NEWS

No one recalls the road to Wawa. New detainees are blindfolded several kilometres ahead. Inmates are also blindfolded and driven out before release. 

It was July 27, 2021. Eleven people returning to South East Nigeria after the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), at the Federal High Court, Abuja, were intercepted by the Department of State Services (DSS) along Lokoja. (IPOB has been fighting to secede the southeastern region to the independent nation of Biafra.) Labelled members of IPOB’s armed wing, known as Eastern Security Network, the travellers were taken into a dark, underground DSS cell in Abuja. A few weeks later, they were paired out before daybreak and chained ahead of a “military investigation.” 

Nonso and Pius Awoke landed in the Wawa prison, a military detention facility in North Central Nigeria.

Nonso, in his final year, was studying computer science at the Ebonyi State University, and Pius practised law in Akwa Ibom State. On the night they arrived in prison, they said they were first stripped by soldiers and beaten with cables. Nonso got the registration number 3220, and Pius, 3218.

Located in Niger State, the Wawa prison complex is shrouded in mystery. Except for an October 22 attack by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), almost nothing is public about it. Even the specific location of its housing facility, the Wawa Cantonment, is a subject of disagreement. Some reports trace it to Wawa town, others say it’s in Kainji or New Bussa, which, though geographically related, are different communities in the state. 

HumAngle combined Open-Source Intelligence and satellite imagery to locate it. It is situated along the Kainji-Wawa highway, roughly 3 – 4 km east of Wawa town and another 3 –4 km west of the Nigerian Air Force Base in New Bussa. It is accessible from both towns within 4 to 6 minutes by vehicle, depending on road conditions. 

Far left into the sizable military installation on Wawa-Wakwa Road, between Wawa town and Tamanai village in the Borgu Local Government Area (LGA), is a collection of buildings that closely match the description of two sources. The nine two-storey blocks separated by double walls are the prison complex, designated ‘A’ to ‘I’.

“Each floor contains 10 cells,” Pius said. “In every cell, there are 15 inmates, making approximately 450 per block.”

The military prison primarily holds suspected members of Boko Haram, which has terrorised Northern Nigeria for 16 years and killed at least 20,000 people. In 2017, a court set up in the cantonment tried 1669 suspects behind closed doors, convicted some and awarded prison terms ranging from three to 60 years. ISWAP’s attack on the facility later was to liberate their incarcerated members, but they lost eight more men instead, including a commander, to a joint force of local vigilantes and soldiers. 

United by fate

The largest groups in Wawa are tied to terrorism in the north, militancy in the middle belt, and secession threats in the South East. Most of the Igbo inmates were picked up after the nationwide #EndSARS protests of October 2020, sources said. During the protest, which started as a peaceful demonstration against police brutality, there were reports of IPOB-sponsored attacks on security personnel in Obigbo, Rivers State, which led to the declaration of a curfew and the invitation of the military by the then-governor Nyesom Wike. The soldiers, however, embarked on door-to-door raids, torture, rape, executions, arbitrary arrests, and disappearances of locals, especially men. 

“Thirty-four of them were taken to Wawa,” said Nonso. “Some of them were conductors and drivers going about their businesses. One of them was arrested for having a tattoo. They said he was an unknown gunman. One was even arrested for having a beard. One of my brothers from Rivers State, his offence was that he greeted a soldier.”

The rest came from Anambra and other southeastern states. Emeka Umeagbasi, whose organisation, Intersociety, sent an undercover agent to Wawa while compiling a report in 2024, confirmed this. 

“In our recent report, there’s a declassified document showing a request by the Nigerian Army for the transfer of so-called Boko Haram and IPOB terrorist suspects from the police headquarters to Wawa Military Cantonment,” he told HumAngle. “What else is more evidential?”

The events that culminated in the incarceration of a large number of Tivs in Wawa began with a peace meeting in the Katsina-Ala LGA  of Benue State on July 29, 2020. Politicians, chiefs, and religious leaders gathered in Tor-Donga, the Tiv people’s capital, to settle years of “armed robbery, kidnapping, murder, rape, and other criminal acts” connected to Terwase Akwaza, also known as Gana, a notorious militia leader who had been in hiding. The team requested amnesty for Gana and his gang members and offered an apology to Samuel Ortom, the governor at the time.

Though a known criminal, Gana was also a messiah in Sankera, the senatorial district covering Katsina-Ala, Logo, and Ukum LGAs. When the federal government appeared to be ignoring deadly armed herder incursions, it was Gana and his men who protected the people and their vibrant agricultural economy. Sankera, the location of Zaki Biam, the world’s biggest yam market, accounts for 70 per cent of Nigeria’s annual yam production. 

“Gana was employed by community leaders to defend the people against herders,” Jeremiah John*, a Sankera native, told HumAngle.

The militia leader bowed to pressure from traditional authority after the Tor-Donga summit. On September 8, 2020, he and his gang members publicly gave up their weapons and joined a convoy heading to Makurdi, the state capital, to conclude a peace deal with the governor. The military, however, intercepted the convoy, which included clergymen and community leaders, and took Gana and his gang members. News of his death would spread a few hours later. 

In a picture of his dead body later circulated on social media and seen by HumAngle, his body was bullet-ridden, and his right arm had been severed from his body.

On Facebook, HumAngle saw a petition addressed to the National Human Rights Commission in November 2020, seeking the release of 76 surrendered militants arrested with Gana. Tor Gowon Yaro, the Benue State native who signed the petition, told HumAngle that the men were still in military detention. 

“None of them has been released,” he said. “None that I’m aware of.”

Suspected terrorists are the largest single group in Wawa. About a decade ago, Boko Haram took over communities in the Banki axis of Borno State and held residents hostage. Upon a counter-operation by the military, the terrorists fled. However, soldiers claimed that the villagers were complicit and drove hundreds of them to the Bama IDP Camp, where they separated the men and took them to military detention. This happened in several other villages, and residents who also tried to escape their terrorised villages to Maiduguri, the capital city, were often intercepted and detained. 

“Half of Borno youths, especially the Kanuris, are in detention,” Pius cried. 

Other demographics in the facility are Fulani men detained over kidnapping, underage boys, and even some mentally-challenged people arrested in Maiduguri and accused of being Boko Haram members, sources said. 

HumAngle has extensively documented this arbitrary detention problem in Borno, involving thousands of men who have been detained for about a decade now, prompting their female relatives to form the Knifar Movement to advocate for their release. Though they are periodically released in batches, many are still in detention. HumAngle has confirmed the release of at least 1009 men from the Wawa prison and the infamous Giwa barracks in Maiduguri.

