Minimalist News

AI Won't Fix America's Looming Debt Crisis Authored by David Youngberg via TheDailyEconomy.org, Last month, Congress sparred with the president over a partial budget, but with few real cuts, America’s slow march toward an epic debt crisis went on undeterred. With over $38 trillion in debt and interest payments exceeding defense or Medicare spending, one would expect lawmakers to confront reality and do the difficult work needed to restore fiscal sanity. But why would they? Cutting entitlements and increasing middle-class taxes rarely make for winning campaign slogans. It’s no surprise, then, that some prefer to pin their hopes on AI as America’s fiscal savior. Vanguard’s chief economist Joe Davis argued there’s as

Moody's Cuts New York City's Rating Outlook Despite Mamdani Protests The only surprise is that the move came so late.  With New York City facing a historic fiscal crisis courtesy of its new mayor, late on Wednesday Moody’s lowered its outlook on New York City to negative, citing the “sizable and persistent” budget shortfalls it’s facing. The move, which usually precedes a ratings cut in the subsequent several months, came as the ratings company also affirmed its Aa2 rating on the city’s debt, the third-highest level of investment-grade. Moody’s said the change came after the city’s spending projections showed larger budget shortfalls than previously

Hudson River NJ-NY Rail Tunnel Faces New Halt Without Federal Funds Construction on the planned $16 billion rail tunnel under the Hudson River could halt again within two to three months unless federal funding resumes, the project’s developer warned last week, according to Bloomberg. The project, led by the Gateway Development Commission, would build a new rail tunnel linking New Jersey and Manhattan for Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains. It would also allow rehabilitation of the existing tunnel, which opened in 1910 and is in urgent need of repairs. Gateway says the broader project would expand rail capacity between the two

No, New York Times, Climate Change Isn't Driving Inflation Authored by Anthony Watts via ClimateRealism.com, In The New York Times (NYT) article “Is Climate Change Making Inflation Worse?,” writer Lydia DePillis suggests that extreme weather linked to global warming is quietly raising the price of everyday goods like food, electricity, and insurance. The framing is, at best, misleading and, at worst, flat-out false. Inflation is a monetary phenomenon driven by fiscal policy, central banking decisions, supply-chain disruptions, and energy policy choices — there is no evidence climate change has altered in a way that impacts any of those factors. The NYT erroneously substitutes weather anecdotes and speculative

Watch: The Moment LA Street Mob Storms Luxury Apartments A group linked to a late-night street takeover forced its way into a luxury downtown Los Angeles apartment tower early Sunday, fighting with staff and leaving shattered glass and overturned furniture behind, according to police and video of the incident, according to the NY Post. The disturbance happened around 3 a.m. at the Circa LA Apartments on South Figueroa Street, the Los Angeles Police Department said. Authorities told KTLA that a crowd involved in a nearby street takeover moved toward the upscale high-rise and began vandalizing the property. >   >   >   >   > > View

Years After The Pandemic, Younger Students Still Have Far To Go In Reading, Report Says Authored by Aaron Gifford via The Epoch Times, Reading levels in early elementary school grades have remained fairly stagnant since the COVID-19 pandemic, a national education assessment and research organization revealed this week. A new policy brief from NWEA, formerly the Northwest Evaluation Association, says first- and second-grade reading achievement “remains stalled with little rebounding,” while math achievement in those grades showed modest recovery since 2021, and kindergarten levels in both subject areas have remained mostly steady. The findings were pulled from NWEA’s ongoing analysis of K-8 students across

February Snapshot Of The Global Nuclear Industry While February saw continued volatility with uranium spot prices after they pulled back from barely breaking into the triple digit range in January, the other metric that remains flat as a board is the number of reactors currently under construction in the U.S. which stands at a solid zero. Reflected against the backdrop of China, as they added one additional reactor for a total of 39 under construction, the frustration for actually launching a nuclear renaissance intensifies for everyone. > In the last month, China started construction on 1 additional nuclear reactor bringing the total to

Trump–Xi Summit Preview: What's At Stake Authored by Sean Tseng via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit China from March 31 to April 2 for a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. What was already shaping up to be a high-stakes meeting on tariffs, trade rules, tech controls, and Taiwan has become more complicated in the past few weeks. U.S. President Donald Trump (2R), flanked by Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, speaks during a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping

Oil Soars As 2 Oil Tankers Explode In Persian Gulf, Iraq's Oil Ports Stop Operations  Top headlines of conflict  * Oil prices surge as two oil tankers are attacked and explode in Iraqi waters, forcing Iraq to stop operations at its oil ports and sending oil toward $100/bbl. * 'Largest wave of missiles since hostilities began' launched into northern Israel by Hezbollah * The US Navy said it was 'too dangerous' to escort tankers through still. * President of Iran demands reparations and guarantees against future aggression. * Trump says the war with Iran will end soon, as there is 'practically nothing left

China-Based Copper Scam Leaves Cooling Firm With Fake Metal Thermal Grizzly CEO Roman “Der8auer” Hartung says his company recently fell victim to large-scale materials fraud while trying to source copper and aluminum for its cooling products, according to PC Gamer.  The company needs several tons of metal to machine components such as GPU water blocks. With copper prices rising and European supplies expensive, Hartung turned to suppliers in China’s metal market. After reviewing documentation and conducting supplier checks, Thermal Grizzly placed two orders—one for copper and another for aluminum and copper. Weeks later, pallets of metal arrived in Germany and the firm began

The App Store Accountability Act Is A Privacy Nightmare Disguised As Child Protection Authored by Julio Rivera via American Greatness, Washington has discovered a familiar political trick: wrap a flawed policy in the language of protecting children and hope nobody reads the fine print. The latest example is the App Store Accountability Act, a bill championed by lawmakers who appear eager to regulate the internet without understanding how it actually works. Supporters insist the legislation will protect kids online. In reality, it risks undermining privacy, violating constitutional protections, and creating a cybersecurity disaster in the process. And remarkably, Congress is pushing forward with this even

