Minimalist News

Tiger Woods Flexes Call With Trump Before DUI Arrest; Pardon Odds Remain Low Bodycam footage shows Tiger Woods telling local authorities on Jupiter Island that he spoke with President Trump shortly after he flipped his Land Rover SUV and was arrested for DUI. "You got it. Thank you, bye... I was just talking to the President," Woods told a local police officer seen in the bodycam footage. The officer was asking Woods to remain on the scene. Bodycam video was obtained by the New York Post. > Tiger Woods flexes his call with Trump to law enforcement after DUI: > > "You got it.

DOJ Is Done Releasing Epstein Files Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news, In a move sparking fresh skepticism among Americans demanding full accountability, the new acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has declared the Jeffrey Epstein files chapter closed. This came just hours after President Trump reassigned Pam Bondi, with Blanche - Trump’s former personal attorney - stepping in as acting AG and signaling it’s time to move on from the scandal. “The DOJ has now released ALL the files with respect to the Epstein saga,” Blanche stated on Fox News. He added, “I think that to the extent the Epstein files was a

Second US Warplane Lost: A-10 Warthog Crashes Near Hormuz Shortly After F-15 Shootdown Update(1535ET): Friday has witnessed a sudden spate of disasters for the US Air Force over Iran. The downed F-15 situation is still ongoing, there are unconfirmed reports a Blackhawk helicopter may have been shot down, and now the NYT is confirming an A-10 Warthog crashed in the Persian Gulf region: > A second Air Force combat plane crashed in the Persian Gulf region on Friday, and the lone pilot was safely rescued, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.  The A-10

Hegseth: Military Bases Are No Longer Gun-Free Zones Authored by Catherine Salgado via PJMedia.ocm, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has overturned the controversial rule banning firearms from military installations. Up until now, it was nearly impossible for servicemen to obtain permission to carry personal firearms on military posts and bases.  That is about the change. “Not all enemies are foreign, nor are they all outside our borders,” said Hegseth in an April 2 video. “Some are domestic. Confirming your God-given right to self protection is what I'm signing into action today. And I'm proud to do so.” > Our military installations have been turned into gun-free

Trump Proposes $1.5 Trillion In War Spending, 'Largest In Decades' Via The Cradle US President Donald Trump is asking Congress to boost military spending to $1.5 trillion for 2027, the largest such request in decades, while demanding cuts to domestic spending on social programs, AP reported Friday. The White House released details of the desired spending increase on Friday as part of Trump's 2027 budget proposal. The proposal comes amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, which is costing US taxpayers over $11 billon for each week it continues. US Army/AP image Last month, the Pentagon proposed receiving an additional $200 billion to backfill munitions and supplies used in the

Acting AG Todd Blanche: Investigating ActBlue Allegations Is A Top Priority The Democratic Party's premier fundraising machine is in serious legal jeopardy, and the new man running the Justice Department just made clear he intends to do something about it. The New York Times reported on Thursday that ActBlue’s own lawyers had warned its leadership in early 2025 that it may have lied to Congress about how it screens out illegal foreign donations.  In 2023, ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones sent a letter to Republican congressional investigators assuring them the platform used rigorous safeguards. The letter described "multilayered" screenings that helped "root out" overseas

Oil Shocks & Recessionary Outcomes Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, After more than three decades of watching oil markets upend economies, one pattern keeps repeating: investors learn the wrong lessons from the last shock. The 1973 OPEC embargo taught us that geopolitical disruptions are temporary. That lesson then got everyone killed, financially speaking, in 1979. The 2003 Iraq War produced only a mild oil bump and no recession, so traders got comfortable. Then 2008 happened. Today, with Brent crude having spiked over 60% since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran began in late February, the same dangerous reasoning is circulating again.

Senior Iranian Official Involved In Reaching Out To Vance Severely Wounded In Airstrike A top Iranian official who was involved in diplomatic outreach and indirect talks or messaging with the United States and Pakistani mediators was reportedly critically wounded in a US-Israeli strike. Kamal Kharazi, an 81-year-old senior adviser to Tehran and former foreign minister, lost his wife in the Wednesday strike on his home, state media has said. Kharazi chairs Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and has been viewed as a potential backchannel negotiator involving Islamabad, but now he's been hospitalized with serious injuries, state media has also said. "We have

Poison Ivey: Chicago Bulls Release Forward After He Speaks Out Against Pride Month Authored by Jonathan Turley, This week, the Chicago Bulls waived guard Jaden Ivey for “conduct detrimental to the team.” No, Ivey did not assault anyone or gamble on games. He did not call for violence. Ivey expressed his opposing religious beliefs, including criticizing the NBA’s Pride Month celebrations. There is no question that private companies have the right to control employees’ on-the-job speech, including barring demonstrations such as kneeling during the national anthem. However, the Ivey controversy exposes the hypocrisy of sports associations and teams in the combination of corporate virtue signaling and athlete speech limitations. Companies in

Services Sector Contraction In March Screams Q1 Stagflation Following S&P Global's Manufacturing PMI's better than expected print higher (signaling resilience in the face of March's war in Iran), the data released this morning showed the US Services Sector experienced a contraction of activity at the end of the first quarter of 2026. The headline S&P Global US Services PMI Business Activity Index recorded 49.8 in March, down from February’s 51.7 and lower than the earlier ‘flash’ estimate of 51.1. It was the first decline recorded in over three years amid the weakest rise in new work since April 2024. > “The PMI survey data

March Jobs Shocker: Payrolls Soar By 178K Most Since 2024, Blowing Away All Estimates; Unemployment Rate Drops We titled our nonfarm payroll preview post "a substantial bounce" and boy were we right: with consensus expecting a material rebound from February's negative print (which was revised as usual worse, from -92K to -133K), what the BLS reported instead was a huge beat to expectations of a 65K increase, with March jobs reportedly rising by 178K, the biggest increase since December 2024. The number was driven entirely by a surge in private workers which added 186K in March, far above estimates of 78K. Government

