A sickening injury to England’s Gabriel Langton overshadowed his team’s silver medal in the men’s team gymnastics final at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The 19-year-old, from the City of Birmingham Gymnastics Club, needed lengthy treatment on the mat after a horrible fall in the final rotation of the evening at The Arena.

Langton fell head first to the floor after missing his catch on the horizontal metal bar, three metres in the air, leading to a lengthy delay to the action as he was tended to by up to a dozen medical staff.

He was eventually led away on a trolley after being moved on to a stretcher with his head and neck braced and left to huge applause from the packed crowd who had spent much of the previous 10 minutes in hushed silence.

Langton was seen to be conscious and moving his legs and arms before leaving the arena floor, while team officials later said he was moving and speaking to doctors.

When competition resumed, his England team-mates were unable to overhaul their deficit to Canada who claimed their first gold medal in the event in 20 years, having finished second to England at the past two games.

Langton, a late call-up to Team England in the place of the injured six-time Olympic medallist Max Whitlock, was unable to join his teammates on the podium as England collected their silver medals.

Team-mate Luke Whitehouse, who was first on to the apparatus after the competition restarted and posted a relatively low score of 11.700, said: “When something like that happens, you’ve just got to forget about it and reset. I just had to focus on my routine one skill at a time.”

Whitehouse added: “From what we’ve heard, he’s doing OK. Gymnastics is such a dangerous sport and things like this remind us of that. It’s one of those things you have to put out of your mind.”

Felix Dolci, who helped Canada to gold and led qualifying for the all-around competition said: “It’s terrible but it goes to show that gymnastics is a very very difficult and complicated sport. It’s dangerous you know sometimes.

“All our thoughts go to Gabriel and the team. Pushing through this is definitely not easy, (England) stayed focussed, they stayed in the zone, a huge shout out to them because that’s not an easy one.

“For any gymnast that was on the field of play, seeing this not only is difficult, but something you never want to see. It goes to show how hard the sport is.”

Hamish Carter from Team Scotland – who narrowly missed out on a bronze medal to Australia in the final rotation – said: “I didn’t actually see what happened. I’m just so happy that he’s alright and, having experienced that, anything could have happened.

“We’ve walked away with no medal but I’m thinking of Gabe in this moment.”

The 25-year-old was found to have explosives in her car at the Irish border when she was stopped by Garda

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A law student hoping to be a barrister has landed in court after she was allegedly caught with a bomb in the back of her car.

The court heard Isobella Perrie Sullivan, 25, was approaching the Irish border with the explosives when Gardai stopped her. It is believed she was involved in “IRA operational activity”.

The aspiring barrister was arrested and charged with possession of explosives. Sullivan appeared before a special sitting of Trim District Court in in Co Meath on Friday.

The young woman, of Abbeylands Park, Clane in Co Kildare, wore a pink White Fox Boutique hoodie as she listened to proceedings.

Another suspect, a man in his 40s, remained in custody at a Garda station in the Dublin area on Friday night.

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Earlier Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly described “an extremely significant seizure”.

At court a Garda officer outlined how Ms Perrie Sullivan had been stopped by Gardaí on the N2 at Aclint, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, suspected to be involved “in IRA operational activity”.

During a search of her vehicle, a bag was discovered in the rear seat that contained Semtex and a detonator, the court heard, prompting the area to be evacuated and Ms Perrie Sullivan was arrested.

The court heard that Ms Perrie Sullivan was studying for a law degree and wanted to become a barrister.

Gardaí objected to bail due to the seriousness of the offence.

Defence solicitor Gavin Booth, of Phoenix Law, said his client had been asked to take a bag to the north, and had not been aware what was in it, adding she had been “manipulated”.

He said she lived with her father in Kildare and wanted to become a barrister.

He said both her parents are devastated and can’t believe what has happened, adding that if granted bail they would intend to keep her on a “tight rein and ensure she abides by all conditions”.

Judge Raymond Finnegan agreed to allow bail.

It came with a number of conditions, which included an independent 15,000-euro surety, that she surrenders her passport, stays at an address approved by Gardaí, has a mobile phone number on which to be available 24/7, to sign in every day at Naas Garda Station and a curfew of 9pm to 7am.

