Minimalist News

Centrus Energy Soars After Starting Commercial Uranium Enrichment Activity The long awaited buildout of Centrus Energy’s uranium enrichment facility is finally underway as the company announced this morning it has begun constructing new centrifuges to support commercial production of low-enriched uranium (LEU). LEU stock is surging as much as 14% on the news.  Why should anyone care though? We already have Urenco producing massive quantities of LEU in New Mexico. They’ve been producing millions of separative work units (SWU) worth of enriched uranium for use in the domestic commercial fleet of reactors in the US for years. They even export some of

Putin Identifies The Main Issue Which Will Settle Ukraine War In Year-End Q&A Russian President Vladimir Putin made clear during his annual end of year question-and-answer session in Moscow that the matter of Ukraine ceding land which Russia now controls is the heart of the issue when it comes to peace talks. The issue of territory gained, lost, to be ceded or not, remains the prime topic that must be considered, but it's the very thing that Ukraine's Zelensky refuses to talk about or compromise on, Putin explained. "We know from statements from Zelenskyy that he’s not prepared to discuss territory issues,"

Federal Regulators Issue Order Requiring Large-Load Users Pay To Grow Grid Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times, Federal regulators have directed the nation’s largest regional electricity transmission organization to link, or “co-locate,” data centers and other industrial users with existing or new power-generating plants in order to speed development, trim infrastructure costs, and require large-load users to pay for expanding the grid. The five-member Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Dec. 18 unanimously ordered PJM, which delivers electricity to more than 1,100 utilities serving 67 million customers across 12 Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states, to create two new transmission contract types, revise

How To Profit From Trump's Space Race Executive Order The space industry is heating up amid news of a SpaceX IPO next year and growing interest in low-Earth-orbit data centers. Starcloud is emerging as an early winner, as these developments coincide with President Trump signing an executive order to secure America's dominance in the space race. The order "Ensuring American Space Superiority" outlined several of the Trump administration's space priorities, including returning humans to the Moon by 2028. Goldman analysts led by Anthony Valentini provided more color on the EO: > Expand space exploration and the American presence in space by: > > *

Russia Keeps Slamming The Door In Europe's Face By Maartje Wijffelaars, Senior Economist at Rabobank Crash Averted It’s been a busy week in Europe, before the start of the holiday season. Heavy meetings in Brussels, monetary policy decisions, and intense peace talks in which Europe is trying hard to get its foot in the door, while Russia—at times aided by the U.S.—continues to slam it shut. Yesterday, EU leaders have agreed to provide a EUR 90bn loan to Ukraine for 2026-2027. The EU won’t use frozen Russian assets as collateral, but rather borrow money on the capital markets against the headroom in the EU budget.

'A Disgrace': Dems Erupt As Kennedy Center Board Renames It 'Trump-Kennedy Center' UPDATE (16:20): Moving extraordinarily fast -- and presenting a fait accompli to those who are eager to seek a restraining order -- workers have already added Donald Trump's name to the facade of what was previously known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, which is (was?) the only national memorial to the assassinated president. As explained below, opponents of the move say the facility's name is fixed by statute, and can't be changed without congressional action.    Less than 24 hours after Kennedy Center trustees voted

First-Ever Ukrainian Attack On A Russian 'Shadow Fleet' Tanker In Mediterranean Sea Ukraine is hailing a "new, unprecedented special operation" after a Russia-linked oil tanker was attacked off the coast of Libya. Needless to say these waters are very distant from anywhere Ukraine operates in the war with Moscow forces. Officials within the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) are being quoted in international reports as saying the SBU deployed a drone in the Mediterranean which struck a so-called "shadow fleet" tanker used by Russia. This would mark the first ever such Ukrainian attack on Russia's shadow fleet in the Mediterranean sea, involving aerial

Brown University Accused Of Removing Cameras To Evade ICE Authored by José Niño via Headline USA, A firestorm of controversy has engulfed Brown University following the mass shooting that took place last Saturday.  Critics are now questioning whether the prestigious institution deliberately disabled security cameras, inadvertently creating blind spots that allowed the shooter to escape detection. According to the latest reports shared by Headline USA, the shooter was identified as Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national. He has reportedly been found dead. Conservative commentator Greg Price posted a video showing a tense moment when a Providence police press conference ended abruptly after a Latino Rhode Island radio host confronted officials. The

DOJ Misses Deadline For Full Epstein Files Release, Will Instead Stagger 'To Protect Victims' The Department of Justice will miss today's deadline to release the 'full' Epstein files to Congress as required under new legislation Trump signed into law last month.  An undated photo from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein is part of a collection of images released Dec. 18, 2025, by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. House Oversight Committee Democrats Instead, the Justice Department will release "several hundred thousand" documents today, "and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News, citing the need to redact

Should The U.S. Overthrow The Maduro Regime With Military Force? With political insiders like Tucker Carlson claiming that Congress has been briefed on the prospect of an imminent war with Venezuela, tensions are high among Republicans in what may be the most contentious policy divide for the party since President Trump took office. To some, Nicolás Maduro’s regime represents an illegitimate dictatorship that must be removed—by sanctions, covert pressure, or outright regime change—before Venezuela can recover. To others, U.S. intervention has only entrenched authoritarianism, collapsed living standards, and transformed a regional crisis into a geopolitical stalemate with Russia, China, and Iran. SHOULD THE

"No One Is Above The Law": Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan Found Guilty Of Felony Obstruction Authored by Jonathan Turley, A jury in Milwaukee this week proved that it takes more than a robe to act like a judge. On Thursday, Judge Hannah Dugan was found guilty of the most serious count brought against her in a case that captivated many in the nation. Dugan famously told a fellow judge to wear her robe in the hallway to confront federal officers seeking to arrest a suspect. A jury found Dugan guilty of obstruction in helping an illegal migrant evade arrest by Immigration and Customs

