Minimalist News

Cuba's Entire Power Grid Collapses As Castro's Grandson Seeks Talks With Trump Summary: Cuba's Power Grid Collapses Castro's Grandson Ready To Talk With Trump Cuba Goes Dark Hours after USA Today published an interview between one of its journalists and Cuban President Castro's grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the communist-run island experienced an island-wide power grid collapse. The electrical workers' union said the entire power grid went offline and that officials were investigating the cause. Cuba's energy ministry confirmed the blackout and said crews were working to restore service. "A total disconnection of the National Electric Power System is occurring.

Mag 7 Stocks: Risk Or Opportunity In The Making? Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com 💰 Mag 7 Stocks: What Is Causing The Drag For the past few months, the “Magnificent 7”, or more colloquially known as “Mag 7,” stocks have looked more like the “Lag 7.” The market’s largest growth names, Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Tesla (TSLA), Meta (META), and Nvidia (NVDA), have trailed badly. Those Mag 7 stocks now carry a bearish story built around one word: capex. As we noted in last weekend’s report , the selling has been sharp. The question is

Xbox Hit With 3,000 Layoffs After CEO Warns Business Is "Not Healthy" Xbox CEO Asha Sharma issued a dire warning to staff on Monday: "Our business today is not healthy. We must reset Xbox." Sharma's memo, first published on the Xbox website, announced cuts of 3,200 jobs tied to Microsoft's Xbox division, or equal to about 20% of staff, as deteriorating margins and disappointing Game Pass subscriptions have forced the unit into a major restructuring effort. The 3,200-job reduction will be split into two waves: the first 1,600 layoffs will begin this week, with another 1,600 occurring over the rest

New Jersey Lawmakers Pass Bill To Establish Large Load Data Center Tariff By Zachary Skidmore of DataCenterDynamics New Jersey lawmakers have passed a bill that will direct the state's Board of Public Utilities (PUC) to establish a dedicated data center tariff for facilities with a capacity of 50MW or more, in an attempt to shield other ratepayers from cost increases tied to new builds. A similar bill was originally proposed in June of last year by Democratic assemblymen Dave Bailey and Joe Danielsen. However, that initial bill was pocket-vetoed by then-governor Phil Murphy, who did not sign it before his

Truck Driver Accused Of Using Fake Documents To Steal $2.9 Million Cargo By Phil Bring of FreightWaves Police in Greenfield, Indiana, arrested a California truck driver after officers recovered nearly $2.9 million worth of tungsten oxide powder that police said thieves stole during a cargo theft in Pennsylvania. According to a June 28 news release from the Greenfield Police Department , officers received an alert around 6 a.m. Saturday regarding a wanted semi tractor-trailer traveling eastbound on Interstate 70 into Hancock County. Police said the truck was connected to a cargo theft that occurred in Pennsylvania on June 25. Officers

Saudi Arabia Sells Oil At A Discount For The First Time Since COVID Crash, As China Demand Collapses We previously discussed the unprecedented collapse observed in recent months in Chinese oil demand and imports, which led to the bizarre scenario where even Iran can't find buyers (read China) for its temporarily unsanctioned oil armada (see " Iran Runs Into Big Problem: No Buyers For Its Oil, As Full Tankers Pile Up Off China " ) and which prompted even JPM to point out that something bigger is going on behind the scenes. "The scale of China's oil demand collapse has

'Restraining Order Needed': Trump Again Taunts Italy's Meloni, Ahead Of NATO Summit There's no time like the eve of the major annual NATO summit for Trump to reignite his longstanding feud with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, apparently. The American President blasted out the below Truth Social just before heading to Ankara, Turkey for the gathering of NATO heads... With just a few days to go before the next NATO summit, POTUS Donald Trump has once again attacked the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. He portrays her as worshipful and calls for a “restraining order” to be imposed on her.

US Services Surveys Show Continued Expansion In June: Jobs Up, Inflation Down Following US manufacturing small dip in June (though still expanding), the US Services sector PMI surveys are a little more mixed but both still solidly in expansion in June: S&P Global US Services PMI ticking up on the month from 50.7 to 51.2 (but a smidge below the 51.3 flash print) ISM US Services PMI dipped from 54.5 to 54 (in line with expectations) “A slight acceleration of business growth in the services economy takes the expansion to the strongest since the outbreak of the war in the

Key Events This Week: ISM, FOMC Minutes And Fed Speakers The week after payrolls is usually a quieter affair but there's plenty of global events even if the US calendar is light. In terms of the main highlights, given the current focus on monetary policy the FOMC minutes (Wednesday) and the ECB’s June meeting account (Thursday) will be carefully watched, especially the former given it was the first of the new Warsh regime. Speeches from Fed Governors Waller (Monday), Williams and Logan (Thursday) will provide a more "live" update to the committees' thinking. Elsewhere, China inflation data (Thursday) and a

Russia & Ukraine Trade Some Of Biggest Strikes Of War On Eve Of NATO Summit Russia has unleashed another massive drone and missile attack wave on Ukraine's capital, just on the eve of the major annual NATO summit, which is in Ankara, Turkey this week. Over a dozen people were killed, with heavy damage against residential structures observed. The death toll could rise, but "In total, 14 people have died and 117 have been injured in Kyiv ," the office of the attorney general said on Monday morning. Rescue crews have been retrieving bodies from under rubble throughout Monday. via

When A Toll Isn't A Toll By Benjamin Picton, senior market strategist at Rabobank When A Toll Isn't A Toll Yields on 10-year Treasuries finished last week up 11bps to 4.48% while yields on 10-year Bunds rose 8.5bps to 2.93%. Those higher borrowing costs came despite signs of weakening in the US jobs market, a weaker-than-expected prices paid figure on the ISM manufacturing index, and a surprisingly weak Eurozone CPI inflation report that follows in the wake of lower than expected inflation readings in the UK. Market-based expectations of the future path of the Fed Funds rate finished the week

