Minimalist News

Time To DOGE Baltimore: Top City Leaders Admit They Can't Track Tax Dollars Flowing To Nonprofits Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's interview with Christopher Rufo last week highlighted that there is still unfinished business at DOGE, where fraud, waste, and abuse may account for as much as 10% of the total federal budget. We even joked that the scale of recent fraud uncovered in Democratic states could compel Elon Musk to return to DOGE in some capacity, as his recent X posts targeting dark-money NGOs suggest renewed interest. > At one level, one has to admire the entrepreneurial spirit of the Somali scammers

"They've Totally Lost Control"; Trump Threatens 'Agitators' As Civil Unrest Soars In Minnesota Update: President Trump escalated his threat to use the Insurrection Act (as we detailed here) earlier today, warning that state and city officials "have totally lost control." The origin of the chaos appears to be mostly manufactured and began hours after the legal observer was shot and killed last Wednesday: * Minneapolis ICE Shooting Shows Left Wing's Protest Industrial Complex Wants Another 'George Floyd'-Type Riot * Tim Walz Activates Emergency Operations Center, Alerts National Guard After ICE-Involved Shooting Sparks Protest Threat Democrats are using the manufactured chaos, think of it

Rashida Tlaib Melts Down Over America  Democratic Socialist Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) was triggered this week by a Homeland Security post on X featuring a B-2 stealth bomber overhead and a cowboy below, accompanied by the text in the center of the image that read: "We'll Have Our Home Again." "What does it evoke in you when you see this? Literally, when I see it, as a Muslim, as a Palestinian, as a child of immigrants, I see it as something that evokes the feeling that I'm not welcome here," Tlaib said. > Rashida Tlaib is crying on live TV over a DHS

US Foreclosures Up 14% In 2025; Florida Tops States Authored by  Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times, Home foreclosures across America were on the rise in 2025, increasing by 14 percent from 2024, with Florida experiencing the highest numbers in the nation. In its Jan. 15 report, property data and analytics provider ATTOM, said that 367,460 U.S. properties were involved with default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions last year. Those properties represented 0.26 percent of all housing units, a slight uptick from 0.23 percent in 2024, but down from 0.36 percent in 2019. While the amount of the annual foreclosures were also down by

Biden-Appointed Federal Judge Blocks Trump Admin's Move To Withhold Minnesota Food Stamp Funds A federal judge on Jan. 14 stopped the Trump administration from withholding $80 million in administrative costs for Minnesota’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), ruling that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s tight deadline for reviewing the eligibility of 100,000 households was likely illegal. U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino, appointed by President Biden in 2024, said during a hearing in Saint Paul that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) failed to justify why Minnesota needed to complete the review of recipient eligibility by Jan. 15, or face losing half its

To Combat Academic Fraud, Scholars Confront Hallowed Tradition Authored by Vince Bielski via RealClearInvestigations, This is the fourth part of a series on the crisis in academic research and publishing. Read the first three parts here, here and here. The driving ethos of academia, “publish or perish,” is fighting for its life.  The requirement that scholars constantly publish or face academic ruin has been considered the primary engine of scientific discovery for decades. But a growing movement of universities and researchers is trying to banish the practice to the archives, saying it has perverted the pursuit of knowledge and eroded the public’s trust in science. Reformers

New York Scammers Plead Guilty In $68M Adult Day Care Fraud Scheme Two scammers in Brooklyn pleaded guilty on Thursday to defrauding the state's controversial Medicaid home care program to the tune of $60 million.  Google Maps Manal Wasef and Elaine Antao, both 46, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Their scheme involved referring Medicaid recipients to two Brooklyn social adult day care centers and a home health company in exchange for illegal kickbacks and bribes, the DOJ announced on Thursday.  > Between approximately October 2017 and July 2024, in exchange for illegal kickbacks and bribes, Wasef and Antao referred Medicaid recipients to the social adult day cares

Trump, Schumer Hold Rare Meeting At White House To Discuss Gateway Tunnel Project Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) held a rare meeting at the White House on Thursday to discuss an array of issues. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks at a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 14, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times Schumer’s top concern was the Trump administration’s hold on the $16 billion Gateway tunnel project between New York and New Jersey. “In the meeting, Leader Schumer emphasized the urgent need to promptly

Yoon Becomes First Sitting S.Korean President To Be Arrested, Convicted & Sentenced Once a sitting head of state, and now a convicted felon - and potentially much worse still to come: former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, after his dramatic fall from power and attempt to stay in office by declaring martial law in December 2024 - a move that plunged one of Asia’s most stable democracies into a brief period of chaos - is going to serve hard time. He could actually still face the death penalty (with several more charges pending related to treason), according to South Korean law as

Clinton-Appointed Federal Judge Denies DOJ Bid To Access California Voter Registration Rolls Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, A federal judge on Jan. 15 dismissed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) bid to access California’s voter registration databases, ruling that the demand for voter data from California Secretary of State Shirley Weber was “unprecedented and illegal.” In a 33-page decision, Clinton-appointed U.S. District Judge David O. Carter sided with California, saying the DOJ cannot use civil rights legislation “as a tool to forsake the privacy rights of millions of Americans,” noting that such authority rests solely with Congress. The DOJ filed lawsuits in September

Trump 'Convinced' Himself Not To Attack Iran, After Tehran Allegedly Canceled 800 Executions Update(1658ET): President Trump issued another somewhat bizarre Iran statement on Truth Social on Friday. He repeated the White House line that 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday were halted in Iran. He even 'thanked' the Iranians for not carry out the supposed mass execution plan: "I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!" he wrote earlier in the day. He also told reporters "I convinced

