As the US and China compete for dominance in outer space, Africa is also seeking to get in on the race to the stars. China’s cooperation with Africa is increasing as Beijing forms new alliances for its space development, and the Trump administration is facing increasing pressure to form similar ties. All the while, Africa is moving ahead with its own space programme.

How are the US and China involved?
China has been “building space alliances in Africa to enhance its global surveillance network and advance its bid to become the world’s dominant space power”, said Reuters. As China expands its influence, the White House is facing calls to get ahead of the game. Africa’s space sector “presents significant opportunities” for the US, which “will need to take a collaborative approach”, said the international affairs think tank Atlantic Council. To “harness the opportunities of the African space sector”, the US “must also fill the gaps in its space coordination”.

But Donald Trump is “unlikely to prioritise forging bilateral space relationships in the way Beijing has done in Africa”, said Reuters. And as the US “scales back aid to developing countries”, said Business Insider Africa, Trump is “creating an opportunity for China to position itself as Africa’s key ally”. 

How is Africa developing its own space programme?
In May, dozens of African nations “established the continent’s first space agency to boost Earth observation and data sharing”, said Bloomberg. The move comes as a “more hostile global context is limiting the availability of climate and weather information”.

The African Space Agency (AfSA), whose members include the Democratic Republic of Congo, The Gambia, Egypt, South Africa and Tanzania, will help the existing space programmes of African countries collaborate. It also “aims to improve the continent’s space infrastructure by launching satellites, setting up weather stations and making sure data can be shared across Africa and beyond”, said Bloomberg.

The care system for children in England represents poor value for money, with a record number living in challenging conditions and often miles from where they grew up, a new National Audit Office report warns. The cost of children’s homes has doubled in the last five years, but the system is “dysfunctional”, the watchdog said.

‘Urgent action’ needed
Protecting children in care has become a nationwide problem. “It is a moral failure” that thousands of children are abandoned at critical times in their lives, said a Commons Education Committee report published in July, and “urgent action” is needed to “fix this broken system”.

On a local level, councils are struggling to find suitable placements for children. Many bounce from home to home, with no consistency or stability. “Two in three have a history of abuse and neglect,” said Sky News, and many face continuing problems into adulthood. Due to the “systemic failings” outlined in the latest “damning” report, “those leaving care are three times more likely not to be in education, training, or employment than their peers”.

Profit-run sector
The total cost of residential care in England last year was £3.1 billion, almost double the £1.6 billion spent in 2019-20, said the Financial Times. The average cost to local authorities of placements in children’s homes in 2023-24 was almost £320,000 – equivalent to around £6,100 a week. Privately owned companies, often funded by private equity, lie at the heart of the sector. Many charge fees far surpassing the rate of inflation, with some of the biggest providers “enjoying average annual profit rates of 22.6% a year”.

A total of 84% of children’s homes are now run for profit, and because “councils are struggling to find enough appropriate placements”, said the BBC, many private care providers can “cherry pick the children they take, based on how much support they need and how much profit this allows”.

“Adolescence” star Owen Cooper accepts the Emmy for best supporting actor in a limited series. The 15-year-old became the youngest male ever to win a Primetime Emmy for his performance as a schoolboy killer in the Netflix drama, which won six gongs at last night’s awards.

Monica Schipper / WireImage / Getty Images

The onset of autumn is a great time for a visit to a cider farm, as harvest season approaches. From the rolling hills of Somerset to the rugged Welsh mountains, the UK is home to a multitude of farms offering tours, tastings and, of course, bucketloads of cider. Here are some of our favourites.

Dunham Apples, Greater Manchester
This “tranquil spot” is a short drive out of Manchester, just west of Altrincham, said the Manchester Evening News. The 20-acre orchard is home to an on-site farm that makes fresh juices and ciders.

Welsh Mountain Cider, Powys
Sitting more than 1,000ft above sea level in the Cambrian Mountains, this six-acre cider farm is the highest in the UK. Tours and tastings focus on the minimal intervention approach to farming and “natural fermentation methods” at the heart of the cider-making process, said The Sunday Times.

Burrow Hill Cider, Somerset
This 250-acre farm at the base of Burrow Hill in Somerset (pictured above) has been making cider for more than 200 years. It’s a “picturesque” setting to spend an afternoon, said Stylist. Be sure to amble up to the top of Burrow Hill to take in the magnificent views.

Saxby’s Cider, Northamptonshire
Once known for his sausages, Saxby’s head cider maker “switched out pork for pints” over a decade ago and hasn’t looked back, said Stylist. “Now, the only remnants of his butcher past is the smiling pig on the front of the bottles.”

Israel is alienating its most important Arab partner
Ksenia Svetlova in the Financial Times
Benjamin Netanyahu’s “threat” to block a $35 billion gas deal with Egypt is a “dangerous miscalculation that threatens to undermine Israel’s most vital Arab partnership”, writes former Knesset member Ksenia Svetlova. After “46 years of cold peace”, an “increasingly hostile wind is blowing from Jerusalem towards Cairo”. Israel is “treating Egypt as a potential dumping ground for unwanted populations” but its “long-term interests demand abandoning fantasies of Palestinian transfer and recognising Egypt’s legitimate concerns”.

This is just the beginning of Starmer’s nightmare
Anne McElvoy in The i Paper
While Donald Trump’s state visit will “most likely look like a confident presentation of the UK on the global stage, a revenge tragedy is revving up fast” behind the scenes, writes Anne McElvoy. Peter Mandelson’s sacking has become a “political poly-crisis” that is “piling pressure onto Starmer over his judgement, conduct and communications style”, and “providing kindling for internal challenges”. Mandelson “believes himself wronged” and “this is not a recipe for going quietly”.

When families don’t eat together society breaks down
William Sitwell in The Telegraph
Research suggests 40% of families “rarely gather around a table” for meals, despite the “mental and physical benefits”, writes William Sitwell. “Eating en famille forces children away from inward-looking selfishness.” If families “can’t come together in spite of all the differences, irritations, bug bears, politics, preferences and behavioural ticks, what chance does the outside world have to converse, understand and heal”? So “get the kids to gather” and to maybe even do a “modicum of washing up”.