UMich Survey Sees 'Current Conditions' In America As The Worst In 47 Years The final print for UMich's sentiment survey for December was a doozy... While the headline sentiment gauge and Expectations ticked up, Current Conditions slipped further... ...to an all-time record low... yes... worse than during Oct 1987's crash, 9/11, the GFC, and COVID... This - as you might guess - is very unusual with stocks at record highs and as we have labored extensively this year, UMich's survey seems rife with bias UMich claims that post-pandemic frustration with high prices persists... Which is incredible since inflation expectations are plunging... As Democrats realize their TDS-driven hyperinflation

Loss Of Credibility: Yen Craters, Yields Surge After BOJ Hikes Rates To Highest Since 1999 In the last central bank decision of 2025, the BOJ lifted its key rate to 0.75% from 0.50% in a widely anticipated and telegraphed move, taking borrowing costs to their highest level in three decades. It wasn't enough, however, and after an initial kneejerk move, the yen plunged while yields soared as the market concluded that what Ueda did was too little, too late, and the hike was too vague to press the hawkish case. As such, the market doves are back in control, and forcing the

Year-Over-Year Existing Home Sales Disappoint In November, Decline Most In 6 Months With mortgage rates tumbling, housing market participants have been disappointed by the lack of enthusiasm by homebuyers to apply for mortgages (though there was a decent bounce in refi activity)... This morning's existing home sales data (admittedly for November) will give us a further glimpse into the reality oh home-buying vs home-selling as the gap between current mortgage rates and the average existing mortgage rates is narrowing (but remains vast)... But, analysts (rightfully, given the slide in mortgage rates) expected the recent trend of existing home sales growth to continue in

Democrats Refuse To Release Post-Mortem Of 2024 Election Loss, DNC Chair Says Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has completed a postmortem of the party’s 2024 election losses but will keep the report confidential, DNC Chair Ken Martin said on Dec. 18. Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, listens to speakers during a press conference in Aurora, Ill., on Aug. 5, 2025. Scott Olson/Getty Images Martin said in a statement provided to media outlets that releasing the report would only distract the party from its mission to win the next election. “In our conversations with stakeholders

EU Folds On Russian Asset 'Reparations', Commits $105BN Loan To Ukraine Europe has folded rather quickly on EU leaders' controversial plan to confiscate Russian assets held in Belgium's depository Euroclear to use as a reparations loan for Ukraine. On Friday it became clear in the two day Brussels summit the EU was unable to agree on the plan, but instead has opted to raise €90 billion ($105 billion) in joint borrowing, with Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia choosing not to take part. via Associated Press Not only had objecting member states like Hungary sent EU leaders scrambling to circumvent a normal vote, but

More Islamic Terror Attacks Against Christmas Markets Foiled In Europe Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Authorities across Europe have thwarted two more Islamist-inspired terror plots targeting Christmas markets in as many days, with arrests in Germany and Poland adding to a relentless wave of threats that has placed the West under daily assault from radical extremists intent on exploiting open borders and soft security measures. German authorities have arrested a 21-year-old man from Central Asia on suspicion of plotting an Islamist-motivated terror attack against large crowds at a Christmas market in Magdeburg—the same location where a Saudi national carried out a deadly

Polling Signals Serious Trouble For Democrats in Upcoming Midterms Voters are delivering Democrats in Congress a brutal verdict heading into the 2026 midterm cycle, with just 18 percent approving of their performance and a staggering 73 percent disapproving, the worst rating Quinnipiac has recorded for them since it began asking the question in 2009.  Even Democrats themselves are in open revolt: only 42 percent of Democratic voters approve of how their own party’s members in Congress are doing, while 48 percent now disapprove, a sharp slide from October when approval stood at 58 percent. Among independents, things descend from terrible to apocalyptic for

Futures Rise Ahead Of Record $7 Trillion Opex, Yen Tumbles After BOJ Rate Hike Stocks look set toclose out a choppy week on a steady note, building on Thursday’s gains, spurred by cooler inflation that backs the case for lower borrowing costs. As of 8:00am, S&P 500 futures were 0.1% higher while Nasdaq 100 contracts were up 0.2% after the WSJ reported that OpenAI is set to raise $100BN in fresh capital (from sov wealth funds) removing near-term funding pressures across the AI sector. In premarket trading Oracle is up 6%, off session highs, with the rest of the Mag 7

Goldman Turns "Incrementally Cautious" On Nike As China Sales Plunge Nike shares tumbled the most in eight months in premarket trading in New York after a mixed third quarter, reigniting concerns that turnaround efforts are being slowed by soft demand trends in China and ongoing problems at Converse. North America was a bright spot in second-quarter earnings. Citi analyst Paul Lejuez noted that product liquidations contributed to the growth. As those actions expired, underlying sell-through trends softened. China remained the most challenging sales market for the world's largest sportswear company in the quarter. This prompted Piper Sandler analysts to cut their price target

President Nicolás Maduro orders Venezuelan navy to escort oil tankers after seizure by US forces * What action is Trump taking against Venezuela’s oil industry? Donald Trump and his top advisers have refused to rule out the potential for open conflict with Venezuela as Nicolás Maduro urged his navy to escort oil tankers defying the largest US fleet deployed in the region in decades. In an interview broadcast on Friday morning, Donald Trump told NBC News that going to war with Maduro’s regime remains on the table. “I don’t rule it out, no,” he said in a phone interview with the network. Continue

Group called Robins des Ruelles later said in statement stunt was intended to highlight cost of living crisis Dressed in red suits and backed by masked elves, a group of Santas marched into a Montreal supermarket, loaded their bags with thousands of dollars worth of groceries and disappeared into the night. The bandit Santas later released a statement saying the food would be distributed to the needy, and saying the Robin Hood-style stunt was intended to highlight the spiralling cost of living crisis that has pushed basic necessities increasingly out of reach for ordinary Canadians. Continue reading...

