Minimalist News

Netanyahu Boasts: Trump Admin Briefs Me Every Day On Iran Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he spoke with Vice President JD Vance after the US-Iran talks in Pakistan and described the call as part of a daily report the Trump administration provides him. "I spoke yesterday with Vice President J.D. Vance. He called me from his plane on his way back from Islamabad. He reported to me in detail, as this administration does every day, about the development of the negotiations," Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting, according to Axios reporter Barak Ravid. White House photo The comments from

Tesla China CEO Says Shanghai Gigafactory Is "Golden Key" To Optimus Robot Production Tesla's China president was quoted by local media on Tuesday as saying the Shanghai Gigafactory could eventually play a major role in mass-producing humanoid robots. The comment comes after Tesla said earlier this year that it would pivot away from producing Model S and X vehicles at its California factory and convert the vehicle production lines to Optimus robot production. The Shanghai Morning Post quoted Allan Wang Hao, a senior executive at Tesla China, who said the Shanghai Gigafactory could provide a "golden key" to mass-producing the Optimus robot. "Like

Fauci Deputy Who Refused COVID-19 Vaccine Feared Retaliation: Emails Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A top government doctor who declined to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 was worried he would lose his job and medical license in retaliation, according to newly obtained emails. The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., on May 30, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times “There were times when I was worried about losing my job especially when we first started receiving emails about [vaccine] mandate deadlines,” Dr. Matthew Memoli, who led the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases clinical studies unit at the National Institute

Mossad Chief Declares Mission In Iran Not Over Until Regime Falls A two-week Iran-US-Israel ceasefire is still in effect despite the collapse of last weekend's Islamabad talks, where the big hang up was fierce disagreement over Iran's nuclear development. The clock is ticking amid efforts to hold more direct talks by the end of this week. What's unlikely to help things move along is a fresh statement from Mossad Director David Barnea. While speaking at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in Jerusalem on Tuesday, he boasted that Mossad assets have been operating from the heart of Tehran and that the fight is not over

Should You Keep Your Target-Date Funds In Retirement? Authored by Javier Simon via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Target-date funds (TDFs) can be effective retirement savings vehicles for many investors. Target-date funds adjust risk over time, but their limited flexibility can make them less suitable for complex retirement plans. SsCreativeStudio/Shutterstock TDFs are professionally managed portfolios often built with various mutual funds. They are designed to automatically adjust their asset allocation of stocks, bonds, cash and sometimes alternative investments to become more conservative as you reach the target date. Over time, these funds reduce exposure to generally riskier assets like stocks and shift toward typically safer

For A Housing Fix, Look To The Laboratories We Know As States Authored by Edward Pinto via RealClearMarkets, Federal housing policy is afflicted by several shortcomings—it is expensive, outdated, and inflexible. The states, free from these restrictions, have begun experimenting with tailored approaches. Congress should take note. In 1932 Justice Brandeis observed that “one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” By its nature, the states as laboratories do not suffer from the shortcomings that afflict

After Swalwell Craters, CA GOP Jubilant But Divided Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearPolitics, SAN DIEGO—Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign implosion on Friday couldn’t have been better timing for California Republicans. The state’s GOP was already set to convene in San Diego for their spring convention over the weekend, and the series of Democratic leader defections from Swalwell, as additional sexual allegations surfaced on social media, left candidates and activists gleeful and gloating.  Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host and the frontrunner in the crowded contest to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in November, on Saturday addressed hundreds of attendees, beginning his address

Meta Builds Photorealistic AI Version Of Mark Zuckerberg To Interact With Employees Meta is developing an artificial intelligence-powered replica of CEO Mark Zuckerberg capable of engaging directly with employees, as the $1.6 trillion company intensifies its efforts to reshape itself around AI. According to FT, the social media giant has been working on photorealistic, AI-driven 3D characters that users can interact with in real time - and has recently prioritized the development of a Zuckerberg AI character, which could provide conversation, feedback, and a stronger sense of connection to the founder for staff. AI Zuckerberg is being trained not only on textual data but

Federal Judge Temporarily Allows Pentagon To Enforce Press Restrictions Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A federal court on April 13 temporarily allowed the Trump administration to enforce its media access restrictions at the Pentagon after blocking the policy last month. The Department of War logo at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on March 10, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the federal government’s request for a 14-day administrative stay of his March 20 order blocking the restrictions. Friedman did not provide reasons for his decision, which

Biden Prosecutors Withheld Key Evidence Against Abortion Clinic Protesters: DOJ Federal prosecutors deliberately withheld evidence while pursuing cases against individuals who protested at abortion clinics, according to a new Department of Justice (DOJ) report released on Tuesday. The DOJ Weaponization Working Group’s inaugural report examined what the Trump administration has called the Biden administration’s misuse of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. The 1994 law makes it a federal crime to injure, intimidate, or interfere with people seeking or providing abortions or pregnancy-related services. The working group was created in 2025 by former Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate alleged

Chinese Firm Claims It Tracked US Jets Over Iran During Operation Epic Fury Authored by Ameya Paleja via Interesting Engineering, MizarVision, a private Chinese company specializing in geospatial intelligence, claims to have tracked US aerial refueling missions of its KC-135 and KC-46 tanker aircraft during Operation Epic Fury. A report published earlier this month analyzed these activities and provided links to strike patterns witnessed in Iran.  The recent strikes conducted by the US over the past month surprised many around the world, but data from transporters refueling flights provided valuable information about their locations.  While bombers work to keep their location under wraps, the

Over 20 US-Approved Ships Pass Through Hormuz, As Trump Eyes Jump-Starting Next Pakistan Peace Talks SUMMARY * CENTCOM: "During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the U.S. blockade & 6 merchant vessels complied with direction from US forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman," it said. WSJ: 20 US-approved ships have passed, which have not visited Iranian ports. * Diplomacy is not yet dead, as Bloomberg reports Iran is mulling a short-term pause to shipments through Hormuz Strait. Trump tells NYP talks could happen again in two days in Pakistan. * Mediators