Qatar Hired UK PR Firm To Edit Wikipedia Page: Report Amid ongoing US probes into Wikipedia over alleged bias and foreign manipulation, sometimes framed as "Wikilaundering," a new report has found that a PR company linked to Keir Starmer's communications chief has been accused of secretly manipulating Wikipedia pages to improve or neutralize clients' public images. The allegations add another thorn in the side for Wikipedia as migration to Elon Musk's Grokpedia continues. The Guardian cites an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) alleging that PR firm Portland Communications, founded by Tim Allan, commissioned secret page edits of Wikipedia pages

Their "Democracy" Is Nothing More Than A Gigantic Engine Of Grift Authored by James Howard Kunstler, ACT NOW! > "The more contradiction you carry, the more reality resists you. Because you’re fracturing the signal with every step." > > - SightBringer on "X" Don’t be too surprised if sometime later this day, Friday, the president invokes the Insurrection Act to tranquilize the city of Minneapolis, since aerial spraying of Olanzapine is probably out of the question. Where, oh where, are the mythologized “nice,” and “above-average” people of Minnesota, once praised in song and sketch on those long-ago Saturday nights of The Prairie Home Companion? They have been replaced

Dave Smith: "America First Means Non-Interventionism"; Republicans Debate GOP Schism Yesterday, in a special ZeroHedge debate on What Is America First?, libertarian comedian Dave Smith and conservative filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza clashed over whether the slogan implies non-intervention abroad or a more assertive, national interest-driven foreign policy. Moderated by Judge Andrew Napolitano, the exchange cut directly to the fault lines dividing the modern right into what might be coined the Carlson and Shapiro camps. Here were the highlights for those who missed it: “AMERICA FIRST MEANS NON-INTERVENTIONISM” Smith argued America First ought to mean “a preference for republicanism, little ‘r’, over imperialism,” citing its earliest

FTC Imposes 5-Year Ban On GM Disclosing Geolocation, Driver Data To Consumer Reporting Agencies Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized an order banning General Motors (GM) from disclosing consumers’ geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies for a period of five years, the agency said in a Jan. 14 statement. The FTC had filed a complaint against GM and its subsidiary OnStar LLC in January 2025. GM “collected, used, and sold drivers’ precise geolocation data and driving behavior information from millions of vehicles—data that can be used to set insurance rates—without adequately notifying

The Wrong Solution: AI Productivity, Employment, & UBI Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, It is expected that AI productivity increases will vastly transform the U.S. economy. Firms are utilizing AI productivity enhancements to automate repetitive tasks, and research and coding functions have already been implemented. The obvious problem is that when machines perform functions once done by humans, what are the humans supposed to do for income? This increase in AI productivity is measurable across various sectors, as supply chains operate more efficiently, data analysis accelerates, and customer service utilizes automated agents to streamline tasks. Manufacturing, once considered a stable sector

LIS Technologies Launches $1.4 Billion Laser Uranium Enrichment Project In Tennessee LIS Technologies announced a $1.4 billion uranium enrichment project in Oakridge, Tennessee at the former iconic K-25 site, which until 1987 was a massive gaseous diffusion facility built for the Manhattan Project to enrich uranium-235 for atomic bombs. The company will set up shop on the 206-acre on Duct Island, which will be renamed to LIST Island. Following the renaming of the 206-acre Duct Island to LIST Island and its redevelopment to house the Company's commercial laser-based uranium enrichment headquarters, Oak Ridge, TN is expected to become the site of the world's

Democrats Fight To Keep Insurrection Myth Alive In New J6 Committee Authored by Jonathan Turley, The new J6 Committee has started its hearings and, unlike the prior Committee, Republicans have allowed Democrats to select members to sit in opposition. That has led to sharp exchanges, but one of the more interesting occurred between Rep. Harriet Hageman (R., Wyo.) and Jamie Raskin (D., Md.). After Hageman got a witness to admit that no one was charged with incitement, Raskin made the clearly false statement that a few defendants charged with seditious conspiracy was the same thing as incitement. It is not. Rep. Raskin triggered

ACLU And Celebs Release Cringe Appeal To Allow Men In Women's Sports Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, The American Civil Liberties Union has rolled out a new campaign pushing for biological males to compete in women’s sports, just as the Supreme Court takes up cases that could finally protect female athletes from unfair competition. Featuring ‘stars’ including Megan Rapinoe and Naomi Watts, the ad frames this as a fight for “freedom,” when in reality it’s just another leftist assault on women’s rights and fair play. The ACLU’s “More Than A Game” ad, launched during women’s basketball games on January 12, features celebrities and

EU Mulls Ditching Accession System Used Since Cold War To Fast-Track Ukraine When in doubt, just change the rules - or so goes the thinking in Brussels as it seeks to get creative on ways to allow Ukraine's quick accession to the European Union, despite it being consistently ranked among the most corrupt governments on earth. EU officials have described that a current plan being taken seriously is a 'limited' membership tier, part of a proposed European peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, but which would withhold full membership rights for Kiev, which later must be "earned" according to a phrased transition. Financial

Any Lucía López Belloza was detained at Boston’s airport in November and flown to Honduras two days later * US citizens and permanent residents: have you been racially profiled by ICE? The Trump administration apologized in court for a “mistake” in the deportation of a Massachusetts college student who was detained trying to fly home to surprise her family in Texas for Thanksgiving. But the administration still argued that the federal government error should not affect her immigration case. Continue reading...

John Ratcliffe meets Delcy Rodríguez in Caracas less than two weeks after his agents helped to oust her precedessor The CIA chief whose agents reputedly played a key role in abducting Nicolás Maduro has flown to Venezuela to meet his successor as the sidelined opposition leader, María Corina Machado, vowed she would become the country’s first elected female president. Machado’s comments were broadcast on Friday, a day after she handed her Nobel peace prize medal to Donald Trump in recognition of what she called a principled and decisive move against Maduro, whom US special forces snatched on 3 January. Continue reading...