Coffee King Howard Schultz Flees To Florida Hours After Washington Wealth Tax Passes House Yet another rich guy is fleeing their Democrat-controlled state over a new wealth tax. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, a huge liberal himself, announced that he's moving from Washington state to Miami, Florida - hours after state lawmakers advanced a tax bill targeting residents earning over $1 million per year.  Schultz, 72, who bought the company in 1987 and built it into the globally recognized chain it is today, made the announcement in a Tuesday LinkedIn post - writing that he and his wife Sheri were moving to Florida

Ron Paul Fears The Dollar Will Be A Casualty Of The Iran War? Authored by Ron Paul, President Trump’s unconstitutional and unjust war against Iran is setting back his “affordability” agenda. The war has caused a big rise in gasoline prices. Among the related concerns is the hindering of the movement of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, the only available passage for ships to transport oil from the Persian Gulf. The increased costs will do more than raise prices at the pump. An increase in gas prices brings increased transportation costs that will be passed along to consumers. Prices of a variety of

Saudis Eye "Large Order" Of Ukrainian Interceptor Drones As Kill-Cost Missile Crisis Deepens Saudi Arabia is in discussions with a Ukrainian counter-drone firm to acquire low-cost interceptor drones designed to counter inexpensive IRGC kamikaze drones. The cost-exchange ratio remains highly unfavorable for the U.S. and its Gulf partners, who are using multimillion-dollar interceptor missiles against $20,000 drones. If the conflict drags on for months, the risk of depleting critical interceptor missile stockpiles will become a major problem, not just in the Gulf area but also on the Ukrainian battlefront. The Wall Street Journal reports that Saudi Arabia is preparing to purchase a

California Dreamin' Isn't What It Used To Be Authored by Kenin M. Spivak via RealClearPolitics, California’s elected Democrats can’t move beyond pandering. Gov. Gavin Newsom is fixated on reparations for African Americans, and the legislature’s Democratic Party majority is once again trying to divide Californians by race, sex, and gender orientation. In 1996, California stunned the nation when 55% of voters approved Proposition 209, which amended the state’s constitution to prohibit public institutions from considering race, sex or ethnicity in employment, contracting, and education. Ten years later, the United States Supreme Court confirmed its right to do so. As the state moved further left,

"Risk Of Attack Is Too High": US Navy Refuses To Provide Escorts To Ships Transiting Hormuz Strait One week after Trump announced that the US would cover insurance for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, and would provide them with US navy escorts, Reuters reports that the US Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war on Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high for now. The U.S. Navy has held regular ⁠briefings with shipping and oil industry counterparts and has said during those briefings

Lame Duck RINO Thom Tillis Blocking Warsh's Fed Confirmation Hearings Amid escalating U.S.-Israel military strikes against Iran, a separate battle is brewing on Capitol Hill over President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to chair the Federal Reserve, according to CNBC. The key obstacle is Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who announced last year that he would not seek re-election one day after voting against advancing the president's signature legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Tillis has pledged to withhold support for any Federal Reserve nominees, including Warsh, until a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s handling of the Federal Reserve’s $2.5 billion renovation

Iran Formulated Plan To Attack California With Drones In Case Of War: FBI U.S. law enforcement agencies in California were recently warned that Iran may have explored the possibility of launching drone attacks against targets on the West Coast in retaliation for Operation Epic Fury, according to a federal alert reviewed by ABC News. The bulletin, circulated by the FBI to police departments in late February, said authorities obtained information indicating that, as of early February 2026, Iran had allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using kamikaze drones launched from an unidentified vessel off the U.S. coast. The potential targets were described only as

Vitalik Buterin Envisions 'One-Click' Ether-Staking For Institutions Authored by Martin Young via CoinTelegraph.com, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation used simplified distributed validator technology, or “DVT-lite,” to stake 72,000 Ether in February. “My hope for this project is that in the process, we can make it maximally easy and one-click to do distributed staking for institutions,” said Buterin on X on Monday. Buterin explained that with DVT-lite, users can “choose which computers run their nodes, make a config file where they all have the same key, and then from there everything gets set up automatically.” DVT-lite is a simplified form of distributed validator technology tailored

In Massive News For SAVE Act, Cornyn Flips On Filibuster To Push Through Voter ID Up until today, establishment poster boy Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was a chief obstacle to killing the filibuster so that Republicans could pass the SAVE Act, which would require photo ID to be able to vote in US elections.  Now, Cornyn has suddenly abandoned his sacred cow - which he called the last bastion of "minority rights" and do "whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary for us to get the SAVE America Act and homeland security funding past the Democrats’ obstruction," which also happens to be

Global heating linked to rising risk of extreme rain that causes devastating landslides and rising coffee prices The record floods that have brought death and destruction to the heartland of Brazil’s coffee industry are expected to intensify if people continue to burn fossil fuels, analysis has shown. Dozens of residents in the state of Minas Gerais have been buried alive in landslides or swept away as roads turned into rivers over the past month. Thousands more have been forced to evacuate their homes, while the wider, longer-term effects are likely to include higher prices for coffee across the world. Continue reading...

Experts documented murder, torture and disappearances under Nayib Bukele’s policy targeting gangs The draconian mass incarceration policy of El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, may have led to crimes against humanity, according to a new study by legal experts. By locking up 1.4% of the population without due process, Bukele turned El Salvador from one of Latin America’s most violent countries into one of its least violent – but at the cost of human rights and the rule of law. Continue reading...

Decision to shield pro-Bolsonaro truck driver sentenced for 8 January 2023 attack could inflame Brazil election politics Argentina has granted asylum to a Brazilian fugitive convicted for his role in 2023 pro-Bolsonaro riots – a decision that analysts say could reverberate in Brazil’s upcoming presidential election. A week after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, took office, hundreds of people ransacked Brazil’s congress building, presidential palace and supreme court on 8 January 2023, in an attempt to overturn former president Jair Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat. Investigators later concluded the attacks were the culmination of a broader plot aimed at staging a coup. Continue

The new president won office by promising to clean up crime, but his background is red rag to a bull for many Just south of Santiago, the tiny rural town of Paine is a quiet grid of painted adobe facades, shaded squares and shuttered shop fronts as the summer holidays draw to a close. But the white-knuckle fear of crime that propelled its most famous son, José Antonio Kast, to a resounding victory in December’s presidential election is as present in sleepy Paine as it is the length of Chile. Continue reading...

