Israel’s far-right finance minister has approved plans for thousands of illegal homes in the occupied West Bank — saying it ‘buries the idea of a Palestinian state’. Bezalel Smotrich announced 3,401 illegal housing units will be built in the controversial E1 settlement project.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, on Thursday, arrived at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu State, to commence a two-day sensitisation and tour of ongoing and commissioned Federal Government projects in Enugu and Ebonyi states.
After the tour of projects, the minister is expected to host a ‘Citizens Engagement Forum’ in the Enugu State Government House, to rub minds and get feedback from various stakeholders and the people in Enugu State.
The minister also met with Governor Peter Mbah at the Government House in Enugu, where he said Enugu remained an important state in the South-East geopolitical zone and Nigeria as a whole.
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He said President Bola Tinubu is making reforms to make Nigeria work again and has made tremendous progress in the past two years.
He explained that the removal of fuel subsidy was a bold decision taken by the president, and the action has freed up resources for impactful governance for Nigerians.
In his address, the governor explained that the projects embarked upon in the state wouldn’t have been possible without the reforms taken by the president.
Manchester has long been labelled as the rainy city.
Embracing this legacy, Manchester City have now used the wet weather as inspiration for their new third kit for the 2025-26 season.
City’s latest jersey features a raindrop graphic over a grey background, with neon green accents on the neck, shoulders and sides.
“This kit is for the City that plays in the rain,” the club said.
“The shirt is designed for those who carry City in their hearts, rain or shine.”
Manchester gets an average of 86.71cm of rain per year, while there are 152 days per year on average with rain, according to Visit Manchester.
And, despite the city’s reputation, the Manchester Evening News reported in 2017 that it ranked 15th in a table of the wettest towns and cities in the UK.
Manufactured by Puma, the shirt retails online for between £65 – for the kids’ jersey – and £152 for an “authentic jersey” with a name and number printed on the back.
“Grey skies may often be seen overhead in Manchester, but this City brings electrifying football to the pitch whatever the weather,” the club added.
“The kit carries a message from Manchester: even when it rains, we shine.”
The US State Department has issued an updated travel warning for Americans visiting Mexico, citing risks of “terrorism, crime, and kidnapping”.
The move follows months of intense pressure from President Donald Trump over issues such as immigration and the activities of criminal gangs involved in drug smuggling and human trafficking.
Here is what we know:
On Tuesday, the United States government issued a new travel alert for Mexico, warning of “terrorist” violence in 30 of its 32 states. It’s the first time Washington has ever sounded the alarm on Mexico for terrorism risk.
The advisory paints a grim picture: soaring rates of homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery, alongside a new warning of possible terrorist attacks and terrorist violence.
“There is a risk of terrorist violence, including attacks and related activities,” it warned, urging Americans to take precautions. The travel alert was raised to Level 2 – “exercise increased caution” on a scale of four levels.
The alert warns Americans not to travel to Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas provinces due to “terrorism, violent crime, and kidnapping.” These states are marked red on the map and classified as Level 4 — the most unsafe, per the US.
Travellers are advised to reconsider visiting Baja California, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, and Sonora for the same reasons; these appear in orange and are rated Level 3, or marginally safer.
Another 16 states – including Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Quintana Roo, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Morelos, Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Durango, Hidalgo, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Tlaxcala, and Veracruz – fall under “exercise increased caution”. While there are no outright travel bans, the advisory notes that both violent and non-violent crimes are common. These areas are shown in yellow and are listed under Level 2.
Only Yucatan and Campeche remain at Level 1, the lowest risk level, highlighted in blue.
According to experts, these actions follow increased pressure from Trump, which has prompted the Mexican government to take a range of measures.
Earlier this week, Mexico extradited 26 alleged cartel members to the US, in what appeared to be an effort to ease Trump’s demands for stronger action against fentanyl smuggling and organised crime.
In a statement, the US embassy said those extradited included key figures from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel, Mexico’s two most powerful organised crime groups.
