Minimalist News

More Than 227,000 US Property Foreclosure Filings In First Half Of 2026 Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, A total of 227,548 properties in the United States made foreclosure filings in the first six months of this year, a 21 percent increase from the same period last year, according to real estate analytics company ATTOM. The first half foreclosure filings are also up by 28 percent from the same period two years back , ATTOM said in a July 16 report. In states with a minimum of 500 foreclosure filings, Idaho registered the largest year-over-year increase: 59 percent.

US Strikes Take Out 116 Telecoms Towers In Southern Iran Communications and even the supply of drinking water has been severely impacted in some places of southern Iran, amid continuing US airstrikes on civic and national infrastructure, amid the seventh consecutive day of war. "Hormozgan’s chief of communications and information technology says the US's overnight attacks disrupted telecommunications in Bandar Abbas and Hajiabad , in the northern part of the province," Al Jazeera reports Authorities there have tallied at least 116 telecommunication towers which were taken out of service due to the US onslaught. This has resulted in outages and

"Sanctions, Asset Freezes, Visa Bans, Tariffs": GOP Senator Readies Bill Against Canada Over Toxic Wildfire Smoke Summary: Questions Swirl Whether Ecoterrorism May Have Accelerated Wildfires Economic Activity Impacted in Some States WaPo Warns Smoke Plume To Worsen GOP Members Blast Canada Over Toxic Smoke ; Sanction Bill Against Canada Set To Be Introduced Toxic Smoke Plume Over Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast Canada's Wildfire Management Failures Choke Millions Of Americans With Toxic Smoke GOP Sen. Prepares Sanctions Bill On Lefties in Canada Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) appeared on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle , hosted by Laura Ingraham, on

Meanwhile In The English Countryside... Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , A British woman out for a long countryside hike with her daughters found herself being shadowed by a creepy migrant male for miles. The footage is clinical, relentless, and deeply unsettling. No confrontation is shown. No words are exchanged on camera. Just the steady pursuit across English fields and paths that once felt like the safest places in the country. This is the England being delivered by successive governments that treat rural communities as dumping grounds for unchecked military aged foreigners. ?? Meanwhile in the English Countryside

32 Jailed Over 2018 Italian Bridge Disaster That Killed 43 Authored by Guy Birchall via The Epoch Times , An Italian court sentenced 32 people to a total of more than 170 years in prison on July 16, over their role in a 2018 bridge collapse that claimed the lives of 43 people. The collapsed Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy, on Aug 14, 2018. Reuters/Stefano Rellandini The former head of Italian motorway operator Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI), Giovanni Castellucci, received the longest sentence of 12 years in prison for his role in the disaster , which saw the Morandi motorway

Russia Pressing Ahead On Rail Link To Iran & Azerbaijan To Ease Strain On Maritime Routes This week has brought new US attacks on Iranian infrastructure and logistics, including fresh overnight attacks on some half a dozen bridges, and even reports of strikes on rail hubs and airports. The New York Times observes Friday that " Bridges, rail lines, power and water facilities, and other targets in Iran, Kuwait and elsewhere in the Middle East were attacked in airstrikes on Friday as the United States and Iran escalated their weeklong crisis over the Strait of Hormuz." Russia has chimed in,

Finnish MEP Warns Britain Is 'Worst Example' Of Free Speech In Europe After Entry Ban Via Remix News, Finnish MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen has warned that Britain is fast becoming the worst example in Europe when it comes to defending free speech after he became the latest elected European politician to be banned from entering the country ahead of his appearance at the inaugural Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Great Britain. In a video posted on social media, the conservative politician said, “I was just banned from entering the U.K. I am an elected member of the European Parliament and was

The Great Normalization (Nobody Declared Martial Law... Yet America Began Looking Like It Anyway) Authored by Madge Waggy, There are stories that announce themselves with explosions, riots, or breaking-news headlines, and then there are stories so subtle that they quietly rewrite an entire society before anyone realizes what has happened. This is one of those stories. During the preparation of this investigation, several retired police officers, private security professionals, emergency responders, and ordinary citizens described nearly identical experiences despite living hundreds or even thousands of miles apart. None believed they were witnessing anything extraordinary at first. It was only when

"Just The Beginning": Japan Buys Billions In Nvidia Rubin Chips To Power Humanoid Robots Japan plans to acquire 27,500 Nvidia Rubin chips as part of a $2.4 billion, government-backed push to develop domestic humanoid robotics models and reduce its dependence on foreign AI. This major effort comes as physical AI comes after data center buildouts, with global shipments of humanoid robots expected to surge next year. Bloomberg reports that the newly formed Noetra Corp. will oversee the project and build an estimated 140-megawatt data center, scheduled to begin operating in about two years. Sony, SoftBank, NEC, Fujitsu, and Toyota-backed Preferred

When Socialists Tell You Who They Are, Believe Them Authored by Jim Davis via AmericanThinker.com, In a Zoom video call in 2023, a leader of the Democratic Socialists of America said , “Our goal is communism.” It was published as part of a compilation in April 2026. None of the Democratic Socialists disavowed it. Nobody posted a “clarifying statement” distancing the DSA from that statement. So that’s who they are. Their goal is communism. The name of that leader is David Jenkins. He’s a member of the DSA’s National Political Committee, so he ought to know. He told us who

Israel Advances Plan For Palestinian Prisons With Crocodile-Filled Moats Via Middle East Eye The Israeli government has stripped Nile crocodiles of their protected status, paving the way for a proposal to build a detention facility for Palestinians surrounded by the reptiles , Israeli media reported on Thursday. Environment Minister Idit Silman signed a decree on Wednesday reclassifying Nile crocodiles as a "specially managed wild animal" - a new legal category that allows the state to keep the animals for security purposes , according to Israeli news site Ynet . In the decree, Silman said Israel's security forces could now keep

