NIGERIA - In one corner of Nigeria, Boko Haram-linked jihadists kidnap schoolchildren. In another, Christians are being slaughtered in a bloody land dispute. Separatists, bandits and lawlessness have also contributed to the estimated 10,000 Nigerians killed in the first two years of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s presidency. Facing elections in January and under pressure from Washington, Mr Tinubu has now outlined the biggest expansion of Nigeria’s military in five decades, promising to eradicate the violence wracking the country. Under the plans, the Nigerian army will expand from eight to 12 divisions, and will gain another 28,000 troops. Three new army headquarters will also be established in Nigeria’s most under-siege regions as part of the 5.41 trillion naira (£3 billion) upgrade to the nation’s defence and security. “This has become a critical issue that Tinubu must address,” he said. The concern here is that this is also becoming very clear to voters ahead of the elections. “One of the most highly visible ways of addressing this is increasing defence spending and increasing the size of the army.”

EUROPE - The EU’s response to the migrant invasion of Ceuta could look a lot like how Hungary dealt with a migrant crisis in 2015. What a difference a decade makes. Compare and contrast Europe’s response to the 2015 migration crisis with the invasion of Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in North Africa. When Hungarian prime Viktor Orban built a secure fence on the southern border to protect the Schengen zone he was roundly condemned by his fellow European leaders. Yet when tens of thousands of Moroccans broke into Ceuta, Pedro Sánchez, the Left-wing, pro-migration Spanish prime minister, was also condemned by his fellow prime ministers – for not protecting Spain’s borders. The many atrocities committed by those who entered Europe did not lead to an immediate reversal of course by British political leaders. Today, the small boats continue to arrive, bringing migrants to be fed, housed, clothed and given NHS treatment.

USA - Donald Trump has vowed to hunt down leakers who revealed the US is suffering from a shortage of critical missiles. The US president said he would seek long prison sentences for figures who passed “treasonous statements” to the media, and insisted the US had “massive amounts” of munitions. CBS News has reported the US has used “nearly all” its long-range precision missiles during its war against Iran, while The Washington Post said the president had berated Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, for misleading him about the shortages. “The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down. Long term jail sentences will be sought!”

UK - As of July 2025, there were more than 1.4 million people claiming mental health benefits, with a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) application approved every three minutes, according to government figures. In its submission to the government’s review of PIP, the TaxPayers’ Alliance noted that at least 700,000 households receiving the PIP daily living allowance, and 600,000 households receiving the PIP mobility allowance, had gross weekly income greater than the UK average. Its research found, astonishingly, at least 200,000 households receiving the daily living allowance which had a gross weekly income greater than £2,000 – equivalent to more than £100,000 a year. “Cash benefits for this group undermines the sustainability of the system,” the pressure group wrote in its submission. “Lack of means testing in PIP is at odds with the rest of the benefit system, which is either means tested or contribution based.”

UK - An eclipse of the sun will force Britain to fire up its gas power stations as solar energy plummets. The National Energy System Operator (NESO), which manages Britain’s electricity grid, expects gas-fired plants to step up production as solar output falls by up to 1.3 gigawatts (GW). This is similar to losing the output of two of the UK’s operating nuclear reactors. The solar eclipse, which will occur on Wednesday August 12, will be the largest visible in the UK since 1999. A NESO analyst said: “The effects of the eclipse are quite far-reaching geographically, all the way across Europe, and to America as well. There’s a peak obscuration of about 95 percent, so 95 percent of the sun will be blocked by the Moon. This will have an effect on the solar generation... and as a prudent network operator, we have been analysing this since about one year ago, looking at the expected size of the effect on the embedded generation.”

UK - This year will go down in history as the year of the wildfire, here and on the Continent. Net zero zealots will ensure that the historical narrative is all about climate change. But that isn’t the whole story. Fires will always break out. There are so many causes, from natural ones such as lightning to broken glass in the undergrowth, from careless barbecues and firework displays, to outright arson.The issue is whether they burn out of control, and how easy it is to contain them. That depends on the fuel load – a doubling in the quantity of dry vegetation quadruples the intensity of the fire, which may then go down into the peat. It also depends on the design of the landscape – whether there are adequate fire breaks.In Southern Europe they are realising that wildfires have been raging through areas that were once grazed but have since been abandoned by an ageing population no longer content to be peasant farmers. Formerly it was an offence in many countries for landowners not to maintain fire breaks by spraying. Now, under pressure from Greens, the rules have been relaxed in many areas, and chickens are coming home to roost with their wings on fire.