Porsche To Eliminate 4,000 Jobs In Germany: Report Germany was once the industrial engine of Europe, but years of disastrous climate change policies, high energy costs, and left-wing economic mismanagement have battered its manufacturing base. This pressure has been roiling the country's auto industry, where struggling carmakers are restructuring operations through workforce reductions, production cuts, and capacity reductions. Germany's top financial newspaper, Handelsblatt , reports that Porsche is preparing another round of deep job cuts at its main factories as the sports car maker grapples with weak demand. The company is considering eliminating as many as 4,000 additional jobs at

Saylor's Strategy Sells 3,588 Bitcoin To Cover Preferred Dividends Authored by Micah Zimmerman via Bitcoin Magazine.com, Strategy sold 3,588 bitcoin for $216 million to fund dividends on its preferred securities, the company disclosed in a Form 8-K on July 6, 2026. The sale marks the largest bitcoin disposal in the company’s history and its most direct admission that its dividend obligations now shape its treasury. Chairman Michael Saylor posted about the transaction on social media. As of July 5, the company held 843,775 bitcoin in its reserves and $2.55 billion in cash. Saylor said the proceeds covered second-quarter dividends on

Futures Rise As Tech Rebounds In Post-Holiday Catch Up US equity futures point to a firmer cash open as traders return from the long weekend, but the bigger question is whether investors continue to rotate out of the crowded AI trade and into the broader market. As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures rise 0.4%, while Nasdaq 100 contract rise 1.1% as most Mag 7 names are in the green. In premarket trading, chip/memory stocks rebound from last week's rout which follows the an 18% plunge in the GS High Beta Momentum (GSPRHIMO) basket over the last two sessions, on track

China CXMT Testing Production Line for Next-Gen Bonded DRAM, Closing Tech Gap With Korea "Far Faster Than Expected" According to Korea's Hankgyung , China’s largest memory company, CXMT, which is preparing to IPO in the coming weeks, is currently testing a pilot production line for bonded DRAM in Hefei (the heart of China's semiconductor industry), aiming to achieve high-performance DRAM without using advanced EUV lithography , which is currently monopolized by Dutch ASML and faces unprecedented export controls (although according to Reuters , China has already built a prototype EUV machine). Bonded DRAM is a technology in which the memory

Trump Shares Image Of $100 Bill Featuring His Signature President Donald Trump posted a photo of a $100 bill bearing his signature on Truth Social on July 3, presenting the first paper currency to be signed by a living president. Trump didn’t add a comment to the post, but the Treasury Department chimed in. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are on a path toward unprecedented economic growth, lasting dollar dominance, and fiscal strength and stability,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted on X on July 4. “There is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country

"Should Never Have Happened": Illegal Alien Truck Driver Kills Pennsylvania Trooper Submitted by American Truckers United , A Pennsylvania State trooper is the latest victim of the trucking industry's open borders experiment. This dangerous policy began under the Biden-Harris regime when hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens were issued CDLs, mostly from ten states. The fast-tracking of CDLs for illegal aliens has flooded the industry with drivers who may lack the necessary training, language proficiency, or commitment to American safety standards, endangering lives on our highways every day. Shockingly, this experiment is still running. 🚨Truck Driver responsible for the death

Citi Expects Oil To Sink To $60 As Hormuz Traffic Normalizes Brent Crude prices could plunge to as low as $60 per barrel by the end of the year, according to the latest note from Citi's commodity research team which expects flows through the Strait of Hormuz to soon normalize and the US and Iran to reach a deal in the coming months. "Fundamentals are rapidly reasserting themselves as Hormuz disruptions fade, with Brent back to the low $70s/bbl. While the US-Iran process remains fragile and disputes over Hormuz administration and transit fees persist, we expect the MOU to hold

The Three SHTF Scenarios That Could Change The World Faster Than Anyone Expects! Authored by Madge Waggy , For decades, the greatest threats to global stability were often imagined as distant possibilities—events reserved for history books, military simulations or the darkest years of the Cold War. Today, that assumption is becoming increasingly difficult to defend. International defense spending has reached levels not seen in decades, armed conflicts continue to reshape regional security architectures, and governments across Europe, North America and Asia are investing heavily in civil defense, cybersecurity and the protection of critical infrastructure. These are not preparations made in

World Cup Fans Drive Spending Surge In These US Host Cities Bank of America has released new aggregated credit and debit card data showing that the World Cup is already driving a noticeable increase in retail spending activity across the tournament's 11 U.S. host cities. According to BofA analyst Aditya Bhave, brick-and-mortar spending at restaurants and bars in host cities rose 5.3% year over year in the three weeks ending June 27, outpacing the 3.8% gain seen across the rest of the U.S. Bhave noted that other forms of brick-and-mortar retail spending also accelerated in host cities, suggesting the tournament

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...

TKMS beats South Korean rival to multibillion-dollar contract that will deepen Canada’s Nato ties Canada has selected a German consortium to build a dozen cutting-edge submarines in one of the country’s largest-ever defence contracts that will further deepen its Nato ties before a crucial summit this week. On Monday the prime minister, Mark Carney, announced the winner of a tightly contested battle for the lucrative government contract to replace its fleet of ageing, secondhand subs, most of which are undergoing maintenance. Continue reading...

Arrival of endangered cats, including rare white cub, revitalises team straining under fuel and medicine shortages For the Cuban zookeeper Ángel Cordero, the sight of four Bengal ⁠tiger cubs playing in a cage at the Cuban national zoo is a small miracle on an island stifled by shortages ⁠of fuel, medicine and ⁠days-long power outages. The ​birth of these endangered big cats – including an exceedingly rare white tiger – has revitalised a team of zoo workers, he said. Continue reading...

