Temperatures in Bordeaux are forecast to reach 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, around 7 degrees above the average high between 1961 and 1990
International News via Reuters:
France was bracing for its fourth major heatwave of the year on Tuesday, as soaring temperatures and tinder-dry conditions across the southwest piled pressure on crews battling a giant wildfire in the Bordeaux region.
Temperatures in Bordeaux are forecast to reach 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, around 7 degrees above the average high between 1961 and 1990, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor.
“The situation we are dealing with today is the most severe we have ever recorded, the toughest since the Second World War,” President Emmanuel Macron, who flew to the area, said on Monday evening.
Fire crews had contained the blaze overnight, but the situation remained difficult, Nathalie Delattre, Senator for Gironde which covers the city of Bordeaux, said.
“Everything will depend on how the firefighters on the ground get on,” she told BFM TV on Tuesday.
France is going through an unprecedented wildfire season. The area burned has already surpassed the previous record year of 2022.
The Landes area, southwest of Bordeaux, is covered by pine forests, which become highly flammable when dry. The fire has burned down 42,000 hectares so far.
Authorities have evacuated about 220,000 people, including holidaymakers and local residents.
In the area of Biscarrosse, a town about 40 km south, which was hit by another wildfire last week, the situation has improved and some 15,000 evacuated people were gradually allowed back home in the town and a campsite nearby, the local administration said on X.
“However, (the favourable) development does not mean the risk has been eliminated. Flare-ups remain possible, particularly due to weather conditions (wind, drought, etc.),” it said.
Temperatures were set to increase in the region from the afternoon and peak at 37 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, weather office Meteo France said.
Reporting by Yves Herman, Manuel Ausloos, Inti Landauro, Sarah Meysonnier; Editing by Andrew Heavens
Britain has faced a worsening youth employment crisis since the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than a million 16-to-24-year-olds not in education, employment or training
International News via Reuters:
Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Tuesday outlined plans to align technical education and training for young people with local employment needs, seeking to tackle rising youth unemployment by preparing people for an AI-driven future.
Britain has faced a worsening youth employment crisis since the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than a million 16-to-24-year-olds not in education, employment or training.
For 18-to-24-year-olds, the percentage of so-called NEETs is 15.8%, more than triple that in the Netherlands, a country ministers have increasingly cited as a model for reform.
Burnham’s government, seeking to produce results quickly after a decade of political instability and stagnant living standards, says advances in artificial intelligence are changing the types of jobs available, increasing demand for new technical skills and giving “new life” to traditional trades.
NEW ROUTES TO WORK
In an article for the Times, Burnham said Britain had become too focused on university as the main route to success.
Under his plans, pupils in England will be able to study core subjects such as English, maths and science alongside technical qualifications, work experience and employer-led projects. He hopes that regional authorities, schools, colleges and businesses will help design programmes around local labour market needs, with a national rollout planned from 2028.
A government-commissioned review warned in May that Britain risked creating a “lost generation” of young people.
Last month, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden visited Dutch youth employment centres, known as Jongerenpunt, before announcing plans to open almost 180 new “Youth Hubs” to bring together employment, education, welfare and health support in a single location.
McFadden told Sky News on Tuesday the advance of AI meant that a country that had traditionally lagged its northern European peers in creating vocational routes into employment needed to change.
“Perhaps the assumptions about what was a safe and secure job in the past no longer apply today,” he told Sky News. “This is a general-purpose technology. It will both destroy jobs and create jobs.”
Burnham’s plans build on efforts by previous governments to strengthen technical education, including T-level qualifications introduced under Theresa May, skills and apprenticeship reforms under Boris Johnson, and measures under Keir Starmer aimed at improving links between employers and education providers.
Reporting by Sam Tabahriti, additional reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andrei Khalip
BRC annual shop price inflation fell to 0.9% in July from 1.2% in June after a 0.1% drop on the month
International News via Reuters:
Average prices at British retailers rose by an annual 0.9% this month, the smallest increase since December 2025, as the men’s soccer world cup triggered supermarket discounts on alcohol and snacks, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday.
