Minimalist News

US At 250: Why America Has Been So Successful And Can It Continue To mark the 250 year anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, Deutsche Bank has published a report looking at how the US emerged as a global superpower, and why it’s likely to remain one despite new challenges. First, DB considers how the US went from being a comparatively small country to the world's pre-eminent global power. These reasons range from the US' natural advantages, like favorable geography, to factors like its institutional stability and risk-tolerant capital markets. DB then considers the challenges that threaten US outperformance

Foreign-Born Population Grows, But Relative Size Not Unprecedented While the number of immigrants in the U.S. as well as their share of the population has generally been rising , Statista's Katharina Buchholz points out that the level of the foreign-born population is not unprecedented . As of 2024, the latest year available through U.S. Census data, 14.8 percent of the U.S. population was foreign-born. Data aggregated by the Migration Policy Institute shows that throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the foreign-born population of the U.S. had been just as high , before reaching a low of just 4.7

"You Cannot Kill The Beast Until You Name It": Democratic Politician Denounces Declaration Of Independence Authored by Jonathan Turley, Pennsylvania state and socialist Chris Rabb, the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, has joined the growing chorus of Democrats denouncing the founding documents and core institutions in the country on our 250th anniversary. The Democratic socialist is running unopposed for Congress and will almost certainly be a member of Congress after November. Rabb spoke at an event billed as “America at 250 — Trump Fascism, Historical Erasure, and the Battle Over Truth” at People’s Plaza on Independence Mall in

Anthropic Moves To Shut Loopholes Letting Chinese Tech Firms Access Claude Days after the Commerce Department lifted three-week-old export controls on Anthropic's Fable and Mythos AI models over national security concerns, a new report says the company is moving to close loopholes that have allowed Chinese firms to access its most advanced models. The Financial Times cites people familiar with the matter who say Chinese companies, such as Ant Financial, used overseas subsidiaries, cloud providers, and internal corporate networks to access AI chatbots such as Claude Code. To note, Alibaba owns about one-third of Ant Financial. Alibaba was recently blacklisted

Saudi Delegation Makes Unexpected Appearance In Tehran For Start Of Ayatollah's Funeral Friday and Saturday kick off what will be up to a week of solemn funeral observances for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - a major historic event which is expected to draw some 15 to 20 million mourners in Tehran and across Iranian cities. Iran on Thursday issued a warning to the United States and Israel, Reuters reported: " We warn the enemies of Iran, especially the U.S. and the Zionist regime (Israel), to avoid any miscalculation and to think about the harsh retaliation our armed

Why The Left Really Hates Trump's America 250 Celebration Authored by Fred Fleitz via American Greatness, Earlier this week, I walked around the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Despite the heavy negative press coverage, I thought it was impressive and inspiring. The event boldly portrays American patriotism and exceptionalism across our great nation to celebrate our country’s 250th birthday. It runs from June 25 through July 10, featuring more than 150 exhibits from all 56 U.S. states and territories, along with businesses, innovators, and civic organizations. There is a towering Ferris wheel, a stage

Secret Service Missed 102 Warnings Before Trump Assassination Attempt In Butler: Report Authored by Tom Gantert via The Epoch Times, The U.S. Secret Service missed multiple opportunities to detect, prevent, and disrupt the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, including missing more than 102 radio transmissions warning of a suspicious person, a Department of Homeland Security report concluded. The report , released on July 2 by the department’s Office of Inspector General, chronicles a series of communication failures, inadequate planning, limited intelligence sharing, and security lapses that combined to create the conditions that allowed gunman Thomas

Centrus Energy Signs Billion Dollar Contract With DOE For Uranium Enrichment Following up from the announcement earlier this year when the Department of Energy (DOE) chose multiple companies to receive grant money for restoring domestic uranium enrichment capacity , Centrus Energy has now finalized a contract valued over $1 billion (including options). "Centrus is competing for funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand U.S. enrichment capacity." Competing with whom? How much you need? $5BN? $10BN? $20BN? Done https://t.co/i1t7vf3bdl — zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 25, 2025 Centrus will transition the existing cascade at their Ohio plant from a government-supply production

The Fuel-Mix Saving America's Largest Grid From Blackouts Today Power prices soared on Thursday across PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest grid operator serving 67 million people across 13 states, as a brutal multi-day heat dome pushed electricity demand toward critically high levels and raised the risk of rolling blackouts. Ahead of triple-digit temperatures today across the Mid-Atlantic, including Washington, DC, Baltimore, and New York, PJM has declared a level 2 grid emergency and ordered emergency load reductions. The alert, one step below a warning of imminent rolling blackouts, applied across PJM's territory from Illinois to Washington, DC. Under North American

Interpol Fingers Snake-Tattooed Ukrainian Woman In Monaco Oligarch Bombing Update 2: Interpol has identified 39-year-old Ukrainian woman Anastasiia Berezovska as the suspect in the Monaco bombing which targeted a Ukrainian tycoon. In a Red Notice posted on its website, the police organization released two photos of the suspect on Friday - noting that she has a tattoo - which appears to be of a snake, on her right arm which extends from shoulder to elbow . The notice also says she has dark hair and speaks German. The suspect was seen running away from Monaco on Monday while wearing a

Futures Rebound With Cash Markets Closed; Gold, Bitcoin Jump While US cash markets are closed for the July 4th holiday, stocks around the world rebounded from yesterday's momentum rout as the latest round of jitters about the AI trade subsided, with Europe’s benchmark rising to an all-time high. S&P futures rose 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures rebounded 1.2% in thin holiday trading after South Korean memory giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics recovered, helping to drive a 2% rally in Asian shares after earlier tumbling with SK Hynix plunging as much as 30% from its all time high. Europe’s utility

