care, leaving some patients trapped. In the Calima area of the city’s north, four children died when part of the Gimnasio Calima school collapsed, while other children suffered serious injuries. The mayor said 30 children were sent to care centres.
To reduce looting fears, the municipality ordered a curfew running from 20:00 local time until 06:00 on Wednesday morning.
In Pereira, 79 people have died, the city’s fire department said. The authorities have also implemented a car-free day to keep roads open for searches, and residents have been urged to follow instructions as volunteers remove rubble and try to reach those buried.
A resident of the Parque Industrial neighbourhood, near Pereira’s airport, told BBC Mundo that movement around the city centre had become difficult and that a building collapsed in Bolívar Square, while some vehicles were trapped where structures had fallen. The resident said people were afraid further collapse could occur.
Aftershocks and international support
Colombia’s geological service said more than 70 aftershocks had been recorded since Monday’s earthquake, and two events of magnitude 3.6 occurred early on Tuesday. One quake was reported in San José del Palmar, and the other in Santander.
In Manizales, the mayor, Jorge Eduardo Rojas, said five people had been killed and that 60 buildings had partially or totally collapsed. He also warned the public not to circulate “chain” messages or posts from unknown sources on social media, saying these may include false or unverified information that could heighten public concern.
International assistance has continued. A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he expressed solidarity with Colombia and that the UN is working to support the government’s response. Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, said 164 Spaniards were still missing, and that there were no reports of injuries or deaths among Spanish citizens.
The Trump administration announced a donation of $15.5m (£11.5m) to Colombia. Ecuador, Brazil, El Salvador and Venezuela have also offered help.


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12 August 2026
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Zelensky Accuses Russia of Using North Korean Missiles

Ukraine and Russia continued striking each other overnight, with President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow of using missiles supplied by North Korea.
Zaporizhzhia hit with ballistic missiles
Ukraine said strikes on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia killed seven people and injured at least 24. The regional authorities said the attack involved ballistic missiles fired from Russia, an ally said to be receiving military support from North Korea.
Zaporizhzhia regional head Ivan Fedorov posted photos showing vehicles and buildings on fire, saying Russian forces used missiles and guided bombs. Ukrainian officials said the seven casualties were employees of the Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant, which later halted operations.
Air raid sirens sounded twice during the night in Kyiv, and explosions were heard on the outskirts, triggering fires. Local officials later said a children’s hospital was damaged, but staff and patients were sheltering and there were no injuries reported.
Western Russia raids and Wildberries fire reports
In western Russia, warehouses linked to Wildberries in Voronezh were hit by Ukrainian strikes. The company, often compared to Amazon in Russia, has been targeted repeatedly in recent weeks.
Separate reports described a fire and explosions at a logistics centre for Wildberries in the Voronezh region. Wildberries said the company had evacuated facilities in the area bordering Ukraine, but it had not yet confirmed the attack.
Ukraine said its forces targeted logistics hubs used by Russians to buy military equipment during earlier strikes on Wildberries retail warehouses in July, when operations for many small and medium-sized businesses were disrupted.
Zelensky links raids to North Korean reinforcement
In a video address on Monday evening, Zelensky said Russia “for the first time” cannot wage war “without reinforcements from North Korea”. He argued that increased North Korean strikes and involvement in Ukraine leave Russia using more missiles and soldiers, and that Kyiv’s assessment presents a threat beyond Europe.
Zelensky did not provide evidence for the claim.
Ukrainian officials and Western figures have previously accused Moscow of receiving military assistance from North Korea. Ukraine’s military said dozens of North Korean missiles have been fired into its territory since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Zelensky warned over the weekend that up to 50,000 North Korean soldiers were being sent to fight with Russian forces.
Some 11,000 North Korean troops were deployed to support Moscow in pushing back Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region after a cross-border incursion in August 2024. In January 2025, Western officials told the BBC that North Korean troops suffered nearly 40% casualties in that fighting within three months.
Other strikes across Ukraine
Elsewhere, Russia’s drone and missile strikes caused further damage. In the north-eastern city of Sumy, the regional head Serhii Kryvosheienko said two women were injured, and later added that one person died after an afternoon attack with gliding bombs.
In southern Kherson and eastern Kharkiv, strikes on substations were reported to have caused power outages.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Russia launched 120 drones overnight as well as a range of different missiles, but for the first time they did not give a number of missiles fired or intercepted.
Separately, Zelensky also hailed a Ukrainian air strike on a Russian petrochemical plant in western Siberia on Monday, calling it a “very significant achievement”. He said Ukraine would carry out “more Ukrainian deep strikes” to underline that peace is necessary.
Ukrainian officials said air defences were short, and the Air Force urged media not to publish “sensationalised headlines” or “spread pessimism” about the availability of interceptors.
The attacks in recent days followed one of the deadliest single strikes on Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion. On Sunday, Ukrainian drone strikes killed at least 13 people in the republic of Tatarstan, including a child, more than 1,100 km from the Ukrainian border. The Uzbek consulate in Tatarstan said seven of those killed were citizens of Uzbekistan, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces said it hit the city’s Tanevo oil refinery.


