VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — More than 20,000 people were ordered to leave their homes overnight in western Canada as a fast-moving wildfire grew rapidly and raced toward towns along British Columbia’s Okanagan Lake, destroying homes in its path.

The entire community of Summerland, home to about 12,000 people, was ordered evacuated, along with about 8,000 people in and around nearby Peachland. Officials had not determined how many homes were destroyed.

The Bald Range wildfire was first reported on Friday evening but grew to about 50 square kilometers (19 square miles) within hours, overwhelming the smaller community of Faulder and covering the roughly 15 kilometers (9 miles) to Summerland at extraordinary speed.

Erick Thompson, an emergency official with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, called it one of the “quickest-moving, fastest-growing” wildfires the region had experienced.

Thompson eventually had to abandon the emergency operations center and evacuate his own family.

“I had to leave the EOC to come and get my family to leave this area. We’re heading south,” he said in a video posted early Saturday from his vehicle as traffic backed up around him.

Canada has endured increasingly destructive wildfire seasons in recent years, forcing mass evacuations and repeatedly sending smoke across large parts of Canada and the United States.

Videos posted on social media appeared to show multiple homes burning as residents fled along roads with flames on both sides.

Homeowner Kerry Gold and her husband, Mike Elsinga, fled around 12:30 a.m. after watching flames spread beyond nearby mountains.

“It’s scary. It’s moving fast,” Gold said.

The couple, who recently moved from the city of Vancouver, had packed bags, prepared a carrier for their cat and planned to help a disabled friend evacuate.

“You want to stay here and protect your home, but you also don’t want to get caught in it,” Elsinga said.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is ‘exploring every option’ to block the early release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers, according to reports.

The Government has so far resisted pressure to exempt Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers from its early release scheme.

Some 5,000 criminals are due to be let out early to free up places in overcrowded jails, down from 6,000 after the exemptions announced as part of an urgent review of the controversial scheme.

But under current plans, Cole and Bowers remain eligible to be freed halfway through their 13-year sentences after they were convicted of manslaughter in 2020 following Pc Harper’s death in 2019.

A Government source told the Telegraph yesterday that Mr Burnham is prepared to ‘explore every option’ to keep Cole and Bowers in jail.

He is now understood to be taking further advice from officials at the Ministry of Justice on the PC Harper case, The Times reports.

That is understood to include the possibility of excluding manslaughter sentences from the scheme.

Mr Burnham said earlier this week he had ‘pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do without risking the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing’ by excluding sentences for ‘rape, serious child sex offences and other grooming offences’ from eligibility.

Pc Harper was 28 when he sustained fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019.

He died after getting caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and dragged down a country road as three teenage suspects fled the scene of the burglary.

The driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and would not be eligible for release.

Pc Harper’s family have expressed anger and disappointment at the decision not to exempt Cole and Bowers from the plans as well.

The early release changes were part of the Sentencing Act passed earlier this year that cut the minimum amount of time many offenders would have to spend in prison.

PC Harper’s widow, Lissie Harper, said the news her husband’s killers could be released early as another gut punch.

She said: ‘The sentences Andrew’s killers received were pitiful — and the fact we are hearing these absurd reasons for early release like prisons being too full is disgraceful and disgusting.

‘The people making these decisions should be utterly ashamed of themselves.’

His mother, Debbie Adlam, said she was ‘crushed’ by the news and told ITV News the release would make emergency workers feel ‘completely unvalued’.

More than 780,000 people have signed a petition to stop the release.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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By ELEANOR MANN

Published: 15:29 BST, 8 August 2026 | Updated: 16:01 BST, 8 August 2026

Meghan Markle was pictured wearing Princess Diana‘s diamond and sapphire earrings as she attended an event with Harry in Canada. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were supporting their music mogul friend, David Foster, at his foundation’s 40th Anniversary Celebration in Victoria, British Columbia, on Friday night. 

The couple posed alongside record producer and composer David Foster, 76, and his wife, actress and singer Katherine McPhee, 42. 

Prince Harry, 41, was dressed in a black tuxedo and a bow tie while Meghan wore a black maxi one-shouldered gown by Canadian designer Greta Constantine. 

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Meghan, 45, paid homage to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, by wearing her sapphire blue earrings, which stood out with her hair swept back in an updo. 

The Duchess owns several pieces of jewellery from Princess Diana’s personal collection and has previously worn Diana’s earrings at public events.

