2026/08/20 Daily Edition

President Trump appeared to suggest that the United States would impose economic penalties on countries that do business with Iran, though he did not specify what actions he would take.

The 62-year-old said that his "world was turned upside down" when a brain tumour was discovered.

U Min Zin, a scholar who studied Myanmar, is one of two U.S. citizens the department has designated as wrongfully detained in China.

At least 50 people, mostly children, have died after a boat carrying farm labourers capsized in Nigeria.

Minteh targeted as replacement for Mohamed Salah Winger sidelined after recovering from leg surgery Liverpool have had a £50m bid for Yankuba Minteh rejected by Brighton. The club are looking to add two wide forwards to Andoni Iraola’s squad before the transfer deadline, with their pursuit of Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola continuing. Liverpool’s shortlist of targets also includes Minteh but Brighton, who have lost Danny Welbeck to Chelsea and have Kaoru Mitoma out injured, have rebuffed the approach for the 22-year-old winger...

Exchange for Change is running the new recycling programmes across the UK and will also run Wales's.

Latest profit warning is particularly disappointing in a World Cup year, which should have given the business a sporty buzz JD Sports cuts £50m from profit forecast as cost of living pressures hit trainer sales It was a slower quarter for “high-heat footwear product”, said JD Sports. It didn’t mean it was struggling to shift sandals during a heatwave. Rather, it was referring coyly to the big global trainer brands’ failure to come up with hot new designs. When Nike and Adidas, reckoned by City analysts to account for slightly more than half JD’s sales, are on tepid form, the self-styled “king of trainers” retailer usually is as well. The low-heat grumble will be familiar to JD’s shareholders. So, too, the one about “incremental cost of living pressures”, especially in the US. And the phrase “a promotional market” has appeared so often in the company’s updates in the past couple of years that it would be easier to tell us when discounting isn’t dominant...

Humanoid robots are at the forefront of China’s race for technological supremacy at Beijing’s World Robot Conference.

While President Trump has declared that the two countries effectively have a deal, they remain apart on several key issues.

A major wildfire is threatening communities in western Spain with more than 800 people evacuated.

Families in Gaza face devastating water shortages, leaving children with heavy responsibilities beyond their years.

A Swiss tourist has been sentenced to one year in prison in Bali for social media posts insulting Nyepi

Dr. Heidi Overton is currently working as a White House policy aide. If confirmed, she would lead an agency of 18,000 staffers who study and regulate food, drugs, medical devices, tobacco and more.

The U.S. federal debt hit a record $40 trillion this week. The debt has doubled since 2017, and just paying interest on the accumulated debt now costs the government more than $1 trillion a year.

Pre-tax profits rose at high street opticians to £429.7m in the year to February while sales rose 7% to £4.3bn Specsavers has paid £12m to its parent company controlled by founders Doug and Dame Mary Perkins after the high street opticians’ profits increased by more than a quarter. The group operates nearly 3,000 optometry, audiology and ophthalmology businesses globally in at least eight countries, including more than 1,200 in the UK, through hundreds of independent partners...

Alessandro Rapinese issues the prohibition for the historic city centre after an encounter with a cyclist last month.

Bernard Matthews Foods says its Shaftesbury Street factory will close by the end of 2026.

Critics in Liberia, a small West African nation, say their government has not explained why it agreed to one of the largest U.S. deportation deals, who the deportees are, or how they will be handled.

Maeve Plouffe says incident on Wednesday was ‘scary’ Josh Tarling to ride in Vuelta in memory of brother Fin The Australian rider Maeve Plouffe says she was nearly hit by a non-race car during the opening stage of the Tour of Britain Women. With cycling still coming to terms with the death at the Volta a Portugal of the 19-year-old British rider Finlay Tarling, who was last week killed in a collision with a vehicle that had entered the course, Plouffe said the incident occurred as she was chasing the peloton after a puncture on Wednesday...

A barn owl stranded some 70 nautical miles out to sea was rescued by an astonished British Army sailing crew competing in a gruelling race around Britain and Ireland.

Authorities were warned about the dangers of hitting Mohammad Ghamira, who suffered from the rare medical condition haemophilia.

Hundreds of migrants are being removed from their makeshift camps on a beach in Ceuta, Spain.

Spanish authorities have cleared the El Trampolín beach area in Ceuta, relocating around 1,500 migrants and asylum seekers according to official government figures. This large-scale operation addresses the humanitarian crisis triggered when thousands of migrants crossed the border from Morocco on 30 and 31 July.