Colombia’s ELN guerrilla group used drones and explosives in Thursday night attack that also injured at least 30 soldiers Colombia’s ELN guerrilla group has attacked a military base near Venezuela with drones and explosives, killing seven soldiers and wounding 30. Founded in 1964 and inspired by the Cuban revolution, the ELN is the oldest surviving guerrilla group in the Americas, and controls key drug-producing regions of Colombia. Efforts to negotiate a peace settlement have repeatedly stalled. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ancient forests and turquoise rivers of the Cochamó Valley protected from logging, damming and development A wild valley in Chilean Patagonia has been preserved for future generations and protected from logging, damming and unbridled development after a remarkable fundraising effort by local groups, the Guardian can reveal. The 133,000 hectares (328,000 acres) of pristine wilderness in the Cochamó Valley was bought for $63m (£47m) after a grassroots campaign led by the NGO Puelo Patagonia, and the title to the wildlands was officially handed over to the Chilean nonprofit Fundación Conserva Puchegüín on 9 December. Continue reading...

Lula acknowledges his decision to uphold 27-year sentence could be overridden by conservative lawmakers Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has promised to veto a bill passed by congress to reduce the prison term of Jair Bolsonaro, the former president who was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for masterminding an attempted coup to overturn the 2022 elections. Lawmakers passed the bill late on Wednesday after it was approved last week by the lower house. On Thursday, Brazil’s leftist president – who, investigations showed, was the target of an assassination plan as part of the coup plot – acknowledged

Man, 27, from northern Taiwan reported to have fallen to his death in police chase after rampage through capital At least four people have died in a rare mass stabbing incident in central Taipei after an attacker used smoke grenades to cause chaos as he went on a violent rampage through Taiwan’s capital. Several people were also injured. The suspected assailant is among the dead after he fell from a building during a police chase through a busy shopping district on Friday evening. Continue reading...

Minister says risk to ‘any individual’ from cyber-attack is low and that it is still unclear who is responsible The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October, a minister has said. Chris Bryant, a trade minister in Keir Starmer’s government, told Sky News there was a low risk to “any individual” from the cyber-attack. Continue reading...

Joint venture will take over part of app’s US operations, including data protection, algorithm security and content moderation * Business live – latest updates * US politics live – latest updates TikTok has reached a deal to form a joint venture that will allow it to continue operating in the US, five years after Donald Trump threatened to ban the social media platform over privacy and national security concerns, a move that further strained relations with China. ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, has signed a deal with Larry Ellison’s Oracle, the private-equity group Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX that will allow it

Medical professionals and some in conservative circles feel argument of Lee Jae Myung may be a bit thin South Korean president Lee Jae Myung has instructed his government to consider extending public health insurance to cover hair-loss treatments, arguing that baldness has become a “matter of survival” rather than a cosmetic concern for young people. The proposal, which has since faced a backlash from medical professionals and conservative figures, was announced during a policy briefing on Tuesday and would expand coverage beyond the limited medical treatments currently available for certain types of hair loss. Continue reading...

Package includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, and has drawn an angry response from China * The maps that show how China’s military is squeezing Taiwan The Trump administration has announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10bn that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, drawing an angry response from China. The state department announced the sales late on Wednesday during a nationally televised address by president Donald Trump, who made scant mention of foreign policy issues and did not speak about China or Taiwan at all. US-Chinese tensions have ebbed and flowed during Trump’s second

Jewish voices say an attack of this kind was entirely predictable given the surge in antisemitic attacks in Australia since 2023 The sun rises early at this time of year, hitting the south of the beach first before chasing the shadows north, the gradual retreat of the darkness to the light. Hanukah, the Jewish festival of lights, was being celebrated here on Sunday evening, when the darkness came brutally roaring back. Continue reading...

Neuroscientists, psychologists and ‘have-a-go heroes’ themselves explain why it is about more than just instinct As a knife-wielding terrorist wearing a fake suicide belt caused panic on London Bridge in 2019, Darryn Frost remembers entering a state of intense focus. Having grabbed a decorative narwhal tusk from the wall of Fishmongers’ Hall, the formerly shy civil servant zoned in on the danger and ran towards it, helping pin the attacker to the ground. Continue reading...

Sociologist who surveyed effect of 2024 UK ban says denial of gender-affirming care has left trans and non-binary children in ‘abject misery and severe distress’ A sociologist who surveyed more than 100 young transgender people and their parents following a puberty blocker ban in the UK has warned similar bans in Australia and New Zealand will lead to youth suicides. Dr Natacha Kennedy from Goldsmiths, University of London, analysed the impact of the UK ban that was first implemented in March 2024, and extended indefinitely last December. Continue reading...

Hourly night-time welfare checks left detainees so sleep deprived that it risked their right to a fair trial, supreme court judge found * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A Victorian supreme court judge has strongly criticised police for the “idiotic” and “cruel” practice of unnecessarily waking up people in custody during the night under the guise of welfare checks. Justice Michael Croucher said Victoria police needed to rethink its approach or it would result in the end of criminal trials “of any substantial duration” in regional courts where the accused had to be held in the

Mixed picture for the big day with some capitals tipped for a hot, dry celebration while others will be cool or rainy * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Some parts of Australia are in for sunshine and heat this Christmas Day, while others are forecast to have cloudy skies, cool temperatures and some rain as Santa comes to town. The Bureau of Meteorology has released its official weather forecast for the holiday, with less than seven days left to wrap presents and make plans. Continue reading...

Ukrainian leader welcomes move as Donald Tusk says ‘it could be better’ after Russian frozen assets left out of deal * EU leaders agree €90bn loan for Ukraine but without use of frozen Russian assets In his first comments on Ukraine, Putin swiftly blames Kyiv for the continuing war, saying “they are basically refusing to finish this conflict via peaceful means” (whatever that means from the literally invading party). But he says there are “some signals … indicating they are willing to engage in some type of dialogue.” Continue reading...

