Majority-owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, the refinery emerged as a big winner ‌from the Iran war by selling jet fuel across Africa and to western Europe as countries battled shortages.

Dangote now plans to raise funds to expand the capacity of the 650,000-barrel-per-day Lagos-based refinery and replicate its success with a similar facility in Kenya.

His ambition is to reduce Africa’s dependence on expensive, imported fuels and even turn the continent into an exporter.

The planned IPO, whose proposed timeline is fairly tight according to the source, has attracted interest across the continent. Stock exchanges in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, ​Ghana and Rwanda have held a series of meetings with the refinery’s advisers in recent months to take part in the deal.

Kenya’s capital markets could raise as much as $500 million of the Dangote ​IPO target, the source said, adding that there is “tremendous” appetite for the issue among local investors such as pension funds.

A second source with direct knowledge of ⁠the deal said Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals FZE, which has submitted its IPO application to Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission, is expected to receive approval in the coming weeks and be able to publish a prospectus ​in September.

The first source said the IPO’s target was $5 billion but cautioned that the final figure would depend on what the Nigerian regulator approved, as the primary listing will be on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

That target ​would account for just over 4% of Nigeria’s main All Share Index, whose total capitalisation stood at $116 billion on Tuesday.

$40 BILLION VALUATION LOOKS AMBITIOUS

The source did not have information on how big a stake would be offered to the public or the potential valuation. However, a $2.5 billion private placement for a 6% stake in the refinery last month gave the business a valuation of around $40 billion, the second source with knowledge of that deal said.

Such a valuation looks ambitious based on the value ​of other stand-alone oil refiners. Turkey’s Tupras, which has the same capacity as Dangote across four refineries, has a market value of just $12 billion.

HF Sinclair listed in New York, has a capacity of 678,000 bpd ​and a market capitalisation of $16 billion.

Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is confidential.

Dangote did not respond to a request for comment.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange has a minimum free float of 20% on its main board. However ‌, there have ⁠been exceptions to that rule. The free float for Dangote Cement, another business in Dangote’s industrial empire, is just over 12.7%.

The first source said that other capital markets on the continent that want a slice of the deal will have to craft “structured solutions” for their investors, such as global depositary receipts, or exchange-traded instruments, which mirror the actual shares to be listed on the Nigerian exchange, including the right to accrue future dividends.

A cross-listing, or dual listing, of the shares in other regional markets is not planned at this stage, the source said. The Dangote refinery, which cost around $20 billion, started operations in 2024 before attaining full capacity earlier this ​year. Nigeria’s state oil firm NNPC has a stake ​of just over 7% in it.

Aliko Dangote, 69, ⁠said in April the refinery was aiming to raise its output to 1.4 million barrels per day.

WEALTHIEST MAN IN AFRICA

With an estimated net worth of between $31 billion and $35 billion, Dangote owns a conglomerate that includes production of cement, sugar and salt, and car and truck assembly plants in more than a dozen African countries.

He ​is keen for the IPO to be a pan-African venture, the source said, in line with his vision of helping the continent find local solutions for ​its development challenges.

The source said ⁠the aim was to enable capital markets across the continent to participate in “an African champion”.

Details of whether regional capital markets will get pre-allocations, and the possibility of underwriting, or whether they will be allowed to participate in an open offer whose allocations will be determined later based on the strength of the overall demand for the whole offering, will be worked out at a later date, the source said.

Dangote often boasts of being one of the few ⁠African billionaires who ​have kept their vast wealth at home in Nigeria instead of stashing it in offshore accounts.

He is also planning to start ​the construction of a refinery along the Kenyan coast together with East African governments, but the source did not know if some of the cash to be raised from the IPO could be deployed towards that project.

Dangote will offer investors the option of being paid ​in naira or dollars, the first source said.

President John Dramani Mahama made the declaration while addressing a special sitting of Jamaica’s Parliament on Tuesday as part of his State Visit to the Caribbean nation.

He commended the Jamaican government and people for advancing the global campaign for reparatory justice and reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to supporting efforts aimed at addressing the historical consequences of the transatlantic slave trade.

Jamaica announced in June that government officials would travel to the United Kingdom in September to formally present a petition to King Charles III, who serves as Jamaica’s Head of State.

The petition is expected to seek legal guidance on Jamaica’s claim for reparations from Britain over its role in the transatlantic slave trade and slavery.

President Mahama also disclosed plans to champion a continental initiative that will make it easier for people of African descent in the diaspora to return to Africa, settle and access residency or citizenship opportunities when he assumes the Chairmanship of the African Union (AU).

He said the initiative would form part of broader efforts to strengthen ties between Africa and the diaspora and address the historical separation caused by slavery and colonialism.

The proposed “right of return” framework is based on the principle that people of African descent whose ancestors were forcibly taken from Africa through the transatlantic slave trade should have pathways to return, establish residence and potentially acquire citizenship in African countries.

President Mahama is expected to use Ghana’s historical role in the transatlantic slave trade and its position as a key destination for diaspora engagement to advance discussions on reparatory justice and stronger Africa-diaspora relations at the continental level.

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According to President Mahama, expanding the AfCFTA framework to accommodate Caribbean nations will strengthen economic relations between Africa and the Caribbean while creating new opportunities for trade, investment and economic cooperation.

He made the remarks during a joint press conference with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness as part of his official visit to Jamaica.

President Mahama said while increasing trade volumes between Africa and the Caribbean would require deliberate efforts, investment in infrastructure and logistics, as well as the expansion of the trade area, would be critical to achieving that goal.

“With regards to trade, we don’t kid ourselves that you snap your fingers and suddenly our trade volumes will go up. We need to work at it. And that is why I said one way of working at it is to put in the infrastructure and the logistics. But the second is to expand the trade area.

“And that is why I said as chair of the AU, I am going to push for the inclusion of the Caribbean into the African Continental Free Trade Area.”

The President explained that the AfCFTA is designed to facilitate trade among participating countries through the harmonisation of product standards and certification processes.

He noted that once a product meets the required standards and is approved by the relevant national standards authority, it can be registered for export to other markets within the trade area.

“The way the African Continental Free Trade Area works is that we harmonise our standards. And once you get approval from your standards authority that your product is of the standard that you can export, then they put you on a register.

“And if you go on, you can see which commodities qualify. They can be electrical cables. They can be transformers. They can be iron and steel products. They can be processed food products.

“I mean, there are so many pharmaceutical products. And so once you go in there and you decide to trade, you go on the platform. It will get you in touch with the producer in whichever country.”

President Mahama said the proposed closer economic integration between Africa and the Caribbean could provide a platform for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic to explore new markets, partnerships and investment opportunities.

He stressed that strengthening trade links would build on the longstanding historical and cultural connections between Africa and the Caribbean while creating practical economic benefits for businesses and citizens in both regions.

Front-month Brent futures rose $1.12, or 1.3%, to $84.89 a barrel by 0355 GMT after dropping 7% in the previous session to a three-week low.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up ​77 cents, or 1%, at $81.11 after falling more than 5% in the previous session to stand at its ​lowest in nearly a week.

Prices dropped after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was ⁠holding off on new attacks on Iran pending ongoing talks to end their war and settle claims over control of the key ​Strait of Hormuz.

The strategic waterway, which connects Gulf oil producers to global markets, was a channel for about a fifth of ​global shipments of crude oil and natural gas before the conflict.

However, on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei rejected Trump’s claim, saying no negotiations with the U.S. were taking place and no meetings were scheduled.

“The scale of the sell-off seems fairly overdone, given that there’s still considerable uncertainty. ​We’ve been in this situation multiple times before, only to see things unravel,” ING analysts said in a note.

“And with Iran ​denying that any talks are underway and Trump issuing warnings if no deal materialises, the backdrop clearly leaves ample room for a renewed ‌escalation.”

The Hormuz ⁠dispute is a central sticking-point in talks. Washington says the memorandum of understanding agreed in June required Iran to open the waterway, while Tehran says the text explicitly preserved its authority.

Analysts at Barclays said crude oil and refined product net exports through the strait averaged 4.2 million barrels per day in the week ended July 31, versus 3.2 million the previous week.

In the ​Red Sea, six Saudi-flagged supertankers changed course ​in the Gulf of ⁠Aden recently for southern Africa, while two tankers laden with Saudi oil crossed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, shipping data showed on Monday.

Shipping traffic at the key Gulf waterways of Bab el-Mandeb and ​the Strait of Hormuz held largely unchanged at the start of the week.

Hormuz remains dangerous for ​vessels. On Tuesday, ⁠the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency flagged an incident 20 nautical miles (37 km) northeast of Oman’s Al Khasab, after a cargo vessel broadcast over VHF channel 16 that it had been hit by an unknown projectile.

“While the fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis ⁠has not ​completely halted energy flows, it has forced longer voyage times, higher insurance ​costs and occasional diversions,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

“With the Strait of Hormuz, it keeps a dual-chokepoint risk in the market that prevents ​oil from fully unwinding its geopolitical premium.”

The meeting, held in Kingston, focused on expanding Ghana–Jamaica relations through enhanced collaboration in trade and investment, education, tourism, culture, agriculture and other areas of mutual interest.

President Mahama and his delegation were formally received at King’s House by Jamaica’s Governor-General, Sir Patrick Allen, and Lady Allen, where the Ghanaian leader was accorded a ceremonial welcome and inspected a Guard of Honour.

He later paid a courtesy call on the Governor-General before proceeding to the Office of the Prime Minister for talks with Dr Holness.

The two leaders held a private meeting before leading their respective delegations in formal bilateral discussions aimed at identifying new opportunities to strengthen economic and diplomatic cooperation between the two countries.

According to the Presidency, the discussions also reaffirmed the shared commitment of Ghana and Jamaica to deepening Africa–Caribbean partnerships and promoting closer collaboration on regional and global issues.

The talks further explored ways to boost trade and investment, expand educational and cultural exchanges, enhance tourism, and increase cooperation in agriculture.

The day’s engagements concluded with a joint media briefing at the Executive Building, where President Mahama and Prime Minister Holness highlighted the outcomes of their discussions and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the longstanding historical and diplomatic ties between Ghana and Jamaica.

President Mahama’s visit forms part of efforts to deepen Ghana’s engagement with Caribbean nations, promote South-South cooperation, and strengthen economic, cultural and political relations between Africa and the Caribbean.

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Christopher Phillips, 60, was arrested after the body of Sylvia Phillips, 89, was found by officers in February at Poplar Crescent, Porthcawl, Bridgend county.

She had died in March 2023.

Phillips had told doctors he “did not want to let her go” and “wanted more time” after her death.

Sylvia Phillips was discovered wrapped in a leopard print silk blanket, with yellow and pink roses placed on her body, as well as a birthday card signed from him and the family dog Tina.

“To Mum, from Christopher and Tina,” the card read.

Phillips admitted three offences including failing to lawfully and decently bury his mother and continuing to claim her pension and benefits including housing benefits and winter fuel allowances.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard Phillips had been adopted by Sylvia Phillips at the age of two, was “exceptionally close” to her and was her sole carer.

The day after she died on 8 March 2023 her son held her in his arms and told her he would look after her, the court was told.

Two days after her death, Phillips bought a chest freezer from AO.com, placing it in the dining room of the semi-detached home. She remained there until her body was discovered by police who carried out a welfare check requested by her GP.

The court was told that the local medical practice had made repeated attempts to contact her but were denied access by her son.

When police went to the house, Phillips said his mother had moved to London and did not want to undergo medical tests.

The court heard officers became suspicious, with Phillips seen trembling and fidgeting. He ran upstairs and later could be heard telling a girlfriend on the phone that the “police are going to arrest me, you’ve got the will”.

Officers who opened the freezer found that the 89-year-old was completely frozen and it was some time before a post-mortem was able to be carried out. The pathologist has been unable to ascertain a cause of death, but there were not thought to be suspicious circumstances.

The court heard Phillips moved downstairs to sleep next to his mother’s body. At times he would open the freezer and hold her hand.

Sylvia Phillips had 26 appointments with her local GP practice in 2021, and six in 2022, after which there was no further contact.

The court heard she was last seen in A&E on 24 September 2022 and her local GP made a house call on 26 September but her son continued to pick up her prescriptions.

Sylvia Phillips was invited to a review by the practice, but her son said she would not come to the surgery and she did not need the blood tests.

Christopher Phillips received a total of £78,190.92 in state pension, pensions credit, attendance allowance, winter fuel payments, cost-of-living payments and housing benefit payments, which would have ceased had the death been reported.

He had been her primary carer since 2008, and the court heard he had resigned from his job in late 2022 when her health declined further. The pair were described as “somewhat isolated”.

Ruth Smith, defending, said Phillips had told police: “I basically didn’t want to let her go.”

She added: “He described talking to her as if she was still alive… Sitting next to her, talking to her about television programmes, Coronation Street, the horse racing, just as they always did,” she said, adding that he was a “vulnerable individual”.

Phillips sobbed in the dock as Smith said her client was “extremely close to his mother” and was in “extreme grief” following her death.

She said he showed a “lack of acceptance” about her passing and “had almost created a false narrative that she was still alive”.

Sentencing Phillips, Judge Lloyd-Clarke said he had “deliberately concealed” his mother’s death and “took steps to give the impression that she was still alive”.

“You continued to collect her prescription and lied to medical professionals and eventually the police,” Lloyd-Clarke added.

“Rather than notify the authorities and make arrangements for her lawful burial, you purchased a chest freezer on March 10th and concealed her body within it,” she said.

Lloyd-Clarke added that a timescale for confiscation proceedings would follow.

The incident is said to have occurred on the morning of Sunday, August 2, as worshippers gathered for church amid rainfall.

According to eyewitnesses in a video circulating online, panic erupted when at least seven heavily armed men stormed the church and forcibly whisked away some members of the congregation, including a seminarian.

Residents said some worshippers who were on their way to the church encountered people fleeing the premises, who informed them that the attackers had already abducted several victims.

Locals claimed they attempted to pursue the kidnappers into the surrounding area but were unable to confront them because the assailants were heavily armed while residents had no weapons.

They appealed to the government to strengthen security in the area, saying communities are increasingly vulnerable to attacks and lack the means to defend themselves.