Behind the prison walls

“Once you’re inside, you’re inside,” said Onyibe Nonso, an undergraduate who spent nearly three years in the facility. The cell door quickly shuts after letting in food, and the special day when inmates step out for sunning may not come in a whole year. To survive, you must first accept every cellmate, no matter their tendency or ideology, including terrorists and mentally ill people.

Every day is a routine, Pius said – wake up, pray, sit down. Sometimes, you gist with fellow inmates. Other times, cellmates play the Ludo board game among themselves. Some cells have Hausa literature supplied by the Red Cross, where one could read. Since no single meal in the facility can satisfy an adult, many have formed the habit of fasting every day until evening, when they combine the meals and drink the little water available. 

“If they gave us beans, you would not see a single seed, only water,” said Pius. He also recalled having no water to bathe for a whole month. 

The toilet and bathroom carved out of each cell, the same cell that is smaller than the average bedroom and still accommodates belongings like jerricans, has no door. 

“We shared the rest of the space,” said Nonso. “To sleep, each person would place their blanket on top of their mat and leave a small space in-between.”

You stand and sit in your small portion. On the evenings when inmates squabble over space, they quickly resolve before soldiers return in the morning. It must not escalate lest they all suffer the following day. 

Conditions generally improve when the Red Cross visits, but soldiers assure inmates of a return to the old ways. 

“And truly, things would return,” said Pius. “For over a year before I was released, the Red Cross did not come. We heard that it was because the military authorities mismanaged the things they brought.”

An information blackout tops Wawa’s many woes, according to Pius.

“I didn’t know they changed money,” he said, referring to the time when Nigeria redesigned the naira note.  “I didn’t know whether a relative was dead or not. We didn’t know Tinubu was running. We didn’t know who was going to be sworn in – just like I was completely excommunicated.”

Back home, families were struggling to move on. When Nonso’s mother heard his voice for the first time in three years, she called back to make sure it wasn’t just another fantasy. It was on June 21, 2024, the day he was released. After two months in the hospital, 20 bags of drips and a lot of prayer, she was already making peace with her only son’s death.

And death is truly cheap in the military prison. From beatings, starvation, and complications arising from inadequate healthcare, inmates die randomly. When the undercover agent from Intersociety arrived at the facility in September 2024, at least 10 inmates had just died within the week. 

“A Muslim lieutenant colonel from the north, who provided us with 10 names of people who had just died in the detention that week, told our undercover, ‘Look at how your people are dying here,’” Umeagbasi told HumAngle. 

Nonso saw at least two dead bodies himself. Despite being rarely allowed to speak with inmates from other cells, Pius knew of at least 10 deaths. Earnest, one of those brought in from Port Harcourt shortly after the #EndSARS protests, died of complications related to diabetes. 

“I know him in person,” Pius told me. “We met one day.”

The more inmates die, the more new ones arrive. The total number, which Pius said matched his registration number on arrival, had climbed to over 5000 by his release in June 2024. As the number grows, so does the intensity of abuse.

“Some of those who got there before us said there was no such thing as beatings when they were brought in. We met it during our own time, and those who came after us had even tougher experiences. They sustained serious injuries and weren’t given adequate treatment,” Nonso said. An inmate who was released from the prison last year after 11 years in detention had an account similar to this. She told HumAngle that though the physical abuse was intense at the beginning of her stay there, it stopped at some point. Shortly before she was released, however, it resumed.

Many of the Tiv inmates arrested alongside Gana couldn’t survive the abuse they were subjected to, Pius revealed. “They beat them in a way that when they got to that detention [Wawa], most of them died.” 

Until their release over media pressure and advocacy efforts by the Nigerian Bar Association, neither Nonso nor Pius set foot in court, raising questions about why they were arrested in the first place.

The Red Cross and the Nigerian Army have not responded to inquiries sent to them.

*Jeremiah John is a pseudonym we have used to protect the source’s identity. 

United States President Donald Trump threatened to impose “very severe tariffs” on Russia on Monday if a peace agreement to end the Ukraine war is not reached in the next 50 days.

Trump has also unveiled a new agreement to supply Ukraine with more weapons.

On the campaign trail ahead of last year’s presidential election, Trump boasted that he would end the war in Ukraine within his first 24 hours in office.

However, after at least six phone conversations between Trump and his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, as well as several meetings between US officials and officials from Russia and Ukraine, no ceasefire deal has been reached.

In May, Putin refused to travel to Istanbul to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for peace talks. The two countries sent delegations instead, resulting in prisoner exchange agreements, only.

So, will Trump’s latest threat convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to change his stance on Ukraine?

What did Trump say about Russia and Ukraine this week?

Weapons for Ukraine

At a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he was “disappointed” in Putin and that Ukraine would receive billions of dollars’ worth of US weapons.

“We’re going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they’ll be sent to NATO,” Trump said, adding that NATO would pay for them. He added that this would include the Patriot air defence missiles that Ukraine has sought urgently.

“We have one country that has 17 Patriots getting ready to be shipped … We’re going to work a deal where the 17 will go, or a big portion of the 17 will go to the war site,” Trump said.

New tariffs for Russian goods

Trump said if Putin fails to sign a peace deal with Ukraine within 50 days of Monday this week, he will impose “very severe” trade tariffs on Russia, as well as secondary tariffs on other countries.

“We’re going to be doing secondary tariffs,” Trump said. “If we don’t have a deal in 50 days, it’s very simple, and they’ll be at 100 percent.”

Since the start of the Ukraine war, the US and its allies have imposed at least 21,692 separate sanctions on Russian individuals, media organisations and institutions, targeting sectors including the military, energy, aviation, shipbuilding and telecommunications.

While the trade relationship between US and Russia might be relatively marginal, “secondary tariffs” – first threatened by Trump in March but not implemented – would affect countries such as India and China purchasing Russian oil.

In 2024, Russian oil made up 35 percent of India’s total crude imports and 19 percent of China’s oil imports. Turkiye also relies heavily on Russian oil, sourcing up to 58 percent of its refined petroleum imports from Russia in 2023.

Some Western countries could also be hit by secondary tariffs. In 2024, European countries spent more than $700m on Russian uranium products, according to an analysis by the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, which used data from the European Union’s statistical office, Eurostat.

How has Russia responded to Trump’s latest threats?

Putin has not responded personally.

However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday: “The US president’s statements are very serious. Some of them are addressed personally to President Putin. We certainly need time to analyse what was said in Washington.”

Peskov stated, however, that decisions made in Washington and other NATO countries were “perceived by the Ukrainian side not as a signal for peace, but as a signal to continue the war”.

Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and current deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, wrote in an X post on Tuesday that Russia did not care about Trump’s “theatrical ultimatum”.

Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin.
The world shuddered, expecting the consequences.
Belligerent Europe was disappointed.
Russia didn’t care.

— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) July 15, 2025

Sergei Ryabkov, a senior Russian diplomat, said on Tuesday: “We first and foremost note that any attempts to make demands – especially ultimatums – are unacceptable for us,” Russia’s TASS news agency reported.

The Russian stock market appeared untroubled by Trump’s threat, rising 2.7 percent on Monday, according to the Moscow Stock Exchange.

The Russian rouble initially lost value against the US dollar but then recovered after Trump threatened new tariffs on Russia. According to data from financial analysis group LSEG, the rouble was just 0.2 percent weaker at the end of the day, trading at 78.10 to the US dollar after weakening to 78.75 earlier in the day.

The rouble gained 0.9 percent to 10.87 against the Chinese yuan, the most traded foreign currency in Russia. This was after it had weakened by more than 1 percent on Friday.

Will US weapons help Ukraine significantly?

Marina Miron, a postdoctoral researcher at the defence studies department at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera that the Patriot missile systems that Trump has pledged to sell to Ukraine are long-range air defences best suited for shooting down ballistic missiles such as Russia’s Iskander M.

“But Ukraine will need short- to medium-range systems as well as multiple rocket launchers in order to defend itself. So it’s more of a political move for Trump rather than anything else,” Miron said.

She added that the significance of these weapons depends on several factors, including whether Ukraine will get 17 systems as allegedly promised, and where the systems would be placed.

How has Trump changed his stance on aiding Ukraine?

A month into his presidential term, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, blaming Zelenskyy for continuing the war with Russia and saying the Ukrainian president “talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start”.

The US has sent Ukraine about $134bn in aid so far – not $350bn – according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) base has also been critical of US funding for Ukraine.

In early July, the Trump administration announced a decision to “pause” arms deliveries to Kyiv, but reversed this a week later. When Trump announced the reversal on July 8, his supporters voiced criticism.

Derrick Evans, one of Trump’s supporters who was among the throng which stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and who was later arrested but then pardoned by Trump in January this year, wrote on X: “I did not vote for this.” Conservative social media duo Keith and Kevin Hodge posted on X: “Who in the hell is telling Trump that we need to send more weapons to Ukraine?”

Trump appears to be attempting to address these criticisms by saying that instead of supplying weapons to Ukraine, he will sell them to NATO.

Furthermore, Miron said, the US is not losing anything by selling weapons, since NATO will be paying for them. “There are not enough systems being provided to make a substantial difference,” she said.

Could Trump’s latest threats force Putin to change his policy?

While Putin has repeatedly voiced his determination to achieve his war aims, he has not specifically stated what they are. Broadly, he has sought territorial gains within Ukraine and has opposed Ukraine’s membership in NATO – these have not changed and are unlikely to do so, according to observers.

“If you were to describe Russia’s approach, it’s ‘keep calm and carry on,’” Miron said, referring to the fact that most Russian officials have not responded to Trump’s threat.

“So they are not going for this informational trap,” she said.

Has Putin changed his stance at all since Russia invaded Ukraine?

Miron said Putin has expanded his goals since Ukraine’s major cross-border incursion to the Kursk region in August last year. Ukraine’s push into Kursk, which took the Kremlin by surprise, marked the most significant Ukrainian attack inside Russian territory since the war began.

In May this year, Russian troops were tasked with establishing a buffer zone stretching up to 10km (6 miles) into Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with Bloomberg published on July 11.

“I have already said that a decision was made to create the necessary security buffer zone along the border. Our armed forces are currently solving this problem. Enemy firing points are being actively suppressed, the work is under way,” Putin said back then.

While Putin did not provide much detail about what the buffer zones would entail, Russian General Viktor Sobolev said they would allow Russia to push Ukraine’s long-range missiles out of striking range, Ukrainian media reported.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says tear gas was fired on Wednesday at crowds of Palestinians at aid facility in Khan Younis.

At least 21 Palestinians have been killed in the latest carnage at the GHF aid distribution centre in southern Gaza, with most of the victims reported to have died in a stampede.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health has disputed the allegation from the controversial United States- and Israel-backed organisation that armed agitators were responsible for the incident on Wednesday morning at the site in Khan Younis.

In an earlier statement, the GHF had said 19 victims were trampled and another was stabbed “amid a chaotic and dangerous surge”.

Without providing any evidence, it said the stampede had been provoked by “elements within the crowd – armed and affiliated with Hamas”.

The statement also claimed that GHF staff saw multiple weapons in the crowd and that one of its US contractors was threatened with a gun.

However, Palestinian authorities and witnesses have vehemently contested the GHF’s version of events.

Gaza’s Health Ministry released a statement saying 21 Palestinians had been killed at the GHF site on Wednesday. It noted that 15 of the victims died as a result of a stampede and suffocation after tear gas was fired at crowds of aid seekers.

“️For the first time, deaths have been recorded due to suffocation and the intense stampede of citizens at aid distribution centres,” the ministry added.

Speaking from Gaza City on Wednesday, Al Jazeera’s correspondent Hani Mahmoud said a witness had confirmed that tear gas was fired on the crowd, “causing mayhem and chaos”, which led to a stampede.

Meanwhile, a medical source at Nasser Hospital told the AFP news agency that the desperate and starving victims had been trying to receive food, but the main gate to the distribution centre had been closed.

“The Israeli occupation forces and the centre’s private security personnel opened fire on them, resulting in a large number of deaths and injuries,” they said.

Since the GHF started operating in the enclave in late May, at least 875 people have been killed trying to get food, according to the United Nations, which said on Tuesday that 674 of these deaths had occurred “in the vicinity of GHF sites”.

Speaking last week, UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said most of the casualties had suffered “gunshot injuries”.

Both the Israeli army and GHF contractors have been accused of carrying out the killings.

The UN has described the GHF sites as “death traps”, calling them “inherently unsafe” and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards.

Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, said on Wednesday that the GHF was guilty of gross mismanagement.

“People who flock in their thousands (to GHF sites) are hungry and exhausted, and they get squeezed into narrow places, amid shortages of aid and the absence of organisation and discipline by the GHF,” he said.

The latest deaths near aid distribution centres came as an Israeli attack on a camp of displaced people in al-Mawasi killed nine people.

In total, at least 43 Palestinians, including 21 people who were seeking aid, have been killed since dawn on Wednesday, according to medical sources.

Heatwaves in Europe have arrived unexpectedly early this year with two major spikes in temperatures already affecting millions of people and a third gripping parts of the continent.

