Minimalist News

Colbert Blames Trump, But Massive Profit Losses Killed His Show Progressive ideologues in entertainment are well known for avoiding responsibility for their failures at any cost, which is what makes them incredibly dangerous. Scapegoats are targeted for destruction while activists elude scrutiny so that they can bungle another project or institution, and another, and another. On and on it goes; like a bacteria they travel from one organ to the next, breaking it down from the inside. This is what people like Stephen Colbert represent. From 2019 to 2025 The Late Show lost approximately 25% of its peak viewership. Much

Child Safety Groups Urge FTC To Investigate Roblox Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Two child safety groups filed a complaint against online interactive gaming platform Roblox with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on May 20, alleging that children face sexual and financial harm on the platform. A boy poses for a photo while holding a game pad in front of a screen displaying the logo of the children's gaming platform Roblox, in this illustration taken on Dec. 8, 2025. Ramil Sitdikov/Illustration/Reuters Filed by nonprofits National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and Fairplay, the complaint claims

My Retirement Accounts Fail In The World I Actually Live In Authored by Patrick Brenner via RealClearMarkets , I remember the first time I logged into my retirement account as a young professional . It felt like a milestone: proof that I had entered the world of adulthood, of long-term thinking, of ownership. I work in the nonprofit sector, so technically it's a 403(b), not a 401(k). The distinction is academic; the promise is the same: contribute consistently, invest wisely, and over time, build financial independence. The longer I've contributed, the more I've realized something uncomfortable: my retirement plan isn't

Newsom Declares Emergency In Orange County; EPA Head Says Chemical Tank Will "Likely Fail" The head of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said Sunday that a chemical storage tank in Southern California that has forced officials to declare an emergency and prompted evacuation orders for tens of thousands residents is likely to fail. Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the EPA, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday that the “most likely scenario” is a “low-volume release” of the tank, where officials will be able to “monitor, neutralize, and contain the threat.” “The Orange County Fire Authority is working

Bubble-Wrapped World: How Safety Culture Has Destroyed Our Sense Of Adventure Authored by Murray Lytle via The Epoch Times, Are Canadians less adventurous than they once were? It’s hard to argue otherwise. Alexander Mackenzie was only 24 when the North West Company named him chief fur trader at Fort Chipewyan, in what is now Alberta. A few years later, in 1789 he travelled north along what is now known as the Mackenzie River to become the first European to reach the Arctic Ocean overland. Four years later he crossed the Rocky Mountains and was the first European to reach the

Two Billboards In New York Capture The Conflict Of Our Time Authored by Kay Rubacek via The Epoch Times, Two billboards went up in New York City recently. This is a city of advertising, where images appear when someone wants the whole world to see them. One billboard is selling artificial intelligence, and the other is warning about it. The juxtaposition between these two advertisers, who most likely wouldn’t have seen the other’s message in advance, captures the conflict of our times and cements the uncertainty about the future within an artificial intelligence world. The selling billboard is dark, purple,

"Vindictive": Obama-Appointed Judge Dismisses Tennessee Smuggling Charges Against Kilmar Abrego Garcia Authored by Kim Jarrett via The Center Square , A federal judge dismissed Tennessee charges against a man who, at one time, was at the center of the immigration debate. Abrego Garcia, who illegally entered the U.S. from El Salvador in 2011, faced federal charges of human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling. The charges stemmed from a traffic stop by Tennessee Highway Patrol in December 2022, where Abrego Garcia was found transporting eight passengers across the country. One of the police officers believed that he was smuggling

Feds Subpoena Hasan Piker, CodePink Cofounder Over "Humanitarian" Trip To Communist Cuba Federal officials have issued " Requests for Information " via Treasury Department subpoenas to Turkish-American millionaire and far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and pro-China CodePink cofounder Susan Medea Benjamin as part of a broader probe into whether the activists violated sanctions laws during a "humanitarian" trip to communist-run Cuba, according to a new Fox News report. Fox's Asra Q. Nomani, who leads an investigation into dark-money funded NGOs, said the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control is examining whether the activists financed, coordinated, or delivered goods to

Resident Floats Surefire Way Of Getting Potholes And Trash Cleaned Up In Shithole LA... Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Los Angeles residents have had enough of living in a crumbling, graffiti-covered wasteland where basic services have collapsed under years of Democrat mismanagement. In a display of pure ingenuity, citizens are fighting back by tagging over blighted areas with "Vote Pratt," betting that Mayor Karen Bass will rush to erase any sign of support for her political rival far faster than she addresses the endless decay. This clever workaround shines a harsh light on the priorities in a city drowning

Trump Bats Down Critics As Iran Deal Gets Close: 'Exact Opposite' Of 'Amateur' Obama JCPOA Update(1345ET) : Both sides are continuing to be mostly tight-lipped in terms of offering confirmation of what precisely is in the deal, with President Trump having earlier said he's in no hurry. But this weekend contains some of the most positive momentum towards an actual peace deal and extended ceasefire to date. Per some of the latest from NYT : Iran’s leaders or official state media have not publicly commented on what is in any potential agreement or what is being discussed. Over the last

Suicide Bomb Attack On Train In Pakistan Kills At Least 30, Over 100 Wounded A massive suicide car bomb attack blew up and derailed a train transporting security personnel in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. The blast ripped through the train passenger cars, killing at least 30 people and leaving more than 100 others wounded , with the casualty count expected to rise as rescuers dig through the twisted metal. via AFP The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group operating in the mineral-rich region, immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's coordinated strike. Local officials and police told international outlets

UAE State Oil Company Head Says Hormuz Bypass Pipeline Nearly 50 Percent Complete Authored by Evgenia Filimianova via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The head of the UAE's state oil company said on May 20 that a major new oil pipeline designed to bypass the Strait of Hormuz is nearly 50 percent complete, as regional tensions and competing maritime controls reshape global energy routes. UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who's also the managing director and group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, speaks via video during a presentation at the 44th annual

