2026/08/17 Daily Edition

The Berkshire film studio was previously home to iconic horror studio Hammer Films.

As we hit peak holiday season, the BBC looks at the dos and don'ts of composing a good out-of-office message.

Trump's son-in-law and envoy says US will not 'restrict Israel's right to defend itself' as strikes on Gaza continue.

Protesters in South Africa gather outside of a meeting of regional leaders demanding that they fetch their people. Frustration continues to fester on all sides as Pretoria tries to repair fractured relationships with its neighbours whilst placating the powerful anti-migrant movement.

Study finds older adults could face harmful heat stress at just 1.5C of warming above preindustrial levels People aged 60 and over face dangers to their health from exposure to heat at much lower temperatures than previously thought, research has found. Older adults will bear the brunt of increasingly frequent sustained spells of extreme heat globally as the world continues to warm up, according to a study in The Lancet Public Health...

A week after a deadly quake, Colombia turns from rescue efforts to shelter, aid and rebuilding.

Senior Fifa figure Kevin Lamour is sacked by football's world governing body three weeks after criticising its president Gianni Infantino.

Prosecutors claim Duane Davis was ‘on-site commander’ in murder of Shakur, who died after drive-by shooting in 1996.

Levels in Lakes Mead and Powell have not been so low since 1957, underscoring a water crisis that plagues seven states that rely on the Colorado River.

As the number of data centers across the U.S. continues to increase, so does public opposition. That has some cities changing their standards for what acceptable data center development looks like.

UN peacekeeping force recorded an average of 137 projectiles fired daily in the region over the last two weeks.

Videos show the first moments Palestinian-American Loui Ridi arrived at his home in Qusra.

The actor does a brilliant job of probing the alleged dumping of ‘forever chemicals’ in Wales. After grilling a stranger for two days, his investigation turns up horrible incidents – including potential links to cancer cases You may scoff at celebrity-fronted documentaries, but there’s no need to moan about Buried With Michael Sheen, an investigation into how toxic “forever chemicals” were dumped in Welsh quarries in the middle of the 20th century. Much of our knowledge of the subject comes from a filmed interview given nearly 10 years ago by the environmental campaigner Douglas Gowan, who, after decades of trying to raise awareness, had only weeks to live and wanted to divulge all he had learned. The person behind the camera and asking the questions? Sheen. The actor and director is a little coy about how or why he came to spend two days – two days! – grilling a stranger to create the most valuable document we have about an underappreciated injustice. He says something about stumbling across Gowan online during a career lull and wanting to know more. But however it happened, the fact is that the best qualified person to present this two-parter is the award-winning Hollywood star, so here he is...

Heavy rains have flooded oads in Lima, while river overflows, landslides, and road closures continue to affect Peru.

Trump says Iran will not make the deal he believes is necessary

New poll found a majority of US citizens concerned about the US war on Iran.

Test captaincy came too soon for 27-year-old but Pakistan series is latest chapter in year that could be the making of him You have to hand it to Bazball. Even when seemingly killed off, and the England team it left behind is thousands of miles away, preparing for a series against Pakistan, it has still managed to muscle its way into the fallout from Bangladesh’s seismic victory over Australia in Darwin. Talk about main character energy. By definition, that nine-wicket victory for Bangladesh was no fluke. Najmul Hossain Shanto’s men didn’t jag a tight one but rather dominated their hosts over four days. And in doing so, they also managed to unite Ashes rivals by demonstrating what a golden opportunity England blew against Australia’s greybeards last winter...

Search efforts to recover the remaining victims are still underway.

Football's world governing body, FIFA, has sacked one of its most senior figures after he criticised Gianni Infantino's plan to sell part of the World Cup to investors, Sky News understands.

Supreme Court ruling supports Kremlin's clampdown on the political party ahead of September's parliamentary vote.

Lev Shlosberg, a senior member of the Yabloko party, was sentenced to 11 years and one month in prison on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US envoy Jared Kushner agreed Monday that an American general would oversee the disarmament of Hamas, an Israeli official said, as Netanyahu insisted Israel would not withdraw from Gaza until the group gives up its weapons.The understanding comes as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to revive its Gaza peace plan amid tensions with Netanyahu.

The spotlight on the country’s only antiwar party has brought a spark to what had looked like another dull, tightly controlled election campaign.

The Australian, who notoriously poisoned her family members, is trying to overturn her conviction.

The prime minister announced on Monday €12m worth of aid to French regions that had been worst affected by the fires.

Abbott accuses airports of religious discrimination over wudu stations, calls for federal investigation.

US president’s abrupt order to scale back joint exercises with Seoul is meant to ‘flatter’ North Korea’s dictator, top Democrat says US politics live – latest updates Donald Trump’s move to gut Washington’s 73-year-old military alliance with Seoul has been called “inane” and “shortsighted” as lawmakers warned it risked strengthening Russia’s hand in Ukraine. The US president abruptly ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea just days after North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles, justifying the decision by citing his “very good relationship” with Kim Jong-Un, the nuclear-armed dictator such exercises exist to deter...

Family members allege security officers ignored warnings about the man's hemophilia and subjected him to severe abuse.