The Spanish government announced on Thursday the creation of shelters for 1,800 migrants in Ceuta in a bid to relieve the humanitarian crisis there following last month's influx from Morocco. Some 72,000 migrants breached the border in an unprecedented and deadly rush into the north African territory on July 30-31, with 70,000 having since returned to Morocco, according to Spanish government figures. FRANCE 24's Sarah Morris reports from Madrid, Spain.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has announced the creation of a specialised unit to strengthen the fight against cyberattacks. It follows a series of hacks on the websites of French government services that have highlighted vulnerabilities in IT security. So what tools are available to take down cyber attackers – and do they go far enough?

The code-hopping winger is one of the hottest properties in world rugby but says she feels ‘vulnerable’ ahead of her eagerly-anticipated first 15s Test cap Maddison Levi is widely considered the most exciting rugby player in the country. But this weekend the Gold Coast 24-year-old is a “vulnerable” rookie as she faces up to the biggest challenge of her career: finally making her hotly-anticipated debut in the 15-a-side game for Australia in a historic Test against New Zealand on Saturday. “I’m really excited,” Levi says. “Representing Australia in two codes is a pretty special achievement and this is a new environment and a massive challenge. I know I’ll probably make mistakes out there and I’m feeling pretty vulnerable but I’ve always set myself high standards and this is about me becoming a better player.”..

As yields are dragged higher in the UK, Europe and Japan, the impact for consumers and businesses will be far-reaching Government borrowing costs around the world have surged to the highest levels in decades amid growing fears over US bond market turmoil. Anxiety about Donald Trump’s handling of the US economy, and concern that the US president’s war with Iran is driving up inflation, are triggering a sell-off in the US bond market...

Coventry’s £26m record signing from Nordsjælland, a Right to Dream academy alumnus, can make a top-flight splash It is mid-July in Kössen, an Austrian village on the edge of the Alps, close to the German border, at Nordsjælland’s pre-season camp. The Danish Superliga club’s coaching staff, including Michael Essien, are preparing for the new campaign, the stunning scenery par for the course. Every training session is recorded by a drone. The operator with the joystick in his hands? Well, that would be Caleb Yirenkyi, the Ghana midfielder who returned a week early from his post-World Cup break. He requested to join his teammates in the drills, but after physios told the 20-year-old he required more rest Yirenkyi did the next best thing. It is a story that speaks volumes of his modest character and, a month on, he is poised to make his Premier League debut at Arsenal on Friday after Coventry made him their £26m record signing...

Stadium has hosted two men’s World Cup finals Arena Itaquera in São Paulo will host 10 matches The Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro will host the opening game and the final of next year’s Women’s World Cup. The 78,838-capacity stadium, which hosted the finals of the 1950 and 2014 men’s World Cups as well as the finals of the Olympic football competitions in 2016, will be the venue for Brazil’s Group A match on 24 June and the final on 25 July. Fifa released the schedule on Thursday for all 64 matches for the tournament, which features 32 teams. The draw will take place this year after more of the qualification playoffs have been contested...

Midfielder linked with £120m move to Manchester City Chelsea still interested in Bournemouth’s Alex Scott Xabi Alonso has refused to offer any guarantee that Chelsea will hold firm if Manchester City try to sign Enzo Fernández. Fernández’s future remains up in the air and the prospect of him leaving Stamford Bridge has not gone away, even though Chelsea’s unofficial deadline for clubs to make written bids of £120m for the 25-year-old Argentina midfielder has already passed. City, who are also tracking Roma’s Manu Koné, have targeted Fernández as part of their midfield rebuild following Rodri’s move to Barcelona and are weighing up whether to make a move before the transfer window shuts...

Russia launched a hours-long overnight barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones across Kyiv.

Riyadh sees Sudan’s unity and stability as inseparable from its own security across the Red Sea.

Looking for a new reading recommendation? Here are some wonderful new paperbacks, from a short story collection by a literary great to razor-sharp criticism..

As the self-professed geeky rockers release their conceptual 20th album, Rivers Cuomo and Patrick Wilson discuss dodging failure, being saved by fans and their obsessive creativity The first song Rivers Cuomo wrote for Weezer’s new album, their 20th, blatantly mimics the US rockers’ 1994 debut single, Undone (The Sweater Song). On the track CEO, the singer-guitarist grumbles over a slow, Velvets-y backing about having to crank out “another 90s jam” and wishing he could do “something new – but nobody wants to hear that”. It’s a deliciously meta moment, but also one that allows Cuomo to gently vent “my frustrations over people wanting me to just write songs about our first two albums”. Cuomo wrote the song straight after SZNZ, the four-album song-cycle Weezer released throughout 2022, each album named after a season. That project fed his notoriously intense, analytic and occasionally obsessive approach to songwriting. Thanks to the kind of data artists have at their fingertips in the streaming age, though, he realised that, with each subsequent SZNZ, “fewer and fewer people were listening to them”...