Zombie Home Foreclosure Numbers Increase In 38 US States Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The number of residential zombie foreclosures in the second quarter of 2026 marginally increased from the previous quarter, with such foreclosures rising in the District of Columbia and 38 out of the 50 U.S. states, real estate analytics company ATTOM said in a May 21 statement. Homes in Huntington Beach, Calif., on July 12, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times "Out of the country's 104.9 million residential properties, 245,376 were in the foreclosure process in the second quarter. Of those, 8,312 properties,

Russia Hammers Kiev With Massive Barrage, Likely Including Oreshnik Hypersonic IRBMs Less than two days after President Vladimir Putin vowed revenge for a Ukrainian strike that hit a secondary-school dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk oblast, Russia unleashed a massive, multi-weapon barrage on Kiev early Sunday, one that apparently included the rare use of Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missiles. Private videos show clusters of bright objects at supersonic speed descending from the sky near Kiev May 24, 2026. They claim to be Russia’s intermediate-range hypersonic Oreshnik system. Moscow has not officially confirmed the use. The footage resembles videos that circulated… pic.twitter.com/lSDg8iydzX —

The Replacements: How US Helps Foreign Workers Take American Jobs Authored by Steven Edginton via RealClearInvestigations , Mary, a veteran Silicon Valley marketer who can't find a job, considers herself a victim of an H-1B visa program run amok. Her story, a U.S. native replaced by a foreign-born employee who is willing to work at a significantly lower wage, has become commonplace, particularly in the tech industry. Adding insult to injury, she says, her CEO, who hails from India, told her to train the man he selected to replace her before laying her off. Despite stints at Google and Cisco

With Commercial Real Estate Still Challenging, Lenders Offload Troubled Loans At A Loss Authored by Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), While leasing activity and vacancy trends suggest the U.S. commercial real estate market is stabilizing, office values are still well below post-pandemic peaks, recent reports show. The San Francisco skyline on Jan. 20, 2023. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images As owners scramble to make payments on under-occupied office buildings, many lenders are reluctant to foreclose to avoid the headache of taking ownership and reselling the properties, according to David Marino, cofounder of Hughes Marino, a San

1 In 4 Cars Sold Globally Is An Electric Vehicle Electric vehicle adoption continues to accelerate worldwide, reaching new milestones in 2025. As Statista's Tristan Gaudiaut details below, according to the IEA Global EV Outlook 2026 , published on May 20, global sales of electric cars, including plug-in hybrids, surpassed 21 million units last year, more than doubling since 2022, when annual sales first exceeded 10 million. As the chart shows, EVs now account for roughly one in four passenger car sales globally, meaning their market share climbed to 25 percent in 2025, up from just 2 percent in 2018

German Taxpayers Bled Dry: Mass Migration Cost €40 Billion In 2025 Via Remix News, Migrants cost German taxpayers — just at the federal level — €24.8 billion in 2025, according to new data in the “refugee costs report” from the German Federal Ministry of Finance. However, the true sum is much higher. The €24.8 billion is strictly the federal bill. The actual, combined national cost of migration for Germany is that €24.8 billion plus the massive, separate billions that the individual states and municipalities had to pull from their own local tax revenues to cover their own deficits brought on

US Approves "Homing All The Way Killer" Missile Support Sale To Ukraine The US State Department has officially cleared a $108.1 million hardware and sustainment package to keep Ukraine's frontline air defenses online, after there's not been much in the way of big dollar headlines concerning Washington's longtime military support to Kiev of late. The cash injection targets the maintenance and optimization of the US-designed HAWK system - which is short for the "Homing All the Way Killer" surface-to-air missile system. Bild/Getty Images Depending on the exact missile variant deployed, the platform handles tactical interceptions of enemy aircraft, drones, and

UK Net Migration Decline Masks True Demographic Replacement As British Exodus Accelerates Via Remix News, The left-wing U.K. government has claimed it is making real progress in tackling the ongoing migration crisis enveloping Britain after official statistics published on Thursday showed that net migration had decreased to 171,000 last year. However, that figure alone doesn’t tell the whole story. “I promised to restore control to our borders. My government is delivering,” under-pressure Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on X in response to the latest publication by the Office for National Statistics. “Net migration is now at 171,000, down from a

As Canada tightens asylum rules, refugees reuniting with family say they were turned over to ICE and jailed for months after failed border claims As each day in US detention passes, Markens Appolon can feel the life he had dreamed of slipping away. The 25-year-old fled Haiti to escape the rampant gang violence that upended his university studies in economics, and planned to join family in Montreal. Continue reading...

Judge said Trump administration would not have prosecuted Ábrego had he not challenged his high-profile deportation Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email A US judge dismissed a criminal indictment against Kilmar Ábrego García on Friday, finding that the Trump administration would not have prosecuted him had he not challenged his high-profile deportation. Ábrego, who had entered the United States without authorization in the past, became a symbol of the Trump administration’s drive for mass deportations when he was sent to the notorious anti-terrorism mega-prison in El Salvador known as Cecot in March 2025. Continue reading...

Alberta premier calls for referendum on secession after judge ruled initiative to force binding vote invalid The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney , has said that Alberta is “essential” to the country’s future, hours after the province’s leader moved the oil-rich region closer toward a referendum on independence. Separatists in the western province spent months collecting signatures seeking to trigger a binding October vote on seceding from the nation. Continue reading...