From late June to mid-July, temperatures soared as high as 46 degrees Celsius (114 degrees Fahrenheit) with some locations in Western Europe experiencing record-breaking heat.

Wildfires in Greece have triggered evacuations while in France, emergency measures have closed schools and even the Eiffel Tower. In Italy, bans on outdoor labour have affected many workers.

Spain’s environment ministry said high temperatures have caused 1,180 deaths in the past two months, a sharp increase from the same period last year.

According to a study, about 2,300 heat-related deaths were recorded in 12 European cities from June 23 to July 2. About 1,500 of those deaths were linked to climate change, according to the researchers at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

“Climate change has made it significantly hotter than it would have been, which in turn makes it a lot more dangerous,” Dr Ben Clarke, a researcher at Imperial College London, said.

Where have heatwaves occurred?

The first heatwave Europe experienced peaked between June 17 and 22 and affected Western and Southern Europe.

During the second heatwave, peaking between June 30 and July 2, temperatures exceeded 40C (104F) in several countries with some cities in Spain and Portugal reaching 46C (118F).

What is causing the heatwaves?

The persistent heat is being driven by a high-pressure system over Western Europe known as a heat dome.

It acts like a lid that traps hot air under it. The pressure from the weather system pushes air down into a hot, dome-shaped mass and prevents milder weather systems from moving through.

As a result, it creates prolonged periods of excessively high temperatures.

The heat in turn prevents clouds from building up, reducing the chances of rain.

This June was the warmest on record for Western Europe

Due to the weather phenomenon, Western Europe saw its warmest June on record with an average temperature of 20.49C (68.88F), surpassing the previous record for the month from 2003 by 0.06C (0.11F), according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

On June 30, temperatures averaged 24.9C (76.8F) over Western Europe, setting a new daily temperature record for June. The same average temperature was recorded on July 1.

That was one of the highest daily temperatures ever observed in Europe during this time of year. It was exceeded only during the heatwaves of 2003, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023.

Europe is the fastest warming continent and has warmed by 0.53C (0.95F) per decade since the mid-1990s, according to the ERA5 dataset from the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Several factors are causing this effect in Europe, including shifts in atmospheric circulation, leading to more frequent and intense heatwaves. Additionally, reduced air pollution means that more solar radiation is reaching the Earth’s surface and reducing cloud cover. Certain areas of Europe also extend into the Arctic, which is the fastest warming region on the planet.

Countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Portugal saw the hottest temperatures recorded since 1979 from the start of the first heatwave to the end of the second heatwave – June 17 to July 2.

Heatwaves have been deadly for Europe.

A report by Imperial’s Grantham Institute published last week studied 12 European cities to measure changes in the intensity of heatwaves.

From June 23 to July 2 it estimated there were 2,300 heat-related deaths, including 1,500 linked to climate change, which made the heatwaves more severe.

Climate change was behind:

• 317 of the estimated excess heat deaths in Milan
• 286 in Barcelona
• 235 in Paris
• 171 in London
• 164 in Rome
• 108 in Madrid
• 96 in Athens
• 47 in Budapest
• 31 in Zagreb
• 21 in Frankfurt
• 21 in Lisbon
• six in Sassari, Italy

The study found that the heatwaves were more deadly due to the early arrival of higher temperatures, which usually occur in late July and in August.

People in Europe are not acclimatised to such high temperatures, especially the older population. More than 80 percent of the estimated excess deaths are expected in people older than 65.

The world is getting hotter

Last month was the third warmest June globally since 1850, according to average temperatures. June’s average surface air temperature was 16.46C (61.62F) to 0.47C (0.84F) and higher than the 1991-2020 average for June, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Global temperatures remain unusually high, closely tracking 2024 – the hottest year on record, having averaged a surface air temperature of 15.1C (59.18F), which was more than 1.5C (2.7F) higher than pre-industrial levels, a threshold seen as crucial to avoid dangerous global warming.

An article published last month in the Earth System Science Data journal also noted that human-induced warming has been increasing at a rate of 0.27C per decade from 2015 to 2024, which is the highest rate observed in the instrumental record.

BBC

What happened in the cyber-attacks?

What to do following a cyber-attack

Residents in the nearby fishing town of Grindavik and guests at a luxury geothermal spa resort are evacuated.

The Sundhnukur volcano has erupted near Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, the 12th volcanic eruption in the North Atlantic island nation since 2021, the Icelandic Meteorological Office says.

The agency said in a statement on Wednesday morning that an eruptive fissure in southwestern Iceland is 700 to 1,000 metres (765 to 1,095 yards) long.

“Lava is mostly flowing to the southeast and is not approaching any infrastructure,” it added. “Based on GPS measurements and deformation signals, it is likely that this was a relatively small eruption.”

Live images showed flows of lava and smoke being belched into the sky.

People were evacuated from the Blue Lagoon, a luxury geothermal spa resort, and the nearby fishing town of Grindavik, according to the public broadcaster RUV, which quoted police.

Rather than flowing from a central crater, lava from fissure eruptions like Wednesday’s appears from long cracks in the Earth’s crust.

Iceland, which is often referred to as a land of ice and fire, has now recorded a dozen volcanic eruptions since geological systems on its Reykjanes Peninsula reactivated four years ago.

The Reykjanes eruptions have so far neither posed a threat to nearby Reykjavik nor have they caused air traffic disruptions, unlike the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which grounded planes across Northern Europe for almost a week.

Grindavik was home to almost 4,000 people before an evacuation order was issued in 2023. Now, it is mainly deserted because of the threat of lava flows and related earthquakes.

In early April, a volcanic eruption penetrated protective barriers close to Grindavik, and the emergency services evacuated its residents and those staying at the Blue Lagoon spa.

Experts have said eruptions on the peninsula could continue for decades.

Every year, Iceland, which has a population of nearly 400,000 people, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to explore its volcanic landscape.

In 2024, almost 2.3 million foreigners travelled to the island, according to its tourist board.

Just two weeks earlier, his daughter Paetongtarn was suspended as prime minister by the country’s Constitutional Court.

Former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra has testified in court, seeking to defend himself against royal defamation charges that could land him 15 years in prison, just weeks after his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended as prime minister.

Thaksin stands accused of breaching strict lese-majeste laws shielding Thailand’s royal family from abuse and criticism in a closed-door trial in the capital, Bangkok, that began earlier this month and continued on Wednesday.

The prosecution’s case revolves around remarks Thaksin made to South Korean media a decade ago, with the defendant due to give at least three days of testimony. A verdict is not expected for several weeks.