The residents also expressed frustration that even local vigilante groups are not adequately equipped to respond to such incidents.

According to them, one of the abducted victims had recently returned to the community to bury his father before the attack occurred.

Authorities are yet to officially confirm the number of people abducted or provide further details on efforts to rescue the victims.

The attack is the second major Russian aerial assault in two days, with the Kremlin apparently seeking to expose Kyiv’s shortages of key defense systems as it struggles to make advances along the vast front line.

At least nine people were killed and 30 wounded in the latest attack on Ukraine, including four children, with strikes targeting the capital Kyiv and surrounding regions, according to the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Only one of the 27 ballistic missiles launched by Russia was shot down.

The Ukrainian president has often appealed to Western nations to provide much-needed air defense systems to protect Ukraine’s cities and critical infrastructure from aerial attacks. The country is facing a shortage of US-made interceptors for Patriots – the only defense system that can bring down certain advanced ballistic missiles.

Yet the situation has become more desperate in recent weeks, with massive Russian assaults claiming the lives of civilians. Earlier this week, Ukrainian authorities said a ballistic missile slammed into a house in the rural village of Radushne, in the Dnipro Region, killing at least six family members, including four children.

In the aftermath of the overnight strikes on Saturday, Zelensky wrote on Telegram, “We lack missiles for the Patriot systems. And it is precisely this shortage of anti-ballistic interceptors that only encourages Russia to carry out such deadly strikes.”

On Friday, Trump said he was hesitant to allow Ukraine to build its own Patriot missile interceptors, an idea he first announced on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Turkey last month.

“We’re talking about it, but it’s a hard thing to give away that kind of technology,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David. “We have to be very careful.” He voiced particular concerns about the risk that Ukraine could someday use the Patriot missile interceptors against the US, even though he acknowledged that it’s unlikely to happen.

The deliberations mark a turnaround from earlier this month, when Trump suggested during the NATO summit that he would aid Ukraine’s fight against Russia by permitting them to build the Patriot systems.

Patriots needed ‘here and now’

A CNN team on the ground heard at least three waves of explosions in the capital overnight.

“People are trapped in a five-story residential building due to falling rocket debris in the Solomyanske district,” Klitschko wrote on Telegram. He said a fire had broken out in the courtyard of a residential building and that emergency services are headed to the scene.

A police officer was among those killed in the strikes in Kyiv. Yehor Terekhin, 22, and his patrol partner were helping people at the site of some shelling when a second strike hit the same location, according to a police statement. Terekhin sustained fatal injuries.

“While saving others, he gave the most precious thing he had – his own life,” a statement from Kyiv’s Patrol Police department said. “He will forever be 22.”

While Kyiv took the brunt of the Russian assault, the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava were also targeted, according to Zelensky.

“Eighteen buildings, a school, the Lithuanian embassy and infrastructure facilities were damaged,” he added.

Russia’s powerful ballistic missiles are incredibly difficult for Ukraine to intercept because they travel at extremely high speeds. Some of the most advanced missiles can only be shot down using the US-made Patriot defense systems.

“It is crucial that our partners understand that these systems are not needed sitting in warehouses for hypothetical scenarios, but here and now,” Zelensky said on Saturday.

“Every anti-ballistic missile package saves the lives of our people. And every night that we lack them results in casualties.”

Overall, at least 14 civilians have been killed and 87 injured across Ukraine over the past 24 hours, data from local authorities shows.

Meanwhile, Russia intercepted and destroyed 274 Ukrainian drones targeting its territory overnight, including over the Moscow region, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The boy is accused of murdering 16-year-old Yap Shing Xuen last October. The girl was found fatally stabbed multiple times in a toilet at their secondary school on the outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The boy, who was 14 at the time, has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could spend decades in prison.

Police previously said they suspected social media could have influenced the boy.

Police also confirmed a note was found on him at the time of his arrest. Reports about the note’s alleged content have fueled the wider discussion about the role of social media.

Under Malaysian law, the boy cannot be publicly identified as he is still a minor.

His young age also means he will not face the death penalty if found guilty.

However, he could still face 30 to 40 years in jail, and he could also be flogged. The age of criminal responsibility in Malaysia is 10 years old.

The case has profoundly shocked the country and triggered a nationwide conversation about the negative effects of social media on children, particularly exposure to the manosphere and incel culture.

Some have compared the case to the Netflix series Adolescence, which explores similar themes involving teenage boys, online radicalisation and violence.

Last year Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was asked about the case as well as other recent cases of violence in schools.

He was quoted by local media as saying that “almost all of these issues stem from the use of mobile phones and social media”, and vowed to look into stricter measures.

Authorities have since put in place new rules which they say will protect children and reduce their exposure to harmful online content.

Since June, Malaysia has banned all children under the age of 16 from having accounts on major social media platforms.

According to Spanish authorities, about 50,000 people had crossed into Ceuta by land and sea from Thursday in an unprecedented surge at one of the European Union’s only land borders with Africa. More than 48,000 of them returned to Morocco within 48 hours, Spain said.

Reuters video on Saturday showed Spanish soldiers and police patrolling a mostly ​empty Tarajal beach shrouded in fog.

EU CALLS EMERGENCY MEETING

Civil Guard police started laying the new barrier at 7:50 a.m. (0550 GMT) on the Tarajal breakwater, one ​of the main points used by people trying to enter the tiny Spanish territory, the government said in a statement.

The ⁠pneumatic barrier, alongside a line of anchored naval buoys, is designed to stand 30 to 70 centimetres (12 to 28 inches) above water and extend as much as ​one metre below the surface, it added, while a channel between the barriers will allow Civil Guard vessels to patrol the area.

The mass crossing prompted alarm across the ​European Union, and 22 member states wrote a letter asking for coordinated action to protect external borders and other measures.

Ireland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said it had called an emergency video conference meeting of the bloc’s interior ministers to discuss the crisis on Tuesday.

Spain’s centre-left Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez criticised Italy’s decision on Friday to suspend passport-free Schengentravel arrangements with Madrid for one month.

“In the ​current international context, the EU cannot afford this kind of selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction,” Sanchez wrote in a letter to the EU Commission and European Council ​presidents.

DEATH TOLL RISES

At least 67 bodies have been recovered on the Spanish side of the frontier, officials said, after some migrants drowned and others were crushed while trying to climb the breakwater ‌and border ⁠fence.

Many were driven to migrate by economic hardship and encouraged by social media rumours.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska blamed people-smuggling networks for exploiting vulnerable migrants and spreading misleading interpretations of a recent Spanish Supreme  Court ruling that migrants intercepted at sea cannot be summarily returned in the absence of a physical barrier.

Speaking from Ceuta, Grande-Marlaska told reporters Spain had largely restored order within 24 hours, but warned that the crisis was not yet formally over and that reinforced police and military deployments would remain ​as long as needed, though overnight crossings ​had fallen to about zero.

“Morocco isn’t ⁠any threat to Ceuta or the rest of Spain — it’s a fully reliable partner,” he said, adding there had been no intelligence indicating a mass entry was imminent.

The AUGC union for Spain’s Civil Guard said it was asking for a reinforcement ​of at least 200 officers, and warned that more work was needed to stop people swimming round the new inflatable ​barrier.

Madrid said the people ⁠who entered Ceuta irregularly could not travel onwards to mainland Spain or elsewhere in the Schengen zone.

In a statement, the foreign ministry added that travellers leaving Ceuta by sea or air undergo police identity checks, representing a second layer of control after the land border with Morocco.

In contrast to most of Europe, Spain has adopted a more open ⁠stance on ​migrants, introducing a programme to grant residency to more than half a million undocumented people.

But it has ​rejected suggestions that the regularisation scheme had encouraged the rush into Ceuta, saying applicants must prove residence in Spain before January 1, 2026, and five continuous months of residence when applying.

Europe has been ravaged by wildfires this summer after a period of record-breaking heatwaves and little rain – conditions that scientists say have been ‌exacerbated by climate change.

Destructive blazes in France and Spain showed signs of easing over the weekend, but several wildfires have broken out in Greece after a period of relative calm there.

Two helicopters collided during a firefighting operation in the area of Psatha in the Attica region, west of Athens, Greece’s fire service said in a statement.

Footage posted on the Forecast Weather Greece Facebook page appeared to show two helicopters closing to cross paths at low altitude, before the main rotor of the lower ​helicopter struck the underside of the one flying above it and crashed in flames. The second helicopter then dumped its load of water and flew away. Reuters has not verified the ​authenticity of the footage.

The crew of one helicopter had been located and were safe, with ambulances on the way to pick them up, government officials said. ⁠As for the second crew, the helicopter had been located, and a search-and-rescue operation was underway, officials said.

‘FORCE OF NATURE’

Gale-force winds that had fuelled a fire around Porto Germeno on the Gulf of Corinth 60 ​km (40 miles) northwest of Athens subsided, but flames crossed a mountain to the south and reached the settlement of Veniza and a military firing range, igniting unexploded ordnance. Firefighters focused their efforts on preventing fire from ​advancing towards the coastal town of Megara, which has a population of around 30,000.

“There are moments when the force of nature and the intensity of weather conditions exceed all human planning and every operational capability,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in his regular Sunday message.

Greek authorities issued emergency alerts for evacuations for a number of settlements in western Attica, including an industrial estate near Megara.

In the village of Agios Konstantinos, residents were doing their best to halt the spread of the ​blaze.

“The fire has been burning since last night, it is certain that they cannot have forces everywhere. We as residents are doing everything we can,” said Tasos Tzempelikos, 61, who along with his son ​was pouring water on the fire.

Greek daily Protothema reported that a major effort was under way to prevent the fire from Veniza from reaching the nearby coastal town of Megara. It said more than 10,000 hectares of land had ‌likely been ⁠destroyed by the fire so far.

Overnight, several settlements on the Ionian island of Kefalonia were evacuated after a fire broke out in the Pastra area in the south.

FIRES IN FRANCE AND SPAIN MOSTLY UNDER CONTROL

In France, wildfires in the Gironde and Var departments showed signs of easing. Authorities reported only minor flare-ups in the southwestern Gironde area and said the blaze in the southeastern Var department had not spread overnight.

In Monfort-Sur-Argents, in the region of Var, Georges Blanc, who fled from the fire, returned home and was busy putting out hot embers to prevent a flare-up, while firefighters watered the wider area.

“With the combined efforts of the two ​Canadairs (firefighting planes) and the firefighters, I think you could ​say all the houses were saved … And now, ⁠well, I’m coming back to check, because since I saw the flames, I thought the houses wouldn’t have survived,” he told Reuters.

In central Spain, wildfires that ripped through tens of thousands of hectares over the past week were mostly under control, though firefighters were dealing with reignitions in some areas.

In the western province ​of Caceres, a forest blaze erupted on Saturday, prompting the evacuation of around 800 people. Those residents were allowed to return on Sunday but remained ​confined to their homes as ⁠the fire was still active.

HUNGARY NUCLEAR PLANT FORCED TO SHUT

Other European countries are struggling with drought and receding water levels in major rivers, including the Rhine and the Danube, which recorded its lowest-ever water levels in Hungary, Serbia and Romania.

Hungary faces a critical five days, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Sunday, as the drying out of the Danube forced the country’s sole nuclear power plant to shut for the first time in more than four ⁠decades, with a ​new heatwave looming.

Falls in water levels amid a lack of rain have also disrupted shipping and tourism, opens new tab in Hungary and triggered water-use ​restrictions in more than 100 cities and villages.

Danube levels in Serbia fell to their lowest since 1985, cutting the daily output of the country’s biggest hydropower plant to only 20%, the energy minister said on Sunday.

The event, themed #JP2026, became one of the biggest celebrity weddings of the year, attracting widespread attention on social media, with gifts beginning to pour in even before the couple exchanged their vows.

Businessman and socialite Pascal Okechukwu, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest, had earlier pledged ₦10 million towards the wedding.

American entrepreneur Gregory Pizarro Jr., a longtime supporter of Peller, also travelled to Lagos and surprised the groom with a cash gift of $20,000 during a meeting at his hotel ahead of the ceremony.

The couple also received a plot of land in Abuja valued at ₦150 million from Lawrence Emmanuel, Chief Executive Officer of Promiseland Estate.

The biggest surprise came during the wedding reception when real estate entrepreneur King Ochacho, on behalf of his family, announced the gift of a fully furnished luxury mansion in Abuja’s upscale Life Camp district, reportedly worth ₦400 million.

In keeping with their reputation as digital content creators, Peller and Jarvis livestreamed the ceremony across multiple online platforms, including Twitch and YouTube, allowing thousands of supporters around the world to follow the celebration in real time.

Peller and Jarvis have built a massive online following through their livestreams, collaborative content and public appearances. Their wedding has since become one of the most talked-about celebrity events of the year across social media platforms.

Officials say almost all whose who reached the enclave on 30 July have returned, while Spain’s interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on Saturday that the death toll had risen to 67.

It comes after Italy temporarily suspended the EU’s border-free Schengen arrangement with Spain, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the scenes “shocking”.

Finland and Denmark backed Italy’s move, while Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš urged a temporary suspension of Spain’s Schengen membership.

In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he had “serious concern” about some European governments.

He said the Spanish government had fully restored control over the border and prevented any “unauthorised onward movement towards continental Europe” in less than 48 hours.

While most had showed “support and solidarity”, Sanchez said other European governments had chosen to attack Spain, “driven by prejudice, fake  news, ignorance, or  political interest”, and pointed out that Ceuta was not part of the Schengen area.

“The European Union cannot afford this kind of selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction,” he said.

There were chaotic scenes on Thursday in Ceuta as border controls in the North African enclave apparently broke down.

On Saturday morning, Spanish MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar told the BBC that the situation was “beginning to get under control” and the migrants were “returning peacefully”.

But while the situation on the ground is easing, political and diplomatic fallout is rippling through Madrid and other capitals.

On Thursday, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on social media that such “uncontrolled immigration” was a threat to national security, before suspending the Schengen zone agreement with Spain for a month.

The Schengen Area is a system of open borders spanning 29 European countries that have abolished controls at their common borders.

Spain responded by summoning the Italian ambassador to Madrid, while its foreign minister said he expected “European solidarity and not partisan demagoguery”.