Why Are They So Obsessed With This? Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, As NASA’s Artemis II mission — the first crewed flight around the Moon in over half a century — gets underway, some in the media couldn’t resist injecting race into humanity’s greatest technical achievement. Instead of celebrating the engineering triumph and the daring crew pushing the boundaries of exploration, certain outlets fixated on skin colour and “representation.” This is the same crowd that claims to champion science, yet they reduce every milestone to identity politics. A Sky News reporter declared that the Apollo missions to the Moon “didn’t represent humanity because ‘Apollo was

Hegseth Ousts Chief Of The Army As Iran War Persists The Pentagon shake-up under Trump has not ended, as on Thursday Pete Hegseth has dismissed Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, asking him to step down into early retirement. The move is unusual, given this is the head of the Army and the United States is past the one-moth mark in Trump's Operation Epic Fury. A reason hasn't been given as to what amounts to Gen. George being effectively fired. CBS writes, "One of the sources said Hegseth wants someone in the role who will implement President Trump and Hegseth's vision for the

Cash Is King, Dowd Sees $10,000 Gold As The Credit Market "Is Starting To End The Party" Via Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com, Wall Street money manager and financial analyst Ed Dowd of PhinanceTechnologies.com warned at the end of January that the “Credit Destruction Cycle” was showing up in something called private credit.  Dowd was worried about extreme risk in the economy, especially with all the growth in lending in the last two years coming from private credit.  Has this gotten better or worse?  Dowd says, “It’s gotten worse, and it has spread..." > "The number if credit funds that have gated their investors keeps growing.  This is important because high

Liberal Council In UK Moves To Ban "Intimidating" National Flags Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, In the latest salvo against British identity, a Liberal Democrat-run council has formally branded the simple act of flying the England flag an “act of intimidation and division” – and backed it up with a legal notice threatening residents with prosecution. Oxfordshire County Council is pushing a county-wide crackdown by on the grassroots Raise the Colours campaign, which has been putting up Union Flags and St George’s Crosses in public spaces as a straightforward show of patriotism. The council’s message is clear: national symbols are now suspect. > A Liberal

Iran Unwilling To Meet US Negotiators In Pakistan, Talks At 'Dead End', As Trump Says 'A Little More Time' To Open Hormuz SUMMARY * Trump: US needs "a little more time" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while floating the prospect of seizing oil amid potential island or ground campaign. WSJ reports indirect talks at 'dead end'. * Iran and Hezbollah fire 140+ rockets during Jewish Passover, with sustained barrages hitting Israel * French-owned vessel becomes first Western-linked/European ship to transit Hormuz since war began, signaling a tentative thaw after weeks of near-total shipping freeze * Iran targets Gulf infrastructure, including

US Futures Drop Ahead Of Payrolls With Most Markets Closed US equity futures dipped ahead of today's payrolls report in a holiday-shortened session, with most cash markets including US stocks closed globally for Good Friday. Sifma, the US financial markets trade association, recommended trading of dollar-denominated bonds during US hours only and a 12pm New York time stop. As of 8:15am, S&P and Nasdaq futures are down 0.2%. Bonds dipped modestly in a holiday-shortened session, the 10Y yield rising 1bp to 4.31%. The dollar was mixed against its Group-of-10 peers.  Oil rallied above $110 a barrel Thursday after Trump issued fresh

Iran Attacks Kuwaiti Desalination Plant, Bringing Gulf Water Supplies Into Focus Just three days into Operation Epic Fury, we pointed out what may be the more consequential second-order risk, arguably even more important than the risk of data centers getting bombed (identified a month earlier): Are desalination plants the next targets in the U.S.-Iran war? Not even a week after we raised that question, the first worst-case scenario emerged. On March 8, one week into the conflict, an Iranian attack drone struck a water desalination plant in Bahrain. Fast forward to Friday morning, on the conflict's 35th day: Kuwaiti authorities claimed Iranian forces

Abu Dhabi Halts Operations At Main Gas Plant After "Falling Debris" From Iranian Strike Operations at Habshan, the UAE’s massive onshore gas-processing hub operated by ADNOC Gas in Abu Dhabi, were halted on Friday after local authorities said a fire broke out at the facility due to "falling debris" from a "successful interception by air defense systems" of an Iranian air-delivered munition.  "Abu Dhabi authorities are responding to an incident of falling debris at the Habshan gas facilities following a successful interception by air defense systems," the UAE's Emergency, Crisis, and Disaster Management Center wrote on X. The UAE's emergency crisis center continued,

"Make A Deal Before It's Too Late": Trump Threatens Tehran (Again) As Iran/Oman Draft Protocol To Re-Open Hormuz SUMMARY * World's most important oil price hits record high as Trump threatens Iran: "make a deal before it's too late" * Oil drops on reports of Iran-Oman coordination to reopen strait. Iran issues Israel/Gulf logistics hubs target list; IRGC targets Amazon Cloud computing center in Bahrain * US intelligence assessments say Iran is not ready to negotiate given it believes it has the strategic upper-hand, and doesn't believe Trump is 'serious' about talks: NYT * Highest bridge in Iran, connecting Tehran and Karaj, destroyed

Havana makes a Holy Week ‘humanitarian’ gesture as Russian tanker is allowed to reach oil-starved island * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Cuban authorities have begun to free prisoners after announcing they would pardon 2,010 inmates, the second release in less than a month as the country faces heightened US pressure. More than 20 inmates emerged from La Lima penitentiary in east Havana on Friday, holding their release papers, crying and hugging relatives who had been waiting for them all morning. Continue reading...