Recent events for both father and daughter are a serious blow to the powerful Shinawatra political dynasty. For the past quarter-century, the 75-year-old telecoms magnate has been a defining figure of Thai politics, founding a movement which has competed with the traditional pro-royal, pro-military elite.

His prosecution, combined with Paetongtarn’s suspension two weeks ago, represents a dramatic waning of their family’s political fortune, analysts say.

Thaksin’s lawyer Winyat Chatmontri told the AFP news agency his client testified on Wednesday morning “and will continue throughout the rest of the day”.

About 50 Thaksin supporters gathered at the court, wearing red shirts, the colour of his political movement, emblazoned with a portrait of his face.

“He is a very talented guy,” 79-year-old retired accountant Vaew Wilailak told AFP. “But from past experience, bad people just want to get rid of him.”

Thaksin returned to Thailand in August 2023 after 15 years in exile, following a military coup which removed him from the prime minister’s office that he won in two elections.

He returned the day his family’s Pheu Thai party took office, at the head of a coalition government backed by their conservative former enemies, prompting suspicions a backroom deal had been struck.

Thaksin was immediately sentenced to eight years in prison on corruption and abuse of power charges – later reduced to one year by a pardon from King Maha Vajiralongkorn in another apparent sign of reconciliation.

In recent interviews, Thaksin affirmed his loyalty to the monarchy and expressed gratitude for the king’s pardon.

Speaking to AFP outside the court on the trial’s opening day on July 1, Winyat said his client appeared “chill” despite the seriousness of the case.

On the same day, Paetongtarn was suspended by the Constitutional Court, pending an ethics probe into her conduct during a leaked diplomatic phone call discussing a deadly border clash between Thai and Cambodian troops on May 28, which resulted in the death of a Cambodian soldier and reignited longstanding tensions in the region.

The scandal “became a full-blown crisis” after the leaked call suggested that Paetongtarn had “compromised her position by kowtowing” to former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, professor of political science and international relations at Chulalongkorn University, told the Turkish news agency Anadolu.

In the call, Paetongtarn referred to Hun Sen as “uncle” and described a Thai military commander as an “opponent”.

Pheu Thai’s coalition has been abandoned by key conservative backers over the call, leaving it with a razor-thin parliamentary majority steered by a caretaker prime minister.

Labour Minister Marta Elena Feito Cabrera’s comments dismissing poverty in the Caribbean island nation trigger angry backlash.

Cuban Labour and Social Security Minister Marta Elena Feito Cabrera has resigned after saying there are no beggars in Cuba, only people pretending to be.

Cuba’s presidency said in a post on social media on Wednesday that Feito had “acknowledged her errors and submitted her resignation” over her “lack of objectivity and sensitivity” in addressing issues that are “at the centre of political and governmental management”.

The news came a day after Feito made the comments about poverty in the island nation to deputies in a National Assembly committee.

“We have seen people, apparently beggars, [but] when you look at their hands, look at the clothes these people are wearing, they are disguised as beggars. They are not beggars,” Feito said.

“In Cuba, there are no beggars,” she said.

The minister added that people cleaning car windscreens live “easy” lives and they use the money they make to “drink alcohol”.

Feito also lashed out against those who search through rubbish dumps, saying they are recovering materials “to resell and not pay tax”.

The remarks quickly went viral, prompting calls for Feito’s impeachment and a wave of criticism in a country experiencing a tough economic situation in recent years.

Even Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was critical.

Without mentioning her by name but referring to the meeting at the National Assembly committee in which Feito participated, Diaz-Canel said on his X account: “The lack of sensitivity in addressing vulnerability is highly questionable. The revolution cannot leave anyone behind; that is our motto, our militant responsibility.”

Cuba blames its economic woes on a Cold War-era United States trade embargo, which complicates financial transactions and the acquisition of essentials, such as fuel and spare parts. The US imposed the embargo in 1960 after the Cuban Revolution, led by Fidel Castro.

The embargo is widely criticised with 185 of 193 countries at the United Nations voting to condemn it.

US President Donald Trump recently tightened sanctions on the island’s Communist Party-run government, pledging to restore a “tough” policy towards the Caribbean country.

Former US President Barack Obama took considerable steps to ease tensions with Cuba during his time in office, including restoring US-Cuba relations and making the first visit by a US president to the country in 90 years. Cuba has also faced an energy crisis and blackouts in recent months as supplies of subsidised Venezuelan oil have become increasingly precarious as Venezuela grapples with its own economic woes.

Last week, the US Department of State imposed sanctions against Diaz-Canel as well as the luxury high-rise Hotel Torre K in central Havana.

Travel and tourism are important to Cuba’s struggling economy with millions of tourists visiting the island nation each year.

According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Cuba had a gross domestic product of $9,296 per person in 2019, making it an upper middle income country.

When he set his own record, Evans remembers feeling the nerves as he reached the 18th needing a par to eclipse the then standard set by future three-time major winner and Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington.

In contrast, as the pressure ramped up, O’Callaghan sensed McIlroy relished the attention.

The 36-year-old made headlines at Augusta this year for not addressing his final-round playing partner Bryson DeChambeau, but O’Callaghan saw the same singular focus even then.

“The more people that were there, you could see his focus go to the next level, he was now in his element,” he said.

“It wasn’t that he was showing off, but like he was going to entertain and really put on a show.

“He got into that zone or flow that people talk about and you could probably throw an orange at his head and he wouldn’t blink.”

If Evans felt McIlroy looked like a tour player that day, O’Callaghan remembers him celebrating one like too.

Five consecutive birdies to finish his round gave the watching crowd what they had hoped for with a monster putt on the 18th providing the exclamation point to the piece of history.

“It was one of those kind of moments that we were watching on TV at the time with Tiger Woods where as soon as the putt left the blade, you could just see this thing like a magnet to the hole, roll after roll after roll,” he said.

“Rory, you could see it in his eyes. He knows that he’s making it right off the bat, and he’s got the putter up and he’s ready to go with the fist pump, giving it the whole lot.

“It didn’t even touch the sides of the hole. Electric.”

Authorities say heavy rains caused flooding throughout the region, swamping infrastructure in New York City and beyond.

Two people have been killed in New Jersey following flash flooding in the northeastern United States that caused travel chaos, authorities said, as the region braced for more heavy rain.

Governor Phil Murphy on Tuesday noted the deaths occurred in the northern New Jersey city of Plainfield, where there were two storm-related deaths on July 3. A third person was killed in North Plainfield during that previous storm.

“We’re not unique, but we’re in one of these sort of high humidity, high temperature, high storm intensity patterns right now,” Murphy told reporters after touring storm damage in Berkeley Heights. “Everybody needs to stay alert.”