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12 August 2026
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Syrian Court Sentences Assad to Death in Absentia

A Syrian court has sentenced former leader Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, convicting him of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country’s civil war.

The ruling was issued as Syria’s interim authorities continue legal proceedings against people linked to the Assad regime, which ruled for more than 50 years before being overthrown in December 2024.
Death sentence following Assad’s flight
Assad left Damascus for Moscow with his family after the collapse of his rule, ending a decades-long grip on power that began with his father. The court said he was responsible for the offences during the conflict.
The same case also resulted in a death sentence for Atef Najib, Assad’s cousin and the former head of political security in the southern province of Deraa. Najib was brought before the court in a cage while the judge read out the sentence.
Deraa is widely regarded as the birthplace of the uprising that began against Assad’s rule.
Protest sparked by detention and alleged torture
In March 2011, demonstrations erupted in Deraa after a group of teenagers were detained and were accused of writing anti-government graffiti. The authorities’ handling of the arrests included allegations of torture, and security forces responded with a violent crackdown.
The unrest in the city quickly spread nationwide. What began as protests escalated into a civil war in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed.
Interim government prosecutes former officials
Earlier this year, Syria’s interim government began trying officials connected to the former regime. Najib was described as one of the highest-ranking figures to face trial.
The court convicted Najib of crimes including murder, the “intentional killing of children under 15”, and “torture leading to death”.
The proceedings were among the most prominent legal actions taken since the rapid end of the Assad dynasty following a campaign led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is now Syria’s president.
Since taking power, the new authorities have detained a number of former officials and security personnel. However, most senior figures from the old regime, including Assad himself, remain beyond reach because they are in Russia.
Extradition remains uncertain
It remains unclear whether Syria’s new authorities can obtain Assad’s extradition from Moscow.
This is not the first move against him since the fall of the regime. An arrest warrant was issued last December for Assad on charges of murder and torture.
During the final years of his rule, attempts by Syrian opposition figures to pursue Assad through courts in Western countries did not result in any convictions.

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11 August 2026
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Heathrow Urges Runway Expansion After Istanbul Overtake

Heathrow has said the “case for expansion” is now “clear” after it lost its place as Europe’s busiest airport to Istanbul.

Passenger figures released on Tuesday showed Heathrow handled 7.86 million travellers through its four terminals in July. Istanbul recorded 8.15 million passengers over the same period, taking the lead for the month.
July traffic comparison
Heathrow’s total for the month was 1.5% lower than the year before. Istanbul reported a 2.3% increase in passenger numbers.
Annual rankings compiled by Airports Council International (ACI) show Heathrow was Europe’s busiest airport from 1996 until 2019. The UK airport then lost the top spot in 2020 as coronavirus travel restrictions reduced demand, before regaining the position in 2023 and keeping it since then.
Heathrow also said the war involving the United States and Israel against Iran has affected traffic. It reported that passenger numbers on Middle East routes in July fell by 20.2% compared with the same month the previous year.
Near-full capacity and third runway bid
Despite the month-on-year decline, Heathrow said it continues to run its two runways at near full capacity and is seeking government permission to build a third.
An expansion plan put forward by the airport’s owners would allow it to handle up to 150 million passengers a year. Heathrow recorded 84.46 million passengers in 2025.
In a statement, Heathrow said operating at capacity means expansion remains necessary, adding that it was overtaken by Istanbul in July as Europe’s busiest hub.
The airport said the proposed changes would help the country maintain competitiveness and support economic growth.
Consultation, timing and political concerns
Heathrow’s expansion plans have been under review by ministers. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander launched a consultation in June on the renamed Heathrow expansion national policy statement, which sets out the conditions for approval.
Rachel Reeves, then chancellor, previously said she wanted the project to move forward in the current parliament, with construction completed by 2035.
Andy Burnham, who later sacked Reeves, has raised concerns about expanding Heathrow. He said the plan would divert infrastructure investment “away from the north and traps it in London”.
Busy summer start and new airlines
Heathrow said 19 July was its busiest day of the year so far, after many schools broke up for summer. It recorded 267,000 passengers on that date.
It added that several new airlines started serving the airport last month, which it said shows “clear demand” for access. The new services include ITA Airways from Italy, Alaska Airlines from the United States and Riyadh Air from Saudi Arabia.
Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said summer had begun “off to a flying start” and that the airport wants to go further by expanding its route network and passenger offering.
He also said that expanding Heathrow would help the UK remain home to Europe’s leading hub and continue to benefit from trade, investment and tourism associated with better connectivity.

