The reputation of the United States around the world has dropped sharply under President Donald Trump, a study shows, even though Kenyans are among the world’s top admirers of Washington.

The study was conducted by Pew Research Centre, a US think-tank that says it is non-partisan, and is based in Washington DC. It sampled 24 countries. Findings show that the ratings of the US among adults have dropped in many countries between 2024 and 2025.

Regarding the US, the study analysed two sentiments: Whether the respondent had confidence in President Donald Trump to do the right thing and whether he or she had a favourable opinion of the US. 

Kenya was one of the countries surveyed. Others are Nigeria, South Africa, Indonesia, Turkey, Israel, India, Mexico, Hungary, Germany, South Korea, and Brazil.

In both scores, Kenya ranked ahead of most countries in terms of its enthusiasm for the US and its controversial president. In terms of confidence in President Trump to do the right thing, Kenya polled third among the 24, with 64 percent of the surveyed individuals giving the president a thumbs-up.

The 64 percent was only bettered by Nigeria (79 percent) and Israel (69 percent). The lowest percentage of confidence in Mr Trump came from Mexico, where only eight per cent gave him a nod. Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, one of the first decision he made as soon as he resumed office last year, much to the protestations of Mexicans. And Mexico was among countries Trump imposed tariffs, and accuses the country of letting through illegal migrants into the US. 

In Kenya, on the question of sentiment towards the US, 62 percent of the Kenyan adults polled said they had a favourable opinion of Uncle Sam. This was bettered only by Nigeria (78 percent) and Israel (77 percent). However, even for Kenya, the 62 percent approval rate was a decline from 78 percent last year when Joe Biden was leaving power.

The lowest favourable perception of the US among the 24 countries came from Sweden at 19 percent.“Overall ratings of the United States have declined in 15 nations since last spring, including drops of 20 percentage points or more in Mexico, Sweden, Poland and Canada,” said the Pew Research Centre.

Explaining the perception of Mr Trump, the organisation said views are attached to a number of variables.“In most nations, views about Mr Trump differ sharply along ideological and partisan lines.

People who place themselves on the right and those who have favourable views of right-wing populist parties in Europe tend to view Trump more favourably,” it said.“In 13 countries, confidence in Mr Trump is down significantly from the ratings that then-President Biden received last year.

The biggest drops are in Sweden (-48 points), Germany (-45), Poland (-40) and the Netherlands (-40),” it added.“Mr Trump’s ratings are higher than Biden’s in Hungary (+24 points), Nigeria (+13), Israel (+12), Turkey (+8), India (+8) and South Africa (+5).”The interviews were conducted between January and April, involving 28,333 people in the 24 countries, and the results were released last month. The questions asked also involved the matter of the world’s leading economic power.“When asked which is the world’s top economic power – the US, China, Japan or the European Union – more [people] say China is the top economy in 12 countries, while people in eight countries tend to name the US,” said the Pew Research Centre. By  Elvis Ondieki, Syndicate Info, MSN

The government's Emergency Alert System, which causes a 10-second siren to sound on UK mobile phones, will be tested in September.

A 10-second 'Armageddon alert' siren will sound on millions of UK mobile phones later this year as part of a test of the government's emergency alert system.

The emergency alert is used to warn if there is a danger to life nearby, in instances like extreme weather.

The alert has been scheduled to take place on 7 September, in its second ever nationwide drill.

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) – which can sound an alarm through mobile phones and tablets - has been deployed four times since it was launched in 2023. It was most recently used in January this year, when 4.5m people in Scotland and Northern Ireland received the alert over Storm Eowyn.

What is the emergency alert system?

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a government service aimed at warning people if there’s a danger to life nearby. 

The system causes a mobile phone or tablet to make a loud siren-like sound that lasts about 10 seconds, even if it's set on silent, along with advice on how to stay safe and a phone number or link to the government website for more information. It may also cause a device to vibrate or read out the alert.

The alert was used in areas hit hardest by Storm Darragh this winter. Localised flash flooding in Cumbria and Leicestershire, and the discovery of a Second World War bomb in Plymouth in February 2024, also triggered the alert for nearby residents.

According to the government website, you may get alerts about: severe flooding, fires or extreme weather.

It says emergency alerts will only be sent by the emergency services or government departments, agencies and public bodies that deal with emergencies. 

"You’ll get alerts based on your current location - not where you live or work," says the website. "You do not need to turn on location services to receive alerts."

If driving or riding when you receive the alert, the advice is to not read or respond to it but to find somewhere safe and legal to stop before reading the message.

"If there’s nowhere safe and legal to stop, and nobody else is in the vehicle to read the alert, you can listen to news on live radio to find out about the emergency," it adds.

When will the emergency alert system be sent to phones?

The emergency alert system will be tested at around 3pm on 7 September.

The national exercise that its test is part of is expected to be held on different days over several months in the autumn, involving thousands of participants across the UK. 

During the test, the UK’s approximately 87 million mobile devices will ring out with a high pitched alarm and vibrate for approximately 10 seconds, while a message will appear on the screen making it clear the alert is only a test.

Ahead of the national test, ministers are spearheading a public awareness campaign to ensure people understand when it is taking place.

How to turn off emergency alert system on iPhone and Android

It is possible to turn the emergency alert system off by opting out, for example if you are the victim of domestic abuse and have a secret phone you do not wish to alert your abuser to.

To do this on iPhone, go to ‘settings’ and in your search bar type in ‘emergency alerts’ and turn off Severe alerts and Emergency alerts.

To opt out on Android phones and tablet, search your settings for ‘emergency alerts’ then turn off ‘severe alerts’ and ‘extreme alerts’. 

If this does not work on either iPhone or Android, contact the device manufacturer. By Ellen Manning, Yahoo News

'They don’t know what the f*ck they’re doing,' says Trump after reports of violations of Iran-Israel ceasefire he announced. 

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday voiced displeasure with Israel, saying both Tel Aviv and Tehran violated a ceasefire agreement.

“They don’t know what the f*ck they’re doing,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, noting that he needs to get Israel to "calm down."

The statement came after reports of violations of the Iran-Israel ceasefire.

A ceasefire between Israel and Iran came into effect at 0400GMT Tuesday, ending "the 12-day war."

However, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered his army earlier Tuesday to launch intense strikes on Tehran, claiming that Iran violated the truce. Iran denied the claim, vowing a resolute response to any new strikes.

The ceasefire was initially announced by Trump, who said it would involve a phased halt to operations – with Iran beginning the ceasefire first and Israel following 12 hours later. A full end to hostilities was to be declared at the 24-hour mark.

On Monday, Iran launched a barrage of missiles at the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, marking a dramatic escalation in tensions following US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday.

The US attacks came as part of a US-backed Israeli military assault on Iran that began on June 13 and prompted Tehran to launch retaliatory attacks on Israel.​​​​​​​ Anadolu Agency