Tibetan Man Sets Himself On Fire Outside UN Headquarters In New York Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, A Tibetan activist died on Thursday after setting himself on fire outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, according to the New York City Police Department. Police responded to an emergency call at around 6.30 p.m. ET on July 2 and found the man with severe burns, a police department spokesperson said in a statement to multiple news outlets. The man, who was an Uber driver, was carrying a Tibetan flag during the incident. He was transported to

Cafe Bombing Kills 9, Wounds 22, In Busy Court Area Of Central Damascus On Thursday a bomb ripped through crowded cafe in central Damascus, killing at least nine people and wounding 22 others , in an attack very near the main entrance of the Palace of Justice - in an area frequented by lawyers, courthouse employees and visitors. Al Jazeera correspondent Obaida Hitto, who reported from the scene in the aftermath, stated that "The casualties are higher because it is such a busy area." The death toll could rise given that many bystanders are being treated for severe injuries at

Watch: Shocking Footage Of Britain's Two-Tier Policing Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , In the latest sickening example of two-tier policing under Keir Starmer's government, a female officer in Birmingham charged straight into a street attack, shielded the three black aggressors, and then turned her aggression on their white British victim - an inebriated teenager who had just been randomly assaulted. While the attackers dispersed without consequence, multiple officers swarmed the white lad, barked obscenities at him, shoved him into a police car the wrong way round, and then dragged him back out again. A bystander who tried

Apple Intelligence Fails To Ignite "Upgrade Activity," UBS Says Apple Intelligence is not yet moving the needle or exciting the customer base the way Wall Street had expected when analysts pitched AI as the spark for a new iPhone upgrade supercycle . That narrative continues to sputter. UBS analysts, citing their latest Evidence Lab survey of more than 7,500 smartphone users across five major markets, found that Apple's AI features are "not driving upgrade activity ," with the share of respondents saying they would upgrade sooner for Apple Intelligence falling to about 24%, while those saying it has no impact

These Are The World's Most & Least Free Countries Global freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2025, according to Freedom House. More than 50 countries saw political rights and civil liberties deteriorate, including the United States. This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen, ranks the world’s most and least free countries using Freedom House’s 2026 Freedom in the World report, which evaluates political rights and civil liberties across 195 countries and territories. Finland topped the rankings with a perfect score of 100, followed by New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden at 99. Meanwhile, South Sudan scored 0, the lowest

What England Can Teach Us About 'Democratic Socialism' Authored by Stephen Moore via The Epoch Times, If you want to see modern-day socialism in action, look no further than to the other side of the pond at not-so-jolly old England. The story of Britain’s decline is a warning signal to those here in the States who are thrilled by the warm embrace of socialism. Right now, the Brits are having the same debate about the merits of socialism as we are in our major cities and blue states. In England, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the Labour Party is

Ukraine Plans To Hyper-Innovate Humanoid Robot Soldiers At the start of February, we pointed out that " humanoid warfare nears " and suspected these war bots were headed for Ukraine for testing. That hunch was confirmed by early March, after a TIME Magazine article reported that Foundation Robotics, a U.S.-based startup developing humanoid robots for industrial and military applications, had recently sent two Phantom MK1 robots to Ukraine for testing. Mike LeBlanc, co-founder of Foundation... The modern battlefield across western Eurasia has become the world's AI weapons lab , where drones, autonomous systems, electronic warfare, and ground bots are being

Europe's Climate-First Policies Fuel Resistance To Air Conditioning As More Than 1,300 Die In Heat Waves Via American Greatness, Europe continues to rely on alternatives to air conditioning even as deadly heat waves claim lives across the continent. Officials argue that expanding air conditioning is not a long-term solution. France’s record-breaking heat last week has been linked to about 1,000 deaths, most involving elderly people. According to World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , Europe has recorded more than 1,300 excess heat-related deaths since June 21. Despite experiencing fewer hot days than many other regions, it also records the

Canada Was A Liberal Paradise... Until The Liberals Took Over Authored by Mark Jeftovic via BombThrower.com, There was a version of this country that worked. This was a country that used to punch above its weight across all key metrics and in a large part, did so espousing classical liberal values. Multiculturalism here was both uncontroversial and functional. People came from everywhere, integrated, and got on with building lives, businesses and contributing to that overall ethos Canadian culture. Minority rights and gender equality stopped being fights and became defaults. Ontario, the most populous province, ran one of the cleanest grids

Port expansion and protections for whales part of BC and Alberta plan to expand country’s presence overseas The governments of Canada and the province of Alberta will move forward on a major new oil pipeline after the pair announced a plan to ease concerns of British Columbia and First Nations on the Pacific coast. Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, shuttled between British Columbia and Alberta on Thursday to announce more than C$150bn in new investments in both provinces, part of a broader project of reducing trade with the United States and expanding his country’s presence in overseas markets. Continue reading...

Thousands of volunteers are joined by overseas teams in the hope of finding more survivors in the rubble, reports Tom Phillips in Caraballeda. Photography and video by Manu Quintero When twin earthquakes tore through Venezuela’s northern coast last week, Israel Rivas was at home hundreds of miles away in the industrial city of San Félix. As the scale of the catastrophe became clear, the 24-year-old knew he had to react. A mechanic and budding photographer, Rivas gathered the money he had been saving to buy a new camera lens and jumped on a bus to make the 12-hour journey to

Security guard Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, 43, initially told rescuers not to tell his wife in case he did not survive A 43-year-old security guard who survived last week’s devastating earthquakes in Venezuela thanks to a pocket of air in his workstation cabin has been pulled from the collapsed basement of a shopping centre amid huge cheers from international rescue teams. Hernán Alberto Gil Flores had been trapped for eight days under the rubble of the Galerías Playa Grande in the hard-hit coastal port city of La Guaira since the back-to-back quakes struck. Continue reading...

