Minimalist News

US Military Shoots Down Inbound Iranian Attack Drones Over Hormuz, Bombs Coastal Sites Summary: The US reportedly military intercepted and shot down at least four Iranian one-way attack drones CENTCOM says coastal radar and missile sites bombed in retaliation. Iran Military Fires "Warning Missiles" At US Destroyers In Gulf of Oman; U.S. CENTCOM Denies Report Iran FM Warns American Bases Are Legitimate Targets , Cites 'No Tangible Progress' In Talks Polymarket US x Iran permanent peace deal by June 30, 2026? Yes 25% · No 76% View full market & trade on Polymarket Strait of Hormuz traffic returns to normal

Moscow To Host US-Russia Hockey Match Week Of July 4th The world's two largest nuclear powers are apparently turning to old school, Cold War-style sports diplomacy to thaw out their deeply frozen bilateral relations, even as there's as yet no solution to the grinding Russia-Ukraine war. Russian and American ice hockey players are scheduled to face off in Moscow on July 1 . President Vladimir Putin first proposed holding hockey matches between Russian and American players in both countries during a direct phone call with President Trump. Getty Images Soon after that March 2025 phone call the Kremlin noted at

The Market Is Starting To Price In Something Most People Still Don't See Authored by Milan Adams , There is a strange disconnect developing between financial markets and the average person. Most people still see the situation with Iran as another distant geopolitical story. It appears on television for a few minutes, disappears behind domestic political news, and then returns a few days later when another headline emerges. Investors, however, are beginning to treat it very differently. They are not watching the negotiations because they care about diplomatic symbolism. They are watching because a growing number of traders believe the

Climate Change: No. 1 Problem Of No Nation? Despite claims of new records for global high temperatures every few years now, the topic of climate change has still not reached the top of the agenda for many people. As Valentine Fouurreau reports, data from Statista Consumer Insights shows respondents in none of the 32 nations covered by the survey collectively rated climate change as the most important problem for their own country when asked to name the issues that were of the biggest significance to them. You will find more infographics at Statista Of the countries included in our infographic,

Stop Voter Fraud Or "Lose The Republic" Via Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com , Dr. Jerome Corsi says the Democrat election and voter fraud has to keep going or there will be “catastrophic losses” in the November midterm elections. Dr. Corsi contends, “Democrat Voter Fraud in America is Legion.” Dr. Corsi has a Harvard PhD in political science. He has written more than 50 books, and many of them became best-sellers. Look at what is going on in California with election officials still counting votes for many days after the Tuesday primary that just happened. Counting mail-in votes after election day has

"No Longer Tolerate Radical Marxists": Rubio Sanctions Revolutionary Cuban Influence Network Tied To U.S. Left-Wing NGOs U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions late Thursday targeting the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, or ICAP, a Castro-era organization used to spread Marxist ideology abroad. " For decades, Cuba has been the world capital for radical left-wing terrorism. The regime in Havana has recruited, trained, and backed violent Marxist and third-worldist movements across our hemisphere and beyond ," Rubio wrote on X. Rubio continued, " Today, we are targeting the network that enables and funds Cuba's subversive and radical

"Thank You, Mr. President": Maryland Freedom Caucus Applauds Trump's Coal Power Plant Restart Plan Submitted by Maryland Freedom Caucus , Today, President Trump is taking action to help reverse the damage done to Maryland's energy industry by directing federal support toward coal power infrastructure, including funding that could help restart Maryland's Warrior Run power plant near Cumberland. PRESIDENT TRUMP: "Today, we're taking historic action to bring down the price of energy and the cost of living for all Americans with the power of clean, beautiful coal... As a result of the $700M investment that I'm announcing today, we will protect

Lebanon's President Blasts Iran, Hezbollah For Using Country As Bargaining Chip Lebanon's president has angrily lashed out at both Hezbollah and Iran - the latter for using the Lebanese nation and people as a bargaining chip in the war and standoff with the United States and Israel. President Joseph Aoun told CNN in a rare interview that Tehran is exploiting his war-torn nation and issued a fresh demand that Iran's leadership and military stop interfering in Lebanese affairs. via Reuters He stressed to Christiane Amanpour that the Lebanese people are "fed up" with the war - which started years ago

Waste Of The Day: Mismanagement At SF Zoo Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations , Topline: The taxpayer-funded San Francisco Zoo "does not have a healthy or stable financial condition," according to a city audit released in May. The zoo has no written plans or budgets to guide its construction projects, and spent $12 million on them without city approva l. Employees are also allegedly hiring their friends and relatives as contractors. Key facts: The zoo is required to get approval from San Francisco's Recreation and Park Commission before paying more than $50,000 for a construction project. But employees never

Putin Rejects Open Letter By Zelensky Urging Meet: 'Pointless' Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded dismissively to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's open letter issued the day prior , which urged that the two leaders meet in order to finally forge a peace deal and bring an end to the war, now it its fifth year. Putin made clear Friday that he sees no point in holding a personal meeting with Zelensky. He was asked directly about the letter while attending the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). In response the Russian leader addressed not the "authors of the epistolary genre,"

Minnesota Mob Blindness: St. Paul Prosecutor Drops All Charges Against City Church Demonstrators Authored by Jonathan Turley via JonathanTurley.org , Minnesotans are familiar with the perils of "snow blindness," a temporary blindness caused by overexposure to ultraviolet rays from the reflection from snow and ice. It appears that Minnesota politicians and prosecutors have a type of mob blindness, where they cannot see crimes committed in front of them by the far left. That condition appears to be tragically evident in St. Paul, where City Attorney Irene Kao made an absurd denial of any criminal activity at the demonstration in the

Trump Tells "Less Shackled" Pulte To Fire Intelligence Officials As Senate Blocks FISA Extension When has the Senate ever not increased government spy powers? When President Trump installs Bill Pulte as acting DNI and instructs him to start kicking hornet nests, apparently. In a WSJ interview published Friday, Trump revealed he has directed incoming acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte to begin the process of firing a large number of employees as part of a major shake-up of the U.S. intelligence community. Trump described the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as “unnecessary and/or too big” and