Fed Chair Nominee Kevin Warsh Reveals Assets Worth Over $190 Million Trump's nominee for next Fed Chair, Kevin Warsh, disclosed assets with his wife, heiress Jane Lauder, that total at least $192 million, though - according to Bloomberg - "the actual figure for their holdings is certainly much higher", underscoring the extent of his close ties to Wall Street through personal investments and advisory positions. Warsh, who was chosen in January by President Donald Trump to succeed Jay Powell, received more than $13 million in consulting fees last year, including $10.2 million from billionaire hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller’s family office, Duquesne. The

Secretary Wright Sees "Few More Weeks" Of High Gas Price As Memorial Day Travel Nears Energy Secretary Chris Wright appeared on Fox News on Tuesday morning and said, "Yes, we have gas prices today over $4 a gallon. That's still a dollar less than they were during the Biden administration, and we're ending the 47-year conflict with Iran." Wright noted, "It does mean higher prices today. It probably means higher prices for a few more weeks. But I'm proud of President Trump." > Chris Wright: "Yes, we have gas prices today over $4 a gallon. Still a dollar less than they were in

USA Rare Earth Actively Pursuing Acquisition Opportunities Around The World At the Semafor World Economy forum, USA Rare Earth CEO Barbara Humpton explained that the company is actively pursuing acquisition opportunities worldwide across the entire critical minerals supply chain. This includes everything from extraction and refining to magnet production. Highlighting the company’s international strategy, she pointed to a recent agreement to acquire a stake in Carester, a rare earth processing firm based in France, in partnership with French investor Infravia, according to Semafor.  Speaking in Washington, DC, Humpton noted that this move will soon enable the company to establish a processing operation in

Global Oil Demand Growth Completely Wiped Out By Gulf Energy Shock The global demand destruction playbook we outlined last month, describing how the Gulf energy shock would spread across continents, is now materializing on a large scale. The International Energy Agency said in a Tuesday update that global oil demand will decline this year for the first time since 2020. "The Iran war has thoroughly upended the global outlook for oil consumption," the IEA wrote in its Oil Market Report. "Demand destruction will spread as scarcity and higher prices persist." The IEA said the US-Iran conflict and the disruption of the Hormuz chokepoint

Appeals Court Terminates Criminal Contempt Proceedings Against Trump Admin Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), An appeals court has put a stop to criminal contempt proceedings initiated by a district judge against the Trump administration. District Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the District Court for the District of Columbia, stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington on March 16, 2023. Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via AP An appeals court has put a stop to criminal contempt proceedings initiated by a district judge against the Trump administration. In a brief, unsigned order on April 14,

Et Tu, Indonesia! As the squeeze continues on China's energy supply (and Xi has started to lash out here and here), we suspect the next words out of the Chinese leader's mouth (if he spoke Latin) will be "...et tu, Indonesia!" As Stephen Green writes at PJMedia, it might have seemed like one of those dry, bureaucratic, almost meaningless announcements on Monday, when War Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that the U.S. and Indonesia "are elevating our relationship to a Major Defense Cooperation Partnership."  This arrangement “will explore mutually agreed cutting-edge initiatives, including co-developing sophisticated asymmetric capabilities pioneering next-generation defense technologies in

US Carrier Takes Long Route To Gulf To Avoid Bab el-Mandab Strait And Houthis By Mallory Shelbourne of USNI News Aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is operating off the coast of Namibia, as it sails around the African continent and is set to join a growing naval force in the Arabian Sea amid a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, USNI News has learned. USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) transits the Atlantic Ocean, Feb. 15, 2026. US Navy photo Bush, which deployed at the end of March, did not sail through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea, a

La Marxista: Mamdani Pledges To Open First City-Run Store With Projected $30 Million Initial Cost Authored by Jonathan Turley, Mayor Zohran Mamdani used his “First 100 Days” speech this week to announce that he has kept his promise to create a chain of city-run stores . . . by pledging to open one store sometime “next year.” According to the New York Post, the city is planning to make an East Harlem location the first store at a cost of $30 million. It will be located in La Marqueta near Park Avenue. It is not clear if La Marqueta will  be renamed La Marxista,

Sheinbaum has recently been taking a firmer stance with the US, defying pressures where other countries have caved The Mexican government has voiced concern about the deaths of its citizens in US custody, with Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum also pushing back against the Trump administration’s decision to impose an energy blockade on Cuba. The progressive Mexican leader has walked a careful line with Trump for more than a year, addressing provocations with a measured tone and meeting US requests to crack down on cartels more so than her predecessors, in an effort to offset threats of tariffs and US military action against

Byelection wins and defections push Canada’s Liberals into majority government under the prime minister Mark Carney has said he will govern with “humility, determination and a clear understanding of what this moment demands” after his Liberals swept three byelections Monday evening, forging a parliamentary majority just more than a year after he took power. Carney has achieved only the third majority government in two decades – and has done so in a highly unusual fashion, cobbling together both ballot box wins and defections from rival parties. Continue reading...

Brian Hooker told police that Lynette Hooker fell overboard and that strong currents carried her away Police in the Bahamas have released without charges a Michigan man who said his wife disappeared after falling overboard from a small boat in waters off the Caribbean island country, authorities said on Monday. Brian Hooker, of Onsted in southern Michigan, had been in police custody since 8 April – five days – after being questioned by authorities. Continue reading...

Carney’s Liberals will now be able to pass legislation without the support of opposition parties – and govern until 2029 The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has secured a parliamentary majority for his Liberal government, CBC News reported. The victory will help him push through a legislative agenda he says is needed for an increasingly divided geopolitical world. Three special elections were held on Monday in Ontario and Quebec, with two in districts – known as ridings – that have long voted Liberal. Continue reading...