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11 August 2026
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Trump Reportedly Hid in Catering Truck During Plane Swap

Donald Trump made a covert change to his aircraft as he left a Nato summit in Turkey last month after US officials detected a credible Iranian threat, US media reported.

According to the Washington Post, the US president boarded Air Force One in view of television cameras before being transferred out of sight onto an elevated airport catering truck. He was then taken to a separate military aircraft without journalists and some White House staff on board knowing he had left.
The White House has not confirmed the account. Officials told CBS News, a US partner of the BBC, that the United States had identified a credible threat from Iran to fire a missile at the president’s plane.
Nato Summit Departure in Ankara
Trump had told the summit in Ankara that he was Iran’s “number one target”.
The reported manoeuvre occurred as US forces continued their heightened posture towards Tehran. It came a day after the US renewed strikes on Iran following a breakdown in negotiations between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending the war.
Trump arrived in Turkey aboard a newer Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar. After the summit, he said he would depart on the older Air Force One “for old time’s sake”. Footage from 8 July showed him boarding the presidential jet at Ankara airport.
However, the Washington Post said that after he entered the aircraft, he was taken by catering truck to a smaller C-32A military plane on the opposite side of the runway. The C-32A is a modified Boeing 757 commonly used by the vice president.
C-32A Change and Staff Notices
The Washington Post reported that Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, boarded the C-32A separately using external stairs, a move intended to make the flight appear routine.
Journalists and some White House staff who were on Air Force One were reportedly told to close their window shades. They were unaware the president had been removed from the flight.
Trump then travelled onward to the UK, according to the reports, before returning to the US. He was seen leaving Air Force One after it landed at RAF Mildenhall. It was not clear, the Washington Post said, how he moved from the C-32A back to the legacy Air Force One before continuing his journey.
The president later transferred again to the new Qatari-donated Air Force One to fly back to Washington.
Statements on Security and Possible Upgrades
During the return flight, Trump spoke to reporters on board and referred to threats posed by Iran without mentioning the earlier aircraft switch, according to accounts of the exchange.
When asked why reporters had been told to lower their window shades on the plane during the Ankara departure, Trump said: “Because you’re probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags we have to deal with.” He added that he had a “threat all the time” and that he is “number one” on Iran’s “list”. He also said: “But if I go, you go, right? … Perhaps someday you want to change professions.”
White House communications director Steven Cheung said he did not directly confirm or deny the reports, but told CBS News that the new Air Force One is a “state-of-the-art aircraft” with security measures designed to protect the president and his staff.
CBS News previously reported that US intelligence had warned of a specific threat of an attack on Trump or his aircraft. The New York Times had earlier described security concerns about the Qatari-gifted jet and said the Secret Service urged Trump to switch planes when leaving the Nato summit. The Times reported that several of its journalists were later summoned to testify under oath, and that the Justice Department told the BBC it was investigating illegal leaks.
The US has also spent months retrofitting the $400m Boeing 747-8 to prepare it for presidential use. CBS News reported that older Air Force One aircraft have laser systems intended to blind incoming missiles, while it is unclear what defences are fitted to the Qatari-donated jet. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the new Air Force One is safe, and that it would receive additional upgrades in the autumn taking about a month.