Tania Warner is fitted with ankle monitor and released along with seven-year-old daughter Ayla Luca after being deemed not a flight risk A Canadian woman and her seven-year-old daughter, who were held for nearly three weeks in a notorious detention center by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), were released on Thursday evening after posting a bond of $9,500. Tania Warner and her daughter Ayla Luca, originally from British Columbia, are both Canadian citizens. Warner moved to the US in 2021 when she married Edward Warner, a US citizen. “Very happy to have my family home … it’s been a whirlwind day,”

A Radio-Canada reporter noticed his maple syrup tasted odd; testing revealed it was adulterated with cane sugar An investigation by Canada’s national broadcaster has found that a major Quebec producer has been diluting its maple syrup with cane sugar and selling the fraudulent product to grocery chains. In a sting operation that involved false identities and covert recordings, journalists from Radio-Canada’s Enquête programme found that a low-cost syrup sold in major grocery store chains was heavily diluted. Continue reading...

Central American country to receive up to 25 migrants a week expelled as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox The Costa Rican government has agreed to receive up to 25 deported migrants a week from the United States, the latest deal in the Trump administration’s unprecedented efforts to deport scores of people to “third countries”. With the new agreement, Costa Rica seeks a closer alliance with Donald Trump’s government, which has been securing cooperation from other Central American countries in accepting deportees from other nations who have

US moves towards reestablishing working relations between two countries after abducting President Nicolás Maduro The US has lifted sanctions on Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, in the latest step towards normalising relations between the two countries after US forces abducted her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife. The couple were taken to New York after their abduction in January to face charges of alleged drug trafficking, to which both have pleaded not guilty. Continue reading...

From farms in New Zealand to factories in Delhi, the effects of the oil crisis triggered by the Iran war are rippling across Asia Continue reading...

Quake with epicentre west-north-west of Ternate island shakes cities and prompts regional tsunami warning One person has been killed after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Ternate island, damaging buildings and triggering small tsunami waves. The quake, which had a depth of 35km, occurred on Thursday at 6.48am local time, according to the United States Geological Survey. Its epicentre was 127km (79 miles) west-north-west of Ternate, an island in Indonesia’s North Maluku province. Continue reading...

Agreement comes after Wellington halted millions in aid to its former colony after Cook Islands formed strategic partnership with Beijing New Zealand and the Cook Islands have signed a defence and security declaration, ending a year-long diplomatic row that erupted after the Cook Islands struck strategic agreements with China. The Cook Islands was a dependent New Zealand colony from 1901-65 but has since operated as a self-governing nation in “free association” with New Zealand. Its roughly 17,000 citizens hold New Zealand citizenship. There are obligations between the two nations to regularly consult on matters of defence and security. Continue reading...

Distressed riders who were stranded for hours say Apollo Go customer service agents offered ‘useless platitudes’ A “system malfunction” has caused several self-driving robotaxis to stall in the middle of the road in China, police have confirmed, after distressed riders were stranded for hours. Local authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan said they began receiving calls “one after another” on Tuesday night from riders reporting that autonomous vehicles operated by the Chinese internet company Baidu had frozen. Continue reading...

South Korea will delay the shutdown of coal-fired plants, while the Philippines also plans to boost the output of its coal-burning plants Governments across Asia are ramping up their use of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, as they try to cover huge energy shortfalls triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran. The move has triggered warnings from climate experts who point to coal’s devastating environmental impact, and say the energy crisis should be a wake up call for governments to invest in renewables, which can offer a more stable supply that is not exposed to price shocks. Continue reading...

The telco’s sweeping price changes and the closure of its cheaper ‘starter’ plan risk putting off many of its loyal customers Telstra has long traded on its claim to have better – and far more expansive – mobile coverage than its rivals to justify a steep pricing premium that has accelerated in recent years. But the telco’s latest changes, which include steep price hikes and the closure of its cheaper “starter” plan to new users, combined with a dramatic rejection of its coverage claims by the industry regulator, risk putting off many of its traditional customers, according to consumer advocates. Continue reading...

Health minister Mark Butler says federal government is ‘not negotiating’ when it comes to removing price protections on common medications * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia will not cave in to pressure from pharmaceutical giants and the Trump administration by removing consumer price protections on common medications, the health minister, Mark Butler says. Donald Trump imposed a new 100% tariff on branded pharmaceuticals imported into the US overnight, Australian time, trying to force manufacturers to agree to drug-pricing deals or commit to making their products domestically. Continue reading...

Bureau of Meteorology says a blend of fine days and showers expected for most capital cities over the coming days * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Many Australians can expect mild temperatures and a chance of showers over the Easter weekend, while meteorologists predict a cyclone will form in the Coral Sea from Saturday evening. The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a blend of fine days and showers for most capital cities over the coming days. Continue reading...

Police say they found a ballistic-style vest, several notebooks and literature they allege contained extremist references Two New South Wales teenagers have been charged with allegedly possessing violent extremist material after police searched one of their homes and found a ballistic-style vest, several notebooks and literature they allege contained extremist references. The Australian federal police and NSW police released a statement on Friday morning confirming the boys, aged 15 and 16 and both from Moree in northern NSW, had been charged with possession of alleged extremist material after a joint counterterrorism investigation. Continue reading...

Visa ban makes Iranian-Australian feel her adopted country is a ‘home that doesn’t support you’ * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Hedieh Jamshidian feared the window to see her mother, living in Tehran under waves of airstrikes, was closing. The Australian government had just announced it could block some visa holders from entering the country. So, Jamshidian, a 32-year-old Iranian Australian, decided to act quickly. Within a week she bought her mother, who held a three-month tourist visa, a ticket to Sydney. Continue reading...

Footage shows US president saying UK ‘should be our best’ ally and accusing PM of prevarication over sending ships * Middle East crisis – live updates Footage has emerged of Donald Trump mocking Keir Starmer by claiming the prime minister said he would have to consult his team before deciding whether to send UK aircraft carriers to the Middle East. In a new low for UK-US relations, Trump appeared to impersonate Starmer during an Easter lunch speech at the White House. Continue reading...