Russia Expresses Alarm Over Deepening NATO-South Korea Ties Moscow and Pyongyang have quite obviously deepened their relations in unprecedented ways over the past years since the Ukraine war began, and this has been most on display with the transfer of thousands of North Korean troops in support of Russian forces, and DPRK soldiers even losing their lives while fighting Ukraine. So it's only to be expected that Russia side with North Korea in the long-running conflict and standoff with South Korea. But now the Kremlin senses Seoul is moving ever closer to NATO , to the point that it's calling

Fake Records May Have Put Untrained Drivers On America's Roads Authored by David Manney via PJMedia.com, Fake training records can move an unprepared driver one step closer to a commercial license. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin are now investigating about 75 entry-level driver training schools suspected of doing exactly that . Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has identified approximately 75 entry-level driving training schools suspected of fraudulent activities, including using improper driver certifications, falsifying training records, and failing to properly train drivers applying for CDLs, among other violations. USDOT will engage DHS’s Homeland Security

$100 Billion & Climbing: Iran War Price Tag Believed Far Higher Than WH Estimates While the Pentagon publicly clings to a $30 billion price tag for its war against Iran, internal Defense Department assessments (unsurprisingly) paint a far more staggering picture: the true cost is rapidly closing in on the $80 billion to $100 billion range , according to NBC News. The Pentagon's Office of Management and Budget told Congress on June 30 that US military operations against Iran so far is $30 billion: "We’ve spent about $30 billion," OMB Director Russel Vought told the House Appropriations Committee. NBC's new

Why Washington Is Challenging The International Criminal Court Authored by William Brooks via The Epoch Times, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent announcement of a “whole-of-government” campaign to challenge the International Criminal Court (ICC) has generated predictable discourse worldwide. The Trump administration is applying diplomatic pressure on allied governments to reconsider their support for the Court. Washington is calling for expanded sanctions against ICC officials, visa restrictions, and renewed insistence that the Court has no lawful authority over citizens of sovereign nations. For the usual globalist critics, this is just another example of Trumpian unilateralism. But for sensible Americans, it

Organized Insanity: Why ICE Shootings Are Usually Justified It has been noted by many deportation advocates that the enforcement of basic immigration laws has always been a responsibility of government. It's not a new, unique, bizarre or despotic policy - It's simply common sense. However, in the past decade, the common sense enforcement of the law is being treated like a humanitarian crisis akin to slavery, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Why? It's not because the general public sees it that way. The citizenry did not suddenly change their views on mass immigration overnight. Most Americans are not particularly enthusiastic about

California Grocery Stores Use Facial Recognition Technology To Combat Theft Via American Greatness, Faced with a shoplifting epidemic that has battered California retailers for years, Grocery Outlet is fighting back with technology. Customers are not thrilled about it. The Emeryville-based discount grocery chain has begun installing facial recognition software called SAFR at a handful of Bay Area stores, including its Pleasant Hill “Bargain Market” location, CBS News San Francisco reported . Customers walking through the doors will find signs warning them the system is in use, a disclosure the company says is meant to keep shoppers informed. The rollout comes

Hard Evidence: Prosecutor Accused Of Having Romantic Relationship With Illegal Immigrant Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times , A prosecutor in Missouri had a romantic relationship with an illegal immigrant being prosecuted for sexual assault, Missouri's attorney general said on July 16. A gavel in a file photograph. Demetrius Freeman/Pool/Getty Images Ray County Prosecutor Camille Johnston at one point lived with the man , a citizen of Mexico who has been in the United States illegally since 2019, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said in court filings. Johnston allegedly declined to disclose the whereabouts of the man, described

Humanoid Loses Its Head In World's First Full-Size Robot Combat Tournament... And Keeps Fighting A humanoid robot was knocked headless during the world's first free-combat tournament for full-sized machines, but that didn't stop it from swinging, Newsweek reports. The bizarre scene unfolded at the Ultimate Robot Knock-out Legend (URKL) competition, which kicked off Thursday in Shenzhen, China. A white robot named White Eagle landed a high kick on its black opponent, "Matador," sending the loser's head rocking violently before it popped completely out of place. china’s URKL robot fight is absolute cinema a robot got its head kicked off.. and

"Glaring Subsidization": Virginia Questions Cost Allocation For Data Centers By Diana DiGangi of UtilityDive Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office, Meta, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others weighed in on Dominion Energy’s proposal for allocating the cost of transmission projects driven by data center development at a hearing held by the Virginia State Corporation Commission on Tuesday. Louise White, Spanberger’s deputy energy officer, said that the governor’s office wants the SCC to apply three solutions in the case: a “but for” cost causation standard; requiring transmission level-contributions in aid of construction, or CIAC, payments; and transitioning to the summer/winter peak and average

Rain could alleviate conditions in mid-Atlantic and north-east, with World Cup final expected to go ahead on Sunday Warnings of dangerous conditions are expected to remain in place on Saturday across swathes of the US, amid uncertainty about where the heavy wildfire smoke swirling from the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of Minnesota will head next. Some parts of the US mid-Atlantic and north-east regions will continue to endure poor air quality until Saturday afternoon, where there is a high chance of thunderstorms , which could bring some reprieve from the poor air but come with other

As Cuba swelters under six-month oil blockade imposed by US, tempers are fraying and unrest is growing When Cuba’s national grid collapses, as it did for the third time in 10 days on Tuesday, a collective groan spreads across its cities and people wonder, again, whether the island’s antiquated electricity system may soon become unrecoverable. The 777-mile Caribbean island of 9.5 million people has been sweltering under a six-month-long oil blockade imposed by the US, part of a pressure campaign to bring down its communist government. But the parlous state of Cuba’s infrastructure goes far further back. Continue reading...