Rubio Backs Bolivia's Government As Protests Trigger Food, Fuel Shortages Authored by Evgenia Filimianova via The Epoch Times, The United States has pledged additional emergency assistance to Bolivia as protests and road blockades deepen shortages of food, fuel, and medical supplies across the South American country. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on June 4 and discussed efforts to address growing shortages caused by nationwide unrest. “The Secretary noted the United States is ramping up emergency assistance and logistics operations support in Bolivia to help those facing acute food and medical shortages due to

"Massive Fumble": Chicago Bears Leave Blue State Illinois For Indiana After Century Of Football After 106 years of Chicago Bears football in Chicago, the franchise announced it will relocate to pursue a new stadium development about 25 miles away in Hammond, Indiana. " Yesterday, the Chicago Bears Board of Directors met and voted to advance our stadium development project in Hammond, Indiana, with the exact site yet to be selected ," Chicago Bears Chairman George H. McCaskey and President & CEO Kevin Warren wrote in a statement. The statement continued, " We believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will

Questions & Answers Authored by James Howard Kunstler, "I’m the look-around candidate. All you have to do to understand why I’m surging in the polls is just look around. . . ." - Spencer Pratt Just watch in wonder and nausea as California’s mail-in ballots dribble in, providing a real-time demonstration of the “Our Democracy” party spitting in the country’s face again, since everybody knows exactly what’s going on. Meanwhile, the Senate voted down the SAVE Act again this week by 52 to 48 for. . . reasons . But, hey, cheer up, it’s Pride Month. At the same time

Ringing The Bell: Meta Plunges On Report It May Sell "Tens Of Billions" In New Stock They don't ring the bell at the top, but they sure do sell a lot of stock. With SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI looking to IPO hundreds of billions in common stock (not counting even more hundreds of billions in lock up expirations that will hit the market soon)... ... coupled with Google's record $80 Billion follow on offering (of which half was a memestock-esque At The Market offering direct to retail), suddenly the cash-incinerating AI companies - already full to the gills with SPV

Coinbase To Launch Token-Backed Mortgage Down-Payments This Summer Authored by Turner Wright via CoinTelegraph.com, Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will allow qualified borrowers to pledge digital assets to fund Fannie Mae-backed mortgage apartments beginning this summer. In a Thursday notice, Coinbase and its partner, Better Home & Finance, said the mortgage structure plan launching “by summer 2026” will allow borrowers to initially use Bitcoin ( BTC ) or USDC ( USDC ) as collateral for loans to fund down payments for homes. The initiative, first announced in March , represented a significant shift in companies allowing digital assets to be used for

Ohio State University Reaches $100 Million Settlement With Nearly 300 Sex Abuse Survivors Authored by Jasper Ward via The Epoch Times , Ohio State University has reached a $100 million settlement with nearly 300 former students who had accused the school's campus doctor of sexually assaulting them decades ago, the school and a lawyer for the victims said on Wednesday. The Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., November 25, 2020. Megan Jelinger/Reuters The settlement with 279 of the 280 former students was ratified by the university's board on Wednesday. It followed years of litigation over accusations of decades

Fannie, Freddie Jump After Trump Floats $1 Trillion Valuation Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares jumped on Friday morning after President Trump said late Thursday that the mortgage giants were " probably worth $1 trillion ," reviving Wall Street hopes for a long-awaited exit from government control. President Trump praised FHFA Director Bill Pulte on Thursday for turning around Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying the mortgage giants " probably have $1 trillion in value ." Full transcript: "...a person who's got high integrity. He's done a phenomenal job at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac. You probably have $1 trillion in

University Of Oregon Grapples With Budget Crisis After Years Of Woke Excess Authored by Jonathan Turley, It appears that being unrelentingly woke means that you need fewer dormitories. The University of Oregon is facing a major budget crisis and will cut $65 million from its budget and close dorms due to low enrollment. That growing crisis, however, did not stop Oregon from burning almost a million dollars fighting against free speech. It also did not induce its faculty to offer greater intellectual diversity and tolerance to prospective students. Oregon is a cautionary tale for a generation of academic social warriors,

Oil tankers may be stuck behind strait of Hormuz, but holding the Iata AGM in Brazil defies warnings of impending shortages Nothing says jet fuel crisis, as one prospective attender put it, like flying everyone to Rio de Janeiro. Aviation leaders will converge in Brazil this weekend for the Iata AGM, the annual global airline summit, with the industry still, for the most part, looking resolutely skyward. The oil tankers may still be stuck behind the strait of Hormuz as the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran flickers on, but for now, airlines continue to defy dire warnings of

US secretary of state Marco Rubio says anyone providing services to listed entities ‘is at risk of sanctions themselves’ The United States has announced fresh economic sanctions on Cuba’s president and some of his immediate family, alongside members of the Castro family, in Washington’s latest ramping up of pressure on its communist-led neighbour. Among those targeted were the son and a grandson of former president Raúl Castro, who no longer holds an official position but remains a key figure on decisions about the future of the island. Continue reading...

Beluga whales, which Marineland threatened to euthanize in 2025, will be moved to sanctuaries in Spain or across US Canada and an embattled marine park have reached a tentative deal on the future of 30 beluga whales , ending a saga that has captivated the public and angered animal rights groups. The federal fisheries ministry announced this week that all of Marineland’s belugas would be shipped to either Spain or one of four locations in the US , ending whale captivity in Canada. Continue reading...