Eleven-year-old developed symptoms 19 days after encounter in Ontario in ‘exceedingly rare’ case Doctors in Canada say a child who awoke to find a bat resting on his nose and mouth while visiting an Ontario cottage later died of rabies, in an “exceedingly rare case” that highlights the need for better public awareness. In a report published this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, infectious disease physicians confirmed that the 11-year-old boy died from rabies, a fatality they said probably could have been prevented with greater awareness of how the virus is transmitted. Continue reading...

Trump and US officials opted to keep USMCA alive on short leash of annual reviews rather than longer term renewal Donald Trump has refused to renew the North American trade pact he once championed as his signature deal, opting instead to keep it alive on a short leash of annual reviews rather than committing to another 16 years. Wednesday was the deadline built into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) for the three countries to jointly decide its fate, which is set to expire in 2036. Continue reading...

Official statement offers the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual and fatal incident in Beijing Chinese authorities said the man who flew a small plane into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper last week was a 66-year-old who had mental health problems. The statement published on Thursday offered the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual incident that occurred in Beijing’s central business district on the evening of 26 June. Continue reading...

Charges yet to be filed over incident in Mukdahan involving 11-year-old, as police seek to establish circumstances An 11-year-old boy has driven his parents’ truck into a Buddhist procession in Thailand, killing at least nine monks. CCTV footage shared by a local rescue group showed the moment the monks, wearing orange robes, were run over as they walked in procession along a road. The timestamp on the footage was shortly before 11am local time on Thursday. Continue reading...

Rebels shoot pilot and set his civilian ⁠plane on fire amid long-running low-level battle for independence in region Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s restive easternmost region of Papua have shot dead an American pilot and set a civilian ⁠plane on fire, in what a spokesperson for a local militant group described as a “message” to the US and Indonesian governments. Sebby Sambom, ⁠a spokesperson for the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), named the pilot as Nicholas F Gosselin and said separatist fighters had set his ⁠plane on fire after it landed in the Yahukimo region of Highland Papua province. Continue

Unmarried man and woman whipped 21 times each because they had violated province’s version of Islamic law A young couple in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province have been publicly caned after a Sharia court convicted them of violating Islamic law by kissing during a TikTok livestream. The court ordered the couple, a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, to be whipped with a rattan cane 21 times each for kissing without being married. At least 100 people witnessed the caning, carried out by a group of people wearing robes and hoods on a stage in Bustanussalatin City Park in Banda Aceh.

Law comes into effect that critics fear will further erode rights of Uyghurs and Tibetans, as well as allow Beijing to pursue dissidents abroad A new ethnic unity law has come into effect in China despite warnings from Taiwan, the United Nations and rights groups that it could threaten freedoms, especially for minorities. The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress aims to forge a “shared” national identity among ethnic groups, for example by strengthening the status of Mandarin as the official language. But overseas campaigners have argued it will further degrade the rights of ethnic minorities, such as Uyghurs

Exclusive: Data shows buyers are not rushing to get into the market, despite lower prices and less competition Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast First home buyers are starting to step back and investor demand is slumping in all areas except new property, as Australia’s housing market enters a downturn. Research shows the market is transforming, nearly two months on from a third consecutive interest rate rise and sweeping tax reforms. Continue reading...

Anti-abortion policies may have appeal, but with one in three Australian churchgoers born overseas, talk of a monoculture may put them off Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast When One Nation recruit Barnaby Joyce addressed anti-abortion campaigners at a Sydney rally in early June, the former deputy prime minister told the audience he could see “about 1,500 people who can hand out how to vote cards”. Christian leaders spoke at the rally. The Lord’s Prayer was recited. Many there were active churchgoers. Continue reading...

Emails sent between MP Anoulak Chanthivong’s staff take cautious approach to AI giant arriving in Sydney – despite the government’s encouragement Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The NSW technology minister’s office removed a reference to being “absolutely thrilled” about OpenAI opening a Sydney office after staffers joked a dystopian Skynet could be headed for the city within five years. Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI announced its first Australian office in August last year, before opening in December. Continue reading...

Fifty-six state branches want laws reviewed, while gambling, Aukus and Palestine also on agenda Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Fifty-six Labor branches have passed motions to the New South Wales state conference calling for controversial anti-protest legislation to be repealed or reviewed, with the entire left faction backing a motion for two of the laws to be scrapped. Gambling reform, Aukus and Palestine were also among the top issues in motions submitted by branches to the conference, the last before the March election and which is key in informing policy. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A teenager has been charged with murder after a 15-year-old boy was discovered with fatal stab wounds outside a community medical centre. AAP reports the boy was found critically injured outside Craigieburn Community hospital in Melbourne’s north about 7.50pm on Wednesday. A staff member from the clinic rushed to his aid and delivered CPR but he died at the scene. Continue reading...

Pope Leo urges Americans to live up to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence in his first major address to the US Pope Leo has used his first major address to his home country to praise the US history of ⁠welcoming migrants, urging Americans to live up to the ideals put forward in the ⁠Declaration of Independence. In his latest implicit rebuke to Donald Trump, the first US leader of the Roman Catholic church said the word “America” had become ‌a “byword for freedom” across the world because of the way the country welcomed migrants. Continue reading...

Deal including ‘national priority’ policy brings prospect closer of countrywide agreement between parties The prospect of a national coalition between Spain’s conservative People’s party (PP) and the far-right Vox party has drawn closer still after the two groupings sealed another deal that will allow the PP to continue ruling the southern region of Andalucía. The PP, which has governed the former socialist bastion for the past seven years, lost its absolute majority in May’s regional election , forcing it to look to Vox to help it stay in power in Spain’s most populous region. Continue reading...