Brian Hooker says wife Lynette fell overboard from dinghy but family members have cast doubt on that account Police in the Bahamas on Monday were set to again interview a US man who said his wife fell overboard from their boat. In a statement on Sunday to the Guardian, Brian Hooker’s attorney, Terrel Butler, said: “The police have requested another interview with [Brian Hooker] tomorrow.” Continue reading...

Passengers can book a four-hour session in the bunk beds from May for Auckland-New York flights but airline cautions against smuggling in children Economy passengers on Air New Zealand’s ultra-long-haul flight between Auckland and New York can book a spot in the airline’s bunk-bed style sleeping pods from May, which will take to skies in late 2026. In what the airline says is a world first, six full-length, lie-flat sleeping pods, are squeezed into the aisle of the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The pods, known as “Skynest”, will include fresh bedding, a privacy curtain, ambient lighting and kit with eye-masks, skincare, earplugs

Air pollution caused by wildfires is another blow to northern Thailand’s tourism industry as businesses suffer amid war in Iran The Doi Suthep temple in northern Thailand is known for its spectacular views of Chiang Mai and the lush forested mountains that surround it. Over recent weeks, though, visitors can see little of the city beyond a thick cloud of grey haze. Persistent wildfires have caused intense air pollution across the north of Thailand, forcing three provinces to declare emergencies and triggering spikes in pollution-related illnesses. Continue reading...

Trawler set off from Bangladesh and reportedly capsized due to heavy winds, rough seas and overcrowding About 250 people are missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsized in the Andaman Sea, according to the UN’s refugee and migration agencies. The agencies said the trawler carrying more than 250 men, women and children reportedly sank due to harsh weather and overcrowding. It had departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh and was bound for Malaysia. Continue reading...

Hui Ka Yan expresses remorse in trial proceedings after collapse of world’s most indebted property developer * Business live – latest updates A former steelworker who rose to become one of China’s richest people has pleaded guilty to charges including fundraising fraud after the collapse of Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property developer. The property group’s founder, Hui Ka Yan, “pleaded guilty and expressed remorse” in trial proceedings at a court in China’s southern city of Shenzhen against him and Evergrande, the court said in a posting on its official WeChat account. He also pleaded guilty to misuse of funds and illegally

Rapidly strengthening storm brings destructive winds, flooding risk and dangerous seas to western Pacific * Dangerous super typhoon barreling toward group of remote US islands The Mariana Islands archipelago in the western Pacific, home to the US territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, are bracing for extreme weather early this week as Super Typhoon Sinlaku approaches. The system originated as a cluster of thunderstorms over the seas of Micronesia before strengthening into a tropical storm and then a typhoon on Friday and Saturday. Continue reading...

Follow updates live * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to RN Breakfast after the IMF warned of the potential for a global recession, including high inflation and elevated fuel prices through to 2027. He said the IMF was “really sounding the alarm here” about some of the potentially severe scenarios. He told RN: This is a really dangerous time for the global economy. The international monetary fund is expecting slower growth and higher inflation, and we are too … What it tells us once again is that from an economic point of

Second day of ‘faux-royal’ tour sees Duke of Sussex speak candidly about challenges of new fatherhood as amused football fans watch on It was an unusual sight. As a group of children were rocking out to the Wiggles, Prince Harry kicked a football on Whitten Oval in Melbourne, home of Australian rules team the Western Bulldogs. “Just a regular Wednesday,” a member of the crowd, dressed mainly in suits and from the advocacy and academic fields, said. Continue reading...

Pub near the Cadia goldmine south of Orange ‘leant one way and then came back’ as windows and wine glasses rattled * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast More than 150 workers at the Cadia goldmine in regional New South Wales were evacuated after a nearby 4.5-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday evening, according to an internal company memo. The mine has paused all underground operations pending a safety assessment. Continue reading...

Conference president expresses ‘complete faith’ in Chris Bowen to lead tough negotiations * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Tuvalu, the Pacific nation at the forefront of the global climate crisis, will host a special meeting of world leaders before this year’s Cop31 summit, as the conference president expresses “complete faith” in Chris Bowen to lead tough negotiations. Turkey’s climate minister, Murat Kurum, is president-designate for the November summit, set to see world leaders meet in Antalya to thrash out new targets for cutting carbon emissions. Continue reading...

Landmark ruling finds Wright Prospecting successfully made out its contractual claim to 50% of past and future royalties from Hope Downs iron ore project * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has lost its bid to retain royalties from the mammoth Hope Downs iron ore project and will be forced to pay Wright Prospecting half of its royalties from the project, worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In a landmark ruling in the Western Australian supreme court on Wednesday, justice Jennifer Smith said

Interior minister is ‘highly determined’ to block US rapper from performing in the southern city in June due to his past antisemitic remarks, sources say Kanye West has announced he will postpone an upcoming concert in France, just after reports emerged that France’s interior minister is seeking to block the US rapper from performing due to his antisemitic remarks. “After much thought and consideration, it is my sole decision to postpone my show in Marseille, France until further notice,” the rapper, legally known as Ye, wrote on X. Continue reading...

French child, six at time of 2019 attack, suffers setback in recovery after January operation The family of a boy thrown from the 10th-storey balcony of the Tate Modern seven years ago said it feels as though his recovery has taken a “sad step backwards” after surgery. The unnamed French child was six when he was seriously hurt in an attack by Jonty Bravery at the London attraction in August 2019. Continue reading...

Chancellor faced with fund’s forecast that impact of Iran war will leave Britain as G7’s biggest loser * Iran war escalation could trigger global recession, IMF warns The Iran war is bad news for the global economy. But for some countries, the unfolding conflict is having a bigger impact than for others. The International Monetary Fund’s verdict is that Britain is the G7’s biggest loser. Amid the rising damage from the Middle East war, the Washington-based fund warned UK economic growth rate would be 0.5 percentage points lower this year than it had predicted back in January – the biggest downgrade among

Remarks come as Italian PM suspends defence agreement with Israel amid growing domestic pressure over conflict Donald Trump lashed out at one of his closest allies on Tuesday, saying Italy’s Giorgia Meloni lacked courage in light of her failure to join the US in attacking Iran. “I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” the US president said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Continue reading...

