Cuba edges toward breakdown as power cuts and US meddling push society to brink

• The United States conducted military strikes targeting multiple railroads and bridges in southern Iran. • These operations occurred between the previous data cutoff and the report date of July 17, 2026.

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that over 100 aid organizations have launched emergency responses in Venezuela. • These groups have conducted more than 2,200 activities across 14 states, providing hot meals and tents to those affected by earthquakes last month.

DWP brought in measures to tackle carer’s allowance scandal yet in 2025-26 there were 32,559 overpaymentsScores of unpaid carers were hit with demands to repay sums of more than £20,000 and hundreds more put at risk of prosecution last year as a result of official failures in what appear to be continuing problems with carer’s allowance.New figures showed carers were asked to repay £33m in 2025-26 as a result of 32,559 overpayments, despite the introduction of measures over a year ago designed specifically to prevent carers falling foul of the system. Continue reading...

Pete Hegseth announced that soldiers aged 30 and older in the US military will be screened for low testosterone The US defense secretary, ⁠Pete Hegseth, this week ordered annual testosterone-deficiency screening for active-duty and reserve service members aged 30 and older, which he says will help to maintain military readiness.But many medical professionals warn it might do nothing of the sort and instead could increase service members’ risk of infertility or other consequences if testosterone is prescribed inappropriately. Continue reading...

Jens Spahn had criticised ‘rented wombs’ and his party is strongly opposed to surrogacy, which is banned in GermanyA senior German politician and key ally of chancellor Friedrich Merz has resigned as chair of the Christian Democrat (CDU) party after he and his husband used a surrogate mother to become parents, a practice he has criticised in the past and his party is vehemently opposed to.Surrogacy is banned in Germany, a policy Jens Spahn refused to relax when he was health minister in 2020, so he and his husband, Daniel Funke, used a surrogate mother in the US. Continue reading...

Rain could alleviate conditions in mid-Atlantic and north-east, with World Cup final expected to go ahead on SundayWarnings of dangerous conditions are expected to remain in place on Saturday across swathes of the US, amid uncertainty about where the heavy wildfire smoke swirling from the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of Minnesota will head next.Some parts of the US mid-Atlantic and north-east regions will continue to endure poor air quality until Saturday afternoon, where there is a high chance of thunderstorms, which could bring some reprieve from the poor air but come with other risks like flash flooding and high winds. Meanwhile, parts of the midwest and Great Lakes regions will continue to see dangerous air quality. Continue reading...

MPs and industry experts say potential reorganisation will waste time at critical moment for AI and economic growthAndy Burnham’s plan to scrap the government’s technology department has triggered an angry backlash from MPs, Whitehall officials and tech experts.The incoming prime minister has asked officials to draw up plans to abolish the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology as part of a wider Whitehall shake-up. Continue reading...

Outgoing PM has joked about cookery classes and cutting hedges, but does the international stage beckon?As his time in Downing Street comes to an end, Keir Starmer has been joking with friends about what he might do after he stands down as prime minister.He has teased that he might take a cookery course. “He needs it, he only makes two meals,” one friend said. Another not entirely serious suggestion was cutting his father-in-law’s hedge in the expectation that if he did well, he could graduate to lawns. Continue reading...

White House Fifa taskforce chief defends Argentina footballers, saying US believes in free speechThe White House has backed Argentina’s footballers who displayed a banner supporting their country’s claim to the Falklands Islands after their World Cup semi-final victory against England.In a fractious match in Atlanta on Wednesday, some players held up a banner after Argentina’s 2-1 win that said: “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” – using the country’s term for the South Atlantic islands. Continue reading...

Labour leader examining proposals to overhaul gas standing charges and make heat pumps cheaper to run than boilersAndy Burnham is considering radical plans that could cut household energy bills by £130 a year and make running a heat pump cheaper than a gas boiler.In his speech on Friday as he became the new Labour leader, Burnham promised to reduce the price of “essentials”, and a cost of living package is expected to be one of his first announcements in Downing Street. Continue reading...

Government’s food security push is said to rely on animal feed imports with vulnerability to supply chain shocksThe government’s planned poultry sector growth plan is a risk to national security, campaigners have warned.Earlier this month, the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, told the Groundswell agriculture festival that the key to improving food security was consuming more homegrown produce, and said this was why the government had set up the Farming and Food Partnership Board, whose members include industry leaders such as the president of the National Farmers’ Union and the chief executive of the Food & Drink Federation. Continue reading...