The sun will disappear for a period next week, as a rare astronomical phenomenon takes place

A solar eclipse will see millions of eyes fixed upwards as it sweeps across Europe next week.

The Sun will disappear for a short period in the daytime, as the Moon passes by it, casting Earth into shadow.

And for those unable to see the spectacular event for themselves, there is another way to experience it as it happens.

On Wednesday, August 12, the Moon will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun, blocking some or all of its light and casting its shadow across parts of Europe.

The eclipse’s narrow path of totality, where the Sun will be completely obscured by the Moon, will cross Greenland, Iceland and parts of Portugal and Spain.

Other parts of Europe will experience a partial eclipse, with the Moon appearing to take a bite out of the Sun and temporarily dimming daylight.

To mark the rare event, the European Space Agency (ESA) will be hosting a live broadcast, meaning space fans won’t need to gamble on the weather to see the spectacle as it happens.

The ESA livestream will run from the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre in Teruel, Spain, starting at 5.30pm BST (7.30pm CEST).

It will be hosted by British space scientist and science communicator Dame Dr Maggie Aderin, and will be broadcast in English.

Featuring live interviews, explainers and spectacular imagery, viewers can learn about the mysteries of the Sun and its corona, how one famous eclipse changed our understanding of gravity, and how the ESA is now creating artificial solar eclipses in space.

At 6.31pm BST (8.31pm CEST), the Moon will plunge Javalambre into complete darkness for one minute and 21 seconds.

Anyone with questions about the eclipse can ask them using #AskESA on Bluesky or X, with a selection answered live during the broadcast

The Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre is a world-class astronomical observatory located within the path of totality. It mainly consists of two professional telescopes designed to carry out large-sky astronomical surveys that help astronomers study galaxies, dark energy and the structure of the cosmos.

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Importantly, viewing conditions at the observatory are excellent, with cloud cover rare and light pollution low. The location offers a very clear view to the western horizon, where the Sun will be beginning to set as it is eclipsed by the Moon.

Additional small telescopes will be taken up to the observatory to observe the eclipse. A live feed from these telescopes at the observatory will provide continuous views as the Moon passes in front of the Sun, offering close-up observations of the different phases of the eclipse.

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When is the solar eclipse?

The solar eclipse will take place on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.

Those in Ireland will see a partial eclipse, while locations within the path of totality will experience a far more dramatic event as the Moon completely covers the Sun.

Anyone watching the eclipse must use properly certified solar viewing glasses and should never look directly at the Sun, even when it appears dimmed by the Moon.

Several videos about the eclipse have been posted on ESA’s YouTube, Instagram and TikTok channels.

See here for more information, or click here to watch the stream live.

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US government officials launched an investigation into bizarre claims that a ‘dead spaceman’ was found inside a metal sphere that fell to Earth in Brazil, the latest UFO files reveal

An investigation was launched into bizarre claims that a UFO crashed to Earth with the body of a dead spaceman inside, newly declassified US government files reveal.

The UFO hunt was launched after officials picked up on a local radio broadcast in Conde, Brazil, on November 8, 1963, which reported that a large metal sphere had fallen to the ground, leaving a large crater in the centre of the town. It was said to contain a human body wearing a uniform, and had inscriptions that ‘could not be deciphered’.

Details of the alleged incident were quickly circulated across Brazilian media, catching the attention of the US State Department, the Department of Defence, and NASA.

On November 14, 1963 – six days after the initial radio broadcast – the US Embassy in Rio de Janeiro sent a telegram to the State Department and the American Consulate in Salvador asking for clarification. But five minutes later, the embassy clarified that no craft had actually been recovered from the ground.

A final diplomatic cable dated November 20 revealed the entire episode appeared to have been fabricated in Rio de Janeiro. Journalists and investigators had travelled to Conde, but failed to find a single person who had witnessed an unusual object falling from the sky.

It read: “Story of strange object descending in region of Conde Bahia apparently fabricated in Rio no such objects seen by anyone in the area according to newspaper reporters and others who rushed there before investigation reports were received. Secretary Public Security speculated object might be weather balloon – but no such sighting verified.”

The 1960s telegram is included in the latest batch of ‘UFO files’ released by the Pentagon. It follows the launch of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) earlier this year, which seek to declassify government files related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) and UFOs.