White House Fifa taskforce chief defends Argentina footballers, saying US believes in free speech The White House has backed Argentina’s footballers who displayed a banner supporting their country’s claim to the Falklands Islands after their World Cup semi-final victory against England. After Argentina’s 2-1 win in a fractious match in Atlanta on Wednesday, some players held up a banner that said: “ Las Malvinas son Argentinas ” – using the country’s term for the South Atlantic islands. Continue reading...

Whereabouts of artist imprisoned after 2021 protests had been unknown following end of his prison term in July Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, a prominent Cuban dissident artist whose whereabouts remained unknown after his prison sentence ended last week, has been given permission to travel to the US, according to his official Facebook page. Otero Alcántara, designated a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2022 for insulting national symbols, contempt and disturbing the public order. Continue reading...

109 million people face another day of poor air quality as smoke from blazes in Ontario drifts over the US Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Tens of millions of Americans are enduring another day of smoky skies , irritated eyes and bad air quality, as Canadian wildfire smoke spread again over huge swathes of the US, affecting about 109 million people across the midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east. The pungent smoke blanketed cities such as Chicago and Detroit, where residents on Friday were warned to stay indoors and reduce activity levels after the air-quality index reached a

Distillery owner could face only three months in jail over alleged poisoning of Australian teenagers Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Australian government has increased its travel alert level for Laos, advising travellers to “exercise a high degree of caution” due to the risk of methanol poisoning. It comes as a distillery owner in Laos was charged after a mass methanol poisoning incident killed six foreign nationals, including the Australian backpackers Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles. Continue reading...

Escaped flowerhorn cichlids are causing concern for native species and about parasites capable of infecting humans Escaped ornamental aquarium fish have integrated into a local ecosystem in the Philippines, but scientists say they may be threatening the native biodiversity of the lake. Flowerhorn cichlids – human-bred hybrid fish prized for their bright-gold colour and prominent head humps – are believed to have escaped from breeding facilities into Lake Sampaloc, which sits in a volcanic crater, during a typhoon. Continue reading...

Arrest in Pennsylvania of Wu Shaoping, who is awaiting asylum decision, raises fears of deportation and persecution A Chinese human rights lawyer has been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), raising concerns he could be deported to China where he would face persecution. Wu Shaoping fled China at the end of 2019 amid a crackdown on human rights lawyers. He travelled to the US on a tourist visa and made an asylum claim in 2020, for which he is still awaiting a decision. Continue reading...

Storms are typical during intense heat but this week’s have been extreme. Plus, deadly monsoon rains in Bangladesh Hailstones the size of golf balls have been seen in French villages as, on top of the exceptional European heatwave, thunderstorms have struck across parts of Europe. While thunderstorms are typical during and after a period of extreme heat, the storms across countries such as France, Germany and Poland have been particularly severe, bringing flooding, strong winds and heavy showers with large balls of hail. Continue reading...

Move dealt ‘severe blow to Chinese companies’ confidence in investing in the UK’, says Ministry of Commerce China’s government has said it is “strongly dissatisfied” with the decision to nationalise British Steel this week, 15 months after the UK government intervened to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs. On Thursday, British Steel was brought under public ownership to protect “the future of steel production”, the government announced. Continue reading...

As the climate crisis fuels more intense blazes, pushing them to new parts of the world, those tackling them are forced to ration resources and decide which to fight César Alcaraz had only just become a firefighter in the late 1990s when he found himself ambushed by a fast-moving blaze. Barely able to breathe and with no more water left in his truck, he and his colleagues fled an inferno ravaging Spain’s Montgó mountain region, wishing their bosses had sent more support. But nearly three decades on, as an officer with Alicante’s provincial firefighters, Alcaraz has more sympathy for the

Exclusive: Jeannie-Marie Blake is suing the Australian government over alleged threats, which her department denies making Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A key robodebt whistleblower is suing the Australian government, alleging she was threatened before she appeared at a royal commission and was warned that her testimony “could cost you your job”. Services Australia whistleblower Jeannie-Marie Blake has filed proceedings in the federal court, alleging her department made repeated threats against her before and after her explosive evidence to the robodebt royal commission. Continue reading...

UK police adviser in the early 2000s and global consultant in ‘no-body’ homicide cases says he has narrowed down the outback search area • Peter Falconio murder 25 years on: new footage shows dying Australian outback killer’s refusal to reveal body’s location The former British government expert who consulted on the search for the remains of the murdered backpacker Peter Falconio says he has now identified a “most likely” potential burial location – an abandoned racetrack only 8km from the scene of the infamous outback attack at Barrow Creek. In July 2001, Falconio and his partner, Joanne Lees, both from

This blog is now closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Pauline Hanson has been called “un-Australian” over her appearance on a podcast with far-right UK activist, Tommy Robinson. The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young told ABC RN Hanson must return to Australia and apologise. This is so appalling, and frankly, it’s unAustralian. To go overseas to hang out with a criminal thug … to be laughing on his show about multiculturalism back here in Australia – which are our communities, Australian citizens, and the people who make this country great, Pauline Hanson is the

The party’s state executive decided MP’s fate after she withdrew her legal action against the party earlier this week Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has been disendorsed ahead of the upcoming state election, despite dropping an eleventh-hour legal challenge against her own party. The state party called a meeting for Friday afternoon where they voted to remove the MP as a candidate for the November election. Continue reading...

