UK water regulator Ofwat has advised Muslims to use less water during wudu, the ritual ablution, as part of a wider water-saving initiative. The advice was issued through the Ofwat-funded Water Efficiency in Faith and Diverse Communities programme. A pilot project in Cambridge encouraged worshippers to use one litre of water rather than leaving taps running, and recommended wider promotion through Islamic television channels.

Ofwat said some people use up to about 12 litres of water across five daily ablutions. It estimated that using a one-litre bottle could save up to 55 litres per person each day. The Cambridge pilot reportedly saved around 5,900 litres of water daily. Water companies were also told to communicate the campaign carefully so that Muslims would not be portrayed as responsible for water waste.

The initiative has drawn criticism from some UK Muslims, who questioned whether religious practice should be singled out for conservation measures. They argued that leaks and infrastructure problems should receive priority. Citing Greenpeace UK research published in July, the report said leaking pipes waste about 2.87 billion litres daily in England and Wales. Ofwat said the project was not intended to change religious practices and ended in April 2025.

Ethel Caterham, described as the world’s oldest British woman, has reached the age of 117. She lives in a care home in Surrey, about 25 miles from London. João Marinho Neto of Brazil, described as the oldest man, sent her congratulations. Caterham was born on August 21, 1909, in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, in southern England.

Caterham was the second youngest of eight siblings. In 1931, she met British Army Major Norman Caterham at a dinner event, and they married two years later. Her husband died in 1976. She has three granddaughters and five great-grandchildren.

King Charles III visited Caterham shortly after her 116th birthday in September 2025. She is also among the oldest people to have recovered after contracting coronavirus at the age of 110 in 2020. The report cited CNN, PA Media and Guinness World Records as sources.

A cyberattack believed to have been carried out by Iran-linked hackers forced a power plant in the United Kingdom to shut down for four days in July. The incident, described as unprecedented, became public only recently, according to a report by The Telegraph cited by Al Jazeera. The UK government has not named the affected facility, citing security reasons.

The plant was reportedly relatively small, among many similar facilities across the country that are activated intermittently as needed. At the same time, a series of cyberattacks targeted US water infrastructure, affecting 12 states and raising concerns at the White House, The Telegraph reported.

The shutdown has renewed concern over cyber risks to Britain’s critical infrastructure. The source notes that previous major cyberattacks in the UK disrupted systems within the National Health Service, cut schools off from IT services and affected commercial manufacturing. Production at major industrial companies, including Jaguar Land Rover, has also been affected by cyberattacks in the past.

The UK High Court has ordered Prince Harry and six other claimants to make an interim payment of £9.54 million in legal costs to Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Daily Mail. The order, issued on Friday after their privacy case was dismissed, requires payment by August 28. The group had alleged that ANL publications illegally obtained information about them.

Justice Nicklin dismissed the claims on July 7, finding that the claimants had failed to provide the necessary evidence. In the costs ruling, he ordered ANL’s costs to be assessed on an indemnity basis, more favourable to the publisher than the standard basis. He also strongly criticised how the case was conducted, including the failure to withdraw serious allegations.

ANL says its total costs could reach £34.5 million, though the judge said that figure appeared excessive and voiced concern about whether all claimed costs were reasonably incurred. The claimants had insurance cover of up to £16.2 million. They have until October 2 to seek permission to appeal the High Court ruling.

North Korea is sending additional personnel to support Russia’s military operations, including about 400 members skilled in drone operations, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said on August 21, 2026. Deputy head of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, said about 8,500 North Korean troops are currently in Russia, mostly deployed in the Kursk region. The force reportedly includes about 1,000 engineers and mine-clearance personnel.

Skibitskyi said many drone operators in the new contingent gained experience through earlier deployments or training and could be used to observe and strike targets inside Ukraine. He assessed that North Korean troops were unlikely to fight directly on Ukrainian territory, but could reinforce rear-area positions in Russia, freeing Russian forces for frontline attacks. Ukrainian intelligence says about 25,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to or rotated through Russia so far.

Ukraine also alleges North Korea has supplied ballistic missiles and personnel supporting missile launches in Russia’s Voronezh region. Skibitskyi said Pyongyang seeks advanced air-defence technology in exchange for manpower and equipment, including Russia’s S-400 system, and has already received a Pantsir-1 system.