Interim president says unrest will not break out despite anger at official response to the 24 June disaster Venezuela’s interim president has defended her country’s emergency response to the twin earthquakes that have killed more than 3,000 people, vowing the country would not descend into social unrest. Many Venezuelans have expressed anger at what they see as the US-backed government’s inadequate response to the 24 June disaster before international teams arrived. Continue reading...

‘Haiti is a failed state’, says Carlos Giménez, congressman and Miami Cuban exile, after controversial court ruling Carlos Giménez, a Republican congressman from Florida, broke with the Trump administration on Sunday, calling on the White House to reconsider its push to eliminate temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitian migrants. Returning about 350,000 Haitians to their chaotic, dangerous homeland following the US supreme court’s ruling that the Trump administration can cut off temporary legal protections, would be a grave error, Giménez said. Continue reading...

Tropical storm causes extreme flooding in south of the country with heavy rainfall expected in coming days A tropical storm has killed two people, caused dam breaches and forced tens of thousands to evacuate in southern China. Typhoon Maysak killed two people in Nanning, in China’s southern Guangxi province. Maysak, which lashed Vietnam and China’s southern island province of Hainan over the weekend, will dump the water it sucked up on its way ⁠across the South China Sea as it weakens and heads inland, meteorologists say. Continue reading...

Launch comes just hours after Australia and Fiji sign defence agreement as expert says timing not a coincidence China has conducted a long-range missile test in the South Pacific just hours after Australia signed a defence agreement with Fiji, sparking condemnation from Canberra and regional leaders. The Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the missile test was “destabilising” to the region, while her New Zealand counterpart, Winston Peters, described it as “deeply concerning”. Continue reading...

Ezra Jin, founder of Zion Church, lands in the US and reunites with family who are ‘overwhelmed with joy’ The founder of one of China’s most prominent underground churches has been released from prison and reunited with his family in the United States. Ezra Jin, the founder of Zion Church, landed in the US on Friday evening. He was one of dozens of church members who were detained in a sweeping crackdown on Christians in October . Continue reading...

Officers found body of 34-year-old man in luxury rental home in Pattaya area, local media says A 21-year-old British woman has been arrested in Thailand after allegedly fatally stabbing her boyfriend, according to local media reports. The Bangkok Post reported that on Thursday morning local time, officers found the body of a 34-year-old man, who operated a cannabis farm, in a luxury rental home in the Pattaya area, a beachside region two hours from Bangkok known for its large expat population and nightlife. Continue reading...

Official statement offers the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual and fatal incident in Beijing Chinese authorities said the man who flew a small plane into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper last week was a 66-year-old who had mental health problems. The statement published on Thursday offered the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual incident that occurred in Beijing’s central business district on the evening of 26 June. Continue reading...

Bees respond to tasty treats or plain water based on context, study that may provide support for establishing insect sentience shows Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast When bumblebees taste something good, they reach out their glossa – or insect tongue – for a while afterwards, almost as if they are licking their lips. And when they don’t like something, the insects will shake their heads and wipe their mouths. Scientists who captured the miniature facial expressions on slow-motion video say the behaviour is consistent with “liking” and “disliking” responses observed in mammals. Their

Exclusive: Economists warn Labor’s removal of caps could be pushing up prices as support flows to people in better financial positions Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Most Australian first home buyers are using the government’s 5% deposit scheme, with one in three new participants earning more than the scheme’s previous cap for high-income earners. The influx of high-income earners into the first home guarantee program, economists warn, has pushed up property prices by increasing buying capacity for people who would have bought anyway. Continue reading...

Exclusive University of Sydney study finds heat-related hospital admissions to increase by at least 6% by the end of the century Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Extreme high temperatures in warmer months double the risk of young people being admitted to hospital for a mental health condition, according to research. The analysis, which looked at 720,000 New South Wales hospital admissions of young people aged up to 24, suggested the climate crisis would aggravate the already declining mental health of young people. Continue reading...

Epping footballer Nathan Fitzgerald, 27, died in hospital after hitting his head during a game in Lalor, club confirms Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A suburban Melbourne footballer has died in hospital after a clash of heads saw him fall to the ground and hit his head on a covered cricket pitch, his club confirmed on Monday night. High school teacher Nathan Fitzgerald, 27, was taken to Royal Melbourne hospital on Saturday after the incident during an Australian rules football game in Lalor in

Police charge woman with murder after boy’s body was found in a Central Coast home on Saturday Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The New South Wales department in charge of child protection received “a number of reports” about a four-year-old child before he was allegedly murdered by his mother, the minister revealed, as she announced a review into how the case was handled. Kate Washington, the NSW minister for communities and family, announced the independent review into the child’s case on Monday afternoon, two days after police found the preschooler’s body at a

Zelenskyy calls for ‘strong decisions’ at talks after attack on Kyiv and surrounding region exposes air defence gaps A wave of Russian missiles and drones has struck across Ukraine, killing 21 people, and heavily damaging apartment blocks and other buildings, in an attack on the eve of a Nato summit in Turkey that has exposed widening gaps in Ukraine’s air defences. Fifteen people were killed in Kyiv, Russia’s main target, and 56 others were injured in the attacks early on Monday, according to the city’s administrative head, Tymur Tkachenko. Continue reading...