Opening statements begin in Miami trial of four men accused in the 2021 killing of Jovenel Moïse * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Greed, arrogance and power were the driving forces behind four men charged in the US for the 2021 assassination of Haiti’s last elected president, Jovenel Moïse , prosecutors told a court on Tuesday during opening statements. Federal prosecutors and defense attorneys began presenting opening statements in the trial in Miami for Arcangel Pretel Ortíz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla and James Solages. They are charged with conspiring in south Florida

Viral video of girl being shoved by fellow pedestrian has reignited debate over butsukari – with experts blaming stress and gender dynamics It starts out as a heartwarming clip. A young girl, clearly delighted to be in Tokyo, beams as she makes a peace sign to the camera. Seconds later, she is shoved to the ground from behind by a woman wearing a surgical mask. The assailant doesn’t skip a beat, striding out of shot of the clip filmed by the girl’s mother. This was no accidental clash of shoulders in a crowded place, but one of the most visible examples of

From fuel caps to four-day work weeks, the Middle East conflict has left the world’s top crude oil importing region desperate to shore up supplies Donald Trump has scrambled in recent days to reassure the world that the economic impact of his war on Iran can be contained. Sure, one of the most important waterways in global trade has, in effect, been shut for almost two weeks – but it might reopen before long. In the meantime, US oil-related sanctions on “some countries” will be lifted. And besides, the entire conflict could be over soon. Continue reading...

New legislation will require schools to use Mandarin by default, taking priority over minority ethnic languages such as Tibetan, Uyghur and Mongolian China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), the state legislature, will vote on Thursday on a suite of new laws agreed at this year’s annual two sessions gathering, including a piece of legislation that will diminish the role of minority ethnic languages in the education system. NPC delegates are expected to approve a new ethnic unity law, along with a new environmental code and the 15th five-year plan, the economic planning document for 2026-2030. Delegates have spent the last week debating Beijing’s

Crew of Thai-registered bulk carrier forced to flee fire, as US says it has destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels * Middle East crisis live – latest updates Three merchant ships have been struck in and around the strait of Hormuz, including a Thai registered bulk carrier that caught fire after leaving a port in the UAE, forcing crew members to evacuate for their safety. The Mayuree Naree was struck on Wednesday by “two projectiles of unknown origin”, its owners said, as it sailed about 11 nautical miles north of Oman, marking the end of a four-day lull of attacks in the strategic

Company also launches tools to spot scammers as Thai police arrest 21 people Meta disabled more than 150,000 accounts and Thai police arrested 21 people in a sweeping international crackdown on south-east Asian criminal scam centers that targeted people around the world, the social media company said on Wednesday. The operation was led by Thailand’s Royal Thai police anti-cyber scam center, alongside the FBI and the US justice department’s scam center strike force, with Meta investigators acting on intelligence shared in real time by law enforcement. Continue reading...

Follow updates * NSW prepares for fuel shortages at hospitals as Australia relaxes petrol standards for 60 days * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Dennis Richardson says his decision to resign from the royal commission into antisemitism had nothing to do with the government, but says he came to the decision that he was “surplus” to the needs of the body. He spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying: I think probably there wasn’t enough discussion right at the beginning about the precise way things would work, and ultimately I came to the [decision] that I was

Police discovered the bodies of the mother and daughter after reports of an injured man, covered in blood, in Logan, in Brisbane’s south * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A mother and her baby daughter have been found dead in their Queensland home, while a man covered in blood was hit by a car close to the grisly crime scene. The tragedy was discovered after reports of the injured man being struck by a vehicle near a supermarket in Queensland’s southeast. Continue reading...

Layoffs to affect 10% of workforce amid Australian company’s restructuring plan to push into artificial intelligence and enterprise sales Software giant Atlassian has announced it is laying off about 10% of its workforce, or roughly 1,600 positions, and replacing its chief technology officer as it restructures to invest further in artificial intelligence. More than 900 affected positions were involved in software research and development, a spokesperson said. Most of Atlassian’s employees work in software engineering and design, accounting for over 50% of its 13,813 full-time workforce in June 2025. Continue reading...

Two international tourists travelling to flood-ravaged North Burnett region from Brisbane thought to be first flood-related deaths * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Two bodies have been discovered in the search for backpackers missing in Queensland flood waters, marking the first flood-related fatalities in the region. Police on Thursday said they believed the bodies were of two international tourists who had been travelling to Queensland’s flood-ravaged North Burnett region from Brisbane but failed to arrive at their destination. Continue reading...

Some river levels are still increasing after parts of Queensland recorded their highest three-day rainfall totals * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Dozens of sites across northern Australia have been subjected to major flooding over the past couple of days, with some river levels still increasing after parts of Queensland recorded their highest three-day rainfall totals between Sunday and Tuesday. The map below shows the status for the more than 90 monitoring stations (many of them at different points along the same rivers) across New South

Exclusive: Oil at $100 a barrel means higher prices in the EU and UK, making savings for those with electric vehicles even greater, analysts say European drivers face paying an extra €220 (£190) a year at the pumps because of the surge in oil prices caused by the war in Iran, analysts have warned. In the UK, a separate estimate puts the cost at an extra £140. A sustained oil price of $100 a barrel, the level seen on Monday, would mean motorists in the EU paying €55bn more over a year, researchers at the Transport & Environment (T&E) thinktank estimated. That

René Redzepi also steps down from non-profit board after accusations of both physical and psychological abuse René Redzepi, the head chef and co-founder of Noma, announced Wednesday he was resigning from his internationally acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant following allegations that he had physically abused his staff. Redzepi had been facing protests in Los Angeles before a four-month pop-up that launched this week. His resignation comes after the New York Times detailed shocking allegations of physical and psychological abuse, including claims that he “punched employees in the face, jabbed them with kitchen implements and slammed them against walls”. Continue reading...

