First Thing: Oil prices surge as attacks on Saudi Arabia stoke supply fears

• The 18th BRICS Summit concluded in New Delhi on Sunday, where South African President Cyril Ramaphosa praised India's leadership as the group's chair. • Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed 10 specific measures intended to serve as a reform roadmap for the organization.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with leaders including Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin on Sunday to discuss the growth of the BRICS alliance. • Modi stated that the group has expanded because member countries feel their voices are heard and their experiences are respected.

• The 11-nation BRICS bloc concluded its 2026 summit without condemning the US-Israel war on Iran. • India worked behind the scenes to secure a final declaration by mediating between the UAE and Iran, who are on opposite sides of the conflict.

• Houthi forces in Yemen have advanced their positions, creating a new geopolitical challenge for Gulf states and the United States. • Analyst Fawaz Gerges told Reuters that this move is a game changer that alters the regional balance of power.

Kaja Kallas calls drone attack that narrowly missed Boris Johnson and David Petraeus ‘a message to the western world’Europe live – latest updatesEurope needs to show it will not be “scared off” in supporting Ukraine, the EU’s chief diplomat said, after a Russian drone hit a passenger train on the country’s border with Poland shortly after a convoy of high-level diplomats and former leaders had passed through.The earlier train, which was carrying the former UK prime minister Boris Johnson and the former CIA chief David Petraeus and running ahead of schedule, may have been the target of the Russian drone strike, Ukrainian Railways has said. Continue reading...

But their habitat is threatened by bottom trawling in the region and Trump’s plan to expand seafloor miningScientists have discovered nine new deep-sea sponge species off Alaska, offering new insights into the region’s largely unexplored marine biodiversity.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) announced the discovery on Thursday, saying the species were found in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The findings bring the total number of known sponge species in Alaska to 232. Continue reading...

Warning follows series of safety incidents, with committee saying threats include public face-scanning and deepfakesUK politics live – latest updatesBritish lawmakers are demanding more restrictions on the power of AI, warning the world is unprepared for the “potentially dire” consequences of the technology, in the latest sign of rising global concern.A new regulatory framework is needed for AI in the UK, including an independent oversight body and legislation to protect the public, according to the cross-party joint committee on human rights, comprising MPs and Lords. Continue reading...

The US Supreme Court is ​still weighing the administration’s ⁠request to ​overturn a separate ​order ​blocking the ​ruleSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.A second ⁠federal ⁠judge has prevented ⁠Donald Trump’s administration from implementing ⁠a ​new ‌US ‌Postal Service ‌rule that would tighten mail-in voting requirements.Trump on Sunday called on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel, saying the attacks are causing a global shortage. He spoke after diesel prices in the US hit a record on Friday, soaring past $6 a gallon on average.British ministers face calls to act after US authorities secretly flew out of the UK a diplomat accused of possessing indecent images of children. US officials reportedly raided the diplomat’s London flat in August before taking him to an American airbase and flying him out of the country, without warning the Metropolitan police.A newly unveiled statue of the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk was vandalized at the Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. The statue was found with red spray-paint. A nearby poster memorial in front of the statue was vandalized with red paint as well.A coroner in Pennsylvania announced the death of a 40-year-old woman associated with the state’s ongoing measles outbreak. The death appears to mark the third in the US state’s ongoing outbreak. Two previous deaths in the state were in infant children. In one case, the infant was born with a genetic defect that made her vulnerable to infection. The second infant child was infected with measles, and died of a ruptured spleen.A Republican congressman said he had to swim to safety after a plane he was traveling in made an emergency landing in a lake late Saturday. Representative Tom Tiffany says he was returning from the La Crosse county Lincoln Day Dinner when the light aircraft lost power as it approached Wausau downtown airport. The pilot made an emergency landing in Lake Wausau. They both ended up in the water and swam to safety.Barack Obama urged Democrats to prioritize a “public conversation” about AI management and safety in a closed-door Manhattan fundraiser last week. The comments by the former US president reportedly urged the party to create a sweeping framework for everything from a safety “slow-down” to domestic job losses and children’s wellbeing. Continue reading...

Project will prepare volunteers across US to monitor polls, encourage early voting and respond to disinformationThe Democrats intend to train tens of thousands of volunteers to monitor the polls and counter possible voter intimidation under a new plan to protect November’s US midterm elections from anticipated interference from Donald Trump and his allies.The nationwide initiative, dubbed the New Battlefield Project, will help state Democratic committees build up a vast coalition of volunteers to monitor the polls, push voters to cast their ballots early and create a network to respond to disinformation. Continue reading...

Flooding in West Bengal has led to three deaths, while severe beach erosion has been witnessed in Orange countyFlooding around the city of Malda in the Indian state of West Bengal since Thursday has had a devastating effect. So far, three deaths have been recorded and many areas are still flooded, with numerous villages affected, along with the region of Bhutni. Erosion from the flooding, reported from Khaskol, led to a disruption in river flow which led to a more severe impact in Bhutni. More than 100 boats have been sent out for evacuation.At East Basudevpur, a 20ft (6-metre) embankment collapsed, reducing the channel from 550ft to under 150ft, which could lead to further flooding unless repaired. This flooding resulted after the Ganges River rose about 75cm above its “extreme danger” level owing to heavy rainfall. Continue reading...

The parliament isn’t set to meet until late September to elect a new speaker, and then prime ministerSenior figures in the Social Democratic party are meeting this morning with party leader Magdalena Andersson to discuss next steps.The party topped the polls – that is certain – and is most likely to have a first go at forming the next government, but it will have to navigate the complex and often openly contradictory demands of the left-leaning bloc. Continue reading...