“Retailers competed hard to limit prices rises, with a wave of summer promotions across food and other goods,” BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said, adding that some clothing and footwear retailers were also discounting summer items.
• BRC annual shop price inflation fell to 0.9% in July from 1.2% in June after a 0.1% drop on the month
• Food price inflation slowed to 2.2% from 2.4%, its lowest since February 2025
• Non-food inflation slowed to 0.2% from 0.6%, though electrical and health and beauty product prices rose due to higher semi-conductor and manufacturing costs
• The BRC survey was based on prices collected between July 1 and July 9
• The Office for National Statistics’ broader consumer price inflation measure fell to a 15-month low of 2.6% in June
• Last month the Bank of England forecast CPI would rise to just over 3.25% later this year due to higher energy costs caused by the U.S.-Iran war
Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.5% to 10,845.71 points by 0950 GMT, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 climbed 0.2%
International News via Reuters:
London’s main FTSE indexes edged higher on Tuesday, supported by earnings-driven gains in consumer-focused stocks, including Unilever and Man Group, shrugging off pressure from declines in banks and energy shares.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.5% to 10,845.71 points by 0950 GMT, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 climbed 0.2%.
• Unilever jumped 6.8%, putting it on track for its biggest one-day gain in two years, after the company raised its annual forecast and delivered its strongest quarterly volume growth in more than a decade, as consumers continued to buy brands such as Vaseline, Dove and Cif despite concerns over household budgets.
• Coats jumped 7.1% to the top of the FTSE mid-cap index after the thread maker reported higher first-half profit.
• Meanwhile, banks led sectoral declines, falling 0.7% after Barclays slipped 5.1% despite reporting a better-than-expected 17% rise in first-half profit, suggesting investors had already priced in robust results from British banks.
• Energy stocks also fell 0.6% as oil prices slid more than 2% as hopes for a resolution to the U.S.-Iran conflict grew. [O/R]
• Among individual stocks, Man Group shares jumped 4.6% to their highest since 2010 after the hedge fund manager posted a better-than-expected 11% half-yearly rise in assets under management.
• Canal+ jumped 6.2% after the French pay-TV and media group reported a slight rise in half-year revenue, as growth in its legacy businesses offset a narrowing decline at MultiChoice, the African broadcaster it acquired last year.
• Policy statements from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England will be watched later this week for hints on the central banks’ next likely moves.
Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair
The pound traded near its weakest level since early July at $1.327 on Tuesday, down 0.1% on the day
International News via Reuters:
Sterling fell to a more than three-week low against a stronger dollar on Tuesday as lower oil prices eased inflation concerns, while expectations of a U.S. interest rate hike this week continued to support the greenback.
The pound traded near its weakest level since early July at $1.327 on Tuesday, down 0.1% on the day.
Brent crude retreated 2.6% to $86.08 a barrel, extending its pullback from last week’s spike above $100, amid growing hopes of a resolution to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington was having “good talks” with Tehran.
Rate-sensitive 2-year gilt yields retreated 3 bps to 4.352%.
The Federal Reserve wraps up its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, with traders pricing in a nearly 40% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike, up from about 20% a week earlier, according to LSEG data. U.S. rate futures show 95% probability of a quarter-point increase by September.
“With a September hike now fully priced in by futures, we think that the bar for a hawkish surprise that meaningfully boosts the dollar is high,” said Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at global financial services firm Ebury.
Softer labour-market data has cemented expectations the Bank of England stands pat on Thursday, but unease over the spending plans under the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham have weighed on the pound this month.
Burnham on Monday ruled out any changes to stamp duty, a tax on home sales, at the next budget due later in the year.
Previously Burnham has said he may ask people to pay “a little more” in tax as the country faces major spending pressures from an ageing population and a need to rebuild its armed forces as well as broader investment goals.
The pound was largely unchanged against the euro at 0.855 after retreating 1.1% from last week’s one-year high.
Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva
It’s a tradition that has become as synonymous with Cup Match as the cricket itself, yet surprisingly little is known about how it first arrived on the island. In tonight’s episode of Heart of Bermuda, Julie Matthews-Borchardt explores the history, the personalities and the enduring appeal of the island’s unique game of chance.
