25/08/2025 News

 

25/08/2025 News

Hello everyone. This blog is about news that I find out that happen today, that I find myself pretty interesting, and I will report every so often on the blogs I create. I get news off Google and Bing news when I through my usual daily news check. Keep in mind that most information I may gather may not be true and that I'm just summarizing what I find online off Google and Bing.

Gaza latest: Journalists among 20 reportedly killed in Israeli strikes on Nasser hospital - as Netanyahu says he 'regrets tragic mishap': Israel has said it has opened an investigation after Gaza's health ministry said at least 20 people were killed in strikes on a hospital in the south of the territory. Journalists are said to be among those killed. Follow the latest.

Some key points about this news is that Israeli strikes on Gaza hospital kill 20. Al Jazeera, Associated Press and Reuters say their journalists among the dead. Netanyahu: Israel regrets tragic mishap at Nasser hospital. IDF ' regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals ' - and says inquiry will be conducted. British doctor who worked at hospital condemns ' barbarism. '

Foreign Press Association ' outraged ' by strikes and is in " shock " after journalists were killed in Gaza. The association said that the killing of journalists were killed in Gaza. The association said the killing of journalists in Israeli military strikes was " among the deadliest Israeli attacks on journalists working for international media since the Gaza war began. "

" We demand an immediate explanation from the Israeli Defence Forces and Israeli prime minister's office. We call on Israel once and for all to halt its abhorrent practice of targeting journalists, " it said.

Trump has also said ' very serious ' diplomatic push on Gaza. Donald Trump has said that he was " not happy " about the Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital overnight. Now, more comments are coming through from not just Trump, but also the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump has also said that there is a " very serious diplomatic push on Gaza as the US and Israel continue on to pressure Hamas to released their hostages.

Speaking alongside Trump, Rubio has added that " It's never stopped. We've always looked to find a solution, or ultimately, as the president said, we want it to end." With at the end, it said, " It has to end with no Hamas. "

What is Israel's planned Gaza City offensive? Israel has announced last week that it was planning an expanded military operation in Gaza City. It has called up to some 60,000 reservists to take part in an operation and the service of an additional 20,000 reservists will be lengthened.

While the operation has yet to begin in earnest, Israeli strikes on Gaza City and the surrounding area have also continued. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said the objective of the operation was to secure the release of the remaining hostages and to destroy Hamas. Around 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with around 20 thought to still be alive.

The operation was announced at a time when a ceasefire offer is being considered by the Israeli government. Gaza City is still the main military and governing stronghold of Hamas, and although Israel has killed much o Hamas' senior leadership, an Israeli military official previously told Sky News it believes that the group are still actively regrouping.

Currently Germany calls for an investigation into the Israeli airstrikes that that striked on a Gaza hospital. The German foreign ministry has said that it is
shocked by the killing of several journalists, emergency responders and civilians in an Israeli airstrike on Nasser hospital in Gaza. The Ministry has said the incident must be investigated and issued the following statement on X - Twitter.

A UN rapporteur condems the Israeli attack. The UN's special rapporteur to the occupied Palestinian territories has condemned Israel's attack on the Nasser hospital. Francesca Albanese said scenes " like this, " in references to the strikes, " unfold every moment in Gaza. "

Her full messages said, " ❗️BREAKING❗️Rescuers killed in line of duty. Scenes like this unfold every moment in Gaza, often unseen, largely undocumented. I beg STATES: how much more must be witnessed before you act to stop this carnage? 🔴Break the blockade 🔴Impose an Arms Embargo 🔴Impose Sanctions. "

Netanyahu: Israel regrets tragic mishap at Nasser hospital. Apparently Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel " deeply regrets " the " tragic mishap " that took place at the Nasser hospital today. The Israeli leader also said that the military authorities were conducting a thorough investigation into what happened. Apparently, " Israel deeply regrets the tragic mishap that occurred today at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, " Netanyahu said. " Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff, and all civilians. The military authorities are conducting a thorough investigation. " , followed up with, " Our war with Hamas terrorists . Our just goals are defeating Hamas and bringing our hostages home. "

The only thing I find a bit ridiculous that he only responds after it gains publicity and gains attraction. When people realize the terror that Israel is doing against the Palestinians. Especially the fact that the just goal is just to defeat Hamas. Why target a hospital where people are being treated? A mistake like that just doesn't occur like that. Especially with today's modern technology, especially with Israeli's, US technology combined.