Ron Prosor says verbal attack on Friedrich Merz referencing Nazi regime ‘erodes the memory of the Holocaust’ Israel’s envoy to Germany has criticised a far-right Israeli cabinet member who made historically charged accusations against the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, saying the attack “[eroded] the memory of the Holocaust”. In a rare rebuke of a top Israeli official by an active ambassador, Ron Prosor said he wished to “unequivocally condemn” Bezalel Smotrich’s tirade against Merz, in which he made reference to the Nazi regime and said: “You will not force us into ghettos again.” Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed. You can read the latest on the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran here South Korean president Lee Jae Myung has said rising tensions around the strait of Hormuz make it hard to be optimistic about the fallout from the Iran war, warning that high oil prices and supply-chain strains are likely to persist for some time. Lee told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday the government should treat prolonged disruption in global energy and raw materials markets as a given and reinforce its emergency response system. For the time being, difficulties in global energy and raw materials

US president says negotiations could restart in Islamabad under ‘fantastic’ Pakistani army chief Asim Munir • Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump has said that US-Iranian peace talks could resume in Islamabad over the next two days, and complimented the work of Pakistan’s army chief as mediator. The US president was speaking on Tuesday to a New York Post reporter who had gone to Islamabad for the first round of ceasefire talks over the weekend. After an interview discussing prospects for negotiations, the reporter said the president had called her back “with an update”. Continue reading...

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin was arrested after reporting on friendly fire incident during US conflict with Iran * Middle East crisis live – latest updates The detention of a prize-winning international journalist over his reporting of a friendly fire incident in Kuwait is raising questions about the crackdown on freedom of speech across the Middle East as a result of the US-Israel war with Iran, the Committee to Protect Journalists has warned. Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, born in the US and a Kuwaiti national, was arrested on 3 March during a brief visit to Kuwait. He published footage of a US air force F- 15 E

This blog is now closed – our live coverage continues here Circling back to Donald Trump’s coming naval blockade, the US military said it would block all Iranian Gulf ports on Monday at 10am ET on Monday (5.30pm in Iran and 1400 GMT), effectively seizing control of maritime traffic in the strait of Hormuz. “The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” US Central Command said on X. This is like a game of chicken. It’s who caves first. The

Iran warns Americans they face higher pump prices due to prohibition imposed on Monday evening * Middle East crisis – live updates The US blockade of ships using Iranian ports in the Gulf has come into effect, turning the six-week-old conflict between the US-Israeli coalition and Iran into a test of economic endurance. US Central Command (Centcom) made no formal announcement of the start of the blockade but had said it begin on Monday at 5.30pm Iranian time and would apply to any ships entering or departing Iranian ports or coastal areas, while ships using non-Iranian ports would not be impeded. Continue reading...

Two-time Grammy nominee was one of Bollywood’s most versatile and celebrated voices The Indian singer Asha Bhosle, whose voice defined Bollywood cinema and whose career spanned almost eight decades, has died in Mumbai at the age of 92. Bhosle, who recorded more than 12,000 songs, became her country’s pre-eminent exponent of playback singing – recording tracks that were then lip-synced on film by actors. She also boldly embraced cabaret and western-influenced melodies to forge a distinctive musical identity. Continue reading...

In Pakistan’s capital, the army has been deployed, a public holiday has been declared and the streets are eerily empty * Middle East crisis – live updates The streets of Islamabad were on strict lockdown as Pakistan’s capital prepared to play host to historic negotiations between Iran and the US that have dangled the promise of an end to war that has devastated the Middle East. Even as the US-Iran ceasefire looked increasingly precarious, amid Israel’s continued bombardment of Lebanon and disputes over the terms of the talks, Pakistani officials insisted that the make-or-break peace negotiations would be going ahead over the

Israeli PM says he will continue to attack Hezbollah ‘with full force’ after attacks that killed more than 300 people * Middle East crisis – live updates Benjamin Netanyahu has said there is “no ceasefire in Lebanon” and Israel would continue “to strike Hezbollah with full force” as the country’s military launched fresh strikes. The Israeli prime minister’s remarks and latest attacks on what the IDF called “Hezbollah launch sites” came shortly after Donald Trump said he had asked Netanyahu to be more “low-key” in Lebanon. Later on Friday, a US state department official said Israel and Lebanon will hold talks in Washington

Analysts say Pakistani officials’ efforts led to breakthrough that has helped avert catastrophe, at least for now * Middle East crisis – live updates Pakistan’s leaders had almost lost hope. After more than two weeks of frantic negotiations, phonecalls and diplomatic summits to try to end the US-Israeli war with Iran, it looked like the conflict might instead be escalating into Islamabad’s worst nightmare. In a cabinet meeting held at about 5pm on Tuesday, Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, was morose. “We should brace ourselves for the impact of the war,” he told his cabinet ministers. “The situation has really become very

Two-week ceasefire comes after Trump spoke to Pakistan’s leaders, with China also believed to be exerting influence over Tehran * Middle East crisis – live updates * US and Iran agree to provisional ceasefire with Tehran saying it will reopen strait of Hormuz The US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday barely an hour before Donald Trump’s deadline to obliterate Iran was set to expire, with Tehran agreeing to temporarily reopen the strait of Hormuz. Israel also agreed to the ceasefire, the White House said. As Trump announced he was suspending his plans to escalate attacks across Iran, the

Analysis by IFS shows George Osborne’s mortgage schemes launched in 2013 had little effect on social mobility Higher-income households were the biggest beneficiaries of George Osborne’s Help to Buy mortgage schemes, introduced in the 2010s, according to an analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) thinktank. Launched by the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government in 2013, Help to Buy involved two separate schemes aimed at making home ownership more achievable in a period of rapid house price growth. Continue reading...