Jens Spahn had criticised ‘rented wombs’ and his party is strongly opposed to surrogacy, which is banned in Germany A senior German politician and ally of the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has resigned as chair of the Christian Democrat (CDU) party after he and his husband used a surrogate mother to become parents, a practice he has criticised in the past and his party is vehemently opposed to. Surrogacy is banned in Germany, a policy Jens Spahn refused to relax when he was health minister in 2020, so he and his husband, Daniel Funke, used a surrogate mother in the US.

Mykhailo Fedorov, celebrated by many for innovative, tech-driven approach, was sidelined for military old guard Volodomyr Zelenskyy’s abrupt dismissal of Ukraine’s youthful and innovative defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, at precisely the moment Kyiv appeared to be gaining advantages in several spheres of its war with Russia has exposed, not for the first time, a troubling flaw in the president’s leadership. The move, which has startled senior European officials and caused consternation, and demonstrations, in Ukraine, is all the more shocking given Fedorov’s role in pushing a clear strategy to prosecute the war, leveraging Ukraine’s rapidly developing technological advances in drone

European Commission proposal to overhaul emissions trading system would give companies less demanding pathway to reductions Europe’s most effective method of cutting dangerous planet-heating gases risks being weakened after the European Commission proposed an overhaul of its flagship carbon market, critics have said. In a long-awaited review of the European Union emissions trading system (ETS), the European Commission proposed giving companies a less demanding and cheaper pathway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

The acclaimed Irish actor started her career in Coronation Street and Casualty before a string of high-profile Hollywood roles Brenda Fricker, who became the first female Irish Oscar winner for acting with My Left Foot, has died aged 81. Her agent Phil Belfield told the BBC in a statement : “We will never see her like again and the world is lesser for the lack of her … I was honoured to know, love and work with her and she will always have a place in my heart and in the heart of so many film and TV fans the

British domestic holidays are being pushed to their highest levels since Covid The start of the peak summer season is set to bring millions of drivers on to British roads, with concerns of traffic chaos as the port of Dover faces its biggest test yet of new EU border controls. The semi-functioning entry-exit system (EES) is credited, along with the heatwaves and fears about flights after the war in Iran , with helping push British domestic holidays to its highest levels since Covid halted international travel. Continue reading...

Kuwait says civilian sites and infrastructure targeted, Jordan downs missiles and sirens sound in Bahrain as Iran responds to US strikes Iran launched a wave of attacks against US allies in the Middle East, as the renewal of US strikes on Iran entered a second week and fighting escalated over the strait of Hormuz. Kuwait has accused Iran of targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure in the country, such as a power and water desalination plant. Kuwait, which is extremely arid, relies on desalinated water for about 90% of its drinking water. Continue reading...

Less than a month after hailing a ceasefire, Trump resumed strikes on Iran, a move experts warn could prolong the war and hurt Republicans ahead of midterms For half a century, Donald Trump has performed a public high-wire act based on high-stakes risks and shattering time-honored norms to get what he wants. The approach has paid off handsomely, helping him survive multiple bankruptcies to reach billionaire status and numerous legal and political scandals to be elected US president twice. Continue reading...

Central Command says attacks were designed to ‘continue degrading Iranian military capabilities’ The US military said it had launched a seventh consecutive night of strikes on Iran on Friday night as fighting escalated over the strait of Hormuz. US Central Command, in a post on X, said the strikes, which began at 7pm GMT, were designed to “continue degrading Iranian military capabilities”. Continue reading...

Defence minister seeks three ‘Nahal’ outposts in Gaza as top commander says Israel now controls 65% of the strip, violating Trump ceasefire deal Israel’s defence and finance ministers announced plans for three illegal settlements in Gaza and more than $400m (£300m) in funding to expand construction in the occupied West Bank, as Israel’s military commander for the region celebrated violent outposts as his “security partners”. With national elections scheduled for 27 October, Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition is racing to expand control of land in occupied Palestine and drive out Palestinians before its mandate expires. Continue reading...

Another 22 reportedly injured while mourning Palestinian killed in Israeli attack earlier in the day An Israeli strike on a funeral in the Gaza Strip has killed at least seven people and injured another 22, according to a local hospital. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Continue reading...

Vessels believed to have departed from Myanmar in late June, with mostly Muslim Rohingya minority onboard The United Nations has said more than 500 people are feared dead after reports of two large shipwrecks off Myanmar since late June. The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its refugee agency UNHCR voiced alarm in a joint statement at reports “that two boats carrying more than 500 people may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days”. Continue reading...

Innocent man lynched by mob in West Bengal as police killing of suspect further escalates tensions Protests have engulfed the Indian state of West Bengal after the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl, the subsequent lynching of an innocent man and the police killing of one of the accused. Outrage erupted on Sunday after the body of a missing girl was recovered from a pond in a town just outside the state capital, Kolkata. Continue reading...

Eleven reported dead as flooding also brings danger of snakes, while buildings collapse in Mumbai amid heavy rain As the first typhoon to make landfall in China for the 2026 season, Maysak has caused devastating damage in southern and central regions. The Guangxi region received intense downpours of up to 280mm in 12 hours, causing rivers to swell and dam walls to break. By Monday morning, flooding across the city of Nanning and surrounding areas had resulted in many people being stranded on rooftops. Flood waters pose additional threats in China because of the presence of wild and farmed snakes.

Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in prison in India, is accused of orchestrating assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023 US and Canadian authorities say they have “dismantled” the leadership of a notorious Indian criminal group, charging dozens of operatives who have “inflicted pain and cruelty on people, victims around the globe”, including a high-profile murder in Canada that strained diplomatic relations between Canada and India. At a press conference on Tuesday, members of the FBI and Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said as part of Operation Hard Ball – a multiyear federal investigation into murder-for-hire plots, shootings, extortion and

Early flight data shows K2 Airways plane crashed into sea with five crew on board south-west of Karachi Pakistan has located the wreckage of a Boeing cargo plane, the country’s airports authority said, adding that rescuers were searching for the five crew members on board when the aircraft went missing. The plane was approaching Karachi from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates when radar showed it “rapidly descending” on Tuesday evening after reporting a “navigational system issue”, according to the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA). Continue reading...