Former president convicted for coup plot to take advantage of law that knocks four days off jail term for each book read Jair Bolsonaro’s lawyers appear to have been reading up on the country’s penal code and have found a way to help their client reduce the 27-year prison sentence he received last year for plotting a coup: by reading books. There is only one problem: the former far-right Brazilian president has never been known as a bibliophile. “Sorry, I don’t have time to read,” Bolsonaro once declared. “It’s been three years since I read a book.” Continue reading...

Mark Carney holds talks with Xi Jinping on rare Beijing trip as Canada seeks to diversify trade links away from US * Business live – latest updates Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has hailed a “new strategic partnership” with China as he held talks in Beijing with President Xi Jinping, the first visit by a Canadian leader in eight years. Addressing Xi in the Great Hall of the People, Carney said: “Together we can build on the best of what this relationship has been in the past to create a new one adapted to new global realities.” Continue reading...

Women allege Spanish singer subjected them ‘to inappropriate touching, insults and humiliation … in atmosphere of control’ The Spanish singer Julio Iglesias has broken his silence over allegations that he sexually abused two women who worked in his Caribbean mansions, saying he has never “abused, coerced or disrespected any woman”. The 82-year-old entertainer, whose career spans six decades, had been accused by two female former employees who allege they had been sexually assaulted and subjected “to inappropriate touching, insults and humiliation … in an atmosphere of control and constant harassment”. Continue reading...

Yoon Suk Yeol’s conviction for obstructing own arrest separate from main trial that could lead to death penalty A South Korean court has sentenced former president Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison for mobilising presidential security forces to block his own arrest and abusing his powers. It is the first judicial ruling linked to the events surrounding his failed martial law declaration in December 2024. The ruling is separate from Yoon’s main insurrection trial, where prosecutors earlier this week sought the death penalty and a verdict is due next month. Continue reading...

US to lower tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15% as chip and tech businesses pledge $250bn spending in US operations The US said on Thursday that it had signed a deal with Taiwan to reduce tariffs on goods from the democratic island, while increasing Taiwanese semiconductor and tech companies’ investments in America. The agreement, the US commerce department said, “will drive a massive reshoring of America’s semiconductor sector”. Continue reading...

Crane in use on high-speed rail project hits passing train, causing it to derail At least 32 people in Thailand have been killed and scores injured after a crane collapsed on to a passenger train and derailed it, officials said. Footage from the scene verified by Agence France-Presse showed the crane’s broken structure resting on giant concrete pillars and smoke rising from the wreckage of the train below. Continue reading...

Results for 2025 risk further unsettling economies about China’s trade practices and overcapacity, and their own over-reliance on Chinese products China has reported a strong export run in 2025 with a record trillion-dollar surplus, as its producers brace for three more years of a Trump administration set on slowing the manufacturing powerhouse by shifting US orders to other markets. Beijing’s resilience to renewed tariff tensions since Donald Trump returned to the US presidency last January has emboldened Chinese firms to shift their focus to south-east Asia, Africa and Latin America to offset US duties. Continue reading...

Yoon is on trial for insurrection charges, after trying to declare martial law in late 2024 South Korean prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for former president Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law declaration in December 2024, in the first insurrection trial of a Korean head of state in three decades. Prosecutors characterised the case as the “serious destruction of constitutional order by anti-state forces”, telling Seoul central district court that Yoon had “directly and fundamentally infringed upon the safety of the state and the survival and freedom of the people”. Continue reading...

Floods predicted for NSW south coast after severe storms dumped 180mm in six hours on Victoria’s Lorne and Wye River, washing cars into the sea on the Great Ocean Road * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Authorities have defended the timing of warnings for holidaymakers along Victoria’s surf coast who were hit by an “unprecedented” downpour on Thursday, as Sydney awaited its “soggiest weekend of summer” to date. Weatherzone forecasters predicted 20mm of rainfall was possible in Sydney on both Saturday and Sunday, which would be

The incident at Gunnedah near Tamworth is the third fatality involving police in the state this year * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A man armed with a bow and arrow has been shot dead by police in New South Wales as they carried out a welfare check – the third fatality involving officers this year. Authorities attended the man’s house in Gunnedah near Tamworth on Friday at 1.40pm after receiving a call about concerns for his welfare. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed * Penny Wong says Sussan Ley’s leadership ‘unsalvageable’ after Coalition flags opposition to new hate laws * Could Labor’s hate speech laws damage Australia’s free speech? Here’s what you need to know about the contentious bill * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Larissa Waters, the Greens’ leader, also says she’s concerned there has not been enough time to evaluate the legislation, warning there are a “raft of unintended consequences that could occur”. Waters told RN Breakfast: We’ve only had a handful of days to look at this legislation, and it’s very consequential

Calls for clear guardrails and consumer education before wider rollout of OpenAI’s health advice platform * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A 60-year-old man with no history of mental illness presented at a hospital emergency department insisting that his neighbour was poisoning him. Over the next 24 hours he had worsening hallucinations, and tried to escape the hospital. Doctors eventually discovered the man was on a daily diet of sodium bromide, an inorganic salt mainly used for industrial and laboratory purposes including cleaning and water treatment. Continue

The band pulled out over treatment of Randa Abdel-Fattah but delayed revealing their decision before confirming 27 February gig * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The British indie band Pulp will play at the Adelaide festival in February after initially pulling out of the event in protest at the cancellation of Palestinian writer Randa Abdel-Fattah. The band issued a statement on social media on Thursday night announcing that they would “honour our invitation to perform in Adelaide on 27 February” after the festival organisers performed a U-turn, apologised to Abdel-Fattah for her treatment and invited her

Taking drug in pregnancy does not raise chances of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability, ‘gold standard’ review finds Taking paracetamol in pregnancy does not increase the chance that the child will be autistic, or have ADHD or an intellectual disability, a “gold standard” review of the evidence has found. The findings debunk Donald Trump’s claims last September that the painkiller causes autism, which were condemned by medical, women’s health and scientific organisations around the world. Continue reading...

