BBC News Briefing

27 August, 2026

Sofia has long brown hair and brown eyes and is wearing a green top

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. A visit from the US spy chief to Russia is "highly unusual", writes our security correspondent - read more below. We look at the key issues in Iceland's referendum on joining the European Union. And finally, take a moment to enjoy the late Yayoi Kusama's work.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Ratcliffe's secret visit comes at a tense time

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Ratcliffe

John Ratcliffe flew to the Russian capital on a US military plane, met Russian officials, and departed hours later. Credit: Getty Images

US President Donald Trump has described John Ratcliffe's trip to Russia this week as a "semi-routine" visit. But, writes our security correspondent Frank Gardner, there is "nothing routine about the CIA director's secret, 10,000-mile return dash" to Moscow. The most recent precedent was in 2021, when Ratcliffe's predecessor William Burns met Vladimir Putin at a tense time - shortly before the Russian president launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the absence of any official US comment on the mission's purpose, it is being widely reported Ratcliffe's trip was to warn Moscow not to take action against Nato members. Putin is under mounting domestic pressure to break the war's deadlock. Could he be considering such an escalation?

Read Frank's analysis

Uefa prepares legal action against Fifa boss

My colleagues have seen documents that show European football's governing body preparing criminal legal proceedings against Gianni Infantino. Uefa accuses Fifa's president of "criminal mismanagement" over the now scrapped plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup and other events to private investors.

More details

GET UP TO SPEED

Jury deliberations begin in Lindsay Clancy trial

The murder trial has gripped the US and sparked intense debate around postpartum mental illness and women's health.

The closing arguments >

A composite image showing screengrabs from two verified videos that have emerged from Nepal following floods. The picture on the left shows people fleeing from the flood water, and the second image shows a destroyed bridge.

Nepal-Tibet flash flood's deadly trail

BBC Verify has traced the path of the flood waters using verified videos and satellite imagery.

Watch the video >

King Harald V in military regalia making a speech

King Harald's condition worsens

Norwegians have laid flowers in front of the royal palace and his family visited him at Oslo University Hospital.

What to know >

Former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic appears in court at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague, June 3, 2011

Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladić dies aged 84

The man known as the "Butcher of Bosnia" was jailed for life in 2017 for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

His crimes explained >

Rings in the collection at the Villena Museum

Bronze Age artefacts stolen in four-minute heist

Spanish police are still assessing how many items were stolen in the raid, which occurred early on Thursday morning.

What happened >

NEWS FROM THE UK

Cyber crime: Three major UK airports have been hit by a security incident in which data of almost nine million people was compromised.

Renewable energy: Plug-in solar panels are coming to DIY shops and high street retailers after rules changed. Here's how they work.

Salmonella outbreak: Authorities say they have identified two new clusters of the infection that has now infected close to 500 people.

AT THE SCENE

Reykjavik, Iceland

Why fish could be decisive in EU vote

Iceland Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir stands at a podium. She has short blonde hair and is wearing a blue blouse. A map of iceland appears behind her in white against a blue background.

Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir supports Iceland joining the EU. Credit: AFP via Getty Images

An island nation of almost 400,000 people is deciding on Saturday whether they should resume talks on EU membership. Polls suggest the referendum is too close to call. The vote, an election promise of the 2024 winning centre-left coalition, has acquired urgency amid Russia's war in Ukraine, sharpening Arctic rivalries and President Trump's tariff threats and designs on Greenland.

Adrienne has short blonde hair and blue eyes

Adrienne Murray, BBC News

Inside a waterfront factory, workers in hairnets and blue overalls are sorting freshly caught cod and haddock, and machines process the fish into fillets, mostly bound for Europe. Visir fishing boss Pétur Pálsson, who fears joining the EU would cost Iceland jobs and drive factories abroad, says: "If we are in the EU, they will be the ones who make the policy."

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Some Icelanders are expected to vote Yes as this is not the final referendum anyway - a second one would have to greenlight any final membership deal. "We have to know what's in the package from the EU," says Reykjavik resident Anna Ragnarsdottir. "If we say no, we won't ever know."

Read now