Gardaí also requested another condition, that she not have any contact with anyone in the Saoradh political party or the New IRA.

Police Scotland has declared a major incident as emergency services continue to tackle a wildfire which has been burning in the Cairngorms National Park for 10 days.

The force said it followed “a significant change in weather conditions” which has increased the risk of fire spreading towards the village of Nethy Bridge.

All Nethy Bridge residents have been evacuated to allow emergency services to continue their response.

Smoke from the wildfire can now be seen 59 miles away in Aberdeen following a change in wind direction.

Supt Judy Hill said: “The weather conditions experienced within the Cairngorms over the last 24 hours have added further complexities to this situation.

“With evidence suggesting the fire is spreading towards Nethy Bridge, the decision has been taken to declare a major incident and evacuate residents as a precaution.

“Additional police resources are being deployed to assist in contacting those who need to leave their properties and to maintain cordons around restricted areas while our fire service colleagues continue to tackle the wildfire.”

Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs over a major outbreak of an ‘explosive diarrhea’ parasite potentially linked to lettuce from Mexico. 

In a press briefing at the White House, the President said: ‘I think what we are going to do is put a major tariff on Mexico because of the lettuce.’

Trump weighed in as cases of cyclosporiasis soared to 11,000 across 41 states, leaving public health officials scrambling to find the cause.

The President also reiterated his threat to put major tariffs on Canada after wildfires left much of the northern US covered in toxic smoke. 

Health officials have suggested that cases of the parasite, a disease transmitted by food or water contaminated with human feces, may be linked to shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms that was sent to Taco Bell restaurants in nine states.

Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania are also now suggested to be affected, alongside Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.

Tests on lettuce from Taylor Farms’ manufacturing facility in Mexico have returned a false positive, however, a voluntary recall of the products is still in place.  

The business temporarily closed its Central Mexico site on Thursday.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr claimed on Tuesday that the outbreak was ‘under control.’

The FDA said Wednesday it was tracking another outbreak of the parasite that has sickened 72 people, in a separate cluster from the one sickening thousands and potentially linked to lettuce.

The agency revealed the number of cases but gave no further details, including the location of the patients or the potential source of their sickness.

The announcement of a new outbreak of cyclosporiasis suggests that the agency has identified a cluster of cases that are related to a common source.

It does not mean that the cases are unrelated to the main outbreak, but they may have been listed separately as they are believed to have been caused by a separate contaminated item.

Health officials are now recommending people wash their hands and ‘any fresh produce’ thoroughly before preparing food.

As washing is not guaranteed to remove the parasite, they are also advising cooking food to a temperature of at least 158F (70C) to kill the parasite.

Cyclosporiasis spreads when people eat food or drink water that has been contaminated with human feces.

It is ‘unlikely’ to spread directly from person to person, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), because it takes one to two weeks for the parasite to become infectious after passing into the environment.

Dr Luis Ostrosky, an infectious diseases expert at UTHealth Houston, said: ‘Cyclosporiasis spreads via the fecal-oral route, where fecal particles containing the parasite are passed to the mouth.

‘It typically does not transmit from person to person and does not spread in the way that we see with norovirus or the flu.

‘It takes one to two weeks after the parasite is passed in a bowel movement for it to become infectious, and many days to a few weeks after that exposure for symptoms to appear.’

Overall, the CDC has recorded nearly 11,000 suspected or confirmed cases of the infection this year, the most since 2019, when there was an outbreak linked to basil.

It has confirmed 4,100 cases of the infection and is investigating 7,400 others across 41 states. There have also been 308 hospitalizations, but no deaths have been reported.

Michigan is recording the most cases, at up to 2,100, followed by Illinois, Kentucky and Texas, all recording up to 160 cases.

In the major outbreak, the addition of four more states to the tally suggests the agency is beginning to connect cases in states, allowing them to home in on a potential source.

Caused by the microscopic parasite cyclospora, it is a gastrointestinal illness causing symptoms including watery and explosive diarrhea, cramping and a fever.