Ukraine’s president makes plea ahead of summit this week in Ankara where he is due to meet Trump on the sidelines Meanwhile, the UK has just sanctioned Russian actors involved in researching, developing and producing the novichok nerve agent and the lethal toxic Epibatidine, used in the Salisbury attack and the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. Among those sanctions are SC Signal, a Russian state scientific research institute, as well as three individuals researching novichok and Epibatidine. “Russia’s repeated use of chemical weapons is a sickening violation of international law and a direct threat to global security. From the use of

Tour de France spectator ban as country along with Spain, Portugal and Greece faces ‘powder keg’ after heatwave Europe live – latest updates Wildfires raging across southern Europe have forced thousands to flee their homes and prompted officials to ban spectators from a stage of the Tour de France, amid warnings of “powder keg” conditions after a record-breaking early summer heatwave. Hundreds of firefighters are tackling blazes that have burned through almost 20,000 hectares (49,500 acres) in Portugal, Spain, France and Greece. Strong winds are forecast to fan the flames and temperatures are expected to rise again this week. Continue

ECHR rules that prosecutor’s remarks perpetuated ‘sexist stereotypes’ and downplayed gender violence The European court of human rights has ordered the Italian state to pay compensation to a woman whose allegations of repeated rape by her partner were dismissed by a prosecutor as “normal” for men who struggle to overcome resistance from “tired” women. The court ruled that the remarks perpetuated “sexist stereotypes” and downplayed gender violence, resulting in the woman being subjected to further victimisation. Continue reading...

More than 200 arrested in raids, comedian and journalists jailed, gay-friendly cruise turned away and protests banned Authorities in Turkey have widened a crackdown on public life, arresting more than 200 people during raids across Ankara last month, jailing a comedian and blocking a cruise ship carrying LGBTQ+ passengers from docking in the run-up to the Nato summit in the capital. The arrests followed a ban on demonstrations in Ankara that was put in place until 10 July. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said this was evidence of Turkey’s “ruthless intolerance of freedom of speech and assembly”. The watchdog group said

Crowds swelled through Tehran as mourners dressed in black carried flags proclaiming: ‘We will rise’ A crowd of “millions” assembled on Monday for the funeral procession of Iran’s assassinated supreme leader, Ali Khamenei . The scale and depth of the march, however engineered, represents an extraordinary turnaround for a country that only seven months ago was gripped by street protests at which thousands of people were killed by government security forces. Continue reading...

Millions join funeral procession in capital of Tehran to mourn Khamenei who was kiled in US-Israel airstrikes in February Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country’s south on Monday killed four people, including three women, despite a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said a school principal, her mother, a foreign female domestic worker and a male Syrian worker were killed when “an Israeli drone targeted the car” they were travelling in as they returned from inspecting their family home in Nabatieh al-Fawqa. Continue reading...

Friends of Yeshivat Shavei Hevron sent nearly £200,000 to school in Hebron – where Israel has been accused of imposing apartheid – between 2019 and 2024 A British charity is funding a religious school at the heart of expansion plans for the illegal Israeli settlement in the Palestinian city of Hebron. Friends of Yeshivat Shavei Hevron sent nearly £200,000 to the school between 2019 and 2024, the last year for which accounts are publicly available on the website of the Charity Commission, the charity regulator for England and Wales. Continue reading...

Hussam Abu Safiya faces ‘tangible danger to his life’ following 18 months in prison without charge or trial Middle East crisis live – latest updates One of Gaza’s most prominent doctors is almost unrecognisable because of severe injuries inflicted in Israeli detention, his lawyer has said, and faces “tangible danger to his life” after being held for 18 months without charge or trial. Hussam Abu Safiya met his lawyer on 2 July, after a transfer to Israel’s notorious underground Rakefet prison in late June. He had difficulty breathing and speaking continuously, was so weak he struggled to sit upright, and

Elbit Systems supplied Tzayad digital army programme to map people, vehicles and other objects in real time Israel identified about 1,000 potential targets a day during the first two years of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon with its command and control system, according to a presentation by the country’s largest arms supplier, Elbit Systems. A total of 850,000 targets were detected in real time by the Israeli Tzayad digital army programme across all the military’s theatres of war between 7 October and the end of 2025, the company said at a military conference in London. Continue reading...

Local officials said preliminary reports showed the centre was unregistered and operating inside a privately owned residential building Fourteen children died after ⁠the roof of a tutoring centre collapsed in Pakistan’s eastern city of ⁠Lahore on Tuesday, ⁠rescue ​officials have said, as authorities opened the way for a possible negligence ⁠investigation. Punjab’s emergency service said rescuers found children and a 30-year-old female teacher ⁠under the rubble of the private after-school facility. The ​children killed were aged ‌five to ‌16 with most below nine. Continue reading...

Government hopes for 30% of city’s fleet to be electric by 2030, in move hailed as ‘gamechanger’ on air pollution The unruly chaos of Delhi’s roads would be unrecognisable without the rickshaws and scooters that zip through India’s capital in their millions, emitting toxic fumes in their wake. But now, ambitious policies aim to give the city’s most recognisable vehicles an environmental makeover. On Monday, Delhi’s government announced plans to eventually ban petrol scooters, motorbikes and autorickshaws in favour of those running on electricity, in an attempt to bring down dangerously high pollution levels in the city by the end

Exclusive: Activist tells of his life as one of India’s most prominent political prisoners and his opposition to the government of Narendra Modi Prison is hardest at sunset. As the thousands of prisoners incarcerated in Delhi’s most infamous jail are cast out of their cells and forced into the dank yard until darkness falls, prisoner number 626714 feels the punishing dread begin to rise. Yet the inmate – better known as Umar Khalid – was recently moved to discover that another political prisoner, exiled at a camp thousands of miles from India, wrote of the very same feeling more than

Pakistan says strikes were aimed at a terrorist group while Taliban condemn ‘cowardly act of aggression’ Pakistani airstrikes in three eastern provinces of Afghanistan killed 36 civilians and wounded 163 others, Afghan officials have said, as attacks between the two countries showed no sign of abating. Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the operations on Sunday night were aimed at a terrorist group his country blamed for a deadly militant attack in Karachi that killed three security personnel over the weekend. Continue reading...

Fears hard-won gains in reducing child mortality over 20 years are at risk after end of USAID funding for nutrition programmes Child malnutrition in Nepal has reached “alarming” levels, according to the largest ever survey of under-fives in the country. The new figures came just over a year after USAID, the former US flagship agency closed by the Trump administration in 2025, stopped funding work on child nutrition in Nepal. Continue reading...