Reportedly critical drone strike is first in Mediterranean since full-scale invasion began as maritime conflict grows * ‘There are hundreds’: tracking Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ of oil tankers Ukraine says it has attacked a Russian “shadow fleet” tanker with aerial drones 1,250 miles (2,000km) from its borders, in the first such strike in the Mediterranean Sea since Moscow’s full-scale invasion nearly four years ago. Friday’s strike off the coast of Libya, which reportedly caused critical damage, took place on the day of Vladimir Putin’s annual end of year press conference in which he said Russia would respond to recent Ukrainian attacks on shadow

This €90bn agreement won out over a plan to use frozen Russian assets, but has been hailed a ‘huge deal for the EU’ The EU’s failure to agree a “reparations loan” to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets was a political blow to the bloc’s big beasts, but the last-gasp alternative it devised will do the job – and marks a potentially significant first. After a marathon 16 hours of talks, EU leaders early on Friday agreed to fund Ukraine, which risked running out of money by next April, with a much-needed €90bn (£79bn) loan. But the solution they came up with

Two-year deal will cover most of Ukraine’s needs, but will be secured against EU borrowing rather than Russian assets EU leaders have pledged a €90bn loan for Ukraine to meet urgent financial needs, but failed to agree on the preferred option for many of securing that loan against Russia’s frozen assets in the bloc. After talks ended in the early hours of Friday, the president of the European Council, António Costa, told reporters: “We committed and we delivered.” He said EU leaders had approved a decision to make a €90bn loan to Ukraine for the next two years backed by the EU

Long Island receives 21cm of snow, while a tornado tears down decorations near Málaga Heavy snow fell in parts of New England this week. New York’s Central Park received a few centimetres of snow, while 21cm (8.5in) was dumped in parts of Long Island. This is the earliest New York has experienced snowfall since 2018. New York narrowly missed out on widespread snowfall a few weeks ago. The low-pressure system tracked ever so slightly to the north of New York, enabling the warmer air to edge in. Meanwhile, upstate New York and other parts of New England were on the colder side

Monitor says almost one in eight people face food shortages as flooding and cold exacerbate humanitarian emergency The famine in Gaza has ended as a result of increased humanitarian aid deliveries into the territory, the UN said on Friday, though it warned that levels of hunger and the humanitarian situation remained critical. Almost one in eight people in Gaza still faced food shortages, the UN said, adding that persistent hunger had been made worse by winter flooding and the colder weather. Most people in Gaza live in tents or other substandard accommodation as Israel destroyed much of the housing and civilian infrastructure

Manar al-Houbi’s family had been denied entry despite a scholarship covering their living costs, but other students remain stranded The UK government has finally evacuated Manar al-Houbi, the Gaza student who won a fully funded scholarship to pursue her PhD at the University of Glasgow, along with her family from the war-ravaged territory this week. In October, the Guardian highlighted Houbi’s desperate battle to get her family evacuated after they were denied entry to the UK, despite her scholarship and visa permitting her to bring them. Continue reading...

Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, 30, was arrested in 2020 for taking part in nationwide democracy protests, and has been tortured in prison A boxing champion in prison in Iran is thought to be at imminent risk of execution after his request for a retrial was rejected by the country’s supreme court. Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, 30, from Mashhad in north-east Iran was arrested in 2020 for taking part in nationwide democracy protests in 2019 and accused of supporting an opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK). He has spent five years in prison, where he has been tortured and put

Streams of soil turn sand and surrounding water red, creating sharp contrast with blue waters of Persian Gulf Rainfall on Iran’s Hormuz Island briefly transformed the coastline of its Red Beach into a striking natural scene this week, as red soil flowed into the sea and turned the water shades of deep red. The beach is known for its vivid red sand and cliffs, created by high concentrations of iron oxide. Continue reading...

Southern Transitional Council, backed by UAE, told it could face airstrikes after its recent huge territorial gains As many as 20,000 Saudi-backed forces are gathering on the border of Yemen as the separatist Southern Transitional Council comes under pressure to withdraw from the huge territorial gains it has made in the last month in the vast, oil-rich governorate on Hadramaut in eastern Yemen. The STC is using its advance to raise its demand for Yemen to revert to two states, north and south, as it had been until 1990. Continue reading...

Researcher in Kerala rainforest sounds alarm after being told frogs had died after being handled by humans A group of endangered “galaxy frogs” are missing, presumed dead, after trespassing photographers reportedly destroyed their microhabitats for photos. Melanobatrachus indicus, each the size of a fingertip, is the only species in its family, and lives under logs in the lush rainforest in Kerala, India. Their miraculous spots do not indicate poison, as people sometimes assume, but are thought to be used as a mode of communication, according to Rajkumar K P, a Zoological Society of London fellow and researcher. Continue reading...

British Indian Ocean Territory commissioner’s appeal against decision last year rejected by judges in London Appeal court judges have backed a decision that dozens of asylum seekers were unlawfully detained on one of the world’s most remote islands, rejecting an appeal on Tuesday by the commissioner for the territory. Exactly a year ago, on 16 December 2024, a judge ruled that Tamils who arrived on the island of Diego Garcia, a UK and US military base, after a shipwreck while they were trying to reach Canada to seek asylum, were unlawfully detained there for three years in conditions described as “hell on

Opposition claims SIR process being used to disenfranchise minority groups to benefit Narendra Modi’s government India’s political opposition has warned that democracy is under threat amid a controversial exercise to revise the voter register across the country, which critics say will disenfranchise minority voters and entrench the power of the ruling Narendra Modi government. An debate erupted in India’s parliament last week over the special intensive revision (SIR) process, which is taking place in nine states and three union territories, in one of the biggest revisions of the country’s electoral roll in decades. Continue reading...

