World News

Farage Wins Clacton Byelection, Beating Count Binface

UK-Politics

Farage Wins Clacton Byelection, Beating Count Binface

Nigel Farage won the Clacton byelection, defeating Count Binface, in a contest boycotted by every other major political party.

The Reform UK leader triggered the byelection in July as questions intensified over a £5m gift he received from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne. The result comes as an investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog is set to restart this Friday.
Farage holds Clacton with large majority
Farage, who did not attend the count, secured 22,239 votes, equivalent to 63.34% of the vote. Count Binface, a parody candidate dressed as an intergalactic rubbish bin, received 9,455 votes, or 26.93%. Turnout was 44%.


Courtesy of BBC

A record 34 candidates stood for the coastal seat. Farage had been widely expected to win, with a Survation poll published on Monday giving him 75% and Binface 20%.
Farage declared himself the winner while votes were still being counted, as the result was confirmed later.


Picture courtesy of The Guardian
Standards inquiry to restart after £5m gift
The byelection outcome is unlikely to close the wider debate around Farage’s and Reform UK’s finances. The formal investigation into the £5m gift is due to resume as soon as Friday.
Despite his victory, Farage did not make an appearance at Clacton leisure centre, where the count was held, instead attending “Farage Fest”, a carnival-like event in the rural fringes of the constituency.
Security measures at the count
At the count, there was a heavy security presence, including bag checks and metal detectors at the entrance to the leisure centre.
Farage had earlier claimed that Essex police had advised him that an “organised campaign” was under way to embarrass him when the result was declared. Tendring district council chief executive Ian Davidson said the force would not comment on policing security, but added that there was a “robust policing operation” in place.
The Guardian reported that the police did not advise Farage not to attend.
Links to convicted fraudster, police probe into donations
Since the byelection was called, additional questions have been raised about Farage’s links to the convicted fraudster George Cottrell. Separately, the Metropolitan police opened an investigation into donations made to the party.
The byelection was held after Farage described it as “the people versus the establishment”. Shortly afterwards, every other main political party said it would not take part, branding the race a “media circus” and a “vanity project”.
Count Binface, created by comedian Jon Harvey as an “entirely independent space warrior”, emerged as the strongest challenger among the fields of candidates.
After standing in multiple parliamentary elections since 1994, Farage was elected to the House of Commons as the member for Clacton in 2024. He won the seat with a majority of 8,400, taking 46.2% of the vote, with the Conservatives second and Labour third.

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14 August 2026

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August 14Aug 14

White House Says 40+ Nations Helped China Evade Tariffs

China

White House Says 40+ Nations Helped China Evade Tariffs

The White House said dozens of countries have helped China avoid US tariff charges by routing exports through nations with lower duties, potentially costing the US tens of billions of dollars.

In a report released on Thursday, the administration said more than 40 countries had played a role in what it described as efforts to sidestep US import costs. It named Canada, India, Mexico, Japan and South Korea among those it said had supported China’s ability to “evade” tariffs by shifting goods through third jurisdictions.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the practice had harmed the US economy, adding that it cost “American jobs and billions in revenue”.
White House describes “transshipping” networks
The report focuses on a process known as transshipping, in which cargo is transferred through another country while en route to its final destination.
The White House said US and private sector estimates show between $30bn (£22.2bn) and roughly $300bn in goods has been moved from countries with higher tariff rates to those with lower ones. It accused China of taking advantage of the approach by using third countries as stopovers and by repackaging goods to conceal their real origin.
In its account, the US administration portrayed the method as being carried out through what it called a global network. It also said it had deployed artificial intelligence (AI) tools to identify and target transshipment efforts.
China rejects tariff measures targeting firms
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said in response to BBC questions that “trade wars have no winners” and that China opposes the US tariff measures, including the use of state power aimed at Chinese companies.
The spokesperson added that “any unilateral actions or agreements concerning transshipped goods must not target or harm the interests of third parties.”
The BBC said it had contacted US embassies of Canada, India, Mexico, Japan and South Korea, along with other trading partners listed in the report, seeking comment.
Ahead of Trump-Xi meeting
The report comes after a series of sanctions and countermeasures between Washington and Beijing. It is due to add to tensions as President Donald Trump prepares to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington in September.
Although most US tariffs were paused following talks in May 2025, both sides have continued to exchange restrictions. The White House cited US limits on humanoid robots shipped to the country, and said China has tightened curbs on drone exports.
In April 2025, Trump unveiled sweeping levies covering dozens of US trading partners, saying tariffs would help boost American jobs and economic performance. Those measures were later struck down by the US Supreme Court, but Trump has introduced new tariffs using other legal routes to maintain what he has repeatedly called a core policy.

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14 August 2026

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August 14Aug 14

Trump Faces Scrutiny Over Personal Financial Gains

USA

Trump Faces Scrutiny Over Personal Financial Gains

Legal and ethics experts and senior Democrats have raised alarm after Donald Trump’s second term, saying his administration has allowed him to expand his personal wealth while oversight of potential conflicts of interest has weakened.