Nigel Farage urged to clarify ‘dependence’ on Cottrell, who also joined Reform leader in Abu Dhabi in December Nigel Farage has been accompanied by his friend George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster, to numerous Reform events and fundraisers and a trip to Abu Dhabi, raising questions about the claim that he has no official role in the party. Labour has called on Farage to clarify his “personal and financial dependence” on Cottrell, who has also been supporting his lifestyle through accommodation and security before the election. Continue reading...

PM stepped in over proposal to shift World Cup match to an earlier time, amid concerns it would benefit Mexico Keir Starmer intervened through diplomatic channels to oppose Fifa’s plan to bring forward England’s World Cup game against Mexico, amid concerns the change would hand the hosts an unfair advantage, it is understood. The prime minister instructed officials to argue against proposals to move the kick-off from 1am UK time (6pm local time) to earlier after being alerted by the Football Association that it would reduce England’s time to acclimatise to the high altitude in Mexico City. Continue reading...

Media scrutiny of party leader’s finances has undermined his claim to be a politician in tune with typical voters With his personal funding once again under media scrutiny, Nigel Farage, the leader of the rightwing Reform UK party, is adamant he is the victim of an “establishment plot” trying to stop him from reaching Downing Street. This time, Farage is facing questions about support for his lifestyle from the convicted criminal George Cottrell, just months after it was revealed by the Guardian that he also took £5m from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne as a personal gift. Continue reading...

Airline’s board to recommend offer of £6.90 a share in deal analysts say shows UK firms are being bought on the cheap Shares in easyJet surged nearly 10% after the airline agreed to a £5.5bn takeover at the fifth attempt, but analysts said that it showed UK firms were being bought on the cheap. The low-cost carrier’s board will recommend shareholders accept an offer price of £6.90 a share from Castlelake, a US private equity firm, after rejecting four previous bids of as little as £5.60 per share. EasyJet shares closed at 610p. Continue reading...

Reform UK leader claims he is victim of ‘hit job’ as parliamentary standards commissioner investigates £5m donation On the subject of Andy Burnham, the Financial Times is running a story today saying the access talks his team is holding with senior civil servants, intended to help Whitehall departments get ready to implement the new PM’s policy agenda, are being hindered by the fact that Burnham has not decided who will do the top cabinet jobs. In the story, Lucy Fisher, George Parker and Anna Gross say: Talks have not yet formally started with the Treasury and Burnham’s refusal to nominate

Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz wade into furor over Trump calling Fifa chief Gianni Infantino to press for review of US striker’s suspension Trump confirms he asked Infantino for review of Folarin Balogun red card Sign up for the Breaking News US email Cruz just thanked Donald Trump for “getting rid of that ridiculous red card” – apparently in reference to Folarin Balogun . The US striker received a straight red card from referee Raphael Claus after a video review, but Fifa have now lifted Bolagun’s one-match ban, making him now available to play for the USA in their knockout

Andrea Shaw and husband appeared on RFK Jr-linked podcast after deaths in May last year of 18-month-olds An Idaho mother who said her 18-month-old twins died last year after receiving three vaccines has been charged with murder in their deaths, officials said last week. Andrea Shaw, 23, was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her toddlers, Tyson and Dallas, who were found dead in a shared bed on 1 May last year. Continue reading...

British-born vocalist competed on The X-Factor before joining the girl groups Paradiso Girls and G.R.L. Lauren Bennett, member of the girl group G.R.L. and featured artist on LMFAO’s global smash hit Party Rock Anthem, has died at the age of 37. “It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our beloved Lauren,” the group wrote on their Instagram page. “Our hearts are broken, and we cannot begin to express how much she meant to us.” A cause of death was not specified. Continue reading...

At least 43 killed and many wounded, including woman and child hurt at World Cup gathering in Los Angeles A weekend of celebrations as the US marked its semiquincentennial was marred by outbreaks of gun violence that claimed dozens of lives and left multiple other people wounded. Those hurt included a woman and a child among four shot during a gathering of Mexico soccer supporters in Los Angeles following their team’s World Cup elimination on Sunday night. Continue reading...

The Nigerian-American writer says she ‘will not watch’ Gina Prince-Bythewood’s adaptation of her fantasy bestseller Tomi Adeyemi, the author of the popular YA fantasy Children of Blood and Bone, has distanced herself from the forthcoming film adaptation of her book. “There is a reason I will not post anything about the adaptation of my work,” the Nigerian-American author said in group chat messages shared to TikTok . Continue reading...

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas announced on Monday the dissolution of the body that has governed Gaza for nearly two decades, clearing the way for a technocratic committee to implement civilian rule. The move marks a significant political shift by Hamas, which has run Gaza since its fighters seized control from rival Palestinian movement Fatah in 2007 after winning legislative elections the previous year. Since a ceasefire took effect in Gaza last October between Hamas and Israel, the group...

For much of the post-Cold-War era, the European Union understood economic interdependence as a source of mutual prosperity. Open markets, free trade and multilateral rules were regarded not merely as economic principles but as the foundations of European normative influence. That assumption is rapidly giving way to a different logic. In an era of intensifying geopolitical rivalry, Brussels increasingly views trade, investment and technology as the power instruments of strategic competition. The...

Vast crowds gathered for the funeral procession of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Monday, with authorities estimating millions were on the streets in numbers that could rival those of his predecessor’s farewell nearly four decades ago. Authorities have yet to give an official turnout figure but huge numbers stretched along major boulevards in the Iranian capital. The ceremonies offer Iran an opportunity to project resilience after war with the United States and Israel,...