DWP brought in measures to tackle carer’s allowance scandal yet in 2025-26 there were 32,559 overpayments Scores of unpaid carers were hit with demands to repay sums of more than £20,000 and hundreds more put at risk of prosecution last year as a result of official failures in what appear to be continuing problems with carer’s allowance. New figures showed carers were asked to repay £33m in 2025-26 as a result of 32,559 overpayments, despite the introduction of measures over a year ago designed specifically to prevent carers falling foul of the system. Continue reading...

MPs and industry experts say potential reorganisation will waste time at critical moment for AI and economic growth Andy Burnham’s plan to scrap the government’s technology department has triggered an angry backlash from MPs, Whitehall officials and tech experts. The incoming prime minister has asked officials to draw up plans to abolish the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology as part of a wider Whitehall shake-up. Continue reading...

Outgoing PM has joked about cookery classes and cutting hedges, but does the international stage beckon? As his time in Downing Street comes to an end, Keir Starmer has been joking with friends about what he might do after he stands down as prime minister. He has teased that he might take a cookery course. “He needs it, he only makes two meals,” one friend said. Another not entirely serious suggestion was cutting his father-in-law’s hedge in the expectation that if he did well, he could graduate to lawns. Continue reading...

Labour leader examining proposals to overhaul gas standing charges and make heat pumps cheaper to run than boilers Andy Burnham is considering radical plans that could cut household energy bills by £130 a year and make running a heat pump cheaper than a gas boiler. In his speech on Friday as he became the new Labour leader , Burnham promised to reduce the price of “essentials”, and a cost of living package is expected to be one of his first announcements in Downing Street. Continue reading...

Government’s food security push is said to rely on animal feed imports with vulnerability to supply chain shocks The government’s planned poultry sector growth plan is a risk to national security, campaigners have warned. Earlier this month, the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds , told the Groundswell agriculture festival that the key to improving food security was consuming more homegrown produce, and said this was why the government had set up the Farming and Food Partnership Board, whose members include industry leaders such as the president of the National Farmers’ Union and the chief executive of the Food & Drink Federation.

Kyle Bylin and Jeremy Morrison uncovered the truth after Bylin received an at-home DNA test as a Christmas gift A DNA discovery has led two families to accuse a North Dakota hospital of changing the course of their lives after learning two newborns were allegedly switched at birth nearly four decades ago. Kyle Bylin uncovered the truth after receiving an at-home DNA test during a Christmas gift exchange. The test connected him with his biological aunt through a genealogy platform, prompting her nephew, Jeremy Morrison, to take his own DNA test. The results confirmed the two men had been raised

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Summer Lee join rally to support Justin Pearson’s bid for Congress seat More than a thousand people rallied for Justin Pearson, a Democratic state representative running for Congress, in the wake of four fatal shootings by members of the Memphis Safe Task Force over the last two months. Crowds packed New Direction Christian Church in the city’s Hickory Hill neighborhood in support of Pearson, who is running in the now-fractured ninth congressional district’s Democratic primary. Continue reading...

Pete Hegseth announced that soldiers aged 30 and older in the US military will be screened for low testosterone The US defense secretary, ⁠Pete Hegseth, this week ordered annual testosterone-deficiency screening for active-duty and reserve service members aged 30 and older, which he says will help to maintain military readiness. But many medical professionals warn it might do nothing of the sort and instead could increase service members’ risk of infertility or other consequences if testosterone is prescribed inappropriately. Continue reading...

Fire crew in Gilbert to honor Royal Cothrun, 14, for helping elderly woman who became disoriented amid heatwave An Arizona fire department is formally honoring a 14-year-old boy who recently helped save an elderly woman with dementia after she wandered miles off course amid potentially lethal temperatures, saying the teenager demonstrated “heroism … quick thinking and compassion”. Royal Cothrun was riding his bicycle in June in the town of Gilbert when he encountered Theresa Morgan as she struggled to walk through 103F (39.4C) heat with a grocery bag dangling off one arm and a purse on the other, according to

Demonstrations planned across the US this weekend will focus on three issues likely to define the midterm elections Thousands of Americans are expected to take to the streets this weekend in mass protests around issues likely to define the midterm elections: widespread violence from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, voter suppression and datacenter construction. The protests – some recently planned in response to last week’s ICE shootings, others an annual event with new urgency – will take place not just in big cities and progressive towns, but also in rural and red areas. Continue reading...

Geography has handed the United Arab Emirates quite the quandary: its government wants to cut dependence on the Strait of Hormuz to “zero”, yet the ports that power its economy sit squarely inside the waterway it hopes to avoid. Jebel Ali and Khalifa ports collectively handle most of the UAE’s US$1 trillion in annual non-oil trade, much of which flows to and from Asia. Together, they form the single most vital link in a logistics corridor stretching from Singapore to Europe – a status not easily...

The historian A.J.P. Taylor wrote one of the most powerful openings of any book. “In the state of nature which Hobbes imagined, violence was the only law, and life was ‘nasty brutish and short’,” he wrote in The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848-1918. “Though individuals never lived in this state of nature, the Great Powers of Europe have always done so. Sovereign states have distinguished European civilisation, at any rate since the end of the fifteenth century. Each individual state in...

Donald Trump’s social media company has discussed charging Wall Street traders and investment firms as much as US$100,000 a month for faster access to the US president’s posts on his Truth Social platform, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, has in recent weeks also pitched a discounted plan of US$60,000 per month if the firms sign up for a three-year plan, the sources said, requesting anonymity as the ‌discussions are...

