Minimalist News

China Shuts The Helium Valve As Qatar Outage Deepens Global Supply Squeeze China has abruptly banned helium exports , a key component in semiconductors, which adds yet another serious constraint to a global market already reeling from the loss of production in Qatar. In a two-sentence Friday announcement, China's Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs said helium covered by customs code 2804290010 was subject to a temporary prohibition on exports , effective immediately. The agencies cited China's Foreign Trade Law but provided no explanation, expiration date, transition period or exemptions. Any future adjustments, they said, would be announced

When Billion-Dollar Non-Profits Stop Looking Like Charities Authored by Jeff Patch via RealClearMarkets , AltaMed Health Services reported $1.72 billion in revenue in 2024, which is more than many publicly traded healthcare companies. Yet unlike a public corporation, the nonprofit entity answers to no shareholders, enjoys broad tax exemptions, and derives much of its revenue from taxpayer-supported healthcare programs. AltaMed also reported $1.66 billion in assets and its revenues exceeded expenses by $68.4 million. It operates more than 70 clinics, employs roughly 5,000 people, and serves more than 700,000 patients throughout Southern California, making it one of the nation's largest

Turkey Seeks Moscow Permission To Offload S-400s, Paving Way For US F-35 Deal In a move that could break a years-long defense procurement deadlock with Washington, Turkey is finalizing the sale of its Russian S-400 air defense systems to Gulf states , potentially clearing the way for Ankara to buy US F-35 fighter jets, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reports Friday. For Ankara, offloading the Russian hardware resolves a years-long costly diplomatic and military bottleneck and controversy - a situation which dramatically improved after President Trump gave a clear greenlight during the annual NATO summit in Ankara this week. But apparently it

Saturday Deadline: US Orders Iran To Declare Hormuz Open, Toll-Free...Or Else Update(1855) : The US is back to setting deadlines, coupled with new military threats, apparently. Judging by this week, which marked a dangerous return to guns-a-blazing in the Persian Gulf, it seems Trump is ready to back these warnings with new bombing raids. The only question will be the extent to which the Islamic Republic escalates in return . So far it has shown willingness to 'answer' US attacks with its own missile and drone launches, against US and allied bases and facilities among the Arab Gulf states. Axios

Advanced US Nuclear Battery Deal Targets 3000 MW Power With $22.5 Billion Pipeline Authored by Aman Tripathi via Interesting Engineering , Energy project facilitator GridMarket and nuclear technology developer Deployable Energy have formed a commercial agreement to deploy modular microreactors across the United States. The 40-year contract carries an estimated total value of $145 billion. The collaboration follows a recent successful operational test by Deployable Energy. Deployable Energy The initiative intends to install more than 3 gigawatts (GW) of electrical capacity by 2035 , focusing primarily on data centers, cloud infrastructure facilities, and industrial manufacturing plants. "Demand for dependable, continuous

Trump Left Orders To Obliterate Iran If Assassinated: 'Bomb Them At Levels Never Seen Before' The Iran war saga has seen its fair share of bizarre and wild twists, and Friday has brought yet another - with the NY Post reporting that President Trump said he "left instructions" for a massive bombing campaign against Iran in the event he's assassinated by Iranian operatives. "I’ve been on their list for a long time. That’s what we’re dealing with," he told New York Post . Then he followed with: "The only thing is, I've left instructions - if anything happens, to just

Russia's New Bullets Disintegrate Into 3 Mid-Flight, Can Hit High-Speed Drones Authored by Prabhat Ranjan Mishra via Interesting Engineering , A Russian company has developed a new type of rifle bullets that split into three mid-flight, according to reports. This can help increase hit probability against high-speed drones. The development of specialized anti-drone ammunition reflects the changing nature of warfare. (Representational image) Jay_Rembert/stevepb Developed by Russia's Rostec, these multi-bullet "Mnogotochie" rounds can successfully hit drones. Reports have claimed that the first batches of these bullets have been delivered to Russian troops. Effective option for combating drones Vysokotochka, a subsidiary of

Netflix's Live TV Pivot Exposes Growing Engagement Crisis As Shares Falter Netflix shares are teetering on the edge of a bear market after a brutal stretch of underperformance and one of the stock's worst first-half starts in two decades. Subscriber engagement has become an increasing concern for the streaming giant, and a new report suggests management may be considering a risky pivot toward live television to revive viewing time and strengthen its advertising business. According to The Wall Street Journal, Netflix management is weighing live channels, third-party streaming bundles, and additional sports rights as it seeks to reverse declining subscriber

Trump Administration Launches Major H-1B Visa Fraud Investigation Via American Greatness, The Trump administration has launched its first major investigation into alleged fraud involving H-1B and PERM visa programs, expanding its effort to combat immigration-related fraud and protect American workers. 🚨PRESS RELEASE: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General Launches Investigation into H-1B Visa Fraud and Human Trafficking to Protect American Workers Read:⤵️ https://t.co/uBG4GjU1up pic.twitter.com/naWt7h3AP3 — DOL OIG (@DOLOIG) July 8, 2026 Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito announced the investigation Wednesday during an appearance on Fox Business, saying the probe will examine allegations of H-1B and PERM visa

The Token Revolt Goes Mainstream: Palo Alto CEO Demands 90% AI Price Drop Eight days ago it was Palantir's Alex Karp going ballistic on live television about the "effing insane" economics of renting intelligence by the token. On Thursday it was Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora's turn , and while his delivery was calmer, his number was not: Arora told CNBC that AI token prices need to fall as much as 90% before enterprise adoption can actually scale. So the chief executive of one of the largest cybersecurity companies in the world - that buys this stuff at industrial