Hernan Gil was working his shift as a security guard in the basement of a building in Venezuela on the afternoon of June 24 when he felt the earth shake. The first tremor was short, Gil recounted in an interview from the hospital room where he was recovering after being rescued from the depths of a collapsed building. Gil became a symbol of hope for Venezuela after he survived eight days of being buried alive by the double earthquake that devastated the north of the Caribbean country, leaving...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Noted neurobiologist and ex-taekwondo captain Chih-Ying Su leaves US for China Celebrated neurobiologist Chih-Ying Su, who specialises in research on the sense of smell using fruit flies and mosquitoes, has left her position as faculty vice-chair at the University of California San Diego to join...

Russia hammered Kyiv with missiles and drones early on Monday, killing at least 20 people, officials said, as shortages of US-made interceptors left the Ukrainian capital struggling to defend itself, just days after the deadliest attack this year. The heavy overnight bombardment came ahead of a ‌Nato summit in Turkey this week, where US President Donald Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to make a renewed push to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in...

If one word could capture the essence of Hong Kong, it would be resilience. Just two years ago, much of the international community had written off Hong Kong. A widely circulated newspaper commentary carried the headline: “It pains me to say Hong Kong is over”. Though the writer later changed his opinion, the piece captured the pessimism about the city’s future as a global hub. Hong Kong’s dramatic comeback is well documented. According to Boston Consulting Group, the city has overtaken...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that some Christian villages in southern Lebanon had “asked to be annexed to Israel” so that they could be protected from Hezbollah militants. Lebanon was drawn into the wider war in the Middle East on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, where its troops now occupy...

Venezuela’s interim president said on Sunday the country would not descend into social unrest after the twin earthquakes which killed more than 3,300 people and left thousands more missing. One of Latin America’s worst earthquake disasters, the June 24 shocks collapsed scores of buildings, leaving thousands homeless, especially in the coastal La Guaira area north of the capital Caracas. “There will be no social unrest here, what we have here is deep social solidarity,” Delcy Rodriguez said...

It’s unfortunate for Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu that his speech on July 1 marking the 29th anniversary of the handover and highlighting his government’s achievements may have been overshadowed by the outcry over an anti-drug video – or at least what was intended as one. The Correctional Services Department released the video, generated by artificial intelligence (AI), on June 26 before having to pull it twice, ahead of the anniversary. The video – featuring an appealing K-pop...

Burglars stole millions of euros’ worth of jewellery from the museum of French luxury glassmaker Lalique in a daring early-morning raid on Sunday, just months after a stunning gem robbery at the Louvre in Paris. A gang of masked thieves broke into the museum in Wingen-sur-Moder in northeastern France at around 5.30am local time, forcing a door before heading for the jewellery room and smashing open six display cases, a source close to the investigation told Agence France-Presse. “Around 20...

US President Donald Trump plans to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Wednesday while attending the Nato summit in Turkey, the White House said. Those discussions will come as Kyiv tries to refocus Trump’s attention on the conflict with Moscow and as Trump has publicly mused about Syria’s role in the Middle East. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly confirmed the meetings in a call with reporters while previewing the summit in Ankara, where Trump...

Federal officials had no reason to stop a white ⁠supremacist group’s July ⁠4 rally in Washington because ⁠of free speech protections, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on Sunday. Hundreds of masked Patriot Front members who marched through the nation’s capital on Independence Day on Saturday did nothing illegal, Burgum told CNN’s State of the Union. Although the organisation’s ‌white supremacist, anti-immigrant ideology is “nothing that I could possibly agree with”, Burgum said, it is...

Egypt has inaugurated a new armed forces headquarters, which observers say is the largest in the world, with an elaborate ceremony and a rare appearance from the president and former general Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in military uniform. The Octagon, as the complex is being called, consists of eight buildings each with an eight-sided floor plan in an area of around 90 sq km (34.7 square miles), the size of the Portuguese capital Lisbon. It has replaced the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Defence...

Charlie Kirk’s widow and parents are expected this week in a Utah court where prosecutors seeking the death penalty will argue that the man charged with killing the conservative activist should stand trial for murder. The five-day preliminary hearing that starts on Monday will be the first time members of Kirk’s family are in the Utah courtroom with defendant Tyler Robinson. The hearing will be live-streamed. Robinson turned himself in after the shooting. Prosecutors allege that he also sent a...

Hard-right British politician Nigel Farage on Sunday faced fresh allegations over non-disclosure of gifts after a newspaper reported a convicted fraudster paid for his security and staff before he became an MP. An MP said he had asked parliament’s standards commissioner to investigate the new claims against the leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, which is currently leading in opinion polls. Farage is already the subject of an investigation by the parliamentary anti-sleaze watchdog...

A “super typhoon” with equivalent force to a category-5 hurricane made landfall on the US island of Rota in the Pacific on Monday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said, warning of “catastrophic damage and [a] life-threatening situation”. “The western eyewall of Super Typhoon Bavi is currently moving over the island of Rota. The latest forecast intensity is at 180mph (290km/h) as it passes over Rota,” the NWS said. “Catastrophic winds exceeding 150mph will continue across Rota during eyewall...

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Sunday that the federal government is considering withholding information from ministers in state administrations if they are formed by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). The AfD is regularly criticised for close ties to Moscow. Polls indicate that the AfD could win an absolute majority in a state election in September in Saxony-Anhalt, meaning that it would form a state government for the first time. Under Germany’s federal system, state...

“The Emiratis – by far the most hawkish, by far the most pro-Israel country in the [Gulf Cooperation Council] – they’re having conversations with the Iranians that have never happened before,” US Vice-President J.D. Vance told British media outlet UnHerd following the Iran-US negotiations in Switzerland. The Iranians “are certainly talking differently than they have in the past”, he added in a note of cautious optimism, highlighting how both Washington and its allies in the Persian Gulf are...

Hundreds of firefighters battled forest infernos in France, Spain and Portugal on Sunday as temperatures rose again in heatwave-scarred Europe. The latest wildfires have already devastated more than 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of land – twice the size of Manhattan – across the three countries where temperatures in some places were predicted to touch 40°C on Sunday. Authorities registered thousands of excess deaths during one of Europe’s worst heatwaves in June, and with more extreme weather...

