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“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” Trump said, with a chuckle.

Since February 28, the US and Israel have been at war with Iran, after launching a series of aggressive strikes.

But Iran responded by restricting traffic through the strait, which formerly served as an artery for roughly 20 percent of the global oil supply.

The strait was unrestricted before the war, but control over the waterway is now a major sticking point in ceasefire negotiations between the US and Iran.

It has also been the site of renewed fighting in recent months. In June, the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to bring a stop to military operations in the war, but one of the agreement’s terms was for Iran to make its “best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels”.

Both sides later claimed violations of the memorandum, and fighting resumed by the end of the month.

The US and Iran have settled into a pattern of uneasy negotiations that have brought down the intensity of fighting across the Middle East, but have failed to satisfy either side or bring the war to a decisive end.

Iran has continued to target commercial vessels in the strait, claiming that part of the strait falls within its territorial waters and therefore remains under its control.

The US, meanwhile, has established its own blockade in the strait. Just this week, it fired on a cargo vessel it accused of attempting to reach Iranian ports.

In Friday’s speech, delivered to a gathering of law enforcement officials, Trump touted the blockade as impenetrable, and he framed it as a public service for countries that rely on traffic through the strait.

“You just have to remember that what we’re doing is a great service for the world. Not only for ourselves, for the world,” he said. “The blockade is unstoppable. It’s a wall of steel.”

Trump was in New York to support Republican candidates for the 2026 midterm elections, a pivotal moment for his administration. Republican control of the US Congress hangs in the balance.

At the rally, Trump repeated his declarations of victory over Iran, even though the war has continued with no clear end in sight.

The war remains widely unpopular in the US. A Quinnipiac University poll from late July found that 60 percent of US voters oppose US military action against Iran.

Media reports have also suggested that the US may face limited options for further military escalation due to strain on munitions stockpiles.

Trump’s latest remarks are likely to stir the continuing tensions with Iran. Already, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, responded on social media with defiance.

“Trump said that, after Iran’s defeat, he will soon declare the Strait of Hormuz as American territory,” Gharibabadi wrote.

“The Strait of Hormuz cannot be taken over by a tweet, nor by an aircraft carrier, nor by issuing a decree, nor by an election speech. Iran is neither afraid of threats nor intimidated by a show of force.”

Both Iran and the US have floated the idea of imposing tolls on commercial traffic in the strait. Last month, for instance, Trump suggested the US could become the “guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz while collecting a 20 percent fee on any products that pass through the waterway.

Legal experts, however, say that such tolls would be illegal under international law, which largely protects the free transit of commercial maritime vessels.

Friday’s remarks are not the first time Trump has suggested expanding the US’s territories either.

In his second inaugural address in 2025, Trump laid out a vision of the US as “a growing nation”, and he has proceeded to put pressure on places like Canada and Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, to cede their sovereignty.

Earlier on Friday, Trump told Fox News he would use economic leverage to weaken and isolate Iran, which has already been under heavy US sanctions for decades.

In a separate Newsmax interview, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also suggested that the US may unveil new economic measures to further damage Iran’s economy in the coming days. %!s()

Some farmers have had to harvest their crops early, while others are seeing low-quality produce and low yields. Most of the £65m will go to the sustainable farming incentive (SFI), which pays farmers in England to support nature. Officials have said this extra £50m will bring the total SFI budget to £290m, with extra money prioritised for areas of greatest need during the drought.

Burnham chaired a Cobra meeting on extreme heat, wildfires and drought this week. Downing Street is seeking to establish a cross-government response to the drought, bringing together action on farming, water and infrastructure, including more flexibility for food producers. Farmers who are paid to look after nature on parts of their land and are usually barred from cutting or grazing it until later in the year are now able to do so where grass is scarce, without losing payments.

Farmers will also get £15m in support for building on-farm reservoirs to provide supplies during future dry summers. However, campaigners have warned this £15m is reallocated money from existing funds and will only fund a “fraction” of reservoirs needed. They will get improved access to water through simpler arrangements around how much they can take from the environment and changes to the speed at which licences are given, making it easier for farmers to use water where it is most needed.