Pieces from Diana’s collection that Meghan owns include her butterfly earrings and matching cuff bracelet, a diamond tennis bracelet, her Cartier Tank Louis, and Diana’s iconic aquamarine ring, widely dubbed her ‘divorce ring’.  

Canadian-American David Foster has won 16 Grammy Awards and 45 nominations across a career spanning four decades. 

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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex appeared at their music mogul friend’s event on Friday night

The couples have long been friends, with McPhee attending the same school as Meghan 

Meghan owns a number of pieces of jewellery from Princess Diana’s personal collection

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Meghan posed with Katherine at the 40th Anniversary of the David Foster Foundation 

Prince Harry and David Foster pictured together in Victoria, British Columbia on Friday night

Meghan (pictured, left) and McPhee (pictured, right) did theatre together growing up 

Meghan and Harry have been long friends of the couple, having previously been pictured on a double date with the couple. 

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In 2019, Foster arranged for the Duke and Duchess to stay at a close friend’s mansion on Vancouver Island, telling the Daily Mail at the time: ‘I felt honored that I was able to help Meghan there because I’m a Canadian, and we’re a Commonwealth country – we’re the Crown’s. 

The music producer hooked up the royal couple with accommodation in a secluded waterfront estate in North Saanich, owned by a close friend of the Canadian songwriter – but declined to identify the owner. 

‘It’s important to us, so I grew up with that kind of sentiment. I was really happy to be able to help them to find a respite just to take a little time off.’ 

Foster arranged for Meghan and Harry’s Christmas getaway in a $14million mansion on Vancouver Island, Canada, by connecting them to its mystery multi-millionaire owner. 

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Foster’s wife, Katherine McPhee, has known Meghan since childhood, having gone to the same school as her. 

McPhee told Access Hollywood in 2020 of Foster and Harry’s relationship: ‘My husband has a really, really beautiful relationship with Harry. 

‘They’re like, they’re so cute. They’re like father and son.’ 

‘We just stay in touch with them. But mostly, Meghan and I knew each other from childhood, but really Harry and my husband are friends. It’s really nice.’ 

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The Duchess of Sussex said her daughter, Lilibet, makes her ‘feel brave’ in a promotional video for a new film about Girl Scouts selling cookies. 

Meghan Markle opened up about how she viewed being a mother as a ‘superpower’ while answering questions from children ahead of the release of her production company’s latest documentary, Cookie Queens. 

The documentary, which had its premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, follows ‘four tenacious girls (who) strive to be a top-selling ‘Cookie Queen’, navigating an 800 million dollar business in which childhood and ambition collide’. 

In the Q&A video with InStyle magazine on Saturday, Meghan, 45, was asked what her superpower was and replied: ‘Being a mum.’ 

She said: ‘I feel like we have superpowers because we juggle it all and enjoy it all with grace and grit at the same time.’ 

Asked by another child about what makes her feel brave, Meghan said: ‘Every day, when I feel a little bit like, ‘Oh gosh, can I do this?’ I go: “Lili would do it.”‘ 

Meghan and Harry took their children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, on holiday to Europe this summer, staying with Harry’s uncle, Earl Spencer, at Althorp, and also in Portugal and the Highlands. 

Harry and Meghan’s media production company Archewell Productions partnered with Beautiful Stories and AJNA Films on the documentary, a coming-of-age story about Girl Scouts selling their cookies. 

Meghan and Harry took their children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, to Europe on holiday this summer

In another question from a child asking Meghan which cookie she would be, she replied: ‘Trefoil I think, it’s classic! 

‘It’s classic, it’s sweet, it’s all the same colour and I like tonal dressing! It’s the worst answer ever haha.’  

Meghan also said young girls should learn to ‘follow their gut’ and said her role model when younger was her maths teacher, Miss Linda. 

When asked how the girl scouts inspired her, she replied: ‘These girls are so multi-dimensional and honest. 

‘Also just behind the scenes and getting to know them through this process, how they’ve all become close with each other and support each other. I think we’re our own little troop!’ 

In January, Meghan, 45, delivered a speech at Sundance in support of the project, directed by Alysa Nahmias, which she called a ‘powerful and meaningful depiction of something that is an American tradition’.

She said in the speech: ‘This film is probably the cutest at the festival but I’m also going to go out on a limb and say it is one of the most powerful and meaningful depictions of something that is an American tradition and rooted in nostalgia. 