South-east Italy also affected by heavy rain, and snow at higher altitudes, while deadly flooding hits Afghanistan Parts of the Mediterranean have been lashed by Storm Erminio this week. Heavy rain, thunderstorms and occasional bursts of hail affected much of Greece throughout Wednesday and Thursday, with the most severe conditions across south-eastern parts of the mainland and several islands in the southern Aegean Sea, including Crete, with streets flooded and vehicles stranded. Some of the heaviest rain fell on Wednesday across Attica, a region encompassing Athens, with one weather station near the city’s international airport recording 132mm (5.2 in) in 24 hours.

Plan for three nuns who escaped from care home last year to go to Rome thought to be positive sign of Vatican’s decision Three nuns who escaped from a care home to return to their convent in a castle close to Salzburg where they had spent most of their lives are a step closer to being able to stay there, sources close to them say. Sisters Bernadette, Regina and Rita, who are in their early to late eighties, broke into their convent home in Elsbethen last September with the help of former pupils of the Catholic school at which they had taught

‘Ukraine has expertise concerning sea waterways, and the defence and reopening of maritime traffic,’ says president. What we know on day 1,500 Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered on Thursday to provide Ukraine’s expertise in dealing with freedom of navigation in the Black Sea to those countries considering how to keep the strait of Hormuz open amid the conflict in the Middle East. The Ukraine president, speaking in his nightly video address, said the foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, had taken part in a virtual meeting devoted to reopening the strait of Hormuz, attended by about 40 countries. “Ukraine has relevant expertise concerning sea waterways,

Speaking in South Korea, the French president defended the transatlantic alliance and called for return to peace * Middle East crisis – live updates Emmanuel Macron has sharply criticised Donald Trump’s inconsistent and often contradictory pronouncements on the Iran war and Nato, saying if “you want to be serious” it was better not to come out with something different every day. “There is too much talk … and it’s all over the place,” the French president said on Thursday during a state visit to South Korea. “We all need stability, calm, a return to peace – this isn’t a show!” Continue reading...

US forces searching for second crew member after jet shot down by armed forces this morning; another US plane reportedly crashed in a separate incident and its pilot was rescued * US F-15E jet confirmed shot down over Iran as Tehran releases wreckage images Authorities in Abu Dhabi have reported two incidents of debris falling from intercepted aerial threats in the UAE capital, with one sparking a fire at a gas facility, The official Abu Dhabi Media Office said authorities responded to an incident of falling debris at the Habshan gas facilities. “Operations have been suspended while authorities respond to a fire,”

Officials say other remains missing in first downing of US fighter plane since start of war * Middle East crisis – live updates One US service member has been rescued after a US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter was shot down over Iran, prompting a frantic effort to locate its two-strong crew, in the first such incident since the war began almost five weeks ago. US officials familiar with the situation said one crew member was still missing late on Friday, after Iranian state media released images of a tail fin and other debris accompanied by an initial claim that an advanced US

International law experts ‘seriously concerned’ about ‘strikes on schools, health centres and homes’ in contravention of Geneva conventions Donald Trump, other senior US officials and their cheerleaders appear to be embracing attacks – and threats of attacks – on Iranian civilian infrastructure, which legal experts say appears to constitute serious war crimes under international law. In a rambling national address on Wednesday, the US president warned that if Iran did not reach an unspecified deal with him, US forces would “hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants” and “bring [Iran] back to the stone ages – where they belong”. Continue reading...

Country is torn between those who hope for end to Tehran’s influence and those loyal to Islamic republic Of all the countries being pulled into the US-Israeli war on Iran, it is Iraq – a country that still bears the emotional and physical scars of the last time the Americans tried to reshape the region by force – where the conflict has exposed some of the deepest rifts. The war is dividing those who see the attacks on Iran as a way to end Tehran’s longstanding influence over Iraqi politics from the self-declared loyalists of the Islamic republic, and cutting through state

People leaving Iran for Turkey tell of impact of bombs and internet blackouts, while others are travelling the other way to be closer to relatives in peril He could not help but splutter out a laugh at the question. Amir, whose name has been changed for his safety, had just crossed the Kapıköy border point in eastern Turkey, a mountain pass between snow-topped peaks that is one of the few gateways to the west from Iran. Until a few weeks ago, this was a busy place, popular among Iranian daytrippers coming across to Turkey to do some shopping in the lively city

Ripple effects of oil and fertiliser shortage felt by farmers in India and Sri Lanka despite governments saying there is enough stock to go round Gurvinder Singh never thought the war in Iran would touch his quiet corner of Punjab. Yet looking out over his smallholding, where he alternates between wheat and rice crops in the state known as India’s breadbasket, the 52-year-old farmer can barely think of anything else. His anxiety over a conflict playing out thousands of miles away is crippling as he fears what will come of this season’s rice crop. Continue reading...

Min Aung Hlaing seized control five years ago and plunged Myanmar into conflict and economic chaos Min Aung Hlaing, the military general who plunged Myanmar into conflict and economic chaos when he took power in the 2021 coup has been appointed president, months after widely condemned sham elections. Min Aung Hlaing, who is wanted by the prosecutor of the international criminal court for crimes against humanity against the Rohingya Muslim minority, was voted president by lawmakers on Friday. Myanmar’s parliament is dominated by the pro-military party, which won a landslide in one-sided elections earlier this year. Continue reading...

At least 77 people killed in anti-corruption youth uprising in September, which began over a brief social media ban Nepal’s former prime minister KP Sharma Oli was arrested early on Saturday morning over his alleged role in the deaths of dozens of people who took part in the gen Z protest that toppled his government last year. Police detained the three-time former prime minister at his residence in the capital Kathmandu, and also arrested his former home affairs minister Ramesh Lekhak. Continue reading...