Patients become sick within a week of infection, which can make it difficult to identify the source.

Individuals suffering from the parasite may also feel they are getting better before symptoms suddenly become much worse again.

A spokesman for Taylor Farms said on Thursday: ‘We’ve commissioned independent experts to conduct a top-to-bottom review of food safety processes and protocols in our central Mexico facility. 

‘We continue to work with health authorities, customers, and independent farming partners to address this issue.’

Taco Bell has removed the lettuce from its supply chain.

A spokesman said last week: ‘Taco Bell has taken precautionary action, and we encourage all relevant restaurants, retailers, and foodservice operators to do the same.’

National Highways estimated the upgrade scheme will cut journey times by 10 minutes each trip

The £1 billion A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet upgrade have been deemed as “absolutely needed” by locals however, some people have questioned whether the cost is worth the result. The £1 billion upgrade aims to deliver a new 10-mile dual carriageway, replacing the final stretch of single carriageway on the strategic road network between the M1 at Milton Keynes and the east coast ports of Harwich and Felixstowe.

National Highways is redeveloping the Caxton Gibbet roundabout into a two-level junction. This will link the new A421 dual carriageway with the A428 and A1198. Traffic on the new dual carriageway will move over the junction using a flyover bridge. The scheme is expected to open to traffic from spring 2027.

Charles Gentry, 42, lives in the village of Caxton, near some of the ongoing works. Mr Gentry said that when the construction began, “there were some queues for the roundabout towards Cambridge but it looked worse coming this way from Papworth [Everard].”

He added: “So, I think we’re lucky in the direction that wasn’t too badly impacted. I think it will be a big improvement [once complete], and Caxton roundabout has always been a source of traffic jams.”

He thinks the changes will “make things a lot better”. However, he does feel as though the cost does seem “a lot” but said it is “hard to quantify” whether the result will be worth the cost. He feels that with “a lot of people working from home, maybe there’s less people travelling around still”.

Once complete, the scheme is estimated to cut journeys at peak times by 10-minutes, according to National Highways. Speaking about this, the 42-year-old said it is “probably not” worth the money for the shortened trip at a time “when everyone is struggling to pay bills”. Although, he did emphasise that the project is “making jobs for people that feeds back into the economy”.

A 40-year-old resident from Caxton, who wished to remain anonymous, said that it is not worth it and there are “definitely” better things that money could be spent on.

He added: “I remember when the roadworks weren’t there and it was fine going in and out. It was not as busy as it is now. All this building work has delayed it a lot. The new roundabout going up to Cambourne near Papworth [Everard] is just ridiculous.

“I remember when the roads just used to come up beside McDonald’s [near Cambourne] and just go straight through.” He said it has made it worse and caused more traffic. He said the project is “definitely unnecessary”.

Stacy Messenger, who also lives in Caxton said it will “definitely” improve motorists’ journeys and feels these improvements were “absolutely needed”. She said National Highways and those involved with the works have been “really good at communicating any closures and changes so we have known well in advance when things are happening”, so she feels it hasn’t impacted her.

She said that people are using Caxton as a “rat run to stop queuing”, adding that from St Neots to the A428, “there were real big tailbacks” when the works started. However, she does not notice it as much now.

Speaking about the cost of the entire project, the resident, who has lived in Caxton for nine years, added: “Because so many people have to live further out but are still working in Cambridge, anything that improves the journey and the connectivity is worth it.

“People can’t afford to live in Cambridge so you have to live further away so I think it was needed. In the grand scheme of things, it’s needed. I think 10-minutes is a decent saviour time in a rush hour.”

Trevor Bishop, 68, has also lived in Caxton for nine years. He said: “My opinion is that a dual carriageway is unreservedly, 100 per cent a good idea.”

Mr Bishop said he feels “positive towards any disruption” caused by the works, adding “we can always go the back way through Great Gransden if there is a hold up”.

He feels as though the project is worth the money because prior to the improvements, he said: “There is a relatively short stretch between the Black Cat roundabout and Cambourne which is a single carriageway.

“If you are driving through, on the dual carriageway to the roundabout and then it is single through to St Neots. I think people would get frustrated with that because they were used to driving fast. I will always get stuck behind these sorts of things.”