Finland’s Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said she had started preparations for restoring internal border checks “if the need arises”. She also urged “all European countries” to support Meloni’s move.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also urged the EU to “consider all options, including a suspension of Schengen co-operation”.

France has tightened checks on its border with Spain and said it would increase its police presence by Saturday.

Portuguese PM Luis Montenegro said he was considering reinforcing border checks.

Von der Leyen said the images from Ceuta were “unacceptable”. “We cannot allow anyone to come to our Union without abiding by our rules,” she said on social media.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he “supports Spain’s intention not to allow illegal migrants onto the European continent”, and demanded that Morocco “take back illegal migrants immediately”.

In the US, the state department said the incident was a direct result of Spain’s migration policies. President Donald Trump called the situation a “catastrophe” and said “it looks like an invasion of a country by hundreds of thousands of people”.

Spain has defended its handling of the migrant surge. Madrid has sent troops, more police, drones, divers and boats to Ceuta. The country has also deployed its armed forces to bolster security in another Spanish enclave, Melilla, where hundreds of crossings were also reported.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who has visited Ceuta after the migrant influx, said he would consider reinforcing the border with Morocco, and that Moroccan authorities were co-operating.

He blamed trafficking gangs for the migrant surge, calling the incident a “violation of Spain’s territorial integrity”.

“Trafficking mafias took a self-serving interpretation of a Supreme  Court ruling” which “spread like wildfire”, he said.

EU Commissioner Magnus Brunner said, after a phone call with Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, that “not a single person has crossed to mainland EU”.

In June, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla could not be summarily returned to Morocco without due process.

While the surge of migrants this year is extraordinary, Ceuta has long been a focal point for migrants attempting to reach Europe. During the summer months, there is often a big push to reach Ceuta, typically organised over social media.

In 2021, about 8,000 people entered Ceuta over a matter of days, exacerbating Spain’s diplomatic tensions with Morocco.

Morocco, which has been suffering from a high unemployment rate, witnessed several Gen Z anti-government protests last year, with young people demanding better opportunities and improvements to public services.

Together with Melilla, Ceuta forms the European Union’s only land borders with Africa. Migrants can enter the enclave by swimming several kilometres.

Spain has a relatively friendly approach to immigration. In April, the government approved plans to give legal status to 500,000 undocumented migrants, allowing them to be formally integrated into the workforce.

At that time, the right-wing Italian prime minister had already criticised Sánchez, saying the policy would “affect its neighbours”.

In June the European Parliament approved tougher migration rules that grant authorities broader powers to return irregular arrivals.

The wreath-laying ceremony, held on Thursday, July 30, was attended by members of the Rawlings family, government officials and military officers.

President Oligui Nguema, who arrived in Ghana on Tuesday for an official visit, described the late Ghanaian leader as a patriot whose dedication to Africa’s development continues to inspire the people of Gabon.

In a statement read on his behalf, the Gabonese leader praised President Rawlings for his unwavering commitment to sovereignty, justice and progress across the continent.

He noted that Rawlings’ speeches and writings had contributed significantly to Gabon’s political transition, which he said has become an example of transparency, peace and credibility.

“His speeches and writings have notably contributed to the success story of Gabon’s transition, which is now quoted as an example in the world. We are now able to be transparent, peaceful and credible. I would like to hail the contributions of this great man to a strong and united Africa,” the statement said.

The ceremony was attended by National Security Advisor Prosper Bani, Deputy Minister for Defence Brogya Genfi and the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General William Agyapong.

Delivering the vote of thanks, Executive Director of the J.J. Rawlings Foundation, Yaa Asantewaa Agyeman-Rawlings, expressed the family’s appreciation to President Oligui Nguema for the gesture and thanked the Government of Ghana for its continued support in preserving the legacy of the late former President.

She described the wreath-laying as a powerful symbol of the longstanding friendship between Ghana and Gabon, rooted in the Pan-African ideals championed by President Rawlings and other African leaders of his generation.

“This solemn gesture is a moving affirmation of the enduring camaraderie between the peoples of Ghana and Gabon—a friendship nurtured by President Jerry John Rawlings and the leaders of his generation, founded on mutual respect, Pan-African solidarity, and a shared vision for the progress of our continent,” she said.

Ms. Agyeman-Rawlings added that the occasion served as a reminder of the responsibility inherited by the current generation of leaders to preserve and strengthen the bonds established by their predecessors.

“May this wreath stand as a symbol that the baton of brotherhood has been passed to the present generation of leaders in Ghana and Gabon, who will continue to deepen the ties between our two nations for the benefit of our peoples,” she stated.

Members of the Rawlings family present at the ceremony included the family head, Colonel (Rtd) Joshua Agbotui, Amina Agyeman-Rawlings, Kimathi Agyeman-Rawlings, Fritz Baffour, General Benjamin Kusi and Nana Kobi Agyeman-Prempeh.

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Dame Sarah Mullally was speaking on a visit to Cape Coast Castle in Ghana where enslaved Africans were held before being trafficked to the Americas.

She said touring the castle made her reflect on the crimes committed by the institution she leads.

“We played a part in the transatlantic slave trade. That is clear. Part of the Christian belief in repentance is about action, so we are putting in place action to support those communities that feel the legacy of the slave trade,” she added.

Dame Sarah Mullally from behind. She is wearing pink robes and hair short blonde hair. She is facing a large brown wooden door which has a small golden plaque on it with the words ‘door of return’ engraved.

The archbishop said she was ‘deeply moved’ by what she saw on her visit to Ghana
This is Dame Sarah’s first pastoral visit to Africa since being installed as head of the Church of England at a ceremony in Canterbury Cathedral in March.

Reparative justice has been one of the themes running through the Ghana leg of this trip.

At Cape Coast Castle, which came under British control in the 1660s, Dame Sarah was shown dungeons where slaves were held, and the so-called “door of no return” through which they were forced on to ships.

The archbishop said: “You can’t help but be deeply moved by the horrific conditions that people were kept in and the way that they were treated.

“It completely throws you off balance and brings home the evil that was transatlantic slavery.”

Above the dungeons sits a chapel, which she said was a “stark illustration of the way the church was involved in the slave trade”.

The Church of England has previously apologised for its associations with the slave trade.

Its missionary arm ran slave-farmed plantations in the Caribbean to fund the spread of Anglicanism, individual members of clergy were slave owners, and the Church received large donations from slave traders.

Three years ago it was decided the Church would set up the fund for reparative justice work, after an audit of its historical endowment fund also reported large investments made in a company that trafficked slaves.

The aim is for the fund to be spent on “a programme of investment, research and engagement” in communities damaged by the enslavement of African people during the transatlantic slave trade.

But there has since been vocal opposition to the fund. Some have questioned the historical accuracy of reports into the level of the Church’s complicity, while others have raised legal concerns about it and ideological objections.

Ghana has been spearheading a global campaign for institutions and nations across the world that benefitted from the slave trade to pay reparations.

The country’s foreign minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has praised Dame Sarah.

“What the Archbishop of Canterbury is doing in Ghana on her current visit will begin to send the right signals. And those who are either revisionists or who are obstructionists within the Church of England are going to start thinking twice,” he said

“The Christian religion which they brought to Ghana and Africa teaches us that without admission of sins, there can be no salvation. There can be no going to heaven.”

Three Mexicans and seven Nigerians were paraded in handcuffs, as Justice Musa Kakaki inspected the chemicals and equipment they were accused of using to produce the harmful illegal synthetic drug, methamphetamine, commonly known as meth, crystal meth or, locally, ice.

A bitter, pungent smell filled the air of the makeshift laboratory, thanks to a large drum of the liquid form of the drug that was crystallising. Another potent odour came from open vats of a dark, viscous liquid, described as “crude”, or unprocessed, methamphetamine.

Other products were scattered around the unfinished building, including propane gas cylinders and bags of caustic soda.

This temporary move of the federal high court to a location two hours from Lagos was an unusual step for Nigeria’s judicial system, but the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it was necessary to understand the scale of the operation.

When the suspects were arrested in May, the agency described it as the country’s largest-ever meth bust. It said it discovered more than two tonnes of the drug worth some $360m (£270m).

The NDLEA at the time announced it had “dealt another crippling blow” and dismantled “a highly sophisticated, multi-million-dollar Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine production syndicate”.

The following month, agents found another meth laboratory hidden in a forest in neighbouring Oyo State.

That time they arrested five suspects, including one Mexican “methamphetamine expert”.

The raids underline a broader trend of Africa’s, and particularly West Africa’s, growing role in the global synthetic drugs ⁠trade and the shift by criminal cartels to use the continent, not just as a trafficking hub, but also as a production base.

Mexican specialists in manufacturing methamphetamine, often described as “cooks”, are increasingly being found working alongside locals in laboratories in Europe and Africa, according to law-enforcement agencies.

Meth production has become increasingly sophisticated over the last few decades.

“They perfected it, to the point now it is the highest purity, the highest potency version of meth,” James Griego, who leads counter-narcotics operations for US-Africa Command (Africom), told the BBC.

Africom, which oversees US military operations on the continent, has provided several national anti-drug organisations with intelligence to assist with their raids.

“Anybody who is looking to consume methamphetamine, understands that the Mexican meth is the best in the world, for that purpose,” Griego added.

The first time the NDLEA announced it had discovered a Mexican-linked methamphetamine lab was in 2016, when it described it as a “super lab”.

These laboratories, where Mexicans have been working, have since been uncovered in Kenya, Mozambique and in South Africa.

Since 2023 “we’ve seen…14 Mexican-operated labs in total [being raided]. We saw the one in 2023 [in Mozambique], we saw six more in 2024, we saw two in 2025 and we’ve seen five this year,” Griego said.

“This last year when I talk about the five labs, four of the five are in Nigeria,” he added.

Intelligence from Africom and the US Drug Enforcement Administration have linked some of the laboratories to Mexico’s two biggest drug cartels: the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Giving testimony to the US Congress in May, Africom commander Gen Dagvin Anderson alleged that militant groups and narco-traffickers have been working together.

“African-based terror groups are financed to an increasing degree by drug cartels, expanding those terror groups’ reach and lethality,” he told lawmakers.

Unlike plant-based drugs, such as cocaine or heroin, which can only be grown and processed in certain places, a synthetic drug like meth can be produced anywhere with the right chemicals and expertise, making it easier for organised crime groups to quickly scale up production.

Known for its fast and long-lasting effects, methamphetamine delivers a euphoric high, but deeply unpleasant side effects. There is a serious risk of cardiovascular problems, malnourishment through poor diet and, if injecting, blood-borne diseases.

Withdrawal from the drug is also very hard as it often includes feelings of anxiety, severe depression, fatigue and intense cravings.

As methamphetamine traffickers establish new distribution networks, beyond its historical routes, more people are being exposed to the drug.

West Africa poses numerous attractive benefits to Mexican syndicates, starting with swathes of forested land which makes well for secluded production sites.

“The population is also an attraction for them, especially the huge youth population because with that you get cheap labour and a market for local consumption,” NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi told the BBC.

There are fears among authorities that methamphetamine consumption will grow in Nigeria, where a 2018 survey found that 14.4% of the adult population had used an illicit drug – more than twice the global average as estimated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The use of the drug has spread across the continent, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

In East Africa, it has become widely available in countries like Kenya and Tanzania, and also in southern Africa, like in South Africa where it is known as “tik”.

Drug syndicates are as interested in international drug markets, as they are in the growing local market, and Africa’s location makes it easier to reach Asia and Europe.

Producing drugs in West Africa gives traffickers access to Atlantic shipping routes. Combined with the region’s porous borders and weaker regulation of chemical imports, this helps them cut costs to lucrative consumer markets.

In Europe, the UNODC reported a 47% increase in methamphetamine use between 2014 and 2024. In east and south-east Asia seizures of the drug by authorities reached a record high in 2024.

“It’s a shortening [of] their [supply] line into Asia and a shortening of their pathway into Europe,” said Griego.

Since returning to office in 2025, US President Donald Trump has intensified efforts against Latin American drug cartels and their operations.

“These cartels are feeling the pressure from other parts of the world,” said Babafemi, “and so [they] are looking at West Africa as a corporate production hub.”

Some experts believe tighter scrutiny of traditional trafficking routes from Latin America may be one factor driving cartels to diversify their operations.

“That has at least been a part of the calculus of why Mexican cartels have escalated their operations in Africa. That to say though, it is only part of the story,” said Griego.

“Sinaloa and New Jalisco have always been global organisations. They have operated [in Africa] since the 1990s.”

But a recent rise in the number of raids on illicit methamphetamine laboratories in Africa could indicate that the cartels are becoming more entrenched on the continent.

What is clear is that the trade is no longer just transiting through the continent but finding new manufacturing sites and markets.

With measures such as the court hearing at the laboratory, increased surveillance and intelligence use, the Nigerian authorities are adamant they can rise to the challenge.

“It’s definitely a concern but it helps us stay vigilant and be proactive. This is why we are able to get them before they’re able to move out into our communities and into the international market,” NDLEA spokesperson Babafemi said.

“We’ve been able to prove that Nigeria won’t be a safe haven for them.”

At the end of the 2027 academic year, the expansive boarding school campus near Johannesburg is to be handed over to local education authorities as per the original agreement, her statement says.

Students enrolled at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) who will not have graduated when it closes will be offered full scholarships elsewhere.

More than 1,000 girls have graduated from the school aimed at those from under-privileged backgrounds and inspired after Winfrey met anti-apartheid icon and former South African President Nelson Mandela in 2002.

Since opening its doors, the elite school – built at a cost of $40m (£20m) and located in the village of Henley-on-Klip south of Johannesburg – has not been without scandal, sparking rumours about the reason for its closure.

But a PR consultant working for the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation denied online speculation it was closing because of mismanagement

The foundation said Winfrey intended to continue with her education project by funding in a scholarship programme for academically talented girls from communities across the country to go to leading schools.

“The dream was never simply to build a school,” Winfrey, 72, explained in a statement.

“It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women. That mission doesn’t end with one campus. It continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education.

“I’m excited that this next chapter will allow us to reach even more young women across South Africa and continue the promise that began more than 20 years ago.”

It is not known what the OWLAG campus will be used for once it is returned to the local authorities, but Gauteng province’s education department says it is “committed to preserving and advancing the academy’s legacy”.