* Argentinian makes 20-minute appearance in Kolkata * Supporters climb fence and hurl objects from stands Lionel Messi’s tour of India kicked off on a chaotic note on Saturday as fans ripped up seats and threw them towards the pitch after the Argentina and Inter Miami forward’s brief visit to the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, the ANI news agency reported. Messi is in India as part of a tour during which he is scheduled to attend concerts, youth football clinics and a padel tournament, and launch charitable initiatives at events in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. Continue reading...

Lawyers say people ‘don’t feel safe to leave their home’ as officials target recent arrivals and those awaiting hearings Immigration agents appear to be increasingly arresting and detaining Afghan asylum seekers, especially men, who have arrived in the US recently and are awaiting court hearings to decide their cases. Amir – an asylum seeker who came to the US via Mexico in 2024 – was driving home from his English class in Bloomington, Indiana just after noon on Monday, when he was pulled over by an unmarked police vehicle. Minutes later, the asylum seeker from Afghanistan was cuffed and driven to a

Exclusive: Blair-era minister echoes concerns about young people being priced out of jobs, in intervention likely to dismay Labour MPs The future of the youth minimum wage will come under review as part of a major inquiry into rising inactivity among Britain’s young people by the former health secretary Alan Milburn. The social mobility expert said that unless the government tackled some “uncomfortable truths” about the labour market there was a risk of creating a “lost generation” of young people. Continue reading...

Blunt remarks indicate UK’s largest union may be on collision course with Wes Streeting and Labour more widely * Andrea Egan: My warning as the new head of Unison The new general secretary of Unison has declared the trade union will end its support for the “destructive right wing of the Labour party” and said any leadership election in 2026 should not swap Keir Starmer for Wes Streeting. Andrea Egan, who won a decisive victory as a leftwing challenger this week, hit out at Streeting in an article for the Guardian over his handling of the resident doctors’ dispute, saying it was

Anthony Gilheaney, 31, targeted people with his Mercedes, killing Aiden Chapman, 25, and seriously injuring four others A man who turned his car into a weapon as he launched a series of hate-filled homophobic and racist attacks on Christmas Day last year in central London has been convicted of murder. Anthony Gilheaney, 31, was drunk when he mounted the pavement with his Mercedes and repeatedly targeted people to run over. Continue reading...

Exclusive song for online retailer prevents a hat trick of Christmas No 1s for Wham!, as Kylie becomes first woman to secure UK No 1 singles in four different decades Kylie Minogue has scored her first UK Christmas No 1, and eighth No 1 single overall, with the song Xmas. She beat competition from Wham!’s mega-streaming Last Christmas, which has been Christmas No 1 for the past two years: it was last week’s chart-topper but drops to No 2. Also in the race was Lullaby from the charity campaign Together for Palestine, which reached No 5. Continue reading...

Campaigners decry plan to reduce requirement for improved standards from 100% down to 40% of new homes Government plans to make huge cuts to targets for accessible new-build homes in England have been labelled a “monumental reversal” by campaigners, who say disabled people have been left feeling “betrayed and excluded”. In its proposals for changes to the country’s planning system, the government said a minimum of 40% of new-build homes would be built to improved accessibility standards – M4(2) – which include step-free access and wider doorways and corridors. Continue reading...

It is unclear if the heavily redacted Epstein documents released by Trump’s justice department are the entirety of the government’s trove on the late sex offender * Full report: US justice department releases long-awaited cache of Jeffrey Epstein files There are a vast number of photos of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and others on trips in locations including Bali, Indonesia; Morocco and St Tropez, France. As our reporters and editors comb through the files, many of the images are heavily redacted, in line with a requirement under the the Epstein Files Transparency Act to redact information that identified potential victims of

Release of documents from DoJ investigation comes after Trump reverses and signs bill into law * US politics live – latest updates The Department of Justice has released a long-awaited and huge tranche of documents related to its investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein’s case has captivated public attention for years, and been the subject of countless conspiracy theories – largely due to his connections to powerful and wealthy figures in the US and overseas. Continue reading...

Pope Leo names Rev Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez, who has criticized US immigration policies, as bishop of Palm Beach Pope Leo XIV on Friday named the Rev Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez, now pastor of a predominantly Hispanic church in the Queens borough of New York City, as bishop of Palm Beach, Florida. The diocese is home to the Mar-a-Lago estate of Donald Trump, whose get-tough immigration policies have drawn objections from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Continue reading...

Officials pledge ‘massive savings’ as companies agree to offer drugs at prices paid in other wealthy countries Donald Trump and nine major pharmaceutical companies on Friday announced deals that will slash the prices of their medicines for the government’s Medicaid program and for cash payers, in his latest bid to align US costs with those in other wealthy nations. Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, and Merck and Roche’s US unit Genentech have struck deals. Novartis, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi and GSK have also signed on. Continue reading...

Suspect Claudio Manuel Neves Valente was found dead in New Hampshire storage facility after five-day manhunt Investigators turned on Friday to the search for a motive in the murders of two Brown University students and a physics professor in Massachusetts in separate but linked attacks, after the prime suspect was found dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. The body of Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national and formerly very briefly a student at Brown, was discovered in a New Hampshire storage facility on Thursday night after a five-day manhunt. Continue reading...

The Arctic shipping route is essential to safeguard China’s development over the next decade, a senior Chinese official said in Beijing, calling for greater efforts to expand its practical use. With proposals for the next five-year plan incorporating security and development, China must ensure its international transport channels remain unimpeded, Ma Jiantang, deputy director of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’s economic committee, said. China’s traditional trade lanes...

Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Friday said the ball was in the court of the West and Kyiv in talks to end the war in Ukraine, while hailing Moscow’s recent battlefield gains and threatening more. Putin spoke during his annual end-of-year press conference – a staple of his 25-year rule – in which he told Russians Moscow was intent on pressing on in Ukraine, striking a confident tone. The 73-year-old has repeatedly said in recent weeks that Moscow will seize the rest of Ukrainian land he has...