They point to financial disclosure filings showing that Trump generated unprecedented returns from crypto-linked activities and used political and media platforms tied to him to monetise access. Trump’s allies and advisers dispute that he has breached conflict rules, arguing he is complying with applicable laws.
Crypto windfalls and investor losses
Trump reported revenue of about $2.2bn in 2025, according to the filing cited by critics, describing a rise driven by his cryptocurrency holdings and related business activity. In disclosures submitted in June, he reported earning at least $1.4bn from crypto ventures.
Critics also highlighted harm to investors. They said roughly one million people were exposed through a Trump-linked crypto scheme and collectively lost nearly $3.8bn as the value of volatile holdings fell.
Trump’s embrace of crypto has been central to the scrutiny. Critics noted his earlier remarks warning that the sector was a “scam” and a “disaster waiting to happen” in 2021, before he later backed efforts to promote the US as a hub with less regulation.
Truth Social access for a fee
Democrats also focused on Trump’s Truth Social business. They say it is pushing a scheme offering wealthy buyers special early access to his posts for $100,000 per month, raising potential conflict-of-interest and corruption concerns.
In July, Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat, wrote to six major Wall Street industry groups urging them to reject a new Truth Social product branded “Truth API”. Warner argued the proposal would “sell privileged access” to presidential communications that can move markets, benefiting Trump’s personal finances.
Virginia Canter, chief counsel for ethics and anti-corruption at Democracy Defenders Action, said the approach represented an escalation in using office for private gain, and warned that providing high-speed access to non-public information could encourage conduct resembling insider trading.
Truth Media & Technology, the company behind Truth Social, said on 10 August that it lost $238m in the three months through June, after expanding into new businesses including crypto.
Deals involving the justice department and foreign interests
Beyond media and crypto, critics said Trump has also pursued transactional decisions that favour himself and his family.
They cited concerns that Trump’s justice department helped shape a settlement of a $10bn lawsuit Trump brought against the IRS over a leak of his tax returns. Critics said the agreement could grant him and his family immunity from audits of prior tax years and potentially save $100m.
Other scrutiny involved foreign-related assets. Critics said Trump sought to circumvent the constitutional prohibition on foreign emoluments by accepting a $400m plane as a gift from Qatar, alongside additional backing from wealthy foreigners for Trump family hotel and golf deals abroad.
Ethics experts said Trump has not fully insulated himself from conflicts. They noted that, unlike some predecessors, he has declined to place assets into a completely blind trust or to divest from his businesses.
Regulatory gaps and shifting oversight
Former election officials and legal experts said the pattern amounts to an unprecedented approach to benefiting financially from the presidency. Larry Noble, a former general counsel at the Federal Election Commission, said Trump reported business holdings earning over $2bn in the first year of the term, and warned that the administration’s stance amounts to “pay to play”.
Princeton historian Julian Zelizer told the Guardian that Trump has removed “guardrails” between his businesses and public policy, while Cornell economist Eswar Prasad criticised what he described as regulatory laxness toward the crypto industry, arguing it directly benefits the Trump family.
Critics cited Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, saying weak oversight and enforcement have contributed to scandals. They also pointed to a $2bn investment involving Binance and a World Liberty Financial stablecoin, alongside prior criminal and compliance actions relating to Binance and its former chief executive, Changpeng Zhao, who was pardoned by Trump.
A CNN poll released in late July found 66% of respondents agreed Trump does not put the good of the country over personal gain.

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14 August 2026

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August 13Aug 13

Hegseth Rejects Claims About Conditions on USS Lincoln

Military

Hegseth Rejects Claims About Conditions on USS Lincoln

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that reports about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier had been “completely misrepresented”, after claims that sailors on the ship attempted to jump overboard during a long deployment.

Speaking to Newsmax, Hegseth said the Pentagon works to ensure ships and crews have support “at every single moment”. He did not address specific reporting about supply shortages, concerns about water quality, or claims of deteriorating mental health on the carrier. He also did not say when the vessel would return to the United States after leaving San Diego in November.
“What we do is we make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,” Hegseth said. He added that some deployments last longer than others and expressed support for the sailors on board while they operate “with less port calls” in difficult conditions.
Hegseth said he wants service members to return home “as soon as everybody else” and added that commanders, service secretaries and President Donald Trump share that expectation.
Families raise concerns as ship remains at sea
The Pentagon’s handling of the Abraham Lincoln’s deployment has faced increased scrutiny after family members of sailors serving on the ship told Navy leadership last week that several service members had tried to jump overboard or had been prevented from doing so in recent months.


USS Abraham Lincoln

Navy officials have denied that there has been an increase in suicide attempts on the carrier.
The reports led Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, to send a letter to Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao raising “serious concerns” about the length of the carrier’s deployment.
RELATED
USS Lincoln Sailors Reportedly Try to Jump Overboard
Blumenthal wrote that the Lincoln is not an isolated example and that carrier deployments have repeatedly exceeded their planned durations. He said this pattern suggested that extended deployments may be becoming part of the Navy’s approach to generating forces rather than an exception.
Calls for oversight and bipartisan inspection
On Thursday, Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona, called for additional scrutiny of conditions aboard the Abraham Lincoln and urged an official, bipartisan visit to the ship.
Gallego said in a post on X that Congress should hold the administration accountable.
Morale concerns have also been reported by observers, with the ship’s roughly 5,000 personnel reportedly having spent more than 250 consecutive days at sea. The reporting also said the crew has had at least 40 days of continuous combat operations in support of the Iran war.
Redirection to Middle East extends schedule
The aircraft carrier left San Diego for a Pacific deployment in November and was redirected to the Middle East in January. It was originally due to return in May, but no publicly announced return date has been provided.


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14 August 2026

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August 13Aug 13

Israeli Minister Katz Says Troops Will Stay in South Lebanon

Middle East

Israeli Minister Katz Says Troops Will Stay in South Lebanon

Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Wednesday that Israel would not withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, a position he described as a key sticking point in ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran over a peace agreement.

Katz said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and he had made the position “unequivocally clear”. He added that the Israeli military would remain in the area it is securing, framing the move as part of the government’s security doctrine rather than a matter for negotiation.
Troops to Stay in the Security Zone
Katz said the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) would remain where they are and would not “move” from the security zone.
He also said Israel would continue operations aimed at clearing the area and protecting people in northern parts of the country. Katz stressed that Israel would not withdraw from security zones under any circumstances, naming locations beyond Lebanon as well.
He said the policy applied to “Lebanon, Syria and Gaza”, indicating that any decision about withdrawals would not change the IDF’s posture across those areas.
Clearing the Area and Protecting Residents
In his remarks, Katz linked the continued presence of forces to protection of civilians from attacks.
He said the government’s approach reflects what he described as lessons from 7 October, when Israeli communities were subjected to attacks that included raids and gunfire. Katz argued that the IDF’s presence in these places helps prevent such incidents.
According to his statement, Israel’s policy is to maintain forces in relevant locations as a means of deterrence and protection. He said this is the doctrine guiding military planning.
Katz pointed to the Beaufort fortress as an example of how the policy is intended to work in practice, describing it as illustrating the meaning of the government’s approach.
Context for US-Iran Negotiations
The defence minister’s comments come as negotiations between Washington and Tehran continue regarding a broader peace agreement. Katz described southern Lebanon as a central issue in those talks, implying that any expected steps related to troop movements would not be part of Israel’s position.
He said Israel would not withdraw from the relevant area, and he repeated that the IDF would continue to operate from its current positions.
Government Position on Withdrawals
Katz’s statement was framed as a clear rejection of any expectation of a drawdown of Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
He maintained that the security zone will be upheld through the continued deployment of the IDF, and he said Israel will protect residents by keeping forces present where they are operating.