European policymakers have watched Chinese carmakers roll in like a slow but unstoppable tide over the past few years: affordable, polished and threatening one of the continent’s proudest industrial legacies. Many have warned about the dismantling of their automotive prides following the new China shock. A crown jewel of Europe’s industrial output, the automotive sector represents directly and indirectly a total of more than 13 million jobs in the EU. It was no accident that electric vehicles...

A ⁠few hundred people in Venice protested ⁠on Friday against US Ambassador to ⁠Italy Tilman Fertitta as he arrived in the lagoon city aboard his superyacht, drawing criticism of President Donald Trump’s policies. Activists also objected to the heightened security measures put in place by local authorities as Venice prepares for one of its most important festivals. Fertitta, a billionaire businessman appointed by ‌Trump, is touring the Italian peninsula aboard his 117-metre (384-foot) yacht,...

US President Donald Trump on Friday blamed Canada for wildfire smoke spreading across the United States and said he would add the “incalculable cost” ‌of dealing with the pollution to existing tariffs on Canadian goods. Heavy smoke from hundreds of Canadian fires enveloped a swathe of the US from the Midwest to the Northeast on Thursday and Friday, prompting warnings to residents to stay indoors. Detroit on Friday remained the most polluted city in the world, according to tracker IQAir....

Iran launched more attacks on Washington’s Gulf allies and Jordan on Saturday after a seventh straight night of US strikes on Iranian military targets, including logistics hubs, escalating the war one week after a ceasefire collapsed. Kuwait came under sustained attack, with a desalination plant hit and operations at Kuwait International Airport suspended due to repeated missile and drone threats. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck a US military support centre at Camp...

A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas on Friday, shaking buildings as far away as Guatemala and El Salvador, though authorities said there were ‌no immediate reports of casualties or major damage. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said emergency protocols were activated but that neither Chiapas nor the neighbouring state of Tabasco reported issues, and Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said there were no deaths. In some parts of...

Britain’s charities regulator is looking into concerns about an Amnesty International report that branded a women’s centre for sexual violence victims founded by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling as “anti-rights”. The bestselling writer, who has been at the forefront of the debate about gender identity and has previously denounced trans activism, leading to accusations of transphobia, on Friday said she was angry at the label. “I’m often tickled by press articles asserting that I’m furious about...

Andy Burnham vowed Friday to “give hope” back to the British people as he was confirmed as the ruling Labour Party’s new leader, set to be the next UK prime minister. “People and places … have been waiting too long for politics to let them hope again … We’re going to give them hope back,” he vowed at a special party conference. “I am for us, for all of us,” he told cheering delegates. Burnham takes over from Keir Starmer, who resigned last month after months of political turmoil, scandal and...

Sitting by the Tanjung Aru beach in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, watching one of the most stunning sunsets in the world, I reflected on what it would take to prioritise the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. I had just finished an intense three days with 170 local and global organisations, such as the conservation organisation WWF, businesses, investors and policymakers on how the world should expand the scale of impact investing in the Sustainable Development Goals in Sabah and...

A Russian activist who spent years targeting opponents of the Kremlin before unexpectedly denouncing President Vladimir Putin and his Ukraine offensive was arrested on Friday, state media reported. Ilya Remeslo, 42, faces charges of “spreading fakes on the Russian army”, under censorship laws Moscow introduced when it sent troops to Ukraine, according to the TASS news agency. The charge carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Sergei Badamshin, named by independent media as his...

⁠Armed assailants are believed to have boarded the chemical tanker Asana off the southern coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden on Friday and are in control of the vessel, according to maritime ‌security sources. Based on initial assessments, the incident appeared to be related to ‌Somali piracy rather than Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia, one of the maritime security sources said. The small tanker, which had no confirmed flag, had listed the Somali port of Bosaso as its next destination, ship...

Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the dual nature of artificial intelligence’s opportunities and challenges, calling for a principle of “openness” and regulations to keep the technology “secure and controllable” in a speech at the country’s flagship annual AI conference. Xi’s first speech to the World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai showed AI is a national strategic priority as China seeks to build greater technological self-reliance amid its tech rivalry with the United States. Earlier...

China’s companies have mastered social media marketing playbooks. Now, they must learn to win the trust of artificial intelligence (AI) agents that will increasingly shape what consumers discover, consider and ultimately buy. These personal concierges are starting to determine the best choices for each user by balancing price, quality, reliability, sustainability and individual preferences. Tell an AI agent you want to go “somewhere”, and it can autonomously choose the destination and book...

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. The young Chinese scientist behind ‘impossible’ breakthrough on sodium batteries Scientist Lu Yaxiang, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Physics, has spent a decade working to make sodium-ion batteries...

Across the US this week, different disasters – from Canadian wildfire smoke darkening the skies in the Midwest and northeast to extreme heat along the east coast to catastrophic flooding in Texas – are disrupting daily life and putting people’s health at risk. When multiple weather catastrophes play out like this at the same time, or in quick succession, experts refer to them as compound events. As climate change makes compound events more likely, experts warned that grappling with them is...

President Donald ⁠Trump has ramped up US air strikes on Iran and threatened broader escalation, but there is ⁠little sign that a military strategy that has already failed to extract concessions from Tehran will succeed this time. With the collapse of an interim ceasefire deal reached a month ago, Trump finds himself in a bind as he seeks to break Iran’s grip on the vital Strait of Hormuz and force Tehran to accept his demands. While the two sides have so far avoided a return to full-scale...