Teenager’s glorious strike made it 2-0 against Villarreal – but though they were pegged back to a draw the match sealed a feelgood return from the abyss “The poor kid couldn’t believe what had happened; none of us could have if we’d just done what he had just done,” said Álvaro Mantilla, Racing Santander’s captain in the match they had longed for more than anything in the world. Which was why the kid – a 19-year-old from just along the coast who had been at the club half his life – wasn’t the only one crying. The day Sergio Martínez played his first game for Racing, he had climbed into the stand to hug his grandad; the day he played his first in primera, on Sunday afternoon at the Sardinero, he just about managed to stand before it, legs giving way a little and tears coming to his eyes. All around him they felt it too, 22,413 people absolutely losing it. What he had just done was, well, everything. At least that’s how it felt right then. “Euphoria”, his captain called it. In his first game in the first division, his third start ever, Sergio hadn’t just scored; he had scored the kind of goal you get in a comic, all explosions and exclamation marks. The ball sat up like an invitation and Kapow! – Sergio smashed it on the bounce, a cartoon arrow drawn to the top corner. It tore through the air and through time, flashing past at 126km an hour and 14 years a second, so Sergio ran to the corner, holding the badge he has worn since he was 10. There, there was a wobble as it came to him just what he had done. Bloody hell, this was actually happening...

Government concedes ‘significant opposition’ requires new approach on quotas for medium-sized development sites Ministers have dropped plans to relax affordable housing rules for developers in England after a backlash from housing experts who warned it could drastically cut the number of cheaper homes available in rural areas. The government said on Monday it would not go ahead with proposals to end affordable housing quotas for private builders on sites between 10 and 49 houses after a consultation triggered an overwhelmingly negative response...

Heavy clashes broke out in Baidoa, Somalia between federal troops and armed opposition groups.

The data center, one of the world’s largest, could cost as much as $500 billion and will be leased by OpenAI.

The cause of the blast and the number of casualties have not been confirmed, with the Taliban government yet to comment.

US envoy Jared Kushner met Hamas leaders in Egypt and Israeli PM Netanyahu to push Trump’s 15-point Gaza roadmap.

On Monday, Israel's governing party will determine its candidate list for the next election.

The FBI has warned of 'malicious actors' misusing AI to impersonate senior government officials.

Lev Schlosberg is found guilty of "discrediting" Russia's army - a verdict he condemns as punishment for his political position.

Vegetable and grain growers call for urgent action, warning of ‘catastrophic’ harvests due to continent-wide drought Successive intense heatwaves and an increasingly severe, continent-wide drought have left many of Europe’s farmers in an “unprecedented” crisis, with vegetable and grain growers in particular warning of “catastrophic” harvests. French vegetable production is down by “a very significant extent” compared with previous years, French growers have said, with shortfalls put at 25% for courgettes, 35% for lettuces, 40% for peas, 60% for broccoli and 50% to 100% for artichokes...

Somali forces repel rebel fighters in Baidoa after intense fighting involving explosives and dozens of casualties.

As an earthquake tore apart homes, buildings and bridges in eastern Indonesia on Saturday, Maria Florida Nogo Kelen was giving birth to her daughter. The 39-year-old went in for emergency surgery during the quake that killed 68 people.

Iran is offering $30,000 for captured or killed US soldiers. Trump cuts back South Korea drills.

Russia’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld the exclusion of liberal opposition party Yabloko from September’s legislative elections, eliminating the country’s only explicitly anti-war party from the ballot, as dozens of the party's supporters were detained outside the court. The decision comes amid a wider crackdown on critics of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Deputy leader says it is ‘arrogant’ to try to halt global heating, despite UK being left reeling by summer firewave Reform’s deputy leader has dismissed efforts to tackle climate breakdown as futile, as he urged British people to “enjoy” the warmth of the recent heatwaves. Richard Tice told a press conference on Monday he believed it was “arrogant” to try to stop the climate emergency and added that politicians should focus instead on adaptation efforts, while encouraging people to focus on upsides such as better English wine...

While Moscow is stripping citizenship rights, European states are curbing access to legal status for Russian emigres.

The US president has already paid the writer over $5m in damages in the assault and defamation case.

Spotify, LinkedIn and others are trying to dig out of a digital sewage heap full of low-quality content made with artificial intelligence.

Industrial output and retail sales slump in July after one of the country’s weakest quarterly growth rates ever China’s economy is showing signs of extending a slowdown with a slump in industrial output and retail sales in July, adding to pressure on Beijing to intervene with measures to support activity. After the world’s second largest economy posted one of its lowest quarterly growth readings on record in the three months to June, the latest figures suggest it continued to falter in July...

FairSquare says the FIFA president should not be able to run again under the world football organisation's statutes.

The armed group, based in Yemen and backed by Iran, said it had launched missiles near the vital maritime trade route, in a conflict that shows no sign of abating.

President also claims US is in direct contact with IRGC, denies a rush to end conflict ahead of November's US midterms.

Video footage released by police on Sunday shows Slovak bomb disposal experts executing a mine detonation.

Concern over impact of Iran war pushes up government bond yields in US, UK, France, Germany and Japan Government borrowing costs in several advanced economies hit their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, or even earlier, on Monday, as investors feared the Middle East crisis would keep inflation persistently high. Concerns over rising prices, and government spending, pushed up the cost of debt issued by Paris, Berlin, Washington DC, Tokyo and London, as investors fretted that rising prices would push up interest rates...

The president also told Fox News the US had a direct backchannel with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - something it denies.

Court issues notice to Union government and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board in petition challenging provisions of the Act, which limit liability of operators of nuclear installations, suppliers, manufacturers, etc

Nearly 10 years after the attempted referendum on Catalan independence which led to violent clashes between the public and the police, the political demands of the independence movement have not been met. ENTR travelled to Catalonia in June to meet with young people there who are continuing the fight to preserve Catalan identity – not with politics, but with culture.

Global condemnation of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians

Twelve people including the captain are on board the vessel named Kate, in the latest attempt to deliver aid.

Iran's more offensive posture follows Trump's comment that the US would soon make the Strait of Hormuz its territory.

Rescuers found a 29-year-old man in serious condition on the volcano’s eastern slope on Sunday. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital in Catania.

As Trump pushes allies to do more for their own defence, three US partners have created a security pact of their own.