USA - Government-run lab admits ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Mythos went on hacking spree during trials. Cutting-edge AI went on a hacking spree including concocting multiple fake identities to trick human engineers and then covering its tracks. During testing by a government-run AI lab, ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Mythos went rogue, sending fraudulent emails and attempting to insert malicious code into a database. The AI Security Institute (AISI), which is supposed to evaluate AI bots for dangerous cyber capabilities, has admitted the tools tried to bypass security systems and tried to hide their activity when detected. The lab said that the bots tried to add a virus into an online database and sent emails containing malware to unwitting individuals during trials designed to monitor whether the AI tools could be used for hacking. It said the hacks were not successful. The attacks involved OpenAI’s latest version of ChatGPT and Anthropic’s powerful Mythos AI.

QATAR - The recent passing of Qatar’s former ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, has predictably triggered an avalanche of sanitized hagiography across Western capitals. Eulogists have rushed to celebrate the Father Emir as a visionary modernizer who transformed a desolate Gulf peninsula into an economic powerhouse. They point to the Doha skyline, the 2022 World Cup, and a staggering expansion of national wealth as proof of benign brilliance. Yet, this glossy narrative deliberately obscures a far darker historical reality. Sheikh Hamad was the primary architect of modern state-sponsored Islamism, and a ruthless strategist who weaponized unimaginable energy wealth to institutionalize a toxic double game that continues to destabilize the civilized world.

UK - British farmers are giving up growing food after repeated heatwaves cause their harvests to fail and their finances to falter. Some believe growing food for the nation is too financially risky and the only way to make their farms profitable is by using their land and buildings for other businesses. The National Farmer’s Union has warned there could be a shortage of certain food products if the drought conditions continue.

MIDDLE EAST - Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad avoided committing to disarmament, saying the group had accepted the Gaza agreement out of necessity but would not change its mentality or goals. Piers Morgan had asked Hamad whether the deal coordinated by the Trump administration, including the implementation of the Board of Peace and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), will lead to Hamas disarmament.

JAPAN - Sanae Takaichi’s government believes the taboo on nuclear deterrence, dating back to the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is fading. The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organisations, known as Nihon Hidankyo, was honoured for keeping alive the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki through the experience of those who lived through it, the people known as hibakusha.

USA - The dramatic rundown in precision, long-range missiles means US President Donald Trump may have to rely more on riskier, piloted bombing missions if he relaunches large-scale attacks on Iran. The US Army has used up much of its stockpile of highly accurate long-range missiles during its five-month war with Iran, according to three people familiar with the data, raising concerns about the military's readiness for future conflicts. The missiles are principally the Army's surface-to-surface weapons, known as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM). The US has used "virtually all" of these weapons, according to two of the sources. But as the war drags on, the three people familiar with the matter expressed worry that the falling missile supplies could limit the US' ability to deter adversaries, including Russia and China.

USA - With peace talks set to resume, the US president faces the same dilemma he warned against in real estate: appearing desperate at the negotiating table. In what he calls his favourite book after the Bible, Donald Trump warned in The Art of the Deal against appearing desperate when negotiating. “The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you’re dead. The best thing you can do is deal from strength,’’ he wrote.

RUSSIA - Millions of locusts have descended on southern Russia, swallowing roads, darkening the skies and tearing through valuable farmland. The enormous, fast-moving swarm has engulfed the Kizlyar district in the Republic of Dagestan, where the insects have dramatically reduced visibility and created dangerous conditions for motorists. Footage from the region shows locusts filling the air and surrounding vehicles as drivers attempt to navigate through the biblical invasion. The insects do not attack humans or animals and are not known to carry diseases harmful to people, but their sheer numbers can create dangerous conditions when they descend on roads and populated areas.

UK - Britain’s national debt has risen above £3 trillion for the first time after the Government was forced to borrow more than expected, campaigners have claimed. The Taxpayers’ Alliance said it believed the public debt had tipped over the landmark in recent days based on the trajectory of spending. The pressure group’s calculations are based on the fact that the Government borrowed £2.7 billion more than expected in the first three months of the current financial year as a result of higher debt interest payments and welfare spending. Labour is now borrowing £4,270 every second, the Taxpayers’ Alliance estimates, or £369 million per day. The scale of debt highlights the challenges facing John Healey, who has vowed to make “fiscal discipline” his top priority as Chancellor. John O’Connell, the chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said the national debt was “out of control” and urged Mr Healey and Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, to rein in spending.