We recognize @GabSeguridadMX for its dedication and commitment. This action reflects the strength of our bilateral cooperation as sovereign partners and our shared commitment to ensure our people’s security and well being. https://t.co/XbuqLNtmNK
This marks the second mass transfer of the year; in February, Mexican authorities sent 29 alleged cartel leaders to the US, a move that stirred debate over its political and legal merits.
Among them was Caro Quintero, a founding member of the Guadalajara Cartel, accused of murdering DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in 1985.
US officials had requested the extraditions, pledging not to seek the death penalty. Mexico described the suspects as high-risk criminals tied to drug trafficking and other serious offences.
While extraditions are not uncommon, they are typically carried out in ones and twos. But this year alone, Mexico has already handed over 55 people.
The transfers follow months of US pressure, reinforced by tariff threats, and reports that Trump directed the Pentagon to consider military action against Latin American cartels.
According to those reports, the order would permit direct military operations on foreign soil and in corresponding territorial waters against organised criminal groups. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has said the US and Mexico are close to finalising a security agreement to boost cooperation against cartels, but she has firmly rejected the idea of unilateral US military operations on Mexican soil.
Sheinbaum downplayed the updated travel advisory. She argued the change stems from Washington’s decision to label cartels as terrorist organisations – done through an executive order earlier this year – rather than from any new security reality.
Sheinbaum stressed that Mexico remains the top destination for US travellers, with about a million Americans living in the country, and noted that popular areas such as the Southeast, Baja California Peninsula, Pacific coast, and Mexico City continue to attract visitors despite the warning.
Bad, but it’s improving.
According to a 2024 report from Human Rights Watch, violent crime in Mexico has risen sharply since the government began its “war” on organised crime in 2006.
However, this year, Sheinbaum can report a 25.3 percent drop in daily homicides over her first 11 months in office, from 86.9 per day in September 2023 to 64.9 now – the lowest monthly figures since 2015.
While Mexico remains one of the world’s most violent countries, the decline is seen as a significant improvement, credited to her administration’s security strategy, but also US pressure.
When Trump took office, he quickly warned Mexico that it had to show real progress in stopping the flow of fentanyl, a drug that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, or face steep trade tariffs. He promised to push Mexico harder to curb drug trafficking and illegal migration, making it clear there would be serious economic consequences if it didn’t act.
In Sheinbaum’s first year in office, authorities have seized more than 3.5 million fentanyl pills and arrested at least 29,000 suspects, including high-level cartel leaders with local and national reach. Security chief Omar Garcia Harfuch credited the success to the crucial work of specialised intelligence and investigative units.
However, in places like Sinaloa, the bloodshed escalated sharply after the arrests of major figures, including Ismael Zambada, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, in August 2024.
During the first six months of this year, authorities recorded 883 homicides in the state, up from just 224 in the same period last year, with most killings concentrated in Culiacan.
The violence may be only part of the toll. Since Zambada’s arrest, more than 1,500 people have gone missing in Sinaloa. Security officials believe criminal groups are behind many of these disappearances, suggesting the real cost of the crackdown could be even higher.
Silesia Diamond League
Location: Silesia, Poland Date: Saturday, 16 August
Georgia Hunter Bell remembers it well, not least the comically oversized vest.
The feeling of knowing she was going to win her first ever track race as she passed everyone – girls and boys – on the final lap. Listening as her mum was told that 800m in two minutes and 39 seconds was “pretty good” for a 10-year-old.
It all remains vivid, more than two decades later, as Britain’s Olympic 1500m bronze medallist weighs up the potential for completing a full-circle moment in pursuit of another global podium.
The dilemma over whether to stick with the 1500m, switch focus to the 800m, or even attempt a rare double, continues to occupy her mind just four weeks before the World Championships begin in Tokyo.
Hunter Bell’s exciting progress this season in the event which she originally showed great promise before she quit the sport for five years has teased the tantalising prospect of a showdown with training partner Keely Hodgkinson in a global final.