The names of the two latest victims were not immediately released Tuesday.

Flood warnings in states such as New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania began to expire on Tuesday morning as a torrential storm moved on, but some areas remain inundated with floodwater.

“A moisture-rich Summer-time airmass over much of the eastern/central US will continue to lead to areas of scattered to widespread thunderstorms capable of heavy downpours and flash flooding,” the National Weather Service said.

Videos show subway stations in New York City filling with fetid floodwater. Buses and cars in New Jersey were also stranded by flooding, and the state’s Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency on Monday, warning residents to avoid unnecessary travel.

Emergency workers save trapped residents in New York floods

Rescue workers in New York’s Westchester County helped recover people stuck in their vehicles amid rising waters.

“At this time, residents are still strongly advised to avoid all travel unless fleeing an area that is subject to flooding, or under an evacuation order,” said Carolyn Fortino, a spokesperson for the county executive.

Emergency workers also rescued people from flooded basements and carried out 16 water rescues after severe flash flooding in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

“Intense rainfall dropped over 7 inches of rain in less than five hours,” the fire department for the county’s Mount Joy Borough said in a social media post.

The storms come amid growing debate about US disaster preparedness and predictive capacity following deadly floods in Texas that killed at least 131 people earlier this month, including dozens of children at a summer camp.

Critics have argued that sweeping cuts to numerous government agencies, including weather prediction and meteorological services, will hinder the country’s ability to anticipate and respond to incidents of extreme weather, which are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change.

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York City mayor, stated in a social media post that the flooding underscores the challenges that extreme weather driven by climate change will pose for existing and outdated infrastructure.

“We must upgrade our infrastructure for this new climate reality,” he said.

While rainfall is expected to diminish, weather services said that possible showers and thunderstorms could continue through the evening. They also warned that the region will face high temperatures in the coming days.

“After yesterday’s rainfall, today should be mainly dry. However, a few isolated showers or a thunderstorm is possible this afternoon/evening,” National Weather Service New York said in a social media post.

“Expect warm temperatures too, with highs in the 80s. Some spots in NYC, NE NJ, west CT, and Low Hud could reach a heat index of 95.”

The United Kingdom set up a secret plan to resettle thousands of Afghans in Britain after a data leak accidentally disclosed private information of more than 33,000 people. Britain’s defence minister told Parliament Tuesday the breach that revealed details about Afghans who worked with British forces happened in 2022 but was suppressed under a “super injunction.”

The Israeli bombings come after the Syrian government and a Druze leader both said the truce had been broken.

Israeli forces have launched air strikes on Suwayda in southern Syria, as fighting returned to the predominantly Druze city hours after the Syrian government declared a ceasefire.

The Syrian Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Tuesday that armed groups had resumed attacks on Syrian government forces with support from the Israeli Air Force.

Syria condemned Israel’s intervention as a violation of international law, while influential Druze Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri said in a statement that it was Syrian government troops who breached a truce announced earlier in the day.

The Israeli air attacks came after Hikmat al-Hajri urged local fighters to confront what he described as a barbaric attack from government forces.

Israel has claimed its attacks on the southern Syrian region bordering Israel are meant to protect the Druze minority, which it sees as potential allies.

In a statement shared on social media, Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli said that Israel could not “stand idly by” as the Druze engaged in fighting.

“We see massacres and insults against the Druze, and we must fight against the terrorism regime in Syria,” Chikli said, claiming it was a “grave mistake” to acknowledge Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as the “legitimate leader” of the country.

Fighting between Bedouin tribes and local Druze fighters has reportedly killed more than 30 people and injured more than 100 since Sunday in Suwayda. Bedouin and Druze armed factions have a longstanding feud in Suwayda, with violence occasionally erupting.

United States envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Washington was in contact with all sides “to navigate towards calm and integration”.

Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid reporting from Damascus said that the situation in Suwayda has “further escalated, with multiple Israeli drone and air strikes they claim are in support of Druze fighters”.

Syrian government declared ‘complete ceasefire’

The latest developments come hours after Syrian Minister of Defence Murhaf Abu Qasra declared a truce in a post on social media, saying: “To all units operating within the city of Suwayda, we declare a complete ceasefire.”

Abu Qasra’s announcement came shortly after the ministry deployed government forces to halt the fighting between Bedouin tribes and local fighters. The recent fighting was the first outbreak of deadly violence in the area since fighting between members of the Druze community and security forces killed dozens of people in April and May.

Syria’s Druze population numbers about 700,000, with Suwayda being home to the sect’s largest community. The Druze religious sect is a minority group that originated as a 10th-century offshoot of a branch of Shia Islam.

In Syria, the Druze primarily reside in the southern Suwayda province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south. Since the overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, concerns have been raised over the rights and safety of minorities under the new authorities, who have also struggled to re-establish security more broadly.

In April, hundreds of Alawite civilians were killed in apparent retribution after fighting broke out between government forces and armed groups loyal to al-Assad, who belongs to the Alawite religious sect.

Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on neighbouring Syria since December 2024, averaging one every three to four days.

The latest attacks come as the Netanyahu government continues to wage war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 58,479 people since October 2023.

As well as Gaza and Syria, Israel has also launched attacks on the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Iran and Yemen in recent months.

The country bid farewell to Buhari with military honours and honorific chants of ‘Sai Baba’.

Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari was buried in the backyard of his home in Daura, a town in the northern Katsina state, as supporters climbed trees and shouted “Sai Baba” to bid farewell to the 82-year-old.

A military parade and 21-gun salute honoured the former president on Tuesday at the airport before his body was transported 80km (50 miles) to Daura, where crowds surged to catch a final glimpse as the casket was lowered into the ground.

Buhari died on Sunday in a London hospital following an undisclosed illness. His coffin, wrapped in Nigeria’s green and white flag, was flown into Katsina and met by President Bola Tinubu, senior government officials, and mourners.

Buhari, who first seized power in a 1983 military coup and ruled for less than two years, returned to lead Africa’s most populous country as a civilian after defeating Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election. He served two terms until stepping down in 2023.

President Tinubu declared seven days of national mourning and a public holiday to honour Buhari’s legacy.

While Buhari’s presidency saw some achievements in infrastructure and anti-corruption efforts, his time in office was also marked by economic downturns, worsening insecurity, and a prolonged crisis in Nigeria’s oil sector.

Still, many in northern Nigeria viewed him as a principled and austere leader who tried to steer the country through turbulent times.

Supporters, some in tears, chanted as the casket disappeared from view, marking the end of an era for a man both revered and criticised.