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11 August 2026
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Trump Warns Against Removing Infantino at FIFA

US President Donald Trump has said it would be a “terrible mistake” to remove Fifa president Gianni Infantino, adding his support after football’s regional governing bodies publicly criticised the under-pressure leader.

Trump’s intervention came after Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) released an open letter accusing Infantino of breaching trust “through deception” over an aborted Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal. The plan was intended to restructure the management of major Fifa commercial activity and match ticketing rights.
Under the FFE concept, a new company would have been created to oversee commercial and ticketing rights for all Fifa competitions, including the men’s World Cups. The proposal also involved selling 21% of that new company to a private investment firm as part of the plan.
Trump said his backing signalled opposition to calls for change at the top of Fifa, with Infantino facing pressure since the FFE details emerged on 28 July. He wrote on social media: “Fifa would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing president Gianni Infantino.”
“Fifa would be making a terrible mistake” for any move to replace him, Trump continued, describing Infantino as “fantastic” and arguing that the Swiss official had overseen the “most successful World Cup, by four times” compared with prior tournaments. Trump added: “If he is gone, it will never be as successful or profitable again.”
Heading into the new cycle for the sport, the 2026 World Cup held this summer was co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Spain won the tournament, beating Argentina in the final.
Regional bodies accuse Infantino of deception
Uefa, Concacaf and the AFC said in their letter that they believed Infantino had acted in a way that broke trust through deception, linking their concerns directly to the stalled FFE initiative.
The FFE proposal has since become the focus of wider debate about Fifa governance and the way future commercial arrangements should be handled, with regional bodies calling into question the approach attributed to Infantino.
Trump’s comments marked his first public defence of Infantino since the FFE plans came to light earlier this month.
What the Fifa Forward Enterprise plan involved
Trump also previously addressed the FFE proposals for the first time on 31 July, saying he had not spoken to Infantino about the plans.
Thrive Eternal was expected to lead the investor group associated with the FFE proposal. Thrive is an American venture capital firm founded by Joshua Kushner, who is the brother of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
The FFE plan would have placed the new company at the centre of rights management across Fifa events, including future World Cups. The intended 21% sale to a private investment company formed part of the commercial model described during the proposal’s early stages.
Relationship with Infantino
Infantino and Trump have maintained a close relationship. Infantino awarded Trump the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize in December 2025.
The current controversy places Infantino under scrutiny following the regional organisations’ open letter and the publicity surrounding the aborted FFE plan. Trump’s latest statement, delivered in the days after the FFE revelations, sought to push back against the idea of replacing him.

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11 August 2026
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King Charles Falsely Declared Dead After Radio Mistake

A community radio station breached broadcasting rules after it mistakenly announced the death of King Charles III during a May broadcast, the UK regulator Ofcom said on Monday.

Radio Caroline, a station that is best known today for rock music after its earlier pirate broadcasts, said it had apologised in May after messages were aired falsely stating that the monarch had died.
In one of the messages, the station said it had “suspended our normal programmes until further notice as a mark of respect following the passing of His Majesty King Charles III”. The national anthem was then played, followed by about 16 minutes of silence before the station returned to its regular schedule.
Ofcom cites delays in correcting the error
The presenter apologised around 30 minutes after the messages were first broadcast, Ofcom said.
The regulator received two complaints about the incident and concluded the “very significant inaccuracy”, as well as the “considerable length of time” taken to acknowledge and correct the mistake, meant Radio Caroline breached two rules.
One rule requires news and information to be accurate and presented with due impartiality. A second rule says significant mistakes must be acknowledged and corrected on air promptly.
How the files were triggered during remote streaming
In a statement to Ofcom, Radio Caroline said the error happened when a member of staff accessed pre-recorded audio files prepared for the monarch’s death while carrying out maintenance on the studio computer.
The station said the programme was being streamed remotely at the time. It added that the member of staff played the files “out of curiosity”, and that this action stopped the stream from the presenter’s remote location and instead broadcast the pre-recorded material over the station’s output.
The member of staff then reportedly “panicked and left the premises” once they realised what had occurred, according to Ofcom’s account of the station’s explanation.
Radio Caroline told the regulator that the remote presenter would not know the station had gone “off air” unless they were monitoring their output using an internet monitor. It said the presenter believed they were still live and was not actively checking their phone, meaning they did not immediately respond to calls from people at the station who had noticed the problem.
Station reprimanded staff and removed recordings
Radio Caroline said the person who played the pre-recorded files had been “reprimanded” and had “apologised” over the incident. The station also told Ofcom that the pre-recorded files had since been removed from the studio computer.