Song that topped Swedish Spotify rankings ruled ineligible after elements of song revealed to be partly AI-made A hit song has been excluded from Sweden’s official chart after it emerged the “artist” behind it was an AI creation. I Know, You’re Not Mine – or Jag Vet, Du Är Inte Min in Swedish – by a singer called Jacub has been a streaming success in Sweden, topping the Spotify rankings. Continue reading...

President raises pressure on European allies as US envoy says deal to take island ‘should and will be made’ * Fear in Greenland as threat of invasion looms Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on countries that do not “go along” with his plan to annex Greenland, increasing pressure on European allies who have opposed his effort to take over the Arctic territory. After a tense week in which Nato allies deployed troops to the largely autonomous territory, which is part of the Danish kingdom, the US president announced he might punish countries that do not support his plans to take

Experts say central banks are increasingly stuffing their vaults as an insurance policy in a volatile world Fifteen minutes after takeoff, the call came for Serbia’s central bank governor: millions of dollars’ worth of gold bars, destined for a high-security Belgrade vault, had been left on the runway of a Swiss airport. In air freight – despite the extraordinary value of bullion – fresh flowers, food and other perishables still take priority. “We learned this the hard way,” Jorgovanka Tabaković told a conference late last year. Continue reading...

Tourists keen to see island where couple exchanged vows, seven-star hotel where they stayed and paths trodden by their celebrity guests For the residents of Venice who travel daily through the city’s waterways, the small wooden floating jetty outside the Gritti Palace hotel is nothing special, “no different to a London underground stop”, as Igor Scomparin, a tour guide, puts it. But for a certain type of tourist it is a must-see spot. In June last year, Kim Kardashian disembarked from a water taxi here and navigated its planks during the five-day wedding of the billionaire Amazon boss, Jeff Bezos, and Lauren

Reza Pahlavi sets out ambition to lead country his father once ruled, but many question his level of popular support Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s former pro-western monarch, has predicted the country’s Islamic regime will fall and claimed he is “uniquely” placed to head a successor government. His bid to assume the leadership of a possible new Iran follows weeks of mass protests that have left thousands dead after being brutally suppressed by security forces. Continue reading...

US president also calls for return of final Israeli captive’s remains from group, which has refused to give up weapons Donald Trump has issued a fresh ultimatum to Hamas, adding to calls for the group’s disarmament as the second phase of the US-brokered ceasefire with Israel begins, even as key elements of the first phase remain unfulfilled. In a late-night post on social media on Thursday, Trump vowed to push for what he described as the “comprehensive” demilitarisation of Hamas, warning of severe consequences should the group refuse to comply. He also demanded the return of the remains of the final Israeli

Jafar Panahi, director of Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident, says Iranian leaders want to destroy country The Khamenei regime will not be able to maintain control over Iranian society after the violent suppression of the latest wave of protests, one of the country’s leading film-makers has predicted. “It is impossible for this government to sustain itself in this situation,” the director Jafar Panahi told the Guardian. “They know it too. They know that it will be impossible to rule over people. Perhaps their only goal right now is to bring the country to the verge of complete collapse and

Relative calm in Tehran and authorities say they have no plan to execute protesters but internet shutdown continues Iran’s nationwide protest movement appeared to have slowed on Thursday under the weight of a brutal crackdown by authorities that has left thousands dead and put tens of thousands in prison. In Tehran, Iranians reported relative calm on the streets as the sound of gunfire faded and fires were extinguished – a marked contrast from the weeks before when large crowds confronted security forces. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Iran, read our coverage: * Trump says Iran has told him ‘killing has stopped’ as he pulls back from strike threats * Families of protesters killed in Iran tell of heartbreak Trump has told Reuters in that Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi “seems very nice” but expressed uncertainty over whether Pahlavi would be able to muster support within Iran to eventually take over. Trump said it is possible the government in Tehran could fall due to the protests, but that in truth “any regime can fail”. Continue reading...

Eastern region on high alert as authorities try to track animal tearing through villages in Jharkhand after apparently becoming separated from herd Forest officials in India are on the hunt for an elephant that has killed more than 20 people in a days-long rampage through the eastern state of Jharkhand. Since the beginning of January, 22 people have been killed by a single-tusked elephant that has been tearing through forests and villages in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. Continue reading...

Delhi is world’s second largest purchaser of Russian crude, which is now cheaper than oil from Middle East Russia is already working to circumvent the latest US sanctions to ensure India can continue to import high levels of cheap Russian crude oil, according to industry analysts. Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, India has become the world’s second largest purchaser of Russian crude oil, which has been heavily discounted due to the impact of western sanctions. Continue reading...

Police ask Paramjeet Singh Pamma to install security cameras and reinforce door locks at his home Police have advised a high-profile Sikh activist in the UK to install security cameras at his home and reinforce door locks because of threats from Hindu nationalist elements. Paramjeet Singh Pamma, 52, said he had been visited by police and received verbal advice to increase his security due to intelligence suggesting threats to his safety. Continue reading...

