Read the daily news to learn English

Iran says a deal with Oman to reopen the strait of Hormuz is close to being finalised – as it happened

Iran said a deal with Oman to reopen the strait of Hormuz is close to being finalised, with reports suggesting Tehran would have control over ships entering the Gulf through the strategic waterway. But despite reports of potentially one of the biggest concessions yet to Iran, Reuters said Iranian sources ⁠rejected Donald Trump’s claims that a deal to reopen the strait was imminent, saying important details were still to be agreed. Iran has made a concerted diplomatic push with Gulf states, warning them explicitly that Tehran will hit their oil, power and water plants unless they convince Trump to end US strikes on Iran and seek a negotiated end to the war, Reuters reports. Sources told Reuters that the message was delivered through a flurry of high-level diplomatic contacts after Trump threatened on 28 July to strike Iran’s energy network and infrastructure. “The Iranian warning was unequivocal: if America targeted Iran’s infrastructure, they would retaliate by striking Gulf energy facilities and other regional targets,” one Gulf source said. Yemeni authorities said on Thursday that they would retaliate to several Houthi rebel attacks earlier in the day, which medical sources told AFP had killed at least 38 government troops and injured 29 in the deadliest toll since the 2022 truce between both sides. The defence ministry of Yemen’s internationally recognised government said in a statement that its armed forces would respond to the missile and drone attacks “at the appropriate place and time”. The Iran-backed Houthis had earlier confirmed that they were behind the attacks on military camps in Yemen that left dozens dead. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had deployed ballistic missiles and drones on what they described as Saudi mobilisation in the Al-Ruwyk, Al-Abr, and Al-Thaniyah areas of Yemen. The attacks, he said, were in response to “large Saudi military buildups in their final stages, aimed at escalating the aggression against the liberated provinces”. “We will continue the ‘siege for siege’ equation until the siege on our country is lifted,” Saree added. Meanwhile, Donald Trump insisted that he is “extremely happy” ⁠with the work his defence secretary Pete Hegseth is ⁠doing at ‌the Pentagon, ‌dismissing a ‌report that the two clashed over concerns about US munitions shortages ‌after five months of war against Iran. It comes after the Washington Post (paywall) reported that the US president and Hegseth clashed during a cabinet meeting at Camp David last Friday over the munitions shortages, with Trump reportedly demanding answers after being under the impression the issue “had been fixed”. The shortages were part of the reason that Trump had to call off what he said would be “the biggest attack since World War II” in recent days, sources told the paper. Hegseth reportedly blamed his deputy for the shortages and for Trump not being fully informed on the matter. It came after Trump hit back on Wednesday night at media reports suggesting the US was running low on weapons. The US has “massive amounts of munitions, especially of certain types,” he said in a Truth Social post, adding: “Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed.” He continued: “Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history. The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down.”

How private schools could help Afghan girls – and justify their charitable status | Letters

Here is another plan for Gordon Brown (After five brutal years of Taliban rule, Afghan women and girls need our help – and I have a plan, 4 August). In a very few years Afghanistan will have no female doctors, nurses or midwives. For the Taliban have not only stopped girls’ education and codified child marriage, but have banned contraception and forbidden women and girls to access male health providers. Inevitably, there will be a huge increase in maternal and neonatal mortality. One way the UK could help is by its well endowed independent girls schools offering A-level science bursaries to those Afghan girls who wish to study medicine, have learned English online and can show that they have the ability to follow such a course. I have been corresponding with such a girl, now 15, who longs to become a doctor so she can care for her sisters. Even if passports, visas, travel, etc may be problematic, just offering such bursaries would be a way of keeping this gender apartheid in Afghanistan in the spotlight. Independent schools enjoy questionable charitable status. Here is a way of justifying it. Margaret Owen President, Widows for Peace Through Democracy • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Words we should staff the barricades against | Brief letters