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11 August 2026
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Beijing braces for extreme rainfall and flood risk

Beijing is preparing for an intense spell of rain that could deliver more than one-third of the Chinese capital's average annual rainfall within 24 hours, raising the risk of flooding across densely populated districts.
More than 150mm forecast in 24 hours
The city's meteorological service said most areas would experience heavy downpours from Tuesday evening through Thursday. Rainfall could exceed 100mm within six hours and reach more than 150mm over 24 hours.
Some districts could receive more than 200mm in a single day, including Tongzhou, Daxing, Fangshan, Mentougou, Huairou and Fengtai. Beijing's average annual rainfall is about 528mm, with most normally falling between June and September.
Highest flood alert issued in Mentougou
Authorities in the mountainous western district of Mentougou issued the highest level of flood emergency alert on Tuesday. Residents were advised to stay indoors unless necessary and to avoid mountainous areas and rivers.
The rainfall threat developed as moisture associated with Typhoon Dolphin to the south converged with cooler air over northern China. The combination is expected to produce concentrated downpours capable of overwhelming drainage and rapidly raising water levels.
What it means for foreigners in Beijing
Foreign residents and visitors should monitor official weather and transport notices, avoid rivers, mountain routes and low-lying areas, and allow extra time for disrupted journeys. Do not attempt to walk or drive through floodwater. Travellers with flights or rail connections should check directly with their operator before leaving, while anyone in an affected district should follow local emergency instructions and remain indoors when advised.

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11 August 2026
Uncle Claude
Uncle Claude

Trump Demands Iran Pay War Reparations

US President Donald Trump said he would demand that Iran pay compensation for deaths and injuries caused over recent decades, in a move he portrayed as part of efforts to end wider conflicts and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The statement, made in a post on Truth Social, marks the latest sign of friction around talks aimed at winding down the war in the region and restarting shipping through one of the world’s most important oil routes.
Reparations demand on Truth Social
Trump said he was issuing a demand for “war reparations” after Iranian negotiators raised similar claims for damage linked to fighting that has lasted about five months and has killed thousands, he said.
He claimed Iran’s attacks include “roadside bombs” and other conflicts associated with figures such as General Qassem Soleimani, and he said the request covers the families of people killed in combat, including those connected to the USS Cole.
Trump also said compensation should be paid to families of “hundreds of thousands” of protesters he said Iran has killed over the past 50 years, adding that he believed 52,000 people had been killed in the past five months.
Talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz stall
The reparations demand is likely to be difficult for Iran’s leadership to accept, coming as Trump and other senior US negotiators continue to work, without success so far, on an arrangement they have repeatedly described as close to completion.
The aim is to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of global oil trade flowed before the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran in late February.
Despite US officials saying a deal was imminent on multiple occasions, no agreement has materialised, and Trump’s comments add further pressure to negotiations that are already being closely watched by regional governments and oil markets.
Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza roadmap
The remarks also followed fresh setbacks in Trump’s push to end multiple Middle East conflicts before the November midterm elections, when high oil prices and inflation could affect Republican support.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he rejected Trump’s “Board of Peace” 15-point plan for ending Israel’s war in Gaza. Netanyahu said Hamas must fully disarm before Israel would consider withdrawing from Gaza, opposing the phased withdrawal approach set out in the proposal.
He presented his position as a refusal to accept US pressure on Israel’s war aims, saying: “Unlike all those who lecture us, we do what needs to be done for Israel’s security, and we can and know how to stand our ground, even against our best friends when necessary.”
Trump had not responded to Netanyahu’s statement by the time of reporting, but earlier on Monday, when asked a question in the Oval Office, he said his relationship with Netanyahu was “very good”.
Trump expands scope of demands
Trump said the reparations demands would also extend beyond the immediate conflict, broadening the targets after his first post.
About an hour later, he wrote that, for the purposes of the Iran negotiations, Iran should be held responsible for damage and deaths affecting people in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Gaza.

