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Today:
Karoline Leavitt leaves behind a legacy of lies. What’s next for the Trump aide? | Arwa Mahdawi
NEWS | 15 August 2026
Karoline Leavitt, 28, is leaving her demanding job as Donald Trump’s press secretary to spend more time with her two young children and her 60-year-old husband. But is the official version of events the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Unlike Leavitt or Trump, I actually have to provide facts and evidence to back up my assertions. During a press briefing in March 2025, Leavitt told reporters that tariffs were a “tax cut for the American people”. The non-partisan Tax Foundation has also run the numbers and said that in 2025, the Trump tariffs “amounted to an average tax increase of $1,000” per US household.

Top Stories:
Hundreds arrested on suspicion of arson in France as wildfires rage across Europe
NEWS | 15 August 2026
Almost 500 people have been arrested on suspicion of starting wildfires in France since the start of the summer, authorities have said, as firefighters in half a dozen European countries tackle ferocious blazes amid a record-breaking heatwave. About 70% of those arrested were suspected of deliberately starting fires and the rest of doing so accidentally. View image in fullscreen A firefighter with the French air force looks on as a wildfire burns through the Landes forest in Luglon, south-west France. View image in fullscreen A police helicopter carries water to be dumped on ⁠wildfire in the Hürtgen forest in western Germany. View image in fullscreen Croatia’s prime minister described the blaze that spread to Omiš as ‘one of the worst fires in recent years’.

World:
Burnham brings in military and bans disposable barbecues in ‘tinderbox’ Britain
NEWS | 15 August 2026
Downing Street has issued a temporary GB-wide ban on the sale of disposable barbecues and brought in the military to help deal with wildfires as Andy Burnham urged people not to risk lives in “tinderbox” Britain this weekend. The prime minister spoke from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, where at least 19 people have been taken to hospital during eight fires that have ripped through several homes. He said it was necessary to bring in a temporary ban on disposable barbecues from today, asking retailers to withdraw them from sale, as he spoke of the “absolutely devastating” wildfires. Photograph: Peter Byrne/Pool PA/APHe said not all of the 37 fires across Britain had been caused by barbecues but it was “probable” that some of them had been. skip past newsletter promotion Free newsletter | Weekly Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories.

Current Events:
‘It’s due to climate’: the people of Stourbridge on the town’s wildfires
NEWS | 15 August 2026
During a visit to Stourbridge on Friday, Andy Burnham said the UK was like a “tinderbox” and announced the commission of firefighting planes to tackle future wildfires. The Guardian spoke to people who were forced to hurriedly evacuate from their homes in Stourbridge on Thursday, as a wildfire spread near the town’s golf course. Gemma Hobbs, 46, and her partner, Andy, 61, were evacuated from their home on Osmaston Road on Thursday, as the wildfires raged over a mile away. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The GuardianThe Old Swinford hospital, a boarding school in Stourbridge, was set up as a makeshift evacuation centre for affected people late on Thursday. He said climate change had to be taken seriously and the country had to become less reliant on fossil fuels.

News Flash:
Romania shuts its last nuclear reactor as drought-hit Danube river drops to record low
NEWS | 15 August 2026
Romania has been forced to shut down the last working ⁠reactor at its only nuclear plant after drought caused the Danube river to fall to record lows – a rare move that will immediately affect power supplies in neighbouring Moldova. Drought and record-low water levels have deepened fears of an energy crisis across Europe, which is facing a new summer heatwave. The drought-hit Danube, whose waters cool the Romanian plant in Cernavoda, already forced Nucelarelectrica to shut down ⁠one reactor ​in late July. The drought has hit nuclear power providers across Europe. Hungary, neighbouring Romania, has avoided a complete shutdown of its only nuclear plant, Paks, whose four reactors are also cooled by the Danube.

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SPONSORED | 15 August 2026
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Latest:
Trump threatens to declare strait of Hormuz ‘territory of the United States’
NEWS | 15 August 2026
Donald Trump has threatened to declare the strait of Hormuz as “a territory of the United States” as his administration struggles to conclude the war with Iran. Almost six months into the war, there is little indication that negotiations will soon yield peace, as Iranian officials continue to defy Trump’s demands. “After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz strait a territory of the United States,” Trump said on Friday. “When you have to pay a little bit more, you’re at $4, it’s OK, I mean, it’s not. Over the past six months, the Trump administration has repeatedly claimed victory in the war, saying Iran’s regime has been pleading for a deal.

Breaking:
Trump downplays concerns about sailors onboard USS Abraham Lincoln amid record deployment
NEWS | 15 August 2026
Donald Trump has downplayed concerns about US sailors enduring a record-setting deployment of nearly nine months onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Friday, saying the deployment was “not nearly long enough” as concerns mount over mental health and supply issues onboard the aircraft carrier. “That ship is moving right now, or very shortly, and it’s being replaced with another very similar ship,” Trump said when asked about the lengthy deployment. The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, on Thursday said those conditions had been “completely misrepresented”. Military families and US Congress members have called attention to the intensifying mental health crisis for those onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, as its 5,000 sailors and marines endure a record-breaking deployment at sea tied to the war with Iran. “Current reports from the ship confirm continuous access to clean water, functional [air conditioning], and healthy meal options,” the official claimed.