‘It is now put through this lens from the incredible creative vision of Alysa to show something modernised about the girlhood experience and all the layers of complexity that come with that. 

‘So yes, it’s cute, and yes, these young ladies are fantastic and adorable, but they are also layered beautiful girls who are about to become very strong leaders and young women. So thank you for supporting that.’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex founded their media production company in 2020, which has an ongoing partnership with Netflix.

Archewell Productions produced the couple’s documentary series Harry & Meghan in 2022, followed by Meghan’s lifestyle series With Love, Meghan in 2025.

The company’s other credits include Live To Lead, featuring interviews with world leaders and influencers, and the documentaries Heart Of Invictus and Polo.

Police officers found a man with knife wounds to his chest, back and legs while out on routine patrol in Nottingham on Friday evening

Cops on a routine patrol in a Nottingham nature reserve on Friday made a horrific discovery.

The officers, who were just doing their route, came across a man with slashes and stab injuries on his chest, back and legs.

The 32-year-old man was walking on Bembridge Drive in the north of the city, close to the Sandy Banks Nature Reserve when the attack took place yesterday evening.

Police said two men got out of a car at 7.08pm and launched a brutal attack on the man. The attack continued into the nature reserve on the steps leading into it, the force added.

“The victim sustained slash and stab injuries to his chest, back and legs and he was found by officers during a routine patrol on Oxclose Lane outside the Golden Phoenix,” Nottinghamshire Police said in a statement.

The officers who found the bloodied man called paramedics who rushed the victim to hospital. Police have said that his injuries are not thought to be life threatening or life altering.

Detective Inspector Stuart Barson said: “We are actively investigating this attack and officers are in the area conducting house to house inquiries.

“The victim sustained multiple stab and slash wound injuries and we need to find those responsible for this.

“Anyone with information should call 101 quoting incident 699 of 7 August. If you wish to remain completely anonymous, make a report to CrimeStoppers online or call 0800 555 111.”

Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank appear to have settled into life in Portugal with a simple habit that has made a lasting impression on locals

Princess Eugenie has been given a glowing verdict by locals in the Portuguese town where she has quietly built a new life with husband Jack Brooksbank.

The royal couple are regularly spotted out and about near their luxury home, but despite their famous status, they appear to have found a way to blend into the community.

And one tiny gesture in particular has reportedly left locals impressed.

A councillor living near the couple told the Daily Mail that Eugenie and Jack are frequently seen around the area, including during walks and trips out in their Range Rover.

“I see Eugenie and Jack quite often. We live very close and I knew she was pregnant as I saw her bump. I would often see them in their Range Rover as well,” he said.

But it is not their luxury lifestyle that has caught the attention of neighbours.

“They are very friendly and always wave to say hello and they both also speak a little bit of Portuguese, which has really impressed everyone in the village,” the councillor said.

“They go for a walk on the main street and go to the restaurant and no one bothers them.”

The local said residents are careful not to invade the family’s privacy, despite knowing exactly who they are.

“It’s mainly locals here and not many foreigners, so no one really knows who she is – but of course the people in Melides know but we don’t bother her. We leave her alone to get on with her life.”

Now Eugenie’s Portuguese connection has taken on an even more special meaning.

The princess and Jack have welcomed their third child – a daughter – after she was born at a hospital in Lisbon on Monday, August 3.

Buckingham Palace confirmed the baby arrived at 6.20pm, weighing 6lb 9oz, with both mother and daughter said to be doing well.

The little girl is also believed to be the first of Eugenie’s children to be born overseas.

Locals were quick to celebrate the news, with the councillor saying: “I heard on the radio their new baby was born in Lisbon, so she is Portuguese by birth, which is wonderful for us here. Everyone is delighted for them.”

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The family have a £3.6million oceanside villa at the exclusive Costa Terra resort, where homes are hidden among pine trees and sand dunes.

The development offers a mile-long stretch of beach, multiple restaurants, a wellness spa, an equestrian centre and an 18-hole golf course.

And nearby Melides has plenty of celebrity glamour of its own, with Christian Louboutin’s five-star Vermelho hotel offering rooms for as much as £919 a night during high season.

Jose Santos, president of the local tourist board, said the presence of the royal families was proving a huge boost.

“For us to have Harry and Meghan and Eugenie and her family as guests and residents is such a fantastic advert for the area,” he said.