ASA rules ads on Instagram and Daily Mail website broke ban on promoting items high in fat, salt and sugar Lidl and Iceland have become the first companies to have ads banned after the introduction of rules cracking down on the marketing of junk food in the UK. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been policing the ban on ads featuring junk food on TV before 9pm, and in paid online advertising at any time of the day, since 5 January. Continue reading...

Health secretary says NHS is ‘failing women’ and pledges to end ‘gaslighting’ by doctors Wes Streeting has vowed to stop women being “gaslit” by doctors as he relaunches the women’s health strategy for England. Speaking before the publication of the renewed strategy on Wednesday, Streeting said the NHS was “failing women” and set out measures to help them access the healthcare they need. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Fiona Hill, a former White House chief adviser, joins ex-Nato chief in criticising Starmer’s leadership on defence A co-author of Britain’s strategic defence review has joined criticism of Keir Starmer’s leadership on military policy, warning of a “bizarre” lack of urgency in defence planning. Fiona Hill, a former chief adviser to the White House on Russia, echoed the concerns of George Robertson, her co-author with Gen Richard Barrons on the strategic defence review (SDR), over what he had called the prime minister’s “corrosive complacency”. Continue reading...

With the army’s size halved since the cold war, UK ambitions to be globally deployable do not match the reality, experts say * Middle East crisis – live updates If Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was a wake-up call for Nato, the war in the Gulf has brought some harsh realities home to the British public about the state of the UK’s armed forces. While air defence systems and fighter jets were already in place or deployed relatively swiftly, the time it took to send a single destroyer to Cyprus in the form of HMS Dragon focused minds on Britain’s

Strike marks third deadly attack on vessels in region in four days, and the killing of 174 people since September * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox The US military said it killed four more people in a boat strike in the eastern Pacific ocean on Tuesday, marking the third deadly attack on vessels in the region in four days. The US Southern Command, which oversees military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, announced the killings in a social media post, claiming, without providing evidence, that the men killed were “narco-terrorists”. Continue reading...

Filing seeks to overturn seditious conspiracy charges of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members who laid siege to US Capitol in 2021 The US Department of Justice has requested that a federal appeals judge overturn convictions for members of far-right groups Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, who were previously found guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the violent siege of the US capitol in 2021. Jeanine Pirro, the Donald Trump-appointed US attorney for the District of Columbia, signed separate motions on Tuesday to vacate convictions for a slew of individuals, including the Proud Boys’ leaders Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs

Departures came after lawmakers from both parties threatened to introduce resolutions expelling the two men * US politics live – latest updates * Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell and Republican congressman Tony Gonzales submitted their resignations to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, abruptly ending their political careers amid bipartisan furor over allegations of sexual misconduct against both. Swalwell resigned at 2pm ET, while Gonazales’s resignation will take effect at 11.59pm on Tuesday evening, according to the House clerk. Continue reading...

Massachusetts liberal arts college laments ‘heartbreaking reality’ and says financial pressures to blame A Massachusetts liberal arts college is set to close permanently due to low enrollment and financial problems. The board of trustees of Hampshire College, a small liberal arts school in Amherst founded in 1965, pointed to “financial pressures” that have been “compounded by shifting external factors”. Continue reading...

Suit alleges the billionaire’s AI company is illegally spewing toxic pollutants from its datacenter in the Memphis area A new lawsuit accuses Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company of illegally spewing toxic pollutants into the Black neighborhoods on the border of Tennessee and Mississippi. The suit, filed on Tuesday in Mississippi federal court, alleges xAI is violating the Clean Air Act due to emissions from its makeshift power plant in Southaven, Mississippi, which powers its datacenters in south Memphis. The NAACP, represented by environmental groups Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice, says xAI has been polluting the surrounding historically Black communities by using

Russia and China’s top envoys met in Beijing on Tuesday to discuss the Iran war, Ukraine and Taiwan as Beijing stepped up its Iran war diplomacy and tensions with Washington increased. In a jab at Washington and US President Donald Trump that did not mention either by name, a Chinese readout of the meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov noted that the world is increasingly marked by turmoil and instability. The two top diplomats also discussed plans...

A Parisian man could not believe his luck on Tuesday when he found out he had won a Pablo Picasso painting worth US$1 million with a US$117 raffle ticket. “How do I check that it’s not a hoax?” said Ari Hodara, 58, after organisers called him following the draw at Christie’s auction house in the French capital. Hodara described himself as an art amateur fond of Picasso and said he bought his ticket over the weekend after finding out about the charity raffle by chance during a meal in a...

New research suggests that gifted men are less conservative in their political views than men of average cognitive ability. A study conducted in Germany found that men with higher IQs are less inclined to traditional values, but the lead author, psychologist and intelligence researcher Maximilian Krolo of Saarland University said the researchers did not find these differences among women. The study was based on the Marburg Giftedness Project, for which more than 7,000 children in primary school...

US President Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump and his wife, Lara, will accompany the president on his trip next month to China, a spokeswoman for the family organisation said on Tuesday. Two sources earlier said members of Trump’s family, including Eric, were ‌considering joining Trump on his highly anticipated May 14-15 visit, potentially to contribute to US-China business relations. The spokeswoman said that Eric, who manages his father’s business empire, would go in a personal capacity. “Eric...

Brazil will require foreign partners to process rare earth minerals domestically as a condition for access to its reserves, a senior government official said this week, setting terms that could reshape how Chinese and Western firms compete for resources the country has long exported raw. “Our doors of Brazil to foreign investment are open, but our position has matured,” Leonardo Durans, a senior official at Brazil’s industry ministry, said at a press conference with international media on...

