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Original title: Watch: BBC analyses the warmth and hand-holding at Xi, Modi and Putin’s summit Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping were among a group of more than 20 world leaders attending a regional security summit in China over the weekend. This year’s gathering of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation was the largest since it was founded. It was created by China, Russia and four Central Asian countries in 2001, as a countermeasure to limit the influence of Western alliances such as Nato. Watch as BBC world news correspondent Joe Inwood unpicks the messages Xi, Putin and Modi gave by coming together. Video by Inaya Mohmood ...

Original title: ‘Covered in dust and too shocked to speak’: Daylight reveals scale of Afghanistan quake’s devastation ‘Covered in dust and too shocked to speak’: Daylight reveals scale of Afghanistan quake’s devastation 35 minutes ago Share Save Gabriela Pomeroy BBC News Share Save Matiullah Shahab Matiullah Shahab helped dig graves in the village of Andarlachak Tangi, which was among those hit by Sunday’s earthquake Just before midnight on Sunday, Matiullah Shahab woke up to find his house in Afghanistan’s remote Kunar province shaking. An earthquake measuring 6.0 magnitude had struck eastern Afghanistan, leaving at least 800 people dead, according to the UN. Even though the epicentre of the quake was 16km away, the whole of Shahab’s village of Asadabad trembled. The 23 family members who live with him ran out of their bedrooms as they feared the walls would fall in on them, and stayed awake all night in their garden. “We were all afraid,” he says. The areas worst hit by the quake were Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, but it was felt as far away as Kabul and in neighbouring Pakistan’s capital Islamabad ...

Original title: Summer 2025 confirmed as UK’s hottest on record The Met Office has confirmed that summer 2025 is officially the hottest on record for the United Kingdom. Provisional statistics show that the mean temperature across the country - which includes overnight lows as well as daytime highs - was 16.10C (60.98F). This is 1.51C (2.72F) above the long-term average and well ahead of 2018, the previous warmest summer, which had a mean temperature of 15.76C (60.37F). It is in line with evidence that summers are getting hotter and drier because of climate change. Met Office climate scientists have found that a summer as hot or hotter than 2025 is now 70 times more likely than it would have been in a “natural” climate, with no human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. 2025 has pushed the famous summer of 1976 out of the UK top-five, meaning the five hottest summers have all occurred since 2000. ...

Original title: More than 800 killed after strong quake hits Afghanistan More than 800 killed after strong quake hits Afghanistan 2 hours ago Share Save Yama Bariz BBC Afghan Service correspondent, Heading for quake-hit areas and Paulin Kola BBC News Share Save EPA Hospitals - already under strain - are reported to be overwhelmed More than 800 people have been killed - and nearly 3,000 injured - after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan just before midnight on Sunday, the United Nations’ humanitarian agency has said. Most of the deaths occurred in Kunar province, officials say, warning that the death toll may rise significantly as entire villages have been destroyed. The epicentre was in a remote mountainous area, making it difficult for rescue operations to be carried out. “The scale of devastation is unimaginable,” a Taliban official said. The disaster comes as Afghanistan reels from a severe drought, aid cuts and what the World Food Programme describes as an unprecedented hunger crisis. Watch: Helicopters are a ‘key lifeline’ for those ...

Original title: Starmer backs Rayner amid row over Hove flat Starmer backs Rayner amid row over Hove flat 58 minutes ago Share Save Becky Morton Political reporter Share Save Getty Images Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has backed his deputy Angela Rayner, as she continues to face Tory criticism over the purchase of a flat in Hove. The Daily Telegraph reported she saved £40,000 in stamp duty when buying the £800,000 flat in East Sussex, after allegedly telling tax authorities it was her main home. However, she told the local council it was her second home - and pays a higher level of council tax there as a result. There is no suggestion she has broken any laws, but the Tories have accused her of hypocrisy and called for an investigation by the PM’s standards adviser. Sir Keir told the BBC he was “proud” of his deputy and that “talking her down” was “a big mistake”. A spokesperson for Rayner previously said she paid “the relevant duty” owed on the Hove property “entirely properly”. Asked earlier if Sir Keir had confidence in his deputy, the PM’s ...