Country is shaken by the brutal murders of two girls, aged 14 and 17, whose bodies were discovered just days apart Argentina has reacted with fury after the bodies of two murdered teenage girls were found just two days apart. The latest killings underscore the South American country’s enduring femicide crisis despite years of feminist campaigning, and have prompted alarm over the decision to cut support for victims of gender-based violence under the far-right administration of Javier Milei. Police found the remains of Agostina Vega, 14, on Saturday, in a field on the outskirts of the city of Córdoba. She

Andrew Wilson appears in court over killing of Latoya Bulgin at protest over a police shooting days earlier Authorities in Jamaica have taken the rare step of charging a police officer with murder after he was accused of shooting a 45-year-old woman in a case that prompted violent protests. According to the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom), Constable Andrew Wilson appeared in court on Wednesday and was denied bail. Another hearing is scheduled for mid-June. Continue reading...

More than 1 million people advised to evacuate homes amid 80mph winds and heavy rain Typhoon Jangmi (also known as Typhoon No 6) moved northwards over the course of this week. From Okinawa to mainland Japan, prolonged and heavy rainfall led to landslide warnings and the flooding of rivers, with Japan issuing level 4 warnings for some rivers, signalling a risk of overflowing. This level is high enough for municipalities to issue evacuation orders. Three-hourly rainfall totals on Wednesday reached 105mm in Chiyoda, Tokyo, which was a record high for the month. Sustained wind speeds of 80mph (130kph) were recorded

Nauran government says its citizens are ‘friendly’ after MP spoke of serious threats allegedly made against former detainees Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Nauruan government has issued a rare statement insisting it is a “friendly” and “welcoming” country after a whistleblower alleged “serious threats of physical violence” were made against a group of non-citizens removed there by the Albanese government. The unexpected defence, sent shortly after midday on Thursday, was mounted hours after the independent MP Andrew Wilkie used his three-minute constituency statement

Polish, Spanish and French populists focus on clips of teenager’s dying moments and accuse UK of descending ‘into depths of the earth’ UK politics live – latest updates Polish far-right politicians have claimed that the murder of Henry Nowak symbolises “Britain’s descent into the depths of the earth” as populists from France, Spain and Japan focused on harrowing clips of his dying moments. Despite pleas from Nowak’s family for people not to exploit the killing for political gain and to focus on cutting knife crime, their comments have focused on race and immigration. Continue reading...

The Middle East is Japan’s main source of crude oil, from which naphtha is extracted and used to make items including printing ink and plastics Takeaways, supermarkets, and bakeries in Japan are running out of plastic bags, trays and food service gloves amid widening shortages of the key plastic ingredient, naphtha, due to the Middle East crisis. The food sector accounts for nearly one-third of Japan’s annual plastic use of more than 8m tonnes, and price rises and shortages are hitting hard across the industry and beyond. Some outlets have begun offering perks to customers who bring their own bags,

Powerful winds and rain expected in parts of Japan and Australia, while temperatures in Spain could hit 40C A powerful tropical storm is forecast to track near Okinawa, Japan, on Monday before moving towards the south-east of the country. Typhoon Jangmi (also known as Typhoon No 6) has formed within the monsoonal gyre over the Philippine Sea. A monsoonal gyre is a large, slow-rotating weather system that spawns typhoons through smaller vortices formed within it. This flow can intensify storms. Such typhoons are typically characterised by broad areas of low pressure and extensive wind fields, often without a distinct eye.

Government department says man was in the water around Michaelmas Island, near Albany, when he was bitten by a suspected 4.5-metre shark Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A male diver aged in his 30s has died after being bitten by a shark in Western Australia. The state’s police force confirmed on Saturday afternoon that the 35-year-old man had died, after being treated by paramedics at the scene for more than two hours. Continue reading...

Webcams showed snow blanketing the ground in some areas. In others, it was patchy or nonexistent Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia’s snow season has officially begun, with resorts predicting a good season despite climactic threats and the cost-of-living crisis. Between 20cm and 40cm of snow fell across the Victorian and New South Wales alps before the long weekend, with the falls bolstered by snowmakers. Continue reading...

Dr David Jackson gave ‘effectively an unlimited supply for a drug binge’ to one addict, inquest finds Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A former medical practitioner who was the subject of multiple red flags played a direct role in the deaths of two patients through grossly irresponsible drug prescribing, a coroner has found. Nicholas Brown, Matthew Winwood, Toni Wiki and Belinda Kemp, who were all drug dependent, died in Tasmania between September 2016 and August 2017. In Australia, the Opioid Treatment Line is at 1800 642 428 or call the National Alcohol and

Just months from the Victorian election, the premier’s performance has left some MPs wondering if it’s too late for Labor to change leaders Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Jacinta Allan faced three major tests this week. The way she handled them has left some of her colleagues speculating about a possible leadership change just months out from the Victorian election. The first came on Monday, as the premier responded to a parliamentary inquiry that six months ago recommended sweeping reforms to Victoria’s integrity laws. Continue reading...

Most economists believe the chronic undersupply of homes will eventually push prices higher once interest rates ease and the tax changes are priced in Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The government’s property tax changes have become one of the defining political issues of Labor’s second term, drawing fierce criticism from opponents who argue they represent an “assault on aspiration” that will destroy home values. In the three weeks after the negative gearing and capital gains tax changes were revealed in the 12 May budget, housing data has begun to show how they may

Lawyer for British women attacks ‘extraordinary spectacle’ of Tate’s arrival in Moscow British women who have accused Andrew Tate of rape, assault and coercive control have questioned why the self-professed misogynistic influencer has appeared in Russia as UK authorities continue to hold off on seeking his extradition. Tate admires Vladimir Putin and amplifies Kremlin propaganda online. He arrived in the same week that Russian authorities welcomed US rightwing figures at an annual conference described as Russia’s answer to Davos. Continue reading...

Relationship between Vladimir Putin and traditional ally has slowly unravelled under current PM Nikol Pashinyan The bottling line at the Abovyan cognac factory in Armenia is running at full tilt. Women in white coats and hairnets work the conveyor with practised speed – labelling, stacking, loading pallets – racing to fill a truck. Continue reading...