US President Donald Trump delivered a prime-time “Speech to the Nation” on Thursday at 9pm Eastern Time, or 9am Hong Kong time on Friday. Such addresses are typically reserved for major national moments. During his second term, Trump has used them to highlight key priorities, including a year-end address in December, and a speech in April focused on the Iran conflict. While the White House did not release the full agenda ahead of the speech, its timing drew attention. It came soon after Trump...

The United States and Iran traded attacks on Friday, with Tehran targeting American assets across the Middle East in the biggest escalation since the two foes returned to outright war. A month after the two sides agreed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the conflict that began in February, Iran accused US forces of hitting civilian and energy infrastructure on Friday – including an airport, a railway station and two bridges, with state media reporting at least eight dead and 20...

Mandatory evacuations across the Texas Hill Country are under way as life-threatening flash floods wreck bridges and roads with more heavy rain expected overnight. A wide swathe of Texas is forecast to receive as much as 20cm (eight inches) of additional precipitation through Friday morning to cap off a week of downpours that revived memories of the catastrophic deluge that killed more than 130 people a year ago. Evacuations have been complicated by almost 90 road and highway closures between...

US Secretary of State Marco ⁠Rubio told officials from more than 60 countries on Thursday that the United States would seek to refocus international counterterrorism efforts on what he called “far-left terror”, arguing that left-wing violence had long been overlooked. The conference in Washington has sparked Democratic concerns that the Trump administration is politicising counterterrorism efforts and diverting resources from other extremist threats. In a speech, Rubio said the Islamic militancy...

Italian police raided the offices of several luxury brands including Bulgari and Chanel over suspicions they used subcontractors employing Chinese workers, a prosecutor said Thursday. The other luxury brands included Brunello Cucinelli, Etro, Goyard Italie, Jacob Cohen Company, Moncler, and Stefano Ricci, Milan prosecutor Paolo Storari said, confirming information published by business daily Il Sole 24 Ore. None of the nine companies is under investigation, and prosecutors have not sought...

A teleprompter operator for Donald Trump has been suspended over allegations he placed bets with a prediction market on the content of the US president’s speeches, the White House said on Friday. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the teleprompter operator was put on unpaid administrative leave on the orders of the president. Leavitt later added that he would no longer be working at the White House. Gabriel Perez is ⁠under investigation by federal regulators over potential...

An Italian court on Thursday sentenced the former head of motorway operator Autostrade per l’Italia to 12 years for his role in a deadly bridge disaster eight years ago. Giovanni Castellucci was found guilty of vehicle homicide and negligence related to the collapse of the bridge in Genoa that killed 43 people in one of the country’s worst infrastructure disasters. The courtroom was packed with relatives of those who plunged to their deaths when the Morandi Bridge – part of a key highway...

A UK court on Thursday jailed two young men for a 2024 cyberattack on London’s public transport operator that exposed the details of millions of customers, in one of Britain’s biggest data breaches. Thalha Jubair, 20, from East London, and 18-year-old Owen Flowers from England’s West Midlands were each handed five-and-a-half-year sentences at London’s Woolwich Crown Court. The pair pleaded guilty last month to hacking Transport for London’s (TfL) network between August 31 and September 3, 2024,...

Four acting members of Greece’s parliament were among ⁠22 people indicted ⁠on Thursday by the European Public ⁠Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) over an investigation into alleged farm fraud that has rocked the country’s government. Last year, European prosecutors charged dozens of Greek stockbreeders with faking ownership of grazing land and exaggerating the number of animals on farms to claim EU subsidies with the alleged help of state employees and conservative politicians. Some people receiving...

German far-right activist Marla-Svenja Liebich, who legally changed gender to a woman in 2024, was taken to a men’s prison after being extradited to Germany from the Czech Republic, officials said on Thursday. Liebich arrived in Germany on Wednesday and was initially taken to a ‌women’s prison in Chemnitz in the eastern German state of Saxony before being transferred to a men’s prison on the same day, the Saxony Ministry of Justice said. The decision was taken by experts in consultation with the...

Large protests erupted in several Ukrainian cities on Thursday morning against the removal of popular defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov. More than a thousand people gathered on a central square in Kyiv, singing the national anthem, waving Ukrainian and EU flags and chanting “shame” and “bring Fedorov back”. Appointed only six months ago, Fedorov carved a reputation as a moderniser who tried to reform the Ukrainian military, worn down by more than four years of the Russian invasion. His removal...

The US will begin charging 25 per cent tariff on imports of certain goods from Brazil following an investigation alleging that the country engaged in unfair trade practices. The year-long inquiry “found a number of Brazil’s practices to be unreasonable and discriminatory, restricting the competitive position of American farmers, workers, innovators, and exporters,” the Office of the US Trade Representative said in a social media post late on Wednesday night. Imports of coffee, beef, and certain...

Africa’s exports to China have surged since Beijing expanded its zero-tariff policy across the continent in May, as customs data showed signs of emerging trade links in a range of new sectors alongside traditional categories such as critical minerals. China’s imports from Africa soared by 21.1 per cent and 40.2 per cent year on year in May and June, respectively – outpacing the overall growth in Chinese imports over the same period, customs data showed. The increase was partly driven by China’s...

Detainees at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Texas told two rights groups they were beaten by guards, denied medical care and prevented from contacting family and lawyers, according to a report issued on Wednesday. The report, issued by Human ‌Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, spans dozens of pages and is based on 80 interviews HRW conducted with detainees that focused on conditions at Camp East Montana, which is located at the US Army’s Fort...