Original title: CEO who snatched boy’s hat at US Open says he made ‘huge mistake’ CEO who snatched boy’s hat at US Open says he made ‘huge mistake’ The man said he was “convinced” tennis star Kamil Majchrzak, pictured above, was passing the hat in his direction The video, taken during Majchrzak’s match on Thursday, showed the tennis player offering his cap to a child, before Mr Szczerek appears to take it. “I know I did something that seemed like consciously collecting a memento from a child,” he wrote in a statement. “This wasn’t my intention, but it doesn’t change the fact that I hurt the boy and disappointed the fans.” Piotr Szczerek, a Polish chief executive of a paving firm, said he was “convinced” tennis star Kamil Majchrzak had been “passing his hat in my direction”. The man who was caught on camera snatching a hat off a young boy at the US Open has said he made a “huge mistake” after footage of the incident went viral. Versions of the clip were shared widely on social media and prompted criticism of Mr Szczerek’s actions. The 50-year-old wrote on social medi ...

Original title: House price growth slows as calls for property tax reform mount House price growth slows amid property tax calls 6 hours ago Share Save Mitchell Labiak and Kevin Peachey Business reporter and cost of living correspondent, BBC News Share Save Getty Images Annual house price growth slowed in August as calls grow for a reform of property taxes in the Autumn budget. The annual rate of growth in UK property prices dropped to the joint lowest this year, according to data from lender Nationwide, while the more volatile month-on-month change showed prices dipped by 0.1% compared with the previous month. The sluggish picture comes amid reports that the government is considering an overhaul of stamp duty and other property taxes in a bid to raise more money and boost the housing market. Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide Building Society, told the BBC the UK needs a tax system that “allows people to move more effectively”. “It’s definitely worth looking at UK property taxes,” he added. The introduction of a National Insurance levy for landlords, r ...

Original title: Putin says he reached ‘understandings’ with Trump over end of Ukraine war Putin says he reached ‘understandings’ with Trump over end of Ukraine war Vladimir Putin was speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit held in Tianjin, China Following the Alaska meeting , US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Putin had agreed to security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a potential future peace deal, though Moscow has yet to confirm this. Speaking during a summit in China, Putin continued to defend his decision to invade Ukraine, once again blaming the West for the war. But he did not say whether he would agree to peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brokered by Trump, who had apparently given Monday as a deadline for Putin’s response. Russian President Vladimir Putin says he reached “understandings” with US President Donald Trump over the end of the Ukraine war at their meeting in Alaska last month. Putin was speaking in Tianjin at the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit, where he met Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi. He thanked the ...

Original title: Why Starmer wants No 10 rejig after a year in power Why Starmer wants No 10 rejig after a year in power 3 hours ago Share Save Henry Zeffman Chief Political Correspondent Share Save Getty Images Many of the names involved in Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street shake-up are not even household names in Westminster. But the latest moves, announced on Monday as MPs return to Parliament, are a big deal for several reasons. First, in terms of organisational innovation. If you’re struggling to recall who was Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister before Darren Jones, the answer is that there wasn’t one. The role is a new creation, designed to give Sir Keir Starmer firmer command of the government machine he has complained is sluggish and unwieldy. Bringing an MP into the heart of Downing Street’s operations is unusual, if not completely unprecedented - the Conservative MP Steve Barclay was Boris Johnson’s chief of staff in his final months as prime minister. Clearer structures For all that innovation, these latest moves are also partly about esta ...

Original title: I chose my Caesarean date to be eligible for 30 hours of funded childcare I chose my Caesarean date to be eligible for 30 hours of funded childcare 2 hours ago Share Save Vanessa Clarke Education reporter Share Save Rachel Williams Rachel Williams chose a Caesarean date that would make her eligible for support at the earliest opportunity The final phase of the largest-ever expansion of publicly funded childcare support has begun in England, as thousands of working parents receive more help with their nursery costs. Those eligible are now able to access 30 hours of childcare per week during term-time, paid for by the government, for their children aged nine months to four years. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it was a “landmark moment” for working families, and that the scheme would “put money back in working parents’ pockets”. But parents say they are facing long waiting lists for places, with nurseries warning that staff shortages are limiting their availability. How working parents can get 30 hours of free childcare Ministers say the scheme can save ...