Andry José Hernández Romero was deported from the US to El Salvador’s notorious Cecot prison before he was allowed to return to Venezuela One of the Venezuelan men sent from the US to El Salvador’s most notorious prison by Donald Trump has moved to Spain to request asylum after concluding that he did not feel safe back home and did not trust US authorities sufficiently to return to fight his legal case. Andry José Hernández Romero left Venezuela for Spain in early February and is due for his first asylum hearing in court there in a few days, hoping that

US secretary of state says president would like a negotiated agreement with Havana but likelihood ‘is not high’ The US president, Donald Trump, and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Thursday again raised the spectre of military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that takes on greater weight a day after the administration announced criminal charges against Raúl Castro, the island’s former leader. “Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something,” Trump told reporters when asked about Cuba during an event in the Oval Office. “And it looks like I’ll be the one that does

Xi Jinping urges authorities to ‘spare no effort’ in rescue operation after explosion in northern Shanxi province At least 82 people have been killed in a gas explosion at a coalmine in northern China’s Shanxi province, in the country’s worst mining disaster in 17 years. The explosion happened on Friday at 7.29pm (12.29 BST) while 247 workers were underground at the Liushenyu coalmine in Qinyuan county, the state media agency Xinhua reported. Continue reading...

Resolution backed by 141 states hailed as ‘new chapter’ that could improve climate diplomacy and litigation efforts When the UN general assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of a landmark climate crisis ruling on Wednesday, the Pacific island of Vanuatu’s prime minister hailed the result as the start of “a new chapter” in climate action. “The task before all of us now is to translate legal clarity into meaningful action, stronger cooperation, and greater protection for present and future generations,” said Jotham Napat. Continue reading...

Hung Cao’s comments are latest blow to Taipei after Donald Trump recently cast doubt over US’s enduring support US arms sales to Taiwan have been “paused” to ensure the US military has enough munitions for its Iran operations, according to Washington’s acting navy secretary, in the latest blow to Taipei after a series of comments by Donald Trump. When asked at a congressional hearing on Thursday about a $14bn (£10.4bn) weapons package awaiting Trump’s signoff for months, Hung Cao said: “Right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury

Twelve dead as southern and central areas also suffer travel disruption, electricity outages and evacuations Heavy, prolonged rainfall in southern and central China has resulted in weather warnings for flash flooding, landslides and waterlogging. The slow-moving band of rainfall spanned 620 miles (1,000km) and travelled eastwards across the regions on Tuesday. It was formed from the convergence of multiple bands of rain originating from the Bay of Bengal, South China Sea and Pacific Ocean. Given the accompanying low wind speeds, high daily and hourly rainfall totals have been recorded, with as much as 75mm locally in Hunan, 85mm in Anhui

Initial testing found evidence of metals in water samples, months after province’s residents began reporting unusual numbers of dead fish washing ashore Papua New Guinea’s government has warned communities not to fish from parts of the New Ireland coastline as preliminary tests show evidence of metals in some water samples, after months of residents reporting dead marine life in the area. On 7 May the fisheries minister, Jelta Wong, said initial testing conducted by an independent company detected various metals in water samples taken from affected areas around Kafkaf village and Larairu lagoon in New Ireland, an island in eastern

Mike Burgess says that the national terrorism risk remains at the ‘upper end of probable’. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Were the teal party conversations sparked by the government’s electoral reforms? Yes and no, Allegra Spender and Zali Steggall say. There are many things that favour major party structures, and again, the public was incredibly cynical about that move, that it’s yet again major parties trying to rig the game for their benefit. I have had conversations over a period of time about how politics could evolve because people

Warringah MP among those most active in alliance discussions while Monique Ryan, Helen Haines and Kate Chaney distance themselves from possible move Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Zali Steggall says funding rules that disadvantage independents and looming changes to donations laws are factors in favour of “teal” independents forming their own party, but some fellow MPs have already ruled out the idea. Sources close to crossbench MPs say discussions about forming an alliance of independent politicians are not new and have been happening for

Directions hearing over deaths of Victoria police officers Neal Thompson and Vadim De Waart-Hottart told of new details of Porepunkah shooting Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The alleged sexual assault of a child has been revealed as the reason for a search warrant against Dezi Freeman that ended with him shooting dead two Victorian police officers. Fresh details into the August deaths of Det Leading Sen Const Neal Thompson, 59, and Sen Const Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35, at Freeman’s home were detailed in a

Mexican-themed Australian fast food chain accused of terminating staff without adequate pay or notice as it pulls out of the US American workers at Guzman y Gomez’s shuttered US stores have launched a class action lawsuit against the Mexican-themed Australian fast food chain over allegations staff were terminated without adequate pay or notice. The legal claim, filed in a US federal trial court in Illinois, was sparked by GyG’s decision last week to immediately close its string of Chicago stores after giving up on its highly vaunted plans to expand in the US. Continue reading...

Exclusive: ICE-linked private prison operator blamed for catastrophic security failures in Australia’s immigration detention network Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A series of catastrophic security failures involving the US private prison company running Australia’s immigration detention centres has allowed the escape of high-risk detainees, caused ill-equipped staff to be stabbed and hospitalised, and triggered multiple investigations, one of which warned its “minimalist staffing model” was putting workers and detainees at risk. Guardian Australia can reveal that in September 2025, just six months after Management and Training Corporation assumed control of onshore detention, the

Russia suspected of obstructing signal on flight bringing John Healey home from visit to British troops in Estonia An RAF jet carrying the defence secretary, John Healey, had its signal jammed for the entire three-hour flight after it flew near the Russian border. Healey had been visiting British soldiers in Estonia and was travelling back to the UK when the electronic attack happened, the Times reported. Continue reading...

Assault hits water facility, market, residential buildings and schools, killing at least four and injuring dozens Russia used its powerful hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile for a third time in Ukraine as part of a massive attack on Kyiv and its surrounding region that killed at least four people and injured about 100. Russia hit the city of Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region with the missile, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said. He described a heavy Russian assault that also hit a water supply facility, burned down a market and damaged dozens of residential buildings and several schools. Continue reading...