US embassy in Sarajevo made threat after European states refused to back its preferred High Representative candidate A deepening US-European rift over the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina has broken open with a dispute over a top administrative post, leading to a US threat to “reconsider” its role in international peacekeeping. The American embassy in Sarajevo issued the threat after European states refused to back the US preferred candidate to become the new High Representative for the international community. At a meeting this week in Sarajevo of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) – a multinational group tasked with overseeing the

Russian president describes Ukrainian counterpart’s letter as rude and says he sees no point in face-to-face talks Vladimir Putin has rejected an offer from Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold a face-to-face meeting, insisting instead that Russia will achieve its war goals in Ukraine, including seizing all of the eastern Donbas region. Speaking at the St Petersburg economic forum, the Russian president described the open letter from his Ukrainian counterpart containing the offer as rude. He refused to use Zelenskyy’s name, referring to him only as its author. Asked if they could meet to discuss an end to the conflict, Putin replied:

Thousands have protested in the streets of the Albanian capital, Tirana, this week against a planned luxury resort backed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Groundwork has begun on the $1.6bn complex in an area long seen as one of the Mediterranean’s most environmentally sensitive, containing 200 species of birds including flamingos and Dalmatian pelicans. After builders began erecting a concrete-based, barbed wire-topped fence around the site, alarm turned to public outrage at the environmental damage and lack of political transparency around the deal. Lucy Hough speaks to US live news editor Chris Michael – watch on YouTube Continue reading...

Conditions that led to bloody prewar protests have been made worse, commentators say Iran is already preparing for the perilous transition from wartime unity to a fractious peace marked by hyperinflation, a 10% contraction in the economy, power cuts and calls for a triumphalist government to end its unprecedented hunting down of dissent. With peace not yet secured, the debates within the regime about Iran’s future are only just starting to emerge but its rulers are clearly thinking about how after surviving the war, they can survive the peace. Continue reading...

Kuwait and Bahrain issued air raid alerts as Iran targeted American bases, after the US shot down drones and struck Iranian radar sites The US and Iran exchanged a series of strikes on Saturday morning, in the latest flare-up to threaten the ceasefire in the Middle East war. The US military said it shot down four Iranian drones that were launched toward the strait of Hormuz and struck coastal surveillance radar sites in response. Iran followed hours later, saying it targeted US bases in the region, with Kuwait and Bahrain both issuing air raid alerts. Continue reading...

Thousands flee including from village hosting at least 2,500 displaced people, one day after Hezbollah rejects ceasefire Thousands fled their homes after Israel issued forced evacuation orders for nine villages in southern Lebanon before strikes that killed six people on Friday, a day after the Hezbollah militant group rejected a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon. Hundreds of families left Anqoun, a village hosting at least 2,500 displaced people, after the Israeli military said it would soon operate against what it said were Hezbollah targets there, ordering residents to leave. The roads leading to Sidon, the closest large city, were

In today’s newsletter: ​Global powers​ are focused on oil markets and elections​ but those living through conflict in the Middle East feel abandoned Good morning. It’s been another week of brinkmanship via Truth Social and ceasefires broken before they’ve been announced. While US president Donald Trump claims an agreement with Iran could happen soon, for those living in the Middle East it does not feel like peace is anywhere near. People have seen more bombs dropped in Lebanon this week; and the death toll continues to rise, national economies falter, and displacement abounds. UK politics | Andy Burnham has signalled

British Retail Consortium figures show footfall rose in May, with consumer confidence improving after spending squeeze Greater numbers of consumers went shopping last month as spring sunshine brought welcome relief to retailers, which have faced a squeeze on spending since the US-Israel war on Iran. Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and a separate survey by the accountancy firm BDO showed a bounce-back in footfall during May, reversing a sharp decline in April. Continue reading...

Climbing support team rescue Hillary Dawa Sherpa almost a week on from when he was last seen A Nepali guide who was believed to have died on Mount Everest has been found crawling to base camp a week after going missing – and after his funeral rites had begun. Dawa Sherpa, also known as Hillary Dawa Sherpa after the famous climber Edmund Hillary, was last seen on 29 May but did not reach base camp with other climbing groups. Continue reading...

Truck was carrying Afghan families returning Pakistan when it overturned, official says A truck overturned in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing 18 people on board including 10 children, a provincial official told Agence France-Presse. Deadly traffic crashes are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving and a lack of regulation. Continue reading...

New digital marking system is aimed at reducing human errors but many students say it has resulted in wrong grades A national outcry has erupted in India after more than 400,000 students requested copies of their answer sheets amid mounting complaints of errors in the marking of the country’s most important school-leaving examinations. Within days of the grade 12 exam results being issued, students began reporting marking discrepancies they linked to a new digital marking system. Continue reading...

Rare albino buffalo spared due to security concerns over unusual level of public interest in 700kg animal A rare albino buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its distinctive blond tuft has been spared from Eid al-Adha sacrifice after a last-minute government intervention, according to a home ministry official. The nearly 700kg (1,543lb) animal had already been sold for ritual slaughter when authorities stepped in, citing security concerns after a surge of public interest before Thursday’s festival. Continue reading...

Lack of Pfas regulations raised in parliament after Guardian revealed former Miteni plant bought by Indian company Protests over the production of cancer-linked Pfas chemicals have spread across India, after an investigation revealed that an Italian factory shut down due to an environmental scandal was bought by an Indian company and partly rebuilt. At the end of last year, the Guardian revealed that the former Miteni plant in Vicenza had been acquired by the Indian company Laxmi Organic Industries. The factory produced Pfas and was shut down in 2018 after being linked to one of Italy’s worst environmental contamination scandals.