Suspect seen in Germany after attack apparently targeting tycoon Vadym Iermolaiev The main suspect in a Monaco bomb attack this week that seriously injured a Ukraine-born business tycoon and two of his family members is a Ukrainian woman living in Germany who disguised herself as a man, authorities have said. Interpol, the international police organisation, on Friday issued a red notice for Anastasiia Berezovska , aged 39, describing her as German-speaking with dark hair and a tattoo, possibly of a snake, on her right arm from the shoulder to the elbow. Continue reading...

UK provisional peak of 37.7C shatters previous record by huge margin, while Germany hits all-time high of 41.7C Last week’s heatwave across western Europe shattered national June records and set new all-time highs. The UK recorded a provisional high of 37.7C at Lingwood in Norfolk on Friday 27 June, smashing the previous June record of 35.6C, set in 1976. Such a margin is exceptionally rare: temperature records are typically broken by 0.1C or 0.2C, not a remarkable 2.1C. Continue reading...

President says Washington’s relationship with Nato is ‘not reciprocal’ and ‘they were not there for us’ in Iran war Donald Trump has said it is “ridiculous” for the US to continue its “one sided” relationship with Nato, less than a week before a summit of the military alliance in Ankara. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that “They were not there for us!!!” and Washington’s relationship with Nato “is not reciprocal”. Continue reading...

Judge says evidence indicates attack on Pouria Zeraati outside home was carried out on behalf of Tehran regime Two Romanians who took part in a “targeted” knife attack on a television journalist in London “on behalf of the Iranian state” have been jailed. Pouria Zeraati, who worked for the Persian-language channel Iran International, which is critical of the Tehran regime, was left bleeding in the street after being stabbed three times outside his home in Wimbledon. Continue reading...

Country’s leadership vows to never surrender as memorial on grand scale aims to relay message of resistance to world In the small hours of Friday the police roadblocks, stalls, posters and army vans were starting to appear across Tehran, as millions of Iranians prepared to attend the long-delayed six-day funeral ceremony for Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader for 36 turbulent years. Khamenei was killed aged 86 in the opening salvo of the US-Israeli attack on the country in February, and the final farewell ceremony is intended to be an epic display of personal mourning, national power, resilience and social cohesion.

US president posts that meeting will take place on Tuesday in Qatari capital after exchange of fire in strait of Hormuz Iran is jealously competing with Oman as decision-maker over strait of Hormuz Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has agreed to hold talks in Doha after the US and Tehran traded fire in the strait of Hormuz this weekend, threatening the collapse of a ceasefire meant to keep the strait open and pave the way for peace talks. In a terse post on Truth Social, the US president claimed the meetings would take place in the Qatari capital, as

Tehran believes it should control the shipping route but its neighbour has its own plans for reopening it The strait of Hormuz is Iran’s chief bargaining tool in the negotiations with the US and so it was always likely to be the greatest point of contention. Every inch of the 24-mile-wide waterway is being contested in a test of wills and patience. For Iran, the continuation of the dispute is not a problem so long as it does not lose control. Continue reading...

Tehran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait amid efforts to open strait of Hormuz without Iran’s direct oversight Fresh hostilities in Gulf suggest US-Iran memorandum was too broadly worded A new round of escalating strikes between Iran and the US has continued, further undermining the fragile interim peace agreement between the two countries, and prompting Donald Trump to threaten violence that would ensure Iran “will no longer exist”. On Sunday, Tehran launched drone and missile attacks against Bahrain and Kuwait after new US strikes on sites in southern Iran, and threatened a “complete halt” to negotiations to end the war. Trump said

Local officials said preliminary reports showed the centre was unregistered and operating inside a privately owned residential building Fourteen children died after ⁠the roof of a tutoring centre collapsed in Pakistan’s eastern city of ⁠Lahore on Tuesday, ⁠rescue ​officials have said, as authorities opened the way for a possible negligence ⁠investigation. Punjab’s emergency service said rescuers found children and a 30-year-old female teacher ⁠under the rubble of the private after-school facility. The ​children killed were aged ‌five to ‌16 with most below nine. Continue reading...

Government hopes for 30% of city’s fleet to be electric by 2030, in move hailed as ‘gamechanger’ on air pollution The unruly chaos of Delhi’s roads would be unrecognisable without the rickshaws and scooters that zip through India’s capital in their millions, emitting toxic fumes in their wake. But now, ambitious policies aim to give the city’s most recognisable vehicles an environmental makeover. On Monday, Delhi’s government announced plans to eventually ban petrol scooters, motorbikes and autorickshaws in favour of those running on electricity, in an attempt to bring down dangerously high pollution levels in the city by the end

Exclusive: Activist tells of his life as one of India’s most prominent political prisoners and his opposition to the government of Narendra Modi Prison is hardest at sunset. As the thousands of prisoners incarcerated in Delhi’s most infamous jail are cast out of their cells and forced into the dank yard until darkness falls, prisoner number 626714 feels the punishing dread begin to rise. Yet the inmate – better known as Umar Khalid – was recently moved to discover that another political prisoner, exiled at a camp thousands of miles from India, wrote of the very same feeling more than

Pakistan says strikes were aimed at a terrorist group while Taliban condemn ‘cowardly act of aggression’ Pakistani airstrikes in three eastern provinces of Afghanistan killed 36 civilians and wounded 163 others, Afghan officials have said, as attacks between the two countries showed no sign of abating. Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the operations on Sunday night were aimed at a terrorist group his country blamed for a deadly militant attack in Karachi that killed three security personnel over the weekend. Continue reading...

