News 13/07/26

President Donald Trump has announced the United States is reinstating a naval blockade of Iranian ports and will levy a twenty per cent charge on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.

He said the move would block Iranian vessels or customers from entering or leaving the route, but other countries will have open access. The blockade begins on Tuesday evening. Tehran responded by declaring itself the strait’s guardian, while the US military confirmed it has launched a third consecutive night of strikes.

A court has heard that two friends allegedly aided escaped prisoner Daniel Khalife.

Adeel Khan and Imran Chowdhury have pleaded not guilty to helping the former soldier escape from Wandsworth prison in September 2023 by tying himself to the underside of a delivery truck. Jurors at Snaresbrook Crown Court were told that the east London residents acted as an inside instructor and a man on the ground supplying money. Khalife was sentenced to over fourteen years for spying for Iran.

Andy Burnham has effectively been confirmed as the new Labour leader after securing 349 nominations from the party’s MPs.

After a second day of voting, it is now mathematically impossible for any rival to run against him, putting him on track to become prime minister on the 20th July. He still requires backing from three affiliated organisations, including at least two trade unions, which is expected to be a formality.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced plans to change the law to deport the freed ringleader of a Rochdale grooming gang.

Shabir Ahmed, who was jailed for twenty-two years in 2012, cannot currently be deported under a 1971 law protecting certain long-term Commonwealth citizens. Under proposed amendments, foreign criminals guilty of serious crimes will no longer benefit from these protections.

More than half of adults with learning disabilities in England die before the age of sixty-five, compared to fifteen per cent of the general population.

An annual NHS England review looking at deaths between 2021 and 2024 found that those with learning disabilities died, on average, nineteen years younger than others. The government says significant action is underway to improve care.

The Black Potts Footbridge between Datchet and Eton must be replaced as it is no longer repairable.

Councillors in the Royal Borough, which is responsible for maintaining over one hundred and ninety-three miles of public rights of way, received the update during a local authority meeting.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has confirmed that the suspect in the murder of Ann Widdecombe was not known to Prevent.

Prevent is the government’s programme designed to stop individuals who are at risk of becoming terrorists. The update comes after the suspect was rearrested on suspicion of terrorism offences earlier today.

Donald Trump says the United States will reinstate its blockade of Iranian ports.

In a post on Truth Social, the president also claimed that the US will impose a twenty per cent fee on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security. However, he provided no detail on how the US hopes to achieve this.

Counter-terrorism officers are leading the investigation into the suspected murder of former minister Ann Widdecombe as new information and evidence come to light.

Widdecombe was found dead at her home on Thursday with serious injuries following a suspected attack on Wednesday afternoon. A twenty-eight-year-old white British man from Rotherham remains in custody after being arrested on suspicion of murder.

Twelve people have been arrested over an extreme right-wing terrorism threat to an Islamic event in Suffolk.

The arrests, including three on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, follow a counter-terrorism investigation into the event at Shrubland Hall. Fifteen thousand attendees left safely after organisers were advised to close slightly early as a precaution

The suspect in the Ann Widdecombe murder investigation has been seen on CCTV getting into a car in Yorkshire hours before the former minister was attacked in Devon.

The footage shows a man entering a red vehicle in Rotherham at ten to eight on Wednesday morning. The seventy-eight-year-old was found dead on Thursday with serious injuries. A twenty-eight-year-old man was arrested in South Yorkshire on Saturday night.

The United States has deployed one-way attack sea drones for the first time during its latest wave of strikes against Iran.

The maritime drones were used alongside fighter aircraft, naval vessels and aerial drones. US Central Command stated its forces are prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available to commercial shipping despite what it called continued aggression and threats from Iran.

The deadly fire at a Bangkok pub was likely caused by an electrical short circuit in a ceiling air conditioner, according to an initial assessment.

Survivor accounts suggest the blaze started at the front stage section and spread rapidly. The fire and smoke forced many patrons to flee to the back of the venue, which houses the kitchen and bathrooms.

The former Foreign Office permanent secretary sacked by the prime minister has launched a legal challenge.

Sir Olly Robbins is requesting a judicial review of Sir Keir Starmer’s decision, calling it unlawful and unreasonable. He was dismissed in April after failing to tell ministers about serious concerns raised by a vetting agency before granting security clearance to the US ambassador.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will set out the legal steps she will take to deport the freed ringleader of a Rochdale grooming gang today.

Shabir Ahmed, who was jailed for twenty-two years in 2012 for multiple child sexual offences including rape, was released on licence earlier this month. Calls have mounted across the political spectrum to deport Ahmed, who was stripped of his British citizenship, leaving him with Pakistani nationality. However, a 1971 law currently prevents his removal as a Commonwealth citizen who arrived over fifty years ago.

The Jurassic Park and Peaky Blinders star Sam Neill has died aged seventy-eight.

His family confirmed he passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Monday the thirteenth of July in Sydney, Australia. A statement said he was surrounded by family and passed with dignity, adding that the loss was blessed by the fact he remained cancer-free.

A ninety-three-year-old British woman has become the thirteenth person to die following a wildfire in southern Spain.

Officials in Andalusia confirmed she was among eight people hospitalised on Friday morning after the blaze broke out in Almeria province. The victim had pre-existing medical conditions and suffered twenty per cent burns. Regional emergency chief Antonio Sanz expressed condolences to the families of those killed.

At least twenty-seven people have been killed and eight critically injured after a fire tore through a bar in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district.

Firefighters were called just after midnight on Monday to find patrons fleeing the flame-enveloped venue. Eyewitnesses say the fire began near the stage and spread rapidly. It comes despite official promises to improve poorly enforced electrical safety standards in Thailand.

More than two thousand seven hundred people may have died from heat-related causes during exceptionally hot weather in May and June, estimates suggest.

Experts from Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine say most deaths occurred in June, which was the warmest on record in England. Temperatures peaked at thirty-seven-point-seven degrees in Norfolk during a rare red heat alert.

Around one hundred and twenty-five firefighters have tackled a large blaze affecting homes, gardens, sheds and a railway embankment in Walthamstow, east London.

London Fire Brigade received over one hundred calls to the incident near Vallentin Road just before half past six yesterday. Two local rest centres were set up for impacted residents. There are no reports of any injuries.