US President Donald Trump said he was leaving the possibility of war with Venezuela on the table, according to an interview with NBC News published on Friday. “I don’t ⁠rule it out, no,” he told NBC News in a phone interview. Trump also said there would be additional seizures of oil tankers near Venezuelan waters, according to the interview. The US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week. “If ‍they’re foolish enough to be sailing along, they’ll be sailing along back...

This week, exactly six years ago, as we were gliding cheerfully into the 2019 festive Christmas season, the Covid-19 virus was spreading in Wuhan, China. I was preparing for an important Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Australia in February (the last overseas trip I would make for three years), oblivious to the looming pandemic. The world in general had no inkling of the terrible three years that would follow, with death estimates ranging from 7 million to 36 million, over 700...

More than 1,000 civilians were killed in a three-day attack by the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group earlier this year on the largest displacement camp in western Sudan, the UN Human Rights Office said in a report released on Thursday. RSF stormed Zamzam camp in April as part of its siege of the city of El-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province. In the attack, hundreds of people were summarily executed, according to the report. People were killed in house-to-house raids...

US President Donald Trump suspended the green card lottery programme on Thursday that allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to come to the United States. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on the social platform X that at Trump’s direction she is ordering the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the programme. “This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she said of the suspect, Portuguese national...

US President Donald Trump’s “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast was raising new questions about the legality of his military campaign in Latin America, while fuelling concerns that the US could be edging closer to war. The Trump administration has said its blockade was narrowly tailored and not targeting civilians, which would be an illegal act of war. But some experts say seizing sanctioned oil tied to leader Nicolas Maduro could provoke a military response from...

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. China’s ultra-hot heat pump breakthrough paves way for melting ore with sunlight For over a century, the dream of efficiently concentrating low-grade heat into high-temperature industrial energy has been constrained by a stubborn...

EU leaders struck a deal Friday to provide Ukraine a loan of €90 billion (US$106 billion) to plug its looming budget shortfalls - but failed to agree on using frozen Russian assets to come up with the funds. The middle-of-the-night agreement reached at summit talks in Brussels offers Kyiv a desperately needed lifeline as US President Donald Trump pushes for a quick deal to end Russia’s nearly four-year war. “Today’s decision will provide Ukraine with the necessary means to defend itself and to...

A frantic search for the suspect in last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University ended at a New Hampshire storage facility where authorities discovered the man dead inside and then revealed he also was suspected of killing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor. Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a former Brown student and Portuguese national, was found dead on Thursday night from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, said Colonel Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief. Investigators believe...

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to return astronauts to the moon through Nasa’s Artemis space programme with an eye toward building a permanent lunar presence. The directive reinforces Nasa’s current plans for sending Americans back to the moon by 2028 and for Americans to begin establishing the outpost by 2030. It also confirms plans to deploy nuclear reactors “on the moon and in orbit”. Thursday’s order also calls for the elimination of the National Space...

Historians are likely to point to 2025 as the watershed in China’s 21st century ascent, a year in which the People’s Liberation Army’s power projection matured across all domains, resetting the global balance of power. This seismic shift is underscored by an unmistakable admission: the US has formally acknowledged the limits of its global reach in its new national security strategy and begun a strategic recalibration away from undisputed hegemony. These military and strategic realities are...

US President Donald Trump’s hand-picked board voted on Thursday to rename Washington’s leading performing arts centre as the Trump-Kennedy Centre, the White House said, in a move that was quickly denounced as a “disgrace” by the Democratic leader of the House, who is on the board. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the vote on social media, attributing it to the “unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building. Not only from the standpoint of its...

Belarus’ authoritarian president said on Thursday that Russia had deployed its latest nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system to the country, a move that comes as talks to end the war in Ukraine have entered a crucial phase. President Alexander Lukashenko said the Oreshnik, an intermediate-range ballistic missile system, arrived in the country on Wednesday and is entering combat duty. He did not say how many missiles have been deployed or give any other details. Russian President Vladimir Putin...

House Democrats released several dozen more photos on Thursday from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, showing his associations with the rich and famous, as the US Department of Justice faces a deadline to release many of its case files on the late financier by the end of the week. The photos released Thursday were among more than 95,000 that the House Oversight Committee has received after issuing a subpoena for the photos that Epstein had in his possession before he died...

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that he would veto a bill that could significantly reduce the 27-year prison sentence of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was arrested in November for attempting a coup. The Senate passed the bill late on Wednesday, following approval by the Chamber of Deputies. “With all due respect to the National Congress, when it reaches my desk, I will veto it,” Lula told journalists in Brasilia, noting that those who committed crimes against...

A business jet crashed on Thursday while trying to return to a North Carolina airport shortly after take-off, killing all seven people aboard, including retired Nascar driver Greg Biffle and his family, authorities said. The Cessna C550 erupted into a large fire when it hit the ground. It had departed Statesville Regional Airport, about 72km (45 miles) north of Charlotte, but soon crashed while trying to return and land, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said. Flight records show the plane...

A Boston-area man was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison for the grisly murder of his wife, who disappeared nearly three years ago and whose body has never been found. Brian Walshe, 50, was convicted on Monday of first-degree murder in the killing of Ana Walshe, 39. The sentence carries no possibility of parole. He pleaded guilty in November to misleading police and illegally disposing of a body after admitting he had dismembered her body and disposed of it in a rubbish bin. He said he did...

The US Justice Department said late on Wednesday the federal government was liable in the fatal January 29 collision of an Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines regional jet that killed 67 people near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. It was the deadliest plane crash on American soil in more than two decades. The government admitted it “owed a duty of care to plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident” and that the pilots of the Army...