Payment for Inditex founder, the world’s 15 richest person, tops last year’s dividend of €3.1bn The billionaire founder of Zara is to receive a company record €3.23bn (£2.8bn) dividend this year from the world’s biggest fashion retailer. Amancio Ortega, who still controls 59% of Spain’s Inditex and whose daughter Marta Ortega Pérez is now chair, will receive half his dividend in May and half in November – as will other shareholders. Continue reading...

Trio held on suspicion of ‘terrorist bombing’ that caused minor damage but no injuries Three Norwegian brothers have been arrested on suspicion of a “terrorist bombing” at the US embassy in Oslo that caused minor damage at the weekend but no injuries. The police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference that the brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo and that police were investigating the motive. Continue reading...

Man in his 60s from Berne area had been reported missing before incident, say authorities in Fribourg canton Police investigating a bus fire that killed at least six people in western Switzerland have said they believe it was started by a “marginalised and disturbed” Swiss man onboard who set himself ablaze. The vehicle, operated by a service that transports passengers and mail, went up in flames on Tuesday evening in Kerzers, a town of about 5,000 people about 12 miles (20km) west of Berne in the canton of Fribourg. Continue reading...

Former PM says schools ‘deserve same moral status as hospitals’ after 168 schoolgirls killed in US-Israel war on Iran * Gordon Brown: ‘Children killed, a school turned into a graveyard: even in wartime, we can’t accept this’ * A school turned into a graveyard * Minab school bombing: a visual guide Gordon Brown has called for the creation of an international criminal court for crimes against children, saying “no child should ever become collateral damage in a conflict”. Writing for the Guardian, the former prime minister drew on the tomahawk missile strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school at the start of the

This blog is now closed- follow the latest news and live updates in the Middle East crisis here * Middle East crisis live updates Over in Senate question time, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has confirmed embassies in Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv and the consulate in Dubai all physically closed in the last week. Wong said the government’s number one priority is to “keep Australians safe at home and abroad”. She continued: “The dangerous and destabilising attacks by Iran put civilian lives at risk, including Australian lives.” More than 3,200 Australians over 23 commercial flights have returned to Australia since the US and

Hezbollah and Iran had launched joint attack on more than 50 targets including Israeli military bases * Middle East live – latest updates Israeli warplanes bombarded Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon after Hezbollah launched drones and rockets at northern Israel on Wednesday night in a sharp escalation of the 10-day conflict. Hezbollah let off successive volleys of rockets and drone swarms at Israel on Wednesday night, injuring two people, with most of the projectiles either being intercepted or falling into open areas. Continue reading...

Iranian officials warn of ‘war of attrition’ and global economic chaos as energy supplies are throttled * Middle East crisis – live updates Iran dramatically escalated its strategy of striking civilian infrastructure and transport networks across the Gulf on Wednesday, attacking commercial ships and targeting Dubai’s international airport as US and Israeli warplanes launched new waves of strikes on the Islamic Republic. Senior Iranian officials struck a defiant tone, warning of a long “war of attrition” that would threaten global economic chaos as energy supplies from the region were throttled. Continue reading...

Lack of public appearances prompted speculation about new leader’s mortality after multiple family members died The confirmation that Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was injured in the first wave of Israeli attacks underlines how desperate the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (ICRG) was to ensure their wounded choice was elevated to high office, and how confident it is that the wartime machinery can operate almost on automatic pilot without him. The full scale of Khamenei’s injuries and speed of his recovery remain unclear, but a broken leg and facial injuries are the minimum. It is not a medical bulletin on which the

Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra party secures thumping victory in first poll since gen Z protests that toppled government Balendra Shah, the rapper turned politician and popular figurehead of a gen Z revolution, looks set to become Nepal’s next prime minister after his party won by an unprecedented margin. Shah, known widely as Balen, and his Rastriya Swatantra party (RSP) secured a rare landslide victory in the first election since youth-led protests during which dozens were killed and the former government was toppled. Continue reading...

‘Stopgap measure’ designed to keep oil flowing into global market as Middle East crisis disrupts crude shipments * Business live – latest updates The US has temporarily allowed India to buy Russian oil currently stuck at sea in an effort to keep global supplies flowing and temper further price increases. The US treasury has issued a 30-day waiver allowing India to buy Russian oil, having previously imposed heavy sanctions related to the war in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Urgent request to dock is submitted by vessel after US submarine sank Iranian warship in same area on Tuesday * Middle East crisis – live updates Sri Lanka has evacuated 208 crew members from an Iranian navy vessel that made an emergency request to dock, a day after a US submarine strike sank another Iranian frigate, killing more than 80 people on board. Sri Lanka’s president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, on Thursday confirmed that the country’s navy would take over Iranian military support ship IRIS Bushehr and allow it to dock at the north-eastern port of Trincomalee. Continue reading...

Early results may be released from Friday after first election since gen z protests forced Nepal’s then-PM to quit Nearly six months after a wave of unprecedented gen Z-led protests forced Nepal’s then prime minister to quit, people have voted in a general election that is shaping up to be a high-stakes showdown between the entrenched old guard and a powerful youth movement. “The voting process has been concluded peacefully and enthusiastically,” said the chief election commissioner, Ram Prasad Bhandari. It appeared the turnout was only about 60%, according to initial estimates, the lowest in more than two decades. Continue reading...