The US government is intensifying efforts to unify the country's two rival governments.

Derailed carriages lifted using two cranes as workers operate under ‘very challenging circumstances’ Business live – latest updates The East Sussex railway line on which a train derailed will reopen in September as crews continue to remove the carriages that left the track. Rail bosses said they were prioritising reopening the route before the end of the school holidays, despite recovery workers operating under “very challenging circumstances”...

Iran's deep trade ties with Beijing and Moscow could prove difficult for the US to disrupt, say analysts.

Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani's detention is "unjustified and disproportionate", Reporters Without Borders says.

Mining activity caused a deadly slope collapse in Narino, claiming 13 lives and injuring seven others.

Iran's foreign minister has dismissed Trump’s latest threats, calling them a “diversion" from America’s own crisis."

A Russian missile barrage overnight on Thursday killed at least 16 people and wounded 40 in Kyiv as explosions echoed across the capital. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had been preparing the attack "for a long time".

Vessel expected to replace USS Lincoln after reports of dire conditions on board raised questions over US war planning.

Four members of an indigenous family are among the dead, witnesses said.

Longtime Stars and Stripes publisher Max D Lederer Jr announced his resignation over clashes with the Pentagon.

Updates from all Thursday’s races at York Unexpected Item claims International Stakes There’s a jockey change in this race, by the way, as Tony Piccone’s flight from France to ride Tokaido was cancelled. Clifford Lee steps in to chase a share of the £300k first prize. 2.25 York, Harry’s Half Million by Goffs, 6f, 2yo..

Updates as County Championship returns Sign up for the Spin | Mail Tanya No play at three grounds for now: Old Trafford, Edgbaston, and here at Derby where thunder has just rolled alluringly. Arrive at Derby in teeming rain. Apparently Ben Stokes had a net at 8.30am but it all looks very soggy now...

Crustaceans are the subject of tests to see if alkalis added to seawater, so it absorbs more CO2, harm marine life. But Trump’s halt to funding threatens to scupper the research For many in the US region of New England, the lobster roll is synonymous with summertime. Loaded into a toasted bun, chunks of the sweet meat are served hot and soaked in butter, or chilled and slathered in mayonnaise with celery and herbs. The only thing more debated than the recipe is the price: the once-humble roll now routinely fetches $30 (£22), or even $50, in a sign of the changing times – and seas. Scott Lord brings in his catch of lobster to the wharf in Tenants Harbor, Maine..

Suella Braverman also advised student's "not to get ripped off by the great university scam".

Fedorov, a popular figure, is challenging Zelenskyy but holding a vote under Russia's bombs is near impossible.

Berlin has recorded roughly 14,000 heat-related deaths this summer, official data showed Thursday. Europe has experienced a spike in heat-related mortality as the worst-hit countries grapple with historically high temperatures exacerbated by human-driven climate change.

Dozens of questions swirled Thursday as Prince Harry prepares to move back to the UK with his wife and children, six years after his departure sparked a bitter rift with the royal family. In a surprise move, Harry and Meghan "plan to leave the United States by the end of the month to settle in a private, non-royal residence, which is said to be located outside London", The Daily Telegraph reported late on Wednesday. FRANCE 24's Delano D'Souza tells us more.

🇪🇸 🌍 🔎 In Ceuta, the fate of migrants who crossed into the Spanish enclave at the end of July remains murky, but the trauma of the precarious journey remains. Most of the migrants who remain are forced to sleep in dangerous conditions, many among them unaccompanied minors. Meanwhile, the families of those who attempted the crossing have little to no news of what happened to their loved ones. FRANCE 24’s Hamza Hahboub, back from the enclave, brings you up-to-speed on the situation.

Heavy borrowing, increased spending and tax cuts by Democratic and Republican administrations have long raised concern.

Pakistan says the comments contradict Washington’s position, but experts see them as a diplomatic misstep.

The International Criminal Court on Wednesday slammed the latest US sanctions targeting senior ICC staff, including its president, as a “flagrant attack” on the global tribunal's independence and vowed to continue seeking justice for atrocities around the world. The State Department announced Tuesday that it had hit ICC president Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, who is from Senegal, with sanctions that freeze any assets they have in US jurisdictions or come into contact with the U.S. financial system.

Club relegated from the Premier League last season appeals to fans to stop 'anti-Palestine message'.

After five years of isolation, Myanmar's post-coup leadership is trying to boost its legitmacy.

Funerals take place weeks after the bodies of 112 Palestinians were buried in another mass funeral.

US President Donald Trump has announced a new campaign to isolate Iran and punish its trading partners.

Investigators believe they have identified an arsonist who attacked a Jewish community centre in Munich in 1970, killing seven people.