Fears hard-won gains in reducing child mortality over 20 years are at risk after end of USAID funding for nutrition programmes Child malnutrition in Nepal has reached “alarming” levels, according to the largest ever survey of under-fives in the country. The new figures came just over a year after USAID, the former US flagship agency closed by the Trump administration in 2025, stopped funding work on child nutrition in Nepal. Continue reading...

Prime minister also speaks of his ‘intensely personal decision’ to step down in first interview since resigning Keir Starmer has warned his likely successor Andy Burnham that it will not be possible to spend less time focusing on international affairs. Speaking during a BBC interview, he also spoke of his “intensely personal” decision to announce his resignation last month after two years as prime minister. Continue reading...

Exclusive: National Crime Agency and safety watchdog issue guidance amid rise in explicit material online AI prey: why watchdogs are telling parents to protect children from nudification apps Parents should not put photos of their children on public display online, according to landmark guidance issued to tackle the rise of AI-generated sexual abuse material. The recommendation has come from the National Crime Agency and the Internet Watch Foundation, which fear that most people are unaware of the dangers posed by paedophiles and criminal networks. They suggest that parents and guardians make their social media accounts private or share pictures of

Party had justified plan to hang flags in Nottinghamshire on basis that local businesses would foot £75,000 bill A £75,000 scheme by a Reform-led council to hang union flags at sites across the county, which the party said would “not cost the taxpayer a single penny” as it would be sponsored by local businesses, has failed to attract a single sponsor, it has emerged. The plan to attach the flags to brackets on about 180 lamp-posts and other places was agreed in the autumn by Nottinghamshire’s council, won by Nigel Farage’s party in last year’s May elections. Continue reading...

Zoe Watts and Amanda Stanhope launched network after being repeatedly assaulted by partners while unconscious Two women who were drugged and raped by their partners while they were unconscious have said hundreds of people – including about 80 in the UK – have come forward to an international support group for victims of the crime. Zoe Watts and Amanda Stanhope, who were both repeatedly assaulted by their partners while unconscious, are calling for tighter laws to stop men sharing images and videos of sexual assaults and rape online. Continue reading...

Avoiding traditional questions and stilted broadcast clips, PM-in-waiting has evolved his style of media management He is due to become prime minister in just over a fortnight as parliament begins its six-week summer break. But at a marquee speech this week , he took precisely zero questions. So is Andy Burnham, as the opposition leader, Kemi Badenoch, claims, dodging scrutiny? His allies say no: he is simply going about it in his own way. The former Greater Manchester mayor is very obviously a different type of communicator from Keir Starmer, and therefore always likely to convey his message in methods

A fight between two groups of young people who knew each other escalated into gunfire, police said A shooting altercation between two groups of young people at a shopping mall in Dearborn, Michigan, left two people dead and a third injured over what is typically the most violent weekend of the year in the US, police said. The shooting occurred as the US began celebrating the Fourth of July, historically a holiday weekend that sees higher rates of gun violence across the country. In 2024, the Gun Violence Archive reported more than 500 shootings over Independence Day weekend. Continue reading...

Parasite cyclospora spreads through produce and water contaminated with feces and causes the intestinal illness cyclosporiasis The US Centers for Disease Prevention has been working to find the source of a parasitic illness that causes “explosive”, watery diarrhea, with more than 400 cases of the sickness reported across 18 states. The parasite, cyclospora, spreads through raw produce and water contaminated with human feces – and it causes the intestinal illness cyclosporiasis, whose symptoms include cramps, nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, low-grade fever and vomiting. The most commonly reported symptom is “watery diarrhea with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements”, according

People gather outside Madison Square Garden despite security keeping them from seeing anything noteworthy Taylor Swift ’s fans gathered in the heat outside New York’s Madison Square Garden on Friday for her wedding – or at least the celebration of it – to Travis Kelce, and the sense of being close to the superstar singer-songwriter and her NFL champion groom on their big day. Whether or not Swift and Kelce have already tied the knot, which has been at the center of contradictory reports, fans said they were thrilled at the union – and the location. Continue reading...

Weekend’s high temperatures and humidity ‘virtually impossible’ without climate crisis, researchers say The scorching heat blanketing much of the US this week would have been “virtually impossible” if not for the climate crisis, researchers have found, warning that the high temperatures could threaten Independence Day celebrations and World Cup matches this weekend. “The climate the country has today is fundamentally different to the one it had when the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence,” said Theodore Keeping, extreme weather and wildfire researcher at Imperial College London, in a press release. Continue reading...

Republican Liz Murrill was indicted for the alleged intimidation of New Orleans elected officials Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Louisiana’s highest court has granted a stay of the proceedings in a criminal indictment targeting the state’s attorney general, in the latest twist of a high-stakes political battle between Republican state leaders and Democrats who govern its most famous city, New Orleans . Liz Murrill, a Republican who is Louisiana ’s first female attorney general, was slapped with a 16-count indictment on Thursday by a New Orleans grand jury charging her with intimidation and malfeasance. The charges

Nasa launched a robotic mission on Friday to try to prevent one of its ageing telescopes from burning up in the atmosphere, a complicated operation expected to last several months. The unprecedented US$30 million effort involves sending a robot to rescue the Swift space telescope that is currently falling towards Earth. If successful, the mission could pave the way for giving other satellites a second life. Initially scheduled for Tuesday, the robot’s launch was postponed due to weather and then...

Germany ⁠does not have to shy ⁠away from talking up its record on defence spending, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday, when asked about US President Donald Trump calling Germany’s past efforts “ridiculous”. The issue of defence spending has loomed large as Nato leaders prepare to gather ‌next week in Ankara, where Europeans aim to set aside strife with Trump over Iran and Greenland and show they are stepping up to defend the continent. “Germany is doubling its defence budget within four...