Frigate goes down off Sri Lanka as Washington and Israel step up their offensive and promise to hit ‘deeper’ targets in Iran * Middle East crisis – live updates A torpedo fired by a US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the south coast of Sri Lanka as the Trump administration followed through on its threats to destroy Tehran’s military and political leadership. At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the attack on the Iris Dena. The frigate was sailing in international waters as it returned from a naval exercise organised by India in the Bay of Bengal. The torpedo strike

Home Office targets 150 families whose asylum claims were refused and offers them up to £40,000 to leave or face forcible removal Families who received notices asking them to agree to return to their home countries are begging the Home Office to give them more time to make a decision that will significantly affect their children’s futures. The Home Office has targeted 150 families whose asylum claims were refused and given them just seven days to make the decision, which would uproot their children from schools and adopted communities. Those who refuse to leave voluntarily may be forcibly removed in handcuffs, including

Irish artists, British indie legends and US stars such as Tom Waits also contribute, with Springsteen writing essay about the ‘bottomless humanity’ of the late Pogues frontman Bruce Springsteen has written an essay celebrating the “flashing, alive and historically rich” songwriting of the late Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, as an all-star covers album is announced featuring Springsteen, Kate Moss, Johnny Depp and others. Springsteen’s cover of A Rainy Night in Soho is out now, the first song to be released from 20th Century Paddy: The Songs of Shane MacGowan, which is out 13 November. Many, unsurprisingly, led difficult lives not easily bound by

Charity criticises new measures that would make it harder for inquests to pass verdict of unlawful killing Men whose abusive behaviour drives women to take their own lives are more likely to get away with their crimes because of proposed law changes, justice campaigners say. Ministers want to make it harder for inquests to pass verdicts of unlawful killing, which have been crucial in getting justice for women who committed suicide after suffering abuse. Continue reading...

Influential Treasury committee chair Meg Hillier says review follows growing concern over graduate debt * UK firms struggling to hire young people amid cost pressures, MPs told Young adults in the UK face a “perfect storm” of economic challenges, the head of the influential Treasury select committee has warned as it launches an inquiry into student loans. The cross-party committee’s investigation comes as the government considers ways to ease the burden on graduates, amid a growing backlash about high interest rates and hefty repayments, including among Labour MPs. Continue reading...

Criminals using artificial intelligence tools to take over mobile, bank and online shopping accounts, says Cifas Criminals are increasingly exploiting AI technology to take over people’s mobile, banking and online shopping accounts, the UK’s leading anti-fraud body has warned. Last year, a record number of scams were reported to the national fraud database, fuelled by AI, which allows for large-scale deception on “industrialised” levels, according to Cifas, the fraud prevention organisation. Continue reading...

Iran has set ablaze two tankers in Iraqi waters as it increased attacks on oil and transport facilities across the Middle East * Iran escalates attacks on infrastructure and transport across the Gulf * How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events? An Iranian source is denying the country will allow India-flagged tankers to pass through the vital strait of Hormuz, Reuters is reporting. The news agency a little earlier quoted an Indian source as saying Iran would in fact allow such tankers to pass through the strait, a key artery for global oil trade. Continue reading...

Vast release of emergency crude reserves fails to quell mounting fears around energy supply crunch, rattling global markets Oil prices again topped $100 per barrel on Thursday as widespread Iranian attacks on Middle Eastern energy facilities overshadowed a vast release of government reserves. As Donald Trump vowed to “finish the job” and press ahead with the US-Israel war on Iran, the country’s regime stepped up retaliatory strikes on economic targets across the region. Continue reading...

President tells John Thune to force through Save America act, which requires proof of citizenship while registering to vote and curbs mail-in voting Donald Trump said that the US-Israel war in Iran will end “soon” because there is “practically nothing left to target” in a phone interview with Axios. “Any time I want it to end, it will end,” the president told the outlet. “The war is going great. We are way ahead of the timetable. We have done more damage than we thought possible, even in the original six-week period.” Continue reading...

Blake Miguez, 44, not criminally charged over allegation reported to local police but never disclosed to public A Louisiana Republican congressional candidate endorsed by Donald Trump was the subject of a 2007 rape accusation that was reported to local law enforcement the same day of the alleged assault – but never disclosed to the public or, reportedly, the president’s team as he became one of the rising stars in the state’s Republican party. That has raised concerns within the White House that Blake Miguez “either wasn’t fully vetted or wasn’t forthcoming about discoverable documents from his past” before securing Trump’s backing, the

Administration opens new trade investigation into manufacturing in foreign countries The Trump administration on Wednesday opened a new trade investigation into manufacturing in foreign countries – an effort that comes after the supreme court struck down Donald Trump’s previous use of tariffs by declaring an economic emergency. The US president and his team have made clear that they’re seeking to replace the hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenues after the supreme court’s February ruling by using different laws to establish new tariffs . Continue reading...

An Iran-linked hacking group claimed responsibility Wednesday for a cyberattack on US medical technology giant Stryker, saying it had extracted 50 terabytes of data in retaliation for military strikes on Iran. “Our major cyber operation has been executed with complete success,” Handala said in a statement. It described the hack as retribution for what it called “the brutal attack on the Minab school” in Iran, where authorities said more than 150 people were killed, and for “ongoing cyber...

From school shootings to synagogue bombings, leading AI chatbots helped researchers plot violent attacks, according to a study published on Wednesday that highlighted the technology’s potential for real-world harm. Researchers from the non-profit watchdog Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and CNN posed as 13-year-old boys in the United States and Ireland to test 10 chatbots, including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, DeepSeek and Meta AI. Testing showed that eight of those chatbots...

Chilean President Gabriel Boric left La Moneda presidential palace for the last time on Wednesday, ending a four-year term with a call for national unity that most observers took as a reference to the Chinese undersea cable dispute that defined his final weeks in office. “I wish success to the incoming government, success for Chile, and may our homeland always come first, above any interest, above any disagreement,” Boric said from the palace courtyard, where he arrived with his partner, Paula...

Norwegian police said on Wednesday that three brothers had been arrested on suspicion of a “terrorist bombing” over a weekend explosion at the US embassy in Oslo that caused minor damage but no injuries. Police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference the brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo around 3.30pm and that police were investigating the motive. “We are still working from several hypotheses. One of them is whether this is an order from...