Buhari leaves behind a mixed legacy

Known for his austere style and fiery rhetoric against corruption, Buhari was seen by his supporters as a reformer. “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody,” he often declared, seeking to position himself above Nigeria’s entrenched political factions.

Yet his presidency struggled to contain rising insecurity. While he promised to defeat Boko Haram and restore order, armed violence spread far beyond the northeast. Gunmen, separatists, and criminal groups operated with impunity across large parts of the country by the end of his tenure.

Still, Buhari leaves behind a legacy as a symbol of democratic change in Nigeria, even if the transformation he promised remained incomplete.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from London following Buhari’s death over the weekend, Alexis Akwagyiram, managing editor at Semafor Africa and a longtime observer of Nigerian politics, said Buhari will be remembered for achieving what many thought impossible: winning power as an opposition candidate.

“He was the first opposition candidate since the return to civilian rule to win at the ballot box,” Akwagyiram said, referencing Buhari’s 2015 victory over Jonathan. “History will remember him favourably for that.”

Yet Akwagyiram was blunt about the failings that marked Buhari’s time in office. He described the former general as “very ineffective” in managing Nigeria’s economy, citing his insistence on maintaining a strong naira, which led to a convoluted system of multiple exchange rates and two recessions during his tenure.

Despite the criticisms, Akwagyiram highlighted why Buhari resonated so strongly with many Nigerians. “He had the personal brand of integrity and honesty,” he said. “In a political climate renowned for corruption, that was appealing.”

Buhari’s austere image and northern support base helped him build a national coalition that twice propelled him to the presidency, a rare feat in Nigerian politics.

“He didn’t try to enrich himself,” Akwagyiram said. “That’s something history will look on favourably.”

US Republican president slams Zohran Mamdani as a ‘communist’, says Andrew Cuomo has a ‘good shot of winning’.

Washington, DC – United States President Donald Trump has backed former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision to run as an independent in the New York City mayoral race, renewing his attack against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.

Asked about Cuomo’s decision to stay in the contest after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, Trump said on Tuesday that the former governor can still win in the general election in November.

“I think he should stay. I think he has a shot,” Trump told reporters.

The former governor, 67, announced on Monday his intention to run as an independent after handily losing the Democratic contest to Mamdani last month.

But Cuomo has a mountain to climb in the overwhelmingly Democratic city, especially given that he will be competing for the anti-Mamdani vote with incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is also running as an independent, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

In an early sign of the challenges he is facing, Cuomo’s announcement on X received a flood of negative responses, with many citing his sexual harassment scandals.

Cuomo resigned as New York governor in 2021 after facing mounting sexual harassment allegations, which he has denied.

On Tuesday, Trump, a native New Yorker who moved to Florida after his first term as president in 2021, stopped short of fully endorsing Cuomo.

Asked whether he prefers Cuomo to win, Trump said: “I don’t want to say. I’m a Republican; he’s a democrat or an independent.”

“I think Andrew would have a good shot of winning. He’s got to run a tough campaign. You know, he’s running against a communist,” he added, referring to Mamdani.

The US president has been increasingly critical of Mamdani, 33, a left-wing state legislator who has made affordability the key component of his campaign.

Accusing Democrats of being communists or communist sympathisers is a frequent, misleading attack line by some Republicans. Analysts have told Al Jazeera that Mamdani’s platform does not contain the key tenets of communism, such as government takeover of industry and private property.

Last week, Trump suggested that he could use the “tremendous power” of the White House to take over New York City if Mamdani wins.

“As President of the United States, I’m not going to let this Communist Lunatic destroy New York,” Trump wrote in a social media post earlier this month.

“Rest assured, I hold all the levers, and have all the cards. I’ll save New York City, and make it ‘Hot’ and ‘Great’ again, just like I did with the Good Ol’ USA!”

Many of the president’s close allies, including several members of Congress, have deployed overtly Islamophobic language to attack Mamadani, who is of South Asian descent.

Last month, the White House said that baseless allegations that Mamdani has supported “terrorism” in the past “should be investigated”, with the intent of revoking his US citizenship.

Some close Trump allies, including billionaire Bill Ackman, backed Cuomo during the primaries.

The race to lead the largest US city has been capturing national and international headlines, in part due to the attacks on Mamdani over his support for Palestinian rights.

On Tuesday, Mamdani’s campaign sarcastically congratulated Cuomo on winning Trump’s backing.

“Obviously, this triumph speaks for itself. The question now is whether Cuomo will embrace Trump’s support publicly or continue to just accept it in private,” the campaign said in a statement.

Francesca Albanese addresses delegates from 30 countries to discuss ways nations can try to stop Israel’s offensive.

The United Nations’s special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian Territories has said that it is time for nations around the world to take concrete actions to stop Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza.

Francesca Albanese spoke to delegates from 30 countries meeting in Colombia’s capital, Bogota, on Tuesday to discuss Israel’s brutal assault and ways nations can try to stop the offensive in the besieged enclave.

Many of the participating nations have described Israel’s war on Gaza as a genocide against the Palestinians.

More than 58,000 people have been killed since Israel launched the assault in October 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israeli forces have also imposed several total blockades on the territory throughout the war, pushing Gaza’s 2.3 million residents to the brink of starvation.

“Each state must immediately review and suspend all ties with the State of Israel … and ensure its private sector does the same,” Albanese said. “The Israeli economy is structured to sustain the occupation that has now turned genocidal.”

The two-day conference organised by Colombia and South Africa is being attended mostly by developing nations, although Spain, Ireland and China have also sent delegates.

The conference is co-chaired by South Africa and Colombia, which last year suspended coal exports to Israeli power plants. It includes the participation of members of The Hague Group, a coalition of eight countries that earlier this year pledged to cut military ties with Israel and comply with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

For decades, South Africa’s governing African National Congress party has compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank with its own history of oppression under the harsh apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Black people to areas called “homelands”, before ending in 1994.

The gathering comes as the European Union weighs various measures against Israel, which include a ban on imports from illegal Israeli settlements, an arms embargo and individual sanctions against Israeli officials who are found to be blocking a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Colombian Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Mauricio Jaramillo said on Monday that the nations participating in the Bogota meeting, which also include Qatar and Turkiye, will be discussing diplomatic and judicial measures to put more pressure on Israel to cease its attacks.

The Colombian official described Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as an affront to the international order.

“This is not just about Palestine,” Jaramillo said in a news conference. “It is about defending international law and the right to self-determination.”

Special rapporteur Albanese’s comments echoed remarks she made earlier on Tuesday addressed to the EU. The bloc’s foreign ministers had been meeting in Brussels to discuss possible action against Israel.