Former Labour minister says complete disengagement has potential ‘for us to end up in a very, very difficult position’ David Miliband has said Europe should have “separate bedrooms” from the US, but not seek a “divorce” from its traditional alliance, despite the Trump administration’s impact on the relationship. The former Labour foreign secretary, who has served as the president of the International Rescue Committee since 2013, said at the Hay literary festival on Sunday: “You can see the argument that strategic autonomy for Europe means divorce from the United States. I really counsel the dangers of that. Continue reading...

Gerry ‘the monk’ Hutch comes fourth in contest won by Daniel Ennis of Social Democrats The Irish gangland figure Gerry “the monk” Hutch has failed in his bid for a parliamentary seat in a Dublin byelection. The 63-year-old came fourth in a contest won by Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats, a victory for progressive politics after a campaign dominated by concerns over the cost of living and immigration. Continue reading...

Wait times of more than two hours reported at terminal for cross-Channel ferry to France French police have temporarily suspended extra EU border checks at the port of Dover as thousands of holidaymakers face long delays in the hot weather. Waiting times of more than two hours were reported at the terminal in Kent for the cross-Channel ferry to France. Continue reading...

Donald Trump says ‘if I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one’ as Iranian state media claims US government obstructing some clauses in agreement In Lebanon, the civil defence agency said early on Sunday its regional facility in the southern city of Nabatieh had been destroyed by an Israeli strike . The Directorate General of Civil Defence said the building had collapsed and a large number of vehicles and equipment had been damaged by a “direct hit in a hostile Israeli strike”. Continue reading...

American president says he is not rushing into a deal after proposed plan to end war prompts Republican backlash Middle East crisis: live updates Donald Trump defended himself against criticism from fellow Republicans on Sunday as he appeared on the verge of agreeing a deal with Iran to end the war. As hawks in his party called the proposed agreement a disaster and questioned why the US president had launched the conflict in the first place, Trump claimed on social media that his deal would be “THE EXACT OPPOSITE” of the one agreed by Barack Obama, which Trump pulled out

Some casualties after attacks on multiple locations in south and east of country on Sunday, state media reports Middle East crisis: live updates Israeli strikes hit southern and eastern Lebanon on Sunday, a day after 11 people were killed in a single raid on the south despite a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war and claims that the US and Iran are about to reach a peace deal. Saturday’s strike in Sir al-Gharbiyeh “resulted in a massacre whose final toll is 11 dead including a child and six women, and nine wounded including four children and a woman”, Lebanon’s health ministry

Global prices are approaching a tipping point that could trigger inflation, shortages and, over time, recession If a US-Iran deal is about to be reached, three months on from the launch of Donald Trump’s Operation Epic Fury, it will not be a day too soon for oil markets, which are approaching a dangerous tipping point. The cost of a barrel of crude on the spot market – for immediate purchase, effectively – has bounced about $100 since Iran predictably responded to the onslaught from the US and Israel by closing the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Proposed framework hinges on a 60-day truce, reopening strait of Hormuz, and revived talks on limiting Iran nuclear programme • Middle East crisis: live updates Donald Trump has said a “memorandum of understanding” in talks to end the US-Israel war on Iran “has been largely negotiated”. Official details of the deal remain scant and it remains possible some aspects of the memo could change, but here is what we know so far about the potential agreement that could bring an end to the war. Continue reading...

Explosives-laden vehicle detonated as passenger train travelled through south-western city of Quetta A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a railway track as a passenger train travelled through the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 70 others, officials have said. The force of the explosion on Sunday caused two of the train cars to overturn and catch fire, sending thick black smoke into the air, according to footage shared online. Continue reading...

Move comes against backdrop of challenge by prime minister, Narendra Modi, to country’s traditional elites The Indian government has ordered one of the country’s most exclusive private clubs to vacate its premises in two weeks, underscoring the long-running push of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, against entrenched elite institutions. The ministry of housing and urban affairs directed the Delhi Gymkhana Club to hand over its sprawling site in the heart of New Delhi by 5 June, citing urgent public interest requirements, including defence and security infrastructure. Continue reading...

Iran has threatened to impose tolls on shipping, while US demands that Iran hand over its highly enriched uranium may be deferred. Is there an end in sight? Qatar has rushed a team of mediators to Tehran in a sign that talks to open the strait of Hormuz, in return for the lifting of US sanctions and asset freezes, are reaching a climax. The aim would be to sign a memorandum of understanding on the strait that would lead to 30 days of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme – so deferring discussion of the US demand that Iran hand over

Up to 70% of girls may be in early or forced marriages but law now makes divorce impossible if husbands disagree Child marriage appears to have been legally recognised for the first time by the Taliban in Afghanistan, as activists say “shameful” new laws make it almost impossible for girls and young women to seek divorce against their husbands’ will. There are no official statistics on forced and underage marriages in Afghanistan, but activists say it has risen at an alarming rate in recent years, driven by the ban on girls being in education after the age of 11 .

Satirical project is viral sensation and outlet for protest on social media as it taps into young people’s frustration It began as a satirical online project after India’s chief justice compared unemployed young people to cockroaches. Now millions of young Indians are flocking to it as an outlet for their frustration. A parody political party with the insect as its symbol has exploded across India’s social media by turning absurdist humour into protest. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, joblessness and political dysfunction have flooded social media sites, where millions of users are embracing the cockroach – an insect known

Definition of green facilities made in 2022, before release of ChatGPT, says Action to Protect Rural Scotland A Scottish government policy designed to encourage datacentres to build in Scotland could lead to a massive volume of carbon emissions being ignored, according to an analysis by a Scottish charity. “Green datacentres” are at the heart of Scotland’s ambitions to develop economically. Enshrined in national policy , they are part of a larger, UK-wide effort to attract big AI investment to Scotland. Continue reading...