Balendra Shah, 35, is a symbol of change in country whose government was toppled last year in youth-led uprising Nepal’s rapper turned politician Balendra Shah, who is about to be sworn in as prime minister, has issued his first post-election message in the form of a rap urging unity. Hours before the release he swore an oath as a newly elected lawmaker, and he is due to become the Himalayan republic’s new prime minister on Friday. Continue reading...

Marco Rubio welcomes release of Dennis Coyle, who was detained in January last year for violating unspecified laws Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have released the American academic Dennis Coyle after holding him for over a year, with the foreign ministry saying the release came on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. A statement from the ministry said the academic researcher had been released in Kabul on Tuesday, following an appeal from his family and after Afghanistan’s supreme court “considered his previous imprisonment sufficient”. Continue reading...

Misogynistic abuse of female staff is increasing, leaving teachers feeling ‘traumatised’ and ‘humiliated’ Teachers’ leaders have said a “masculinity crisis” is fermenting in schools across the UK, with misogynistic abuse of female staff on the increase, leaving victims “traumatised”, “demeaned” and “humiliated”. Almost a quarter of female teachers who took part in a union survey said they have been the target of misogyny from a pupil over the past 12 months – the highest proportion in the last four years of surveys. Continue reading...

Met police investigate incident, removing five officers from frontline duties after member of the public discovers items Armed police officers protecting the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, allegedly left a bag containing guns and a Taser on the street which was discovered by a member of the public. The Metropolitan police said on Friday it was investigating the incident and five officers had been removed from frontline duties while inquiries were being carried out. Continue reading...

PM gets widespread backing after president’s mocking impersonation takes US-UK relationship to new low Keir Starmer has been warned his relationship with Donald Trump may be beyond repair after the US president derided the prime minister for consulting his team about military decisions, in a mocking impersonation. In a new low for UK-US relations, Trump appeared to imitate Starmer in a weak voice during an Easter lunch speech at the White House, and said the UK was “not our best” ally. Continue reading...

Academics and youth workers say cuts to services and lack of public space help explain recent unrest in south London It started with a flyer sent around on Snapchat. Teenagers were invited to gather at a south London basketball court to celebrate the start of the Easter holidays. They were told to bring their own weed and laughing gas because it was going to be a late one. What followed in the hours after was chaos. Hundreds of young people came to the “link-up” last Saturday, and then gathered on Clapham High Street. Continue reading...

Victim of Woolwich shooting named as Eghosa Ogbebor as two boys and 18-year-old held on suspicion of murder Three teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 14-year-old boy was fatally shot in Woolwich, south-east London. The Metropolitan police said officers received reports of a shooting on Lord Warwick Street, Woolwich, at about 3.40pm on Thursday. Continue reading...

Budget proposal released on Friday outlines president’s desire to revive former federal prison in San Francisco Bay Donald Trump is asking for $152m to restore Alcatraz, a former federal prison off the coast of San Francisco, according to a budget proposal released on Friday for the 2027 fiscal year. Last May, Trump first called upon the Department of Justice, the FBI and Homeland Security to rebuild the prison. He heaped praise on Alcatraz’s reputation in a Truth Social post. Continue reading...

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer says that his party ‘will make sure it never passes’ * Trump announces ‘fraud’ crackdown in Democratic states * Sign up for the Breaking News US email A reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest out of the Middle East at our dedicated live blog. This includes Donald Trump’s recent comments on Truth Social that “with a little more time” he could open strait of Hormuz. The president added that reopening the vital passageway would allow the US to “TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE. IT WOULD BE A ‘GUSHER’ FOR THE WORLD.” Continue reading...

US president issues executive order as longest partial government shutdown in US history enters 49th day Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday that declares all Department of Homeland Security employees will receive pay and benefits during the agency’s partial shutdown. The “Liberating the Department of Homeland Security From the Democrat-Caused Shutdown” memo is similar to Trump’s executive order from last week which called for issuing pay to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents during the shutdown. In the order, Trump directed the homeland security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, to “use funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS” to

Catholic Timothy Broglio says ‘hard to cast this war as something that would be sponsored by the Lord’ The leader of all Catholic chaplains in the United States’ armed forces has questioned how righteous the US military’s campaign in Iran is, saying that “under the just war theory – it is not”. Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services USA, told CBS News in an interview set for broadcast Sunday that while Iran “was a threat with nuclear arms”, waging war on the theocratic state constituted “compensating for a threat before the threat is actually realized”. Continue reading...

US president makes baseless claims about fraud in blue states and says JD Vance will lead clampdown as ‘fraud czar’ Donald Trump announced a fresh crackdown on “fraud” in Democratic states and tapped JD Vance to lead the charge. Officials swiftly announced a string of arrests in California. In a Truth Social post on Friday, the US president announced that his vice-president was now “in charge of ‘fraud’ in the United States”, claiming the problem is “massive and pervasive” and that Vance’s new role as “fraud czar” will be “a major factor in how great the future of our country will be”. Continue

A French container ship and a Japanese-owned tanker have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, in what appear to be the first such transits since the war in Iran closed the crucial waterway. The CMA CGM Kribi container ship exited the strait on Friday, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg and two people familiar with the situation. That is the first ship linked to western Europe that is known to have made it through since the war began more than a month ago. Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines...

Russian strikes killed at least eight people across Ukraine on Friday, including in a “massive” missile and drone attack near the capital, local authorities reported. Ukrainian officials claim the Kremlin is changing its tactics to increase civilian suffering, shifting to daytime barrages and preparing to target more key infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelensky has signalled Kyiv’s openness to a potential Easter truce. The holiday is celebrated on April 12 in Ukraine and Russia. Zelensky...

American employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a dismal February, while the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3 per cent. The Labor Department reported on Friday that hiring marked a rebound from the loss of 133,000 jobs in February. The job gains were about three times what economists had forecast. The unemployment rate was down from 4.4 per cent in February. That is partly because the labour force – those working and looking for work – dropped by...