The CBI said it hoped new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s pledge to boost growth “in every postcode” would include lower property taxes for high-street retailers
International News via Reuters:
British retailers reported the smallest downturn in sales in six months in July but remained gloomy overall due to continued cost pressures, the Confederation of British Industry said on Monday.
The CBI’s headline distributive trades balance, which measures activity compared with a year earlier, jumped to -26 in July from -54 in June, its highest reading since January, while sales for the time of year were judged to be below normal for the time of year by the smallest amount since February.
“Retailers reported that the ongoing sales downturn lost steam in July, but a recovery still looks some way off as gloomy sentiment and elevated cost pressures weigh on activity,” CBI economist Martin Sartorius said.
• The CBI said it hoped new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s pledge to boost growth “in every postcode” would include lower property taxes for high-street retailers
• The CBI also called on Burnham to tackle rising labour costs and preserve employers’ flexibility in hiring when the details of new employment legislation are finalised
• Wholesalers reported broadly unchanged sales volumes in July for the first time in just over 2 years
• Retailers’ expected sales volumes for August rose to -26 from -45, the strongest expectations since March
• CBI retail data has been persistently more downbeat than that from the British Retail Consortium and the Office for National Statistics
• ONS retail sales data last week showed 5.4% annual volume growth excluding fuel in the year to June, as a heat wave encouraged shoppers to buy summer clothing and fans online
• The CBI survey was based on responses from 67 retail chains and 105 wholesalers between June 26 and July 14
Reporting by David MillikenEditing by William Schomberg
A call for responsible driving during Cup Match went out today from Government, the Bermuda Road Safety Council and CADA (SCROLL down for full press conference).
Transport Minister Owen Darrell, BRSC Chair Altonio Roberts and CADA Chair Anthony Santucci echoed each other…
Minister Darrell also addressed the latest road traffic fatality on Sunday night, offering condolences to the family.
We have now reached ten road deaths so far this year, more than the annual statistics for 2025 and 2024.
Unless we arrest this trend, we are on target to equal the deadliest years on our roads of the last 25 years – 17 deaths per year in 2021 and 2008.
Minister Darrell eschewed talking about statistics regarding the most recent road fatality, but affirmed that Government was focused on updating laws to improve road safety…
Citizens are also expected to vote on changes to the constitution and for local representatives, the calendar showed
International News via Reuters:
Haiti’s CEP electoral council on Monday scheduled the first presidential elections in a decade for December with a runoff in February, after plans to hold the vote in August with a December runoff were postponed over security concerns.
Haiti has not held elections since 2016.
Its last president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in 2021, after delaying a vote. Successive governments have been tasked with holding an election but said insecurity amid a conflict with powerful armed gangs made it impossible.
The council on Monday published a calendar setting a first round of Haiti’s presidential and legislative elections for December 13 with a runoff vote on February 21. It also set the publication of final results for March 7.
Citizens are also expected to vote on changes to the constitution and for local representatives, the calendar showed.
The council highlighted that the calendar depended on “the establishment of an acceptable security climate and the necessary funds to pursue electoral operations.”
Earlier this month, the council said it had begun registering voters and training electoral security agents, and published a definitive list of over 300 political parties approved to compete in the coming electoral process.
Ongoing gang violence has made analysts skeptical that new election dates will remain in place. The ripple effects include chronic food shortages, extortion, ransom kidnappings and forced displacements, piling on even more challenges to ensuring a free, fair vote. Some 12% of Haiti’s population live in makeshift camps or with host families.
Violent armed gangs, largely grouped under a broad alliance known as Viv Ansanm, have taken control of most of the capital Port-au-Prince, whose metropolitan area is home to around a quarter of the population. Gangs have also expanded to central and rural Haiti.
Viv Ansanm, which itself has been seeking political recognition, has been designated a terrorist organization by Washington and is accused of mass kidnappings, gang rapes, arson, indiscriminate killings, and gun, organ and drug trafficking.