Apple Sues OpenAI Alleging Trade Secret Theft In Blockbuster AI Hardware Case Apple has filed a major lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California accusing OpenAI , io Products, and former Apple executives of misappropriating trade secrets to fast-track AI hardware development. The complaint details a months-long scheme involving former Apple employees now at OpenAI. Key defendants include Tang Tan (OpenAI hardware lead and ex-Apple VP of product design) and Chang Liu (former Apple senior electrical engineer). Apple alleges they directed recruits to share confidential details on unreleased devices, components, manufacturing processes, and suppliers. Specific

Myth Busted: U.S. Much Safer Than Many Peer Nations Authored by John R. Lott Jr. via RealClearInvestigations , Conventional wisdom holds that the United States is the most violent and dangerous nation in the developed world. This dark view is frequently invoked by conservatives to demand stronger penalties for crimes and by progressives to argue for stronger gun laws. At the same time, other nations point to crime as an Achilles heel of the American system. These include two peer nations with some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world - Australia and Canada. In 2025, the Australian

Mali Govt Says Al-Qaeda Extremists In Region Receive Training, Drones From Ukraine Via The Cradle The Malian government announced on Thursday that militant groups with links to Al-Qaeda carrying out terror attacks in the country were trained and armed by Ukrainian specialists . Fousseynou Ouattara, Vice President of the Defense Commission of Mali's Transitional Council, said authorities identified militants who received training in Ukraine to carry out operations using kamikaze drones produced by Kiev. "These young people are known, we have now added them to our lists, and we have their names," Ouattara said. Illustrative file image The militants fighting

US Nuclear Regulator Seeks Simpler Environmental Reviews To Boost Nuclear Expansion Authored by Evgenia Filimianova via The Epoch Times , The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on July 8 proposed narrowing environmental reviews for new and renewed nuclear reactor licenses , a move the agency said would reduce costs, as the Trump administration pushes to expand nuclear energy. In this aerial view, the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant stands in the middle of the Susquehanna River near Middletown, Pa., on Oct. 10, 2024. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The proposal would change how the NRC implements the National Environmental Policy

Durov Hauled In For Questioning Again In Paris, Telegram Blasts Case: 'Still No Evidence' As the high-stakes criminal investigation into Telegram nears its second year with no resolution in sight, French authorities have again summoned Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov for questioning. Durov spent around six hours being questioned at the Paris Judicial Tribunal on Wednesday, local media reported , citing law enforcement sources. He's allowed to travel internationally, and to live at his home in Dubai - though he's agreed specific judicial supervision rules, part of which is to periodically return to France when summoned. It marked the fourth time

When Uncle Sam Turns Venture Capitalist, What Could Go Wrong? Authored by James Varney via RealClearInvestigations , The battery recycler Ascend Elements was riding high in 2023, flush with hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding. The seed money provided to the Massachusetts company, which launched in 2017, was one of several large bets the Biden administration placed on the green future as it essentially created a venture capital arm at the Department of Energy and other agencies. In the movies, VCs almost always score big through their early investments in future behemoths (e.g., PayPal or Meta when it

Federal Judge Orders DHS Not To Obey Order From Another Judge Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times , A federal judge on July 8 said the Trump administration must not comply with an order from another federal judge and must continue to have key functions of an immigration database disabled. The Department of Homeland Security building in Washington on March 25, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times Judge Sparkle Sooknanan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said that officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other agencies shall keep disabled the ability to

Three Reasons Gas Prices Are Likely To Remain Elevated The US national average for regular 87-octane gasoline remained uncomfortably above the politically sensitive $4-per-gallon threshold for roughly two and a half months. That stretch pressured lower-income consumers, forcing many to trade down or cut discretionary spending while weighing on broader consumer sentiment. The key question now is whether pump prices have further room to fall or whether current levels will become the new normal this summer. Answering that question is Goldman's leading commodity expert Daan Struyven, who penned a note on Thursday explaining the three forces keeping pump prices high:

World's First Commercial Nuclear-Powered Satellite Set For Launch Aboard SpaceX Rocket Authored by Mrigakshi Dixit via Interesting Engineering , Miami-based City Labs is all set to launch the world's first commercial nuclear-powered satellite into orbit. NanoTritium battery Citi Labs Solar panels have some challenges. When a satellite slips into the shadow of the Earth, hits a permanently dark lunar crater, or drifts into deep space, its solar arrays become useless. Batteries can step in, but they eventually die. City Labs thinks nuclear energy could solve this persistent problem. On July 7, the company announced that its BOHR (Betavoltaic Orbital High-Reliability)

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Illinois Ban On 'Assault Weapons' Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, A federal appeals court on July 9 upheld Illinois’s ban on the sale and possession of “assault weapons” and large capacity magazines, overturning a lower court ruling that had blocked enforcement of the law. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act into law in January 2023 after a gunman killed seven people in a 2022 shooting during an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago. A federal judge overturned the law in 2024, finding it violated the Second Amendment right to

Nearly 17,000 injured and thousands more are listed as missing amid calls by UN and president Delcy Rodríguez for financial help The death toll in Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes has topped 4,000, the government said on Friday. At least 4,118 people were killed and 16,740 injured in the back-to-back quakes on 24 June that flattened entire districts in the coastal state of La Guaira, Venezuelan parliament chief Jorge Rodriguez wrote on Telegram. Thousands more are listed as missing. Continue reading...