A German court on Tuesday sentenced a 28-year-old Chinese student to 11 years and three months in jail for repeatedly drugging and raping his girlfriend and filming the abuse. In a case reminiscent of that of France’s Gisele Pelicot, the Munich court said the defendant, named only as Zhongyi J., had assaulted his girlfriend while she was unconscious at least seven times. Zhongyi J. filmed the abuse each time and stored the videos on a hard drive, the court said. In one case, the assault lasted...

Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors held rare face-to-face talks, facilitated by Washington, on Tuesday, with all sides agreeing to launch “direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue”. “Israel expressed its commitment to engage in direct negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues and achieve a durable peace that will strengthen security, stability and prosperity in the region,” as per a readout issued by the US State Department. The statement said that Lebanon called for a...

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni lacks courage and has let Washington down, US President Donald Trump told an Italian newspaper on Tuesday, delivering a blunt public rebuke to one of his closest European allies. Meloni had been a vociferous supporter of Trump, but she distanced herself from him after he went to war with Iran ‌in February, and on Monday she openly criticised him for lashing out at Pope Leo, saying his verbal assault was “unacceptable”. Trump responded in an interview with...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its global economic growth forecast, including for China, citing shocks from the US-Israeli war in Iran. In its flagship World Economic Outlook published on Tuesday, the IMF projected worldwide gross domestic product growth at 3.1 per cent this year, down 0.2 percentage points from its January estimate. China – the world’s second-largest economy – is now expected to expand by 4.4 per cent this year. That would miss the IMF’s January estimate by...

The conventional indictment runs like this: blinded by ideology and captured by special interests, the US and Israel have blundered into a region they never understood, sowing instability they neither anticipated nor desired. It is a damning argument. It also happens to be, in one important respect, too generous. The more unsettling possibility, supported by two decades of observable behaviour, is that these policies produce not disorder as a side effect but something far more useful: a conflict...

France’s interior minister is seeking to block US rapper Kanye West from performing in the southern city of Marseille in June due to his antisemitic remarks, a source close to the minister said on Tuesday. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez is “highly determined” to ban the June 11 concert at Marseille’s Velodrome stadium and is exploring “all possibilities”, the source said. West, 48, has been heavily criticised for making antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler. Britain has...

Washington’s naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is threatening to tip Asia into its worst energy crisis in living memory, with peace talks on the Iran war stalled and no clear timeline for when oil flows might resume. The United States moved to seize control of the flashpoint waterway on Monday night, with US President Donald Trump framing the move as a way to force Iran to open the strait and accept a deal to end the war. Iran responded by threatening all ports in the Persian Gulf and the...

A leading sovereign wealth fund from Central Asia has cast a vote of confidence in Chinese debt and the country’s currency by becoming the first institution from the region to sell yuan-denominated debt, known as panda bonds, in China’s onshore market. The decision by Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna, to sell 3 billion yuan (US$440 million) in China’s interbank market comes as global investors are looking for safe havens amid geopolitical uncertainties such as the Iran war. The...

A former student opened fire at a high school in southeastern Turkey on Tuesday, wounding at least 16 people, before killing himself, an official said. The 18-year-old attacker, armed with a shotgun, fired randomly inside a vocational high school in Siverek, Sanliurfa province. He later killed himself with the same shotgun after being “cornered by police”, Governor Hasan Sildak said. The attack left 10 students, four teachers, a canteen employee and a police officer hurt, Sildak said. While most...

The world is undergoing a transformation of historic proportions. Geopolitical rivalry, economic restructuring and technological acceleration are converging to reshape the global order. These changes transcend the logic of any single nation, industry or moment in time, exerting profound influence on international politics, geoeconomics, industrial structures, capital flows and investment strategies. For Hong Kong, this “great change unseen in a century” is not an abstraction. It is a pressing...

With millions of Indonesians at risk of being pushed into poverty amid a deepening global energy crisis, President Prabowo Subianto arrived in Moscow this week seeking something straightforward but increasingly scarce: cheap oil. Prabowo’s trip, which got under way on Monday, comes at a moment of acute regional anxiety. Global oil prices have skyrocketed since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran more than six weeks ago amid the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The...

J.D. Vance had two jobs last week: get an Iran deal and keep Hungary’s Viktor Orban in power. Neither happened for the US vice-president. The 41-year-old Vance looked exhausted as he left Pakistan on Sunday after 21 hours that failed to produce an agreement with Tehran to end a war he had never wanted to begin with. At a terse press conference in Islamabad, Vance delivered the “bad news” and took just three questions before getting on a plane for the long flight back home. But just before...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney returns to Parliament on Tuesday with more power after he secured a majority government by sweeping three special elections. Carney’s Liberals now have 174 of the 343 seats in the House of Commons and won’t need support from opposition parties to pass legislation after winning three districts that became vacant after last year’s election. It would also likely mean Carney, who took office with no political experience and has earned global praise for his efforts...

US President Donald Trump on Monday defended his now deleted social media post that appeared to depict himself as Jesus Christ, contending that it was meant to portray him as “a doctor” after right-wing figures continued a recent trend of pushing back on the president’s recent comments. “Well, it wasn’t a depiction. It was me, I did post it. And I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with Red Cross,” Trump said during an impromptu event at the White House. “There was a Red Cross worker...

A Minnesota county is investigating the arrest of a Hmong-American man by federal officers that was captured on video as a potential case of kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment, officials said on Monday. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher said at a news conference they are pursuing information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that they need for their investigation into the arrest of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, 56, on January 18. Ramsey County includes the...

US congressman Eric Swalwell said on Monday he will resign from the House of Representatives, bowing to pressure from both Democrats and Republicans to leave Congress or face expulsion following sexual misconduct allegations that upended his campaign for governor. The California Democrat vowed to fight the allegations but said ‌he must also “take responsibility and ownership” of his mistakes. “Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong,”...