Nearly a third of vice-chancellors would cut hardship support if necessary over next three years, according to poll Vice-chancellors have said they may need to cut hardship support for impoverished students and reduce outreach activities aimed at disadvantaged groups if the dire funding struggles at universities continue. The anonymous poll of leaders by Universities UK (UUK) revealed the extent of the budgetary quagmire facing higher education, with more than two-thirds prepared to cut staff jobs by compulsory redundancy if difficulties continue over the next three years, while nearly 90% said they were looking at hiring freezes or voluntary redundancies. Continue

Announcement comes after former minister Alan Milburn says Britain has neglected a generation of young people Ministers are expanding youth work-experience and training schemes, after Alan Milburn warned Britain is spending £25 keeping young people on benefits for every £1 spent helping them into work. Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, will announce plans for 300,000 extra work experience placements over the next three years as the government attempts to tackle what the minister described as a “quiet crisis” in youth employment. Continue reading...

Highest temperatures of 2026 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as Kew Gardens in London reaches 32.3C England, Wales and Northern Ireland recorded their highest temperatures of 2026 on Sunday, which was also the UK’s hottest May day for at least 79 years. Kew Gardens in west London recorded 32.3C (90.1F), Cardiff 27.4C and Armagh 23.4C. Continue reading...

Actor recounts three alleged approaches by intelligence services, including through senior BBC executive Riz Ahmed, the Oscar-winning actor, has claimed that Britain’s intelligence services tried three times to recruit him, including one occasion involving a senior BBC executive. Ahmed, 43, said: “Well, it’s happened three different times and they’re all slightly ridiculous, and this is what I mean by it, it’s just like inherently comedic. Continue reading...

The actor, who played Tracy Jordan’s gentle bodyguard in 80 episodes of the beloved comedy, died in his sleep after years of health problems Grizz Chapman, best known for his role as Grizz on the hit comedy 30 Rock, has died aged 52. His cousin, the Harlem Globetrotter Donte Harrison, confirmed Chapman’s death on social media on Saturday. Continue reading...

Lee Zeldin says ‘low-volume release’ of flammable chemicals is most likely amid fears of explosion at Orange county facility near Disneyland Government officials in Orange county, California , have warned that an overheated chemical tank “will fail” and could result in a chemical explosion in the area, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator said on Sunday. “We’re being told that the tank will fail, but there are different scenarios as to what that means,” Lee Zeldin, told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. Zeldin, a former Republican congressman with no prior experience in environmental policy, was chosen by Trump as

The US has apparently had to agree to unfreeze billions of Iranian assets for a regime more hardline than before the war Middle East crisis: live updates On 24 May each year, Iranians celebrate a historic victory in the war with Iraq: the liberation of Khorramshahr in 1982. This year, some were hoping a peace deal looking likely to be signed with the US might mark a similar turning point in their country’s history. Continue reading...

Trump insists US won’t rush talks with Tehran after rebukes from Republicans, including Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham Republican hawks have issued a rare rebuke of Donald Trump over his planned peace deal with Iran, describing it as a “disaster” and questioning why the US president launched the war in the first place. Allies of Trump who strongly backed his controversial decision to order war on Iran alongside Israel urged him to “hold the line” this weekend, despite mounting economic costs and no sign of progress on many of the the initial objectives set out by his administration. Continue reading...

GOP congressman says his party is set to count cost of ‘Trump disappointment syndrome’ after primary defeat Donald Trump ’s Republican party is on course for a damaging rejection at the ballot box in November, according to a maverick US congressman ousted by a challenger handpicked by the president. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, became the latest of Trump’s targets to be defeated in the party’s primaries this week. He had repeatedly broken with the president over military action against Iran, government spending and the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Continue reading...

The US Department of Justice is acknowledging it has removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the January 6, 2021, riot, calling the information about the prosecutions “partisan propaganda”. The purge of news releases documenting criminal charges, convictions and sentencings is the latest step by the Trump administration to dramatically rewrite the history of the assault on the Capitol, when hundreds of supporters of Republican Donald Trump stormed the building in...

A shipment of 15,000 tonnes of rice donated by the Chinese government to Cuba has arrived at the port of Havana, the island’s president said on Sunday. The shipment is the first batch of a promised 60,000 tonnes that China says it will donate to Cuba, which is grappling with dire shortages. “That noble gesture of solidarity will reach millions of consumers throughout all the provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, in addition to our health and education institutions,”...

Turkish riot police fired tear gas and forced their way into the main opposition party’s headquarters to evict its ousted leadership on Sunday, fuelling a crisis at the heart of Turkey’s democracy. Clouds of tear gas billowed within the Republican People’s Party (CHP) building while those inside shouted and threw objects at the entrance as police ‌broke through a makeshift barricade. There were no reports of injuries during the intervention. A Turkish court ousted CHP leader Ozgur Ozel on...

Security was tightened in South Africa’s Kruger National Park nature reserve after two tourists were found killed there, authorities said on Sunday. The two South African victims, a 71-year-old man and a woman whose age was not disclosed, failed to return to their lodge on Wednesday evening, prompting a search operation. Other tourists eventually found them in a river on Friday afternoon. Police said the man had stab wounds and the woman’s body was bruised. Their car was missing. The...

Ukraine is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and a gathering of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) following massive Russian air strikes, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sunday. In a statement published on social media, Sybiha also called for an “appropriate and strong response to the aggressor” following the overnight attacks, which mainly targeted the Kyiv region and saw the deployment of a medium-range Oreshnik ballistic...