Burnham is to visit a farm in the south-west of England on Saturday and is expected to say: “I am meeting with farmers here in the south-west who brought in the earliest harvest of their working lives and watched the yield come in well down on what it should be. Lower income, higher costs and no rain in the forecast. I understand the worry that comes with that.

“The ability to grow our own food is national security and I will treat it that way. So we are acting now: more money into farm support, help to get reservoirs built and easier access to water when it is scarce.

“This is the third drought in five years. Farmers are at the sharp end of a changing climate and they should not be carrying that risk alone.”

As MPs urged Burnham to speed up the rate at which new reservoirs are built, given five have “exceptionally low” levels at present, officials announced their support of nine new reservoirs being developed.

Speaking after visiting the scene of a fire in Stourbridge in the West Midlands on Friday, Burnham said: “We have to face up to the changing climate. I think we need a different debate about that. There’s no point denying where we are. We need to face up to it. We need more clean energy. We need to see that transition accelerate. Those are all of the issues that are right now in discussion.

“But the Cobra meeting earlier this week, I think, has enabled us to mobilise resources today to individuals, to communities, and to our fire and rescue services, and we’re very, very grateful to them.”

Gavin Lane, the president of the Country Land and Business Association, said: “This is a welcome and pragmatic move but little more than a temporary fix.

“The announcement that government will make it easier to build on-farm reservoirs is a positive step, but the £15m made available will fund a fraction of the reservoirs we need. This needs to become a sustained programme, with planning and abstraction lined up in support.

“The vast bulk of the cost of building on-farm reservoirs will still fall on farmers, who are already facing record costs as well as absorbing new tax burdens.” %!s()

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump rejected the assertion that the families of those on board the aircraft carrier are worried about their loved ones. “No, they’re not,” Trump said.

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When asked if the aircraft carrier had been deployed too long, Trump replied: “No, no, no, not nearly enough.”

His remarks follow a series of reports this week, documenting supply shortages and mental health strain on the USS Abraham Lincoln. That includes accounts of individuals attempting to jump from the ship.

The aircraft carrier left in November from a base in San Diego, California, and it has since been involved in January’s military operation against Venezuela and, more recently, the war against Iran.

Its deployment was expected to end in May, but that timeframe has been extended. It has spent more than 250 days at sea without a port stop, setting a record for the US Navy. More than 5,000 sailors and Marines are housed on board.

Several US lawmakers have since called for an inquiry into conditions on board the ship. One Democratic senator, Ruben Gallego, has also called on the Navy to allow a bipartisan delegation to visit the ship to assess the state of affairs.

Still, the Trump administration has repeatedly denied worsening conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln.

On Friday, a US official told Al Jazeera the Navy had “not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship”.

The official added that there were five chaplains, one psychologist, one social worker, three “behavioral health technicians”, and one “embedded integrated prevention coordination (EIPC) counselor” on board the vessel. There is also an emotional support dog on board.

‘What military objective?’

While Trump downplayed the length of the deployment, he did confirm reports that the aircraft carrier will be swapped out in the near future.

“That ship is moving right now or very shortly, and it’s being replaced with another very similar ship,” Trump said on Friday.

In a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier this week, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, asked for information on conditions on the boat, including what metrics the Navy was using to measure the mental health of the crew.

“What military objective is the continued deployment of the Lincoln intended to achieve in Iran, and how does the Department assess whether the carrier’s continued presence is necessary to accomplish that objective?” he asked.

The focus on conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln come as diplomatic efforts to end the US-Israeli war in Iran show no signs of breakthrough. The war began with a US and Israel-led offensive on February 28.

In June, the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that called for an immediate pause to the fighting.

But last month, the memorandum collapsed amid a dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for trade.

The subsequent escalation saw the US re-impose its naval blockade on Iranian ports and Iran constrict traffic through the strait once more.