In the hospital strikes, at least 50 people were reported injured on the Nasser hospital, the World Health Organisation chief has said.

In a statement on X - Twitter -, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that among the injured people, most of them were critically ill patients who were already receiving care. He said that the hospital's main building, which houses the emergency department, impatient ward, and surgical unit was hit. The strike also damaged the emergency staircase. Here is was he fully said, 

" @WHO received reports of two strikes on the Nasser Medical Complex this morning, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 people, including four health workers and five journalists. Fifty others were injured, among them critically ill patients who were already receiving care.The hospital’s main building, which houses the emergency department, inpatient ward, and surgical unit, was hit. The strike damaged the emergency staircase.While people in #Gaza are being starved, their already limited access to health care is being further crippled by repeated attacks.We cannot say it loudly enough: STOP attacks on health care. Ceasefire now! "

Money latest: Thousands of pensioners claim back more than £10,000 after common tax error - here's how to check: Welcome to the Money blog, Sky News' consumer and personal finance hub. Today: thousands of pensioners have claimed back more than £ 10k after a tax error. Find out how to check if you're owed. You can also watch our video report on whether the UK could feed itself in a disaster.

Currently, thousands of pensioners have been claimed back more than £10,000 after being overcharged tax on their pension withdrawals. Pension freedoms, which came into being from 2015, gave over 55's a range of options on how they wanted to use their defined contribution ( DC ) pension pot.

Generally, people can take up to 25% of their pension as a tax-free lump sum, and the remaining 75% is taxed as income. However, an "emergency" rate is applied to pension withdrawals, with HMRC assuming it will be the pensioner's monthly income for the rest of the tax year. This means that people could be overcharged if they make one-off withdrawals. HMRC figures obtained by Royal London through a freedom of information ( FOI ) request show the number of refunds rose 20% in 2023-24.

Around 60,000 pension savers claimed refunds. About 11,700 pensioners claimed back £5,000 or more, including 2,400 who were given refunds in excess of £10,000. The average refund was worth £3,342. A handful of people in the UK were given a refund worth more than £100,000.

lare Moffat, pension expert at Royal London, said: "HMRC recently announced an overhaul of its emergency taxing codes on pensions, which it promises will deliver quicker refunds, but that doesn't mean people won't still be charged the higher rate in the first place."

A spokesman for HMRC said; " Ultimately, nobody overpays tax as a result of taking advantage of pension flexibility. "We will repay anyone who pays too much because they're on an emergency tax code and individuals can claim a repayment much earlier if they wish. " Earlier this year they produced a guide to checking if you've paid too much tax.

Here is the guide on how to check if you have paid too much tax. To check if you've paid too much tax, you first need to look at your income tax for last year. You'll need your national insurance number, government gateway user ID, and a way to verify your identity, which you can do by using the Gov.UK ID Check app.  Once you have found out the amount you've paid, you can use the government tax checker to see if you might be owed a refund. 

There are several reasons you might have overpaid but some of the common ones are: 

• You got the wrong tax code from your employer or HMRC;
• You were paid by an old employer and a new one in the same month;
• You stopped working during the tax year;
• If you are a pensioner, you paid too much tax on a pension lump sum.

Now how do you actually claim your refund? This depends on your situation. 

If you are employed or a pensioner, HMRC will usually send you a letter telling you how much you're owed.  These letters are typically sent from June to November and will tell you to make a claim online or using the app - which it says is the quickest way to get your money back.  You will need your government gateway ID to log in. Once you have signed in, select the PAYE section. This will give you a summary of your income tax, and you can update this section with any missing information. 