Interpol on Friday named the suspect in the Monaco bombing that reportedly targeted a Ukrainian tycoon with links to Russia. It identified Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old woman from Ukraine, as the suspect in a Red Notice posted on its website seeking her arrest. Monaco authorities have not identified any of the three people wounded in Monday’s explosion at a residential building entrance but said they are a family and that they appear to have been specifically targeted. Media reports...

Experts agree that humans can only comfortably survive in the thermoneutral zone, a surprisingly narrow Goldilocks range between 17 and 24 degrees Celsius. This gives us a problem as climate change pushes up summer temperatures alarmingly, resulting in record heatwaves around the world. Already, about 12 per cent of the Earth’s land area is uninhabitable due to deadly climate conditions. This is set to rise to over 45 per cent by 2100, with at least 44 per cent of the world’s population likely...

Iranian leaders began paying their respects on Friday before the coffin of the country’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral. Khamenei’s body arrived at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla on Friday ahead of ceremonies which are expected to draw millions. A coterie of foreign dignitaries is also due to attend Saturday’s official ceremony, with Tehran’s chief negotiator calling for a massive turnout to...

Germany’s ruling coalition has pledged to take a tougher line on defending trade at the continental level, signalling a potential shift by a country long seen as the European Union’s main brake on stronger action against China. The pledge formed part of a 34-point package to revive Germany’s ailing economy that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition agreed to on Thursday. While the document did not mention China, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said the government was adopting a...

Venezuela’s Interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday rejected allegations that her government reacted ⁠too slowly to destruction caused by two earthquakes which killed more than 2,000 people, after days of widespread criticism of the official response. Civilians of all stripes - including survivors, family members, volunteer paramedics and foreign rescue teams - have descended on disaster areas, especially the hardest-hit northern state of La Guaira, since the 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude quakes...

Maria believed she was romancing a prince from Dubai, captivated by his flirtatious smile and declarations of affection he showered on her during live video calls. But the suitor was an AI deepfake, making her yet another victim of an online romance scam. The case illustrates how fraudsters posing as the real-life crown prince of Dubai ensnare victims by cultivating online relationships before swindling them out of money, with researchers tracing some of the scams to crime syndicates in...

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. Chinese tech makes desalinating seawater cheaper than producing bottled water Desalination has always been an energy-hungry way of turning salt water into fresh water, making it largely the preserve of wealthy countries with abundant...

An “unforgettable” tribute to America, or a health hazard that will terrorise animals and pollute the environment? That is the question as Washington prepares to break the record for the world’s largest fireworks display on the United States’ 250th birthday on Saturday. The Trump administration’s “Freedom250” project has hired Pennsylvania-based Pyrotecnico to launch more than 850,000 fireworks shells across 10 sites around the Lincoln Memorial and Potomac River, starting at 10.30pm and lasting...

The latest child suicide figures from the Education Bureau make for grim reading. For three academic years in a row, suspected suicide cases among primary and secondary school students have remained stubbornly high – 32 in 2023, 28 in 2024, and 31 in 2025. Despite a deluge of government resources, the three-tier emergency mechanism in secondary schools and public awareness campaigns, these numbers refuse to budge. We must ask ourselves a difficult question: why are we failing our children? Of...

The Nato summit beginning on Tuesday in Turkey is expected to be low-key as European members track their progress towards increased defence spending goals and Beijing watches intently from afar. Low-key, that is, with one major caveat. Will the get-along US President Donald Trump show up, or the raging Trump who slammed the alliance, questioned its purpose and threatened repeatedly to take his military and head home? Early indications suggested it would be the raging one. “The United States...

The first act of pop sensation Taylor Swift’s wedding to NFL star Travis Kelce kicked off Thursday, with a rehearsal dinner for 100 guests ahead of a star-studded extravaganza at the famed Madison Square Garden. The billionaire singer and three-time Super Bowl champion, both 36, have kept fans guessing, but media reports describe an over-the-top celebration befitting one of the world’s most famous couples. The A-list festivities kicked off Thursday evening with an exclusive dinner for 100...

A former Olympian was indicted on Thursday on a felony charge in what US President Donald Trump has called vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where a renovation project he launched has been riddled with problems. David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, was indicted on a single count of property destruction in Washington DC court. District of Columbia US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Hearn ripped up recently installed sealant on the pool in “a deliberate act” that caused more...

Two British teenagers convicted of rape must serve time in custody, an appeal judge ruled on Thursday, after a public outcry over a judge’s decision to spare them detention. Lower court judge Nicholas Rowland in May sentenced the two 15-year-old boys to three-year youth rehabilitation orders, saying he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”. However, the sentences provoked a severe backlash, prompting Attorney General Richard Hermer – the government’s chief legal adviser –...

China told the European Union that it is open to exploring ways to cut its massive trade surplus with the bloc during talks in Brussels this week, according to multiple people briefed on the discussion. Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao signalled to EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic that China was willing to consider purchase agreements covering European goods. The discussions touched on lowering tariffs on EU-made goods, in a rare sign that China recognises that its billion-euro a day trade...

A bomb blast rocked a cafe in Syria’s capital Damascus on Thursday, killing nine people and wounding 20, authorities said, in the latest challenge for the country’s Islamist leaders as they seek stability after more than a decade of war. The bombing – the deadliest since a suicide attack on a church last year – was not immediately claimed. It took place near the capital’s Palace of Justice, a key government building, sparking scenes of panic in the busy area. “The explosion that occurred in a...

The World Health Organization on Thursday declared an end to the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship which sparked international alarm, after the last person left quarantine. There were 12 confirmed and one probable case stemming from the MV Hondius, including three deaths. But while the outbreak is now over, for scientists and experts, the work is only in its early stages, as they try to learn lessons from the episode that triggered a global health alert. “Today, the final contact of a...

