• UN General Assembly

Some 80 countries at the ongoing 81st United Nations General Assembly on Thursday demanded the urgent reopening of the Strait of Hormuz ‌and condemned Iran and its Houthi allies for attacks in the region and disruption to international trade and energy security.

“Iran’s actions in the Strait ⁠of Hormuz continue to threaten international security and navigational rights and freedoms,” said a joint statement read out by Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani at the United Nations.

“We also strongly condemn the Houthis’ decision to resume ‌conflict ⁠in Yemen, their continuous strikes on Saudi Arabia, and their reckless attacks in the Red Sea,” the statement said.

The statement’s backers ⁠included Gulf Arab states and major Western powers.

It added that the Houthis’ advance towards Bab ⁠el-Mandeb Strait would also only heighten risks to international shipping, maritime security ⁠and global trade.

Both Iran and the Houthis frame their actions as defensive.

Credit: REUTERS

Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana are no longer eligible to apply for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England through the UK’s dedicated overseas-trained teacher application route.

The change, confirmed by the Department for Education (DfE), took effect on 9 September 2026. India was also removed from the list of eligible countries.

Under the updated rules, a country must have a national regulator that can confirm a teacher’s professional standing and must be able to provide references that meet the DfE’s verification standards.

For Nigeria and Ghana, the DfE cited problems with employment references. Official data showed that more than 70% of applications from teachers trained in the two countries included work history references sent from public email addresses such as Gmail or Hotmail, rather than official school email domains. The department said this made verification more difficult and resource-intensive.

India was removed because it does not have a national regulator capable of confirming teachers’ professional standing.

South Africa is now the only African country whose teachers remain eligible to use the direct “Apply for QTS in England” service.

The DfE stated that the stricter requirements are intended to ensure overseas teachers awarded QTS have the skills and experience needed to teach in English schools, and that the information they provide can be properly verified.

Teachers trained in Nigeria, Ghana or India who are no longer eligible for the direct application route can still explore alternative paths into teaching in England. These include assessment-only QTS routes offered by some schools or completing initial teacher training in the UK.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has launched a 24-hour streaming channel, “Trump TV”, after major American television networks suspended their shared coverage of presidential events amid a growing dispute over access to the White House.

The White House announced the launch on Monday, describing the platform as “TRUMP TV: The Essentials Station” and saying it would provide viewers with past presidential moments, major announcements and the latest content from the administration.

The stream is available through the White House website and its official YouTube channel.

The development followed the decision by ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC to suspend their participation in the White House television pool after CNN was prevented from carrying out its scheduled pool duties.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico had earlier sued the Trump administration after being barred from the White House grounds, arguing that the restrictions violated their constitutional rights.

The administration has defended the ban, with Trump accusing the affected outlets of publishing what he calls “fake news”.

The television pool normally allows participating networks to rotate responsibility for recording and distributing footage of the President to broadcasters across the United States and other parts of the world.

CNN was scheduled to handle the pool coverage on Monday but was prevented from doing so.

The other networks subsequently declined to provide a replacement, creating an unusual gap in shared television coverage of Trump’s official activities. The decision also affected coverage of the President’s inauguration of a new helipad at the White House on Monday.