The UK’s biggest bird of prey has been compared to a flying barn door. So how can one fitted with a satellite tracker disappear in prime grouse-shooting country? The six police officers arrived at the Snilesworth estate in two pickup trucks last week, according to one account. They asked to go up on the moors, a source said, and “so off they went”. A vast expanse of spectacularly undulating lands on the western edge of the North York Moors, Snilesworth is globally renowned for its grouse, partridge and pheasant shooting. It is known locally for attracting “rich people from London

Emma Barnett killed her one-year-old after a court ruling he be taken away from her A mother who poisoned her one-year-old son with a lethal cocktail of prescription medications added to milk in a baby bottle has been jailed for life for his murder. Emma Barnett, 36, killed her son Oakley before he could be taken into care after a family court hearing ordered that he be removed from her. Continue reading...

Vice-president and state department look to push far-right idea that mass migration is causing civilisational decline How Britain was rocked by Henry Nowak’s murder – and why the US intervened In the state department of past administrations, how to respond to an incendiary event such as the murder of the British student Henry Nowak would have required deliberations, memos and meetings. Given how it has roiled the UK and inflamed tensions over migration and race, the cautious diplomats at Foggy Bottom probably would have said nothing at all. Now they tweet from the hip. “Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are

Prime minister’s office responds after JD Vance blames British teenager’s death on mass migration How Britain was rocked by Henry Nowak’s murder – and why the US intervened ​Keir Starmer has suggested the US is trying to interfere in British democracy after JD Vance, the US vice-president, blamed the murder of the British teenager Henry Nowak on mass migration. The prime minister’s office responded after the senior Republican politician claimed in a post on X that Nowak would be alive “if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass

Exclusive: Labour’s Makerfield byelection candidate advocates public ownership of water companies as he prepares for potential leadership bid Thames Water should be nationalised, Andy Burnham has said, revealing public ownership of water companies would “absolutely be an option” under his potential leadership of the Labour party. Burnham, Labour’s candidate in the Makerfield byelection, has previously called for “greater public control” over the companies. In an interview with the Guardian, he has confirmed this could mean nationalisation. Continue reading...

LA city council member pulled closer to reality TV villain in ballots counted Friday, now trailing by just 20,672 votes. This blog is now closed. Sign up for the Breaking News US email Nine out of 15 migrants deported from the US to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in April have returned to their home countries, Congo’s government, a migrant and her lawyer said on Friday. The 15 migrants arrived in Congo on 17 April as part of a bilateral agreement with the Trump administration announced two weeks earlier to accept third-country deportees from the US. Congo’s government said

Becerra advanced to the general election after emerging from California’s crowded primary field in the race to succeed Gavin Newsom Xavier Becerra has advanced to the November general election in California’s gubernatorial race, cementing a stunning come-from-behind primary victory in one of California’s most turbulent campaign seasons in recent memory. Election officials are continuing to count ballots to determine whether he will face fellow Democrat Tom Steyer, the environmental activist who championed progressive policies like universal healthcare and more taxes on billionaires like himself, or Republican Steve Hilton, the former UK political operative turned Fox News personality who was endorsed

Handy, 81, died after being stabbed, allegedly by Michael Gledhill, whose mother was in relationship with Handy A man has been charged with murder in the stabbing of Jumanji and Top Gun: Maverick actor James Handy, who was in a relationship with the suspect’s mother. Michael Gledhill, 44, was charged after police say officers found the 81-year-old Handy stabbed in the chest and unconscious outside his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Handy was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead. Continue reading...

Experts warn ballot-counting could drag on in primaries for governor, LA mayor and Congress, as Trump claims ‘rigging’ The US justice department on Friday sent a federal prosecutor to observe ballot processing in Los Angeles, as Donald Trump continues to make baseless claims that California Democrats were “rigging” the results to win primary elections in the nation’s biggest blue state. State officials have rejected the allegations, but the delay in results immediately fueled misinformation about the integrity of California’s elections, with the president, who has long fanned election-conspiracy theories, repeatedly accusing the state of “cheating”. Continue reading...

Case draws nationwide attention amid debate over racial tensions, as defendant is Black and slain student was white Testimony has been unfolding in the murder trial of a 19-year-old accused of fatally stabbing a fellow high schooler during a track meet in Texas more than a year ago. The case has drawn nationwide attention amid debate over racial tensions, as defendant Karmelo Anthony is Black and slain 17-year-old Austin Metcalf was white. Prosecutors allege Anthony stabbed Metcalf during a Frisco independent school district track meet at Kuykendall Stadium on 2 April 2025. Continue reading...

A man was charged with murder in the stabbing of Jumanji and Top Gun: Maverick actor James Handy, who was in a relationship with the suspect’s mother. Michael Gledhill, 44, was charged on Friday after police say officers found the 81-year-old Handy stabbed in the chest and lying unconscious outside a home in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Handy was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead. Gledhill did not appear at an arraignment on Friday afternoon in Los Angeles Superior Court and no plea...

Listening to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth at the recently concluded Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, I thought of the iconic Sichuan opera act of face-changing, where performers switch masks in an instant. Last year, Hegseth’s speech at the event was filled with blatant attacks on China. This year, he put on a completely different face, declaring that: “Under President Trump’s leadership, relations between the United States and China are better than they’ve been in many years.” Why this...

US forces struck Iranian coastal radar sites on Saturday after shooting down drones launched by Iran towards the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said, in the latest escalation complicating efforts to end the war between the two countries. The US military believed the four Iranian drones were targeting regional maritime traffic, an official said. US Central Command said on social media that the US then struck Iran’s surveillance ‌sites in Goruk and Qeshm Island, which are both on the Strait of...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he currently saw no reason to meet Volodymyr Zelensky after the Ukrainian president published an open letter proposing they hold face-to-face talks to agree an end to a war now in its fifth year. In his letter, which was sent to other countries, including the US, Zelensky said most Russians ‌had grown tired of Ukrainian missile and drone attacks, high inflation and fuel shortages, and were ready for peace. He also suggested that continuing the war...