Among the 41 documents featured in the latest release is a US Navy Photographic Interpretation Centre review of alleged UFO footage captured in Montana and Utah, which was found to be “inconsistent with those of natural phenomena or commonly known aerospace technologies.”

Another file details a September 2021 encounter by Special Operations forces aboard an AC-130J gunship, where the crew observed 25 “cold orbs” flying at speeds between 250 and 1,300mph. The orbs were said to have performed aggressive manoeuvres, and appeared to react to the aircraft’s cannon fire.

An FBI interview record meanwhile details a recent eyewitness account in which “multiple red lights” and orb-like objects were seen moving above a mountain ridge in the western US.

CHICAGO (AP) — DiJonai Carrington of the Chicago Sky was ejected Saturday after being called for a Flagrant 2 foul on Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever. Minutes later, Carrington posted on social media the words “WHITE PRIVILEGE” and tagged the Fever.

Cunningham, who is white, was shooting a fast-break layup in the first quarter when Carrington, who is Black, came from behind and hit her in the head and neck, knocking her to the court as the shot went in.

Cunningham got up immediately, charged toward Carrington and pushed her as she was held back by a teammate.

The play was reviewed and upgraded to a Flagrant 2 after the referee said there was windup, impact and follow-through on the foul.

In the third quarter, Fever star Caitlin Clark was assessed a technical foul after she made contact with a referee when she was forced out of bounds. The technical was Clark’s eighth of the season, triggering a one-game suspension for Indiana’s next game.

Cunningham has frequently come to Clark’s defense after physical play by opponents and has become one of the higher-profile players in the league this season. In an ESPN article published last month, she voiced support for barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s sports, which led to small protests and rallies outside Fever games in Seattle and Portland.

In a memo to teams on Friday, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league would have ongoing discussions about the issue of transgender participation in women’s basketball.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Danny Regan was found dead inside the high-security home he ran to in 2002

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A drug dealer who fled his hometown in a desperate bid to escape the dark hole he had fallen into was killed inside his high-security home.

Danny Regan told his mum that he did not think he would live to see his 30th birthday – an ominous premonition which proved correct, as he was shot dead aged 26.

Nearly 24 years later, his murder remains unsolved. Danny, 26, had moved to Haydock from Leeds just 12 months before he was killed on December 12, 2002. The dad-of-two lay dead for days before his body was finally discovered, three days after it is believed two men broke into his house and shot him in the chest with either a pump action or semi-automatic shotgun, reports the Liverpool Echo.

The hitmen escaped in a silver or grey Rover, which was later found burned out on Cooper Lane.

Two men aged 22 and 25, from Leeds, were arrested in connection with the incident. An e-fit of the suspect was also later released by police. But nobody was ever charged with Danny’s murder, and his killers have so far evaded justice.

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On the second anniversary of her son’s death in December 2004, Danny’s mum Pat Regan told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “I miss Danny so much more this year than last year, because last year it felt like he would still come home.

“Every day I thought I would walk in, and find the trail of cornflakes he used to leave on the kitchen table, which would mean he’d been here. It’s still so hard to face the idea that my son is never coming home.

“My son was no angel and became involved in drugs and with dealers. I would not want anyone to go through it.

“Danny knew the dangers he was facing and I was always waiting for a knock at the door. He came home in a coffin and his designer gear came home in big brown envelopes.

“He wanted to escape the world he lived in and knew the dangers he was facing. I was always waiting for a knock at the door and eventually it came.”

Danny, who had ties to Leeds’ criminal underworld, had been living in a fortified property on Station Road, surrounded by security cameras and a 6ft-high spiked fence.

It was later discovered the house was owned by an on-the-run drugs baron, Mark Lilley. The 6ft tall, 20-stone bodybuilder was sentenced in his absence to 23 years in prison in April 2000 – but had disappeared mid-trial after skipping bail, and was believed to be hiding in Spain or Holland.

He was one of the UK’s most wanted criminals before he was finally apprehended in the Costa Del Sol and extradited in August 2013.

In the wake of her son’s death, Pat became a fierce voice in the fight against gun crime. She set up a Mothers Against Violence group in her hometown of Leeds, and also campaigned for Mothers Against Guns (MAG) and Mothers Against Murder and Aggression (Mama).

The mum-of-six said in 2004: “When I first met other mothers who had felt what I did, | was speechless, and felt numb at finding others who could understand what my family has been through.