Reporting suggests FBI involved in seizure of Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada García from Mexican territory in 2024 Mexico has launched an investigation into whether the US lied about its involvement in the capture and secretive transfer of a top Sinaloa cartel member in 2024, in what would be a potential violation of the country’s sovereignty. The US has long denied it played any role in the operation to detain the drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, a founder of the Sinaloa cartel, inside Mexico. Recent reporting by the local media outlet Pie de Nota , however, suggested that the

Activist is challenging ruling last year that restored colonial-era homophobic law against same-sex intimacy Some of the UK’s top judges are hearing arguments over whether a Trinidad and Tobago court had the legal right to overturn a 2018 ruling to remove colonial-era homophobic laws that criminalise anal sex between consenting men. The country’s “ buggery law ”, often referred to as its “sodomy” law, was created in 1925 and was written into Trinidad and Tobago’s 1986 Sexual Offences Act . In 2017 a Trinidadian LGBTQ+ rights activist, Jason Jones , challenged the law, and in 2018 a high court ruled

Celeste Amarilla could face charges after French Football Federation complains about social media posts over World Cup match Prosecutors in France have opened an investigation into the racist attack on Kylian Mbappé by a Paraguayan senator, with officials weighing whether to demand that the senator be charged with aggravated public insult or incitement to hatred or violence. The Paris prosecutor’s office told the Guardian on Tuesday it had launched the inquiry after the French Football Federation (FFF) filed a complaint with the national unit for combating online hate. Continue reading...

Impoverished island was already struggling to keep the lights on before the US imposed a blockade in January Cuba on Monday suffered its third nationwide power outage since the start of the year, the state electricity company said. The impoverished island was already struggling to keep the lights on before the US president, Donald Trump, imposed an oil blockade in January, which has depleted the already dwindling supply of fuel for Cuba’s power plants. 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.

SK hynix, a supplier of advanced memory chips, has seen profits skyrocket thanks to the global race to build AI datacentres South Korean chip maker SK hynix set pricing for its mega US listing on Friday, aiming to raise $26.5bn as it takes advantage of the AI boom in what will be one of the world’s biggest ever stock sales. The Asian semiconductor giant plans to issue the equivalent of about 18m shares on Wall Street’s tech-heavy Nasdaq index later in the day. Continue reading...

Plans to build a NZ$3.5bn datacentre in Makarewa in the country’s south has drawn concern about electricity and water use, and potential noise pollution People living near the site of New Zealand’s first planned AI datacentre are calling for more transparency about the project, especially about how the centre’s huge electricity and water use and potential noise pollution could affect them. Singapore-based company Datagrid has secured approval to build a NZ$3.5bn (US$2bn) AI datacentre on a 49-hectare site in Makarewa, just north of New Zealand’s southern-most city, Invercargill. Construction is due to begin this year, with the centre becoming operational

Local media in Hengzhou report king ratsnakes and cobras among hundreds in flood waters caused by typhoon Maysak Hundreds of snakes, including cobras, have escaped from flooded breeding farms in southern China as severe storms continue to batter parts of the country. State media reported that a snake farm in Hengzhou, in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was hit by flood waters after days of heavy rainfall caused by typhoon Maysak , prompting warnings for nearby residents. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed Telstra outage: Telco apologises for major time-keeping issue that hit mobiles, trains and triple-zero calls Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Telstra outage reported to be cause of Victoria train stoppage There is a long list of cancelled trains on the official V/line site, but the TL/DR is that Victoria’s regional train network has ground to a halt. Due to a radio network fault affecting the network, services are currently unable to operate … Passengers are advised to defer travel where possible. Continue reading...

Ahead of the census in August, campaign group suggests current poll design overstates the nation’s religiousness Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia would no longer be a majority religious country if the format of a question in the census was changed, according to a new survey. The Essential Media poll tested the existing census format, where people choose from a list that includes the most common religions, “no religion” and “other”. Continue reading...

NT police release body-worn camera vision of Bradley John Murdoch denying knowing where UK backpacker’s body is weeks before his death Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Infamous killer Bradley John Murdoch aggressively denied knowing where the body of still-missing backpacker Peter Falconio was during a police interview weeks before he died. NT police released body-worn camera vision of the interview on Saturday, days before the 25th anniversary of the killing of the 28-year-old British man on the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek, in July 2001. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Records obtained by the Guardian show property owned by Catholic order used to house at least two brothers with horrific histories of child sexual abuse Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Christian Brothers properties have been used to house convicted child sexual abuse offenders, including one brother who preyed on orphans and another who was kept in teaching positions for almost three decades after senior officials became aware of his offending. The Christian Brothers prompted fury from survivors last month when it declared it was about to go broke, and could no longer

The telco has long banked on its reputation as having the most stable, widest mobile telco coverage. That is now badly dented Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Telstra has long profited from its reputation of having the largest and most stable mobile telco coverage in Australia, allowing it to charge premium prices. When its main rival, Optus, suffered a series of operational issues that culminated in a damaging triple zero outage last year, Telstra attracted new customers. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Resignation comes after abuse survivor said she was devastated her father, who was jailed for 48 years, was interviewed for the Shadow of Doubt podcast Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The journalist Richard Guilliatt has resigned from the Walkley awards judging board after the Walkley Foundation dismissed complaints about his podcast and then handed an award to the journalist whose reports were critical of him. Nina Funnell won a mid-year Walkley for freelance journalist of the year for a series of three articles in news.com.au about a survivor of sexual assault who

The airfare for a baby on your lap could cost more than your own ticket. Here’s how airline charges and travel taxes can hit you Ryanair recently stopped making parents pay to sit next to their children but depending on the airline the hidden extra costs involved in flying with children can be substantial. In some cases, you can even end up spending more for the baby on your lap than you paid for your own flight. Your baby might not need a seat, but you are still likely to pay fees for them to travel. Some airlines offer discounts