The pair will go head-to-head over 800m at next week’s Lausanne Diamond League, after which Hunter Bell will make her decision.
Before then, the 31-year-old contests a 1500m in Silesia on Saturday, where, in the 800m, Hodgkinson will race for the first time since being crowned Olympic champion in that event 12 months ago following an injury-disrupted year.
“This year will be the first time that it might be close,” Hunter Bell tells BBC Sport, as she looks ahead to competing against Hodgkinson.
“We do a lot of training together, we obviously are very good friends and we have a great team vibe, so I think at the moment we’re just taking it day-by-day.
“It will be interesting, if we both make the world final and we both have a chance of doing well, how we manage [the situation].
“But, at the end of the day, if Great Britain could win two medals out of three, and [our training group] M11 could go one-two, that would just be the coolest thing ever.
Only four women have made the podium in both the 800m and 1500m at a single World Championships.
They include Dame Kelly Holmes, winner of two golds at the 2004 Olympics. Hunter Bell has met the track great to seek advice about that ambitious undertaking.
“I haven’t completely ruled out a double yet. We’re spending the next two weeks mulling over everything, it’s probably 90% of what I’m thinking about all the time,” says Hunter Bell.
“It’s head versus heart. My head is like, ‘don’t try and do too much’, while my heart is like ‘how cool would it be to try and do something amazing?’
“We’ve had some of the British greats do it before.”
Hunter Bell has taken the long way round since she proudly wore the colours of Ealing, Southall and Middlesex in her first track race back in 2004 – two weeks after Holmes, now her mentor, completed that historic double at the Athens Games.
But Hunter Bell hopes that is just the start, with this her first year as a full-time athlete after she left her cybersecurity job of seven years following a summer sabbatical to pursue her Olympic dream.
It is a seismic change – one which she says has left her “still pinching myself”.
Back under the guidance of her former coach Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, herself a world 800m medallist, Hunter Bell has rapidly established herself among the world’s best middle-distance runners. Under the husband-and-wife team, she added world indoor bronze in March.
“Originally, Trev believed he could make me into a world-class 800m athlete. He always said that,” explains Hunter Bell.
“I want to improve on [Olympic] bronze last year, and whatever decision I make will have that in mind.
“Obviously you can never have enough medals. But if there’s a way to improve on that with silver or gold, then I would give that more value.”
Hunter Bell’s performances in the 800m make that option extremely tempting.
She admits another victory in Lausanne next week, where Ethiopia’s Olympic silver medallist Tsige Duguma is also present, would make it “hard to not do the 800m”.
While Kenyan great Faith Kipyegon has swept six of the past seven global 1500m titles, the 800m appears wide-open before Tokyo amid world champion Mary Moraa’s inconsistency and two-time global champion Athing Mu’s failure to qualify.
But having witnessed first hand – and assisted in – Hodgkinson’s recovery from the hamstring injury which has kept her out this year, Hunter Bell fully expects her team-mate to be back to her best.
“Keely is an athlete who really thrives on and lives for race day. So it’s obviously something that she’s desperate to get back to, but she has dealt with it really well,” says Hunter Bell.
“Whenever anyone gets an injury it can be really tough. It’s just about trying to make it as positive as possible, while also being realistic, and as a team we’ve all just tried to be really supportive.”
She adds: “Trev and Jenny are very jokey, they keep the training environment fun. But obviously, when we step on the track, it’s all business.
Nottingham Forest are in advanced talks with Rennes for striker Arnaud Kalimuendo.
The Frenchman scored 18 times as Rennes finished 12th in Ligue 1 last season.
Forest are preparing for the Europa League, having been promoted to the competition when Crystal Palace were demoted to the Europa Conference League, and Nuno Espírito Santo is looking to build a deeper squad.
Igor Jesus has already joined from Botafogo for £10m as Forest look to ease the burden on Chris Wood, who scored 20 goals last season.
Kalimuendo, 23, started his career at Paris St-Germain and has scored 42 times in 105 games for Rennes since joining in 2022.