If you are due a refund, a button will appear telling you to "claim your refund". Click this and HMRC will pay the amount you are owed into your bank account within five working days.  You don't need a letter to go through this process.  If you are self-employed or have other income, you'll need to submit a self-assessment tax return, showing evidence of your income and expenses.  You can do this in the HMRC app by selecting the self-assessment section after logging in.

HMRC received record number of tax-fraud tip-offs

HMRC received a record number of tax-fraud tip-offs last year, analysis by accountancy firm Price Bailey has found.  A total of 164,670 reports were made to the tax office's fraud hotline channels, up from 151,763 in the previous year, the data obtained through a freedom of information request showed. 

HMRC pays discretionary amounts to informants based on a number of factors, such as how much time is saved in their investigation based on the information, or how much tax is recovered.

Despite the record number of tips, the amount it paid out fell 13% to £852,438.  The government is planning to strengthen the reward scheme to encourage reporting of high value tax fraud and tax avoidance.  An HMRC spokesperson told Money: "The government is strengthening our scheme for rewarding informants to encourage reporting of high value tax fraud and tax avoidance.

"We value the information we receive and urge anyone with information about tax fraud to report it to us online by going to GOV.UK and searching 'report fraud HMRC'." 

Value of unclaimed Premium Bonds hits £103m, with some dating back decades

There are now more than £103m unclaimed Premium Bonds, with some prizes dating all the way back to the 1960's. NS&I says the amount of unclaimed prizes currently represents just 0.28% of the £37bn awarded over the last almost-70 years. Prizes are considered "unclaimed" after 18 months, so gradually accumulate every month, but there is no time limit on claiming them.

" Premium Bonds prize winners receive notifications of their winnings if they have registered their contact details, " a spokesperson said.  " However, sometimes customers relocate or forget to update their details with NS&I. This can lead to unclaimed prizes, especially for those who opt to receive their prizes via cheque rather than bank transfer. "

Some of the winnings date back to the 1960's - most are £25 prizes, but the value of them will have severely decreased through the years.  Had £25 been claimed in 1960, it would be worth £500 today, according to the Bank of England's inflation calculator. 

How do premium bonds actually work? Premium Bonds are a savings product offered by NS&I but instead of earning interest, you have a chance to win tax-free cash prizes each month. Each bond (£1) is entered into a monthly draw, and prizes range from £25 to £1m. You can deposit up to £50,000, and the more bonds you hold, the greater your chance of winning is.

But that's not always the case. Some unclaimed prizes have been for those with virtually nothing in their pots.  One unknowing winner in the South East has an unclaimed £50,000 from November 2014 - they currently have a balance of £0.  Meanwhile, someone overseas with just £6 in their pot won £100,000 in February 2007.  The bonds are billed as an alternative to savings accounts and are backed by the Treasury.

Hundreds of thousands evacuated and airports closed due to Vietnam typhoon: Typhoon Kajiki, which has winds of up to 103 mph, hit Vietnam's north central coast on Monday, toppling trees, flooding homes, and cutting power supplies.

Upcoming to the typhoon hitting, hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated and airports and schools have been closed after a typhoon made landfall in Vietnam.

Typhoon Kajiki, which had recorded winds up to a crazy 103 mph, has hit Vietnam's north central cost on Monday, toppling trees, flooding homes, and cutting power supplies, state media reported.

The typhoon has already caused devastation in the Southern China region, with strong winds and heavy rain on Hainan Island and parts of Guangdong province on Sunday. Some 20,000 people were evacuated from a high risk area, according to the China's Xinhau News Agency.

While in Vietnam, there were insane plans to evacuate 600,000 people and 152,000 homes across the Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri, and Danang provinces, state media reported. The government has also mobilised 16,500 soldiers and 107,000 paramilitary personnel to assist with evacuations and rescue missions.

" This is an extremely dangerous, fast moving storm, " a government spokesman said on Sunday. Unfortunately, one man had died in Nghe An province on Friday after being electrocuted while trying to secure his roof, according to state media.