US Central Command (CENTCOM) has urged civilians to keep clear of all port facilities in Iran, a move that immediately drew a warning from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of massive retaliatory strikes if they are targeted. On Wednesday, CENTCOM said that the Iran was using civilian ports along the Strait of Hormuz to conduct military operations, which would make the ports legitimate military targets under international law. Civilians should immediately avoid all port facilities, and Iranian...

Iran cannot take part in the 2026 World Cup after co-host the United States launched air strikes against the country alongside Israel, killing its leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sports minister Ahmad Donyamali said on Wednesday. The US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran almost two weeks ago, killing the Islamic Republic’s ‌supreme leader, leading to a region-wide conflict in the Gulf. “Considering that this corrupt regime has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we...

Logistics companies in China are feeling the strain from the US-Israeli war on Iran, as volatile crude prices and disrupted transport routes ripple through global supply chains. With e-commerce cargo stranded in the Middle East and freight rates skyrocketing, industry insiders said they expect the fallout to last months, even as US President Donald Trump signalled the war could end soon. While some saw opportunities in alternative Central Asian corridors, Chinese businesses reliant on the region...

Documents released on Wednesday by the British government show officials believed there was a “reputational risk” to appointing Peter Mandelson as the US ambassador because of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The concerns were raised in a document sent to Prime Minister Keir Starmer in December 2024 before he appointed Mandelson to the role, seen as vital to establish a good relationship with the administration of US President Donald Trump. The document also spelled...

Iran said the world should be ready for oil at US$200 a barrel as its forces hit merchant ships ⁠on Wednesday and the International Energy Agency recommended a massive release of strategic reserves to dampen one of the worst oil shocks since the 1970s. The war unleashed with joint US and Israeli air strikes nearly two weeks ago has so far killed around 2,000 people, mostly Iranians and Lebanese, as it has spread into Lebanon and thrown global energy markets and transport into chaos. Despite what...

The Chilean capital Santiago awoke on Wednesday to a mixture of celebration and tension. As the city prepared for the inauguration of its centre-right president, the new government’s first crisis was already unfolding behind the scenes: an undersea fibre-optic cable linking the South American country to Hong Kong that had enraged Washington and may prove a watershed moment in how Latin America handles critical infrastructure projects and its partnership with Beijing. Jose Antonio Kast was...

For decades, geopolitical risk in the Gulf was largely synonymous with oil. Pipelines, export terminals and processing facilities were viewed as the obvious tender spots in times of regional escalation. In an oil-reliant economy, hydrocarbons were both the engine of growth and the primary vulnerability. Risk assessments, insurance premiums and sovereign spreads were managed accordingly. The episodic risks in the oil and gas industry led to a conventional playbook for navigating crises. Gulf...

Japan and Germany said on Wednesday they would tap into their oil reserves to tackle the rise in crude prices due to the Middle East war, with Berlin saying the IEA global energy body had asked member states to release 400 million barrels. France, the current chair of the Group of Seven countries, said nations were coordinating their steps as G7 energy ministers said they stood ready to take “all necessary measures”. The latest announcement came as leaders of the Group of Seven advanced...

How does a missile strike on a Qatari gas plant end up raising the price of rice in Bangladesh? The answer is fertiliser, an unglamorous commodity that nevertheless sustains much of what the world eats. Qatar burns natural gas to produce ammonia. Ammonia is converted into urea. Urea goes into the ground and out of the ground comes grain. Disrupt the first step, as Iran did when it struck QatarEnergy’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing facility on March 1, and the consequences travel along...

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “safe and sound” despite reports of an injury during the war with Israel and the United States, said the son of the Iranian president on Wednesday. “I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound,” said Yousef Pezeshkian, who is also a government adviser, in a post on his Telegram channel. He did not elaborate. State television had called...

Pakistan will come to the aid of Saudi Arabia whenever needed, according to the spokesman for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as Iran retaliates against US-Israeli strikes by hitting Gulf nations. Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan, which shares a border with Iran, signed a defence pact in September last year, elevating their long-standing security partnership, which is being tested by the Middle East crisis. There was “no question we might, we will” come to Saudi Arabia’s aid “no matter...

Kharg Island, a scrubby stretch of land in the northern Gulf, handles almost all of Iran’s crude exports and any attempt to seize it would mark a major escalation in the conflict, analysts have said. The US and Israel have so far treaded carefully around the island, but an Axios report over the weekend cited Trump administration officials saying capturing Kharg was on the table as the war in the Middle East persists. The island, located around 30km (19 miles) off the Iranian mainland, handles...

The Republican candidate backed by US President Donald Trump will advance to a run-off against a Democrat in the Georgia race to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in the US House of Representatives, after a special election on Tuesday seen as a test of Trump’s sway over his party. Trump’s preferred candidate, former district attorney for four northwest Georgia counties Clay Fuller, will face Shawn Harris, a moderate Democrat who has sought to court disillusioned Trump voters, in ‌the April 7...

Just as Sri Lanka thought it had bought some time with a one-month visa for the Iranian sailors it rescued, another of Iran’s warships appeared offshore, deepening Colombo’s struggle to stay out of a war that keeps washing up on its doorstep. The vessel was detected nine nautical miles (17km) off the coast on Tuesday, a week after a US submarine sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena and damaged the IRIS Bushehr off the southern port of Galle on March 4. Sri Lanka now hosts hundreds of Iranian naval...

Elon Musk’s estimated US$839 billion net worth has made him the wealthiest individual ever recorded, Forbes said on Tuesday, as billionaires worldwide saw their combined fortunes surge in the past year to an all-time high of US$20.1 trillion. Musk topped the Forbes World’s Billionaires list for the second consecutive year after his fortune swelled by roughly US$500 billion over the past 12 months, driven by rising valuations at Tesla and SpaceX, which is targeting a public offering in 2026. He...