“It made me determined to try to stop this violence, which is why I set up the Leeds branch of Mothers Against Violence. l know it’s too late to save Danny and persuade him to give up the lifestyle which led to his death. But it’s not too late to save others, and if the work I do can make another young man think twice, then perhaps Danny’s life won’t have been lost in vain.”

Her tireless fight for justice ended in tragedy four years later, when she was stabbed to death by her grandson, Danny’s nephew, Rakeim Regan, 21.

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Rakeim, who had paranoid schizophrenia, had experienced a severe decline in his mental health before the attack, and believed his grandmother was “conspiring with police to get him”. He admitted manslaughter and was detained indefinitely in a secure psychiatric hospital in 2008.

In a final appeal for Danny’s killer to be exposed, made one year before her own death, Pat said: “I know that Danny’s lifestyle may have led to his death and some of the things he did were wrong. But he wasn’t an evil person and didn’t deserve to die like this.”

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The UK’s prime minister, Andy Burnham, is facing his first major test with the public over the upcoming early release of thousands of prisoners. These plans are part of the Sentencing Act 2026, passed by Keir Starmer’s government in response to an independent review of sentencing.

The review recommended a model whereby eligible prisoners could be released at the one-third point of their custodial term, if they engaged constructively with the prison regime. (If not, they could stay in custody until the halfway point or longer.)

But the proposals as enacted under the Sentencing Act simply mean many prisoners will automatically be released earlier. The new law also reduces the use of short sentences, which have contributed to recent increases in the UK prison population.

This was a response born of crisis, designed to stop the operational collapse of a prison estate running close to absolute capacity. Nonetheless, it can be defended on public protection grounds.

Reoffending rates are highest among people serving short sentences. Diverting them into community supervision rather than inflicting a short, disruptive spell inside is likely to help bring these rates down.

Reoffending rates are markedly lower among those serving longer sentences, so releasing them earlier – particularly when those releases are planned and supervised – is unlikely to make much difference to public safety.

The rollout of this law change has placed Burnham in an unenviable position. Unless the prison population is reduced, police cells will back up and courts won’t be able to remand dangerous defendants, because there is nowhere to hold them. But this clashes with the emotional force of what criminologists call “penal populism” – the pursuit of penal policy for its electoral appeal, rather than its effectiveness.

Burnham is understandably reluctant to risk an early-released prisoner committing a serious offence in the opening months of his premiership. Faced with that bind, he has largely deferred to populist pressure.

Penal populism explains a political context in which the need to appear tough on crime overrides expert consensus and operational reality.

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Will ending short prison sentences fix prison overcrowding? What an expert thinks

When survivors of serious crimes began receiving letters from the probation service informing them that “their” offenders were being considered for release, public anger built quickly.

This anger has coalesced around emblematic cases such as the killers of PC Andrew Harper (two of whom will now become eligible for release at the halfway point of their manslaughter sentences). Political opponents led by the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, have weaponised the outcry effectively.

Placed in this invidious position, Burnham paused the scheme and announced exclusions for rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming – though, controversially, not for domestic abuse. This pause calmed the immediate storm – but at the cost of a smaller reduction in the prison population, leaving the underlying capacity crisis unresolved.

The problem with ‘tough on crime’

All of this gives rise to difficult questions about what leaders need to do if they want to win votes using crime – or avoid losing votes as a result of crime.

The evidence that punitiveness wins elections is weaker than one might think. Although concern has been increasing recently, crime is only fifth on the list of issues that decide votes. Research consistently finds that support for punitiveness softens once people are given the specifics of real cases, rather than abstract categories of “offender”.

Despite many people thinking England and Wales’s criminal justice system is getting more lenient, sentencing has in fact become harsher in recent years. Much of the growth of the prison population is down to increased sentence lengths, rather than more crime.

What actually shapes leaders’ responses to issues of crime and justice is not that toughness wins, but that leniency-gone-wrong loses. A single serious offence by an early-released prisoner is a political catastrophe, while the thousands of quiet, successful releases are invisible. Leaders are not, therefore, responding to a clear public appetite for harshness, but acting in anticipation of what might happen if things go wrong.

Ultimately, bringing release dates forward is politically dangerous because it can be reframed as “letting criminals out early”, and is easily portrayed as a policy which undermines the imposition of retribution as intended by a judge.

