Top World News

Aug 5, 2026 - World

In today’s newsletter: The past week shows how quickly images, rumours and ​right-wing political opportunism can eclipse the facts on the groundGood morning. Last week, an estimated 72,000 migrants began crossing into a tiny Spanish enclave on the tip of Morocco. Within 24 hours, most of them had headed home. At least 88 people died after attempting the crossing, according to local officials. This isn’t the whole story of what happened over the last week, but the facts are worth remembering.At an emergency meeting yesterday, EU interior ministers sought to draw a line under Ceuta, insisting that the passport-free Schengen area had never been at risk from the arrival of migrants at this scale. Despite this, much of the media coverage has suggested that events in Ceuta represent a territorial threat to Europe, sparking calls for greater security across the region’s borders.Environment | Eight of the biggest oil companies amassed profits of more than $90bn (£67bn) in just three months as the Iran conflict sent energy prices soaring and the emissions-fuelled climate crisis caused deadly heatwaves.UK politics | Women should not feel pressurised into experiencing an “ideal birth”, the new health secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said, promising a root-and-branch reform of standards after several damning maternity scandals.Middle East | Jordan is convening an emergency meeting over an “imminent” threat of an Israeli takeover of the most important Muslim site in Jerusalem, with the potential to “trigger a religious conflict”.Ukraine | Russian strikes in and around Kyiv killed at least 14 people, ⁠injured 27 and ⁠damaged warehouses, ​emergency service officials said. Some reports put the death toll at 15.Ceuta | Hundreds of people have gathered in the northern Moroccan town of Fnideq, near the border with Spain’s Ceuta, flashing photos of their missing loved ones to passersby in the hope of tracking them down. Continue reading...

Aug 5, 2026 - World

Honda’s profit for the fiscal first quarter more than doubled from a year ago, as the Japanese automaker continues to tackle a turnaround from its first ever full year loss

Aug 5, 2026 - World

Child malnutrition has reached critical levels in a third of Afghanistan’s provinces, according to the U.N. World Food Program

Aug 5, 2026 - World

Spin Time provides homes, food banks and after-school clubs but the authorities have locked out residentsHundreds of people have spent a week sleeping in tents in the Rome heat amid a standoff between Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government and local politicians over the future of Italy’s most high-profile centre for housing and social assistance.A minor fire last week forced the evacuation of the building, occupied by grassroots groups since 2013, and it has remained closed as the Meloni government attempts to crack down on such squatted properties. Continue reading...

Aug 5, 2026 - World

Increasingly erratic weather patterns due to climate change mean people are losing homes, crops and livestockAs rain lashed the Pir Panjal mountains before dawn on 19 July, Haji Mohammad Latief stepped outside his home in Murrah, a remote mountain village in Indian-administered Kashmir. His daughter had asked him to move the family’s car to a safer place as the rain got heavier.“I had only just parked it,” Latief recalled. “When I turned around, I saw the water coming.” Minutes later, a cloudburst sent mud, boulders and water crashing down the hillside. Continue reading...