Residents at the epicentre of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) Ebola outbreak are pinning their hopes on experimental treatments after researchers began a highly anticipated study in early July of two possible Ebola treatments in hopes of fighting the still-growing outbreak. At the Ebola treatment centre inside Bunia’s Evangelical Medical Centre, in eastern Congo’s Ituri province, the launch of the research was marked by urgency rather than ceremony on Thursday. As ambulances continued...

The world’s attention is fixed on frontier artificial intelligence (AI) models, but China’s robot-making factories deserve just as much attention. Chinese e-commerce company JD.com has predicted that robots would ultimately replace its 700,000 delivery workers, while workers at South Korean carmaker Hyundai are threatening strike action over issues including the roll-out of robots. These are early signs of what could be China’s next export shock. The first “China shock” was from its low-cost...

Since he started work as Nato secretary general almost two years ago, Mark Rutte has spent much of his time trying to keep the United States anchored to the world’s biggest military alliance, employing outright flattery to dissuade US President Donald Trump from acting on threats to abandon it. But the goalposts keep shifting, raising the stakes ahead of this week’s summit in Turkey. Initially, it was about money. Trump has long railed against Nato allies for spending too small a fraction of...

US Vice-President J.D. Vance said Britain had been “failed by its ⁠leadership for a long ⁠time”, adding that he hoped the country’s ⁠next prime minister could deliver the structural change voters were seeking after years of political turmoil. In an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper, Vance said frequent changes of government pointed to deeper problems in British politics. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced last month he ‌would step down after two years in office, paving the way for...

The future of energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz hangs in the balance after negotiations between Iran and the United States in Doha this week ended without an agreement on releasing frozen funds to the Islamic Republic. With Tehran also failing to begin demining the strait, and still threatening to attack ships attempting to leave the Gulf without its permission, neither side has yet met the two key obligations under their June 17 memorandum of understanding (MOU) to freeze the conflict...

A performer at the funeral for Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for the death of US President Donald Trump before a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people on Sunday in the capital, Tehran. The comment represents the first, direct call for Trump’s death by an emcee at the funeral, which has seen posters and graffiti calling for the killing of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That has been a hardline demand even as Tehran negotiates with the US over a...

US President Donald Trump hailed America on its 250th birthday on Saturday as the “crowning achievement” of human history, even as he used the event to renew his attack on domestic opponents he called communists. In a speech delayed by several hours when storms forced the temporary evacuation of crowds in Washington, Trump claimed that under his presidency the United States was “prouder than ever before.” While Trump had promised a huge political rally to stamp his brand on the national...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump discussed Ukraine and the coming Nato summit in Turkey in a phone call on Saturday. Putin congratulated Trump on the 250th anniversary of US independence in the call that lasted 85 minutes, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said in an audio message to reporters. “The presidents naturally touched on the topic of a Ukrainian settlement, including in light of Trump’s upcoming participation in the Nato summit in Turkey on July...

The groom wore a white tuxedo, the couple wrote their own vows and Stevie Nicks sang, according to guests at Friday’s star-studded wedding of megastars Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in an intimate garden built for the occasion within New York City’s Madison Square Garden arena. Details trickled out on Saturday of the lavish nuptials ‌that had been a closely guarded secret. Their union was confirmed on giant billboards that flashed “JUST&T MARRIED!” The pop music superstar and football player...

There is something odd about the debate on China’s “overcapacity”. Europe says the world needs cheaper and faster clean energy deployment, yet complains when China produces the solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles that make this possible. Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank specialising in economic policy, recently published a working paper, “To what extent can green infrastructure investment mitigate China’s clean-energy overcapacity?” It argues that China’s industrial...

Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes have killed nearly 3,000, official figures showed on Saturday, as international rescue teams began winding down search operations for survivors in the rubble. Fatalities jumped by more than 300 from Friday to 2,954, following the June 24 disaster that left thousands homeless in the streets and shelter camps. Tens of thousands more are still missing. One of Latin America’s worst earthquake disasters hit hardest in the coastal La Guaira area north of the...

Ukraine still controls the strategically important eastern city of Kostiantynivka, President Volodymyr Zelensky and the General Staff said on Saturday, rejecting Russian claims that it has been captured. Russia’s military ignored Zelensky’s assertions, said it was mopping up remaining pockets of resistance and offered to exchange the remains of dead servicemen. Russian military commanders told President ‌Vladimir Putin on Friday that Moscow’s forces had taken control of Kostiantynivka, a target...

President Donald Trump will headline US Independence Day celebrations on Saturday with a speech and a show that seek to place him at the centre of the nation’s 250th anniversary. Trump has made no secret of his joy at presiding over the July 4 festivities, portraying the timing as a side benefit of winning a second term starting in 2025 – even as the Republican falsely claims he also won the previous election against Democrat Joe Biden. Celebrations will be held across the US to mark the...

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Saturday urged the United States to stand by his country, after reaching a US-backed framework deal with Israel aiming to permanently end hostilities after the latest Israel-Hezbollah war. The deal reached in Washington calls for the disarmament of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army there, starting with two “pilot” areas. Hezbollah has rejected the deal, which does not...

Summer came too early to Europe’s most important rice-growing region, and weeds are taking over Sharon Angoli’s parched paddies in Italy’s Pavia province. “That one is done for, no matter what happens,” the 22-year-old said as she surveyed one desolate field that has been baked by what is among the most severe heatwaves to hit the continent in June. Even abundant rains for the rest of the summer would probably not save the crop, she said. Angoli and her father, Carlo, also fear for their other...