Four solutions

So, what should Burnham do? The political storm around the early release scheme is an opportunity to pursue reforms that are harder to politicise. Four such reforms stand out to me:

1. Reform use of prison recall

Recalls are the biggest lever: in early 2026, for the first time on record, more people were recalled to prison than released – 13,193 in a single quarter. Only 22% involved a further charge; the rest were for technical breaches such as missing probation appointments. Burnham should make recall proportionate, reserving it for genuine risk rather than administrative non-compliance.

2. Address Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences

The legacy of the indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection still holds, despite being abolished in 2012. Around 946 people have never been released, 99.6% of them past their tariff, with a further 1,476 inside on recall. Legislative change could lead to the safe release of this cohort.

3. Reduce use of remand

The remand population – those held in prison while awaiting trial or sentencing – makes up close to a fifth of all prisoners (and is up to 16,000 in 2026, from 9,000 in 2019). These numbers could be safely reduced through tagging, enforced time limits and bail accommodation.

4. Community sentences for women

Most women in custody – less than 5% of the prison population – are serving short sentences for non-violent offences. Replacing these with community provision would cut prison numbers and avoid the wider harm of imprisoning primary carers.

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How to stop released prisoners reoffending: what the evidence says

Meaningful reform in these four areas would help ease capacity issues. Importantly, these alternatives share a feature that the early release scheme lacks. All rest on a claim of procedural legitimacy (technical breach, expired tariff, unconvicted status, non-violent offending) that is far more defensible in public argument, and therefore more durable against a populist attack.

We know that the more time people spend in prison, the more harm they suffer. Even Conservative governments have accepted that prison can be “an expensive way of making bad people worse”.

However, the early release policy has been caught by the familiar tough-on-crime script. In the process, it appears to have damaged the very confidence in the justice system it was supposed to sustain.

The lesson is not that reform is impossible. But when it is introduced under crisis conditions and applied retrospectively to people the public can already name, it is uniquely exposed to political attack.

Changing the point of release may yet have a future. But doing it in the glare of a moral panic, as a response to an operational crisis, almost certainly does not.

As I strolled around the Jantar Mantar astronomical observatory in Delhi on July 28, the atmosphere was finally calm. Jantar Mantar had been the focus of the recent “cockroach” protests, in which tens of thousands took to the streets to push for education reforms in India.

While police and riot control vans remained, life was returning to normality. Street vendors and small businesses were bustling again. I joined people drinking tea and heard a range of opinions. The resignation of the education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, a few days earlier seemed to satisfy the protesters’ calls for accountability in India.

But there were still competing narratives as to what happened in those few short weeks of protest. To me, after talking with many people on the streets of Delhi, it feels as if six words changed the political atmosphere in India completely: “What if all cockroaches come together?”

These words were posted online on May 16 by 30-year-old Abhijeet Dipke, an Indian political communication strategist studying at Boston University in the US. He was responding to a comment from India’s chief justice, Surya Kant, made from the bench during a legal case.

While criticising attacks on the judiciary on social media, Kant said: “There are youngsters like cockroaches … they don’t get any employment, they don’t have any place in profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, some of them become RTI activists, some of them become other activists, and they start attacking everyone.”

Kant later clarified he had been referring to fake degree holders. But the remark was widely interpreted as a slur against jobless young people at a time of high youth unemployment in India.

In response, Dipke created a website, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), as satire – but within a fortnight, 22 million people were following his posts. He returned to India on June 6 and was immediately swarmed by the press at Delhi airport. Holding up a copy of the autobiography of the late B.R Ambedkar, who chaired the drafting committee for India’s constitution, he demanded the resignation of India’s education minister.

This was a direct call for accountability after the government had abruptly cancelled India’s medical entrance exam, which had been sat by 2.28 million students, on May 12. The National Testing Agency explained that a paper very like the one sat by the students had been leaked and circulated online.

At least 21 students are subsequently reported to have taken their lives in response to the exam’s cancellation.

Sonam Wangchuk, an educationalist and climate activist, joined the protest and commenced a hunger strike, along with some other students. On July 18, the 20th day of his fast and having lost 10kg, Wangchuk was forcibly removed from the protest site to a hospital. This was met with further outrage.

On July 20, the cockroach protesters took to the streets en masse, with Jantar Mantar, site of the astronomical observatory established in 1724, becoming the focus of activism for educational reform.

The ensuing march to India’s parliament building in New Delhi drew more than 50,000 protestors. Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, it was met with tear gas, police batons, pellet guns and excessive force against the young protesters.