In a series of posts on X, Albanese wrote that the EU is “legally bound” to suspend its association agreement with Israel, citing its obligations under international law.

Albanese said the EU is not only Israel’s top trading partner but also its top investment partner, nearly double the size of the US, and “trade with an economy inextricably tied to occupation, apartheid and genocide is complicity”.

The chancellor has told the financial industry it must change the “negative” narrative around savers investing money in stocks and shares in order to help grow the economy.

In a speech, Rachel Reeves said: “For too long, we have presented investment in too negative a light, quick to warn people of the risks without giving proper weight to the benefits.”

The government is working with the financial regulator to provide support for would-be investors.

It comes as Reeves stepped back from cutting the tax-free limit on cash Individual Savings Accounts (Isas) after a backlash from lenders – she is keen to shift some of the £300bn in these accounts to being invested in the UK and its companies.

At the annual Mansion House dinner in the City of London, Reeves told business leaders: “Our tangled system of financial advice and guidance has meant that people cannot get the right support to make decisions for themselves.”

She said the government is consulting with the Financial Conduct Authority “to introduce a brand-new type of targeted support for consumers ahead of the new financial year”.

The government is under pressure to ignite growth after figures revealed the UK economy shrank in May following a contraction in April.

Meanwhile, U-turns on welfare benefits and the winter fuel allowance have stoked speculation there could be tax rises in the Budget later this year.

Some Labour MPs have previously suggested a wealth tax, such as a 2% tax on assets worth more than £10m, could raise £24bn per year.

Speaking at the Mansion House event, Sir William Russell, former Lord Mayor of the City of London, told the BBC: “Unfortunately, there’s going to be this pause between tonight and October. In a way, that’s not good because there’ll be speculation about wealth tax which I don’t think will happen, this government is much more sensible than that.”

But he said: “That pause doesn’t help because there is uncertainty and if there’s one thing we all would agree with, the City does not like uncertainty.”

Reeves said the new measures to encourage consumers to invest would mean “savers can reap the benefits of UK economic success”.

But the value of investments in assets such as shares can go down as well as up, and savers have tended to be cautious over the risks involved, although the spending power of savings can be eroded by rising prices.

The government has in the past encouraged the public to buy shares in UK companies, including in 2013 when Royal Mail was floated on the London Stock Exchange.

But perhaps the most famous example was in 1986, when the state-owned British Gas was privatised and Margaret Thatcher’s government launched the “tell Sid” campaign. TV adverts featured characters urged each other to “tell Sid” about the chance to buy shares in British Gas.

In reference to her recent travails – including a tearful appearance in the House of Commons – Reeves said that during a visit to a school, a girl had asked her what job she would do if she could have any job in the world.

“Given the events of the last few weeks, I suspect many of you would sympathise if I had said “anything but chancellor”,” she joked with the audience. “But I didn’t.”

In her speech, Reeves said she would “continue to consider further changes to ISAs, engaging widely over the coming months”.

She also provided more details about changes to the UK’s financial services sector including reforming regulation.

“In too many areas, regulation still acts as a boot on the neck of businesses,” she said. “Choking off the enterprise and innovation that is the lifeblood of growth.”

She said regulators in other sectors “must take up the call I make this evening not to bend to the temptation of excessive caution but to boldly regulate for growth in the service of prosperity across our country”.

Ahead of giving his own speech at the Mansion House gathering, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey was asked if there was a trade-off between providing stability and growth.

In the past, Mr Bailey has been cautious about deregulation.

But he told the BBC: “In no way am I suggesting that all our rules are perfectly formed so no, there isn’t a trade-off, but that doesn’t mean to say that we don’t change and modernise the system and keep it up to date – we balance those two things.”

Syria’s new government is facing a serious challenge.

This time, it is not from foreign powers or from remnants of the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad, but instead, from within the country’s own borders.

Tensions have flared in the south, where fighting between members of the Druze minority and Bedouin groups has reignited fears of wider sectarian unrest.

The violence comes as Druze spiritual leaders refuse to recognise the authority of President Ahmed Sharaa – the man now leading the post-Assad transition government.

And in a move that could further inflame tensions, Israel has warned Damascus not to harm the Druze.

Are the concerns of the community justified?

And what does all this mean for the unity of Syria?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Louay Safi – Syrian political scientist and former professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University

Shadi Abou Karam – Political activist and researcher originally from Suwayda Province in Syria

Sami Akil – Political analyst and acadamic specialising in Syrian affairs

The Trump administration has faced a raft of legal challenges as it seeks to radically restrict immigration to the US.

A United States federal judge has ruled that the administration of President Donald Trump cannot block approved refugees from entering the country under the guise of a wider travel ban.

US District Judge Jamal Whitehead ruled late on Monday that Trump’s June order barring people from 12 countries from entering the US expressly states that it will not stop people from seeking refugee status.

“In other words, by its plain terms, the Proclamation excludes refugees from its scope,” Whitehead wrote.

The ruling is the latest development in a dizzying number of court cases challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to radically restrict immigration through a raft of policies that have stretched the limits of executive power.

The judge ordered the administration to continue processing a group of 80 refugees who had already been through vetting and were “presumptively protected refugees” who were nonetheless turned back due to the travel ban.

That ban applies to 12 countries and expands on a similar effort pursued by Trump during his first term in office, when his so-called “Muslim ban” prompted widespread anger and faced legal challenges before being ultimately upheld by the conservative-majority Supreme Court.

The June order applies to countries such as Afghanistan, Yemen, Iran, and Sudan, as well as Haiti and Myanmar, among others.

The administration has also revoked existing legal status for scores of people from countries like Afghanistan and Haiti, throwing their future in the country into doubt and opening them up to the possibility of deportations to countries that experts say remain mired in conflict and unsafe conditions.

A US court temporarily paused an order by the Trump administration ending Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for Afghans living in the US on Monday, several hours before it was set to expire, extending that status by one week as the court deliberates on the issue further.

Trump suspended the US refugee admissions programme upon entering office at the beginning of his second term in January, leaving thousands of people who had already been cleared for admission, sometimes after years of an arduous bureaucratic and vetting process, in a state of limbo.

A handful of refugees and advocacy groups sued, and Whitehead ruled in February that the administration could not suspend a programme created and funded by Congress. A US Circuit court put that decision on hold in March, however, ruling that the president has wide latitude over the question of who may enter the country.

Thunderstorms triggered flash floods in New York City and New Jersey on Monday, stranding commuters and motorists. The downpour was the city’s second-wettest hour in history, with more than two inches of rain. Authorities say two people were killed in New Jersey when their vehicle was swept away.