The Brazilian government has dismissed the head of its labour inspection authority, days after his office added Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD to a registry of employers found to have subjected workers to conditions analogous to slavery. Luiz Felipe Brandao de Mello led the National Secretariat of Labour Inspection since 2023 and his dismissal was published in the official gazette on Monday. He oversaw the unit responsible for enforcing labour standards nationwide, including the fight...

Dozens of protesters were detained by ⁠police in New ⁠York City on Monday during demonstrations ⁠calling for the blocking of arms sales to Israel and an end to US military support for its ally. Demonstrators included anti-war group Jewish Voice for Peace, which said around 90 people were detained. ‌Among those detained was whistle-blower Chelsea Manning, a former US Army soldier and WikiLeaks source. The New York City Police Department said there were “multiple” arrests but did not provide a...

Former ⁠Brazilian intelligence chief Alexandre Ramagem ⁠has been detained by ICE in the ⁠United States, the agency reported on its website on Monday, after he fled Brazil in September following his conviction for plotting a coup with ex-president Jair Bolsonaro. Ramagem, a former Federal Police inspector, was sentenced to over 16 years in prison for his role ‌in a plot to overturn leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s 2022 election victory over Bolsonaro. Ramagem’s lawyers did not...

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s wife, Begona Gomez, has been formally charged with corruption after a years-long criminal investigation, according to a court ruling published on Monday. The investigation is one of several corruption cases that have embroiled the Socialist leader’s family and former allies, putting pressure on his minority coalition government. Judge Juan Carlos Peinado opened the investigation in April 2024 to determine whether Gomez had exploited her position as...

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem urged Lebanon to cancel a planned meeting with Israel in Washington on Tuesday, reiterating his group’s rejection of direct negotiations with its foe. Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million since the Iran-backed group Hezbollah drew the country into the Middle East war. The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States are scheduled to meet in Washington on Tuesday to discuss holding direct negotiations...

A federal judge dismissed US President Donald Trump’s US$10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch on Monday over a story on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. US District Judge Darrin P. Gayles in Florida wrote in the order that Trump had failed to make the argument that the article was published with the intent to be malicious, but gave the president a chance to file an amended complaint. In a social media post several hours after the ruling, Trump said the...

The European Union on Monday launched ⁠the critical minerals ⁠section of its energy and materials ⁠procurement platform, which aims to give more power to regional buyers and cut dependence on dominant producer China by aggregating their purchases. The platform is part of the bloc’s RESourceEU strategy, announced in December ‌to develop its supply chains for rare earths and other strategic minerals needed for the energy transition and defence applications. China controls up to 90 per cent of...

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has hit out at the “delay” and “timidity” in helping Ukraine after travelling through the country unprotected during a 72-hour trip for a documentary. The former prime minister travelled beyond the capital Kyiv to the so-called kill zone near the city of Zaporizhzhia where he witnessed first-hand the war between Russia and Ukraine. The 61-year-old said Ukraine can and will win the war, but that “we are risibly failing to live up to our pledges” to the...

US pop superstar Britney Spears has checked herself into rehab following her arrest last month on suspicion of driving while intoxicated near Los Angeles, US media reported on Sunday. The 44-year-old singer was arrested in early March and booked into custody by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department on suspicion of DUI (driving under the influence). She was released soon after, and a representative for Spears at the time described the incident as “completely inexcusable” and said Spears would...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is on the verge of securing a majority government as special elections are held in three districts on Monday. Votes are being cast in the Toronto-area districts of Scarborough Southwest and University-Rosedale, which are considered safe seats for Carney’s Liberals, and in the Montreal-area district of Terrebonne, which is considered a toss-up. Winning just one of them would give Carney a majority. The Liberals now have 171 members of Parliament in the House of...

The United States began a naval blockade on Iranian ports on Monday after US-Iran peace talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz failed over the weekend, but questions persist over how fully the measures can be enforced and what they will mean in practice. Despite concerns of escalation, Pakistan, which has acted as mediator in the peace negotiations, continued efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict, including a phone call with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to support the fragile ceasefire and...

The murders of three young girls ⁠at a Taylor ⁠Swift-themed dance event in Britain in ⁠2024 should have been prevented, but there was a “fundamental failure” by state bodies to recognise the risk the killer posed, a public inquiry concluded on Monday. Teenager Axel Rudakubana launched the ‌frenzied knife attack at the summer holiday event in Southport, northern England, on July 29, 2024, in what Prime Minister Keir Starmer called “a devastating moment” in British history. Rudakubana, then 17,...

In Beijing, strategic elites have started to see world politics as sliding from the Spring and Autumn period to the Warring States era. However, if China believes the old order is falling apart, its future will depend less on economic power and more on presenting a reliable political vision. For much of the past decade, the dominant framework for understanding China-US relations has been the Thucydides Trap. Since Graham Allison popularised the term, the relationship has been cast as an...

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sparked a diplomatic row with Israel and criticism at home after comparing Israeli military actions against Palestinians to the Holocaust in a social media post. The controversy began on Friday after Lee said “wartime killings” by the Israel Defence ‌Forces were “no different from the Jewish massacre” by the Nazis in World War II and reposted footage with a caption that said it showed Israeli troops had tortured and thrown a Palestinian from the roof of a...

Ghana said France was open to having ⁠discussions with a coalition ⁠of countries that are calling ⁠for reparations for transatlantic slavery, following a meeting last week with President Emmanuel Macron. Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, accompanied by Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and other officials, held talks with Macron in Paris on Wednesday. Ablakwa said on X after the meeting that Macron had indicated France was open to discussions on reparations, including the return of...

The US announced a blockade against ships calling at Iranian ports, ramping up pressure on the Middle East nation after marathon peace talks over the weekend ended without a deal. Action was due to start Monday at 10am New York time (10pm Hong Kong), according to US Central Command. Vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports won’t be affected, it said. President Donald Trump had earlier said that the blockade would cover all ships using the vital waterway. “Any Iranian...