UN and many western countries as well as human rights groups say that in the absence of a meaningful opposition the election is neither free, fair nor credible Voters in war-torn Myanmar queued up on Sunday to cast their ballots in the second stage of a military-run election, following low turnout in the initial round of polls that have been widely criticised as a tool to formalise junta rule. Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since the military ousted a civilian government in a 2021 coup and detained its leader, Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a civil war

Satat Sampada founders Harjeet Singh and Jyoti Awasthi say allegations are ‘baseless, biased and misleading’ Police have raided the home of one of India’s leading environmental activists over claims his campaigning for a treaty to cut the use of fossil fuels was undermining the national interest. Investigators from India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) claim Harjeet Singh and his wife, Jyoti Awasthi, co-founders of Satat Sampada (Nature Forever), were paid almost £500,000 to advocate for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty (FFNPT). Continue reading...

Two sides trade blows over defection while Conservative polling suggests economy is key weakness for Reform The Conservatives plan to intensify their attacks on Reform’s economic policy as they gear up for a fight to the death between the two big parties of the right, a battle brought to new levels of acrimony by Robert Jenrick’s defection. While Jenrick, the former shadow justice secretary, insisted he was “uniting the right” in signing up to Reform, Kemi Badenoch portrayed her former colleague as dishonest and no loss to the Conservatives, saying: “Nigel Farage is doing my spring cleaning for me.” Continue reading...

Craig Guildford retires after inquiry found ‘greatly exaggerated’ intelligence was used to justify ban The head of England’s second biggest police force has stepped down after an official inquiry found that “greatly exaggerated” intelligence was used to justify a ban on fans of an Israeli football team attending a match. Craig Guildford retired with immediate effect as chief constable of West Midlands police on Friday, two days after a damning report led Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, to declare she had lost confidence in him. Continue reading...

Full-time carer Martina Karos and Eleni Edwards, eight, were found dead at home in Salford A translator who became a full-time carer for her severely disabled eight-year-old daughter killed herself and her child after becoming “overwhelmed” by loneliness, a coroner concluded. Martina Karos, 40, and Eleni Edwards were found dead at their home in Salford, Greater Manchester, after police were called when the girl did not turn up at school on 23 September 2024. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide

Reform’s latest defector from the Tories is a politician whose eye has only ever been on his own ambition It’s come down to this. Watch any reality TV show and it won’t be long before you hear the lead presenter talking about how each contestant has been on a journey. It’s as though we can’t survive without a narrative structure. An attempt to give emotional meaning to something fundamentally meaningless. It feels as if everyone has to be on a journey now. If you’re not, then you’re somehow less interesting. Only half a person. Even our politicians are no longer exempt. In

Pre-empting rival’s defection cements her position as leader and gives pause for thought for any others who may follow It is never ideal in politics to have a senior colleague defect, hurling insults as they depart, but as the dust settles on Robert Jenrick’s move to Reform UK, many of the remaining Conservative MPs agree on one thing: it has left Kemi Badenoch stronger. “Historically, the party has suffered from two weaknesses: too many people trying to bring down the leader, and not enough leaders getting rid of those people,” one shadow minister said. “Hopefully now we’re all pulling in the same

Tim Walz, state’s Democratic governor and Jacob Frey, Minneapolis mayor, have been vocal critics of immigration crackdown The US justice department is investigating Minnesota’s political leaders for allegedly conspiring to obstruct the Trump administration’s controversial immigration crackdown there, according to multiple reports. The investigation, which CBS News first reported, marks an extraordinary use of federal power to challenge two of the crackdown’s most vocal Democratic critics, including the state’s governor, Tim Walz, and the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. * US justice agency to inquire into Minnesota leaders for alleged conspiracy to obstruct ICE * Incident reports provide details of emergency response after fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis Trump began his remarks today by undermining the Affordable Care Act, and touted his newly unveiled “Great Healthcare Plan”. A reminder that Affordable Care Act subsidies, that were extended during the Covid pandemic, expired at the end of last year, and legislation to revive them has stalled in Congress. Continue reading...

Lawyer for administration had apologized earlier for violating court order and admitted ‘mistake’ A US federal judge in Boston on Friday gave the Trump administration three weeks to “rectify the mistake” it made by deporting a college student to Honduras while she was traveling home to visit her family for Thanksgiving as he recommended it issue her a student visa. The US district judge, Richard Stearns, imposed the deadline after a lawyer for the administration earlier this week apologized for having violated a court order that should have prevented 19-year-old Any Lucia López Belloza from being sent to Honduras. She is a

After Renee Good’s killing in Minneapolis, calls grow for accountability in the shooting of Keith Porter Jr on New Year’s Eve * US citizens and permanent residents: have you been racially profiled by ICE? Family and friends of a Los Angeles man who was killed by an off-duty US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer over the holidays are urging local officials to arrest and prosecute the federal agent. Keith Porter Jr, a 43-year-old father of two, was fatally shot by an ICE officer on New Year’s Eve outside his apartment complex, according to LA and federal officials. An LA police department

White House says seven-strong board, chaired by Trump, will steer Gaza through next phase of reconstruction Donald Trump has appointed the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and former British prime minister Tony Blair to a newly created Gaza “board of peace”, a body he claims will steer the next phase of reconstruction and governance in the war-ravaged territory. The White House said the seven-strong “founding executive board” will also include Trump’s special envoy, the property developer Steve Witkoff; the World Bank president, Ajay Banga; and the president’s son-in-law and long-time adviser Jared Kushner. Trump himself will serve as chair, with further

Army helicopters rescued people stranded on rooftops and hundreds of tourists and workers were evacuated from one of the world’s biggest game reserves, as torrential rains and flooding in three countries in southern Africa killed more than 100 people, authorities said on Friday. The death toll across South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe is an accumulation after weeks of heavy rains. Weather services issued warnings that more rain was on the way, possibly bringing more destructive...