In terms of saving time, he said it is “probably not” worth it for that result but he is “more interested in the safety factor” so for him, “it is money well spent”.

Paul Salmon, senior project manager for National Highways at Black Cat said: “Our A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet is a vital project, bringing important investment to the area which will improve journeys considerably between Milton Keynes, Bedford, St Neots, Cambridge and beyond.

“Tens of thousands of drivers currently use Black Cat and the surrounding roads every day. Following this work drivers will save up to 10 minutes per journey each – that’s at least 1.5 hours saved per working week. But it is about much more than this. Faster journeys will bring a huge boost to regional growth, easing congestion and making travel more reliable.”

AVL Technologies Ltd, which was incorporated in 2016, was founded by businessmen Andy Wyatt and Peter Hudspeth.

Registered in Knaresborough, it operated a shop known as Harrogate Home Cinema on Bower Road, Harrogate.

Reports filed to Companies House, say the business agreed to be voluntarily wound-up on June 15. KBL Advisory were appointed administrators.

A report, known as a Statement of Affairs, says the business had assets of £7,800 which could be realised.

There were no preferential creditors, those who are paid first.

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However, there were secondary preferential creditors, those who are paid next, who were owed £51,732.15. This was HMRC, owed £3,8742.28 in PAYE/ NI and £47,859.15 in VAT. This left a deficit of £43.932.15 owed to preferential creditors.

When it came to unsecured creditors, those who are paid last, the statement said there were 20 trade and expense creditors, owed a total of £13,613.81 between them.

In addition a bank/ institution creditor was owed £7,624.38 and HMRC was owed a further £89,876.00. This gave a total of unsecured creditors of £111,114.19.

A overall list of 24 creditors says they were owed £162,846.39 in total.

Among them, HMRC was owed £89,876.00 in corporation tax, plus £47,859.67 in VAT and £3,8742.48 in National Insurance. Santander was owed £7,624.48 as a Bounce Back Loan.

The other debts were relatively small, 16 of them under £1,000.

Altogether, with regards to creditors, this left an estimated shortfall owed to them of £155,046.34. With the business having issued and called up capital of £1,000, this gave a total deficiency of £156,046.34 owed.

A day-tripper has told the BBC how he dived into the sea in an attempt to save a mother and daughter who drowned off an Essex beach.

Craig Bowe, 42, battled the incoming tide at West Mersea, near Colchester, three times after hearing screams on Wednesday evening.

The kitchen fitter, who was on a day trip from Hertfordshire to celebrate his daughter’s 10th birthday, managed to haul Shally and Samiha Rahman from the waves and also helped a seven-year-old boy onto a lifeboat.

Despite his efforts, the pair – aged 41 and 15 – died in the desperate attempt to bring the boy to shore.

The boy, who became stranded during a family day out from Barking, east London, was airlifted to hospital and remained there in a critical condition on Friday.

Three others were taken by ambulance to another hospital after the incident unfolded at about 17:35 BST.

Bowe, from Northaw, sprang into action after hearing a man screaming in the water and seeing bodies floating.

“When I got there, the first two people I saw were actually face down, so [it was] more serious than I initially thought,” he told the BBC.

Bowe pulled Shally Rahman to shore where bystanders began administering CPR. He then dashed back out to sea to rescue her daughter.

Having done so, he then returned to the water to help load the seven-year-old boy and another child, who were about 150 yards (137m) out at sea, onto a lifeboat.

“I helped sort of shoo him onto the boat, because he was face down too… but the seven-year-old was not in a good way,” said Bowe, who was helped by an unnamed man.

“The waves were hitting me in the face. The current was definitely stronger.”

Heavy bursts of rain are set to hit parts of the UK through Saturday night into Sunday morning, a Met Office meteorologist has said

The Met Office says multiple parts of the UK should brace for heavy rain on Monday ahead of what is forecast to be a fourth heatwave of the year next week.

A total of 12 UK areas have been told to expect heavy downpours by 5am on Sunday. Meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “The weather front will bring some more widespread rain through Saturday night into Sunday, especially towards the northwest, where it could be a bit heavy, a bit persistent and down the western side [of England], some heavier bursts of rain.