As someone working in human resources who has spent years encouraging colleagues to use the word “staffing” rather than “manning”, I find it ironic that in reviewing the TV series Furious, which is “powered [by] female rage” (27 July), Lucy Mangan wrote that its lead character Alice Black “is manning the FBI tip line”. Kathy Ashton York • Mark Lawson states that Jimmy Cricket’s “retained native accent allowed him to rhyme ‘faffing’ with ‘laughing’” (No smut, no swearing, wrong-feet wellies and a silly hat: the gentle comedy world of Jimmy Cricket, 4 August). As most of the UK’s English speakers would say, these words do rhyme. It is only some from southern England and a few other areas who pronounce laughing incorrectly. Gordon Glassford Corby, Northamptonshire • As Kemi Badenoch still supports Joshua Bonehill-Paine because he has been deradicalised (Kemi Badenoch gives former neo-Nazi advisory role after he withdraws as Tory candidate, 5 August), perhaps she’ll now campaign to allow Shamima Begum to return to the UK. Mary Hutty Bath • “Vertical drinking” is not the problem (Council wants pubs in London’s Soho and West End to ban standing, 6 August). It is the inability to remain vertical while drinking that is where the trouble begins. Austen Lynch Garstang, Lancashire • I will only accept a safety driver in a self-driving taxi if it is Ann Droid (Leicester Square, please guv’: Self-driving taxis cleared for London streets ‘later this summer’, 5 August). Margaret Squires St Andrews, Fife • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Ebola virus behind massive outbreak in DRC could be mutating, officials say

The virus causing a massive outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could be mutating, health officials fear, as confirmed cases pass 4,000. Africa’s public health watchdog said the time for incremental action was over as they announced plans to scale up every aspect of the response and go “door to door” looking for patients. The Ebola outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, was first reported on 15 May, although there are suspicions the disease could have been spreading since January. There have been 3,973 cases and 1,801 deaths recorded as of 4 August, according to the DRC’s national public health institute. Speaking on Thursday, Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told a press briefing cases had topped 4,000. The outbreak is now the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record. There are eight times more cases, and six times more deaths than were recorded 11 weeks into the West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2014-18, which infected more than 28,000 people and killed at least 11,000. Kaseya said he had spoken to the director general of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and they planned studies “to check if there is no additional issue, or maybe if the virus is not mutating. Because the level of severity of this Bundibugyo outbreak is unprecedented.” More than two-thirds of Ebola deaths are happening in the community rather than in treatment centres. In a treatment centre run by MSF in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, 90% of admitted patients do not appear on authorities’ lists of contacts of known cases. Both factors indicate high levels of untracked transmission. Kaseya said contact tracing in the DRC was insufficient, with only 10 contacts identified for every Ebola patient, when about 40 would be the expected number. Ebola is a viral haemorrhagic fever that can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, organ damage and internal bleeding. The outbreak is centred on the conflict-affected mining province of Ituri, but has spread to Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo. There were 20 cases recorded in neighbouring Uganda before it brought its outbreak under control. Dr Wessam Mankoula, acting head of emergency preparedness and response at Africa CDC, said response teams planned a shift “from contact tracing to active case search”, which would mean community health workers “moving from door to door” asking households if they had anyone sick with Ebola symptoms. He added: “I think the time for incremental action is over and we’re starting now the phase for scaling up.” Kaseya promised a “village-centered response” that would involve communities, more use of digital tools and greater action in the camps for people who have been internally displaced by conflict in affected provinces. Officials also said they planned to begin using antiviral remdesivir on a compassionate use basis to treat patients. They will also start testing whether Ervebo, a vaccine licensed for use against a different strain of Ebola, should be offered in the affected province, after receiving data suggesting that Bundibugyo caused less serious disease and “zero death” among people who had received that jab. “Seeing the expansion of this outbreak, only the public health measure will not be enough to quickly control or stop this outbreak,” said Dr Placide Mbala Kingebeni, Africa CDC director of research, clinical trials and innovation. DRC authorities said they were investigating a suspected Ebola death on a boat heading to the capital, Kinshasa, from the north-east of the country, and that the other passengers on board would be quarantined and tested. Unicef warned that essential healthcare was being disrupted by the outbreak as fear of infection and service disruptions kept families away from clinics. In the outbreak’s centre, the mining town of Mongbwalu, the proportion of children receiving their first measles dose has fallen 69%.

Leipzig drone bomb was found near Ukrainian plane carrying ammunition, say police