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Friday her country was starting a “true transition” to democracy and would become free with support from the US and President Donald Trump. Trump, however, has sidelined Nobel laureate Machado and backed former vice-president Delcy Rodriguez as interim leader of the oil-rich country following the January 3 US military operation that seized Nicolas Maduro. “We are definitely now into the first steps of a true transition to democracy,”...

US President Donald Trump took the unusual step on Friday of thanking the Iranian government for not following through on executions of what he said was meant to be hundreds of political prisoners. “Iran cancelled the hanging of over 800 people,” Trump told reporters while leaving the White House to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. He added, “and I greatly respect the fact that they cancelled”. The Republican president also suggested on his social media site...

US President Donald Trump suggested on Friday that he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the US controlling Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan Congressional delegation sought to lower tensions in the Danish capital. Trump for months has insisted that the US should control Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Nato ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in US hands would be “unacceptable”. During an unrelated...

A hardline cleric leading Friday prayers in Iran’s capital demanded the death penalty for protesters detained in a nationwide crackdown and directly threatened US President Donald Trump, showing the rage gripping authorities in the Islamic Republic over demonstrations that have challenged their authority. Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami’s sermon, carried by Iranian state radio, sparked chants from those gathered for prayers, including: “Armed hypocrites should be put to death!” Executions, as well as...

A British teenager who praised the killer of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event ‌and said he planned to bomb British rock band Oasis’ reunion concert ‍was sentenced to detention on Friday for possession of an al-Qaeda manual. McKenzie Morgan, 18, was arrested at his home in Wales after sending messages on the social media platform Snapchat in ⁠which he praised Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three girls and stabbed 10 others in July 2024, prosecutor Corinne Bramwell...

Uganda’s opposition said its leader Bobi Wine was under house arrest on Friday, after an election that also saw a member of parliament accuse security forces of killing 10 people at his home. President Yoweri Museveni, 81, is seeking to extend his 40-year rule of the east African country and has been accused of “brutal repression” of the opposition. Uganda’s Electoral Commission said on Friday that Museveni was on 75.4 per cent to Wine’s 20.7 with close to 60 per cent of votes counted. Final...

More than 2,300 years ago, Aristotle mused in Politics that to live alone, a man must be a god or a beast, or words to that effect. I wonder what he would have thought of the popularity of China’s “Are You Dead?” app. For Aristotle, we are social animals, thriving in the “polis” in the company of family, friends and fellow citizens. The average mother had at least five children. Many homes housed three, even four, generations. Family life was noisy and crowded, full of companionship, contest and...

US President Donald Trump’s investments in municipal and corporate debt through December included bonds of some companies affected by his administration’s policies. In all, the issues cost at least US$51 million. The new White House disclosure posted on Thursday shows Trump’s buys included bonds from Netflix, CoreWeave, General Motors, Boeing, Occidental Petroleum and United Rentals. He also bought municipal bonds from American cities and local school districts, utilities and hospitals. The...

President Vladimir Putin is mediating in the Iran situation ‍to try to quickly de-escalate tensions, the Kremlin said on Friday, after the Russian leader spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Moscow, an ally of Tehran, has condemned US President Donald Trump’s threats of new military strikes after Iran cracked down on protests that broke out late last month. Israel and the US last ⁠year both bombed Iranian nuclear sites, and Iran fought a...

China and Canada have agreed to remove the triple-digit tariffs imposed on each other’s imports – a major thaw in relations after years of icy diplomatic and trade ties – as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrapped up his state visit in Beijing. Canada will remove the additional 100 per cent in tariffs it had levied on Chinese electric vehicle (EV) imports – imposed in 2024 following a similar move from the United States – while China will lower its tariffs on Canadian canola, Carney said on...

As tensions between the United States and Iran threaten to plunge the Middle East into chaos again, regional military powers Turkey and Pakistan have revealed they are planning a tripartite defence partnership with Saudi Arabia. Thursday’s disclosure comes as Iran’s neighbours await clarity on US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 25 per cent tariff on the Islamic Republic’s trading partners earlier in the week – a measure which threatens to disrupt supply chains across the region. The...

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. Chinese military says it is developing over 10 quantum warfare weapons The People’s Liberation Army said more than 10 experimental quantum cyber warfare tools were “under development”, many of which were being “tested in front-line...

Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro was on Thursday transferred to prison, where he will serve his sentence for orchestrating a failed coup in “more favourable” conditions, according to a court order. The 70-year-old former leader was sentenced to 27 years in prison last year for his attempts to cling to power following his narrow 2022 re-election loss to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro’s family has repeatedly complained on podcasts and social media about the conditions in which he was...

No pursuit of nuclear weapons. Confronting drug trafficking. An immediate recognition of the state of Israel. Exporting copious amounts of oil and gas. Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi laid out his aspirations on Thursday for Iran if its theocracy is toppled – and experts say they sound exactly like what US President Donald Trump wants to hear. That plan is probably aimed at trying to secure support to lead Iran if the nationwide protests succeed in ousting the Islamic Republic. Activists...

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the US ousted leader Nicolas Maduro. The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump, an honour that he has coveted. Even if it the gesture proves to be purely symbolic, it was extraordinary given that Trump has effectively sidelined Machado, who...

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has proposed creating a new agency with US$2.5 billion to spur production of rare earths and the other critical minerals, while the Trump administration has already taken aggressive actions to break China’s grip on the market for these materials that are crucial to hi-tech products, including mobile phones, electric vehicles, jet fighters and missiles. It is too early to tell how the bill, if passed, could align with the White House’s policy but whatever the...