Hundreds of rescuers in Venezuela cheered and embraced Thursday after pulling a 43-year-old man alive from the ruins of a collapsed building eight days after deadly twin earthquakes. The official death toll has risen to nearly 2,600 and huge numbers of people are still missing, which meant the rescue of security guard Hernan Gil after so long under the rubble was greeted as a miracle. Gil was brought out on a stretcher after a painstaking operation to extract him from the collapsed seven-storey...

The United States posted weaker-than-expected job growth in June as new data showed the labour market is facing headwinds ahead of the testing midterm election for President Donald Trump’s Republicans. Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 57,000 and the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.2 per cent, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) said in a statement on Thursday. After months of seesawing growth and contraction, the US job market posted strong gains in the last three months, but...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘I will sell to someone else’: Brazil’s Lula hits back at US after China beef win Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva thanked China for clearing the country’s beef of foot-and-mouth disease and fired a barb at US President Donald Trump, saying “I will sell to someone else”,...

China is trying to “infiltrate” the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement via Mexican automotive investments, a US manufacturing trade group said, as Washington indicated it would not renew the agreement that comes up for review this month. However, analysts cautioned that full decoupling from China’s automotive industry remains difficult, given North America’s continued dependence on Chinese-sourced motor vehicle components and Mexico’s legacy of export manufacturing plus quick access to the US...

Hundreds of people were besieging Lidl supermarkets in and around Paris on Thursday, with scuffles and shouting matches breaking out as residents scrambled to get their hands on bargain air-cooling units before the next heatwave hits the French capital. With few air conditioners on sale elsewhere for less than €1,200 (US$1,400), police were called to at least two stores as huge crowds descended on Lidl supermarkets trying to get their hands on basic models on sale for as low as €179. Mousa...

The Vatican on Thursday excommunicated six bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St Pius X and said any lay believers who “formally adhere” to the group would suffer the same fate. The Vatican decree comes a day after the traditionalist breakaway group consecrated four new bishops, defying a plea from Pope Leo not to do so. The decree called the ceremony “an act of schismatic nature”. For the Holy See, consecrating bishops without the approval of the pope is a direct act of...

It’s the 1000th day of war since a Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Other conflicts have emerged in the region, and fragile ceasefires show scars of persistent attacks. Both Israelis and Palestinians are weary of the strain. The fate of over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, largely displaced and living amid ruins, remains uncertain. Israeli forces controlled over half of the territory under the ceasefire that took effect on October 10, but Israel’s government has expanded...

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s trip to Canada highlights deepening ties at a time when Ottawa is seeking to court middle powers and establish its presence in the Indo-Pacific. Marcos is in the Canadian capital for a four-day visit that started on Wednesday, where he is set to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney in an effort to strengthen cooperation on trade, labour, energy and tourism, and enhance defence and maritime ties. He is also slated to meet Canadian business leaders and...

Doctors said Wednesday they feared the aftermath of Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes could trigger a widening medical crisis marked by untreated injuries, infectious diseases and a healthcare system already on the brink. Thousands of displaced Venezuelans are sleeping in crowded shelters or outside without access to clean water amid dismal sanitary conditions following the June 24 earthquakes which officials say killed at least 2,295 and left more than 11,000 injured. Aid workers said...

Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in the early hours on Thursday, killing at least 21 people, wounding scores more and damaging around 130 buildings in one of the biggest attacks of the war. Multiple explosions shook buildings and reverberated across the capital throughout the night as thousands of residents rushed to bomb shelters and underground metro stations. The attack caused the widest destruction in Kyiv so far this year, and was the...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that indirect talks with Iran in Qatar were making progress, offering a tentative sign that diplomacy was holding after recent exchanges of fire threatened efforts to end the Middle East war. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who led Tehran’s delegation, later said the talks had concluded and that the sides had agreed to establish a communication channel by Thursday to report and record violations of their initial memorandum of...

Martial arts icon Bruce Lee, who was born in San Francisco, will become the first Chinese-American in California history with an annual namesake day. Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law on Tuesday afternoon officially designating May 17 as Bruce Lee Day, according to the office of state Assemblymember Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco. An 18-year-old Lee returned to San Francisco on May 17, 1959, after spending his childhood in Hong Kong. Lee’s daughter, Shannon, who is CEO of the Bruce...

The United States confirmed on Wednesday it would not renew its North American trade pact, its trade chief blaming Canada’s pursuit of Chinese investment. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the three governments met virtually and that Washington would not endorse the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in its current form. “The United States did not agree to renew the USMCA in its current form. As a result, the USMCA is not renewed,” Greer said in a statement. The refusal did...

When people speak of the Great Game, they usually mean the 19th-century rivalry between the British and Russian empires for influence over Central Asia. It conjures up images of spies crossing deserts, mountain fortresses and imperial intrigue – an era vividly brought to life in Peter Hopkirk’s books, which first awakened my fascination with the region. A century and a half after the Great Game, another contest is unfolding across the same region. To the north is Russia, the region’s traditional...

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will celebrate their wedding at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the security plans. The festivities will kick off with a smaller rehearsal dinner planned for Thursday night, the official said. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss the events. Speculation about the superstar singer and American football player’s nuptials has built to a frenzy in...

A ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz while using a route not approved by Iran, state television in Tehran reported on Wednesday. The vessel was identified as a foreign container ship, with no other details. The report appeared aimed at underlining Tehran’s claims to control the strait, which the world has long considered an international waterway. A fifth of all oil and natural gas passed through it in peacetime. Since the US and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28, Iran...

A Russian couple of daredevil artists climbed to the top of the Empire State Building’s towering spire in New York City on Wednesday to unfurl a large banner urging world peace in what appeared to be an elaborate marriage proposal that ‌ended in their arrests. Dressed in sleeveless black outfits and documenting their time in the sky on social media, Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus hung onto the landmark skyscraper’s antenna spire near the glowing red light at its tip some 443 metres (1,454 feet)...