China’s reported decision to halt sulphuric acid exports, together with the failure of peace talks between the United States and Iran over the weekend, risks driving prices higher and disrupting global mining and fertiliser supply chains that have few readily available alternatives. Beijing had indicated it would halt shipments of sulphuric acid from May, according to reports from Acuity Commodities and Bloomberg, though no official announcement has been made. Economists said food security sat...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘Cancelling orders’ in China: Hormuz oil crisis hits transport and manufacturing 2. ‘A big deal’: military drills show Tokyo’s growing focus on deterring China 3. UAE pulls US$3.5 billion from Pakistan after Iran war mediation 4. Why has China mapped out a third new county in Xinjiang on its...

US congressman Eric Swalwell ⁠on Sunday said he was suspending his campaign for governor of California, as he faces calls from fellow Democratic lawmakers and dozens of his former staffers to leave Congress following accusations of sexual assault. “To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell wrote in a post on X, without elaborating. “I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made - but that’s my fight,...

US President Donald Trump delivered an extraordinary broadside against Pope Leo on Sunday night, saying he did not think the US-born global leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church was “doing a very good job” and that “he’s a very liberal person”, while also suggesting the pontiff should “stop catering to the Radical Left”. Flying back to Washington from Florida, Trump used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticise Leo, then kept it up after disembarking, in comments on the tarmac...

Hong Kong’s reputation as a safe haven could be reinforced by the geopolitical shock waves from the US-Israel conflict with Iran, potentially supporting demand for premium office space in its core business districts, according to analysts. While the city was not insulated from global uncertainty, it could benefit over the medium term as Gulf investors reassessed geographic diversification and sought stable financial hubs, said Jack Tong, director of research and consultancy at Savills Hong...

Japan and Nato are drawing closer together, with 30 representatives from the transatlantic security alliance’s member states set to visit Tokyo this month amid mounting concern over Washington’s reliability as a security partner. The Nato envoys will reportedly hold talks on China’s expanding regional influence, Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the implications of a more volatile global security order, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. “A delegation of this size underlines just...

Peru’s Keiko Fujimori looked set to face a run-off against a conservative rival after a troubled first-round presidential election on Sunday marred by logistics foul-ups, police raids and allegations of fraud. First counts and exit polls showed the 50-year-old daughter of disgraced former president Alberto Fujimori ahead in the 35-candidate race, but she was well short of the 50 per cent needed to win outright. Her nearest rival was far-right Rafael “Porky” Lopez Aliaga – who has vowed to “hunt”...

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu visited one of the schools offering free after-school care for low-income families last month. After receiving positive feedback from participants, he pledged to extend the programme to benefit more families. Lee said it had helped promote family harmony, with children also reporting “positive development in both academic and social aspects”. There’s little doubt we should celebrate victories, however small, but it is equally important to examine...

Catholicism is growing fast on the continent, yet Africans play a comparatively small role in church leadership. Cameroon, which Leo XIV will visit Wednesday, shows the divide.

The admission by Senator Ruben Gallego that he had heard, but disbelieved, rumors about Eric Swalwell and women showed the attitude on Capitol Hill toward men accused of behaving badly.

The woman said Mr. Swalwell, who resigned from Congress on Tuesday afternoon, raped her in a West Hollywood hotel room in 2018. She said she believed she was drugged.

Democratic candidates see sudden voter interest in the sleepy contest as a campaign opportunity. All are scrambling for support from former backers of Eric Swalwell.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California called a special election to replace Mr. Swalwell, while Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas had yet to announce one for Mr. Gonzales’s successor.

The Justice Department’s criminal inquiry into the Federal Reserve threatens to delay the confirmation of the next chair.

The planned four-day state visit comes at a fraught time in the U.S.-U.K. relationship, following President Trump’s frequent belittling of the British prime minister.

Defending the convictions would likely have required administration officials to assert that far-right groups were acting on behalf of President Trump on Jan. 6, 2021.

Vice President JD Vance appeared to express sympathy with critics of the war with Iran: “I recognize that young voters do not love the policy we have in the Middle East, OK. I understand.”

A New York City councilman’s Instagram post is just the latest entry in a fierce debate about the price of dining out.

The country’s creaking electricity grid is lagging behind its push for renewable sources — just as its growing economy hungers for oil stranded by war.

New Haven’s police chief, Karl Jacobson, resigned abruptly after his deputies saw red flags, including missing money. He has pleaded not guilty to embezzling city money to gamble on sports.

Other small private colleges like Hampshire have closed in recent years as financial pressures and competition for students increase.

Debates over how to teach about gender, sexuality and other topics have shaken the school, and lead to the ouster of the previous president at the College Station campus last summer.

For years, Peter Magyar was a loyal ally of Viktor Orban, the far-right Hungarian leader. Then he changed sides — and defeated his former boss in a landslide victory on Sunday. Does he represent real change?

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has opposed raising some taxes, favored a “pied-à-terre” luxury tax because it largely targets the ultrawealthy who primarily live outside New York City.

Testimony at a hearing this week has focused on what camp leaders knew and did as floodwaters rose in July, killing at least 116 people.

Ricky Cobb has built a big online following with his irreverent postings about the absurdities of the 1970s.

Presidents can fight with popes. God is another matter.

He can offer the regime a series of fundamental choices.

If you are on the fence, or have already made a decision, we want to hear about it.

The actor-comedian said he will return to Broadway this fall with a new solo show called “860,” named for the address of his destroyed family home.

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky tried to persuade his colleagues in the operating room that the liver he removed from a 70-year-old patient was a spleen, according to Florida’s Health Department.

The Jewish Defense League had long been largely inactive. But an arrest in a plan to kill a Palestinian activist shed light on an apparent resurgence of far-right Zionism, inspired by the J.D.L.

The publication, which is owned by The New York Times, was investigating the conduct of Dianna Russini after photographs showed her with the head coach of the New England Patriots.