The people of Bryne are proud of local hero’s rise to the top of world football as Norway prepare to face England Surrounded by red hats, No 9 shirts and Erling Haaland action toys at her fabric shop in the small Norwegian town of Bryne, Olinda Haaland – no relation but proud to share the now world-famous name – said everybody in the striker’s home town was a football fan these days. “It’s been pure joy,” she said of her namesake’s rise to the top of world football. “We all love him so much and he’s doing so much for

Twenty-three people missing and four Britons thought to be among those who died trying to flee Almería blaze ‘I had an incredible escape’: British woman tells of close encounter with wildfire At least 12 people have been killed and 23 are unaccounted for after one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires broke out in the south-eastern province of Almería as the country endures its second heatwave of the summer. The regional government of Andalucía said the victims, four of whom are believed to be British, had died while trying to escape the flames near the village of Bédar in the municipality of

Carmakers welcome ruling against suit claiming manufacturers including Nissan, Ford and Peugeot fitted devices to defeat emission tests Car manufacturers have welcomed a high court verdict that rejected most of the allegations in a “dieselgate” claim brought on behalf of 1.6 million UK owners of polluting cars. In her judgment, Lady Justice Cockerill said that “in the majority of instances, the court found that the relevant strategy did not constitute a prohibited defeat device” – software that enables the engine to behave differently in tests. Continue reading...

Blaze made worse by heat, strong wind and plentiful dry vegetation amid hollowing out of rural population Wildfire in southern Spain kills at least 12 amid heatwave As firefighters struggle to quell the flames ravaging southern Spain and doctors treat the injured, a horrific picture of the fallout is emerging. At least 12 people died in a fast-spreading inferno that ripped through Almería on Thursday, many trapped in cars as they sought to escape a blaze that scorched 3,800 hectares (9,390 acres). Overwhelmed authorities say eight people have been injured and 23 cannot be accounted for. Continue reading...

Plans specify tolls must not be compulsory, as US officials urge Iran to make public statement that strait is open and that shipping can safely pass Europe is studying proposals that may allow the charging of navigational fees in the strait of Hormuz so long as the tolls are not compulsory and have the support of the UN agency that regulates maritime transport. Britain’s deputy prime minister, David Lammy, said the imposition of compulsory tolls would be disastrous. But some of his cabinet colleagues said they recognised that systems of payments for specific navigational services were permissible in many natural

Renewed attacks the largest since an interim memorandum was signed this June, with Trump saying fragile truce is ‘over’ The US and Iran traded retaliatory strikes on Thursday as US president Donald Trump threatened to escalate the conflict unless Iran stopped attacking ships in the strait of Hormuz. Iran responded to the latest round of attacks by targeting US-allied Kuwait and Qatar and accused the US of striking near its sole nuclear power plant. Continue reading...

Local truckers’ association says it may suspend operations, after several eyewitnesses decried Ahmad Esleem’s murder A Palestinian driver bringing food aid from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) into Gaza has been killed by an Israeli soldier “in a field execution”, according to witnesses and the local truckers’ association, which said it may suspend operations in protest. Ahmad Esleem was shot in the head on Wednesday when an aid convoy stopped because of a breakdown to one truck soon after entering Gaza, according to three accounts. Israeli soldiers ordered the drivers to dismount and one of them shot Esleem in the

This live blog is now closed. US and Iran trade most intense strikes since ceasefire extended Kuwait’s foreign ministry has issued a statement condemning the Iranian attacks against the country. It reads almost identical to the statement issued yesterday, although emphasises Kuwait’s sovereignty is “a red line” . “The state of Kuwait reserves its full rights to take all necessary measures to protect its security and preserve its sovereignty,” it said. Continue reading...

Exclusive: PM-in-waiting says party must ‘do better’ in approach to Middle East and he will put more pressure on Israel Analysis: Burnham’s apology marks ‘reset moment’ as Labour seeks to win back progressive voters Andy Burnham has apologised for Labour’s initial response to Israel’s military action in Gaza, saying the party “didn’t get it right” and needs to “do better” under his leadership signalling a significant shift in the UK’s approach to the Middle East. The prime minister-in-waiting told the Guardian he would put more pressure on the Israeli government, including through further sanctions on individuals and entities, as well

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...

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...

Amnesty International says Albanese has opportunity to ‘reaffirm mutual commitment’ to rule of law as thousands in diaspora expected at stadium event Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Australia in three years has sparked calls for the federal government to raise human rights concerns, as excitement builds within the nation’s Indian diaspora. Modi’s visit begins on Wednesday evening and marks his third since becoming prime minister. It will see him return to Melbourne after more than

Thousands of women are killed in dowry disputes each year, despite the practice being banned in 1961 Dowry deaths in India no longer provoke the public anger they once did, despite thousands of women’s lives still being lost every year, according to new research. The killings – women who are murdered or driven to suicide following dowry disputes between families – have also faded from political debate, despite an increase in cases. Continue reading...

The 26-year-old man is no longer part of the investigation, Devon and Cornwall police say A 26-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of the murder of the former MP Ann Widdecombe has been released from custody and is no longer part of the investigation, Devon and Cornwall police said early on Saturday. In a statement, Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said: “Our priority remains identifying those responsible and ensuring that all available evidence is thoroughly examined. Continue reading...

Thinktank urges prospective prime minister to reclaim UK’s role as an international leader on development Influential backbenchers are calling on Andy Burnham to reclaim Labour’s leadership on international development and chart a course back to spending 0.7% of national income on overseas aid. In a collection of essays to be published soon by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) thinktank, MPs lay out proposals for a Burnham-led government to rethink foreign policy. Continue reading...