Iran has since focused its diplomatic efforts on reaching an agreement with Oman over travel routes in the waterway, which is a key artery for oil, natural gas, fertiliser and other goods. %!s()

The win is significant for Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford, and his government, who have long railed against Toronto’s bike lanes, blaming the protected zones for the city’s traffic ills.

In 2024, the Ford government passed legislation that would allow Ontario to axe Toronto’s lanes, despite the recent installation of the infrastructure by the municipality.

But the effort to tear up the lanes covering 19km (12 miles) of road was paused after cycling advocacy organisations levelled a legal challenge against the province.

Their challenge was supported in July 2025, when a superior court judge ruled removing the lanes was unconstitutional, as it would create a heightened risk of death or injury, in turn violating the right to life and security of the person. Those rights are protected under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Friday’s decision from the Ontario court of appeal reverses that ruling. Michael Longfield, executive director of Cycle Toronto, one of the groups that launched the legal challenge, said he is disappointed in the decision.

“This isn’t just about keeping people on bikes safe. It helps pedestrians. It helps other drivers. It has a very strong traffic calming effect that we need in major cities,” he said.

The court of appeal judges in their decision wrote that there is no charter right to bike lanes and the government is free to change legislation on the lanes if it wishes. They explained that courts cannot find legislation unconstitutional because experts predict the government’s policies will fail.

“Neither the government nor the legislature is under any obligation to accept policy advice,” wrote Justice Huscroft in the decision.

In reaction to the ruling, Toronto’s mayor, Olivia Chow, said she has been working with the province to negotiate a path forward “that keeps every road user safe”. There’s hope the municipality will negotiate an alternative with the Ford government that still makes room for cyclists, said Longfield.

Ontario’s transportation minister, Prabmeet Sarkaria, said in a statement the top court’s decision is a “victory for common sense”. The government has not yet announced when or if they plan to remove the lanes.

It was estimated by a city report in 2024 that ripping up the lanes would cost taxpayers an additional C$48m (£26m). Internal briefings obtained by the Trillium also found the province’s own staff reported that bike lane removal would not reduce congestion and could make it worse. Those staff members also warned Ontario may be seen as encroaching on municipal decision-making.

Fundamentally, Ford targeting bike lanes is a gross overreach of the provincial government into city affairs, said Longfield. It is “frankly ridiculous”, he said, to believe the key to solving urban congestion is barring bike lanes.

“The more we can focus on real, evidence-based solutions … the better it will be,” he said. %!s()

Authorities at Vincenzo Bellini Airport said on Friday that flights will remain suspended until at least 2pm local time (12:00 GMT) on Saturday, with ash from the volcano causing the greatest disruption the airport has seen in more than two decades.

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Mount Etna’s eruption led to the cancellation of more than a third of the 1,974 flights between Thursday of last week and Wednesday of this week. Another 600 flights were diverted during the same period.

The volcano is Europe’s tallest and most active and has renewed questions about whether having a key airport nearby makes sense. Catania is located 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the volcano.

Hundreds of passengers are waiting for flights that have been cancelled or delayed during the busiest travel week of the year. People planning to travel through Catania on Saturday have been contacting airlines to see whether their flights will still be running.

“We were due to leave on Wednesday, but our flight was cancelled; then they rescheduled it for Friday. Now that one’s been cancelled too,” Antonella Thirande Warnakulasuriya Costa, who is travelling to Sri Lanka via Dubai, told Reuters.

Catania airport usually handles at least 40,000 passengers a day. According to local media, about 300 passengers were waiting on Thursday evening to be transferred to another airport.

The ash from Mount Etna has not only affected Europeans; it has reached as far as North Africa.

The pause in flights has led the Italian train company Trenitalia to add six additional trains to the Palermo-Messina-Catania route.

Passengers can usually claim compensation if their travel plans are severely disrupted, but volcanic eruptions tend to come under what is known as extraordinary circumstances, meaning airlines are not legally obliged to compensate. %!s()