A catastrophe with multiple casualties was possibly narrowly averted by the discovery of a drone carrying explosives at Leipzig airport, German officials said, as they examined whether a foreign state could be behind the plot. One of the Ukrainian aircraft next to where the bomb drone was found was loaded with military ammunition, according to a classified police report quoted by the public broadcasters WDR and NDR and the Süddeutsche newspaper. The interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, who said on Wednesday Germany faced a “new level of danger”, said only an apparently “ripped” detonator had prevented the device going off near Ukrainian cargo planes on the tarmac at the shipping and military hub. The highly explosive Ukrainiancargo, with a tank filled with jet fuel, had apparently been transported from France to Leipzig shortly beforehand and was presumably intended for onward transport, the report said. The airport is about 12.5 miles (20km) from the centre of Leipzig, a city of more than 600,000 people. The facility hosts a major cargo processing centre that employs hundreds of people round the clock and is adjacent to two busy autobahn routes. The Bild newspaper reported that the drone found near the Ukrainian plane had a handmade remote detonator that did not work, and investigators hoped it could offer clues as to its origin and the culprits. Leipzig airport’s status as a Nato and German military logistics hub, as well as the the base for Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines in Europe, has directed suspicion toward Russia, which German and European authorities say has carried out repeated sabotage attacks. The German government and authorities have stopped short of pointing the finger at Moscow for what marked a clear escalation of the threat level in Europe. But Dobrindt said investigators were treating the incident as part of a “professional hybrid threat scenario” with a focus on “foreign powers” as likely perpetrators. Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of the German parliament’s intelligence committee, blamed Russia directly. “I consider the threat to Germany posed by hybrid attacks orchestrated by Russia to be serious,” said Kiesewetter, a member of the co-ruling Christian Democrats. “I also believe that the attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport was a targeted hybrid attack – in other words, an attempted act of terrorism – orchestrated by Russia.” An airport staff member discovered the drone shortly before midnight on Tuesday, “hovering” near the ground between two Antonov Airlines An-124 cargo airplanes, among the world’s biggest freighters. Police said a drone defence sensor system at the airport, considered “critical infrastructure” by Germany, had not picked up the drone. They now believe based on security footage it had been on site for several hours before it was found. Dobrindt told reporters that the drone seemed to have been modified to circumvent electronic detection. It was attached to a package of explosives roughly the size of a fist, according to the WDR-NDR-Süddeutsche report, and investigators said the substance inside was believed to be semtex, a powerful plastic explosive. The discovery of the drone led the airport to suspend air traffic, forcing a DHL cargo plane from Marseille on its approach to take off again. It then collided with what is believed to have been a second drone. The media report said that plane had also been carrying unspecified “dangerous goods” before it made an emergency landing in Hanover, about 155 miles north-west, with minor damage. Bild said the drone that hit the DHL plane had a camera used to film the attack. Air traffic had been diverted on Wednesday from the airport’s southern runway but was back to normal on Thursday with no additional security measures reported. Ukraine has been using Leipzig airport as an alternate location for the transport of military goods since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to official records. German defence ministry officials said its armed forces were not conducting military transport operations at the airport at the time of the incident. The airport has previously been targeted. A firebomb, posted via DHL, exploded at the facility in July 2024 while a second was sent to the UK and caught fire at a warehouse in Birmingham. Two similar packages were also found in Poland. A subsequent pan-European investigation identified 22 suspects in Lithuania and Poland who were suspected of having been employed by Russian intelligence. Testimony this week at a trial in Lithuania of five people suspected of mailing the incendiary devices showed how narrowly the plane from Leipzig avoided being set on fire in mid-flight. A DHL company representative told the court the parcel ignited on the ground at its logistics centre at Leipzig airport shortly before loading, rather than during the flight, because the plane was delayed.

India-Bangladesh relations hit new low over exiled PM’s speech to press in Delhi

Bangladesh has lashed out at India for allowing the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to address journalists in New Delhi, plunging already strained bilateral relations to a fresh low. Dhaka accused India of giving a platform to a fugitive it labelled a “convicted genocider” and of undermining efforts to repair ties, after Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh in December despite facing a death sentence on charges of “crimes against humanity”. The angry response late on Wednesday came hours after Hasina, speaking on the second anniversary of the massive student-led uprising that led to her flight to India, declared: “Whatever fate awaits me, I will return to my people.” Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said it was “outraged” Hasina had been allowed to participate in the event, where it said she and her allies launched “venomous vitriol” against Bangladesh and its people. “This interaction by Hasina on Indian soil stands as an affront to the sovereignty of Bangladesh,” the ministry said. Dhaka also renewed its demands for India to extradite Hasina. India earlier distanced itself from the news conference – Hasina’s first since fleeing Bangladesh in 2024, saying it had no role in organising it and would not endorse any political views voiced. Hasina said she was ready to face whatever fate awaited her in Bangladesh, where her Awami League party is now banned. “They may put me in a cell. They may kill me. Anything may happen, but I still have to go,” the 78-year-old said via audio link. “My life moved beyond calculations of personal safety long ago.” After 15 years in power, Hasina fled to India in 2024 following weeks of student-led protests. Her government was accused of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including through the killing of opposition activists. In her speech, she dismissed criminal cases against her as politically motivated and accused Bangladesh’s new government, led by Tarique Rahman, of economic mismanagement, political repression and persecution of her supporters. Hasina was sentenced in absentia to death by hanging over her government’s deadly crackdown on the uprising. She said she wanted to return in December because it marked Bangladesh’s “month of victory”, commemorating Pakistan’s defeat in the 1971 independence war. She claimed thousands of Awami League activists had been killed or jailed since her downfall. Her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy stoked the diplomatic row by extolling India’s hospitality. “She’s being treated very well and has been provided with the full services and security accorded to a head of state,” he said. “Prime Minister Modi’s government has shown her the utmost respect.” Hasina was joined at the event by Shakib Al Hasan, a former national cricket captain. Hours later unidentified attackers hurled petrol bombs and smashed windows at his home in Bangladesh, but no one was hurt, police said. Shakib, elected to parliament as an Awami League candidate, has remained outside Bangladesh since Hasina’s overthrow.