“We will ensure that this exceptional institution continues to serve the people of Gauteng while honouring the vision upon which it was established,” it said.

When the school opened in 2007, some commentators criticised its lavish campus – it reportedly had two theatres, a yoga studio and a beauty salon.

They questioned whether the money spent on it could have been better used to help more students around the country.

Then months after OWLAG opened, some students accused a former staff member of abuse. She was later cleared on all charges.

There are currently 281 students enrolled at the school.

According to the US star’s Oprah Daily website, many of the school’s graduates have become doctors, lawyers, engineers, artists, executives and entrepreneurs.

It quotes Andronica Klaas, a graduate of 2012 and now a senior engineering lead at tech giant Meta, as saying: “Every corner of the campus was filled with so much love and care and detail.

“OWLAG convinced me that preparation, character and purpose mattered more than where I came from.”

The unidentified object caused a 10m-wide (33ft) crater a short distance from the village of Tarnawa Kolonia, about 100km (62 miles) from the border with Ukraine, during a Russian attack on the city of Lviv.

“All the indications are that it was a Russian Kh-101 ballistic missile, but we want to be 100% certain about the type of missile and who launched it,” Tusk said during a specially convened meeting in nearby Lublin.

Ukraine’s acting Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said earlier on Thursday that a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile had “crossed into Poland as part of Russia’s massive strike against Ukraine, violating Nato airspace”.

Tusk said he was in contact with fellow European leaders before heading to the scene of Thursday’s incident.

There were no reports of casualties in Thursday’s incident, he said, but it was being treated as serious. There was no immediate threat as it had not landed in a built-up area, Tusk added: “We were prepared to shoot it down if had continued its flight.”

A number of Russian drones and one unarmed Russian missile have landed in Poland since Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine began in February 2022.

Two Polish farmers were killed by a missile that landed just over the border from Ukraine in November 2022, but that was believed to have been a Ukrainian air defence missile responding to a Russian attack.

Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said about 20 objects were seen close to Polish airspace overnight and pyrotechnical analysis was being carried out to determine the identity of the object that fell near Tarnawa Kolonia.

Poland’s military detected the object at about 03:40 on Thursday (01:40 GMT) and sent an F-16 fighter jet to intercept it before it disappeared minutes later from radar systems. A military helicopter was then sent to search the area.

Air raid sirens blared in Lublin and Krasnystaw further to the south-east because of the Russian airstrikes that killed eight people in neighbouring Ukraine. Residents in Tarnawa Kolonia reported hearing a loud bang at about 04:00 and police found the crash site about an hour later.

The Polish leader had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Lublin the previous evening as Zelensky was returning from talks with US President Donald Trump.

She is desperately searching for somewhere to live after Israel moved yellow concrete blocks that mark out where it controls in the Gaza Strip.

Families living in al-Tuffah in northern Gaza woke on Monday to find the blocks had been moved westwards into the centre of Salah al-Din road, a key north-south route through Gaza.

Nearby, an Israeli flag was flying on top of an earth barrier around 3m (10ft) tall.

The al-Shawish family home was destroyed during the war. On Sunday, they had to flee again after the Israeli military called to warn of an attack on a nearby building. Their only shelter was a tent, which was torn apart by the strike.

“We are going to die here,” Mohammed al-Shawish said. “Death is better than humiliation. No-one is standing with us.”

Under the terms of the US-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas last October, Israel agreed to withdraw its forces from across Gaza to a designated demarcation – the Yellow Line.

The deal was meant to leave Israel in temporary control of the area behind the Yellow Line – equating to 53% of Gaza’s territory. However, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) controlled more than 60%. In May, he said publicly that his “directive” was to move to 70%.

Hamas accuses Israel of violating the October ceasefire agreement by moving the Yellow Line westwards. A senior Israeli government official said Israel rejected Hamas’s claims outright. The BBC was told: “IDF deployments and security lines are operational measures taken to protect Israeli citizens and prevent Hamas from rebuilding its terror army. Israel will continue to act against any ceasefire violations.”

The Israeli military initially marked the Yellow Line with concrete blocks, before moving some markers further into Gaza. But Israel has now constructed a network of barriers, having started soon after the ceasefire. The barriers now stretch more than 42km (26 miles) and cover 85% of Israel’s Yellow Line, with the longest section already 13.8km (8.5 miles).

Experts have told the BBC that the earthworks suggest Israel is planning for a long occupation of the strip. In some areas the earth barrier effectively moves the de facto “border” – the Yellow Line – deeper into Gaza, further increasing the deadly no-go zone for Gazans.

One section of the embankment near the al-Mawasi camp is more than 1.5km beyond where the Yellow Line was originally mapped. Another section in Khan Younis is positioned more than 500m over it.

0:46Huge earth berm and trench near al-Mawasi, southern Gaza

The IDF says it is working to “clearly and visually mark the location of the Yellow Line on the ground” to “reduce friction”. It has previously rejected “all claims that the Yellow Line has been moved or its crossing by IDF troops”.

Other incidents of displacement have been reported in Gaza in recent months as the army has moved yellow blocks further into the territory into areas where Palestinians have been living during the ceasefire.

On 18 July, dozens of families hurriedly piled motorcycles with mattresses and any belongings they could manage as they fled the Zeitoun area, east of Gaza City. The IDF had issued an order to leave, and Gazans said they assumed this was a sign that the Yellow Line was being moved again. Some simply left empty-handed in their hurry to evacuate.

Locals described shooting from Israeli military vehicles, quadcopter drones and artillery shelling.

“The war is not over. That’s a big lie. Every day there are strikes, displacement and evictions,” declared Ismail Kashko. He said his family feared being hit by Israeli fire as troops approached: “We are living in tents, not in houses. There’s no concrete to protect us.”

According to the UN’s humanitarian office, OCHA, some 30 families lost their tents in Zeitoun and had to be helped with basic supplies. Satellite imagery shows scores of temporary shelters disappearing from the area in July.

Residents of Zeitoun say that to the east, they have seen Israeli bulldozers and heavy machinery where the army has been building a new base and earth banks.

The Israeli military told the BBC their “defensive posture” includes “a security zone, a physical barrier, intelligence capabilities, technological means, and operational activity by IDF troops”.

It said: “These measures are intended to prevent infiltrations and hostile activity, and to protect both the troops and surrounding communities. For operational security reasons, we will not provide further details regarding the components of the deployment, the route of the barrier, or its extent.”

To the east of the central city of Deir al-Balah, families living on farmland told the BBC they were given two days’ notice by the Israeli military before the area was razed. Satellite images show tank tracks and destroyed structures in the area, with an olive grove more than 500m beyond the Yellow Line apparently torn down. Verified video shows three yellow blocks recently placed there, the furthest of which is more than 300m from the Yellow Line mapped after the ceasefire.

Further to the south, near al-Mawasi, Palestinians say other blocks to mark the Yellow Line have moved closer to their camps. They describe daily movements of Israeli tanks, recurrent gunfire and the construction of tall sand embankments.

The founder of intelligence analysis firm MAIAR, Tony Reeves, analysed satellite images and estimated that one section of the embankments in Gaza was up to 7m tall.

Verified videos and satellite images show land and roads have been churned up and some buildings flattened to make way for the earth barriers, while Israel has continued its demolition campaign across Gaza since the ceasefire.

In June, days before beginning construction of the barrier near the southernmost city of Rafah, Israeli troops destroyed structures and rows of greenhouses in its path, satellite images show. ​​In nearby Khan Younis, IDF drone footage showed a controlled demolition of a cluster of buildings beyond the Yellow Line. By July a barrier had been constructed nearby and many more buildings were destroyed.

In July alone, satellite imagery shows scores more buildings had been destroyed beyond the Yellow Line in Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah, Zeitoun, and in the northern towns of Jabalia and Beit Lahia.

The military has also built dozens of bases, outposts and staging areas behind the barrier along the Yellow Line. Fourteen new positions have been established since the October ceasefire, including two currently under construction, while a further seven set up before the ceasefire have been paved or extended.

The IDF did not directly respond when asked about demolition activity beyond the Yellow Line. “IDF troops under the Southern Command are deployed in the area of the Yellow Line in accordance with the ceasefire agreement,” it said.

Retired Israeli brigadier general Assaf Orion, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute of National Security Studies (INSS), said the construction of barriers and bases suggests “the IDF is preparing for a long stay along the Yellow Line, as little (if any) progress has been made in disarming Hamas”.

Dr Andreas Krieg, a security expert from King’s College London, said the BBC’s findings indicate that “Israel is turning the Yellow Line from a temporary withdrawal boundary into a de facto internal border”.

People in Gaza say the Yellow Line is already having a devastating effect, squeezing the population of more than two million into an ever-smaller space amid dire humanitarian conditions. “The Yellow Line keeps moving day by day,” said Abu Kamel Hamami who is displaced in Gaza City.

“We’re constantly moving from one street to another. Everywhere is overcrowded with people, tents and displacement camps.”

The oil giant’s profits for the April-to-June period reached $9.84bn (£7.37bn) – up from $4.26bn at the same point last year.=

The price of oil has soared since the outbreak of the US-Israel war with Iran due to major disruption to global supplies of oil and liquid natural gas (LNG) through the Strait of Hormuz.

Shell chief executive Wael Sawan said the company’s “operational performance enabled very strong results during another quarter of severe disruption in global energy markets”.

Together with its profits of $6.92bn for the first three months of the year it means Shell has seen a 70% surge in first-half earnings.

Shell and other energy giants such as BP and Norway’s Equinor have seen bumper profits this year, partly down to trading on oil price swings.

Before the conflict began, the price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, was around $73 a barrel.

Since then, it has peaked above $120 but also fallen back below $100 as speculation has swirled over when the Strait of Hormuz will reopen.

These big movements in the oil price can widen the gap between buying and selling prices which typically enables traders to make bigger profits.

Brent futures fell $1.29, or 1.42%, to $89.45 a ‌barrel as of 0110 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 56 cents, or 0.66%, to $83.90 a barrel.

Brent settled up 7.91% in the previous session and WTI up 6.56% in one of the sharpest spikes of the Iran war, reversing ​a 5% plunge on Tuesday after a pause in hostilities in the five-month conflict.

Thirty-nine commodity ​ships passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait into the Red Sea on Tuesday, the highest ⁠number since July 19, with only a few transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, preliminary shipping data ​showed.

“While overall volumes are reduced, oil continues to leak out of the region through multiple channels, and additional ​workarounds are being explored. The longer this situation persists, the more these alternative routes and methods will erode Iran’s leverage over the Strait of Hormuz,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note.

The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most ​important oil shipping route, through which around a fifth of global oil and gas flows previously passed. ​It has been largely blocked since the start of the U.S.-Iran war in February despite efforts to reach a diplomatic ‌breakthrough ⁠on the passage of ships through the strait.

Iran has ruled out an Omani proposed for regional joint management of the strait, a senior Iran official said on Wednesday.

U.S.-Saudi strikes hit Iran-backed paramilitary forces in Iraq on Wednesday, the first time that Saudi had publicly joined U.S. air strikes, in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi ​oil targets launched from Iraq.

That ​marked the resumption of ⁠U.S. strikes in the Middle East, since President Donald Trump over the weekend called off a bombing campaign amid dwindling munitions.

Iran also said that it had ​fired on U.S. bases in Jordan and struck three tankers that were transiting ​the Strait of ⁠Hormuz through what it said was an unauthorised route.

Sources said on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia was seeking to build a coalition to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthi attacks.

The Iran-backed group in Yemen said on July 20 that ⁠it ​would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red ​Sea, expanding attacks on tankers and opening another new front in the Iran War in a push to also disrupt shipping in ​the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the second most important oil shipping channel.

Asked about OpenAI’s tools being responsible for improperly breaching the private technology of other companies, Trump said: “We’re looking at AI, we’re looking at controls, we’re also making sure that we lead.”

It marks a change of tone for his administration, which has taken a more hands-off approach to the technology.

Trump’s comments come after an escalation of not only the apparent hacking capabilities of popular AI tools, but White House threats aimed at competing Chinese tech.

Trump added that while some kind of control around AI tools was on the table, such a move would have to be done carefully.

“We don’t want to restrict them where all of the sudden we come in second to China,” he said.

“China has virtually no [AI] controls. It’s freewheeling a little bit,” Trump added.

The White House has been contacted for additional comment. The BBC has also contacted the Chinese embassy in Washington for comment.

In the last week, OpenAI has taken responsibility for at least two hacking incidents involving its AI tools acting outside of what they were designed and directed to do.

During a trip to Washington on Wednesday, OpenAI’s chief executive Sam Altman was asked by a reporter if there were more systems that had been breached by the company’s tools.

“I mean, there could be yeah”, Altman said.

The US government intervened when Anthropic, OpenAI’s main American rival, decided to release to the public a model that it had previously said was too much of a risk to be made widely available.

Meanwhile, in an internal White House memo from April, Trump’s senior tech advisor Michael Kratsios accused China’s AI firms of “industrial-scale” theft of US AI technology. He did so again last week, claiming that the popular Kimi 3 AI model from China’s Moonshot AI was developed by stealing information from Anthropic.

The Chinese government has consistently rejected such accusations.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also warned that Chinese AI firms could face sanctions for such activity. And the Federal Communications Commission this week banned the importation of new foreign-made humanoid robots.

Most AI models being developed in China are open source, meaning they are built and then made freely available online for anyone with the proper computer equipment to download and use.

Recently, executives from most major US tech companies have signed onto public statements of support for open-source models.

The agreements were signed on Tuesday, July 28, following bilateral talks between President John Dramani Mahama and his Gabonese counterpart, President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, at the Jubilee House in Accra.

The meeting, which followed a private tête-à-tête between the two leaders, focused on expanding cooperation across key sectors and reinforcing the longstanding relationship between the two West African nations.

President Mahama and President Oligui Nguema expressed satisfaction with the cordial relations that have existed between Ghana and Gabon over the years and pledged to translate their strong political ties into tangible economic partnerships.

The two leaders agreed to strengthen collaboration in trade, investment and private sector development while taking advantage of opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to boost intra-African trade and regional integration.