CEP President Jacques Desrosiers told Reuters late last year that the council had evaluated hundreds of voting centers, but access later worsened as armed gangs expanded outside the capital.
Reporting by Harold Isaac and Sarah Morland; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon
Washington abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of air strikes against Iran on Saturday in the president’s latest strategic U-turn in the five-month-old conflict
International News via Reuters:
President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States was having “good talks” with Iran and there was a chance of a deal over their conflict, but warned U.S. strikes would resume if the negotiations failed to deliver.
Washington abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of air strikes against Iran on Saturday in the president’s latest strategic U-turn in the five-month-old conflict.
“We’re talking right now,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We’re having good talks… I think there’s a good chance that something could happen, and if it does, good, if it doesn’t, we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago.”
In contrast to the president’s seemingly optimistic remarks, Tehran appeared to quickly test the pause in the U.S. military campaign, with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq reporting drone attacks on Monday.
Saudi Arabia said it shot down drones aimed at petroleum targets, including in the capital Riyadh. It said the drones had been launched from Iraq by Iran-backed armed groups, and it reserved the right to respond.
Separately, Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen said they had targeted the 1,200-km (745-mile) East-West Pipeline carrying oil to Saudi Arabia’s main Red Sea port of Yanbu, in retaliation for what they said were Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni airspace.
Iran has said it is not seeking to resume peace talks with the U.S., although it would pause its own attacks for as long as Trump’s self-imposed ceasefire continues.
Tehran also said it was still in control of the contested Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway for global energy supplies, which Trump has demanded vessels be able to pass through freely.
OIL PRICES TUMBLE
The end of the U.S. campaign after 13 successive nights of intensifying bombing and Trump’s remarks on talks with Tehran sent oil prices tumbling. Brent crude, which had briefly ticked above $100 a barrel last week for the first time since May, fell around 8.2% on Monday to just below $89, having fallen as low as $87.55.
Trump’s decision to suspend the campaign reflected advice from his military that the bombing had reached the limits of what it could achieve, according to a U.S. official and several U.S. media reports.
The U.S. official told Reuters that military commanders had advised the president they were running out of targets. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, had expressed concern over the depletion of air munitions, the official said.
‘NOT IN OUR DNA’ TO ASK FOR TALKS, IRAN SAYS
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, said on Sunday that Trump had paused the campaign to allow room for negotiations. Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials have described Iran as “begging for a deal”.
But Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a televised press conference on Monday that Iran had not asked to resume peace talks with the United States.
Messages were still being passed between the sides through mediators and Iran had not forsaken diplomacy, but “reports about Iran requesting negotiations with the U.S. are fabricated,” Baghaei said. “This is not in our DNA.”
IRAN MEDIA SAY SIX SHIPS TURNED BACK
Several Iranian state media outlets cited an “informed source” as saying that Iran had turned around six “offending ships” on Monday morning that had attempted to cross the Strait of Hormuz without its permission.
Trump launched his renewed bombing campaign to punish Iran after Tehran fired on ships using a route promoted by the United States, which told vessels to sail close to the coast of Oman.
Iran says ships may pass only through a Hormuz channel that runs closer to its own coast, which it controls and where it intends to impose transit fees.
The two weeks of renewed U.S. bombing killed scores of people in Iran and destroyed bridges and tunnels across the south as well as military targets.
Four U.S. service members were killed by Iran’s return fire against U.S. bases in neighbouring Arab states. Iran also struck civilian infrastructure in Gulf countries in what it said was retaliation for U.S. strikes on civilian targets.
The U.S. bombing halt leaves no clear indication of what leverage Washington can exert to achieve Trump’s aim to break Iran’s grip on the strait.
Washington and Tehran reached an agreement in June on a framework for talks meant to take place by the end of August to resolve major issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme.
But the sides have disputed the meaning of the memorandum’s language about the strait, with Washington insisting it requires Tehran to allow free travel while Iran says it grants it the authority to supervise transit.
Additional reporting by Muayad Hameed in Iraq. Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Toby Chopra, Mark Potter and Cynthia Osterman
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