The UK government has announced plans for a new qualification in England to help secondary-school students who fail to achieve the required grade 4 in GCSE English or mathematics. The proposed level-1 qualification, called “Stepping Stone”, would target students who received grade 2 or below when taking GCSEs for the first time. The announcement was reported on August 21, 2026.

In England, 16-year-olds who do not reach grade 4 in English or maths must continue studying and retaking the subjects. This year, only one in seven students retaking maths achieved grade 4 or higher, while one in six passed English. Although about 70 percent of 16-year-olds passed both subjects, around 620,000 did not achieve grade 4 in at least one.

Education Secretary Lucy Powell said the current system leaves many students trapped in repeated exam cycles and that the new route could build foundations for higher education, technical training or apprenticeships. School and college leaders called the plan disappointing and ineffective, arguing that assessment methods need change. Experts also warned that disadvantaged students should not be pushed into lower-quality educational routes.

A Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv killed at least 13 people and injured another 40, according to a report published on August 20, 2026. The overnight assault damaged residential buildings and warehouses in several parts of the capital, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

A children’s hospital and a school were also damaged in the attack. The reported casualties and destruction came as Kyiv faces growing vulnerability because of a shortage of air-defence missiles supplied by its Western allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the lack of sufficient air-defence missiles was one of the reasons for the loss of life. Ukraine relies heavily on missiles provided by Western partners to counter Russian ballistic missiles, according to the report.

A recent YouGov survey found that 47% of British respondents support reducing or completely stopping immigration to the United Kingdom from Israel. The result, reported on August 19, 2026, places Israel behind Russia, Pakistan and Nigeria among countries whose immigration Britons are most likely to want reduced or halted.

Only 5% of respondents said the United Kingdom should allow more immigrants from Israel, while 24% supported maintaining immigration at its current level. Compared with a similar survey in 2016, support for reducing or ending immigration from Israel rose by 8 percentage points.

The survey analysis said international conflicts, including the Gaza war, and changing global perceptions of Israel may be contributing to the trend. The source also noted broader concern in Britain about overall immigration levels. Attitudes were comparatively more positive toward immigration from countries such as Ireland, Canada and Australia, indicating that views vary depending on immigrants’ country of origin.

Khelafat Majlish called on the government to uphold public expectations, democratic rights, justice and accountability at a public rally in Birmingham, United Kingdom, marking the second anniversary of the July Revolution. The event was held Monday under the initiative of the organisation’s Birmingham branch and chaired by branch president Maulana A. F. M. Shuaib.

Chief guest Professor Maulana Abdul Kader Saleh, the party’s naib-e-amir, said a government that comes to power through the public verdict cannot disregard people’s expectations and opinions. He said the public is the state’s main strength and that no government can survive for long by ignoring the public mandate. Speakers also said failures to meet public expectations and departures from the ideals of the July Revolution were creating political disappointment.

Main speaker Sylhet-5 lawmaker Mufti Abul Hasan stressed citizens’ respect for law and responsible conduct as important for national development and stability. He also discussed expatriate concerns, including applications, airport and flight-related difficulties, and said he would discuss solutions with other Sylhet lawmakers and raise legitimate demands with relevant authorities.

A Russian attack killed 10 people in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, according to the local governor. The incident occurred in Pechenihy on Tuesday, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said in a social media post.

Syniehubov said Russian forces carried out a rocket attack on Pechenihy. He described the death toll of 10 as preliminary, indicating that the figure was based on initial information.

AFP reported the incident from Kyiv. The report did not provide the identities of those killed, the number of people injured, the time of the attack, or further details about damage caused by the strike.

A nature photograph taken in Lancashire, England, by columnist, education administrator and researcher Shah Mansur Ali Noman has been published in the August 8, 2026 print edition of The Republic. The image was included as a selected photograph in the US English-language daily’s “Take Your Best Shot” section.

The Republic, published from Indiana in the United States, has been in circulation since 1872 and carries local, national and international news alongside selected photographs. Noman has pursued writing and photography since his student years. His columns, reports and photographs have appeared in leading Bangladeshi media outlets, as well as in Burnley Express, Lancashire Telegraph and BBC Bangla’s “Probaho” programme.