They also identified several priority areas for cooperation, including mining and mineral value addition, oil and gas, energy, agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, forestry and climate action, maritime affairs, education, digital transformation, health, tourism, as well as defence and security.

To facilitate the implementation of these initiatives, the Presidents directed the relevant ministries and state institutions in both countries to develop practical frameworks for collaboration.

The bilateral meeting concluded with the signing of two agreements. The first was a Memorandum of Understanding on Political Consultations between the Government of Ghana and the Government of the Gabonese Republic, while the second focused on cooperation in diplomatic training between Ghana’s Foreign Service Institute and Gabon’s Institute of Diplomatic Studies.

The two governments said the agreements are expected to strengthen institutional partnerships, enhance diplomatic cooperation and create new opportunities for collaboration across strategic sectors.

As part of his official visit, President Oligui Nguema also planted a commemorative tree in the Jubilee House gardens to symbolise the growing friendship and cooperation between Ghana and Gabon.

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The move applies to advanced robots – including humanoid and four-legged machines. Many of them are made in China, which is competing with the US to develop robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also banned imports of power inverters – devices used in data centres and solar panels – which it said could also pose a risk to the US economy.

The Chinese embassy in Washington said Beijing has long opposed the US’ “politicising” of trade issues and sanctions based on “groundless pretexts”.

FCC chairman Brendan Carr said the agency was doing its part “to secure America’s critical supply chains”.

The FCC has added the items to its Covered List – a register of goods and services that are deemed a risk to US national security.

The ban applies to new foreign-produced advanced robotic devices and power inverters and does not prevent the sale or import of any existing models that had been previously authorised by the FCC.

The FCC cited concerns that the use of foreign-made inverters could allow overseas firms to turn them off, steal data, facilitate remote access and surveillance by “foreign government actors, or be otherwise exploited through a cyberattack”.

It added that the use of robots made outside the US could allow “malign actors to surveil Americans, enhance the capabilities of foreign intelligence services, or to remotely commandeer the robots”.

The Chinese embassy in Washington also said Beijing will “take all necessary measures” in response to any moves that harm its interests, urging all countries to work together to develop AI “for the positive and for good”.

It called on the US to “abandon its hegemonic mindset, and stop smearing Chinese companies and threatening them with sanctions”.

The BBC has contacted major Chinese robot manufacturers Unitree, UBTech and AgiBot for comment.

China’s exports have come under intense scrutiny by the US as the Trump administration attempts to address trade imbalances with the world’s second largest economy.

Despite being the world’s biggest exporter of electric vehicles, China has been effectively shut out of the American market by a steep tariff.

Washington has also blocked the sale of cutting-edge US semiconductors to China in a bid to protect national security, slow Beijing’s military modernisation and maintain America’s lead in AI.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also warned that Chinese AI firms could face sanctions over allegations that they have stolen American intellectual property.

In response the Chinese government has said its country’s development of AI was “the result of its own dedication and effort as well as international cooperation”.

The US will be keen to avoid a repeat of the squeeze on supply chains that was triggered last year when China tightened export controls on rare earths – critical for electronics.

Chinese technology firms have rapidly developed humanoid robots to be used in settings including factories and homes.

Companies have also been quick to market their machines to businesses and the public ahead of US humanoid robot rivals like Elon Musk’s Tesla and Boston Dynamics.

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The purchase, valued at $60-70 million, is one of Tehran’s largest-known efforts to strengthen its short-range air ‌defences since the outbreak of its war with the U.S. and Israel, which exposed gaps in Iran’s ability to protect military sites and strategic infrastructure.

The contract covers the purchase of between 300 and 400 man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS), including Chinese-made QW-12 and FN-16 missiles, the sources said.

The deal was signed with Zhongqing Baoshang International Investment, a Hong Kong-based company that the sources said was acting as an intermediary between the Iranian ​side and the Chinese supplier.

IRAN NEEDS TO REARM AFTER MONTHS OF WAR

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Iran’s foreign ministry ​did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

China’s Foreign Ministry said: “The relevant reports are completely groundless. China has consistently played a role ⁠in promoting peace and ending the conflict.”

Beijing-based Zhong Qing Bao Shang Group, the parent company of Zhongqing Baoshang International Investment, did not immediately respond to an email request for comment ​on Tuesday.

Iran needs to rearm after months of fighting in which the U.S. and Israel have struck facilities linked to its missile, drone and air-defence programmes, and Tehran responded with barrages of ​ballistic missiles and drones.

The conflict has highlighted the challenge of defending fixed military and strategic sites against advanced aircraft and precision-guided weapons.

Washington abruptly suspended two weeks of bombardment on Saturday, but President Donald Trump said strikes would resume if negotiations failed to end the five-month-old conflict, which has in theory been in a state of ceasefire since April.

The delivery of hundreds of MANPADS would significantly expand Iran’s inventory of short-range ​air-defence weapons and underscore how military ties with China are deepening.

The sources cautioned that, although the agreement had been signed, delivery schedules, quantities and other implementation details could still change.

Under a ​plan agreed by the parties, deliveries will initially be by air from Urumqi in western China, then transiting through Pakistan to Iran, according to the sources, who did not clarify whether the transfers would take ‌place by ⁠air or by road.

Pakistan’s military public relations wing ISPR said: “Speculations of Pakistan being involved in supply of Air Defence weapons to Iran from China are absolutely concocted and false.” A spokesperson for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

CHINA AND IRAN EXPLORE LAND ROUTES FOR DELIVERY, SOURCES SAY

While Iran has invested heavily in the past two decades in missiles, drones and radar, military experts say portable air-defence systems are important because they can be dispersed quickly, operated by small teams and relocated frequently, making them less vulnerable than fixed air-defence ​batteries.

A European security source said authorities in his ​country were aware of several contracts under ⁠discussion involving the possible sale of QW-series MANPADS to Iran, including QW-12, QW-18 and QW-19 systems.

A second security source, in the Middle East, said Iran had been seeking to purchase QW-12 and QW-18 missiles, but they were unaware that a deal had already been concluded.

The QW-12 ​and FN-16 are shoulder-fired, infrared-guided surface-to-air missile systems designed to engage low-flying aircraft, helicopters and drones. Their mobility allows them to be ​deployed rapidly around military installations, ⁠energy infrastructure and other sensitive sites.

Defence analysts regard the QW-12 as less capable than newer QW variants, including the QW-18 and QW-19, but say the systems can still provide an effective layer of short-range protection against drones and low-flying targets.

Two Western intelligence sources and an Iranian official said Tehran had also explored the use of overland routes to move Chinese military supplies and dual-use components ⁠more discreetly and ​reduce the risk of disruption.

The procurement highlights the Islamic Republic’s continuing reliance on a combination of domestic weapons ​production and foreign suppliers despite years of sanctions and restrictions on defence-related imports.

Reuters previously reported that Iran was close to securing a separate agreement with China to acquire anti-ship cruise missiles, according to people familiar with those negotiations. Reuters ​could not determine whether the agreement went through.

On Tuesday, the US Senate voted 51 to 47 to install Clayton, replacing the acting DNI Bill Pulte. Pulte was Trump’s original pick but faced backlash for being a housing official with no national intelligence experience.

Clayton had been serving as US attorney for the Southern District of New York, overseeing several prominent cases including the drug trafficking case against former Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro.

“Jay is outstanding in every way, and will do a spectacular job as Director!” Trump posted afterwards on Truth Social.

Clayton, who is also a former securities regulator and federal prosecutor, succeeds Tulsi Gabbard, who left her job last month and was replaced temporarily by Pulte.

Pulte’s initial appointment in early June raised alarm for both parties, as the Trump loyalist used his other role as federal housing regulator to refer several of the president’s political opponents for possible prosecution and oversaw staffing cuts.

Shortly before the vote for Clayton’s appointment passed, Pulte posted about the cuts on X, writing that “we are, this morning, executing a 5th and near final round of terminations, an approximately 30% staff reduction from weeks ago”.

Shortly after the alarm in June over Pulte, Trump announced Clayton as his replacement nominee. Senators sought to move quickly with his confirmation.

However Clayton’s first scheduled appearance before the Senate intelligence committee on 17 June was called off by Trump, who blamed lawmakers for allowing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) to lapse.

Initially, Democrats welcomed Clayton as a more conventional nominee than Pulte, though their opinion seemed to change during his confirmation hearing earlier this month.

Clayton was repeatedly asked whether former Democratic president Joe Biden won the 2020 election, to which he replied by saying that Biden had been “certified” as the winner. “I’m not an election denier,” Clayton told senators.

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice-Chair Mark Warner, a Democrat, said afterwards that he “came away from [Clayton’s] confirmation hearing with serious reservations about whether he would be willing to stand up to political pressure”.

“I sincerely hope he proves those concerns unfounded, because the Intelligence Community deserves steadier leadership than it has received in recent months,” Warner said in his statement.

Clayton’s confirmation could help revive congressional negotiations on Section 702 of Fisa. This legislation allows the US government to collect communications involving foreigners abroad without an individual warrant, and Trump has been pushing for its long-term renewal.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, said on Monday: “I hope [Clayton’s appointment] will encourage my colleagues to stop blocking reauthorisation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act”.

The FSB – Russia’s domestic security service – said Telegram had been used “to prepare and co-ordinate acts of sabotage and terror” inside Russia and had failed to remove channels, chats and bots used by Ukraine.

An international arrest warrant has been issued for the Russian-born Durov, who lives abroad.

Shortly after the charge was announced, Telegram’s account on X posted an image showing Durov holding up his middle finger. He has previously accused Russian authorities of “fabricating new pretexts to restrict Russians’ access to Telegram”.

Telegram is popular in Russia and is used by tens of millions of people, although authorities have been restricting access as part of a wider crackdown on internet freedom. The app is also popular in Ukraine.

Multi-billionaire Durov, 41, has lived outside of Russia for many years and holds French and United Arab Emirates (UAE) passports.

It is unclear whether other countries or authorities would comply with an arrest warrant issued by Russia.

Durov left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on the platform. He had previously founded popular Russian social media company VKontakte – dubbed the “Facebook of Russia”.

Telegram is used by around 950 million people worldwide and has previously positioned itself as an app focussed on its users’ privacy, rather than the normal policies prioritised by other global social media companies.

The platform has previously faced criticism of its app moderation, but has denied having insufficient practices.

Durov was arrested and placed under formal investigation in France in 2024 over allegations of failure to properly moderate the app to reduce criminality. He was allowed to go home months later, with the investigation continuing.

Many others were said to be in “cardiopulmonary arrest” – a term often used in preliminary reports in Japan before a death is officially confirmed.

In searing heat, rescue crews are digging through the rubble at a paper factory and a shopping mall in Kumamoto prefecture, looking for trapped survivors. The mall suffered an explosion in the hour after the quake struck.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned it was “truly a race against time” to rescue those trapped. Thousands are in evacuation centres and many are without power.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) is urging residents to be alert for the possibility of strong aftershocks, public broadcaster NHK reported.

“For the next week or so, especially the next two to three days, we would like people to watch out for potential earthquakes with a maximum seismic intensity of 7,” a JMA official said.

Tuesday’s quake hit the Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu island at 16:27 local time (07:27 GMT).

One of the worst-hit buildings was the Aeon Mall in Kashima, where a portion of the second floor collapsed.

Footage of the shopping centre showed white smoke rising as people ran into the car park. Large parts of the centre’s exterior were blown off, exposing the steel beams underneath.

Three people remain unaccounted for as rescuers search the rubble.

Aeon Mall president Akio Yoshida confirmed three people were killed in the mall explosion. Some 2,700 people were employed at the mall, officials said.

Yoshida said four people were taken to hospital from the mall, adding that one person had been rescued from a bathroom and another person was in cardiopulmonary arrest.

“We sincerely apologise for this incident,” Yoshida said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Other areas affected include a factory in Yatsushiro City where two people were found to have no signs of life and nine others were unaccounted for, NHK reported.

“Although more than 20 hours have passed since the earthquake, there are those still in need of help,” Takaichi said on Wednesday.

More than 4,600 personnel were deployed to help with rescue efforts, Takaichi added.

Officials advised rescuers and quake survivors to take precautions against heatstroke in the clean-up work as temperatures hit about 35C (95F).

Defence Minister Shinjirō Koizumi said in a post on X that about 300 air conditioning units would be flown to Kumamoto and distributed in the worst-hit areas.

The JMA measured the earthquake magnitude at 7.1 and the US Geological Survey later placed it at 6.8. Quake magnitude figures are often updated as seismologists obtain and analyse new data.

The quake’s shallow epicentre – with a depth of 10 km (six miles) – was about 20km south of Kumamoto city.

Footage aired by NHK showed cracked roads and bridges and several buildings on fire. Train services were suspended and electricity cut off for thousands of homes.

Residents in Kumamoto prefecture awoke on Wednesday to the aftermath of the quake, with images showing debris on the streets and collapsed buildings, including the worship hall of the 19th Century Yatshushiro Shrine.

One resident, Hiroko Ogata, 75, told the BBC she was at the restaurant she runs in Yatsushiro City when the earthquake hit.

“All of a sudden there was a big jolt, and I was surprised and scared… I have lived here for 75 years, but I have never experienced such a big quake. I thought I would die.”

American tourist Chantel Mohar was also in Kumamoto with her family when the earthquake struck.

While travelling in the tourist bus, everyone’s phones went off with earthquake alerts.

“There was just a lot of rocking and confusion,” she told the BBC’s Newsday programme.

Derrick Van Yeboah, 41, also known as “Van” and a leader of the criminal syndicate, was sentenced on July 28, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian. He had previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on March 5, 2026.

“Romance scammers do not simply steal money—they weaponise trust,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, who announced the sentencing. “Van Yeboah and his co-conspirators exploited trust, loneliness, and legitimate business relationships to steal more than $100 million. Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of these calculated frauds and our commitment to pursuing international criminal organisations that target Americans”.

According to  court documents, Van Yeboah was a member of a criminal organisation primarily based in Ghana that used two primary methods to defraud victims: romance scams, where operatives built false emotional relationships online before requesting money, and business email compromise schemes, in which fraudsters impersonated company executives to trick businesses into wiring funds.