Teachers call for schools to be urgently adapted for hot weather amid reports of nausea, fainting and heatstroke The extreme heat that has hit the UK twice in the past few weeks has left teachers struggling to cope as temperatures in some classrooms climb above 40C, with pupils and staff suffering from heatstroke, nausea and headaches. Teachers say they have been desperately trying to keep children safe, with some covering younger pupils in wet paper towels as they lie on the floor, while older students have been given trays of water under their desks to put their feet in. Continue

Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma was arrested in a Johannesburg suburb after an international manhunt A man has been charged with murdering his wife and two young daughters after being arrested in South Africa following an international manhunt. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it had authorised three counts of murder against Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma, 45, after he was arrested on Friday in Kensington, a suburb of Johannesburg. Continue reading...

Crowd of more than 22,000 people – and the musician himself – filled Hyde Park with the ‘largest gathering of people wearing bald caps’ A tight plastic cap is not an attractive option for protective headwear in 30C (86F) heat. Yet 22,141 people opted for just that – along with a white shirt, black tie and aviator sunglasses – in Hyde Park, London, on Friday afternoon. It was both a homage to the rapper Pitbull, the night’s headliner at the BST festival, and part of setting a Guinness World Record for the “largest gathering of people wearing bald caps”. “I’m

Meta was criticised for feature launched on Tuesday that automatically lets users generate images using content from public Instagram accounts Meta has said ⁠it is discontinuing an AI feature launched this week that allowed users to generate images using public Instagram ⁠accounts, after drawing widespread ⁠criticism over ​privacy concerns, including from a Hollywood union. “Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control ⁠over whether their public content could be referenced in this way,” Meta said in a statement. Continue reading...

Workers observed draining water from Lincoln Memorial pool plagued by algae blooms and peeling paint Crews were observed Friday draining the plagued Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, a landmark at the heart of Donald Trump’s mission to beautify Washington DC. Interior secretary Doug Burgum, whose agency oversees the National Park Service, told conservative podcaster Katie Miller in an interview released earlier this week that the new round of draining was planned. He also said that the water might still contain debris from an extensive Independence Day fireworks display over the National Mall. Continue reading...

Lawyer says men who were riding in van are being pressured to self-deport as footage of incident is reportedly with investigators Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The three men who were in the van when federal immigration officials shot and killed a man in Houston, Texas , this week are strongly disputing the Trump administration ’s narrative of the events and are being pressured to sign deportation orders, according to their lawyer and lawmakers. The three men, who were arrested by immigration officials during the incident, denied that the driver of the vehicle, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo,

Habitat destruction strongest driver of species loss, with legislation keeping 99% of listed species from going extinct The Trump administration repealed a crucial part of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Friday, finalizing a new rule that will open habitats of imperiled wildlife to development, logging, mining and other uses. For the last 50 years, the landmark environmental law included a broader understanding of the word “harm”, which ensured that not just the plants and animals themselves were protected but also the places that are critical to their survival. The inclusion of habitat in the “harm” definition was upheld by

Paperwork ends Democratic campaign laden with scandals, including most recently accusations of sexual assault Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Maine, officially withdrew his candidacy on Friday afternoon, ending a campaign laden with scandals. Maine’s secretary of state confirmed Platner had filed the paperwork to remove his name from the November ballot, two days after Platner publicly said he planned to exit the race. Continue reading...

US President Donald Trump faces questions about the security of his new Air Force One plane gifted by Qatar, after he took an older jet home from a Nato summit this week. The billionaire president has barely been able to contain his excitement over the retrofitted Boeing 747-8 aircraft, which took him to Ankara on its maiden trip outside the United States. But then Trump abruptly announced in Turkey that he was sending the luxury plane on ahead to a British airbase – saying it was so US troops...

British police arrested a man on Friday on suspicion of murdering Ann Widdecombe, after the 78-year-old former government minister and Reform UK politician was found dead having “sustained serious injuries”. Police said a 26-year-old, white ‌British man had been arrested in Newton Abbot, a town about 15km (nine miles) from Widdecombe’s home in rural southwest England. Devon and Cornwall police assistant chief constable Matt Longman said there was no information to suggest the murder was related...

King Charles hosted Prince Harry and met his family for the first time in years on Friday, as they try to repair a rift that has persisted since his youngest son and wife quit royal life and moved to America six years ago. Harry, Meghan and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, met the king and Queen Camilla at Highgrove House, a country estate west of London. The Duke of Sussex had arrived on Monday in his homeland for a number of charity events that were overshadowed by...

A woman who authorities say married more than a dozen men in Las Vegas to fund her gambling has agreed to plead guilty to two felonies. Jiaying Chen, 33, waived her right to a preliminary hearing during an appearance before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Rebecca Saxe on Tuesday. Chen’s lawyer, Thomas Wells, said she plans to plead guilty later this week to one count each of bigamy and obtaining money under false pretences more than US$100,000. “It will permit the victims of these crimes to...

The absence of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei from the funeral ceremonies of Ali Khamenei raised questions about his health and fear of assassination, as well as indicating he may perform a quite different function as No 1 compared with his all-powerful father. The marathon funeral ceremonies for Ali Khamenei, killed on February 28 in an air strike on the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran, culminated on Thursday in the holy city of Mashhad, with a who’s who of key figures in the...

US President ⁠Donald Trump said ⁠on Friday he would ⁠not sign a bipartisan housing affordability bill that he had called “a big yawn”, but the measure can become law without his signature. Trump said in a social ‌media post that he was withholding his signature “in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT”. The housing bill was a rare instance of bipartisan agreement on major ⁠legislation in the deeply divided Congress. Among its main...