An Israeli air strike on a flat in ⁠a refugee camp in central Gaza on Sunday left three people dead, including a six-month-old child, health officials said. Medical workers named the three who died in the Nuseirat refugee camp as Mohammad Abu Mallouh, the infant’s father, Alaa Zaqlan, the mother, and their child, Osama. Later on ‌Sunday, Israeli gunfire killed a Palestinian man in the north of the enclave, near a UN-run medical clinic in Jabalia refugee camp, medical workers said. The Israeli...

With no food aid, 65-year-old Saeedah Mohammed heads out with a plastic bag to pick tree leaves near her displacement camp in southern Yemen, before serving them to her grandchildren to stave off hunger. Behind the camp wooded hills stretch under a clear sky, while on the ground, yellowed and stony earth is strewn with rubbish. Amid the trash and destitution, daily life manages to organise itself, however imperfectly. Worn-out clothes dry on lines strung between spindly trees, and two old...

US President Donald Trump’s upcoming medical examination is intensifying health-related scrutiny that has surrounded him ever since his first campaign for the nation’s highest office more than a decade ago. Trump on Tuesday is heading to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre for his fourth publicly disclosed doctor’s appointment since the start of his second term. The White House has offered few details about the visit, saying it would involve “routine annual dental and medical...

Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) updated the death toll from the Ebola outbreak to 204 late on Saturday, hours after the Red Cross said three volunteers had died there and Uganda confirmed three new Ebola cases. A health ministry statement said 204 deaths had been recorded in three provinces of the vast Central African country, from 867 suspected cases. The last World Health Organization (WHO) toll on Friday put the number of deaths at 177 from 750 suspected cases. The WHO has...

Firefighters warned on Saturday that a tank of toxic chemicals in California is heating up, adding to fears of a catastrophic explosion that has already forced tens of thousands of Californians to evacuate. About 40,000 residents were ordered to leave their homes in the Garden Grove area of Orange county, southeast of Los Angeles, on Friday after the tank began to leak, sending fumes over a heavily populated area. The tank contains 26,000 litres (7,000 gallons) of methyl methacrylate, a volatile...

As the US-Israel war on Iran stretches past its 80th day and continues to upend global naval shipping, a growing number of Chinese investors in Iran are turning to railway and overland transport routes to keep their businesses afloat. While disruptions to ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz show little sign of abating, many are hoping that transcontinental freight links across Eurasia could become a more reliable option. Chinese trader Han Yun has spent recent weeks travelling long distances...

Russia pounded Kyiv with a massive missile and drone attack that killed four people early on Sunday, authorities said, after President Vladimir Putin threatened retaliation for strikes in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. Multiple rounds of explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital throughout the early hours of the morning, journalists reported, in a barrage the air force said involved 600 drones and 90 missiles. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russians fired a...

As I return to China, I do so with an abiding sense of respect for a nation that has become one of Serbia’s most indispensable partners and a defining force of our century. In Europe, discussions about China are too often clouded by suspicion and strategic anxiety. I understand that every major political community must guard its future, but I believe Europe should approach China not with fear and suspicion but with confidence and a serious, open-eyed willingness to cooperate. Serbia has chosen...

A gunman opened fire near the White House on Saturday evening, with US Secret Service agents killing the assailant in a shoot-out during which a bystander was also struck, authorities said. US President Donald Trump was at the White House at the time as he worked to negotiate a deal with Iran, but was not affected by the incident, Secret Service communications chief Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. The confrontation took place just after 6pm (local time) when a man near the White House...

Cristian Mungiu’s Norway-set drama about political polarisation Fjord has won the Palme d’Or, handing the Cannes Film Festival’s top honour for the second time to Mungiu, the Romanian director of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. At a 79th Cannes Film Festival that saw few films break out, Fjord found wide admiration for its engrossing tale of what Mungiu called “left-wing fundamentalism”. It stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as Romanian evangelicals who move to Norway, but soon after have...

⁠US ⁠President Donald Trump ⁠said on Sunday that he has told his diplomatic representatives not ‌to rush into a deal with Iran on the war because “time is on our side”, less than a day ⁠after announcing that an agreement with ‌Tehran had been largely negotiated. “The Blockade ‌will remain in full force ⁠and ⁠effect until an agreement is ‌reached, certified, and signed. Both sides ‌must take their ‌time and get ‌it right,” Trump wrote ⁠on Truth Social. “There can be ⁠no mistakes! Our relationship...

France has ⁠decided to ban Israel’s far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from French territory, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Saturday, adding that this reflected ‌growing anger among governments around the world over the treatment of an activist flotilla heading to Gaza. “As from today, Itamar Ben-Gvir is banned from entering French territory,” Barrot wrote on X. “Along with ⁠my Italian counterpart, I am asking the European Union to ‌also take sanctions against Itamar...

Ebola is spreading faster than responders can track it in eastern Congo, where health workers managed to follow up with barely one in five identified contacts in a single day. Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported 83 confirmed infections, 746 suspected cases and 1,603 identified contacts as of May 21, according to the health ministry. Yet health workers were able to follow up with only 342 contacts that day – about 21 per cent of the total under monitoring – according to...

Pope Leo on Saturday called out companies who seek “dizzying” profits at the cost of environmental pollution, on a visit to an area in Italy known as a hotbed for illegal dumping of toxic waste. On a visit to Acerra, ‌about 220 km (137 miles) south of Rome, the first US pope urged the world to “reject temptations of power and enrichment linked to practices that pollute the land, water, air, and social coexistence”. Leo said he wanted to come to the area near Naples known as the “Land of Fires” –...

War is now a possibility in Norway, by the prime minister’s own admission. The country, which borders Russia, has gone into “total defence” mode, preparing its population for the worst in light of the fighting in Ukraine. Dug beneath a peaceful park, the St. Hanshaugen air raid shelter, one of Oslo’s largest, can take in 1,100 people behind its heavy metal doors if ever the worst comes to pass. The air is chilly, the lights dim, and the toilets basic: it is far from cosy, but it is designed to...