The movement had three demands: the resignation of the education minister, compensation for the families of students who had taken their lives over the medical entrance exam’s cancellation, and the dropping of all charges against protesters – along with an apology for the police crackdown.

Pradhan resigned. The government agreed to meet the other two demands, and on July 25 the protest was called off.

The power of satire

The CJP bills itself as “the voice of the lazy and unemployed”. Yet the massive response suggests otherwise.

The movement called out to disenchanted youth – a generation that has grown up amid disruption, economic crisis, pandemic and wars. The satirical tone of the new party’s communication strategy proved an effective way to convey its serious message.

Political satire, which uses memes rather than merely rhetoric, can create what scholars call a “medium of value”. The young people in India have found a new identity through this.

A single reaction to a derogatory remark spurred collective resistance. The movement’s wider manifesto included calls for judicial reform, electoral integrity, increased representation for women, and the break-up of media monopolies.

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, reacted quickly, publishing video messages to the young people of India. He established an expert taskforce to examine the issues, and announced fast-track courts. On July 29, India’s parliament passed a Bill establishing stricter penalties for anyone found to be leaking exam papers.

On August 3, the Supreme Court announced that Delhi and other state governments would be allowed to withdraw “first information reports” – complaints against protesters – except in especially serious cases. It also said it would frame a new protocol governing the use of pellet guns.

What’s different about this protest?

The cockroach protest surfaced after more than a year in which young people had already shaken governments on three continents. Since 2022, Gen Z-led protests erupted across Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Madagascar, Morocco, Kenya, Indonesia, Peru, Mexico, the Philippines and beyond.

The triggers were local: economic mismanagement in Sri Lanka, a social media ban in Nepal, an unfair quota system for employment in Bangladesh, chronic water and power cuts in Madagascar, new taxes in Kenya, misallocated public spending in Morocco.

But the message was shared: the need for economic social and cultural rights, freedom from corruption and inequality, and dissent against a governing class that appeared to have stopped listening.

In Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Madagascar, governments fell as a result of the protests.

How does India’s cockroach protest compare? Where in many cases, the Gen Z protesters called for their government to resign, India’s cockroaches did not seek regime change. They peacefully marched for accountability within the system. And their demands were – largely – met through the machinery of Indian democracy.

Calling this simply a Gen Z movement misses the point. Young people and students were joined by their parents, grandparents, and even toddlers and children. Where the global wave was defined by the age of its participants, India’s was defined by an intergenerational solidarity gathered around a single grievance.

The global Gen Z uprising asked who should hold power. The cockroach protesters in India asked something more specific – and arguably harder: whether India’s governing institutions can still be trusted to uphold the constitution. For Indians, this meant something deep — guarding the soul of their country.

The Prime Minister is in ‘listening mode’, according to Downing Street

Downing Street has announced a big update on Andy Burnham. The PM will kick off a national tour this week to ask the public how the Government can improve their lives. Officials said the Prime Minister would be in “listening mode” as he spends much of the rest of August travelling the country to discuss the cost of living.

Having promised to give the public “breathing space”, he is expected to unveil a series of measures intended to help with bills, following on from cuts to energy costs and a £2 cap on bus fares announced in his first week in Downing Street.

Mr Burnham will also focus on improving high streets and officials said he would use the summer tour to inform his 10-year plan for the country. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said he would be “getting out of Westminster and meeting people where they are”.

They added: “He thinks Westminster has got used to telling people that everyday hassles – like hidden pricing and consumers being ripped off – must be accepted as part of life. He doesn’t think that’s right. That’s why he’s going to start rolling out a series of pro-consumer cost-of-living measures to give people some room to breathe.”

With the fallout of the Iran war keeping inflation higher than expected, the cost of living remains a major concern among the public. A poll published by Ipsos at the end of July found 30% of people listed the economy as a major concern while 22% listed inflation or prices specifically.

But opposition figures have accused Mr Burnham of “tinkering” with his announcements. Reform UK’s economic spokesman Robert Jenrick said the Prime Minister should “scrap green levies and taxes on energy bills”, and rule out tax rises in October’s budget.

He added: “It’s high time the Labour Party cut the ballooning benefits bill so we can relieve pressure on the hardworking majority that hold our country together.”

The man was found injured after being attacked in an apparent murder bid on Thursday night.