Beijing confirmed on Thursday that it has begun granting general licences with lengthier terms for exports of rare earth elements to foreign companies, though business groups said more guidance was needed on the policy’s implementation. “With the accumulation of relevant export compliance experience, some exporters have initially met the basic requirements to apply for general licences,” said He Yadong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom), at a press conference. “To my knowledge,...

In the past three years, we have experienced an extraordinary level of hype around artificial intelligence. AI as a concept has been around for nearly 70 years but the discussion has exploded since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022. ChatGPT uses a technology called a large language model (LLM). It is not the only AI technology, but it’s the one that has seemingly drawn all the attention. It is the model that enables ChatGPT and other chatbots to write impressive prose and even poetry, and...

A French court on Thursday sentenced a doctor to life in jail for poisoning 30 child and adult patients, 12 of whom died, reportedly in an attempt to discredit colleagues. Frederic Pechier, 53, worked as an anaesthetist in two clinics in the eastern city of Besancon, when patients went into cardiac arrest in suspicious circumstances between 2008 and 2017. Twelve could not be resuscitated. Pechier’s youngest victim, four-year-old Teddy, survived two cardiac arrests during a routine tonsil surgery...

Facing an ever-increasing trade deficit with China, Europe has limited options to balance the situation in the short term even though it still holds an edge in key sectors including pharmaceuticals, machinery and components, analysts said. China’s global trade surplus hit an all-time high of US$1.076 trillion in the first 11 months of this year, despite a decline in exports to the United States following US President Donald Trump’s imposition of steep tariffs. A lot of China’s redirected exports...

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed confidence in victory for his war in Ukraine during a meeting with senior military officials on Wednesday amid a renewed diplomatic push to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict. He said that more than 300 localities in the neighbouring country have been conquered this year alone. “Among them are also large cities that have been turned by the enemy into fortress nodes with permanent defensive installations,” Putin said. The Russian president said...

The White House has installed new plaques beneath photos of former leaders on US President Donald Trump’s “Presidential Walk of Fame” at the White House that sharply criticise his Democratic predecessors. The plaques were a striking addition because both Republicans and Democrats have traditionally viewed the historic building as a symbol of national unity. Trump, however, has not shied from using the White House as a stage for his more combative style of politics and for rewriting history. The...

The US military said on Wednesday that it attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing four people on the same day the US House rejected efforts to limit President Donald Trump’s power to use military force against drug cartels. US Southern Command stated on social media that the vessel was operated by narco-terrorists along a known trafficking route. The military didn’t provide evidence behind the allegations but posted a video of a boat moving through water...

Brazil’s Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to slash the prison term of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a coup after losing re-election to left-winger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Passed by the lower chamber last week, the bill now heads to Lula, whose expected veto could eventually be overridden by Congress. Bolsonaro, 70, began a 27-year prison sentence in November, and under current rules was expected to serve at least eight years behind bars before...

A manhunt for the mass shooter who opened fire in an exam room at one of America’s top universities stretched into a fifth day on Wednesday with no apparent police progress in identifying a suspect or a motive. The only new information from police at a media briefing on Wednesday was an appeal for a witness believed by investigators to have come close to the suspected gunman on the grounds of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The shooting happened Saturday, when a man with a rifle...

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino will step down from his post next month, he said on Wednesday, ending a short and at times tumultuous tenure as the bureau’s second highest-ranking official. Bongino announced the move on social media hours after President Donald Trump said he thought Bongino wanted to “go back to his show”. He hosted a prominent right-wing podcast prior to joining the FBI. “Dan did a great job. I think he wants to go back to his show,” Trump told reporters. Bongino, a former New...

Last month, Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL), the world’s largest battery company, started building a massive joint venture plant in Spain. It came weeks after Spain’s King Felipe visited Beijing, seeking a stronger EU-China relationship as US commitments wobble. Except Spain, electrified by the potential job creation, ran into a problem: CATL wants to bring 2,000 Chinese workers to build the plant. What’s happening in Spain is part of a complicated new showdown between the...

The Senate on Wednesday approved US President Donald Trump’s renomination of billionaire Jared Isaacman to head Nasa, following months of backtracking and uncertainty over the space agency’s future. The 42-year-old businessman made his fortune in online payment processing and has a personal passion for space. He will take over as administrator of the US agency at a sensitive time – when it faces major budget cuts and pressure to travel to the moon again and eventually reach Mars. The Trump...

Chinese carmaker BYD plans to build a new factory in Brazil within the next three years after rising demand for electric buses filled its existing production capacity and forced the company to redraw its manufacturing strategy in the country. The project would sharply expand output, create hundreds of jobs and support exports across South America, with Africa also being considered, as BYD strengthens a business segment that predates its move into passenger electric vehicles. BYD has assembled...

In a seismic shift for one of television’s marquee events, the Academy Awards will depart ABC and begin streaming on YouTube beginning in 2029, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Wednesday. ABC will continue to broadcast the annual ceremony through 2028. That year will mark the 100th Oscars. But starting in 2029, YouTube will retain global rights to streaming the Oscars through 2033. YouTube will effectively be the home to all things Oscars, including red-carpet...

The younger son of Hollywood filmmaker and political activist Rob Reiner made his first court appearance on Wednesday for the two murder charges he faces in the stabbing deaths of his parents, who were found slain in their Los Angeles home over the weekend. The arraignment was delayed until January 7, and Nick Reiner, 32, did not enter a plea. Bearded and wearing a blue protective vest, he made the court appearance three days after his arrest and a day after he was charged with one of the most...

Four centrist Republicans broke with Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday and signed onto a Democratic-led petition that will force a House vote on extending for three years an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that lowers health insurance costs for millions of Americans. The stunning move comes after House Republican leaders pushed ahead with a healthcare bill that does not address the soaring monthly premiums that millions of people will soon endure when the tax credits for those who buy insurance...

Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers in a closed-door interview on Wednesday that his team of investigators “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that US President Donald Trump had criminally conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to portions of his opening statement obtained by Associated Press. He also said investigators had accrued “powerful evidence” that Trump broke the law by hoarding classified documents from his first term...