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11 August 2026
webfact
webfact

Drought Hits 71% of England After Record-Dry July

More than two-thirds of England has been placed under drought conditions after the country recorded its driest July since records began in 1836, drought officials said.

The National Drought Group declared that 71.3% of England is now in drought following a meeting on Monday. Areas that moved into drought status include the East Midlands, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Kent and East Sussex, and the Solent and the South Downs.
That brings the total to more than half of England already classified as being in drought, along with the whole of Wales.
Drought coverage widens
The National Drought Group, which includes regulators, government representatives, water companies and agricultural bodies, said 45 million people in England are now living in drought-affected areas. More than 27 million of those people face restrictions on how water can be used.
Drought conditions are expected to worsen until “significant and sustained rainfall”, the group said, with the chair Tony Grayling warning that the hot and dry spell is taking a heavy toll on farming and the environment.
Grayling said conditions are likely to intensify over the week ahead as the fifth heatwave of the year develops further, although there are signs that rain could reach the UK on Sunday.


Brockwell Park in London. Picture courtesy of BBC

The group also said most of England is experiencing a flash drought, which it described as developing rapidly due to very low rainfall combined with higher temperatures.
Yorkshire and the north-east of England have been moved to a “prolonged dry weather” stage, which comes before drought. Nowhere in England is in a “normal” category.
Heat alerts as reserves drop
Hot weather is continuing, with the UK Health Security Agency issuing amber heat health alerts for all of England except the North East from Tuesday at 09:00 BST until Friday at 21:00 BST.
An amber alert indicates significant impacts are likely across health and social care services due to the risk posed by high temperatures.
The Environment Agency said low water levels are already causing potential navigation problems for boats on the Thames, Lark and Ouse. Reservoir levels have continued to fall, with almost all sites below normal and five described as “exceptionally low”.
Water shortage risks are also rising for wildlife and ecosystems. Mark Owen, head of fisheries at the Angling Trust, said warmer conditions are putting fish under “severe stress” because the water holds less dissolved oxygen.
Meanwhile, the continued dry weather is increasing the risk of wildfires. Dozens of firefighters were dealing with a blaze in the New Forest on Monday, which had earlier been estimated at 140 football pitches, or 247 acres.
Farming hit as rivers run low
England and Wales recorded their driest July on record last month, with southern England seeing its driest July ever. South-east England received just 1% of the expected average rainfall for July, and some parts of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and West Sussex have not had a rain day for 59 days.
The National Drought Group said pressure is building across England’s water resources. The National Farmers Union reported reduced output after very early harvests, with its president Tom Bradshaw warning that continued dry conditions could lead to food shortages.
He said yields of wheat and oats were “very, very poor” and that some livestock farmers have been forced to use winter feed rations because grass has not grown.
Water Minister Emma Hardy said the government is working to make it easier for farmers to build additional on-site irrigation reservoirs that can capture and store water.
Figures show only 14% of England’s rivers are at normal levels, while 22% are exceptionally low, including the River Avon in south-west England and the River Ely Ouse in eastern England.
Scotland monitors scarcity; climate drivers grow
Scotland and Northern Ireland have not been experiencing drought conditions and are expected to see spells of heavy rain. Scotland does not declare drought, but monitors “water scarcity” instead, and its environment agency reported that eastern areas remain in the most extreme categories of moderate or significant scarcity.
The Climate Change Committee’s chief executive Emma Pinchbeck said the UK was “not prepared at all” for prolonged dry weather, citing impacts already seen on farming and concerns about readiness across infrastructure and the economy up to 2050.
The Met Office said climate change does not cause every heatwave or drought, but it makes extreme heat more likely by raising average temperatures, and it increases evaporation when rain fails, drying soils faster. This can contribute to a feedback effect where drier ground cools less and allows temperatures to climb higher.
The Met Office and other agencies said the UK is seeing the type of hotter, drier summers climate scientists have long predicted, with three droughts recorded in the past five years: 2022, 2025 and 2026.
This year there have been 34 days with temperatures of 30C or above somewhere in England, including 13 consecutive days in July. Human-caused climate change is said to be increasing the likelihood and intensity of heat extremes, while El Niño, a natural climate pattern driven by unusually warm Pacific Ocean waters, is expected to further influence global temperatures. The World Meteorological Organisation said a strong El Niño event is developing and is expected to dominate global climate patterns in coming months.