“Some parts of Wales and South West England are likely to see more rain through Saturday night into Sunday than they have done so far this month.”

On Sunday, there will be “outbreaks of showery rain” in many places at 10am , with “a lot of the rain” then clearing away towards the east, Mr Burkill said. There will still be some “fair scattering of showers” across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern parts of England and Wales around 3pm but this will be “a bit less rain than earlier on in the day”, he added.

Mr Burkill said: “More sunshine across southern areas looking largely fine by the time we get into the afternoon [on Sunday]. Temperatures are going to be down a few degrees compared to what we’ve seen of late.

“Most places will be a couple of degrees lower than on Saturday. Temperatures will peak in the mid-twenties. High pressure in the south means more dry weather next week and we could see a return of the heat.”

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Areas set for heavy bursts of rain on Sunday

Scotland

• Argyll and Bute
• Highland
• Eilean Siar

Wales

• Gywnedd
• Ceredigion
• Anglesey

England

• West Yorkshire
• North Yorkshire
• Lancashire
• Merseyside
• Lincolnshire
• Nottinghamshire

It’s now five months since President Trump launched his war on Iran in cahoots with Israel.

He has precious little to show for it – bar growing frustration at the Tehran regime’s resilience; the despair of America’s allies in the Gulf region and elsewhere; a teetering global economy; rising petrol prices at US forecourts; and personal approval ratings plummeting faster than US munitions are being depleted.

When US and Israeli air strikes began their bombardment of Iran at the end of February, Trump claimed it would all be over in a matter of weeks. The Iranian regime would be humbled, perhaps even deposed. Its missile and drone arsenals would be destroyed, its ability to develop nuclear weapons crippled for a generation, perhaps for ever.

Monday will mark 150 days since February 27, when Donald Trump gave the order to proceed with Operation Epic Fury. Since then, none of those ambitions has materialised. The regime is certainly battered and bruised. But it is still standing – more hardline than ever.

Iran’s military resources have been degraded. But it is still capable of raining down missiles and drones on American military bases and US allies in the region.

Tehran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons has suffered serious setbacks. But it still has the capability to start all over again should it be so minded.

No progress has been made, on the battlefield or in ceasefire talks, to ensure Iran renounces its nuclear ambitions, supposedly the fundamental reason for starting the war in the first place.

Now Iran has something perhaps even more precious than the Bomb, something it did not possess before war broke out: a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the global economy’s most crucial chokepoint, through which so much oil, gas, fertiliser and other essential commodities used to flow before hostilities broke out. Tehran’s refusal to give up control of this vital waterway is the main reason all peace efforts to date have floundered.

The war isn’t just consuming Trump’s presidency. It’s taking its toll on the President himself. During a recent meeting in the Oval Office, he ranted against Iran’s leaders, calling them ‘scumbags’ and ‘lunatics’ in an expletive-ridden diatribe. There is growing concern for his physical health and mental stability.

‘Donald is deteriorating before our very eyes,’ I was told in Washington this week by a close confidant who sees him regularly. ‘His physical and mental health is in decline. Those around him don’t know what to do about it. It can only get worse. He’s 80 – and it’s showing.’

But it’s not just age – or the decline in cognitive capabilities that can afflict those entering their ninth decade. Trump is lashing out at all and sundry in frustration at the lack of any good options now facing him.

The hardliners in Tehran are now so cocky they even rebuffed a secret US attempt to get the peace process back on track this week.

So the White House is dialling up the rhetoric – Trump is said to be in ‘revenge mode’ – and the President himself sounds ever more bellicose, saying on Thursday that he was ‘close’ to deciding on a ‘massive attack’.

Even senior aides in the White House don’t know what this would mean. The number of influential voices in Washington who think even ramped-up air strikes –as I write, we’ve just had the 14th consecutive night of renewed US attacks on Iran – will cow Iran into submission are now passing few. In truth, nobody around Trump really knows what to do next – or what he will do.