A hacker group with links to China recently used Venezuela-themed phishing emails in a malware campaign targeting US government-related entities, as cyberattack campaigns increasingly leverage geopolitical materials, according to Swiss cybersecurity firm Acronis. A malware campaign has used recent developments between the US and Venezuela as “thematic lures” to attack US government and policy-related entities with a back door that has espionage-focused capabilities, including basic remote...

The United States on Thursday said Iran halted 800 executions of protesters under pressure from President Donald Trump, after Gulf allies appeared to pull him back from military action over Tehran’s deadly crackdown on demonstrations. Iran was shaken over the last week by some of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the Islamic republic, although the demonstrations appear to have diminished over the last few days in the face of repression and a week-long internet...

The United States has finalised a sale of Venezuelan oil – the first since Washington took control of the sector following the toppling of Nicolas Maduro, a US official told Agence France-Presse on Thursday. According to the official, who did not identify the buyer, the deal is worth US$500 million, and additional sales could take place in the coming days or weeks. “President Trump brokered a historic energy deal with Venezuela, immediately following the arrest of narcoterrorist Nicolas Maduro,...

Britain’s former ‍Conservative Party leadership candidate Robert Jenrick became the biggest-name defector to Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK on Thursday, saying the nation was broken and its two mainstream political parties rotten. Sacked by the Conservatives when his potential switch was leaked, Jenrick appeared alongside Farage at a press conference, the latest of 21 current ⁠or former Conservative lawmakers to join Reform. Farage’s anti-immigration party was ahead of both Prime Minister...

Pennsylvania federal prosecutors on Thursday announced charges against 26 people for allegedly rigging bets on college and Chinese professional basketball games, the latest case to accuse athletes of cheating at legalised sports betting that ⁠has exploded in popularity in the US. A 70-page indictment names more than a dozen former National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball players, a former NBA player and two sports-betting influencers who were previously charged in a sweeping NBA...

A federal appeal panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration prison, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist. A three-judge panel of the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeal in Philadelphia did not decide the key issue in Khalil’s case: whether the Trump administration’s effort to throw Khalil out of the US over his campus activism and...

Minneapolis was on edge as US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to the city to enforce his administration’s massive immigration crackdown. The threat came a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and...

European countries sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland on Thursday as ‌Denmark said it was pressing on with plans for a “larger and more permanent” Nato presence to secure the island coveted by US President Donald Trump. The modest European deployments, meant to help ‍Denmark prepare military exercises, sent a strong message of support a day after a meeting of officials from the US, Denmark and Greenland failed to reach any breakthrough on the impasse. After that meeting, Trump...

US forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader US effort to take control of the South American country’s oil. The US Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of US President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of...

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Ukraine was running out of options to strike a deal to end almost four years of war with Russia, as thousands were without heating in Kyiv in -12 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures following waves of Russian strikes on the country’s energy grid. Moscow has not backed down from its intention to seize the rest of east Ukraine as the fourth anniversary of its offensive – Europe’s worst war since World War II – looms. “The situation is...

When contemporary Europe engages with the world, it increasingly presents as two distinct Europes operating within the same institutional framework. This duality – a Europe of strategic dependence vs a Europe of normative assertion – creates a contradiction. For partners, particularly in China and across Asia, this is not merely an abstract identity crisis but a practical geopolitical puzzle that complicates engagement and challenges assumptions about Europe’s global role. One Europe, embedded...

A federal officer shot a man in the leg on Wednesday night in Minneapolis, a week after the fatal shooting of a local woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent touched off angry protests and an intensifying clash between state leaders and the Trump administration. The shooting followed a targeted traffic stop shortly before 7pm Central Time, when the man fled in his vehicle and crashed into a parked car, according to Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland...

Elon Musk’s platform X on Wednesday announced measures to prevent its AI chatbot Grok from undressing images of real people, following global backlash over its generation of sexualised photos of women and children. The announcement came after California’s attorney general launched an investigation into Musk’s xAI - the developer of Grok - over the sexually explicit material and multiple countries either blocked access to the chatbot or launched their own probes. X said it would “geoblock the...

US President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign to unify his party behind his takeover of Venezuela succeeded Wednesday when all but three Senate Republicans voted to block a resolution opposing further military action in the country. US Vice-President J.D. Vance broke a tie vote in order to stop the resolution. The 51-50 vote followed fiery phone calls from Trump to Republican defectors who last week voted to advance the resolution. Trump’s success in flipping votes effectively ends one of the...

Four International Space Station (ISS) crew members splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, Nasa footage showed, after the first ever medical evacuation in the orbital lab’s history. A video feed from Nasa showed the capsule carrying American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui land off the coast of San Diego at 12.41am local time. A health issue prompted their mission to be cut short, after spending five months in...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had held a “long call” with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez, the first known contact between the two leaders since the ousting of Nicolas Maduro. “We just had a great conversation today, and she’s a terrific person,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He later said on social media that he and Rodriguez had discussed “many topics”, including oil, minerals, trade and national security. “We are making tremendous progress,” Trump...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday made a vague statement that he had been told “on good authority” that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, even as Tehran has indicated fast trials and executions ahead in its crackdown on protesters. The US president’s claims, which were made with few details, come after he told protesting Iranians in recent days that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Iranian government. But Trump has not...

On January 17, a quiet revolution will take place across around two-thirds of the world’s oceans. A landmark United Nations agreement known as the High Seas Treaty will formally enter into force, creating the first legally binding global framework to protect marine biodiversity in international waters. For the first time, activities beyond national jurisdictions – from industrial fishing to deep-sea mining and bio-prospecting – will be subject to environmental impact assessments, marine...