The locals’ discretion appears to be part of the appeal, with Santos adding: “Costa Terra where they live is very exclusive and the security is very tight.”

Meanwhile, Sarah Ferguson is also rumoured to have returned to Melides following her daughter’s birth.

Staff at O Fadista restaurant said Eugenie and Jack are regular visitors, with one waiter saying: “Eugenie and her husband are regulars and have been here quite a few times with friends.”

Spain has imposed border controls on all air and sea travel from Italy as a row between the two EU countries intensifies.

The measures – which started at midnight (22:00 GMT) and will last for a month – come a week after Italy introduced similar restrictions following an influx of about 78,000 migrants from Morocco into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta.

Spanish officials said the documents of 5%-10% of passengers were being checked before they were allowed to disembark planes. Italy has also said its border controls are random.

The crisis has pitted Spain’s socialist leader Pedro Sanchez against Italy’s conservative leader Giorgia Meloni – who has long called for stricter EU migration rules.

Italy does not share a land border with Spain. Its government said last week that decision to temporarily suspend the ​border-free Schengen arrangement was to prevent any of the migrants who had entered Ceuta from travelling on to Italy.

Madrid dismissed this position, saying it was based on “spurious arguments” that lacked any basis in fact because the migrants who entered Ceuta had no way of entering the Schengen area.

On Friday, Spain demanded Italy reverse its checks by Sunday. Rome said they would stay until at least 15 August – when, it said, Spain “expects a new wave of migration” to hit Ceuta.

Italy has said that Spanish and EU citizens are exempt from additional checks when arriving in Italy, with these extra steps only for non-EU residents.

However, it is not clear how border officials were meant to distinguish between EU and non-EU travellers and El Pais has reported that several Italian airport terminals have seen long queues and waiting times in recent days, with passengers arriving from Spain directed to a specific line for checks.

As for Spanish controls, the authorities insists the immigration checks are random. However, a passenger arriving in Madrid on Saturday told national broadcaster RTVE that all passengers on her flight had had to show their passports.

“They told us we couldn’t get off the plane without showing our documents,” Elisa said.

Another passenger said “we were stopped and asked for identification, which the police seemed to approve of”.

Spain says its checks will stay in place until 7 September “unless a change in the circumstances that led to its adoption warrants modifying that period”.

By BEN WILLCOCKS, ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR and JAMES SHARPE

Published: 15:18 BST, 8 August 2026 | Updated: 15:18 BST, 8 August 2026

David Sullivan has defiantly attended West Ham‘s first game of the season at the London Stadium, despite being advised to stay away from home matches after being accused of multiple counts of sexual misconduct.

The club’s co-owner and largest shareholder, 77, resigned as co-chair in June ahead of the airing of a BBC Panorama and Times investigation in which seven women accused Sullivan of predatory behaviour, which he strongly denies.

Daily Mail Sport reported on Friday that Sullivan believes he is being ‘bullied’ into missing West Ham’s Carabao Cup clash against Portsmouth on Saturday by ‘keyboard warriors’, after operators of the London Stadium advised against him attending over fears of potential fan unrest.

West Ham’s fan advisory board warned that his presence would cause ‘offence and upset’, while many inside the club were left staggered upon learning that Sullivan planned to defy the advice and attend.

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Sources close to the co-owner told Daily Mail Sport that Sullivan is concerned about the state of the team heading into their first season in the Championship in 14 years and also over the lack of transfer activity in the summer window.

As a result, Sullivan felt he needed to watch the first game of the season, according to sources.

David Sullivan takes his seat at the London Stadium for West Ham’s game with Portsmouth 

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Sullivan was accused in June of preying on a string of women, some in their teens, during his time as a newspaper chief stretching back to the 1980s as seven women came forward to give detailed accounts of predatory behaviour they had experienced, including pressuring them for sex or oral sex by suggesting it would help their careers. Sullivan described the allegations as ‘factually incorrect and entirely false’. 

Sources close to Sullivan also claimed he’s received numerous messages from fans urging him to attend despite his presence at matches last season sparking continued protests from spectators against his ownership, including marches, boycotts, sit-ins, black balloons and thousands of fans brandishing red cards.

The Panorama investigation revealed that Sullivan had been banned from contact with West Ham women’s and youth teams for the past three years.