From rare earth elements to commercial drones, Washington has become all too familiar with the strongest weapons in Beijing’s manufacturing arsenal – the materials and products where China holds a strategic advantage in production, extraction or any other link in the supply chain. After those near-monopolies provided Chinese policymakers considerable leverage in last year’s trade dispute, US think tanks are asking whether pharmaceuticals represent the next critical dependency. Their concern is...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that arch foe Iran has freed an American citizen detained since December 2024 and allowed her to leave the country. “She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition,” Trump posted on social media, adding: “The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!” Trump – who in recent days has ordered a resumption of strikes against Iran and reimposed a naval blockade of its ports – did not name the woman or describe why she...

A former senior adviser for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors was sentenced to more than three years in prison for lying to federal investigators looking into whether he shared confidential data with Chinese intelligence operatives, the Justice Department said. John Harold Rogers, 64, was convicted at trial on February 3 of making false statements to investigators about sharing information on monetary policy, Washington US attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement on Wednesday after the...

Iran ⁠said on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz was an inviolable “red line”, warning that if US President Donald Trump carried out his threat to attack Iran’s infrastructure, it would strike all infrastructure across the Gulf region. The US intensified its strikes on Iran early Thursday, hitting targets further north as American forces also fired into a ship it accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic. Iran retaliated with missile and drone fire targeting US allies...

On July 12, a coalition of 14 nations – the United States, Philippines, Australia, Canada, Britain, Japan, New Zealand, and seven European states including Germany, Italy and the Baltic nations – issued a statement marking the 10th anniversary of the South China Sea ruling at The Hague in 2016. The document recycled familiar arguments, urging compliance with the ruling and framing it as a cornerstone of the rules-based international order. But beneath it lies a fundamental disconnect from...

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that he is rolling out a new screening programme for “testosterone deficiency” among troops, calling it necessary to allow them to operate at their “absolute best”. The screenings will be conducted annually as part of service members’ required medical screenings for those 30 and older, he said. Troops under 30 can volunteer to be tested. In a video on social media, Hegseth said receiving testosterone replacement therapy would be...

US President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, Todd Blanche, faced ⁠tense bipartisan questioning at a US Senate panel on Wednesday about the roll-out of the Epstein files and a settlement that gave the president sweeping tax immunity. Blanche, the president’s former personal lawyer, was pressed by Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas about the Justice Department’s decision to settle Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service by creating a since-abandoned US$1.8 billion fund...

French lawmakers on Wednesday adopted ⁠a bill that will create a legal right to assisted dying for adults with incurable illnesses, capping an intense ethical and political debate. The legislation will, under strict conditions, allow a person who requests it to receive a lethal substance. The substance could be self-administered or, if the person is physically unable to do so, administered by ‌a doctor or nurse. Access to assisted dying will be restricted to adults who are French citizens or...

A man who threatened on social media in May to shoot Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage was arrested, London police said on Wednesday, as concerns grow over the security of politicians following the killing of Ann Widdecombe, a former member of parliament. The man was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of sending threatening communications to a member of parliament, the Metropolitan Police said. “I am going to shoot you in the head if you win,” he allegedly told Farage on social media, according...

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he was leaving the United Kingdom “in better shape than I found it” as he fielded questions, criticism and even a bit of praise from lawmakers in the House of Commons for the last time on Wednesday. Starmer, who leaves office next week, bid farewell to the boisterous weekly Prime Minister’s Questions sessions where he has traded barbs with opposition politicians and defended his government’s record. On Monday, he will step down as prime minister after losing...

When Shabir Ahmed, a convicted leader in one of Britain’s grooming gang cases, was released from prison this month and allowed to stay in the country rather than being deported to Pakistan, the political fallout extended well beyond a single immigration dispute. The case has become a test for the ruling Labour party, which is under pressure both as the government responsible for deportation policy and over criticism of failures by some local authorities to protect vulnerable girls. Analysts said...

Unexploded munitions were hampering efforts by firefighters to tackle a blaze in a national park in northern Germany, local officials said on Wednesday. Old munitions buried in the soil from an abandoned military training ground have forced them to stay at least 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) from the flames, officials from the Mecklenburg Seenplatte district said. “Emergency services cannot actively put out the fire – that is the problem,” district spokesman Marten Schroeder said of the fire in...

The Pentagon has blocked the public release of a congressionally mandated annual report on the costly and controversial F-35 fighter jet programme for the first time in more than 20 years. The non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Defence Department officials concluded its yearly assessment of the US$1.6 trillion programme contained Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) – which meant none of the report could be released to the public. The report has offered a key window...

London hosted an understated version of the Conservative Political Action Conference, known in the United States for its over-the-top celebration of MAGA causes.

As he prepares for the World Cup final, Lamine Yamal, 19, is at the heart of a national debate about what it means to be Spanish in an increasingly multicultural society.

Tilman J. Fertitta, the U.S. ambassador to Rome, is summering on his superyacht as President Trump squabbles with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy.

The Trump administration has recently sought to scale back sanctions as adversaries develop workarounds that some believe could erode the U.S. dollar’s supremacy.

Michael Castillero was convicted of defrauding investors in a $386 million scheme. Then he started courting MAGA influencers.

In the frozen shadows of shuttered factories, icons like Toni Morrison, Raymond Carver and David Foster Wallace created some of their greatest work.

The smoke isn’t going away, but where it affects air quality will shift over the next few days. Conditions were improving Saturday for parts of the Northeast, a forecaster said.

Half of Canada’s wildfires are in remote areas with no road access. Impossible to fight, they are often left to burn.

The state told thousands of people to be ready to evacuate.

Where are Hegseth’s hormones when Trump needs them?

I deserve accountability and transparency, and so does the public.

A summer weekend offers a bounty of daylight that we feel duty-bound to exploit properly. But sometimes the sun-and-fun mandate becomes an unnecessary burden.

The implicated products were marketed under several brands, and had been shipped as recently as Thursday.