The Ford employee whose heckling of Donald Trump prompted an obscene gesture from the US president has been suspended, the US vehicle workers’ union said on Wednesday. During a tour of the Ford Motor Company’s F-150 factory in Dearborn, Michigan, on Tuesday, Trump raised his middle finger at the worker following catcalls, according to widely seen video of the incident. The heckler seemed to shout, in part, “paedophile protector”, US media reported – an apparent reference to suspicions that Trump...

A French applied mathematics professor has been charged with allowing a Chinese delegation to visit sensitive sites in a case of suspected espionage, a prosecutor said on Wednesday. The lecturer at a university engineering institute in the southwestern town of Bordeaux was charged on December 16 but released under judicial supervision, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. The charges against him include “providing information to a foreign power” and “colluding with a foreign power”, which can be...

FBI agents searched a Washington Post reporter’s home on Wednesday as part of an investigation into sharing secret government information, officials said, ‍in a move that press advocates said threatened journalistic freedom. The reporter, Hannah Natanson, has covered US President Donald Trump’s campaign to fire hundreds of thousands of federal workers and shift remaining workers to implementing his agenda. US Attorney General Pam Bondi said federal agents had executed the search at the request...

The United States said on Wednesday that it was moving into the next phase of a Gaza ceasefire plan that involves disarming Hamas, rebuilding the war-ravaged territory and establishing the group of Palestinian experts that would administer daily affairs in Gaza under American supervision. US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in a post on X that the deal that the Republican president helped broker was entering its second phase following two years of war between Israel and Hamas,...

A top Danish official said on Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remained with US President Donald Trump after holding highly anticipated White House talks with Vice-President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The two sides, however, agreed to create a working group to discuss ways to work through differences as Trump continues to call for a US takeover of the semi-autonomous territory of Nato ally Denmark. “The group, in our view, should focus on how to...

When countries committed to supporting Ukraine met in Paris earlier this month to discuss Ukraine’s post-war security, Russia answered with fire. Just days after the summit, Moscow launched a strike that killed civilians and plunged Kyiv into darkness and cold, while also firing its nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik missile towards Ukraine’s Lviv region, attacks widely seen as intimidation rather than a battlefield necessity. The world wants peace. So why does Russia keep firing? Moscow is...

China is likely to accept Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips following US clearance, driven by immediate demand in the country’s vast tech sector, according to analysts – though they said Beijing would push to replace them over time. The American chip giant’s second-most-advanced AI processor can be exported to China from Thursday, as long as shipments total no more than half the amount sold in the US, according to the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and...

As Russian President Vladimir Putin focuses his attentions on Moscow’s war in Ukraine, his strategic allies around the world have been left feeling neglected – or worse. In Venezuela, officials now think their years-long security relationship with Moscow was a paper tiger. They’re not alone: From Damascus and Tehran to Havana, over the last 13 months authoritarian regimes which previously benefited from their close ties to the Kremlin have found Russian support lacking when it mattered...

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, is the ideological arm of Tehran’s military, answering to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and stands accused by Western countries of orchestrating and perpetrating the crackdown on protesters. Who are they? The Guards, known as “Pasdaran” in Persian, were founded in 1979 by then supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini “to propagate the ideas of the Islamic revolution”, said Clement Therme, a researcher at the International Institute of...

The head of Iran’s judiciary signalled on Wednesday there would be fast trials and executions ahead for those detained in nationwide protests despite a warning from US President Donald Trump. The comments from Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei come as activists had warned hangings of those detained could come soon. Already, a bloody security force crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,571, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. That figure...

The Education Department has temporarily paused a plan to seize tax refunds and begin garnishing the wages of borrowers who have defaulted on their student loans.

Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, this week tapped a groundswell of support that has been years in the making.

After the institution’s board declared it the Trump Kennedy Center, a lot of signage around the building is in the midst of a makeover.

President Trump has María Corina Machado’s medal, but he is not recognized as the prize laureate. Ms. Machado did not win Mr. Trump’s endorsement to become Venezuela’s president.

Videos show U.S. forces descending quickly from helicopters onto the tankers, two years after a tragic boarding attempt.

After months of upheaval at the state’s flagship university, a new Democratic governor appeared ready to shake up the school’s leadership.

Michael Saylor’s financial alchemy thrust an ordinary software company, Strategy, into the center of the crypto frenzy. It all worked spectacularly, until now.

The president also tapped a U.S. general to lead an international peacekeeping force that will be deployed to disarm Hamas and occupy Gaza.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s announcement comes after days of deadly clashes between government and Kurdish forces that have underscored the difficulty he faces in uniting the country.

China will in turn cut its own tariffs on Canadian canola products, Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada said in Beijing on Friday.

The review looked at more than three dozen studies and found no evidence that acetaminophen increased the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

The definition is tricky, but the effects of poor metabolic health are clear — and can wreak havoc on the body.

The sale of the apartments, whose residents had complained of neglect by management, to a troubled firm is an early test of the new mayor’s ability to deliver for tenants.

Several of the past year’s films center on confused, bumbling protagonists — surrounded by women who are anything but.

The conservative political analyst Yuval Levin gives Ezra Klein his review of Trump’s first year back in office.

In the MAGA imagination, white women are supposed to be helpmeets, not harpies.

Also, the C.I.A. director met Venezuela’s new leader in Caracas. Here’s the latest at the end of Friday.

A federal prosecutor apologized this week, saying an ICE officer made a “mistake” in deporting Any Lucia López Belloza, a college freshman in Massachusetts, to Honduras.

Mr. Caruso had the potential to shake up the contests for Los Angeles mayor or California governor.

One of Israel’s leading archaeologists, he found evidence that the writing of the Old Testament likely began much earlier than historians had thought.

WestJet, Canada’s second-largest carrier, backpedaled on a new seating plan after videos of crammed travelers went viral on social media.