Many of the conspiracy’s victims were vulnerable older men and women who were tricked into believing they were in online romantic relationships with fake identities assumed by members of the conspiracy. The group stole and laundered more than $100 million from dozens of victims, with fraud proceeds laundered to West Africa.

Van Yeboah was personally held responsible for more than $10 million he stole through his own romance scams. For example, in 2019 and 2020, he assumed fake identities to engage in romance scams with an Ohio woman and a Delaware woman, inducing them to transfer approximately $4.2 million to accounts belonging to the conspiracy. 

Similarly, in 2024, he claimed to a North Carolina man that he needed funds for a parent’s funeral and to recover gold and diamonds from Italy, inducing him to transfer approximately $123,000.

In addition to the 85-month prison term, Van Yeboah was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $10,149,429.17 in forfeiture.

Van Yeboah was extradited from Ghana to the United States on August 7, 2025, following coordinated efforts between the U.S. Department of Justice and several Ghanaian agencies, including the Office of the Attorney-General, the Economic and Organised Crime Office, the Ghana Police Service–INTERPOL unit, the Cyber Security Authority, and the National Intelligence Bureau. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.

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In a public travel advisory, U.S. authorities stressed that the requirement applies to all American citizens, including children who also hold citizenship in another country.

The advisory cautioned that dual-national U.S. citizens are not permitted to use a foreign passport to apply for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). It noted that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security routinely denies or cancels ESTA applications submitted by American dual nationals.

The U.S. also urged its citizens and nationals living abroad to ensure they travel with a valid U.S. passport whenever they plan to visit the country.

It encouraged travellers whose passports have expired or are close to expiring to renew them before embarking on their journey.

Additionally, the advisory reminded travellers that passports should generally remain valid for at least six months beyond the date of entry into a foreign country to help avoid travel disruptions.

Brent futures increased by $3.30, or 3.9%, to $87.39 a barrel by 0300 ​GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $3.05, or 3.8%, to $82.31 ​a barrel.

“Renewed strength comes after the U.S. said it intercepted a ⁠surprise attack on U.S. troops,” ING analysts said in a note.

“Saudi Arabia ​intercepted drones from Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, which were targeting Saudi energy infrastructure,” ​they said, adding that U.S. and Saudi forces launched strikes on weapon sites across eastern Iraq.

The latest developments dampen expectations for a swift de-escalation in the Persian Gulf, they said.

The ​U.S. military said it intercepted ballistic missiles launched by Iran towards U.S. forces ​in the Middle East in what Washington called “an attempted surprise attack” by Tehran.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary ‌Guards ⁠later said they fired several ballistic missiles at a U.S. air base and a U.S. Central Command centre in Jordan.

Saudi Arabia also said its armed forces, in coordination with U.S. Central Command, carried out “targeted strikes” against Iran-backed groups in Iraq ​it blamed for drone ​attacks on the ⁠kingdom’s oil facilities.

U.S. crude inventories fell by about 3.3 million barrels in the week ended July 24, market sources said ​on Tuesday, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute.

Official ​inventory data ⁠from the Energy Information Administration is due later on Wednesday.

Further supporting prices, OPEC+ is likely to halt oil output increases for three months starting in October, sources told ⁠Reuters, ​after the producer group completes the scheduled return ​of barrels following voluntary cuts.

He was received at the Accra International Airport with a guard of honour mounted by the Ghana Armed Forces.

During the visit, President Nguema is expected to hold bilateral talks with President John Dramani Mahama at the Presidency.

The discussions will focus on enhancing trade, regional security, economic cooperation and continental unity.

Ahead of the talks, the Gabonese leader visited the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, where he paid tribute to Ghana’s founding President and pan-African icon, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

Below are some photos

Photo credit : Presidency

The donation includes protective gear, radar systems and training materials aimed at enhancing the operational capacity of the Ghana Army and Ghana Navy, particularly in surveillance, communication and maritime security.

Announcing the donation, the United States described the gesture as a demonstration of its enduring security partnership with Ghana and a shared commitment to addressing emerging security threats.

“The United States is proud to continue its longstanding security partnership with Ghana through the donation of $4 million in military equipment to the Ghana Armed Forces,” it said.

According to the US, the equipment will significantly enhance the capabilities of both the Ghana Army and the Ghana Navy.

“The equipment—including protective gear, radar systems and training materials—will support the Ghana Army and Ghana Navy in strengthening surveillance, communication, and operational capabilities,” the statement said.

The US further noted that the donation reflects the strong defence cooperation between the two countries and their collective resolve to promote peace and security across the region.

“This donation reflects our shared commitment to regional stability, maritime security, and addressing transnational threats,” it added.

The latest support forms part of ongoing defence cooperation between Ghana and the United States aimed at improving the readiness and operational effectiveness of the Ghana Armed Forces in responding to evolving security threats within the sub-region.

It comes days after the European Commission fined Google €890m ($1bn) for operating in a way that squeezed out competitors to its services.

In a post to Truth Social, which Trump owns, the US president said the EU would pay a “very big price” over how it had treated Google, along with other major US tech companies Apple, Meta, and Amazon, which have also been investigated.

“The United States of America is not a “PIGGYBANK” for Europe, nor will we allow it to be!” he wrote.

Trump said any fines should be “entirely reversed” and that he was initiating a trade investigation of the EU while considering “a substantial TARIFF”.

He added that the US would “immediately initiate a 301 investigation” over European regulators’ alleged practice of “robbing American companies and, in turn, the American taxpayer”.

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 gives The Office of the United States Trade Representative the power to react and investigate trade practices believed to be unfair. The second Trump Administration has launched several such investigations since last year.

The tariff threat comes just one day after Trump announced new tariffs on 60 trading partners, including the EU, UK and China, of between 10% and 12.5%.

Trump also last month threatened a 100% import tariff on any European country that introduces a digital services tax on American technology giants, despite many such nations already doing so for years.

Major tech companies, including Google, Meta, Apple, and Amazon, have donated millions of dollars to funds behind Trump’s campaign and presidency.

José Castañeda, a spokesman for Google, told the BBC the company had “worked hard to comply” with Europe’s Digital Markets Act but had “expressed our concerns about the impact of recent EC decisions”.

“We appreciate the engagement by the administration and US government,” Castañeda added.

In addition to the recent fine against Google, Trump claimed in his post that Apple had received EU fines of $15bn, Meta fines of $3bn, and Amazon fines of $2.5bn.

Representatives of Meta, Apple and Amazon, as well as the European Commission, have been contacted for comment.

It was not clear where the figures cited by Trump come from.

Shortly before Trump was elected president in 2024, he said Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, had called him directly to complain about fines the company had received from European regulators.

The call came not long after Apple lost a long-running dispute over unpaid taxes.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has been fined several times by EU regulators, including for violations of user privacy and competition laws. It is also facing new fines over purportedly “addictive” features of its apps.

Meta last year said the EU was “attempting to handicap successful American businesses”.

Amazon, however, appears to have been investigated at times by the European Commission, but avoided major fines. The company in 2022 reached an agreement with regulators to change some of its practices in Europe.

A separate regulatory body in Luxembourg did impose on Amazon a fine of more than $800mn for violations of General Data Protection Regulation rules, but that was overturned last year.

The proposed landmark settlement aims to close a long-running legal battle that has weighed on the US healthcare giant for years.

J&J has denied that its talc-based products caused cancer and has changed the formula of its widely used baby powder.

Erik Haas, the firm’s vice president of litigation, said on Monday that the allegations are “meritless” and that J&J was willing to settle in order to finally resolve the matter.

J&J said the settlement would cover about 69,000 cases, totalling most of the remaining talc-related claims. The firm will offer up to $3bn next year, with no additional payments due before 2028, it said.

The proposal must be accepted by legal firms representing 95% of the ovarian cancer claims in state and federal courts before it can be finalised, the J&J said.

Haas said in a statement that the company is confident that it would have “ultimately prevailed with further litigation” just as it has in the majority of cases heard in court to date.

He added that the proposed resolution “allows the company to put this matter behind it” and enable J&J to “remain focused on its mission to develop medicines and devices that save lives”.

Lawsuits against J&J over its talc-based baby powder started as early as 2009.

Earlier in July, a federal court handed the firm a victory by questioning individual plaintiffs’ ability to show that talc was the direct cause of their ovarian cancer.

Talc is a natural mineral made of magnesium, silicon, oxygen and hydrogen, known for its soapy feel and is often used in baby powder.

The company has faced lawsuits from consumers and their survivors who claim J&J’s talc products caused cancer due to contamination with asbestos.

Talc is mined from the earth and is found in seams close to those of asbestos, which is a material known to cause cancer.

J&J has repeatedly denied the allegations and, in its latest announcement, said: “Studies show talc is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.”

In 2022, J&J said it would stop making and selling its talc-based baby powder around the world.

The announcement came more than two years after it had ended sales of the product in the US.

“As part of a worldwide portfolio assessment, we have made the commercial decision to transition to an all-cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio,” J&J said at the time.

The building, identified as Elite Five Star Lodge, is reportedly located behind the institution.

Rescue operations are ongoing, with volunteers working alongside personnel from the Police Command, Fire Service and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to search for survivors trapped beneath the rubble.

Several victims have already been rescued and transported to a hospital in Oko for treatment, while bodies recovered from the debris have been deposited at a mortuary.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the number of fatalities or those still trapped.

A statement issued by the police command said security agencies responded immediately after receiving a distress call.

According to him, police officers, in collaboration with other emergency responders, secured the area to prevent further danger and coordinated ongoing rescue efforts.

He noted that the number of casualties could not yet be confirmed as emergency teams continue searching the collapsed structure for additional victims.

The police have appealed to residents to remain calm, refrain from spreading unverified information and stay away from the scene to allow rescue personnel unrestricted access as the operation continues.

On Monday Chad became the fifth country to start the formal withdrawal process in recent months, following Venezuela, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

The African state’s announcement came just days after 82 of the ​court’s 125 member states voted to dismiss Khan for serious misconduct. That triggered an election process for a new prosecutor but details ​still have to be hammered out and a vote is not expected before the new year.

After Khan’s removal ⁠from office, the court said it will continue to carry out its mandate.

“The ICC remains firmly committed to advancing accountability and delivering ​justice for victims of crimes that deeply shock the conscience of humanity,” it said.

While the ICC member states consider the procedure to find ​Khan’s replacement, the office of the prosecutor will be run by the current deputy prosecutors, Nazhat Shameen Khan from Fiji and Senegal’s Mame Mandiaye Niang.

Court watchers say it may be hard to find a good replacement for Khan amid the U.S.’s ramped-up diplomatic campaign.

“Who is now going to want to nominate for a position ​that has such challenges, because they know they will automatically be sanctioned by the U.S.,” Melanie O’Brien, professor of international law at the ​University of Western Australia, told Reuters.

U.S. SANCTIONS LOOM OVER SEARCH FOR NEW PROSECUTOR

Washington wants the ICC to drop its arrest warrants against Israeli leaders over Gaza ‌and to ⁠stop investigating alleged crimes involving U.S. troops. Officials told Reuters they were considering pressuring countries to withdraw from the court.

Chad announced its withdrawal on Monday and late Friday Venezuela, where the ICC had been conducting investigations into allegations of crimes against humanity by the previous government, said it had started the formal procedure to withdraw. Both states accused the court of disproportionately focusing on non-Western states.

In early July the court said three military-led ​African countries — Burkina Faso, Mali ​and Niger — formally started their withdrawal, ⁠which takes a year to go into effect.

The European Union and several of the court’s big backers including the Netherlands and Japan, one of the court’s biggest financial contributors, have voiced support for the court ​and concern over the U.S. position but have not announced any practical steps to shore up the ​institution.

In the coming ⁠months the court’s governing body, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), is expected to set out the specific procedure for the election of a new prosecutor. Many legal commentators have criticised the process around Khan’s removal for its lack of transparency.

The next election will be a litmus test especially since ⁠earlier votes ​were criticised for facing a lot of political influence and last-minute changes of procedure, ​according to Ezequiel Jimenez Martinez, who wrote a book on governing the ICC.

“The ASP now needs to reassure stakeholders it has the stamina to support the court in ​its darkest hour and elect a prosecutor worth the office and role,” he told Reuters.

Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Ambassador Mike Waltz said the president was “giving talks some space; he’s giving it a little bit of room”.

An Iranian army spokesperson said on Sunday that Tehran had halted “retaliatory” attacks in the region in response.

The pause follows nearly two weeks of daily US strikes and tit-for-tat attacks, effectively unravelling the ceasefire struck in June.

Asked whether Trump had decided against escalation for now, Waltz told NBC: “I wouldn’t go that far at all. The president is keeping all options on the table.”

Waltz also rejected reports in the New York Times that administration officials had warned expanding hostilities could dangerously drain a diminished stockpile of air defence munitions.

“The US military… has everything that it needs to conduct this campaign as effectively as it needs to be,” he said.

As of Sunday evening, Trump had not spoken publicly on the latest developments, but earlier posted computer-generated images on his Truth Social account that depicted US military planes bombing Iranian ships and Kharg island.

Meanwhile, Iran and Oman held several rounds of technical talks in Tehran on Friday and Saturday to discuss management of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei.

Disputes over control of the strait reignited US-Iran tensions earlier this month and it remains a major block to permanently ending the war.

Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding in June to halt military operations and reopen the strait, as well as to reach an agreement to end the war over the following 60 days.

But after Iranian forces attacked tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on 13 July, the US resumed airstrikes on the country and reinstated its naval blockade on Iranian ports.

Iran retaliated with attacks on US military facilities and bases across the Middle East, killing four American soldiers. The US strikes have since killed dozens of people, according to Iran’s health ministry.

In the UK, new Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said he would meet his US counterpart Pete Hegseth in the coming week to discuss the strait, which is one of the world’s key transport routes for oil, liquid natural gas and other essential commodities.

“When it comes to securing maritime freedom and free commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, that’s where we are absolutely aligned,” Streeting told the BBC.

Earlier this week, oil prices hit $100 a barrel for the first time since May, as the renewed fighting stoked fears over global energy supplies.

As the war nears its fifth month, it remains largely unpopular in the US, with a new poll from CBS/YouGov suggesting 57% of Americans are frustrated about the conflict and only 19% optimistic.

Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February, official figures show, with the vast majority coming from Iran and Lebanon.