Prior to Sullivan’s attendance today, London Stadium’s operator asked to be made aware of any planned visits from the co-owner so it could implement its own safety measures. 

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West Ham are said to have told the operator that they do not consider there to be an ongoing safeguarding risk associated with Sullivan attending the stadium. 

Until recently, it appeared as though Sullivan’s grip on West Ham was loosening when it was announced in June that Vanessa Gold, daughter of former co-owner David, had agreed to sell part of their stake in the club to fellow shareholder Daniel Kretinsky. The move that would have seen the Czech billionaire overtake Sullivan as leading shareholder.

Sullivan, with Karren Brady in 1993, resigned as West Ham’s co-chair in June ahead of the airing of an investigation in which seven women accused Sullivan of predatory behaviour

Last week, however, a new announcement confirmed that Gold had accepted a new offer from a consortium led by former Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley for her shares. Staveley agreed to buy a 25.1 per cent stake for £150million, which values the club at around £600million, and would still leave Sullivan as the leading stakeholder.

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Staveley, though, has reportedly also made an offer to Sullivan, who is believed to be open to selling his stake in the club but values it at much more.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Published: 14:57 BST, 8 August 2026 | Updated: 15:13 BST, 8 August 2026

The Irish Government jet is on its way to Dubai for the extradition of alleged gangland figure Daniel Kinahan.

It comes after several months of preparations following the arrest in April in the United Arab Emirates of the Dublin boxing promoter who is an alleged leader of the Kinahan organised crime group.

Kinahan, aged in his late 40s, was detained on foot of an arrest warrant issued by the Irish courts in relation to alleged serious organised crime offences.

The Irish Government jet took off from Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel on the outskirts of Dublin on Saturday morning.

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It is expected to touch down in Ireland on Sunday evening.

Kinahan’s arrest was carried out in accordance with a bilateral agreement on extradition between Ireland and the UAE.

The High Court in Dublin previously named Kinahan, who has recently been living in the UAE, as a senior figure in an organised crime gang involved in international drug trafficking and firearms offences.

The Kinahan cartel was involved in a feud with the rival Hutch crime gang in Ireland, which began in 2015 and resulted in 18 deaths.

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Daniel Kinahan was detained on foot of an arrest warrant issued by the Irish courts in relation to alleged serious organised crime offences

The Irish Government jet is on its way to Dubai for the extradition of alleged gangland figure Daniel Kinahan

In 2016, an attempt was made on Daniel Kinahan’s life at a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in Dublin.

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In 2022, US authorities issued a reward of up to five million dollars (4.3 million euro/£3.7 million) for Kinahan’s arrest.

Pending his arrival, the Irish Prison Service has purchased a bomb-proof van to transfer him between locations should an attack take place either to kill or attempt to free Kinahan.

The cartel is considered to be one of the most powerful criminal groups in the world and has close links to Iran and Hezbollah.

Kinahan, along with other members of the criminal group, had been living openly in Dubai, following a gangland feud that claimed 18 lives on the streets of Dublin and Spain’s Costa del Sol.

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His transfer to Irish custody comes after years of international diplomacy and legal battles to have Kinahan arrested.

It comes as Kinahan recently spoke from Dubai’s Al Awir Central Jail with podcaster James English. Excerpts of the phone interview were released on social media.

In the interview, he admitted he has ‘not been an angel’ but insists, without irony, that he has been used as a ‘scapegoat’ by both the media and the Garda (the Irish police).

Of his imminent extradition to Ireland on charges of directing organised crime, he said: ‘I’m happy now today to get on an Emirates flight or whatever flight they want, in baggage class, economy class, any class they want.’

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Then he added conspiratorially: ‘So if I happen to fall and bang my head when I have handcuffs on me, I didn’t fall. If I end up hanging myself, killing myself, poisoning myself, it didn’t happen. I’m not suicidal.’

Cardiff City XI: Trott; Kpakio, Ng (C), Osho, Bagan; Robertson, Turnbull, Ashford; Tanner, Salech, Davies.

Subs: Tyrer, Moylan, Willock, King, J. Colwill, Tankiewicz, Anyadike, Moreno, Robinson.

Swindon Town XI: Ripley; Clark, Negru, Inwood, Kirkman; Middlemas, Nichols, Virtue; Glatzel, Drinan, Millard.

Subs: Ward, Hungbo, Tafazolli, Debayo, Palmer, Griffiths-Brown.