The Strait of Hormuz faces a renewed plunge in maritime traffic after the United States ended its ceasefire with Iran, casting a shadow over a tentative commercial recovery, as analysts warn unaddressed differences in the framework agreement risk fuelling further escalation. Traffic volumes dropped again on Thursday, with only 14 vessels transiting the strait, down from 35 a day earlier, according to Veson Nautical, a maritime software and data provider. Real-time data from the vessel-tracking...

A man was nearly sucked out of the window of a Ryanair flight when it “detached” mid-air en route to Germany, with other passengers pulling him back inside, witnesses and officials said. The passenger, described as a tourist from Serbia on a flight from Thessaloniki in Greece to Memmingen in Germany, has been hospitalised with friction burns but was otherwise in good condition, authorities said. “Most of us had fallen asleep, we had closed our eyes. There was a noise, like a tyre bursting,” a...

Police in Greece on Friday said they had arrested three people in connection to attacks this month that targeted ruling party politicians, killing a woman in a car explosion. Hours later, two more people were held over a 2010 deadly firebomb attack that left three dead. In the recent case, “three individuals have been arrested” by anti-terror police in Thessaloniki and the island of Crete, the police said in a statement. The July 1 attacks at dawn in the northern city of Thessaloniki targeted...

Eleven people were killed and 19 are missing after a wildfire tore through a Spanish village, with four victims who may have been British who were burned in their car, authorities said on Friday. Authorities said many of the victims may be foreign tourists visiting Bedar, a small village in Los Gallardos district, but that they were still confirming their identities. They described victims trying to flee the fast-moving blaze through difficult, forested terrain. About 400 firefighters and troops...

The United States is set to resume military sales to Turkey, Nato’s second-largest military power, after President Donald Trump said sanctions imposed against Ankara over its procurement of Russian air defence systems seven years ago would soon be lifted. “We don’t want to sanction friends,” Trump told journalists at the Nato summit in the Turkish capital on Wednesday, while emphasising his “good chemistry” with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Trump further said he would soon take a final...

As US President Donald Trump flew home from a fractious Nato summit in Turkey, he was poised to resume the war with Iran, whose leaders he labelled “sick” and “scum”. Trump also complained about European leaders’ failure to spend enough on arms, support him in Iran and recognise the need for the US to take control of Greenland. The sense of rising global conflict has been palpable this week. What clearly showed at the summit of the transatlantic security alliance was confirmed by the latest...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China’s Xi Jinping sets new precedent with July 4 message for Trump and US In a departure from convention, Chinese leader Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to the United States on Independence Day. Beijing does not usually...

Disease outbreaks, poor sanitation, lack of access to clean water, and disruptions to basic medical care could pose the greatest health risks to the tens of thousands of survivors of Venezuela’s deadly earthquakes, the Americas branch of the World Health Organization said on Thursday. Venezuela has opened more than 80 shelters for those whose homes were destroyed in twin quakes ‌on June 24, with the number of displaced reaching 17,907 by Thursday. Poor shelter conditions could leave many...

Iran on Friday laid to rest its former supreme leader Ali Khamenei over four months after his killing in an air strike, as two days of US and Iranian attacks raised fears of a return to all-out war. Khamenei’s flag-covered coffin was carried aloft into the shrine of Imam Reza in his home city of Mashhad in eastern Iran as a sea of people waited outside and listened to prayers, with no sign of a public appearance by his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei. The “body of the martyred leader of the...

The former roommate of Tyler Robinson, who is accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk, told prosecutors that Robinson expressed regret a day after the killing and planned to hand himself over to police, according to a video interview played in court on Thursday. The recorded interview with Robinson’s former roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, was presented as prosecutors tried to convince a Utah judge they have sufficient evidence against Robinson to warrant a trial...

US President Donald Trump’s negative portrayal of China’s achievements in renewable energy began at a White House meeting with oil executives on January 9 and was amplified at the World Economic Forum later that month. The story he told was shaped more by domestic politics than fact – a narrative that has lingered through subsequent debates over China’s alleged clean-energy “overcapacity”. While such rhetoric might rally support in the American Midwest, it does not withstand scrutiny. Trump’s...

The US Department of Agriculture dramatically lowered its reported beef export sales for late June on Thursday, sparking fresh concerns about the quality of the agency’s data after staffing losses as part of the Trump administration’s reshaping of the federal government. USDA said exporters in late June sold a net 12,064 tonnes of US beef to foreign buyers, 90 per cent lower than the volume it originally reported ‌a week ago. Traders had largely dismissed USDA’s initial report as inaccurate....

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo is the “fastest growing” ever, African health authorities said on Thursday, as the World Health Organization said the disease had killed 600 people. Updated numbers issued by the UN health agency showed there have been 1,759 confirmed cases in DR Congo since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, including 600 confirmed deaths. “This is the fastest growing Ebola outbreak ever, not only among the previous Bundibugyo outbreaks, but all the...

What does a world leader do with a gun and six bullets? That was the conundrum Nato leaders faced after the Turkish president offered them each a revolver after the Ankara summit. Several leaders said they had only discovered the contents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s gift package much later, or had not even seen it before it was seized by their security services. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney joked that his gift of maple syrup “kind of undermatched” Erdogan’s offering. British Prime...

A Florida airport was renamed after Donald Trump on Thursday, accelerating a push by the US president and supporters to plaster his name and image on everything from national landmarks to banknotes. “This will soon be one of the Greatest and Most Spectacular Airports anywhere in the World!” Trump said in a Truth Social post late Thursday reacting to the change. The Republican leader’s son Eric celebrated by landing in the private family Boeing 757 – so-called “Trump Force One” – at what had been...