Ceuta residents ‘sad, helpless, anxious’ as up to 5,000 migrants remain in the city, president says – Europe live

And, on that note, we will be closing the blog for today. Ceuta’s conservative president Juan Jesús Vivas told European lawmakers that the Spanish enclave’s residents were left feeling “sad, helpless, anxious” after last week’s storm on the border with Morocco. He said that up to 80,000 irregular migrants crossed the border, and while most later returned to Morocco, 3,000 to 5,000 still remained in the territory (14:21). Some 100 people died during the border crisis, Vivas said. EU migration commissioner Magnus Brunner accepted that the situation “has shaken” European politics and prompted concern about the bloc’s external borders among EU citizens, but insisted the integrity of the travel-free Schengen zone remained “preserved” as he praised Spain’s response to the situation (14:29). In other news, Lithuanian defence minister warned that Russia could be considering possible “false flag” provocations against Nato countries in the Baltic region to undermine their support for Ukraine (11:18). Seeking to reassure the public, the country’s prime minister, stressed that citizens should not be “additionally concerned” as the threat level remains generally stable (15:45). Elsewhere, German media reported that one of the Ukrainian planes near where the drone was spotted at Leipzig airport was carrying “military ammunition” transported from France and “likely intended for onward transport” (12:42). Authorities in Hungary (13:24) and Romania (13:48) adopted further energy-saving measures as the countries are still gripped by unprecedented heatwave and drought, impacting their energy generation. If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.

Nigerian security forces free more than 300 hostages in ‘largest single-day recovery’

Nigerian security forces have rescued more than 300 abducted people in what the president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, hailed as the largest single-day hostage recovery in the country’s history. The release was announced on Wednesday after a joint operation, conducted by the military, police and counter-terrorism units, freed victims held captive in the dense forests of the Kainji Lake national park in the north-central region. Among those who regained freedom were 163 people abducted in February during a deadly raid on the village of Woro in Kwara state, and 145 others seized primarily from the neighbouring Niger state. Both states are flanked to the west by Benin, where militant attacks have been surging in recent times. Officials confirmed the survivors are receiving medical evaluations at an army installation before being reunited with their families. “The successful execution of this intelligence-led operation demonstrates the growing efficiency and collaboration among our security services,” Tinubu said in a statement on the presidency’s website. “I commend our gallant men and women in uniform for their bravery and unwavering commitment to safeguarding Nigerian lives.” The government spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said the rescue operation was part of the president’s resolve to “restore lasting peace across every corner of the nation”. In the last decade, kidnapping for ransom has become endemic in Africa’s most populous country, especially in the north where different armed groups including bandit gangs and jihadists roam large unoccupied forests and shrublands. Between July 2024 and June 2025, at least 4,722 people were kidnapped across 997 reported incidents, leading to at least 762 deaths, according to a report by the Lagos-based geopolitical advisory SBM Intelligence. In that 12-month period, abductors demanded ₦48bn ($35m or £26m) in payments, with families and communities ultimately handing over at least ₦2.57bn in ransom to secure the release of their loved ones. Ahead of January’s presidential election in which Tinubu is seeking a second four-year term, the government has been ramping up reforms and rescue operations as insecurity worsens. The latest rescue was announced in the same week the army declared the governor of Islamic State West Africa Province, Abu Musa al-Mangawi Baa Shuwa, and his deputy, Amirul Jaish Muhammad Jidda, wanted. The duo run the Islamic State-affiliated Boko Haram offshoot operating primarily around the Lake Chad basin, which straddles Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. In July, security services freed at least 40 students and teachers who had been kidnapped in May from a school in Oyo in south-western Nigeria. Last week, the presidency announced a salary increase worth 30% to 80% for thousands of soldiers, the largest hike in years for an army once seen as one of the continent’s most powerful but now derided as underfunded and unequipped to handle concurrent insurgencies across Nigerian territory.