President Trump is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House on Tuesday.

On Friday (July 24), a source told NBC News that the 56-year-old music mogul is now in solitary confinement after he reportedly got into a fight with a fellow inmate.

According to TMZ, the prison fight started after an inmate insulted Diddy and was quickly stopped by staff.

Diddy is serving time at Fort Dix in southern New Jersey. Fort Dix is a low-security federal prison where he’s serving out a four-year sentence after being convicted on two counts of transportation for prostitution in July 2025. He pleaded not guilty during the trial.

He and his legal team have tried to appeal the case but Diddy remains in jail while waiting for the decision.

Back in June, it was revealed that Diddy’s prison release date has been moved up.

Hunt said he wanted to help after seeing news reports of the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

​​The vaccine, designed using the same technology as one of the UK’s Covid vaccines, was given in Oxford, where scientists developed it in just eight weeks.

Hunt is the first of 50 healthy volunteers aged 18-55 being recruited for the trial.

​​He told the BBC what motivated him to take part: “I had wanted to volunteer for the Covid vaccine trial but was unable to because of work commitments. After seeing news from DR Congo, I thought I’d like to do my bit.”

The vaccine uses the same technology as the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid jab, which was given to hundreds of millions of people during the pandemic.

Prof Teresa Lambe, who led the Ebola vaccine team at the University of Oxford, said they had been able to create it so quickly because of the background of decades of research.

She explained how they would confirm that the vaccine was effective at protecting people. It cannot give anyone Ebola.

​​”We will not be giving anybody Ebola in this trial or any trial.

“The aim of the phase one clinical study is to look for the safety of the vaccine, and also to see if we’re getting a strong immune response that could be protective against the Bundibugyo species of Ebola.”

​​There are four vaccines in development against the Bundibugyo species which has triggered the outbreak, but this is the first to enter human trials.

​​There is a licensed vaccine against the Zaire species of Ebola, but it does not work against Bundibugyo.

​​The Oxford team say a second small Ebola vaccine trial is due to begin soon in Uganda, followed by a bigger study, looking at efficacy, in DR Congo.

​​The Serum Institute in India has already manufactured 600,000 doses of the Oxford Ebola vaccine, ready to be used if the trials are successful.

​​To date there have been more than 2,500 confirmed cases of Ebola in DR Congo, including just over 1,000 deaths.

The Minister made the request when he received the letters of credence from Nigeria’s High Commissioner-designate to Ghana, Shehu Ilu Barde, during a meeting focused on strengthening diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Mr Ablakwa urged the envoy to look into concerns surrounding Sir Sam Jonah’s Mobus Properties in Nigeria, stressing that protecting investments across borders is essential to maintaining investor confidence and deepening economic cooperation between Ghana and Nigeria.

He noted that ensuring the safety of businesses and investments plays a critical role in promoting stronger trade and economic ties between the two countries.

In response, the Nigerian High Commissioner-designate assured the Minister that he would take up the matter with the relevant authorities and stakeholders to address the concerns raised.

The meeting also touched on ways to enhance economic collaboration between Ghana and Nigeria, particularly through increased cross-border trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Mr Ablakwa called for the removal of barriers hindering trade between the two countries, saying improved cooperation would create more opportunities for businesses and strengthen regional economic growth.

He also encouraged Nigeria and other ECOWAS member states to support efforts towards the introduction of the ECO single currency, describing it as a key step towards improving regional trade and economic integration.

For his part, Mr Barde expressed gratitude to the Ghanaian government for the warm reception and reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to deepening the longstanding diplomatic and economic relationship between the two countries.

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Elected the ICC’s third prosecutor in 2021, Khan was suspended last month. The decision to remove him was passed with 82 votes in favour.

The court’s oversight body found in June he had committed a “serious breach of duty and serious misconduct” by engaging in an improper sexual relationship with a junior ICC staff member and seeking to stop her pursuing her complaint.

Khan has repeatedly denied all the allegations against him.

His lawyers have described his suspension as “unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence”.

This process goes beyond the fate of a single prosecutor and could reshape the world’s only permanent war‑crimes tribunal.

The misconduct investigation has put the institution under a glaring spotlight, intensified divisions inside it and played out alongside an unprecedented campaign to weaken, and in fact dismantle, the ICC in its entirety.

The fear among its supporters is that the court will emerge weakened and less able to face the gravest global threats.

A second referral was made in October 2024. The matter was then transferred to the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which conducted a broader investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of authority.

That inquiry ran from November 2024 to December 2025 and generated more than 5,000 pages of evidence and testimony.

The OIOS findings were subsequently reviewed by a panel of three judges tasked with advising whether Khan’s conduct amounted to serious misconduct, less serious misconduct, or no misconduct.

The allegations have unfolded during a period of exceptional pressure on the ICC, coinciding with wider political tensions.

The United States imposed sanctions on Khan after he sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged crimes linked to the war in Gaza.

Washington’s attitude to the court in general has become increasingly hostile in recent years.

Earlier this month, the US launched a new “whole‑of‑government” campaign to dismantle the ICC “brick by brick” in what it calls a threat to American sovereignty, promising visa bans, asset freezes and diplomatic pressure on allies to withdraw from the court or reject its jurisdiction over their nationals.

The United States, Russia and Israel are not members of the ICC. However, the court can exercise jurisdiction over crimes committed by their nationals on the territory of ICC member states.

Speaking during a high-level working lunch between the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), Mr Annoh-Dompreh said Africa’s enormous reserves of critical minerals, expanding trade opportunities and environmental assets must be transformed into industrial growth, jobs and prosperity.

The meeting brought together the PAP Bureau and chairpersons of permanent committees to examine South Africa’s G20 Presidency, Africa’s role within the G20, and the implications of the incoming United States Presidency for the continent, particularly on debt, trade, climate finance and BRICS.

While commending the policy briefing, Mr Annoh-Dompreh said Africa had long articulated its position in the global order.

The greater challenge, he argued, was turning those aspirations into practical policies that improve the lives of ordinary Africans.

He pointed to Africa’s vast deposits of minerals needed for the global energy transition and said the continent should be using them as leverage.

“Africa has some of the world’s largest deposits of these critical minerals. That should give us considerable leverage in the global energy transition.”

He questioned whether Africa had developed a coherent continental strategy to govern, extract and commercialise these resources, warning that without greater coordination, African countries would continue exporting raw minerals while other economies captured the greater value through refining, manufacturing and technology production.

Responding to the concerns, Southern Transitions representative Jordan McLean highlighted the African Green Minerals Strategy and the work of the African Minerals Development Centre as foundations for a coordinated continental approach.

She noted that Africa holds about 30 per cent of the world’s reserves of key minerals and should use that position to negotiate stronger partnerships, promote value addition and participate across the production chain.

“External partners are not approaching Africa’s minerals only through the prism of the energy transition. They are also seeking to secure access to those resources.”

Mr Annoh-Dompreh also challenged what he described as inequities in global climate finance, questioning why promised financial support for developing countries had repeatedly failed to materialise.

“In the face of the vulnerabilities confronting our continent, how do we position ourselves when the polluter-pays principle is globally accepted, yet the promised support does not arrive?”

He observed that developed countries industrialised through carbon-intensive growth, while African countries are now expected to pursue cleaner development under stricter environmental rules.

“The developed world industrialised through pollution at a time when there was no comparable international climate regime. Africa is now moving towards industrialisation, but the global message is that we must rely on renewable and clean energy.”

The Ghanaian legislator also questioned the credibility of some carbon credit arrangements operating across Africa and called for common standards to ensure transparency and protect local communities.

“How do we position ourselves as a continent when questions are being raised about the credibility of carbon-credit declarations and arrangements?”

Turning to trade, he said the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) remained one of the world’s most ambitious trade agreements, but its benefits were yet to be fully felt by ordinary Africans.

“We have signed the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, one of the largest trade arrangements beyond the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but it is still not being felt by the people.”

He further urged policymakers and researchers to communicate continental policies in simpler language so citizens could better understand and benefit from them.

“How do we simplify this framework beyond theory so that the average African can recognise it as a continental instrument and understand the direction in which we are collectively moving?”

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Africa’s pharmaceutical manufacturing vision becoming a reality – Mahama

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Addressing Heads of State and Government on the second day of the African Union Extraordinary Summit, President Mahama said Africa’s pharmaceutical manufacturing agenda has moved beyond ambition and is now entering a phase of implementation.

He noted that the continent’s heavy reliance on imported essential medicines and health commodities continues to expose African countries to significant vulnerabilities, making it imperative to invest in local pharmaceutical production.

According to the President, strengthening domestic manufacturing capacity will improve access to essential medicines, enhance health security and support Africa’s broader industrialisation agenda.

He said developing the pharmaceutical industry would also contribute to economic transformation by creating employment opportunities for the continent’s growing youth population.

President Mahama further expressed concern about the decline in international development assistance for health, noting that many African countries continue to depend heavily on external funding to sustain their healthcare systems.

He described the situation as a defining moment for the continent, calling for bold, homegrown solutions that will make African health systems more resilient and self-sufficient.

The President emphasised that investment in healthcare should be regarded not only as a social responsibility but also as an economic strategy capable of driving sustainable growth, industrial development and job creation.

He urged African leaders, health ministers, policymakers and development partners to move beyond policy declarations and translate their commitments into concrete actions.

President Mahama stressed that the future of healthcare on the continent will depend on decisive leadership, sustained investment and a collective commitment to building a competitive pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Africa.

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When the powerful twin earthquakes devastated Venezuela’s northern coastline, the 49-year-old fisherman had been on the boat for 18 days and was told by radio that the building he and his family lived in had collapsed.

When he got back to shore, a staggering 26 members of his family were gone.

They include his sisters, their children and grandchildren, as well as his stepfather and nine cousins. Their ages ranged from two years old to their late 70s.

“It’s a terrible, terrible thing,” he says, struggling to find the words.

“I haven’t cried for them yet, not until I find the last ones who are missing,” he adds with stoicism.

Victor’s entire family lived in a public housing complex known as OPPE 26, located in Caraballeda. The town in La Guaira state is considered the Ground Zero of the tragedy.

His daughter and granddaughter thankfully survived and their much-reduced family now lives in a tent on a golf course.

One month on from the disaster, he is not the only one still searching for, and finding, loved ones.

More than 5,300 people are confirmed to have died in the quakes and more than 16,500 were injured, according to a tally updated almost daily by the government.

The government has not said how many people are still missing, but the figure is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.

As the afternoon sun went down at OPPE26, three bodies were pulled from beneath the rebar and rubble, including that of an 11-year-old girl.

Her father, heaving deep sobs, now finally able to grieve after his desperate month-long search for her has come to an end.

Rescue workers downed tools or said a prayer as the child’s body was delicately removed in black plastic sheeting, her father’s howls piercing the air and drowning out the sound of earthmoving equipment working nearby.

“This is soul-destroying,” says Magin Hernández, a member of another search team, weeping quietly. “For the rescuers, the families, the friends; just soul destroying”.

For most survivors and victims’ relatives the soul-crushing grief is also combined with a deep and growing sense of anger at the authorities.

The resentment is palpable. Almost everyone you speak to at the Caraballeda housing complex asks the same questions: how could ten of 12 housing blocks collapse? Were the building plans flawed or corners cut or inadequate materials used? Is there evidence of negligence?

I put some those questions to Public Works Minister Juan José Ramírez as he toured the site.

The buildings were sound, he insisted, adding that no nation could have coped with the sheer scale of the disaster.

“This wasn’t one but two almost simultaneous earthquakes, both moving in different directions,” the minister argued.

“All around us you can see both public and private buildings were brought down,” he said, motioning across the road to other destroyed apartment blocks.

“The earthquake didn’t discriminate between the two.”

At one of the pancaked private buildings, in the coastal town of Catia La Mar, an unlikely rescue took place eight days after the earthquakes struck.

From beneath the concrete slabs, a security guard, Hernán Gil, was pulled out alive from an underground car park.

The jubilant scenes briefly lifted Venezuela’s spirits.

Today, Laura Barrios continues to search in the same building for her brother-in-law, whose body remains trapped in the same subterranean car park.

Most of the international crews that rallied for Gil have long since gone home and now even the earthmover, which was clearing the unstable debris, has been sent to another site.

The news that Laura’s family are searching on their own again came a day after they located the bodies of her sister-in-law and the children, aged 10 and three, huddled together in their bedroom.

“The other day was the Day of the Child in Venezuela,” Laura sobs. “But we have no children to celebrate. Ours are gone.”

She has been furious at the authorities for reacting slowly.

But she says the news that the heavy machinery is pulling out when her family still needs it has sapped her of the will to fight.

“What more can we say that this rubble doesn’t already tell us?” she asks, looking at the devastation surrounding us.

“Lost T-shirts, cutlery that was never used, crockery sets, toys. Entire lives, gone in just 39 seconds.”

In the queue for a hot meal at the World Central Kitchen – one of the US-based humanitarian agencies operating in Catia La Mar – people show characteristic Venezuelan good humour in the face of greater adversity than most have ever known.

While people need the food and bottled water, they also appreciate a smile or hug, gestures of human kindness and camaraderie.

Yet they return to cheap nylon tents, pitched on the curbside, their temporary homes for the foreseeable future.

This week, the government of Delcy Rodríguez donated 200 homes to affected families.

The overall need, though, may be 100 times higher. Reconstruction will take years and billions of dollars in investment – the World Bank has estimated that the twin quakes caused $19.6bn (£14.7bn) in damage.

Rodríguez was sworn in as acting president in January days after US forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and took him to New York to stand trial on charges of “narcoterrorism”.

While she has the backing of the Trump administration, it is Washington which is in control of Venezuela’s oil industry – the main source of revenue in this oil-rich country – so it is far from clear how the rebuild will unfold.

Many of those in tents once lived by Playa Pirata – a short stretch of beach which was full of visitors on the public holiday when the earthquakes hit.

They watched in desperation as their homes collapsed in front of them and ran towards their apartments to try to save relatives and pets trapped inside.

Theirs are just some of a thousand horror stories which Venezuelans still struggle to comprehend, and which have forever scarred a nation ill-equipped to cope.