A Florida woman accused of firing gunshots at Rihanna’s home in Los Angeles was charged on Tuesday with one count of attempted murder and other felony offences including 10 counts of assault on a person with a semi-automatic firearm. District Attorney Nathan Hochman said that the singing superstar, her partner A$AP Rocky, their three small children and her mother were all on the property at the time. The district attorney’s office said Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 35, was charged in the shooting Sunday...

US President Donald Trump says the war on Iran may not last much longer. But across Asia, government actions are racing to shield themselves from the fallout – revealing a region gripped by anxiety that an energy shock could revive the spectre of stagflation. Under mounting economic pressure and record oil market volatility, Trump said on Monday that the US-Israeli war on Iran could be over “very soon”, though not within the coming week. The most exposed Asian economies – including South Korea...

Disgraced movie mogul and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein says life in prison is “hell” in an interview where he repeatedly claimed he was not guilty of any crimes. The man who once effectively ruled Hollywood before a spectacular fall from grace at the start of the #MeToo movement said he was trapped in his cell at New York’s Rikers Island, with only guards for company. “It’s too dangerous for me to be around anyone else. Other inmates get to go to the yard. But every time I’m out there, I...

The US launched its war against Iran on February 28, convinced that decapitating Tehran’s leadership would produce swift political capitulation. A week later, Iran was still firing missiles across the Gulf, some 150 oil tankers were stalled at the Strait of Hormuz and an Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander has threatened to set ablaze any vessel attempting passage. A recent analysis in The Diplomat argues the strikes signal the end of China’s westward strategic march. The diagnosis captures...

The blaze on a bus in Switzerland that killed six people may have been started by a “disturbed” man who set himself alight, the cantonal public prosecutor said on Wednesday. “A witness statement indicated that a man... of Swiss origin boarded the bus carrying bags. At some point, he doused himself with a flammable substance and set himself alight,” Raphael Bourquin told a press conference. “There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this could be a terrorist act,” he said, adding that “it...

Since Israel and the United States launched their illegal and disastrous war against Iran, some Western apologists for this axis of aggression have dragged China into their propaganda. They say the war exposes how unreliable and useless China is as an ally and partner because it is nowhere to be found in Iran’s hour of need. The question is not whether Beijing should stick out its neck. No one wants to get involved in this potentially catastrophic war. That includes America’s Nato allies, which...

US President Donald Trump has built a potential off-ramp by suggesting the Iran war could end soon, but the world is still guessing about whether he will take it – and whether Tehran will let him. With surging oil prices threatening the global economy and his political fortunes at home, Trump’s tone appeared to shift abruptly on Monday as he called the war “very complete” and a “short-term excursion”. But the 79-year-old commander-in-chief continued to send mixed messages about when the war...

The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that the “black rain” and toxic compounds in the air in Iran after strikes on oil facilities could cause respiratory problems, and it backed Iran’s advisory urging people ‌to remain indoors. The UN health agency, which has an office in Iran and works with authorities on health emergencies, said it has received multiple reports of oil-laden rain this week. Tehran was choked in black smoke on Monday after an oil refinery was hit, in an escalation in...

US President Donald Trump warned Iran against laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday as the US unleashed some of the heaviest strikes of the war so far. Tensions over the critical shipping lane continued to escalate amid soaring global oil prices, with the US claiming it had destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels. Trump said that the US was using the same technology and missile capabilities deployed against drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean to “permanently...

A star of the massively popular Canadian show Heated Rivalry has hit back against an avalanche of hateful online posts, with the hockey drama’s success stirring up a frenzy online. The show about the budding careers and secret relationship of two young male hockey stars – one Canadian, one Russian – over a series of years, has become a global phenomenon. But it has also inspired particularly intense fan engagement across social media, including homophobic and racist comments. Lead actor Hudson...

Canadian police are investigating after the United States consulate in downtown Toronto was hit by gunfire early on Tuesday morning. Nobody was injured. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Superintendent Chris Leather called it a national security incident and said the national police force is working with Toronto police to understand the motive. Leather said the American and Israeli consulates, as well as embassies in Ottawa, will see an increase in security. Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank...

Russian and Ukrainian officials are making contradictory claims of battlefield successes in their four-year-old war, with Ukraine saying it has pushed Moscow’s forces back in some places on the front line but the Kremlin insisting that Russia’s invasion of its neighbour is making progress. At the same time, Russia’s almost daily aerial attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine continue. Three powerful glide bombs struck the centre of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, killing four people, the...

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday said Europe’s turn away from nuclear power had been a “strategic mistake”, as soaring oil prices rekindled concerns about the bloc’s energy vulnerability. Speaking in Paris at a nuclear summit, which aims to boost the use of civilian nuclear energy, the European Commission president endorsed a return to atomic energy, saying the European Union would back investments in “innovative nuclear technologies”. “It was a strategic mistake for Europe to turn its...

The United States and Israel are using artificial intelligence (AI) in their ongoing war on Iran. Even amid Anthropic’s blacklisting by the Pentagon amid a dispute over wartime applications, The Washington Post reported that the US military used the company’s AI tool Claude to strike around 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours of the invasion. Claude helped in war-planning by optimising target selection, analysing intelligence data and issuing precise location coordinates by assessing satellite...

Investigators in New Mexico began searching ⁠on Monday the ⁠former ranch of Jeffrey Epstein where ⁠the late financier and his acquaintances are accused of sexually abusing women and girls, state authorities said. Democratic-run New Mexico is acting on new information in documents released in January by the US Department of Justice, including an accusation that Epstein ‌ordered the bodies of two foreign girls buried in hills near the secluded property. The search follows New Mexico Attorney...

Not far from the Fukushima nuclear disaster site, former plant worker Toru Akama tends to dozens of pets abandoned after the catastrophe 15 years ago, work he sees as part of his quest for redemption. Miaows and barks break the silence of the countryside, once an evacuation zone, as the 63-year-old brings food to the animals left behind when their owners fled the triple disaster of March 11, 2011: earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. “It’s because of this plant, where we worked for years,...