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14 August 2026

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August 13Aug 13

Kennedy Center Votes to Put Trump's Name Back on Building

USA

Kennedy Center Votes to Put Trump's Name Back on Building

The board of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington has voted again to advance Donald Trump’s plan to temporarily shut the centre for major renovations and to add the US president’s name to the building’s facade, according to reports.

The vote comes after a federal judge ordered that Trump’s name be removed from the signage, following its addition last year. The Kennedy Center is now expected to submit its renovation approach to the court by next week, as the judge reviews whether the board’s earlier decision-making met required standards.
Vote to close the main building
The board voted "to close the Kennedy Center’s main building, while keeping a newer addition to the campus, known as the Reach, open for limited programming and to operate as an active memorial to John F Kennedy”, the New York Times reported first.
The Reach is described as a separate part of the Kennedy Center campus that would remain operational during the work to ensure some programming continues, rather than shutting down the entire site.
The New York Times also reported that shortly after the decision on closures, the board voted to add an inscription beneath the institution’s name that would state: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J Trump.”
The reported outcome was confirmed to the publication by Joyce Beatty, a Democratic representative for Ohio who sits on the board, and by lawyers.
Court order challenged by centre
In May, US district judge Christopher Cooper ordered Trump’s name removed from the facade. Cooper ruled the addition was illegal because changing the institution’s name required action by Congress.
The Kennedy Center removed Trump’s name in June, but said it is appealing Cooper’s ruling.
Beatty said the new decisions were intended to bypass the court order. “This latest development is a transparent effort to circumvent the Court’s ruling, and flies in the face of the statutes that Congress passed,” she said in a statement. “I will continue to fight for this treasured national monument.”
The Kennedy Center declined to comment when contacted about the reports.
Under the current process, the board’s decisions will require approval by a US federal judge.
Judge reviews due diligence and closure plans
Cooper also previously issued a temporary block on Trump’s request to close the arts institution for two years. The closure had been scheduled to begin in July after the board voted unanimously in March, prompting Beatty to file suit.
In his May ruling, Cooper said the original closure decision appeared “ill-informed and seemingly preordained”. He added that, in endorsing Trump’s announcement, the board had failed to carry out its full responsibilities to the centre.
Cooper said the board did not base its decision on enough information and did not consider the broader range of statutory duties and potential negative effects on programming and the centre’s memorial role. He also noted the board has a legal obligation to keep the facility functioning as a memorial to JFK.
Renovation options presented to board
Ahead of the latest meeting, Kennedy Center management said it would present the board with three approaches for consideration, according to the Associated Press.
The options described in reporting included a complete closure, or a partial closure allowing “some continued public access and limited programming in spaces unaffected” by the construction. A third alternative was to consider “a highly limited series of phased closures” focused on the centre’s most serious infrastructure needs while scheduling and maintaining a full programme.
The New York Times reported further detail on the proposal shown to the board, describing a $250m “renewal” project. It included substantial repair work, new marble floors and “acoustical” improvements, along with plans to “temporarily move the famous 3,000-pound bronze bust of JFK” to another building on the campus.
The centre has until next week to provide its plan to Cooper. He will then examine whether the board performed sufficiently thorough due diligence before taking the decisions.

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14 August 2026

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August 13Aug 13

Oman Says Oil Spill Reaches Main Coastline

Middle East

Oman Says Oil Spill Reaches Main Coastline

An oil spill from a stricken tanker off Oman has reached the country’s mainland, polluting beaches on the central coast, the Omani Environment Authority said.

Oil from the Caroline Bezengi, which has been leaking crude since running aground off Oman in June, has arrived at Ras Madrakah. The authority said it is affecting up to 40km of coastline.
Oil reaches beaches at Ras Madrakah
The Environment Authority said the affected stretch is along Oman’s central coast, where slicks have spread from the site of the incident. It added that specialised monitoring and response measures are under way to limit the spread and reduce environmental harm.
Spill expected to move towards Masirah Island
The authority said oil is also likely to reach the southern coast of Masirah Island, around 15km off Oman, in the “coming hours”. It said the expected impact would be on a 10-20km stretch of coastline.
Authorities said their response includes ongoing surveillance and follow-up work, alongside action to contain pollution. They also said priority is being given to areas considered highly sensitive environmentally.
Monitoring and response efforts continue
In a statement, the Environment Authority said specialised teams are carrying out monitoring, follow-up and response operations. It added that necessary steps are being taken to reduce the spread of the pollution and minimise potential impacts.
Omani authorities previously said the spill measured nearly 400 square kilometres. They said the slick was concentrated around the Hallaniyat archipelago, which includes a marine reserve established last year to protect habitats for sea turtles and other aquatic life.
Environmental groups, including Greenpeace, have estimated that the spill is larger than the figure given by Omani authorities.
Tanker disabled after suspected explosion
The Caroline Bezengi has been disabled near Oman’s Al Hallaniyat Islands since June 8, after the ship’s crew reported a suspected explosion.
Omani authorities have not reported the cause of the incident.
Western governments have identified the tanker as part of Russia’s shadow fleet, used to transport Russian oil that has faced heavy sanctions following Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
The Caroline Bezengi most recently sailed under the flag of Cameroon.