The ongoing strike at the Louvre is no longer just a labour dispute. It has become a test of how securely, credibly and competently the world’s most visited museum is being run. Behind the walkout are not only frayed labour relations, but a building itself under strain, with crumbling parts of the ageing former palace now deemed unsafe. At the heart of the crisis lies a deeper rupture: a US$102 million jewel heist that exposed security failures at the core of the institution and transformed...

China, the world’s top soybean consumer, faces a complex balancing act when securing supplies. With 90 per cent of market demand met by imports, Brazil and the United States remain its top suppliers, but intensifying efforts to promote self-sufficiency are seeking to reduce reliance on imports. From price swings and quality traits to strategic roles in the market, soybeans from the three countries tell different stories about China’s quest for stability and security that can be broken down into...

Warner Bros Discovery on Wednesday rejected a hostile takeover bid by Paramount launched last week to thwart plans by streaming giant Netflix to acquire the Hollywood giant and owner of CNN. The Warner Bros board said it found Paramount’s offer “inferior” to the merger agreement with Netflix. It added that the Paramount bid “once again fails to address key concerns that we have consistently communicated … throughout our extensive engagement and review of their six previous proposals”. “We are...

Finland’s prime minister apologised on Wednesday to citizens of Japan, China and South Korea after MPs sparked outrage by posting pictures of themselves making derogatory squinting gestures. The parliamentarians from the populist Finns Party, which is part of the right-wing coalition government, posted images on social media where they pulled back the corners of their eyes – widely seen as a racist gesture targeting East Asian people. They claimed to have shared the pictures in support of the...

The new US national security strategy says a great deal about how the government imagines its foreign policy in the next few years but tells us just as much about communism and the US president’s view of it. Donald Trump has long had an unusual relationship with communism, in that he does not seem especially concerned by it. Yes, it’s true he does denounce “communists”, “socialists”, “radicals” and “the far left”, but he is rarely speaking about communist regimes opposed to US interests...

Britain is to rejoin the European Union’s popular Erasmus student exchange programme almost five years after leaving the scheme following Brexit, a joint UK-EU statement said on Wednesday. “The UK has successfully agreed terms to join the Erasmus+ programme in 2027, widening opportunities for young people from all backgrounds, learners, educational, youth and sport staff to study and train abroad,” a UK government statement added. The scheme, which will have to be approved by all EU member...

The US is preparing a fresh round of sanctions on Russia’s energy sector to increase the pressure on Moscow should President Vladimir Putin reject a peace agreement with Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter. The US is considering options, such as targeting vessels in Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers used to transport Moscow’s oil, as well as traders who facilitate the transactions, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private...

US President Donald Trump finally agreed to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s plea that the company be allowed to sell H200s to China, estimated to be a US$10 billion opportunity. Although Trump claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping responded “positively”, early signs indicate that China may want to limit H200s imports to reduce reliance on the US and develop domestic capability. The White House’s artificial intelligence (AI) tsar, David Sacks, said that China is rejecting H200s, and the Financial...

China’s top economic policy coordinator has urged the country to confront unavoidable challenges, while expressing confidence that investment and consumption growth will recover next year as efforts to boost domestic demand intensify. An unnamed official from the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission said the current challenges were “issues arising in the course of development and transition”. “[They] cannot be avoided or sidestepped, but with effort they can be...

The immigration agency had barred elected officials from the holding facilities. A federal judge this week said they must be given access.

The European Union came up with an 11th-hour deal to help Ukraine, but the solution raised questions about the bloc’s decisiveness.

The loan will cover two-thirds of the country’s financial needs for the next two years. It also bolsters Ukraine’s position in ongoing peace talks.

Ms. Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman and staunch ally of President Trump, abruptly ended her bid to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul and said she would not seek another House term.

The couple are gearing up for the Broadway opening of “Bug,” about a descent into paranoia and psychosis in a squalid motel room.

At a demonstration of devices designed to replace turnstiles, one rider got hit in the neck, and another sneaked through without paying.

Passengers on Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road trains could face $8 fines if they keep waiting until after the train leaves to activate their mobile tickets.

The selection of Scott Beardsley by the G.O.P.-appointed board comes after the previous president resigned under pressure from the Trump administration. A new Democratic-appointed board could try to overturn the choice.

Tree farmers and the marketing group that supports them want more Americans to buy live-cut trees. A new Home Depot ad gave them holiday hope.

To prevent ramming attacks at Christmas markets, German officials have installed concrete blocks, chain barriers and, in one case, metal bollards removed by a hand-cranked crane.

Omar García Harfuch is overseeing one of the most aggressive offensives in years against Mexico’s powerful criminal groups. Many before him have failed.

They will be eligible for a one-time payment as well as college tuition for their children. The effort is part of a legislative push to address the dangers of working in toxic smoke.

Thousands of people were without power in Colorado early Friday, and forecasters said some of the most extreme conditions were expected later in the day.

Our writers and photographers were on the ground to find out what makes the destinations on our annual list rise above the rest.

There’s no getting around this if we want to avoid the deficit cliff ahead.

Monica-Grace Mukendi’s career demonstrates the lasting impact of OneGoal, a nonprofit that helps low-income students attend college.

A recent survey found significant increases in worry and stress worldwide. Share what’s on your mind.

Karl Jordan Jr., godson of the musician, was convicted last year of murder in the service of a drug deal. The judge found that the government had not proved the motive.

A 17-year-old worker died at a pork producer in Nebraska run by the governor’s family. Two investigations later, the boy’s mother is still searching for answers.

Regulators will decide whether a merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern would improve shipment times or stifle competition. A decision is expected in 2027.

The distinction for the Lumbee Tribe in North Carolina, signed into law on Thursday, opens access to federal support and defies challenges from other tribes over their legitimacy.