Pope Leo on Saturday visited Italy’s Lampedusa island, a major port of call for migrants risking the perilous crossing from Africa, in a stark message to US and EU leaders. The Catholic Church’s first US pope, who has clashed with the administration of President Donald Trump over its treatment of migrants, is marking July 4, the United States’ 250th anniversary of independence, on a migration frontline. Leo’s visit also comes just two weeks after the European Union’s approval of new migrant...

Almost anywhere you look these days, you can find claims from political, academic and other various sources that China’s supposed overproduction and exports of manufactured goods pose unfair advantages. These sources may also claim such unfair advantages justify protectionist countermeasures. But it is difficult to counter one’s own folly. For decades, the US, much of Europe and even Japan, long proud of its manufacturing skills, have prided themselves on becoming “post-industrial” and...

Thousands protested against Germany’s far-right AfD and blocked roads to its annual conference in the eastern city of Erfurt on Saturday, where the party re-elected the two leaders who have overseen its rise as a national force. Protesters from unions, civil society groups and left-wing parties gathered as large numbers of police, including reinforcements from across Germany, were deployed ahead of the AfD’s two-day conference. AfD stands for ‌Alternative for Germany. Watched by police in riot...

The Gaza war was the spark that touched off years of Middle East conflict culminating in the US-Israeli war with Iran, but as Washington and Tehran wrangle over terms for peace, the devastated territory’s fate seems largely out of mind. “Ever since the United States went to war with Iran, the whole world has forgotten Gaza and its tragedy. We no longer have anyone standing by us,” Palestinian Ahmed Jamali, 53, told Agence France-Presse from the displacement camp in Gaza where he lives. “We are...

Vast crowds of Iranians loyal to the Islamic republic massed in Tehran on Saturday to begin almost a week of funeral ceremonies for slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, which authorities hope will send a message of defiance to the West after the war with the United States and Israel. Clad in black and waving blood-red flags seen as a call for vengeance and justice under Shia Islam, mourners thronged the Grand Mosalla religious complex in the Iranian capital. Khamenei, who had ruled Iran since 1989...

How many crises does it take to change the way the world trades? For Asia, the answer appears to be three. First Covid closed the factories that fed the logistics networks, then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine choked off Black Sea grain exports and sent energy prices spiralling. Now, the US-Israel war on Iran may have hammered the final nail in the coffin of “just in time” supply chains that some economists say are no longer fit for purpose. “Taken together, they show that serious disruption is now...

America turns 250 on Saturday – a landmark birthday that coincides with a time of deep national division and a president determined to seize the festive centre stage. The independence anniversary also comes in the middle of a brutal heatwave that has placed some 160 million Americans under major or extreme heat warnings, playing havoc with planned parades and block parties in towns and cities across much of the country. But the searing temperatures have done little to deter President Donald...

A dangerous heatwave upended Fourth of July celebrations across swathes of the central and eastern United States on Friday, forcing officials in the nation’s capital and elsewhere to cancel or postpone dozens of parades, concerts and fireworks displays. Among the events disrupted by the sweltering heat was the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, a centrepiece of President Donald ‌Trump’s efforts to mark the nation’s 250th birthday. The fair, designed to showcase all 50...

Costa Rican scientists may have discovered a new species of ghost shark in Pacific waters near Cabo Blanco and Cano Island. The latest discovery has a “shorter” snout, a “darker coloration pattern” and a “much longer spine on its dorsal fin”, according to Arturo Angulo Sibaja, a biology professor at the University of Costa Rica. The discovery marked the only such species “known for the Central American coast”, Sibaja said, adding genetic analysis indicated the new species had “no reproductive...

An unmistakable pattern has emerged in the US’ strategy to contain China. Washington has sought to deny China access to frontier technologies and key commodities, and to redirect related supply chains to revitalise American industries. In this context, US President Donald Trump’s intense interest in America taking over Denmark’s Greenland becomes clear. Deny the Chinese their favourite seafood, which many can’t live without, and revive the US food industry. You think I am pulling your leg. This...

Bill Frist, a surgeon who also served as Senate majority leader, has emerged as an outspoken advocate for environmental health. “A healthier planet means healthier people,” he said.

As President Trump cools on the alliance, its members see Turkey’s large military and vibrant defense sector as assets.

Ballistic missiles were fired into the capital of Ukraine as Russia launched its second major attack in less than a week. At least 12 people were killed, officials said.

Ukraine has changed how militaries use Patriot systems. But recent attacks prove that clever adaptations cannot overcome a shortage of interceptors.

In the weeks leading up to the two-day event, the Turkish authorities blocked websites, jailed scores of people over allegations of terrorism and arrested a prominent comedian.

In 1776, Cherokee leaders looked for ways to navigate a foreboding future. Nanyehi, a.k.a. Nancy Ward, is venerated and reviled for her choice.

The C.D.C.’s tobacco control office has been shut for more than a year. After its most prominent antismoking campaign went off the air, calls to 1-800-QUIT-NOW lines have plummeted.

The makers of nicotine pouches are building new plants and expanding to meet demand. While influencers claim health benefits, experts warn the products can be highly addictive.

A man sent a scathing note to an immigration official after two demonstrators were killed. A lawsuit says agents who came to his house were trying to intimidate him.

Popular communication methods for nonspeaking autistic people have ignited a fierce debate over what counts as evidence of hidden cognitive abilities.

On Monday, parts of New Jersey were underwater, downed trees were blocking roads in Connecticut and there was a flash flood warning in New York City.

The birds are particularly vulnerable to high temperatures, and France’s torrid June took a heavy toll.

It is continent’s third spell of scorching weather since May. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent.

“Japanese Cherry Blossom” has brought in $1.5 billion over the last 20 years. Can the company’s close-knit network of suppliers come up with the next big thing and improve sales?

Over the years, I have moved toward the way of being Jewish that my father rejected.

Under the test-blind policy, more students are thrown into classes for which they are unprepared.

Million of people filled the streets of Iran to bid farewell to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the war with the United States and Israel.