For months, the United Arab Emirates had denied Iran’s accusations that it was in league with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or hosting his country’s military personnel. Then, US ambassador to Israel Mick Huckabee handed Tehran a propaganda gift and Abu Dhabi a diplomatic headache all in a single sentence. Israel sent Iron Dome air defence batteries to the UAE amid the ongoing war on Iran to help protect it from Iranian attacks, Huckabee confirmed at a conference in Tel Aviv on May...

A four-week United Nations conference reviewing the treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons ended on Friday without agreement as the United States and Iran sparred over Iran’s nuclear programme. Vietnam’s UN Ambassador Do Hung Viet, who chaired the conference, announced that there was no consensus among the 191 parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty on even a watered-down final document. He did not say which country or countries blocked a consensus. It was the third failure in a...

Twenty-seven countries have moved since the Iran war started to put in place crisis instruments that could quickly access funding from existing World Bank programmes, according to an internal document viewed by Reuters. The World Bank document did not name the ‌countries or the total amount of funds potentially being sought. The World Bank declined to comment. The document showed that three countries had approved new instruments since the Middle East conflict began on February 28, while the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing in a much weaker position than he did more than four years ago, when he launched his invasion of Ukraine shortly after his last visit. US President Donald Trump left Beijing after much fanfare. However, he was criticised back at home for failing to deliver on any key aspect of American interests, such as committing China to pressuring Iran to end the war on US terms. His popular support is at a historic low. Putin, Trump and Chinese President...

In 1957, the Soviet Union kicked off the Cold War’s space race, shocking the world by sending Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, into orbit. Four years later, it did the same to cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, making him the first human in space. In 1969, the US provided another image that defined the era: Neil Armstrong leaving the Eagle lunar lander and planting the American flag on the moon, declaring it “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” For the two superpowers, the...

SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that Nasa is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he was taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It is the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But...

A US federal judge dismissed a criminal case on Friday filed against a Salvadorean man at the centre of a row over US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on migrants. US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled that the indictment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia by the Trump administration’s Justice Department was “an abuse of prosecuting power”. Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident married to an American woman, was among more than 200 people sent to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison in March of last year. The...

In an era when technology seems to defy all limits, one age-old barrier has managed to endure: geography. As geopolitical turbulence continues to disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz – a vital shipping artery, especially for energy – the search for other fuel sources, and other means of transport, has shifted from a strategic luxury to an existential necessity. This need has become particularly acute for China, a major consumer of fossil fuels. Middle Eastern imports remain a significant...

US ⁠President Donald Trump said on ⁠Friday he would not attend the ⁠wedding of his eldest son, Donald Trump Jnr, to Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson, because he has to stay in Washington for government business. “While I very much wanted to be with my son, Don Jr., and the newest member of the ‌Trump Family, his soon to be wife, Bettina, circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “I...

Foreigners applying for permanent residency in the US will now have to go back to their home countries to seek green cards. “From now on, an alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a green card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances,” Zach Kahler, a spokesman for US Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a statement on Friday. “This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivising loopholes,”...

Kevin Warsh, whose broad criticism of current US ⁠Federal Reserve officials, playbook for rate cuts and ties to President Donald Trump elevated him past ⁠other contenders to lead the central bank, was sworn in as Fed leader on Friday at a pivotal moment for monetary policy and the American economy. Warsh, wearing a dark suit and tie and accompanied by his wife, Jane Lauder, heiress to the Estee Lauder fortune, was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas after a lengthy introduction by...

Tulsi Gabbard said on Friday she was resigning ⁠from her job as US President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, saying her husband had been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and that she was stepping away from her role to help him. Gabbard advised Trump of her intention to step down during an Oval Office meeting on Friday, Fox News Digital reported earlier. The resignation is effective June 30, it said. A source familiar with the matter said ‌that Gabbard had been forced...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered his military to prepare options to retaliate against Ukraine for what he described as a drone attack on a student dorm that killed six people and wounded dozens, with 15 still unaccounted for. Putin said the attack had struck the dorm in Starobilsk in Luhansk, a Russian-controlled region in eastern Ukraine. He said Kyiv’s military must have ‌known what it was targeting. Ukraine’s military denied the Russian accusations and said it had struck an...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday that Alberta was “essential” to the country’s future, hours after the province’s leader moved the oil-rich region closer towards a referendum on independence. Separatists in the western province spent months collecting signatures seeking to trigger a binding October vote on seceding from the nation. On May 4, they delivered their petition to provincial officials, insisting they had collected more than enough names to force a vote under Alberta...

Everlane, the retailer that bucked the fast-fashion industry by promising affordable ethically sourced and sustainable clothing, is being acquired by the king of fast-fashion, China’s Shein. A letter to Everlane employees from CEO Alfred Chang confirming the deal was obtained by Associated Press on Friday. Everlane did not disclose a purchase price. Shein declined to comment. Everlane was founded in 2011 by Michael Preysman and Jesse Farmer with a mission to produce eco-friendly and affordable...

France’s former prime minister Gabriel Attal said on Friday he would run for president next year when Emmanuel Macron steps down, becoming the second prominent centrist to challenge the far-right. “I can’t take this kind of French politics anymore, where it’s just 50 shades of managing decline,” said the 37-year-old, who was France’s youngest prime minister when he served in 2024. He announced his bid under a blazing sun in the southern village of Mur-de-Barrez – the kind of rural area where...