A court in Hungary on Thursday sentenced an Irish citizen to 14 years in prison for strangling an American tourist to death in the country’s capital in 2024. The victim, 31-year-old Mackenzie Michalski from Portland, Oregon, was in Hungary on holiday and reported missing on November 5, 2024, after she was last seen at a nightclub in central Budapest. Police launched a missing person investigation and reviewed security footage from local nightclubs where they observed Michalski, who went by...

The proliferation of artificial intelligence models and the increasing parity in their performance suggest they are becoming a commodity. Soon, AI services will be priced by cost rather than the uniqueness of their model. With electricity the main cost of the services, the AI war between China and the United States is turning into a straightforward contest over electricity output and price. Open-source AI models are sprouting up like bamboo shoots in China. The American AI community has argued...

A German court on Thursday handed down a 10-year prison sentence to a 26-year-old man who fatally assaulted a train conductor during a ticket inspection in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate five months ago. The court sitting in Zweibrücken found that the man had attacked the conductor after being found without a ticket, hitting the conductor so hard that he later died of a brain haemorrhage. The assailant was found guilty of causing bodily harm resulting in death. The sentence is open to...

A four-year-old girl has died after being bitten by her family’s pet dog while playing, police and prosecutors in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt reported on Thursday. The dog was described as an American Stafford, a breed commonly known as the Pit Bull Terrier or American Staffordshire terrier. The report said people at the scene had attempted to pull the dog off the girl, but failed to prevent her suffering serious injury. A doctor called to the scene could only record her death. The...

Bonnie Tyler, the gravelly voiced, Grammy-nominated Welsh pop star best known for singing the chart-topping power ballad “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in 1983 and seeing new generations succumb to its bombastic charms during solar and lunar eclipses, has died. She was 75. Tyler died “unexpectedly” in a hospital in Portugal where she was being treated for an illness, her family said on Thursday in a statement on her website. She was hospitalised in May in Faro, where she had a home, for emergency...

China called on the United States and Iran to stick with peace plans after a resumption of missile strikes in the Middle East spurred a jump in oil prices. “Reigniting the conflict does not serve any party’s interests,” a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday. “We call on the US and Iran to follow through on their memorandum of understanding, resolve disputes through dialogue and negotiation, and avoid resorting to force.” Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose...

Graham Platner, a scandal-plagued Democratic Senate nominee whose insurgent rise had drawn comparisons to Donald Trump, ended his campaign on Wednesday after a rape allegation threatened to derail one of his party’s best chances of flipping a Republican-held seat. Platner, a Marine veteran, oysterman and political newcomer, won last month’s Democratic primary in the northeastern state of Maine to face Republican Senator Susan Collins in November’s midterm elections. His withdrawal gives Maine...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to rehear a case challenging his executive order curtailing birthright citizenship, a long-shot ‌bid to reverse the court’s rejection of one of his signature policies. The court last month rejected Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship in the US, ruling that his directive violated language in the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment that confers ⁠citizenship to those born in the United States who are...

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte defended US President Donald Trump’s criticism of the transatlantic security alliance, while saying this year’s summit showed “a huge sense of unity” and produced procurement plans worth tens of billions of dollars. During a press conference after the North Atlantic Council meeting of leaders at the Nato summit hosted by Turkey in Ankara on Wednesday, Rutte said this year’s gathering had resulted in more than US$50 billion in procurement deals as part of efforts...

The United States launched new air strikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar in crossfire that again threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Persian Gulf. Back-and-forth attacks, including a day earlier, have repeatedly threatened the ceasefire, but Thursday’s appeared bigger all around, with sirens sounding at least three times in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters, and missiles targeting Kuwait and...

A California man who swapped a library’s 17th century Chinese manuscript for a fake was sentenced on Wednesday after admitting to stealing a major artwork. Jeffrey Ying used a number of aliases to get access to classic works, some over 600 years old, at the library of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Department of Justice said. Ying, 39, would check the works out and return days later with dummy manuscripts. He would frequently travel to China shortly thereafter, officials...

A judge on Wednesday authorised the payment of a multimillion-dollar award to magazine writer E. Jean Carroll to satisfy a 2023 civil verdict in which a jury found US President ‌Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan ordered the disbursement of nearly US$5.8 million to the former Elle magazine advice columnist, representing the original US$5 million verdict plus interest. The funds had been held in escrow while Trump appealed the...

British anti-immigrant politician Nigel Farage faces the embarrassing prospect of going head-to-head with perennial joke candidate Count Binface in a by-election after he decided to quit Parliament. His surprise move threatened to backfire Wednesday after other heavyweight parties confirmed they would not contest the vote for Farage’s seat in southeast England. Count Binface, a self-described “intergalactic space warrior”, is the only other person to have said so far that they would run. In a...

US President Donald Trump unexpectedly left Turkey on Wednesday aboard an older Air Force One rather than the newly renovated Qatari-donated jet that brought him there, but later boarded the new plane in Britain for the flight to Washington. The trip to Turkey for the Nato summit, the first international travel for the new ‌plane, took place as hostilities escalated with Iran, a country that borders Turkey. The unexpected plane switch followed months of scrutiny over the luxury gift intended to...

The Pitt led all nominees with 25 in a dominant second season, while Hacks led all comedies with 24 for its final season as the Emmy nominations were announced on Wednesday. HBO Max’s emergency room series The Pitt was a rookie upstart last year with big wins including best drama series, best actor for Noah Wyle and best supporting actress for Katherine LaNasa. Already a beloved veteran show, it owned this year’s acting categories. Wyle was nominated again, as was LaNasa. Taylor Dearden, Fiona...