President Donald ⁠Trump on Friday said the ⁠US can open the Strait of Hormuz with a little more time, as pressure mounts for his administration to find a ‌quick resolution to a war against Iran. “With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL,& MAKE A FORTUNE,” he said in a post on Truth Social. Nearly ⁠five weeks after it started with a joint US-Israeli aerial ‌assault, the war in Iran continues to spread chaos across the region and roil ‌financial markets, raising...

The dust and debris of the US-Israeli war on Iran have yet to settle, but its strategic shock waves have reached East Asia. From Tokyo to Taipei, a reassessment is under way. The conflict, intended to project American resolve, has been a brutal stress test for the US-led order – with catastrophic results for Washington’s credibility. Far from cementing its primacy, America’s misadventure has revealed a superpower that is overstretched, vulnerable and seen as an unreliable partner. This erosion...

Human remains have been found aboard a cargo ship struck by Iran while transiting the Strait of Hormuz last month, the vessel’s owner said on Friday, after three crew members were reported missing following the attack. US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February prompted Tehran to respond by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial artery for global oil supplies. The Thai-flagged Mayuree Naree was struck in March while travelling through the strait after departing Khalifa port in the...

The Israeli military said Friday it had struck more than 3,500 targets across Lebanon in the month since fighting with the Hezbollah militant group began. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 after Iran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli attack that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel has responded with massive strikes across Lebanon and a ground offensive. The Israeli military said on Friday it had killed about 1,000...

Iran on Friday said it shot down an F-35 fighter jet. A statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s elite military force, said the fighter jet was shot down over Iranian airspace by a new, advanced defence system. There was no initial confirmation of the incident from the United States, which has been waging war against Iran alongside Israel since February 28. The IRGC said the F-35 was the second to have been shot down. “Due to the complete destruction of the aircraft,...

From controlling the weight of aircraft to sending more flights to Europe via Russian airspace, Chinese airlines have adopted a range of measures in response to the surge in oil prices resulting from the Middle East conflict that threatens to crimp their razor-thin margins. A number of carriers, including China Eastern Airlines, have been enforcing more precise and complex cost management measures in recent weeks to save fuel, according to industry insiders. They include stricter load and weight...

Threatening to destroy Iran’s electricity grid and to reduce the country of 90 million to destitution, US President Donald Trump is shattering precedent by not just accepting but gloating about acts seen as potential war crimes. The consequences for Trump, at least in the near term, are probably none, experts say, as his administration works hard to undermine international institutions tasked with keeping norms. The Geneva Conventions governing the laws of war, agreed following World War II,...

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. Controlled escalation? Trump hails ‘victories’ in Iran but vows more strikes US President Donald Trump declared the US‑Israel war against Iran had delivered “decisive, overwhelming victories”, even as he signalled that key military...

Cuba’s government announced on Thursday that it was pardoning 2,010 prisoners as a “humanitarian” gesture during Holy Week, after pledging in March to release dozens amid heightened US pressure on Havana. The major announcement comes days after US President Donald Trump eased a de facto oil blockade of Cuba by allowing a Russian tanker to deliver crude to the fuel-starved island. The Trump administration has called for change in communist-run Cuba’s system of government and the US president has...

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US President Donald Trump said on Thursday the tallest bridge in Iran had been destroyed, hours after threatening to bomb the country “back to the Stone Ages”. Ghodratollah Seif, the deputy governor of Alborz province, where the B1 bridge is located, said the strike had killed eight people and wounded 95 others, according to state TV and Fars news agency. Due to reporting restrictions, Agence France-Presse is not able to access the sites of strikes nor to independently verify tolls in...

After crashing his SUV last week in Florida, Tiger Woods took out his phone and told a deputy, “I was just talking to the president,” according to body camera footage released Thursday showing Woods’ arrest on a DUI charge. The phone conversation was not captured on video, but Woods could be heard saying, “Thank you so much,” as he hung up and the deputy approached. It was not clear if Woods was referring to US President Donald Trump, whose former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, is dating...

Four Artemis astronauts were zooming towards the moon on Thursday after a major engine firing, a milestone that commits Nasa to the first crewed lunar fly-by in more than half a century. With enough thrust to accelerate a stationary car to highway driving speed in less than three seconds, the Orion capsule engine blasted the astronauts on their trajectory towards the moon, which they now will loop as part of the 10-day Artemis II mission. “Human beings have left Earth orbit” for the first time...

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army’s top uniformed officer to step down, the Pentagon said on Thursday without giving a reason for the departure as the United States wages a war against Iran. General Randy George “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately”, said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman. George has held the post of Army chief of staff, which typically runs for four years, since August 2023 under the Biden...

In a leafy Tehran park on Thursday, Iranians gathered for picnics on the final day of the Persian new year holidays, shrugging off US President Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages”. The country has been at war for more than a month and Trump – who launched the conflict alongside Israel on February 28 – has vowed to strike Iran hard for another “two or three weeks”. Powerful blasts shook the Iranian capital on Thursday. Still, hundreds of families sat out under mild,...

After avoiding much of the churn, firings and senior official turnover that marked his first term, US President Donald Trump on Thursday added to the string of high-profile departures in recent days, as bad news heaped more pressure on the White House. The administration announced that US Attorney General Pam Bondi was leaving to be replaced by her deputy, Todd Blanche, in an acting capacity. “We love Pam,” Trump wrote on social media. “She will be transitioning to a much-needed and important...

Four children were stabbed to death on Thursday at a kindergarten in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, police said. The male suspect, in his thirties, gained access by posing as a parent before attacking children aged around two and three with a knife, police said. “We confirm a tragic incident at the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school in Makindye Division, Kampala City, where a male suspect brutally stabbed and killed four juveniles,” police spokeswoman Racheal Kawala said. The suspect...