A Maltese tycoon went on trial on Wednesday accused of ordering the murder of a hard-hitting investigative journalist that rocked the island nation, brought down a government and drew global condemnation. Suspect Yorgen Fenech is charged with orchestrating the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, a prominent public figure and vocal critic who was killed by a bomb placed in her car near her home. “Nine years after my mother’s murder, the man accused of commissioning it stands trial,” the...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday took his maiden voyage on a new Air Force One – a retrofitted Boeing 747-800 worth US$400 million gifted by Qatar that embeds his personality more deeply into the institution of the American presidency. Gone is the trademark light blue hull that helped Air Force One blend into the sky. The refurbished jet is painted in Trump’s preferred colour scheme: a navy-blue belly with red and gold stripes. It has the luxury features that the president believes a...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering global relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. With no team in World Cup, Chinese fans root for Ronaldo, Messi … and a referee Among the hundreds of thousands of fans who travelled to North America for the World Cup are countless Chinese supporters. Yet while China remains one of the world’s largest football markets, its presence at the...

The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during their attack on El-Fasher city between 2024 and 2025, Amnesty International alleged Wednesday. Sudan has been mired since April 2023 in a brutal war between the army and the RSF, which has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, according to the United Nations. Both sides have been accused of atrocities, with a UN independent fact-finding mission in February concluding...

At least five people have been killed and many injured in a fire in an apartment block in the Belgian city of Antwerp, police said on Wednesday. The blaze broke out mid-morning on the eighth floor of the building, where more than 200 people live, in the city’s Linkeroever neighbourhood, sending vast plumes of smoke into the air, Antwerp police said in a statement. An evacuation of the 10-storey building was under way. “Right now, unfortunately, at least 5 people have died in the fire. There are...

Power has historically been measured by indicators such as territory, population, industrial production, military capability and economic scale. Those foundations remain indispensable. But each technological revolution has changed the nature of geopolitical competition. The Industrial Revolution rewarded manufacturing capacity. The 20th century rewarded industrial scale, military mobilisation and ideological reach. Globalisation rewarded efficiency, integration and financial connectivity. The...

Indirect talks in Doha, Qatar, between officials from the United States and Iran aimed at ending the Middle East war have started, a diplomat with knowledge of the talks said on Wednesday. The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, confirmed negotiations were under way after they earlier said the US and Iran were to hold “indirect technical talks on Wednesday in Doha with Qatari and Pakistani mediators”. The Doha talks are based “on the memorandum of...

Victor Willis, lead singer of the disco group Village People whose hit Y.M.C.A. became a fixture at rallies for US President Donald Trump, has died, his spouse said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. “It is with profound sadness that I must announce the death of my husband, VICTOR WILLIS. Victor passed away on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, as a result of a short, but aggressive illness,” the post on Willis’s official page said. The Texas-born musician, who was 74, was a co-founder of the Village People...

Spain recorded 1,029 excess deaths last ⁠month attributable to ⁠heat, official data showed ⁠on Wednesday, as a five-day heatwave with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) made it the second-hottest June on record. Data on the Health Ministry’s ‌daily mortality monitoring system MoMo showed this June had the most deaths attributed to heat since the same month in 2015. Average temperatures last month were 3.2 degrees higher than normal, weather agency AEMET said,...

Giant portraits of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s late supreme leader killed in US-Israeli air strikes, have been hung from Tehran’s Grand Mosalla as workers raced to prepare for his grand funeral ceremony. His funeral, initially delayed at the height of the Middle East war, will take place as Iran and the United States observe a fragile ceasefire after signing a preliminary deal to halt the conflict. Khamenei, a spiritual figure for many Shias, was killed aged 86 at his compound in the centre...

From large events in the biggest cities to small-town gatherings to backyard barbecues, a divided America is finding many ways to salute itself.

Foreign dignitaries paid their respects to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday as days of ceremonies got underway.

The Strait of Malacca may be a model for how Oman and Iran could collect fees in the Strait of Hormuz, but the differences between the waterways are vast.

We hear the couple has plans this weekend in New York City, as they look for their ever after.

The president has sent 260 F.B.I. analysts to Georgia, repeating his baseless claims of fraud in 2020. But critics say the intention is to undermine overall confidence in the electoral process.

And why the most patriotic approach to the Reflecting Pool may be to let the algae take over.

Nearly 5,000 Guard troops are in the capital, double the number initially deployed. Many have passed the time washing off graffiti and picking up trash.

The Social Security Administration will introduce a process to sign up babies for the investment program at the same time they are registered for a Social Security number.

Investor enthusiasm culminated in some of the worst cases of wealth destruction in the last 100 years, a long-running study shows.

When Vicki Gunvalson signed on for “The Real Housewives of Orange County” 20 years ago, no one knew she’d become a quintessential reality TV star.

Rotting food — millions of pounds of it — remains in an L.A. cold-storage facility damaged in a fire. Residents say the cleanup hasn’t been fast enough.

Francesca Hong, a state legislator running for governor of Wisconsin, wants to prove that a democratic socialist can win in a battleground. Some say she would hand the race to Republicans.

Assemblyman Robert Smullen, who lost a Republican primary, will not run on the Conservative Party line in his bid to replace Representative Elise Stefanik.

Julian Shapiro-Barnum, best known for a social media series called “Recess Therapy,” has started an online-only late-night show.

The Democrats’ constant solicitations for cash do not make their supporters feel like they are on a winning team.

Deep beneath a South Korean mountain, workers are reviving a mine that could challenge China’s grip on a metal vital to weapons, chips and industry.