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13 August 2026

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August 13Aug 13

Incheon Becomes World’s Busiest Airport for Global Traffic

Aviation

Incheon Becomes World’s Busiest Airport for Global Traffic

South Korea’s Incheon International Airport has become the world’s busiest for international passenger traffic for the first time, according to preliminary figures published by the Airports Council International.

The airport, which is a key entry point into South Korea, handled 38.4 million international passengers in the first six months of this year. That put it ahead of London Heathrow, which recorded 37.79 million international passengers, and Singapore’s Changi Airport with 34.53 million.
Middle East diversion boosts transfers
Incheon’s jump was linked in part to the re-routing of passengers away from aviation hubs in the Middle East amid the conflict between the United States and Iran.
The airport corporation said some travellers who previously transited through Dubai on their way to Europe are now travelling via Incheon. It attributed an 18% year-on-year increase in transfer passengers to that shift.
Transfer passengers whose final destinations were in Europe rose by 63.2% to 210,000, the corporation added.
Dubai set to miss top five
Dubai International Airport, which placed second in 2024 and 2025 based on full-year rankings, is expected to fall outside the top five in the latest half-year comparison.
In the broader context of recent years, Heathrow ranked fifth in 2024 and seventh in 2025. Incheon ranked 12th in 2024 and 13th in 2025.
Infrastructure expansion supports higher load
The airport corporation said its expanding infrastructure has also helped it handle a larger volume of traffic. Incheon International Airport opened in 2001 and currently serves 158 international destinations.
By comparison, Hong Kong’s International Airport serves 139 destinations, Shanghai’s Pudong Airport 92, and Tokyo’s Narita Airport 86.
Kim Beom-ho, the airport corporation’s acting president, said the result reflected support from the South Korean government and public encouragement, along with efforts from staff at the airport. Kim added that the corporation plans to further improve competitiveness by focusing on passenger convenience.

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13 August 2026

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August 13Aug 13

Japan PM Condemns Putin Visit to Kurils as Unacceptable

Russia

Japan PM Condemns Putin Visit to Kurils as Unacceptable

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Vladimir Putin’s first visit to the disputed Kuril islands was “absolutely unacceptable”, after Russian state media reported that the Kremlin leader had toured the territory on Thursday.
Putin visits Iturup amid long-running dispute
Russian media said Putin travelled to Iturup, known in Japan as Etorofu, one of four islands in the Kuril chain claimed by both Russia and Japan. Takaichi told reporters that the trip “has worsened Japanese sentiment towards Russia”, and argued that the island chain remains “a unique territory of [Japan] historically and under international law”.
The islands are at the centre of a decades-old standoff between Moscow and Tokyo. The dispute has been the main barrier to signing a peace treaty after the Second World War, with Japan maintaining that the southern islands should be returned.
Japan calls the islands inherently Japanese
Japan says the four southernmost islands are the Northern Territories. They lie between Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Russia administers the islands.
At the end of the war, the Soviet Union annexed the island chain and deported around 17,000 Japanese residents. Japan has continued to dispute Russia’s control of the territory and has protested official visits by Russian figures over the years.
Calls the visit incompatible with Tokyo’s position
During his trip, Putin sampled fish roe and met residents on the islands, Russian state media reported.
Takaichi said from the prime minister’s office on Thursday that Putin’s visit “wounds the feelings of the Japanese people” and is “incompatible with Japan’s consistent position on the Northern Territories”. She added: “I hope that the Russian side will take the gravity of this matter very seriously.”
Earlier on Thursday, Japan’s foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the islands were “inherently Japanese territory both historically and under international law”, and that the government strongly protested the visit.
Sanctions and military activity add to tensions
Attempts to resolve the territorial dispute have made little progress, and relations between the two countries remain strained. Japan has imposed sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, contributing to a wider freeze in ties.
Japan has also criticised previous trips by Russian officials to the disputed islands, including Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and his predecessor Dmitry Medvedev.
The Kurils are strategically important for Russia, which has expanded its military presence there over the past decade. Iturup is used as Russia’s primary military air base in the region. Russia has also run regular drills near the islands, drawing condemnation from Japan.
In a separate development, Chinese and Russian naval warships sailed through a strait in the Kuril islands during a joint patrol last month, underscoring the growing focus on the region.

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13 August 2026

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August 13Aug 13

Estonia Rules Out Taking Prisoners From the UK

UK-Politics

Estonia Rules Out Taking Prisoners From the UK

Estonia has rejected proposals to take prisoners from the UK as a way to reduce overcrowding in British jails, saying it would not rent out its prison capacity while it is already holding foreign offenders under an existing agreement.

Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta told the BBC that Estonia would not lease cells to other countries while it houses criminals from Sweden at its Tartu prison, which she said is only partly full. She said the government had not received any approach from the UK to rent prison space, adding that any such proposal would be refused.
“Such a proposal would not merely be mistaken, misguided or unacceptable; it would deserve to be rejected outright,” Pakosta said. She added that Estonia’s response would be “unequivocal” using former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s repeated “No. No. No.” response to calls for deeper political and economic integration within the European Community, later followed by the European Union.
Pakosta’s remarks came after suggestions from UK opposition parties and Conservative figures that foreign prison leasing could help create space and reduce the risk of early releases for some people serving sentences in England and Wales.
In 2024, a Labour government also explored the idea of housing some prisoners from abroad, including through discussions with Estonia, but talks did not result in an agreement.
The minister said she had met the then-UK Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood during discussions in Lithuania. She said Estonia had not been asked by London to rent out cells.
Estonia says no proposals have been received
Pakosta said no request from the UK had been made to lease prison places. She did not indicate any circumstances under which Estonia would reconsider, arguing that a UK proposal would be rejected outright.
Estonia has said it expects Sweden to pay for holding some of its offenders at Tartu. Under the deal agreed last week, Sweden would pay up to £52m (€61m) per year if Estonia houses 600 Swedish prisoners at the prison. Estonia said that from the 301st inmate onward, Sweden would pay an additional £7,254 (€8,500) per prisoner each month.
UK weighs “not a quick fix” foreign leasing
In the UK, Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government is preparing for early releases of thousands of prisoners in October as it attempts to make room in jails that are close to full capacity.
Downing Street said on Monday it did not rule out renting space in foreign prisons when asked whether the government was considering such steps. A No 10 spokesperson said the focus was on creating extra capacity inside the domestic system, adding that leasing abroad would not work as a rapid solution. The spokesperson said it would require primary legislation supported by a complex international agreement that could take several years to finalise.
A government source told the BBC that renting overseas prison places would not address the immediate pressures in prisons.
Burnham has instructed the justice secretary to bring forward a plan by September to create more space, with options including removing more foreign national offenders from prisons, releasing some people serving indefinite sentences, and using capacity in women’s jails for male inmates.
Opposition suggests overseas transfers
Other political parties have put forward different approaches. Reform UK suggested on Monday that 10,000 prison spaces could be freed if all foreign criminals were sent abroad to serve their sentences. Party leader Nigel Farage said his party was examining prisoner transfer options that could include El Salvador and Kosovo, and he also referenced the possibility of discussions with Baltic states such as Lithuania and Estonia.
Reform UK later said its focus was on El Salvador, Kosovo and possibly other countries willing to engage.
The Conservatives have urged Burnham to revive a proposal introduced when they were in government in 2023, when they legislated for overseas cell rental as a response to overcrowding. Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Labour’s failure to pursue the idea amounted to a “catastrophic mistake” that should be reversed.
Lithuania, however, said it has not been in talks about accepting transfers from the UK. Its Ministry of Justice stated that there were no discussions or consultations about taking Lithuanian citizens imprisoned in the UK and that it did not see scope for practical arrangements of that kind.
Kosovo has been more open to co-operation, having agreed to lease 300 prison cells to Denmark under a deal worth £170m (€200m). A Kosovo spokesperson said the government valued efforts by partner countries to develop new co-operation initiatives, while adding that Kosovo would focus on implementing its agreement with Denmark before entering any similar deal.
The BBC has previously been told by former ministers from both Labour and the Conservatives that leasing prison space abroad would likely be expensive.

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13 August 2026

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August 13Aug 13

Ukraine Strikes Russian Base and Major Grain Terminals

Ukraine Conflict

Ukraine Strikes Russian Base and Major Grain Terminals

A massive Ukrainian strike using drones and missiles damaged two major grain export terminals at Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, and hit what officials said was the last large Russian naval base in the area, according to reports.

The overnight attack killed three people, including an eight-year-old child, and injured 24 others, local officials said. Several explosions were heard across the city as air defences intercepted incoming drones and other aerial targets.
Drone and missile attack
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv carried out a “unique operation” to strike the Russian base, using rockets, jet and naval drones. He did not mention grain terminals being affected in his comments.
Ukraine’s military later said four Russian warships, including two frigates, were damaged in the strike. Russia had not commented on the reports.
Zelensky said the Russian fleet and the infrastructure that supports it would not be safe while “Russian aggression continues”.
The strike came after most of Russia’s Black Sea fleet had moved to Novorossiysk following the loss of its former home base in Sevastopol, in occupied Crimea, where it had faced sustained Ukrainian attacks.
Warships and grain shipments
The damage to grain infrastructure was confirmed by companies that handle exports from the port. A major grain trading company told Russia’s TASS news agency that its terminal had been hit. Another firm said the same to Reuters and the Russian outlet RBK.
Russia’s agriculture ministry said on Wednesday that it was working to redirect cargo flows to ports in the Baltic and Caspian Seas, as well as via land routes, without referring to Ukraine’s attacks. It said it was “taking into account current logistical constraints”.
Russian officials also reported disruption on the ground in Novorossiysk. An emergency situation was declared after drones hit areas around the port and damaged pipelines, suspending the city’s water supply.
In the wider Krasnodar region, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said a man was killed by drone debris. He said several locations were struck overnight by “several hundred drones”, with dozens of buildings damaged, including homes.
Russia’s counterstrikes and global food concerns
The attack on Novorossiysk followed increased exchanges of strikes in the Black Sea in recent months after a relatively calmer period.
Moscow also carried out overnight strikes on Ukraine, killing at least 11 civilians between Tuesday and Wednesday. Most of the deaths were reported in Zaporizhzhia, after Russia hit the southern city with ballistic missiles and glide bombs.
Ukrainian officials have pointed to the need for air defences ahead of the winter. In an interview with CNN, Zelensky said Ukraine needs about a tenth of the current US stockpile of interceptor missiles to stop all Russian ballistic missile attacks. He added that 5% of that stockpile would be enough to get Ukraine through winter. Zelensky said Ukraine had “two and a half times less interceptors” than in 2025, and that Russia was using twice as many ballistic missiles per month as before.
The fighting has renewed concerns about how the war may affect global grain supplies. Russia and Ukraine account for a substantial share of global grain trade, particularly for buyers in North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia. Russia is the world’s biggest wheat exporter.
A Moscow-based analytics company said exports for August could fall by more than half compared with the same month over the previous five years, citing disruptions to shipping in the Black and Azov seas.
Ukrainian officials say their long-range strikes have also disrupted Russian grain shipments, including recent attacks on vessels in the eastern Black Sea. Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of striking Russian grain and agricultural infrastructure, adding that this had contributed to higher global food prices and growing grain shortages. She said Russia would continue targeting “facilities that [Ukraine’s armed forces] use on the Black Sea” until what she described as security threats projected to the Sea of Azov and Black Sea were eliminated.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, the impact on food flows has remained a key concern. The 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative—under which Russia agreed to lift its blockade of Ukraine’s agricultural exports—ended after Moscow resumed attacks on vessels using maritime corridors to Odesa the following year.