Given that control over energy reinforces superpower status, the contest of the century has morphed into an intense rivalry between China, a rising “electrostate”, and the United States, the world’s hydrocarbon hegemon safeguarding its position. China recognises that electricity drives its economy. Despite being a major producer of coal, crude oil and natural gas, China remains an importer of these hydrocarbons. However, with strategic patience, through its five-year plans, the country has been...

US President Donald Trump said Friday he wants his incoming acting spy chief to start firing employees, deepening the controversy over the appointment of a man with no previous intelligence experience. Bill Pulte, a Trump loyalist who heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, was named by the Republican president on Tuesday as acting Director of National Intelligence. “If he cut, I wouldn’t mind that,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that the number of employees in Pulte’s...

A firestorm of recrimination raged in France on Friday over failures in the justice system that kept a man now suspected in the disappearance and death of an 11-year-old girl out of custody despite allegations that he preyed on young adolescents. The disappearance of the girl identified by police as Lyhanna and days of searches that ended with the discovery of her body in a disused grain silo have gripped national and, increasingly, political attention since she went missing in the southwestern...

A vaccine targeting a broad range of viruses that was designed using artificial intelligence had a “modest” effect on immune systems in a small, early trial, according to a new study. The trial marks the first time a vaccine whose active ingredient was entirely designed by AI has been tested in humans, researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK said on Friday. The experimental jab is intended to be a “universal vaccine” which protects people against a range of viruses that have...

President Donald ⁠Trump’s administration unlawfully barred applicants from ⁠39 travel-ban countries from receiving decisions on asylum, work permits, green cards and citizenship, a US federal judge ruled on Friday. Chief US District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, ruled that the US Citizenship and ‌Immigration Services had adopted a series of unlawful policies targeting people from 39 African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern countries. His ruling came in a lawsuit...

Actor Anthony Head, best known for his roles in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Ted Lasso, has died at the age of 72, his family announced on Friday. The British actor, the brother of singer Murray Head, was best known as librarian Rupert Giles in the cult US supernatural television series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, which ran from 1997 to 2003. “It is with heavy hearts that we announce the death of our extraordinary father, Anthony Head,” his daughters Emily and Daisy Head, said in a statement...

A worsening air leak aboard the International Space Station prompted five astronauts to take shelter and prepare for evacuation for roughly two hours on Friday as Russia attempted to ‌fix a crack on its portion of the orbital laboratory, Nasa said. The four astronauts of Nasa’s Crew-12 mission aboard the station – two Americans, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut – along with another US astronaut were ordered by Nasa mission control at 9.04am on Friday to enter their SpaceX-built Crew...

Russia could attack a Nato country within four years according to western intelligence assessments, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned on Friday. He made the comments as he pledged his government would publish a long-delayed defence investment plan before next month’s Nato summit. “It is our intelligence assessment and the assessment of other countries in Nato that there could be an attack by Russia on Nato as soon as 2030,” Starmer said. “So you can see the urgency and the priority that...

Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been placed on a waiting list for a lung transplant after a significant deterioration in her health that likely gave her only a year left to live without the surgery, her doctors said on Friday. The 52-year-old wife of Crown Prince Haakon, the ‌heir to the Norwegian throne, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, a chronic disease that causes scarring in the lungs and leads to a reduced oxygen uptake. Oslo’s University Hospital in December said the...

China and Russia have largely moved away from the US dollar in bilateral trade settlement, with most transactions now settled in their own currencies. Yet cross-border payment bottlenecks persist as Chinese banks carefully manage their exposure to Washington’s sanctions regime, according to a senior Russian banker. At the heart of the friction is a stark balancing act facing Chinese lenders: how to ease trade with Russia while safeguarding access to the US dollar-based global financial system –...

US employment growth surged in May, beating market expectations, while the unemployment rate remained steady, government data showed on Friday, with the labour market in the world’s largest economy sustaining recent gains. “Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 172,000 in May, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.3 per cent,” the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal had expected job growth of 80,000...

China-Canada relations are undergoing a thaw after years of estrangement and recrimination. China and India are seeking a rapprochement despite deep-seated distrust and sometimes violent border disputes. Both cases share a common element: Donald Trump. Meanwhile, following the US president’s visit to Beijing, his defence secretary Pete Hegseth avoided mentioning Taiwan at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. He sounded almost conciliatory by hailing ties with Beijing as “better than they’ve...

The US Senate handed President Donald Trump ⁠a victory early on Friday morning, passing a bill that would provide the Department of Homeland Security with an additional US$70 billion for immigration enforcement and sending it to the House of Representatives for final consideration. The Senate voted 52-47 to approve the legislation, with no support from Democrats and no provision to ban a US$1.8 billion “anti-weaponisation” fund that could compensate Trump’s political allies for allegations that...

French billionaire Pierre-Edouard Sterin, who has stirred controversy over his right-wing politics, is pleading with lawmakers to modify rules so he can disinherit his five children, saying he prefers to give his fortune to charity. “I would like to give my entire estate to philanthropic causes,” the businessman told senators on Thursday during a public hearing, noting that under French law three quarters of his assets would have to be passed down to his offspring. “I’m in favour of being able...

Europe’s political and business leaderships appear to have concluded that China’s economic dominance represents an existential threat – not from intrinsic competitiveness but from subsidies, technology theft, state-owned enterprises and a pervasive industrial policy. Cecilia Malmstrom, former European Commission member and a member of the European Parliament, wrote this week about “an ever more aggressive China”, which “seems to be entering a new phase of industrial policy with an increase of...

Peru’s duelling presidential hopefuls have made a final pitch to voters, capping a bruising and razor-tight race dominated by anger over rising crime and political instability. Conservative Keiko Fujimori and leftist Roberto Sanchez staged rival events in Lima on Thursday ahead of Sunday’s vote, with ardent flag-waving supporters arguing their “communist” or “dictator” opponents would bring the country to ruin. “We cannot let them win with communism and terrorism,” said bandana-wearing...