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11 August 2026
webfact
webfact

Trump Administration Revokes 175,000 Visas

The Trump administration said on Monday it has revoked more than 175,000 visas issued to foreign nationals, citing alleged breaches of visa terms linked to criminal activity and calls for violence against Americans, among other allegations.

The US State Department said most cancellations followed “law enforcement encounters”. Some immigration lawyers expressed concern that the administration’s approach could extend to minor encounters or to charges that have not been tested through the court system.
Visa cancellations accelerate
The announcement marked an increase compared with the previous year. The State Department said revocations in 2026 averaged more than 10,000 cancellations per month, versus more than 8,000 per month across 2025. It also said the administration had revoked more than 100,000 visas during the previous year, after announcing the figure in January.
The administration described the removals as part of what it said is ongoing vetting. It said the State Department’s work is intended to ensure visa holders comply with the conditions attached to their visas and do not endanger Americans.
Grounds cited for revocations
In a statement, the State Department said the majority of visas were revoked because of law enforcement encounters involving a range of criminal activity. It listed assault, driving under the influence, theft and drug offences as leading causes.
It also said other grounds included reckless driving, sexual assault, child abuse, fraud and embezzlement, alongside other alleged crimes.
The department added that it will “continue to identify, investigate, and revoke the visas” of foreign nationals it says threaten public safety, citing leadership by President Donald Trump and Secretary Marco Rubio.
Named cases and “birth tourism” claims
Among examples described by the State Department were multiple foreign nationals who, it said, celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a right-wing political activist killed in September 2025. The department said visas were revoked for people who posted messages including “when fascists die, democrats don’t complain,” and another who said Kirk “died too late”.
Other high-profile cases included Tou Lue Vang, a 42-year-old father of six who was deported to Laos last month by the Department of Homeland Security. The State Department said Vang had been pardoned by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz a few weeks earlier following a 2005 conviction for sexually abusing a child. It said Vang’s removal was carried out on “foreign policy grounds”.
The department also cited other deportations and visa revocation determinations on “foreign policy grounds”, including foreign nationals from Cuba described as having links to the communist regime, Iranians in the US said to have ties to the Iranian regime, and a Kuwaiti national who it said “wished for violence against” the president and the US, and called Americans his “enemy”.
Additional cases listed by the State Department involved people it said were arrested or charged with sexual assault or sexual abuse, including allegations involving minors, as well as kidnapping and human trafficking. It also referenced driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and alleged fraud.
Separately, the State Department said a US embassy in North Africa revoked more than 100 visas for “birth tourist” parents. It said the individuals travelled primarily to give birth so their children would obtain US citizenship.
“A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right. The Department remains committed to using every tool available to protect our communities from those who abuse it,” the State Department said.

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11 August 2026
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webfact

Trump Orders Fewer Childhood Vaccines, Splits MMR

President Donald Trump has signed an order that calls for fewer childhood vaccines and recommends changing how the mumps, measles and rubella vaccine is delivered, including splitting MMR doses.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said that children received only a “small fraction” of the vaccines required today and argued that earlier generations were “much healthier”. He also claimed that autism rates now seen were not present in past decades, repeating a line his administration has promoted for years.
The Trump administration has long backed a link between MMR vaccines and autism that has been widely discredited. However, multiple studies have found no association between the two.
Federal authority limited to state requirements
The federal government does not have the power to put the new recommendations into effect. Requirements for vaccinations needed for school attendance are set by individual states.
Even so, Trump said the administration is “recognising gold standard childhood vaccine recommendations” covering only 11 core vaccinations aimed at protecting against the most serious and dangerous diseases.
What the order recommends
Under the order, the immunisations recommended for all children include vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella, as well as diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. It also covers polio and Haemophilus influenzae type B, alongside pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus and varicella, or chickenpox.
The order also includes a recommendation to split the MMR shots, rather than giving them as a combined dose, according to the description of the order.
Trump says children would receive fewer jabs
Trump said the approach would reduce the number of vaccinations. He added that the change would involve receiving vaccines across a series of doctor visits.
“We’re reducing them,” he said, describing the plan as not only involving fewer vaccines, but also spreading them out into multiple appointments.



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11 August 2026
webfact
webfact

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