Spain remained calm in the face of US President Donald Trump’s latest attack on Wednesday – which saw him order a halt to all trade with the country – as Madrid stressed its relationship with Washington remained “positive”. Trump called Spain a “wasted cause” and “hopeless, bad people” during comments to reporters ahead of a Nato leaders’ meeting in Ankara, and ordered officials to cut off trade with the country – the second time Trump has made such a threat since March. The US leader has...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday modestly downgraded its outlook for the world economy this year, citing the energy shock caused by the Iran war. But the fallout from the conflict is being partially offset by booming investment in artificial intelligence and other technologies. The IMF now expects the global economy to expand by a sluggish 3 per cent in 2026, down from 3.5 per cent last year and from the 3.1 per cent it had forecast for this year back in April. The fund expects...

At least two girls have been seriously wounded and a 16-year-old suspect arrested after an attack at a secondary school in the southern German state of Bavaria on Wednesday. The perpetrator appeared to have deliberately targeted the Welfen grammar school in the town of Schongau in a suspected “rampage”, a police spokeswoman said. She was unable to confirm press reports according to which the assailant used a knife in the attack. Local police said on their social media account that “a suspected...

A German palliative care doctor was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for murdering 15 people with lethal doses of sedatives, and he remains under investigation for dozens more killings. The court in Berlin convicted the 41-year-old of killing 12 women and three men during home visits between September 2021 and July 2024. But presiding judge Sylvia Busch said the conviction for 15 murders may well be only a glimpse of his many crimes. Prosecutors said during the proceedings that he was...

In the animated Soviet film The Golden Antelope, inspired by Indian folklore, a magical antelope tries to save a boy from a greedy raja by promising him as much gold as he wants. When she asks whether there can be too much, the raja laughs: “You can never give me too much gold.” But when the gold begins to bury him, he cries “enough” – and loses everything. Today’s financial system risks repeating the raja’s mistake. For too long, rising nominal wealth, asset prices and the fortunes of the ultra...

Norwegian police said on Wednesday that 28 men across seven countries had been arrested in an operation targeting buyers of material depicting sexual abuse of children. Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos), said the men had used the cryptocurrency Monero to pay for access to several forums on the dark web. “We have worked closely with six countries to coordinate the arrests of the identified users who paid with cryptocurrency to gain access to the forums,” police prosecutor...

Russian forces are trying to counter Ukrainian “mid-strike” drone attacks by camouflaging cargoes ⁠and installing powerful jamming systems to disrupt Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system, Ukrainian drone commanders and pilots have said. Kyiv’s development of “mid-strike” drones that can hit targets dozens of kilometres behind front lines accurately and cheaply, and are often flown via Starlink, has transformed the war in Ukraine. In a concerted mid-strike campaign this year, Ukraine...

Apple lost its challenge on Wednesday against landmark EU rules that designate its app stores and operating system iOS as gatekeepers subject to obligations aimed at giving rivals more room to compete. The EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), which sets out a list of dos and don’ts ‌for Big Tech with the threat of fines of as much as 10 per cent of a company’s global annual turnover, has triggered legal challenges by Apple, Meta and ByteDance since it took effect in May 2023. The ruling by the...

As another heatwave rolled across Europe, the warehouses emptied before the politics could catch up. Air conditioners and fans sold out across Spain, Italy and Germany, most of them Chinese. Fan sales in Spain alone on the retail platform of Alibaba Group Holding (which owns the South China Morning Post) nearly doubled last month while Midea Group’s air-conditioner sales in western Europe surged by over 70 per cent in the first six months of the year. A decade from now, such heatwaves may become...

After a 10-day clock, the housing bill turned into law at midnight without the president’s signature. But his decision not to sign reflects a growing rift between him and Senate Republicans.

The president has praised a network of 25 recently rebranded gas stations in the Philadelphia region that have been selling gas for considerably less than the national average.

A deal ended the Trump administration’s blocking of a new bridge that will ease congestion at the busiest trade corridor between the United States and Canada.

The rule change ends a safeguard that had been in place for 50 years and could hasten the demise of imperiled animals.

U.S. forces hit more than 170 targets, including air defense systems, drone and missile storage sites, and military speedboats.

The officials said that Iranian negotiators blamed the recent ship attacks on rogue military units.

The Justice Department is seeking to compel testimony from reporters who wrote about the new Air Force One. The Times called the move a “brazen act.”

Experts said the lack of such capabilities poses a potential risk when the president travels overseas. The White House defended the aircraft’s safety.

A May lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims the newspaper discriminated against a white male employee who did not get a promotion.

The last-minute scramble to name a replacement reminds some in the party of the challenges they faced in 2024.

The gathering will take place in Bangor, the state party announced.

A letter circulated by Democratic Socialists of America members asked that candidates sever ties with Morris Katz, a consultant for Mr. Platner and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed for a proposal to slash property taxes. But after some local Republican officials protested, he backpedaled, sort of.

Gov. Mike Kehoe declared a state of emergency after up to a foot of rain fell overnight in the southeastern part of the state. More storms are in the forecast.

Three children died last weekend when a storm whipped up 80 mile-per-hour winds and large waves on Geneva Lake in Wisconsin.

Kerri K. Greenidge appeared to lose her professorship at Tufts University after scholars began scrutinizing her 2022 book, “The Grimkes,” which is no longer listed on its publisher’s website.

The White House is sidestepping Congress to make huge decisions for even the most important private industries.

Helen of Troy was a legendary beauty, but also so much more.

His portrayal of the firefighter and paramedic in the 1970s television hit helped expand the American public’s familiarity with emergency medicine.