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13 August 2026

• 14 comments
• 328 views

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August 13Aug 13

Israeli Settlers Trap Two Palestinian Families in West Bank

Israel

Israeli Settlers Trap Two Palestinian Families in West Bank

Israeli settlers have kept the Abu Ridi and Hassan families confined inside two homes in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra since Sunday, the families said, alleging their water and power were cut and food supplies dwindled. Rights groups and humanitarian organisations urged Israeli authorities to act.
Siege after road blocked
Palestinian security footage shared by the families showed settlers tearing down a wall outside the Abu Ridi home on Sunday evening and using stones to obstruct the road. The families said seven people, including two young girls, were left unable to leave their properties while other Palestinians also could not reach the affected area.
The households are located in Area B, where Palestinians have civil authority but Israel controls security.
The families said they posted appeals for help after power and water were unavailable and that they were isolated.
Claims of attempts to force entry
Qusay Abu Ridi said on Facebook that the situation had become critical because the family was “completely isolated”. Aysha Hassan, speaking to Reuters, said settlers tried to break a gate and began throwing stones while insulting and cursing at the family.
Hassan said her household was “dying of fear” and “extremely terrified”.
Soldiers withdraw from outpost amid clashes
On Wednesday, Israeli security forces were reported to have pulled back from the Jewish settler outpost in Qusra following clashes with an extremist settler crowd. About a dozen settlers were said to remain at the site.
After the families first reported the incident to the Israeli army, the initial soldiers filmed praying with the settlers, according to footage posted by the homeowners.
The settlers’ wider goal was not immediately clarified, but the reported objective has previously been to empty the area of Palestinian residents, and settlers have in the past forced Palestinians out and seized property.
Access blocked for journalists and residents
Israeli settlers blocked Haaretz reporters from reaching the Palestinian properties on Monday, the newspaper said. The reporters said Israeli soldiers at the scene refused to help when their car was prevented from moving for two hours, telling them it was a closed military zone even though the restriction was not enforced on the settlers.
On Tuesday, the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din asked the head of Israel’s Central Command to protect the besieged residents, evacuate the outpost and hold settlers accountable.
Late on Tuesday, a Palestinian ambulance was allowed to reach the families, bringing food and taking one child for medical treatment.
IDF condemns outpost; UN warns of ‘breaking point’
As events unfolded, the Israel Defence Forces said it condemned the establishment of a new outpost, calling entry into Palestinian homes and taking them “illegal, reprehensible, and unacceptable”. The IDF said border police evacuated a tent used by settlers and were working to remove civilians staying there, adding that the incident was ongoing. It also said disciplinary steps would be taken against documented personnel.
Early on Wednesday, Maj Gen Avi Bluth and other senior officers arrived and met residents, describing “grave concern”.
The Palestinian village mayor, Abdel Azim Wadi, told the BBC residents had observed a sustained pattern of targeting Qusra. He cited last month’s arson attack on a mosque accompanied by Hebrew graffiti nearby.
The siege comes amid a broader escalation. The UN’s Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ramiz Alakbarov, told the Security Council on Tuesday that settler violence had reached “unprecedented levels” and that the West Bank was “at breaking point”. UN figures cited said 76 Palestinians, including 18 children, have been killed in the West Bank this year by Israeli forces or settlers. It also cited the killing of three Israelis in clashes with Palestinians and an alleged ramming attack by a Palestinian.
The UN said 127 Palestinian communities experienced full or partial displacement since January 2023, including 47 entirely displaced, affecting more than 6,390 people. It added that in 2026, about 3,800 Palestinians—nearly half children—have been displaced due to settler violence, demolitions and evictions.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, rejected the idea that settlements are an obstacle to peace, saying they would remain and expand, and told the Security Council that Israel would not “go anywhere”.

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13 August 2026

• 40 comments
• 393 views

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August 13Aug 13

Nobel Laureate Challenges Putin’s Ukraine Victory Claim

Russia

Nobel Laureate Challenges Putin’s Ukraine Victory Claim

At the offices of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta in Moscow, former staff describe an atmosphere of emptiness after the paper was driven from print and subjected to restrictions online.

Dmitry Muratov, who co-founded the outlet more than three decades ago and shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, said the newspaper no longer exists in its original form. Speaking at the publication’s offices, he told the BBC that “there is no newspaper anymore”.
Nobel recognition, then shutdown
Muratov shared the Nobel Peace Prize for efforts “to safeguard freedom of expression”. The Nobel Committee cited the deaths of six Novaya Gazeta journalists, including Anna Politkovskaya, whose reporting included articles about the war in Chechnya.
He said the award did not prevent the authorities from moving against the paper. Muratov said a Kremlin decree led to the nationalisation of Novaya Gazeta’s printing presses and that the newspaper’s registration was revoked.
Online, the paper remains but access is heavily limited. Muratov said authorities have blocked access to its website, which can only be reached from abroad or by using VPNs, virtual private networks used to bypass restrictions.
Crackdown since Russia’s invasion
Muratov said the fate of Novaya Gazeta reflected a wider clampdown on free speech that has intensified since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
He said most opinion leaders have been branded “foreign agents”, “extremists” or “terrorists”, adding that “several hundred” people have been affected. He also said figures vary, but that at a conservative estimate at least 1,500 people have been jailed since the start of Russia’s “special military operation” for speaking out against state policy.
He compared the scale to the Soviet Union’s era of political repression, saying it was about three times higher than during the worst years of the KGB.
Questioning claims of victory
President Vladimir Putin has continued to predict victory in Ukraine. Muratov challenged that framing, saying the war can no longer be described as success “no matter how it ends”.
He said the conflict has caused mass destruction and deaths in Ukraine and Russia, describing it as impossible to treat as a victory given the human toll.
Muratov also said that in his view Ukraine could be “destroyed” but not “conquered”, warning that continued escalation could include the use of a nuclear weapon.
He dismissed speculation about what Putin may or may not intend. Muratov said attempts by “political experts” to claim knowledge of the Kremlin leader’s thinking are akin to unreliable guesswork, and he added that he does not know what is in Putin’s mind.
Prisoners and barriers to dissent
Muratov said nuclear weapon use has been discussed repeatedly by public voices, including on state television. He claimed that since the beginning of the year the idea has been raised more than 500 times and said that at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum one speaker praised the use of nuclear weapons as favourable.
He said Putin’s argument in announcing the invasion—promoting Russia’s security—had not translated into improved safety. Muratov cited what he described as ongoing impacts including attacks by Ukrainian drones on warehouses of Wildberries, a petrol crisis, disruption to mobile internet and continued imprisonment of political detainees.
Muratov said he believes Putin retains control of Russia despite polling showing lower approval ratings. He said he does not accept claims that the elite is split, and that fear of Putin is reinforced by the Federal Security Service, the FSB.
He also described the legal limits faced by people branded “foreign agents”, saying the label can bar individuals from teaching and from participating in elections, and restricts access to assets after selling property. Muratov said the purpose is also to stigmatise critics and create an “enemy within” narrative.
In a series of photographs, he highlighted cases of people jailed for opposing the state or the war. He cited journalists Antonina Favorskaya, Konstantin Gabov, Sergey Karelin and Artyom Kriger, saying they were convicted on extremism charges after accusations of links to Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption organisation. He also mentioned Alexei Gorinov, a city councillor jailed for knowingly spreading false information about the Russian military after speaking out against the war.
Muratov said pianist Pavel Kushnir was arrested after posting anti-war videos and died in pre-trial detention during a hunger strike at the age of 39.
He added that in April police searched Novaya Gazeta’s office while the newspaper’s lawyer tried to enter, and that the search lasted 13 hours. Muratov said the lawyer was not allowed inside, and that the paper’s managing editor, Oleg Roldugin, is now under house arrest.
Hope in support
Asked whether being a Nobel Peace laureate offers protection, Muratov said it was not a question for him and that it should be put to the authorities instead.
Despite the pressure, Muratov said colleagues still receive support in Moscow, describing gratitude from people who he said speak quietly.