Noman has received awards and honours from Dainik Bhorer Kagoj and Ei Somoy for his writing. UK Bangla Reporters Unity named him the best feature writer of 2025. While based in England, his columns, articles, reports and photographs continue to be published regularly in media outlets at home and abroad. He previously served as an assistant registrar at North East University Bangladesh.

Jason Arday, the former Cambridge University professor of sociology of education who faced plagiarism allegations, has died aged 41. Emergency services found him unconscious at an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday afternoon. Metropolitan Police said the death is currently being treated as unexpected but is not believed to be suspicious. Arday resigned from his Cambridge post last week after allegations and questions about some of his achievements.

Arday denied plagiarism allegations, although he acknowledged errors in some early academic work. He said those mistakes were linked to autism and his reliance on mimicry to understand information. Liverpool John Moores University, which awarded his PhD in 2015, concluded in an investigation that he had not committed plagiarism. Cambridge had nevertheless announced an independent investigation into his appointment.

His family said a campaign of misinformation had become too much for him. Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice, Education Secretary Lucy Powell, Glasgow University and Durham University expressed condolences. Friend Kehinde Andrews said Arday had been deeply distressed after resigning. Appointed in 2023 at age 37, Arday was celebrated as Cambridge's youngest Black professor.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the United Kingdom as the “Islamic Republic of Britain” while criticising recent British media coverage of Israel and the UK government’s policies. He made the remark on the Israeli podcast “Melekh Blitzar Haim,” broadcast on Thursday. Netanyahu cited British writer Randolph Churchill’s positive coverage of Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War and said similar coverage would be difficult to find in Britain today.

Netanyahu also referred to a 2022 comment by US Vice President JD Vance about Britain possibly becoming the first nuclear-armed Islamist country. Raising Iran, Netanyahu said they were ensuring that another country like Iran would not emerge there. Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy, co-leaders of the Movement for Progressive Judaism, called the language dangerous and irresponsible amid fears caused by antisemitism, Islamophobia and social division. They said Netanyahu does not represent British Jews.

Former Downing Street chief of staff Gavin Barwell described the statement as overt Islamophobia. The report says UK-Israel tensions have increased since Labour took power in 2024. University College London associate professor Radwan Abuharb called the comments a new low in relations, while noting significant policy alignment between the countries on Iran.

Hard-right leader Nigel Farage won the by-election held in Clacton, United Kingdom, according to results announced shortly after 6 a.m. local time on Friday. Farage received 22,239 votes, while Count Binface, who finished second, received 9,455 votes. The vote was held on Thursday, and Farage defeated his rival by a wide margin.

Farage declared himself the winner before counting had finished while speaking to supporters on Friday, although he was not present for the official result announcement. His victory was widely expected because he had already been the constituency's MP. None of the country's main political parties fielded a candidate in the seat, according to the report.

Farage and Count Binface finished ahead of a range of independent candidates and candidates from marginal or less influential political parties. Counting took place at Clacton Leisure Centre, where candidates on stage were seen congratulating one another after the result. Many candidates received fewer than 100 votes. Turnout was 44 percent, compared with 59 percent in the constituency during the 2024 general election. Officials had said the long ballot paper could make counting take longer than usual.

Britain’s economy contracted by 0.1% in April as the Iran war, the wider Middle East crisis and domestic political instability increased pressure on business activity, according to the Office for National Statistics. The figures, published on Thursday, marked the first monthly decline since August last year. Some companies cited the conflict as a factor raising costs and affecting turnover.

The ONS said economic performance was normal over the three months from February to April, with growth up 0.7% from the previous three-month period. March had recorded stronger-than-expected growth. However, growth in administrative and support services, arts, entertainment and recreation fell by 0.2% in April. An ONS official said British firms linked to cancelled Middle East sporting events were also affected, including Formula One Grands Prix planned in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, as well as tennis and football events.

BBC reporting said the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz pushed Brent crude as high as $120 a barrel before prices began to fall on hopes the war could end. Higher fuel prices have raised petrol, diesel and household bills in Britain. KPMG UK economist Yael Selfin warned of continued pressure on consumers and businesses, while RSM economist Thomas Pugh said conditions were likely to worsen.