Baden-Wurttemberg stands on the front line of Germany’s “China shock 2.0”. A hub for carmakers including Mercedes-Benz, the region has faced a wave of job cuts over the past year as Chinese firms rapidly gain global market share. In the German media, some have warned the area risks becoming “Germany’s Detroit”. Yet despite the economic strain – and polls showing the economy was the top issue for local voters – China barely featured in campaigns during the run-up to Baden-Wurttemberg’s state...

This year’s government work report delivered by Premier Li Qiang marks a shift from the perennial fixation with growth towards a greater emphasis on effective strategic development, especially social and people-centred outcomes. The “two sessions” have convened against the backdrop of Washington’s military adventure overseas. In contrast to that overextended empire, China will prevail in the competition with the United States by putting its own house in order. Some of the most consequential...

A Bangladeshi man who spent over three years on bail in Malaysia fighting local child pornography charges has been spirited to Alaska by the FBI to face what prosecutors describe as one of the most prolific child exploitation cases in US history. Zobaidul Amin, 28, was brought from Malaysia to the United States last Wednesday and made his initial appearance in a federal court in Anchorage the following day, where he pleaded not guilty to all 13 counts, according to the US Department of Justice...

China’s Ministry of Transport has summoned two maritime giants – Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) – for talks on “international shipping operations” amid legal disputes over the Panama Canal, a vital artery for global trade. No further details were provided in the one-sentence statement, which was posted on the ministry’s website on Tuesday. But in China, government summons often serve as a warning and, if ignored, could lead to further action. The move came as mounting...

Israeli strikes and mass evacuation orders have seen nearly 700,000 people flee their homes in Lebanon in just over a week, with more than 100,000 fleeing in 24 hours, the UN said on Tuesday. “Lives have been upended on a massive scale,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, the representative in Lebanon of UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency. In just over a week since the new escalation in Lebanon, Israeli air strikes and evacuation warnings to residents of dozens of villages “forced families...

China condemned it. Russia condemned it. Brazil condemned it. Brics, as a bloc, has said nothing. More than a week after US and Israeli strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggered the worst regional crisis in years, the grouping that positions itself as the collective voice of the Global South has yet to issue a single joint statement. The silence is not an oversight. It is the sound of a bloc whose expansion has outpaced its ability to speak as one, analysts...

Since the US and Israel unleashed strikes on Iran on February 28, war has spread across the region and casualties have been reported in countries across the Middle East. Due to reporting restrictions, Agence France-Presse has not been able to independently verify all of the following tolls. The figures are based on numbers released by governments, militaries, health authorities and rescue organisations in the affected countries. Iran Iran’s health ministry said on Monday that more than 1,200...

Explosive drone strikes by Haitian security forces targeting gangs have killed over 1,200 people, including 43 adult civilians and 17 children, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Tuesday, adding that operations have ramped up in recent months. Since last March, Haitian security forces, with support from Vectus Global, have carried out ‌anti-gang operations using quadcopter drones strapped with explosives, often in densely populated parts of the capital Port-au-Prince. Vectus Global is a...

Talks to advance US President Donald Trump’s plan to ⁠end the Gaza war have been on hold since last week when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran, sparking a broader Middle East war, three sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations said. The pause threatens to stall implementation of Trump’s flagship Middle East peace initiative, which he has cast as a major foreign policy objective. It comes less than a month after he secured billions of dollars in pledges for Gaza from Gulf Arab...

China’s export growth surged in the first two months of this year, as global demand booms, while experts pointed to the likelihood of strong momentum for the rest of the year as AI-driven tech investments ramp up. Exports jumped 21.8 per cent from a year earlier – the biggest gain in four years – to US$656.58 billion in the combined figures for January and February released by customs authorities on Tuesday. This represented a significant acceleration from the 6.6 per cent growth recorded in...

Young conservatives in Florida are fascinated by James Fishback, a long-shot gubernatorial candidate known for his provocative online posts.

In late July, an F.B.I. agent asked colleagues to get started on a sensitive task relating to Jeffrey Epstein, listing the names of 14 prominent men, with President Trump at the top.

Documents released by the U.K. government on Wednesday showed that Prime Minister Keir Starmer was told of Peter Mandelson’s ties to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

After 23 years running the Copenhagen restaurant, widely considered one of the most innovative and important in the world, the chef is leaving.

At the vaunted restaurant’s pop-up in the Silver Lake neighborhood, fallout from recent reports continued.

It takes backbone to solve an enigma like the “falling cat” problem.

It would be the first income tax in Washington, affecting an estimated 20,000 households. Some of the wealthiest are leaving for Florida.

A trade investigation focuses on the European Union, China, India and other countries and will likely lead to tariffs to replace those struck down by the Supreme Court.

Despite his tough talk, President Trump has consistently made allowances for countries he sees as powerful or dominant.

High prices have pushed more Londoners to live with roommates well into their late 20s and 30s — if they can afford to move out of their parents’ homes at all.

The storm, called a kona low, is expected to churn slowly across the islands all week.

At least two people were killed and several were injured in the severe storm on Tuesday that heavily damaged areas of Illinois and Indiana.

The images of a father known as Renty and his daughter Delia were honored today in a ceremony by their new steward, a museum in South Carolina.

Catastrophe in Cuba is not a foregone conclusion.

The fairy tale was 1990s New York.

“Isn’t this how ‘Ironman 3’ started?” Kimmel said after the F.B.I. warned state officials tobb prepare for a retaliatory Iranian drone strike on the West Coast ahead of Sunday’s Academy Awards.

As medical costs rise, more than 80 million people have made sacrifices like skipping meals and driving less, a new survey finds.

The top drivers included a $2.2 billion auction week in New York and strong fall fairs, according to the annual Art Basel and UBS report.

After making the journey from prewar Germany to Madison Avenue opulence, she gave her name to one of New York’s most influential indie cinemas.

The former Missouri police officer, Julian Alcala, was sentenced to two years in prison and now faces civil lawsuits from several of the 20 victims the authorities identified.