In the Ha Tinh province on Monday, there were reported roofs that were blown off and floating fishing farms that were washed away. Dang Xuan Phuong, a 48 year old resident of Cua Lo, a tourist town in Nghe An, had described the storm as " terrifying. " He said, " When I look down from the higher floors, I could see the waves as tall as two metres, and the water has flooded the roads around us, " he told Reuters.

Two airports, one in Thanh Hoa and the other in Quang Binh province, were closed, the country's civil aviation authority said, and boats were ordered not to leave their ports. Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet had also cancelled dozens of flights in the region, the operators confirmed.

After moving through Vietnam, it is expected that the storm will move inland across Laos and northern Thailand. Vietnam's coastline on the South China Sea is particularly prone to storms that often trigger deadly flooding and landslides. Kajiki is due to be more powerful than the Typhoon Yahi, which had unfortunately killed 300 people and caused £ 2.4 billion pounds in damages last year.

Cyclones are forming closer to land as a study published last year had warned that the climate change will cause southeast Asian cyclones to form closer to land, strengthening faster and lasting for longer, putting more lives at risk. The Professor of Earth Science Benjamin P. Horton, of City University Hong Kong, had said, " It's frightening to see our projections form just last year already materialising. We are no longer predicting the future, - we are living it. "

As China's southern most province downgraded its emergency response alert on Monday morning, but warned of further disruption and damage. People in the holiday resort of Sanya on Hainan Island were forced to take shelter on Sunday evening, with broken trees and damaged buildings reported on Monday.

UK weather: Warmest August bank holiday Monday on record in Wales and Northern Ireland: The mercury in Hawarden, Flintshire, hit 29.1 C ( 84.3 F ), while it was 24.5 C ( 79.7 F ) in Magilligan, County Derry / County Londonderry.

In Wales and Northern Ireland have recorded their warmest August bank holiday Monday temperatures. It was reported that it was 29.1 C ( 84.3 F ) at Hawarden, Flintshire, and earlier in the day it was 28.1 C ( 82.5 F ) at Gogerddan, which beat the previous record of 26.5 C ( 79.7 F ) set in Crossway, Gwent in 1991.

Meanwhile, the mercury hit 24.5 C ( 76.1 F ) in Magilligan, County Derry / County Londonderry compared with the previous records of 23.8 C ( 74.8 F ) at Banagher, Country Derry / County Londonderry in 1983. While for England and Scotland, there were no records broken fortunately.

The warmest August bank holiday Monday on record for the UK and England was 33.2 C ( 91.7 F ), which was recorded at London's Heathrow Airport and Cambridge Botanic Garden on the 26th of August, 2019. While Scotland's highest was 25.6 C ( 78 F ) which was recorded at Kelso, Roxburghshire in 1984.

There was a widespread sunshine for most on Monday but later in the day, the remnants of Hurricane Erin, a storm which previously hit the US east coast, will be the west of the UK, which will be bringing in rain and wind which will continue throughout the week. For the next few days, the temperatures will be nearer average, low 20's in the south and high teens across the north.

The Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell had said, " On Monday, it will be a very warm and sunny picture for most. " , " It will start to go downhill and rain will start to move in for Northern Ireland into the afternoon. "

From Tuesday on wards, spells of rain will be moving across all parts all around the country, and it will be the wettest in the west. Mr Snell had said. He further added, " It will be heavy at times in the west, but at the moment we're not expecting too many impacts, and it may, for farmers or anyone who needs the rain, be welcome. "

On Wednesday, a band of rain will move across the whole country, and low pressure will remain until the weekend with the further spells of rain.

Those are some news that I found interesting today throughout Bing and Google. These news prioritized the current situation of the Israel and Palestine war and how they bombed a hospital, with public backlash, there were also news about the typhoon that hit Vietnam and south China, how older people were overcharged in their taxes, and also the climate change that is affected Wales and Northern Island Autumn Bank holiday temperature hitting peak temperatures. I hope over time I should be able to adapt and learn to make these more shorter, summarized and hopefully, more informative. Thank you for reading.