A man has been rushed to hospital following an alleged attempted murder in Glasgow. The alarm was raised around 10.40pm on Tollcross Road, near to its junction with Crail Street, in the east end of the city on Thursday, August 6.

Emergency services, including Police Scotland and Scottish Ambulance Service, raced to the scene after receiving reports of a man being seriously assaulted.

He was taken by ambulance to Glasgow Royal Infirmary where he is being treated for stab injuries. His condition is described as serious but stable.

Footage taken from the scene shows at least three blue-lit police vans and an ambulance parked on the busy road.

An attempted murder investigation has been launched. Police Scotland are asking anyone with any information on the attack – including potential witnesses – or those with dash-cam footage to get in touch. Detective Inspector Graham Clarke said: “Enquiries are ongoing into this attempted murder and we are appealing to the public for any information.

“This is a busy area and we are urging anyone who witnessed this attack, or anyone with information which could assist our enquiries to contact us. “We would also appeal to anyone with dash-cam or personal footage to get in touch in case it holds anything relevant.”

Information can be passed to Police Scotland through 101, quoting incident number 3565 of 6 August. Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111, where anonymity can be maintained.

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The Royal Navy has warned of a significant increase in Russian naval activity near UK waters, having spent 21 days in July monitoring Moscow’s vessels.

Naval operations to track Russian ships surged by 25 per cent in July compared to last year, with warships repeatedly traversing the Dover Strait and North Sea.

Offshore patrol vessels HMS Tyne, HMS Mersey and HMS Severn were deployed throughout the month to monitor Russian frigates Neustrashimy and Admiral Grigorovich, which are tasked with escorting so-called “shadow fleet” tankers.

Russia uses its ageing shadow fleet to evade international sanctions on its oil exports and help fund its war in Ukraine.

HMS Tyne was also tasked with monitoring the Neustrashimy as it carried out a live firing exercise outside British and French waters on July 20.

Another ship, the frigate HMS Somerset, has been involved in monitoring Russian activity in the North Atlantic as part of a four-month Nato deployment searching for submarines, alongside helicopters from the Navy’s Fleet Air Arm.

Somerset’s commanding officer, Commander Matt Millyard, said: “This deployment demonstrates exactly what the Royal Navy exists to do, protect the UK and our allies from wherever our interests are threatened.

“I am immensely proud of every single member of the ship’s company for what we have achieved over the past four months.

It is fantastic to bring the ship home after a highly successful deployment and reunite with our families.”

The increase in Russian naval activity follows the seizure of the tanker Smyrtos by Royal Marines in June, the first time British troops have directly boarded a shadow fleet vessel.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the diversion of Russian ships to escort shadow fleet vessels meant Russia was “using up valuable operational capacity to constantly guard cargo”.

Last month, the MoD said in its annual report that Royal Navy vessels had been “activated” 116 times in the year to March 2026, shadowing 61 Russian warships and 28 merchant vessels around the UK’s waters.

This reflected a 30 per cent increase in Russian naval activity over the previous two years, and included operations to deter the spy ship Yantar that was spotted near undersea cables off Scotland in November 2025.

It’s the explosive diarrhoea bug that’s struck down tens of thousands of Americans this summer. Cyclosporiasis, a parasitic infection that spreads via contaminated food or water, has hit more than 22,000 people across 45 states.

Linked to an iceberg lettuce farm in Mexico, it swept quickly through the US, killing two and leaving hundreds hospitalised over the past few weeks alone.

And health chiefs now warn the debilitating infection – which causes weeks of violent diarrhoea, abdominal cramps and vomiting – has reached the UK.

At least 67 Britons have fallen ill with cyclosporiasis since May. Officials are urging all travellers to take precautions when visiting or returning from North, Central and South America.

It may sound terrifying but experts say that, armed with the correct information, the parasite, called cyclospora, needn’t be a cause for concern.

‘It’s not something you want to get,’ says Dr Paul Hunter, microbiologist and professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, ‘but there are clear ways to reduce your risk, on holiday or at home.’

What exactly is the cyclospora parasite?

Cyclospora is a single-cell organism, meaning, in layman’s terms, it is microscopically tiny.

It is a parasite that lives and multiplies in the small intestine, burrowing into cells that line the gut wall. The frequent, watery diarrhoea associated with the bug is the body’s attempt to expel them.

Symptoms typically go on for a couple of weeks but can last up to a month, says Dr Lindsey Ann Edwards, senior lecturer in microbiology at King’s College London.