This week two new intelligence reports landed on their desks to add to their despair – which was further increased by their fear that the President has given them scant attention. Their contents were certainly unlikely to improve his mood.

The first, based on analysis from various US intelligence agencies and drawn together by the CIA, concluded that the Iranian regime would not be cajoled into rejoining peace talks by ramping up US air strikes. The US, it said, had underestimated Iran’s ‘staying power’ – that hitting Iran harder was unlikely to make it more ‘compliant’.

The risk now was ‘indefinite limbo’ between peace and war. In other words a stalemate, yet another low-level ‘forever war’ which Trump was elected to avoid.

Or more bluntly, in the terminology used during the Vietnam War almost 50 years ago, a quagmire.

The second intelligence report, involving US and Israeli intelligence, was even more depressing. Drawing on extensive satellite imagery, it revealed that Iran was rebuilding its devastated missile and drone bases far more quickly than either the US or Israel had anticipated.

Missile arsenals were being reconstituted inside mountains. Bridges, ports and military production facilities were being repaired with speed. Even the northern supply lines through which Russia channelled aid to Iran – and which Israel thought it had disrupted – had been ‘restored’. Iran, Israeli intelligence reported, had shown an ‘impressive ability to reconstitute its military capabilities.’

Iran rebuilt its missile bases more quickly than the US or Israel had anticipated. (Pictured: A missile being launched towards US targets in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain)

Although there has been talk from Washington about seizing Iranian territory, no conceivable US deployment could suppress Iran for long, says Andrew Neil

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The sound of war drums is once again emanating from the White House. The media is being briefed on the renewed ‘surge’ of US forces to the Gulf. There are already 17 US warships in the region, including two aircraft carrier strike groups and a marine corps expeditionary group.

They are being joined by more fighter jets and special forces. Bombers stationed at US bases in America and Britain are back on high alert. Even 150 medics have been rushed to a base in Germany which deals with Middle East casualties. All told, including US bases in the region, deployments for the launch of the war back in February plus the latest top-ups, America now has more than 50,000 troops in the region.

But for what purpose? This week in America I listened to several influential figures close to Trump mull over the options. The assumption was that some sort of ground incursion was inevitable. That is certainly the new vibe coming out of Washington.

They talked of seizing Iranian territory on the northern shores of the Gulf to wrest control of the Strait of Hormuz from Tehran. They raised the prospect, again, of invading Kharg Island, from which Iran dispatches most of its oil exports.

There was, thankfully, no talk of a full-scale attack along the lines of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Iran is four times bigger than Iraq, with a much larger population, a disciplined, well-armed 190,000- strong guard bolstering the regime and terrain tailor- made for guerrilla war. No conceivable US deployment could suppress Iran for long.

But there was, much more worryingly, talk of using tactical nuclear weapons to ‘send a message’ to Tehran and ‘concentrate its mind’ on peace. This took me aback.

‘Do that,’ I snapped ‘and you destroy America’s reputation and standing for the rest of the century. You’ve also paved the way for President Putin to do the same in Ukraine.’

I was met with silence. There is much desperate talk in Trump circles these days. As it happens, I do not believe Trump will resort to nuclear weapons. I’m not even sure he will embark on a major ‘boots on the ground’ escalation, even if that is the growing consensus in Washington. US forces could certainly take Kharg Island. But then what? They’d be sitting ducks for Iranian missile and drone attacks.

Occupying the north side of the Strait of Hormuz would be a far bigger task, requiring more troops than America is currently assembling in the region. The topography lends itself to Iranian guerrilla attacks. Ships transiting the Strait would still be vulnerable to missile and drone attacks launched from further inland.

US forces might then be enticed to go after these sites. That’s how you get suckered into a morass. It’s striking that current US reinforcements to the region do not include a big increase in troop numbers, which a major land attack would require. That’s one reason I remain sceptical of a major ground incursion. The other is US domestic politics.

It took six years for the Vietnam war to become as unpopular as Trump’s war on Iran has become in under six months. Vietnam hit a net approval rating of minus 30 per cent after six years and a mounting death toll with no end in sight. Trump’s war already has the same negative approval rating – and that’s without a monstrous bodybag count.

