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ToplineIran is demanding the U.S. lift its naval blockade, free the country from sanctions, withdraw troops from around the country and meet a list of other demands before it will re-open the Strait of Hormuz to marine traffic. U.S. President Donald Trump and John Ratcliffe, director of the CIA, speak as they depart after a Cabinet meeting at Camp David on July 31, 2026.Getty IMagesKey FactsThe list of requirements, which the Trump administration is unlikely to agree to meet, upends talks between Iran and Oman that were thought to be headed toward a re-opening of the waterway and a subsequent…

Nicola Surgeon has said she will not visit her estranged husband, Peter Murrell, in prison, has stopped speaking to him and views herself as a “mug” for worrying about his wellbeing and mental health earlier this year.During a podcast recording at the Edinburgh festival fringe, Scotland’s former first minister said Murrell had lied to her until the day he pleaded guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from the Scottish National party.He was imprisoned for five years in June, and Sturgeon revealed she had not spoken to him since then. She told the broadcaster Iain Dale she had only discovered Murrell…

One of the most important collections of UK Jurassic fossils ever compiled has been sold to a museum in Abu Dhabi, the Guardian can reveal, in what British experts have described as a loss for the nation.The collection, which was amassed by a private fossil collector, consisted of 318 specimens, including ichthyosaurs, fish and crustaceans among other creatures, some of which could be new species.The fossils were initially offered for purchase to the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London and to Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales) for what was described by one source as an “eight-figure sum”.Neither institution bought the collection,…

By Henry Oduah The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Saturday said reports saying it called for the resignation of the embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino were false. The football body, in a post on X, asked the public to disregard the reports. “Contrary to reports, especially on social media, @thenff has never asked and is not asking for @FIFAcom President, Mr. Gianni Infantino to step down as FIFA PRESIDENT,” it said. “This is outright falsehood. Kindly disregard.” This comes as Infantino fights for his future as FIFA president following his aborted plans to sell off stakes in the World Cup…

One of Wales’ most celebrated actresses, Dame Siân Phillips, is stepping back from full-scale stage acting after experiencing memory issues during rehearsals.The 93-year-old made the decision after struggling to remember her lines while preparing for a recent production, according to The Times.However, Phillips said she would continue performing in smaller projects, including a production with Michael Sheen’s Welsh National Theatre next year.Her career has spanned more than 80 years across stage, television and film.Phillips told The Times she decided to stop taking on major stage productions after struggling to remember her lines during rehearsals for Atonement at Chichester Festival Theatre…

Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO), the All Progressives Congress candidate in the August 15, 2026, Osun State governorship election, believes his years in banking, public finance and public administration have prepared him to lead the state. A former Commissioner for Finance under two administrations and immediate past Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, Oyebamiji says Osun needs a business-minded leader capable of translating its abundant human and natural resources into shared prosperity. He speaks on his vision for the state, his PROSPERITY Agenda, governance priorities, security concerns and why he believes the APC will reclaim Osun. Sunday Ehigiator brings the…

For too long, “youth empowerment” in Abia State meant one thing: share keke tricycles, hand out a few political appointments, pay peanuts, and call it a day. The result was predictable. Young people became mobile, but not productive. They were visible during elections, and redundant after. Society got traffic, not transformation. That era is over. Under Governor Alex Otti, Abia has made a decisive shift — from handouts to human capital. At the centre of this shift is the Abia State Leadership Academy (ASLA), a programme that treats young people not as political errand boys, but as the engine room…

Islamabad, Pakistan – Three folders – two in green and one in crimson red – changed hands beneath a portrait of Saudi King Salman at al-Safa Palace in Mecca on Friday.Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkiye’s president, and Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, held them up for the cameras, the ink still fresh on the pages inside.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe signatures of the three leaders had just bound Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan to the “Makkah Joint Defence Agreement”, which treats an attack on any one of the countries as an…

The chief executive of Ukraine’s leading arms company says Kyiv has “learned the hard way” that military strength is an essential precursor to diplomacy, describing deep strikes into Russian territory as a core tenet of the country’s pressure campaign.Missile and drone maker Fire Point, which says it currently facilitates more than 60% of Ukraine’s so-called “long-range sanctions,” has scaled exponentially since being founded in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.The defense-tech startup produced around 200 drones that year, a feat CEO Iryna Terekh described as a “huge achievement.”Since then, the Kyiv-headquartered startup has swelled from three founding members to…

And that’s good, because there is a lot of work to do. In Jezero Crater, the rover is studying some of the most ancient rocks in the Solar System, older than any on Earth, dating as far back as about 4 billion years ago. At the time, the planet was in the later stages of the “heavy bombardment” era when rocks were still whizzing around the inner planets in great numbers. But things were starting to settle down. “It’s the first time we’ve been able to investigate this terrain in situ, and that’s been very exciting,” Sun said. During this…