The head of the World Health Organization said on Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is “spreading rapidly” and now poses a “very high” risk at the national level. WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN health agency was revising upwards to “very high” its assessment of the risk within Congo, which had previously been deemed as high. The risk remains high for regional spread and low at global levels, he told reporters. The WHO chief noted that 82 cases have been...

French ⁠President Emmanuel Macron said on ⁠Friday that the government will invest an additional €1 billion (US$1.16 billion) in its quantum strategy and €550 million to support the microelectronics sector, as global powers race to be first to leverage ‌emerging technology. “I’ll say it out loud. We have the means to be the winners of this race,” Macron said while announcing the funding. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled plans to take US$2 billion in equity stakes...

Perhaps the most fascinating and important aspects of US President Donald Trump’s jolt to the global economy have been its unintended consequences, especially the impact on relations between China and India. Two consistent aspects of Trump’s meandering narrative are to “make America great again” by bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US, and to hobble China as an economic and strategic threat. A decade later, there has been negligible progress on either objective. Instead, the unintended...

Bowing to pressure ⁠from within its ranks, the Democratic National Committee released on Thursday its long-withheld “autopsy” of Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race – only to quickly disavow it. The report found that Democrats have ceded ground to Trump’s Republicans through underfunding of state parties and a “persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all ‌voters”. In particular, Democrats underperformed among male voters, non-college voters, irregular...

The Brazilian head of a victims’ association for the 2009 crash of Flight 447 from Rio to Paris said that justice has yet to be served in France’s worst aviation crash after a Paris appeals court found Airbus and Air France guilty of manslaughter. Air France and Airbus, two of France’s most emblematic companies, said in separate statements that they would appeal Thursday’s ruling, potentially prolonging the legal battle for years. Brazilian Nelson Faria Marinho, who lost his son in the crash...

Paul McCartney led an all-star line-up for the final episode of The Late Show as frontman Stephen Colbert bowed out after broadcaster CBS cancelled his show as it courted US President Donald Trump. But one A-lister who eluded the comic to the end was the pope, whom Colbert, a devout Catholic, had long touted as his dream guest. “The pope, who was definitely my guest tonight, has cancelled,” Colbert joked, blaming a dispute over hot dogs before McCartney appeared to rapturous cheers. The show,...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Substance for Putin, ‘face’ for Trump as China, Russia deepen strategic alliance Days after US President Donald Trump’s visit framed around managing risks, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin reached a...

When Air Force One touched down in Beijing, one of the most photographed passengers was Boeing’s chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, there to close a deal. Washington had come to sell aircraft. Beijing was buying something else. The last time this scene played out in 2017, China signed an agreement for 300 Boeing aircraft. Since then, it has pursued an industrial programme aimed at reducing dependence on precisely such orders. That effort has not failed, but neither has it advanced at the pace...

The leader of a Minnesota non-profit group was sentenced to 41 years in prison on Thursday after she was convicted last year of being the ringleader of a US$250 million ‌scheme to defraud a federally funded child nutrition programme. Aimee Bock, 45, was charged in 2022 with using her non-profit group Feeding Our Future to enact what the Justice Department said was the largest known fraud against the US government’s relief programmes during the ⁠Covid-19 pandemic. More than 70 other people have...

Immigrants and their advocates and lawyers are trying to interpret a new Trump administration rule that requires people to be in their native country to apply for a green card.

The deadly virus has spread alarmingly in Congo for months. Only now is the response taking shape.

More than 170 deaths and about 750 cases are suspected. The United States restricted entry for people who have been to three African countries.

For 47-year-old Erin Millender, this will likely be her last chance to become a mother. Her husband no longer wants to have a child with her.

The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating to determine who shot the bystander, who underwent surgery, and how many bullets were fired.

Shots were fired near the northwestern corner of the White House complex, while President Trump was inside the building. The Secret Service returned fire, killing the gunman.

A tough re-election race grew more daunting after President Trump backed Mr. Cornyn’s opponent, Ken Paxton. The Texas senator has vowed to fight to the end.

Graham Platner, a Senate candidate in Maine, blamed private equity for destroying “our favorite baseball team.” NESN, which is owned by the team, pulled his campaign ad, citing an intellectual property violation.

The R.V.s are seen as an eyesore — the most visible sign of the state’s homelessness crisis. Neighbors and politicians want them gone. The people who call them home feel under siege.

As YIMBYs and NIMBYs debate where to build housing, a project in Jersey City, N.J. shows how seemingly irreconcilable sides can find common ground.

Property guardianship, in which residents live in otherwise vacant buildings, used to be considered edgy. But as the rental market tightens, more people are embracing the arrangement.

The government’s A.I. Security Institute, staffed by alumni from OpenAI and Google, is becoming a model for countries grappling with A.I.’s emerging risks.

Demand for security engineers has surged as artificial intelligence generates a glut of new code and models like Anthropic’s Mythos create new concerns.

Scientists shared transcripts with The Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces.

The tank in Southern California has been building in temperature and pressure for days, which could lead to an explosive release. The crack may reduce some of that pressure, officials said.

A decision to stave off litigation between Fox and FIFA turned into a bonanza worth hundreds of millions of dollars in discounted World Cup rights to the broadcaster.

The Italian activist, who died on Thursday, built his global movement on the idea that eating well could make modern life more meaningful.

Through his Slow Food organization, he spurred a worldwide shift toward sustainability and thoughtful cuisine.

An expert in human behavior explains how Democrats can change their primary process to improve their chances in 2028.

Even doctors can learn something from A.I.

Andriy Melnyk, criticized as a Nazi collaborator and lionized as an anti-Soviet resistance leader, was given state honors for his reburial near Kyiv.

In a speech, Isaac Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, delivered a grave indictment of settler attacks in the West Bank and abuse of prisoners.

For nearly two decades, the prolific puzzle maker, a retired urologist, charmed solvers with his penchant for witty, waggish puns.