King Charles’ disgraced younger brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor held leases for 10 properties, three of which he sublet, while the monarch ⁠pays rent for the former prince’s daughters’ palace ⁠homes, a report by the UK’s spending watchdog said. In the most ⁠detailed review ever of royal property arrangements, the National Audit Office (NAO) report on Friday showed some leases were based on commercial valuations, while for others, senior figures paid no rent or negligible amounts for their...

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. Trump ‘personally called for China’s help’ to end Ukraine war in summit with Xi US President Donald Trump personally urged President Xi Jinping to help end the Ukraine war, seeking to leverage Beijing’s influence over Moscow to...

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has confirmed for the first time his intention to challenge Keir Starmer to be Britain’s prime minister, drawing immediate criticism from the premier who vowed not to walk away from the job. “If I get your support, I would seek to represent you at the highest possible level and give this constituency maximum power and influence,” Burnham said in an episode of the BBC’s Question Time. He cited the ambitions of his top rival, former health secretary Wes...

Following the ⁠first confirmation of screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite, on a US farm in decades, federal and state officials have fanned out in South Texas, where a calf was found infested this week. US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Thursday no other infestations of cattle or other animals have been detected around the confirmed case. The case in La Pryor, Texas, was a blow to US cattle ranchers who have been bracing for a domestic outbreak of New World screwworm as the fly...

German airline Lufthansa said it was investigating after the nose gear of a Boeing jet collapsed while the aircraft was parked at a gate at Frankfurt Airport, injuring several employees. Only crew members and ground staff were on board the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner when the front tip of the plane crashed to the ground ahead of passenger boarding for a scheduled flight to Los Angeles on Thursday. The flight was later cancelled. “Several employees were injured and are currently receiving medical...

US President ⁠Donald Trump on Thursday indicated ⁠that he would not nominate mortgage regulator ⁠Bill Pulte to be the nation’s intelligence chief once his temporary appointment expires early next year. His comments follow a backlash against Pulte’s appointment as acting director of national intelligence from Democrats and some key senators of his Republican Party over the ‌Trump loyalist’s lack of national security experience. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump indicated he would...

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced plans to add a potential “Trump promenade” to the iconic Lincoln Memorial, in his latest grandiose bid to leave his mark on the US capital. Trump said the walkway would link the huge marble monument, built to commemorate Civil War-era president Abraham Lincoln, to the nearby Potomac River. “They want to call it the Trump Promenade,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he unveiled the project for the first time. “I don’t know if I want to do...

China accused the United States of using “invented allegations” to justify its terrorism case against Cuba, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told senators he needed no new evidence to tie the island to violent leftist groups across the western hemisphere. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday that Washington could not justify its blockade and sanctions against the island, adding that the decades-old embargo had wrecked Cuba’s economy. “China firmly supports Cuba in...

US President Donald Trump’s eldest son warned against investing in China during an event for investors on Thursday in Zurich, even as his father’s administration has pushed forward on plans to improve commercial ties between the two countries. “I wouldn’t,” Donald Trump Jnr said when asked at the invitation-only event if he would invest in China. “I don’t think we can pretend they’re an ally. That would be, I think, foolish.” Trump Jnr, who shares the position of executive vice-president of the...

I just spent two weeks in a broken Britain, which is an unfortunately apt description for a country that has fallen from its former glory. Its people are funny, witty, creative, intelligent, sports-mad and educated, part of a society that has constantly evolved over the last millennium, its imperial heritage bringing in cultures from around the globe. It is a green and pleasant land, beautiful in spring and summer, and not too bad in the autumn. Yet the once great nation is now dealing with a...

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump’s proposals for peace in Ukraine could end the fighting, but said Kyiv needed to compromise – and that he saw no signs of that, so was ready to fight on to victory. Speaking to foreign media editors on the sidelines of Russia’s annual economic forum in what is the fifth ‌year of Europe’s deadliest land war since World War II, Putin said Russia would defeat Ukraine on the battlefield if necessary. But he said it was also...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney launched his AI strategy on Thursday, warning that his country’s slow adoption of the frontier technology had created risks and that domestic capacity needed a boost to avoid it being “weaponised against us”. Reducing Canada’s reliance on the US is a central part of Carney’s agenda, and his AI strategy nodded to concern about the influence of US tech giants. “We are highly dependent on foreign suppliers for the infrastructure that powers AI,” he said. “That...

Franco-Iranian author and film director Marjane Satrapi, renowned for her graphic novel and film Persepolis, has died aged 56, a year after the passing of “the love of her life”, a member of her close circle said on Thursday. “Marjane Satrapi died of sadness a little over a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life,” they said in a statement. Born in 1969 in Rasht in northern Iran, Satrapi arrived in France in 1994 and gained French nationality in 2006. An...

Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified information under a deal with the US Justice Department that could allow him to avoid prison time, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The deal would resolve a criminal case filed in October that charged Bolton with 18 counts of either retaining or disseminating classified information, including diary-like notes from his time in government that...

EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic has called for practical approaches and “meaningful discussion” to tackle the growing trade concerns between Brussels and Beijing, following his meeting with China’s chief international trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, on the sideline of a ministerial meeting at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. Sefcovic opened his press conference on Thursday by stressing the urgency of crafting policy responses to the non-market practices...

President Donald Trump said he would ⁠move to ⁠nominate acting US Attorney ⁠General Todd Blanche on Thursday to permanently lead the Justice Department, which would make his former personal lawyer the nation’s top law enforcement officer. “He’s acting attorney general. Tomorrow. ‌I’m instructing Dan (Scavino) and everybody else that’s involved in that very complicated process – which is going to go, I think, very quickly – that we are going to make him permanent attorney general,” Trump said at...