A UK-led meeting of some 40 countries on the Strait of Hormuz crisis wrapped up on Thursday with a demand for the “immediate and unconditional” reopening of the vital shipping route but no immediate breakthrough. “Iran is trying to hold the global economy hostage in the Strait of Hormuz. They must not prevail,” British foreign minister Yvette Cooper said in a statement. “To that effect, partners today called for the immediate and unconditional reopening of the Strait and respect for the...

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. Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi plans to flip the script on Beijing Allies of exiled Iranian royal Reza Pahlavi signalled a potential reset in Tehran’s ties with China and Russia, as the 65-year-old increasingly positioned himself as a central figure in Iran’s political future – a claim that...

Stocks slumped and oil prices soared on Thursday after President Donald Trump vowed the US will continue to attack Iran and failed to offer a clear timetable for ending the conflict in the Middle East. The S&P 500 fell 1.1 per cent, with three out of every four stocks in the benchmark index losing ground. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 545 points, or 1.2 per cent, as of 9.52am Eastern. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.6 per cent. Major indexes throughout Europe and Asia also fell. The broad...

The suspected leader of an isolated forest community on the Mediterranean island of Sicily has been arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting child abuse, Italian news agencies ANSA and Adnkronos reported on Thursday. The suspect is a man of German-Indian origin. He is said to have led a community of 15 people, including two children, who lived in a forest near Cefalu on Sicily’s northern coast. The two children, aged 7 and 11, were reportedly not vaccinated, did not attend school and had to...

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that a military operation to liberate the Strait of Hormuz is “unrealistic”, while lamenting Donald Trump’s differing daily statements on the Iran war and Nato. “There are those who advocate for the liberation of the Strait of Hormuz by force through a military operation, a position sometimes expressed by the United States,” Macron said during a visit to South Korea. “I say sometimes because it has varied, it is never the option we have chosen...

A month into the Iran war, Washington still says it expects to achieve its objectives in weeks, not months. That may prove optimistic. The terms on offer from the United States and Iran barely overlap, and markets remain unconvinced a durable settlement is close. But one fact is clear: the war’s most consequential effects may be felt not only in the Middle East but across East Asia. It would be a mistake to see this as only an oil story. It is also about hierarchy. In East Asia, the war is...

US President Donald Trump tried to sell the war on Iran to sceptical Americans in a televised address, saying that the conflict was “nearing completion” and that there was no need to worry about the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. The US would hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks”, Trump said on Wednesday from the White House. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages,” he said. He didn’t give a specific deadline for the end of operations during the...

Violence by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has reached unprecedented levels since the start of the war with Iran, with NGOs and opposition figures denouncing an environment of impunity. While so-called “Jewish terrorism” has drawn widespread condemnation both in Israel and abroad, little has been done to curb it. Assaults by violent settlers against Palestinians have been carried out for years, often to the indifference of mainstream Israeli...

Students across Russia are being offered large financial incentives ⁠to join drone units fighting in Ukraine as operators and engineers, while companies in Russia’s central Ryazan region have been given quotas to sign up workers for the army, documents show. The recruitment effort, which comes as Russian forces continue to grind forwards on the battlefield in Ukraine and as US-brokered peace talks are on ice due to the Iran war, suggests Moscow is diversifying its push to replenish its army’s...

Andrew Tilton, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Goldman Sachs, speaks to the South China Morning Post about the long-term future of China’s economy after the “two sessions” in Beijing and ahead of an expected Xi-Trump summit – all during an oil crisis sparked by the US-Israel war against Iran. SCMP Plus readers get early access to articles in the Open Questions series. What impact will the oil shock arising from the Iran war have on the growth of Asian economies this year? Asia is greatly...

More than 200 years after being sunk by Admiral Horatio Nelson and the British fleet, a Danish warship has been discovered on the seabed of Copenhagen Harbour by marine archaeologists. Working in thick sediment and almost zero visibility 15 metres (49 feet) beneath the waves, divers have been working against the clock to unearth the 19th century wreck of the Dannebroge before it becomes a construction site in a new housing district being built off the Danish coast. Denmark’s Viking Ship Museum,...

The United States on Wednesday lifted sanctions on Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, according to an Office of Foreign Assets Control entry on the Treasury Department website. The newly announced sanctions relief is the latest US recognition of Rodriguez as a legitimate authority in Venezuela ever since the US military captured her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife on January 3 in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. The pair have since been taken to New York to face drug...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared the US‑Israel war against Iran had delivered “decisive, overwhelming victories”, even as he signalled that key military objectives were still “nearing completion” and that further strikes could inflict heavy damage on targets in the country. “We are going to hit them extremely hard. Over the next two to three weeks, we are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong. In the meantime, discussions are ongoing,” he said in a...

Four astronauts blasted off from ⁠Florida on Wednesday on Nasa’s Artemis II mission, a high-stakes voyage around the moon that marks the United States’ boldest step yet toward returning humans to the lunar surface later this decade in a race with China. Nasa’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, topped with its Orion crew capsule, roared to life just before sunset at the agency’s Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying its debut crew - three US astronauts and a Canadian astronaut...

Utah officials announced on Wednesday that they were ⁠closing a five-decade-old ⁠case after finding “definitive proof” that American ⁠serial killer Ted Bundy killed a 17-year-old Utah girl. The girl, Laura Ann Aime, went missing on the night of October 31, 1974, after leaving a party alone to make a purchase from a convenience store, the ‌Utah County Sheriff’s Office said. Her body was found by two college students on Thanksgiving Day that year, according to authorities, who added that her body...

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian criticised the US war against his country in an open letter to the people of the United States on Wednesday, calling it an absurd operation that is costly for their nation. “Today, the world stands at a crossroads,” the president wrote in his message. “Continuing along the path of confrontation is more costly and futile than ever before.” While Iran had seen many aggressors throughout its history, “All that remains of them are tarnished names in history, while...