She adds: ‘The main sign is very watery diarrhoea over a prolonged period. While other bugs may clear up after a few days, cyclosporiasis continues.’

Some sufferers have described having to use the toilet up to 20 times a day, while others told of a bubbling, or balloon-like feeling in the stomach.

The parasite can also cause abdominal pain and nausea, but rarely vomiting.

Can I catch it from an infected person?

Cyclosporiasis differs from more common bugs in how it is spread. ‘The parasite can’t be passed on between humans, unlike many other diarrhoea-causing infections,’ says Professor Hunter.

In fact, people become infected with cyclospora only when they consume food or water that contains the parasite.

‘If you were just at dinner with, or even lived with, an infected person, you likely wouldn’t get it,’ says Professor Hunter.

Instead, outbreaks, such as the one in the US, occur when infected faecal matter comes into contact with crops, usually due to contaminated water supplies used to wash or grow produce.

Prof Hunter adds: ‘It’s raw vegetables and fruit – crops you won’t typically cook – that tend to spread cyclospora, as boiling can kill the parasite.

‘Salad leaves in particular are full of nooks and crannies and have a lot of surface area for the parasite to lay eggs on. And you don’t cook them – making them a perfect vehicle for cyclospora.’

Raspberries and blackberries have been behind a number of outbreaks for the same reason as salad leaves now are – they’re hard to clean well and full of little troughs and pits

Is it only salad I need to be worried about?

The US outbreak has been linked to Taylor’s Farm, a farm in Mexico that supplies bags of shredded lettuce to fast-food giant Taco Bell as well as grocery stores.

But previous outbreaks have been caused by a range of other fresh vegetables and fruit, including, most commonly, raspberries. ‘Anything that you eat without peeling or cooking could carry the parasite,’ says Professor Hunter.

Raspberries and blackberries have been behind a number of outbreaks for the same reason as salad leaves now are – they’re hard to clean well and full of little troughs and pits.

‘Vegetables with a waxy skin, like cucumbers, or that you typically peel – like oranges or carrots – are less likely to cause infections.’

How come it is now spreading to the UK?

Cyclospora is most prevalent in tropical regions such as South and Central America, Southeast Asia or the Middle East, as the parasite’s eggs can usually only survive in warm, humid conditions.

These regions typically also have poorer water treatment and sanitation infrastructure, making crop contamination more likely.

But while rare, there have been cyclospora outbreaks in the UK and Europe. Imported produce can bring in the infection, although most commonly people pick it up abroad, says Dr Edwards.

‘The parasite tends to incubate for around ten days, so people can go on a week-long holiday but then develop symptoms two or three days after getting back.

‘In the current outbreak, it seems most people have picked it up travelling to Mexico and the US.’

Will washing fruit and veg get rid of it?

‘It’s always a good idea to wash fresh fruit and vegetables,’ says Professor Hunter. ‘But with cyclospora, washing produce – while removing maybe 80 per cent of the parasites – won’t stop you getting sick, as the eggs, once laid, are difficult to dislodge.

‘Cooking is really the only way to kill off the bug.

‘I’ve always cautioned against eating uncooked vegetables – especially salads – when abroad.’

People with healthy immune systems can also usually get over the infection without treatment, but their symptoms can last up to a month and may relapse

What’s the best way to treat an infection?

Once diagnosed via a stool sample, cyclosporiasis infections can be easily treated with antibiotics.

Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, commonly sold as Bactrim, Septra or Cotrim, is taken twice daily for seven to ten days.

People with healthy immune systems can also usually get over the infection without treatment, but their symptoms can last up to a month and may relapse.

Hydration is key, says Dr Edwards, because of how much fluid is expelled. Sufferers should drink a lot of water, broths and take electrolytes and antibiotics.

Should I be worried about getting it?

Not unless you are planning an imminent trip to the US or Mexico.

If you are, at mealtimes or in restaurants, stick to cooked vegetables or ones that are peeled.

Those with a weakened immune system, as well as the elderly and children, should also be careful, adds Dr Edwards.

‘It’s not usually deadly – and given the number of infections in the US, two deaths makes sense statistically,’ she says.

‘But if you have underlying health conditions, it can make it much more difficult for your body to get rid of the parasite. Constant diarrhoea can cause severe dehydration, which can be deadly.’

Anyone returning from abroad who develops symptoms should seek help from their GP.