Deyci Alejandra Omana Ortiz, who was known as Amaranta Hank in X-rated circles, was sworn in as a senator for the left-wing Historic Pact party in Bogotá on Monday, the Colombian outlet La Opinión reported.

Ortiz, 33, was a former journalist who became a porn star in 2017 before leaving the industry two years later, turning to politics.

She was elected in March in the Norte de Santander region and is now working to guarantee social security rights for adult-content creators.

Ortiz has claimed people working in the adult industry need legal protections to prevent exploitation by companies and agencies.

“These women have been unprotected by the state because, due to misinformation, prejudice and double standards, no one has declared to regulate it,” she said in a campaign video.

She has clapped back against critics who claim former adult stars shouldn’t run for office.

“Why can’t a woman who was in the adult industry aspire to a popularly elected office?” she said, citing past former porn stars turned politicians such as Ilona Staller – who rose to fame with her 1970s radio show “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?” before becoming an Italian lawmaker.

“My experience allowed me to understand inequality, the struggle for freedom and the popular economy, arguments that I now promise to bring directly into legislative debate,” Ortiz said.

“The problem is that society consumes adult films but denies us the possibility of speaking in spaces of power.”

The Historic Pact — which happens to be Colombia’s outgoing president Gustavo Petro’s party — is the largest in the state senate, with 25 seats.

Ortiz was elected because she was 23rd in their list of candidates.

“I feel embraced by my people,” she said after her election win.

Ortiz is also fighting for quality mental health and campaigning for measures to prevent sexual abuse.

“There is a political transformation underway that still has a long way to go but the important thing is that it has already begun in some way,” she said.

Petro was barred from running for another term — and conservative pol Abelardo de la Espriella will be sworn in as Colombia’s president on Aug 7.

The rain kept pouring as the wedding car inched through knee-deep floodwaters to the church.

It was 22 July 2025 and Typhoon Wipha was battering the Philippines with 130km/h (80mph) winds. Jamaica Aguilar already knew it was flooded at the historic Barasoain Church in Malolos, an hour north of Manila, where her wedding was to take place.

“I remember praying and asking, please stop raining just for today so we can enjoy this,” Aguilar recalls, nearly a year later. “And luckily, it stopped when I [stepped] outside the car.”

The make-up staff had warned her there would news crews, but she had brushed them off, incredulous and nervous. Now she could see them. Stepping out of the car, she spread the train of her dress outside the church, as the media lined up.

“I was just nervous, and thinking to myself, this is it, this is the one,” said Aguilar. “Although this is not how I planned it, there it is.”

It’s love in the middle of a disaster – Aaron Favila

Aaron Favila, a photojournalist with the Associated Press, captured the moment, and his photos immediately exploded online. In April 2026, he won a prestigious prize at the World Press Photo 2026 for the images.

Fossil fuel emissions are driving up climate extremes. In practice, what this means is that the scene captured by Favila is likely to become more common: a bride having to walk down the aisle barefoot and through floodwaters, while almost 10 million people in her country reel from the impact of a tropical storm. The Philippines has a long history of dealing with and managing floods, but climate change is now rigging the game.

The night before

Aguilar and her fiancé Jade Rick Verdillo had attended a mass at Barasoian Church on the eve of their wedding.

Halfway through, it started raining heavily. Floodwaters moved through the wooden benches, covering the church floor. “We were watching the news non-stop, and it was saying [the rain] might get heavier,” Verdillo says.

The couple stayed up until 03:00 reading forecasts and texting the wedding planners, the church and their guests. Would the storm wane? Should they cancel the wedding? Would guests be able to make it?

The planners and the church offered to reschedule, but not their party venue. “I jokingly said to them that as long as there’s food for the guests, it’s OK not to have the tables,” says Verdillo.

In the end, they decided to push through: whatever the next day would bring, they were determined that the wedding would go ahead.  

The wedding day

Favila almost missed capturing the wedding. He was 50km (31 miles) away in Manila, having lunch after putting together a breaking news package about flood-hit communities.

He heard about the flooded wedding just one hour before its scheduled start.

When he got the tip, he didn’t hesitate. As the only photographer in the Manila bureau, he has covered many extreme weather events, “but never a wedding in floods”.

Favila jumped into his company’s car, but waist-deep floodwaters soon blocked it, so he left the driver and hitched a lift in a large rescue truck. When he saw the white gown in front of the church, he leaped off, but the bride’s pre-ceremony photo session had ended.

“They were actually finished,” he recalls. “The wedding organisers were waiting at the door.”

Still, he managed to catch Aguilar’s attention and directed her for a final few shots before she walked down the aisle.

“It’s love in the middle of a disaster,” he said. “You see the floods, and it’s not a happy picture. So, it’s a mixture of happy and sad and resilience. I think people connected with the photo because of that.”

Down the aisle

Before the wedding, the couple had scrolled through dozens of “bride reveal” videos on TikTok. The moment when the groom and the bride see each other was special for them.

On their wedding day, it didn’t work. “I was laughing inside my head because I couldn’t see him because of the reporters in the middle of the church,” Aguilar says.

Unable to see her fiancé, she focused on her steps. She was barefoot to improve her grip.

“I wasn’t thinking about anything except, ‘Please don’t fall, please don’t trip’, because the tiles were getting slippery as I went deeper and deeper into the church,” she says.

Still, there was a benefit of having so many TV cameras and photographers in the church, says Verdillo. Nearly half of the 100 guests couldn’t make it through the flooded roads.

“If the [media] weren’t there, I think our venue would have felt quite empty,” he says.

Throughout the wedding, the waters kept rising. From the altar, the couple could see that many benches were misaligned, nudged by the currents. 

As the ceremony wrapped up, they lined up for photos. It was impossible for them, however, to know which camera belonged to the official wedding photographer and which were media. “So we were just smiling at everyone’s cameras,” says Verdillo.

Shortly after the ceremony, the couple took doxycycline pills to prevent flood-borne diseases such as leptospirosis, and asked their guests to do the same.

The aftermath

That evening, Favila filed the photos and went to bed as the newlyweds partied with their guests (after Aguilar had changed out of her soaked, heavy dress). The next morning, the couple and the photographer found themselves at the heart of a viral story. Other weddings in the Philippines had been disrupted by floods, but did not receive the same international attention.

“His photos were what went viral,” says Aguilar. “Especially the one of me outside the church. That’s the one that got everybody’s attention.”

Favila kept getting tagged on social media. Strangers sent the couple photos of them on the front page of US newspapers. Someone compared their wedding to a scene in the movie Crazy Rich Asians, in which one of Singapore’s richest brides marches through a pool of water.

Verdillo believes people found their story fascinating because it is relatable. “Problems are there. You cannot escape them. But what you can do is face them and move on with your life,” he says.

Saffron O’Neill, a researcher at the University of Exeter in the UK who studies climate visuals, says she wasn’t surprised the photos caught the world’s attention.

“These photos are so unexpected in how they pair the usual visual signals we expect to see in wedding photography (the couple, the white dress, the church, gathered friends and family) in a totally unexpected situation – standing knee-deep in floodwaters,” says O’Neill.

Favila believes his job as a photojournalist is to show people that climate change is happening now. “It’s not like before when people said, ‘Oh, in 10 years we will have great climate change effects’,” he says. “I think the effects of climate change are happening now.”

But the couple’s story is not only about resilience. Flooding became a heavily political issue in the Philippines during the 2025 storm season, following massive protests about a mismanaged $9.2bn (£6.9bn) fund for flood defences. Government inquiries identified hundreds of “ghost projects”, leading protestors to complain about backroom deals between politicians and companies. Senators, ministers and congresspeople have resigned or been fired in the aftermath.

Investment in flood defences is critical as the Philippines is among the world’s most vulnerable countries to typhoons and climate change is making these stronger. Warmer ocean temperatures due to global warming cause typhoons to become stronger and more damaging. Every decade since 2000 has seen a 17% to 19% increase in typhoon-related rainfall in the country.

Aguilar and Verdillo live in Navotas, a coastal area in northwest Manila, an area which is highly vulnerable to extreme weather and flooding. “They are slowly developing projects against flooding, but the rise of the sea level in Navotas is much faster than the effort the government is putting in,” says Verdillo.

After the couple furnished their house in 2025, their first typhoon season together took a darker turn. After water entered their house, their new refrigerator and washing machine broke down and their sofa and bed were completely soaked.

This year, they have added additional precautions, like raising the refrigerator up higher. Looking back at his childhood, Verdillo realises he had normalised flooding, but he says this is not tenable. “Now that I’m older,” he says. “I don’t want my children to experience the same thing.”

When they look back on their wedding day, Aguilar and Verdillo see it as a special moment.

“If you had told me beforehand that my wedding was going to be flooded, I would have said ‘no way’,” says Verdillo. “But now, honestly, I wouldn’t change anything about that day.”

The 37-year-old star entered his plea at Southwark Crown Court in a hearing that took less than five minutes.

His co-defendant, 40-year-old Omololu Akinlolu, a rapper who performs under the name Hoody Baby, also pleaded guilty to affray.

Assault and grievous bodily harm (GBH) charges, which the pair denied, were dropped, as was a charge Brown faced of having an offensive weapon.

Judge Tony Baumgartner scheduled the sentencing hearing for 26 October, 2026.

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The two strangers got on so well they could complete each other’s sentences – which made sense when they discovered the truth.

Dave was Andrea’s biological brother, who had been adopted by another family more than 30 years ago.

“I was shaking, I was just shaking and my heart was pounding,” Andrea told the BBC. “I’d finally found him. It’s unbelievable.”

In 2005, Dave was managing the bus station at the airport and Andrea serviced the vending machines.

Over the next two years they became firm friends, texting and phoning each other when they were not at work.

One day during a phone call, Dave told Andrea something he had never mentioned before. He was adopted and his birth name was Stuart Proudlove.

“I kind of froze and didn’t speak for a minute,” said Andrea.

Her maiden name was Proudlove and she had a brother who was adopted before she was born.

“It’s not a very popular name and it had to be him. Other than family, I had never heard that surname anywhere else,” she added.

She immediately rang her mother, Susan, to check her long-lost brother’s birth date. They matched: 24 March 1966. She called Dave straight back.

“I said ‘it’s got to be you, it’s got to be you’, and I said ‘I need to see you’, and so I went to pick him up,” Andrea said.

As they were driving to their mother’s house, Dave realised where he was. They were driving along the bus route he used to cover before becoming a manager.

His old route had taken him right past his mother’s house, and the school that Andrea had attended.

He had been within touching distance of his birth family without realising.

Susan said finally meeting Dave was a surreal moment.

“There were lots of tears. Then we just all hugged,” said Andrea.

“I couldn’t believe that I’d got my brother and my mum together, it was amazing.”

Andrea’s mother had told her that she had a brother when she was younger.

She told her he had been given up for adoption and had gone to a lovely lady who could not have children of her own.

“I immediately wanted to go and call him so we could play,” Andrea said.

Susan said she had tried to find her son with the help of the Salvation Army, but had not got anywhere.

“I asked if we could go and get him back,” Andrea said. “She did explain that it didn’t work that way, so I promised her that I would find him for her one day.”

Now they were finally being reunited.

“She had wanted that since being as young as I can remember,” Anderea added.

“So yeah, I gave her that. I promised her that.”

On the mantlepiece in Susan’s home was a picture of Dave as a baby.

It had been sent by his adopted parents to his birth mother days after his adoption.

The same photograph had also been displayed in his adopted parents’ house.

Dave had known he was adopted since he was 10 years old because his adopted parents had shown him the paperwork.

But he said he had a very happy childhood, and had never harboured any desire to track down his birth mother.

“I didn’t feel like I had to go searching or have any unanswered questions,” he added.

‘Lottery win’

For all three, finding each other has been a life-changing experience.

“I went from having really not a lot of positivity in my life at the time, to finding out that my best friend was my sister,” Dave said.

“I’d found my birth mum being able to sort of make her truly happy. And I’d found a family really that I never really knew existed.”

Their mother died recently, but both said they were glad she got to be reunited with her son.

“She was so desperate to find you to make sure you’d had a really good life,” Andrea said.

For Andrea, the reunion was bittersweet. She had longed to find her brother for years.

“My mum and dad, they separated unfortunately and so I went through a lot of hard times knowing [Dave] was out there but I didn’t know [where].”

The pair said they were now making the most of the time they have together after moving in with each other in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire.

Finding each other was, they said, their “lottery win”.

U.S. District Judge Lydia Griggsby will determine the sentence at a hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT) in the Washington suburb of Greenbelt, Maryland, where Goldstein stood trial for six weeks this year ​in a case that exposed his double life as a star litigator who traveled ​the globe for multimillion-dollar poker games.

Goldstein was charged in January 2025 in the ⁠final days of Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration with concealing earnings and losses from poker ​games in the U.S. and abroad with stakes reaching millions of dollars. He pleaded not guilty.

A ​jury convicted Goldstein in February for failing to report millions of dollars in poker winnings, lying on mortgage loan documents and making improper payments through his former law firm Goldstein & Russell.

Prosecutors had asked Griggsby to sentence Goldstein to ​more than eight years in prison and require him to pay $3.1 million in restitution for ​unpaid taxes. Sentencing recommendations are not binding on federal judges, who can go beyond them, or lower, in ‌punishing a ⁠defendant.

Goldstein’s defense lawyers have urged Griggsby to sentence him to what they called a lengthy supervision period that would hold him accountable while also allowing him to “repay his debts, address his gambling addiction, and contribute to society.”

The trial featured testimony from Goldstein, law firm leaders and actor ​Tobey Maguire, who starred ​in 2002’s “Spider-Man” and other ⁠films. Maguire told jurors he hired Goldstein in 2020 to try to recover more than $7 million that a Texas businessman allegedly owed the ​actor in a poker debt.

Goldstein had argued more than 40 cases at ​the Supreme ⁠Court before retiring in 2023 and was a founder of the SCOTUSblog legal  news website. His clients included Alphabet’s Google and “Fortnite” video game maker Epic Games.

A Democrat, Goldstein was part of the team that ⁠represented Al ​Gore in the Supreme Court fight over George W. ​Bush’s victory in the 2000 presidential election.

Goldstein earlier added former U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar of law firm Cooley to his ​defense team, signaling his preparation for an appeal of his conviction and sentencing.