⁠The Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday that its ⁠forces had taken full control of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, suggesting they had wrested control of a small sliver of land which had remained beyond their reach since 2022. Reuters could not independently verify the ‌battlefield report and a Ukrainian military spokesman said there had been no battlefield changes in the area in the last six months. More than 99 per cent of Luhansk, one of four Ukrainian regions Russia claimed as...

With one of the world’s highest benchmark interest rates among major economies, Brazilian importers who buy from China are turning to a state-owned Chinese credit insurer to sustain trade flows that reached US$158 billion in 2024. Facing working capital lines that cost upwards of two per cent a month, equivalent to roughly 27 per cent a year according to market calculations, mid-sized importers are securing deferred payment terms directly from Chinese suppliers through credit limits backed by...

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. As Trump ramps up pressure on Cuba, China has ‘very limited options’ As Washington stepped up rhetoric and pressure on Cuba after the start of its campaign in Iran, Beijing found itself torn between geopolitical reality and ideological affinity. Read the full story here. 2. US threats...

France suspects a pro-Iranian group known as HAYI to be behind a foiled attack on Bank of America’s Paris offices, its anti-terrorism prosecutor said on Wednesday, while stressing the link has not yet been formally established. HAYI, which stands for Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya, or ‌Movement of the Companions of the Right Hand of Islam, had posted a video on social media on March 23 targeting Jewish interests and communities in France and Europe, the prosecutor’s office said in a...

The BBC defended on Wednesday its handling of a DJ sacked years after he was the subject of a police investigation into allegations of sexual offences against a teenage boy. The controversy surrounding former radio host Scott Mills, 53, is the latest involving a high-profile presenter to roil the publicly funded broadcaster. London’s Metropolitan Police said this week that it questioned Mills in 2018 over allegations of “serious sexual offences” against a boy under the age of 16. The case was...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed that Iran’s leader wanted a ceasefire, in a social media post that Tehran called “false and baseless”. Trump claimed that “Iran’s New Regime President” was seeking a ceasefire, which he said would happen only once the Strait of Hormuz was “open, free, clear”. It was not immediately clear who Trump was referring to in Iran, which still has the same president. The US president, who is scheduled to address the nation later in the day, had earlier said...

The United States attacked Iran without consulting its European allies. President Donald Trump assumed the operation would be a quick win, over before anyone had to take a position. Instead, Washington answered a question Western governments had long avoided. After years of pushing Nato towards confrontation with China, would the transatlantic alliance fight a war it had not chosen together? The answer was no. Iran and Taiwan are different cases. One sits on Europe’s wider periphery and carries...

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on Wednesday to design a road map for critical minerals supply as they seek to deepen cooperation in the sector amid China’s dominance of global rare earths. The two leaders also affirmed that Japan and France will maintain close communication in support of efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East and establish a high-level dialogue on artificial intelligence, Takaichi said at a joint press appearance...

The risks of environmental calamity in the Strait of Hormuz are mounting with each passing week of the Iran conflict, conservationists have warned, as giant tankers filled with fuel are trapped in a small area and Iran continues to fire missiles and drones at Gulf oil assets. The potential for catastrophe in the waterway was sharpened on Monday when a Kuwaiti crude tanker was set ablaze at Dubai Port in an Iranian attack that damaged its hull, sparking warnings of a possible oil spill. The...

The plan faces significant local political opposition and the dilapidated state of the site poses considerable logistical challenges.

The president’s request for 2027 reflects his preoccupation with eliminating programs that support diversity and civil rights.

Payrolls expanded and unemployment dropped last month after a health care strike ended and a harsh winter abated.

Robust job growth in March suggests that the labor market remains relatively healthy, allowing officials at the central bank to focus on fighting inflation.

Artificial intelligence hasn’t disrupted the labor market, economists say, but they are increasingly convinced that it will — and that policymakers are unprepared.

New rules mean that parent PLUS loans have to be consolidated into a new loan by June 30 for parents to keep affordable payments. But the deadline is really earlier to allow time for processing.

In January, 50 artists from all over the world were chosen to shoot shorts in the Azores, guided by the iconic filmmaker. They just had to find $10,000 and airfare to get there.

The pictures were released on the third day of the first mission since 1972 to send people around the moon.

The astronauts traveling in the Artemis II spacecraft were allowed to take smartphones with them. Sadly, they can’t connect to the internet.

Victor Glover, a former Navy test pilot, carefully maneuvered the Orion capsule in space around a discarded rocket stage. The demonstration is crucial for future moon landing missions.

Representative LaMonica McIver is facing crushing legal fees and prison time as she seeks to get the Justice Department assault case against her dismissed, citing her legislative prerogatives.

It’s still a tall task for the party to win back control. Here’s the latest.

With “Transcription,” the writer makes a case for the vitality of the form.

Surging gasoline prices in the Philippines have forced some people to cancel or scale back the Visita Iglesia, a Holy Week tradition in which Catholics travel to seven churches.

Mr. Musk is requiring Wall Street firms to purchase subscriptions to his A.I. chatbot if they want to advise on one of the largest initial public offerings in history.

There has never been more competition in the leisure industry, as Disney and niche parks appeal to young families and high-income visitors.

The Iran expert Suzanne Maloney explains why Iran believes it has the upper hand.

There is a morality to verbs, especially in political speech.

Two men have been arrested in connection to a shooting on Wednesday that killed an infant. One was charged with murder, attempted murder and assault.

Supreme Court justices are not required to release information about their health, and the disclosure practices of individual justices have varied.

A 43-year-old man was accused of abusing “multiple” children over an 11-year period in South Jersey, and prosecutors fear there could be more victims, given his employment.

Gregg Phillips, who is in charge of responding to fires and floods, says the hand of God suddenly and mysteriously moved him to a 24-hour breakfast spot in Rome, Ga.