IRAN - President Trump has repeatedly said that China's President Xi Jinping has directly assured him that Beijing will not supply Iran with weaponry or military support. But this week these 'assurances' have been called into question by an Reuters investigation. "Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers, three sources familiar with the deal told ​Reuters, as it rebuilds its defenses amid war with the United States," the fresh report says. As for Reuters' findings, Beijing as expected has blasted them as lies. China's Foreign Ministry said in response: "The relevant reports are completely groundless. China has consistently played a role ⁠in promoting peace and ending the conflict."

YEMEN - The Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Iran are reportedly considering a plan to extort “fees” for safe passage of international shipping vessels in the Red Sea, modeled on Iran’s plans to collect ransoms for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters on Wednesday quoted “regional sources with knowledge of the matter” who said the Houthis are contemplating a plan to impose “fees” on ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

USA - The US has launched a review of its military presence in Europe weeks after Pete Hegseth criticised NATO allies for prioritising welfare over defence spending. “This will be a real review, designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe taking primary responsibility for its conventional defence,” Elbridge Colby, the US undersecretary of war, said. “The outcome of this review will be an acceleration of NATO’s transition to a stronger, more equitable and sustainable alliance.” The six-month review was first announced by Hegseth, the war secretary, in June during a tense NATO ministerial meeting, during which he lashed out at countries that “have yet to show a credible path” to meeting their commitments for higher defence spending.

UK - Drought has been declared across half of England after a spell of record-breaking heat. The Environment Agency (EA) said seven areas of central, eastern and southern England were in drought following record low rainfall and high temperatures. The affected areas are Hertfordshire and the whole of London, East Anglia, Thames Valley, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Devon and Cornwall, the West Midlands and Wessex, which covers Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, and south Gloucestershire. Amber health warnings for heat are in place for the East Midlands, the East of England, the South East and London from Tuesday to Thursday, with temperatures expected to reach as high as 35C on Wednesday. The current drought means there have been three droughts in the past five years – 2022, 2025 and now 2026.

UK - Hundreds of people have been evacuated overnight after a large wildfire broke out on heathland in Suffolk during Britain’s fourth heatwave of the summer. A major incident was declared after 90 firefighters were deployed to tackle the blaze at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, which broke out about 5.30 pm on Wednesday evening and has continued into Thursday morning. It began near the Coastguard Cottages, which are National Trust properties on the Suffolk coastline, and is “spreading rapidly” south-west. Suffolk county council announced that it was evacuating about 200 caravans at the Cliff House Holiday Park. This was carried out successfully.

UK - Wildfires and extreme weather are putting Britain’s food supplies at risk, the bosses of Britain’s biggest supermarkets have warned. The chief executives of Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and the Co-op have written to the Prime Minister calling for urgent action to protect food security and lessen Britain’s dependence on imports. Supermarket bosses are calling for Andy Burnham to set legally binding targets to increase the proportion of fruit and vegetables grown in Britain by 2040. The call comes amid fears that increasing incidents of extreme weather will cripple crop production in countries that help stock Britain’s shelves. At least half of the nation’s imported fruit and vegetables currently come from countries facing extreme water scarcity, the bosses warned in their letter, fuelling concerns about shortages in the coming years unless action is taken now.

USA - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday evening issued a nationwide ground stop for all American Airlines flights due to an IT issue. American Airlines issued an apology to customers as they worked to resolve the issue. Details about the IT issue are unclear.

UK - What is now known as the “small boats crisis” began during the Syrian civil war, when Bashar al-Assad’s bloody campaign against his own people was forcing millions to flee their country. From the beginning, therefore, it was seen in overwhelmingly humanitarian terms – even though these migrants were mainly non-Syrian and arriving from the safety of France. Now, with more than 200,000 migrants (75 per cent of whom are men) having crossed the Channel, the folly of Britain’s complacency is catching up with us. Suspected covert Iranian operatives have been intercepted by our intelligence agencies while attempting to enter the country on small boats. The Tehran regime is believed to “own” human trafficking routes from the Middle East to Britain, creating sleeper cells under our noses. These are run by Unit 700, the logistics branch of the Quds Force – the IRGC’s covert foreign operations division. It is responsible for equipping and funding Hamas, Hezbollah and other groups.

USA - When Donald Trump launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28, he predicted it would last “four to five weeks”. Five months later, the war in Iran still rages on, leaving American taxpayers to shoulder an ever-growing bill. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, acknowledged the conflict had already cost the government at least $37.5 billion (£28 billion), warning that the Pentagon was running out of money. Yet the true cost, experts predict, is likely to be far greater and more damaging to the American economy than anyone could have predicted. The impact is already filtering through to consumers. Petrol prices have been 21.7 per cent higher than they would have been without the conflict, while diesel prices have been 36.7 per cent higher.

MIDDLE EAST - The US has said it successfully intercepted a “surprise attack” by Iran on American forces in the Middle East. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces “launched multiple ballistic missiles in an attempted surprise attack on US forces”, US Central Command said on Tuesday evening. It marks yet another return to conflict, despite Donald Trump saying on Monday that there were “very friendly negotiations going on” during a lull in fighting. A return to missile strikes in the Middle East will mark a blow for Mr Trump, who has increasingly sought an exit from the conflict before the US midterm elections in November.