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13 August 2026

• Ukraine Conflict

• 2 comments
• 107 views

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August 13Aug 13

USS Lincoln Sailors Reportedly Try to Jump Overboard

Military

USS Lincoln Sailors Reportedly Try to Jump Overboard

Families and members of Congress have raised alarms about what they describe as a deepening mental health crisis aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, with reports saying sailors tried to jump overboard during a record-breaking deployment linked to the conflict involving Iran.

Two specialist military publications, Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, reported multiple incidents in which crew members attempted to jump into the sea. The allegations come as the aircraft carrier’s crew has spent the ninth month at sea and has accumulated 250 consecutive days without making landfall, a modern record for an aircraft carrier.
Families question leadership at town hall
Stars and Stripes said military families voiced their concerns directly to senior Navy figures at an emotional community meeting in San Diego last Thursday. The publication said about 200 family members attended a town hall that included Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao and other senior officials.
Several relatives described distress about the conditions their loved ones face. Stars and Stripes reported that one spouse said her husband had texted her that he was worried about not waking up the next day. Another attendee told Cao that, in her view, the service had broken trust between families and command, the paper reported.
Reports cite failed suicide attempts onboard
Navy Times reported details of thwarted suicide attempts during the current deployment. The outlet said a spouse of one sailor described how the man tried to jump overboard after further extensions to time at sea left him exhausted. Another family member described a separate incident in which a sailor stopped a shipmate from attempting to jump, grabbing him and pulling him back on deck.
Congressional figures in California and Colorado also criticised conditions aboard the warship. Mike Levin, a Democratic representative, posted comments on X describing what he said were worsening daily conditions, including inadequate sanitation and extremely limited provisions. Jason Crow, another Democrat, said the pressure on service members and their families on the Lincoln was building steadily.
Warship redirected as fighting with Iran continues
The Lincoln left San Diego on 21 November and was originally expected to operate in the Pacific. The ship was then redirected to the Middle East after the start of the US-Israel war involving Iran, according to the reports.
MS Now said the 5,000-plus crew has had only two days on land since departure: in Guam in December and in Oman in July. The deployment was originally due to end in May but has been extended more than once as the wider conflict continued.
In April, public criticism grew after photos emerged showing what campaigners and lawmakers described as poor-quality and rationed food, along with reports of water shortages, mould in showers and broken laundry equipment. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed the accounts as “more fake news”, Levin later said he responded to the comment, arguing that service members still deserved basic amenities such as clean water, functioning toilets and adequate meals.
Navy response says no increase identified
The Guardian contacted the US Navy for comment on reports of attempts to jump overboard. After the article was published, a Navy official said the service recognised that extended deployments place significant strain on service members and their families and that it valued their “resilience and sacrifices”.
The official said that, based on information available to the command, there had been no identified increase in reported suicidal ideation or suicide attempts aboard the ship. The Navy also said religious, medical and mental health professionals were available as part of a “comprehensive support network”, including onboard deployment-resilience counsellors and chaplains.
The official said the war had disrupted some traditional supply routes, but added that reports from the ship confirm continuous access to clean water, functional air conditioning and “healthy meal options”.
Mental health strain on active-duty sailors
Mental health challenges for active-duty US sailors have been widely reported. A study published last year examined stress factors specific to deployed sailors and found that common concerns included loud noises, lack of rest and inadequate mental and physical healthcare. The researchers reported that almost half of deployed sailors surveyed said they were not receiving adequate help to cope with stress at sea, and concluded that improved access to care on ships was urgently needed given rates of military suicide, including within the Navy.

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13 August 2026

• USA

• 30 comments
• 1,261 views

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August 12Aug 12

3 Men Face Same-Day Execution as US Death Penalty Use Rises

USA

3 Men Face Same-Day Execution as US Death Penalty Use Rises

Three men convicted of murder in different US states are scheduled to be executed on Thursday, bringing into focus a sharp rise in capital punishment across the country.