Four people were killed on Thursday in a plane crash on Croatia’s northern Adriatic coast, police said. “According to currently available information four people have died” in the crash of the plane in Medulin, on Croatia’s northwestern Istria peninsula, a police statement said. The accident occurred in the Campanoz area, outside the town, and “all emergency services are on the scene”, it added. The national firefighting association said it had received a report of the crash near the Medulin...

For over two decades, China’s rise in Latin America has been viewed as one of the most significant geopolitical developments in the western hemisphere. Through trade, investment, infrastructure projects and diplomatic engagement, Beijing built a presence that would have been difficult to imagine at the beginning of the century. The strategy appeared highly successful. Beijing became a leading trading partner for much of the region, financed major projects, expanded its diplomatic footprint and...

China has rejected a recent OECD report that said its firms receive far higher government subsidies than international peers, calling the findings “one-sided and arbitrary” at a time when EU concerns over Beijing’s industrial policy are intensifying. “The report’s definition of ‘subsidies’ lacks a unified standard and statistical framework, and deviates from consensus under multilateral frameworks such as the World Trade Organization,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on...

The group leading the charge in the search for extraterrestrial life has given the all-clear: an interstellar comet looks to be completely natural and free of any alien tech. The SETI Institute said Wednesday that extensive radio scans by its telescope in Northern California found no signs of otherworldly technology from our solar system’s latest interstellar visitor. The object labelled 3I/ATLAS was discovered last summer sweeping through our neck of the cosmic woods. Scientists quickly...

A massive coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, is facing growing resistance from protesters in Albania. The government says the development on the Adriatic coast would be transformational for the former communist nation as it seeks to enter the high-end tourism market and pushes for European Union membership. But the venture, spanning an abandoned island and a nearby stretch of seafront on Albania’s southern coast, has drawn opposition...

Hezbollah rejected a ceasefire plan agreed by the Lebanese and Israeli governments in US-mediated talks, as Israel kept up strikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday and said it would not be withdrawing from the south. Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a ceasefire but said it would require a “complete cessation” of fire by Iran-backed Hezbollah, according to a joint statement after US-led talks in Washington on Wednesday. The two sides, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also...

The Republican-led House voted to halt the US war with Iran, breaking with President Donald Trump on an unpopular foreign conflict that is taking an escalating economic toll on Americans. The 215-208 vote on Wednesday showed worries over the war spreading in the president’s own party five months before congressional elections. Last month, a Senate resolution to end the war also advanced past a procedural hurdle for the first time, though that legislation hasn’t yet come to a formal vote. The...

The US and its “Five Eyes” intelligence partners issued what they said was an unprecedented joint notice warning about attempts by Chinese spies to use websites such as LinkedIn to recruit assets. “China’s military intelligence services are using an increasingly wide array of professional networking sites and online job platforms to target Five Eyes government and military personnel – and anyone with access to classified or privileged information,” according to a joint statement by the FBI,...

Since the Ukraine war began in 2022, Asia has been watching conflict as if enrolled in a study course. We have heard every argument: Nato enlargement, Russian insecurity, Ukrainian sovereignty, European fear, American power, energy politics, sanctions, nationalism and resistance. We have watched Gaza burn. We have watched the United States capture Venezuela’s president and defend the act as lawful. We have watched Iran absorb attacks and retaliate. For Asians, these are no longer distant events....

The latest violence between the United States and Iran threatened a cease-fire and risked further stoking tensions in the region.

After months of doubts over their participation, Iran’s players have received visas for the United States just days before the World Cup begins.

The S&P 500 fell more than 2.6 percent on Friday, its worst one-day drop of the year and ending nine weeks of gains.

Tech titans and Silicon Valley transplants changed the Columbus area, but not everyone is thrilled about the rapid transformation.

Employers added 172,000 jobs in May, adding to a vigorous pace of hiring in recent months. But wage growth is not keeping up with higher prices and consumers remain pessimistic.

Elon Musk’s rocket company, on the cusp of the largest initial public offering ever, will soon end up in index funds after rule changes by Nasdaq and other index providers.

President Trump was in Wisconsin to reassure farmers who have been stung by his tariff policies and rising fuel prices from the war in Iran.

A grand jury subpoenaed the health system for information about adolescent patients who had received gender-related care, Mount Sinai said on Friday.

Stephen Buyer, a former Republican representative from Indiana, was convicted of trading stock related to two deals before they were made public.

The infections are the first detected in the United States since the 1960s. Officials are aggressively trying to prevent the parasite from spreading in the nation’s largest cattle-producing state.

Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim said on Friday in an email to the show’s staff that they had reached the decision after a period of “grieving” and frustration.

Dawa Sherpa, 57, was found alive on Thursday, nearly a week after he was last seen on the mountain. His wife says more could have been done to find him sooner.

Elon Musk’s rocket company said Google would pay it $920 million a month, as it prepared for its initial public offering.

We asked three farmers to tell us how new technology is revolutionizing the way they work.

A San Francisco start-up called Arena found that people are most likely to use A.I. agents on the job, particularly if they are in the tech industry.

The country on Thursday released a national artificial intelligence strategy that focuses on building its sovereign capability and protecting consumers.

The British actor was a mainstay of influential television shows who first found fame as a Nescafe pitchman.

At the St. Petersburg economic forum, business and political elites said Russia faced a choice of halting the conflict or sacrificing more. Vladimir Putin seemed to signal more war.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill had hoped that replacing federal agents outside the Delaney Hall detention center with the state police would bring peace. It didn’t work out that way.

The mayor, Ras Baraka, said the city would not spend taxpayer money to safeguard Delaney Hall, an immigration detention center in Newark run by a private prison company.

Severe heat waves have been hitting India since April, forcing many of the country’s essential workers to make tough decisions.

What’s the matter, can’t you take a joke?

The sweeping effort to dismantle Black-majority congressional districts in the South will have far-reaching consequences for all Americans, and for our democracy.

The queen’s third cousin, she was a bridesmaid at the royal wedding in 1947, and witnessed firsthand pivotal moments in British history.