So far only 18 US military personnel have lost their lives in the current war. Each one, of course, a personal and family tragedy. Even so, it is already the most unpopular war since US polling began. It benefits from not a scintilla of bipartisan support. It has a net approval rating of minus 84 per cent among registered Democratic voters and minus 52 per cent among independents.

Surprisingly, it still enjoys a 72 per cent approval rating among Maga Republicans, despite their contempt for ‘forever wars’. But over half are only ‘somewhat’ supportive rather than ‘strongly’. I would expect that tepid support to evaporate if pictures of bodybags started to dominate broadcast news.

The war has already taken its toll on Trump’s popularity. Almost two-thirds of voters disapprove of his handling of the war, with only a third approving. More than

Trump’s war on Iran is at risk of defining his presidency, like the Vietnam war defined President Lyndon Johnson’s, our columnist warns. (Pictured: Johnson with President Nguyen Van Thieu)

60 per cent don’t expect any truce he makes with Iran to hold. Almost 80 per cent want him to end the war now. Trump’s overall job approval rating is now under 40 per cent and falling. Iran has proved to be a major drag on his standing. His approval rating on perhaps the most important political metric of all – his handling of the economy – is under water at below 30 per cent.

Much of that reflects the fact petrol prices at the pump are now over $4 a gallon again, which especially hurts Americans now that the summer driving season is underway. Petrol prices dropped when the ceasefire was agreed and it looked like the Strait of Hormuz was open again for business. Now they could be heading for $5 or more – a prospect that terrifies Republican Party managers in the run up to early November’s mid-term congressional elections, when Trump’s control of the House and Senate is at stake.

The resumption of hostilities has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping there has all but halted since July 15. So oil prices have started to soar again.

The benchmark price of Brent crude oil hit $100 a barrel on Thursday. It’s likely to go even higher. This week, urged on by their Iranian paymasters, Houthi rebels in the Yemen hit two Saudi tankers loaded with crude and oil products in the Red Sea.

The Saudis have been piping oil to Yanbu, a port on the Red Sea, to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. If this escape route is now in jeopardy then oil prices will spike much further.

In fact, it is not the price of crude that is the real worry. It is the price of the products refined from it – diesel, petrol, jet fuel. All three are already spiking. Jet fuel, for example, at around $150 a barrel in Europe and America, is now almost twice what it was before this misbegotten war began.

The global economy is now on the brink of a major energy squeeze. It has been staved off to date because major economies such as America, China, Japan and South Korea drew on their strategic oil reserves.

Ways round the Strait of Hormuz (like that pipeline to Yanbu) were used. China cut its crude oil imports by almost two-fifths. All these buffers have now been exhausted.

Nor is the problem just Trump’s Iranian adventure. That has reduced the supply of refined products by around 3million barrels per day (b/d) from the Gulf, on which Europe depends for diesel and jet fuel. On top of that Ukrainian drones have taken out another 2million b/d of Russian refining capacity while China has cut back on its export of refined products, perhaps by another 3million b/d to conserve its own supplies.

It amounts to a triple whammy for the global economy, a perfect storm – and a harbinger of severe shortages of vital refined products to come, which is as yet only vaguely understood.

If, as is the talk in Washington, Trump starts to bomb Iranian power plants and civilian infrastructure – and Tehran inevitably retaliates by hitting the pipelines, ports and even desalination plants of the Gulf States (which depend entirely on these plants for water) – then the word ‘morass’ will not do justice to what’s in store for us during the second half of this year.

I end where I started: Trump has no good options. If he tries to slink away from the mess he’s created, all the vainglorious rhetoric he can muster will not hide the fact that he has presided over the greatest humiliation of America in modern times. But if he doubles down and recklessly raises the stakes with a major military escalation, he risks merely making matters worse – for him, for his party, for America, for the Gulf, for the global economy, for us.

Trump’s war on Iran is now at risk of defining his presidency just as the Vietnam war defined Lyndon Johnson’s all those years ago. It is not a legacy any president should wish to emulate. But, through a mixture of stupidity and bravado, Trump looks like doing exactly that. We will all be the poorer for it.