After a 16-year gap in which three people were not executed on the same day, Anthony Darrell Hines, 66, is due to die in Tennessee. Jeremy Williams, 41, is set to be executed in Alabama, and Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, 71, faces execution in Oklahoma. All three are scheduled to be killed by lethal injection, though it remains unclear whether the executions will proceed without last-minute legal intervention.
Planned executions and legal uncertainty
Hines, who has maintained his innocence for four years and is bedridden, is due to be executed in Tennessee under the same protocol that failed 12 weeks earlier when Tony Von Carruthers was due to receive lethal injection.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee later granted Carruthers a one-year reprieve after the attempt, following witness accounts that the man showed signs of severe distress during the process. Lee said the execution was not botched and that a doctor was unable to establish intravenous access.
In Alabama, Williams is expected to be the state’s first execution of 2026. He was convicted of the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in 2021. Williams has dismissed his lawyers and has volunteered to be put to death. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has said she does not plan to grant clemency.
In Oklahoma, Cuesta-Rodriguez is also scheduled for Thursday’s lethal injection. He has asked for no clemency and no mercy for the murder of a woman in 2003, with experts saying his age increases the risk of a botched execution.
How the death penalty use has accelerated
The executions are taking place as the US records a steep increase in the number of people put to death. In 2025, there were 47 executions across 11 states, up from 25 in 2024. Overall, the number was more than four times higher than in 2021, even as juries and public opinion have become increasingly wary of capital punishment.
A key factor is the way federal and state authorities have used their powers to move cases forward. In the federal system, President Donald Trump ended a nearly two-decade moratorium on the death penalty during his first term, ordering 13 executions over six months in 2020. That moratorium was later reinstated under President Joe Biden.
On the first day of Trump’s second term in 2025, he signed an executive order re-instating the death penalty. No federal executions have been carried out since the order was signed, according to the article, but it encourages states to seek the death penalty for every federal crime in which a law enforcement officer is killed, and directs the attorney general to ensure states have sufficient drugs for lethal injections.
The US Department of Justice also expanded its execution protocols, including additional methods such as firing squads, and readopted lethal injections. The department said in April that it had streamlined internal processes to speed up death penalty cases.
Amnesty International USA said the full effect of these measures may not be seen for years because of the time taken by appeals after a conviction.
Florida and policy changes at state level
Executions in 2025 were heavily concentrated in Florida, which accounted for about 40% of the deaths. Just over halfway through 2026, 12 of the 19 planned executions occurred in Florida, making it a major driver of the national rise.
The Death Penalty Information Center said the state’s outsize role reflects changes championed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. In 2023, Florida reduced the number of jurors required to recommend death in the trial phase from a unanimous 12 to eight. The state also made sexual battery on a minor under 12 eligible as a capital offence.
Because governors can sign death warrants for prisoners with no further appeals without court oversight, Florida has been described as uniquely positioned to carry out executions. Pennsylvania has a similar process but has not executed anyone since 1999.
Growing concern over executions and support
Debate in the US has also focused on how executions are carried out. Pharmaceutical companies have opposed the use of their products for the death penalty, leading to shortages of drugs for lethal injection. In 2025, South Carolina began using firing squads due to the shortage.
Non-governmental monitoring groups have reported problems with execution procedures. The Death Penalty Information Center said an estimated 3% of executions from 1890 to 2010 were botched, with lethal injection having the highest rate. It also said that in 2022, more than a third of executions were botched or highly problematic.
Support for the death penalty has been weakening. A Gallup poll found 52% of Americans say it is morally acceptable, the lowest level since the 1970s. At the same time, fewer death sentences are being issued: juries handed down more than 300 death sentences a year in the 1990s, but in 2025 they issued only 23.

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13 August 2026

• 66 comments
• 545 views

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August 12Aug 12

AOC Moves Ahead of Newsom for 2028 Presidential Nomination

USA

AOC Moves Ahead of Newsom for 2028 Presidential Nomination

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has moved ahead of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in early prediction-market odds for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, according to data on Polymarket.

As of Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez had an 18% chance of winning the Democratic nomination on Polymarket. Newsom was listed at 17%, leaving Ocasio-Cortez narrowly in front.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) ranked third in the same market at about 16%, the data showed. The figures represent odds being offered and traded by participants as the race begins to take shape, rather than any official nomination process.
Focus after announcement on egg freezing
Ocasio-Cortez’s position in the market came as she drew heightened attention this week following her decision to freeze her eggs. She has also posted updates about the process on her social media accounts, which, according to the report, drew mixed reactions.
That publicity has led to increased visibility for her among voters and observers, but it has not changed the underlying point that the prediction-market odds are based on traders’ expectations.
Different markets show different favourites
While Ocasio-Cortez held the lead on Polymarket, traders on Kalshi still ranked Newsom as the favourite. The two platforms are tracking sentiment in separate sets of trades, and the early odds therefore do not match across the markets.
The split underscores that prediction markets can vary depending on who is trading, the pricing mechanisms used, and how quickly new information is reflected in each platform’s odds.
The early numbers, regardless of which candidate leads on a given site, are not formal polling and should not be treated as a direct guide to who is more likely to ultimately seek the nomination. Prediction-market prices can change as campaigns, fundraising and public statements evolve over time.

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13 August 2026

• 81 comments
• 556 views

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August 12Aug 12

Trump Approval Slides Again as Midterm Worry Grows: Poll

USA

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

• Trump

• 32 comments
• 427 views

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August 12Aug 12

Clacton By-election Puts Farage Versus Count Binface

UK-Politics

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

• 14 comments
• 124 views

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August 12Aug 12

Trump Flight Switch Underscores Iran Assassination Threat

Trump

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

• Iranian Conflict

• 18 comments
• 244 views

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August 12Aug 12

Karoline Leavitt to Depart as Trump’s Press Secretary

USA

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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August 12Aug 12

Harry Potter Fans Force Reroute of £430m Power Cable

UK

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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August 12Aug 12

Israel Accused of Starting Wildfires in South Lebanon

Middle East

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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August 12Aug 12

Trump Says US Has Total Control Over Strait of Hormuz

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

• Iranian Conflict

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August 12Aug 12

Trump Shifts Back to Sanctions to End Iran War

Iranian Conflict

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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August 12Aug 12

UK Government Faces Backlash Over Early Prison Releases

UK-Politics

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.
RELATED
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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August 11Aug 11