Trending:
Jason Arday, professor at centre of Cambridge plagiarism row, found dead
NEWS | 15 August 2026
Jason Arday, the academic who resigned last week as a professor at the University of Cambridge, has been found dead at his home in south London. “Jason Arday was the victim of a pernicious public shaming that other people in his position simply wouldn’t have faced. Our heartfelt sympathies go to Jason Arday’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.”Durham University, where Arday worked between 2019 and 2021, said: “We are shocked and terribly sad to learn of the death of Jason Arday. But while Cambridge said Arday would remain in post and continue to receive support, Arday immediately announced his resignation. At the end of last week Glasgow University said it would also investigate Arday’s academic credentials.

This Just In:
Israeli military plans to transfer law enforcement in occupied West Bank to police
NEWS | 15 August 2026
Israel’s defence minister wants to transfer law enforcement powers for Israelis in the occupied West Bank over to the police, a plan that Palestine’s vice-president described as a “flagrant violation of international law” and step towards full Israeli annexation. Photograph: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty ImagesMichael Sfard, a leading Israeli human rights lawyer, said a transfer of law enforcement powers could constitute a major step towards formal annexation. On Friday the commander of Israeli forces for the occupied West Bank, Gen Avi Bluth, made a second visit to Qusra. View image in fullscreen Israeli settlers re-established Ganim on 13 August 2026, starting with two dozen prefabricated homes. View image in fullscreen Thousands of residential units under construction in the Giv’at Ze’ev settlement in the West Bank, near Jerusalem and Ramallah, 6 August 2026.

Today:
Benjamin Netanyahu describes UK as ‘first Islamic republic to get a nuclear weapon’
NEWS | 15 August 2026
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called the UK “the Islamic republic of Britain” in a podcast interview, where he also described the country as the “first Islamic republic to get a nuclear weapon”. His comments, made during an interview for Israel’s army radio, played into a common far-right Islamophobic trope about Britain’s small Muslim population. “Yes, but you know someone said the first Islamic republic with nuclear weapons will be the Islamic republic of Britain.”Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, has had a nuclear arsenal since the 1990s. Photograph: Alex Wong/GettyThe US vice-president, JD Vance, made remarks similar to Netanyahu’s comments during the 2024 presidential campaign, saying the UK could become the first “truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon”. Leading the most far-right government in Israel’s history, Netanyahu has alienated traditional allies while aligning with far-right figures, including some with a history of antisemitism.

Top Stories:
Putin’s recruiters scramble to avoid second mass mobilisation as Ukraine losses mount
NEWS | 15 August 2026
In kitchens and Telegram chats across Russia, the same question is being asked with growing frequency: will Vladimir Putin order another mobilisation? Two people familiar with discussions in Moscow also said there was no indication that Putin had decided to order another mass mobilisation. “It’s guesswork right now whether mobilisation will actually happen,” said Ivan Chuviliaev, a spokesperson for Get Lost, a group that helps Russian soldiers desert. Putin recently signed a law expanding the pool of convicted prisoners eligible to sign contracts with the army, including people convicted of “serious and especially serious crimes”. Whether that will be enough could ultimately determine if Putin resorts to another mobilisation, said Tabalov, the activist.

World:
Ukraine war briefing: Crimea bomb kills ‘Ukrainian sub commander who defected’
NEWS | 15 August 2026
A Russian military officer labelled as a Ukrainian defector ⁠was killed in a ⁠bomb ​attack on Thursday in Russian-annexed Crimea. Myrotvorets – a Ukrainian website keeping a database of people described as war criminals or ‌traitors – said Shageyev had been “liquidated”. ​The regional governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said a woman was arrested on suspicion of ⁠assassinating Shageyev on behalf of Ukrainian special services. A Russian drone attack on a passenger train killed two people, Ukrainian officials said. There were 340 people on the train,” said the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Thursday.

Current Events:
‘I shot Mr Thompson’: Luigi Mangione describes his planning and the killing of health insurance CEO
NEWS | 15 August 2026
When Luigi Mangione stepped into a Manhattan federal courtroom shortly after 11am on Friday, his demeanor was less debonair than at other recent court proceedings. Mangione, who faces federal and state cases in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s 4 December 2024 killing, had long maintained a not-guilty stance. “On the morning of December 4, 2024, I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” he said. But the guilty plea – in the federal case against him at least – has ended that prospect. They argued that he could not be charged in Manhattan state court because of New York’s own double-jeopardy law.

News Flash:
Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to causing UnitedHealthcare CEO’s death in federal case
NEWS | 15 August 2026
Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty on Friday in a federal case in relation to the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson in 2024. In his federal case, he faced stalking charges, after other charges, including murder, were dropped. In the separate state case, Manhattan prosecutors have charged Mangione with murder and weapons counts and that trial is scheduled for 8 September. Mangione’s case has drawn extensive global attention as Thompson’s death spurred intense discussion about the US’s heavily criticized for-profit healthcare system. Mere hours after a final pre-trial conference in his state case, federal prosecutors and his defense had submitted a joint letter requesting a proceeding.